Scything good fun

Well as I type this (having stared at a blank page for several hours attempting to build energy to type for a bit) I am still exhausted. What a full on day and hot as well, but so satisfying. I know I can buy a tool to do the hay cutting but this scything is just so healthy for me; I feel so much better for having the exercise. Anyway, onwards with the blog.

Two shots of the moon

The tale of today starts last night, quite a long time after the blog was published. I rang Chaz (having spoken to him during the day but at that point I was totally battered so I wasn't very talkative) to follow up on our brief conversation and find out what he had learned during the day and I'm glad I did. First of all, Ivan had spoken to the lawyer in my local Obshtina and it has been absolutely confirmed that the land problem is not a problem. All 9000 odd square metres is definitely mine. Good relief when he told me that. Secondly, the PuP is currently being discussed in Sofia and we'll have more news on that later next week maybe. So all good.

Glass found in Rambo's compound

I slept through again, though when I went out to go to bed it was so bright with the moon it was almost like daylight. On the walk to Julian I saw some fireflies, three or four satellites and a bat which flew past very close. Wonderful. My morning started off pretty standard though this time a full brew had to be made, and sipped, before I went out to start the chores. I had bought a second watering can yesterday for some reason but I wasn't too clear on what for however I filled both up before walking over to Rambo's cage. When I stepped out of his house with his food bowl, having filled the water bowl, I glanced down to where the dog house had been and was surprised to see loads of glass. Now I went over this area loads before the fence was put up and Rambo arrived and I am sure I did not miss this much glass. Anyway, it's gone now.

Hammering out the blade again

As I walked back towards the house to fill the bowl with food I heard a whistle and there was Usmivka, standing at the side gate a waving. I waved to wait and did the food for Rambo then walked him back as usual but this time locked him into his enclosure. Poor lad keeps getting locked away at the moment. Anyway, Usmivka was over, as he had promised yesterday, to do some hammering on the scythe blade.

He settled himself down and set to it, while I pottered around picking glass and doing other small jobs though I was midway through my normal morning chores I didn't want to wander off and leave him to it. He bashed away and was making good progress but then his little hammer started coming loose. His first trick was to pour water on it which caused the wooden handle to expand a bit but then it started slipping again so I got him a nail and he secured it properly.

It didn't take him that long and then he reattached the blade to the handle (nice and firmly, and I watched carefully so I could see how it was done) and then he sharpened it and tested it out. I did a short video while he was swinging away because I want to be able to study the technique - mine feels like it is getting better all the time however I'm still not able to get the short simple pulling action that he uses, or at least not all the time.

Using a length of string to ensure accuracy

One trick I mentioned before was how he worked out that the angle of the blade was correct. He used a bit of string to ensure that the length from the handle to the blade remained consistent along the entire length. His huge smile when he got it right and looked up at me was a sight; I didn't have the camera ready and he probably wouldn't have liked me snapping it anyway. He's such a cheerful chappy.

Mmmmmm marrow

I went to get Rambo out and then, as we were walking back, the Little Lady appeared. I managed to stop Rambo from charging over too much (she's getting used to him now, but still he is very bouncy and large when he is enthusiastic) but she didn't want to come in this time and was just offering me a marrow. This is now sat on my desk and I need to get some mince out so I can try and stuff it for dinner tomorrow. Finally, for this part, I had arranged for the Special One to come over and work for me today (or at least I thought I had) however he has not appeared and I have not even seen a hint of him all day. Very strange. Oh well.

And so to the main task for the day (other than my paid work but that, which did take a fair amount of time, is really boring to talk about so I'll not mention it again I don't think): Scything.

The beginning and the end of the day

I did loads today, in about four or five separate sessions, and I am now (as I said earlier) now exhausted and have blisters but it is such a satisfying thing that I am not complaining at all. I took the camera with the tripod and set it up to take pictures however I have been doing a really wide stretch so it took two pictures to get the whole width in. I had set myself the target of cutting all the grass up to the edge of the green building and down to the front fence as far as the end of the green building and I managed this. What I didn't do was collect all the hay together but left it in piles to be moved later. I really will need to start a couple of hay stacks because I have so much hay it is ridiculous. It was really warm today and I wore a vest and my sun hat at all times while working; it was so hot that I took a cup of tea with me one time, left it on the side, and when I went to drink it found that it was actually hotter than it had been.

Other than working, I didn't do much else today apart from have a nice chat at lunch, eat some of the new cheese (it's a bit tasteless, sadly) with nardenitsa on bread for lunch, and drink lots of tea with slightly gone off milk in it. I thought I was buying UHT. It wasn't. Tomorrow there will necessarily be a trip to the shop, and I will feel really stupid as I pour nearly 2 litres of milk away. What a shame.

Fly screen doing its job

After finishing the scything I came back in (did some work) and sprayed flies with my fly spray as there are LOADS around at the moment. This is just a quick snap taken of them clustered on the fly screen of my window. Eventually all the windows will have flyscreens but at the moment some of them don't even have glass in them so I have very little chance of keeping them out of here. I just have to be patient while I can, and bash them when they get too annoying.

The sunset never fails to impress

So I spent a lot of time watching the cricket (what a flat pitch) and talking on twitter and not as much time as I should have been writing this blog which meant it has stretched out and taken AGES to write. I made myself a spaghetti carbonara with nardenitsa instead of the bacon as that hadn't defrosted yet from being pulled out the freezer this morning but bacon is better than nardenitsa. I also did my usual thing of bouncing up every now and then to check the view of the sun going down and I was not let down with several gorgeous photographs at various stages of its descent. This one was taken very late on, and I was having to stand on the windowsill again to get the correct angle. I was safe though and didn't fall out. Honest.

The guttering is a bit rotten and falling down

An earlier trip for the sun took me out onto the balcony (the first time today, actually) and I did a bit of wandering around looking at the cracks in the surface and trying to work out how bad they actually are. I think that it is just the skim on the top which is damaged but I won't know for sure til that is removed and part of me thinks it may be wise to refresh the supports and brickwork below anyway at some point particularly as I want to put a big water tank on the balcony to use for irrigation on the top bank. While I was going back inside I noticed this remnant of metal on the floor; it is a bit of the guttering which has fallen down in the last day or so. I really need to get this roof done.

So, about that. I was hoping to hear today if Bekir and Sally are going to be back on Monday (T is, as I spoke with him today) because my friend was going to ring him today if he didn't ring her however I've not heard anything so I have no idea yet whether I'm on for roof or not. I really hope that I am on - I want to get this started now I've been here long enough waiting.

Red moon rising

I was just writing that last paragraph, and then about to publish this, when I looked up and saw the moon was rising and it was a stunning red colour. I grabbed the camera, the zoom and the tripod and went to the balcony and played with a few settings while trying to get the best shot I could. This is that shot but it doesn't really capture the colouration of the cloud around the moon which had a red tint to it at as well. Beautiful.

Tomorrow I will be up and watching the next England rugby match, and then I want to do some more scything. I also have to get to town to put fuel in Thomas and buy some milk so I may do that earlier rather than later.

Thanks for reading, people.