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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 11, 2020 13:51:39 GMT
Hmmm... the photo has (temporarily?) disappeared. Just a slight glitch, I hope. I use postimages.org quite often.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 14:38:57 GMT
Outstanding, but it would be even better if they were rain clouds! Well, it's been raining last night and on and off today, so I think they were. Reload the page and see if they appear again.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 14:42:35 GMT
What a picture! It hardly looks real. We get some cracking sunsets and weather here. For some reason though a lot of the rain misses us. I can see in the distance it coming and then somehow it shoots off behind the hill behind us or disappears to the other side of the valley to the front.
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Post by mossie on Aug 11, 2020 15:37:36 GMT
Very jealous. Worth all the work you have put in to it. By the way, I think you have been married for more than 6 months and should have realised by now that discussion is futile. "She who must be obeyed" etc.
the sunset shot is first class as well.
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Post by casimira on Aug 11, 2020 16:25:24 GMT
What a transformation from the early days!! Idyllic...I love everything about it.
I have so enjoyed following the long but well worth it journey of finally having it livable with no construction going on. A true labor of love.
And, the sunset pic. What everyone else said. STUNNING!!
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 16:26:30 GMT
Mossie, I do remember once persuading her of something. I think it was getting married to me. Hard work but I won through in the end.
Casi, I used to mostly enjoy the workers being here. I can watch people working all day. And I often did. No sunset tonight, too cloudy.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 11, 2020 16:42:50 GMT
Not wanting to be a downer, but I would presume that your children have little or no interest in the place even if one of your goals was to create a wonderful place for the entire family. I have seen that so many times, particularly when the children were raised in a different country, and the "family" house is not in that country. In France, this usually concerns the offspring of Maghrebi or Franco-Maghrebi parents and of course sometimes Portuguese (the largest immigrant group in France), Italian, Spanish or Turkish families. The children are anchored where they grew up and in most cases the mother wants to stay where the children are.
However, when the children reach about age 30, they understand the error or their ways. So all you need is a bit of patience.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 19:24:44 GMT
All our kids are bothered about at the moment is how much it is worth split three ways when we pop our clogs. I've told them they've no hope. We'll sell it and spend the money before we die.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 11, 2020 20:02:35 GMT
All that work certainly resulted in a super beautiful place!
I wouldn't have noticed the grills if you hadn't mentioned them and don't think they detract at all, especially since you have complementary openwork such as the top of the pergola, the trellis on the wall, the pierced blocks, etc. Looks very southern Spain!
I did pick up on the compass & how perfect it is for people who've traveled so much. It's also an elegant focal point in that gorgeous patio floor. The tiles on the stair risers are wonderful, too.
Everything works so beautifully together -- all your plants, especially that prostrate rosemary(?) spilling over the low white wall, and the way the existing nature surrounds the house. The pool and the way it seems to float out into space over the rolling landscape with those gentle views is a real triumph. Well, everything is, really.
Love that sunset!
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Post by fumobici on Aug 11, 2020 20:21:48 GMT
You've gotta go back to page one of this thread to realize the scope of the transformation. Bravo! You found good people to help you obviously and had a vision of what to do.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 12, 2020 16:27:50 GMT
Thanks Bixa, and yes, it is Rosemary, so I'm told.
Fumobici, definitely a team effort and sometimes I do look back at the old photos and wonder how we did it.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 12, 2020 18:25:15 GMT
They never phone you up and tell you they are coming. They just turn up and hope you are there. Who? Workmen. We’ve a plumber/electrician man who we’ve contacted about getting a new solar hot water tank and a dechalker machine thing for the water supply. He’s given us a quote and got the stuff but them just turns up to drop it all off to start work tomorrow. Luckily we were in. Communication is a difficult thing in Spain (as well as many other countries really). This is the old water tank, 300 litres. To the left is the control box and expansion chamber - This is from the top of the tank. We used it for about four years - This is the new tank. Still 300 litres but obviously somewhat taller and slimmer. What would have happebed had it not fit inside I’ve no idea. More by luck than judgement there is about a 2cm clearance. It took three of us some manoeuvring to get it through the door and standing up. Top right, the dirt on the wall, it what is left of a housemartin/swift/swallow nest. Left and behind are the house batteries - To the right of the old tank I’ve made a space for the dechalker to go. It needs not only to be connected to the water but to the electric, though the power consumption seems to be only about 10W. Maybe just for the display and sensors in it. In the previous photo and this one you can see the water pipes feeding the washing machine, boiler and hot water tank. I’ve left them exposed because a) too much effort to hide them all in the walls and b) it’s not a ‘living’ room so they are fine as they are and c) easy to make changes to the circuit if we need to. No, they don’t freeze up. Rarely does the area get below freezing and anyway when we are away, I drain all the water out - This is the ‘decalcifacador’. Well, it’s actually the box. I hope there’s something inside. To the right and behind is the washing machine and the pool cover I’ve had to move out the way. Also the start of some containers of distilled water for the batteries - I’ll give you a refresher on the technical side of the house, I’m sure you’ve been waiting for it with bated breath. Or not. More of the distilled water (we get through a lot, especially in the summer), house batteries (12 of 2V making 24V), big white box is the inverter which converts 24V to 220/230V, either side of that are two breaker boxes and a socket of the washing machine, lastly are a silver and a black box which are control boxes for the solar panels. They monitor the charge, switch the charging side off when the batteries are full etc etc - The green light is on!!! Yippee!! Means I have full batteries - Control box and expansion tank for the solar water. Maybe it even might be working tomorrow as they are supposed to be coming back in the afternoon. Which is unfortunate as we have four relatives arriving also tomorrow afternoon to stay for a week or so. Bad timing really but my preference is the workers take priority. You never know when they might be able to come back - Other end of this outhouse is the gas boiler. The back up hot water supply. I fitted it but told an inspector who had to come to check it that a professional had done so - but unfortunately I can’t seem to find their details for now. Nevertheless he said they’d done a good job and it was all fine. The stick is used to block a hole up. You have to have the hole below the boiler as the gas is heavier than air and needs to escape if there is a leakage. I block it up during the night as mice have been known to enter through it - Under the steps to the right of where the dechalker will go is what’s left of my wood supply. If we are ever back in the house in the winter or cold months I’ll need to stock up - The solar panels and hot water panels near the house - Just there look. You can’t miss them. I’m standing by the kitchen window - You can just see the panels to the right of the tree. Also there is the ‘route’ the pipes and cables back to the house. This is from the near the back door on the back patio - Just quickly then, you saw the solar panels for the pool before. This are the batteries, inverter, breakers and charging control box. This is in a different outhouse - The in yet another outhouse is the pool pump, pipework and big red sand filter. The white thing to the right is the overflow tank - This one you can see better through the doorway - The valve system and controls for the pool I can never remember when I’ve been away for a while. So I wrote it on the wall - I’ll see what adventures the workers get up to tomorrow if they come. They probably will but just not be able to finish everything.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 12, 2020 19:07:56 GMT
Electricity, water, gas, solar power, wood -- you are ready for the end of the world.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 12, 2020 19:27:18 GMT
As long as the supermarket stays open.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 12, 2020 19:42:00 GMT
You mean you can't survive on olives and the incoming mice when you remove the stick?
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 13, 2020 5:55:21 GMT
Hate olives. Mice/rats on skewers were a favourite road side snack to be sold in northern Zambia near Malawi.
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Post by bjd on Aug 13, 2020 7:56:31 GMT
Your water must be awfully hard, given the appearance of the "stick" out of the tank. We have also used ours for 4 years and when the guy came to check the system last week, he said it was fine. But I think we are lucky with the water here. In other towns that are quite near (10 km away), the water is either really hard or nearly undrinkable.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 13, 2020 8:35:45 GMT
It is hard and I hope the filter will cure it.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 15, 2020 14:08:41 GMT
Update - this is the old tank removed - The decalcifier fitted with its own filter. They set up the hoses with a bypass in case it has problems - The new tank in place and coupled up - Electric connected to one of the breakers - The drainage pipe running behind the batteries and yet to be connected to the drain pipe from the washing machine - But - two things - the solar water system is still not working because, I think, the sensor at the panels has been attacked yet again by squirrels. A man will come on Monday and check it out. I hope to make it work for a while . Secondly, the gas boiler works, meaning comes on, when it detects a lowering on the pressure in the hot water side as when you turn a tap on. Well, no matter whether hot or cold now, the boiler kicks in. The men left before we knew this. I have though managed to find out why after some pondering and working out what was happening and sorted that out by closing a certain valve they’d left open. The thing is, I will have no idea for a month or more as to if the filter is working properly because I ill have to wait to see if the shower head in out bathroom chalks up at all. We’ll see. Monday also is tense as to if they man who comes can sort out the sensor. It’s a shame to have so much sunshine we can use for the electric, for the pool pump electric system and for constant (nearly) hot water and for part of that, it doesn’t work. Yes, we’ve had to buy the systems with an initial outlay of money, but getting it all back for free is a good thing and the object of doing it. As with any house, we must pay for insurance and taxes every year, our water bill is for most of the year, 12 euros a month. In the summer that rises to about 40 euros because we are here and using it. But our electric has no standing charges and each Kw costs nothing. I’d like that to again be the same for the hot water. As an aside, went for a walk this morning along one of the old railway lines nearby that are now footpaths before it got too hot. They routes are called the Via Verdes and are Spanish wide. We’re lucky in having about 160km of them near us. A bridge over a road - Also our guests sent me a couple of photos of yesterday evening. I hadn’t the heart to tell them we had a better sunset just before they came -
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Post by htmb on Aug 15, 2020 14:56:04 GMT
Ah, but There’s nothing wrong with that sunset. A very nice one!
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 15, 2020 15:54:40 GMT
Those last three pictures are all so beautiful in their different ways. Mark,, apologies if this is something you already know about and have addressed, but ....... having lived on a boat, with its attendant problems, the first thing I thought of when you mentioned some of the problems with plumbing despite having a decalcifer was electrolysis. Obviously I could be way off base, but here is some reading on the subject if you want it: www.nationaldriller.com/articles/85156-damaging-effects-of-electrolysis-on-plumbing-systems
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 15, 2020 16:06:19 GMT
Bix, thanks for that information but there is something you don't know as it has never come up - "Electrolysis occurs when two dissimilar metals that make up a home's plumbing system are made to conduct this electricity." and "Joints, in particular, are often hit hard by electrolysis because they are the connecting point of two dissimilar metals." - we have no, and I mean no, metal pipes. Everything, all the system is plastic. All the joints are plastic. The pipe from the village is rubber/plastic. We have normal metal taps, but that is all.
Good thought though and thanks.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 15, 2020 16:25:19 GMT
I have had to change two hot water heaters over the years when they became bins of calcite. The next one will do the same in about 5 years. Paris water is ultra hard.
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 15, 2020 18:08:13 GMT
That's great, Mark. Plastic pipes are where it's at. Once , back in the 70s, I was party in a hardware store to a conversation about plumbing pipes. Everyone was spouting the received wisdom about copper being the only way to go. Then two plumbers weighed in and pointed out that all modern hospitals had gone to plastic piping, and they cited the many awful acids and other things that hospital pipes are expected to handle.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 16, 2020 9:21:14 GMT
Saturday night, film night -
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Post by tod2 on Aug 16, 2020 13:32:57 GMT
. Everyone was spouting the received wisdom about copper being the only way to go. There is nothing left of our old copper pipes where it would be accessible by the public. Maybe in private homes with some age, but all copper piping has been stolen and sold for scrap. We have arrived at our place of work only to find the water stream full belt into the carpark as the copper piping has been ripped off the wall. I love your outdoor "drive-in" type film viewing. Because our movie theatres are closed - hang on, maybe re-opening soon, some bright spark has gone and opened an old fashioned DRIVE-IN theatre and you get the sound from your radio in the car. Who would ever have believed TV would kill the drive-ins, but Covid would kill the movie houses.
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Post by casimira on Aug 17, 2020 12:33:51 GMT
Having followed this endeavor from when you began to chronicle it right after having purchased the land years ago, I can only say how impressed I am with all that you have done. The utilization of natural resources, the aesthetic nature of the architectural design and layout all attest to a true labor of love and now, duly rewarded for all your hard work and diligence given the time it has taken. I was thinking about your "oasis" yesterday while I was out in the hot, hot sun and how refreshing it would be to be able to dive into a swimming pool such as yours. Well done and I wish you and your family many, many happy days ahead living in your own corner of the world and such a beautiful space. Thank you also for taking the time to share it with us.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 17, 2020 13:35:39 GMT
Fulsome praise and you are welcome. Welcome to jump in the pool as well.
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Post by tod2 on Aug 17, 2020 13:48:05 GMT
Mark, I have been over your photos several times and after dinner will be taking my husband for a look as well because we are putting in more solar. At the moment just have a small system which powers lights and TV in the BnB's. One thing guests cannot live without is a big TV screen, a plug to charge their phones and WiFi uncapped so they can get onto 'Anyport' - ha ha! But the power supply is drying up in South Africa. We want to be totally free of dependancy upon it. That means lots of panels, batteries etc etc. If there is one or two things I need to know I will PM you. If there is anything or advice you can give, please PM me.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 17, 2020 18:12:34 GMT
There are online calculators you can use to estimate how big a system you want. They basically add up all the appliances you think you will use and how long for each, then work out how much power you need each day or week or month - but then it gets a bit complicated depending on how much a 'cushion' you want in case it's cloudy/rainy plus a calculation for losses of efficiency and yet also how far you can discharge you batteries that you've spent hours sorting out the specifications and which type of battery you can actually buy where you are. There is a big difference between car batteries and solar power batteries and differences in the power different solar panels can supply.
It is and can be quite complicated to get it right first time. I'd suggest whatever you decide on, allow for making it bigger with little trouble, such as having the space to add on another panel or two or space to add a battery or two - plus a mistake people make is they buy an inverter (changes the battery voltage to the house voltage) which is the right size for the system they have, but a year or three later decide to make the system bigger but the inverter and/or control box can't cope and they need to buy another one - and they are not cheap.
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