Clear up and Linen Press

26-27 Feb 2015

Now we have to wait for the floors to dry.  While we wait, I'm trying to get as much cleared and tidied up as possible, in preparation for the party, but also because it is a good idea generally.  We have things stashed here and there and everywhere that we can't find or have forgotten we have.

We have so much left over wood - a lot of it is suitable only for burning, but the stove over-reacts to pine so we can't burn it as quickly as I'd like.  Anyway, it all needs sorting and relocating out of the living room/workshop. 

I started off by sorting the entry hall.  Since clearing the bathroom, this had become our new dumping ground, and there was nowhere to feed the cats.  So I put up lots more coat hangers and used the polythene that came with the bath to cover an exposed bit of wall to give the cats a cosy feed corner.

A big problem is that I overspec'd the plasterboard for the bathroom, as I had assumed we would put the boards in at full height, but it is much nicer to only have a few rows of tiles around the bath, and have lime plaster above - especially as it will help regulate humidity.  So we have two big plasterboards left over, which are too heavy for one person to lift and have to be stored flat on a flat surface - an impossible requirement.  After much brain racking, I decided we could profitably build a linen cupboard, using up wood as well as the plasterboard on a really useful installation.  So I built one.  It took much longer than expected: two days not half a day.  There are no shelves yet, they aren't a priority.

 Day one: uprights in place, and a ceiling board with insulation fitted to batons and painted white

 Day two: floor board cut, painted and fitted, and plasterboard panels installed.  Clutter inserted.  The little table to the left will be my sewing corner.

I haven't mentioned the gold curtains that are acting as bathroom walls while the floor dries.  A couple of weeks ago Pedro from Nisos rang and said he was getting rid of some things, and did we want any of them.  So we took gold curtains and more bedside tables - to use as side tables in the music room.  The curtains, unlikely as it may seem, have been a godsend as a temporary wall.

In the Soup

25 Feb 2015

In order to fit the drainage and taps for the bath before fixing them in limecrete, we needed to know what bath we were going to get.  So what had been planned as a luxury item to buy in a few years, turned into an immediate purchase that we couldn't possibly afford.  So we lived off rabbit stew for four days and didn't go out, just to get to the end of the month without spending anything.

The bath arrived in an enormous cardboard box - which to us means new carpet for the music room!  The bath was pretty good too, although smaller than I'd expected.  We manhandled it in across all our boardwalks and propped it up on the shower tray to wait with everything else until the floor dries up.

Under the Boardwalk

Monday Evening, 23 Feb 2015

Still pouring the floor - a major effort, as the corridor area is very large, Dave making mixes at top speed as he had arranged for a jam session with potential new band members at 4.30 and needed to wash and change.

While he made the last mix I built another boardwalk, out of all our remaining offcuts of plywood, and installed the batons as each section was finished.  Dave supplied the last mix and rushed off to wash, while I tamped and leveled, then teetered across the batons installing the boardwalk and putting the curtains back up.  The left over mix went into the front step, which we have been filling gradually whenever there's some mortar left in the barrow at the end of the day - too wasteful to pour away.

 The band arrived, set up and started practicing as I poured the leftovers into the front step and leveled it, building a scruffy boardwalk out of outdoor scrap wood, just as the band launched into 'Under the Boardwalk'.  Really.  How weird is that?

Dave had to go and meet John the drummer and singer Pete (top right and left), so they arrived together and I warned them about the freshly poured floor.  Panos (bass, centre left) arrived a moment later, and as he is familiar with the house and helped plaster the bale wall at the last bale raising, I didn't worry too much about warning him.  So of course, it was Panos who left a deep shoe print in the new floor.  The 'crete was so fresh it was easy to smooth out and re-level, but he was terribly embarrassed.

A Way with the Mixer

Monday 23 Feb 2015

Time presses on and this floor needs to be solid before the Birthday.  So we pressed on too.

 On Friday 20th we poured the last section of the bathroom.  We were all set for finishing this in good time for Greek Lessons at 4pm, but with one mix to go, when Naomi had just managed to get to us to help (she'd been held up by all sorts of things) - the mixer broke down.  Dave had just filled it with 8 buckets of sand and gravel when it died.  Nim and I took tea in the sunshine, while Dave swore at the carburettor and the fuel pipe.  Eventually he got it going - he definitely has a way with the mixer, that man!  Finished, and the boardwalk replaced and extended (and nearer the sink) and curtains fitted on a long pole, with seconds to spare before Greek.  Phew!

 It took us the weekend to decide that we couldn't stop there.  While we were pouring floor, we needed to finish the section up to the stairs as well and have it all done.  To manage this section, which is rather wide, we changed direction, especially as this would support a boardwalk as well.

Pelicans

21 Feb 2015

Another trip to the dentist, another day out!  We took a walk along the lagoon to see the flamingos and pelicans.  As Dave said - we could've been in Africa.  Not a sunny day though.

Pouring the Floor

Thursday 19 Feb 2015

Having slept off the post-birthday excitement, and done a little more plastering on Wednesday, as well as fitting a neat trim around the shower tiles, we were all set for the next exciting development on Thursday.  We were going to start pouring the floor!

As the kitchen limecrete slab took 4 weeks to go off, and the party is exactly 4 weeks away, we decided to follow a suggestion in one of the natural finishes books and add a cupful of cement to our limecrete.  This should reduce the going-off time, although we don't know by how much - as the temperature and humidity will affect it too.

So we fitted the first two floor batons, then Dave started making mixes, while I tamped and levelled.  We can't easily get a barrow to the bathroom, because of all the different floor levels, so Dave brought the mix in by bucket.  Tiring stuff!

 Last remaining panels plastered on Weds

 Bath drain pipes cut and fitted (positioning estimated and probably wrong!  and the first two mixes tamped and leveled

 White wood trim around the shower tiles to neaten it up.

 Four mixes made (Each mix requires 4 buckets gravel, 4 buckets sand, 1 bag lime putty, 1 cup cement and water - lots of heavy lifting in each mix)

 End of the day - two floor sections poured, two people worn out, and a narrow boardwalk hastily constructed to get to the loo.

Oops, should've put the boardwalk closer to the sink - bit of teetering required for handwashing and tooth cleaning.

Birthday

15 - 17 Feb 2015

On with the shower - all grouted by Sunday 15th.  Then the remaining wall sections needed completing, lath and plaster, as ever.

Tuesday was my birthday, another glorious sunny day, and Dave served up my favourite breakfast in the winter garden: very special.

Followed by 'quiet' drinks in George's later that day - rather a lot of people turned up, which was very lovely, but not so quiet!

Tap Dancing

13-14 Feb 2015

Friday the 13th was a good day for the dentist.  When making the appointment he said - 'It's okay, we Greeks consider Tuesday the 13th the unlucky day.'  So that's okay then!

It turned out lovely, so we were lucky.  After the filling we took the dog for a walk along Milos beach on the north edge of Lefkas.  Beautiful and empty.  As it was strange territory for 'Strange Fruity' we let her off the leash in the hope she wouldn't run off, and she bounded happily along the shore.  And didn't run off.  Robbie and Sue are back in two days so we've nearly finished our dog-minding.

The next day was romantic St Valentine's - which we spent in very prosaic fashion: fitting the shower tap.  This sounds simple, but until you've tried it you can't imagine the frustration and heartache it creates.  The tap pipes are fixed to the wall, and fed through holes drilled in the plasterboard.  They need to be level with each other, the right distance apart and the right distance out from the wall.  This last was the problem - they were too far back.  Using keyhole surgery techniques, we managed to fit tiny blocks behind each pipe to push them forward enough for the screw fittings to bite.

 Dave starting the struggle at 11:15

 Four hours later, at 15:15, giving no indication of the trauma involved, the shower is finally all tiled

 In keeping with the romantic theme of the day, we then set to work to finish paving around the loo.  When we first had the loo installed, we needed enough floor level paving to secure it.  Since doing this, we have decided to change the planned flooring from rough stone to terracotta.  This little corner, however, has to stay stone.  So we will put in a little courtesy wall by the loo and just pave this little bit.

All done, me puzzling out the jigsaw and Dave stone cutting any corners that refuse to fit otherwise.

Shower and a shave

10-11 Feb 2015

All four ceiling panels are now painted and installed, even the tricky one with all the electrics running through it, which required an extra plywood box.  The final panel has to wait until the end wall has been built, as we will fit it to the wall.

So now it's time to start tiling the shower - using the fancy laser level again ...

... which is my job, as Dave finds it too fiddly.  He prefers to fix the big strimmer and go shave some land. 

Greek lessons

For a few weeks now we've been taking Greek lessons with Lin from Neohori.  She originally learned Greek from the Shepherd's wife at the village water pump, and topped this up with an O level.  Having home-schooled six children she has a nice, steady conversation-based teaching method which we are enjoying.  Lin brings Pete and Jade, who are also learning, and we sit round in the music room with the fire lit and have a glass of wine during the last half hour.  It is all very civilised and fun and actually seems to be doing some good!

Skip to the View

7 Feb 2015

We still had the skip, though it was bulging with rubbish, and the old pieces of yacht foam piled on top were blowing off every night, so I rang up one evening at Jessica's where Spiros handled the delicate question of when they might collect.  It turned out that our track so terrified them that they wouldn't come back until the weather dried up a bit.

Saturday 7 Feb, around 9.30 am we were lazing in bed, waiting for the day to warm up a bit before we ventured out, when I got a call saying they were coming for the skip in 5 minutes.  It is definitely a recommended way to get out of bed on a cold morning - mad panic.

Three minutes later, the skip lorry appears, loads up the skip and off it goes - bye bye junk!  Not sure what had changed, it was still very damp weather.

Looking around, we realised the rain overnight had fallen as snow and our local mountains had gone all Alpine.

First board up

5 Feb 2015

After installing the batons for the first ceiling space, we then worked out how to make the insulation stay up (by cutting laths just slightly too long and jamming them in at intervals) and measured and cut the first board.  We are using the cheapest suitable material we can find, which turns out to be OSB board (like chipboard, but with extra big flakes), which doesn't have very good eco-credentials, but does hold in insulation, so it's a trade-off.  The board needs two coats of paint to look good, and we haven't got space under cover to have more than one of these drying at any time, so we work one board at a time.

I am taking antibiotics and super-strong painkillers prior to having a root canal treatment, and I also managed to break a separate tooth, so we are off to the dentist in Lefkas twice a week at the moment.  This is why it took two days to get the first board in place.

First board fixed, second board batons and insulation ready, waiting for the board to be painted.

Ceiling boards

3 Feb 2015

Very exciting - we're going to make our first proper ceiling.  We are insulating between the joists, to create some sound privacy between the bedroom and loo, and to warm the bedroom floor.  We are doing this the hard way, in order to keep the joists visible and only board in the gaps between, as this increases the sensation of head room.

First, we need to baton each rectangle of joist-gap.  Here's Dave hard at work, taking care to go round the light fittings:

I took quite a lot of photos - these are only a selection - until he got miffed.  I don't think that finger in the last one is an accident!

Itty Bitty Bathroom wall

2 Feb 2015

So, now it's time to start constructing the bathroom so we can have a house (building site) party for Dave's 60th in March.  First step - extend the wall on the right hand side, up to the point where it will turn the corner to create a corridor to the music room.

This is our clever little 'Cubix' laser level, establishing the centre line of the wall up to the music room door.  At this point, we're just going to build a little wall to the left of the yellow cube, to extend the existing wall to where it will turn the corner.

And here's that wall, later the same day (bathroom interior above, living room side below) - with plasterboard for tiling round the bath, some laths in place and insulation throughout.

Battening down

2 Feb 2015

The weather is so wild and windy we have added extra sailcloth to the unbuilt walls.  Having sorted through the stuff from the camper van we found two more sails, so these were tacked on.  Sailcloth is much better than polythene.  I hadn't realised how much polythene breaks down when exposed to sunlight - it just crumbles after about a year.  I also finally brought myself to cut off the straggly bits. It seems all wrong to cut bits off sails, but they're not going to have a future on a boat, so it's better to have less flappy bits keeping us awake at night.

A dog's life

1 Feb 2015

Here's a photo of Fruity the dog, looking ecstatic about being in boot camp: Dave's dog training and rehab facility.  Poor Fruity, the first night she stayed it was incredibly windy and our house was flapping and creaking and fluttering all night.  She didn't stop barking.  Poor Dave.  Fruity moved into the shed at night.  After a few nights, though, it was too cold so she was allowed to stay in the music room again, and didn't squeak all night.  So that worked.