Much moving of wood

Hello there. I'm tired today after a full day of phyiscal exercise interspersed with paid work. It has been a very satisfying day however so I'm not complaining. Unlike my muscles.

First thing this morning

I slept like a log almost literally as I woke after about three hours and every joint clicked when I moved; I must have not moved at all. I woke again in the early hours with Rambo barking up a storm (probably at a tortoise) however after a quick loo break (not over an hour this time) I was back to bed and asleep very quickly. When I woke up this morning I was still really tired and worried that today would also be a right off from my slight stomach upset but, after one snooze I was up and about, taking a picture of the gorgeous pre-morning sky, and going for a brew.

Not yet risen sun reflecting on the clouds

I had to drink the whole cup of tea before I could bring myself to do anything this morning, with the tiredness still making me feel a bit woozy and unwilling to move. A went to feed the dogs, however, and the only thing I could put off my work with was taking another picture of the morning sky so I went back onto the balcony and did so.

Finally cleared all the wood

I now could no long put off starting my task so out onto the back bank I went and set to shifting the wood. I found myself, unexpectedly, being quite energetic and really making excellent progress. I worked away while A was collecting the men and had finished the whole task just before she got back. I had time to put the kettle on and take Ralf down for a toilet break and they drove along the front and pulled into the land, with Ralf running like a lunatic to meet them as soon as I let him go when the car was parked. One thing during the shifting of the wood though; I realised that while I had been throwing all the waste wood onto the TOP of the bank, there was a back door right there leading directly to the wood storage place next to the bottom of the bank. What an idiot. For the last few minutes I put the burning wood onto the ledge by the back door.

I am so lucky to have these men working for me

We were both hungry first thing so as soon as A got back it was breakfast time; bacon and egg butties for me and banana on toast for her. The men were, as usual, straight up and onto the roof and banging away putting the duskat onto the south facing side. I popped up after eating and snapped some pictures of the men at work. I was taking photographs of Sally as he hammered away and then he saw and smiled as he worked. I then snapped a quick one of Bekir and Shengen (I think that was his name) and then Orhan was laughing at them getting their photographs taken (they were all on the roof while he was passing materials) so I turned and took his picture as well, much to his amusement. They are a lovely team.

Getting stuck into the finishing touches on the staining

A had decided that she wanted to finish off doing the staining on the frames for the raised beds so while she did this I went and did the watering round. The boys were really good until we got onto the top bank when Ralf legged it across half the land to nip at Rambo. I grabbed him and, with the men shouting "Ralf ne dobre!" he was on my shoulder and put in his enclosure til I had finished all the watering. The Zinnias are still looking really lovely, though they are starting to get a bit jaded, but the rest of everything is looking great and our seedlings have really come on.

The forecast is incredibly threatening for the next few days, with the app on my phone saying flash floods are even a possibility so we had decided to bring in materials for the various projects we have on so they can be completed inside if it does get as apocalyptic as suggested. To this end I carried three big beams up to the guest suite to be made into the guest bed, we brought three of the new huge planks in to make another frame for the raised bed (and as I typed this I realised I would need to make the angled frame as well so we have just had to go and get two more in - pain!) and some beams for our headboard and finally some wood to make a shoe rack and the guest bedside table. Of course, almost none of this will be done probably but at least now we can do so without having to go out into the rain.

I got my longbow out

While shifting things around to accommodate for the wood being brought in I picked up my longbow and something made me first take it outside to show A and then string it and then, finally, go onto the top bank and rig myself up to shoot it. What a buzz. I should have done this earlier! The first shot went about 10m as I had everything set up wrong but the second and then third (the third is the one shown) went further each time. The men were on the roof still and when they saw what was going on the stopped to watch and applaud. I think I will get to shooting again maybe every day, when it is nice weather. I did hurt my arm by having it held with the wrist in the wrong place (and as you can see my pull was not long enough either) but practice will work this rust out.

Glossing the cold frame windows

It has been quite a warm day today; warmer than the thermometer has claimed, and all day I have struggled with feeling really thirsty. We have had many cups of tea and fruit juice, and I even had a hot chocolate, in the attempt to keep hydrated. Anyway, after the watering round it was in for a brew and a bit of paid work before the next task of the day was approached. For me, this was to hitch the trailer to Thomas and drive it to the top bank to start loading the beams into it. A was putting a coat of white gloss on the windows that will go on the raised beds. After she had finished this she came to help and we loaded the last few lengths into Thomas then went and unloaded it. I then drove Thomas back up and parked him before coming in for a cup of tea.

Mid throw of some burning wood

It was lunch time however we were neither hungry at this stage so after the brew A went to put another coat on the windows while I went out back and as quietly as possible (the men were having their doze) I filled the trailer and Thomas again with more beams. I was hoping this would be the last trip required however a little was left. As it is easier for one person alone to load when she had finished the painting A got involved transferring the burning wood down onto the ledge by the other back door.

Roof wood we stashed today

We then drove the truck round and stopped for lunch (cheese and apple + mint chutney for me - very nommy indeed!) and then dragged our weary bodies out to unload again. This was repeated once more and I can tell you be the end of that we were both shattered and sat down for a long rest. The second store room of roof wood isn't full yet but there is a good quantity in there and this time I organised it much better with round wood on the left and squared wood on the right.

Duskat on, tidying happens

The men were still banging away all this time and I did some paid work while A rested. At some point the tempo of the work upstairs changed and the men started cleaning up all the rubble, dust and spare bits and pieces of wood that were covering the floor after all the effort they had put in the last couple of days. I popped upstairs to get a picture as I have been a bit remiss with shots of them working (it is quite repetitive with just putting the duskat on the ribs). At some point during the afternoon we were sat out enjoying the late afternoon heat and an old motorbike putted along the road and stopped by the front gate. The two blokes on it got off and I went to see what they wanted and they asked if I was selling the old roof tiles. I got Bekir to talk to them but they were not impressed with the quality and so we let them go without a sale. Fingers crossed we can find someone to buy them.

Ralf got in his bed on his own!

Up til today we have been putting Ralf into his bed (and he has been settling in it very well) but he hadn't gone in it voluntarily until I turned round wondering where he was and there he was, sleeping quite happily in his bed. He didn't stay in there long but since then he has been spotted chilling in his bed a couple of times; 40 lev not wasted! Hurrah!

And the duskat is (nearly) done

And so the men went home (after helping me lift the finished cold frame sections up onto bricks in case the rain really does get heavy) and it was a really nice drive back with lots of chatter and laughter from the men. When I got home I went straight out onto the top bank to take the picture for the progress shot and after that I also went onto the balcony to show what they did with the last half hour of the day; the decorative boards are now fully installed. If it rains tomorrow we have worked out a good long list of things for the men to work on but obviously it would be better if it was not pouring with rain all day.

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The clouds have already started gathering in preparation for the storm that is supposed to hit at about 3am and for now they make a lovely spectacle though I would rather they went away. With the coverage keeping all the heat in from the day it is a really warm evening at the moment, warmer feeling even than during the day. I hope the breeze picks up soon else I'll struggle to sleep.

A tableaux

Dinner was the remaining two burgers from last night, under the grill, with lovely fried chips on the side and put in bread (in my case at least) with lettuce and tomato grown right here. It was lovely and the Fawlty Towers we watching while eating was funny if a bit outrageous as well. Now I am really close to finishing this I am going to leave you with a photograph of Rambo, midway through his round, looking up at me on the balcony and Ralf, as per usual, quivering with excitement at seeing Rambo below. Strange dog.

Tomorrow is a busy day but with paperwork and taxes for the cars, and I have a shopping list from the builders merchant as well. I may take delivery of the wood for the guest room wall as well - fingers crossed. Night all.