What a 224 days that was

It has been very flattering to have been asked by quite a few people when I was going to do another blog post. Now obviously I will not be updating as often while I am over in the UK however I always had plans for a retrospective post looking back over the year. This is that post. Aren't you lucky.

Where to start, though?

Julian with his big brothers

The journey, I think. When I think back to the leaving party (or what I can remember of it) and then The Electrician getting in there and tidying up (honest, Dan) and then the leaving meal which was wonderful and then finally the final goodbye to those closest to me and starting off our drive with my best friend sat next to me in Julian and my parents driving Thomas (as close to 10am as we could manage) it feels like another lifetime ago. The whole trip was absolutely amazing and there are memories to spare (the first night on the road, near Gent, when I turned the vehicles round to be helpful and then found I'd pointed them towards a no entry sign; sitting on my deck chair in Germany stealing WiFi from the hotel and watching the sun come up; the super long day from Hungary to the other side of Sofia when we couldn't find a hotel to name but a few) and when we got there and the Little Lady and the Special One came over and helped us unload, and they would not take no for an answer and we were really grateful for the help, I knew then I had made absolutely the correct decision.

Celebrating my arrival

The first few days were really special to me as my parents stayed over and when they went it took me quite a while before I stopped looking across the valley to where their hotel sits (fully visible at all times from the balcony, and the new road after dropping the men off) and thought about popping over to see them. A couple of things stick in my memory from this early time. Firstly I managed to succeed in my aim of finishing my Lagavulin Feis Ile (2013) bottle while sat on the balcony. It took a ladder and a torch (the window from the bedroom still being sealed at this time) but I got up there with a chair and though slightly chilly it allowed me some time to reflect that I had arrived and let some of the awesome sink in. Another strong impression is from later on that night as I lay in Julian and listened to the sound of nothing and found that, despite being exhausted, I was unable to sleep as I was so unused to such peace and quiet. There was also a lot of digging carried out in those first few days as I prepared for getting the water inside the house and the help given me by my friend will never be forgotten.

Here comes internet

A large part of this year (far more than should have been the case) has been devoted to trying to sort out the Change of Use and planning permission. I learned so much, and made a good friend in the process in Lubo, so this journey was also worth it but at times I must admit I felt quite overwhelmed by the whole thing. The situation I am in now is that I have planning permission, a signed off project, but not Change of Use yet as that was not possible due to weirdness. All of this was sorted out pretty much in time for the work to start on the building and frankly I started this work before receiving sign off and it didn't cause any problems. Not everything is difficult to achieve in Bulgaria indeed I have found things to be really quite easy on the whole and one of the most amazing examples was the installation of my internet. I went into the office one day and the next they were out and it was fitted and running. That day I also met S (of S and S fame) for the first time and made another good friend in the process.

Good old Rambo

Bekir and Sally have been helping me out all year and one of the first things they achieved was putting the fence in around the flat roof building that would become Rambo's house. There was quite a rush on for this as I had arranged for him to be collected a month after leaving however, true to form, they finished all the work in time and to a much higher standard than I had originally envisaged. When I picked him up he was quite happy to see me, though seemed sad to say goodbye to Ken who had brought him, and through the year he has settled in so well he is almost a new dog. During the days he is allowed the run of all the land (though this was delayed somewhat by the fact that the main fence was not completed until some time after he arrived) and he has made it his habit to conduct circuits quite regularly, just to check everything is as it should be. He also has got regular walks and his kong and ball have had many work outs. The workmen put up with him pretty well though sometimes he does have to be locked away when he gets in the way too much, or if a delivery driver refuses to get out of his cab until his is removed. Poor little doggy.

T did super work securing the fence

I made a lot of plans prior to heading out to the school regarding what we would achieve this year and largely I was correct in those thoughts. As already described the fencing for Rambo's Enclosure was completed very quickly, internet installed on next day service and water brought into the house and plumbed for the washing machine, boiler and shower and all of this by the time I'd been there two weeks. I had been joined by T at this point who was making himself incredibly helpful around the place. With his help the fence was put in around the whole of the land (keeping the cows, sheep and goats from munching at the fir trees I had planted) and Rambo was able to be free and run around without being confined to his run. I did get to shout the equivalent of "GET ORF MY LAAARND!" at the old man from the farm who was letting himself in through the vehicle gate and stealing wood that he claimed was his however having won this argument over the summer he became friendlier and I don't think permanent damage was done to our relationship.

One item of improvement which I hadn't planned long term but which I quickly decided to complete was the drainage. To this end I got the bagga machine in for a few days around my birthday and it dug out the garage entrance, carpark area, and a trench all around the edge of the house at the back, where the bank had been up to five feet above floor level. All year these works were left quite messy and it was only the last week before we came back that I employed the digger to come back and tidy up. Next year putting the proper "French Drainage" in will be number one priority before anything else.

Windows starting to be fitted

The main job for the year had always been to get the roof replaced however it took some time for this to be started largely down to unavailability of the men, and the fun and games with the architect and planning permission. I had thought prior to arriving that the insulation on the outside of the building needed doing before the windows went in but discovered that it was actually the other way around so arranged for the window men to come out, measure up, and then start the process of putting windows in throughout. The first ones were done in Room 13 and the top landing (and both the front and back doors, for security) and the difference it made was amazing. Through the year they have come back quite regularly and the day before we left the final ones we need for this year were put in. This has left the whole house water tight and weather proof, though I think there is one way for the birds to still get in as the garage door was never achieved this year.

Birds, birds birds

Ahh yes, the birds. That was a whole lot of fun throughout almost the entire year. Swallows and sparrows have been nesting in the building for years and obviously were rather unhappy at being evicted. I left them alone as far as possible as I am an animal lover however there is only so much incessant tweeting, and pooping, that a man should have to put up with in his own home. They are just as stubborn however and any one of you would have been most amused to watch me chasing them around the building with a broom, or trying to knock the nests down as they tried to replace them just as quickly. It wasn't all terrible having them around and getting to see the newly hatched chicks grow up and then leave the nest was pretty awesome I must say.

A recurring theme for the year has been the weather and unfortunately quite often not in a good way. It has been a really wet year with so many thunderstorms that this also really badly effected how quickly the roof could be completed. There was one storm in particular, after the bedroom inside had been completed, that I will never forget as I sat up on the edge of the bed with the light off (in case the power went and this made me even more scared) and listened to an almost continuous bang crash and smash of a huge storm directly over head. It was so loud and incessant the building was shaking and I was quite worried about a direct hit from lightning. Fortunately that never occurred and this storm eventually blew over just like the rest of them but it was a salutary reminder of just how powerful mother nature actually is.

Flooded for the first, but not last, time

It wasn't just thunder storms which made the weather so exciting; we had massive amounts of rain, wind and even a hailstorm which resulted in my plants being damaged quite badly. The most exciting moment was as I lay in bed after one cloudburst and could hear dripping so I got the torch and went to check it out and found a river running from the roof down onto the landing and then on down the stairs to the ground floor. This ended up being the first of several times when I had to go on the roof and throw water down as it had pooled up there. It was a great moment when the roof was finally complete and when it rained over night a couple of days afterwards both myself and A lay there listening and smiling as we no longer had to worry about a flood developing. That first night, however, was not fun as the thunderstorm was still rumbling around and it was pitch dark so I couldn't see what progress I was actually making. It was a good feeling when I realised there was no more water around my feet.

Rambo and Ralf

There have been quite a few animals that have made their presences felt over this year including Rambo, Sassy, Ralf, Mo (RIP), Jesus, Shiva, Zeus and Linford not to mention the animals which populate the village and the surrounding countryside. Sadly we still have not managed to get Ralf back (though I have had a missed call from the Other Brother since we got back; I'm still not sure what this call was about as I haven't been able to contact him back) however Rambo is very happy at his kennels taking the owner for a walk every morning, and Sassy has settled in very well with S and S who are spoiling her like rotten and so she deserves.

The vehicle entrance and silver birch trees

The school came with about 2.3 acres of land and this has taken some of my attention through the year, though not as much as I will give it once the house is done. I have cleared the entrance path and dug over the flower beds next to it, scythed the overgrown grass down (only breaking one blade in the process) and made my own hay which is stored in the green building now, planted four olive trees in raised beds, a lovely flower bed up by the sunbathing spot, created the beginnings of the driveway with six silver birch saplings which have apparently established themselves very well and hopefully will be good when we get back. Towards the end of the year we cleared a bit of the fenced garden and planted some seed which grew very fast and provided us with edible produce before we left. The melons that I planted by the olives also grew well and the one we harvested the day before we left was sweet and gorgeous. All of this makes me very excited for how productive the land will be when I am giving it the attention it requires.

A

I am now saying "we" a lot and there is a good reason for that. I have been joined by A who has helped my dream become even better than originally thought. She visited me three or four times which was lovely and then arrived for good in August and now I don't know what I would have done without her being there. So thank you so much A it is so lovely having you with me over there. Here's to next year!

Lovely guests

A hasn't been the only visitor (when she was only a visitor, obviously) and I have been joined at various times by The Electrician (who was on holiday, but kindly replaced the early temporary wiring with a much safer set up including circuit breakers and, gasp, earthing!), my best mate and his mrs, and two very good friends who happened to be in the country for another purpose and made the time and effort to get down to see us. It has been lovely to show them around and, with the guest bedroom done and another planned for early next year, it will be even easier to welcome anyone to come and stay.

Sun rise

Sun set

Regular readers may want to skip the picture above as they are already bored of all the sunset pictures. Everyone else please enjoy. Watching sunsets and sunrises has been one of the most reliable pleasures through the whole year. The school sits on a ridge with the sunrise occurring in front of our bedroom window, and the sunset over the back of the land. If I miss any one thing more than anything else it is sitting watching the sky as either the sun rises or sets. There is nothing like it and every day was different.

The main task of the year was to get the roof done and this took most of the available time, as any task will do. Bekir and Sally (assisted at various times by Orham, Mahmet, Shengen, Ilhan and Okhtay) have done their usual awesome job. They did it in three sections, starting above Sassy's room (where the light and views up there encouraged us to decide to leave a flat roof terrace and BBQ area open) and finally finishing everything off late on the day before we left to come back to the UK. We are so pleased with what they have done and while it has taken more time than expected I think once again the men have completed everything to a much higher standard than I had expected. I have put together a timelapse video (above) which I hope you like.

And so there you have it; a small overview of the last year. I will update a bit over the winter as things happen if I feel the urge, but I doubt that will be very often.