Flat-packed frame

Thursday 27 September 2012

On Thursday we slept late, after all this wild behaviour, and in preparation for the final farewell gig tonight.  I staggered out to feed the livestock, while Dave enjoyed his Rock God lifestyle.

Megachuck rethinking her laying strategy: 

 'No cameras!'

Chickens examining the pond in our defunct dinghy.

As we were mildly curious why there had been no progress with the wood frame since last Saturday, I sent a text to Constantine, wondering if we were waiting for a wood delivery.  He answered yes, and it would arrive 'very very soon'.  Well, you don't take something like that too seriously round here, so I made tea and went back to bed.

A thundering down the track heralded a massive delivery lorry, only ten minutes later, so we flung on some clothes and went out to move the cars to let him through.  While watching the unloading, I text again, to say 'Wow!  THAT soon.'  He said he and Yianni would be back on site from tomorrow.  I said we would be out at the final gig tonight, and asked if they'd work quietly in the morning.  'We are always very shy at work', replied K.

Looking at the wood, we reckon everything we need is now here, including a massive long roof beam, ready-made t-bar supports and rough olive-wood corners.  Hurrah!  

 

 

 

Non-stop music

23 - 27 September 2012

Rob has decided to go back to the UK, and picked up a flight at short notice for Friday 28 Sept, so suddenly we are dropped into a whirlwind of farewell activity.

On Sunday the band were asked to play in the Roadhouse Rock Club.  Also on Sunday, Dave's sister and brother in law, Linda and Ian arrived for a two-week holiday on a late flight.  They made it in to the gig, for a short time.  We didn't leave till after 3 am.

On Monday it was lovely Mike's 70th birthday, still not looking a day over 55, and overwhelmed by the number of people who turned up to wish him well.  (Sue wouldn't turn round for the photo!)  Mike had asked the band to play, so we didn't get home till 2 ish.

On Tuesday brother Pete announced he had found a very short notice flight to go home for the car and the dog before Edna arrived later in October, and would we drive him to Igoumenitsa. We were home after dark, with eyelids pinned open.

On Wednesday we all got together for a farewell family and friends dinner for Rob, followed by a visit to the Tree Bar for Rob to see his best mate Vicky.

 

The Hodge boys doing their best to look really miserable ...










... but it didn't last long! 
I couldn't bear to break this up too early, so another late night crept up on us.

Exciting developments

Saturday 22 September 2012

We were back in Nidri for Friday.  Dave's brother Pete, the one who survived the tornado last September 20th, has bought a boat to live on, with his wife Edna, and was bringing it back from France over the last couple of weeks.  He arrived on Regatta Thursday, the anniversary of the storm, and the only day we were too busy to go and meet him and escort him home from the lighthouse.

So on Friday we met up and had a meal and didn't get home until after dark.  So we were most surprised to be woken on Saturday morning by the arrival of Constantine with Yianni the woodworker, and to find that we had received a delivery of wood while away, that we hadn't noticed in the dark.

Yianni and Constantine leapt into action, while Dave and I drifted about rather aimlessly, unable to get on with our ditch or wall for fear of getting in the way. 

The wood was for the top of the plinth, and is screwed down with threaded bar, which is inserted into drilled holes with epoxy resin dribbled into them.  Not very eco, but necessary to meet the earthquake safety regs.  This then had to be left to go off before any more frame can be built.

The photo above and second below show the wood spanning the rounded corners of concrete.  We had a choice here whether to cut short pieces to make a better fit, or go with the cut corner, and make the frame open so that the room will extend through it into the rounded corner, like an alcove.  We decided on the latter - hope it was the right choice.

The top of this base layer of wood will be the internal floor level.

 

When the morning shift had departed, Dave got on with the drainage ditch, drilling holes in the pipe, and measuring it for cutting.

Relaxing Regatta

18 - 21 September 2012

Regatta is on Thursday 20th, but we've spent so little time in the boat so far this year that we didn't feel up to the intensity of racing.  Instead we pottered down to Sivota on Tuesday to help set up the stage - arriving fashionably late and not finding anything left to do.  We stayed the night, after a few beers with the band and assorted helpers, then took off early the next morning - after first bagsing a space on the quay close to the stage:

We had a lovely quiet day and night in our favourite 'one-yacht' bay, watching the goats and swimming, then darted back early to Sivota to experience the side of Regatta we never usually see ...

 Around 4 ish Robbie's Committee Boat arrived, amid handheld flares and Land of Hope and Glory blasted through loudspeakers.

 It listed its way ashore, and the party started in earnest.

Most of the band, lined up and ready to go.

 

Dave in full flow

The band in action.  Towards the end of the night, I had constituted myself Stage Security, as various random drunks wanted to wander up and talk to the band members.  So I sat on the ramp and barred the way.  Then Rob invited up some friends of mine up to dance on the stage, and they dragged me with them, protesting all the way that there were too many leads and things lying around.  And I promptly stepped on Dave's guitar lead and cut him off abruptly.  Oops, not good.  Rob laughed his socks off.

Track washout

Saturday 15 September 2012

Two days of heavy rain, and the track down to Goat Bottom is seriously washed out in places.  I drove up during a dry patch, going in search of stones for my wall, and realised I'd have to use the stones to fill up some of the erosion.

I filled the deeper gashes with rocks, while Dave fetched the pick and shovel and renewed the drainways.  I think the track will be a major problem this year.

Which reminds me that a few weeks ago there was a development in the track saga.  The brothers who own a field further down the track from us and who borrowed our piece of paper from the Town Hall to say our track was a legal donkeyway, have had an on-going battle in court with the man who owns the land where the track meets a metalled lane down the hill. He is refusing to open the road.  (He's the one who asked us and our vendor to pay 15,000 euros to open the road.  We refused, which is why we access from above).

I was stopped in town by Nikos, a mutual friend of ours and the brothers', who said they were going back to court and wanted us to pay half the legal fees.  I said to tell them we weren't bothered and definitely didn't want to pay any legal fees.  While there's no road there's no traffic.  We prefer it closed.

When I got back to the camper van, one of the brothers came by and asked me for a copy of my passport.  It's lucky I'd been primed, or I'd've wondered what this was about, due to the language difficulties.  I don't think I'd've just handed out a copy of my passport, and I definitely won't in the future, but I presume it was to give to the lawyer for him to chase me for eventual payment.  I wouldn't've known anything about it if Nikos hadn't warned me.

Archaeology

After all our concerns that we might find ourselves sited on Odysseus' Palace, we've found nothing.  Until Dave noticed this half amphora in the soil at the edge of the excavation.  It's been very large, but I don't think the digger has done it any favours.

Can you see?  It runs right over to the dark shadow on the right hand side.  I didn't put a size reference in the photo (oops) but it's over 30cm.  I may excavate it if I have time.

First rain

Friday 14 September 2012

And then the rains came.  A view of the site, showing how far I've got with the wall.  At the right end I've started building a little set of steps - another bit of frivolity, but maybe we'll be grateful for them later on.

 Chickens out inspecting the works:

 Dave's ditch in danger of silting up

 Clean gravel ready to go in the ditch.  Delivered by a maniac the day before.  I've never seen anyone throw a huge truck around the way this driver did.  He had these five bags unloaded in minutes, I was very surprised none of them went through the side of the zone.

 A little cat house I built in a hurry before the rain started.

Ditch Digging

Tuesday 11 September 2012

On Monday we went to Preveza for the results of the little gynacaeological operation I had two weeks ago, and everything was fine.  Probably not the best time to have taken up wall building, though!

On Tuesday, Rob came to help.  Dave had started digging out the drainage ditch that will surround the concrete foundation.  Concrete wicks up water, and it will dam any groundwater that comes up against it.  The answer is to install a 'French Drain' - a rubble trench with a pipe at the bottom.  The pipe has holes drilled in it and slopes away, so rain water is directed away from the site.

 Look, son, this is how you do it ...

Eggs

I'm going to stop boring you about eggs after this.  The funny thing is that Dave eats eggs for breakfast maybe five times a week.  I have a boiled egg perhaps once a weej.  Every time I have an egg, I get a double yolker.  Dave hasn't had one yet. 

Territorial issues

Saturday 8 September 2012

Megachuck is still struggling to lay eggs, but she won't be shifted from using the sofa as a nesting box.  If we're using it, she comes and clucks loud and repeatedly at us, our home's not our own any more.

Wall Update

5 September 2012

Rock on!  The wall is coming along.  And the alcoves look nice.

Bar Update

5 September 2012

For those of you interested in such things: Rob's bar has closed, amid acrimonious partnership disputes.  I blame myself for not having taken a tougher business approach to it, but then, it wasn't something I wanted to get too involved in.  It's taking a lot of mental energy and worry at a time when we should be all focused on our own plans, and it will cost us money we don't have to help Rob clear his debts.  Hey ho.

Harvest

Tuesday 4 September

The old pear tree that I've been peeing under all winter while the compost toilet struggled with power issues, has, for the first time, produced a reasonable crop of pears.  Just goes to show that all the poor old tree needed was a regular supply of nutrients.

Getting Ready

Monday 3 September 2012

We're now waiting for the wood frame and roof.  There is a very limited budget for this - all the money we have left might just do the whole job.  We asked Constantine if he could find out how much the wood and the skilled labour to put it together would cost, but he said that asking for an estimate implied a lack of trust, so he couldn't do it.  'What can we do?', as the Greeks say, with a shrug.  We're just hoping.  We have to have a roof covering on, otherwise the wood frame will be spoiled.

We don't know how long before they might make a start, but in the meantime, we now have a site that needs quite a lot of preparation, so we can be doing.  It's quite exciting to actually start interacting with our potential living space, after waiting for so long.

Dave took on clearing and brushing the top of the plinth, ready for the wood;

and I thought I'd see how much I could remember of the dry stone walling I did as a conservation volunteer 30 years ago.  Dry stone terracing in the Greek tradition is much easier than building a free-standing wall, so it went up very fast.  The only delay was in finding stone - we go out 'scrumping' for a van-load at a time.  Luckily there are plenty of places where earth has been dumped, presumably removed from other sites, so I reckon we're doing a favour to whoever has been paid to store the waste, as we're gradually making more room for them.

In a slightly frivolous vein, I decided to build an alcove into the wall, somewhere for a nightlight - for a dimly imagined future when there would be a house for guests to arrive at and be guided through the dusk by little lights set in the wall.  (These imaginings keep me going ...!  Dave thinks I'm weird.)