Externals

28 - 30 November 2018

Now we have the new car, we need an electric charging point on our land.  That means we need to improve access.  The track coming in from above is quite battered, but the access from below is now clear, except for one area, which is the part lying parallel with our land.  So we asked Neil to organise getting it cemented.

It had ruts over 40cm deep on one side, so Neil laboriously pickaxed it level, taking soil from the other side and smoothing it out.  Then the concrete was delayed, and the heavens burst and the ruts came back.  The concrete is coming on Dec 3rd now, but more rain is due on the night of the 2nd, so road mending will have to happen all over again early Monday morning.

 Looking down and east after mending

 and up/westward, showing sand where the water pipe has been buried.

 After the deluge - almost as bad again as it was.

 The Solarium, very nearly finished except for the glass

Inside, our lovely new double doors to the Solarium, and gleaming white south west window.

Our new eco-car

23 November 2018

During Richie's visit, the new all-electric Nissan Leaf arrived in Preveza, much to everyone's excitement.  Ours is the seventh Leaf to be sold in the whole of Greece, so we named it 'Lucky'.  It turns out to be a pleasant soft grey-green colour, which was also lucky, as we'd picked the colour from a screen.

Nissan Preveza insist on the whole unveiling thing - which was fun.  Nice to have Richie with us for all this

 In the car

 Outside the car

Our first solo run - a quick visit to Nikopolis - old and new, all that sort of thing ...

 And home, Lucky the Leaf meets Goat Bottom.  Where it will have to be charged by an extension cable run from the kitchen until the infrastructure is all sorted out.

Richie's Visit

20 - 27 November 2018

My son Richie, who lived here with me when he was 13 - 15, came for a week's visit, so, in between his outings with old friends, we put him to work.

 On arrival, bonding with the dog

 Carving up the old decking with the electric chainsaw.  The decking has been unstable since Mad Robbie deconstructed it to take out the camper van, so it was a pleasure to finally stabilise it and put a neat edge to it.

 This is the planned area for the new car-port, so the work had suddenly become urgent.

 Next we put Richie to chopping kindling for the stove.

 Thursday evening, after choir, Dave and I rounded up some cool people to come for supper and meet Richie, some he knew, and some were new to him.  

From left: Dave, me, Hannah, Rosa, Kiera, Paris, Richie, Rowan, Kate and Laurie

 Hannah, the photographer, took a portrait shot

 Back at work, chopping up the pumpkin harvest for cooking and freezing.

 Last day, adopted by the dog.

 Out with friends during the week

Supper at the Yacht Club with the boring older generation!

Dave's Knee

20 Nov 2018

Dave's knee is suddenly swollen and super-painful.  So he's incapacitated, keeping it rested with an icepack.

While the dog is fascinated to keep finding Paris in different windows

Last swim of the year

11 November 2018

We took the dog for a romp on Dessimi beach one warm and sunny November Sunday, and I found I couldn't resist the lure of the sea.  It was surprisingly warm.  Probably the last swim of the year, but wonderful for my strained shoulder (too much plastering).  The dog, however, would only paddle.

The Car Saga begins

19 Nov 2018

The first item in the infrastructure required by the new electric car arrives by post.  This is the home charger.  It will need installing near where we hope to build a car-port, so that it can be moved when we have that structure.   Now we wait for the electrician.

Next!

19 November

The bathroom can now be ticked off the list.  Paris continues to help out with door- and window-painting in the living room.  My son Richie is due to visit for a week, so we can't be too disrupted; and the new electric car is expected next week, and requires some infrastructure work.  So I started some gentle sorting out of the pantry - so that when we are ready to plaster, all non-essentials are already stashed away.

The job started, but lots still to do

Wrapping up the tiling

12 - 17 November 2018

Finishing the bathroom tiling took some doing.  Every time we thought the last tile was in, we remembered another corner that needed something.  Last of all, we decided to tile the base of the window box.  It is so convenient for toothbrushes and razors that we can't keep it dry, and the plywood has started to suffer from damp.  As the plywood box is a structural feature in the wood frame, it must be protected.

 Tiled shelf in the over-sink window

 While doing the bathroom, it was quick and easy to lash a few tiles around the sink in the studio, too.

 Grout around the bath

 Dave and Rowan refit the sink

 Paris paints the door

 Our scabby furniture is replaced, for the time being ...

 I mentioned to Rowan that I'd like a mirror with a shelf to fit by the window, and the next day he turned up with one, made from the off-cuts from the door trims.  It was a thank-you for putting them up in the music room.  They've now found an apartment and will move out soon.  We'll miss them.  And the mirror was a lovely touch.

Mats and curtains back in.  Still no floor, but everything ready.  

But best not to have any house guests when the floor gets done - we'll have to get to the loo along a plank!

Building the Solar, and more windows

10 - 14 November 2018

Rowan has continued to build the Solarium, (our passive-solar heating glasshouse).

 Finishing the structure

 Starting the panelling 

 Paris proving flexible (more so than we would be, at any rate!)

 Panelling removed and treated before final fixing

 The dog getting confused because Paris is in her naughty corner, starting the cathedral window - has Paris been naughty?

 Ukulele club entertains Paris while she preps the window

Tiling - easy with the right tools!

9 - 17 November 2018

Tiling is easy, if you have a good tile cutter.  We bought an expensive one years ago, to tile the little shower in the shed when we lived in the camper van, but despite its expense, it has always been a struggle to use.  Dave was getting blisters from it, so we couldn't work very fast.  Then Rowan said he'd been given one and did we want to try it, and after that, things proceeded more quickly.

 Struggling with our tile cutter

 I started tiling round the bath.  After lots of thought about the best place to start, we proceeded to choose perhaps the worst place, as was revealed as the work progressed, and lots of tiles needed cutting.

 Dave intricately chipping out a curve to go round the toilet soil pipe, using my mosaic-ing tools.  It turned out to be a very neatly done job.

 Ongoing round the bath

 Dave takes off the sink and sorts the plumbing.  

Then we measure and cut the tiles to fit over the fixings, and the last tile goes in.  Hurrah!