Away for a funeral

I've been away for the past week, and last night I clean forgot to write this update, hence why there's been such a long break and why I'm putting this out on a Saturday morning. Let's get to it, though.

Drilling through steel to fix the beams

Angela removes plants

All three puppies playing

Halil mixing cement

Bekir laying blocks

So we go back to last Friday and the men were in early and they began the day fitting more of the wooden beams on top of the steel. I dropped Rosie to school and while driving I suddenly realised that Angela was planting her new flowers and shrubs into the tops of the blocks by the path but we had said that it would be double height up by the fenced garden. When I got back after a quick chat with Angela and confirming this was what she wanted she went and pulled out the two that she had already set in and I told the men that as soon as possible they should swap over to get this wall built. They really aren't a fan of context switching however while I went into town with Halil for a chore Bekir started on this job and they finished it up in time to go back to the car port and finish the day on the wooden beams.

View from my hotel room

A blurry picture of me and John and our epic pizza

Dan pulls a pint at his Dad's bar

Glorious sunset on evening

A choppy sea as the wind blows

Early (very early) Saturday morning I was in the car with Angela and Rosie and they dropped me off at the bus stop. The travel on the way over to the UK was really quite good in the most part. I did break my journey in Manchester and went to buy some more combat trousers (which are very comfortable) and then had a long wait due to delays when I attempted to continue my travel to Blackpool but I arrived at the hotel in plenty of time to relax before my meal and then I slept OK. On Sunday I met up with John again which was awesome. We had an epic pizza, some very tasty beer, and a nice walk around town where I picked up an extra book and a toy for Rosie. Monday was the day of the funeral and if it can be said that a funeral is a "nice" thing, this was as good as it could be. The memorial service was perfect - I had smiles and tears in equal measure. Afterwards we went back to the house and had some food and beers and a lot of chatter and memories but I headed off about 6pm as I was very tired having woken at 4am with some anxiety about the day. I am so pleased I was able to make it! I had a Chinese on the Monday night which was nice but it wasn't from my favourite place which has changed hands sadly. Tuesday and Wednesday were both working days for me, Tuesday night I went out with Dan for a really lovely evening to catch up properly and have some food. Wednesday midday I was back on a train and headed to the airport hotel where I was in bed for 8 and up for 3am the next morning to start my trip home.

Cuddles from Louise and Xena

An awesome sight to come home to

Only a little left to do

The journey home on Thursday started off very well with a really easy trip through security and then a pretty comfortable flight but then it became horrible as first the normal bus was cancelled so I had to wait nearly two hours at the bus station and when I finally got on the bus it was absolutely full, one person even had to sit on the floor, and there was no air and no room to breathe. I got a stinking headache as the journey went on and it took hours. Thankfully the taxi driver who took me from the bus station at this end to home drove ridiculously fast and then I was sat cuddling the girls and eating a pizza while Donna told me about the puppies and work progress while I was gone. The men had been cracking on; one day was spent cleaning all the pipes for the fires inside and other than that they had done all the drilling and bolting for the wooden beams and next to completed the planks over the top. This was great to come home to!

The sun peeks over the horizon

Bekir fixes more planks in place

Touching up where the welding had burned off the paint

Painting wood preserve onto the decorative panels

Starting to treat the roof timber

The final tiny piece goes into place

And so we reach yesterday. It was a chilly enough start and I took Donna down to the bus early, collected a delivery (our new toilet to replace the damaged one downstairs and hopefully including the part to repair the first toilet as well) and when I got back the men were just arriving and getting stuck in. The first task was to cut and fit the final planks over the gap. At this end they are using the older wood and it took some time with the cutting and measuring. Bekir used nails for most of this but put some strong screws in along each end to help prevent the roof from lifting in the strong winds we get here. After this the next job was to touch up the weld burns with some metal paint while Halil got the rollers out and treated the decorative trim for the new roof. Finally for the day Halil swept the top of the new roof then began the long process of treating this as well. I need to go out today to buy more bezir for this. Bekir was finishing up the final slivers of gaps in the roof and then the day was done.

Stars and planets above

Step sisters cuddle

And there you have it. I'll leave you with a picture of the stars I took when I went to close the chickens up for the night, and Louise and Xena cuddled up while I watched a film last night.

Thanks for reading, I'll be back to regular service on Monday.

Path finished, on to chopping wood

I'm feeling quite jaded today, missing Dad a lot I think. Let's just get to the blog.

Halil mixes up some cement

Off for a run in the fog

Rosie helps Angela with some planting

The final blocks are laid

Starting to make their way through the wood pile

Lots of wood split, lots left to do

It started off a lovely morning but very quickly the fog rose and it stayed around most of the morning. Autumn is definitely here. Bekir and Halil were working to finish off the block laying first thing while Angela and Rosie had a really fun time in the garden, both planting things out and playing. It is a national holiday here today so no school. By the time the sun had burned through properly and the day was warming up, the last block was being laid. The rest of the day was spent cutting and splitting our wood pile ready to be stashed. The steel was being cut today and apparently it will be delivered tomorrow now.

Rosie cycling her trike

Rosie and Xena sat together

Making a sandcastle

Moving the wood towards inside

I had a little hobby time with Rosie as we painted a bit more of her cardboard castle then we went outside onto the now clear patio and she had a lot of fun with her scooter and her trike. After that she went off playing with Thelma while I started to shift some of the wood away from the pile and into the wood room. I shifted a load onto the driveway then got about 1/3 of that inside before dinner.

So there it is; one more day of the week and is there a chance we'll have our steel tomorrow!? Let's hope! Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Pool is down

Today has been another lovely day, though markedly cooler. Lots has got done so let's get to it.

Wearing wellies in the pool (the water was VERY cold)

Bekir heads up to seal up the hole

Pool accessory shed neat and tidy

Bekir and Halil get to digging

Puppies barking at the breaker

Cementing starts

Moving onwards with the blocks

Starting to remove the legs on the pool

Pool is down, emptied, and drying

Two of three toads we found

First thing this morning I put my wellies on to go into the pool and sweep the water out however that wasn't very efficient so Halil put some pipes in and set up a syphon which ran almost all day and got most of the water out. Bekir went up the ladder and blocked up the hole where the hornets had been so that job is now done thankfully. I then tidied some more of the pool stuff away, and laid the pipes to dry, before having to go back to my desk. The men were on with the block laying for the side of the path and spent the morning levelling the trench bottom and then cementing blocks in place. It's looking really good! After lunch they went out with Angela to get her car back and then they went on to the steel merchant to check out our order. They are happy with it so now I need to pay and then they will truck it over. At the end of the day just before Rosie got home I helped them to take the pool down and empty the final water from the bottom. It will be folded up and put away tomorrow or Thursday. In the pool cover there were three toads which I carefully relocated.

Rosie says hello to Josie

A beautiful wild flower

Little Gizmo

She found a puddle to jump in

Rosie on our walk

After school Rosie and I went for a little walk. First of all we took some puppy treats to the puppies from the farm and Rosie got to stroke the one we call Josie who was the old man's favourite, and then little Gizmo as well - I am so tempted to buy that one! After that Rosie found a puddle to jump in then we walked up and round to one of the power pylons and back. It was lovely to get out and stretch my legs and spend time with Rosie.

So there it is; another day in the bag. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

More progress in the garden

Today has been another scorcher however looking at the forecast I think summer is ending. Sadly it was very windy so I didn't open the pool today for one last swim and I think we'll be putting said pool away over the next few days.

Rosie ready for school again

Dragging the long ladder over

Bekir climbs up

Rosie was back to her new school today and was very happy - where other kids were crying and not wanting to go Rosie walked in without a backward glance. At home Bekir and Halil dragged the ladder over to next to the hornet nest and the action of doing this caused about 40 of them to boil out of the hole and swarm around the entrance. Sadly my phone didn't save the picture I took. We waited five minutes and they all went back in then Bekir got his bee keeping suit on and tried to climb up however he was not able to see properly from under the hood and by that point they were all very awake so we will try again on Monday.

Picking some tiles to use

Just finished chipping the concrete smooth

Working out where to cut

Starting to fix the tiles in place

Sink nicely tiled

With this task attempted and failed it was back to the other jobs. First off they both worked on cleaning up and preparing the sink for tiling. We looked for tiles and I suggested the old ones from the roof terrace and these have worked great. Bekir stuck with this task for most of the day and by the end of it the sink was done other than grout, which can be done on Monday as well. We will decide on how to finish the rest of the sink and then get that tiled too but there's no rush.

Laying string for the path edge

Starting to dig the trench in the hot sun

Digging out the waste

Trench completed

Once he stopped helping Bekir, Halil got stuck into a really tough job on a hot day like today. We have decided, while we wait for the steel to arrive for the car port, to get the path to the side gate redone so he laid out a line for one side of the new path and then dug in the trench from the edge of the patio by the table tennis table all the way to the fence. Towards the end of the day Bekir finished his tiling and they were working at it together. We will probably pour concrete for this path as well and replace the steps by the gate (done way back in the day by Terry and they have lasted so well!).

So there it is. I've got a touch of a cold now so am feeling a little rough; hopefully a good night sleep will sort that out. Thanks for reading, we'll be back on Monday.