Progress

I am back! Two days I have to cover and it is already 8pm here, so I won't drone on too much, for a change.

What happened yesterday? Well, I was working, so I really did not get up to very much outside of that. The men however, they were cracking on and the front section of the house is now having its drainage trench dug out.

Front trench

Inside, Bekir and Sally were flying through the tiling and were almost fished by lunchtime. Bekir laying the tiles and spacing and Sally grouting. What a team.

Tiling

I am missing photos from a couple of hours in the afternoon as I had Lubo, the architect, pop by and he was meeting the boss from the building firm who are doing the drainage. There was a lot of looking around and chatting in Bulgarian and everything seemed to be ok, Lubo explaining that in some points they cannot dig down much further as there is a risk to the building and also discussing where the out pipe will go and flow to. There was a more serious discussion to the rear of the building where there is a slight alcove/inlet and where the back door and door leading from the garage are. Initially, translated through Lubo, they wanted to bypass the inlet and build a retaining wall behind the piping and stick some membrane on the wall. Now, I'm no builder, but my gut instinct was to say no. At that point Bekir came out and I was so glad. Much as I do not always fully understand everything he says, I got enough to see that he was not happy and quite frankly, nor was I. It was at this stage I called the Mr. I explained about the wall and the angle they wanted it and also the fact that they wanted US to build it in anticipation of them laying the pipes. After a pretty harsh discussion on Skype with Lubo, and ongoing discussions via a video call outside, the pipe will now be laid in the inlet as we originally wanted it and no need for a wall. I was extremely stressed. All that Bulgarian being spoken and I had only a small grasp of what was happening. Scary when it is as important as the drainage system. Anyway, we were happy, they less so, but we are paying them for what we want after all.

The men were pretty much done in the bedroom for the day at around 4pm and so, as I had asked last week, Bekir had brought his chainsaw with him so that he could tidy some of the broken branches and sort out the ones hanging from the trees around the land. There are quite a few. He was cutting away and I had just finished up a rather long piece of work when I looked out the window and saw him up the tree, chainsaw in hand. They are afraid of nothing!

Tree climbing

This was a delicate job as there was a telephone line running through the branches and I have no idea how, but they managed not to rip it down. Sally was meanwhile tidying up the branches and piling them up on the driveway.

Broken trees

The oak tree had some damage also and I will have to go out and gather that up to keep it dry. Perhaps a job for tomorrow?

Old oak

I went back inside to finish the last piece of work and I heard shouting and laughing. Our little neighbour had arrived with Turkish coffees for us all and they all settled down to have a chinwag - I just listened and laughed when they did, it was great fun.

Coffee break

As I was getting my things together in preparation for the drive back with the men, Little Lady and Usmivka came in for a look at what the men are doing. I showed them the almost completed terrace on the roof and they were all smiles and loved it. This was a good feeling. I then took them down to show them the bedroom tiles and immediately the little Lady said "where are you sleeping?" and I think then suggested that if I needed a bed I could sleep at her house - these people are so kind. I showed her that I was perfectly set up on a bed in the guest suite and she was happy to let that be. Herself and Usmivka started to remove the plants that she had stored in one of our rooms over winter, so I left them to it and went off with the men.

Well, that was Monday. I had a day off from blogging yesterday as the update came from the UK and so, exhausted after not sleeping well on Sunday, I headed to bed just before 9pm and I slept reasonably well which was very much needed.

Today started at about 6.15am and I was up before the sun again, making my coffee and wishing I had stayed in bed until the alarm went off. Never mind, I was up now. Rambo was still asleep and didn't even get up when I went in to open his door, the lazy sod.

It was due to be a cloudy day and sure enough, it did not fail the forecasters.

Cloudy start

I came back from getting the men and there was no sign of the drainage man - that is disappointing.

With the last bit of grouting finished off first thing the next job was to start running cables for the electric. We were not going to do this yet, hence the floor being laid but I would like this room to a stage where it is pretty much finished with the exception of the electricity being connected. It would just be nice to have it painted - yes, I know, I am such a woman. So Sally was preparing to make a mess of something and was covering the window and the floor. I had no idea what to expect, but they know what they are doing!

Covering up

I took myself off to the shops in town and once in the second shop I thought "oh, I made a list". It was on my phone. My phone was not in my bag. I got that awful dread feeling in my stomach that it had been stolen from my bag. Then I thought it was in the car and had maybe fallen out. I rushed around the shop picking up the things I could remember and legged it outside to the car. No phone. Then I tried to remember if I had actually brought it with me as I got interrupted by Bekir mid-process. Anyway, if it was gone I would just have to deal with it, so I set off for home.

Arriving back to a very excited Rambo I rushed past him and up into Room 13, much to his disgust, to find my phone on charge on the desk. Relief!

Shopping put away and I was off out to the garden determined to get my onion sets and potatoes planted. I had got a telling off from the Little Lady yesterday for not doing it yet. So I dug out the rest of the thistles and weeds and came across this little guy - so bright!

Caterpillar

I also heard a lot of buzzing activity and there are some huge bees out here, much like a bumble bee but completely black and about an inch, if not bigger, in size. I am rather pleased with this shot.

Huge bee

I finished the bed finally and I was rather pleased, especially with the one solitary purple broccoli plant that has survived the winter.

Dug out bed

I was having a quick break and a drink and pulling out my sets and seeding potatoes when the Little Lady came running over and was taking charge! Haha. I was actually rather glad as I have never planted either a potato or an onion before and after watching her do the first row of onions, we finished the bag of sets off together. Now, I would have covered them in more soil if I had been left to my own devices but she was insistent that only "malko" soil. A little bit. We then did the same for the potatoes and again, I would not have done it the same way, but two Marie Piper's went in the same spot as they were very small seed potatoes and one King Edward in each hole. Again, I would have covered with more soil, but she has been doing this for years, so I am grateful for the lessons. I asked if I should water them and a definite "No" was uttered. So that was it. In a matter of ten minutes, my first lot of spuds and onions are in the ground. I am so excited!

Potatoes, onions and broccoli

I tidied away all my tools and thanked the Little Lady very much for her help, bless her, she is very good to me. I was about to water the seed pots when I noticed that I have babies! Look!

Babies!

In this pot there are broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower and I have a few of each that have shown. How exciting!

I went off to see how the men were getting along and progress was great. After misdirection from me on the location of the armoured cable, Bekir had moved everything around to suit our requirements and had been drilling away with the hammer drill all afternoon.

Big drill!

Sally had also been busy and they had pulled down the cables we need for the plug points and light switch. Sally had painted our bedroom pink. There will be a Barbie theme going on in here. Only kidding, this is some form of sealant I think and the Mr tells me that the plaster will probably be easier to apply once this has been applied as the walls are dusty - I have no idea.

Pink!

I had been thinking about all of the lizards I have seen out and around the School over the last few days and so I went lizard hunting. I had seen two this morning whilst I waited for Rambo to finish his breakfast, one being bright green and the other similar to this.

Lizard

They are so fast and timid that they scuttle away faster than you can even catch a glimpse of them and as I startle them, they in turn make me jump. I am such a coward though that any noise makes me jittery.

So the men left, I made a bolognese and I feel happy with the progress this week so far, so much has happened. I am going to leave you now and put my feet up for a half an hour before I go and hit the hay.  I hope you enjoyed the update as much as I enjoyed telling you about it.

Leka nosht.

A xx