July week 4

20-27 July 2014

Scooped Dave up as soon as he finished work on Sunday and put him and all our baggage on Tropi-boat to join Jonathan (Sara's brother) Amanda (their cousin) and two teenagers: Isabella (Jono's daughter) and Oliver (Jono's ex-partner's son) at sea - they were on board a Nisos charter yacht. 

 Jono chilling out in Kioni ...

 ... Dave and Amanda too

 Both boats: 'Captain Jack' from Nisos on the left, Tropi on the right.  We needed a lead-boat flag to help Jono find us in harbour, so we flew the LFC flag which we still had from the Champions League win in 2005.  We were surprised how many people stopped to take photos of the flag!

 Oliver and Isabella posing on Captain Jack

 All aboard for shore leave.  We stayed on board as a thunderstorm was threatening.  Not meant to happen in July!

 A cicada on a telegraph pole in Polis bay - weird looking creature.

 A few too many in Vasilliki and next thing the whole crew have tattoos (henna, of course).  Dave's dragon.

 Jonathan with swallows - the closest the crew on Cap'n Jack could get to a sparrow ('Pirates of the Carribean' reference ...)

 Bella with pretty thumb twirls and swallows on her wrist

 Oliver got an eagle, swallows not visible

 Amanda showing swallows on one wrist, sunburst on another

 ... and I indulged in a little dragon.

 Final day, everyone on our little terrace for tea

 Sunday after work - the cat able to relax now we're home, and the tomatoes flourishing after care from painting-Amanda and Robbie and Sue.

July week 3

13-20 July 2014

Dave away again for another week of skippering, and I've been to see the doctor to find I have tennis elbow and risk it becoming chronic unless I stop using it for any lifting or working, take muscle-relaxants and wear an elbow brace.  So a very lazy week ahead of me. 

 

This is our little terrace outside the kitchen door.  Just room for two comfy chairs, coffee table and footstool.  It faces due east with a sea view and the sun goes round the side of the house about 1.30, so a nice place for an afternoon or evening lounge.  We've given in to our urge to grow things and set up several pots of cherry tomatoes with parsley.  The chicken likes the tomato leaves (not keen on parsley - wonder if foreboding?) so they're all wrapped in mesh and other defences.

 Not able to do anything with my arm but read, draw and sew.  So I finally got round to covering this split cushion with some old Bavaria yacht cushion fabric passed on from Nisos.  Now it is the smartest one we have.

 And a bit of charcoal and pastel drawing with the art girls - this is a self portrait of me (obviously) at least 20 years ago (if ever!)

Sunday, back at work, and picking Dave up after his week of skippering - with essential requirements: guitar and fishing rod.

July week 2

6-13 July 2014

Cousin Amanda and Rob arrived on Sunday and after a lengthy lunch-and-beer stop at Nisos headquarters to say hello, were safely installed in Vasilliki. 

 On Wednesday we persuaded them to come and see Dave play, and they arranged a taxi back to Vas at 10pm, but by then they were in party mode (their friend Ian from Italy had arrived) and decided to make a night of it.  We installed them on the boat overnight and collected them in the morning for much needed fried breakfasts and orange juice.

 Dave, Amanda, Ian, Rob - all crammed into our pantry/dining room, mostly the worse for wear!

Later in the week, Dave cut some more plywood for me to make this little spice shelf by the cooker.  Needs finishing, but does the job for the moment.

July week 1

2 - 6 July 2014

Dave away skippering, so I pottered around trying to fix up things in the kitchen. 

 This is me having a go at a bit of joinery - making a tea caddy and mug hanging shelf unit.  Some tricky jigsawing, but otherwise lots of fun.  Unfortunately my lath-fixing elbow started playing up, so I didn't finish jigsawing out all the shelves.

 When we were at the tile shop I asked the stockman for any broken pieces of tile for mosaicing and he was more than willing to help, offloading all the junk tiles he could.  These lovely yellow ones and the little blue ones will make a nice mixed tile worktop by the side of the cooker, protecting the plywood from hot pans.  Can't do it yet, though, as I need a rim to be cut and sanded and fixed, which my elbow shouldn't do.

 Midway through the week, the little crysalis that had appeared overnight on our new paintwork opened up - but I think it may have attached itself prematurely as the poor butterfly couldn't open its final wing properly.  It fluttered round the windowsill for a day and a half refusing sugar-water drops until I decided to put it outside to take its chances.

Last piece of plasterboard installed behind the cooker.  Decided to infill the top area but leave the lower diagonal open as a workspace/shelf.  Eventually there will be a breakfast bar/worksurface on the other side.

Home building

Monday 30 June 2014

Dave is away skippering, so I've been pottering around - finally moving out of the camper van.  When we experimented with sleeping on the new mezzanine floor last June we didn't really expect to stay in the house right through the winter.  As a result, we've never properly relocated most of our not-utterly-essential kitchen equipment.  So I trekked up and down the hill to the camper with heaps of stuff to wash and put away - we can eat off china plates again, and crush garlic, and grate parmesan ... Wow, how civilised!

I also fitted a couple of little shelves in the pantry, so that all the tins and dry goods can be moved in.  Luckily there's still enough room for the dining table in there.

 Micro-dining room with pantry shelves and veggie rack installed

 Kitchen equipment finding its way onto shelves around the sink

And, hurrah!  Last day of June and the kitchen door is fitted.   Rowan will be back tomorrow to finish it off.

Working kitchen!

28 June 2014

It was Saturday and we like to take it easy on Saturday so we start Nisos work on Sunday with some energy, but the almost ready kitchen was demanding attention, so we didn't stop - worktops and wiring and moving in the fridge and - most critically - the kettle!

 Rowan was constructing the kitchen door - insulated as it will be an external door

 And here it is - the first reasonable working kitchen I've had since 2011

 The fridge, kettle and other electrics from the opposite direction

And this, our latest pressie from my Mum - a Lakeland 'Remoska' - which is a tiny worktop oven (not a slow cooker) that only takes 400W electricity, and therefore can be run off our solar panels.  We're very impressed with it.

Still quite a bit to do, especially in moving the straw bales back and using spare plasterboard to act as a temporary wall between the bale storage and the kitchen, but Dave is away skippering and I've got an uncomfortable tennis elbow from too much electric drilling, so I'm taking it easy for the next week.

Moving in

Friday 27 June 2014

Thursday we completed and varnished the worktops for the cooker and fridge areas and their supports.  Then on Friday, Rowan arrived with window and door frames and we all started falling over each other working in the same small room.

Dave and I brought the cooker down from the camper van - that's it, it's official, we've moved into the house!  I scrubbed it clean outside, and then Dave fitted the gas and checked it out.

Plumbing

23 - 25 June 2014

Far to busy to remember to take photos until the sink was fitted - which was Wednesday.  Before that we plasterboarded and put in worktop supports around the fridge and cooker areas.  But Weds was the moment of truth - the plumbing!

 Here's the ready-at-last sink worktop, with three coats of heavy duty two-pack varnish.  The sink has been fitted and laboriously sealed and fixed in position.

 10 am - the plumbing paraphernalia  - luckily it's Dave's problem, not mine!

1.30 pm - hours of doing and undoing and redoing and swearing at poor quality plumbing equipment and a trip out for more pipe bends - but here it is, the water is running out the tap and draining down the drain - so wonderful!  Ran out of paint on the window and bought some more for the cupboard underneath, but went for an aqua blue this time, it all looks very sorbet coloured in these photos. 

 5pm and the first batch of washing up has been done - wonder how long the honeymoon will last?

That sinking feeling

16 - 20 June 2014

Looking at the place where we want to put the sink we had a sudden realisation (a real 'sinking feeling'!) that there was far more prep to do than we thought.

Once the sink is in it will be really difficult to reach into the window so trims, sanding and painting need doing, as well as the plasterboarding.

 Monday - plasterboard cut, batons fitted behind and holes made in the right places (surprise!) for the water inlets and outlets (one drain will be for the washing machine).

 Tuesday - cutting mitred corners in window trim, then gluing and screwing to fix.  Then doing it again around the inner edge to fit plasterboard to.

 Wednesday - enough plywood offcuts to fettle up a little wall cupboard, with plasterboard behind - remembering to feed the tasklight wiring through.  The horrible brackets that hold up the extra beam (the one that wouldn't have been necessary if they'd stuck to the plans and not tried to raise the mezzanine) had to be taken out and reinserted through the cupboard, which means it is now structural.

 Thursday - filling and sanding in the window embrasure ...

 ... hacksawing off the sticking out bolt ends ...

 ... and getting a first coat of paint on. 

 Friday - second coat (we used the pale pink paint I got to try to match the lime plaster - it's quite fierce in the window!) another supporting board to go under the sink and more plasterboard.

Saturday - trying to get the big pieces of plasterboard off the floor and on the walls before we damage them.  Insulation fitted to the interior pantry wall, hopefully to help keep the pantry cool.

Kitchen construction

Friday 13 June 2014

As well as being my Mum's birthday, Friday was also the anniversary of our first night in the house, when we'd just completed the mezzanine floor.  The wood had arrived on Thursday afternoon, so it was an auspicious day for the start of the next phase.

First we dragged an enormous piece of 20mm plywood on to the worktop and jigsawed out a worktop for the sink, complete with cutout, and another piece to support it on the left.

Hurrah, it's level!  Now we disassemble and fit plasterboard for tiles on the wall behind.