Inside and Out

So as I suggested last time I'm sat down on Wednesday evening before dinner starting to type this up. Looking at the pictures I think this will be a much shorter update which will be nice. I want to get this done before we eat so we can relax together and watch more Sopranos or maybe a film. I'm going to continue the new format though, and not go through each day as I'm getting lots of positive feedback on it.

Inside

So my concept for this update was based around the fact that we have made some pretty good progress both inside and outside and I would split things down in this way. First of all; inside.

Early Sunday morning sweep

Runners back down

First of all tidying. Since we have had the living room finished, and swept out and put rugs down in the hallway, our dust problem has reduced significantly. We still have some, but most of the dirt now comes in on our shoes when we've been working outside. We're trying to keep on top of this anyway and this Sunday we started the day by cleaning the corridor. A swept through before even having any of her brew and I was tasked with shaking out the rugs and then hanging them on the balcony but it started to rain so I just beat them and brought them back in. We have another couple of these runner style rugs which eventually will go down stairs but it is still so filthy there I think we're leaving off putting them out until we've cleaned a little more. It's so nice to not have thick dust everywhere.

Model railway stacked up tidily

One job that I have had on my list and have been putting off was to sort out the train track in the loft out of its cardboard boxes (which could be chewed) and into the plastic boxes I had bought a few weeks ago. I actually started this because I'm sure I've lost a box of DVDs somewhere; there is at least one DVD completely lost sadly. Anyway, I got far enough into looking through the railway set boxes that I just stayed up there and finished the job completely. I now have another task which is to split apart the different gauge tracks as I have two non-compatible types of track up there. I also think I want to get some chests of drawers like A got for her clothes for the track so I can use the boxes for the scenery elements that are all still in cardboard up there.

The truck was piled very high

Carrying the plasterboard in, two sheets at a time

Yesterday I popped out to the shops for a few things. On the way down the hill I was able to give Usmivka a lift with his milk to town as it was market day so that was nice. I headed over to the builder's merchant and ordered a huge quantity of fibreglass insulation and plasterboard as before I can do anything for the model railway in terms of building anything I need to seal the whole roof space - floor and ceiling. I asked them to deliver it about 1pm and the rest of my trip out was a total failure in terms of what I wanted to do. Anyway about an hour after I had left the builder's merchant I was sat back at my desk working away when the van pulled up with my order. There had been a mis-communication and when I thought I said "come at one" they heard "come in one hour". We rushed to clear a path for the truck to the double kitchen doors and then A helped me lift one of the reservoirs out of the way and we started unloading. A helped with the insulation but then the plasterboard was a two person job so she brought my brew down and we just cracked on, the delivery man and I. It didn't take all that long however I'm dreading carting this all into the roof. I have also not ordered enough to complete the ceiling up there. It'll do for now though.

Snug puppies in front of the petchka

The weather has definitely gone to "changeable" (as you'll see in more detail in the next section) and today we had to have the fire on in Room 13 early on as it was actually quite chilly. The puppies really appreciated it and came in from their run around outside and almost immediately were asleep in front of it. The sun did come out a bit later which warmed us up as well and we were able to let it go out pretty quickly. It is quite cold when you're sat at your desk so it's nice sometimes to take that chill off in the morning. Of course we have the fire lit in the living room every evening but for me that's more to watch the flames than because it is cold.

Outside

This section will deal in a bit with the progress we have made outside but first of all let's talk about the weather.

Rainbow early Sunday morning

First few spots on the tiles on the balcony

Raining a bit heavier

Sunshine and heavy clouds

Sunday morning as I was heading out to let the chickens out I looked up and saw a lovely rainbow. It was not long after this that the rain reached us and prevented me from airing the rugs. The sky was amazing with some really bright areas cutting through beneath glowering black clouds. The shower didn't last that long as the wind was blowing so hard and the clouds were scudding along at a rate of knots. When the sun was out, and you were stood out of the wind, it was actually quite warm. The puppies were very much less than impressed and getting them to go out into the wind to go to the toilet was a challenge. They even pooed inside one night as they hadn't gone out long enough the night before because of the gale. We ended up having to let them out via the garage door and then herd them away from coming back in until they had been; little princesses demanding perfect weather to go to the toilet!

Early moon with big clouds

We were sat in the living room all afternoon on Sunday which was great; so excellent to relax (though I was also typing up the uber long update so I didn't get to relax as much as I wanted) when I happened to look outside and see that the moon had risen. It wasn't quite full then (it was full last night and despite the cloud cover the night was so bright with it!) but with the clouds still around and moving so fast I got a few excellent pictures. Shortly after this I headed onto the roof terrace to try and get, on video, the sound of the wind that we had been living with for days now. It plays a note on the open chimney pipes (I will need to get Bekir and Sally to finish them off with caps I think) and in the roof it howls like a tormented animal. The video above is the best I could get, though, and doesn't really do the whole thing justice.

The sun rises above the fog in the valley

Fog bank rolling towards us

Monday evening after doing some work outside I made the mistake of leaving my camera sat on the Julian's bonnet and so when, on Tuesday morning, I saw such a glorious sunrise happening I went for my camera and couldn't find it. When I did find it, soaked, I was really unhappy and put it on my desk in the sun to try and dry it out. Fortunately this worked and it doesn't seem the worse for wear. A was able to get a picture for me of the sunrise which was a bonus - it was such a beautiful thing. This morning was almost a mirror image as when we woke up it was clear, though foggy in the valley and then as the morning went on the fog rolled in more and more until we were completely blanketed.

Stone pile to be moved

Spreading the stones on the driveway

So, other than looking at the weather, what has been going on outside? Mainly shoveling various things into wheelbarrows and moving them from one place to another. Out in the orchard I have to move the piles of stones which are next to the trees from the hole-digging before I can continue spreading soil. A has commented on how the driveway by the gate is quite slippy in mud so I started off taking barrow loads down there and then spreading it around. I think that eventually I may have to remove some of the bigger stones which won't break up and bed in as we need but with all the rain forecast for the next few days that will give me a chance to evaluate. I've been doing this on and off through the week so far, taking a little time throughout the day to go and shift for ten or fifteen minutes. It's good as it has given me a handy outlet from frustration at the paid work and also keeps me active and getting exercise and fresh air.

A wearing her Machine Head t shirt to chainsaw

A had no work waiting for her on Monday morning so she got the chainsaw out and chopped up some more of the Oak tree branches. These were what was laying in the way of the delivery van on Tuesday and today I finally got round to lifting them and putting them into storage. We are now well over half way through this preliminary processing of the branches which is great. Looking at the forecast it is going to be nasty for a few days and then brighten up again so maybe by the end of the next week we'll have it all completed; that would definitely be excellent. I still need to decided on what to do with the brush wood; the green building remains my best idea so far.

The results of the stone pick

Putting the mower together

Shoving it along was hard work up here

It did cut better than you'd think for it being so blunt

Half what will be our front lawn

At one point yesterday I had a few minutes spare during the day so off I went outside with a bucket and I picked up all the stones I could see on what will be our lawn. I filled the bucket completely and I wasn't even being very careful. In my head that was going to be the end of it but later on I got another chance to head outside and so I put the lawnmower together and started to push it over the grass. Now it is completely blunt so this was a really tough undertaking and I ended up with a blister on the palm of my left hand however even being blunt it cut so well, and the difference is so excellent, that I am buzzing even more. I've ordered some sharpening kits to arrive over winter so as soon as they arrive I'll be taking the mower apart and getting it all fixed up - I'm even going to try and get some metal paint for it.

Filled in the old animal ramp onto my land

Today in my working gaps I did more shoveling of stones, eventually deciding that rather than put them on the driveway I should pile them up where the pond will be and see how the stones already there work. Before doing this, though, I decided to follow up on something I'd seen while clearing the lawn. The ramp made by the cattle when they had been coming onto the land before the fence was in was still there and getting filled up with leaves and stones. I took about three or four wheelbarrows of soil over to it and now it is flat. Hopefully this will reseed quickly and the lawn can grow up to the edge of the fence.

Raised bed greens are flourishing

A very small broccoli floret

The raised bed has continued to impress and even since the other day when I took the last photograph the plants in there have doubled in size. In the other garden the two new vines look dead but then so does the old one so I'll just have to be patient until the spring to see if they were a waste of money. The other greens in there are all doing pretty well right now and we've even got some tiny broccoli florets to eat. Maybe they'll go in a roast dinner soon.

Animals

The number of pictures I have this week, and not just of Thelma and Louise, means that once again they deserve their own section.

The ducks floating in their pond and loving it

First of all comes Beaker and Balls, swimming around in their pond. Now that we have stopped trying to filter it (the equipment has been put inside for use when the larger system is installed) the water does get a bit green however they seem to love it and today we were watching as they were eating the leaves that had blown in there. They even go fully underneath and swim up and down and they particularly seem to enjoy dipping their heads under.

Thelma with one of her tiny sticks

Louise doing a rare roll

Sisters will share anything

The puppies have been very involved in everything we have done this week as always. Thelma is never without a stick for very long, even if it is a tiny little excuse for one which won't fly anywhere because it is too light. Even this one she chased and found and refused a substitute because THIS was the one she had found. Louise is less interested in sticks and wanders off on her own when Thelma gets into her desperate stick mode. She likes digging up insects and chasing butterflies. Sometimes, however, they will work together and both enjoy a stick; Thelma likes this less than Louise and always ends up ripping the stick away though this week I've seen Louise win a few times which is good to see.

And finally...

So we come to the last few pictures that don't fit into any of the planned sections above. The rain is falling now and we've eaten our dinner so I'm going to get these done and get this published before I intrude on much more of our evening.

Baking the Syrup Sponge Cake

Just a small roast for two

Sunday was a day of food, and A spent most of it in the kitchen. First of all she wanted to bake and so she got her ingredients together and we have been enjoying the fruits of this labour all week as we eat our way through an awesome syrup sponge cake. No Sunday is complete without a roast and this was no different as she prepared an excellent Roast Chicken with spuds and parsnips and carrots and peppers all roasted together. Amazing. It did well for both of us for lunch the next day as well and the puppies were very much in love with the meat they got off it.

Autumn along the front of the land

Our beloved house, with Thelma and Rambo in attendance

While I was outside today doing the soil into the front garden I snapped a couple of pictures. First of all we have the view along the front looking underneath the pollarded Oak tree down towards the vehicle gate. The weather was amazing at this time, so warm that I was sweating and needed to take my t shirt off which is pretty impressive for one month before Christmas. The second shows the frontage of the building as it is now, with all the windows in and looking much neater than before. This time next year I really hope for a huge difference in how this looks as we want the insulation and cladding to be done.

To close with updates for which there are no pictures I've had another fun time with couriers this week as the parcel reaches Bulgaria and then stops at a distribution centre as "the address is wrong" because they don't understand that villages have no road names. Fortunately I was able to get hold of an English speaking person who helped me out so hopefully the parcel will arrive tomorrow. It has part of A's Christmas pressie in it, as well as a signed photograph of The Hoff which will go in pride of place I'm sure.

So there it is, time to get this out there and relax for the rest of the evening.

She's gone on holidays

It's one of those updates that I hate writing today; one which covers two days however yesterday I had pretty much no chance of getting an update in due to much busy-ness and other things. So I'm starting this about 15 minutes before the men will leave and will probably end up spending most of the evening doing it. Actually I have just remembered I'd better feed Rambo before taking the men so this will probably not get much of a start now until afterwards.

Eating from our own harvest yet again

So looking back at my pictures I'm returned to Sunday after I'd published the last update. We had cabbage harvested from our garden in with our amazing roast chicken dinner which was just outstanding and so tasty. We did eat it sat out our desks again which we have to stop doing soon but there isn't much option at the moment in the winter. Anyway after eating I dragged the comfy chairs into Room 13 and we settled down for our date night. We watched Apocalypse Now and, once I had sorted the strange sound problems from Media Player, it was a really enjoyable watch. Once the film had finished we didn't stop up long but headed to bed as the next day would be a long one.

Walnut and having chopped it

We woke up to another misty foggy morning and once A had headed off to collect the men I went out with the chainsaw and set to chopping the walnut trees that we had dragged round there over the weekend. I was only chopping larger bits, and not collecting any kindling, and so after about half an hour I had made some progress but not loads as I was spending a certain amount of time picking through the pile for the next suitable branches to chop up.

New wood storage

In the last five minutes or so that I estimated I had before A got back with the men I dashed in to try out the idea for pallet wood storage I had had. I pulled four pallets into the garage and then got the driver and some long screws. It took me all of two minutes to knock this together and by the time A got back I was well on the way to stacking all the wood I had chopped, clammy from the misty start we were experiencing.

First day at work

We had a new boy starting on Monday; Hikmet is a man from Bekir's village and he has been brought on to chop and split up all the good wood we bought which we made a start on but quickly realised it wasn't really economically viable to do all ourselves. For sure next year I will be ordering it pre-split from the wood yard so we only have to stack it up. Anyway, Bekir chopped some wood (which ended up being the habit as Hikmet seems only to want to wield an axe) and then Hikmet got on with splitting, using the axe I had bought in error as the new one Bekir sourced for me on Saturday needed some work.

Sledgehammer at work again

Gyuner was straight out the back door and getting on with preparing the ground for the back patio. He had taken down most of the remains of the porch wall the other day but today was bashing at the cement and stone mix that made up the foundations.

Planing down the handle

I returned to Room 13 to cook myself bacon and eggs for breakfast and it was lovely. The bacon does crisp up quite quickly which I normally don't like however it works quite well in a butty. With breakfast behind me I checked out the progress around the building site. I found Bekir getting the new axe ready for Hikmet to use; the handle needed a bit of work so the head would fit correctly.

Knocking out more walls

Further along I found Nikolai with the sledgehammer starting the process of knocking out the wall which will have the garage door put into it. There was quite a lot of it to remove. Eventually the hole will be 3m wide and 2.5m high, and then they will be putting columns and a lintel in under which Bekir will hang some lovely handmade wooden garage doors. Eventually. For now I've told them to get this work done and then seal it with polythene until the doors are made.

A beautiful day

The reason for the lack of update yesterday was that A was flying out for a trip home in the evening. During the day she spent time cooking me a lovely stew (as I type this I've just finished eating my second helping of it) and also baking an awesome cake (of which I partook at lunch today). She doesn't half look after me, though I think she enjoys the cooking as well. Anyway, that was her and I was pretty much stuck at my desk all day working other than my forays with the camera. As expected after a really foggy start the weather cleared fast and it turned into a warm day, though the fog stuck in the valley slightly longer.

Finishing touches around the balcony door

There was quite a lot going on in the living room during the morning. Sally was going around the room applying the finishing touches to the plastering and also removing all the coverings from the windows and doors, and tidying up around the edges of said windows and doors to give each corner a sharp crease.

Bekir chipping out for the light switches

Behind him Bekir had a hammer and chisel out and was chipping away and destroying the work Sally had done. There was a reason for this; he was making holes into which the light switches could go, but that didn't stop me making a joke about how Sally could finish the job today, but then Bekir would ruin it and Sally would have to finish it tomorrow as well.

Bekir making sure they will grout the tiles

Bekir and I popped out to the shops to pick up materials for the back patio including drainage and cement. It didn't take long but when I got back I found that the Little Lady had been over and brought coffee for everyone so Bekir had missed out. Lunch was a long one for them and after lunch the day fizzled a little bit for a while. Bekir was spending a lot of time talking to the other builders as they were discussing what they should actually do on the balcony. Of course I want them to finish it properly and that is what Bekir was ensuring would happen.

The hole gets bigger and bigger

The hole for the garage door was coming on apace and they had got down to the thick stone base which caused so much trouble when the window people were fitting the back door. Nikolai fortunately has the pneumatic drill which makes quite fast work of even these hard tasks. I really do need to get me one of them.

Flapping wings

Partially submerged

Super fast duck

As I was taking one of my walks I spotted the ducks in the pond. They are spending more and more time in there at the moment which is just great. I got the camera onto sports mode and found out just how fast this new camera takes pictures on that setting! Of all the pictures I shot these were the ones I liked the best. You can see how they chase around and play with each other, check out the chop in the waters, but what I was not able to capture was how they actually dive and swim under the water. Brilliant. Now they just need to be female and give us eggs.

New axe

Hikmet had been bashing away all day, with Bekir taking moments through the day to chop more logs for splitting. The new axe was proving its worth as he was going at more than double the pace than with my old one. I took a lovely arty picture for you, check it out.

Split wood piled up

While we were sat in Room 13 working there was the roar of a jet and I ran onto the balcony with the camera with zoom on it in time to have a plane pointed to me as it disappeared into clouds. We joked about it being the Russians or not and then I went back inside without the illusive photograph of the jets which continually buzz us. I did get a picture of the split wood, though, largely to test out the zoom on the new camera.

Back boxes in for the light switches

Inside Bekir had made good the damage he had done to Sally's walls and now each of the double sockets has a backing unit in place and is cemented in. Rather than pick up double switches we have got two single switches at each end, one will turn on the wall lights and the other will operate the ceiling lights. I'm getting really rather excited about this room; it feels very close now.

Very yummy cake

As I mentioned before A baked me a cake. She made some lovely butter icing and then sprinkled (not our) walnuts on the top. It was too big to go in the box so she cut the corners off and I got to sample a bit early. It was lovely. She gave the other three corners to the men and there was none left over so I'm thinking they must have liked it a lot!

Beef stew to see us through

It was an early end to the working day however as I had to be back in time to take her to the airport. The journey was really easy and nothing happened and when I got home I was greeted by a lovely stew in a bowl, and some buttered bread to chase it down with. As it was early I hadn't thought I was hungry however it turned out to be just what I needed and got me through the evening.

Just before she flew

And so A got her stuff together and we got in Thomas and set off for the airport. We were driving at the worst time, when the light is just fading but it isn't fully dark yet, but we made the trip quickly and safely. The puppies had come with us, sleeping most of the way (though Louise did keep an inquisitive eye open for a lot of it) and so we arrived at the airport dead on time. Unfortunately it was a really quick drop off and dash as A wanted me to be back not too tired so it was quite a sad me who drove off, beeping his horn and waving as he turned the corner out of sight.

Comfort eating shop bought cake

I sustained myself on the drive home by putting Machine Head on and driving as fast as I could safely do so to keep the enjoyment of the mountain roads. As per usual the girls slept right through the music and the driving this time. They were on their bed on the passenger seat and didn't once try and come over to me. When I got back I went up to Room 13 and felt quite blue so I got a brew, some cake and after finishing that headed to bed.

This is why I had no water

I woke up to find Thelma curled up right next to me on top of the duvet and Louise burrowed in underneath curled up as well. I also woke up to the phone flashing next to me as my alarm was going off but for some reason not making any noise. I'd slept pretty well, considering, though I was woken at about 2am by a flash of lightning. Fortunately the storm didn't hang around long, only another couple of flashes, and I was off to sleep with the benefit of knowing A had landed safely in London. I had planned on doing some chainsawing first thing this morning but with the inadvertent lie in this went out the window. There was no water at all though so I had to brew up with water from the tap in the bathroom. It was only when I went to leave that it became apparent why there was no water; the Little Lady had a quite impressive looking leak fountaining water across her garden.

I scooted to get the men and as soon as Bekir had changed I told him there was a problem next door and we headed over. The Little Lady was waiting at the gate (which was a bit of a relief actually as I was starting to worry that something had happened to them as the chickens and cows hadn't been let out either) and so I left him to fix up the problem; the tap had popped off the pipe and he had to borrow bits from my plumbing supplies to fix it. It's good to be in a position to help her out, to be fair, after everything that family does for us.

Ripping out the old doorway

The beginning of the day was another brief moment of confusion, caused mostly by Bekir's absence next door but eventually things got sorted out. I observed that we would need to replace the door into the living room and after double checking the sizes they set to ripping the old frame out. The new door will be a little smaller than this one, but will match in size to the one into the bedroom. It's a shame to lose 10cm width and 4cm height on each door but not the end of the world.

Second fridge, and microwave

I had my tasks to do as well and so I emptied the small fridge out from downstairs and got Gyuner to help me lift it into Room 13. I then had a bravewave. I don't like sitting these items down directly on the tiles (I'm not sure why not) and so historically I have sat them on the polystyrene they come packed in. This is lifting them too high up, though, and allowing the potential for rats or mice to get under. I put one of the fire trays down and the fridge fit on it perfectly so now I'll just have to swap the other fridge, and the cooker, and we're sorted. As well as getting this fridge in here I also unpacked the microwave and set it on top.

The top tiles are easy

Better measure this carefully

Finished curve in tiles

Outside the tiler was making a start doing the step up into the living room. His first job was to mark up and cut out for the tiles on the top and this is what he was doing when I came to him first. Later on he was working on fitting the tiles around the curved edges and what a good job he was doing as well. So this picture is specifically for A as she was worried about what it would look like. I hope you like it?

After this Bekir and I headed out to buy a doorway (we gave Usmivka a lift to town with his milk and learned the little new build in the bottom village is a house, not a bar, and ViK is back!) but what should have been a quick trip turned into an epic as the local town didn't have any so we had to go to the bigger one down the road. We did find one in the end but then had to go to ANOTHER shop to get the hardware and as they haven't fitted it anyway today I'm wondering why we didn't just go to Isat's this evening and get one there. Anyway, we got back in time for coffee and then it was lunch time. I had a telephone call to do with work which went on for ages and left me feeling quite frustrated so rather than eat straight away I went out and did some chainsawing, filling a bucket with kindling for A and a wheelbarrow of small logs chopped to go into my new storage in the garage.

Waterproofing layer

Reinforcing in place

I went back to work after this and was able to capture a couple of pictures of progress on the back patio. Sally has sadly been distracted from the living room to do this and was helping Gyuner lay the waterproofing adn then put down the membrane below where the concrete will be poured, on top of metal reinforcement grids. It will be nice to get this done and I reckon it'll not be all that much more effort so it's not the end of the world that Sally is out there. Bekir got the ViK switched over (just two taps now to do this, which is great) so I was finally able to do my washing up and clean the kitchen area.

Wall tiles going on

Out on the balcony the floor tiles had been completed (bar the grouting) and he was starting on the walls. It was very interesting to see these again, in position this time, and I was a little worried they may actually be too dark. The thing I need to realise is they will go very well with the ultimate colour of the whole building and they do look great against the floor tiles. It's always a bit nervewracking to see something like this for the first time.

The water filter is working

As I'm on my own for a bit I'm going to have to do all the chores so mid afternoon I took myself and a load of bread over to the birds and fed them. They were very happy to see me indeed. While I was out there I saw that the pond was already looking a bit murky and so I had a fiddle around with the filter. I switched it to the other plug and found that either my wiring is dodgy, or the plug on the device is, but with some careful positioning of things I was able to get it running and it is still going now as I type this. Hopefully tomorrow I'll see an improvement in water quality though almost certainly I'll have to wash the filter out.

Garage door columns

The garage door was finally wide enough, after some more conversation with Bekir prompted another 10cm or so width adding to it, and so the men started to put the metal in place for the reinforcing columns. They were drilling for ages to get the holes ready for these foundation metal spikes and it looks like they are doing a good job again. I was outside once more doing some more chainsawing and collection of kindling and so was able to watch as they worked as well. Before I tidied up for the day on my job I cleared the garage a bit and made a space to collect the kindling to wait for A to return to bundle it all up.

Many wheelbarrows full of cement

Packing the edges down firmly

By this time Gyuner and Sally were mixing and pouring cement onto the base they had prepared. This was a lot of cement and by the time the day ended they hadn't even poured a quarter of what they will need to. We have also run out of gravel and stones so a new order will be needed for tomorrow before they can carry on. Once this base is down it'll be the fun part of making the steps.

Wiring the outside socket, with Louise for company

Bekir spent the afternoon working on wiring up the living room. He started by the doorway and worked along the plugs at first, getting the two double sockets on the internal wall working and then starting to wire in the external plug, which is running behind a boiler switch so we can see if it is turned on or not. He did manage to trip the main circuit breaker on the pole at one point but otherwise this was without incident. Hopefully he'll be able to work on this uninterrupted tomorrow and get a start on the lights as well.

And so the day drew to a close with me feeding Rambo, leaving the puppies in their cage (they sleep when they are in there so it is better than in a room they can destroy) and took the men home. The Little Lady stopped us and asked if I could give her a lift to the men's village in the morning as she has relatives there so I'll not be driving alone tomorrow morning. I've eaten two bowls of A's stew (the rest I should really sort into pots before bed) and have been in and out with the puppies all evening but finally this update has drawn to a close. What a monster, I hope you have enjoyed it and it'll be back to usual service tomorrow.