First sparkying day

I slept much better last night. Maybe it was the fact the temperature was a bit lower, or maybe because I sat up on the sofa rather than laying in bed while on the phone, or maybe the fact the moon was just slightly less than full. It could have been the couple of pints of beer I had with dinner even. Whichever the reason, it was with great pleasure I slept through and woke up quite late indeed this morning.

Moon and clouds

The blog, however, actually starts with before going to bed. The aforementioned not-quite-full-moon was really bright last night, after the clouds broke up. These clouds were scudding at quite a speed and I took a few attempts (and some were dreadful, with super long exposures and shaking hands making just a blur of white and grey) however this last one finally came out really well.

Perfect morning

So I lay in and lay in this morning until finally I knew that T would be arriving soon and I really should get a brew in me and sort Rambo and the plants out so I pulled my laziness out of bed and went to Room 13 where The Electrician was up and the kettle was boiling (perfect timing) for my first of the day and his second. With this brew in hand I went to feed and water Rambo, and also to check on the plants though it had rained in the night (I never heard it) so the little plants didn't need as much looking after however I did give an extra drink to the silver birches and the magnolias (and my window garden). It really was an outstanding morning with barely a cloud and the sun was beating down in the way I like it. What a turnup, after the forecast had been for such a dreadful day today there was an exclamation mark as a warning for extreme weather.

The first Tomato flower

As I was going round checking the plants I noticed the the tomato plants have started to get flowers; what a great thing. It is nice to have some success with some plants out here (my seeds have roundly failed) even if it is with pre-grown plants from the market. It will be so nice to have fruits from these and eat them later in the year.

Orchid, or something

The other thing I specifically went to check, and photograph, was the mystery plant on the meadow (which could be an orchid of some description apparently). Rambo did his usual of making sure to run right over the top of whatever it is you are wanting to photograph and then proceeded to stand in the way with his Kong on my feet until I eventually gave in and chucked it just to get space to take an undisturbed photograph. The flowers are starting to emerge.

After this interlude I returned to Room 13 to cook a fried breakfast (which went down very well and The Electrician said he really liked the bacon type stuff that I have found which is good) and just after finishing eating that my friend arrived for our day to start in earnest. T had arrived while I was feeding Rambo in his now standard early start to the day. We did not hang around at all but as she arrived, all piled into Thomas and then were back on the road down the hill (past the big diggers that I STILL haven't got a picture of) and on to the main town. Our first stop was the electrical shop where we had great success with the list that The Electrician had put together yesterday. We were only stymied in one item which we were told would be in a delivery being made later.

Look at my new man tool!

From there we went into town, via a hardware shop to look at SDS drills (they weren't good enough) and then parking up at the usual place and walking over to the bank. The original lady was in today and recognised me. I sat down, said hello, and she said "here is your letter" and reached behind her. What awesome service. I think I must have only been in there for two minutes. From there we went to the immigration office which was shut but I got the form I needed. We then went to the normal hardware shop where I bought my new SDS drill and some super long bits to get through the thick walls of the school. Here I am posing with it on getting back home.

The side gate and step

After this we made another attempt at the market garden but again three rings of the bell didn't rouse anyone and our third attempt at visiting did not end up being a charm. What a shame, however my tree is still there and I definitely will get it one day. After this miss we headed back home and got back in time for lunch (nardenitsa, sirene and mayonaised bread, though The Electrician declined and just took a brew to get him to work). T had been hard at it all the time we had been out and my side gate now has a fantastic looking step. What a cracking job. When the rain hammered down a short while after we got back T covered the step with plastic which was most amusing to watch as Rambo thought it was a game and was continually standing on the plastic as it was dragged. He is a naughty boy.

Talking of which, here he is doing his thing with the wheel barrow; I really do not know where it comes from but he HATES anything on the floor (The Electrician came across this today as well as he was sweeping some glass up and Rambo was barking and growling at the broom).

A glimpse of blue and Sassy chilling out

While we were sat in Room 13 (and I was trying to get a bit of progress on the paid work) I looked up and saw a glimpse of blue through the overcast. I snapped a picture from in Room 13 then realised that there was a window in Sassy's room with flapping plastic which I could get a good picture from. I went through and she was all stretched out so a picture was in order, and also got a good one from the window. As I was leaving she legged it to me and demanded attention in the way she has been more and more; I can't wait to have her home in my front room where we will share a space.

The new man tool in action

While this was going on my friend was trying to read and The Electrician was making good use of the new man tool to drill holes in the floor of Room 13. The first attempt was slightly abortive as the walls upstairs are massively less thick than those downstairs so the he was drilling and drilling and drilling and never appearing downstairs and we worked out he was probably drilling into the stone. It is good to know my new SDS can go through the stone (as it will need to at some point) but once this was worked out he went and drilled up from below and then used the SDS to chase through a channel from the wall to where the hole had appeared for the cables to be tucked into. Success.

I then had a short but sweet phone call and after that I realised I was completely exhausted so I jumped into bed in Julian and half an hour later woke up feeling a bit befuddled and then, after a long drink of water, more and more refreshed until, about when my friend and I got back to the electrical shop to collect the ordered part, I was back on form again. The problem was that part hadn't actually been delivered. We swapped the incorrect item we had bought earlier and bought some earth cable sheathing that in the end hasn't been needed. Oh well. It wasn't expensive.

From there it was Kaufland for potting compost and the inevitable happened and we both were tempted beyond reasonable resistance to the plants at the entrance. As I type this I have realised I left all of mine in the back of Lucy who has been driven home by T. Whoops. A message has been dispatched to get them moved to a more secure transit position for the drive back over tomorrow. Some more tights were purchased (picked out by my obliging friend so I didn't have to push through the scrum of women in front of the display) and also some tatties for my friend and then Lucy sped us back up and home, with only a few terrifying scrapes from the low backend up the cheren put.

New plugs in place

When we got back T had done for the day and was watching while The Electrician was putting the finishing touches on the plugs and wiring that he had decided he could achieve today. We joined them with a brew and chatted and then all of a sudden we noticed the time and my friend had to leg it and so did T as it was late for both of them.

With our visitors departed we decided that we should find out if this boiler would send hot water down to the shower when the power was turned off and, wouldn't you know, it does. Brilliant. I was second through and we were both chuffed that the dirt of the last couple of days is now washed off. Then it was time to put some classical music on and start typing our respective blogs. Midway through Skype wound me up by refusing to ring through to my other laptop (even though I wasn't signed in anywhere else - stupid thing) and then it was back to blogging, and then cooking some liver I had bought yesterday which in defrosting had bled all over my fridge; lovely. It was so tasty, on fresh bread, and just enough for both of us and perfect bloke food as from standing up to noshing it took less than ten minutes.

Beautiful shot

While going backwards and forwards through the evening I had been admiring (and snapping regular photographs) of the sun going down out of the back windows. What a fantastic view and a lovely thing to be able to experience every day. I can be doing something really involving (like writing this blog, frankly) and then suddenly jump up to go and look out the back window.

So here is the end of the blog, while Smashing Pumpkins plays and we both sing and whistle and enjoy the tunes from my youth if not his.