Fencing day

The forecast for today has long been for a lovely day, with rain being predicted regularly (as I've commented) for every previous day but never turning up. Typically, as I was shutting down last night, there was a really short but very heavy burst of rain and then, while I was in bed, the heavens opened and it tipped it down. I love the sound of rain while I'm sleeping, however, so it didn't disturb me other than the thought that if it was raining today the men would not be pleased with working outside, and the concrete would struggle to set.

You don't see that often; a puddle!

At some point in the early hours the rain stopped but then it started again even heavier and when the alarm went (yes, an alarm day today) at 6am it was as heavy as it had been and I had to put my rain hat on in case it kept going. There was no way I was not having the men today, even in monsoon conditions! I sat and had a brew and wondered if my ears were deceiving me that it might be stopping.

Rainbow over the hills

It was when I was on my way to get a belt for my combats that I noticed the light out the back and grabbed my camera. It had stopped raining and not only that, but was clearing dramatically to become what looks like a lovely day. I am writing this first thing in the morning, before collecting the men, to capture my thoughts most accurately by the way. Out the back of my land, over the track which the cars were racing up the other day, there was a lovely rainbow; really dark and rich coloured.

Amazing clouds towards the rising sun

Clouds clinging to the hills

A stunning two tone of cloud over my house

Looking towards the rising sun I was blown away by the sight. The clouds were so dramatic and changing so fast I snapped and snapped and got loads of pictures. These three are just the ones I liked the best after I came inside to edit them. Even when it is rainy and cloudy this country delivers some of the most stunning views I think you'll ever see.

So, with the ground softened to help with digging, I'm now off early to collect the men with my camera so I can stop and take more pictures on the way. I'll continue this later.

I've decided to come back to this early afternoon to take a break from digging (I have actually done far more than I planned today, but I'm enjoying it so I just kept going) and have a cup of tea. I may decide to not go outside again now and do some more paying work after this however I'm waiting for someone there at the moment so it doesn't feel right to start that until I can be productive.

Wide bend causes reflection of bluff

Anyway I was very glad to have set off a little early today for the men as I stopped about three or maybe even four times on the way. The first time I saw a gorgeous view up the valley towards my house with a wide bend in the river causing the ripples to still and a lovely reflection in that pool of the bluff above. I took a large number of pictures from this point also of more clouds clinging to the hillside but I'll keep them for myself.

The bridge in the distance, carrying the railway

About 100 yards further down the road I pulled over again to take almost the same picture, but this time focusing on the bridge in the distance as a counter point to the natural beauty. This landscape is so ancient that there probably isn't very much natural left as humanity has dug and shifted things around. It is so beautiful though.

Long stand of poplar trees along the river bank

My final stop was as I drove past a really long row of gorgeous yellow poplar trees; the colour was exceptionally bright in real life, though my camera hasn't really captured it that well I still want it here to show you and to remind myself of this. I really need to get down there during a sunny day and take this picture with better light.

I got to the men about five minutes before they were ready and just sat in the car and chilled; they arrived dead on time but had a friend with them who wanted a lift to town. This necessitated a swift emptying of the back seat as I was only expecting Sally back there, and when he got in he also got out a rag (like G had on Saturday) and wiped the seat down. They are very particular, some of these people.

It was not a problem giving a lift though I did get the standard question about United or City which everyone asks me all over the world, and we dropped him near my builders merchant so he could walk the short distance to the bus stop. We went into the shop to buy some cement and I also picked up a new shovel for the men. With our supplies loaded we headed back up the hill to the school.

Straight lines for the fence

I had previously measured out, and marked with place stones, the extent of the run for Rambo and I showed this to Bekir and Sally who took in the task ahead with their usual good will; I know that if some bearded weirdo asked me to dig fence post holes on this land I would not be impressed. But they are made of sterner stuff and set to. Their first task was to mark out the straight lines down which the first couple of sides would run and they did this very cleverly with string and some chunks of wood (I can tell they were whittled by Sally).

Starting to dig the first holes

Next the set to with the fence post digger however after a few minutes it was obvious that it was not going to make much progress on its own through the bedrock about 6" below the surface. Bekir disappeared and shortly afterwards returned with two huge iron bars, pointed at one end and hooked at the other; I would call them 7 foot long crowbars really. With these two tools, and the fence post digger, they were able to fashion holes big enough for the fence posts. The top part of the wall is going to have a 3 or 4" concrete base to it, as they were not able to get deep enough there, but the rest of it they have dug 18" holes for each post.

My chosen area of work

While they were exerting themselves there I returned to my flower bed and continued digging, turning and breaking up the soil. I was getting into a rhythm when I heard the farmer boy saying hello and he climbed over the fence and stood watching me for a bit before wandering off towards Bekir and Sally. I just kept digging the whole time; I'm not totally sure of this guy yet; he comes across as a bit strange and after the episode where he tried to over charge me for "tor" I think that has put me on my guard a bit.

My neighbour watching the men working

He spent ages sat next to the men however they didn't break a rhythm once that I saw (not that I was watching much; my head was down over the spade, but I know what Bekir and Sally are like) and after a while he wandered off. I am going to have to work him out; he is my neighbour and I'd rather continue a good relationship than not trust him. It's a challenge though.

Resting with my tools

All this time I had been digging and I blew straight past the limit I set myself and just kept going. It is theraputic donig something so physical, repetitive, but with such obvious progress. This picture was taken just before a break for some tea and I was sitting down and saw the artistic merits of the shot so I went for it.

Bekir and Sally on the left, a chicken on the right

I was in my morning standup at my paying job and highlighted the things I'm waiting for which was good; I am going to enjoy that work as well, so long as I can really focus on it and am not held up by waiting for other people. I went back to digging for a bit and then it was lunch time, which for me consisted of cheese and tomato butties and for Bekir and Sally something unknown but it was enjoyed in the shade of my trees.

Fence post hole

To give you an idea of the effort that they are having to put into each of these holes (and they are having to dig 18 of them for Rambo's Enclosure) this is one of the holes. they will get maybe 2 or 3" easily with the hole borer, but then they hit bedrock and they have to smash and ease the stone out of the way to make progress, alternating with the crowbars and the hole borer. This hole is done and is easily 18" deep.

Little lizard on the wall

While I was standing watching them dig I went into the brick house which is Rambo's for a look for some reason and I saw a lizard running off. I managed to get a few pictures, though most didn't come out as they move very fast. This one wasn't as colourful as the ones I couldn't photograph the other week, but it was still pretty awesome to see.

Around this time I asked Bekir to help me out with the car situation; I have found one that I like which is for sale in the main town nearby however my Bulgarian is just not good enough to ring up and ask about it; they had ignored my email from the weekend. He did a fantastic job and we are going to go and test drive it tomorrow so I may be in ownership of it sooner rather than later. My friend says she thinks it looks really ugly however (if it has five seats) it will be an ideal vehicle with space for the men, and loads of room in the boot for both building materials, and Rambo.

All the posts, in place.

At one point while I was working inside on paying work I heard voices and looked outside and realised that Bekir had brought the cups in when he helped me with the car, and now they were having a drink and had no cup; for a while I have been meaning to put one of my tin cups next to the free water permanently and this seemed like as good a time as any. While I was out there I looked over and saw that all the posts were in their holes. Already! They were just ready for concreting in place.

Cement going in

I just went out to get my washing in (lovely and dry and fresh smelling; I love being able to hang my clothes out to dry in the fresh air - better than any perfume, that fresh smell) and they are already cementing the posts; Bekir again confirmed that he wants to put a concrete base around the whole fence, which makes sense to me. We will need to get some more concrete but that could be for tomorrow; I am not sure.

Dirty floor needing swept

And so I am back to finish this blog, at the standard time, but with only a little more to write; this is a good way of doing this; I'm going to break it up again I reckon. Anyway, after the last update I decided that I needed to actually do something physically towards preparing for Rambo, having sat on my computer doing paid work for a couple of hours. The inside of the house was filthy; so covered in dust and old hay that I was not about to let him go in there without a good sweep. There was also the dirty lockers still in the corner however those will have to wait until I've got Bekir free for 2 minutes to lift them out.

Much dust in the air

I got the brush and swept half the room into one pile, then went to the other half and swept that as well. There were a few bit of wire sticking up through the floor in places so I got my snips and clipped them off as low as I could, to protect his feet. I also went round the edge of the room, and the windowsills, and pulled everything I could off them onto the floor. He is going to need a kennel in there to make his bed but I will pick one of those up this week; I know where you can get them from in town.

The end of day picture

That job completed I wandered over to the flower bed and finished off the last row, putting the sod from the first spit into the last gap. I have made so much progress there today and tomorrow I reckon I will completely finish that side, and make a good start on the other.

Sally using the new trowel to remove soil

At this point I thought the day was over and pulled all my tools inside. I went to my computer to do a few more bits while I waited for Bekir and Sally to come in and change ready to leave. I was wrong. After a few minutes of waiting I grabbed my camera and went outside and sure enough they were still at it. We had agreed that a concrete base should be put around the entire fence, dug into the ground, so Rambo can't dig out. They had started the process of cutting the trench between the fence posts and, by the time it was actually finishing time, they had done nearly half of it. They just don't know when to stop (which is a good thing) and I was the one wanting the day to be over rather than them.

Looking towards the Greek mountains

And so finally it was time to pack up which was done relatively quickly including bringing in the unused bags of cement and cleaning the wheel barrow of all vestiges of the wet cement that had been in there previously. I think tomorrow is the time for me to buy another one, though, as I could have done with one today. We're going to have to go and get more cement anyway I think. We drove back to their village without any problems, though we had to slow right down just before their turnoff as there was a cop car hidden, and I mean well hidden, with a radar gun just round a corner. It is a good thing the car in front knew about it or I would have been copped. I dropped them and said "see you tomorrow" and then headed back down their Cheren Put. On the way I had clocked a couple of views that I wanted to photograph.This first one is from at the top, near their village, and is looking towards Greece and the Greek mountains in the distance. It is a fabulous view from up there and this is certain not to be the last time I'll show it to you.

Sheep on the ridge

When I turned around I saw, silhouetted  against the setting sun, sheep on the ridge. I just had to take a quick snap and wouldn't you know, it actually came out OK. I am not sure if they are Sally or Bekir's sheep, but they do belong to someone from his village. The sheep dog had been sent away by the shepherd as we arrived and was jogging through the village when I left. They are big dogs too.

Looking back past the trees in an earlier picture

The river meandering through sand banks

These two pictures were taken at the spots I had noticed earlier. Both of them required me to pull the car over and run a fair distance back along the road to the best place for the picture. I actually really appreciated the little jogs I got here as it stretched my legs and opened my lungs; I am getting far more exercise here than I was in England and it is obviously agreeing with me.

Sun setting behind my land

And so home and settling, except I had one more jog on my hands, up to the top of my land, as the sun was just settling behind some clouds towards its final descent and it was so beautiful I sped to a stop and legged it to capture it before it ended; I think I missed the best of it even still but here is a photo of what I saw.

Dinner was the rest of the large chilies, again stuffed with cheese however, because I had been so hungry after them last night, I also fried some nardenitsa and onions on the side. It was tasty and went down very well when chased with a pint of beer. As someone said, I'm drinking more here and that is true; however a beer with dinner every night isn't a bad thing I don't think.

What's happening to me daddy?

Aww this new man is nice to me

I'm going on an ADVENTURE!

And so you may think that this monster blog post is finished but no, it isn't. Why, I hear you sob? Haven't I bored you enough!? Well no; today was the day that Rambo was collected by the pet transport people and started his journey over here. Dan took a load of pictures of him being collected and here are a couple of the best; I have since spoken to Ken who is bringing him and he is very well settled apparently and there were even a couple of pictures of Rambo on a rest and stretch break looking very happy and playful.

And there I will leave it for today. Tomorrow is another day.