The view from the back

An un easy week
Friday, April 24, 2015

Well that's another week gone and their still tiling the pool, tomorrow is the start of the fourth week, it all seems so labour intensive. I'm just glad we're on a fixed price and not day rate the cost even at local rates would be substantial as there are three of them most of the time.

The process after the gunite concrete was to render the pool with tile adhesive then scrape this back with the floats until smooth then tile the sides starting at the top with the border pushing the mosaic tile sheet back until the adhesive Ouse's through the gaps. on you go until you have done all the walls approximately 45 m2 . Then the good bit starts, scratching out all the now rock hard ouse'd out adhesive. Now I have no idea how many hundreds if not thousands of metres of joints there are but it took two guys a week !

You then have the pleasure of grouting and then repeating it all again on the 50 m2 of the floor. So as this process rolls into its fourth week, most of the tiles are on with just the steps to do.

The steps are seeming to be causing an issue for some reason, as the tile courses flow horizontally around the pool, when they cross the steps there is less then a complete tile on the face of the steps?

Being unwilling to cut a tile that's going to be 80cm under water there altering the rise of the steps to accommodate the full tile, so brick , render , adhesive skim , scrape , tile etc etc so that's another week I guess?

It's hard to believe that all pools are done this way , but we're certainly getting a quality job, I just hope there's a bit of the summer left to have a swim !

For the last week our DeeDee has been a bit off her food for some reason, she is still very active and looks happy but just not packing the biscuits away as before ?

The answer became apparent the other evening when she run passed us carrying a rabbit, it was resisting but the end was obvious, off in to the chumba and no amount of coaxing would work, eventually we flushed her out onto the rambla unfortunately too late for the rabbit who was missing it's back legs.

The lovely wife gathered up the rest and gave it a unceremonious internment in a carrier bag in the bins. DeeDee was not impressed. Today whilst we were altering one of the kitchen windows so it would open above the worktop height the lovely wife saw DeeDee burying something in a new pile of gravel for the path to the workshop, intrigued she went to dig it up, yes it was the front end of another rabbit.

We've had the first of our veg, I say veg it was actually a few radishes they were hot and crispy. The other items are looking good with just the chillies and tomatoes falling to the cold snap. The membrane and gravel is now in the court yard so we just need to move the tubs and shelves etc and put up the strainer wires so we can tie up in weeks to come. One thing is that we won't be short of bamboo canes as the rambla is lined with them. We should be in good shape for next season.

Now the pump and filter room is built I have been able to use up all the tiles left over from the new bathrooms on the walls. Some how we ended up with 15 m2 of extra tiles of all the same sort ? I'm pretty sure I haven't paid for them as we have sourced all the tiles and arranged delivery, so as these were about 10€ per metre plus IVA I would have noticed , I hope !

So I can only assume that they double loaded the pallet :-) , what ever its a posh pump room , just need the pump etc

There's not been a lot to laugh about this week, having received a letter from the Junta de Andalucia delivering a sanction for GRAVE tax offences,

Yer what ? A fine of 150€ for not submitting a tax return when buying the house ? After a visit to the lawyer ready to beat him to a pulp he was able to explain that within the ten pages were a few fundamental issues.

The postal address was ours as was the property registration details, the letter even acknowledged the receipt of 8500€ in tax ? This they definitely had as it was a bankers draft " thankfully "

The errors are that the named party for whom the sanction is issued is not me and the NIE is not mine. So he's in the process of getting them sorted out.

In my experience here is that even with a simple thing like a padron or car tax they won't take the money if any of the papers are missing or wrong choosing to turn you away, so you'd think that even thinking of sending such a letter would raise a flag to check the details. But no it's just another example of the Junta drones wasting the limited resources of Andalucia just plodding through the motions.

So overall an uneasy week but the jobs are getting ticked off .

1 Like Published at 7:09 AM Comments (2)

Will stamina & patience have rewards?
Thursday, April 16, 2015

We have now made our trip to the ikea warehouse and collected our end panels, we did however have a further aborted visit. We made our next attempt on the Tuesday after Easter , arriving at six pm as their open until seven pm , they were shut as this is apparently a regional holiday in Murcia, who have guessed that thurs Friday Saturday Sunday wasn't enough and they need Tuesday as well? So Wednesday morning we went again, 100 km each way there and back by 10:30am, these are now fitted and as always the lovely wife was correct they do make a big difference.

I know I should never have doubted her , what do I know ?

We have had the tiler back and contracted him direct to do some jobs made possible by the Greek euro crisis , namely tiling both the dinning area and lounge hearths with some antiqued (aged) terracotta tiles and matching moulding they look stunning , really making a feature.

The dinning area was previously part of the kitchen and was white, uneven and with two different size tiles so that went first. The lounge was in the same as all the original floors 50cm sq burnished metallic brownish and with joints upto 25mm in places. Once the first was done the the decision was made it had to be done , so many thanks Athens.

With the tiles done it was on with some painting , the dinning and kitchen getting a full redo and the lounge a touch up for now. This is due to the unusual ceiling arrangements, there are 24 exposed wood beams with curved plaster between , this gives you about 250 meters of cutting in alone ! Plus four doors , two windows and now forty meters of new skirting board, after this long the enthusiasm for the task is lacking so it's a job for the autumn.

All the new work out side that is attached to or on the same side of the patio as the cortijo is just cement rendered so as to match the cortijo and will need painting, we decided not to have a morcem finish on these so they matched the more uneven texture on the existing walls they abut.

This and the fact that the whole cortijo needs painting outside and the rejas are still in the rusting primer from when they were fitted many years ago means we're going to be no strangers to a paint brush !

Number one daughter is visiting soon so there may be some assistance on the way, I understand painting breaks are quite popular nowadays? Once she's mastered white she can move on to black , it worked on "the karate kid "

A while ago we planted some veg in pots as the area we are planning to have a veg plot is still not ready and we are starting to see not the fruits but the shoots of our labours as most things are getting a good start from seed. The strugglers are the tomatoes and chillies who seem to have reacted badly to the month of poor weather we've being having and may have to be replaced with young plants from the market . A shame really as I had picked out some unusual salad tomato and some very hot chillies .

Even this week we're having more dull damp and windy weather, not quite cold enough for a fire but close. As I've being saying its a year since we moved and on our last day at the rental we were able to use the pool that certainly wouldn't be possible this year, even if it had any water other than rain lol.

On the social front we're still not getting out much, finding construction fatigue or lethargy puts us on on the sofa most evenings, "cot'd up " and sparked out by ten pm. I'm particularly "wrong road'd" choosing to get up around 5 am taking the chance to have a quiet coffee and the radio or recorded tv before the grind starts over at 7:45 again.

A serious note of caution here , having the builders or anyone around every day for six or seven months is draining without trying to carry out diy and supply fixtures and fittings , so think on if you choose a project as your new place the stamina req'd can be crippling.

The number of people we have met who have been here years, in some cases 10+ who still have major parts of their homes as a work in progress is alarming and that includes ALL of our builders. The common theme seems to be doing the work in planned stages either by design or lack of funds allowing for life to intervene.

We have done numerous major works and upgrades in the UK , all done in reasonable time and budget, some of you will draw comparisons with this having done or contracted an extension or loft job. We thought that our connections to the construction trades and our previous projects would serve us well but no.

The system, the mind set of the trades and the availability of materials other than concrete and blocks put a real strain on the planning side and you will need to be all over the scheduling as gaps in supply are measured in weeks not days !

This in conjunction with the inability to work in the damp will lead to lost days and days , the firm who have been supplying the bulk materials and skips / diggers etc won't deliver if it looks like rain , is raining or has rained within two days of the delivery. Even if the machine is on site he will collect it and return to base but is unwilling to drive the same lorry with a delivery.

Yes we're on the rambler but it's almost flat and just 100 m from the Tarmac so the risk of getting stuck is non existent, but the problem persists only to be compounded by being 100+ km from a major brico outlet so even consumables either cost the earth locally or you wait, we have worked out it costs about 12€ to visit the Bricomart at Vicar so if we can save that or more then it's off we go. But to be fair you usually can't get what we need off the shelf locally.

But should you be successful... now we can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, the rewards are starting to look to be worth the battle.

0 Like Published at 7:23 PM Comments (1)

A year in and still going
Thursday, April 9, 2015

It's a year or there about's since we moved in to our cortijo, we have seen the seasons come and go , the heat come and go the wood pile come and go and come and go, but we're still here.

During the winter we had our almond trees pruned by one of the guys who did the picking, so our almond wind fall was reinvested all except for the price of a menu del dia . This now seems to be paying dividends with the recent rains just after the flowers we seem to be on for a good crop.

Our first load of wood was home grown, we made it right through to mid March with out buying any wood . This was a combination of us removing the dead trees this making the bulk of our wood followed by the trimmings that gave us an extra month after our wood was getting low.

We have piles of twigs around the place as we didn't get around to getting a fire licence to have a bonfire or two so they'll have to wait until the autumn now, although the fire risk is currently low As the campo is lush and green after all the rain we've had recently, this will no doubt change.

As its about a year now since we moved in and this is the first time we have seen the variety of wild flowers that are now all around. If you remember we had only had 5 days rain from July 2013 to oct 2014 so the whole area was snuff dry and bleached out, the most common sight then was a dust devil. Even our olives were a complete loss as they had not been watered turning out small and thin skinned .

With the flowers came the bee catchers to brighten your journey up the rambla. The local rabbits and mice , shrews etc but be thriving as there's a increase in Falcons around and even the odd sighting of Eagles gliding over the campo.

That all sounds very rustic but how goes our ambition to cover parts of the lush campo in concrete?

Well the pool is getting tiled in the non classic deep blue tiles and looks stunning the terrace has been built and the surrounding wall is done and Mojacar blanco'd with a tile top , within these walls all looks very smart , over the wall not so smart as its being used for storage and dumping / mixing .

In doors is now well on the bathrooms are all done and the dinning room is finished now the floors are all tiled. I had a bit of a wind fall of sorts as our interior designer ( the lady wife ) had a change of mind , unusual as normally the lady is not for turning ! Her change was to the floor tiles in the bathroom, originally they were to be the same as all the down stairs but style dictated that they should now be charcoal ( grey / black ) , liberating 23 m2 of the others , just enough to cover the workshop floor , result.

So goodbye uneven concrete hello level tile floor looks too nice to get dirty stripping chain saws etc but it's a real upgrade when sweeping as the concrete was very flakey and dusty As it turned out there was just enough tiles with no spares, the tiler thought he might have to use the left overs from the bathroom to have a charcoal door mat !

DD the dog and Baggy the cat are now tolerating each other in what looks like an uneasy truce, baggy struts her stuff whilst DD watches her walk past some times it's As if she's taunting DD fully aware that if she makes a lunge towards her she'll get told.

Reading too much into it ? You should watch them some time, that's all I can say.

Recently we went to ikea in Murcia , I know I keep saying never again but the lady wife is very persuasive. I draw the line at the car park, by the time I've got that far I'm ready for a bit of peace and quiet.

The lovely wife being made of sterner stuff still joins the conga line as it winds its way around the store. We ( the royal we ) decided that the kitchen needed the addition of some decorative end panels on the island, so there she was back in the kitchen dept as they need ordering.

Three weeks later the lovely wife received a text that appeared to say they were ready for collection, the store was closed the next day as it was good Friday so late Saturday morning we set off again, as predicted the usual level of driving insanity was surpassed. I was unable to find a parking spot so dropped the lovely wife off and cruised the car park like a demented kerb crawler until I finally found a spot. In the mean time the lovely wife had joined the conga line and made it to the kitchen dept only to be redirected to the info desk and then to the collections desk , two hours later she's on the phone asking to be picked up.

The lovely wife was empty handed and seething apparently collections are not made from the store like in the UK but from a warehouse down the autovia a junction or two. So optimistically I said well come on then and then back to the Kentucky ( the best part of what's usually a poor day ) I looked at the time as lunch seemed a good idea it was 2:15 . The lovely wife then passed on the full reason why she was seething .

After queuing at all the various desks and explaining what she wanted and a few turns on the conga line the info sheet and map they gave her says that the warehouse is closed 2 - 5 pm.

Right then lunch first seems to be the order of the day, once near to the Kentucky it was clear that that too was a prime location for the 2 o'clock club , my orders were clear just go home !

No doors , No Kentucky and the prospect of doing it all again next week, I can't wait.

2 Like Published at 8:18 PM Comments (0)

That sinking feeling again !
Friday, April 3, 2015

Things here are moving along in a fashion, but there's more to tell then just the builders.

We have now been gifted if you can call it that with a puppy, a podenco ? I believe according to my builder, a lovely sandy colour with a slight wire over coat and far too much energy.

She turned up out of the blue very lean and afraid, covered in fleas and a few ticks , she was hanging around for three days before we were aware of her, however the builders had seen her and been feeding her , from that point she was here to stay.

The fleas were so bad you could see them moving, the vet suggested that the density was too high for the usual drops etc choosing something stronger and fast acting . So now flea'd tick'd worm'd and putting on weight she needs a name.

We called

her dee dee , a fitting name as you will see. DD will not come in doors choosing to stay out side in all weathers, she has a dog bed in the car port with her food and water, although not indoors its dry and sheltered and yet she chooses to sleep in the grass or on the sun couch if the cushions are left out. Understandable on the mild nights we've had recently but daft in the pouring rain.

The other Saturday afternoon it was tipping it down, as we went out we went passed DD curled up on the cushions ( left out again , whoops ) directly under the roof scuppers, Daft Dog or what ? Thats DD !

Our DD has claimed a patch of weeds near the front door as hers, here she try's to collect any and every thing she can carry as she explores the world one bite at a time. Her favourite collectable is gloves closely followed by tea bags discarded by the builders . The lovely wife passes over the area once a week with a black bag and the game begins again !

You might say she's young or bored and your probably right on both counts so we bought various rope throws and very large leather hide chews, the ropes are great fun for her but the collecting goes on and the toys are destroyed as for the hide chew half her size ? Went missing the same afternoon we can only assume she buried it and it may surface when the builders do the final tidy up and grading who knows ? DD hid it for a rainy day and hopefully that won't be for a while now !

I've been getting on with fitting the kitchen units now the floor has been tiled , built a base for the island and got all the units in and had a smashing time whilst fitting the sink. We have chosen two ceramic sinks one on the island the other near the window .

The instructions say to invert the sink and use as a template by drawing around then deduct 10mm from all sides this is your line . Whilst the sink was like this I slid it out of the way and cut out the hole just as I was near to the last corner the blade on the jig saw jammed and caused the saw to jump my elbow flicked out and yes the sink slide off the counter and smashed on the floor taking with it a new tile not even grouted yet .

I cursed loudly and pedro the tiler shot in from the lounge to see the mess, now pedro speaks one word of English and it want quite right , ok . So he said something ending in señora, I made the international mime for shooting yourself in the head, then as he does he replied slowly in dumbed down Spanish just for me " mas agua es problema, aqui no problema " which I took to mean, as many things around here are still compared to the floods of 2012 that " worse things happened in the flood " well you have to agree , so a typical Mediterranean shrug of the shoulders and back to the tiles whistling like a canerie.

I think I'll let him tell the lovely wife eh .

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