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Post by tod2 on Oct 8, 2016 18:06:30 GMT
Hey! Not so much of the old Mark> With your energy a joy for living you are nowhere near becoming a fossil!
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 8, 2016 19:07:16 GMT
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 9, 2016 11:02:28 GMT
Update Finish - They just need to do a bit of clearing up and I need to paint the two grills at the bottom. The top ones I did last Thursday after the workers had gone home. As I've been away the pool is not full so when they come tomorrow I'm not sure quite what they'll think. I did warn them to give me plenty of time. We'll see what happens. But, this major job, the last job, is done -
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Post by tod2 on Oct 9, 2016 13:02:42 GMT
Looks good Mark - and done so quickly. Now just to clear away the rubble, plant some dahlias and it's job done!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 13:56:07 GMT
That was fast!
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 9, 2016 14:34:50 GMT
I haven't got time for dahlias, Tod. I just need the grass/weeds to grow.
Yes, it was quicker than I thought. Quicker then the builder thought as well. He thought about eight working days. He still gets the same money though as it is a fixed price. As long as I'm happy the work is good, I'm happy.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 15:34:12 GMT
The grounds need a little attending to. Once the rubble is cleared away, you could consider putting some soil there and just throwing a packet or two of "miscellaneous wildflowers" (that's what they call those packets in France) on the spot and just see what happens.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 9, 2016 16:16:42 GMT
We did that on the other side. It worked for a while but 'putting some soil there' is a fairly major undertaking. On the other side of the house we needed two truckfulls. There isn't as much ground on this side as it borders on olive trees, which aren't ours. So we'd have to be careful not to go under them. You can see how close they are by the one on the right in the last photo.
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Post by mich64 on Oct 9, 2016 18:14:13 GMT
Looks bright and fresh! You all must be happy this part is complete, hopefully the pool issue is resolved soon as well.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 9, 2016 20:47:29 GMT
We'll see tomorrow.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2016 21:22:29 GMT
We did that on the other side. It worked for a while but 'putting some soil there' is a fairly major undertaking. You clearly imagine things on a grander scale than I do. I was thinking more along the line of dumping two wheelbarrows full of dirt.
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Post by onlyMark on Oct 10, 2016 3:11:41 GMT
I'm afraid it'd hardly make an impression.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 11, 2018 15:25:28 GMT
I bet that Mark could show us some more stuff if he wasn't a lazy bastard.
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 15, 2018 6:22:09 GMT
When you posted on the 11th August this year I was being a lazy bastard and floating in my pool on an inflatable plastic swan called Monique.
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Post by amboseli on Nov 15, 2018 17:14:29 GMT
When you posted on the 11th August this year I was being a lazy bastard and floating in my pool on an inflatable plastic swan called Monique. You didn't have a pink flamingo? 🤔
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 15, 2018 18:58:43 GMT
It was bought for me as a birthday present last year. I did think at first is was a flamingo but after I blew it up I realised it wasn't. At least I don't think so.
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Post by onlyMark on Nov 17, 2018 12:31:20 GMT
The proof. By the way, the bed and the table/chairs aren't normally just there. I moved them when I was painting the pink wall behind that replaced the one that blew over in a storm. Though it isn't that colour now either, it's a darker red -
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 10, 2020 18:59:05 GMT
Thought it was about time for a short update to see what the outside of the house looks like now. Especially as I’ve nothing to do today. As you walk in from the outside door into the courtyard there is a set of steps in front of you. We’ll take these in a minute - But first a look around the courtyard. Yes, we have a lot of grills, but if we don’t have them, we can’t get house insurance. It’s a cross I have to bear. At the far end you can see two sunbeds, a chair and a wall - all nice and white as it’s in here I’ve been painting. This is where we regularly have a film night. The projector sits on the chair and projects onto the wall, we have some drinks and snacks and when it is dark enough, we relax in the cooler evening and watch something far from intellectual and closer to Wallace and Gromit or Best Marigold Hotel. There are no neighbours so we can have it as loud as we want and not disturb anyone - Then a look around - Up the steps to the middle floor and the access to the house itself (the bottom rooms are separate and have no access to the main part of the building. They are guest rooms with their own ‘facilities’. You can see centre of the photo a sign post - I’ve shown this before but we’ve added to it. It is a list of places we have lived and are important to us and pointing in the direction the city is - Looking down into the dirty yard (patio sucio) where we hang the washing etc. Plus you can see three solar panels which are purely for use for the pool pump. They are separate from the main house solar system - Through a gate to the back of the house - This is just before going through - Looking left there is an area on ground we have done nothing with for now. There seems no need anyway so we just leave it. It grows three metre tall thistles though and plenty of wild grass/flowers in the spring. In the summer when it is all dry it is a fire hazard so we always clear it - Moving further - This is the back patio which after about 11am is always in the shade and there is a door direct from the kitchen to it. Quite handy - The other side of the house - Back in through the gate and the part I seem in the summer to spend a lot of time in. The pool -
The village from the pool patio, and is uphill about 1.5km away - That’ll do for now.
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Post by mich64 on Aug 10, 2020 19:46:04 GMT
I felt relaxation just slowly scrolling through the new photos and could imagine late night movies against that wall enjoying snacks and beverages!
I like the tile on the face of the stairs and the tile patterns on the patios are gorgeous. Also the stone pavers and walls in the back, it is a nice contrast from the pool area.
We have the same flamingo floaters here but they are about 3 times larger (lake sized!) and I have only seen pink ones. There seems to be one tied off to docks about every 10 houses around the lake. Family fun time squeals can be heard almost daily.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 10, 2020 20:24:14 GMT
It looks idyllic, beautiful...you've built a lovely home there Mark! I love your use of terracotta pots too. Fabulous mate.
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 11, 2020 4:26:30 GMT
Looks like all of the hard worlk has paid off.
If you put a little fountain in the middle of the patio, you'd just about have a Moroccan riad.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 6:13:46 GMT
Thanks. K2, you don't know the debate we had about putting a fountain there. It was touch and go as to if we did or not. I was for, Mrs M was against and after a long time of discussing it, I just went with whatever she said. I find it easier in the long term to do so. Mich, in the middle of the courtyard where myself and K2 would put a fountain there is what looks like a star made out of marble. People see it just as a star and wonder why, even though they rarely say anything, that it isn't lined up properly. That's because it is actually compass points. North points to the wooden door in the photo with the solar panels. The grey tiles in the courtyard running across the front of the house under the pergola(?) and down to the wooden door are all non-slip tiles as are those in the patio sucio. No matter the marble for the compass, there are five different tiles in there of differing sizes and to get everything to line up was a royal pain. You get different spacers for tiles and I had to more or less lay out every single tile and experiment with the spacers to see what fit or didn't. The smaller of the two trees (a non-fruiting Mulberry I think I remember right) , the one on the front wall, I planted 5 years ago. More by luck than judgement it has grown well -
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Post by bjd on Aug 11, 2020 6:59:39 GMT
It's hard to believe it's the same place as the ruin in the early pictures. I was wondering about the different tiles in the courtyard, whether they were to mark off different areas. I recognized the compass and saw it as a nod to people who have moved around so much.
I confess that the area is not for me -- just too hot and dry -- but you have done a great renovation job.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 11, 2020 10:32:26 GMT
Indeed, done a terrific job. A talented guy.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 10:36:47 GMT
We wanted to have some way of breaking up the large expanse and make it less boring to look at, not really anything more than that.
For June, July and August it can be quite dry and this year is hotter than normal, but the location came down to a number of factors of which one is neither of us like humidity. The impression is somewhat skewed though because the farmers keep clear the ground under the olive trees and it looks then just barren. But in the Spring and early summer everywhere that doesn't have olives in it, it very green. When the poppies come out it changes dramatically. This year we have had quite a few days/weeks around or just below forty degrees. This is unusual and the norm is maybe ten days over the whole summer will it get that hot. Mid-thirties is more like it.
I original didn't like so much the countryside with it being mostly olives, but now I hardly notice it. One of my daughters asked a few years ago, how many olives are there in this area. I said there are many, many trees. She said, no, I mean olives, not trees. I told her to start counting and I'll take over when she gets to be a grandmother.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 10:39:09 GMT
Mick, I just follow orders. Mrs M has the talent. I told her I'm not very clever but I can lift heavy weights. She has the idea, I just work out how to do it.
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 11, 2020 12:37:52 GMT
I don't believe a word of it other than that Mrs M is very clever but in a different way.
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Post by onlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 12:39:15 GMT
By the way, sunset last night -
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Post by kerouac2 on Aug 11, 2020 12:50:38 GMT
Outstanding, but it would be even better if they were rain clouds!
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Post by mickthecactus on Aug 11, 2020 13:21:13 GMT
What a picture! It hardly looks real.
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