Making it good

With all the electrics conduit in place now we can start the process of making the walls clean and straight ready for tiling. First just a rough coat of cement render to fill in the lower section of the wall that wasn’t plastered before due to the old kitchen that was here before.

Patching Version 2

Once the hole in the floor was filled in al that was then left was to fill in the rest of the holes in the walls

And just a little bit around the distribution box to finish off

And fill one in

With the conduit run in the next step is to fill it back in again, straight forward and simple

All the conduits held in place nice and securely with the wood.

Pour in the cement until its full.

Digging another hole

Just one more hole to be dug in the kitchen, in the floor to take the power from the distribution box down to the end wall for the power to sockets, ventilation fan, etc..

The just need to put the conduit in an secure it with plaster of Paris.

On another note we now have purchased the wood ready top put up the false ceiling.

Filling it up

With the power conduits all in and set now comes the time to fill all the deep holes that are in the walls around the place, more of these are from where bits of the old kitchen have been removed in the past.

More Power!!!

Today more of the conduit went into the kitchen to take the power for the wall sockets, under cupboard lights and ventilator fan.

With the infilling complete, we could then finish the concreting of the lower patio. This was a marathon session finishing off, both the sections along the edge, and the section at the bottom of the steps.

This completes the major section of the lower patio, enabling access to the front of the house without breaking ankles on the rough surface. Once we can get the new steps built, access to these lower rooms will be much easier.

Patching up

Following on from all the work of chipping out the spaces for all the power boxes now comes the task of putting everything back in.

First the power feeds for the fridge and the worktops

Then just a little cement in the back of the holes on the end wall, the holes ended up a little to deep due to the rocks and other rubbish that is used to make the holes.

And the light switch by the back door just needed a little plaster.

Back down on the lower patio, with a little help from Sheila and family we have got the ramp level filled and ready to take the final segment of the patio area.

Little boxes

With the walls clean and stable, it’s time to start filling in the holes.

First thing to go in are the power distribution boxes that will take all the power connections from the sockets.

Then the sockets for the fridge and work surface.

And the light switch by the window.

It’s a dirty job but somebody's gotta do it

Yep it was a dirty job, the walls in the kitchen we covered with layers of old whitewash an dirt and soot. Before we could do any more work it all had to come off. So with the entrance through to the rest of the house tapped off with plastic and duct tape it was time to put on the dust masks and get on with the job.

The end wall was the hardest as the soot and grease from the fire was burnt on, but once you got through it it came off.

We discovered that underneath the white was some red coloured paint which had been made to match the real terracotta tiles which originally were below it.

With the rest of the room cleared we then applied a mix of PVA glue and water to stabilise the surface.

Chiselling it

Back in side after a week or so working on the lower patio it’s time to get moving on the kitchen.

Looking towards the end wall we have chiselled out the sockets and conduit runs in the wall ready for sockets, under cupboard lighting and the extractor.

April Fool

April Fool, well not really as they don’t have that over here, they have something similar on Dec 27th, But that another story.

Sadly all we got up to today was pouring more concrete. Just another section complete on the lower patio.

Slightly weird shape to this one at it tapers in at the end to fit the wall.

That's now most of it complete, just the edges and a bit at the far end by the steps to complete.

Also planted out some of the veg for the summer that we brought at the weekend, First up courgettes and cucumbers.

Then Peppers.

And finish off with tomatoes and lettuce.

Bit’s and Pieces

A while ago we put some concrete in on the upper gardens to build a wall to stop the soil from disappearing over the edge. Today we installed more blocks to go with ones we had fitted a few days ago.

The remainder of the cement was used to neaten up the edging of the lower patio, before we lay the next slab.

The view from the roof shows where the next slab has to go in.

All in all it’s just another slab on the floor….

Another day and time to pour another slab of concrete. Not to difficult this time just move the frame and pour, Seem to have got this down to a fine art now.

The view from the steps end.

And looking back the other way.

A slab on the wild side

Having got a complete slab of concrete on one side of the lower patio, it time to start on the other side. So we moved the frame into position and then shifted several barrow loads of gravel down from the top. After a rest for several hours and lunch it was time to star the concrete pour, the second in 24 hours! It took a while longer for this one as it is a large area and quite thick, and it slopes up to meet the ramp at the end. But once done gives a nice feeling.

A slab on the side

That's it we’ve done it now.

Yep we have a complete concrete slab at the front of the house, Ok I spoke to soon, it’s not complete, complete but one side is now finished.

OK it doesn’t go completely to the steps, but there are a few things that need doing before we can get that far.

This is the next bit at the bottom of the ramp.

There’s no power in my kitchen, what me gona do

I’m going to fit some power that’s what I gona do (Apologies to UB40).

Yes finally we are starting to work on the kitchen again, the first job is to get the conduit runs and sockets into the wall, this is not made easy by the fact that these walls are made of concrete that was poured around rocks. So every time you chisel a hole in the wall there is a dirty great rock just where you want the socket to go.

Here is the sockets for the fridge and worktop, with the holes for the distribution boxes down below (they will be behind the fridge when done)

And a different view showing the socket at the other end of the worktop. The big black patch is where the original barbeque pit was, all this soot has to be cleaned off the walls sometime which is going to be a messy job.

Making base

Now before we can lay the next section there’s just one more thing to do. We need a little more soil just to bring the level up just a few inches.

With that and the manhole done we can pour the next section of the lower patio.

Where are we getting the soil? We are digging out a section on the next level down which will be the foundation for a wall that will go in, in the future to make the path down better.

In the garden things are doing we have harvested the Broccoli and will get a few more bits of them soon, the Cauliflowers are coming soon and we shall eat them starting this week. the first lot of Onions are maturing nicely, along with the Beetroot.

A second crop of Onions has gone in.

And we are trying and experiment this year Garlic… not that we expect a vampire apocalypse soon.

The first crop of potatoes has come out and in there place are the Beans, Peas, and later Maize.

And the second crop of potatoes is just beginning to pop up. One big problem this year is that we have had a very dry winter, almost no rainfall, so we have had to water the crops manually.