A really pleasant surprise

Hello there and welcome back. Thank you all for reading this; it's always a pleasure to see how many people have thrashed their way through my ramblings on here. I do think you're all slightly insane but I mean that in the nicest possible sense. Anyway, onwards with the update.

Sunset snapshot

Dinner last night was an excellent paella which was so good it disappeared before I thought to get the camera out. We were sat again at our dinner table eating but it was just overcast and dull outside so we both thought there was no chance really of a good sunset. I hadn't quite finished the blog by the time dinner was ready so went back to doing it as A fed the puppies then took them outside for a run. She shouted me down to come see something and as I turned I was amazed at the sunset that had suddenly appeared so I grabbed the camera and snapped two shots through the window. Wow. You can't take your eyes off the sky for a minute.

Sun disappearing behind my favourite tree

It was time for us to put the chooks away for the night in their new hutch but as I walked up I again couldn't resist a photograph looking towards the sunset past my favourite tree. This has got what appears to be a bumper crop of pears on it despite the damage from the snow over winter which is really exciting to see. It wasn't too much hassle getting Kit and Kat into the coop; I caught one, passed it to A and then chased and caught the other and they were both locked in easily. Just before bed time we once again went outside to give the girls a run and were once more astounded at the numbers of fireflies all around. We are thinking that maybe because the grass has been left to go so long this has provided a habitat they were missing last year. Anyone got any better ideas?

Here it comes again

And so to bed and a relatively good nights sleep. I do recall waking at one point and seeing a gorgeous sunrise, getting up to get the camera, and then changing my mind before I had even reached the end of the bed. When I finally got out of bed, after A was already up and boiling the kettle, I decided I needed to get onto the balcony to capture what a glorious morning it was and I'm glad now that I did so. How can anyone not love that view?!

Sadly warped floor being removed

Before I did any paid work today, before I even had breakfast (but not before a cup of tea) I decided that I would clear the stuff on the landing for the museum. The best place to put it, we had decided, was in the lab room behind Sassy's room. Unfortunately over the winter the lovely parquet floor had completely lifted due to damp and heat and cold. It didn't take that long for me to pull the middle raised section out completely and now we have two big buckets full for firelighters and another load stacked on shelves in there as well. It's a shame to burn it in one sense but in another there is no better use for such excellent dry wood and we don't have enough of the pieces to re-lay it anywhere sensible.

Sassy stretching out

It did not take long to carry everything through into there, though I had forgotten what a mess that room is, and now it is waiting for time for us to go through it all and sort out what can be saved and what should just be binned. As I was cleaning up and shutting up all the doors I snapped a picture of Sassy stretched out behind the house I built her for winter last year that she never ever uses. She's so chilled out she didn't even pay any attention to me, though she wasn't very happy at being locked in her cage while I was carrying things through.

All my girls happily asleep

The bulk of the rest of the day was taken up, as per usual, with both of us glued to our desks working for money however we are careful to take breaks relatively regularly to keep the blood moving and also allow us to just enjoy being here.  It is not always the case, however, that a break involves moving as you can see here where A has stepped away from her desk, got Thelma sleeping on her lap, and has dozed off as well. Bless.

Fighting

We did attempt to keep the girls from jumping on the sofas however this proved way too much trouble and we found ourselves shouting at them a lot so A put a blanket up on one for them to use. They now sleep up there most of the day but sometimes they are up there and not sleeping as here, where a wrestling match is in full progress.

Chewing their stick and ignoring their toys

In the last of the pictures of the girls here they are chewing on a stick they found somewhere in the garage and brought upstairs to play with. They have already almost destroyed the new hand grenade toy I brought out for them to replace the one they destroyed at John's so it is good that they have other things which can entertain them.

Started to weed out the hugelkultur

Before starting work I decided to go out and let the girls have a run and for some reason the urge to weed the hugelkultur overtook so there I was pulling up weeds and filling the wheelbarrow with the results all before 8am. I got about 1/3 of the way along but this was the easy bit so it'll be another few efforts before it is ready to accept any produce at all. It looks very dry to be honest which is a shame as the whole point of the hugelkultur was to provide a moist environment without watering; maybe I haven't done it quite right?

So much corn is growing; how awesome will THIS taste!

I have been meaning to take a picture of the corn stand for a few days now so here it is. There are SO many heads on this it's amazing; A has done such a great job getting these to grow so well and my mouth is watering now imagining the BBQ we'll have when the first ones become harvestable. Next to them, just on the edge of the picture, are the two tomato plants she has grown from seed and they are also doing really well with flowers on them already.

We had noodles for lunch and spent the balance sat on the roof terrace in some very lovely sunshine however that proved to be the only time we would see any today. There was a breeze up which caused the parasol to rock alarmingly and I can't work out a way to secure it better without putting some wedges in where it fits into the base so I'll have to have a think about it. We ended up winding it down and laying in the full sun for most of it as it was too hard to relax with the swaying and creaking. At the end A cleared off the storage unit in Room 13 so we could pull it out into the corridor as we continue our drive to empty the room so we can tile the floor to keep the dust down.

Barefoot weeding once again

The rest of the day was taken up with working and at the end I was so tired I headed to bed for a half hour snooze and woke up an hour later feeling dead headed initially but then much better for it. A made me a cuppa and we went outside again with the girls to spend time with Rambo and once more I got the urge to jump into the hugelkultur and do some more weeding. My feet really are toughening up now we're back and I was barefoot for this and again I filled a wheelbarrow.

Copulating snails

While I was pulling out some of the worst weeds I saw what I thought at first was a weird shaped mushroom but closer inspection showed me it was two snails who were up against each other and probably having sex. We also disturbed an ants nest which Louise was straight into eating them until she was covered in them and I had to grab her and brush them off her. They were both loving it out there, bouncing around in the long grass and chasing each other and generally having a really fun time. Lucky puppies.

This one is doing REALLY well!

A went wandering down towards the raised beds where the olive trees had been for some reason while I was doing this and suddenly she shouted me over to see something. When I got there I could hardly believe my eyes. One of the trees, which had been totally broken by the snow, had green leaves coming from it! I immediately set about removing all the undergrowth from around it so we could give it a good chance to survive; after the winter we had one tree out of four is quite a good success rate.

Even the dug up one has green leaves!

But there was more! We went from one bed to the next and found that we didn't just have two, or even three, survivors but even the one which had been dug up by the intruder who tried to buy Rambo off with bread has green things coming from its base! How amazing is that! It turns out that at this stage all four of our olive trees are still alive. I replanted the uprooted one and we cleared out the beds and watered them all and now we will cross our fingers and hope that the recovery continues. This is the really pleasant surprise I was referring to in the title.

Rambo is back to being fit and healthy again

And so it comes to evening and I have fed Rambo (the first time I've done so since being back) and he really does eat slowly now. It's very strange because the dog I've known for years has wolfed his food down with barely time for him to breath. We also got some time to be outside again before our own dinner was ready and I snapped a picture of Rambo for you to see; he is a very happy dog even if he eats slowly now.

I'm going to wrap this up now and go outside with the puppies.

Slightly overcast today

Hello there from a slightly chillier Bulgaria. It's not been such a bad thing today, however, as we've both had loads of paid work to do and trying to do this while it's blazing sunshine outside is very hard indeed. Anyway, on with the blog which i'm late starting due to a short time of playing computer games after finishing work. Anyway, onwards.

The frog / toad who paid us a visit last night

After publishing the blog last night we went outside for a bit to let the girls go to their toilet. As I was walking out I saw a rather large frog jumping around by the front door, inside. I caught it and it weed all over me while A ran for the camera. After snapping these shots I ran across the patio and hid it in the undergrowth so Rambo couldn't find it. I've no idea where this can have come from as we have no standing water anywhere on the land any more. So we went out into the yard and were amazed and intrigued by just how many fireflies there were flying around the land; there were hundreds! One landed in front of us on the porch but none of my pictures have come out unfortunately. Later on, on the balcony, we were also treated to a show as they flitted around blinking at us. Amazing.

Kit and Kat the morning after

We also realised we'd forgotten to take the new sun umbrella down and A went onto the roof to do this and found that the wind had caught it and it was hanging right over the edge of the roof terrace! I helped her pull it back to safety and we wound it down for the night. It rained quite a lot last night and quite heavily in the middle of the night but when I was woken in the early hours by the sound of panicked clucking it was no longer raining. I ran out onto the balcony to see one of the hens, I'm not sure which one, running towards the gate in a panic and walking towards the same gate, on the outside, was a fox! I shouted and clapped my hands and the fox ran away towards the fence. Deciding right then that the first thing I'd do in the morning was to build their hen coop for security I headed back to sleep.

Making the chicken coop for Kit and Kat

We were up before the alarm which is always a nice way to wake up and after a brew we found the chicken coop and headed down to their house to build it. It was actually quite easy to put together and I didn't have to resort to the internet for instructions. I did, however, find that we were missing the parts to build the nesting boxes. After A went to look for them I suddenly remembered that they had been put in a black bin bag and so we found them hidden amongst the kitchen units. When it was fully assembled we moved the girls' old bedding from behind the door and lifted the coop into place. This evening will be the first challenge of getting them into it and shutting them in; that is something to look forward to.

Original Wasted World artwork

I had one other item on my agenda before starting work properly and that was to hang the RHMG picture on the wall. This was drawn for the studio by one of our customers and I absolutely love it; it captures me, Dan and Rambo so well and is obviously also a completely unique work of art. So thank you, Dan, for drawing this; it is finally safe and protected in a frame and has taken pride of place in my new home.

Three generations 

Lots more plants gifted us by our lovely neighbours

Most of the day was taken up with working after this for both of us so here are a few vignettes from the day. We do try and take breaks relatively regularly (A more now I'm back and nagging) and at one point I saw that the Little Lady was coming over to do some gardening with Aygul and Gurkhan (the little boy). They went into the fenced garden and in about 30 seconds did more weeding than I would do in ten minutes. They then set to planting yet more peppers and what we think are chilis. Wonderful! I was also able to help them stake out and tie up the tomato plants in the raised bed which was a task that A and I were discussing doing later today.

Louise hunting a spider

The puppies have had a great day today with lots of playing and being outside every time we went out. While I was gathering them together to go back upstairs to work Louise suddenly started pouncing on something near the raised bed. I got the camera and saw that it was quite a large spider which was rushing for safety at the top of the frame. I'm not sure whether these are going to bite or not but Louise didn't really get close to it at any point. It was very big though.

Over lunch time the sun came through the clouds finally and it was really hot. I had cheese and tomato butties (and made some for A who actually had lunch!) and then took a brew up onto the roof terrace to enjoy the weather. There was a breeze up which was making the parasol sway alarmingly so I went to the porch and grabbed one of the bags of cement there to use to weight it down. It was only when I got up there, staggering, that I realised it was a 50kg bag and that was why I found it so hard to lift. Anyway with that now laid on the base I was able to relax a lot more. What a lovely way to end my lunch break.

Moving the museum to a new home

At the end of the day I hit a mental block on work and so decided to get on with some of the tidying that is needed before next week (or which more later). I went into the nook which will be knocked through into the kitchen and started to gather together the stuff in there from the school. There had been quite a lot of water and rat damage over the winter sadly but I did manage to salvage most of it and it is now stacked up by the entrance to Sassy's room preparatory to being carried into the lab room tomorrow. While I was doing this the girls had a particularly fine time playing in the kitchen and garage, pulling out wood from our fire pile to chew on and rolling around in the sawdust - it is a FINE thing to be a puppy!

Bigging up the EU

Right at the end of the day, after she had done some preparation for dinner (paella) A headed down to the shop for supplies and when she got back she suggested I take a walk to the village top to see a sign that was being put in. It looks like a "The EU built this road" sign for the new road. I saw the Other Brother and Usmivka and the granddaughter as well as I was walking back which was really nice. The Little Lady has also been up the tree getting the blossom most of the afternoon.

It's been a chillier day today but still a good one with enough achieved to keep the momentum we've built up. This is only going to accelerate as we have workmen coming in to start work on the new kitchen floor on Monday. How exciting. Hopefully Bekir and Sally will return as well to finish of the guest suite and put the storage tanks in the roof (we've been without water all day today which hasn't been ideal) and if we can get all this done before the parents arrive how amazing will that be!

I'm now about to go and help A chase the chooks into their house. See you tomorrow.

An awesome day of working, tidying and going out with friends

Hello again from both of us here and what has been another perfect evening and following day. I know that not every day can be like this one has been but when you get them you got to enjoy them, right?

The most exclusive restaurant in the world

While I was finishing the blog last night I was also cooking the famous Spicy Pork Pasta dish. This was something I made up out of random items last year which stuck as a particular favourite to eat here and also back in England over the winter. It's not too much trouble to cook but tastes amazing. When it was ready (which was actually before the blog was done) we decided that eating on the roof terrace was a good idea and so I carried the pan up, covered with a cloth, and all the things we needed to eat it with and we proceeded to spend the next hour or so enjoying the food, sipping beer and watching as the sun set behind the distant clouds. It really was heavenly and when we went back downstairs we continued chatting and sipping our beer until we ran out of drink and then went to bed.

Slowly taking shape

I remembered to ask A to turn her alarm off so we would avoid the unwelcome shock of a noisy phone shouting at us at 6.30am and this was a good thing as we both had a tiny amount too much to drink and both snored which disturbed the other in turn. I did sleep enough though and so did she (I hope) and when we decided that getting out of bed was a good idea (mainly influenced by Louise deciding she wanted up) I for one wasn't too shattered. Coffee and tea was brewed (by me this time) while I solved a problem with my paid work which had been bugging me the night before and then we decided to get out and do another panel for the humanure collection point. A helped me and it was really good to have her assistance with measuring and the assembly and so now we are only one panel (the middle divider) and the top dog-proof fence away from having a completed collection point.

A with Sassy doing her antiseptic for her bald spot

It was still early when we finished this and so we made more brews and I decided I was hungry and so made myself a butty. A wasn't hungry so she didn't get one though of course I would have made her one if she had asked. She was working hard today but took a short morning break to go and fuss Sassy who does get a lot of attention and I realised I haven't yet put a picture up of her since returning so here she is. She is doing so well and is very big indeed; much larger than I remember her though of course I could just have a bad memory for this as well.

This is how you relax

After this it was pretty much work for us most of the morning. At one point, as the heat built, we both went out to see Rambo and let the puppies have a run and I jumped onto the swinging chair in the porch just before A could get to it. This is again the first time I've got to sit on it since I got back. The girls jumped up with me and I must admit I could have fallen asleep right then and almost did. This was just about lunch time and when A shouted down that it was ready (the cold rice from the other day with some bacon bits added - nom!) I had to shake myself to drag myself back up the stairs to join her for food.

Storage room is much cleaner now

After lunch I did more paid work but was waiting a bit for a reply about a job I was doing so I took the opportunity to get into the pile of boxes in the other spare bedroom and sort them out. I ended up completing this task over the afternoon and now we have all the things for the new kitchen down in the little room off the corridor downstairs, all the train set stuff is in the roof, I've broken up all the empty boxes that were taking up space and just generally the room is clearer in preparation for when Bekir and Sally come back to finish off the guest bedroom and bathroom.

I had dug out the pictures and frames for said pictures while doing the tidying and so was really pleased to be able to finally frame the poster for the studio which my friend did for us years ago which was in danger of getting damaged as it is just done on card. This will be put on the wall soon and I'll be sure to get a picture for you. Another task which needed doing this afternoon was emptying some of the buckets for the humanure so I did this, into the old collection point, which is pretty much full now; our new one will not be ready too soon.

Having fun in the pool

S and S had been in touch earlier in the day to suggest they come past with their guest and interns and so just before I'd had a chance to have a shower they arrived. It was lovely to show new people around again and we ended up sat on the roof terrace for a bit until it was decided it was time to go out. They had found a hotel with a swimming pool and restaurant up on the lake north of the main town and so off we set. It was easy to find and really an amazing spot. The pool was a good temperature for the heat of the day however it was not open for much longer after we arrived so we made the most of it getting some good swimming in and also larking around as you can see.

My meal above and A's below

After a quick rinse and changing we found the restaurant and settled ourselves for our meal. This was served by a really lovely waiter who had a great sense of humour and patience in explaining to us about the food they were serving. We all ordered different things and once everyone's food had arrived we were all happy with our choices, I think. It was excellent food, probably the best I've had over here so far, and I think we'll definitely be returning, maybe with the parents in August. Hugs all round were in order before we headed off listening to Cat Empire and commenting on what a lovely evening it had been.

When we got back just now a car was parked up by our vehicle gate and getting out of it was the cousin from the farm who had been so friendly last year. We stopped to say hello and he said he is here until Mid July and then is going to go to Merthyr to work which just shows how the backward migration goes. I certainly know where I would rather be! He opened and closed the gate for us which was really helpful and I hope I get to see him before he leaves again.

And so the animals have mainly been fed; Rambo first, then the puppies (just getting to the end of their bowls) and finally Sassy who is currently rattling her cage in irritation at not being fed. I'll post this and then it'll be bed time and the end of another fantastic day in heaven.

What an outstanding day

Today has been a day which just summarises how amazing it is to be here and that includes yesterday evening.

Dinner just before serving

First of all; dinner. We had a lovely roast chicken with peppers and courgettes which had been fried in salt and oil then added in with the chicken to finish off, and a gorgeous fried rice with peas and other random bits of veg chucked in and this was exceptionally tasty but the setting was divine, once again sat at our dining table by the back windows. The girls were very well behaved once more and after we had eaten, A took the responsibility of feeding them followed by the pleasure of the post-dinner cuddles. It's a very busy life here but when you do settle down and relax the feeling is amazing.

The golden stage

The pink stage

The red stage

We'd been commenting during our meal how even though the sunset wasn't all that impressive it was still really lovely to be sat there however once we'd finished eating and feeding the puppies we noticed that the sky was turning red and it was developing into a stunner. We took our beers up and sat on the swinging chair up there and marveled at the colours that developed over the next hour or so. It went from golden to pink to deep red and the display was all around the horizon not just where the sun was actually sinking. What a lovely way to end the day and to be able to sit there in shorts and a vest top as the temperature has started to head towards where it should be at this time of year just added to the pleasure.

Mist from the balcony

After spending such a lovely evening sat on the roof terrace we headed downstairs when it got a bit too cool to sit outside. After a short time inside we were too tired to carry on and we headed to bed. I slept much better last night with no alarms or jumps or panic attacks however we were woken up slightly earlier than planned as A had left her alarm on for some outrageous time in the morning however I declined the offered lay in and turned my laptop on to do some paid work. It was a lovely morning with mist in the valley and after a bit I headed out onto the balcony to grab a picture.

Shaking her broom

A had also woken up with a desire to achieve and she was out early to feed the chucks and also sweep out their house which had lots of uneaten chicken feed and also chicken shit everywhere; these birds are so much messier than dogs! I stood waiting for her to appear at the door so I could snap a photograph and after a little while she obliged.

After this was done it was time for our planned trip into town to visit the bank to open an account for my business so I can invoice and be paid into a correct account, and then to the shops for a few bits. This was a very successful trip; at the bank I had the girl who had opened my first account and she speaks very good english and so was able to help without any problems. We also got some more money out to settle the final bill for the drainage. The shopping trips were also a great success and I bought supplies with which to cook my famous (maybe?) spicy pork pasta for evening meal. We returned home satisfied with our trip.

Three girls in the garden

Not happy to rest on her laurels A was straight out into the fenced garden to weed one of the beds I had dug last year; the Little Lady keeps coming over at the moment with offers of plants and so we're racing to prepare enough garden to accept these lovely gifts. It was getting really rather warm by this point and I was starting to feel frustrated with being stuck to the laptop doing paid work however this was tempered by the fact that I was making some good progress on a problem with my code which has been nagging at me for a while.

Thelma has a really long tongue

I finished up my work for lunch and went out to join A in the garden, however I had no intention of helping so just laid back in the long grass and enjoyed the sun. After a little while the Little Lady came over and told me off for being lazy, then proceeded to plant out ten or so little carrot plants which she had obviously thinned from her crop. She has a little wooden dobber (which A has mentioned before) which is so super efficient she planted all of them without any hassle and in less time than it took me to type this sentence. Amazing.

Measuring twice to cut once

I had another nardenitsa and serene butty (or two) for my lunch and then made the executive decision to head outside and get on with the next bits of the humanure collection point. Yesterday I had completed the two ends so today I set myself to making half of the long back wall. I had been making use of a pile of planks left by some builders or other by the side of the garden however this supply was now running dry so I headed into the green building to find more planks. I found a few likely candidates but then heard yapping and saw that the farmer's Chihuahua was half way up the drive. I legged it round and found Louise staring it down however when I arrived she scarpered, howling, and I was left to charge towards it and get it off the land.

Digging out a new bed

While I was doing this A was back in the fenced garden with the pickaxe (I didn't get a picture of this; sorry) digging out a brand new bed. We're not totally sure but we think that the little lady will be over tomorrow with more tomato plants. I joined her as she was going through with the fork and pulling the weeds out and the bed is looking great. She's using the local technique of a couple of ridges pulled up on which to plant the crops which allows a trench for watering and this is so much better than my labour intensive effort with the wooden surrounds (even though I still like how these look).

Hot and tired puppies

It was now the hottest time of the day and the girls were really struggling. After a few spankings for running all over the newly planted carrots we realised they were struggling and so got their bed down from the cage and they were straight in it and fell asleep. There is almost too much cute in these two and we are becoming boring parents who can't stop commenting on how awesome their children are.

Humanure collection point taking shape

I did half what I planned today but it was enough for me. The heat was getting up and I was also feeling quite tired from the early start. Also, under those trees there are loads of mosquitoes and I got eaten alive while I was putting the screws in to fix the uprights in place. The good thing is that I have only two more panels to make, the other half of the back and the middle divider, and then I'm done and we can start using it. The temporary collection point is pretty full so it's not before time either.

Camouflaged insect

Having made the decision to stop making for the time being I headed over to the fenced garden and helped out for a few minutes as A finished off the bed she was on with. Just next to her was a tall plant and I noticed a grasshopper on it so snapped a picture however when I reviewed the pictures for today I was shocked at how well it came out.

Around 2pm Lubo came over as arranged to talk about the next steps, doing the floor for the kitchen, and it was really lovely to see him again. We discussed our plans and he called the guy who ran the company who had done the drainage. This chap was available to come see us straight away and turned up after about 20 minutes or so. He has promised to get us a quote by the end of the day, and we've also settled the bill for the drainage, so that was good.

Just perfection, right there

I'd forgotten but the Little Lady had come over earlier with her ladder and was up on the roof of the green building (ignoring my warnings about the safety of this manouvre) harvesting more of the blossom from the tea tree. We had retired up to the roof terrace by this point to enjoy the heat and views and the peace and quiet; this is what prompted the title for this blog which I started just after heading in from the roof terrace. I was reminded about the Little Lady by Usmivka coming over and shouting for her. We both went down and I helped hold the ladder while she descended then A carried one of the bags full of blossom back to their house.

Garden getting more prepared all the time

And so the day (for the purposes of this blog at least) drew to a close. I was cooking dinner, working at my paid work, and tippy tappying on this blog (see, men CAN do more than one thing at once) while A was out doing the feeding and watering and other tasks. She had taken this picture of the fenced garden from the roof terrace to show what it looks like right now.

It's been an excellent evening since then however you'll have to wait until tomorrow to read about that.

Back in the saddle

So it's back to blogging daily which will probably become a drag again rather quickly the one benefit of which is to you, the reader, who will get shorter blogs from me. Evidence of this is the length of this introductory paragraph which is brief in the extreme. Onwards.

I made her wait so I could take this picture

After finishing the blog last night it was dinner time and A had cooked me a fantastic Bangers, Mash and Onion Gravy which is just my favourite meal ever along with all the other meals. We sat eating at the dining table that we have set up by the windows on the landing and it was so lovely to watch a (slightly rubbish) sunset and sit together at a table eating and talking. The girls were very good indeed and waited in their bed with only a few sneaky paws on the floor until we finished. After this it was feeding time for them and then they got their post-feeding cuddle. The evening was a quiet one and I was pretty exhausted so we went to bed early enough.

The sun slowly burning through the mist

I had a disturbed night early on jumping awake at one point with a pounding heart and real fears, which in turn terrified A who thought I was about to be sick. It took me a fair while to calm myself down and every time I almost dropped off I woke again in the same way. Eventually I did sleep which was a relief as I was so close to just giving up and going and eating. I woke up to an empty bed thinking it was really late so I dragged myself up feeling exhausted  only to find it was about 7am and I could have had a lie in. I decided against and instead took the camera onto the balcony as it was a lovely misty morning with the sun just burning through. The forecast had been for rain for today however this start to a day almost always means a lovely sunny day so when we headed out to the garage to take Thomas to have his lights changed I wore shorts and a vest top.

It was a good idea that I did as the clouds had burned off and it was baking while we were sat waiting for Lyubo to become free to do the work. It was a little bit of a mission for them as one of the screws had completely broken in the hole and they had a lot of trouble removing the front grill. They are nothing if not determined though and it was eventually finished and I was able to head off. We'd taken the girls with us which was nice however when A headed off to the shop and then home as she had a bit of work to do she took them with her as it was way too warm for them really and we hadn't brought a bowl of water for them.

A meeting of minds

The trip to and from the garage was quite interesting as they were digging up the road to re lay it which is very overdue to be fair. We also stopped at the carpenters for more sawdust but he said he didn't have any for about ten days so we'll have to go back. Going backwards in time for a second A had fed the girls this morning and the routine is after a meal they get to snuggle for a bit and so I encouraged them to get this from her. It's very important to me that they settle with her as well and to be fair they are doing this so very well.

Some of the detritus from the snow damage

So anyway I got back from the garage shortly after A and set to doing some paid work. The weather was still nice which was good as it's better to be able to look out on sunshine than showers. After a bit however it clouded over so I decided to take advantage of the slightly cooler temperatures to make a start on the humanure collection point. We'd done a quick walk round first thing this morning looking at locations and eventually settled on a really good one; just down between two of the tea trees. The area was covered in brush wood from where Bekir and Sally had tidied up after the snow damage so the first task was to drag this all out of the way.

Humanure trench

It only took me about five minutes to finish this so rather than go in then I decided to make a beginning on digging out the slight trench that you need for a humanure collection point. The idea is that the juices from the humanure do not leach out into the surrounding soil but stay within the humanure so they can help with the decomposition process. Or something. Anyway I picked up a shovel and started digging and felt the burn; I've been sat behind a desk for too long without doing any real exercise. I had to take a few breaks but got into a bit of a swing and actually managed to also do all the digging before heading inside for a rest and to do another hour or so paid work.

Harvest starts in June around here

It is sounding like I'm the only one doing any work around here today however that is certainly not true. A has been in her paid job very much today however she still managed to find time to get down and sort out the freezer which I brought over. We're going to have to slowly transfer food over from the big fridge/freezer in Room 13 so it can be moved out of the way for our tiling attempts so it is important that it is ready for that. We also got some nice time together sat with the dogs as the Little Lady and another lady from the village came over to harvest some of the tea tree blossoms. I did have to warn them that this year there'd be no climbing on the green building as it is ready to collapse. They're so tiny they did need some height assistance however so A leant the Little Lady one of the stools to stand on.

One side of the collection point is done

Lunch for me was nardenitsa and sirene butties on fresh bread which really does take me back; this was the staple diet of my first visits to Bulgaria as you can make sandwiches really easily while on the road with these ingredients. A laughed at my stuffing my face and made up a pasta dish like I had on the journey (not that you know about that yet; yes I know I'll get round to it I promise!). After lunch I worked some more then mid afternoon I decided to go out and do some of the woodwork for the humanure collection point. I measured twice and cut once and against all the odds the first end was perfect with no rework required!

Look at their huge grins!

It's been so great to see how well the girls have settled in; they're playing with Rambo a lot now (though we do still have to remind him just how much bigger than them he is) and also they are getting to know the land. They're chasing each other round outside through the tall grasses but when they are wanting a lay down they have found a spot just past the power pole, near the man hole cover, and while I was working on making the end wall for that is exactly where they went and they stayed there the entire time. It's great that they are so well behaved; it takes such a pressure off us.

I took a rest, then did the last of my hours for the day paid work before heading back out to do the second short wall. This was slightly more complicated due to an uneven floor and the first attempt was very close but not quite right. I amended it quite easily, luckily, and now I just have to build the long back wall, and then put a diver in, and I can assemble it. I'm also going to put a fence at the top of it so Rambo and the girls cannot get in, which will need gates in it so we can actually put the humanure in.

My lovely girls watching the burn

I did a little bit more paid work while waiting for A to finish her final file and then we burst into life with a few final tasks for the day. First of all we had a large pile of burning stuff which has been building up since I got back and started saying "oooh that can be burned!" as A is about to walk up to the village bin with the rubbish. She did a run up there (while I was starting this blog) and when she got back we went straight out and after an uncharacteristic struggle to light it, got the fire flaming away. I had to get in and rip out the weeds which were close around the drum just in case they caught light but it ended up being OK and is right now just smoking away into the evening.

Offering up the uprights to the finished square

The second task was me bullying A into finishing the gate which she started while I was away. I had seen the constituent parts stacked up in one of the downstairs rooms when we were unloading and made a mental note to get that looked at at the earliest convenience and that time had arrived. It took some struggling with both of us, the new driver, and a drill bit but eventually I got the screws in which had defeated her (that was NOT easy!) and then we laid it down and offered up the vertical sections.

A showing just how handy she is

After this I handed the tools to A, grabbed the camera, and watched as she put the screws in correctly to hold the uprights. I actually suggested the wrong length screws at first but we quickly worked this out and put slightly longer ones in. Some of the wood had warped a bit however with the long screws we managed to straighten them and it was a very satisfied couple who tided up and returned inside after doing this.

She's not in jail, honest

Look at how pleased she is!

And so now I sit at my desk finishing this blog as dinner bubbles away on the excellent cooker next to me and we look forward to once again sitting at the dining table and eating together in our home. I may get up and do a little bit of sorting of the boxes in the guest suite as that is a job which needs doing; all the train set stuff is being moved up into the loft to make space. I also really want to pick some pictures to put up in the bedroom and around the landing.

It's been such a brilliant day and I'm so happy that I'm here again, with A, and we've now got no plans to leave at all - it's really enjoyable to think ahead to not see a departure in our future. It is, however, quite daunting when you look around the place and see just how much there is to do. I've contacted Lyubo today and he is going to come over tomorrow so I can talk to him about the decision we made yesterday to get the kitchen floor done. I've also decided to talk to Isat, the building supplier we used last year a bit, who has a building firm and get him to quote for the job. If we can get this done and started sooner rather than later that would make me feel better. Finally we REALLY need to get Bekir and Sally back to finish the guest suite and bathroom before my parents' visit.

Pressure there!