Weather-proofed

Thursday 27 Feb 2014

There's some big rain coming in the next few days, so we made a major effort and worked a full 9-5 day without siesta or long tea breaks to get the wall as weatherproofed as we can.  Three mixes on the wall, Dave doing the large areas, then me taking over to do the top bale ends and the fiddly bits between the joists.  But it is done, second coat full coverage on the tallest wall.  Still bits of second coat to do on the west face, but the weather's not coming from that direction, and we'll have to deconstruct and rebuild the scaffolding over on that side, so it's been left to last.  Then we start the third coat.

But we've also decided that it is time to get a proper working kitchen area, and as my Mum gave us a cash injection for my birthday, we''re going to go ahead with laying a floor in the 15 sqm to the east of the stairs.  We've sourced some nice creamy terracotta tiles from Crete that aren't too expensive and we've talked to Neil, a brick and tile-laying friend, so we're set to start on this project next.  A kitchen and pantry area is slightly more urgent than the east wall, as the flies will be back as soon as the weather warms up, and we need a proper kitchen sink and the cooker from the camper van.  So we have to clear furniture out of the space, dig out the floor area about 10 centimetres down, lay a limecrete slab, buy the tiles and call Neil in.  While also getting coat three of plaster on the external walls.  Roll on March!

Visit to Paris' Studio

Wednesday 26 Feb 2014

The Art Party took a field trip to Paris's studio in a tiny corner at Lin and Pete's lovingly hand-built house in Neohori.  Lots of fun, examined the new works, especially love the elephants!  Then visited Rowan and Paris' tree house camp site on their land next door, and did some sketching.

Paintings by Paris Foot: http://newbloodart.com/artist/629/paris-foot
 

Bale ends and a surprise pie

Sunday 23 Feb 2014

Work goes on, but the weather isn't kind to us.  Even on days forecast for fine weather it gets drizzly and we wash out all the gear and retreat under cover.  I'm trying to get at least one space in the wood frame lathed every day that we're rained off the outside, but it is tempting to huddle away in our bedsitter and have the heating on.

Dave keeps plastering his way round and up the walls, and I'm getting on with the bale end section.  As Dave needs the scaffolding (two buckets of mortar, a hawk, two trowels and a water spray bottle can't be worked off a ladder) I'm dangling off the ladder with a bucket of straw-lime filler.  Any higher than this and I'll have to wait for Dave and the scaffolding to get round to here.

And the surprise was a gift of gluten-free flour from Amanda's mum (sent in a parcel to Amanda) which inspired us to ask Robbie and Sue to make pasties for Dave - as he's been conspicuously bereft when we're all eating them.  The first attempt wouldn't stick together well enough for pasties, so Sue came up with this pie - all for Dave.  He's a very happy bunny.

Taking Down the Tarps

Friday 21 February 2014

Another little milestone - Dave judged it would be okay to take down the tarpaulins, we had a few days clearish weather due, and it is so much easier to work without the tarps, especially working at height on the scaffolding.  So down they came - at last we can see how the house will look with the plaster on.  It is still very patchy, as we are working a bit at a time.  Dave does a section, then leaves the scaffolding in position until it has dried enough to be sponged, then moves the tower, does the same again.  It is a slow process, but tends to fit in with sporadic rain and aching limbs.

 Taa Da!  Exposed to the world - it looks almost like a proper house from this direction

 Dave at work by the music room door.  You can see the lines of filler over the first coat in the area over his head.

 Second coat full coverage over the back north wall - low and uninterrupted - this is the easy bit to plaster

 I've started on this end section, having spent some time trying to decide how to deal with it.  It is where the east wall will join on - but we didn't want to leave the bale ends exposed.  We could just leave sailcloth and polythene over it, but it would be a worry.  Since there's no reason not to have lime plaster in the middle of a wall, I thought we could stuff and fil the bale ends, while leaving the ladder frame exposed for attachment later.  I think it will work ,,,

A well-earned break. 

And another party!

Wednesday 19 Feb 2014

On Tuesday we were back at work on the house, but on Wednesday it was our usual Art Party meeting, but as a special treat we'd asked Rowan's girlfriend Paris to come and teach us how to use oil paints.  Paris is a practising artist, with works for sale on the internet:  http://newbloodart.com/artist/629/paris-foot which we love, so it was all very exciting.  Rowan's sister Cherry was at home for a visit and she came too - having worked in the art world painting in oils since she left college (including a period working for Damien Hirst).  So we were in exalted company.

A lovely day, which started off with home-made muffins from Jessica to celebrate my birthday, a long session getting colourful, and finishing off with a glass of sparkly wine and our own private view of our still lifes.

 Mmm, blueberry muffins

 From left: Jessica, Cherry, Amanda and Paris

 What a wonderful, messy table

 Our (unfinished) still life paintings - not a bad morning's work

 Mine - a first foray into oils, some bits I like, but that horizon line on the left has to go - I stuck it in by accident!

Still Partying

16 and 17 February 2014

Our recovery day from the wedding party ran seamlessly into my birthday on Monday, a couple of nice days of walking and relaxing.

 Anemones rioting in our field

 Birthday morning breakfast in the sunshine, Dave was treating me special and had rustled up smoked salmon and scrambled eggs, which he was keen to get on with, while I wanted to take photos!

 So I took this hurried auto-shot of us off a tilting wheelbarrow - I've barely sat down, no second chances, the eggs were getting cold!

 Dave looking deservedly smug!

Later on, a walk exploring the coastline around Ammousa bay near Vasilliki.  Further down the road we cut off into the undergrowth on that little headland in the photo and got lost in thorn thickets when the paths ran out.

Quite Big Fat Greek Wedding Party

Saturday, 15 February 2014

Well, we finally got round to it.  Not quite one year after the actual ceremony in Scotland, we threw a party in Nidri for friends and family out here.  Lots of lovely people turned up, Robbie re-married us dressed as the Pope, Pete, Dave's brother, gave a moving and funny speech and Vinnie brought the house down as a bumbling best man.  Dave and the boys played, with unexpected input from Geoff and other Mark, so we danced the night away.  Lots of fun, Jessica and Spiros were wonderful hosts and put on a great meal.  We'd asked people to pay for their own food and drinks other than wine, and we put on the wine and entertainment.  As everyone here is in varying degrees living hand-to-mouth, people are willing to chip in as a party wouldn't otherwise be possible. 

 After setting up the gear - an iconic shot of Steamboat Rooster (and Colonel the dog) enjoying a last few moments of sunshine

 Bridesmaids need hats, but at Carnival time there's not much choice, so I had a pair of Brideswitches instead: (Jessica and Amanda from Art Party).  Even Dave was persuaded to put on a fluorescent bow tie and yellow braces.  Jessica's daughter also decided to be in the picture!

 The room starting to fill up.  In the end we had over a hundred guests, and had to cram them in wherever we could.

 The camera doesn't behave well over a distance, so the rest of the photos are poor.  Here's Robbie re-marrying us!

 And Pete, at the top table, rousing the crowd to recite 'Ooh ecky, do I have to?' - a phrase from Dave's childhood.  Embarrassing for him, hilarious for the rest of us.

 No photos of Vinnie's masterpiece, probably because everyone was laughing too hard to lift a camera.  On with the band, everyone dancing, with musicians interchanging all night just having fun.

Lime Plaster for Straw Bale - technical stuff

Friday 14 February 2014

It may be Valentine's day, but work goes on as usual.  We thought we'd put in a post about the technical stuff, for anyone out there who is interested, and to help us remember ...!  We have read various books on the right mixes to use, and each one has its opinion.  This is what is working for us.  It has stayed on so far - and survived quite a significant 'quake, but in a year or two we'll be in a better position to know for sure.

First coat:  Extra sticky and squished hard into the bale surface.  1 part Lime Putty (obtained here in bags at every stone yard, ready for use) to 2 parts Sharp Sand.  Quite a firm mix with water.  Best applied with a wooden float apparently, but we can't get them here - should not be 'polished' with a metal float, apply rough, then sponge with water when nearly going off. (Anything from two days to a few hours, depending on temperature and humidity).

Filler: We use this over the first coat.  Where the plaster has been pushed well into the bales, there are significant dips between courses or in stuffed gaps.  By plastering first we expose these dips, and get a good covering for weather protection, then we can take our time to find and fill indents and level up corners, etc.  Use same 1:2 mix of lime and sand, a little wetter.  Half fill a bucket then add handfuls of chopped straw stirred in by hand like mixing flour into eggs until the consistency can be formed into a ball in the hand - see photos below:

 Bucket of mixed plaster - 1:2 lime to sand

 A handful of straw chopped in a metal bin using a strimmer, part shredded, with some remaining long pieces - long pieces can be pulled out.  This makes a good sticky filler, as the fibres are small, so it is good for shallow indents, smoothing corners or topping up an indent.

 A handful of straw chopped by hand with a knife - makes a more bulky filler, better in deep gaps, but less good for making a smooth join with surrounding plaster

 The straw is stirred into the plaster by hand (rubber gloves essential as lime is very drying for the skin.  Do not get it in eyes - wash immediately in running water).  Keep stirring in until the mix gets difficult to manipulate

 A good ball of straw filler - nice and firm. Work in the hand like a snowball to bring the lime to the surface, then splat onto the wall and rub in firmly by hand.

Allow filler to dry, then apply second coat.  No need to sponge the filler as the straw pieces make a good key.

Second coat:  One part Lime Putty to three parts Sharp Sand, add water to a spreadable consistency, not too wet.  Add half a part of cut straw in handfuls as the mix is mixing.  Apply to wall.  Sponge when nearly gone off.

Third coat: Same as the second.  Then apply ideally three coats of limewash (top coat optionally with pigment of your choice added).  Limewash is lime putty mixed with water to the consistency of milk, slopped on with a paintbrush.  Take great care of your eyes.

Back boxes

Thursday 13 Feb 2014

While Dave does his best to put the second coat on under difficult conditions ...

 
... I've been making plywood holders for the electrics back boxes.  Tomas the electrician had originally brought standard back boxes as used in concrete, but as we explained the issues of our weird house, he came up with a better type of box, and suggested plywood plates to hold them.  They go in very firmly, which is excellent.  In the concrete apartment where I lived in Nidri, several of the wall sockets would pop out of the wall when you pulled a plug, as the concrete eroded around the fitting.  Not a good thing.  So we're very hopeful that these back boxes will fit strongly in the ply, as they have a couple of screw fittings that clamp onto the wood.  It's going to be a long job, fitting them all, especially as some walls aren't yet built, but Tomas was very laid back about it - just let me know when you're ready and I'll come back, he said.

So when we're rained off plastering, we have lathing and back box fitting to do:

 

A tricky spot for a double socket fitting, in an olive-wood corner.  Eventually the wall will be plastered, covering the plywood, but not the olive wood.

At the bottom of the stairs this wall will have two light switches (upstairs and down), a wall light on the plywood top right and a double socket at ankle level, bottom left.  (How scruffy our building site-house looks in this photo!)

Pasties on Patsy

Monday 9 February 2014

We were down at the pontoon checking the boat, and found Robbie and Sue on his boat 'Patsy Jean', making cornish pasties - the boat version of a cottage industry.  Dave can't eat them, which cut to the quick, but I took a couple.  Great lunch food, all home-made and full of meat and veggies.  Will have to ask them to try gluten-free flour ...

At Leisure

Saturday 8 Feb 2014

The rain continues to drizzle, so we do a mix of plaster a day and then get rained off.  Making the mix, peeling back the relevant tarpaulins, doing a square metre or so and then cleaning the mixer, the barrow, all the plastering tools and reinstating the tarpaulins is heartbreaking, for such a small area of coverage achieved. 

So when we heard Mad Robbie and Sue were organising a walk on Saturday we were keen to get away from it all, but the electrician was due a return visit.  In the event, he only stayed a few hours, fitted the fuse box, and left, just in time for us to put drizzle gear on and join Robbie, Sue, Pete, Edna and two dogs for a stiff uphill walk behind the waterfalls.

 Reaching the top, where the track we walked meets a little road

 Robbie had brought tea things, so we had a brew as it was only drizzling a little bit, 

and we are British

 This is the fabulous plane tree that marks the top of the track

The next day, despite aching legs, we gave it another go.  The weather had perked up, and Pete and Ed fancied a walk, so we showed them our headland circuit near Dessimi, with views over to Vlicho and down the Meganissey channel.  Lovely walk.  Very wobbly legs after.  We've been very active with the work we do, but it isn't the same as walking, as we rapidly found out.

Chicken alert

Saturday 8 Feb 2014

Woke up to find there'd been some serious digging in the night, almost certainly something trying to get in, but just possibly the chicken planning an escape - she was looking suspiciously nonchalant ...

Dave cleverly put hidden wire underfoot in the coop, so no worries there ...

Making the bed

Tuesday 4 Feb 2014

Tomas the electrician came back on Tuesday with a couple of friends and romped through the rest of the house.  Dave had gone out to band practice, while I stayed and answered the queries - they've been very good about asking how we want things and making a good job of it - but now they just needed to get on, so I took myself off to the bedsitting room and installed some legs on the bedframe.   We had dismantled the bedframe to fit it into the camper van, and the legs got used for something, so I made new ones out of great four-inch square blocks.  It is slightly high, but mostly stable.  Nice to have the mattress off the floor at last.

Electric Atmosphere

Monday 3 February 2014

A long-anticipated day!  The electrician arrived and started putting in wires.  Drilling holes everywhere so we've got even more sawdust in unexpected places.  The wires are very ugly, spoiling our nice wooden house, but we're thrilled nonetheless.

 Day one: the kitchen/bathroom-to-be

 the music room

and the entry

In between answering queries and explaining how the walls were going to be, we got on with more plastering (of course).