Cat and Mouse

27 August 2015

Back home, tired.  Found the house overrun with mice.  The cats obviously have been on strike while we were away.  I caught one almost by accident on the kitchen windowsill, and showed it to the cat to explain what we were expecting of her.  We later released the mouse several fields away. 

 Our automatic watering system had worked very well, so we returned to a good crop of courgettes, including one monster that was the size of a marrow.

While I did all the tedious washing and unpacking, Dave started constructing the lintel for the front door.  This isn't easy, as we want the walls to splay open in welcome, so the lintel is a parallelogram, and needs a plywood sheet fitting in underneath.  This is a bit detailed and technical, so we took it nice and slow.

Then on Monday, George finally came to fix the overheating chimney.  We deconstructed the music room, and George moved the stove and took out the pipes, to get replacements and ask for our money back.  He will return on Friday to build a concrete block chimney.

The wood behind the 'insulated' chimney is showing scorch marks, only little ones, but even so, it is scary.  George is going to install fireproof concrete board and the chimney blocks will go through the wooden roof to a height of at least a metre.  That will be a relief for this winter.

Visitations

23-24 August 2015

More relatives to visit as we worked our way back south towards Gatwick.

First stop: Liverpool, where George and Phillie have just moved into their first pad.  Richie was in town, too, which made it even better.  They made a lovely lunch, afternoon tea and excellent supper, so we were very well fed and looked after.

Then on to Dad and Jane's in Shropshire, for a romp on the Long Mynd, grazing on bilberries, which I haven't seen for years, and so had rather a lot!

 Black gold!  Can you spot them?

 Treasure!

The architecture in the oldest part of Dad's house - somewhen in the 1350s I think - similar to our place in many ways (except hopefully the woodworm!)

The Grand Electric Car Saga

UK, August 2015

Dave is fascinated by Electric cars - not hybrids, but 100% electric.  There is no infrastructure in Greece yet, and we have no money to spare from building materials, so we're not going to get one any time soon, but Dave trawls the internet for write-ups, videos and reviews of all the latest developments. 

We are major fans of Mr Elon Musk, the man behind Tesla Motors which are world leaders in electric vehicles and sustainable technology.  Alas, even the humblest Tesla is so far out of our range it might as well be one of Mr Musk's SpaceX rockets.  We lust over the newly released Tesla Powerwall battery system that sold out 18 months ahead on the day it was launched.  We talk, think and dream electric cars.  You get the picture?

Dave had identified the Nissan Leaf as the best of the electric superminis currently available and we were hoping to see one while in the UK.  So I knew immediately what it was when he shouted, 'Come and see this' from the end of my Mum's path in Salisbury. 

So we all three stood around admiring it, and then the lady owner came out of her house and told us how much she liked it and then drove off while we stood awestruck at its silent glide down the road.

But the saga didn't end there.  We arrived at Blackpool station and took the first taxi in the rank, a black cab, but as we pulled out, I saw a Leaf join the taxi queue.  Ooh, a chance to ride in one.  I asked the hotel for the firm with electric cars and had several long chats with the girl on the line, who couldn't guarantee one of their 14 electrics would be available at any particular time.

The morning of the wedding was one of those bitty times when no-one really knows what's going on and everyone hangs around waiting for everyone else, so we didn't get a chance to play with the taxis.  Our opportunity arrived unexpectedly after the wedding.  As the person with the taxi number, I called a cab for the bride and they said it would be electric, so I said, 'Have you got two?' and they had.  So we sent off the bride and got in the next one.

The driver was marvelous.  We asked him to take twice as long to get back to the hotel as usual, and he toured us round Blackpool's back streets, answering all Dave's questions and showing off the features, including the truly awesome acceleration.  Phew, what fun!

Wedding

Saturday 22 August 2015

Dave's daughter, Clare's Wedding.  We arrived (by train, such a blessing, compared to motorway driving) in Blackpool, on Friday afternoon and settled into the hotel. 

 Next morning, still on Greek time, we explored 7am Blackpool, and rather liked it

 Then the proud father of the bride got all togged up ...

 and a group of principal males decided to take in a pub and casino on the way to the wedding: Dave, Rob, John (the groom), Justin (best man) and Rob (bride's mother's husband).  As I wasn't involved in any of the bride primping, I thought I'd tag along and make sure they all made it to the Registry on time.  As the only one with a bag, I was also entrusted with the wedding music CD and the rings!

 Out of the pub and the casino - Reservoir Wedding Guests on the way to the venue

Much later that night, the first dance.  (I offered to take the ceremony photos on the bride's camera, so I don't have any of my own).  Lovely frock!

UK trip

Weds 19 Aug 2015

Using the new Easyjet to Preveza on a Wednesday service, we were in Salisbury by the early evening, and next day we went for a rainy walk along the river into the city with my Mum.

All by myself ...

10 - 15 August 2015

A day on my own, then a few days, and then a full week on my own, and bales itching to be put in the wall. 

 My first solo bale-splitting - into five 20cm bricks, to stuff up the left side of the window in the South West corner, by the front door:

 Which started out as an open structure with a large plywood box frame for the window.

  Some time later: straw stuffed up the left side, along the bottom under the plywood, and one full bale put up on top - Dave was here for that, but even so, it was an effort.

 From the outside, the ladder frame that will be the edge of the front door entryway - holding the split bale blocks in place.

 But as this corner is a very peculiar twisted-diamond shape it requires a lot of loose straw stuffing (around the bale blocks), so I had to put some vertical laths in this bit of wall (to the left of the front door from the inside).  Straw can be shoved in tight against this structure.

 From the outside - pics above and below - the front door area as the blocks and loose straw go in.  I had to stop here because the front door lintel will rest on the ladder frame, and I didn't want to pack it out with straw before the woodwork is done.

And, my ultimate triumph: another nearly-full bale on top of the window - installed entirely by me!  Not easily, either.  It involved a rope over a high beam and a lot of pushing and pulling, and loads of straw pieces and dust sticking to my sweat all over.  Required a cold shower immediately on completion - but very pleased with myself  ;-)

Sailing Interlude

4 & 5 August 2015

Our friend, Lesley, had accepted a skippering job and asked for a couple of days refresher with Dave, so, hey ho, we just had to go out sailing and swimming on Tuesday and Wednesday ...

Our Barn

Mon 3 Aug 2015

Here's a long-overdue shot of the living room.  The 'Cathedral' window seems to have come out right by happy accident: in August the roof overhang doesn't let any direct sunshine into the room - but it will as the year gets cooler.  We are enjoying its emptiness.  As soon as we get more bales we'll lose half this space again.

However, the bales are not going to come in August.  We tried to get them last week, but now it is too late.  We are out in the boat for two days, then Dave is away next week, and the week after we are in the UK, so if the bales came at the end of this week we'd have a mad struggle to get them inside under cover very quickly in these roasting temperatures.  Better to wait until September and take our time.