And back to being alone

Day two of the accidental bonus days dawned misty but with the sun breaking through even as we woke up and dragged ourselves out of bed. It had been an early night before as we were both tired from sitting in the sun and we had slept through really well so were fully rested.

Another foggy start

I dashed up to what will be the living room to snap a picture of the sun glistening through the fog and almost caught some of the birds flitting and swooping around however they were just too quick for my early morning, pre brew, reactions. Rambo was fed and watered by my guest for her last morning while I put the kettle on to make those all important restorative cuppas.

Planted both rose bushes from the other day

Today, my guest was leaving (well trying to leave for the second time) and her flight was the day time one rather than the evening one so we had decided to set off pretty much without any delay once we were up and about in the morning so we could stop on the way as many times as we wished, and maybe even get to the garden centre next to the airport for a mooch before her flight. There were a few things that I wanted to get done before leaving, the main one being plant the two roses that had been bought the other day. My original plan to have them in the entrance area had been rejected and I have now decided they should go either side of the bedroom window, in buckets and on the balcony. I brought my brew down and did this really quickly first thing.

Rambo and guest, pre brew play

Rambo was, as ever, around and determined that we were not there to garden, but to throw his kong for him. He's quite hard to ignore and after a while you end up chucking it just to make him run off after it and get a bit of space for a second or two. His favourite trick is to drop the kong on your feet (particularly if you are wearing sandals) and then stand with his head two inches away from it so you can't move and then, when you do, to grab it and run off triumphantly before then returning and repeating the trick. This is cute, the first time. Bless him he's so excited though, all the time.

Mo has a new home

The other task which we finally did was to bring the planted tray for Mo to live in. It had been sat out waiting for this moment first of all so I could be sure that the plants were growing (they were) and then because of the bad weather I wanted it to not be too cold when he was put into it and this morning fitted the bill. We carried it up together (it's quite heavy) and then cleared a space and finally transferred the little fella over from his old home into this much larger and more interesting habitat.

Here's Mo!

After a few minutes sitting and just sniffing around and checking out what had just happened to him he was off and exploring. A little while later I heard scratching and looked over and he was chewing on some of the minerals that were sitting on the soil surface; this immediately made me feel so much better as he was obviously missing these in the soil I'd used originally to house him. Hopefully he'll be happier, healthier, and really thrive in his new home.

And so, far sooner than we wanted it to, it was time to leave. I was toying with the idea of driving Thomas but decided to give Lucy another chance. I put the jack in the back as this was the only tool I hadn't taken last time (not that it would have helped, but yeah) and then put the empty gas can in the back as I planned to go past and get that filled up on my way home. First stop was a refill of the fuel, and grabbing some drinks to go with our picnic lunch, and then we were away and past the location of the breakdown of the other day and up and into the mountains.

Guest taking pictures

We were both commenting just how different it was this time to a week ago when we had been experiencing torrential rain and floods. The sun was shining and warm and the clouds were fluffy and becoming less and less common. As we went round one corner she spotted a view she liked so we pulled over and stopped and spent a few minutes snapping various photographs of the gorgeous views from that spot.

Picnic time

From there were went a little further along the road until a cry of "there's a lake!" brought me swinging to a halt by the side of the road and then, when I felt just how lovely and warm it was, and my stomach grumbled (no breakfast today) we agreed that this was as good a place as any to have our picnic. This consisted of the traditional sirene (white cheese), nardenitsa (cooked sausage meat) and white bread, with a slight addition of Ready Salted crisps which I think will have to be included from now on. Absolutely lovely and perfect in the heat with the birds chirping and making a beautiful sound between the very infrequent trucks and cars on the road.

The tree at our picnic spot

The view from our picnic spot was gorgeous with views all across the valley however I was particularly taken with the solitary tree right in front of us, standing tall and proud and gorgeous. So here it is. Just out of interest I am pretty sure that we stopped about 100 yards up from this place with my parents when we were just arriving the Julian and Thomas, for the brief leg stretch stop in the snow, less than two months ago. Wow.

A stork cooling off

After a very pleasant and tasty stop we were back in Lucy and heading on through the villages that I always used to look forward to when driving the other way from Sofia as they are the entrance to the mountain pass however this way they just indicated how close we were to the end of the week. The storks were very much in evidence on their nests and we slowed down so pictures could be taken.

How small is this freight train!

From there it seemed very quickly we were down out the mountains and driving through the town we had stopped in to get my wooden spoons just a week ago. We drove past the garden centre, both of us very excited by the huge palm trees out front that would look great in various places at home, and the took the turning towards the airport. The gates were down on the level crossing and after a minute or two the tiniest freight train I have ever seen went past. As soon as we could drive again we did and then parked up and went in for a coffee before the much-anticipated moment when my guest was having to go through security.

Sadly, this time did arrive soon and I waved goodbye then got back in Lucy and headed back towards home, wishing that my guest hadn't had to leave. The drive over the mountain on the way back was mainly uneventful apart from some very slow drivers that needed overtaking, and I was home, having dropped in to kaufland for some tea bags and beer, very quickly indeed. I parked up then took the watering can down to the silver birches, letting Rambo out in the process, and then I toured the estate and watered the Magnolia.

Mo with his mouth full

I headed upstairs to Room 13 and found that poor Mo had managed to turn himself on his back at some point! I righted him and put him in the shallow bowl of water to calm him down hopefully and after a few seconds he started looking around and then a bit later he was off exploring again. A little later I looked in on him and he had found a plant that was to his liking and was eating it. He has now climbed up and hidden under a load of foliage so I am thinking the new home is to his liking.

Since this I have watched a really bad film and listened to some very good music, eaten a pizza and drank a pint of beer to wash it down. I am now wearing socks with my sandals as for the first time this year it is warmer outside than it is in Room 13 and I needed warming up. I'm hoping that I wake up tomorrow and get back into the flow of my days; sadly I need to get back into paid work tomorrow as I have only done a very few hours so far this week and I need to make up some hours tomorrow and over this weekend.

My guest

I'll leave you with this picture of my guest; thanks so much for coming and I can't wait for you to return soon.