She's still here

Today was day one of the two bonus days with my guest; we managed to achieve our longest lie in of the break too which was really good.

Rambo waiting for his breakfast

It dawned a bit misty and chilly but with the sun attempting to break through; I dashed upstairs to get my camera before feeding Rambo because there was an amazing silver in the air however by the time I got back down it was already gone. The was still some mist clinging to the ground so I snapped a shot, including the ever expectant Rambo who obviously thinks that the world revolves entirely around him.

We had a very firm target to achieve this morning which was to get over to the garage and arrange for Lucy to be rescued. To this end we did not really chill out once we were up and about and it was egg in a cup again for me for breakfast, then a quick shower and then into Thomas and over to the smaller town where the garage is situated. While we were eating I heard a noise outside and went to see what it was. There was Lubo the Architect, sat in his car, and looking a bit worried as Rambo was loose. It turned out that he had text me yesterday to say he was coming over but I never saw the text.

He had brought the plans and all the paperwork to be sent over to Sofia for the PuP for me to look at and sign the preliminary plans. Finally! Funnily enough after telling me that I couldn't have the windows looking onto the balcony, these plans contained them. When I questioned this he said he had forgotten; hmmm. Anyway, I'll just leave those windows off for now and maybe do them another time, after the change of use has gone through and everything else has been done. I now have to go through the plans and correct them and send them back to him. I also REALLY need my kmet to come and sign the paperwork as that is now the last thing we are waiting for. He left, saying he would return as soon as that is done, and I waved him off wishing him happy birthday as today is that day.

And so we headed for the town. Our advice, from my friend, was to go into the shop they own where the mechanic's wife would be who speaks good English, and explain to her so she can explain to the mechanic. This worked out very well and soon we were waiting for him to come round in his Landrover so we could head on up to where I'd left Lucy to try and fix, or tow, her.

View from the high street

While we were waiting my guest went to the shop on her own to get some supplies (very brave) and the wife was joking about how Lucy may not be there, considering where I had left her. This was a good laugh but then I got a bit worried because I had left all the paperwork in her and so didn't have the insurance documents if she HAD been stolen. Not the brightest of decisions. Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it so I didn't worry. The clouds had all disappeared by this time and, though the air was still cold in the shade, the sun was lovely and warm. My guest snapped a shot down the main street as we were waiting, looking towards the mountains in the distance.

After a few minutes the white landrover roared around the corner and, not before he'd jumped out and had a cigarette, we were off towards Lucy. This was a drive of about 45 minutes from the town and the views on both sides were enough to keep me and my guest occupied while we were driven. It was nice for me to be driven actually as I am almost always the one driving and so can't pay as much attention to the views as I would like. We climbed the hill, past the point the strange noise had first indicated a potential problem, round a few corners, and then there she was, still parked where we had left her. I'd never worried once that she had been stolen.

Time to get an expert involved

As soon as we got there my mechanic went under the bonnet and found that no, it WASN'T the steering but the coolant that had been steaming and dripping which made me feel good because he then pointed to which the steering fluid was and I had been able to identify that myself; I don't know much about cars but I am learning, what with all the problems I have had in the last year or so.

The source of our problems

It really did not take him long to find the problem. It was, as suggested, a belt issue. A bearing had basically disintegrated and this had led to the battery not getting charge and no drive reaching the fan causing an overheat. He took a few minutes to remove the part and showed it to me; it was in bits and crumbling. That must have been the strange sound that alerted us first to the fact there was an issue.

With the problem identified he said he would pop down into town to get the parts and indicated that we should relax in the sun and he would be 10 to 15 minutes. This was a cracking bit of advice and we went and lay down in the sun and enjoyed soaking the rays until he returned pretty much in 20 minutes or so, with the part.

We went and stood by and watched but it was a bit cooler up by the road, and with some clouds coming through, so we went and sat in Lucy and waited. After about 15 minutes or so he called me to help push the belt back onto the wheels and then he tightened a few more bits and we started her up. She started first time, the steering was back power assisted and that was her back on the road. I persuaded him to allow me to pay for the parts and his time and then he headed off up towards the next big city (obviously taking advantage of being all this way towards there to do a chore) and we rolled down the hill and back to where we'd parked Thomas.

We now had two cars to drive and this meant my guest had to jump in and drive Thomas back, following me along the roads and doing very well indeed for her first experience of driving over here. We got back fine, let Rambo out, and as we were really hungry had a lovely lunch of super fresh bread which I had with cheese and pickle and she had with peanut butter. A couple of wafer biscuits for me finished the meal off and we had to decide what to do with our bonus day.

What a lovely day

The weather was outstanding so we decided that a sun bathing afternoon was definitely in order. We also had a pile of burning to be done so we set this going first (no pictures of it this time) and burned most of the boxes that had had the books and DVDs in (saving one for Sassy) and then took the rug up to below the silver birch tree and spent the rest of the afternoon laying there soaking up rays.

Beer. Lovely, cold, beer

I had bought choc ices with the hope that the weather would be lovely for my guest and we could share them through the week of her stay. Typically it is on the bonus, unexpected, day that it is nice enough for them however they were really really tasty and very welcome as the heat was getting up. After a doze and more sun-soaking I headed in and brought back two pints of the lovely light beer that is so refreshing. This went down very well and another was tempting but declined, in the end.

The spider and the fly

As I was half asleep I felt something land on my arm and glanced down. Initially I thought it was a dead fly that had fallen out of the sky but then I noticed that there was a spider attached by its fangs. A routine hunting mission had obviously gone badly wrong and the poor thing had fallen out of the tree. My guest was at hand to grab the camera and get a photograph; something I would not have been able to do on my own. The spider was dragging it all over the place and after the picture was taken I shook him onto the grass so he could make his way home. Later I am sure I saw it climbing a strand up into the tree again. Brilliant.

Oh yeah!

The heat was such that I had got my straw hat out and my guest had to put up with the sight of me wearing this battered old thing however I hate getting sun stroke and am always really careful with too much direct sun onto my head. I think I dozed off a couple of times and that is a risky proposition. The afternoon was just so lovely; at one point we're sure we saw a couple of vultures fly past and then circle in the distance, and there were loads of tiny grasshoppers and crickets, ants (including a huge one that we avoided as it crossed the rug) and other wildlife just teeming everywhere.

Lovely end to an awesome day

After a bit the breeze got up and we let Rambo out and through his kong for him for a while then it was time to pack up and head inside for me to start this, and dinner to be made. I used the BBQ tongs I had found, and a firelighter, to stop the rope ends fraying for the chairs before coming in, and had the Special One come over with the little girl for her to get the password for the WiFi on her mobile phone which was nice. The evening is just stunning here with still no cloud in the sky and the sun going down in a blaze of glory.

Today has been a day that reinforces what a cracking choice it was for me to come here. Lovely people, friendly and helpful tradespeople who are not interested in ripping you off, stunning weather and all of it able to be enjoyed on my own land which just blows my mind every time I spend any time thinking about it. Wow, is all I can say. Wow.