Not the last working day of the week

So for the first time for nearly three weeks I am sat out on the balcony writing this blog; the BBQ is sizzling away behind me (but no chicken has been set on fire this time) and the sun has just set as obviously the evenings are drawing in slightly. It has been a good day today though I have had to accept that I'm still not fully better sadly. Maybe now I will be more sensible and rest when I need to so I recover quicker. Anyway, more of that later and on with the blog.

Really misty start to the day

I'll start last night as I did what is becoming a little habit for me; I went out onto the balcony for ten to fifteen minutes before bed and just sat there in the dark, in silence, at first alone and then when A came to join me and just enjoyed the space and peace. It was even slightly drizzling last night, and certainly there were no stars, but it was still a lovely way to end the day. I slept pretty well and when the alarm went off I got up to make A a coffee so she could have a few minutes more in bed as she was obviously super tired. It was a really misty morning and I couldn't even see the Little Lady's house out of the window in Room 13.

Dirty hands from cleaning the petchka

As planned last night my first task of the day was to clean the petchka and the pipes relating to it so when A went out to feed the boys I decided to get stuck into this. I found that there was quite a lot of ash in the burning box which I emptied, and then I managed to eventually unjam the air inlet which had been stuck closed. Finally I took all the pipes out from the wall and emptied a fair amount of soot from them into the bucket I was using. It didn't take long and wasn't as messy a job as I had expected but I did need to give my hands a good scrub afterwards.

Huge fog bank running along the river

The mist had cleared from up around us by this time so I popped out onto the balcony to capture the sunrise which was still in progress. The fog in the valley, rising in a wedge as you looked further down, was quite amazing to see. I also loved how the sun was sparkling and glowing through the clouds in the distance.

Old plank with nails in it

While the men were being collected I decided to pull the nails out of the old plank that had been selected for the final shelf on the unit for the record player. It didn't take me that long to complete and so I cut the two lengths I needed from it and managed to just about fix the first one before getting tired of doing this and going to do the washing up and putting the kettle on for their return. I still haven't fixed the second plank in place but that is something for tomorrow morning and will only take five minutes now.

Rambo watching very very very closely as tiles rise

This morning Bekir had been picked up by my friend for some tasks over at her house and Orhan didn't come to work again today so Shengen and Sally just cracked on with the task of lifting the tiles onto the roof. I was making myself another lovely breakfast of bacon and egg butties with loads of Daddies Brown Sauce when I saw that Rambo was being super interested in each load of tiles being lifted up. Bless him.

Shengen being super happy playing with Rambo

After eating I headed onto the roof to see Sally and just get some air and I was really glad to catch them having a short break and Shengen was playing with Rambo, giving his belly a good scratch as he loves being done and then when he saw me he flashed the hugest grin ever. How cool.

Sassy in her new house

When I went back downstairs I found something which put a huge smile on my face; Sassy was in her new house! I went to get the camera and managed to get her laying down inside and looking really relaxed. She seemed to be happy to me. At least she has found the inside and is making use of it; in the winter it'll be warmer in there for her.

Bekir back to the floor tiles in the guest room

Not long after this my friend arrived with Bekir who had done what she needed which was good. She brought banichka for breakfast which A had for the first time, and the men also shared some. After this Bekir went on with doing the tiles in the guest room while Sally and Shengen were still pulling the tiles onto the roof. My friend stayed for a coffee and we had a lovely chat and catch up before she headed off for the rest of her day and me and A went into town to try and get a few things. We had a surprisingly unsuccessful shopping trip with the builder's merchant having no bean bags (I'm sure I had seen some there before) and Kaufland sold out of pillows. We got everything else on the list though so my guests will have a light in their room even though the electrics won't be done.

The rest of the day for me was taken up with working and enjoying myself with it once again, then a REALLY heavy sleep for about an hour near lunch time but before I ate, and then I decided to call work over at about 4pm and went outside with A and the rug and spent a really enjoyable hour just laying in the still-warm sun down near the front fence with both Rambo and Ralf running around and playing and being generally cute. This is what I was talking about at the beginning of the blog where I need to rest more and take it a bit easier and not feel so lazy when I sleep because I'm exhausted. I am sure I have picked up a virus or something, or it may be stress from the fact of returning to the UK and having to get everything done before time runs out. I did get the internet paid for the last month of our stay here, with Shengen's help to find the office, so that is good.

Only the last edge to go

We went in thinking it was time to take the men but there was still half an hour to go. Bekir was putting the very last touches on the tiles he would lay today by finishing up to the door and right flush with the existing floor int he corridor. He then headed upstairs and I took the opportunity to get a picture of the nearly completed tiling. There is just the small slivers near the partition wall to be done now and they will be completed tomorrow, as I have asked the men to work on Saturday this week.

Roof tiles stacked in place

It had been really quiet all afternoon on the roof and I wasn't too sure what had been happening apart from the fact that there were no more tiles piled at all around the table tennis table. When I went up to see the men towards the end of the day I was most impressed by how many were stacked around the sun terrace but the men laughed when I turned round and saw that not only were there these tiles but they had also put stacks of three at suitable intervals on the roof so the work tomorrow of getting these nailed in place will be very quick indeed. Sally is such a star, seeing a problem and just getting on and doing it.

I really love how this picture has caught their natural poses

As I went up there I found that Bekir was just doing a little bit of finishing off around the door gap to the roof terrace, This was completed very quickly and so I got to sit up there with them as they relaxed as they do at the end of the day. I snapped this picture without them noticing the camera was pointing at them which is great as it shows them relaxed. The split second after the picture was taken they were laughing and noticing and the moment was past just too late to miss it.

The sun setting as I sat to start my blog

My journey to drop them off was easy until the very end when the engine management light came on the dash on Thomas. A quick restart of the engine wasn't enough to clear it and it didn't seem to be the same problem as has occurred before as I didn't lose power and was able to get up the hill to drop the men. I turned round and parked on the top of their cheren put and waited for three minutes or so and when I restarted the light wasn't on so tomorrow before we go to collect the men I will be checking the oil and water levels and refilling if needed. I got back fine with no more problems and the smell of BBQ chicken was strong in the air as I was coming in through the vehicle gate. I am now typing inside, as it got too dark to sit out, but the evening on the balcony was magical. This was taken not long after I got back as the sun just started dropping in the sky.

The clouds just add to the drama as the reflect the light

The sky was stunning all through the evening and there are more pictures of it to come. After a little while the sun dropped behind the clouds but still not behind the horizon and the quality of the golden light was just amazing. I was up every couple of minutes with the camera snapping another photograph of the very slightly different evening sky.

Chicken over the coals

The BBQ was really successful today as we lit the coals earlier and were a bit more patient putting the chicken on to cook and we waited ages before adding the kyufte; so long indeed that we actually brought the food inside to eat but wow it was tasty and Ralf was super interested in having some but only got the tiniest scraps as it was too nice to share. The salad, which had home grown Red Orach and lettuce in it, was also lovely. I lit the petchka when we came in and it is just starting to thrum now - how I love that sound and the warmth it puts out is brilliant.

Lots of air traffic

While we were laying out in the sun we noticed a plane flying overhead which is really unusual and then this evening while out on the balcony I saw three contrails in the distance (by the time I had got my long lens on the camera one had disappeared) but then there were many more. I have no idea why the sudden rush of high level flying but it is not normal to see any planes here at all.

Ending in a blaze of glory

A little while later the sun had sunk below the horizon but the light show was by no means over. I continued to jump up from the table to get pictures as the colours and brightness changed and this was the best of about twenty pictures I took over this time. Even after the brightness had gone from the clouds the sky wasn't done with its show and that lovely post-sunset display of greens and oranges and dark yellows persisted for a few minutes before finally the light went.

And so the update comes to an end. Tomorrow is another working day like any other so I'm going to get my early night now to be sensible and then we have a lot of work to do during the day tomorrow getting ready for guests and leaving in equal measure. Night.

PS - A got given eggs and POTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATOES by the Little Lady this evening. Winning.