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Post by Baz Faz on Aug 11, 2020 13:16:53 GMT 2
But wait. Closing down and reopening has brought all the photos back. House looks lovely and you must be delighted. The last photo shows a village on a hill beyond the olive trees. Your MiL could stay there.
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 14:36:04 GMT 2
She does most of the cooking and cleaning when she's here, so I don't mind too much at all.
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 14:38:55 GMT 2
By the way, sunset last night -
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Post by slowcoach on Aug 11, 2020 14:40:33 GMT 2
Wonderful, and the camera/lens shows it all off rather well.
A question: That wall, bottom left, is it part of the enclosure above the dirty yard, and what is that slatted structure on the face of the wall?
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Post by Voy on Aug 11, 2020 15:36:39 GMT 2
I love Mark being back in his "project" -- and it sounds like this time maybe even relax a little !
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 16:24:32 GMT 2
A question: That wall, bottom left, is it part of the enclosure above the dirty yard, and what is that slatted structure on the face of the wall? Yes, it's a wall on top of an outhouse housing the batteries and hot water system (more about that in a minute). This overlooks the dirty yard and is where I took the photo of the yard from. The wooden slatted structure is a homage to Mrs M, in a little teasing way. There are things around the house that actually only really having meaning for us. Very soon after we first met, just a few hours, we ended up having a conversation which somehow included radiators/heaters. Strange, but true and I've no idea now how we got onto it. She brought the word 'calefactor' into the exchange thinking it was an English word for them. Because of the Latin root I immediately knew what she meant but pointed out she'd mixed up her numerous languages and dropped a Spanish word in there.
Over the years we now always refers to them as calefactors. This is just a nod to our meeting.
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 11, 2020 16:35:27 GMT 2
Voy, I can relax to a certain extent but there are things that need to be done or re-done as time passes by. Like painting the courtyard etc. One thing is the pool tiles at the top, because each one is just maybe 2cm square, they come off. We need next Easter to replace a few top rows with larger tiles to make some form of border that is bigger and stuck on better. This is the mistake we made in that we got the builder to do the pool and not a specific pool building company. There are quite a few details with it I'm not happy with as time progresses. Next time it'd be a professional pool company.
The next major thing is the solar hot water system which I hope to cure in the coming weeks. The water is hard, but harder than I expected and the hot water tank is now half full of calcium deposits. With living in the house I realised I had to de-chalk the shower heads every month, and the taps. But we didn't think the hot water tank would be as bad as it is and it is also leaking. So we are going to have a new tank and a large salt filter on the input side to the house. We'll see if this cures it, I have been assured several times that it will.
For hot water I installed as a back up, a gas boiler, this is what we've been using whilst the solar system is out of order but I'd like to have that revert to a Plan B option. I installed it as the solar system became quite temperamental and stopped working periodically due to little furry animals of one sort or another chewing through the sensor cables and somehow, airlocks appearing due to a faulty blow off valve.
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 12, 2020 20:24:13 GMT 2
They never phone you up and tell you they are coming. They just turn up and hope you are there. Who? Workmen. We’ve a plumber/electrician man who we’ve contacted about getting a new solar hot water tank and a dechalker machine thing for the water supply. He’s given us a quote and got the stuff but them just turns up to drop it all off to start work tomorrow. Luckily we were in. Communication is a difficult thing in Spain (as well as many other countries really). This is the old water tank, 300 litres. To the left is the control box and expansion chamber - This is from the top of the tank. We used it for about four years - This is the new tank. Still 300 litres but obviously somewhat taller and slimmer. What would have happebed had it not fit inside I’ve no idea. More by luck than judgement there is about a 2cm clearance. It took three of us some manoeuvring to get it through the door and standing up. Top right, the dirt on the wall, it what is left of a housemartin/swift/swallow nest. Left and behind are the house batteries - To the right of the old tank I’ve made a space for the dechalker to go. It needs not only to be connected to the water but to the electric, though the power consumption seems to be only about 10W. Maybe just for the display and sensors in it. In the previous photo and this one you can see the water pipes feeding the washing machine, boiler and hot water tank. I’ve left them exposed because a) too much effort to hide them all in the walls and b) it’s not a ‘living’ room so they are fine as they are and c) easy to make changes to the circuit if we need to. No, they don’t freeze up. Rarely does the area get below freezing and anyway when we are away, I drain all the water out - This is the ‘decalcifacador’. Well, it’s actually the box. I hope there’s something inside. To the right and behind is the washing machine and the pool cover I’ve had to move out the way. Also the start of some containers of distilled water for the batteries - I’ll give you a refresher on the technical side of the house, I’m sure you’ve been waiting for it with bated breath. Or not. More of the distilled water (we get through a lot, especially in the summer), house batteries (12 of 2V making 24V), big white box is the inverter which converts 24V to 220/230V, either side of that are two breaker boxes and a socket of the washing machine, lastly are a silver and a black box which are control boxes for the solar panels. They monitor the charge, switch the charging side off when the batteries are full etc etc - The green light is on!!! Yippee!! Means I have full batteries - Control box and expansion tank for the solar water. Maybe it even might be working tomorrow as they are supposed to be coming back in the afternoon. Which is unfortunate as we have four relatives arriving also tomorrow afternoon to stay for a week or so. Bad timing really but my preference is the workers take priority. You never know when they might be able to come back - Other end of this outhouse is the gas boiler. The back up hot water supply. I fitted it but told an inspector who had to come to check it that a professional had done so - but unfortunately I can’t seem to find their details for now. Nevertheless he said they’d done a good job and it was all fine. The stick is used to block a hole up. You have to have the hole below the boiler as the gas is heavier than air and needs to escape if there is a leakage. I block it up during the night as mice have been known to enter through it - Under the steps to the right of where the dechalker will go is what’s left of my wood supply. If we are ever back in the house in the winter or cold months I’ll need to stock up - The solar panels and hot water panels near the house - Just there look. You can’t miss them. I’m standing by the kitchen window - You can just see the panels to the right of the tree. Also there is the ‘route’ the pipes and cables back to the house. This is from the near the back door on the back patio - Just quickly then, you saw the solar panels for the pool before. This are the batteries, inverter, breakers and charging control box. This is in a different outhouse - The in yet another outhouse is the pool pump, pipework and big red sand filter. The white thing to the right is the overflow tank - This one you can see better through the doorway - The valve system and controls for the pool I can never remember when I’ve been away for a while. So I wrote it on the wall - I’ll see what adventures the workers get up to tomorrow if they come. They probably will but just not be able to finish everything.
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Post by Baz Faz on Aug 12, 2020 23:17:13 GMT 2
When you sell the house I am sure you will leave detailed instructions for all this.
When we bought our last house in France the owners left no written instructions. We did have a talk with them about various things and they lied. When they left they gave no forwarding address, they changed their email, and left no contact details with the estate agent. When the extent of their lies became apparent there was no way of contacting them.
They came from Northern Ireland. He was always absent on the occasions we visited. This plus the lack of contact details made me decide that he had either been in the security forces or the IRA.
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Post by kuskiwi on Aug 13, 2020 9:31:22 GMT 2
Very impressive.
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 15, 2020 16:07:38 GMT 2
Update - this is the old tank removed - The decalcifier fitted with its own filter. They set up the hoses with a bypass in case it has problems - The new tank in place and coupled up - Electric connected to one of the breakers - The drainage pipe running behind the batteries and yet to be connected to the drain pipe from the washing machine - But - two things - the solar water system is still not working because, I think, the sensor at the panels has been attacked yet again by squirrels. A man will come on Monday and check it out. I hope to make it work for a while . Secondly, the gas boiler works, meaning comes on, when it detects a lowering on the pressure in the hot water side as when you turn a tap on. Well, no matter whether hot or cold now, the boiler kicks in. The men left before we knew this. I have though managed to find out why after some pondering and working out what was happening and sorted that out by closing a certain valve they’d left open. The thing is, I will have no idea for a month or more as to if the filter is working properly because I ill have to wait to see if the shower head in out bathroom chalks up at all. We’ll see. Monday also is tense as to if they man who comes can sort out the sensor. It’s a shame to have so much sunshine we can use for the electric, for the pool pump electric system and for constant (nearly) hot water and for part of that, it doesn’t work. Yes, we’ve had to buy the systems with an initial outlay of money, but getting it all back for free is a good thing and the object of doing it. As with any house, we must pay for insurance and taxes every year, our water bill is for most of the year, 12 euros a month. In the summer that rises to about 40 euros because we are here and using it. But our electric has no standing charges and each Kw costs nothing. I’d like that to again be the same for the hot water. As an aside, went for a walk this morning along one of the old railway lines nearby that are now footpaths before it got too hot. They routes are called the Via Verdes and are Spanish wide. We’re lucky in having about 160km of them near us. A bridge over a road - Also our guests sent me a couple of photos of yesterday evening. I hadn’t the heart to tell them we had a better sunset just before they came -
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Post by Baz Faz on Aug 15, 2020 19:21:41 GMT 2
Your sunset looks good. We won't know when our sun sets except it will get darker.
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Post by kuskiwi on Aug 16, 2020 0:46:56 GMT 2
Nice. Have you declared war on the squirrels or is that like other pests. Create a vacuum and another family moves back in. Young friends of mine (well he's young in comparison to me) have a 4000 acre plot of what used to be useless land miles from no where - now all of a sudden it's become super expensive as it's all native manuka and the beekeepers want access, but it has a huge opossum, stoat and deer problem, and they have found at least 100 kiwi on it so the vermin have to go. Now they have set up human killing traps and linked all the perimeter to a camera set up (he's a techie) so they can sit at home and instead of having to check every trap next visit can go to trap 42 etc and reset/remove etc. Also solves a puzzling problem when one of their townie friends kept offering them vension. Yes - you guessed. Caught on camera.
Spanish squirrel pie anyone.
Love the walking tracks and bridges and wishing you hot water from the system.
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Post by Voy on Aug 16, 2020 4:29:53 GMT 2
Now they have set up human killing traps and linked all the perimeter Well THAT"LL teach the venison poacher !
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 16, 2020 7:55:25 GMT 2
Squirrels are protected so there is nothing I can do about them.
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 16, 2020 11:20:28 GMT 2
Saturday night, film night -
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Post by Baz Faz on Aug 16, 2020 11:28:17 GMT 2
Now you've mentioned squirrels... Mrs Faz and I were having breakfast in our sun room when we spotted a squirrel going off with her breakfast - one of the tomatoes off the plants on our terrace.
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Post by shrjeff on Aug 16, 2020 15:21:17 GMT 2
i don't understand why rodents are protected... are they in danger of extinction?
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 16, 2020 17:28:39 GMT 2
No. There are various categories associated to the abundance of a certain animal (and plant), nine in total of which two are just stated as "Data Deficient" and "Not Evaluated". Apart from these they range from Extinct to Least Concern. Red squirrels in Spain fall into this category (Least Concern) but in some countries the numbers are of concern - because of the growth of the imported grey squirrels. Even so, they being in the category of least concern, they still are protected in Spain. An animal (or plant) doesn't need to be in danger of extinction to be protected. If it is, it's in reality a bit too late to start trying to do so. Best if that as soon as they do begin to have a fall in numbers, to stop the rot before it becomes unrecoverable.
Conversely, there are animals classed as an invasive species, namely they grey squirrel, and can be killed with impunity. There are none in Spain but for example, in the UK, they have been a big problem for the native red squirrel and are hated that much, that if you happen to capture one, you have to kill it and not release it otherwise you can be prosecuted.
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Post by kuskiwi on Aug 17, 2020 20:26:06 GMT 2
Now they have set up human killing traps and linked all the perimeter Well THAT"LL teach the venison poacher ! Giggling. Typo. Needed another e. Well spotted
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 17, 2020 21:46:20 GMT 2
got me giggling, that one!
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Post by OnlyMark on Aug 17, 2020 21:59:22 GMT 2
Final update for now - a sensor has been replaced at the panels and we have a working hot water system. After a few hours the water was 51 degrees.
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Post by OnlyMark on Jun 25, 2021 9:45:53 GMT 2
Final update for now - a sensor has been replaced at the panels and we have a working hot water system. After a few hours the water was 51 degrees. We'll see how long the good news lasts. As usual, not very long. Every time I come to the house (been here nearly a week) the bloody thing is faulty. I'm still waiting for the technician to come and sort it out. In other news, I never mentioned about two months ago the house was broken in to. So much for having grills - but a determined burglar will break into anywhere. I think they've brought with them a battery hand grinder and cut through the bottom of the grills, bent it back and broken the window to get in. A bit weird in that nothing has been taken - mind you, there's nothing of value in there anyway unless you include the furniture. We were told by our builder who we pay to come every so often and check around. No idea how long before he checked had it been done. Now I'm here I can see various things have been moved around but not sure if it was burglars who did so or the builder's men. Bless the builder though. He waited at he house, called his son who organised a couple of his men with a welding machine and a glazier from the door/window company and got it sorted straight away. He also liaised with the insurance company and sorted out the claim. Apart from our excess on the policy it's all been paid back now. They did mention to the builder that without the grills, they wouldn't have paid out at all.
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Post by slowcoach on Jun 25, 2021 12:08:47 GMT 2
Rotten bastards.
I suppose their finding nothing of value is a good thing, that might just discourage them and others, and the builders did well, but all in all what a pain in the butt.
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Post by Baz Faz on Jun 25, 2021 12:41:18 GMT 2
We had a similar experience in France, though it was rather more puzzling. We had been out for the day and when we returned we found the back door forced open. Nothing was taken, not even the laptop in full view on a table. It's as if whoever broke in realised we were the wrong people.
Which leads me on to my conspiracy theory. We bought the house from people who hailed from Northern Ireland. Whenever we viewed the house the husband was never there. When they left there was no means of getting in touch with them. They left no forwarding address. The estate agent who sold the house had no address. Nor did the notaire. They closed their email account. They got rid of their mobile phone number.
They wanted to disappear.
So, I wonder, had he been in the Northern Irish security forces? Or, alternatively, in the IRA? Had whoever broke into our house and taken nothing realised they had flown?
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Post by sophie on Jun 25, 2021 15:32:27 GMT 2
Very weird. Baz! Good fodder for the imagination.
Ugh, Mark. Hope they never return.
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Post by tzarine on Jun 25, 2021 18:53:01 GMT 2
mark that is awful i assume the guardia is not exactly useful a pox on their houses
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Post by Voy on Jun 26, 2021 2:07:29 GMT 2
bloody hell. slow summed it up. Be glad , anyway, that in frustration , they didn't trash it ! Other than maybe making you feel like you were living in jail/gaol would grid grilles have stopped them? probably not - as you are isolated , and it just would have taken them longer..
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Post by kuskiwi on Jun 26, 2021 5:54:57 GMT 2
Bugger. The work on the bars rules out opportunity grabs or shelter for a night. Pleased for your sakes that it wasn't worse and big plus for a good builder
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Post by OnlyMark on Jun 26, 2021 7:35:04 GMT 2
tzarine, the Guardia talk well but eventually do little. Voy, any determined burglar will always get in. kuskiwi, I'm happy enough. It could have been worse for sure.
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