Taking the corner

Weds 29 April 2015

Dave had a morning at Nisos, so I was on my own.  Unfortunately, while we were in Lefkas earlier in the week, we had forgotten one important reason for going - we were meant to check with the glass workshop whether they could cut glass in the shape of our little arched window - so I had to make another trip. 

It is not a circular arch, Rpwan compromised between time, effort and available equipment to come up with a five-sided (half a decahedron?) arch.  If the glass workship will cut the little one, we can go ahead with the same principle for the three large ones in the SE corner.  Important that we find this out, as Rowan will be starting the frames very soon.

 A careful series of measurements, glue, staples and cautious cutting resulted in this template for the glass workshop.  I pick up the glass tomorrow.

 Then I got on with the lumpy corner where the new section joins the recently plastered east wall.  I wanted to make the corner as smooth as possible.  It needed a lot of loose straw stuffing to shape the curve, as well as cavity-filling where the two walls meet, so I stapled plasterer's mesh in sections, stuffing each bit before fixing the next.  I also laid a baton down the right hand edge, so the net could be pulled taut for a nice shape.

The soffit board was in, with extra membrane (red) and lashings of netting (blue).  We also realised we would need a strong waterproof seal around where the horizontal beam comes through the wall, so I had to fit batons and make a plywood flange to surround the beam to allow membrane and netting to be stapled down.  The plaster will hide a multitude of sins, so it should turn out all right.

Glacial-speed bale-raising

28 April 2015

We spent three days putting in one or two bales each day, with all the splitting and shaping and tying-in and tea-drinking and thinking about it that was involved, then we had to run some errands in Lefkas on Monday, and on Tuesday some bike parts came that Dave was waiting for - so the wall continued half-built.

 Wrapped back up in sailcloth as the weather is threatening rain

 But with the scaffolding just able to get in at this corner, I thought I would tackle the difficult problem of making a neat seal against the roof.

This is the answer - a complicated structure incorporating a rafter board, a corner piece and an upright baton to hold a soffit board - there was nothing else it could be fixed to.  These then have membrane and plastering net attached to them so that the plaster will make a good waterproof connection with the boards.

Tortoise-speed bale-raising

24 April 2015

Time to start putting the bales in position.  This is the most complex area we've tried to build: there are a lot of very small spaces, a lot of criss-crossing woodwork and we have a diagonal up against a sloping roof.  It is definitely a challenge.  If we had planned to build a straw-bale house (rather than one built of cob), it wouldn't have had a corner like this in it.

We split the first bale into four small slabs to fit under the window, then stopped for lunch.  Dave went in search of wild asparagus to add to the salad, and came back with a tortoise.  An interesting omen for our corner-building!

It is the first tortoise I've seen on our land in all the time we've been here.  They used to be very common, apparently, but so many were taken for pets that they've become rare.

Dave put speedy down on the ground and it shot off (in tortoise terms) into the hedge.  Hope it does well there.

 End of day one - two bales cut, retied in small sections and installed in the wall.  Also, unseen, stuffing down the inside of each side of the central window to insulate.  Naomi came to help and picked a bunch of flowers to grace our new windowsill.  We have planned three days to do this area.

Day off

Thursday 23 April 2015

We had agreed we would have a day off and go out around the island for a treat on Thursday.  There were two things we wanted to check out: a place we had been told about where apparently good clay had been dumped, and a brass mortar and pestle for grinding earth that I had seen last season in Karya.

We found the clay, but it was not good for cobbing - not clayey enough and full of small stones, so we went on to Karya, where we found the mortar and pestle, but it had doubled in price for the beginning of the season.  I had seen it at the end of the season when it was reduced, so we decided not to buy one yet.

So, jobs done, we set off to explore.

 It was all very beautiful

 Until we found this area that was swamped.  These are grape vines, not looking very well.

 Around the corner we established the reason - this is the island's reservoir - it has a sign saying it cost 400,000 euros in European money, but all it appears to be is a hole in the ground lined with a black rubber liner that has broken up and blown into the water, something of a failure, it would seem.

We decided to circumnavigate the reservoir, for a walk, and spotted this impressive fossil (about 5cm diameter) - look at the little swirl right in the centre - in a big rock beside the path.  The rock was probably a couple of tons, so we couldn't bring it home.

Nisos Party

22 April 2015

A bit late for an end of season party, but loads of fun for all that.  Dave played a few numbers with Steamboat Rooster, and we all danced all night.

 The only shot of us, not very exciting, but all we've got.

Forgot the gravel

21 April 2015

Just as we were admiring the new SE window boxes, I realised that we hadn't put gravel into the ladder frame (which acts as base for the bales and allows any moisture in them to have somewhere to drain to).  So they had to be filled by shucking a bucket at the frame and hoping most of the gravel would end up in the cavities rather than overshoot or fall short.  It got done, but not very easily.

I had over-spec'd the plywood, to be on the safe side, and Rowan reckoned we would have enough over to do the window carcass for the SW corner as well.  So rather than have the wood lying around getting in the way, we decided to go ahead with that corner too.  This involved a quick infill with stone, construction of a ladder base frame - and, of course, filling it with gravel.  This took a remarkably short time - only two half days, compared to how long we usually take over these things!

Window-raising

18 - 21 April 2015

Saturday 18th, and Rowan was free to come and build the plywood carcasses.  He had already called by and sliced each plywood panel into two 45cm strips and an offcut - it would've been better to get this done at the woodyard - just to save time.  Saturday morning, then, we were ready.  The forecast was for two weeks of no rain - not guaranteed, of course - but we stripped the SE corner of sailcloth and tarpaulins anyway.

 Our south-east facing diagonal corner - ready to go

 Rowan in action, making the central, and largest (2.5 metre) plywood window carcass ...

 ... and fitting it

 All three boxes in, from the east face ...

... and from the south.  Looking pretty smart, we thinks.

Gardening Days

14-16 April 2015

The ladder frame was ready to go, and we were now waiting for Rowan to find time to make the window carcasses.  The weather was lovely and we had a sudden spring urge to do some gardening.  Dave dug out the old compost bins up near where the camper truck was, and filled our raised bed ready for planting. 

 The raised bed with some winter-surviving parsley transplanted in.  Dave scraped up all the remaining compost and spread it around the new trees.

 Then I salvaged the pallets from the old compost site and moved them to make three new bins nearer to the kitchen door.  They don't look much, but the construction is pretty robust!

 Dave was also clearing and strimming the land, to improve our access.  The shot above is of one of our olive trees, thick with undergrowth.  I went in with branch loppers and secateurs to clear the ground, while Dave strimmed the path (shown below), giving us better access around the back of the house.

This is the same tree, after two hours battling with dusty pollen-filled shrubs and stubborn outgrowths.

 Our intended one day in the garden developed into three days.  With the wall infill and widening mostly done, it was clear there would be more than enough stone to be distributed about the land, so I continued with the long-neglected dry stone wall around the NW corner, and used the very big stones to mark the edge of the path above

Easter interlude

Sunday 12 April 2015

Despite being keen to keep going, we were invited out for Easter and had to take a break.   A lovely day, and Dave had a chance to play guitar with some friends.  There weren't that many of us there, and at times the band outnumbered the audience, but that all made it very casual and relaxing.

Unexpected developments

Saturday 11 April 2015

This was Easter weekend in Greece, but we wanted to press on.  Having levelled the ladder frame, Dave made a mix and we set it in lime mortar.  Job done, wait another few days for it to set.  Meanwhile, we had more than half a barrow of mix to use up.  So I decided it was time to lay the paving at the front step. 

 Ladder frame in place

 Half the day was spent laying the jigsaw of paving pieces, before they could be set in mortar

 After finishing the front step, there was still a little mortar left, just enough to finish off these two little cairns behind the bathroom, to protect the waste pipes where they protrude from the gravel.  Eventually we will bring up the level with clean gravel, but before then we will be building round here, and we don't want cracks in those pipes.

Here is the mortared-in front step, spanned by the boardwalk.  When it sets, it will need to be grouted, then will finally be finished.

Working three walls

Friday 10 April 2015

Naomi came up for the day to help out, so we asked her to scrub the woodwork in the music room, so it can be whitewashed and the light fittings eventually installed.  Dave announced the SE corner ready to take the ladder frame, and started building it, while I finished off the last of the wall widening at the NW corner.

Planning the window

Weds 8 April 2015

We took a day out and ordered wood for the window and bale support frames, which arrived on Wednesday including five two-and-a-half metre long by one-and-a quarter 21mm plywood sheets - too heavy for me to help lift, even Dave was worn down after helping the delivery driver bring them in.  While collapsing over a cup of tea, Dave said - we could have had these laser cut into strips by the woodyard, couldn't we?  He was right.  They all need to be cut to 45cm width, so that would've been very sensible.  Note to self, for next time.

 Wood batons for the ladder frames to support the bales and the plywood window carcases

 Meanwhile, the West wall widening has gone more swiftly and easily than I expected ...

 ... and has reached the NW corner, where there is a jutting out bit that disguises an unnecessary length of plinth that the concrete pourers got wrong.

 During one quiet afternoon, resting from my rock revelry, I measured the wood frame in the SE diagonal and drew out a suggested plan for the window.  Dave agreed to it with some reservations about having too much glass (cold in winter, hot in summer) but we think the roof is low enough to shade it in summer. Then Rowan called by and said it looked technically viable.  So that's the plan: three arches, the central one almost to the roof, semi-framed by the existing olive wood corners.  The only question is whether the glass workshop will do arches.

LotsaRocks

Weds 1 April 2015

Early Weds morning, thinking of getting out of bed, when I heard a rumbling from the road behind us - that'll be our rocks, I said to Dave.  Unlikely, he grunted.  The rumbling faded, then started to get louder again - a truck making its way down our track.  We leapt out of bed and were ready to take delivery of our new rocks only moments later.  We decided to have them dropped where the camper truck used to be, as there are more than enough, so we will be left with a pile for some time.

 Later that day - the 'D' shape inside the curve was finally filled in.  Both of us exhausted - Dave with making mix after mix, and me with collecting rocks and working them into the gap.  I hadn't realised how much climbing up and over the existing wall would be involved.

We now had to leave the SE corner wall to go off, so we continued on round the house, making the West wall wider to accommodate bales - if we ever manage to get hold of more of them!