Home building

Monday 30 June 2014

Dave is away skippering, so I've been pottering around - finally moving out of the camper van.  When we experimented with sleeping on the new mezzanine floor last June we didn't really expect to stay in the house right through the winter.  As a result, we've never properly relocated most of our not-utterly-essential kitchen equipment.  So I trekked up and down the hill to the camper with heaps of stuff to wash and put away - we can eat off china plates again, and crush garlic, and grate parmesan ... Wow, how civilised!

I also fitted a couple of little shelves in the pantry, so that all the tins and dry goods can be moved in.  Luckily there's still enough room for the dining table in there.

 Micro-dining room with pantry shelves and veggie rack installed

 Kitchen equipment finding its way onto shelves around the sink

And, hurrah!  Last day of June and the kitchen door is fitted.   Rowan will be back tomorrow to finish it off.

Working kitchen!

28 June 2014

It was Saturday and we like to take it easy on Saturday so we start Nisos work on Sunday with some energy, but the almost ready kitchen was demanding attention, so we didn't stop - worktops and wiring and moving in the fridge and - most critically - the kettle!

 Rowan was constructing the kitchen door - insulated as it will be an external door

 And here it is - the first reasonable working kitchen I've had since 2011

 The fridge, kettle and other electrics from the opposite direction

And this, our latest pressie from my Mum - a Lakeland 'Remoska' - which is a tiny worktop oven (not a slow cooker) that only takes 400W electricity, and therefore can be run off our solar panels.  We're very impressed with it.

Still quite a bit to do, especially in moving the straw bales back and using spare plasterboard to act as a temporary wall between the bale storage and the kitchen, but Dave is away skippering and I've got an uncomfortable tennis elbow from too much electric drilling, so I'm taking it easy for the next week.

Moving in

Friday 27 June 2014

Thursday we completed and varnished the worktops for the cooker and fridge areas and their supports.  Then on Friday, Rowan arrived with window and door frames and we all started falling over each other working in the same small room.

Dave and I brought the cooker down from the camper van - that's it, it's official, we've moved into the house!  I scrubbed it clean outside, and then Dave fitted the gas and checked it out.

Plumbing

23 - 25 June 2014

Far to busy to remember to take photos until the sink was fitted - which was Wednesday.  Before that we plasterboarded and put in worktop supports around the fridge and cooker areas.  But Weds was the moment of truth - the plumbing!

 Here's the ready-at-last sink worktop, with three coats of heavy duty two-pack varnish.  The sink has been fitted and laboriously sealed and fixed in position.

 10 am - the plumbing paraphernalia  - luckily it's Dave's problem, not mine!

1.30 pm - hours of doing and undoing and redoing and swearing at poor quality plumbing equipment and a trip out for more pipe bends - but here it is, the water is running out the tap and draining down the drain - so wonderful!  Ran out of paint on the window and bought some more for the cupboard underneath, but went for an aqua blue this time, it all looks very sorbet coloured in these photos. 

 5pm and the first batch of washing up has been done - wonder how long the honeymoon will last?

That sinking feeling

16 - 20 June 2014

Looking at the place where we want to put the sink we had a sudden realisation (a real 'sinking feeling'!) that there was far more prep to do than we thought.

Once the sink is in it will be really difficult to reach into the window so trims, sanding and painting need doing, as well as the plasterboarding.

 Monday - plasterboard cut, batons fitted behind and holes made in the right places (surprise!) for the water inlets and outlets (one drain will be for the washing machine).

 Tuesday - cutting mitred corners in window trim, then gluing and screwing to fix.  Then doing it again around the inner edge to fit plasterboard to.

 Wednesday - enough plywood offcuts to fettle up a little wall cupboard, with plasterboard behind - remembering to feed the tasklight wiring through.  The horrible brackets that hold up the extra beam (the one that wouldn't have been necessary if they'd stuck to the plans and not tried to raise the mezzanine) had to be taken out and reinserted through the cupboard, which means it is now structural.

 Thursday - filling and sanding in the window embrasure ...

 ... hacksawing off the sticking out bolt ends ...

 ... and getting a first coat of paint on. 

 Friday - second coat (we used the pale pink paint I got to try to match the lime plaster - it's quite fierce in the window!) another supporting board to go under the sink and more plasterboard.

Saturday - trying to get the big pieces of plasterboard off the floor and on the walls before we damage them.  Insulation fitted to the interior pantry wall, hopefully to help keep the pantry cool.

Kitchen construction

Friday 13 June 2014

As well as being my Mum's birthday, Friday was also the anniversary of our first night in the house, when we'd just completed the mezzanine floor.  The wood had arrived on Thursday afternoon, so it was an auspicious day for the start of the next phase.

First we dragged an enormous piece of 20mm plywood on to the worktop and jigsawed out a worktop for the sink, complete with cutout, and another piece to support it on the left.

Hurrah, it's level!  Now we disassemble and fit plasterboard for tiles on the wall behind.

Waiting for wood

9 - 12 June 2014

Saw Rowan on Monday and agreed the wood we would need to make progress with the doors and windows in the finished bale walls, and then made the trek to the woodyard.  They agreed to deliver, as we needed big sheets of plasterboard and plywood too, so we went home to wait.  Waited all Tuesday, then all Wednesday.  Definitely Thursday they said on the phone.

Meanwhile, Dave has started summer gigs at the Tree Bar at the wonderful hours of 7.30 to 9.30 - so very civilised. The original three: Dave, Vinnie and Mark have been joined by Hosny the Egyptian drummer, Geoff another acoustic guitar/singer and occasionally Ciara with the wonderful voice.

 A good turnout at the Tree Bar

 

One Sunday after work the weather turned suddenly stormy and we rushed down to the boat which had dragged its anchor.  In raincoats and shorts Dave leapt aboard and stood at the wheel for half an hour in a downpour.  I huddled on Mad Robbie's boat under cover of the wheelhouse shouting encouragements!

The boys were due to play a beach bar and barbeque that evening, for Neilson staff, but the storm kept them busy and then everything was cold and wet, so the gig was rather empty.  Dave and I were soaked.

Then on Thursday there was a local charity talent show up in the village: full of people we know, and lots of fun.  

 A few sinister characters from the male voice shanty choir

 Local kids who take dance lessons

And an extremely sinister group who have to be seen to be believed - http://youtu.be/aWmfjGq62Rs

Sailing interlude

Week 2 - 7 June 2014

As planned, we spent the first few days working on the boat, fixing whatever we could on a shoestring, up to the point where we needed two new batteries and pretty well ran out of money for the month!

To our surprise, some friends of Dave's were out for a week charter on a Nisos yacht, so on Thursday we packed up our tools and took the boat out to join them in Fiscardo.  Set off still fixing and sorting the boat for sea, and remembered to do everything (we thought) until we'd passed the end of the Meganissey channel and were in quite a swell and 20-odd knots of wind - this was when we realised we'd forgotten to put the bimini (suncover) up over the back of the boat.  A bit of an uncomfortable 3 hour crossing - too choppy to try to fix it, so we just had to fry.  We were lucky to escape with only minor crisping, but a great sail nonetheless.

Next morning we fixed up the bimini and had a fabulous sail on one long tack from Fisk to Sivota, perfect 17 knot winds.  Home on Saturday ready for work on Sunday.