Time just seems to fly past whether we are busy or not. It is just a shame
that the speed of the work progressing to get our house 100% doesn't work on
the same scale. Things are definitely getting there, just slowly. A few
nagging issues are yet to be resolved but nothing that detracts from our
enjoyment of being here, it is just frustrating.
The real big problem we have is the weather. The mornings are beautiful and
sunny. The mountains look so stunning. However, once the afternoon comes,
and sometimes not much past 13h00, the clouds thicken and we get a huge
thunderstorm. Every day. At first I thought it might me my fault. I am
trying desperately to get cycling fit again but dragging myself out of bed
first thing is proving very difficult, so I don't usually get out until just
after lunch. Even if the storm is late, you can guarantee that once I am at
least 10km from home, the clouds appear and lightning and rain are not far
away. I think I have been chased home most afternoons this week with a light
show above my head. I just hope that the theory of being on a bike with
rubber tyres will prevent me from being lit up like a Christmas tree!! I had
to shelter for over 30 minutes on Wednesday out of both a brick wall of rain
and very heavy cracks of lightning all around. Certainly gets the heart
thumping I can tell you. The up side is that the earlier it comes in the
afternoon, the earlier it goes, and the late afternoon and early evening are
cool and dry. Doesn't help much with working in the garden either as that is
having to be an early start and finish too.
I think we are starting to get a plan together for the garden, but there is
just so much to do, as with everything else it will take time and a lot of
blood and sweat. Being out here as with most things we need is a problem
with the grass too. Grass seed is either not available or rubbish and the
nearest turf farm is probably 150km away. So the many areas that we need
'instant' grass can only be resolved with digging and moving existing turf
from areas that it will eventually get dug for building. A slow, hot and
sweaty process, but at least the instant results can be achieved, if it
lives! Just hope we have enough that we can use this way. We don't really
want any bare earth come winter as it gets so dry and dusty for several
months until the spring rains arrive.
The rain is also an issue for water seeping into the house under the doors.
We have spent quite a while improving on drainage to get water flowing where
we want it around the outside of the house. However the rain that hits the
doors and then comes under is more of an issue. We have a stack of unused
towels that are used to try and soak up any errant water, but when the wind
and rain comes from certain directions it is just not enough. Not a major
issue but I need to make a plan and get a good solution in this week. In the
long term the two side doors that are the issue will eventually be internal
doors for the garage and our master bedroom.
The kitchen is almost finished now. We have a new unit under the sink as the
old one looked like it had been fitted by someone with very bad eyesight,
and we hope to have doors on all the cupboards again next week as they have
been taken back for re-spraying as the finish was not up to standard. Got a
very open look to the kitchen at the moment, you know why you have doors
when you see how untidy the contents of the cupboards look without them.
With a bit of luck and a following wind the Rayburn will get connected up
this week, flue and water. Will be good to see if we have success with that
for not only free hot water, but cooking as well. I feel a tale yet to be
told on that one yet though!!
One of the long burning questions we have been chewing on is a name for our
house. Well I think we might have cracked that one. We had a visitor to the
house, in the house. He has been leaving his mark all around the garden, him
and his family probably, but on Wednesday he decided to take a short cut
through our sunroom, not that he had much chance of finding his way out, he
is blind you know. If you haven't guessed already, Mr Mole. We eventually
showed him to the front door and he dived into the bank outside the kitchen
under the turf we had just put down. Later on he must have decided that the
bank was too hard to dig in and he re-appeared and made a dash for safety to
the side of the garden. Now what has this got to do with the name for our
house? Well several people have called it the 'small house', for obvious
reasons. We did think about actually calling it that but decided against it.
Then it came to me, a wee play on words, 'The Smole House'! Are we mad,
probably, but hey who cares!
A more pressing issue rather than a name is a street number as we do not
have yet one. One neighbour is No. 10, the next No. 12. Not much to work on
there as there are no even numbers I can think of that fit between the two
of them. I went to the municipal offices to enquire as to a solution, not
much help there really. We kind of agreed that calling us 12a would do and
the man said 'he would note it down'. Where, I don't know. Does it matter,
not really. It is just a problem of trying to give our address to services
like electric etc. We are trying to get a landline, but trying to convince
the lady on the other end of the phone that we really did exist despite not
having a street number was no easy job. Hopefully if we can tell people that
we are 12a Polo Way, even though officially that doesn't exist, it might
just get us where we want to be. It is a bit like being in Harry Potter and
platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross, just aim between No. 10 and No. 12 Polo Way
at speed and you will appear on our driveway!
It comes as no surprise as I write this that it is just after lunch and the
heavens have opened and the light and sound show is with us again, can't be
my fault as I went for a cycle this morning! It becomes a pain though
unplugging TV etc. every time a storm hits, but they are very big and nasty
affairs, not worth taking the risk. Our neighbours apparently got hit by
lightning a while back and lost TV and other electrical equipment, so it
does happen. Hopefully not to us!
All sounds very interesting!
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