February '09

Working hard

Mr Pink arrives

After a long wait, our Kubota tractor arrived, complete with it's trailer and grass cutter. Within the week it had helped drag over 50 tons of tile and soil rubble out from the Moli.

Roofers

One of the next tasks was to strip the 2x4 tack beams from the roof in preparation for the other beams to be lifted off by a crane. As I have no head for heights, Alex and David did the work while I watched rather nervously.

Less mess

With the help of "Mr Pink" we have cleared all the roof and first floor rubble out from the Moli. It was a Herculean task, but with the digger working continuously, we managed to finish it in one week.

Improved Access

As you can see from these pictures, it has taken a while, but we now have full drivable access to the front of the Moli. About 60 tons of infill have been used and two large rocks had to be demolished, but we have the basic access now. Soon it will be widened down near the Moli.

Puppies

Floozie had her litter on the 23rd Feb. There were eight pups in all, but unfortunately three did not survive the night. Floozie now is taking good care of the other five who have all grown considerably in five days.

There are three boys and two girls who are called, Dozer, Theo, Trotsky, Buffy and Willow.

The Wine Cellar

Since we got the rubble out of the ground floor, we have decided to dig up some more from the prospective Wine Cellars. These are the old turbine rooms for the millstones. Once they are cleared, we will have two storage rooms with a trapdoor for access.

Oh, we pruned the tops of about 80 olive trees and built the concrete base for a 24,000 litre water tank as well this month.

PondBoy