But Daaaad, you said you weren't going to buy another "project"!

[sadler]

Promises to be stunning. Worth all the frustration, once it is nearing completion. Keep your chins up!   

[Anne]

It will all be worth it in the end John.  This time next year you'll wonder what all the fuss was about.

[JohnF]

Thanks both of you  

I don't really get angry as in rage, but do find it a bit annoying that I can't just slip someone a few euros and a problem disappears...

We know all the hassle etc will be worth it in the end, and we can see everything coming together, bit by bit.  They have an expression here "poco poco", which loosely translates as small steps (or even bit by bit) and its become our mantra!  I dropped off a dozen boxes of tiles this afternoon and the kitchen is now finished, apart from the window, and ready for the units to be fitted.  That's one of my jobs - unfortunately all my tools are in a storage unit somewhere south of Dartford and wont get here until the 26th of this month so its off to the local equivalent of B&Q to buy a drill next week  

I'm muy tranquillo just now but that may change if we don't have a proper electricity supply by the end of next week!!!

JF

[JohnF]

A small update  

We are now connected to the main electricity supply.  The down side is that my earlier estimate of €2,500 is likely to be on the low side - I don't think we'll have much change out of €3,000, just to get connected

JF

[BernieTeyze]

Shut the...front door 3,000, what a pee take. You Need To Make some Friends In either higher or lower places my friend. BT

[JohnF]

Even the friends in extremely low places are regularly stiffed by Endesa, either financially or by their constantly changing demands.

Anyway, you don't have to worry, your suite with the sea view and infinity pool is coming along nicely.  Just waiting on the 65" telly and sauna to be delivered.

JF

[JohnF]

Well, 15th came and went. 

Absolutely no chance of moving in, still waaay too much to be done.

Had a meeting with D, our architect, whos English is excellent.  We came to the conclusion that a) yes, everyone had underestimated the sheer scale of the project, b) changing tack midway (from concentrating on the rentals to our apartment upstairs) had been a mistake, we should have concentrated on upstairs from day one and c) we are actually fairly relaxed about it, as in we're not jumping up and down and spraying blame in all directions.

I think the fact that we are c) has helped.  Our architect and builder have come up with a plan to get us in by 2nd March  - they could have simply said "tough", it'll be done when its done.

We aren't actually that far away, most rooms upstairs are finished and all we're waiting for is the sockets and switches to go in and the tiling to be finished in the bathrooms.  The kitchen is done, the living room is done and all the plumbing is in place for both bathrooms.  All we need is a day or so from the sparky and the effin windows to go in!

Soooo, fast forward to yesterday  



Check out all the plant pots on the right, there are roughly thirty or so of them - nothing in them bar weeds that could inspire a John Wyndham novel.

OH started chucking them in the bin 50m or so down the street, and all of a sudden we had a visit!



Spanish neighbours are just as bad as Turkish neighbours 

Someone called the Police because they decided we were chucking building materials in the communal bin, plus you're not allowed (in Andalucia anyway) to do building work on a Saturday or Sunday.

The two cops were good - pointed out it was macetas (plant pots) and earth and they both said crack on.

We dealt with the whole incident in Spanish, until they were leaving and they both turned round, and in perfect English, said have a good day and don't worry about anyone phoning us again.  Lucky there hadn't been any snippy wee comments in English between us!

Anyway, onwards and upwards...

JF

[Anne]

So, a week from now you'll be unpacking    Good luck with that one.

[BernieTeyze]

Well good to know what your neighbours are like.. Glad you have a date in the not too distant future, be  keeping my fingers crossed that you get in...err I know there have been various out of pocket/budget expenses but I can't help noticing that my wing has turned into a suite. I'm hoping this is some sort of clerical error..tut.

[JohnF]

...and the 2nd came and went!

It wasn't really an issue as a couple of external factors came into play. 

First problem was that the house (along with three others adjacent) got broken into and while we only lost a couple of ceiling fans and some taps, the builder lost a number of tools.  According to a neighbour, the Policia suspect a group from outside the area and are confident they will arrest them shortly.

Initially we were only aware of our property being broken into, but once we found out that it was several, in a twisted way it was reassuring - we weren't being targeted as the guiris (foreigners) and the reaction from everyone in the street was shock and horror.  It's a quiet street and a lot of folks have lived there for a long time.  We also found out that someone had called the Policia on the Saturday because they actually thought we were stealing from the property.  They'd only seen my OH going back and forward and didn't recognise her.

We had a meeting with our builder and architect last night in the local tabanco and met a couple of our neighbours and, on the face of it, they came over as a decent bunch who are happy to see an old building brought back to life.  It would seem that a few beers are expected to be consumed the day we move in.  I like that idea.  Never used so much Spanish in one sitting either, the only person with any English is D the architect. 

The UK might have snow but we've had storms and rain that no-one in the area has ever seen in March before.  Lots of issues with flooding locally and in our case, plaster & render not drying, varnish not drying and during one of the storms we suffered damage to the roof which meant the front part of the building got flooded.  It was impossible for the guys to do anything for a couple of days due to the high winds so we just had to delay the finishing work until the roof got fixed.

As a result of all this we put back the removal company to the 12th March, just to give us a bit of breathing space.

There have been a few stressful days this week but now fairly relaxed about it all.  All the windows are now in on the facade and when I left there this morning, the rest (for the upstairs) had all been delivered and the window fitters were just getting started.

Our termo (water heater) is now fitted and the electrician will be finishing things off tomorrow, and totally illegally, coming in on Saturday if need be.

We plan to move in next Tuesday or Wednesday come what may.  Well, we have to - the lease is up on our rental place so nowhere else to go!

Nice new windows to the front with brown frames:




Internal windows waiting to be fitted:




What they are replacing!




Some bathrooms after tiling:



More later...

JF