Another day of the men

Super quick blog today (guided by the pictures) as I am tired and want to get an early night. So straight to it.

Last night I had a strange experience which freaked me out a bit; a door banged loudly during the evening while I was on my evening phone call and though I legged it downstairs I couldn't see anything and can only think that a gust of wind blew a door. It did make me feel rather unusual which is unusual for me as I'm quite a confident character. I suppose sometimes you just remember that you are out here alone and if there was a crazy axe murderer in the place, what'd you do. I walked around checking with my fist cocked is what. Hah.

Gorgeous sunrise

Despite this I slept really well and woke just before the alarm (why does this happen) and then snoozed a bit longer than yesterday. The sun was poking up above the valley edge so I snapped a quick picture (including the boys waiting) and then went in for my brew. I drank very little of it before heading out to sort the boys out and this was quite stressful as Ralf was very barky and I ended up feeding him away from Rambo which was probably the wrong choice. It is so tough at that time when I haven't fully woken up yet and they are so excited. I am going to really try to do better tomorrow morning and just ignore the barking and hope that when Ralf realises he'll always get fed he'll shut up.

Relaxing at the wood yard

I drove to collect the men chewing over how I had reacted to the barking and realising that I was doing it wrong, especially having re-read this excellent article on how to cope with rescue dogs. I have no problem with saying "no" firmly but quietly whenever I want him to stop but I need to remember as well that it'll take time for him to respond and this is what I struggled with this morning. The men were ready but I started off driving the wrong way as I thought we were going to the builders merchant but actually I should have headed to the wood yard. There was some amusement at this and we got to the yard quickly. Bekir and Sally headed into the office leaving me sat on a seat outside watching the workers and petting the dog. It was a lovely morning and when we left it had been arranged that the wood would be delivered on Monday. Fantastic.

Continuing to remove the roof

We were back to the house by about 8.40 which shows just how quick it was over at the wood yard and they were straight up to the roof and cracked on. They were clearing the other side this morning and asked whether they could chuck the stuff down this side but I said I'd prefer it over the back so I can have only one place to clear up this weekend. It was a warm start and would only get warmer so on they got with the job.

Hay about to be dumped in the barn

There are moments, sometimes quite regularly, where it really strikes me what a massive change I have made in my life. One of them occurred as I was collecting together the hay that was spread out the other week by T and myself, and which I had turned a couple of times. It was almost entirely dry now but I still had to be aware and filter out any wet sections to continue drying in the sun. I was shoving each fork load through an open window into the room I cleared of glass yesterday and I did this until I couldn't fit any more in, then went and shoved it into a corner and then got to stand all over it and squash it down. What an awesome way to start the day.

Piled up in storage

I was distracted in the morning by the Little Lady and Usmivka coming over with eggy bread, turkish coffee and ayran, and we ended up all sat around on the landing with a cardboard box serving as a table, eating and me saying very little. It was nice but the outcome was the Little Lady getting permission to come over with her ladder and take the blossom off my tree as she had asked (and already been told she could) the other day. After this I went back to my collecting and cleared all of the hay which had been piled up and stored it in the room. This is after I stood on it and while it can be squashed down more (and will be) it is compact enough for now.

The Little Lady collecting flowers

I was just settling down to my telephone call with work when I had a phone call from my friend asking me to go jump start her car in town so I jumped in Thomas and got that done. She was in the carpark at Lidl so after she left I went in and did the shopping that I needed and got that out of the way, which was good. I got back to find the men on lunch and the Little Lady on my roof. The boys stayed in their compound because I didn't want them begging for food and then after this as the Little Lady asked me to leave them in there however I did go and let them out eventually even though she was still on the roof. I figured if Rambo being out was too great a problem she would just yell. As it happened she walked out perfectly fine and I think that Rambo has finally got one more person not scared of him.

Progress as of lunchtime

I popped out up onto the top bank to get the lunch time progress picture for you, then went in and ate the left overs of the potatoes and cabbage and onions from last night; not the most filling of things and I felt it during the afternoon when I was so hungry I scarfed down a load of biscuits, naughty me.

I have to sort all this out. Ouch

The pile of wood and tiles out the back has been growing all day and I am going to have to work really hard this weekend to get it all sorted out and shifted. I need to take the good wood undercover inside the house, the bad wood can be piled up for another Hugelkultur and when all that is done I'll be moving wheelbarrows full of tiles to the collection point. This is my task this weekend when I don't have to worry about stuff landing on my head.

Ralf smiling again

Talking of which, Ralf got out again today as the Little Lady hadn't put the bottom latch on the side gate and when I noticed I went looking for him and walked underneath where they were dropping some stuff. They looked and saw me fortunately, and Ralf was stood next to the gate and just came straight in so that was OK. Later on he was on the point of stepping through the bars in the fence along the front when I shouted at him and he came back in; he really is a skinny so and so. He has generally been better today and was following me around a lot, including out onto the balcony which he really loves going on.

Relieving clouds

It had been red hot today, upwards of 32 degrees according to the thermometer in Thomas, and the men were struggling so I put water for them in the fridge, gave them some choc ices, and when they had a break I put ice in glasses for them to drink out of. I think this was appreciated and they did really good work. Mid afternoon the clouds blew over and there was a tiny sprinkling of rain but it remained clammy and hot, though without the direct heat from the sun they found it easier again. This is the problem with working over the summer and why they don't normally do it. I hope they aren't putting themselves out too much to help me.

Tiny little sparrow

I did another section of hay, paid work, and sweated while wishing for more breeze, and then there was a flurry of activity and Bekir came down with a birds nest and in that birds nest there was one baby, alive. He said there had been two dead ones in there and he gave me this little fella which promptly jumped out my hands about ten times but I finally got hold of it carefully. Bekir couldn't work my camera so he took the bird and I took the picture. He then tucked it back into the nest and we went and put it on top of the gate into the garden area. I hope it's OK.

They were now onto the tricky part of the removal which involved the hanging metal guttering and I was shooting a video to capture it coming down but then they seemed to stop work so I stopped filming and a couple of minutes later they suddenly were back at it and it fell in a rush. It would have been epic on video too. Never mind, they did it safe and I applauded them from inside Room 13.

Ralf and his latest bone

Ralf had found a fresh bone in the green house and brought it inside and he was happily sat in the corridor upstairs chewing away for a lot of the afternoon. I took it off him when I got a bit worried as he was coughing a little bit and sicking slightly; it'll go in the humanure with the other older bone he found, and hopefully this little tickle is nothing to be concerned about.

Then it was suddenly time for the men to go and so we jumped into Thomas (waving goodbye to the Special One and the Little Lady, as well as the young one from the farm, who were all on my land chatting away. It is nice to be welcoming as I am in no way a "feudal lord" as was suggested the other day. We arranged that tomorrow the men would get the interior door for the bedroom done so there is a visit to the builders merchant (not the wood yard; more hilarity) in the morning to get the materials.

A large chunk of the roof is not there any more

I got back and snapped the day's progress from the top. I am taking other pictures but they aren't coming out as well for you but they do exist. They have basically removed all the roof from the area they are going to replace next week. I will probably suggest that they remove the final beams that are still up in the morning, before the main heat hits, and do the bedroom door during the hottest part of the day. We shall see how that goes.

So I am now waiting for my baked potatoes (which I put in before I took the men) to cook and then I'm going to go and read in bed and rest. I am tired today.

The boys are back in town!

Well today there is once more some major progress which is great to report. I am chuffed to bits to have Bekir and Sally back working here and they are doing what they do best; making progress faster than you would believe. Anyway, in the interests of continued swift blogging I will move on and you can hear about that later on; for now I go to yesterday evening as stuff happened I want to talk about.

Road stone lapping at my track

You will remember (or maybe you won't) that S and S were over making use of my internet and after they finished we went out for a meal. Because of the work that is going on at the moment on the road, and putting in a new water pipe, they weren't able to drive up to my house so parked at the corner, at the same place my friend did. We walked round to the car and I was impressed to see that the new road is extending further than I expected; this is just near the gate into Usmivka and the Little Lady's house.

The evening sky over the valley

As we walked round the corner the vista across the valley opened up and the late night sky was stunning. We all commented on it and I stopped walking to snap a picture. Our plan was to go into my town for dinner however the place S and S had seen that day was shut for evening business so we ended up going to the normal place by the river. We sat outside and ordered food and drinks and had a great time, even when a massive storm blew in and we had to grab all our stuff and take it inside as we were at risk of being blown away.

The lightning was flickering all around while we were eating, and was super dramatic on the drive back, and I stood by the gate filming, then walked to cover under the porch, so you could see. The best bits of this are at about 1 min 30 and onwards for about 30 seconds, if you are in a hurry for some reason. After this I went upstairs to Room 13, leaving all the lights on as I climbed (thanks again The Electrician) and had a lovely and brief conversation before heading to bed where I lay watching the flickering and dozed off pretty quickly as the storm was passing by then.

Sun rise this morning; shot one

And shot two; I loved them both so you get both

This was a very good thing as my alarm was set for 6am because today (as I have hinted in the blog title, and made clear in the opening paragraph) I was off to collect Bekir and Sally so they can start work on my roof. I snoozed when it first went off but actually got out of bed before the snooze expired. Looking through the end window I could see that neither of the boys was up yet waiting for me; I had beaten them awake, but this did not stop Rambo howling as I walked away to make a brew. The sun was just rising at this time so I went onto the balcony to snap a photograph as the kettle was boiling my brew. Stunning and amazing and that will be our view out the bedroom window.Wow.

Mist came up very quickly

As I sat sipping my brew and waking up prior to going and feeding the boys the mist rose very quickly, as it had done the other day. It was good to be awake and able to watch it this time though. It got quite thick in patches, such that on my land it was hazy but you could see sun was still striking the field across the lane.

Poor starving Ralf

So it was time for feeding and this was pretty easily done today, using my new technique of stopping whenever Ralf barked as I was carrying their food and water across the patio. This made it take a fair amount of time however he needs to learn to not shout for food. Ralf was pretty good once I put the food down, waiting for the bowl to at least hit the floor before diving in.

Rambo being robbed

Rambo also dived head first into his bowl and at first he was pretty tidy, growling as Ralf prowled, however towards the end he started pushing it across the floor and Ralf spotted his chance. By the time Rambo noticed Ralf had eaten most of the food on the floor and Rambo didn't even make any sound, presuming maybe that it wasn't his food anyway. Rambo did look a little nonplussed at the apparently small portion he had been served. Stupid dog.

It had flown out about 10 minutes before

There was one swallow left in the next in their building and it was sat quietly in the nest (allowing me to get the inset picture) until Rambo started bouncing around and then he went a bit nuts trying to catch it. I distracted him and it flew out. He then ate his food and after finishing, went back to keep looking for the bird so he could chase it. Bless.

All my water containers are now full

The water was still off this morning and so before heading out to get the men I filled all my available water collection devices, including both watering cans, though I didn't do a watering round considering the volume of water that was dumped last night.

The storm (or a car) knocked the sign over

So I was on the road to get the men,driving past the speed limit sign which had not survived the storm the night before, and turning up about on time to collect them. They both got in the car looking very well and we drove back, again largely in silence. I really do dislike my lack of ability at the language as I wanted to chat about how they had been and I have had a thought that maybe I can find a Bulgarian language course in Manchester for the winter so I can really force myself to learn conversational Bulgarian for next year.

Bekir and Sally working on the roof

Lobbing the waste off the roof

We got home and Ralf introduced himself with Rambo renewing his acquaintance and then, with a "you want us to work on the roof, yes?" they were away up and going for it. The picked up where I expected them to, starting to remove the tiles from the short length of roof. They weren't sure what to do with the rubbish tiles so I said to just wing them off the roof onto the back bank; I will collect all these up and pile them with the broken tiles I carried down.

So much dust

It is such a super dusty environment up there, mainly as the old way of building the roof involved using mud to seal the cracks. Everything they move is caked in the stuff and now to walk around barefoot up there is very pleasant as there is a deep layer all over the floor.

Fantastic breakfast

I left them to it and went to have breakfast, initially peeling one of my oranges for a healthy option but then finding it was a blood orange and so not something I wanted to eat for breakfast. I put it on a plate in the fridge and proceeded to fry up bacon, eggs, mushrooms and bread. If I can't go healthy, I'll go hearty.

Another area scythed

After successfully putting the new blade on the handle I was going to sharpen and use the scythe today and I found that it looked already ground so I just used my stone on it a fair few times then cracked on with the next section. I have decided to leave the area which proved to be fatal to my last blade as it is just a massive tangle of trees and other thick foliage; I will go there next year and remove what I don't want before the growth gets this high again. I was scything for about 40 minutes to achieve this and then went in as I had paid work to be getting on with and I also really wanted a cuppa.

It's RAAAAALF

Having a good roll

Happy Ralf in the back

Ralf found a bone and started destroying it

Above is a collection of pictures of Ralf that I took during the day and wanted to share with you. He has been pretty well behaved today, even slightly antisocial including jumping off my lap to go and lie down but maybe, as we suggested to me, he is still feeling a bit ropey from his eating mistake yesterday. He is still hungry as he went out at lunch and was fed by Bekir, then when I let him out again later he went straight to where they had been sitting and sniffed around looking for more. He's a cutey though, and seems to be really settled now.

Progress by lunch time

And so, after a fair bit of time spent on conference calls and other things for work, it was suddenly lunch time so I popped outside to grab a picture of the progress the men had made. I have picked a spot on the top bank where I can get a picture from every day they are working up there, to satisfy the excellent suggestion from a couple of my readers to record from a standard place. I also need to find somewhere in the front where I can do the same however the elevation isn't as easy from there. They really had cracked on very well, anyway.

Don't jump, Jesus!

While I was munching on my cheese and tomato butties I heard some scraping going on and looked over to see Jesus was trying to climb up the vertical wall of his enclosure. This makes me really keen to get him outside. A bit later I looked over and he was hanging right over the edge of the end of the wooden beam. I snapped this picture before he managed to turn himself round and go back down. I'll build his enclosure next weekend when my special guest arrives.

Back to it after lunch

Bekir had a good long snooze in the shade today and Sally was up on his own working after lunch and then Bekir raised himself and they set to again. They declined the offer of coffee for now and instead set to again clearing the tiles that they had piled up for keeping, which they stacked down the middle of the attic. I also noticed that they had taken the really dodgy looking chimney stack down to a level with the line of the roof. I need to make it clear that I do actually want to keep all my chimneys, so I can use petchka's to warm a room which has access to one.

This is a BIG storm

I returned to working and then noticed a change in the weather. All day it had been lovely and warm and the sun had remained out enough to cast shadows, though there was a high overcast haze that was lingering from mid morning all the way through. I noticed that the sky was blue, but the wind had begun to blow quite hard (enough for me to close the windows in Room 13 as it was blowing the chili plants quite badly) and then I heard the dreaded rumble of thunder. I checked on the men and they were chilled out but when I tried to take a picture of the storm it was more than three photographs wide. It was huge and looked like it was heading directly towards us.

Bekir and Sally ignoring the storm

I had more meetings so I went back to being tied to my desk and the next time I was able to move around I noticed that the storm had actually dissipated before it hit us, which is incredible as it was so close and moving so fast. Bekir and Sally were still at it on the roof and they laughed when I commented that the storm hadn't hit. They don't seem bothered by much at all.

Clearing access to the green building

I decided to do a little more towards progress myself in the afternoon and in a snatched twenty minutes I went out and scythed in front of one of the doors to the green building, then cleared all the broken glass (there actually wasn't that much in the end) our of the hay rooms. I am not going to sweep them out (my initial plan) because the hay I am making is not good enough quality to risk Sassy getting ill over again so I'll just pile all of mine in there. If we can avoid any rain tonight I will do this tomorrow.

Loads of plastic for burning

I pulled a load of plastic out of the area I scythed and piled it up next to the burning drum. There is so much of it I think it will take a concerted effort to get it all burnt so I have left it there til my special guest arrives as she loves burning things. It is like a gift to her.

After turning up in their van and then not coming to see me, but going into Usmivka's to fit a window (a fitting that they only got because of me) the window people finally arrived today and I took them through what I want doing including the internal window for the bedroom, swapping out the bottom panel in the door to the balcony for glass, and everything under the flat roof. This is a large amount of work for them to fit so I hope they keep to their promise of "next week" as I want that window in so I can move into the bedroom.

Some more working and it was suddenly time for the men to go home. I grabbed my stuff, put the boys away (Ralf wasn't impressed as he hoped to be fed again by Sally) and then we scooted over and I dropped them off. There was some large plant right in the centre of the village on the way out which took some maneuvering to get past and as I went down the hill the top is much smoother now with a finer grain of gravel over the top of the stones that were there before. It is making progress.

The end of day one

When I got back I let the boys out, put my pork belly in the oven to roast, then went into the attic to get a picture of the progress. It is so open up there now and it almost makes me want to think about getting many windows up there eventually. I am really looking forward to getting a picture of the sunset from between the open beams this evening. I also went to my spot to take the picture and you really can see how quickly they have worked. I have asked them to continue to throw all the waste material out the back, and none over the front, so it is easier for me to collect. I was going to do that this evening but now I think it may be a weekend job when nothing is going to land on my head, and I will have time to devote to it.

So my dinner is nearly ready so I'm going to stop typing now and complete this after I have eaten (and the sun has gone down so I can get that picture which isn't going to be long now).

Super lovely dinner

I am back to finish the blog. A fair amount has actually happened in that short space of time. First of all my dinner was incredible; roast pork bell strips (with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil), boiled tatties and butter friend cabbage and onions. Wow. I have enough left over for a fantastic cold salad tomorrow as well. I ate this while putting the pictures in place and also keeping my eyes peeled for the sun to go down.

The sun setting

I popped up to the attic a couple of times to take pictures, this was from the first visit, and when I was up there the second time I heard my name called and it was the Other Brother, with the Special One and they had two older gentlemen with them. I went down, put the boys in their compound, and greeted them in Bulgarian and one of the older men responded in very good English. It turns out they are the Uncles and the English speaking one left 50 years ago and now lives in New York. He was able to tell me that the old school (that he went to) was behind where the water tap is now, but his brother (the other man, who was taller) had finished his education in my building. I showed them round, and was able to explain my plans well to the english speaker who then translated for the Other Brother and the Special One, so finally they have a really good understanding of my plans. I waved them goodbye and then came up to finish this.

So there you have it. Tomorrow I am able to go out during the day as the window people have finally been so I'll be going to get some food and getting a few chores done in town. We're going to go past the big building yard in the morning too to order the stuff that is needed for the men to put the roof back up. All go. Exciting.

Fighting the birds

Well I enjoyed my super fast blog yesterday so today is going to be another attempt. I have company at the moment (S and S who are borrowing my interwebs) but they are in the next room so I promise I'm not being rude.

Spooky how I was awake to get this picture

I start with a lovely picture and a very strange story. This was snapped first thing this morning from inside Julian. The strange thing is I can hardly remember taking it and what I can remember of taking it involved someone shouting at me to "quick, get a picture of the sun rise" at which I jumped out of bed and dashed to the end of Julian to shoot this picture. It was only when I woke up and saw that the camera was out of its case that I thought this may not have been a dream and when I checked the pictures I was slightly spooked. Weird.

The feeding was a bit bad this morning mainly because I slept in and woke up at 7.45 and then had to go and try and sort them out without my cuppa, as I didn't know who may be arriving today and I wanted them done. Ralf was super naughty and I decided to feed him separately and when I did come to, every time I took a step with his bowl he barked so I would stand still til he stopped then move again til he barked. He got the message. Eventually. It took ages to get across the patio though.

Breakfast was baked beans on toast and then I did the washing up in an ever dwindling stream of water; it seemed that I would be without water again today and so it has turned out with nothing coming out of the taps again right now. I JUST had enough pressure to finish all the washing up though so that was good however I wasn't in time to catch it to get any kind of shower. Not pleasant

My chore today was to seal the house from the birds. They have been continually trying to rebuild the nest at the top of the stairs for the past few days and that, along with all the dropping they are leaving everywhere, has finally ended my patience. I had the bird netting from England brought by S and S to use which was great.

Ooooh I do love fire!

First of all though I did a burn of the kitchen burnables, joined by Ralf who sniffed in a very interested way as I loaded and set the fire going. As is standard with these kitchen burns I was able to light the plastic very easily and it was very hot very quick. I picked up some rubbish left over from when T had been burning from the roof and put that on as well.

Ralf making his way back towards the house

Ralf got bored quite quickly and headed back towards the door and it was so funny watching him walk through such high grasses. He is very determined though and I followed after quickly and let him back inside. He's a good boy most of the time. Well, some of the time.

And here is Jesus for your enjoyment

I got back to Room 13 for a cuppa and found that Jesus was up and about and, as I don't take as many pictures of him as I should, here is another one. He is so much more active than when Mo was around, and definitely eats more as well. He'll be very happy when he is outside though I'll be making sure that he is safe and can't be taken by any predators.

Before they were nose to nose at the barrier

The first room for me to do was Sassy's so I took the ladder and tools in there and set myself up. Here is where I missed the photo opportunity of a lifetime as I didn't have my camera with me. Ralf was upstairs and Sassy was sniffing around by the door and suddenly they met and they were sniffing, nose to nose, through the barrier. Neither seemed bothered and certainly there was no animosity between them. The best I could get after was Sassy ignoring Ralf and he looking in through the gate still.

Window done, birds outside

I stopped to make myself a cuppa and, as I was just about to carry the ladder up to what will be the living room, I heard my bulgarian phone ringing and it was my friend who was just round the corner and popping over for a brew. A lovely surprise and we sat on the balcony chatting and enjoying the heat and the peace, as well as Ralf who was moving from spot to spot to sleep in the sun, then the shade, then the sun again.

She brought some very good news as well which is that tomorrow I am to collect Bekir and Sally at the usual time and they are back at work finally. I am chuffed to bits by this. After our brews we took a walk around the land looking at my plants and discussing the mistakes I am making and it was agreed that I should plant the rose into deeper soil to give it a better chance. I also may move the clematis and their arch to a deeper soil location. We shall see. I certainly need to pile hay around the Fuschias when I leave in the hope they will survive frost and snow.

Planted out the multicoloured rose

After they left I arranged for a lunch time call and then popped out for the intervening twenty minutes or so to plant the aforementioned rose bush down near the main entrance. It will get morning sun and then shade through the major heat which is what it needs, and the soil is good down there so it should be OK with its roots.

That storm is heading this way

While I had been sat on the balcony with my friend I had noticed that there was a small cloud on the horizon. This had grown and grown and now was a huge storm coming straight towards me. I pulled the hanging chair inside before going up for my call, in case the rain arrived while I was talking and it didn't, but it was not long after that it did. It only rained for a short time thankfully.

Wasps with their nest

It was raining while I was in the living room doing the windows in there. I was happily hammering away at the first window when I noticed a movement out of the corner of my eye and was a little shocked to see that the nest I had spotted the other week had two wasps looking after it. They were OK but when I got close to them were a little irritated but never came close to me. I did keep a very careful watch on them at all times.

Ralf taking it easy

While I was working away Ralf had found the softness of my rug which was piled on the floor in the bedroom and was resting there. I did the first window then the second and when I got to the final little one I decided to use the plastic that had been removed from in Sassy's room so went to get it. Ralf came dashing out of Room 13 (I didn't know he wasn't in the bedroom any more) licking his chops and dripping. At first I thought he had been drinking from his bowl of water but then I smelt vegetable oil and worked it out - the naughty (and stupid) boy had managed to knock the lid off my deep fat frying saucepan and had drunk a fair amount of the oil in there. I told him off quite severely for how I'm treating him now but he was much more able to take it this time and just looked guilty rather than growling and trying to snap and claw me when I tried to pick him up.

I put him in his enclosure and went to google and found that, while it could be a problem if he doesn't sick it up, vegetable oil is not poisonous to dogs. I left him for a while and went to check on him later and he had thrown up. Rambo tried to eat it but I washed it away before he could, then took Ralf and washed the oil from around his chops and gave him a good soaking from the pool by the trailer. He then got put back in the enclosure but he wasn't very happy about it.

I finished off the windows in the living room and then found that, so long as I keep the kitchen door shut, and the whisky store room as well, the house was now sealed from birds getting in. I knocked the smaller of the two nests in the living room down but I will do the larger with the scaffolding when it arrives. I now no longer have to worry about bird droppings on the insides of my windows, and the little sods bringing mud into the house and messing up nice clean floors.

I typed that with a straight face. I have also had much fun watching the birds trying to get in through the bird netting and failing; I just hope it is strong enough; I may need to double up the layer.

The backside of the storm

The storm blew through quickly as I said and didn't really drop that much rain which was good as I am still trying to dry the hay. I was expecting S and S as I have said so I set up a room for them and then realised that they had arrived so went down to greet them. Rambo was very pleased to see them but Ralf obviously was still in the enclosure. I set them up then went to turn the hay and I let Ralf out for this. He seemed OK but then while I was working I could hear and see him retching over and over. Poor little puppy. He was very friendly towards S and S when I carried him inside but was still ill so he went back again and then barked and barked for ages. He thinks he is fine. He should stay there til tomorrow now though.

Yellow and Purple chili plants

You'll remember yesterday that I bought a purple and a yellow chili plant from Lidl. I didn't take a picture yesterday because I forgot so here they are. I hope the leaves recover on the purple one though I may just go and pick up another couple next time I'm there as they are brilliant and I want to try and keep them alive this winter to keep fruiting.

Calm evening

So it is early evening and I am going to finish this up now. I've done a pretty good job with a few distractions to get it typed and done in my allotted time and shortly S and S will be done and we'll go for dinner. As the water is still not on we're going to go out somewhere; I don't know where yet. I'm feeling a little delicate (maybe because of the dust from turning the hay) but I'm sure I'll perk up and if not it can be a nice early night.

Tomorrow the men are here and maybe, just maybe, T is back which would be really good. Progress can start again and hopefully the window men will come as well (they didn't turn up today obviously) and everything will start kicking on again. One other thing that didn't happen today was the Little Lady to raid my tree with a ladder; I wonder why she didn't come over?