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29 December 2014

Our trip back from Thessaloniki airport was through blizzards, gales and lashing rain.  At one time the bus was crawling along behind a snow plough and I thought we might be stranded, but eventually we left the snow behind and arrived home in the cold and dark.

Next morning we found that Robbie hadn't been joking, and the camper truck had disappeared ...

 ... leaving the shed on its lonesome and ...

 ... stacks of rubbish to be sorted ...

...and decking to be dismantled for reuse as the terrace outside the kitchen door.

So we went down to George's for some home cooking, and Sue produced a Christmas Pudding and various people turned up at random and it was all very pleasant.

Merry Christmas to all, and may everything good happen for you in 2015 xxx

More Travel

20 - 27 Dec 2014

Then we were off again, around the UK, seeing rellies and staying for Christmas:

North West: Blustery walk, the morning after the wedding: Dave P, Ann, Dave, Me, Nick, Dad - Mike taking the photo

 North East: Tea shop escape from blustery walking - with Pete, Clive, Dave and Janette

 Dave's sister Linda's parrot.  A lively character.

 Grandson Leo, making friends with his absentee Grandad

 South East - Surrey sunburst in the pine woods.

 Christmas Day, an unexpected visitor in the shape of Griffin the Harris Hawk, who came with Oliver

 Best Man and Newly Weds - decorating the Groom!

The Wedding

Friday 19 December 2014

My son George married Philly in a wonderful ceremony they had written themselves and largely made everything involved - the flowers, the confetti, the food, the dress - it was fantastic and touching and amazing.  Here are a small selection of photos:

On our travels

14 December 2014

We have cheap flights from Thessaloniki, but the bus from Lefkas only runs twice a week, so we set off on Sunday for a flight on Tuesday, taking in Greece's second city for a day.  It was interesting, but the weather was so foggy, we didn't see much:

But we enjoyed exploring.

 

 After the flight and a visit to Rob, we arrived in Liverpool, where Dave finally got to see the 'Gormley's' - an installation sculpture stretching the length of Crosby Beach, a series of bronze men staring out to sea.  Not under water this time.

Farewell, Camper Truck

12 December 2014

With only a few days left before we go to the UK, we managed to finish the second coat of plaster on the new East wall.  As I plastered my way down the corner join with the North wall, it started to rain, and Dave quickly raised the tarpaulins as I finished in the drizzle. So no photo of the completed plaster!

I've done a lot of this plastering as it has turned out more efficient to apply by hand (in rubber gloves).  Application by trowel makes a smooth-ish finish that then has to be sponged when it is almost but not quite dry.  Application by hand gives an rough finish that is ready-keyed for the next coat.  I also enjoy the process of filling dips and troughs with short-straw lime filler - moulding corners and surfaces to create the planes I want.  It's very sculptural and great fun.

 While we are away, Mad Robbie and Sue have offered to get the camper van removed, in exchange for it's scrap value, which we are very thrilled about.  We would love to get this whole area cleared up, and the van has become an eyesore.  It won't ever go again, the electrics are rat-chewed, something grotesque smells inside, and half the tyres are flat.  We wish Robbie and Sue very good luck, but don't really believe they'll succeed.

Waiting for the Weather

Week 2, December 2014

More waiting for the weather so we can get the second coat finished.

 By Monday 8th we had completed all the left hand side, with only the top quarter on the right and the bit that curves round to join the north wall still to do.  But the rain continues.

 Tuesday is intermittently drizzly, but I couldn't stay indoors any longer and tackled cutting back the undergrowth that was threatening to overwhelm the shed.  We have to disconnect the water from the old camper van and Dave will need access through the brambles.

 While in the area of the shed, I noticed that our dozy lemon tree was producing fruit.  Last time it only managed one lemon, so this was a major improvement.

The next day it was sunny, and I restrung the washing line that Dave had chainsawed down while olive pruning, and hung out the first wash on it.

Second coat plaster

1st week December 2014

We are off to the UK on 16 Dec for George's wedding, and we want to have the second coat of plaster completed on the east face before we leave.  We will have tarpaulins over the wall, but we might return to find them shredded, so the plaster is essential.

 Monday, Dec 1st - all window frames membraned, and second coat plaster across all ladder-reachable areas.  But then it rained.

So I whitewashed the new internal wall in the studio, and fitted shelves.  Then I unpacked all my books and paints and settled in.  Lovely.

Studio build

Week 24 - 30 Nov 2014

With the weather not nice enough for sustained outdoor work, I've been trying to get the studio put back together.  Dave has been focused on getting in wood stores, ready for the winter, and making me plaster mixes on demand, so I've pottered along, finishing off the details, plastering the internal wall and making worktops and the sink surround.

 This is the curved wall, after plastering, I'm quite pleased with it.  The skirting board still needs to be sanded and painted, but the plaster looks good.  This is the prototype for the eventual bathroom wall, and seems to be okay.

 So that we can easily put guests up in the studio - which is after all, our spare bedroom - I've been constructing these fancy gatelegs for the main worktop, so it will fold away to fit a bed in under the window.  If only all the wood - mine and the house frame - was square and level and generally straight, it would be so much easier.

 In case you were worrying that we do nothing but work, here's a pic of Dave and I at a birthday party on Saturday night ...

 and Dave and Spiros getting into the swing of it.

 Back in the studio - the gatelegs extended and back baton fitted.  The 20mm ply tops are downstairs getting a coat of varnish

 The internal wall - plastered and ready for more shelves, possibly after a coat of limewash.  You can clearly see the new, still damp (pinky) plaster compared with the dryer (white) sections.  The big difficulty with the studio is that all my boxes of creative stuff need to be shuffled round from corner to corner depending on where I need clear space.

The sink corner, plywood structure ready to be cut out and one of the sinks from the camper van fitted - when Dave has a moment to disconnect it, and plasterboard for tiling to protect the bale wall from water splashes.

Mini Bale-Raising (kitchen door)

Sunday 23 Nov 2014

Pete and Nim came back for the micro bale raising, and we started the day by posing in the little alcoves created by the wood structures ready for the bales.

 Naomi and Pete ready for action - under a slight misapprehension about nice clean bales!

 Me and Dave, rather more scruffy, expecting mud and plaster

 Nim and Pete took on the bale splitting - the cleanest job, while Dave and I clay-slip painted and lugged muddy bales into the frame - cut to require a certain amount of 'persuading' into place.  

 Dave giving it some with the 'Persuader'

 Later that day - all bales in position - only six used - and two part bales left over even so.  Plastering in full swing, while Dave fits the door drip-lip.

Taa-daa!  East wall fully built and first coated, window frames in, all ready for the second coat (although the weather is changing again, so it won't be for a few days). Time to huddle in the nice warm music room and feed sausage and mash to the workforce.

Window Frames

Saturday 22 Nov 2014

Rowan is off to the UK for a couple of months tomorrow, and he had promised to make our window frames before leaving, so that we can get a good second coat of plaster up tight to the frames before we go away too.

 Just when we were wondering if Rowan would be able to make the frames in time, we got the call, and Dave went to pick up them up.

 We fished out the roll of waterproof, breathable membrane we had stored since last year, and found these nice little cob insect houses just inside it.  Probably wasp larvae.  Rowan flicked them into the undergrowth.

 The first windows go in - always a wonderful moment!

 This is the little arched window.  On the inside there is a diagonal strut that would have made this a very small square window, so I asked Rowan if he could construct an arch.  He loves a challenge.  It is in fact five tiny straight sections, but it looks arched to me.  I'm hoping to get some stained glass in this one, to catch the morning light.

All the windows in and membraned - lovely psychedelic colours!  Dave was building the ladder frames for the kitchen door, all ready for tomorrow's mini-bale-raising.

Curved walls

Friday 21 Nov 2014

A day of fixing walls.  First the installation of base frames for the bales outside the kitchen on the east wall.  Dave constructed little ladder frames, which I leveled and fixed, then packed out with stones, gravel and mortar to give a firm foundation. They make quite nice little seats, in the morning sunshine.

Then I moved indoors, and worked some more on the internal wall to the studio.  I had used the rainy days last week to do a lot of woodwork on this wall, especially where it meets the ceiling - we know now that any little gaps or holes will attract solo wasps and bees, and I'd rather they chose somewhere else.  So the rafter needed to be boarded in, and stuffed with insulation (old pillow inners) and clever ways of fixing laths from the wrong side devised , and little bits of wood cut to fit various gaps and shapes in the roof trusses.  In all, it was taking a long time.  I also wanted to see if I could make a wall that turned a right angle inside (for shelves) but showed a nice curve on the outside.  The pic below shows my solution - laths running vertically.  Will see how it looks once plastered.

For this little wall I tried to use up all the short offcuts lying around the place, they're all different widths and thicknesses but it's better to use them than keep them lying around.

Various jobs

Thursday 20 Nov 2014

Having been rained off for a few days, we found that the chimney was leaking around the hole in the roof.  Dave very concerned, in case any of that water was making its way into the bale wall, so as soon as possible, we were off to Lefkas for a roll of flashing to do the job properly ourselves.

 An over-the-top (hopefully) fix for the roof.  Impossible to get a neat flashing kit like you would in the UK.  Fingers crossed this will work.

 In the mood for general improvements, Dave then decided it was finally time to run the hot water down to the house, since we had found the length of pipe we didn't know we had.  Up till now we have only had hot water in the shed, where the shower still is, and the washing machine.  We will eventually relocate the 'water-hotter' nearer to the house, but that involves moving the solar panels onto the roof - it's one of those domino jobs that could take weeks and money we don't have, so we'll make do with a long pipe for now.  It just means that we'll waste hot water lying in the pipe.

 Meanwhile, I was back in the hole outside the kitchen - the wall was now at chest height while standing in the cellar space, so I thought it best to put the terrace back before topping off the wall and installing the base frames.  

 The terrace needed to be partly deconstructed to make it shorter, and then each plank cut to fit around the protrusions and indents of the stones.  This involved some imaginative work with the jigsaw and took rather longer than expected, but at least we can walk out through the kitchen door again.