Finishing carpets, and a few other jobs

I didn't do the update last night as I went out so this one is going to cover two days. Let's get to it.

Finishing off the cutting and measuring

Fitting the edging, with more flame thrower

Yesterday was very much one task through the day. Bekir and Halil focused on finishing the edging for the stairs. This involved lots and lots of cutting, bending, drilling, cleaning up and just loads and loads of faff. It made the day feel slow, however I was so pleased they were actually holding down the edges of the carpet and finishing it off perfectly. In the evening I headed out to see my friend and had a lovely couple of beers and a meal. I'd not seen him for so long it was great to catch up.

Frosty start to the day

Set for our breakfast

The metal edging all done

Edging the base of the pillar

Working on the weights machine

It was the first cold night here last night and there was frost when we got up. We both dropped Rosie at school and went for breakfast at the little cafe again, which was a great way to start the day, and when we got back the men were already in and working on the final four or five edges down the bottom of the stairs. Bekir then did another small couple of edges around the bottom of the pillar, for example. While he was doing that, I asked Halil to have a quick look at some missing bolts and other bits on the weights machine as we are now getting our little gym into useable shape. They had to pop out to buy some more washers but it's now all operable and looks great.

Halil shifts the Hobbit Hole

Bekir getting the drilling done

Getting everything in place

Electrical work starting

Halil sanding the beams

Drilling and hoovering

Hoovering everything up

Wiring the plugs into the main switch

After lunch the men did a small task in Rosie's room, moving the Hobbit Hole into her bedroom, and lifting her knick-knack shelf a little higher. This is to make room for some new storage units we have bought, that arrived today, with storage boxes so we can help her keep everything tidy and stop things getting trodden on. With that done Bekir went back up to work on wiring the two double plugs in the end vestibule upstairs, shortly to become the music room, while Halil did some more sanding of the beams above the stairs. Bekir then realised there was a little more edging to do, at the doors into the store area on the left, before he want back to the wiring. Halil was then hoovering and tidying up loads after his sanding. They ended the day with all the electrics in and I was bringing my guitars, and the hooks, up as that'll be the next thing to do. I also need to get shelving brackets for all the storage I want up there; next week will be very exciting indeed.

Mountain Goat Rosie Roo

Dancing after finishing her jigsaw

I'll leave you with two pictures of Rosie after school. First of all I went out to find her as she was out playing with Dutch and found her climbed up and stood on the side of the outside sink. She was very proud of herself and even got down to climb back up and show me how she did it. After it got too cold and dark to play outside we went inside and did two jigsaws before dinner. Fun times.

So there it is. It's Friday so I won't be back until Monday. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend.

Dutch suddenly appeared

Today has been an unexpected day, as you'll see later, but let's get the rest of the day sorted first.

Such a beautiful sunrise this morning

Raised bed is so nearly ready

Rosie woke up feeling a unwell this morning, unwell enough that we let her have the day off however that meant that Angela had to take her to the doctor during the day as they have a new policy that every sick day needs a doctor's note! This meant that I didn't need to take her to school so, after appreciating the sunrise, I did the last lift of soil into the raised bed and spread what compost we had in stock over the top.

Halil starts sanding down the shelving wood

Bekir trimming and notching to size

The shelves are in place

Securing the shelves to the metal frame

Starting to situate the bench top

We had to remove a part to make it fit

The workbench is in

The men were in on time and got started on their task for the day; getting the workbench finished for me for this weekend. They wouldn't achieve everything I wanted however there was a little more work in what they did than I realised (as always). First of all they worked out the timber for the shelf, which then needed all sanding down which took Halil a fair while but it looks much nicer, and has no splinters. Bekir was measuring and cutting some notches so they all set in nicely and then it was a trip to town to pick up some metal tapping screws to secure the shelves to the metal frame. Later on, when they came to fixing the bench top on they found they didn't have the correct screws for that (it's so frustrating they don't plan ahead) but Angela was out and was able to get what was needed which prevented yet another trip out. By the end of the day the table saw was all done and ready however the electrics haven't been done, and the mitre saw hasn't either. That will have to wait for Monday.

Dutch arrives

Dutch having a drink in his new enclosure

We have been thinking about getting another bigger dog as a guard dog and today Angela found a street dog that was looking to be homed so she popped out and collecting him. Yes; him. We have a male guard dog now called Dutch and he is living in Rambo's old dog kennel which we've moved into the garage and put some fire guard railings around. There's going to be several trips to the vets for treatment and vaccines and to get him chipped over the coming weeks but he seems a very sweet little puppy and has been licking Rosie's hand already.

So there it is. We have a new member of our family. Thanks for reading, back on Monday.

Slow but steady progress

Today is going to be a shorter update as I was busy but also the men were working on pretty much the same thing throughout the day.

Bekir nearly finished first application of plaster

Working away together

Sanding down next to the beam

The end room (music room?) is looking great

Plastering the hard to reach bits

Bekir focused on finishing off the plastering the window wall end, applying two layers and then smoothing it all off. Halil tidied up a load first thing then got back into sanding down the ceiling which was a dusty and horrible job for him to do. While Bekir continued with his end walls, as I've said, Halil went into the crawl space and was applying plaster into the top corners and hard to reach places to finally seal it all off and prevent dust falling from the roof. It's taking a long time however it is being done right and that is very important for me.

And there it is. Our exciting plans for the weekend have sadly fallen through however it'll still be a good one I'm sure and you can read about it on Monday. Thanks for reading this one.