A happy sound

Well I'm a little late starting this, and it's gonna be a longer one, so no dilly dallying and straight into it.

Gorgeous backlit clouds

We start last night, after I hit publish, as the evening sun sinking into the clouds dragged me out onto the roof again in the evening where I stood for a few minutes just being blown away by the view and loving it. It occurred to me that soon enough I'll have to go onto the roof terrace end as the whole of the roof will be covered again; I have recently just been going to the top of the stairs and snapping shots through the ribs there.

Lettuce, attempts one and two

My lettuce seedlings on the entrance flower bed aren't doing so well (inset picture taken today, not last night, not that you really care about that huh) so last night I got the long planters I had bought and never used, and some potting compost, and set out some more curly lettuce seeds to put on the windowsill outside the bedroom. The ones down by the entrance are growing slowly... so maybe I'll get a harvest from there as well.

Stripey sky

And so my evening was lovely and I went to bed early to get a longer sleep and wouldn't you know it the music from town was pumping and it took me ages to drop off, as it was hot and there was no breeze either. I can cope with heat and no breeze, but pumping bass then gets my blood boiling and I've no chance. I think it eventually quieted down (I'm hoping that midweek partying is reserved for the last day of Bayram as yesterday was) and I dropped off. I was up before the alarm for some reason and the amazing colour of these stripes of cloud pulled me onto the balcony with the camera. The boys didn't bark at me either which was nice.

An hour or so later

I went back to sleep and woke with the alarm which got one snooze and then I was up and about making the brew and feeding the boys. The sunrise had (obviously) developed since earlier and this was taken on my way out of the side door with the bowls of food. The boys were actually quite quiet at this time and I was able to stop, snap, and walk over before they started kicking up a fuss.

Hungry boys

They were pretty well behaved at the gate as well, and then inside I managed to get them both sitting, then lying down, before placing the bowls and allowing them to start, Rambo first as always. I sat next to Ralf and made sure he didn't jump up once he had finished eating to go and hassle Rambo and it was a pretty peaceful feeding time all in all.

Thar she blows

While they were eating I popped to the door to check out the sunrise and was pretty glad I had. The sun was half over the horizon and a gorgeous peach colour was suffusing the clouds above it. Lovely. It looked set to be a good day, though there were clouds blowing around which could be bringing a bit of shade which would definitely be welcome.

See; obedient

Once again I had them both laying down next to me while I finished my cup of tea and then we made our way to the door where I got them both to lay down (photographic evidence provided) and then allowed first Rambo then Ralf to leave the house and then controlled their exit from the gate as well. With this success with Ralf I decided that I would let him join me on the watering round without any lead and so we set off to start doing the hose pipe section.

Zinnias are getting there

This was completed without any problems and we headed up onto the top bank to the Magnolias and the Zinnia bed. There are now three Zinnias with open blooms and they look amazing; three slightly different shades and another ten or so to open yet. I again broke up the ground before watering and this is working well.

Ralf is actually carrying the kong

All this time Ralf had been really good, running along behind me and then, when Rambo finally dropped the kong he had been carrying with him, dashing off to steal it and then run back with it to me. He's a naughty little so and so. He went up onto the top by the fence again and was looking for something but when I called he came straight away. It seemed my faith in him would be rewarded.

Is this a risk to my Silver Birch trees?

And so it was down to the Silver Birches to top them up as I hadn't watered for a couple of days and while I was doing this I saw these on the bottom of one of the leaves. If anyone has any idea what it is and if I should remove it as a threat to the tree, or can leave it as I would rather, please let me know.

And so this happy group headed over towards the front door so I could play a bit of ball inside with Ralf before heading for the men. Unfortunately Ralf had other ideas and once we got to the front porch decided to run away. Instead of chasing him I filled a watering can and went to fill up their drinking water bowl in the house, so I could put Rambo (and Ralf if I could catch him) away and on the way Ralf nipped at my heels; probably only to get my attention to play but still this is not behaviour I allow him to carry on with Rambo, let alone me. I continued ignoring him, poured the water in the bowl in their house and then grabbed him as he came close. I told him off then locked them both away. It turns out that I should probably have put his lead on while we were by the Silver Birches so I will try this tomorrow.

A stalking stork.Yes, I know I've done that joke before....

I headed off really early after this, in the hope of capturing a shot of the storks, and I was in luck. They were a little sooner on the road than normal, but only by one corner, and I was able to park safely and jump out and get a fair number of shots, of which this is my favourite as the stork is clearly walking, and the shadow being cast is also awesome.

... but these ones aren't stalking

While I was stood there the three birds that were hunting on this area of shoreline took to the air and I was able to track them and snap some pictures as they left. Feeling very satisfied I headed back to Lucy and drove on towards the men's village.

Lucy on the cheren put, and my shoe on a thistle

I was early so parked up and jumped out on the cheren put to take some pictures of the super hazy view and also Lucy sat on the road. Isn't she pretty. I also snapped the inset to show you just how big the thistles around here grow. This is by no means the biggest I have seen - I scythed out much bigger ones while I was clearing the path along the bank the other day, but it was there so whatever. The men were waiting when I arrived and we headed back towards my place, with them chattering away and me being able to ask Bekir about the accident. It turns out that a man from the bottom village had a badly broken leg from it, but i can't work out if he was in the car, in another one, or hit by this one while on the road. Either way, at least no one was killed.

Both showing super low pressure

I got back, made contact with the UK, and also made myself some lovely bacon and eggs on bread which satisfied the hunger pangs. I was able to have quite a long and interesting discussion about barometers and the fact that mine have been reading so low recently. I think this is because of what I guessed; my elevation, so at some point I need to get them calibrated and work out how to set them correctly. Anyway, it's good to learn new things.

The happy sounds of men at work

It was while I was chatting away then that I came up with the title for this blog. It was in response to the sound of the men upstairs, banging and hammering away, while chatting and listening to music, and it made me realise that much as I had enjoyed the peace of the last few days it was also really nice to have them back and making such a happy sound from upstairs. They were carrying on with the building of the retaining wall and Orhan was once again down filling buckets with concrete and hauling them up to the men on the roof. He saw me watching and waved which was nice.

Ralf being mucky

Once I had eaten and finished chatting I headed out and did the humanure which took about 20 mins and left me feeling a little happier as the bad smell from last time wasn't there, though one of the buckets stored inside must not have been sealed well enough as there were a fair number of flies in which hasn't happened before; not to self - make sure the lid is on properly before moving to storage. This completed I headed inside to do some paid work and was most amused after a bit of time when Ralf came to see me having been laid on the stairs and had loads of sawdust stuck to his face.

Things doing well in pots

I took him out for a loo break mid morning and spotted that the peppers are going red. Now I'm sure these are actually chilis, but they were sold to me as peppers so I'm going to stick with that description. I still had Ralf on his lead at this time and we headed back inside as soon as he had done his business. I had one other chore to complete.

That escalated quickly

My burnable rubbish had really started to pile up again so I collected it all together and took it out and with three matched got the fire going. The time between these two pictures is about two minutes and it shows just how quickly fire takes hold when the fuel is suitable. This thinking about the fire that took out the pier in the UK yesterday which was announced as a "small fire in a wall panel" and within half an hour had taken out the whole building.

Gorgeous on my meadow

Just briefly, here is another addition to the "flowers that are growing everywhere on my meadow" series, with two together that caught my eye next to the burning drum. So pretty.

Shiva moving really fast here

I did some more paid work and then headed out again, my aim being to quickly do the second fence by the entrance garden before the men went on their lunch. I was distracted for quite a while as I decided to look for the tortoises and I could only find Shiva, who was out and about and moving quite fast across the enclosure, but could not see Jesus anywhere, despite actually getting inside on my hands and knees to search thoroughly. He is a good little hider, though, so I'm sure he is OK. As they are no longer using it I decided to pull their old tray out and emptied the soil into their enclosure.

Foal chasing its mother who is working

While I was down and pottering the horse and cart went past a couple of times with a young lad driving it, and the foal following. I had to wait a bit to get a shot as I was a bit embarrassed to photograph it but eventually my opportunity came and I'm actually really pleased with how this has come out.

I finished the fence pretty quickly, using the same technique of bent nails to create pockets to sit the cross pieces in, and also some nails in the base to provide some vertical stability for when said cross pieces were pulled out. I didn't quite manage to finish before the men came out for lunch but that meant I could show them what I was doing and they didn't laugh too hard.

My dead tomato plants

Lunch for me was cheese and tomato sandwiches to make a change and I went and picked two lovely ripe fruits from my plants on the Hugelkultur. They really aren't looking well and one of the plants now has no more to harvest from it so I will remove it from the bed.

Hefting a load

After lunch the men set to putting the planks on the ribs and first they had to carry a load of wood upstairs which they all did, each hefting a sizable load and Bekir had a smile when I quickly snapped his picture.

The next step is begun

And so the afternoon was once again me working on paid work, watching the cricket and cheering as THE BEARD got six wickets and we beat the Indians, and listening to the men banging and hammering above my head. They made loads of progress today and I have hopes that the boarding will actually be completed tomorrow. I headed to bed mid afternoon for a nap but ended up reading for most of it, and came back to my desk feeling far tireder than when I went. I hate that.

Current state, plus progress inset

Pretty soon it was time for the men to go so they packed up, I took the boys to their enclosure, and we drove easily and without incident back to their village, though Lucy did get a little warm going up the cheren put it was a particularly warm evening today. I had put some potatoes on for my dinner before leaving and they were ready when I got back, though today I remembered the status picture (with detail insert for clarity) without it getting too late.

Goodbye sun

Dinner was lovely, with tuna and cheese and the Little Lady's butter (I've now run out) and washed down with a pint of lovely cold beer. I've pretty much been here ever since, other than dashing up for one quick photo shoot off the roof as the sunset wasn't as stunning after this shot as to want to go back. Ralf is still on his lead and is now curled up by my feet (before he was sat with his head on my leg which was super cute until you realised he wanted the cookie I was eating and no chance of that) and there is time for one more beer (or maybe just less than a whole one) and then I'll be off to bed to rest for another full day tomorrow.

Thanks for reading (if you did get this far that is).

Last day off

Hey there everyone. Today will be a short blog than normal because I haven't really done as much at all. Which those who complain about the length will be pleased by. Anyway, onwards.

He had to sit and wait outside

I once again slept pretty well last night but I woke up tired and stayed in bed, despite waking at 6 once more, until nearly 8. Hoping to complete my feeding session before she woke up so I made a brew and headed outside. Today I didn't take the lead for Ralf which is the first time for a long time and it worked out really well. Rambo did get a little keen and was bouncing around so much that when I gave him the "sit and wait" command he was actually outside the house but he did sit and he did wait from there. Ralf also, once again, waited until I told him to feed. He's getting there.

There isn't much water left in Rambo's pond

On the whole they were both very well behaved though Ralf did spoil his copy book by dashing out through the gate, having laid down by the door to the house while Rambo came out, as he was desperate for a wee. Bless him. I let Rambo out and Ralf followed me back inside while Rambo went for a dip in the much diminished pool. It is incredible to me that this is still there, with all the hot weather we have had and how long it is since that rain fell.

Clouds, and humidity, on its way

Talking of the weather it was pretty clear when I woke up but as I walked back to the house the clouds were blowing in slightly. This leads me to one thing I wanted to highlight. When I got up and went into Room 13 the humidity was down to about 60% or even lower. As this cloud blew in, and I went upstairs for another brew and a morning chat, it rose dramatically until it was above 80% which is quite unpleasant.

And now for the best and funniest video I have shot ever I think. Ralf came in with me after the feeding and he was looking very chirpy so I got his ball and was playing with it with him for a bit. After a few times of kicking it and watching him chase it and bring it back I decided to bounce it for him; Rambo loves this and jumps to grab it out of the air. Ralf, not so much. It turns out that when it is in the air he has no idea where it is and just looks around until it bounces again whereon he jumps towards the sound but still can't see it. This had me laughing loads and I had to grab the camera to share it with you.

More babies

The board which I hammered across where the car door will be into the garage has not really worked as I hoped. There has been a few swallows still flying around in there still but this isn't such a terrible thing as, the morning after I had put the new board on, I saw that there actually were some chicks in the nest in the kitchen. Most of the other birds seem to have left full stop, though I've no idea when they would normally disappear to Africa, but a couple flying through and looking after their babies I can cope with. There is a lot of bird poo on the floor though so I am looking forward to having none.

The final bed is bordered

So my first task of the day was to go and finish off the border around the final vegetable bed. I actually had four more beams to bed in, not just three as I thought last night, but I filled the wheel barrow up with gravel and stones and got all but one done in about 20 minutes of quick work. I then popped in, wish safe travelling, and headed back out and finished it all off without much problem at all. It was then in, have a shower, and get myself ready for my next job of the day; heading to town for a few bits and pieces.

Smashed up car

I dropped down the hill as usual and as I got to the bottom and the junction with the new road I found out what the Little Lady had been trying to tell me yesterday. There was a wrecked car parked by the side of the road, and lots of skidmarks all over the new road. Not good. I will have to ask Bekir tomorrow what happened (he knows people in the bottom village so will probably have heard) but she was pretty clear that someone had died down there. It really does bring home just how the insane driving I witness every day on that road can lead to terrible things.

I saw more insane driving as I got to town and there was a long queue to get to the roundabout at the end of the road and people came flying up the middle of the road, over cross hatching, just to jump a few cars in front. Insanity. My major target for the trip was a set of clippers so we can shave Ralf to keep him cooler and prevent the huge number of burs he is getting in his fur. Kaufland had excellent choice but all the boxes were open and there wasn't a single one with a power supply in it. Not great. I headed over to Lidl and bought ten of the excellent chili plants, and the other stuff on my list, and then went next door and found a set of clippers so full success.

Ten chili plants in two rows

When I got back I unloaded everything, put things in the fridge and freezer as required, and then pulled the chilis out and planted them in the Hugelkultur. I have watered them in well and I hope they establish. I have no idea if they will survive the winter (I may just cover them with hay to keep the frost and snow off them) but even if they don't, at 2 lev a plant, and the chilis being hot enough that you don't need to use many of them at all, they are a bargain.

Restful afternoon occurred right here

I hadn't had breakfast so was very hungry by this time so I fried some bacon, eggs and bread and had a fantastic brunch. I didn't have my camera at the time so you'll just have to take my word for it. After this I did some paid work but found that I couldn't do as much as I wanted so I settled back to watch the cricket. The gorgeous sunny weather started calling me, and I was feeling a bit dozy, so I dragged my rug, duvet and a couple of pillows out onto the balcony and set the laptop up and lay out there in the advancing sun for a good few hours until I decided to come inside. Ralf was with me laying in the shade, on the rug inside, and every now and then trying cheekily to get onto the duvet with me; not a chance son.

After coming inside it was soon time for food and I'd grabbed some stuffed pasta from Lidl which I planned to use with a tin of tuna for pasta sauce. This I did and again it was very nice. I'm doing well feeding myself at the moment. So I am sat here, one beer down (not pouring another until I finish typing - as usual) still watching the cricket and hoping England can manage to pull a victory out finally, and I'm going to send this out to you guys to enjoy. Tomorrow is back to working with an early start to collect the men. I am looking forward to having them back.

Project and digging

I am tired as I type this; today has been a full day and I have used lots of energy and sweated a couple of buckets at least so we shall see just how much of this blog I get done in my usual gobby style before I get bored and go for the more basic type of style. You have avoided another mainly black video in this blog taken last night as it really didn't come out but this is quite a shame really. I wish I had a really good video camera. There was a distant huge storm which was lighting up the clouds in such a beautiful way; I stood out on the balcony for about ten or fifteen minutes last night before heading to be just to watch and appreciate the beauty. A few times there was simultaneous forked and sheet lightning and this was most stunning of all.

Early morning mist

I headed inside eventually and dropped off to sleep but I was disturbed a bit in the night by quite strong winds which howled through the roof above my head (which is quite in need of renewing) and some desultory flashes which did light the room up a bit. This must have been the outlying dregs of the storm and I am pretty glad it stayed well away. I did sleep pretty well after the wind died but I was woken just before 6am by Rambo going nuts and barking at something above their compound. I ignored him for a bit but then got out of bed to see what was happening and was pleased I did as it both shut him up so I could get back to sleep, and allowed me to get an early photograph of a lovely morning.

Morning has broken

It was a couple of hours later that I woke again and I went out again on the balcony in the early morning sun to get another picture. It was a lovely view and, with the boys being quite quiet yet still welcoming me it was a great start to the day. I woke at the same time as the UK half and had a brief chat with my brew before heading out to feed the boys.

Post breakfast faces

The good start to the day was continued out there as, apart from the standard barking and jumping around from Ralf, and Rambo jumping up a couple of times, they were really obedient and Ralf again sat down in his corner and waited while I placed the bowls and ate only when allowed. Long may this continue. Again after they both finished we sat for a few minutes together, while I emptied the tea, and they were also chilled during this time.

Posh scrambled eggs on toast

For the first time since my Special Guest was here I decided to do posh scrambled eggs for breakfast as my bacon block was too small to slice for normal bacon and I was so pleased I made this choice. I chopping some mushrooms, added a chili and fried that off, then some eggs and a few chopped olives and onto toast with Daddies Brown sauce and I was a very happy man indeed.

Lovely wasp

As I was just finishing eating the same wood wasp that was flying around in here yesterday returned but it was not looking very healthy really. It staggered around a bit, landing and walking more than it was flying, and then after I was able to watch it for quite a while (while chatting to S on facebook which was nice) before it flew off drunkenly and disappeared again. I think it was on its last legs which is a shame as I love these wasps.

Just after she has been fed and watered

Shortly after this I fed and watered Sassy and she was looking really chilled out as well, squatting on the top shelf of her cage, so I grabbed the camera and took a load of pictures. I do spend time with her every day and she always makes me happy as she hops around my feet and sniffs my hand then lets me pet and scratch her head. I love the idea I have for where her home will be, maybe even next year if the living room gets done, so she can be central to our lives. She's a top bunny rabbit.

The melons are growing fast

After this I went out to let Ralf have a wee, and I took one of the old cucumbers and a load of cabbage, and dropped it in for the boys; they have lots of green things growing but it is nice to be able to provide them with extra. I could see Shiva but not Jesus so I will be checking them more often to double check Jesus is still around. When I looked later today Shiva was still in sight and again no Jesus. A little concerning, but not something I'm that surprised by as they have loads of space in there. I checked the free water at this point and found that I had pressure so I quickly did the watering round with the hose, including the Olive trees and Melons which have really grown fast.

Ralf just putting the kong back down

One thing which was new about this visit was me not putting Ralf on his lead; he proved my faith in him by staying pretty close to me and, other than running off with the kong (I again failed to get a picture of him carrying it which is so funny as it is so big compared to his head) and chewing it for a bit he was very obedient and always came when I called him. The super tough training schedule is starting to really pay dividends.

Gorgeous Zinnia

I filled the watering can and then, again taking a little risk, went up onto the top bank without putting Ralf back on his lead. He was excited, running around a lot, but always staying pretty close to me and even when he went up by the fence, near where he had chased that hare, he returned to me immediately I called. The Zinnia which has flowered is looking really beautiful and I spent a fair bit of time up there giving them a really good deep water; allowing each application to soak in before pouring more on.

The clouds sweeping in for the day

As I was on the top bank I could see a raft of cloud heading in my direction and covering the sun and sure enough it kept coming and all day there has been very little sign of the sun and really heavy cloud cover. At this time, however, it was still gorgeous and even the clouds coming in added to the view.

My project

I returned inside for another cup of tea and a chat and then decided to go outside and get started with my task for the day - digging out the small vegetable bed on the left in the fenced garden. I got outside and had just gathered all my tools together and made a start and I heard a car pull up and it was Lubo, early for our meeting about the kitchen wall and project. I greeted him and we went inside where Ralf bothered his heels continually as he could smell Lubo's cat on him. First of all we went to the kitchen and drew all over the wall with where the wall can be knocked down. You will have to wait for tomorrow to see about that as I have not taken a picture of it. The main reason for the visit was for me to review the project and sign each section. Apart from a little concern where Lubo had drawn lots of electrical plans without having discussed any of it with me (he said the inspection will be purely for safety and not checking I have carried out the exact plan) I was happy enough and signed them all.

This was my entire target for the day

Once Lubo headed off, with the huge amount of paperwork in his super strong Lidl bag (not the most professional of images, but then that's Lubo) I made a brew and headed out to get the digging done. It was cooler than it has been for the last couple of days and this was a very good thing as I found the ground, which I had hoped would be a bit easier to dig over, was actually quite compacted and hard to break up. It took just over an hour to go from the first dig to the completed bed though I would need to add some more gravel to fully bed the border beams in place.

I was super sweaty, and pretty tired, after this so I had a lovely shower as soon as I came in, then went upstairs to rest for a bit, try and rustle some paid work up, and have lunch which was cheese, tomato and cucumber sandwiches, and also bounce a few emails around and finally (yes, a lot happened) the cricket started as I came in so I popped that on as well and enjoyed seeing some good English bowling.

Partially dug over the remaining bed

After eating I decided to head back outside and give it a go at the final vegetable bed that I have laid out and I put some serious graft in getting what at the time I thought was about half of the bed dug over but I reckon now as probably only a third. I stopped when I started to get a little light headed and the sweat was running over my forehead and I thought it was raining as it landed on my hands and arms as I was digging. I headed inside and had a brew, a slice of cheese and some chocolate biscuits and pretty quickly felt better.

There was cloud cover all day today

As I said earlier the clouds have been overhead all day and at times it has even felt a little cold when the wind picked up and I also heard some big rumbles of thunder which fortunately never came closer than that. I still got very hot digging but it was less oppressive than it has been and that is a sign of me settling in to living here; being HAPPY that it is overcast on the last few days before August.

Only a little left to do

I went back out and worked really hard again, once more with the sweat pouring off me and dripping down my face and back and arms and all over me actually, smeared in mud and probably a right sight, but enjoying my graft which cheered me up from the slight jaded feeling I had suffered first thing, and finished digging the whole of the large bed and then put in three of the six beams for the border. I quit when I started feeling like it was ready to stop and I will finish this tomorrow morning; I have achieved more than I was expecting to (I had scoped my plans to just the first bed I finished before lunch) so leaving it half done wasn't a terrible feeling.

Dinner in the oven

So I went inside, had another awesome shower and headed upstairs to spend the evening watching the cricket and then starting this blog and finally making my dinner. I was so uninspired I didn't start cooking for a fair while but then I had the idea to make a casserole with the two sausages left from yesterday, three slightly over ripe tomatoes given me by the Little Lady this morning (who was almost in tears, bless her, as she tried to tell me there had been a catastrophe in the village down the hill and someone had died. I don't know who. It really is terrible to not be able to understand her sometimes) some mushrooms and half an onion and then finally a sliced dried chili. I slammed it all together and put it into the oven at about 190 degrees and left it to cook.

I spent time typing this up, checking the food every now and then and after about half an hour popped the heat up, and also gave it a bit of a stir a little after that as well. I waited for it to be bubbling, and my hunger to really get up, and then served it up and wow it was amazing. So flavoursome, tender, varied and also very hot - I sweated, nose ran and even got a little lightheaded as I drank down the sauce left after I had eaten the solid elements. Amazing.

A missing brick; a sunset shot

While I have been inside the clouds have blown away and left me with a lovely clear evening. This is perfect for me as I have been able to pop onto the roof a few times in the evening and enjoy the sight of the sun going down and the clouds blowing away. I did take some of the standard boring shots of the sunset but as I was coming back down one time I saw the red light streaming in through a hole in the wall and got a really arty picture for you.

So that is my day; time for my evening chatter, then bed, and tomorrow my plans have changed so I will be going to Lidl to buy them out of those lovely chili plants to put in the Hugelkultur (if they haven't already sold out again) so we never run out of chilis again.