The Day Before

The title of this blog post refers to the fact that tomorrow is the day my first visitor arrives and I'm pretty damned excited about it I can tell you. I really hope she enjoys herself here and likes Bulgaria. Anyway, you'll find out the result of the visit over the next week or so.

Really impressive cloud bank in the valley

Today was my first day of my holiday from workmen and I didn't have to wake up at the normal time. I took advantage of this and roused myself from bed at about 8am; not a huge lie in but still very welcome. I was too in need of a cup of tea to stay in bed any longer. I was so in need that I didn't even feed and water Rambo before brewing up, though I did let him out before heading inside. The day had dawned really rather lovely with mist in the valley piling up really impressively and making way to sun and blue skies over head. This is more like it; I'm used to my little patch of land avoiding the rain while everywhere else gets soaked. I hope this continues for the next week at least or maybe just that the unseasonal rainy weather clears off back to England and allows Bulgaria to be hot again.

Clouds all around

After making a brew I headed out to feed Rambo and he was once again overjoyed with the meaty dog food that I have recently added to his bowl. I will need to get some more tomorrow, and also some more dried food I think. It's good that he is settling so well. Anyway, I left him eating (he no longer leaves it to chase after me, mainly because of the meat I think) and snapped another couple of pictures of that thing I've not seen enough of recently; blue sky.

Rambo's footprints in the concrete

I returned to Room 13 to have my breakfast and left him running around as per usual. I had a lovely fry up and uses a couple of slices of the fresh bread I bought yesterday. I am starting to run out of daddies brown sauce though so maybe an aid parcel will be required shortly. I had finished eating and was just about to make another brew when I heard someone tooting a horn. I decided I would go and check on Rambo anyway and also see what was going on and it was a good thing I did. It was the bagga machine man come for his money. I put Rambo away and indicated where the gate was for him and as I was doing this I spotted that the men had emptied the concrete from the last sill they put in and Rambo had found it and left a lasting impression.

I invited the bagga machine man in and showed him round a bit, then he took me to where he had struggled and told me I need one of the real pneumatic drills, the manual ones, which can be hired in town. I gave him the money, he counted half of it and was satisfied and off he went, me telling him that I would be in touch in a couple of months maybe for some more digging to be done. I made my point about the non-full-days and got a bit of a discount so there is no point in making him dislike me.

Cloud collecting in the valley

All day today it has been so cloudy around about but the sun has pretty much stayed out. I snapped another picture to demonstrate this as the clouds in the valley were just amazing; you could see above and below them, with the houses and everything, and I had to go and get all my lenses to get a picture framed how I was happy.

Drying the glassware

So I had two things to focus on today. First of all I had to try and  resolve the problem with my paid work which I had ended the day yesterday being frustrated by other blockers put in my path. Secondly I was tidying and cleaning in preparation for my guest. I started off setting the wheels in motion for the first task and then waited for that to bear fruit while starting to tidy up on the landing. There were piles of bits everywhere and I just moved them to better places, or at least places out of sight. I realised tha the two interesting bits of glassware from the chemistry lab were still sitting where I had put them upon collecting them from my friend; this would be an ideal opportunity to clean them up. I washed the first one, carefully separating the sections which were stuck fast, by allowing the hot water to soak in and break the seal, and then lay it on tissue in the sun to dry. When the first one was done I did the same with the second. They are now sat on top of the green unit and look lovely.

He's on the move

The sun was also shining on the tortoise and this gave him the impetus to have a bit of an explore around his little realm. He was really on one and visited most of the area, having a few rests on the way and ignoring the grub I tried to feed him that was actually alive. He has now buried himself for the night again, once more digging in face first and leaving his backside sticking out and up in the air; I moved him from a similar position this morning but I'm just going to leave him there and see what he does.

Splatted insect

I was looking out of the new windows in Room 13, trying to see if Rambo was around and in sight when I noticed this; it looks like a flying insect has squashed itself against the glass. And yes, I know it probably happened when the truck was driving to mine yesterday; don't spoil my fun.

Cheese and strawberry jam sandwiches

I had some small successes in my paying job and that, along with sweeping out the upstairs landing and down the stairs and right through to the front doors filled my morning up completely. It suddenly was lunch time and I decided to treat myself, like I had the day before, to cheese and strawberry jam butties. They were epic and really set me up for the afternoon.

Chilled out doggy

I returned to my cleaning, finishing off shoveling the piles of rubble left over by the window people into the wheel barrow and generally making sure the downstairs was tidy including putting away all the tools and organising the shovels and pickaxe and that. I looked outside and saw that Rambo was asleep on the porch as per usual, waiting for me to come out. I grabbed the camera and snapped two pictures, the second one of him looking up as he heard the sound of the first. Bless him. I went out and gave him some good fusses after this photograph.

Two different weather systems

As I was fussing I saw that there were some seriously dark clouds heading in our direction and the line of demarcation was so sudden I just had to take a picture for you. As per today even this weather avoided us and shortly after the cloud was below and behind but not above us. Brilliant. I was just about to head back inside when I looked over and saw that the window people were back looking over the fence. I immediately took Rambo and put him in his enclosure, then indicated to them that there was now a gate and they could go through that. They ignored me, climbed over the fence, and then started laughing as the Special One had arrived and he walked past them, up the path and through the gate.

Two men fitting, one watching

It was typical that just as I had finished cleaning down there (and I had broken, or appeared to break, my new hoover which did the dust on the top landing and then stopped running and would not start again) they would turn up and start drilling and making mess again. I had thought I wouldn't see them until the beginning of next week as the second in command had indicated that date on my calendar before they left the last time. Still, very quickly (and with only an out-of-control self expanding foam gun as a problem - it was very funny though) they did all the tasks required of them including drilling a small notch in the floor to lock the second door into. Then we talked about the next job; the bedroom window and balcony door, and I think that may be what was being indicated on the diary as again he pointed to Monday or Tuesday next week when asked when they would be here. I also got the dimensions for the internal window (which won't have an opener on it) so I can get the bricks built up to the correct height for the window to be fitted. All good progress.

Is this a black bee?

I had noticed that there was a dead black bee on the windowsill in the bedroom last week however I kept forgetting to get a picture of it; going in there today reminded me so here it is. I'm pretty sure it is a bee, though someone will probably put me right. It is totally black though which you don't often see.

Here's hoping it establishes itself

Sweeping up after the window people this time didn't take that long, they hadn't made as much mess as I thought, though I did have to wait until the self expanding foam had solidified before I could do it as that stuff was EVERYWHERE. I had been able to make some progress with the paid job in the intervening time so it was a happy me who picked up one of the evergreens that I have been aiming on planting, and taking it outside to put in near where my picnic area will be. It didn't take long to plant and now I have to work out where the others are going to go.

I was starting to get hungry so I went for the healthy option of the cold boiled tatties with cheese, lots of salad (fresh from the Little Lady yesterday) and then spoiling the health aspect by a chunk of butter and lashings of mayonnaise. It was really tasty though, and I washed it down with an early glass of beer though I haven't continued with that as it made me really tired. I still had some work (paid) to do and didn't want to spoil that by falling asleep too early.

I have also this afternoon emptied the fire oil drum which was REALLY hard work as it is really heavy and the wheels on the trolley weren't really pumped up enough for that kind of weight. It is now set up for a good burn whenever the weather allows over the weekend. I could have done my washing last night and dried it today but never mind; maybe it'll be OK at the weekend; I am starting to run out of t shirts that I normally wear it is so long since I've had a good drying day forecast. It is getting chilly in here; the sun hasn't been out enough to really warm the air, so I've got the fire going already and socks on under my sandals.

Gorgeous view

Anyway, I'll definitely not be doing anything else this evening apart from a bit more paid work and then settling in for the night as tomorrow I am off to the airport to collect my visitor and I have to wake up early to make sure she is up and moving in time for her super early flight. I'll leave you with this photograph, taken just now, through my windows of the view between the tea trees of the mountains in the distance.

EDIT

So I havd got my fire going really well, then let it run down and a few minutes ago I dropped some wood and coal onto the hot base and waited. It turned into this roaring furnace and the sound it was making caused my to get my phone out and shoot a video for you... here it is:

Quotes for the roofing wood

I woke up this morning at my normal time of 6.55 and dragged myself out of bed at 7.05 to go and feed and water Rambo and then make myself a brew. I was so dozy this morning however that I had my shower pre-brew to wake me up and ensure I made it correctly. This did the job and I was able to make the brew right, pour cereal into a bowl and even add the correct amount of water.

A more promising start to today

The pleasure of today was waking up to a non-rainy non-low-cloudy and non-cold morning. The sun was actually breaking through every now and then and this made me wonder whether my friend would rather postpone our plans for today (going round wood yards to get quotes for the roofing wood) until tomorrow as it could be a good day for working outside today. I had a quick chat with her on facebook and it was decided that it was too late to change plans. T had also messaged asking if the men needed collecting but I was too late to reply. Imagine my surprise when he turned up and I heard voices and it wasn't him talking to Rambo (who had been left out this morning again) but Bekir was there having a cigarette.

No matter; it didn't really effect my day as I was off to collect my friend (to help as translator and give moral support to both me and Bekir, I think) and had then planned on collecting Bekir; it was he who was put out as it had disrupted his morning coffee. He didn't seem that put out and we hopped in Lucy (well, he hopped in once outside the gate and over the worst of the bumps) and we headed towards my friends. I quickly noticed that the fuel gauge was hovering around, and often actually touching, completely empty. Oh dear; it was about a 10km drive to the nearest petrol station. I nursed her, going ever so slowly over the bumps as well, and we arrived at an empty station except as we pulled up, two cars nipped in front. All of a sudden we were at the back of the queue. Typical. They didn't take long to get out the way though and soon I was fuelled and comfortable again.

We arrived and my friend was just as surprised to see Bekir as I had been. A short review of the work completed on the garden by the men last week and then we headed to our first wood yard. It was a fair drive, being the furthest from home (we were going to visit another couple as well, depending on how well this went) and we drove through some areas of great beauty on the way. I had my camera but as we were on a mission I didn't stop to take any pictures, which is a shame.

A tangle of stuff

The yard was as you'd expect it; lots of trucks, LOTS of piles of trees and a load of interesting machines for making planks and other stuff. There were also huge piles of tyres everywhere you looked including some monsters that wouldn't look out of place on a Worlds Strongest Man being used for one of the competitions. There were a group of men sitting around smoking near the entrance and it turned out one of them was the father of the owner and he took us through the yard and into a shed which had a little office in the corner. We sat in the office and discussed what I wanted and were given a price. This didn't take long. Then we were told that his son was coming and that we should wait so we did. And we waited. And waited. Then I needed the toilet so I went into their long drop which was minging! How anyone can prefer that to my Humanure I will never know. I'm not describing it here!

After a bit more waiting I got bored and went for a wander. It was cold in the office and the sun was out. I snapped some pictures around the place and then went back in and waited some more and then almost decided to walk out when Bekir returned from having a cigarette with a younger version of the first guy. We sat down again and went over the figures and found that yes, the dad had given the correct quote. He gave us a price for delivery and that was it. We had waited the best part of an hour for that. To be fair we had had a good chat, and I had learned something about the sequence of stuff to be done on my build that I hadn't realised before (I'll go into that later) and also I had once again enjoyed the pleasure that is enforced chillaxing when things don't go at the speed you wish them to and this slows you down and makes you take breaths and not rush everywhere.

From that yard we drove a short distance to another but they said immediately that their truck wouldn't get to my village; I'm not sure why one yard can and another can't but whatever. Bekir's son in law was there though which was nice and just goes to show just how family gets around over here; you have to be careful to not irritate the wrong person I think.

Loading cutoff wood into the tractor trailer

From there it was a slightly longer drive, but always heading back towards our finishing point. This was a smaller yard just tucked next to a road and I thought it was a bad option. My friend noticed that one of Lucy's tyres was slightly down and I happened to have my pump with me so I sorted that out while we waited for the man we needed to return from doing a delivery or some such thing. Shortly we were ushered into a dingy room with a bed in one corner and a picture of Gorbachev on the wall; it seems that harking back to the communist era is a common theme amongst these wood yard people as the first guy had said he thought communism was better than Europe. To be fair, who am I to argue.

The dog is the same colour as the wood!

I didn't last long in that office and returned leaving Bekir to do the negotiating. There was an incredibly cute dog running around the yard which was almost exactly the colour of the sawdust and had been sleeping on a huge (and I mean huge - probably 20 feet high) pile of sawdust when we got there. She was really friendly and came over to be fussed a couple of times but this was the best picture I got of her as she was camouflaged sat on some sawn timber.

After a few minute Bekir emerged smiling and saying that this was the best place to buy from, with the lowest price and free delivery. I'm happy with both those things so that is decided. We hopped back into Lucy and went back to his village to drop him off. As we were sat having a coffee in his little cafe we were discussing the bagga machine bill and, after a not-very-successful telephone call about it, we decided that it would be good to get this sorted out and get a final amount decided. We headed into the town local to my friend which meant I was happy as I could pop in and get some eggs and fresh bread from my favourite shop.

Then we waited and waited, and it started raining and we kept waiting and eventually Bekir got bored and rang the guy and we had to drive up the road to another location where we waited again and then, just before I was about to say "this is ridiculous, let's go and if he wants his money he can come to me" the digger machine drove round the corner and myself and Bekir went out to negotiate. Long story short we met in the middle and he should be coming past mine tomorrow sometime to collect the cash. That is a success as far as I'm concerned.

Clouds piling up over the mountains

That was our last chore and so we piled into Lucy and headed back to my friends, dropping her off and picking up two grape vine seedlings, and then proceeding to Bekir's where I dropped him back by the cafe and then headed over the Cheren Put to the new road and home. On the way I had to park up and snap a couple of pictures of the clouds piling up by the mountains which have Greece on the other side. It was a magical view and well worth a few seconds pause.

Nearly done with the unit

And so I got home and parked Lucy off the land as the drive is getting quite churned up and I knew I had to get T back to his house later. Talking of T he had been cracking on with his task and had put shelf ledges, and made shelves, for the green unit. He had also taken the doors off and attempted to sand them down however the sander was not working and kept chewing up the belts. No problem there as I don't need the doors for the purpose I have for it now.

Daffodils planted

There then followed an incredibly frustrating period where I was attempting to help my paid job out with something really urgent but no one could unblock me. I sat at my desk, basically achieving nothing but just poised to crack on, looking out of the window at the sun and nice weather that we haven't had for weeks, and slowly getting to boiling point. After several hours of frustration I snapped and went outside and planted the daffodils that I bought at Lidl the other day. There are eight of them now planted in a nice row at the top of my entrance flower bed. After this I returned to my desk and nothing happened to unblock me for the rest of the day.

Unit in place and about to be utilised

I passed some of the time by picking the little tortoise up (who had managed to beach himself on a twig in his water bath and had fallen asleep stuck half up in the air) and carrying him around with me for half an hour or so to warm him up. I tried to feed him another grub but he was having none of it and eventually I had to put him down so I could drink the cuppa I made for me and T to have after we lifted the unit in, and before he left. The unit looks great and fits exactly where I wanted it to. We had our brews then I took him home in Lucy and returned, via the railway crossing in the hope of picking up the two puppies but they weren't there, and then back up my hill. On the way I came across the kmet so I gave him a lift up and first of all he told me he had sorted the telephone problems (I didn't even know there had been; I thought we hadn't actually damaged anything important) and then I asked him to come and sign the papers for Lubo. He said he would tomorrow so we'll see when he arrives.

So I am sat in the warmth of Room 13, having eaten an INCREDIBLY pasta meal which used up the rest of the pork belly from yesterday and some mushrooms and olives and some of the really hot chili and was so nice I ate the entire dish I cooked, though I had planned on some being saved for tomorrow. Whoops. Talking of tomorrow that is the last day before my guest arrives so I am going to be spending it tidying and making it look like my place is not actually the mess it normally is.

To quickly end this post I found that the insulation for the outside of the building should be left until after the windows are done so this means that, after the roof, I'm not going to focus on the insulation but on getting all the windows and doors in. This will be such a good thing and also clears up the other tasks that I would like to queue up as "nice to haves" including getting the bedroom done, and maybe getting the guest suite built. I talked this last through with T who has done a lot of dry walling before so maybe that could be a win.

Finally my package arrived today with the heavy duty carpet/rug for under my chair, new bedding and some other bits and pieces kindly sent on via my guest and just beating her here for two days. The floor under my chair is obviously disintegrating beneath the wheels so having the rug will make a big difference.

Windows

Well that was a day; a crazy day... at times a really frustrating and boring day, but what a great day too.

Mountains just about visible this morning

It started off pretty much as most of the days have recently; with me in bed and only getting up when desperation for a brew and a wee made staying in bed too difficult. Again as always I sorted out Rambo before myself, getting him water and a bowl of food and letting him stay out to run around while I went in to get myself a cuppa and some muesli (yep, back onto that today). The forecast for the day wasn't too bad today and the mountains were actually visible across the valley, though with quite a low lid.

They're rebuilding it

As I observed yesterday the birds were still getting in with ease and you could see, by the mud encrusting the edge of the crack in the glass they were squeezing through, that they were intent on building a nest. When I came back in from walking Rambo this was made obvious by the fact one of them was actually sitting in the partially reconstructed nest. They are determined, you have to give them that. I do feel quite bad for them to be fair, but I can't have the bird poo everywhere.

Locally shot wild boar

Yesterday I had been given a vacuum pack of the "shot by the brother" wild boar and promised a picture which I did not deliver. I took this first thing to remind myself to tell you about it so here you are. The little lady had come dashing out of her house and given me this packet over the fence. So generous.

Clearing the will-be-kitchen

T arrived dead on time and said that he had been past to give the men a lift to my friend's but my friend had beaten him there; he was dead on time here though. We had a bit of a chat and then he took himself off to start on the first job for him of the day; emptying all the hay out of what will be the kitchen and then sweeping it completely clean. He cracked on with this while I did a few bits for work and waited for them to get into the office.

Found grubs

The toilet is through that room and at one point I went and he showed me some awesome grubs he had found in the accumulated mess on the floor. We saw a couple that he hadn't picked up yet and they were positively scooting across the floor. They only have legs at the front yet they are able to use these really efficiently to propel themselves. His idea was to feed the little tortoise with them but for now they stayed in the corner downstairs. There were also loads of huge black beetles that he had disturbed from their hidey-holes near the walls. These just scuttled for cover again.

I had forgotten that Lubo was due today so it was a surprise when T brought him upstairs and showed him in to my office. This was a super quick visit where he just dropped a letter off for me to get the kmet to sign, stamp, and return, and gave me the other letter her had collected supporting my application. I think the meeting at the obshtina was today so we should hear in a week or so that letter is complete and then Lubo will be sending the application to Sofia. Good times.

The windows arrive

I was sat back at my desk just about to prepare for the morning meeting and getting some work to do for the next few days when I heard a whistle and looked out and saw a window truck pulling along the lane. They had come today! I went downstairs and shouted T to move Lucy (as she was parked in her normal place) and then they were here and unloading. I went upstairs and started to take my office apart as two of the windows were due to go in there. The boss-man saw what I was doing and directed his men to start on the windows on the landing.

A hive of activity

It felt like about five minutes and they were ripping windows out and taking frames down. It was like a hive of activity and I was part of it stripping down my desk and piling all my electrical stuff well out of the way.I had decided to take the opportunity to reorganise a bit so I wasn't too sorry to pull everything out. My plan was for T to get working on the green unit and make it good so it can go into Room 13 at the end of the day.

At work on the frames

While I was preparing the room they were out getting the window frames ripped out and preparing the surrounds for the new ones to go in. They use the hammer/axe type tool the same as Bekir and Sally and have just as much skill as those two. It was brilliant to watch as they alternated using the hammer and the sharp edge to trim and shape the bricks and mortar around the edges. These tools also have a nail removal grip and they really are the ultimate in multi-tool.

The non-subtle approach

With the first windows well under way half the team headed down the stairs and attacked the back door, literally, wrenching it from its frame as the hinges would not be lifted off. They work so fast when they have a mind to and are super efficient, with very little wasted effort.

More brawn over brain but it worked

It was then time for them to come into Room 13 and they set to with the same energy as before. As many of the windows as they could they were saving and stacking up for me to reuse - I will put them in the other rooms to fill the gaps where there are broken windows and then nail them shut; there is no point in getting all the windows in before the roof is done in case of damage. It is just nice to have had these ones done as I am living with them every day.

Telephone engineer

I noticed that another car was pulling onto my land and it drove round and parked up behind the window truck. I presumed it was another of their workers but when no one appeared I headed down and checked it out; it was from lucatel, the telephone company and, when I went to the back of the house I saw that he had opened the box on the back wall and was testing something. I have no idea what. I tried to find out but the language barrier was too great. He stayed for a while, talking on his clip-on-phone and moving wires around and then left without saying anything really to anyone. I did notice that he didn't have a key for the padlock and so had just ripped the door off the box; nice.

Main man at work

The work continued apace and I was unable to do anything but watch as my office was in shreds and the noise and mess even made it impossible for me to join the daily meeting (which I dialled into on my phone but with almost no success as they couldn't hear me over the noise, the video cut off, and then I couldn't hear them as they were not near the microphone and it kept rejecting the noise as background noise. Oh well. I sat and watched the window fitters do their thing and at one point was amused to see them get a jigsaw out and chop the frame of one of the windows in Room 13 in half, before ripping it out and throwing it to the ground below. I did, at this point, go and move one of the silver birch trees which I have moved from under the shelter of the porch so it got some rain.

In the coal bunker

Because yes, once again, it was raining today. Miserably, damply, coldly and horribly the rain had started just as T was about to go take Rambo for a walk and it didn't really let up all day. I got wet feet through my trainers and had to go and change my socks, trousers and shoes at one point as I got so miserable with cold feet and I really REALLY hope this weather changes soon! I'm sure T would have preferred being out walking Rambo as he voluntarily took himself under the stairs into the coal bunker and started cleaning under there. He really does just want to get on with things.

Leveling it all up

Some of the situations these fitters get into really do scare me and this was not the only time I saw them clambered out through the window and working from the outside, just stood on the windowledge. They obviously do this day in and day out however when you consider this guy is wearing some woolen knitted over shoes and has no safety equipment at all, sometimes you just want to look away.

They had started off at such a rate of knots that I put off our plans to head into town (I needed some wood glue, clamps, and a hoover because the mess was stressing me so much; I even went round with the brush after them in Room 13 and filled a whole bib tub with sweepings) until after they had finished. The speed they were going it looked like it would only be another half hour or so. Myself and T sat on the porch on deck chairs and waited; I got my book and he was playing on his game. We waited, and waited and it rapidly became clear that we should have gone before as progress bogged down and became very slow indeed.

These doors turned out to be difficult

They were struggling with these doors which had started off quite easy and with fast progress but then turned into a labourious process chipping away at the lintels to try and get it straight. It looks pretty close to me but after an hour or so of messing around (and with the main man having wandered off at some point, clutching some paper, never to return) they did not manage to do this today. Apparently they will come back tomorrow and finish it off; that is fine by me.

While they were working on this door the labourer was carrying all the glass inside and putting it near the required locations. They were then fitted, and back at the previously expected speed, by the two most experienced members of the team. They were super fast at this and once again the tempo was high. It was not long after this that they packed up, jumped in the van (having fitted all the fly screens including the one on the back door) and headed off, wheelspinning in what is now becoming quite a muddy area near the carpark. It NEEDS to stop raining soon please!

As soon as they left me and T jumped into Lucy and headed into town, putting of Usmivka Muzh (correct spelling of man this time thanks for the tip) as he was just about to head over to see the progress.  First of all we stopped to try and find some wood glue and clamps at the big shop in town but we could not find any at all. Very strange. From there we went to the bigger of the two electrical shops to try and get a hoover, thinking at least I would not fail at that, and of course I looked at all their hoovers and not one looked good. From there we went to the other, slightly smaller, store and finally I found one that looked ok; cyclone technology and bagless. It wasn't that expensive, though they did have trouble finding a boxed one, and after they had opened the box, plugged it in to prove it worked, then resealed it, I put it in the back of Lucy and raided Lidl again for some comfort. Because of the work being done on Room 13 I had not been able to eat and I bought some lovely pork belly chops, a jar of strawberry jam, and two more of the flower arches for putting on the balcony.

Before they had left I had asked the guy to get the bedroom window and door onto the balcony done next and as soon as possible. That is the last one to be done for now I think. I was pleased when he said that they would do the knocking down of the wall to fit the door as this means I don't need to coordinate their presence with that of Bekir and Sally.

We got back and let Rambo out, then set to work putting Room 13 to rights, and tidying up. I plugged the hoover in and sucked up all the dust from where the desk will sit and, while I was doing this, I was so gratified to see that T had just got stuck in sweeping up out on the landing. I actually saw this as I was going to go and ask him to do it. He is great to have around. That done we lifted the desk back into place and then he stacked the saved windows in one of the rooms while I did the rest of Room 13. I am so much happier with how it is arranged now and when that green unit is in, and things are away in it, it'll almost be tidy. Maybe.

He's about to eat one

Once we were all done, and while I was talking to my work to explain why I had been so quiet all day, T went and got a couple of the grubs and popped them in with the tortoise, then picked him up and carried him around for a bit, giving him warmth and cheering him up a lot. He was looking around and T was even able to stroke his head for a bit. He seems to be doing alright which is great. It was then time for him to leave so he put the tortoise back and headed off. I snapped this picture while I was chopping my tatties for my dinner tonight. The next time I turned round there was only one grub and he was off on an explore. It looks like he ate it all down in one go. Well done T for suggesting that! I will now try and give him a bit more attention, and some of my body heat, and track down more of these grubs if I can find them.

Dinner was epically tasty as I expected and so very welcomed after the day I had had. I don't know if it has come across in this blog but for a large period today I felt quite fed up and down; mainly because of the dreary and cold weather and also because there wasn't anything I could do because of the lack of computer for paid work as well as the weather. I took the daffodils down to plant them at one point when it briefly stopped raining but then it started again so they are now sat near where they'll be planted, waiting for another opportunity. I hate sitting around feeling lazy I really do.

View from my desk

Now I've got the fire going (I can't believe it is nearly May and I have to have a fire to stay warm) and I'm going to pour a small glass of whisky and enjoy the rest of my evening as I normally do. Tomorrow I am out with Bekir and my friend to the builders merchants to get quotes for the roof and T is here doing the green unit (as he didn't get to do it today) so it can be moved in and I can tidy before my guest arrives. I'll leave you with the view as I was starting to blog, through my nice new clean windows, to the tea trees and the glimpse of mountain through them.

Restful Sundays

After the overly busy day I had yesterday I was determined that today would be a relaxing one. My first achievement was staying in bed til about 9.30 or maybe even nearly 10 before a need for a cuppa and the toilet made me leave my bed. What a great lie in and much needed I can tell you.

Before I did anything at all I watered and fed Rambo; he came with me as normal and waited outside while I filled his bowl with meat and dried food and then he walked very closely next to me when I took the bowl back to his house. He must have been hungry because this time he stayed inside and ate while I went back in to make myself breakfast and a cuppa.

Breakfast for me today was toast and thick cut chunky marmelade and that is a taste of home as it was made by my parents. I have a couple of bottles and it reminded me why I was so determined to have seville orange trees on my land; I want to be able to make my own marmelade from my own oranges!

After breakfast I decided that I should be productive at least a little bit and so I set myself the task of emptying to two full humanure buckets, the collection box under the sink, and picking up all Rambo's shit and putting the lot on the compost. I had to gather a fair few things together to do this and, unfortunately, Rambo came inside at one point while I was in the house, and started exploring. Cue another instance of me leading him back to his enclosure, ensuring he was walking behind me the whole way, and was well aware that the punishment was for not staying outside like he had been told to. He is pushing a lot of boundaries at the moment, with the massive changes in his life, and it is being a challenge to keep him under control. I hope he does settle so I can be confident to have him off the lead when walking him but I think that'll be a while off yet.

Emptying of the humanure was completed without any real challenges, however I did notice that some of the sawdust had turned orange. There are no pics of this as I was too busy getting it done and covered so as not to attract flies, but maybe I'll try and get some if it happens again. I'm not sure if any other humanure people are reading this blog but if they are, have you seen this before? Any ideas anyone? The good thing is, the pile is still absolutely not smelling bad and there is no collection of flies or anything around it and it is rapidly heading towards the season when the flies start to multiply.

Clematis really does tie itself into knots

This job completed, and the kitchen collection box cleaned with hot soapy water (it was getting quite minging) AND my hands washed with lovely apple smelling soap, I sat down for another cup of tea before doing my next task; planting the two Clematis outside and positioning the archway. I should definitely have bought both plants at the same time as I've had the first one for a fair few weeks and it has been growing fast... so fast that it has managed to tie itself into a knot. This was right where I was going to attempt to encourage it to grip the framework which is a pain.

Clematis outside and secured

It did not take me long to situate the arch inside the compost in the buckets, and then attach (loosely, sadly) the feet to hold it from being blown over. I will have to secure it a little bit better at some point, possibly tie it to the bucket handles and maybe even put some ironwork in the ceiling to afix the top of the arch to. The wind does get up quite a lot here so I need to be sensible.

Getting a proper home ready for the baby tortoise

After doing the planting I decided to make a start on the new living home for the tortoise. My idea is to dig up and attempt to keep alive some grass, dandelion and other weed type plants from around where we found him, so he has a constant source of live food, and also feels as at home as possible. Now I had thought that I would need to spend time finding another trough because I only bought four of them yesterday however, because I decided to use the round buckets for the Clematis I was able to make use of one of the spare two tubs. I drilled three holes in each side near the bottom and then went and selected a few areas of plant that would suit. I was careful not to overfill as these are not that sturdy and once they get heavy, the handles start to bend. I've left it outside for the time being, to get some rain (yes, it's due to rain AGAIN next week) and hopefully establish itself and not just die off. Fingers crossed.

After this I went inside and decided I was getting hungry so I put a couple of tatties in to bake, with the aim of having a not-too-late lunch. A couple of things happened while I was waiting the hours it took them to get ready. First of all a chicken and a cockerel got inside my fence somehow. Rambo was out, dozing on the porch as usual and he woke up and noticed them and started barking. I looked out, saw the hens, and thought "oh no!" because they were my neighbours. I went down and as I got down he started chasing them. the cockerel pretty much immediately ran to where the fence is lowest and flew out and away but the hen ran the wrong way and ended up being chased for quite a while until it finally got down to the front fence and tried to squeeze through the gap. It was too fat and it got stuck, enabling Rambo to catch up and give it a good sniff, then wander off again, not interested any more. After a few shakes it squeezed through leaving a few feathers behind and ran off down the lane. Very funny.

So this is one way they are still getting in

Secondly I went out to feed and water Sassy and caught a glimpse of the birds who were fitting themselves through a tiny hole in the glass of the back door. I grabbed the camera and stood in wait and eventually one did it which I snapped. This method of entry, as well as via the front door, will be closed either Monday or Tuesday as my windows are fitted. They have started rebuilding the nest in the corridor (and there are bird droppings everywhere, including one on the washing machine; not impressed) so I am looking forward to them not being able to get in.

Late lunch/early dinner

Finally my tatties were ready and so were the really slow lightly fried mushrooms for the side. I put the local butter on, and the cheese which was at the end of its life, and it was ok. The butter here isn't salted so is a bit less interesting than UK butter but it wasn't too unpleasant and you could always have added salt. The tatties baked pretty nicely, with crispy skins and lovely soft insides and I even burned my mouth a couple of times; I was hungry!

Ant hill

After eating I let my food settle and then, feeling restless because I hadn't achieved as much as I like to on a day, even a rest one, I headed outside to at least make a start on planting the next Silver Birch. As I was about to head down I saw the farmer go up the lane with a full load of hay on his horse cart. I hadn't even realised they were in and certainly Rambo hadn't because he was asleep and only woke up to go and bark at them when they drove past. Not the greatest bit of guard-dogging I have ever come across but still. I carted my kit down to the gate and was pleased to see that they had shut it behind them, though there was a jacket flung across one of the bushes near the barn so I presumed they were coming back. I noticed that there was a massive ants nest that had sprung up by the spoil pile of the hole I was working on today so I grabbed a few pictures; they were big ones!

The hole, and the tools

The sun was out and it seemed far harder work today to break apart the bedrock. The pickaxe hardly made any impression at all, and the claw-iron was vibrating in my hands as I attempted to dig out the post hole. I think that the trees here must spread their roots very much sideways in search of a way to go down through this exceptionally hard layer. I did make some progress though, and was able to dig out a shallow hole of about 3 or 4 inches before I thought that was enough and went and got the tree and the stake.

Situating the stake

The post fit in the hole really well and, with four wedges of stone on each edge, then the dust from digging out the hole and finally a load more larger stones on top, it did not move at all. This technique is proving very suitable for my needs and, despite it being a quite heavy task to dig out the hole in the first place, is actually not that much hassle. If it keeps my trees upright through winds and snow then I'll be very satisfied indeed.

Getting well rotted down manure

Next I was off with the wheelbarrow and shovel to the dung pile that I had been to the day before. I grabbed my camera this time and, after putting Rambo in his enclosure (I was not going to risk a repeat of the previous day) I went down and filled the wheelbarrow up with really well rotted composted sheep and cow manure. Brilliant! If you look closely at the picture above towards the bottom right there is a film slide; evidence if nothing else that some of the hay in here was originally stored in the school haha.

Manure and compost around the tree

I returned to my land via the front gate and started filling in the hole with big rocks and the spoil dug out by the digger man. This was most of the effort and I have a small sore patch on the palm of my hand from the shoveling. There were some really large rocks from this hole which I put to one side, and one or two which I threw in at the bottom. It didn't take that long, but I was pretty much out of breath, by the time it got to mixing the compost and soil and then planting the actual tree. I emptied the whole barrow into the hole then scooped a depression and deposited the roots carefully in, doing my best to retain the soil which was around them. I then pushed the compost up and around the roots and gently pressed it in, so the tree was stable. I then went back to shoveling and flattened the spoil pile completely while filling the hole in which was the aim.

Aluminium holding the tree to the post

The next task was to secure the tree to the pole and I did this with some of the metal I had recovered from the fence the other week; I was thoughtful enough to bring a pair of pliers with me this time which made this a much easier task than to do it by hand. It isn't tight but it should be enough to prevent the tree from being blown over.

Job done

Finally I did the same as for the other tree, arranging some found stones in a rough semi circle to retain a bit of water for it, and then getting a full watering can and watering both this tree and the other one in well. The trees which I have planted first are the two which were the least healthy when I bought them, to give them the longest chance in the ground during this (at least for this process) luckily cooler and wetter period of time. I will need to be watering them well during this summer for sure.

Tobacco on the cart

As I had started to fill in the hole the cart had returned and my neighbour was in emptying the last of the hay, and also removing a load of tobacco that had been stored in there. He left as I was finishing up and I have just popped out and the last of the hay has been taken so that is that task completed. It's good to think that my land will be my own. It's also a good thing that I hadn't put the lock on the gate last night or they wouldn't have been able to get in.

Flags, Flags, everwhere

I spent a little bit of time wandering the land as I like to do and was again struck by the beauty of the Flags. I have a clump near the entrance which is the main picture here, with the dead tree above them which I will be taking down soon, and the first one I photographed the other day has now had other blooms join it so I also took that picture. What a lovely thing and I can't wait to split them and have them running as a rear border for my entrance flower beds.

Gorgeous evening sky behind my favourite tree

I then came in to start this blog off and got a bit of the way in before I decided I would go and let Rambo out again to run around, try and pretend to be a guard dog, and have a run before I shut him in for the night As I walked over the sky captured my attention and I was super glad that I had brought my camera. In a week or so I'll have a couple of rope chairs hanging from my favourite tree and will be able to appreciate this view while sipping a beer sat in the warmth; if the weather improves like it says it will. I can't wait.

He was running before he had even stood up

I attempted to sneak up on Rambo to get a picture of him laying down (this is rare to see) but he leapt up and almost slid out of the building as I took the picture; bless him he does love to see me, even if I've told him off or whatever he is still so happy when I come to see him. I then played with him for a bit and there follows a series of pictures taken during this time.

Very excited to be out with me

Here's my toy, dad, lets PLAY!

Daring me to take the bottle

What a gorgeous dog!

Focused on the bottle

Looking through the front door

The last picture is what I have to harden my heart to when I leave him outside to do his guarding thing. I have just been out again to play with him and he was somewhere off and came bounding round and into sight as soon as he heard the front door open. He has so much energy and I need to play with him more, thought it's tough as I don't have as much as him. He does seem to be settling in very well if only he would stop acting up and be more obedient again. We'll get there I'm sure.

So now I'm going to put the pictures in place and publish this and ignore all people calling at my door. Rambo is still out, I'll put him away when I go, so I don't expect any. T back at it tomorrow I hope and a few more bits and pieces done, and me hopefully getting some more paid work handed over because I was quite light last week and had to make a lot up myself.