Halil is a hard worker

Hey it is Monday again so another update covering the last three days. It's been a good one so let's get to it as I'm tired today and don't want to be typing all evening.

Lots of sheep poo on our garden

Rosie looking at the moon through the telescope

There's the moon

Happy Rosie camping with me

First of all a picture I meant to include in the previous update, showing the sheep poo spread on the raised beds. It's going to really improve our soil! The evening was very exciting for Rosie as on Friday our friends came past with a load of stuff they don't want any more and that included a small telescope. Just before bed I set it up and Rosie was able to look through it and see the moon. She loved this. Camping that night was also a lot of fun, it was quite windy at first but we still slept until the alarm at 5am went off to remind us to get up and look for shooting stars. I saw one while we sat out but it was quite chilly and after about ten minutes we headed back in the tent and slept until 9am!

I dug a hole for this bush to go in

Planted with lots of manure dug in

Two more of the bushes

The new BBQ getting going

Playing a ghost game

Saturday was a fun and busy day. After that super long lay in I was very busy with tournee (which wasn't very welcome to be honest) and when I could get away I got into the garden and planted out four bushes in the garden. The day ended with a BBQ in the new BBQ and that went very well, then we had time to play a new game, also left by our friends who had gifted us the telescope, and had a fun time.

The next raised bed is getting full

Rosie's lovely flower gift

Rosie does love picnicking

Rosie on our walk

Lots of great sand for me - well done Rosie

Sunday was another busy day. I did get time to shovel some more soil into the raised bed and now I think I've only got one more lift to do and we can start using this one. Rosie picked me a flower while I was pushing her on the swing so I made a nice arty photograph. We had a picnic on the lawn, as Rosie was insistent she wanted to eat out even though it was cloudy and very windy. Later in the day it was much nicer weather so Rosie and I went for a walk up to the headland and collected a load of pine cones and sticks for decorating the Christmas tree, and a bucket full of sand for my hobbying.

Halil painting the frame

The frame is painted and looks great

The old chain - yeah, we needed a new one

Getting started cutting this tree down

Cut up and started to be split

Halil puts his back into it

Halil cleans up the stump

Unfortunately Bekir couldn't make it today due to family commitments but Halil came on his own and got a few tasks done. First of all he put two coats of metal paint on the workbench frame so that's done now and can be left to dry for 24 hours. With that finished Halil then fixed the chainsaw with a new chain and blade guide (the old one had been sharpened until it was almost not there) and then set to cutting down the dead walnut tree. He spent all the afternoon cutting and then splitting this wood. We'll need to tidy it away into the wood store tomorrow as it may rain on Wednesday. The wood is very hard and strong and there was a huge swing employed by Halil to split it. He cut the stump at a good height for Rosie to sit on it. There are so many ants in the wood (that is what killed the tree) but Halil treated the wood a bit and we will continue to treat that stump and paint it and varnish it so it remains good for Rosie to sit on.

So there it is. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

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.

Steel cutting

I'm pretty late starting this today as I went out for a beer and some food with Dincher this evening, which was awesome. It was a pretty cool day, however, so let's get back to it.

Beautiful sunrise this morning

I finally saw the ducks in the pond

The line showing how tall each column will be

Halil doing some more painting

Plates for the end of the columns

Measuring everything again

Taking the beam to be cut

Bekir trying to cut by hand

The awesome new steel saw

The sunrise this morning was lovely, so much so I went back upstairs to get a picture. While I was up there I saw the ducks in the pond for the first time. I have been told they've been in loads but I just haven't seen them. The men were in on time and made a start on laying out the lines for the top of the roof, or rather where the top of the columns will go to. We now have a string running along showing that. They headed out to get some supplies and when they got back they did some more painting of the steel which will go along the top of the columns. Then it was out again to get some more metal to use as plates top and bottom of the I beams. With that done they measured everything again multiple times to make sure they had it right then Bekir got the big metal cutter and they started to cut the first of the beams. The cut was not straight and no one was happy with that so I sent them out again to go and buy a proper steel saw and when they got it back it was such an improvement. They were able to cut things very much quicker, and also dead-square. By the end of the day they had cut all but one of the columns for this side of the roof and they did that in about an hour. So much faster!

A juicy burger for dinner

The sky was so clear tonight

As I said this evening I went for dinner with Dincher. We had a lovely time sat out eating, drinking and chatting. Afterwards I walked home in the dark and tried to take some star photographs which look much better on my phone than here. Oh well.

So there you are; a good day indeed. Thanks for reading and back tomorrow.