And we are done

Finally this building season is finished; now a brief break of a month or so and then back for another few months before the end of the year. Today was a big day as we were getting out toilets back in working order.

The handle on the hatch

The pump house, empty

Halil mixes up the cement

Bekir connects the pumps

Halil finishing around the doors

The pipes are slowly connecting

A really useful temporary solution

Final skim before heading off

Last night was so hot I couldn't sleep so I got up at 11pm and worked through until the early hours in the cool before getting a few hours sleep. This worked really well and I may do it tonight again if I can stay awake. The men were in dead on time and keen to wrap everything up; they split the tasks with Bekir working on plumbing the pumps and UPS in the pump house while Halil mixed up cement and filled in around the doors. It was very efficient and as busy as I was with work I went downstairs and suddenly found they were pretty much done. I had another call to do so had to ask them to do a few other bits and pieces while I finished up so first they diverted the drain from Rosie's airconditioning unit to run directly into the drainage and then they put the final skim on the toilet pipe from upstairs. Finally it was lunch time and I could work with them to prime and test both toilets and they both worked!! Great! They headed off after this and we will see them again the first or second week of September.

Hay in the collection point

Lots of soot on the floor

I was able to finish work at lunch time and rested a bit then headed out to do the final tasks on the toilet which was to pile hay inside. With that done we are now able ot use both the toilets. I then got started with cleaning Room 13 and with help from Angela (and it was a really difficult thing to do) we took down the petchka pipes to clean them out. They were filthy and it made a huge mess but it is all tidied up now. When Rosie got back from school we went into the pool but she didn't stay long however that meant that I was able to have a really long and enjoyable swim, diving under and using the snorkel. It was great.

And there you are. I'll not be updating for a little while so don't worry if there is a pause. At the very least we'll back be in September when the men start back. Thank you for reading and take care.

A day without power

We have reached Friday and so go into the weekend with a busy week behind us; I've a few pictures today so let's get started.

Stripy clouds this morning

Halil keeping on plastering

Putting the cable away again

Ready for plastering and painting

Joint stripping all the things

Not that tidy, but better than it was

The day began normally, we were outside for a bit before Rosie's school run and looking at the very strange cloud formations. The men were already working by the time I got back from dropping Rosie (another really good one where she ran inside happily) and Halil was on with plastering the stairs while Bekir continued to fix up the ceiling he'd had to drill out yesterday. Then, just before 9 and as I was getting stuck into a busy work day, the power went off and it stayed off all day until 4.30. Not what I need but fortunately power wasn't needed for the jobs that the men had in hand. I worked until my battery on my laptop died and then told them I'd be back when the power came back but that never happened. I took the chance to do a few chores like finishing the networking into Angela's art room and then dropping two new cables downstairs to go to the workshop and painting area. I also re-did the patch cables in Room 13 to be shorter with funky colours. It was good to get these things done but I now have to catch up with my paid work.

Sat in the sun (out of the wind)

Plastering the lower part of the stairs

Preparing corner reinforcement

Kettle on the petchka

Corners reinforced

Beautiful colours on this tree

"Boo!"

Last little bit of plastering

Angela was back to the dentist today and once I'd finished all my little chores I sat in the sun, tucked out of the freezing wind, and enjoyed some heat. The puppies also enjoyed being outside. Inside Halil was progressing down the stairs while Bekir was about to start fixing corner strips. I went to make another cup of tea making use of my awesome kettle I bought in Belgium. I actually prefer making a brew on an open fire, even if it does take a little while to boil. Bekir finished fitting the corners around the model railway hole and then Angela was back with Rosie and we all were outside running around the garden, playing hide and seek, and I went off to admire the beautiful red tree in the neighbour's garden. I also gathered leaves into a box to put our lizard into but when I went through he was awake and had scuttled right to the back of the wood pile. We will now have to be super careful all winter; oh well. The men finished off their plastering with the lights finally back on and that is that.

Thanks for reading; enjoy your weekends and see you on Monday.

Still here

Hey all,

It has once again been too long since I sat down to write a blog post; mainly this is down to both being too incredibly busy but also just there isn't all that much happening on the building to tell you. We've taken this year largely off from work men. Next year is planning to be different; we have a new toilet or two to fit (more on that when it arrives), Rosie's bedroom to build and we want to pull the patio up and pour a flat concrete slab and also secure the edge and tidy the garden a bit to make space for Rosie to play outside. Yes, next year will be super busy.

But for now a few pictures of the thousands that we have taken since the last update, and a few words, and I'll publish. I've not got lots of time to go through everything.

Begin.

PAAAAUSE

Return...

It is about two months since I wrote the above. I wrote a chunk of update and then Blogger decided to lose it and I didn't go back to it after that. So much has happened I'm going to really sweep through. I wouldn't be surprised if the updates are very sparse going forwards, certainly until next year. So, let's get this smashed out and finally published.

Some workers and things

As I've already said we haven't had all that much done around the place but a few things have occurred.

Chainsawing begins

Little Lady getting stuck in

Wood to stack...

... post cloudburst success

Gaming table

Another water pipe fix

First of all we got the Special One to come over and chainsaw all the wood from the trees we had trimmed earlier in the year. The Little Lady came over to help and, with a pause while the Special One recovered from an injury, this was all cut up in plenty of time and we have loads of kindling as well. We also ordered a huge quantity of dried hardwood which Lee came over and helped us stack; the storm hit during this and we were soaked through but got the job done. We have also been playing a game on a table that Lee made and brought over and having a great time when we get time to do it. Finally we have had ongoing issues with the lane up the side of the house and the water pipe there getting broken.

Fitting mesh around the top of the stairs

Bekir's old welder makes a re-appearance

Baby Safe

Peg board being fitted

Ready to fit the drier

Finally fitted, after being sat in the corner for years

Top of the main stairs now safe also

Bekir has been here a few times over the past few months, for a day or three at most at a time. First of all he came over to fit baby proofing on the top of the spiral staircase. We had other gates on order from Amazon however they didn't arrive to be fitted this visit. Another visit involved fitting the pegboard I had ordered for the tool room (this turned out to be the wrong size and so I've replaced half, and am replacing the other half, with the correct stuff). This is a requirement before I can clear the room which will become Rosie's room so it is very important. He also put up the second drying rack (much to A's great joy) and fitted the gate we had bought for the top of the main stairs. The product we bought was so good that we have bought the same stuff for around the fireplace and Bekir has been over and fitted all of them as well. Finally he hooked the garage light up to a proper light switch and strung power for a light in the wood room - these tiny improvements will make winter so much easier for us.

Trench goes in no longer on the road

The leak had become very serious

Work outside my property line completed

Two years too late, the stones arrive

Fire guard in place so the Little Monkey cannot burn herself

The final visit (so far) from Bekir this year was forced on us by the water pipe bursting again and everyone refusing to fix it. I spoke with the water board but had already also lost my patience and asked Bekir to come and move the pipe. This he did on the final day of our guest's visit (more of which later) to get it merely off the lane and reconnect us to the mains without a leak and then the following week he returned and finished the job, putting the free water pipe in once more and also getting the two fire guards fitted. The irony was that after years of complaining about that side lane and no stone being put down to strengthen it, the day after I moved the pipe the neighbour turned up and finally had them pour stones. All this pain could have been resolved if he had done what he promised two years previously but never mind; our water is now much more secure and will never break again. I hope.

Other stuff

A LOT of other stuff has happened as well, though I'm going to scoot through it. Rosie is growing so fast however I'll not be putting many photographs of her up on this blog page - that is not the purpose of this page so please don't ask. There will be some, though, clearly.

Holiday

We finally took ourselves off for a holiday. This was one of the silver linings to losing my Dad. We had house sitters booked and a long trip to the UK planned however were able to re-evaluate and changed this to a holiday on Thassos before returning to the UK for ArdaCon once more. This was the best decision of the year.

Getting on the boat!

The view from our front door

Rosie approves

I'm off for my morning swim

Peaceful morning on the beach

Rosie's first swim in the sea

A rainbow cloud

Zoomed in - how amazing, huh!

Stunning sunset, volleyball and a canoe

The fish van

A happy A on holiday

Suffice to say we had an absolutely out of this world time. It was magical - the location was perfect for us; quiet but RIGHT on the beach, and next door to a very good restaurant which was even happy to deliver food to the table on our porch. Every morning I got to swim and every evening we marveled at the stunning sunset. Rosie loved it, she enjoyed the sea mostly but sometimes the salt in her eyes was too much. The food (though I've not picked any photographs of it, unusually) was amazing and the one little trip out we did was fascinating, to an archaeological site about twenty minutes drive from where we stayed. I cannot say enough what a timely holiday this was, and how much we are looking forward to going back again next year. I love Thassos.

My Mum's visit

My mum came to visit us for two weeks later on; this was as always a lovely time. It's so great she can get over to see Rosie and we love having her here. Rosie was going through an odd time and when Mum first arrived she wasn't wanting anyone but me or A however pretty soon she snapped out of that and was fine again - it was sad to see her cry every time we handed her over to anyone.

Grandma cuddles with a grizzly baby

Three generations - a new chair for Rosie also

Puppies are only happy when the fire is lit

Mum with the Little Lady

We had a lovely trip to Plovdiv on the first Saturday and met up with Lee for lunch at the Mexican restaurant again. The weather, which was pretty bad up until Mum's arrival, really came good and it was a super relaxing visit. We really didn't do all that much, lots of relaxing and reading and very little else. The fire did get lit one evening but more as a comfort thing than anything else. The Little Lady was very pleased to see my Mum over and came to say ciao before she flew back. We're now looking forward to seeing her next year once again.

Guest Visit

The day after my Mum headed off I was driving to Greece to collect our next (and final) visitors. Elizabeth and her daughter were over from the States for the week - it had been about 13 years or so since I last saw her and this was a long overdue catch-up.

A pelican soars overhead

The pelican lake next to the road

Lunch at the lake

The mountain house is a bit worse for wear

Dinner at the Iskander restaurant

Stunning view from the tower at Perperikon

Biscuits and Gravy for breakfast. Nom.

The drive down was easy and I paused for a rest by a lake that had some pelicans flying around. Sadly they were gone by the time we drove back. The visit was again very relaxing and we didn't do much though we did get to the lake for lunch, up to the Mountain House (which had collapsed even more) and over to Perperikon which was stunning and has been opened up even more. Elizabeth also made me Biscuits and Gravy for breakfast which was amazing. Most of the time was spent relaxing and doing school work as it was school time over there for her daughter. I took them back to the airport on the following Friday and waved goodbye; next time we see them hopefully we'll be visiting the States but that won't be any time soon, sadly.

Closing

And so I'm going to wrap this up here. I have over 2000 photographs and videos in the folder for the months since I did my last update and I'm not going to put any more on here.

A huge "mile"stone for Thomas

Rain rain go away....

I'll leave you with just a few more photographs. First of all Thomas went past a big milestone (literally) passing 150,000 miles just at the bottom of the men's cheren put on the way to collect them and secondly the photograph for this morning showing how the weather has changed. We are downstairs in the kitchen now for the winter, with the fire going and the curtains shut. Finally we have said goodbye to Bekci who has gone to stay with another couple up in the mountains not far from here who can give her a better life; it was too much for us to have her and also was worrying with Rosie going to be toddling outside next year.

Let the hibernation begin.