What a long holiday

The title of the update was written months ago, when I had just got back from the long holiday to the UK and I expected the workmen to return imminently. They are still not back however I do think that it is getting close to when they'll be here so I figured I should check out the pictures and videos and make a start on one of many updates to get us caught back up. There are only 1700 or so videos and photographs taken since the last update so I'm sure this won't be painful at all.

*shudders*

Bekir fixes the washing line in the chicken enclosure

Up the scaffold doing the walls

Skimming the inside wall

Done for now

The men were actually in on my last day before I headed off in Maisie. Bekir helpfully fixed the washing line that had broken the day before and then they both worked away in the roof on the stairs to finish up as much of the cement skim as possible. And that was it; that was the last thing they've done.

The mountains near Sofia; first photograph of the trip

Cooking up breakfast by the car

I booked myself a lovely comfy room

The church at Iggensbach, where I stayed

Here's my ferry, waiting to leave

Enjoying a lovely whirlpool bath

Sunset and Sunrise from the hotel

After finishing work I hit the road and headed towards the UK. I stopped for a rest overnight in the mountains in Bulgaria and again in Romania - I think leaving that late in the day is a bad idea for me to be honest. I made such good progress that by the time I reached Germany I was a day ahead of my schedule and I decided to stop off in a hotel, have a shower and some proper food, and waste some time. It was very pleasant indeed and despite this I reached the ferry very much earlier than expected. Maisie was proving to be amazing - so comfortable and smooth and swift. I reached Reading the early morning of my hotel booking and had breakfast in the park round the corner from where I lived before checking in, checking out the amazing suite, then getting into the whirlpool bath as I had promised myself. Since leaving Bulgaria where it had been raining and grey I had perfect weather and this glorious view shows it off well, taken from the suite window both that night and the next morning for sunrise.

Rosie made a den den in the hotel room

Chow time the next morning

A flower in her hair at the pub

Having a load of fun with our friend

The next day I had the great pleasure of collecting Angela and Rosie from the station after their trip to Ireland and to visit friends near London. I then went on a little sight-seeing around Reading showing my old school and few of my old haunts before we headed back to the hotel for a rest and freshen up before our evening plans. They were very impressed with the room! That evening was an amazing BBQ at Wardy's house with his family, such a lovely time! Rosie had loads of fun playing with the other kids. All too soon it was time for the off and back to the hotel before our long day of driving the next day. We had breakfast then packed and filled the car and headed down south. Our ultimate destination that day was Angela's Aunt and Uncle in Plymouth however we stopped for lunch with a very good friend on the way and that was such a lovely time, down next to the river and the weir and then with a large grass area just across the way so Rosie and our friend could run around loads together. We stayed as long as we could but then had to bail out and go further on. The journey from there to home for the next few days was super easy and we were settled in quickly with a warm welcome.

Starting to explore the awesome park

This cafe had a great lego collection

Found where Shackleton left from

Getting stuck into a Mr Whippy

Slushy evidence

Rosie cuddling the young baby

The next morning we got up lazily and then headed out to walk towards town. On the way there was a park with an awesome long slide and a super death-slide thing, as well as a load of other stuff, which Rosie had great fun on. She did very well as we walked a huge distance that day, making it all the way to the Hoe. On the way we stopped at a little cafe for brunch, where Rosie got to play with Lego, and had an ice cream break. While we were on the Hoe we got more cool drinks, it was a hot day, and Rosie's tongue turned blue with her slushy. We caught a bus back home, and randomly my sister's eldest was on the same bus so that was really nice to see him. That evening we made our way over to my sister's house to meet the newest addition to the family, and for Rosie to meet her other two (who are around Rosie's age) before the wedding in a few days time.

The very intelligent Octopus

A big fish of some kind

What kind of flying boat is this?

Rosie with a meremaid

Big big chompers

Enthralled by the Shark Talk

This fish cannot shut its mouth

Having a family meal

Outside the restaurant

The next day was super exciting and I really struggled to limit the number of pictures here. We were dropped off at the aquarium by Angela's auntie and had an awesome slow stroll around the entire show seeing so many cool things like an octopus, sharks, skulls and many different types of fish. We were lucky enough to catch the Shark Talk as well, with Rosie sat right at the front and she answered some questions correctly as well. It was brilliant. We stopped for some lunch there as well before heading off for another little walk around Plymouth (I found a second hand book shop - that was expensive!) then home again to change before our exciting rest of day. I don't have any pictures of it however the first thing we did was go with my Mum, Sister and her kids to a soft play area where they all ran around like lunatics and had a great time. After that it was into two more cabs and down to a fantastic restaurant for dinner as a family treat before the wedding the next day. It was a great way to spend the evening.

Sister getting married

Lots of fun after the wedding

Dancing at the reception

The next day was the wedding and it was a brilliant day all round. I haven't many pictures to share in here as I've not asked permission from people to post however take it from me, it was brilliant. Rosie enjoyed it, my sister had a lovely time, and we saw lots and lots of family who had never met Rosie yet so that was another bonus.

And that is where I think I'll leave this first catch up update. The next day I headed north for my solo part of my holiday while Angela and Rosie caught a train to the airport to fly home. I'll get the next update written very soon to take you to Islay with me, and hopefully will have caught up fully by the time the men return. As always, thanks for reading.

One update, one week

Well it wasn't supposed to be this long between updates but what with the 1000th day post and other things it has suddenly been ages since I posted and there's lots of pictures for me to go through. I'm going to type this up through the day as I have tasks to do which I want to get done. Let's get it started though.

Cold

Winter has definitely begun and it has been cold recently. Cold and the snow which fell during the last update hung around for a bit but has all melted on our land at least. We're getting good frosts every night and the fire-lighting in the mornings is an important step. We did have a play around with keeping the fire in and did manage it however we found it just used up more wood (to stock for the overnight) and even without the fire, and it getting down to -8 at night outside, with our insulation the kitchen never drops below 15 degrees which is easy enough then to warm in the morning.

Early morning sun on snow on the green building

Icicles from the balcony drains

Warming up in the morning

Just a bit chilly to start

View across the valley

We've been blessed with glorious days after the frigid nights and certainly it was beautiful to watch the sun come up and glow off the snow while I did my morning washing up. It also made the green building look slightly less decrepit - that could end up becoming an urgent priority to repair or replace if the winter is a bad one. The new petchka of ours is really proving itself and keeping us warm while also cooking food and heating coffee (and soon water for my tea as we're cleaning up the copper kettle to sit on it during the day). Yesterday we had a lovely visit from The Other Brother, his wife, kid and niece and also The Little Lady and they all commented on how warm the room was. It certainly wasn't warm yesterday morning when I had to scrape Thomas in -6 at 10am to go to the bank. It was a glorious view across the valley as I drove down, though, and even taken with my camera phone you can see just how beautiful it was. Of course the puppies aren't enjoying it quite so much and Thelma in particular is very sure that she does not want to go outside any more than is necessary. Bless her.

Wedding

On Friday night we were invited to a village wedding celebration by an expat locally so we decided to go along to see what it was all about.

A all wrapped up ready to go out

Party central in the village

The Bride gets the dancing going

Waiting with her sister for the Groom

Here he is...

The first dance

Fireworks to celebrate that first dance

The Groom; not looking as scared as he did when he arrived

The sister was married last year, and remembers

Turkish weddings take place over three days, apparently. This was part one where the bride to be gets to dance with her friends and then the prospective groom arrives and woos her and later on offers gold for her hand. The next days involve the official government ceremony and finally a big "white wedding" style do. We were there for the dancing and it was a bit cold stood outside in the town square watching people dance so we stayed long enough to watch the groom arrive and then sloped off home. It was lovely though and we got pictures later of the veil ceremony which looked epic. The music was played live and without any breaks and to my untutored eyes it looked like the dance steps were the same throughout as well. Once the groom had arrived more people joined in dancing and it became quite a large circle / snake affair. Fascinating to see and lovely to have been invited.

A visit

On Saturday we were out all day visiting the lovely couple we had met earlier in the year at the all night gig. We'd been invited to visit back then but obviously I ended up going to Belgium which prevented that happening so it was good to finally accept their invite and get over there.

A stunning view on the way to our friends

Everything leaning

White water on the river

Two bridges over the river

A went over the top one on foot while I drove

A very dodgy looking wooden bridge with big holes in it

Me putting on a brave face

Driving over very carefully as it was also super slippy

Looking back down on the bridge

Afternoon sun on hills reflected under the bridge

Dramatic views on our way home

We didn't actually get the camera out at all at their place which was a shame as it is amazing and set in such a beautiful place. Much more isolated than the Old School for sure but as close to paradise as I can imagine. We took a bunch of pictures on the way there, however, including some awesome bridge shots for my dad to enjoy. That wooden bridge was very nerve-wracking to walk on and drive over I can tell you. Apparently normally by this time of year the concrete lower bridge that I drove over while A walked on the top bridge is under water and impassable - that just goes to show how little rain we have had this year. It was a beautiful drive and even the one on the way back, where I took a wrong turn (yes, Dad, my direction instinct was actually wrong!) and we ended up driving along much more icy roads than necessary, was really stunning. We were out a bit longer than we had planned and the puppies were very happy to see us when we got home; they are so good they had been in the kitchen on their own for six hours and the place was clean and tidy. We think they just slept all day.

Around the house

So other than being sociable, which is unusual, what else has been happening over here around the place? Quite a bit, as it happens.

Freshly baked and cut bread

(slightly too long) Lengths cut for the raised bed (and mouse droppings)

Assembly begun on the raised bed

So A got round to getting the bread maker out of its box and giving it a go and what a good decision that was - lovely fresh bread every day is now the new norm here at the Old School. We're trying out different recipes to find the one we like the best but so far we like them all. I snapped out of a lazy streak where I just wanted to take it easy and so did and I went and cut the wood up for the next raised bed. I found a small mouse nest in amongst the lengths of wood but no sign of the little creature. When I went to put the raised bed up with A's help carrying these lengths outside I found I had miscalculated and each length was about 30cm too long. After a quite re-cutting exercise I worked until the battery on the driver failed and got two levels out of three assembled outside.

The downstairs tree

I decorated The Thinker

A cleaning and tidying around the porch

Lovely Christmassy plants in nice pots

Inside we have put up both our Christmas trees. Yes. Both! And when  I say "we" of course A did most of it while I muttered and decorated other random parts of the house. They look lovely and have presents underneath and everything. A also spent her "quiet Sunday" cleaning out Rambo's porch and potting out Poinsettias and generally getting the place looking lovely again - much needed as we hadn't really looked at that area for a while mainly because we're living so much at the other end of the building now.

Bekir back for a short visit

Finally and most excitingly of all was the telephone call I received yesterday as I was heading towards the bank. It was Bekir who was free and wanted to pop over to do the boiler move from Room 13 that has been delaying me. I picked him up and it was such a quick job that he was back home within 1.5 hours, with about 40 minutes of that in the car and 25 waiting for the boiler to empty! So today I was able to get into Room 13 and do bits and pieces of wiring and more chasing (not channeling - thanks for the correction) though I delayed myself panicking that most of the existing plaster was rotten. I think it's not great however less came down than I expected when I hit it with a crowbar. Tomorrow I'll be running more cables and hopefully will be nearly ready for them to return and finish it all off.

Other stuff

And so we get to the final section and this time it contains puppies, beautiful views, and a couple of snaps of the walls diorama. I've actually done a load more on an extension to this since these photographs were taken but that work isn't quite completed so you'll have to wait to see that.

Playing together with their tug toy

Louise snuggling in underneath The Beard

Sat watching and waiting while we eat

Thelma smiling at me and waiting for me to play

Porridge for breakfast for the puppies

Rambo and his epic stick

Louise snuggling up to A who is getting a rest

Thelma climbed onto the back of the chair

With the weather being cold and our puppies being so pathetic about being cold they have been inside most of the time this week and so have been playing together while we throw balls and toys for them. When they aren't playing they are eating, watching us eat, or waiting to eat. I'm sure that come summer they'll find the place too cold for them what with having spent so much time hidden underneath the petchka in their cave. Rambo has been getting attention as well though, admittedly, probably not enough. He is involved whenever we are outside like just now when I was throwing the ring for Thelma and playing with him at the same time.

A beautiful start to another beautiful day

Red-tinted hills as the sun goes down

Such beauty - for free!

There have been many more opportunities for sky pictures than I've got to show you as I've just not been going out onto the balcony in the mornings as much this year. I think this is mainly due to us having the kitchen now; last year we lived between Room 13 and the lounge and so we were right there to watch the sun come up whereas now I watch it from my position by the sinks as I'm washing up. I will try to get better as the sunrises and sunsets have been truly stunning recently. Another beautiful sight that we have missed out on a bit this year is the clear night skies. I stood out with A for a bit last night watching the stars which are just amazing.

Overview of outside the walls

Overview of inside the walls

Spears hanging on a rack on the wall

A chopped down tree, complete with axe

Lastly here are some overview shots, and a few details pictures, of the Town Walls scene. Everything on there apart from the shields and quivers is made entirely from scratch by myself. This began as a throw away piece to test some techniques but I am so happy with how it's come out that I am making at least three other sections to go with it; these are well on their way as I've said already so watch this space.

So there you have it. Hopefully we'll get Bekir and Sally in a week or so and maybe also Neco (whose daughter it was who came with the neighbours last night) will come back and get those other two rooms completed. It'd be nice to get them in soon so they can be gone well before Christmas though that is looking a bit unlikely now. Oh well.