Rozhen Den

Today is A's birthday, and it has been a pretty darn good day at that. As I sit typing this the chicken has been roasting for an hour or so, and the tatties have just been added, and my tummy is rumbling away in anticipation. I can't wait.

The beginning of the day

I slept through last night as I was completely exhausted yesterday, and I don't think the thunder storm which was flashing and flickering in the distance ever came in our direction for which I was pretty glad. With no alarm set (my phone wasn't even in the room as I'd left it on charge) we woke up naturally and feeling rested. I made a brew and brought it to her in bed and then went and got her presents which she liked; this was two of her own pictures printed out and framed and they do look awesome. There was no impetus to get out of bed but when we finally did I went onto the balcony to grab a picture of just what a fine morning it was. The boys had been pretty quiet and well behaved for another late breakfast though Ralf did bark a little at one point - possibly at a tortoise.

An out of sorts puppy

I almost forgot about feeding them to be honest, getting distracted by tidying the kitchen and then sitting waiting for A to come back up to have her brew which I had made but I was called down and out we went and they were pretty obedient, though Rambo at the gate still tries to get out before coming in. Anyway we got them settled and eating and sat drinking out cuppas. Ralf was in a strange mood, not really eating very fast and continually walking away from his bowl and after he had eaten maybe 1/4 of his breakfast he went and sat on his bed and looked very out of sorts. Poor puppy.

Rambo being very happy

Rambo, by contrast, was super bouncy, munched his food in record time, spilling loads and huffing around to hoover the spillage, and then coming and sitting next to me and demanding play and fusses. We made them both sit as quietly as possible while we finished our brews and then decided to leave Ralf with his breakfast while we went for ours. This didn't last long as he was crying at the gate when we left and just barked and barked for the five minutes it took for me to relent and let him out. When I did so he was full of beans and ran around like a lunatic, legging it into the pool and then through the open side door and up the stairs leaving wet footprints all the way. We put his bowl down and hoped that he would eat inside. I was making posh scrambled eggs (crispy bacon bits, butter fried mushroom bits, chili, olives and eggs all mushed up on toast) and Ralf kept begging at me so he was put on his short lead but he still ignored his breakfast. Strange. I had a lovely call from Chaz while I was cooking and we've arrange to go see them next weekend.

The calm before the storm

Breakfast was super tasty and washed down with a good cup of tea. We then went and did the watering and drank many brews; everything is looking very healthy out on the land at the moment, and the cow melons (kravi bostan as I call them) are growing well, with the largest one getting really quite humongous. The water pressure was really good today however the double hose I bought to extend into the fenced garden is frustrating as one length is JUST too short to get to the Red Orachs and the new seedlings by the fence, and the coiled up second length keeps getting blocked and causing them to pop apart. Such is the frustration in my life. Anyway, we have been planning on trimming Ralf's hair for a while and A chose today as her birthday treat. Here he is, just prior to the excitement.

In the process of removing Ralf's hair

We started off using the really cheap clippers that I had bought a few weeks ago and they made no impression on his thick hair at all, only annoying him with their vibration and making him really struggle to get away. Quickly the decision was made to proceed with scissors and this worked much better. He was quite calm sometimes, and others was really trying to get away, but between us we did it without any harm coming to him and with him remaining calm most of the time.

I am even hairier than normal

I ended up COVERED in his hair.

HAHAHAHAHAHAA *snork* hahahAHA

From the balcony, now liberally covered in Ralf's trimmings, we went to the trough with the doggie shampoo and proceeded to give Ralf a good scrub and shampoo and rinse. He was actually pretty OK with it, though at first he was pretty scared and clung to my forearm with his front legs while we were putting the shampoo on. Bless him. He was so bedraggled when he came out, shaking himself off over and over again even after we had toweled him off. It seemed that the trim and shower had really perked him up and he was running around and being really cheerful after this which was a relief after his performance at breakfast.

Gorgeous location

Our main plan for the day was to go and swim in the river, at my favourite point on the new road. I was feeling a little hungry so had a couple of small cheese and tomato butties and then we gathered our stuff together and put the boys away (they weren't coming with to the river this time) and headed over there. When we parked up there were loads of cars around however the gravel beach and river was completely empty of other people which was perfect.

Chilling out in the river

We set up the rug, dropped our stuff, and I straight away went into the water. It was lovely and I dunked myself straight away and then realised i'd forgotten to bring my snorkeling gear once again. Typical. A took some shots of the surroundings, and me, and then joined me in the water and we spent a very enjoyable half hour or so floating and swimming in the quite strong current (it looks very still but really isn't) finding that under the footbridge it got quite deep and we could swim properly.

I think this is an Eagle

Just as we were thinking of getting out to sunbathe we noticed some birds of prey circling overhead; I'm pretty sure they are Eagles as they don't seem long enough for Egyptian Vultures but before we could get better shots they drifted off into distance and disappeared.

Then we were joined by storks

We lay down to soak in the rays and while we were laying there some storks started to circle so more pictures on the long zoom were taken of these as well. We stayed laid out on the rug dozing and reading for a while but then the clouds started to close in and there were some pretty substantial rumbles of thunder so we made the decision to pack up and get back to the car and go shopping. It was a wise choice as some other people, who had been at a swimming spot further upstream, left it a bit late and we saw them running for their car through a downpour.

Our shopping trip was a success until A forgot the eggs were on her lap as she got out the car and four of them smashed as the went tumbling. Oh well. the storm didn't really get to our village and it was just spitting slightly and I let the boys out and they were super happy to see me, jumping around and Ralf with his new short hair is much happier; he's probably much cooler as well. The rest of the afternoon was spent with me reading at the desk and then feeling tired so heading to bed with my kindle and dozing off for a bit. The chicken has been roasting for ages now and the potatoes and also carrots have been added and I wish it was ready already as I am very hungry. We're going to watch a film (maybe True Romance) this evening after eating so I will publish this now and maybe do an edit with any more pictures that are taken.