Such lovely friends

Well it got to late on Wednesday before I remembered I had to do this update so I'm going to type as fast as I can so it doesn't completely dominate the evening. It has been a brilliant first half of the week though so there's a bit to tell you about.

Friends, and what lovely ones

So the main title of this update was an obvious one based on what has happened so far this week. I'll get right down to it.

The queue in KAT for registering vehicles

On Monday I received the phone call from KAT to say "when you are ready, come down to do your trailer" and so on Tuesday I went, slightly nervous at going on my own, to attempt to complete this process. I had a bit of a nightmare when I first got to the carpark as there was no space at all and I even almost got stuck because of an idiotically parked (UK number plated) car and so I drove off to try and insure Julian. That also didn't work as I was informed he was already insured. I almost went home in a huff but decided to give parking on the street near KAT a try and so I headed back over there. I parked fine and walked in to the main inspection area to try and find Ivan, the big boss who had rung me back. As I made my way towards the office I noticed, standing talking to a crowd of people, our friend Venko the musical policeman. He greeted me as I approached and, to cut a long story slightly shorter, ended up helping me from that point until I drove off with the new number plate on the trailer. This should have been a slightly shorter process than it ended up being but we missed the boss going on his lunch and so had to wait for him to come back. Venko, undeterred, took me home to his house where his wife cooked us lunch and he showed me his guitars and other things. It was a lovely thing and so welcome, considering how nervous I was, and also reinforced the friendship which is so important to us here. Now I hope to see him again soon and have made sure he knows we'll be inviting him over for dinner when he is free next.

The Little Lady about to roll out super thin pastry

Eating the end result, and they were marvelous

The second part of this is about our lovely neighbours. When I got back from KAT yesterday I went out to take the daily photograph (I've still not missed a day, though I've got close a couple of times, including today) and was greeted by the Little Lady with some post for me. She also talked about coffee so, after A finished her file that she was on with, we went over. It slowly dawned on us that I had misunderstood her and she hadn't been inviting us for coffee at all, as they were having their rest period. No matter, they served us a cup each and we had a nice sit there. I asked what she had meant and picked up that she wanted us to come over at about 7pm so we got ourselves ready and presented ourselves again at that time. I'm now pretty sure that I once again misunderstood her however, true to form, they welcomed us and the Little Lady busied herself making some banitchkas which she fried on the stove and served, piping hot and delicious, to us to be washed down with home made ayran. They didn't eat with us so after we finished, and waited a little while, we headed off again. It's so hard with the language sometimes to really grasp what you're being told however the welcome they give, even when we descend unexpectedly, is wonderful.

We are very lucky to have friends like Venko, Lyubo and our neighbours, local and so helpful and generous.

Building stuff

The mornings are growing noticeably brighter, earlier, and this is focusing our minds (well, certainly mine but then I'm the worrier) on the rapidly approaching building season. I've been in touch with the building firm who did the balcony, and who are going to be doing the basketball court and various other things and so that is in hand (I'm actually currently owing them an email back which I need to get done) but we've been doing things ourselves as well to get ready.

A making sure her wine rack will fit

What she did; isn't it awesome!

On Monday A had a very quiet work day and so she spent a fair while playing around with online kitchen design tools to get some ideas for layout. One of the main drivers of this is our thinking about the flooring; we had originally discussed having real slate down and we haven't been able to find any in Bulgaria. While we may be able to get it in the UK and shipped out we need to get this organised sooner rather than later if we're going to. After this process we think we've decided against it and will just use slate-looking tiles instead. It's been a really useful process to go through and we both love the design she came up with. Now I need to work out what sinks I'm having in my washing up zone; again I was thinking I'd need a new Belfast sink but I'm going to try and get away without it by making use of stuff we already have here.

Lots of dust in this scrape

One hoovered out showing how deep she got

All the rubble I removed from the room

Other than this I have continued making progress in Sassy's old room, which will be the temporary (we think) home for my modelling activities. That is model railway and airplanes, not me having photographs taken. As you know I have begun test-laying the suspended floor, and filling the Sassy holes, and on Monday lunchtime I went in with the hoover and finished cleaning out the room, hoovering most of the loose flooring away in two Henry loads of dust. It was very bad in there and in places she had got right through the loose flooring down to the reinforcement layer. What a rabbit.

A making use of the new mixer paddle motor

All the holes (I think) are now filled

With this cleaning done I distracted A to come and do a mix for me as this is one of her jobs. The new paddle mixer I had bought last week went into action for the first time (after the disappointment of finding that the SDS hadn't been fixed I went and bought a specific tool for this) and it proved itself by being much more stable while rotating and mixing the teracol into a super smooth consistency that was perfect for me. There was so much to do that it ended up being two large buckets of the stuff, and two bags of powder, to complete the job and it has been fenced off (to prevent puppy-paw-prints) and left since then to dry. It's nearly dry now so my plan to do the floor on Saturday looks good. The other night I got into bed feeling really tied and then my brain switched on and one of the things I solved was the problem with supporting the chipboard floor successfully. I'll be giving my ideas a try on the currently laid floor before Saturday, to check out if it'll work.

We've another raised bed to put in and today I went to measure it up to start cutting but found that the remaining lengths are just not long enough to create one exactly the same dimensions as before. I'm in the process now of working out whether I can use the same size windows (of which I have many) or if I'll need to use smaller ones for this next one. Either way they'll only be slightly smaller so I'll probably begin digging out the trench for it as my lunch time task tomorrow.

More sky

As per usual there has been a wonderful show put on for us by nature so far this week. I'll go through this chronologically as it makes best sense.

The sun rises behind the ridge and past clouds

A clear moon shot, but you can't really see the clouds glowing

The clouds glowing, but you can't see the moon details

Monday was a really excellent day for my sky photographs. In the morning I was summoned to grab my camera in a hurry as A opened the curtains and saw the sunrise. I snapped a very quick picture from Room 13's window and then legged it onto the balcony in time to capture the blazing sun behind clouds. Stunning. That night the moon rise was just as majestic though far harder to photograph. You'll have to mentally combine the two photographs to get an idea of what we saw. I need to learn how to capture the moon glow on the clouds around a super-bright full moon that just overloads longer exposures. I played with many settings and these are the best two I got to show it off as we saw it.

Tuesday morning dusting on the balcony

Tuesday was taken up with KAT and the neighbours, as already described. It was forecast for about 2cm of snow over night and into the morning but when we woke up it was to just a light dusting and that was about all we got. While I was in town it snowed quite a lot but didn't settle and the slightly sketchy hill descent I survived (with the braked trailer making it even more interesting pushing me down the hill) was completely clear when I came back, The snow didn't even really last the day and was completely now there is almost no snow left anywhere.

Wednesday morning sun appears

No sign of the hotel my parents stayed in

Stunning colour to the mist

The clouds slowly clearing, mid morning

Sunset panorama from the roof terrace

This morning was a frosty start which is something we've not seen for a while due to snow cover. The sunrise was again a beautiful thing to behold and that favourite effect of mine, the glow on the mist, was much in evidence. The cover went a bit higher than it normally does, though it didn't climb to our altitude, and so the hotel my parents stayed in was hidden, and all but the very top of the radio tower up the valley was also behind clouds. A stunning start. It did cloud over after this, however, and so was a bit chilly (the puppies spent almost the whole morning huddled by the fire) but then it cleared and became a really stunning day. The sunset, captured just as it was starting to fade, was also a beautiful one and I'm glad I made the effort to run up to the roof terrace to capture it.

Animals

Again, as usual, the animals have provided us with much joy in the last few days. Today we managed to get back out onto the top bank (thanks to A making the decision and enforcing it) and threw the toys for Rambo and the girls for quite a long time, which we all really enjoyed.

Waiting for their bread

It isn't all play time, though. Every day we feed bread and other kitchen scraps to the chickens and ducks to supplement their corn and grain main feed. The puppies expect to get theirs at the same time and know, at roughly that time of day when either of us goes and stands at the work surface, that they will almost certainly get some bread. They do wait very patiently but sometimes get a little excited. Rambo also gets a chunk though of course he has to wait til we get outside. The birds are the most excited about all of this and cluster by the gate as soon as they hear any movement, whatever time of day, hoping it is feeding time.

A tiny "wind" or "cock" egg one of our chickens produced

Talking of the birds they have continued to give us excellent produce in terms of eggs all through this winter. We've seen many comments on groups on facebook talking about how people's birds have stopped producing so I think we're just lucky. A came in yesterday with something unusual, however, in the form of a "wind egg"; a much smaller egg that looks the same but is less than half the normal size. You can read all about them here and it is a very interesting read so I'd recommend it highly.

Louise barking at the cow outside the fence

The girls have both spent large amounts of time outside playing during this week, so long as the sun has been out, and they have been really good. They do have a bad habit sometimes of running around barking at nothing, though we do think they are looking for each other when they do this, but other than that they just play or explore or lay in the sun or dig and do so without bothering us. Today there was a lot of barking from the top bank and when we looked we saw that Louise was stood barking at a cow. At first they were literally nose to nose through the fence but had moved by the time I got the camera. Brilliant.

And so there it is; completed and without taking up the whole evening as well. Other than what I've talked about I've spent a lot of time reading my railroad magazine and thinking about the layout I am going to be starting soon. My plans are really coming together and I think will work very well. More on that when I actually start to make it.

Back to KAT, and our friends

Wow how is it Sunday afternoon again already? Time really is flying at the moment and it is largely because we are having fun. Also it's been a busy time again and that does make the days seem shorter. I've, once again, no idea how to organise this update so I'm just going to start and then get through the middle of it and head generally and slowly towards the end.

Paperwork

First of all I lost an entire day to trying to get paperwork sorted out for the trailer. Lyubo was, as per usual, a wonderful help however as I sit here the trailer still does not have any Bulgarian plates on it.

I met him on Friday morning at 10am near the notary; over here you have to have a contract of sale to prove you own the vehicle before you can register it for new plates but of course, in the UK, you don't do that so you have to go to a notary over here and get them to fake one up. This time however the notary wasn't sure what type of declaration would be needed, as it was for a trailer and not a vehicle, and so we left empty handed and went back over the KAT. It was an attempt to speed things up that didn't work out. There was a queue inside in the corridor that didn't move for nearly an hour so that was pretty boring and then when we got to the desk we were told what type of declaration, and sent to talk to the head inspector to confirm that everything would be OK. After this we headed back to the notary, got that paperwork done, then went to insure the trailer (and Thomas, as it happens) for the next year.

Dessert at the Bistro bar

It was by this time lunch time so I went with Lyubo to a bistro bar that he knew in town for lunch. He saw a few colleagues in there and we ate a very lovely lunch that cost almost nothing. He persuaded me to go for the dessert as well and even this was nice. From there it was back to KAT and we went back to the desk, handed everything over, and then came to the next problem. The manufacturer, Paul James, wasn't on their computer. They rang up Sofia to get it added but then I had to wait around for a bit to get some paperwork signed. I managed to persuade Lyubo to go and get on with the business he had while I went shopping to the electrical shop, and the builders merchant, while I waited. When I got back pretty much dead on time I waited around more (are you getting the idea of what this day involved) and then when I heard them tell someone else it would be another hour I got fed up and went home. 

I got back and collapsed onto the sofa with a brew but as I sat there I felt that I really should get this paperwork sorted on the day and not leave it. I asked A to come in with me and, with the puppies as well, we drove back to KAT. It was right as they were closing so there were no queues but they were waiting for me and it turned out that there wasn't documents for me to collect so much as a document for me to sign, so it's a good thing we did go back. I've left my phone number and will be called when they are ready to process the registration. What a mission, nothing is simple with me.

Ice and snow

The temperature hasn't really got much above freezing yet since the snow fall and so we still have quite a lot of snow, mostly turning to ice, around the place. The forecast is for another few days of cold and then warming up quite dramatically next week. We'll see, though; the forecasts haven't been all that reliable to be honest.

Very cold view along the patio

Strange snow type structures on the tree

All along the washing line as well

The fog is clearing, slowly

A hole in the snow crust

Hopefully the washing will dry

Frost patterns on the glass on the raised beds

Thursday morning A headed out, in thick fog, to do the weekly shop while I was working away on my paid work. I've started to get into the habit of putting a load of washing on while she's out, to feel productive, and I did this again though I was working very much on the premise that the weather forecast was correct and it would be sunny most of the day. Just as the washing finished I saw the sun starting to burn through the fog and so off I went to hang it out. After I'd done this I took a relaxing stroll around the grounds getting photographs of the beauty of a frosty day. The strange structures on the trees and the washing line were really delicate and brushed off very easily; almost like snow that has formed in place. The final picture was the best of many I took looking closely at the glass on the raised beds.

Rambo just before he ran around like a puppy

Louise getting her paws involved

Thelma whipping Louise round on the end of the stick

They play hard

Of course I was not outside on my own but was joined throughout by Rambo and the two puppies. Rambo has really loved having the snow here, and having it stay for so long; he has always enjoyed snow. The girls have surprised the both of us with how much they have enjoyed playing outside despite the cold. They are so sensitive to how warm they are that we thought we'd have to really push them out the door but, so long as the sun is out, they don't seem to mind the low air temperatures.

Ducks on the ice, getting a drink

Today I finally got the picture I've been trying to get ever since the weather got cold. The pond has remained frozen all week apart from one corner and this morning the ducks were on the pond drinking some of the melt (as their water inside had completely frozen, we found). 

Sunrise, but cold

The coldest part of the day, at least according to our forecasts, has been around 8am just as the sun is coming up. After a few weeks of disappointing sunrises, mainly due to either complete cloud cover or totally clear skies, we've had a few nice sunrises this week.

Just a slightest light on the horizon

Friday was completely taken up with going to KAT, as already described, and so there are almost no pictures from the day. I did go outside very early, before the sun came up, to snap the light reflecting on a thin spread of cloud just on the horizon. It was a cold day on Friday and there was also quite a breeze which was bitter; I even wore a hat and my gloves when I went out which is most unlike me.

The sun has just cleared the horizon

Just about -8

Watching me shiver

Saturday morning A was out with the camera to capture the sun as it showed itself as I was distracted by something or other else; we had a bit of a rush on to be fair as initially our plan was to go into town to insure Julian and Lucy but this silly idea was shelved, thankfully. Before leaving for Chaz and Ivan's (of which more later) I went out to get a photo of the temperature, a whopping -8 degrees. The girls decided to not join me out there but stood looking at me through the glass of the balcony door.

Not the -16 we were forecast, but still cold

Beautiful sunrise again this morning

The forecast was for it to be about -16 at 8am this morning and so, when I saw that the sun was just coming up I jumped out of bed and rushed onto the balcony to check the temperature. I was stood out there barefoot in my pajamas and was disappointed to find it only about -11. No matter the sunrise was stunning but I didn't hang around for long I can tell you; feeling ice cracking beneath your bare feet is something I didn't ever expect to experience.

Friends visit to collect furniture

On Saturday we headed over towards Yambol again to our friends' hotel. We had bought some furniture from facebook and found that the guy knew our friends and was able to drop it off at theirs for us to collect. Our plan had been to take the trailer however that went out of the window with our failure to register it on Friday. No matter we still wanted to get over there and if the thing didn't fit in the back of Thomas then we'd go back another time with the trailer.

We waited while he unloaded the trailer

Superb Thai curry cooked by Chaz

The unit (with packing cushions) in the entrance hall

The moon, shining on the ice

We headed off near enough at the time we planned to, though we did cancel our attempt to insure the other two cars. After stopping at Kaufland to pick up some new trainers for A we made really good time across country with only a brief delay for a farmer unloading something from a trailer and blocking the road. The temperature was pretty low all the way, hovering about -7 until we got within half an hour of theirs when it rose to about -1 when we got there. Chaz had cooked a lovely Thai curry, of which I had two plate fulls, and we spent a really enjoyable lunch and early afternoon chattering away and relaxing. Ivan helped me load Thomas with the unit which fitted with a few cm to spare, and we strapped it down seemingly securely. We left a bit later than originally planned but time flies when you're having fun so we hadn't seen it was late. About twenty minutes into the journey back the load slipped so we had to stop and readjust. I had another strap in the car which we added to hold it all safe and after that point there was no movement at all. It was dark when we got home (I still took the daily photograph, of course) and A and I unloaded the first section of the unit before The Special One and The Other Brother came over to offer their help. How wonderful are they; they saw us struggling and immediately rushed over to help. Lovely. Anyway, we got the unit inside and left it down there for the time being. It was a long day but lovely.

Other stuff

So there's been a few other bits and pieces to write about which I'll now lump together in this final section.

Water isn't draining

The narrow bridge is still closed to vehicles

All of this water came through the balcony door

We've had on again / off again issues with the drainage in the trench down which all water from Room 13, and the washing machine, is supposed to go. It got really bad on Thursday and I was down there with the wooden plug stopped trying to plunger it to release it with not much luck. Eventually it did drain but I had gone to town to get a plunger by that point. The narrow bridge, closed last week after the terrible rain we had, is still not open and I am starting to wonder if they'll use this as an excuse to limit it to only foot traffic from now on. Talking of that rain I finally got round to emptying the dehumidifier that had been so useful in the bedroom - quite a lot of water that it pulled off the floor and out of the curtains.

The best cake in the world! It has bacon in it!

I got back from the KAT trip on Friday to not only a cup of tea, but a surprise on my desk in the form of a bacon, chocolate and guiness cake! I had been asking A to make this for a while and she wanted to surprise me after my long boring day and what a lovely surprise that is! I've been eating it since then, we also took some to Chaz and Ivan, and it is very tasty indeed. I've actually just had another slice with a cup of tea while typing this up.

Kat is very friendly and came over to say hello

Kit also was interested, but not to be stroked

I went out to do the chickens first thing this morning and took the camera in case of photographic opportunities. I found five eggs this time though one had cracked with the cold which was a shame. Kat came in to see what was going on and she let me stroke her which was lovely. While I was talking to Kat, Kit hopped into the building however she didn't come close enough for any petting. We're really doing well with these birds and A made a huge pile of scrambled eggs for breakfast just to use some of them up!

Not quite friends, but getting closer

Sassy has been out a lot today hopping around her enclosure. Her water keeps freezing and when I went to change it over I found that the bowl I'd put down on the tiles for her (as she had thrown the other one through her doorway onto the tiles, risking breaking it) had actually frozen to the tiles completely. Thelma and Louise continue to be very interested in her and she is not bothered by them at all. While this picture was being taken Thelma was very jumpy and Sassy just sat there and chilled.

The first lengths of wood, screwed into the floor

A pile of cross pieces pre-cut

In place for the first board

Two boards down in half an hour

My plans for the first module of the railway

This morning was once again a cleaning morning, after we took last week off as it was raining. I did the rugs, swept through the corridors and down the stairs and then we lifted the new display cabinet upstairs to the top corridor. A was cleaning in Room 13 and also did the living room and it's much better throughout now. After I finished cleaning I went straight into Sassy's room to start on the floor and I found this is going to be much quicker than expected. I think I may pull these first two boards up so I can maybe put some more cross pieces in to support it a bit more, but it is going to be very simple to do the whole floor. We'll probably get the rest of the holes filled tomorrow and then next weekend I'll just get the whole thing done in one go. After that, electrics.

And so there you have it. It has been a busier week and we're both feeling a lot healthier than we were this time last week so that is good. Time to relax for a bit now before it's back to the grindstone in the morning.