Christmas Eve!

I wasn't expecting to be doing a blog today as it is Thursday however yesterday we were without power all day from 9am until after we went out for dinner (it was back by the time we got home) so there was no way of doing the update, or any work. I've actually got quite a lot of pictures to go through, for a first "half" of the week, which is why I am doing one today and not just leaving it all for a super long week one done on Sunday. Anyway, onwards.

Nature

As ever we have been treated to some pretty special sights in the nature around the area. We haven't yet got to go out for another exploration of the region, unfortunately, but we only have to go onto the balcony, or sometimes just sit right in the chair, to see amazing things.

Evening light turns the hills red

Mist in the valley, and the morning fire in a villager's house

Crisp, cold and gorgeous

Final sight of the sun for the day

Before the sun comes up

And there it is, shining across the misty valley

First of all the sunrise and sunsets that we love so much. It might be horrible, how late the sun is currently coming up and how early it is going down, but it does mean that we get to appreciate the sunrise as we're up before it comes up normally. Sunsets being so early are more of a problem, particularly when the power is off like yesterday, but we're managing to get all our chores done before dark still - I suppose you just do what you have to. It hasn't been as cold this week so far, and the forecast is for it to not even drop below freezing at night very much before New Years Eve, however the fog has been thick in the valley in the mornings and the road down the hill has been quite icy in places.

Beautiful ice patterns on the balcony

Permafrost on the balcony

Talking of ice the patch on the balcony has been getting thicker and thicker and hasn't melted all week. It does highlight where the tiles aren't draining quite as well as they should which is a bit of a pain however the patterns it is causing are beautiful and the fun we've had throwing the ball onto the ice for Thelma to chase more than makes up for it. Sassy's bit of the balcony gets plenty of sun and so is not freezing, though her water has had a thin film on it a couple of times this week.

The moon in the morning

Dusk moon

Tomorrow a very rare thing will happen; it will be a Full Moon on Christmas Day. All week I have been admiring the moon and getting pics of it when I can and last night, with the power out, it was almost bright enough to read by. When I let the puppies out in the night it was so sharp but I didn't have the camera with me, of course. I've taken to leaving the curtains open in the living room while the sun is going down so I can enjoy the changing colours on the mountains across the valley and see the moon as it swings around the front of the building. So many beautiful things.

Quick snap in case it decided to flit

Showing off his belly

Caught in the pecking act

Grabbing a tasty bug

Looking very fat and very healthy

Finally for this section I was sat at my desk the other morning, while A had a lovely long lay in, and my eye was caught by movement in the tea tree (Lindens) across the patio. Sure enough it was the woodpecker hopping around from branch to branch and tapping out his tune. I snapped a couple of pictures with the stock lens and then ran for my zoom but I needn't have been in such a hurry as it stayed there for ages. I took plenty of photographs on automatic focus but almost none of them came out as it focused in on the branches in front. Eventually I swapped to manual and got the best pictures of the lot. The plan is to trim these trees down next year which we definitely need to do but it will be a shame to disrupt this lovely creature from its feeding patterns.

Progress

Last update I said I was going to grab any time I had free this week to get into the roof and put the insulation up along to roof terrace corridor. Of course I haven't even been up there since as the thought of putting that boiler suit on, covering up with goggles and a face mask, and getting hot, sweaty and REALLY itchy just didn't appeal. I also have another more valid sounding excuse which is it does make sense to do it all in one go and not in bits and pieces. I don't know which you believe. Anyway, just because I haven't done that doesn't mean we haven't made progress and particularly with the enforced day off work yesterday there is a lot to describe.

Getting the wood ready

The three frames made up

Cutting sod

Digging a trench

The frame fits perfectly, I checked

Assembled in place

Metal fixings this time

In place of doing the insulation is a really excellent bit of progress. Since we shifted all the wood to catch the rat last week the building of a new raised bed went higher in our priorities. I spent my bits and pieces time to cut the correct lengths of wood and then yesterday, as the power was out, rigged it all up, dug the shallow trench, fixed the layers together and finally shoveled the spoil back inside. There is still some work to be done on it; I didn't have quite enough of the metal fixing plates and we will need to get many wheelbarrows of manure from the village pile to finish filling them up, but that can be done later today and then we'll leave it with the glass on to warm up ready for the first seedlings which we will be starting in trays on the balcony.

A starting to clean out Sassy's old room

All swept and tidied

While I was doing the digging A was up in Sassy's room giving it a good sweep out and clean. It got very dusty so she came down at just the right time to help me lift out the frames and get them stacked up. I think I did this on my own for the last one so I was very happy of the help; they're heavy. While we were there the Little Lady came over with the Kmet's daughter with a flower for us to plant, and she asked for a lift into town. We of course said yes however she never came over so I don't know what happened there.

Hiding a hole with a picture

Sharpening kit on the lawnmower

Present wrapping for Rambo

Other than that I finally got round to hanging the oversized photograph of a flower in front of the unsightly hole on the half-landing where the old power box was ripped out while the building was empty. I have also got round to putting the sharpening kit onto the lawnmower so that was fun as I walked it in circles for about twenty minutes on the drive. It has definitely made a difference though I think I will use the napping fluid next time rather than this attachement. We're all ready for Christmas now, too, as A wrapped the final presents which are for Rambo. Thelma has had her nose in them all week.

Other stuff

I want to wrap this update up now so I'm just going to stick everything else under this last section and be done with it. This includes food, puppies and candle lit comfort.

What do you mean, this isn't our chair?!!!!

The puppies continue to be sun loving creatures and have been really appreciating the fact that it's actually been quite warm in the sun, even when the air temperature has been rather low. Inside they continue their love affair with A's chair and this picture was taken about 20 seconds after she had left to go shopping; they were straight up there in the sun-patch. Right now they are both sat on my lap, making typing this rather difficult but it is basically impossible to say no to them.

She cannot wait to eat this, and neither could I

Excellent hot chocolate with flumps

Sunday roast last week was a triumph of well done tatties and beautiful sauteed turnips and cabbage. There was so much that we got a paella out of the left over chicken as well. We're still listening to records during dinner time and have continued the varied selection through this week with some classical guitar music, then some 80s pop and finally an LP of honky tonk piano music in the old London pub style. Brilliant. As was the hot chocolate that we had for afters.

Before dinner, by candlelight

Dinner out, again

Last night with the electricity off, while we were waiting in vain for the Little Lady to come over to be taken shopping, A lit a load of candles in the living room and we sat in there watching the flames (and I was dozing on and off) and playing with the puppies. It was a very nice thing to do and I was almost disappointed when we got back after dinner at our favourite restaurant to find the power back on. I was to bed early as I was really tired still and A sat up watching a film but I didn't sleep well, sadly, so I'm out of sorts today. I'm hoping that a bit of fresh air will sort this out.

So the next update will come after Christmas day and thus I wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hope you enjoy your days as much as I am sure we will.

Rats, and other things

Hello again, I'm back and unlike the previous update this one looks set to be a monster. The sun is shining, Trace Adkins is on my TV screen, the puppies are bouncing around the front room fighting and playing and I'm going to get this out the door so A and I can enjoy the rest of our Sunday (afternoon, by the time I get this finished I'm sure).

Rather cold

This week has been a stunning week, weather-wise. Lovely sunny days and clear nights but of course in the winter that means the temperature has dropped quite dramatically. We're still seeing very much positive temperatures during the days but at night it has gone south of zero and stayed there until mid morning. There's still been no sign of snow, though.

Edging down towards -5 degrees

Mountains just showing through the mist

My favourite view, but frozen

It's a winter wonder land

There is a sunrise in there somewhere

Frozen solid

Under the frost, the greens are still green

Thomas ain't lying, you know

Ever green covered in ice

The sun, just starting to burn through

Wrapped up nice and warm

Friday I was up a bit earlier than you would have expected for my opener for the weekend; once again I was dozing and saw the colour changing behind the curtains so I jumped up and went out with the camera to get some pictures. A was not best pleased when I got back in bed after this, then went out again half an hour later and then returned once more but she was lovely and warm and I needed to heat myself back up after going outside. After a while we both got up and went into the garden to check out the winter magic. I let the birds out and strolled around on the top bank while A went onto the front lawn and took pictures of her own (I haven't stolen these so I can't show them to you; maybe she'll put them on her own blog?).

The dawn star, bright before the sun comes up

Sassy's palace, and she is loving it

Not -8, but still pretty chilly

Frozen solid - poor Sassy was thirsty

The sun rises, casting its rays our way

Duck on hard water

Frozen balcony, glints

She's nice and warm again

The forecast for Saturday morning was even colder, claiming it would drop down to about -8 by 8am. I didn't exactly set an alarm but I was ready again with the camera when I woke up and got outside for some more early morning shots, and a photograph taken at near enough exactly 8am which proved the forecast lied as it didn't quite make -8. It was so cold that it froze Sassy's water solid and then when I defrosted it the crack I had fixed split and it was only this morning I realised when I went to check on her and found her top tray a skating rink. It's pretty cold. It was so cold that when the ducks tried to swim they actually skated on the pond. The picture is blurry as I wasn't ready which I'm gutted about but I think it's clear enough.

The rising sun catches my parents old hotel

Breaking the ice for their morning swim

Louise checking out the pile of brushwood

This morning I didn't bother with the picture of the thermometer as it was only -2 and that isn't remarkable really is it. As I said this morning I found that Sassy's water bowl is leaking but not until after I had refilled it and it started pouring out the bottom. I rushed over to the edge of the balcony and emptied the remaining water over the edge but less then five minutes later the splashes I had dropped were frozen solid on the tiles. I did get a picture of my parents hotel glinting in the morning sun through the valley fog and I also tried to get a picture of the ducks skating again, after A had let them out, but the ice wasn't thick and they pretty much broke straight through.

Getting stuff done

As is always the way with our weeks the second half always contains more progress than the first, what with both of us working half weeks. This one is no different and we've ticked several things off our list, while also having an unexpected success down in the wood pile in the bottom corridor. The previous section saw Trace finish his gig and I'm now bopping to Ray Charles live at Montreux. Awesome tunes, onwards.

A hard at work digging another vegetable bed

Birds having a ball with their big pile of weeds

Sassy was not forgotten

Thursday saw me working at my desk and getting away a couple of times to give A a little hand as she went into the cold fresh air and got her hoe out to clear another bed in the garden. We really need to get this done and get manure on it before new year, ideally, though this was the only time we got out into the garden like this during this week. The birds, and Sassy, were both very pleased with this being done as there was a massive haul of greens for them to eat. This is what you saw the chickens scratching at under the frost earlier in the update.

Very messy tool room still

Nice and tidy now; much better

Tidy tools are a Very Good Thing

Friday morning I was so focused on getting started on clearing out the tool room that I didn't do my chores such as sweeping out the fires. I did, though, get the tool room done and that was very satisfying indeed. I have put up three of the big storage shelving units in there so I could swap the tools over from the smaller, metal, ones that they were stacked on. There is now more space and I have been able to give A the metal ones for kitchen storage so it was a win win all round.

Puppies are DESPERATE to get that rat!

It was just after doing this that the Big Discovery was made. The chair from the hanging chair had been moved inside last week during the winds and put on top of the big pile of wood in the bottom corridor, waiting for me to clear the tool room so we could move it all in there and store it for winter. I was just getting ready to do this and cleared some stuff that had been piled on top when I made a nasty discovery. A rat had been at the chair, chewed a bit hole in the fabric and pulled the stuffing out. For the past couple of days I have been smelling rats in this area and this proved it; we definitely had a problem here. Thelma and Louise were called and they immediately started going mad, whining and scratching at the wood to get at whatever was hiding inside. I lifted the chair outside again and then started dragging wood off the pile to reveal the nest inside. There was actually a totally desiccated rat carcass in this nest, probably from last year,  however as I revealed this the rat appeared and dashed across the corridor into the men's room. We proceeded to haul the old wood and rubbish out of there but couldn't find it until suddenly I saw it run from in there to hide behind the big cooker. For some reason, when I threw the puppies behind, they weren't interested which was a shame however at least it was in the open and now we got it to run back underneath the wood pile in the bottom corridor.

It's a big'un

Burning the rat wood

This time we sealed the corridor by putting a window across to block access to the entrance. I then proceeded to dismantle the pile and the puppies were going mad as the rat was in smelling distance. I had my back turned when it made another dash for it but A's yell, from in the entrance hall (holding a broom) alerted me that the window had done its job and the little creature had run full pelt into it and bounced off. The puppies were straight onto it but didn't seem to know what to do. They were harrying it, but not grabbing and shaking. Eventually I was able to get my foot on it and hold it down so it couldn't escape again and they could get a good sniff. When I let it go again it ran behind a sheet of chipboard but the puppies got in and by the time I had moved the chipboard it was no longer moving. Rambo had come in and was literally frothing at the mouth and when we let him into the bottom corridor he immediately grabbed the rat and ran off into the garden with it. After a bit we got it off him and A tried to get the puppies interested but they didn't seem to want to shake it. Hmmm. We'll call this one a 50:50 between puppy and human however what a great thing to have achieved - we're sure this is the rat we disturbed out of Sassy's room. Hopefully there aren't any more in our living quarters.

The new toilet

On Wednesday A had managed to get over to the carpenters and pick up the toilet which was a great success. It sat to one side until yesterday when we tidied up in there (and I did the humanure emptying) and we got it set in place. It's not quite perfect unfortunately as it is a bit too high. I can understand how this has happened but it's meant I'm going to have to lift the bucket up to prevent spillage, and I've also had to bring in a step for both of us (not just A!) to prevent our feet swinging while sitting on. Never mind. It looks great and we'll get used to it I'm sure.

Rambo is very excited about his new bed

The finished product

Sitting proud on his new bed

A was busy for Rambo over a couple of days, making a bed for him. The design for this had been discussed for a couple of days but it was A who actually got it constructed. We used a strong pallet and superglued foam on top. This foam was taken out of a dumped sofa at the storage unit I was in before I ever came here so is another example of my tightness paying off. It stuck down really well, left with rocks on it for 24 hours, and then she got an old duvet cover of ours and stapled it down over the top to keep it a bit tidier. The best part of this is Rambo seems to love it and we've both gone down to find him lording it up sat on his new bed.

One sheet of plasterboard up on the ceiling

Needs tidying still, this room

Everything now squared away tidily

Yesterday we had a few things on the list to finish off. First of all we worked together to cut down the plasterboard and get it fitted onto the roof. It was a little less simple than I had hoped, and we've been left with a little gap at the top between the board and the beam but we'll just have to get slim bits of plaster board in to fill them up. Our plan now is that this week, in my work breaks, I'll get up there and put the rest of the fibreglass over the beams and then maybe we'll spend a day just doing plasterboarding and get the corridor finished. After this, wanting more achievements before we finished for the day, we headed down into the gardening room and tidied up the car end. It didn't take that long and now everything is in place and easily accessible.

Food

As per usual food as quite a central part to play in our lives here. And so, to the continued serenade of Ray Charles let's look at these pictures.

The new beer

Wednesday I took us out for our dinner to our favourite restaurant. When we sat down the normal waiter came to serve us and offered us our usual drinks. When he came  back with them, however, he was carrying an extra bottle and suggested it instead of what I had been drinking previously. It was a little more expensive (obviously) but it was worth the extra. A managed to find some in the shops and so now I have a couple of bottles at home for special occasions. Once again we had a song sung for us by the entertainers, this time "Wonderful Tonight" by Eric Clapton. We stayed a little longer after finishing our meal so we could watch the Singer with the Unfeasably High Shoes sing. The new set involves British music for the first while and they only get into the Turkish and Bulgarian stuff later on. It was a lovely evening, as it always is.

Happy with all the cheese

So very tasty

A has also been busy cooking and on Thursday she treated me to cauliflower cheese and macaroni cheese, both of which was awesomely tasty but there was so much we got one dinner and two lunches out of it. It wasn't just savoury she was making for me. As a surprise she got her baking hat on and made a wonderful apple and cinnamon cake. This was so moist and flavoursome and we're about half way through it now. It did collapse a bit as it came out of the baking tray but that wasn't a problem.

The rest...

The Ray Charles has just finished so now it's the sound of the fire, snapping and crackling in the fire (and Thelma squeaking at A to throw her toy for her) which is serenading me. It's just time to pick up the last few bits I wanted to write about and then I can get on with the day.

A is a hard core gamer now

A couple of weeks ago we saw an advert on Facebook for a wii but were too slow and someone else got their offer in first. It was therefore a surprise to receive a message from the seller saying that this person had let them down and did we want it. Of course we said yes and so a couple of days later A was ensconced in her beanbag playing Mario Kart and then later on getting breathless doing wii fit boxing. I'm not a big computer gamer however these kind of things I can get into  and certainly A is loving it. Indeed as I type this she has just come in and is about to have a game.

Rambo chewing his bone to smithereens

Louise gnawing on hers delicately

Two sun lovers

Mid way through our late afternoon top bank play time

While we were doing the post-rat burn we sat up on the top bank for a fair while watching it burn and playing with the puppies. Thelma had a stick (of course) that she wanted thrown however the other two both found bones and chewed on them. Rambo destroyed his into tiny chunks while Louise just gnawed on hers for ages. Inside the puppies have been their usual sun-loving selves and sit in any patch they can find, even if it happens to be on top of us. The routine I decided last week that I should get into has been stuck to so far this week to both my benefit and theirs. It's great fun getting Rambo to chase his ball while Thelma chases her stick and Louise chases both of them.

Looking across the valley - beautiful

The flock with their young

When we went to take the rubbish up to the bin this week I remembered my camera which was good. The view across the valley as you walk back up our lane to the Old School is just stunning. The farmer below us has had four lambs in his flock and they were out with the sheep in the field. What a place to live.

And so, there you have it. Thanks for reading.