Cleaning

Welcome back, and to a very short blog today.

Channelling for the cabling

I had a very busy start to the day with work, getting to lunch nearly without even leaving my desk and seeing the workmen; I could hear them, however, as they were still scraping away removing old paint and loose plaster. After lunch I went with Bekir to the builders merchant to buy a load of materials for the project and when I get back I rushed to a meeting and during this meeting they were drilling channels for cables; it was quite funny as they stopped just as my meeting stopped.

Spraying down the walls

All washed clean

Once they had stopped drilling and scraping they got the hosepipe out and wet down all the walls and swept the water outside, removing all dust and dirt from the area. This was a very wet process but it seems to have worked well. By the time I left to go to our garage taking the house generator with me (with Rosie as well, who likes a good road trip) they were just starting to do some mixing of sand and cement but I'm not sure how much they did of it as they were gone by the time I got back.

Rosie's playroom tidy station

Rosie also benefited today from some tidying as Angela found an awesome toy tidy in Lidl.

So there it is; hopefully more in the update tomorrow but for now I'm done.

Thanks for reading.

The men return

 After a longer than expected break, but not an unwelcome one, today the workmen were back which was great.

Marrows to turn into jam and curry

Plane flies over on my way to the airport

Very fast train home

Rosie the cheeky

This could be a super long update, of course, as I've taken many pictures in the intervening weeks however I'm going to resist that and stick to today other than saying we've both been in the garden making good progress clearing and improving it, I had a successful business trip to Germany, and Rosie is growing every day into a cheekier and more intelligent and wonderful child.

Early start before sunrise

The day's progress

And here comes the sun

So to today; I was up very early as I'm setting my alarm three times a week to get up before the sunrise and do some garden work; it's been so hot that this is the only time it is really plausible to do it, and also it means I don't lose time with Rosie. Today I finished down the side of the drive, I have the corner by the Green Building to do and then I'll start clearing up past the chicken house and to the top bank. It's slow but satisfying work with my hand sickle.

Sally surveys the task at hand

Bekir gets stuck in

A whole lot of scraping going on

Very dusty work

Bekir working on the electrics

Halil doing some channelling

I had just settled back down to work after breakfast when the workmen arrived which was great; they got ready and got stuck in to the next job, which is clearing out and mending the front entrance room - this will become our gardening tool storage room when it is completed, with shelves on each side and probably hidden behind doors or curtains. It was a day of hammering and scraping as they took the old paint and plaster off the walls and then some electrical work, Bekir replacing wiring done by my mate Steve six years ago! It was a productive first day and hopefully the momentum will continue to get everything done before winter. We have also had a quote for all the glazing work, around the balcony and the open porch, which came in "affordable" if not cheap.

Tyres in the garden

After work I got time with Rosie in the garden, and even got to dig the third tyre in - only one more to go now.

It has been a good day, it's great to have the men back and good to get back to blogging again. I'll be back tomorrow with another update.

Last day before a break

Hello again, Friday reaches us and this will be the last update for a couple of weeks at least as the men are taking a break from work. So get your fix now; I probably won't be updating until they are back.

A beautiful start to the day

Passing up the hosepipe

Sally in charge of hosepipe support

Bekir on electrics and wood duty

Sweeping and cleaning the balcony again

Everyone on the rug with books

Cleaning the main part of the balcony

Roundup going into action again

The day started off absolutely glorious; warm but not too warm with a nice breeze. I snapped a picture while on the balcony watering the olive trees. The men were in and at work on some peripheral tasks for the balcony; Sally and Halil washed off the roof while Bekir worked on the shuttering that has been left from the old roof. Next Sally and Halil did a proper clean of all the balcony, removing the rubbish from the drains and then taking down the old pipes that were getting clogged with muck; we'll replace these with open metal guttering that can be more easily cleaned. Angela had been out to get a few things in the morning with Rosie, including cable for Bekir which Rosie carried home and then handed to him personally, and then it was nap time but after that Angela took her onto the rug on the front garden again with her books. I was at my desk but could hear them having a lot of fun. The men were still on with cleaning with Halil scrubbing down the balcony and Bekir grabbed the pump to do more round up.

Putting shelves up in Rosie's bedroom

Bad pipes removed for now

New pipes for the balcony roof

Badly position drain is moved

Bekir and Rosie - best of friends

Halil and Bekir fitting the new pipes

Pipes all done

After the roundup Bekir came in and fitted the three small shelves in Rosie's bedroom which was another little task that was waiting to be done. Meanwhile Sally had continued removing the bad drainpipes around the balcony that were blocked and split so now all the drains empty onto the ground; but as I say we will replace these before winter I think. The next and final task for the day and this working session was to move the badly position downpipe which was draining onto the balcony and put it to drain down to the french drains directly. There was a lovely break at the end of my work day with all of us on the balcony together and Rosie and Bekir get on so well. After that I had some lawn time and some short pool time with Rosie before dinner and bed and now it's now.

So there we are; the outdoor work is done for now. When the men return we'll start on the entrance porch, gym and library I think (unless I decide that the mountain house is suddenly a priority - noisy weddings may influence here).

Thanks for reading. See you all in a few weeks.

Roof is done done

The update this evening is going to be short and sweet as it has been a simple day and I've not that much to go on about.

Flattening a section of metal

Sifting the sand

Working on the roof join

Mixing up cement

Bekir working on metal

Cementing the ridge tiles in place

Roundup on its way

Rosie with Sally

The task today was the get the roof finally done, not nearly done as it actually was yesterday. Bekir was working very hard to get all the metal in place, and there was also a lot of tiles being cut (I could hear the grinder going) all day. The other task for the day, once the metal edges were all fully in place, was to cement the ridge tiles and this was a task for Sally, with Halil bringing cement and tidying and sweeping otherwise. Once all the roof work was complete Bekir strapped his pump on his back and went around the whole land finding brambles and spraying them. Hopefully we will get on top of these. I am tempted to try and dig them out next year, though - chemicals aren't my favourite thing. At the end of my working day I had a lovely time in the pool with Rosie (she has been outside a lot today, sitting on a rug in the shade and being very joyful - it has been lovely to hear) and then we went onto the balcony for the very end of the working day.

And so that's it; short and sweet but it's great because now that roof is complete. Tomorrow will be the inside light fitting under the roof, the two downpipes from the new roof and the one round the corner, and then inside I hope before the men have their two week break.

Thanks for reading.

Tiling and tortoises

Hey another day done and after a stupidly late night last night and a very busy working day today guess what - I'm tired. A quick nap has helped so here goes and onwards.

Nearly blown over

Rosie playing with Thelma and Louise

Water from testing the drainage

Looking up from down in the valley

Halil with the table saw again

The storm the night before, and high winds, blew into the night and the music from the valley kept going after I rang the police; not ideal. I hope it won't be a bad year for stupid music. When I went out on the balcony in the morning I found that the ladder, left leaning against the roof, had blown nearly onto the floor - that would have been a big bang! Before the workmen arrived I did some silly filming for my YouTube including starting Thomas and the chainsaw, and Rosie had great fun playing with the puppies in the front of Thomas. When the men did arrive they were straight to work, first of all sorting out the drainage and ensuring the downpipes were perfect before it was time for me and Bekir to go to town for some chores and to pick up ridgetiles. When we got back Halil and Sally were on with the rest of the tiling, and Halil was using the table saw to chop some wood a few times.

Halil hammering, Sally stacking, Bekir sorting

Passing the ridge tiles up

Roof all done and looking great

Louise investigates the tortoise

The rest of the day was taken up with lots of roofing, and also Bekir did the electrics to put the light to the middle of the roof. I was on calls and therefore not able to get out to take many pictures but there was lots of noise of hammering all afternoon. After work, and a nap, and dinner, I took Rosie onto the lawn to give Angela a rest and we saw the sheep and then a medium sized tortoise walking along the front munching. Louise had a sniff and we stayed and followed it for a bit before heading back inside. I do love seeing tortoises just wandering around wild.

There you are; another day done and hopefully tomorrow they'll move on to the next tasks (though I still need the downpipe that drains onto the balcony to be moved so maybe not - we shall see). Thanks for reading.