Exploring and Excavating

This morning was a lovely lay in; I didn't set my alarm, didn't get disturbed by the dog which was barking from 7am again and finally roused myself from my pit about 9am or just before. I really needed that sleep and I think I'm gonna need it again tonight after the day I've had.

The sun is out, the mountains are back!

When I did finally decide to get out of bed the sun was shining in through the windows on Julian and it looked like the makings of a fine day, as promised by my phone weather app. It had sun "sunshine and cloud" and, as I went to feed and water Rambo before my own cuppa was made, I saw that this was exactly what I was getting. It was nice to feel the sun on my face again after a few days of nothing but cloud and rain and it was also nice to see the mountains across the valley which I've had no sign of for days. Indeed, I can see, through my tea trees, the mountains that way where yesterday it was just grey cloud.

My plan today was to meet T, go into town to get my bank card and the letter from the bank, pick up another Clematis and hopefully two Honeysuckles for my climbing frames and then go exploring and excavating at the abandoned Russian airforce base near where T lives. I made myself a small breakfast of cereal and drank copious amounts of tea while listening to Buddy Holly and pretty soon T arrived. I had left Rambo running around and he was playing with T when I went down to let him in.

I finished my brew then we set off for town which, it being Saturday and market day, was crazily busy. We got a parking space by the simple expedient of bumping up the curb onto the grass next to the carpark and leaving Thomas there, and then walked to the bank. It was lovely and warm at this time, with sun and hardly any clouds; just what you need to cheer yourself up. The sight that met me at the bank didn't however as there was only one lady serving, what looked like a complicated transaction happening at her desk, and three very frustrated looking people waiting. I quickly decided to not bother waiting as I am not going to be able to do anything until my health card arrives anyway.

We went down via the little flower shop I had bought the other Clematis from and I picked another one up, however they did not seem to have any Honeysuckle and didn't seem to know what it was either. I will have to go back with pictures or maybe my friend who might be able to assist me. Either that or get a couple bought and shipped to me.

Flowering cactus

As we were walking down to the flower shop I saw some large troughs which will do really well at the base of the climbing frames to have my flowers planted in; I picked up four but I should have got a fifth so I could make an indoor garden with growing grass and dandelion for my little tortoise; I will have to keep an eye out for the biggest planter I can find to do this as soon as possible. On the way back to the car I stopped at another little stall which sells flowers to ask about Honeysuckle but they didn't have a clue either; I did however get this awesome cactus. So pretty, and so cheap.

Gorgeous view from the road

From there we headed up into the hills south of me towards this base which he had explored a few years ago and found some badges and buttons and other Russian Air Force memorabilia. On the way we were continually seeing stunning views (as you would expect) and I stopped just before we turned off the road to snap this picture. As you can see the clouds had come over however it was still warm and pleasant so it wasn't a bad thing really.

Looking across the abandoned base

There isn't that much left at this base, it has obviously been abandoned for a long time, however there are still the concrete bunkers and some of them are quite extensive. There follows a couple of pictures taken around the property while we were exploring, before I go into detail about some of the more adventurous parts of our visit.

One of the bunkers

This one was completely waterlogged

There has been so much rain that quite a few of the buildings are currently huge puddles or lakes with the rubbish floating in them; it has been used as a public dump for a fair while now and there is a lot of rubbish around. It is a shame really that there is so much public dumping in this lovely country.

Thomas helping with the exploration

We had set ourselves two targets for this visit which T had not managed to do the previous times he had visited. First of all there was a subterranean bunker which you had to climb down into which led back into the hillside and we had brought a long strap to hook onto Thomas so we could lower ourselves down and be able to get back out. We decided that, due to relative weights, T should be the first to explore and if it looked interesting then I would go down second. I backed Thomas up as close as possible and we ran the strap from a hook on his bed and it went right in and was plenty long enough for our purpose.

The explorer departs

T then got the head-torch on and lowered himself carefully into the depths. It was plenty too deep to have done this on your own and without a strap or ladder to get back out. I waved goodbye to him and he disappeared, with the camera, through the gap and then into the distance. He went so I couldn't hear his footsteps, or the shutter from the camera, any more and I stood and waited at the top. After a minute or two I could hear him returning and then he came round the corner. He was a bit disappointed as there wasn't anything in there and we worked out it was probably a water cistern as it just went through a number of 180 degree turns and then stopped, with nothing at all in there. Well at least it has now been looked at and we know what it is. I gave him a hand out and then he went ahead out of the tower.

Jump sequence

Previously I had jumped from the door across and T had commented that it would have made a good shot so we set the camera to sports setting and he set himself and I jumped and above is the result; I'm pretty pleased with that. It wasn't far but it was a fun little jump.

One of the large bunkers we explored

We had an explore of the biggest of the bunkers which went through several large rooms and down some very tight corridors with what were obviously air lock type doorways however we could not get right the way through as the other exit was really overgrown with brambles and other spiky type plants. After this we grabbed a quick snack which was some bread, cheese and sausage that we had picked up before coming to the airfield. It was really lovely to just sit in total silence, munching, and listening to the birds and not much else; such isolation.

Nearly completely decomposed sheep

After this very pleasant rest we went to the next target. This was a large pile of dirt in another bunker where T had originally found all the interesting stuff which was attracting us back again. He was hoping that there would be more insignia buried under it as he had found a few bits just laying around in the open. At the entrance to the bunker there was quite an unpleasant sight of a dead sheep that was almost completely decomposed. We stepped over this and went in,taking the pick axe and shovel with us.

The pile we dug through, and some clothes

We were digging for about an hour or so I reckon and we did uncover some stuff but mostly it was just rotting rags and chunks of the tar which had been on the roof. There was LOADS of really good red soil however which we were digging out and we managed to manhandle two of the large tubs I had bought earlier, full of soil, out and into the back of Thomas for me to use with my planting. They were really heavy and on the first trip back I trod on the sheep - not nice. We put stepping stones over it for the second trip.

My button; all I found

I was the first to discover something really interesting which was this button however this turned out to be the only thing I would find of interest. T got another couple of buttons and an almost complete neck-tie which he will now try and restore I think. It got to time to go so we loaded our finds and headed back home where T got in Lucy and waved goodbye; he's back on Monday.

The Lucy name label

I remembered this time to get a picture of the name tag which he made for Lucy; isn't that cool! He has also fixed the windscreen washers and replaced the tail light which was broken when I bought her. It's so good he is looking after my car so well; makes me very happy indeed.

Post hole in the rock

And so I set myself to the last task of the day; planting out the first of the silver birch trees. I had bought the largest claw-wrench that I could find from the shop on the way back and I set about digging out a deep hole in the bedrock (as well as smashing as much as I could to help the roots which I hope will grow from this tree) for the stake to sit in. It did not take me that long and I was very glad that it was sand stone, and not granite.

I then took the wheelbarrow up to the Little Lady's manure pile to get a load to mix with the soil. While I was up there Rambo had managed to break out again and came bounding over. I grabbed him and dragged him back, making it clear he was in trouble, and put him in his enclosure; I think he was able to push the actual gate and get out which I will fix when I put the steps in next week. I went back to the pile to find the Little Lady standing telling me I was getting the wrong stuff and leading me round to where it was more mature. I filled the barrow and wheeled it back to the nearly ready hole. It was quite a mission to fill the hole back in and when I got close to ready for the actual planting, I put a few shovels of soil into the barrow and mixed it with the manure. I think carefully got the tree out of its pot (this tree is the least healthy of them all, as I am hoping that being in a hole with really good soil will help it) and then put it into the carefully prepared ground.

First tree is planted

It was then a task of shoveling the rest of the soil over the top, watering the tree, and building a very low stone semi circle around it to demarcate a safe zone. By this time I was sweating very heavily and ready for a cup of tea and a sit down however, when I got back to the house, I realised that the front door was locked for some reason. Now it could be that I did it accidentally but I don't think so; maybe the Little Lady visited while I was digging and did it. This is another reason for me to want to have proper doors in and this will be done Monday or Tuesday I hope.

And so I sit here, tired and ready for dinner. I'm going to publish this now as I don't think I'll have any need to add anything else. Tomorrow will be a relatively restful day I hope, though I may plant out the daffodils and also put the climbing plants to the first arch. We'll see.

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Well I spoke too soon. As I was preparing to hit publish, with nearly all my pictures in place, when I heard my Little Lady neighbour shouting for me. I went downstairs and she was with the other brother and she was gabbling at me very fast about something or other. I wasn't too sure what however when she made it clear she expected me to go with her son somewhere at first I said no but then they made me understand it was to see something awesome and would only take ten minutes.

Yeah right.

Looking across from next to Thomas

I pulled Thomas round in front of their house and he jumped in and directed me through the village, the way I had walked with Rambo the first time, and then on up past where I'd turned off and along the track quite a way until we reached an even worse track leading off to the right and up into the woods. Thomas did commendably well and after a few more minutes he indicated that I should park up and so I stopped and got out. We were in an area of such amazing beauty it was almost unreal, with views for miles and the sights close by just as stunning.

A boar was here

There then followed a long escapade of which I got a video which I will have to edit and I am not going to do that this evening as if I was tired before, I'm doubly grumpy now. At first I wasn't totally sure what we were doing but then, when he pointed to the ground and I saw the boar print, I realised that this was following on from the conversation during the birthday drinks; he was up showing me their hunting grounds. We spent a good thirty minutes or so hiking through some very rough terrain, on hands and knees at times, and pushing through bramble bushes and thorn trees.

Looking once again for sign of our quarry

We caught a glimpse of one quite early on, dashing off away from us down a cut and then nothing for ages. Then (just before I started filming) we could hear one grunting really loud and close. Obviously it stopped as soon as I turned the video on but never mind. We tracked around to cut it off and were rewarded be seeing it again legging it through a thicket and out of sight. We chased it a bit, getting really close to a very steep drop at one point, but then made our way back up towards where Thomas had been parked.

An edible mushroom on the trail

While we were walking he suddenly stopped and pointed at a huge mushroom which looked very much like the ones you buy in the supermarket back in England. He indicated that it was edible and held it so I could get a picture. We didn't pick it up (though now I wish I had because it could have been on my pizza which is cooking at the moment) and carried on to Thomas. We made a little detour below him again to see if we could spot any more but there was nothing to be seen, despite a few rocks being thrown into the valley to try and make something move.

There is a deer in that clearing

On the way back to the village we drove back past the lake which I didn't know was there until this evening and he ushered me urgently to stop. I did and we got out and he started throwing rocks in the lake, causing some ducks to fly off. We then spent some time listening and he started looking through his monocular at a distant clearing. All of a sudden he gestured that he had seen something and passed it to me to have a look. At first I couldn't see anything but then I looked with my naked eyes and could see an animal moving; another check through the bring-em-near and I could tell it was a deer. There were actually two of them grazing in the field; the one you can see in this picture, and on the non-reduced original you can just make one of them out if you know where you're looking.

The last excitement occurred just above the village when we saw a much larger deer startle and leg it off through the woods; I skidded Thomas to a halt when I saw this but it was much too fast for me to get the camera and try and get a picture.

So there you are; so much for "nothing else will happen". That ten minute trip took an hour and a half.

I'm going to try again now and publish this thing.