We're back....

Hi there, we finally arrived in Crete last night after taking a week long detour to Athens. You know we can't stay away from some good protests, riots, sit ins, and strikes. As you all know, we were in Florida for the 3+ weeks before that.

So, what the heck has gone on with the house since then? Not much actually. They laid the first layer of concrete for the floor, but other then that....zilch. Alex went to check it out this morning, and apparently it was just too boring to even photograph. He will need to meet with the architect this week to make some logistical decisions and then the guy who will reinforce the walls for earthquakes etc... will be able to get going.

Other news, Sianna is doing great, adjusted back to the time just fine. My operation went well, despite the riots and the strikes, and the baby in waiting did just fine too. Alex is exhausted, since I am unable to do as much, for the time being. Kisses and happy holidays from us, we will post again once more happens regarding the house.
Jenn

More Demolition

Before we left for Florida, the rest of the demolition was pretty much finished. Here are 2 of the workers in the main room. You can see the line behind the guy in the blue shirt, which is where the wall had been. The floor is higher behind him, and that will be leveled while we are away.

The main room from the other side .

The rubble that is left from the ceiling demolition of the guest room.

The stairs that were outside the "newer" building.

Also, before we left, Alex had his first experience at IKA...the public offices for paying insurance for the workers. He will write about that sometime when we get a moment at a computer and Sianna is not needing entertaining.

The walls came tumbling down...again!

From the floor of the "old" building, looking up at what is left of the upstairs of the "new" building.

Here are our two hard workers cleaning up the walls of that upstairs room.

Looking out towards the street.

So, as of Saturday, almost the entire upstairs room has been removed. YES, they were working on a Saturday!!!

Hmmmfff...

Ok, where did those pictures go? We will try to fix that, and get the new ones up, but things are very busy over here at the moment, since we are leaving for the US in a few days. Stay tuned....

Progress

One more triangle to go. I bet there is a technical term for that...

Look, we have a dumpster. The crew has been really good about getting rid of scrap and keeping the street clear for our neighbors.

Nice shot of what the house now looks like without the upper floor. Shall we place bets on when the new upper floor will actually make an appearance?

Progress

That lovely arch in the new bathroom.

This is the ground floor room of the "new" building, which will be a guest room. It no longer has a roof! The metal you see is the grid system that was used to help support the old roof.

The view from above.

From the upstairs looking over the "old" building. The triangle that created the pitch of the roof has been removed.

Progress

This is the chimney in what was the kitchen and will be a bathroom.

Small niche in what was the fireplace.

The well that is in that same room.

Looking down that well.

Downstairs bathroom to be...

Check out the rubble spilling out the door of what will be the downstairs bathroom.

Amazingly enough, the arch stayed intact. All the rubble is what was the roof.

See, no more roof, but the rotting wooden beams are still hanging on strong.

The funny little window survived the tear down of the roof too.

Down with the roof.

The past week saw quite a bit of action. As you can see, they began tearing open the roof on the upstairs room in the "new" building.

Look, two workers this week, not one!

As seen from the road.

What the heck is this? A tiny bomb shelter? A metal barrel to go over the falls in? Whatever it is, it has become a landmark and we can not get rid of it, as this is how the workers find the house...given that there are no house numbers.

After the first week of work...

We got through the first week of work, without too many headaches, and with some tangible results to boot. Can this be an omen of things to come? Did I just jinx it and it's downhill from here???? Only time will tell, so stay tuned...

The worker(s), was able to remove most of the crumbling plaster from the stone walls, and much to our relief, it appears that they are in fairly good condition. However as was pointed out by the contractor, they are more mud than stone :-(, but appear to be sturdy nonetheless. They will be reinforced with a steel mesh, and a concrete "crown" that will tie the walls together for added safety and quake proofing. Although the fact that they have been standing for the last 200+ years should be proof enough of their stability.

We also had our first encounters with public utilities these last 10 days. Namely the electric, water, and telephone companies. I have to confess my amazement on how smoothly (and gasp, even timely) things have gone. Especially if you consider that there is no street address to give them in order to locate the house. So we were able to get power hooked up, a new water meter installed and relocated, and the phone lines moved to prepare for the demolition of the first floor structure.

So now it is time to bring in some more serious machinery, in order to demolish the room on the first floor, as well as the ceiling of the guest room and bathroom. Hopefully without bringing down the other structures. Keep your fingers crossed for us!

* Just a quick note to avoid confusion: In Europe the ground floor is the ground floor, and NOT the first floor, as it is usually referred to in the States. The first floor refers to the first floor you reach as you go up the stairs, and NOT the second floor that the Americans know. I am sure this cleared things up!

Entrance to the yard is opened up from the road. Both the wall and the strange cement basin have been removed.

The pillars that held the grapevine have been removed (as have the weeds from inside the house).

More exposed stone work emerges.

Just one wall left with plaster on it in the downstairs guest room.

Hardest worker in Greece!

When Alex told me he had stopped by the house to see if the workers were there in the morning, I was less then pleased to hear that it was singular rather than plural. Yes, one guy, all on his own, was at the house removing all the old tiles from the "newer" building, knocking off plaster on walls to reveal the stones beneath and removing the walling that lined the upstairs veranda. Amazingly, this one guy is one hard worker, as the amount that he has gotten done is quite impressive.

This is the view of the house from the street, the barn is in the foreground and the rest is in the back ground.

More plaster comes down inside the old building, here are the doors to what will be the dining room and the bathroom.

More exposed stone around the front door.

Just 3 days and 1 guy!!!

See, no more wall around the veranda upstairs.

Look, all the tile is up, and all the plaster is off the walls in the guest room!!!

Here he is, hard at work....I really should find out his name.

He also removed the grapevine that was growing over the front courtyard, but don't worry, the trunk is still there and it will grow back in no time!

This is the view over the top of the "older" house. The middle wall will be removed, to create an open kitchen/ family room, and the roof will be oriented the other way.










This is the upstairs room in the "newer" building. The wall with the door will be pushed back to create a larger room, and bath area for Sianna.












These exterior stairs will be removed and the room on the ground floor will become the guest room with private bath.

cornerstone of house












Sianna surveys the area under the grapes.














Front of what was a barn, and is now a storage area (apothiki)











end of barn