More friends

Well it seems the routine is settled; we have gorgeous weather then a visitor arrives and it turns bad; today has been windy and actually a bit cold - I even wore a fleece for some of today; unheard of. I was strictly in shorts though and that would not be changed. Not in July!

The first thing to say is that last night the Special Guest and I were chatting and I shushed her as I heard a gurgle and it was a good one; the water was running into the boiler. I might have jumped around a bit and been VERY excited as we have running water again! I immediately did the washing up and cleared away the piles of dirty jars that had been piling up. Excellent!

The sun is about to show itself

We slept in the bedroom last night and the storm which had blown through during the evening didn't quite return but there was some pretty high winds on and off in night which caused cooling breezes to come in through the balcony window and out the internal window. I'm so pleased that I got the opener on that. I woke up before the alarm and was out on the balcony taking pictures before the sun had even risen. I am never going to get bored of this view.

I really need to remove those stickers

As my Special Guest was here today to do the feeding task I didn't have to go and do that and snoozed quite a nice long time. The sun rose and splashed colour onto the walls and then it was almost possible to see the shape moved as more and more of the sun protruded above the ridgeline. Because the door doesn't yet have a bottom panel with glass in it you can't see as much when laying in bed as I wanted, but the view was gorgeous with a few clouds visible.

I headed off to collect the men but went really early as Thomas was pretty much out of fuel so I went down to the petrol station and filled him up. Again. I was (as per) really early so I cruised very slowly towards the men's village and still had time to stop round the corner and doze for five minutes before driving on to the collection point. When I got back I set to with something which had occurred to me on the drive; I would paint the "betoncontact" glue onto the floor in the bedroom to keep the dust down. This has been applied in Room 13 (by my dad) and worked really well. I got the men to help me lift the bed and mattress out of the way and then set to.

While I was going Lubo arrived for our chat and so my Special Guest took over with the brush. I went up and showed him the change for the roof terrace, and he was OK with that just pointing out a few things that would be needed including insulation, a 10 cm drop across the 6m width, and that the tiles would have to be special snow safe ones. I also went through the plans for a water tank upstairs which he and Bekir chatted about and they agreed that 250L would be big enough. Anyway, it's all good and I have been told I'll have the full approval by July 30th. Awesome.

This is a shocking pink now!

My Special Guest had cracked on really well with the floor sealant but I took back over after Lubo had left and she went and made "egg in a cup" for breakfast which I really do like quite a lot. I went to have it after I finished painting the whole floor. We now have a pink bedroom floor. Oh well, it isn't for ever.

Tomato and chili

So a quick update on progress on my tomato and pepper (or rather, chili) plants. I have one tomato almost entirely red and another on its way and the chili plant has lots of fruit on it too. I'll be able to eat at least one tomato off there this weekend I reckon.

It was dry in less than an hour

With the water coming back on last night (and the suspicion that it would go back off in the night preventing my putting the washing machine on over night) we set the machine to wash the backlog of clothes first thing. After 3.5 hours it was finally finished (it's very quiet, but still takes a fair amount of time) and so we went out to hang them all out. The wind was so high that each item of clothing required three pegs instead of two to stop it blowing into Turkey. You will see, in the background, Ralf in the enclosure. This is because he kept snapping at Rambo and was really nasty to him and refused to stop so he got put away. He was really not happy.

Spiky Orchid

After this I took a turn around the top field to snap pictures of the orchids that are growing there. There are two types; the first I photographed is on the bank right near the washing line and has lots of spikes on its stem. This made it quite difficult to photograph as the wind was thrashing the flower around but I held it carefully and snapped the pictures quickly.

Another orchid, and its resident

The second orchid is right up the top, among a load of brush plants and scrub trees. There are a number of these, several on my land and an even greater number just the other side of the fence. These are stunning as well with the more recognised shape of an orchid. I once again had to hold the stem to stop it waving around so much but as I did so I noticed a movement and saw a spider was making its way across its web and down towards my fingers. It was such a pretty spider that I took a picture of that as well for you.

Smouldering away

My Special Guest had set a fire going while I was out collecting the men and it was still smouldering away while I did this round so I took a quite stroll over to get a picture. Aren't I so generous to you.

Ralf going back to the enclosure

Lucy has been in the garage pretty much all this week getting her gaskets changed and today I decided to pop down to the garage shop and find out what was going on. Whatever happened it wouldn't be a wasted trip as I could go to the food shop and get some of the lovely fresh bread and some more eggs. As we were leaving my Special Guest snapped a photograph of me carrying Ralf to the enclosure. I do NOT spoil this dog in the slightest! Honest! The news about Lucy was not good as they had swapped out all the gaskets, changed all the fluids and she was still bubbling a bit. They have asked for a few more days to look at her so I swapped numbers (so my friend doesn't need to be bothered any more) and will wait to see what happens. Fingers crossed she gets better.

Beautiful view down a valley

We headed back home and found that it was pretty much time for lunch. We made lovely sandwiches from the fresh bread that had just been bought and then headed on over to S and S to see their place (finally!) and spend a chunk of the afternoon over there. We were both really tired heading out and my Special Friend had a little doze in the car but the welcome was warm and the guided tour was impressive and then we sat down to chai made from their "tea tree" which was just lovely. It was an excellent visit and a pleasure to meet the family they had visiting too. I think S's sister reads this so "hi!". Anyway, we left after a while to let them get on with the work they were doing, and so I could get back to give the men a lift home. On the way back we stopped at one of the beautiful sight seeing spots to snap a few pictures. The road up to theirs really is stunning and I'm looking forward to driving it again.

Ducklings getting out of the way of Thomas

As we pulled into the village and past the Little Lady's house two little ducklings started running ahead of the car and they wouldn't get out of the road to let us pass. My Special Guest got out with the camera and chased them out the way and then snapped some pictures. To jump ahead, when I came back from dropping the men I was introduced to one of these little creatures by the granddaughter who brought it over to the car window. More on this moment later.

The supporting wall is now very strong

The men had made great progress, and at least someone had appreciated the cooler weather as they had been able to work without sweating too badly. They had been putting concrete on the walls (up to where the roof will end) to reinforce it all and create a solid and stable base for the roof beams to sit on. This now has the weekend to cure and then on Monday they'll be back, possibly with one more helper, to put the beams in. I think they said that this would be finished by Monday, but I'm not totally sure. I suppose I'll find out huh.

Clouds scurrying across the sky

I also snapped a picture of the clouds that were still populating the sky up until not long ago (I look out now and see a perfectly clear sky - fingers crossed tomorrow is a gorgeous day for our plans); this will be the view from the sun terrace and the BBQ pit and summer kitchen. Wow.

Dated so I know when to use them

So I took the men home (after they helped me lift the bed back into the bedroom, and I carried on of the wardrobes up as well) and on the way back I was greeted first by the Other Brother who asked me how I was and who my guest was and some other stuff I didn't understand, then I was told to wait and the Little Lady rooted around and found three chicken eggs and a duck egg for me. Brilliant. What I didn't realise was that they (and when I say "they" I mean the Little Lady, the granddaughter, the kmet's son and two other girls I've not met before but seen around) were angling to come over to see Ralf.

So I got in, went upstairs, appreciated the carbonara that was being made (it looked amazing, and tasted even better) and before we ate I was alerted to the presence of the gang enumerated above stood at the side gate and wanting to come in. Rambo was put away and we were treated to a few minutes of crowd in Room 13 admiring everything, asking questions I didn't know what they were, and then just as they left spotting that changes had happened for the bedroom so they all trooped in and stood in the bedroom admiring everything. They are so lovely and welcoming that there is only amusement here, not frustration; it is brilliant how they have welcomed me and have an interest in what I am doing. I think part of the excuse was also to come see my Special Guest.

Look closely to see the progress

I had forgotten when I took the men to snap a picture of the current state of the building so I went up (with Ralf) after eating and took this. It is probably not easy to see the difference but they have tidied all the walls and put a hole through where the end of the roof is now going to be.

Sun beams shining from behind the cloud

As I finish typing this my Special Guest is up on the roof terrace taking pictures of the sun going down. She came down with this one, and then turned round and did what I always do "ooooh it is probably even better now" and so she's back up there again. I'm going to go join her and see what she comes up with.

Ralf likes a cuddle

He is looking for the hare. I think.

Before I go to the pictures of the sunset (and there were LOADS more taken) here is me and Ralf, and Ralf on his own, on the roof where the terrace will be. It is lovely up there but there is still quite a chill breeze blowing in. It proves once again just how awesome it will be as a summer kitchen when the weather is finally warm again.

Star bright

And here is the winner of the competition between the other twenty shots of the sun going down. She's just as bad as me, you see.

Anyway, tomorrow will be a good day whatever the weather as we have good weather and bad weather plans. Night.

EDIT

Reflections of sun in the cloud

Yes you guessed it, while I was uploading the pictures "ooh it's really red" and another photograph appeared. Wonderful.