A wonderful visit

I sat down to write this update on Tuesday evening but then took myself to bed at 8pm so now it is Wednesday morning and I'm going to try get this done now before work.

Wardy and Rosie playing football

At the kebab shop, Rosie refused to smile hah!

One troop of dancers at the dance festival

More of the dancers

More awesome dancing

Every group was given a gift

Wardy calling home

My mate arrived for his visit very late on Friday after a bit of a terrible journey down from Sofia involving getting lost then having a puncture however he did arrive safe and Rosie was very happy when she woke on Saturday and he was here. There was lots of playing and excitement before we headed into town for a kebab at my Dad's old favourite kebab shop for lunch. After that we walked round the corner to the community centre where a Folk Dance Festival was being held. It was awesome. Angela took Rosie home about an hour into the show as she was getting tired but I stayed with my friend until the end and we had a great time. After that we walked home, stopping for a beer, and then it was time for food and then book time and bed. A great day all around.

Rosie walking with Wardy

She's the true ruler

Rosie on top of the tower

Having fun at the restaurant

Sunday was another awesome busy day. Wardy, Rosie and I jumped in Thomas and drove up to Perperikon mid morning for the traditional tourist trip. This is actually the first time Rosie has done this walk. She was very good, walking almost the entire way up and down, and having a lot of fun looking at the ruins and generally being good. Wardy was also impressed with the site (and sight) and it was a great success. On the way back we stopped for lunch at our favourite restaurant before heading back for a sleep. We went out again in the evening to another restaurant for dinner which was awesome but I seem to have not taken any pictures.

Sat chilling on our top bank

A friendly bull up at our other property

The house is still standing... just...

Having a lovely meal out again

A really fun game of Snake - The Board Game

I took Monday off to spend time with Wardy. It wasn't the nicest start to the day so we relaxed for a bit but as it cleared we went for a walk around the land and sat on the little bench on the top bank looking at the view for a fair while, and also playing with the dogs. The workmen did come in but had to leave early again for a family situation which is why I didn't update the blog on Monday. After our relaxed morning we headed over to the other property we have in the mountains and had a really lovely time up there. It was super relaxed with lots of sitting and looking at the view and just enjoying the peace, quiet and tranquility. On the way home from there we were able to collect Rosie from school and she loved me and Wardy doing that! In the evening we went to another awesome restaurant for dinner and then in the evening Wardy and I played some board games in the evening before it was time to head to bed. Another great day.

Starting to dig and clear for holes

Footing ready for cement

Painting the uprights

Rebar gets painted

Over the weekend sadly we lost one of our chickens to an eagle; Monday morning I'd told Bekir to switch over to putting some mesh over the whole of the chicken run and they had gone out to buy supplies before having to rush off as I've said. Therefore yesterday they were in the chicken enclosure once more, this time measuring out and digging holes to put columns into. With a load of holes dug they pivoted to painting the metal with anti-rust paint so today (as I'm typing this in the morning) they can start the cement work and fitting the poles in place. Hopefully this job doesn't take too long as it is starting to get cold and damp for working outside.

So there it is. The men are in already for today and it is a cold and foggy start so I'm doubly gutted they are having to work outside. Hopefully it'll not take long. Thanks for reading, back this evening!

Grandma Arrives

I didn't get to do an update yesterday as I was straight from work into Thomas and off to collect my mum from the airport but I thought I'd get the update done this morning and do another this evening for today. So. Two in a day again.

First of all the promised picture of the vacuum pipes for the table saw; the bottom one goes to the table saw exhaust and the top one to the central channel.

Rosie helping to put the cars away

Louise looking for mummy

Nice new bed made

The sun appears on Sunday

Blade isn't square to the table

On Saturday it was a day for tidying the lounge, and Rosie helped stacking the toy cars up in their current storage place on the unit in the corridor. I had all the puppies and Louise was outraged she couldn't be with Angela and sat staring at the door. Once it was nap time I put up the new bed for my mum to sleep in while listening to Meatloaf on the new bluetooth speaker that Angela got me for Christmas. Sunday was another lovely and busy day. I played with Rosie a bit, did some hobby and found out that the table saw was very slightly out of alignment however it was awesome to use the new tools for the first time and the dust extraction worked really well.

The covers for over the vacuum channel

Improving the drainage for the windows

The old bed is finally retired

Blade is square with the table now

Bekir sanding, Halil masking

Storage under the bench is done

And so to yesterday. Bekir had taken the old shelves we were using for material for the vacuum channel covers and taken the warp out and made them all the same dimensions so he fitted these in place then I had a couple of odd jobs to do; firstly to prevent a repeat of the guest room flooding he cut a channel out through the insulation to let the drains work. Then between them Bekir and Halil managed to get the old bed taken apart. Bekir also nudged the tablesaw into alignment with the workbench so that is now exact. The other jobs were to sand down the right hand side of the bench and mask off the saw and channel for the tape. Unfortunately we're still waiting for the zero-to-the-centre tape to arrive and we can't let this delay us any more. Finally all the under-bench storage has been completed. While I was out they got another coat of varnish done on the bench before they left as well.

A starter platter that was SO good! Duck Jerky

Mum is greeted by Louise

After work, and it was a busy one, I headed out in Thomas to collect my mum from the airport. I went to the Italian restaurant we like and had a nice meal then dozed for a bit in the car until her plane landed. It was lovely to see her and the journey back was super quick. Louise and Thelma were very happy to see her but Xena is still very wary of anyone new and is a little scared. She'll come around I'm sure.

There it is; I'll be back later today with the update from today. Thanks for reading.

A week, then toilets

Bekir and Halil took last week off entirely as it was Eid, which was both a welcome break and also a frustrating delay. It is what it is, however, and we made the most of it.

Collecting dried leaves for the toilet

Relaxing while the ladies are in the pool

A stunning sunrise

Rosie with a lollypop

F16 flying past

One of the things that has been concerning me a bit is running out of leaves and sawdust before the new toilets are working again. On Sunday I headed out briefly to collect more leaves and now I think we have enough; there really are loats on the back bank. After that Angela took Rosie into the pool while I lay on the swinging chair in the sun and watched; it was a time of feeling massively blessed, which of course I am! The rest of the week has been taken up with awesome sunrises, visits to the neighbours where Rosie got a lolly pop. The Other Brother and his son came over to swim in the pool as well which was just lovely. We've also had a fair few visits from NATO F16s, I got a very bad video (above) as well as this not so bad photograph.

Rosie watching it pour with rain

Tidying the porch

Birthday BBQ

Rosie on Big Nemo

Playing Oak & Iron

I was just thinking that we were set in with no chance of rain for months when a storm blew through and threw loads of rain. Since then the weather has been sunny but there was days of north wind - not cold as such but very very strong and gusty. Angela has taken advantage of the new patio to empty the porch and clean it out so that's now a much cleaner room. It was the Other Brother's son's birthday as well and we went over for a BBQ to celebrate, Rosie had a great time until she decided she was too tired. On Friday my mate Steve arrived to stay for the weekend; he always brings excellent gifts for Rosie and this visit was no different, turning up with a Big Nemo which was an instant hit and Rosie has LOVED playing with in the pool. Steve and I got as much gaming in as time and energy would allow and it was a great weekend indeed. He headed off and arrived home safely today.

Bekir removes the roof supports

The small hatches are also tidied up

Halil soaking the patio

Pump house takes shape

The new pipe being installed

Getting the pump out to test it

And so we reach today when the workmen returned. The first task they set to was removing all the wooden shuttering around all the cement that was poured previously, including taking down the wood inside the toilet collection points and opening up the hatch on top. This will have a fine mesh and an opening metal door on top. With this done Halil then wetted down the patio (which we should probably have been doing during the week, on reflection) while Bekir measured up the pumps. I took time to work with him on this so we were confident in the size of the pump house. They then started laying the bricks but then Angela had the VERY good idea of proving that the pumps worked at that distance. This involved Bekir and Halil removing the old pipe from the wall into the downstairs bathroom and plumbing the new one in. We then moved the pump (which wasn't the nicest task for Bekir) and connected it all up. It worked first time so tomorrow I will probably ask them to do the same for upstairs and then they can really focus on the laying of blocks. It will be SO nice to be using these new toilets again.

So there you are; it's good to be back seeing progress again. See you tomorrow and thanks for reading.