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| Sounds lovely |
We'll go back to last night and the reason for the random name of this post; we went to a new restaurant in the big town which we had discussed visiting as when we went back to the birthday restaurant there was a note on the door that they were shut for a couple of weeks. The new place was really nice, however, and we sat outside and were served by a nice lad with a bit of English who forgot our beers at first but after that was a great service. The menu was in English and as per usual there were some interesting dish names but none so awesome as this one.
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| The one and only pizza they sell |
One of the main reasons for going to this place instead of our planned location was my determination to have a pizza last night. I was not in the mood for fried or grilled food, having had such regularly the last few days. The restaurant is advertised everywhere as a pizza and grill venue and so when we got the menu we immediately looked for said pizzas in the list but we couldn't see any anywhere. When our beers finally arrived we asked for a pizza menu. Said the waiter "we have one" so "can we have it?" and he said "no, one pizza". Hmmm not really my idea of a pizza restaurant but after some confusion when we asked what was on it we just said "give us two of your pizzas" and when they came we realised what a good choice this had been. They were really tasty, covered in yummy items, and well made. We finished up, paid and left a good tip, and headed home.
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| Just before the sun rose |
When we got back I dragged the sofa in and we first attempted to watch "El Mariachi" but couldn't get the directors commentary to turn off (interesting as it is, it doesn't bear for your first viewing as it would have been for A) so we skipped ahead to Desperado and really enjoyed it. We headed to bed then and I slept well until about 4am when I woke up with terrible stomach cramps. Cue the next hour and a half sat on the toilet waiting for an explosion that never came. Looking on the bright side I read loads of my book. I went back to bed at about 5.30 but could not get to sleep properly (I dozed) until the alarm went off and A got up to do the morning chores and I stayed in bed and finally dropped off for a couple of hours. While I was asleep she took this stunning picture of the pre dawn sky, did the boys, had two brews and headed out to collect the men.
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| Metal nicely tied down |
I woke up finally when Orhan and Bekir went through the bedroom onto the balcony to work out how much of the wood out there needed passing up for the days labour. I continued to doze until Orhan had finished his task and then finally dragged myself out of bed and went for a cup of tea. I think I recall in my sleep hearing Bekir saying "where is Andrew, we need stuff" but I may have made this up however as I was just finishing my cup of tea Bekir appeared saying we needed to go out to town. I got myself properly dressed and then we scooted down hill. The first stop was at the builder's merchant however we weren't there to buy now, but to collect someone who we then took round the corner to the gravel and sand merchant and ordered a load for delivery. Then it was back to the builders merchant and we bought a load of metal for Bekir, some work gloves for each man, and I got wood treatment stuff and wood paint for the raised beds. The metal was loading and strapped down and there were no problems getting it back, though we did stop to speak to a goat herder near the river whereby Bekir negotiated buying four goats, and then had another brief chat up the hill with the sheep herder there.
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| Sheep in the shade, and Ralf with all the sticks |
I was still feeling quite ropey when I got back and A headed out to do the watering while I rested a bit. When she came back round to do the front I went down with Ralf and then we had a nice time wandering around and looking at things. It was a good opportunity for me to snap a picture of how the sheep block my track by gathering really close together in the shade of the tree. We had a lot of fun as well as Ralf was collecting all the sticks that Rambo would find; he wasn't interested in his own, only the one that Rambo was playing with at the time.
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| Painting the preserve on the wood |
After this I felt rough again so I went back to bed for an hour or two, reading and dozing and reading again and finally getting up when I checked my phone and found that S was on his way over as I'd promised him Bekir's help getting some pallets for his wood store. When he arrived the men were just getting to the end of their lunch break so I made him a brew and we had a nice chat before he headed off to source the pallets he needs to raise the petchka wood off the ground. I was going to go with him but was still feeling a bit rough so I let them go together. I headed outside and hoped that the fresh air would help so decided that, rather than achieve absolutely nothing, I would set to the two complete constructs for the raised beds with the wood preserve.
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| Sally strikes a lonely figure |
Half way through I took a quick break, as it was actually quite hot out there and the task involved a lot of bending over and awkward positions. It is crazy how unwell I was still feeling but I was determined to keep at it. I walked along the front of the house to try and get a picture as the men were finishing off the last of the duskat on the south side of the roof. As far as I wanted to walk the only person visible was Sally but that isn't a terrible thing.
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| A huge grasshopper on the Orach |
I then headed into the fenced garden to check out the Orach as A had said they were really going well in there. As I looked at the largest I was totally distracted by a very large grasshopper sat on the top most leaves of the plant. It was a stunning specimen with blue eyes and lovely markings and sat there while I snapped a large number of pictures from different angles. The other thing that was so beautiful about this moment was the lovely flowers which has appeared on the Orach; they were like little purple/red Christmas trees and it wasn't just the large plant adorned with them. Lovely.
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| This is reason enough to plant anything |
A came out just after this and I took her to look at the grasshopper but it had sadly disappeared. I finished off painting the treatment on the exposed edges (we'll have to turn it over to get the rest done) and A took the camera to get pictures of the melons. I have been asked about the lateness of this planting in the comments section and my honest feeling is if we get no melons that are edible, the fact that they have proven so attractive to butterflies and bees makes it entirely worth while having put them in.
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| The south side is completed |
With the wood treated I realised that I hadn't been on the roof at all yet today so I popped up and found that the duskat had been totally finished on the south wall, and the men were on with the surround and drains for the north side. It is a good thing to get this cracked on with as the forecast for Wednesday and Thursday is for huge storms and loads of rain.
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| A delivery of gravel and sand for cement making |
I rested up a bit more, sending a couple of work emails and then reading a bit on the sofa but I was up and in Room 13 when I saw that the gravel we had ordered was being delivered. I put Rambo away then went and let the truck in, then A took some pictures of the delivery. I will need to get some pure stones delivered to a different location soon as I want to dig in the boundary for the drive, and other things, that doesn't need the sand as much as just nice stones.
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| The four men on the roof |
Mid afternoon A headed to the village shop we like so much to get supplies as we were out of potatoes and other vital ingredients so I did a little turn around the land and got a great picture of the four men (Mahmet has not returned so we have been joined by a young lad with lots of tattoos called Shengen (I think) and I'll get better pictures of him when he has settled in) taken from the back bank as they were working on the north side.
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| Frame for the bird netting |
I went back inside and had a teleconference with my boss which was great, and then went back onto the sofa where I cuddled Ralf and read until I suddenly jumped up determined to do something else with my day, rough feeling or not. I have been wanting to create easily movable bird netting covers for the seedlings as I can't really weed with the makeshift hoops and tent pegs solution we currently have. I got together a load of the slim slips of wood and spent a few minutes with the hand saw and the screws and pretty quickly got a sturdy enough frame together. There are corner braces on it that I put on after taking the picture, and I got a bit of a wry smile from Sally when he saw the construction, but I am happy and it will work well for our needs. I'll be getting a staple gun next time I'm in town so I can clip the bird netting on though first I'll need to make two more frames this size.
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| Current state of play |
It then became time to take the men home so we jumped in Thomas and I got them back safely without much drama other than right near their turnoff where the road gains a climbing lane. One car went into the lane to pull across to the other side of the road into a rest area however the car behind it was accelerating still to overtake the other cars. Fortunately it saw the indicator going and slowed in plenty of time without rear ending the first car. The problem really occurred when a third car decided to go into the oncoming lane to overtake both cars and almost T-boned the first car as it turned. Lots of screeching of tyres and everyone came away unscathed but it shows the quality of driver; who would rather than wait for a situation to develop just attempt to screech round the outside of an obstruction. I got home without any such dramas and went straight onto the back bank to get the progress pictures. I took them from three positions today so as to best capture where we are at.
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| Poppy set to flower |
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| Awesome spider on colourful grass |
While I was down by the vehicle gate getting the last picture for the progress shots I saw that the new poppy is growing well. I then turned round and saw a tall grass that had lovely purple flowers or seed heads on it and went to get a picture of that as well and then I spotted the amazing looking spider that was hanging near the seeds. I present these to you with a trigger warning.
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| Stunning evening sky |
The BBQ was nicely alight by the time I got back and the chips were also being cooked so I set myself to starting this blog sat inside however I only copied my pictures off the camera and then I removed myself to the table on the balcony and started typing sat there and, as already observed, enjoying the amazing spectacle of the sunset.
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| Home made burgers and kebab skewers |
The BBQ tonight was lovely, though I wasn't able to eat much still as my stomach is still not feeling fully right. One really cool thing was today was the first time we used the skewers that were saved from T's garage. The kebabs which A made, including slices of pork strip, were lovely and the burgers were amazing as well. Ralf was really keen to get his share but didn't get anything despite small whines and lots of sitting looking cute. Just at the end of the meal A spotted a cat hiding near the old tiles and shouted to Rambo. When he eventually roused himself from his slumbers on the porch he was super quick to chase the creature off the land; now he just needs to detect them for himself as efficiently as he does when the sheep are going down the lane.
I am now sat inside as it got too dark to finish the blog sat outside and, as soon as this is published, I am going to head to bed to get a really early night. I do hope that I don't wake with cramps again. Night.
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