Snaking along

Saturday 22 March 2014

Lovely weather, so we walked down to Nidri to move the boat from its winter berth.  We go to the UK in about 10 days, so we have a list of 'must do before we go' jobs, and this was one.  The best bit about this walk was seeing this snake in the little stream of the short cut.

Completing the slab

20 March 2014

Nothing much to say - more shovelling and tamping and levelling.  Then it was done.  The chicken seriously considered walking through it, but changed her mind when we yelled at her.  The slab has a nice crinkly finish to provide a key for the tiles.  Now we wait to see if it is going to crack ...

In the evening, not a little worn out - Dave was playing, so we went out to DeVine Bar for Hosny the drummer's birthday.

Interested visitors

Thursday 20 March 2014

Work stalled for a long tea break the next day when Lesley, our friend from Lefkas town, turned up with three interested friends who were very keen to volunteer to help with anything we needed help with.  We took email addresses and promised to let them know when we were next bale raising.

Lucy, Lesley, Elke and Nanda - multinational potential eco-builders

Laying the slab

Wednesday 19 March 2014

Robbie and Sue turned up sharpish, and we set off ...

 Instruction from the master-mixer

 Going it alone

 First section started - a very large section this one, 150 cm to reach the position of the proposed internal wall between the pantry and the kitchen.

 ... and moving along

 Taking a break in the sun

 and in the shade

This was when we realised we were going to run out of lime at lunchtime, luckily still with time to bolt down to the stoneyard and arrange a delivery to keep us going through the afternoon.

 Third section of the day started

 Dusk - the workforce all out of work and force, but three sections completed during the day.  Only one left for Dave and I to do tomorrow.

Limecrete - the ultimate mix

Tuesday 18 March 2014

The test piece of Limecrete was showing a few cracks, nothing serious, but Dave decided to alter the mix, and we were ready to try the next section of floor.  We had asked Robbie and Sue to come and work the mixer for us on Wednesday, so we wanted everything ready for a full day on the morrow.

The mix was: 1 bag of lime to 3 sand and 3 gravel, as dry as possible.  This is a big mix for the mixer, so we emptied it in two separate loads so as not to flood the barrow, or make it too heavy to push up the ramp into the work area.

 We installed batons across the floor area to define about a metre width at a time so that we could level the limecrete with the side of a plank as it went in.

 The first floor section completed

Our bank of drills, ready to fix the next crosspiece.

 Early next morning, Dave cutting the wire that goes into the mix to help stabilise it

Baton and wire installed, no cracks in yesterday's section - all ready for the workforce to arrive.

A string of parties

16 March 2014

This post is about Dave's birthday, but couldn't resist this pic of Paul, who had his 60th birthday at Bill's Bar earlier this month, with his birthday cake on his head (courtesy of Lorna).

Dave's birthday is on St Patricks Day, but that was on a Monday this year, so the band played the yacht club for Ruairi and Vicky on Sunday ...

Which led us swiftly on to the actual birthday, for which I produced a favourite breakfast for Dave (who was not living up to his t-shirt) - steak and eggs!  (Protein overdose!)  Then we threw a garden party barbeque for a few friends (those who were free on a Monday afternoon) and we were lucky to have glorious warm weather into the early evening.

Still horsing around

15 March 2014

We still have Bella the horse, and Dave is getting a bit stressed.  We've had to move her off our land as there's little left to eat that is in range of her rope without being too close to small trees she might lean on too forcefully.  So she's in the field next door.  However, we've found she'll do anything for a carrot, so we are getting through lots of carrots.  Oh, and we've seen our first Bee Orchid of the year.

Test Site

Saturday 15 March 2014

Moment of truth - let's have a go at Limecrete.  The area under the stairs would be wasted on tiles, so we're just putting in a slab of limecrete to test out the mix, and see how it goes in.  The latter is my job, because it's one of those nadgery little jobs, poking the mix in under the lowest stair, which would drive Dave nuts.

Spring Chicken

14 March 2014

Walking around in the sunshine, I took a few photos - the house from down the slope, that sort of thing.  Then I spotted the chicken up to its neck in flowers, and the cat stalking it.

A day of acquisitions

Friday 14 March 2014

One of those days when everything happens at once.  We had to go into Lefkas, and enquired about the terracotta tiles, which happened to have arrived, although no-one had notified us - and the delivery van was leaving for Nidri in 5 minutes!  So we aborted the rest of our shopping and shot back to meet the van, stopping only to check the post office and find that our new *electric* kettle had arrived.  A very exciting development - we had found out that you can get low wattage kettles for caravans, so I traced a supplier who would deliver to Greece and Eureka! we can use our free electricity to make tea, instead of burning gas (a dangerous occupation in a straw house).

Sixteen square metres of Cretan terracotta tiles for the kitchen

Our fancy new low wattage electric kettle - feels nicely substantial and brews up to 4 cups of tea at a time.  Dave has marked two cupsworth on the side, so we don't waste any watts!

And a bit of hopeful planting - blueberry, raspberry and blackberry canes (only one of each) just to see what happens.

Walking to school

13 March 2014

Amanda and I have started doing Greek lessons with Sue at Amanda's house, just down the hill from us.  So I found myself walking to school ankle deep in wildflowers through this olive grove - a nice commute!

And looking back, this is how the house looks from the next field - only the built walls are visible!

Scraping out

Wednesday 12 March 2014

The weather cleared up enough for us to get stuck into scraping out the earth in the kitchen area.  Given that this had been loose earth shovelled back in by the digger after the ring-beam was laid, it should not have been too solid, but this was not the case.  We were lowering the level by about 10 cm, but it still needed a pickaxe to break it up.  I had bought a little laser levelling tool when we ordered the big saw - free delivery over a certain amount meant I had to spend an extra £10, so I got a level.  After a lot of fiddling around (no instructions) we worked out how to use it.  Much easier than string or water levels and it seemed to work well.

Art Party 2014

Week 4 to 7 March 2014

Due to everyone's busy-ness this year, we didn't have our week long winter 'summer-school' until now.  But it was the last chance before the season starts, and the weather was looking seriously wet for the whole week, so we got stuck in for four mornings from Tuesday (Monday being a public holiday).

After working on it some more on rainy days at home, mine was eventually finished on the 22nd, and looked like this:

Visiting Miriam and Leonard

Wednesday 5 March 2014

Time for a day off, so we went to admire the villa of Dutch friends of ours, Miriam (a sculptor) and Leonard (architect and expert on classic French clocks).  They were having a 'de-party' for their annual summer remove to France, which was fun, although we failed to win any glory in the table tennis tournament.  The weather was not quite raining, and a fabulous double rainbow emerged during the afternoon.

Finding the kitchen

Monday 3 March 2014

We have finally finished the second coat of plaster - hurrah!  A small bottle of beer each to celebrate, and then on with the next project - the kitchen floor. 

Of course, the final bit of wall only needed a fraction of a mix, so I took the opportunity to use the excess as a rough hand-applied coat of plaster on the inside of the kitchen, under the window, where there will be plasterboard for tiles - this protects the bales from damp and insect invasion, provides fireproofing and encloses the insulation, so it has to be done.

 We then started clearing out the clutter that has collected, especially under the stairs.  But at least the fridge will be nearer the cooker and sink now.

 The tool dresser got moved into the living space, to make a nice work place with the bench - this involved a morning of re-stacking the bales to clear back about a metre and a half of extra floor space.

 

 Look, far more room for coffee chairs and table now.  Much better for our extended tea breaks, especially when we have visitors!

 

But the nice empty music room has had to be filled up with a lot of storage instead.  Can't be helped.