At Last

Well the day that we have all been looking forward to has finally arrived. This will be my last post from Murcia, we move today.

Cave is pretty much the same on the outside but some considerable work has taken place on the outside. We now have a wall and fence around the terrace and gates to keep the mutleys in. I have been told that the kitchen will be finished by Thursday.

A builder friend has now joined us and will be helping us with the work for a month and we have a neighbour who is also a builder who will be able to work for days at a time, when we need him.

It is going to be much easier being on site and not having to drive backwards and forwards as that is a good 8 hours out of the working week and pretty tiring. We really picked a good weekend to move Fiesta weekend....Doh! Again this is down to our stunning organisational skills. On the bright side our little village does have its own fiesta on the 3rd of May, which is excellent as it is my mothers Birthday, and I always think it is jolly decent when you get a free party......lol

Signing off from Murcia .........Next post is from Andalucia.....Whoo Hoo !!!!

Soooo……. the end gig thing happened but the photos did not. I think my bro took some but my camera had a bad battery day so I failed which is probs just as well as I ended the evening drinking milk. I think the stress of the work we have on the cave and the packing that needs to be done for the end of the month move, have more than messed with my poor little body and my ulcer.

However a good time was had by all and it was quite an emotional evening and the end of an era. But time stands still for no one and we are now starting another era which is the new cave house.

We have been working at the house this week, alone for the first time, without the watchful and knowing gaze of Mike and the Mechanics. It is all very daunting as we are not builders, and although we have some knowledge, this by no means makes us experts

We have managed to complete various tasks this week but the gains do not look significant for the amount of time, sweat and tears that have gone into it. We have our two youngest teenagers with us until the25th of this month and the timing could not have been worse, this has meant that we have had to take them with us whilst we work so as far as a holiday goes we suck as parents and feel really bad about this, but our time constraints are a such we now have to move at the end of the month ready or not.

Stress is now starting to get the better of us and whilst not wishing to sound negative we were seen the day before yesterday sitting on a straw bale with our heads in our hands. I guess we are just tired and feeling very jaded and daunted by the task ahead, and we do not often get like this. We will get there and I am sure that with a rest today we will feel a little better when we return Sunday.

This week we have managed to finish the arch from the new kitchen into the pantry, we have also finished the serving hatch from the kitchen, almost completed the wiring, and started rendering in the kitchen.

Rick, our youngest son has started to lower the floor in the tunnel between our office and lounge digging out steps and shovelling barrow loads of soil and rock in the process, we were very proud of him but also worried that he was doing too much. Being 6’3” this was not an easy task for him as he constantly had to stoop in the tunnel. And we have to do something about some of the doorways as he has bashed his head so many times we are fearing he will have some form of brain damage.

Our youngest daughter Bev has helped me with the arch in the kitchen and the serving hatch and was fascinated by yeso, she has now ideas about moulding little dolphins onto my bathroom walls in yeso. I will let her run with that as she is a brilliant artist and I would like all the kids to have some hand in the family home that will someday belong to them.

I have decided that working with yeso is a finite art and I think, and I do think that I have now got the hang of it. Rick also made great inroads into the cave bathroom by using the flicking yeso technique which I have to say he managed brilliantly once shown. Thanks here to CR and Mrs CR for the initial tuition.

Next week more rendering but we do have a builder who can spare us a few days and as long as he does not spend that time rolling around on the floor laughing at us all will be well and dandy.

Our kids are with us until the 25^th of this month. We have the son of a friend who is also coming to stay 22^nd of this month, and guess what? He is a builder too so there is a god.

We think it is going to get a little crowded but it cannot get any worse. Hope the next post is a bit more upbeat, so forgive a little negativity as I cannot be sunshine and light all of the time, and exhaustion tends to get the better of you…..lol

Next post will have some good photos now that my camera has stopped having a blonde day, not sure what that was all about but next post should be good.

Before I forget I had a significant bird moment early the other morning and due to my position could not see the markings on this bird. Cheeky little monkey was sitting on one of the cables overhead shouting at me. It kind of looked like a magpie in profile but with a crest on its head, and the noise it made was deafening. I think that it was a cuckoo, although I could be wrong. Best description it was about the same size and shape as a bog standard magpie UK variety. It did not have a long beak quite small in fact and it did have some sort of a crest on its head. But as for colouring I could not tell you as I was looking into the sun. The noise it made well here goes, it was kinda of a Kau ka kau then it screeched and flew off. I hasten to add I am a bird lover but terrified of birds, so this was quite awesome for me.