Tuesday Fun

This morning started slowly for me; I woke up feeling tired and couldn't shake it until mid way through my second cup of tea, and while I was listening to some 3 Colours Red and singing and drumming along to it. My first music of the day, The Enigma Variations by Elgar, had been very successful in slowly waking me while I sipped the first cup.

The gift left on my doorstep

When I had got home last night after my meal with Georgi Stamkov of "Bulgarian Properties for Sale" I had found, on my doorstep, a big pile of salad in one of my buckets. My little lady had obviously been past and brought them. They are really so generous and I did meet her today climbing into my out building to get her hay (which I had moved a few weeks ago) so I said thank you to her for them. I don't know when I'll get to eat them though; I'm thinking pizza tonight. I didn't take a picture last night because it wouldn't come out in the dark room so you have the pleasure of this little story today. Aren't you lucky.

Morning light brightening my bedroom

It is a good thing that I am waking up naturally at a sensible time because somehow my battery on my phone died completely in the night; when I woke I had no idea what time it was. I dragged myself inside and then spotted that the sun was getting up pretty well so went to snap some pictures. This is taken looking through what will be the large inside window into my bedroom; you can see how the sun will come right in through my balcony door and windows in the mornings; a lovely way to wake up.

A Marmite Teapot and Toast Rack

Another thing I forgot to put into yesterday's blog was my Marmite memorabilia from the librarian was brought over by T. I spotted this when doing the house clearance and had asked what they wanted for it. I am still waiting on a price but they've brought them over anyway. I will keep these safe and display them at some point when I have a place to do so.

A lot of fencing going on

Anyway, on to today. As per usual the men had not taken any time at all to get changed and get out working; they just crack on. When they finished yesterday they were about 2/3 of the way along the top run of the fence and by the time I got out to snap some pics they were well past that point. They have a good method which involves Sally stretching and unrolling the next run while Bekir does the twisting and securing of the ties and then they work together to affix the new section to the old. It must work well because they are steaming around.

Terry has moved out

I went to check on our little tortoise friend but his home was empty; I do hope he has found somewhere nearby to move into as it would be ace to have him toddling across the land. I'll be keeping my eyes open for him. I have seen loads of lizards today, some quite large ones (compared to most I've seen) up to a foot long. They are normally spotted legging it away from you as you walk towards them so getting a picture is proving difficult. I will keep trying however.

T hard at work, ignoring the view

It isn't just Bekir and Sally working really hard while I am stuck at my desk doing paying work. T is also cracking on and doing a brilliant job; he doesn't need me to say anything really he just cracks on with what is needed and works hard; I have had to go and tell him it is lunch time a couple of times already as he's just worked straight through. I love this picture as the view in the background is amazing, but then there is T hard at work removing undergrowth from the path of the fence and also taking any old metal away.

Beard Brother Selfy

Seeing as everyone is doing them at the moment, and T is wearing such an awesome hat, I popped my hat on when I went out to take these pictures and we snapped a selfy. This was the first attempt; I think it is a keeper. The mountains in the background really set it off.

The huge toad we found

I had become quite frustrated with sitting inside behind my desk all day, particularly as the sun is out today and there are things I can help with, so I went to hack and slash at some of the overgrowth the same as T was doing. This was therapeutic and I was really getting into it when T shouted that he had found a massive toad in the undergrowth he was clearing. I went to get my camera and took a load of photographs though I liked this one the best; it was taken when we were moving this lovely old creature to another patch of thick bushes so it could hide from predators and make a new home. There are so many awesome creatures living around here. When I find my first snake I'm sure I won't be as charitable though.

I had to do my morning meeting at this point and then was on a few conference calls for a bit. During the call though the man with the digging machine turned up and I showed him around the building and pointed out what needed doing. I then grabbed Bekir to talk it through and the outcome was that the job was too big for his machine but he knows someone who has a bigger one, with a pneumatic drill, which should be available. This person will call today or tomorrow so that job is being delayed slightly.

The tangle I had to clear, and my lacking axe skills

After my conference calls had finished I went back outside to continue on the hacking and slashing; I had really enjoyed that first brief burst. I have discovered that I am not all that good at using an axe as my accuracy is not that great. I do, however, get through in the end.

Around this time Georgi and his family arrived. They had been busy all morning with paperwork and were just popping past for a social visit as I don't have everything I need to apply for residency today, sadly. I showed them around the place, talked through my plans, and he had a chat with Bekir about sourcing some cheap second hand tiles for the roof, which should shave a substantial amount off that cost compared to new ones. He was very impressed wtih Bekir and I really hope Bekir didn't feel like he was being checked up on; I have so much respect for the man and I said to Georgi that I trust him and would not force him to do something he was not happy with. They left after a short while, and will be back next week. I need to stay in touch about the roof tiles though as he may be bringing them for me and I'll need to know the price before so I have the cash.

They came through the storm drain in the distance

By now it was lunch time and so T took Rambo for a walk (as I had calls and other things to get on with) and he took some excellent pictures. He went down towards the river and managed to come out near a storm drain which he walked through and took Rambo down right to the river where he splashed around and played with branches and had a great time. It's good to know he'll get his walk even when I'm busy but I am determined tomorrow that I will take him.

The tree grew around the fence

While they were out I went in with the bucket and shovel and picked up all Rambo's poo and put it on the humanure; Dan will be laughing at this because he has had to clean up after Rambo for the last five or six years. I then went and carried on attempting to extricate the last big bit of old fence from the tree which it had literally grown into. Using my secateurs and the really good snips I bought after my plastering course I was able to cut around the grown in bit and remove the metal, then hack away at the wood with the axe until I finally got through it.

Clearing trees the efficient way

I then had to go in for more working and meetings for paid work but I could hear that the chainsaw had been brought out so as soon as I could I dropped my work and legged it to see what was happening. What I found was Bekir demonstrating that our hacking and bashing with our axes was not really going to cut it with the real men; he was blasting his way through the tree that I had previously untangled all the chain link from and, where we had pulled and tugged when a branch got stuck or tangled, he just chopped it in half and it fell to the ground. I need to get me a chainsaw! *puts it on the shopping list*.

Yet another picture of Bekir and Sally fencing

A bit later, after MORE sitting inside working, I went back out to get involved finally for the last few hours of the day. First of all I snapped my normal picture (to much amusement from Bekir and Sally) of the two machines at work.They had nearly caught up with the clearing task and were just entering the grove we had spent so long clearing yesterday.

Traditional fencing to be cleared

Mine and T's task was to continue clearing ahead of them. We had reached a point of less natural overgrowth, however this was where my neighbours had built a traditional fence with REALLY spiky nasty bushes woven together to form a barrier. This stuff makes bramble look like grass, the spikes are needle thin and when they get in you, likely to snap off and become very difficult to remove. I was wearing my fingerless work gloves (yes, I know, I AM as stupid as I look) so kept getting stabbed; I developed a method of grasping the branches with my palms, not my fingers, but this wasn't totally successful.

Awesome staff, and in use

After a while of working, really well, with T I looked up and saw that my Usmivka Mush was on site carrying an awesome looking forked staff. He looked very proud of himself and I had to get a picture. Later on, after he helped take a few things apart, he used it to lift, transport, and position the spiky branches to shore up some of the other fences which were starting to look a bit shoddy. I want one of those staffs!

The stones and brush, piled out of the way

Myself and T were really cracking ahead at this point, pulling the brush wood away and piling it up (from where Usmivka lifted it and distributed it into his other fences) and then hefting the large stones which had been piled to form a simple dry stone wall below the brush wood. Some of these stones were really large and I had a lot of fun carrying them and stretching myself after a day of being inside in front of the computer.

After a bit my little lady came, collected some firewood from the brush, and then offered as a coffee. I said yes and after a few minutes she returned and we all sat around (including Bekir and, eventually, Sally) and enjoyed the hot sweet drink. It was nice to have a quick rest and Usmivka was really funny with miming that little lady was nagging him. He is a funny little man.

Yet more, and bigger, stones moved

After this break the muscles complained a bit at being put back to work however we focused ourselves and set to. At one point there was a HUGE stone which took both of us to move, and then we could only just manage it, however it was covered with ants. With tiny red splotches on them. I brushed them off before we moved it but some must have got on me because a while later I felt a couple of sharp pains on my shoulder blades and, sure enough, when I felt back there I squashed one of these ants. Little sod, but I suppose I was disturbing its home.

Greece in the distance

With the men completing the stretch of fencing which would take them past the edge of the adjoining, enclosed, field the work day came to a pause; we tidied up and then loaded the sacks and shovels into Lucy and set off, Bekir with me in Thomas and Sally with T in Lucy, towards Bekir's village. Lucy is not quite as quick down the dirt tracks as Thomas, and I also think that Little Lady might have stopped them with a big bag of salad for T, so when we were on the cheren put up to Bekir's village I stopped and got out and snapped some pictures of the Greek Mountains, so clear in the distance. What a stunning view it is from there.

Truck bed full of Bekir's gift to me. Bless him!

Lucy caught us up as I was doing this and then it was driving through the village and round a very tight turn down towards his muck pile. At this point I made the executive decision that filling bags with the stuff would just be a pain and we should just load it straight into the truck bed. Myself and T started off doing this and then Bekir went and grabbed some more shovels and soon we were loading away really fast. It probably took about 20 mins tops to shovel until I said that was enough and then I put Thomas into 4x4 and drove off with no difficulty from having been parked on the heap. He was fine driving back and I got home to find that the gates had been shut, stopping the cows from getting in which were actually standing around near the gate. I shooed them off and drove in, shutting it behind me.

As I drove past him, Rambo jumped up from where he had been laying out, and started barking at something; I looked over and saw that the donkey was still on my grounds. I parked up and started chasing him out; he got a bit scared and farted as he ran, which was pretty foul but then he realised I was just wanting him to leave and we walked pretty much together to the gate, where he waited patiently for me to open it, then trotted through without me needing to make any sign to him. It was a great feeling to be shutting that gate and knowing that my land is now secure.

I decided to check on Rambo's water situation and found that he had run out. To take advantage of the now secure land I let him come with me to the stand pipe and he had an absolute ball, legging it from tree to patch of grass and sniffing everywhere. He was bounding and bouncing around like a puppy yet, as he has done for many years now, he stayed close and when I walked back to the run he went straight in. What a good dog. It is marvelous to be able to do this and I will be letting him out again in the morning to play fetch with a big stick!

So I'm sat here now after wolfing down a pizza chased with a oh so welcome glass of beer, and looking forward to tomorrow when I'll be helping to demolish the last of the old wall, shoveling my manure onto the garden so I can work out how much I'll need, going shopping for food and various other essentials, and also doing some paid work; I have come here to change my lifestyle and I really think I am managing that, so long as I can limit the time sat in front of this evil machine.

The other gift; chocolate brownie

Oh, one last thing to add. Today I received more post and this time it was really tasty. The other week I replied to a tweet from someone who said "the first person to reply will get a brownie cake". I didn't think I'd be first but I was and, fair play to her, she kept her word. So I have been eating this on and off through the day and it is absolutely gorgeous. So thank you Gina / @CumbrianBlondie... you are a star.