First week back in Blighty

It is the end of the first week since I came back to the UK and how it is dragging; it feels like I have been back for at least a month. Consider as well that I have about two and a half months more until I return to Bulgaria and you’ll understand why this hasn’t been the easiest of weeks for me. To top it all off as I type this A is having a rat problem nightmare and is actually seeing them running around in Room 13 and I feel terrible for not being there to help her deal with and kill them all. Life is what it is, though, and we have to just get on with what is in front of us as there is no way for me to change the arrangements now. It has been a pretty busy week for me though so I’ll just crack on. And sorry to those who prefer her updates; don’t worry, I’ll only be boring you about the UK side of things once a week.

 

Two tickets for one trip to Sofia

So this update starts as the alarm goes off at some unnatural time last Tuesday morning. I had a bus at 5am local time to catch and as we weren’t totally sure where it would depart from we headed off a bit early. It actually wasn’t too long a wait and we watched other locals turning up and standing around which gave us confidence that the bus did actually exist. It turned up and the driver was in a hurry so there was barely time to grab a quick kiss before I was squeezing myself into a single window seat, waving to A, and we sped off up the road. I didn’t get ANY pictures at all on the journey home but there were a few things which I would have liked to capture not least the sun rise which was lovely. The driver kept to what seemed to be his standard speed – too fast, and we made really good time. I had packed some food for the journey which I was very grateful for and, in between snoozing on my moose, I snacked on some butties and watched the scenery.

I had been told to get off at a hotel just on the outskirts of Sofia but I did not see it at all so ended up following the bus route all the way to the bus station which was on the other side of town. This didn’t end up being the most terrible of things as I was straight into a cab and back to the airport. To give an idea of the economy of things the bus all the way to Sofia was 23 lev and the taxi across Sofia was 30 lev, though I am sure he over charged me. I was chattering to him all the way so it was a pretty pleasant journey in the end and I did recognise some of the roads near the airport as ones I had driven down with my parents last year when we were lost in Sofia looking for a hotel; remember the dodgy gypsy area Mum/Dad?

I walked into a relatively empty Sofia airport thinking “ahh I can get my bags checked in and go and relax through in departures” (unusually I had checked luggage mainly as I needed to bring the camper stove back with me) but I could not have been further wrong. I settled myself at the front of a non-existent queue in front of the desk where my bags would go and waited. After a bit the gates opened but when I went up they said “Gatwick only, not Manchester” and refused to take my bags. I settled for a while in front of the “speedy boarding” check in gate but even when that opened they refused to let me leave my bags. In the end I went outside into the sun to read and wait and even when my flight was announced it took some persuasion for them to take my bags via the speed lane; they wanted me to go to the back of the main queue even though I had paid for the privilege and been there about two hours by that point. If I had known this would happen I would certainly have left the cooker and bought a new one.

 

Sneaky picture of Mr Giles

I found a seat near the departure gate and was first on the plane and settled into my customary front row seat and even managed to doze for a bit on the plane. When we landed I was again first off and through customs but then had to wait again for the bag to come through the system. It wasn’t first but was not far behind and then was the saga of finding the taxi who I had booked to collect me. We managed to meet up in the end and then the crazy Albanian driver entertained me all the way home with some agreement politically and particularly when he told me that the police would only ask a few questions and no more if you shot someone on your land after 10.30 at night. He was a nice guy though and was very interested in what we are doing. I hope he finds his dreams as well. While I was standing around at what I thought was the meeting point I saw “The King Of Spain” Ashley Giles who was in his Lancashire tracksuit and apparently off on a flight somewhere. He looked a bit grumpy so I didn’t go to get a picture with him but did snap this sneaky one as he headed inside.

 

Doubled up burger with bacon and cheese

I can’t remember much more of that day as an England-induced migraine/headache kicked in and I was in bed and asleep for about 6.30. I slept through and woke at about 6am feeling much better, however, so it was a fry up at home (seeing as I was awake so early) and then a leisurely stroll into the office. I was there just after 7am and was the first one in. This would turn out to be the routine all week as I have struggled to sleep in and ended up just getting out of bed early and going to work. The best part of today was we had arranged to go to the pub and the, now much expanded, team all piled into cars for lunch time and had a good meal. I went for the burger this time and it was pretty good, though the cheese was just processed cheese and it would be nicer if they had some real cheese on it. This is the new menu though so maybe they are still just bedding it in.

 

Tiny bunny rabbit on the grass near work

I didn’t do much on Wednesday night apart from eat a pizza (bought from Tesco when I went to buy myself some more pillows as I had ended up with only one left in the house), drink beer and read. Once again I was up early on Thursday and I was in work before 7 this time. Work has been better recently and I am working on some interesting stuff so being in there isn’t a hardship; it is good to be achieving things. As I was walking home I disturbed several rabbits which live in the undergrowth around the industrial estate where my office is; they were all sitting out on the grass by the roads and then when you approached diving into hiding. This one was particularly small and cute.

 

When this lot hatches I'm going to be overrun

A had sent me off with strict instructions to get a good picture of the frog or toad spawn in the pond in the back garden and, with the sun out and the light being in the correct place, I popped out and got a quick shot one evening. There is loads of it and I am a little apprehensive what will happen when it all becomes baby frogs. There will soon be work to do in the garden here but I am without a lawnmower so I need to remember to talk to the landlady to get her to drop one off.

 

Frying pork with mushrooms and onions in butter

Dinner on Thursday was my famed Spicy Pork Pasta and it was a triumph. I sat in the living room with my book and a bowl or two or maybe even three and munched the whole lot in one sitting. I did reduce the quantities so that it would not be usual humungous portion and that was a success. I have enough left over for two more of these so that’ll be happening again very soon I think. After eating I spoke with A which was lovely and then took myself off to bed.

 

Just a bit of Model Railway stuff arrived

Friday morning once again I was up very early and in the car by about 6am on the way to Blackpool. I was going to work from the studio so I could get to see Dan, have a natter about things and pick up all the parcels which had been delivered to me. I knew that I had ordered a fair amount of stuff but when I got there and saw it all piled up on the desk I actually laughed out loud. I set myself up, made a brew, and waited for Dan to turn up so I could go get some breakfast but better than that when he got in he made me a butty in our café. It was lovely and also so good to see him and hear all his news. While I was waiting the eclipse happened but my phone was too useless to get a picture and I didn’t know until later that there was an SLR in the office I could have used. Anyway, you’ve all been bored to tears with pictures of a sliver of sun by now so I’m not going to show you my attempts.

 

Some kind of picture postcard

At lunch time I needed some fresh air so I took a walk and went down to the front. It was the first time I can ever remember Blackpool Promenade actually smelling of the sea. It looks really grim here but actually the sun was out and it was rather pleasant to stand there and just stroll around and clear the lungs. I headed back to the office after a while though and finished up my day’s work then it was off home a bit early to avoid the traffic. I had picked up the roof box from storage as this will be coming back with me next time (the last time) I leave.

 

Lamb with veg for dinner and it was superb

When I got home I spent over an hour opening all the boxes and leaving feedback for them on eBay and then, when I was done with that, I was a bit hungry so I pulled the Lamb Chops out of the fridge and made myself a spectacular meal by frying them up and boiling up baby tatties, cabbage and green beans which were then tossed with butter and black pepper and were amazing. I was playing my game for a bit that evening and then headed to bed when I finally felt a bit tired. It has been strange being here alone, after such a good time living here with A, and I am honestly not really that settled here any more at all.

 

Soldering attempt number 100

Finally in place and snugged in the gap

I was up, you guessed it, early on Saturday morning and after making a brew and having some breakfast I set myself to the main task for the day; trying to get my test oval working for the model railway. The first thing I needed to do was to solder the power connection onto the straight as I had tried and failed to do before leaving for Bulgaria. It took me ages but, after melting the plastic cover to the tip of the soldering iron and also swearing a lot in general, I finally managed to get a technique which worked and had both tracks attached to the wire.

When I put the track into place and tried to straighten the wire out unfortunately one of them broke off which caused more swearing but then I worked out a good way to do what I’m trying to do and the resolding was not as hard as I slowly learn how to do this skill. I then tacked down the rest of the oval quite loosely and decided it should go to B and Q to grab some electrical joining block, electrical tape and a clamp to hold track as the little spare hand I bought for model airplane work really isn’t rigid enough for soldering support. It was a quick trip and when I got back I completed the last few bits, plugged it all in, and was able to address and program my first locomotive. Sadly when I tried to get it to go around the track it stopped pretty much immediately and then I didn’t have very much more luck at all with the rest of the locos as they wouldn’t even respond to the controller. I hope this is just a function of my bad soldering and the dirty rails and I will be buying some cleaning things to give the tracks another extra rub down, and will probably re-tack them all down but fixing every section rather than just a few, to stop it from flexing. This was rather a frustrating end to a hopeful start but life is like that.

 

Drinks with Loz, and lovely dinner

I packed everything away including the locos into their boxes and just tidied in general in the front room. Then it was time to get into Thomas and drive over to Chester to meet up with my friend and work colleague Lorenzo. We met at the same pub where we saw Jon Gomm and it was totally packed again; there were no spaces at all in the carpark so I had to pull in on the road. He had beat me there and was stood at the bar with half a pint left but it didn’t take long to get me a pint and we sat down (at the same table I had sat with A before) and drank and chatted and then ate some lovely food and finally I had to choose whether to go onto Lemonade or to stay. I chose to drink Lemonade and head off after that as I was missing A and wasn’t really in the mood for going out at all. It was a lovely afternoon though and he really is a star, is our Loz.

When I got back I settled on the sofa and started playing Civilisation and then I got the chance to talk to A and see her on skype which was great. I have been thinking seriously about buying a trailer to take back to Bulgaria but getting one which can be imported and we spent a fair amount of time looking together at options there. I would like one which can be used to transport the cherry picker so I’m looking at Plant Trailers, but ones with sides so I can also use it to take stuff back to Bulgaria and also hopefully pick up the things which we left in Hungary. The chances of that still being there in June, though, are pretty slim I reckon. I looked into the process of getting the trailer bit added to my license and found that it isn’t £600 (that would include a training course) you can just book in for £120 so I will do that once I have bought the trailer. That is one slightly strange thing; to tow a trailer you have to have a license and to get a license you have to take a test and to take a test you have to bring your own trailer but how do you drive to the test centre with your trailer if you don’t have a license? This is all to be discovered.

I struggled to get a picture of this shy little fella

Once A had headed to bed I thought I’d play a bit more Civ and then I decided to try and stay up really late to see if I could manage to lie in this morning. I was up til about 1am playing but still woke up at 7am and then really could not get back to sleep so that didn’t work at all. All it meant was I had less sleep which was not the aim. I’ll be to bed earlier tonight. So far today I have played my game, chatted to A and cheered on as she dealt with the aforementioned rat situation (including Rambo’s first kill!), arranged to view a Jack Russell puppy tomorrow which I would take back with me to be a housebound ratter and sat in the back room of the house watching the birds eating the bread I put out (and chasing the super fat pigeons who munch it all and stop the other birds getting a look in.

 

Ministry of Silly Walks

I will leave you with this picture of a crazy blackbird strutting towards a choice bit of bread; it did make me laugh a lot when I saw what I had captured by accident. I think I am going to go and have a soak in the bath shortly before cooking up some bacon and cabbage with par boiled then fried sliced potatoes for my dinner.

Thank you for reading and don’t worry A will be doing a FAR more interesting update of epic proportions later I am sure.