What a crazy day

Today has been such a crazy busy day I feel like I haven't stopped rushing around and I don't think it is even over yet. Well, anyway on with this update; if I can get a post published today I'll be amazed though frankly.

Police parked in the middle of the road

First of all a picture I forgot I had taken the other day when I was in town. While I was waiting a police car came and parked behind me. Now I wasn't parked that well but he just basically abandoned his vehicle sticking half way across the road. Crazy. This is pretty standard over here though.

Another spooky misty tree

So to the normal blog. We both slept like logs last night, after staying up actually quite late after I published; neither of us were in the mood for sleeping really.The alarm went off in the dark and there was snoozing and snuggling and much complaining before we finally got out of bed. It was another super misty morning so today I got a picture of my favourite tree looking spooky and spectral.

The mist cleared, briefly

Roof terrace progress

As A was leaving to get the men I commented that I wasn't sure what I would be doing first thing but then I looked round and saw the huge pile of washing up so that was it. I then set myself to do some work and glanced out of the window to see that the fog had drifted away slightly. I ran up to the roof terrace to get a picture of the gorgeous colours of the sky and found out exactly where the progress of the men had left them last night. Brilliant.

Tomatoes in all sizes and some with rot

When A got back I hadn't even put the kettle on which is unusual for me but was a harbinger of how busy today was going to feel. I was making chutney in my breaks and so first of all I went outside to harvest the tomatoes. There was one HUGE fruit on the random plant by the burning pit and quite a lot of other fruit on the single surviving plant on the Hugelkultur. I harvest the ones that looked best and then after chopping these went back outside because I'd found a lot of the rot was quite superficial when you cut them up.

Rambo looking at the goats

While I was stood chopping these up at one point I saw that the goats were on the lane and then first one then the other jumped up onto the ledge outside my fence. Rambo was stood staring but he didn't move and just looked at them. They munched on some of the grass which was growing through to the outside and then jumped off. It was only when they jumped down that Rambo barked and chased after them. He is really useless; when they are on the road I don't care - scare them when they are trying to get onto the land!

Chilis on top of raisins

I chopped the tomatoes then the three apples on the table outside, then added onion, raisins, sultanas, chilis, sugar and vinegar. I was following my excellent book but then made it up and I think I put a bit too much vinegar in as it remained quite liquid even after boiling for ages. Quantities I used as follows:

• 1kg chopped tomatoes
• 500g apples
• 350g onions
• 180g sultanas
• 180g raisins
• 12 chilis
• 320g brown sugar
• 1L brown vinegar

Coffee break on the terrace

To give an idea of just how disrupted today has been before I added the sugar I was stopped by the Little Lady coming over with coffee for us and then men. It was lovely, and we got to sit on the new roof terrace in the sun (and arranged that if Ralf appears the Little Lady will ring Bekir and he will look after him over winter - quality) but we didn't stay sat around for long and Sally, as usual, was the one who was up and getting on with the next tasks; in this case removing the old uprights from by where the door to the roof terrace will be.

Waterproof material goes over the second concrete skim

It was then lunch time and we had a bit of shopping for more gifts to do so we headed out in Thomas (who also needed more fuel) and got everything done in super quick time. When I got back Bekir was looking for me as they needed more "cherno" which is the black felt type roofing material. We headed down to the builders merchant and picked it up, along with some more superglue for A, and I had a nice chat with the owner who wished me luck in England. They are lovely here. When we got back I had my lunch (cheese and tomato butties again - lovely) and then got a snap of the men doing the waterproofing layer on the roof terrace.

Pouring waaaaaaaaaaay too much vinegar on

I really did use too much vinegar in this first chutney; it was bubbling away all the morning and then I turned it off to go out shopping and then put the heat back on and left it again for ages more. It did reduce down but when I was bottling it up it was still so liquid I had to spoon just liquid in to each jar to make sure I wasn't left with just load of liquid at the end. It smells lovely though so we'll see. I ended up with ten jam jars full.

The Bagga machine is back!

When we got back from our shopping trip I saw something as I was driving up to reverse in to the trailer with the intention of heading straight up onto the top bank to shift wood. I was halted in this by by the fact that the digger machine had turned up. What a day. I took the shopping in and went to see the man who was talking to Bekir. He was pointed at the job and spent the rest of the afternoon driving back and forwards finishing off the task.

Later in the afternoon I popped out onto the back bank to get a video of the digger doing its thing as I know you will all be fascinated to see this. I also got him to move all the rubble that had been put down on the basketball court so maybe next year (yeah yeah I know) I can put a back board up there when we get back.

Marrows and blackberries

Having finally finished the green tomato chutney I turned to the marrow which the Little Lady had given us weeks ago which has languished in the bottom of the fridge. I looked though my book of magic and found a recipe for blackberry and marrow chutney. This had to be done. I chopped and weighed the marrow and worked out my quantities from there and put it on to bubble away as quickly as possible. It actually finished quick enough that I was able to put it into jars before leaving for the men and I got three full to the brim out of this small batch. I definitely put waaay too much vinegar in, I could have done with maybe 1/3 the quantity.

Clearing the basketball court of rubble

Digging out the drainage ditch again

All through the afternoon the bagga machine was chugging away shifting rubble and dirt and smoothing out the bank again. It was so much nicer out there; I can't wait for the drainage to be done and the concrete path to run all round the edge again. I went out late in the afternoon to have a word and make sure that the final couple of tasks (the basketball court,and the filled in trench on the back wall) were part of the job and he was happy to finish them off. We also had a shouted conversation with Bekir, sat on the edge of the roof, about the drainage next year and he is lined up to work with the master whom Bekir will provide for these jobs.

I also sold 300 more tiles today to the same guy as bought them yesterday. As I said he owns the farm in the valley which I love driving past so much. Today I saw him admiring the raised beds so I went out and spoke with him about them, and then showed the small amount of vegetables which are growing in the fenced garden. He was seemingly impressed, and it is great to meet the person responsible for such a lovely house.

During the afternoon we also had a lovely visit from Lubo and his wife, who I had never met before. It was great to have a coffee and then show them around the house but the real excitement came just before they left when I asked about the insurance on Thomas and found out it had run out on September 3rd! Now I am sure that we were stopped by the police after this so who knows what they were looking at. Anyway he immediately said he would sort it and I am now fully insured, and with the add on to be covered over in the UK as well. Excellent.

Dramatic shot as the clouds cover the sun

After they left, and before the second chutney was put into jars, it suddenly cooled down as a cloud blew in from nowhere. I rushed out to get a picture as it covered the sun but a few minutes later it was sunny again. It stayed like this for a little while.

The clouds are now a storm, with rain falling

Suddenly there was a huge crack of thunder and then another. It seems that cloud from earlier had blown over more and was threatening a storm, the first one for a fair while at least. I popped onto the roof to get a photograph as the sun was still out and in it you can see the sheets of rain falling from the clouds that are racing in our direction.

Finishing touches for the day

It was very close to the end of the work day by now so Bekir put the finishing touches on the concrete on the terrace and then they went and got changed and I took them back. The rain was heavy in places on the road but wasn't too bad and by the time I got back it was clear again at home. I jumped in the shower then had time to chat to my mate who was sat in the living room at the new flat we'll be living in possibly by this time next week (horrible thought) and then it was out for the evening.

Super tasty Turkish style kebab

We were meeting my friend and S and S at one of the really good restaurants in town (where we had gone for A's birthday) for a leaving meal for the two of us. We had a really lovely time and the food we ordered was excellent in the main. I took S's advice on mine and was very glad as it was a lovely meal; chicken and yoghurt and flat bread and rice. So tasty.

Autumnal view along the patio

It is now super late as we sat and talked for about two hours after finishing eating but it was nice so there is no complaint. I'm off to collect the men in the morning as my two mates will be here tomorrow (so if no blog, you know why) and A will take Bekir and Sally home instead of me. I'm going to finish this sip of lovely port then go to bed. A picture unusually on the last paragraph looking the other direction along the front of the house; what a view.