This place is going to the dogs

Once again I was woken in the night by heavy rain and it kept me awake for a fair while. I always used to find rain helped me to sleep (a legacy from when I used to camp and the drops would drum on the tent outer and I would sleep listening to it) but now, now that I really don't want rain (I think my hay is ruined, frankly) it just keeps me awake so much.

Sunshine and the wet balcony

I woke up dead on 7 with no alarm call and got out of bed pretty much immediately. The day was still overcast however the sun was burning through and by the time I had my brew it was actually shining. Brilliant. I popped out onto the balcony and the sunshine glinting on the rain water from over night was so pretty I took a few attempts to get the perfect picture. Rambo had come out to the gate but Rocky wasn't to be seen at this stage.

Good morning Ralf (yes, Ralf... keep reading)

I went down to feed the boys after this. Obviously as the first day with Rocky, I have a challenge ahead to work out how to feed them. Rambo is very bouncy and hungry and I would hate them to fight over food. This morning, as I had the new bowl out, I filled it first and took it over with me, then grabbed Rambo's and took him with me while I left food for Rocky. I shut the gate and then came inside for 15 or 20 minutes to give time for that to be eaten before I went out with Rambo's food. When I put it down I saw that the meat had been eaten, but he had left the pellets. Not good.

Rambo coming back with his Kong

Another not great thing was the fact that, when I went over Rocky came to the door and then Rambo ran past and Rocky growled at him; I'm pretty sure this was because of being stood on but yeah; it put me into a concerned frame of mind for a fair while. While Rocky was eating I played kong with Rambo, then went inside and finished my brew and waited for waking up time in the UK. Rambo had his feed pretty efficiently and he didn't try and eat Rocky's (though obviously most was gone) but it was pretty gratifying to see that maybe this can be smoother than I was worried.

Grey skies from a different angle to usual

After breakfast I was so worried about how they were together, after the slight growl, that I stayed outside waiting for T to arrive, and sat watching them. After a while the rain started again and it was quite nasty however I was still walking around with them, just in my shorts, as it was still warm. They were OK together though Rambo was way too enthusiastic still and kept running over him and scaring him. I snapped a picture of the overcast from an unusual angle cos I thought you may enjoy it.

Eating his leftovers

While I was watching them, and waiting for T to arrive (he was a bit late today, but more of that later) Rocky went back into the compound and he was obviously hungry because he went to the pellets that he had scattered to get to the meat, and ate them all up off the floor. Now I was glad that Rambo hadn't hoovered these up as I want Rocky to get used to feeding on this kind of thing; the meat is way too expensive to have as a single feeding option even though he gets so little of it.

It's a puppy

Eventually (after the rain stopped but not before I had been eaten quite badly my mosquitoes that were gathered under the tea trees) I heard Lucy coming up the land and then there was T however he was not alone. The reason he was late this morning was, I soon learned, that he had nearly run a puppy down on the road and when he went back to check on the mite, had found a tiny baby girl dog which he couldn't leave there. So he brought her with. We decided to put her in the garden enclosure and he had been to a shop to get milk so she could feed and she was pretty happy in there for the time being, snacking, crying and sleeping.

On his bed

While I was watching the boys I had been inside their house and sat on the back shelf and he had slept next to me on the bed I made for him, and the swallows that have a nest in their had brought a mosquito, still making it's high pitched whining right up until it was fed down the chick's neck. I didn't have my camera sadly so, after T had arrived, I went and got the camera, the long lens, and went and sat patiently waiting for the birds to come in and feed. While I did this Rambo was around for a bit but he got bored of me sitting still so Rocky got to just fall asleep next to me again.

Mid-feed

After a fair few false starts, when the sound of the motor in the camera disturbed them mid feed and then it took a fair while for them to trust and come back in, I managed to get one shot of the feeding process going on. This time there was no mosquito whine so I don't know what it was, however the baby seemed happy enough. It is interesting that this nest is so far behind the others inside the house where they have flown the nest already.

Proud, and protective, parents

While the parents were flying in and out and in and out and I was sitting waiting so patiently I kept the camera on and the flash turned off as the flash definitely disturbed them. A couple of times they flew in and rested on one of the window frames and I was able to snap them sat there. I really like this picture, and the brightness which indicates that by this time the rain had passed and the sun had burned through.

After this we noticed that Usmivka was in and, dancing around his feet was the puppy. It was worked out that the puppy had managed to squeeze under the gate and then had run up to Usmivka who had, I discovered, been up to Room 13 and dropped off a couple of pancakes. He told me they had guests from Turkey and I thanked him for the pancakes, and then took him down to meet Rocky. He was charmed. The gate was reinforced with many stones after this.

I was trying to work and getting things done however a bit later I heard a hello from outside that was the Little Lady and, after putting Rambo away, I found out that her guests wanted to come over. After ten minutes or so and no sign I went and let Rambo out again however shortly after she appeared with them so he was put in his compound again and I met the three ladies. It turned out that these ladies used to teach at the school and they went round the whole place, one of them getting quite emotional and teary at times. It turns out she was the librarian and she was most sad to see that the library is now a few water-damaged books. I really did want to try and explain that I aim to retain a link to the past but my Bulgarian, and their English, was not good enough. I just have to hope they'll come back in a few years and see what I have done. Before they left the four of them (the Little Lady and her guests) stood for ages pulling leaves and flowers off my tea trees to use in a cuppa later. They are shameless, really.

She is only quiet when she is asleep

After they left I had an unexpected telephone conference with work and then I was saddled with the puppy as a hawk had flown down into the garden and T was worried it would come back (though it was chased off by a large number of sparrows this time). She slept for a bit but then woke up and the only way I could get her quiet was to hold her and she just fell asleep laid on me. Now I'm a soft touch and love animals however this little one is a little irritating for me as she squeaked and howled for attention whenever she decided it was time.

Huge pile of wood to sort through

Because of the rain first thing T went up into the attic again first thing and worked away really hard (as always) carrying the wood downstairs. He found a few cool things, including a weather vane which I want to put on top of the boys' house, and also got so much stuff into the store room I really will need to go through it soon and put it into longer term storage outside.

Doing a burn

He got to a stage where there wasn't any more large pieces of wood (that weren't integral to the roof staying up) and so pulled a few wheelbarrows of burnable waste out to the fire pit. This was set on fire and burned through the afternoon and I decided that I'd take advantage of this by getting rid of all the kitchen waste that I had built up. With the heat in the fire my stuff burnt off really quickly and that is now gone. There is loads more to burn but it is getting cleared slowly.

Getting on with the fence

After putting my stuff on to burn I went to see what T was up to. He had moved outside and was building the forms for the next sections to be concreted. His progress really is brilliant and I am so pleased. Later on he drove Thomas up there with a load of sand in the back so he could be more efficient with his concrete making and it is this kind of thinking that I appreciate so much.

I returned to work and was irritated and amused in about equal measure by the puppy crying for attention. This video I shot to show just how high pitched she is, but very soon after I picked her up and she fell asleep again on my lap. After I spotted what I thought was a flea I put her back in the box and then, as she wouldn't shut up, I took her for a feed and then left her in the garden again until T went. She did scream and cry in there but I couldn't hear her as much.

First set of scything

The sun was now firmly out and I decided, on a whim, to get out and do some more scything. My plan was to get as close to the path as I could along the front under the trees. I took the tripod and set the camera so I could get my now traditional before and after shot and, by the time I decided that I was gasping for a brew too much to keep going, I got well over half way across. How brilliant. Usmivka came past at one point and hopped over the fence to give me a quick pointer on my technique but I don't think I'm doing too badly and he was that critical; it was just a slightly longer stroke but seemed to me it left some uncut grass behind; what do I know.

All the way to the path done

After my brew (and a very welcome telephone conversation) I went back out to finish my job and I got the target completed; right the way through to the path is now cut. Usmivka and the Little Lady were moving hay from one of their fields in HUGE (and I mean huge) piles of hay that they were carrying in tarpaulins over their backs. They stopped to watch and cheer me on as I got to the end of the job and I didn't detect that much irony in their comments. I think they are glad that I am giving it a go.

Another awesome spider

What is this?

While I was doing the scything there were a couple of interesting things, pictures above. First of all was a largish spider that went scooting up the wall by the humanure and then disappeared; another of the same type was on the handle of the scythe once when I put it down to move some rocks that were in the way. The second picture is an interesting looking plant (anyone know what it is?) that is under the tea trees.

Jesus getting some lunch

And so I returned to Room 13 and my evening has involved much struggle writing this blog, changing the name of Rocky to Ralf (and that is that; I'm not changing it again), playing with Ralf, watching Jesus eat lettuce, making a lovely pasta dish with a load of leftovers (I have a pot of it for lunch tomorrow too) and cursing as another storm has blown over with HUGE rumbles of thunder (lasting well over a minute each) and it is raining AGAIN. What is going on with the weather this year?!

Tomorrow I will be down to town to order the windows, and get some more cement for T. I hope as well to get more scything done (if the weather can improve again) and also to play with the boys and get them comfortable with each other.