August progress

We returned from 2 weeks in the UK to find that the sprinkler system that we had set up to keep the plants watered while we were away had in fact worked, but possibly a bit too well, as the pots were all pretty much sodden! However, I blame the poor compost for the failure of the tomato plants to produce anything of any significance. We have got one solitary capsicum and a couple ot tomatoes and that is it. Hey ho, better luck next year.

The climate is very variable up here in the mountains, with hot, sticky days with temperatures over 30 degrees followed by a nighttime storm and temperatures next day some 15-20 degrees cooler! Quite bizarre, but quite pleasant at the same time - I love the day to day variety of the weather and the storms can be really spectacular with thunder bouncing off the surrounding hills (the dog isn't too keen!) and the most amazing lightning displays.

Renovation progress
We got back to find that the bathroom basin leaked from beneath the plug and ended up with water dripping down onto the bottom of the wooden unit. Further investigation revealed that the basin had not been properly attached to the surface and the only thing preventing it from leaking in the past was the damp wood that had swollen to fit around the bottom of the plug hole! While we had been away, the wood had dried out and shrunk away from the basin allowing water to escape. The need to sort out the basin has also thrown up a variety of other issues with the bathroom which we have decided to resolve at the same time. The unit on which the basin stands is too high and the basin sits too far from the front of the unit, so Andy has chopped off a few inches from its legs and a section from the back. We eventually want to put a glass door on the shower and the basin unit is currently too close to the shower to allow a door to open outwards so yes, you've guessed it, we are having to move the pipework for the taps and plumbing for the sink further to the right. So our bathroom currently looks like this

Our project over the coming week is to clean down the beams in the barn so that we can treat the timbers before laying some base flooring which will enable us to get access to and treat the
ceiling timbers and also view the roof from the underside. We need to get the roof watertight before autumn and winter arrive. That will also mean that we can use the first floor of the barn as a storage area and remove Andy's tools from the attic which is meant to be a guest bedroom! We will then be able to tackle the attic, removing the horrible pine pannelling which is currently up there, remove the old insulation, treat the roof timbers, put up some new, thinner 'foil' type insulation and then cover the ceiling between the beams with plasterboard, thereby making it all snug and cosy for when we have guests in the winter.

Exercise and fitness
After having no exercise whatsoever over the 2 weeks that we were in the UK, it was a bit of a shock to get back on the road bikes again! I also went out for a run of approx 10K with Pat, another English lady who lives just down the road with her husband Kevin. Although it was mainly through very pleasant woodland with nothing too steep, my legs and torso felt like they had done a mountain marathon next day! I partly blame it on the fact that I have been living in flipflops and sandals out here and have not worn shoes with my orthotics for quite some time, so my muscles have adapted accordingly, which is not good. All that good work done back in the UK has been undone :-( So I really need to get out running every week to build those muscles back up again.