Friday 8-6-2007
The spring here is now giving way to full, hot, Spanish summer. The Wattle, Oleander and Jacaranda in flower have all been magnificent. Since the third week of January, when the almonds started to blossom, we have had flowers all the way through to now, and it’s not all over yet. The beautiful grasses are now all turning brown and are sharp to walk through. The next big thing on our farming calendar will be picking the almonds in August. We might also be in the house by then.
No builders today, but Phil Reynolds (our solar man) has been up. Between us we have decided that the solar panels will be better on a concrete plinth on the ground behind the casita, rather than exposed to the winds up on the casita roof. I had assumed, wrongly, that the panels would be flat onto the slanting casita roof, but they need to be angled at forty five degrees from the ground to be most efficient. The plinth will, when dried out, also allowed us to face all the panels due south rather than SS East on the casita roof. If at a later stage we need to build a wind break to the west of the panels we can and also it will be easier to extend the system if we require.
The down side of our decision is that we have had to mix loads of concrete (in Dario’s cement mixer) and drag it all up the banking to the back of the casita (about two metres up a hill) in a wheel barrow. The cement comes in thirty five kg bags and is very heavy for a delicate little flower like me. I was filling the mixer with the cement and ending up with more cement on me than in the mixer (a steep learning curve). Anyway we now have a south facing 2.5 x 1.5 x 0.2mtr plinth on which, next Friday, Phil will return to install the panels upon. I’m retiring knackered for the weekend and probably most of next week.
Saturday 9-6-2007
We didn’t expect anyone on site today so were surprised to be awoken at eight o’clock by Dario wanting the key to get in the house. We bring the key down to the caravan if we are not expecting anyone on site because the house has quite a lot of new equipment, and expensive, in it. We don’t feel comfortable with the front door key under a piece of wood next to the door any longer. Anyway today the tiler has been putting the bathroom tiles down in the ensuite shower and building the shower glass wall. We had to point out to them, early on, that they had brought the wrong tiles up to site and that they had still to bring four more glass tiles up, if they wanted to complete the wall. They did eventually, after lunch. Dario did actually, sort of, apologise to me for forgetting which shower floor tiles that we had chosen four weeks back (there‘s a first).
I have been laying out more of our water system. I have used another fifty meters of the pipe that I bought yesterday. We now have three pipes leading to the garden areas from which we can water directly from the hebe via an electronic drip feed system (that I have yet to suss out) and the main water pipe leading to the house and central heating system.
In a flush of excitement a few weeks back we bought a plastic garden/brush cupboard, the type that you can leave outside. I started to build it today, see pictures. It’s really one of the crapiest contraptions that it has ever been my misfortune to purchase. I have put it in the casita because there is nowhere suitable outside for such an awful object. We all make mistakes.
However it will be very useful, as we don’t have anywhere to put brooms and cleaning stuff in the house.(E)
The spring here is now giving way to full, hot, Spanish summer. The Wattle, Oleander and Jacaranda in flower have all been magnificent. Since the third week of January, when the almonds started to blossom, we have had flowers all the way through to now, and it’s not all over yet. The beautiful grasses are now all turning brown and are sharp to walk through. The next big thing on our farming calendar will be picking the almonds in August. We might also be in the house by then.
No builders today, but Phil Reynolds (our solar man) has been up. Between us we have decided that the solar panels will be better on a concrete plinth on the ground behind the casita, rather than exposed to the winds up on the casita roof. I had assumed, wrongly, that the panels would be flat onto the slanting casita roof, but they need to be angled at forty five degrees from the ground to be most efficient. The plinth will, when dried out, also allowed us to face all the panels due south rather than SS East on the casita roof. If at a later stage we need to build a wind break to the west of the panels we can and also it will be easier to extend the system if we require.
The down side of our decision is that we have had to mix loads of concrete (in Dario’s cement mixer) and drag it all up the banking to the back of the casita (about two metres up a hill) in a wheel barrow. The cement comes in thirty five kg bags and is very heavy for a delicate little flower like me. I was filling the mixer with the cement and ending up with more cement on me than in the mixer (a steep learning curve). Anyway we now have a south facing 2.5 x 1.5 x 0.2mtr plinth on which, next Friday, Phil will return to install the panels upon. I’m retiring knackered for the weekend and probably most of next week.
Saturday 9-6-2007
We didn’t expect anyone on site today so were surprised to be awoken at eight o’clock by Dario wanting the key to get in the house. We bring the key down to the caravan if we are not expecting anyone on site because the house has quite a lot of new equipment, and expensive, in it. We don’t feel comfortable with the front door key under a piece of wood next to the door any longer. Anyway today the tiler has been putting the bathroom tiles down in the ensuite shower and building the shower glass wall. We had to point out to them, early on, that they had brought the wrong tiles up to site and that they had still to bring four more glass tiles up, if they wanted to complete the wall. They did eventually, after lunch. Dario did actually, sort of, apologise to me for forgetting which shower floor tiles that we had chosen four weeks back (there‘s a first).
I have been laying out more of our water system. I have used another fifty meters of the pipe that I bought yesterday. We now have three pipes leading to the garden areas from which we can water directly from the hebe via an electronic drip feed system (that I have yet to suss out) and the main water pipe leading to the house and central heating system.
In a flush of excitement a few weeks back we bought a plastic garden/brush cupboard, the type that you can leave outside. I started to build it today, see pictures. It’s really one of the crapiest contraptions that it has ever been my misfortune to purchase. I have put it in the casita because there is nowhere suitable outside for such an awful object. We all make mistakes.
However it will be very useful, as we don’t have anywhere to put brooms and cleaning stuff in the house.(E)
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Mike and I (cathy) are checking to see if comments still works.
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