That Sinking Feeling

It's been a very good day today, the sun has shone and lots has got done.

Trampoline time before school

A large delivery of sand and stones

Halil preparing the wood

Framework taking shape

Egg in a Cup for lunch

Before school (and work for me) after Angela got her ready I had a great time on the balcony with Rosie with her bouncing and then going on her slide that I told her was about to be retired. The joy she had led me to only taking down the swing (which she really can't fit in) and now the slide is on the grass but more of that later. Before the men arrived the delivery of sand and stones turned up which was good. When the men did turn up they got stuck into the task for today which was making the sink (hence my lovely pun title). This was being made with cement so they built a framework of old wooden shuttering and then bent in steel for reinforcement. After an opportunity to get into the art room in the morning Angela made Egg in a Cup for lunch which we ate together on the patio. Very lovely.

Angela drives Maisie for the first time

Rebar in place

Mixing cement in the hot sun

Starting to put it all together

Hosing down the mixing area

A sink is taking shape

After lunch Angela took Maisie for a test drive around the block and had a great time; she was able to get her phone connected to the bluetooth, which I'd failed to do, and we also got the memory settings for the seats all sorted out. After that she headed back out to do some shopping and look for a new car seat to go in Maisie. Bekir and Halil were still at it with the sink, and had pretty much finished the framework so Halil mixed up a load of cement which was hot work in the sun. They carefully poured it, making sure the rebar was correctly positioned, and then Halil tidied up. The sink is looking really good, not too high and big enough to fit our largest watering can fully inside it.

Louise in the shade, Thelma in the sun

Rosie in her new car seat

Slide set out on the grass

Rosie sheltering from "pretend rain"

After work I went to see the men and saw Thelma and Louise on the lawn showing how sisters can be so different; one in the shade, the other in the sun. Angela sorted out the car seat she had purchased while I played with Rosie in the garden on her slide and then we went and got it fitted into Maisie and Rosie tested it out. It looks great, and is good that now we have a seat in each car so it makes it much easier to get around, and less likely to go out and forget a seat. Talking of slides this is now where the slide is situated, out on the grass and Rosie slid and slid and slid for ages. Fun times. She also got her umbrella so she could shelter from "the pretend rain" and kept sharing it with me. She's got such a great imagination!

Rosie's new flowers

The peas, and a sunflower

Tomatoes growing well

More seedlings growing

Melon (I think) and celery (I think?)

Kale, lettuce and more sunflowers

And now a bonus section. The garden is really starting to come into itself now as Angela has planted loads of stuff out in the new raised beds which just look amazing. I think that Angela did a load of work in with the spuds the other day as well but I don't have a picture of that; I'll grab one for tomorrow.

Flags flowering and looking lovely

Tortoise garden continues to deliver

Common daisies, but beautiful

Finally a few pictures of flowers from the garden. Rosie has got in the habit of asking me to take pictures of flowers as she loves looking at them and I love taking them so here you go. It's really nice to see the Flags flowering however this is all that have flowered this year; hopefully once we've finished with all the garden work and they aren't disturbed for a few years they'll come back strongly.

There you are; a longer update than I anticipated but it's been such a day of sun and fun. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Long break, and then the men return

It has been a very long break indeed since the last update and, of course, there are hundreds of pictures that have been taken in the intervening time. I'm not going to do my usual full update, however, as there's just way too much to go over.

Rosie plants her lovely little daffodil bulb

The dryer collapsed on Angela

Bekir fixed it up though

Rosie flying her kite

Angela mowing the top bank

Rosie sat on the bus stop bench

Dug out ready for spuds

Building an epic sand castle

Exploring the top corner

To briefly sweep over a large chunk of time, however, here are nine pictures bringing some highlights out. Rosie helped plant a daffodil which has since bloomed with many lovely flowers and has now died back. Angela had the newest dryer land on her head as it fell out of the ceiling and Bekir came past for a very quick repair job to get it re-situated. Rosie and I went onto the back bank to fly the kite and got so annoyed with the thorn bushes tangling the string (though she did very well with it as you can see) that the next day Angela to Mo the Mower up and cut it all back. Mo is amazing, I used him again today to cut the entire front garden and was done in less than an hour. Anyway, Rosie and I have been for lovely walks, I've dug out an area in the fenced garden for spuds (which are now sprouting very nicely) and Rosie has made lots of sandcastles in the sand pile over the weeks. I also got to take her for an explore around our land to the corners we don't get to much and she had a lovely time doing that.

Very excited before the circus

An awesome performing racoon

Very large snake

Rosie helping with the spinning plates

Acrobatics time

A kangaroo or a wallaby

Angela and Rosie head off

Before Angela and Rosie headed off for their holiday to visit with Angela's parents we went to the circus that came to our town and what a wonderful decision that was. We had a truly superb time, Rosie loved it and she got so involved and excited at every animal and performance. She even got into the ring to help with the spinning plates trick! How proud were we! At the break she got to ride on the little Shetland pony as well and frankly it was just the best decision ever. A truly marvellous time. Too soon, however, they were packed up and in the car and heading to the airport to go for their trip, leaving me on my own with the puppies.

Meet Maisie the Mercedes

New shelves up, and tidying in progress

Christmas present finally hung

So many thistles

So much water!

While they were away I bought a really nice new car that is very lovely to drive, I spent a fair while tidying the workshop and putting new shelves up and also hung some pictures including this awesome Christmas present. I got out to the front lawn and dug two wheelbarrows full of thistles out which was very tiring but very satisfying and also we had a huge storm come through that caused more flooding which was stressful. I was also a bit unwell most of the time they were away and I was very happy when they came home again last week.

Angela and Rosie meet Maisie

Bubble lawn mower in action

Mowing the back bank

Out for a drive with Rosie

An awesome village sink

Rosie on the climbing frame

Finally they did return and were very excited to meet Maisie (the new car). Rosie helped me mowing the lawn, with her bubble mower, and I got the back bank done which I can't do with Mo the ride-on as it's too steep. This past weekend we had a lovely time as I took Rosie for a drive and we found a lovely park with and awesome water fountain and then yesterday we went to our favourite restaurant and had a lovely time in that park also.

And so we're caught up. And that was me being quick.

Bekir and Halil are back and working

Digging out foundations for our new sink

Pouring cement into the foundations

Planning the next day

Lots of sandcastles and evidence of much fun

Rosie with some daisies

Today the workmen were back and the first task they have this year is to replace the rickety standpipe (fitted so many years ago now when I first ever arrived here to stay) with a full sink and multiple tap arrangement, plus a proper inspection door to allow access to the water meter and other stop valves rather than the damp and horrible pit we currently have. They have done a fair bit today and tomorrow should start with the actual plumbing and building the walls with blocks. It is good to have them back and get these tasks outside begun. After school (and after I did another quick mow of the lawn on Mo) I played with Rosie in the sandpit for the final time before another load of sand is dumped tomorrow. Rosie was most excited by all the daisies that are growing up by there and it was a lovely after school time.

And there it is; I'll be back to regular daily updates tomorrow that will be much shorter. Thank you for reading!