Toilet done, men away for a while

The men were back in today, for the final day of working with us for a couple of months, but first of all let's go through the weekend.

Camping time with Roo

A quality early morning sky

Setting the stones under the bench

Old bench and new

Rosie on the swings

A party display at the park

Picnic in the garden

Friday night was awesome as I pitched the tent and me and Rosie camped the night. She just loves camping, and slept really well. I was up super early, as usual, and went out to do the final tasks on the bench which involved bringing up stones and spreading them, and shifting the big pile of spoil left over from digging out the footing. It looks great and Rosie has been sitting up there loads. She really likes the heart shaped stone that I dug out and have leant up against the fence. We headed out to the courier midmorning and stopped off at the park for some fun before heading home in time for a call with my family and then we took the blanket into the garden and had a picnic lunch.

The huge tent is set out for erecting

Rosie fits inside the bag for the tent

This tent is just superb

Excited to be back here again

Louise is grumpy that Angela isn't around

In the afternoon Rosie and I took down the small tent we'd stayed in, and then put up the huge family tent as Angela and Rosie camped on Saturday night. It went up really well, despite the wind picking up quite a lot, and then we rushed out the door for dinner and playtime at the restaurant up the road. It was a very lovely time, and we met a Bulgarian couple who live in the UK and were over for a holiday to visit family. They had a daughter the same age as Rosie and we invited them to visit next time they're in the area. That evening the camping was a relative success (though it rained heavily) and I had the puppies up with me who were sulking a bit that they weren't able to cuddle with Angela.

Smashed hatch glass!

This was so tasty!

A stunning sunset

Sunday was super busy for me but there was some drama. I was working and Angela was cleaning when I heard a huge crashing sound and went running to find out what had happened. It turned out that Rosie was trying to put the hatch down and it slipped out of her hands and slammed down super hard, smashing and scattering glass everywhere. Rosie was, of course, distraught and had run off to hide on the balcony. It took Angela and I about 40 minutes to clean up all the glass and make it safe to let the puppies back in and for us to walk around again. We're now waiting for the window people to come quote for a replacement with safety glass. Later on I took Rosie to karate, had a very lovely meal (that I cannot remember what it was called) and then as I collected her the sky was stunning.

Halil gets started sorting the spoil pile

Pipe is now being bedded in

Loads of bricks to be skipped

Drain from the downpipes being re-attached

Breaking out for an access hatch

Cementing in to finish up

Boxing off done and dusted

And so to today. The men were in on time and got stuck in to the final jobs to finish the toilet install. They sorted through the spoil from their excavations (they had dug up loads and loads of stones and old bricks) and then secured and covered the pipe over. With that done Bekir reconnected the drainage pipe into the main feed down to our grey water system and then put in the inspection hatch over both the access points (so we can clean the pipe if we get a blockage) and finally boxed off the hole in the wall as well. It was a good and productive day and Halil's friend also came past to do the annual service on Mo the lawnmower, who was immediately put to work as the grass is growing so fast right now.

Balcony dinner time

I'll leave you with us having dinner on the balcony for the first time this year. We even got to watch some cycling, which Rosie really enjoyed. A great way to end the day.

So there it is. The men won't be back for a fair few weeks so I doubt I'll be updating soon but thanks for reading.

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.