i can't tell you how bad it was...
So first up in the renovation was joining the two rooms via a doorway. I was worried the whole building would collapse, I think Ian was too, the difference being he had the confidence to re-build it whereas I didn't! It took two days of hammering and chiselling by hand, the removal of 5 barrow loads of rocks. The walls are two foot thick and packed with rocks then filled with earth. Centipedes dashed from their slumber and legged it as Ian broke through the wall. My bedroom and most of my belongings were soon caked in a layer of dark brown dust which we both breathed in by day and I had an extra dose at night also. My plan was to camp in a tent firstly. It was winter and i had camped in -5 conditions in the UK but I hadn't reckoned on the wind. The "tramontana" arrived which is the name for the northern wind and translates as 'beyond/across the mountains'. It terrified me to my very soul and arrives like a train, rumbling in and gathering speed, up to 100mph. There was no way I would survive in a tent in those conditions as it was bad enough inside, and so I made my home indoors, come what may. Sometimes they lasted for days. I never want to experience them again. I had to collect the two deckchairs from the dry river bed half a kilometer away and many other things were collected by the wind and deposited elsewhere! Anyway, I digress, the wall bashing was underway, it was a great success and eventually Ian reached the other side without the building collapsing! Result.
The start...
Almost done! and this is the side my bedroom is on!
Finito!
And this is how I was living, and so began my epic adventure!