A day of successes

The day started in a really lazy way with a lie in til nearly 9am which is completely unheard of but obviously much needed. I wasn't up that late last night so I got loads of sleep. As is normally the case I was a bit dozy after such a long sleep and my throat was totally dry so my first act of the day was to make a large mug of tea and drink it down as quickly as I could.

What kind of beetle is this?

I have again managed to have Muesli for breakfast as I continue to try and be a little healthy if I possibly can. While I was preparing my breakfast and my brew I noticed a strange looking beetle wobbling along the tabletop. I snapped a couple of pictures and then saved him with kitchen roll and put him outside.

Hibiscus and Clematis

I also snapped a picture of the Hibiscus that I bought the other day, and the Clematis that I bought yesterday which appears to have grown an inch or so at least even since then. I have pretty much decided that this is going to go on my entrance porch, trained up the wall and hopefully spreading a bit too, to provide a burst of colour to an area I expect to make a lot of use of. I am not sure where I will put the Hibiscus though; it is putting very good looking buds out so is obviously healthy.

My main task to achieve today was to go and see the window people to ask them to come and measure up and quote for all the external windows and doors that I need. I will not get them all fitted at once, but at least I will have a quote to aim at for costings. Before doing this I decided that I should cut my hair and started shaving it off. After about three strokes the thing gave out and completely stopped working. I was now stuck with a section of my hair very short, and the rest uncut. Fortunately I had brought two sets of clippers with me and so I was able to just pop and find them in my store room, and finish the job. It didn't look too bad, considering I had no mirror. There followed an awesome shower which really helped me to wake up properly.

Sassy of the dusty nose

Lastly I fed Sassy and she did her usual of trying to jump on the bowl as I put it down which is really quite annoying and means I have to hold her while I feed her. However, once the bowl was in and she had her face stuffed in it I spotted that she had the normal dusty nose she gets while eating. It is so cute that I had to take a picture of it and share it with you. Aren't you glad I did...?

Feeling properly prepared to face the world I jumped in Thomas and set off for town. The first thing on my list was the bolt for the wheels which I had forgotten to get yesterday. I went to my normal builders merchant and the chap who speaks a very little English helped me, found the correct bolt and a washer, and then refused payment. You can't beat service like that.

After this I headed towards the window workshop which my friend had shown me to last year. I found it without any problems and was able to make myself understood enough to arrange for someone to come today or tomorrow. I was pretty sure they said tomorrow but that is fine as I have made sure these two days are empty of anything after the hectic weekend and yesterday. My second job completed and I was feeling really good about myself being able to communicate, even though I was aware that my friend had done the groundwork and pointed the place out to me.

Big bottles of my fave drink

Finally I needed some kitchen roll as I was nearly out so I stopped at the little market on the main street and bought a few rolls, and some bottles of the Carroti juice that I love so much. It is great that they stock it here because I haven't seen it in any other shops. Final job completed and I was home within an hour of setting off with everything I wanted, done. The only thing I forgot was a mask for doing the coal store but, as the weather was looking really good, I had decided against working inside again today so that wasn't a big issue.

He is waiting for me to leave so he can come in

I was about to head outside to start sweeping down the entrance steps when I noticed that the swifts/swallows (I'm never sure which is which) were flitting in and out a lot, going to their old nests. This is a big issue as I love birds and I don't want them to establish their homes inside my house and then lose them when the windows are done. They would also be massively disturbed by all the building work going on around them as the roof is done and the insulation installed. I decided to use the remaining plastic sheeting and cover as many of the windows as possible so they couldn't get in.

Bird proof, finally

I did the window in my bedroom, the window on the corridor and had enough to cover all the windows in Sassy's room which means that every window that is open to where their nests were is now secure. I hope they find another place to make their nests. It didn't take too long to do this and I completed it all before it was lunch time.

An unidentified, very large, buzzing thing

While I was putting the sheeting up I heard a loud buzzing and saw a very large buzzy thing flying around the room desperately trying to get out. It was really hard to get a good picture so I gave up in the end and it must have found a gap to escape because pretty soon the buzzing stopped and I didn't see it again.

I was to clear all this

Lunch was the rest of the liver with red onions on bread covered in mayo; it was very tasty and very filling and I reckon I'll not be having a large meal tonight now. I let it go down by drinking a large mug of tea very slowly and then headed out for my afternoon task; clearing the steps and path down to my front gate.

Making progress

My first step was to sweep everything into a big pile with the big brush which didn't take that long. I then shoveled the big stuff into the the wheelbarrow and deposited it next to the humanure collection point to use as cover material. Finally I got my small hand trowel and collected together the fine soil where the oldest leaves had broken down completely into fabulous compost. This is exactly what I have been looking for to start my seeds off in.

Job done

After a couple of hours of good sweat inducing work I had cleared the top steps and all the path. It was a really enjoyable task as there was barely a sound apart from the buzzing of insects and the wind every now and then in my ears, and sometimes a distant cowbell (much to be preferred to the sound of one right close up about to eat my trees!) and with the sun out it was a perfect temperature; not too hot but warm and comfortable.

Good growing soil collected from the path

I had managed to collect two large buckets of the excellent soil while doing this so I will be able to mix it with the other soil, and the rotting sawdust, to fill quite a few pots and plant out the trees I got at the weekend and also pot up the Clematis which I want to flourish. I will also probably start some more seed trays off as well. There is so much to do, and I can choose when and how I do it.

Pile of leaves and twigs to use as cover material

I filled three wheelbarrow loads with leaves and non-rotted manure and deposited it, as I have said, next to the humanure collection point. While I was digging one of the hens got into the pile and started scratching around which is perfectly natural I suppose but not what I want to happen at all. I have protected this pile in the same way as the other one; with the cuttings from the trees which were blocking the entrance and I hope this suffices until I have the fences up, next week.

The rest to do tomorrow

I have by no means finished this job and have another section to do tomorrow. This will be slightly more difficult as I either have to pull the barrow up and down the stairs, or open the gate and go around. Either way I'll solve that difficulty when I get to it.

And so I came in to start writing this blog and then realised that I'd not cut my wood for my fire so off I went to work up even more of a sweat; if I don't get fitter living this lifestyle then there is no hope for me at all. While I was cutting I heard a banging and crashing and went down from the loft to find that the Special One was outside with two men; the men from the window place.

Once again the habit I seem to have of thing occurring much quicker than expected continues; I swear he said they would arrive tomorrow. Anyway I spent about 40 minutes walking around with them explaining what windows I want and how they should open etc. It is only when you do this with someone that you remember just how huge a place this is. I am a little concerned at what the quote will be, and I just remembered that I forgot to say "fly screens on all opening windows and doors" and "tilt and turn for the balcony doors". I may have to go in tomorrow and tell them this.

Damaged trees :(

I waved goodbye to them and finished my wood chopping so I have now refilled one of the buckets with wood chopped slightly smaller so hopefully it can lie flat in the fire box. I finally started typing this blog and then had to do my usual dash downstairs to chase the sheep off. One of the lambs had a good mouthful of my tree and just stood looking at me until I nearly ran into it. I then chased them off my land growling at the sheep dog and staring it down; the damage to the big tree is quite bad; I really should fence them tomorrow. I am being lazy putting it off.

Blossom, with Martenitsa in the background

While sitting back in Room 13 I heard the cows come down and decided to walk down and see they didn't come on my land. While I was down there I noticed that the Martenitsa from my Dad has already done the trick; there is a blossom on the walnut tree! This is great to see and I will keep my eyes on these over the next days and weeks to watch how they progress.

Raiders wondering whether to risk it

I stayed down there as I had also realised that the herder was with the cattle and I would be able to ask him about getting a load of manure for the garden. This I did, I think, though I don't know how or when it will be delivered. I also snapped a few photographs of the potential raiders as they eyed their usual path up and onto my land. My presence put them off and they all headed down the lane. Only a few more days and the fence will be up.

Stunning sunset behind cows

So it turns out that I didn't really communicate very well as the man has just turned up with a couple of buckets of manure; he has given them to me and I took him to show him the garden I wanted to cover and asked him how much for all that. He said he will see me tomorrow, or his boss will. So that could be good. The more manure I have the better as I want to spend all this year improving my soil. The cows are back and the sheep are loitering; the fence can't come soon enough. The sunset, however, is stunning.

I have just been out and warded the trees from the cows again; one of them seems to love using the middle sized sapling as a scratching post and this almost totally bends it in half as it is only small. Anyway, I also got to stand outside for a bit in the evening cool enjoying the view across the valley and sharing another incomprehensible conversation with the herder.