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| The sun makes its appearance |
Last night we took the other laptop into the bedroom and watching "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang". Well, I did but she fell asleep (she claims she was listening all the time, I have not yet quizzed her on the dialogue from the last half of the film so I'm not sure about those claims). Anyway, it's a good film and it was really nice to set on the comfortable bed and be able to watch stuff. The Wifi works down there too which was good to find out. I slept like a baby after this and struggled to wake up. Fortunately my Special Guest woke, grabbed the camera, and snapped a picture through the fly screen on the bedroom window of the sun just appearing over the mountains across the way. I was fast asleep and woke up well after the sun was up. The boys were barking and howling a bit and that eventually caused us to finally decide to feed them to shut them up.
Feeding time was really easy again, and we both sat out in their house with our brews while they ate and they were pretty good all in all, though the ball being thrown for Rambo set Ralf off a bit while we were on the top field doing the watering. The pressure on the free water was back up again today which was also really good. We did a few chores (I did the washing up and we also put the wardrobes into the bedroom and put some clothes in them) and then it was time for going out.
Plans today were to drive into town and buy me some sun glasses and then go on from there out on my favourite road through the mountains past the lakes and up to the Abandoned Power Station which probably wasn't a power station at all but anyway. We were eventually into Thomas and heading out the door having gathered everything together and put the boys away with two extra big bowls of water as we were leaving them for a longer time. The shopping trip was a success and I am actually really pleased with my sunglasses. Pictures of them will be later in the blog.
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| Beautiful vista |
We left town and headed up into the mountains and my Special Guest was suitably amazed by the views. We have between us taken over 300 photographs today so believe me I am going to be working hard to cut them down. We stopped a few times by the side of the road on the way up to snap the views and she was hanging out the window quite a lot as well. This is the first shot that she took on the way up and I love it; what a stunning view.
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| Colourful bug on a colourful thistle head |
A bit further on we stopped again and as well as the stunning views there is also loads of wildlife out here and as the first of many here is a bug sat on a thistle. It is orange and black and was quite large.
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| Plants in front of the lake |
It wasn't just her taking pictures, I got in on the act as well and I am particularly pleased with how this has come out. I spent a while working on different framings and focus settings and the one which is focused on the plants with the lake blurred in the background worked really well.
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| Butterflies for the day |
There were loads of butterflies around all day and we took what pictures we could though it was so warm today they weren't settling anywhere for long and it was quite hard to sneak up on them and focus and snap before they took flight. There are a fair few pictures of boring ground where just shortly before a lovely butterfly was sitting.
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| The bravest frog of them all |
Despite the regular and welcome stops we got to the parking spot for the Probably Not A Powerstation and were making our way towards the buildings to have a look around before hiking to the spot when my Special Guest yelled out in pain and started hopping around. She had been stung by something right on the bottom of her foot. I managed to help her to the steps onto the bridge and she sat there and after a few minutes, and some help from me to remove the stinger, the pain subsided enough for her to walk again. Not a pleasant moment at all. We crossed the bridge and went down to the water and both soaked our feet in the river and after five minutes she was feeling much better and we could set off. It wasn't long before we saw our first frogs as they panicked and dived for water but one wasn't bothered and refused to move as we went past.
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| Just some cool dude standing, looking cool |
And now, the first picture of the sunglasses and don't I just look awesome! This is just up from where the frog was and you can see just how hot and dry it is even just by the river. We were heading about a ten minute walk along the stones, including three crossings of the river, up to the island which I had found with The Electrician. It had grass, shady trees, and some calm water next to it. Perfect for a picnic.
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| A crab hiding behind a rock |
We set up the rug and I was hungry so I had a bite of bread with nardenitsa which was lovely. I then changed into my swimming shorts and we both went down to the water to sit and cool off. She went before me and shouted out that she had found a crab; I managed to snap a picture though it heard my approach and hid behind a rock which is just typical.
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| Yep. That's a snake. In the water |
The other very exciting thing was as I was looking at it I saw a snake in the river as well. I had not been aware that there were snakes in Bulgaria that go in water but here was one right in front of us. I got a few pictures as it sat very still and we were both very careful to stay clear of where it was when we went to sit down.
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| Dude in sunglasses |
So I went to sit on some rocks but slipped but I didn't hurt myself at all however it was surprising just how slimy the underwater rocks are. I went a bit further upstream and sat carefully in the shallows and it was lovely; the sun was really hot and the water was shallow so it was not too cold (actually it was really nice as it was cool) and we both sat there for ages watching the life that was teeming all around us.
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| Loads of life in the river |
There were minnows in the shallows and, as we sat still, some slightly larger fish appeared. There were also some bottom feeders that moved really slowly and then suddenly dashed to another location before carrying on their grazing. It made me wish I had brought my snorkel as I would have been happy to lay on my front and observe the animals for hours and hours.
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| Are these Elm trees? |
After this it was lunch time which was just lovely, and then we moved the rug out into the sun and sunbathed for about twenty minutes until it got too warm and then dragged it back under the shade from the elm trees. At least, I think they were elm trees. All the time we were there we were being rained on by the sap from the trees.
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| Our shaded spot |
The spot under the trees was really nice; the grass was soft and we were only slightly disturbed by the cows that were grazing up and down the river bed.
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| Who is that asleep over there |
It wasn't long before I was asleep and while I didn't doze for long it was really nice to be so relaxed and in such a peaceful and lovely place that you did just drift away to the sound of the river and the frogs and crickets and all the bird life that was flying around. What a heavenly afternoon.
When I woke up I went down to the water to cool down again and saw that the water snake, which had disappeared before, was now back and in a slightly different place. I crouched down on my haunches and watched for a while hoping that it may feed on a fish as there were loads of minnows around but it didn't. It did, however, start to move and I wished I'd brought my phone so I could take a picture as it swam, then stopped, then swam again really quite fast to the shallows. It lay with its head just out of the water, resting on a stone, and then just as suddenly turned back on itself and writhed through the water and disappeared under a rock where I think it remained. Brilliant. We later did a search and I think it was a Dice Snake.
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| Slightly closer shot of the snake |
We did not have a time telling device so had no idea how late it had got but we both felt it was time to head back. There was a path I had seen on the other side of the river which I hoped would take us back to the bridge and via a different route which is always nice so we packed up, crossed the river once more, and set out along the track. It climbed up the valley side til we were a fair way above the water but continued following the valley and, after a few close encounters with crickets and a lizard which legged it, we found ourselves just by the bridge and exactly where we had needed to be. Brilliant.
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| Stunning view, and the wedding party agreed |
Thomas was very hot but we just got moving with the windows down and were on our way over to the fish restaurant. This was the second part of the plan for today and it was amazing. We parked up on the hill and walked down and found it was pretty empty so we had the pick of the seats. As we were early we ordered drinks first and sat and chatted and enjoyed the stunning views across the water. A very nice Mercedes came down the hill, decorated for a wedding, and the bride and groom, and best man and maid of honour, got out and they were taking pictures all around, including next to the speedboat that was moored next to the restaurant.
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| Her dinner and mine below |
Eventually we decided to order and she went with the Trout while I had the Catfish. Both our meals were absolutely amazing and the Jelena salad was stunning, as were the sauteed potatoes. It really is a good place to eat and when you consider that it cost almost as much as I pay the men for working for one day (each) then you can see that it is actually quite a posh place, even if it seems cheap to us.
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| Sun set picture number 1 |
After we finished and paid up (cash only, please) we were in Thomas and singing along to classic driving rock songs on the way home. The sun was going down and we were in a race to get back in time to get some pictures off the roof terrace. I sent her on ahead to run up with her camera while I let the boys out. There were REALLY excited but I suppose having be left all day that is to be expected. I carried all the gear inside and then went onto the roof where she had already taken about fifty pictures of the sun going down.
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| My contribution |
I also got my camera out and this was the best picture I managed to get as the sun made its last farewell before dipping below the horizon. This sun terrace on the roof is going to be absolutely amazing and I am very excited to get it finished this year so we can use it in August and September, hopefully.
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| It has nearly gone |
She was still snapping away while I played with Ralf and got this which was about ten seconds before it disappeared. Sorry for all these pictures of the various stages of the sun set. Well, actually, I'm not. You should expect it by now.
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| Gone to other lands |
Finally for this blog here is the sky just shortly after the sun set, still burning and glowing but with the most amazing shades as you go higher from the horizon. I love it. While I've been sat slaving over this computer (and it has taken me about one hour and ten minutes to do this so far, including some interruptions getting burs out of Ralf's fur and things like that) my Special Guest has been playing with Rambo in the dark and also getting Ralf into a playful mood and generally giving them the attention that they need. Ralf has kept tapping into the room, saying hello (sometimes with kisses) and then disappearing again. He is so settled now.
Tomorrow then is a day of making and planting and then Monday it is back to the garage to find out what is wrong with Lucy as I had a phone call today from the lady at the shop which sounded a little concerning. There is nothing I can do for now so I'm not worrying until Monday.
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