Watching paint dry
This week: Watching paint dry; Autumn mists;
Suddenly it is Saturday afternoon again. Just where does time go?
The nights are drawing in rapidly now, with three minutes of daylight being lost every day, 21 minutes a week. This is the maximum as we approach the northern autumnal equinox.
Our sunset is at 19:00 so there is little time to do anything after tea.
I still look back at the week and wonder what I have actually spent my time doing?!
I’ve been to Grad Hvar twice during the week, to meet the Catamaran from Split, and also for a meeting with the architect about joining my two buildings together.
Slowly but surely we are getting closer, so hat has to be progress!
Watching paint dry
Sometimes I feel that any progress I make is so slow, that it is akin to watching paint dry.
That occupation is of course a good choice, providing you can choose the colour and pattern…
The specialist corrugated roof panel fittings which I ordered last week from the UK arrived.
I know that €20 for expedited courier delivery seems exorbitant, but when work is held up, sometimes you just have to accept the high price for a small packet.
The first job was completed last Sunday, when I replaced the plastic sheeting on the end walls which face the terrace.
These end walls keep most of any rain from the west out of the passageway between the two buildings.
The new staple gun I bought earlier in the year was really useful to fix the plastic before I attached it with battens.
Having the correct fixings, I started mounting the four full panels onto the new full length roof beams. Contrast the new fixings with the ones I removed last week.
Careful measuring and positioning of the beams meant all the original fixing holes lined up for reuse.
With three quarters of the full size sheets in place, it rained on Thursday morning. The sheets I fixed onto the new beams kept all the rain out.
Much of Friday was spent in finishing the roof panels, adding the small panels and generally tidying up.
The final test was a full “stress test”. The roof passed…
Autumn mists
The heat dome which was across much of south eastern Europe last week, has finally started to dissipate. So at last we are back to more normal temperatures for September.
With the change in temperature we have had the first dewfall of autumn.
Except dew doesn’t actually fall! When the surface temperature of objects reduces to the “dew point temperature”, atmospheric moisture condenses into small droplets of water.
This soaks plants and man made objects alike.
What we did have this week, which is unusual for Hvar was a Sea Fret, Sea Roak or to use the original north east England and Dutch term, Haar.
Much like the formation of dew, it is because of differences in temperature.
The sea fog forms over the Adriatic sea and then is blown between and over the islands.
This means that some areas are in bright sunshine, while others are in the cool, damp gloom of the fog. Large foggy areas are really unusual. The more usual fog we experience is on the Stari Grad Plain, caused by winter temperature inversions.
The fog soon evaporates as the warm sun heats the land.
These damp mornings with dew and fog show that we are well into autumn now, as leaves begin to fall from our deciduous trees.
After the figs will come the cherry trees, plums, apples and pears.
There are still a lot f nice flowers though. This is my Canna Lily “Tropicana”. NCG
