Weekend away

So with a day off blogging yesterday (I bet you were all gutted to not have my ramblings to read) I'm back and gonna crack on with this double day blog post.

Ralf stole both the toys - cheeky sod

Winding my memory back to yesterday morning we were up relatively early considering no alarm was set and there was no hurry to be awake and the first thing we found was that the water was back on which was a real relief. We would be able to shower before going to see our friends later. We had a few things to get done before and after feeding the boys we went and watered everything well as it wouldn't get any attention til Sunday. Ralf has a love of stealing toys, or anything actually, belonging to Rambo and he did his usual trick with Rambo's ball, and a bottle Rambo was playing with, and at one point had actually managed to get both. Rambo didn't let this state of affairs last long and stole the ball back soon after.

Gorgeous morning, and a new poppy starting

While down by the vehicle gate watering the Silver Birch trees I looked back up to the house and the colour of the sky with the lovely trees and the new roof extending itself now once again above the green building was so striking I had to get a picture. We then spotted what looks like a fancy poppy or something which has appeared down there as well; so many great flowers everywhere.

Very excited to be heading out

With the watering done, and my breakfast of bacon and egg butties complete, we got the boys together and took them for a walk. This was the first time we'd taken them together since the abortive attempt with BobS a few weeks back. They actually walked really well together and were no trouble at all, though they did pull a bit at the beginning of the walk.

A much needed swim to cool down

We headed up out of the village towards the pond at the top but on the way, as the pups were getting quite hot, I decided to drop down to the slightly larger pond in the middle of the meadow above the village. The only problem with this one is it is used as a watering hole by all the cattle and so sometimes it is not possible to take the boys. As we approached a large herd of sheep and goats were just skirting the pool but the herder took them to the other side of the lake so we were able to get there without worrying his sheep. Ralf and Rambo both went straight into the water and had a great time; in a near field there were four dogs with another man who kept barking and coming to investigate but we ignored them and they left us alone after that.

Rambo swimming, Ralf being skinny

This pond is deep enough for Rambo to swim in properly and so A chucked some sticks for him into the deeper part so he could fetch them and swim. Ralf was in and out a number of times as he could swim pretty much immediately he went in and he was having such a great time chasing around. You can see the other dogs in the background of the picture of Ralf. Shortly after this we headed back and those dogs took an interest in us again, barking and chasing across the field. I stopped and looked and then backed away while staring at them and this made them pause, then just watch as we left. With the water having cooled them both dogs were much happier on the walk down and Ralf in particular had more energy.

As we walked towards the house we saw Usmivka working on his potatoes in their garden. We had a brief conversation but then, just as we got in the side gate, the Little Lady appeared and was insistent that we go for a coffee as she had guests. We put the boys away and I grabbed the two pots of hers, some dry bread for their chickens, and one of the bottles of Quince Jelly and then we went over and had a very nice coffee and some biscuits while chatting with the English speaking guest of hers. The mother of this guest was one of the ladies who had come over here a month or so ago with two others and cried as I showed her round. Just as we were getting close to needing to leave Usmivka came in and putting his arm around me first said "this is my son" and then A "and this is my daughter". Bless him.

Locals wishing us safe travelling

We headed back and got ourselves ready for the off, packing the bag and tidying up and then locking every door in the place. We picked up some of the coloured key fob things so we could set them on the front and side door keys that we took with us. As we were leaving through the vehicle gate A got some pictures of the horse and foal that were standing opposite the gate. They just stood there totally calmly as we drove off.

Me with the Mushroom stones

The journey to our friends took us through the main town and then I decided to follow the satnav over the scenic route I had taken once before. It is a stunning drive going over that way and we stopped a couple of times to take pictures. The best thing though was as we went round a corner and found a car stopped in the middle of the road A suddenly noticed that we were right next to the Mushroom Stones which is an interesting geological phenomenon surrounded by barbed wire right by the road. We stopped at a little pull in just up the road and walked back, followed in this by the stationary car which we now worked out had spotted the stones as well and was working out where to park. They were pretty bizarre to be fair, and I'm really glad she spotted them as when I drove this way on my own I was paying so much attention to the road (as this time actually) that I hadn't seen them at all.

Huge solar farm

Another landmark we drove past (this time one I see every time) was the huge solar panel farm that extends for a mile or so by the side of the road. This picture was actually taken as I was driving past at speed and it has come out really well considering.

The church storks nest

Finally for this section of the journey we drove through the village with the stork nest on its church and this time I remembered and parked the car up so a good clear picture could be taken. The two storks were even in residence at the time which was good. This nest is so large and so messy I can't imagine it being allowed to stay on a church steeple in the UK. I think it is probably valued by the locals here though.

Amazing lunch at a hardware store

We stopped on the way as planned at the larger hardware store and I managed to buy the sander and large nails that I needed, and we also got a bed for Ralf to go in Room 13. After the usual ritual of being shown that the tool actually works (by plugging it in and turning it on) we were both hungry and A smelled food and found a restaurant on the 1st floor. We went up and what a great choice it was. Where in the UK you get microwaved rubbish at these places this had an open kitchen with a chef (who was very smiley) and some amazing food made fresh while you watched. The Adana Kebab I had was completely gorgeous (after some confusion as they asked how hot I wanted it and my language skills let me down for a moment) and I can tell you that there was only crumbs left after we finished up. At the end we were given two turkish teas for free by the chef. I love this country!

Dude on a trike

And so back on the road and the rest of the journey was unremarkable other than some turkeys we drove past in a village, and this awesome trike bike thing we over took. I gave him a wave and a thumbs up as we went past and he responded with a toot on his horn. We arrived safe and well at Chaz and Ivan's and there was evidence of the progress they are making everywhere. It was lovely to see them again and, after a few beers sat in the lounge (and some AMAZING apricot spirit which had apparently been aged for 16 years in a buried bottle - crazy) we headed down to the local bar for a couple before dinner.

When we got there a few faces were familiar but the two scottish ladies from my first visit were not there. We had a lovely time, meeting a German / Slovak couple who were lovely, but the most amusing / disgusting experience of the night was when the really drunk person sat on a chair by the wall let go and wet himself while he was asleep. It ran all down across the patio and pooled and was pretty disgusting to be honest. The landlady didn't actually do much about it and, after leaning to hard on the plastic arm of the deck chair he was sat on and breaking it right off, and being remonstrated with by a few of the villagers, this distasteful fellow stood up and staggered off. He'd have been hosed down and ejected if it was my bar. This excitement over we went inside for the last drink as the temperature was cooling down slightly and I enjoyed the music in there, and the conversation also.

Dinner was a lovely curry, pork and beans made by Ivan, and chicken tikkas that hadn't been marinaded long enough according to Chaz but I thought they tasted great. We then sat and threw a ball with Ivan's little niece who was staying with them, chatted a lot, drank more beer, water, tea and other liquid refreshment, and spent time trying to work out what film it was that was on the TV at the time. I have just googled and found that it was "All The King's Men" and Rotten Tomatoes says it is rubbish, though IMDB isn't so critical. It was a really enjoyable evening but A was dropping off to sleep sat up by the end so we adjourned and slept through pretty well,  though the dogs in the village did chase off a coyote at one point that woke me up, and I also had a horrible falling nightmare where I thought the bed was suspended high in the air and was about to fall; I woke A in a panic as it turned into a waking dream but I don't think she had remembered in the morning. I lay there for a while after calming myself down but I was still not confident to swing my legs over the side; strange what your mind does sometimes isn't it.

We woke naturally feeling rested and beat Chaz awake by a few minutes, with a brew each, and then he set to making us an outstanding breakfast of which there are once again no pictures as our cameras had not left the car, my phone was also in there and A's phone had no battery. Trust me when I say it was a feast and it has sustained us all the way through to now though as I type this I'm feeling a little hungry at just after 5pm. We headed off shortly after breakfast so we could get back for the dogs and the journey was simple, though I took a slightly wrong turn at one point and we came into the big town from a different direction. My parents and my Friend will know where because we drove past the large pile of rubble I had skidded Thomas over after our caching trip while my parents were here.

First joint fixed

When we got back the boys were super excited to see us and unfortunately Ralf got over excited and was snapping as he was jumping at me, catching my arm slightly. It didn't draw blood however I did tell him off and it took some of the joy out of seeing them again. We unloaded the car and then set to with the tasks that had been set ourselves. For myself I was going to put together the beams I had cut the other day into one layer for the raised bed. I set it all out and drilled the embedding holes and then put the new long screws in with the driver and they are perfect.

 A playing with her new toy

A, meanwhile, had taken the new sander and was working away to smooth all the old paint down and remove the flakes so we could do another coat of paint to keep the wood from rotting. She seemed to be enjoying herself and did a cracking job of getting all the flakes off and tidying both sides of both frames that will be used in this cold frame raised bed contraption.

Drilling into the really dense wood

I kept on with this first frame and, with a bit of help from A to turn it over and maneuver the super heavy wood I got the job completed in not that much time. It looks really good and most shockingly of all the dimensions I had used were perfect. We offered the two window frames up to make sure the middle cross piece was in the right place and it is snug as a bug. Brilliant.

Two frames stacked, and me stoked

After doing this I stole the power for a bit and cut up wood for the next layer and then proceeded to put that together as well so now I have two of the three frames required for one raised bed; the final, sloping, frame will be made with help from Bekir and his chainsaw. With some effort (they really are very heavy and we have decided that the guest bed won't, after all, be made of this wood as it would be impossible to move) I dragged the second frame on top of the first and they match up really rather well; when they are screwed together with the internal joints they will be perfect. Don't I look proud.

The windows fit!

With this second one done we tidied up and put all the tools away. At first we weren't sure where to put the windows for safest keeping but then I suggested we once again rest them on the frames; now they will be at an angle so they are too wide to settle in snugly however for the length ways one they are just spot on as I said.

Ralf and his new bed

It was really rather warm outside so we came in after this, showed Ralf his new bed (he sat in it for a bit and then got up; maybe it is too warm for now but it'll be ideal in the winter) and I sat on the sofa with my book and a cuppa to cool down in the nice breeze in that location; it is going to work exactly as planned when the place is done, have a couple of soft chairs or sofas there to sit and read, looking through the bedroom out that window on the balcony, or out the landing windows to the back. I then came in Room 13 to type this while A has gone for a lay down. I am now really rather hungry so I'm going to risk waking her so we can go out for some food and get this published as well. I'll update you tomorrow on the evening.

Cheers.

Tomatoes are weeds

G'day, and what a day. Let's just crack on with everything which has happened.

Sunrise reflecting on the clouds

Sleep was good last night however I woke just before the alarm and was encouraged out of bed by the amazing morning sky. There was still a substantial lack of water pressure so I filled the kettle, put that on, and then took the pictures. What a glorious start to the day.

I moved more wood

Once again this morning I was working on the wood pile and I reckoned, based on the progress I made yesterday, that I should finish it today. I had my cup of tea and headed out as A went to feed the boys and I was still going when she got back with the men however I am still nowhere near complete on this task. It could be that my muscles were still a bit stiff from the exercise yesterday, or the cool breeze that was blowing stopping me from warming up fully, but I really found it hard to get up a fast pace of work this morning. I did stick at it however and I only came in once my second brew of the day was on the desk in Room 13. I'll now pick this task up again on Monday morning.

Wood sorted into piles

Just now before starting the blog I popped onto the roof to get some pictures of the men at work and saw that from the far end I could get a good shot showing just how much wood has now been sorted. From left to right you have the pile of planks, then the burning wood and above that the good-for-fencing wood and finally the pile of beams. I shifted quite a lot of stuff which was in the ditch round below the balcony which my before/after shot doesn't encompass so I wasn't quite as lacking in progress as it looked initially.

Sally and Orhan unloading my wood

Breakfast was egg in a cup which was lovely and my toast was the star of the show obviously. I then went up to see the men and get the phone number for the digger machine to pass to Georgi Stankov of Bulgarian Properties for Sale but they weren't there and I saw that we had a delivery of wood - my wood for the raised beds! Finally! Rambo was locked in the entrance room as the driver was a bit scared of him and he was most amused to hear that he has some rottweiler in him. Anyway, they unloaded it and then I got the number and emailed it over. I look forward to getting the quote and hope it is reasonable.

Duskat starts to be fitted

The men had spent the first part of the morning pulling duskat onto the roof from the balcony and, with a brief pause to pull wood off the back of a delivery lorry, then headed back up and commenced to putting duskat onto the ribs. This is what they worked on all day and they made great progress, though more of that later.

Putting additional Ralf security

I was still feeling quite lethargic at this point, the semi failure with the woodpile and the cool breeze effecting me. A suggested that we go out and do the Ralf-proofing of the front fence so we gathered the wire and snips and went down to the front right corner and started fixing the metal grids that we had bought the other. Technically they are reinforcement for concrete slabs however they are almost perfect for this purpose. It didn't take that long and the 16 sheets (we bought the shop out of their stock) got us along and past the front gate. Next time I'm down there I'll buy another 16 and that should do the job.

Tomato weeds

And so to the reason for the title of this blog. While I was spelunking in the trench below the back door extracting the wood from the sludge down there I suddenly noticed that there were TWO tomato plants growing in the filth and dust and old plaster and whatever else is down there. Counting these with the two down on the front, and the one by the burning drum it is clear that these things will grow anywhere. Similar to the Red Orachs of which the "cultivated" plants are only a small percentage of the crop growing on my land.

I set to work on the raised beds

After finishing the fencing as far as possible with our materials we headed inside and A set herself to doing her paid work while I did the same. With a few breaks to give the dogs a run we stayed there til after lunch (chicken from last night, with more of the plum and mint chutney which is really lovely actually) and when I reached a natural break point I decided that I would get a bit more exercise and make a start on the cold frame/raised bed building. The first task was to dig out the trench and I measured it out using the empty window frames (having shifted the layout a bit to be 2 x 2 rather than 1 x 4) and scraped with the pickaxe so I knew the extent to dig out.

The trench gets deeper

It took about ten minutes to scrape the grass and weeds off the surface, and another 25 or so, and five wheelbarrow loads of spoil dumped onto my collection plastic sheeting, to get the ditch dug to the depth I was looking for. This is the kind of work that helps you get fit as you're swinging the pickaxe to break up the hard packed dirt and then the shovel to lift it out. I was wearing my gloves to prevent blisters and I think I did well as I could feel the wooden handles slipping as I was working.

Breaking rocks in the hot sun....

As I got to the far end of the trench I hit a problem. Literally. There was bedrock only about two inches below the surface and it was the super hard white rock. I cleared all the soil and then set to with the pickaxe, swinging hard at knees and, after a few minutes, getting quite efficient at finding the natural fault lines to split the rock up.

Trench dug to the correct dimensions

It was really quite hard work (Orhan came down for a drink from the free water and must have told Bekir I was going crazy as then he appeared on the roof and was watching and smiling) but I leveled it enough up to where I'd dug, and then extended the trench 15cm the other direction to get it long enough.

Chopping the wood down

With the trench dug, and looking the correct dimensions, I turned my attention to the HUGE pile of wood that had been delivered for the purpose of building these raised beds. By my reckoning I'll have to grow food for about twenty years to make these economically viable but hey, it's fun. I waited for the men to finish their break before asking for the extension lead from their radio, but then found they had batteries in it anyway.  think cut down two long lengths, and three short, which will establish the bottom section. The wood is super solid and very heavy (I can just about carry one of the long lengths) so I think it may have be built in place. I couldn't continue with the construction today as I don't have enough long screws. I'll get some tomorrow and fix this first bit together on Sunday.

Loads of duskat going on

As I finished up and was just about to tidy I saw that the window men had arrived. What a pleasure. I really like these guys; they are so smiley and patient with the crazy Englishman in the Old School. We spent a while walking around the school specifying the next windows to be done (the men's room, the little water room next door, Sassy's room, the lab, the downstairs store room and the bedroom windows in the guest suite - the bathroom window is being left until the bricks are in place) and then we went up to the roof to have a look at the doors out to the sun terrace. I am still being firm that I don't want to design the windows by the side so that gap is just going to be bricked up this year. They headed off saying they would make the windows and be back though I don't know when. I was very impressed, as an aside, when I went up to see just how much duskat had gone onto the roof already.

Duskat delivery line

While the window men were here they fitted the fly screen for the internal window to the window so that should be the end of mosquito attacks. I waved them off, let Rambo back out the enclosure where he had been locked while they were here, tidied up, then went up to the roof to thank Bekir again for helping explain about the terrace double door. I found them working again to get more duskat onto the roof. Orhan was down on the balcony, Beker sat precariously on the edge of the wall accepting the planks as they were passed up and then flipping them behind him to Sally who was stacking in the middle of the floor; such efficiency. I watched for a bit, then went down to start preparing dinner.

As of this week

It was my turn to take the men today and so I chopped the pork strips up for my special pasta, then left instructions while I took them. It was a nice journey today, with some conversation and a lot of silence and, after I picked up 10 eggs from their shop, I was back to find that the instructions had been followed admirably. It was very tasty as it always is and I must admit to having four bowl fulls and now being quite full. Lovely. The status picture occurred while it was cooking and you'll have to look closely to see the duskat on the other side of the roof but believe me the progress has been substantial.

Guest suite - red lines are new walls

I had a request to provide more explanation of the guest suite and so this morning I put a really rough photoshopped sketch together of the new walls that are going in, and it should give some idea of the dimensions and layout. The top left door is already in onto the corridor, and the right hand bedroom will need a new door knocking through into the window. Both the windows in the bedrooms are having tilt and turn and the middle window is the one which requires bricks putting in before we know the final dimensions for the window men.

Anyway, there you are. I'm takling to my parents in 5 minutes (currently Elvis is entertaining us as I type this) so I am going to get those pictures in and publish. Just to warn there may not be a blog tomorrow as we are out gallivanting.

Achieving loads

G'day, and here's another exciting installment on my blog. Aren't you lucky people that I spend an hour or so every day (often more) tippy tappying and sharing my happenings. I know you love it very much.

Just picked lettuce

I'm going to open this blog with a brief excursion back to yesterday evening; the salad which we had included so many locally grown elements that I wanted to highlight this. We had the Red Orach (very tasty), lettuce from the windowsill, home grown tomatoes and cucumber from the Little Lady. It's great to be able to enjoy food grown so close. Indeed I think the radish and olives were the only things in there not grown here and both of those things are planned for production here.

Early morning sky from bed

After eating we were both tired so it was not long before bed called and I slept pretty well until I woke at 5am and then I could not get back to sleep. I lay in bed trying to sleep, snapping a couple of pictures as the sun rose. until just before the alarm and when I gave up, went to make a brew and took the coffee through for A while she was still in bed.

Sun rise

I was doing the washing up utilising the barest trickle of hot water that was squeezing out of the boiler (the water pressure this morning was even lower; great) when A came through and after I finished the washing up I went onto the balcony to capture the stunning sun rise.

Sorting the wood pile

As soon as my first brew was drunk I went out the back and set to with the wood pile; A was going to get the men this morning to give me the best possible opportunity to get as much of this cleared before the day got too hot. I set to at a steady pace and the only time I paused was when the Little Lady appeared about five minutes before A got back with some eggy toast for our breakfast. A did the feeding of the boys (Ralf was in big trouble as he ran off, so was left locked in after feeding and barked until a few minutes after she left, and then was still left in when she got back) and then headed off to get the men as I said. I worked at this for 1.5 hours and was really pleased with the progress made. I reckon with a repetition tomorrow I will get this completed and then there is just another pile a bit further along to sort. And the wood to be moved to storage. And the burning wood to be cut up. There is so much to do hah.

He just stole this off Rambo

When A got back she made a brew and I finished stacking the last of the extracted wood and went in to enjoy that, and eat the breakfast the Little Lady had provided; they are lovely the eggy bread type things she makes and surprisingly filling. After eating I went down to let Ralf out and he proceeded to steal Rambo's stick and run off with it; he is a really cheeky chappy.

Vines growing well

The Honeydew Melons are growing like crazy

I was on with doing the watering mostly while outside and the free water was running well so I used the hose to do the bits within reach, and then filled a watering can and worked my way around the fenced garden, up past the accidental tomato plant, and on across the top to do the magnolias and zinnias. I ran out of water at this point and dropped back down to refill the can for the silver birches and this is good as it meant they got loads of water.

Harvest for today

Having finished the watering I came back inside and grabbed my man-bag and some little plastic freezer bags. I had come up with an idea of how to best do the harvest as going round and getting one fruit and then going again to get another was a waste of time and not as efficient as I need. I decided to trial having a plastic bag for each fruit and carrying them in the man bag. A very enjoyable hour later I returned with three freezer bags containing rose hips, blackberries and blueberries. The new method was very much proven, and I had been able to really scour the land and I found another couple of blackberry thickets, blueberry bushes and more rosehips than I expected as well.

Loads of Quince

While on the rounds I had seen there were loads and loads of quince ready for harvest however I chose to leave those on the tree and go back out. We worked together on this and, with the use of a ladder at one point, ended up with 6.5kg of fruit leaving quite a lot out of reach still on the trees. What a wonderful thing this land is.

The Daddies Sauce bottle burns

We had a brew and then decided to do two things. First of these was to get a burn going to clear all the rubbish piled by the back door from the tidying in the guest room, and generally gathered in kitchen waste. It took a few matches to get it going as the wind was starting to get up and they kept just blowing straight out but eventually a bit of plastic caught and pretty soon there was an established fire. I kept popping out during the morning to feed the fire and all of the burning stuff is now burned.

Whole lotta scraping going on

The second task was fully A who decided after all the fun she had had doing the scraping in the guest room to carry on down the stairs taking off the loose purple paint on the bottom half of the walls. She did this on and off all day and at the end swept it all out and it looks great. This is a good task to fill in breaks in work and she says she'll probably pick it up on and off for the remainder of our time here.

The big fluffy bummed Sassy

Early this morning, when I went to the toilet, Sassy had heard me coming and dashed round and round her room about four times, raising clouds of dust and causing me to laugh a lot. I wish I'd had my camera with me to video her but at that time I could barely stand up. I went in to say hello to her as she was sat on top of her cage and she allowed me to snap two pictures. I need to make a run for her so her stay at S and S doesn't result in the destruction of their property.

Bekir fixing the angled support

I hadn't even been on the roof up til this time, having been so busy with everything out and about. I went up there to find that Sally was making good progress and really close to finishing the brickying, while Bekir was up a ladder with one of the axe/hammer tools trimming away one of the main ridge beams. They are so dexterous with those tools.Later I went up and found the purpose of this trimming; a diagonal strengthening support had been inserted there. Clever.

A metal band support

All morning I had been hearing the grinder in use and hadn't been sure what they were doing; I noticed during a visit just before lunch that the major joints of the wood had been reinforced with strips of metal. This is another example of just how focused on giving a really solid roof to me these wonderful men are.

Sally finishes his bricklaying

Sally was approaching the completion of his task; to build the retaining wall all around the edge of this last section of roof. Both Bekir and Orhan had finished their work (Mahmet won't return to my employ til Monday apparently) and were standing watching me watching Sally and laughing. I wanted a picture just as he finished and I got it.

Wood glue and clamps

A few weeks ago the easel had fallen over as the bottom few inches of one of the legs gave way. Finally the other day at the little builders merchant I had found a couple of wood clamps for gluing wood and snapped them up; today I made use of them and the wood glue and  have fixed the easel. I may get a few more of these clamps as well as gluing things together, maybe for the rabbit cage, may be a more efficient method of construction than nails or screws.

Chopping 3.5kg of Quince

With the men on their lunch break I set myself to chopping the quince. Now I thought this would be a simple task, particularly as the recipe required they just be chopping and then pulped, with no peeling or coring. Unfortunately the completely organically grown fruit were riddled with worms and I had to go really carefully, scraping all the eggs and not a few worms into the waste bucket, and then also having to cut some bad sections out. I chose to just do 3.5kg of fruit, and leave the final 3kg for another concoction tomorrow and it was a good thing I did. The amount of fruit, even after discarding all the bad bits, ended up nearly filling my cooking pot and when I put enough water in to float the fruit (from the free supply as the paid for was so pathetic by this time) I really couldn't have fitted much more in.

Wood delivery

In the hour it took me to do this chopping the men had their doze and were back to it. I caught them as they were carrying the stained decorative wood up from where it had been resting in (what will be) the kitchen. Bekir thought it was so funny me following him and snapping pictures.

Ralf on his self imposed naughty step

It was now time for our lunch (I had treated myself to a second breakfast when I came in from the harvest as the single slice of eggy bread had been good but not enough) and I had some of the chicken from the spare BBQ leg from last night, with plum and mint chutney and it was super tasty. Ralf kept begging around the food however so after telling him off many times he was put on a short lead. He is a very strange dog when you do this and climbs on the woodpile, and gets in the coal bucket. Strange creature. After we had eaten we let him back off and he went fully back to normal.

Quince nice and soft now

All this time the Quince had been bubbling away on the hob and after about an hour or so I was happy that it had been pulped enough. At this stage I didn't think of using the masher to finish it off and this was suggested later by A and it really made a difference.

Forcing the soft Quince through the strainer

At this time I just poured the soft fruit into the sieve and set to with the spoon forcing it through. I stirred and pressed and squashed and mashed and scooped and poured and pressed some more and after about an hour of doing this I was starting to get tired as all the wood moving of first thing hadn't made me at all. That will teach me for processing quite so much fruit to make into Quince Jelly.

Gloop, and sugary gloop

After about an hour and a quarter I finally pressed the last pulp out of the boiled fruit and added it back into the initial pan after managing to wash that out using the trickle now issuing from the tap. I had 2.5 litres of juice. This meant that I had to use all of the sugar in the house so now we have no sugar. That 10kg of sugar I bought weeks ago lasted pretty well; I think I'll get another four or five kg tomorrow.

Fitting the side boards

While the jelly was getting up to boiling temperature I headed onto the roof to see what was happening (the banging and crashing from up there had been pretty impressive since lunch had finished) and they were well down the first side of the roof putting the surround on. They work so hard and so fast.

Lots and lots of Quince jelly

The jelly was boiling for about an hour, about twenty minutes in I realised I had the heat too high and it was burning so I stood there stirring it without a break for the final forty minutes, holding my kindle in one hand and the wooden spoon in the other. I am reading about Abraham Lincoln at the moment and the civil war has just started so it is hard to put that book down. With the jelly at a consistency I was happy with we worked together to pour it into the jam jars and after eleven were filled we finally completed the task.

And the metalwork gets fitted

All afternoon the building had resounded with hammering and sawing as the men worked super hard. I was exhausted after my day and took myself to bed to read and then doze for a bit. I was woken up by Ralf wanting to go out for the loo. While we were out the ball was being thrown for Rambo and Ralf was good for one throw but then really went for Rambo on the second and so was in lots of trouble and was told off again. It was near time for the men to go and A had agreed to take them as I was so tired. They were still working away right up until 6pm.

End of the day

When she took them I snapped a progress picture, finding that they had brought the guttering to the corner of the roof, and the cladding along above what will be the living room, and then set the potatoes and chicken in to roast for our dinner. I was actually feeling a lot better after my doze so I cracked on well with this blog, pausing to eat the lovely meal which included an interesting mushroom based sauce to moisten the chicken.

Oppressive clouds blowing past

The weather today has been much cooler; this morning the sun was out and lovely and warm but it was accompanied by the breeze which was quite chill and took the sting out of the sun. During the afternoon clouds had blown over  While we were sat eating I noticed the cloud which had blown across during the afternoon was hanging around across the valley looking super ominous and I had to get a picture. I am English still, I love weather.

As I wrap this blog post up before heading to bed there are a couple more things to tell you. Firstly I booked the ferry for returning to England, and coming back next year, today. Sad times. Also, Rambo and Ralf are confirmed in their winter accommodations and Ken is very excited to look after them. Finally, while harvesting the Quince by the front gate, we found some more random tomato plants. Awesome. Night.