Day off

After the strenuous last couple of days chopping all that wood, and feeling the effects of it the day after, today I decided would be a day off. I had told work that I was not to be expected either as I also didn't know whether I would need to go collect my guest from near the airport or not. I slept well, waking once as Julian got too hot so I opened the air vent above me, and again later when it started raining quite heavily and a few bits of water were managed to find their way through the small gap. I lay listening to the rain and hoping it wouldn't disrupt the wall building but eventually did manage to get back to sleep.

Battered hands

Another reason I decided to rest was my hands were looking a little battered. It doesn't hurt at all, but I obviously managed to stab and jab myself many times over the past couple of days. I was pottering around and thinking "I wonder when T will arrive" when I heard a car and at just past ten past eight he had got here. I think he must just have been awake and thought "sod it, I'll go to work".

Another beautiful day

The day had dawned with the sun out and all sign (apart from a bit of dampness on the tabletennis table) of the night's rain had gone. It is a good thing when it rains at night as the plants can drink deeply without it being evaporated by the sun which follows most showers here. All the rain that hadn't been soaked in was very much evaporated by the time I had finished my breakfast and decided that even though it was a day off, I needed to achieve something for the day.

Flower bed

I had been given some seeds from some of my favourite plants by my friend; flowers which grow to attract bees and butterflies and are just a riotous barrage of colours and smells. I decided that today I would go and plant them, up by the sunbathing spot, and using an old windowframe I had located when I first got here to surround them. I measured the frame on the ground using some stones and then took the shovel and dug it over. I didn't do the standard single dig technique as I actually wanted to remove the roots and plants from the area so I just loosened the top and then broke it up with my hands, discarding the organic material up near the fence and returning the broken up soil to the bed. I then scattered the seeds all over the bed and watered it in well; I'll need to do that again when the sun goes down later to allow it to really soak in and I really needed the rose to do it properly but hey. This is now done and I really hope they take and grow and give me a stunning bed up there.

Lovely poppy from the side

Looking inside the poppy

I had noticed a flash of red out of the back windows on the bank which had been destroyed by the digger machine the other day and been amazed and pleased to see it was a poppy that had come through and was proudly blowing in the breeze. Today I got to take the camera out and snap these pictures of it. I've put both in as I love them both and couldn't decide between them. I have a number of poppies now appearing around the property including one intrepid little one actually inside Rambo's enclosure.

Loads of progress on the wall

Once I had done the planting, and wandered around a bit admiring the views, I went to see how T was getting on. He was nearly done on the second section already and the confidence gained yesterday was clear to see in the speed and accuracy he was achieving today. I love seeing people learning new skills and becoming confident in them. I went off to make a brew and saw that I had received a message from my job asking if I was available. I made it clear that I wasn't really today and left them to it.

Lunch comprised of strawberry jam on toast as I wasn't really inspired to make anything and then I dragged the hanging chair into the sun, took a glass of ayran from the bucket the little lady had just delivered, and my kindle, and went and lay in the sun relaxing and reading and then almost dozing (in companionable silence as T had also taken lunch and was chilling out in the shade on the porch) until my phone went a few times, the last of which was the electrician announcing he had made the ideal bus and would be arriving at the bus stop at the bottom of the hill this evening. Great!

Big black bee flying around

I have been going on about this big bee that has been flying around recently and I have kept just missing photographs of it. While I was laying dozing I realised that I was listening to a very loud buzzing and looking over towards Julian I saw that the huge black thing was buzzing around there. I took loads of photographs but as I was on my long zoom and it is fast they didn't really come out however this is the best one. Later on I realised there are actually two of them so that could be interesting, if they are mating and gonna produce lots of little babies. It looks like a nasty thing too.

Not the early bird, and not a worm

There were a load of birds flitting around while I was laying there and one of them in particular caught my attention as it had caught a caterpillar just in front of me. It stood there for ages seeming to play with it, then flew off to sit on a trunk that I have saved to use as a feature rather than Hugelkultur it and then it flew off, probably to give the tasty morsel to its chicks.

What is this?

I had to go and tell people about the progress my guest was making and while I did this I took another walk around looking at things. In the middle of the top meadow I came across a fantastic looking flower which I am going to keep my eyes on over the next few weeks - I reckon it will explode into colour and life very soon. Anyone know what it is?

Starting to cover the Hugelkultur

I went back to resting on the chair and was really enjoying it when a rumble of thunder occurred and then a few minutes later rain drops started pattering down. I had to move my camera and other electrical stuff out of the wet and, seeing as I had been hauled off my relaxation, for some reason I decided to make a start of shoveling the soil back on top of the Hugelkultur. This was really hard work and I managed to exhaust myself again (not very clever on my day off) however I am very pleased with how the soil is going on and also with the stones lining the edges as a semi-retaining wall. I only did an hour or so and then decided to stop and have a shower so I could be ready and not smelly for my guest.

T still working hard

T has been going great guns today and is nearly done on the fourth section of the fence. This is the hardest part as the ground outside is so much lower than mine and he is having to build it up really carefully to then have something to tie the chain link to at the bottom. His mixes have improved no end even over today and now his cement mix looks very similar to one that Sally would do. Impressive learning skills.

So I have just come in to write this up to here before the electrician arrives and I'm about to go blow his airbed up so he has something to feel welcomed to. Once this is done I'll be back on the chair downstairs reading and relaxing before going to collect him. I have no food in (unfrozen) so I think I'll be taking him out for dinner tonight; I will just have to hope that he isn't too tired from his super long day.

I may be back later.

Rambo and his chew

So, I am back from collecting The Electrician and we had a lovely meal at the local favourite restaurant on the river. We have just sat with a beer outside while Rambo chewed on one of the gifts which my guest brought and now an early night is called for as my guest's day started at 2am! So I am going to sign this off and I'll  see you all tomorrow.