Track washout

Saturday 15 September 2012

Two days of heavy rain, and the track down to Goat Bottom is seriously washed out in places.  I drove up during a dry patch, going in search of stones for my wall, and realised I'd have to use the stones to fill up some of the erosion.

I filled the deeper gashes with rocks, while Dave fetched the pick and shovel and renewed the drainways.  I think the track will be a major problem this year.

Which reminds me that a few weeks ago there was a development in the track saga.  The brothers who own a field further down the track from us and who borrowed our piece of paper from the Town Hall to say our track was a legal donkeyway, have had an on-going battle in court with the man who owns the land where the track meets a metalled lane down the hill. He is refusing to open the road.  (He's the one who asked us and our vendor to pay 15,000 euros to open the road.  We refused, which is why we access from above).

I was stopped in town by Nikos, a mutual friend of ours and the brothers', who said they were going back to court and wanted us to pay half the legal fees.  I said to tell them we weren't bothered and definitely didn't want to pay any legal fees.  While there's no road there's no traffic.  We prefer it closed.

When I got back to the camper van, one of the brothers came by and asked me for a copy of my passport.  It's lucky I'd been primed, or I'd've wondered what this was about, due to the language difficulties.  I don't think I'd've just handed out a copy of my passport, and I definitely won't in the future, but I presume it was to give to the lawyer for him to chase me for eventual payment.  I wouldn't've known anything about it if Nikos hadn't warned me.

Archaeology

After all our concerns that we might find ourselves sited on Odysseus' Palace, we've found nothing.  Until Dave noticed this half amphora in the soil at the edge of the excavation.  It's been very large, but I don't think the digger has done it any favours.

Can you see?  It runs right over to the dark shadow on the right hand side.  I didn't put a size reference in the photo (oops) but it's over 30cm.  I may excavate it if I have time.

First rain

Friday 14 September 2012

And then the rains came.  A view of the site, showing how far I've got with the wall.  At the right end I've started building a little set of steps - another bit of frivolity, but maybe we'll be grateful for them later on.

 Chickens out inspecting the works:

 Dave's ditch in danger of silting up

 Clean gravel ready to go in the ditch.  Delivered by a maniac the day before.  I've never seen anyone throw a huge truck around the way this driver did.  He had these five bags unloaded in minutes, I was very surprised none of them went through the side of the zone.

 A little cat house I built in a hurry before the rain started.

Ditch Digging

Tuesday 11 September 2012

On Monday we went to Preveza for the results of the little gynacaeological operation I had two weeks ago, and everything was fine.  Probably not the best time to have taken up wall building, though!

On Tuesday, Rob came to help.  Dave had started digging out the drainage ditch that will surround the concrete foundation.  Concrete wicks up water, and it will dam any groundwater that comes up against it.  The answer is to install a 'French Drain' - a rubble trench with a pipe at the bottom.  The pipe has holes drilled in it and slopes away, so rain water is directed away from the site.

 Look, son, this is how you do it ...

Eggs

I'm going to stop boring you about eggs after this.  The funny thing is that Dave eats eggs for breakfast maybe five times a week.  I have a boiled egg perhaps once a weej.  Every time I have an egg, I get a double yolker.  Dave hasn't had one yet. 

Territorial issues

Saturday 8 September 2012

Megachuck is still struggling to lay eggs, but she won't be shifted from using the sofa as a nesting box.  If we're using it, she comes and clucks loud and repeatedly at us, our home's not our own any more.

Wall Update

5 September 2012

Rock on!  The wall is coming along.  And the alcoves look nice.

Bar Update

5 September 2012

For those of you interested in such things: Rob's bar has closed, amid acrimonious partnership disputes.  I blame myself for not having taken a tougher business approach to it, but then, it wasn't something I wanted to get too involved in.  It's taking a lot of mental energy and worry at a time when we should be all focused on our own plans, and it will cost us money we don't have to help Rob clear his debts.  Hey ho.

Harvest

Tuesday 4 September

The old pear tree that I've been peeing under all winter while the compost toilet struggled with power issues, has, for the first time, produced a reasonable crop of pears.  Just goes to show that all the poor old tree needed was a regular supply of nutrients.

Getting Ready

Monday 3 September 2012

We're now waiting for the wood frame and roof.  There is a very limited budget for this - all the money we have left might just do the whole job.  We asked Constantine if he could find out how much the wood and the skilled labour to put it together would cost, but he said that asking for an estimate implied a lack of trust, so he couldn't do it.  'What can we do?', as the Greeks say, with a shrug.  We're just hoping.  We have to have a roof covering on, otherwise the wood frame will be spoiled.

We don't know how long before they might make a start, but in the meantime, we now have a site that needs quite a lot of preparation, so we can be doing.  It's quite exciting to actually start interacting with our potential living space, after waiting for so long.

Dave took on clearing and brushing the top of the plinth, ready for the wood;

and I thought I'd see how much I could remember of the dry stone walling I did as a conservation volunteer 30 years ago.  Dry stone terracing in the Greek tradition is much easier than building a free-standing wall, so it went up very fast.  The only delay was in finding stone - we go out 'scrumping' for a van-load at a time.  Luckily there are plenty of places where earth has been dumped, presumably removed from other sites, so I reckon we're doing a favour to whoever has been paid to store the waste, as we're gradually making more room for them.

In a slightly frivolous vein, I decided to build an alcove into the wall, somewhere for a nightlight - for a dimly imagined future when there would be a house for guests to arrive at and be guided through the dusk by little lights set in the wall.  (These imaginings keep me going ...!  Dave thinks I'm weird.)