Manic Monday

So, if you've kept up, Monday's list consisted of:
a) the builders coming back to finish off
b) the plasterers arriving to do the inside of the house
c) delivery of my powered barrow
d) the solar engineer arriving to replace my batteries

My slight pessimism about all this coming off was not misplaced. The element which failed was the 'solar system' one (the only one that involved an Englishman!). Despite having paid the suppliers 10 days ago, the solar engineer was informed yesterday morning that the batteries I wanted were not in stock. Why it took until 9am yesterday for this to be 'discovered' remains a mystery but the bottom line is that I would have to wait another 2-3 weeks for replacement batteries of the same size as my current ones or pay more to get high capacity batteries that are in stock. Given the impending arrival of visitors, Mr Hobson came in to play so yet more money to fork out (although a 50% discount on the increased price has been negotiated). Oh, and the new batteries won't fit in their current home so carpentry involved... Hopefully all will be well on Thursday when they are installed. The Spanish use the same verb for 'wait' and 'hope' (esperar) which sometimes seems very appropriate out here!

The builders have finished. Was quite 'emotional' saying goodbye to Nene and Jesus as I've enjoyed their company And our lunch-break chats(Pepe will be returning later in the week with safety glass for my new skylights) but will be hopefully getting together with them one evening next week for a drink and tapas.

The plasterers are AMAZING. They managed to do the bathroom, utility room and the small downstairs bedroom in one day. The master bedroom is due to be done today with the hallway following tomorrow and then they're done! As it has to be left to dry for a month, indoor painting is off the agenda for next week when I have willing hands so it's likely (weather permitting) to be outdoor painting of the new terrace.

Looking good for all the decks to be cleared before LouLou the Cleaner arrives on Friday. Not sure she knows what she's let herself in for.

The powered barrow arrived lunchtime and I'm delighted with it. It is going to save me SO much effort carting stuff around. Various test drives have been performed (including a quick blast up my nearest field) and completed successfully. Haven't filled it with 4.5 tonnes yet (!); guess the handling performance may be somewhat different to when empty!

The wine room and the bodega are all clean now. Note to self: check that the wine room floor is sealed before applying copious quantities of water otherwise you might get a flood downstairs in the master bedroom. NOte to readers: Change 'might' in above sentence to 'will'! (Thank God for the wet & dry vac!) All is now pretty much ready for the arrival of the Tempranillo grapes on Friday and those from my harvest next week. Starting to get a bit excited...

Dashed in to Torvizcon late yesterday as the pharmacy had phoned my neighbour to say there was lots of post for me (thank you Susie). It included my new tax disc for the van and a lovely long letter from Pam bringing me up to speed on all the news from Stapleton. 

(Woke up again to snow on the mountains this morning. Although no rain here, they must have had cloud sitting on them overnight.)

Apologies for lack of recent photos; will rectify soon!