Few days worth

Firstly, I will apologise for not posting for a couple of days. On Friday I really just couldn't be bothered as I literally did absolutely nothing all day from getting up until going to bed, apart from read and watch a couple of movies. I just felt like I wanted to rest. Yesterday was not a great deal better, but to be fair, I did take a week off work to rest and not do too much, so I am trying not to feel overly guilty. 

With the impending return of the Mr (YAY) and the puppies (YAY) I was worried about any trace of the rat poison being left in the building and so I gathered myself up yesterday before I became too lethargic and I collected all of the sachets. I collected 15 red pouches, eaten, partially eaten and not touched (the second lot that were put down). There were 20 originally. Now, I know of four that I can remember as being removed. That leaves one pouch. This worries me. Inquisitive puppies will always find stuff they aren't supposed to. So I am hoping that my memory is just not good and there have actually been five pouches that have been taken from their original place. I will continue to look, just in case.

De-poisoning

I pretty much sat and read, napped and rested for most of the day. I had a dodgy stomach and after speaking with S, she informed me that they and their interns had all had the same thing. Perhaps something was going around. My electric was up and down also (perhaps they were making some general repairs) so I watched a movie. During this something at the window caught my eye. It was something flashing. From where I was sitting it looked initially like it was on the roof which freaked me out for a second. I then worked out what it was. So, especially for Grumpy Cockney on Twitter, here it is!

I had been over to see the Little Lady yesterday to try and see if she could understand that I wanted to buy a couple of chickens from her. I failed miserably at this and she ended up giving me eggs as I had tried to say that I wanted egg laying chickens. Never mind. The Mr will sort that out when he gets back, hopefully. On a side note, the eggs were absolutely delicious. That is the colour a yolk is supposed to be!

Proper eggs

And so to today. Well, I was up at 6am because, well it is Sunday and nobody lays in on a Sunday, do they? Hmmmm. The neighbours dogs were barking and the sun was coming in the bedroom window and so I just had to get up. I drank a couple of cups of coffee and readied myself to do the dreaded task of the humanure. I am sure you have worked out now that it is my least favourite task, but I am braving it and getting it done. Until he comes back. This is definitely a Blue Job.

As I was preparing the area and taking down the wire fencing, I saw this. This is the first time I have seen anything like this before in real life. Look how many eggs there are!

Mother and babies

 After washing everything thoroughly at the stand pipe and getting myself cleaned up I did a bit of a watering round. It was later that I expected and it was already getting hot, but you can only do what you can. As I watered the corn, I saw that it was growing a little corn bit!! So chuffed!

Sweetcorn!!

I popped over to see what the neighbours were up to around lunch time as they have been banging and hammering for a couple of days. Looks like they have taken pity on their dogs and decided to provide some shelter for them. This is great. All pitching in and the dogs will be much better off now.

Dog shelter

On the promise that I would pop in for coffee later on, I set off to start my main task of the day and started sweeping and tidying. The corridors were filled with things sitting around and with old boxes that were going on the bonfire from our move. This is not only a tidying exercise, but a play to make things a little easier and safer for the puppies to be inside. It also allows me a clearer view of whether the rats are still around.

Swept Part 1

It won't be apparent from this, but it is amazing how much bigger it all looks without the clutter. Not that we need any more room, obviously.

Swept Part 2

The stairs were different as there is a lip, so I was out with the dustpan and brush and on my knees. I usually only clean like this when something has annoyed me, but today I was on great form.

Swept Part 3

 Finally, I got to the end. Just a small task, but it all counts to the final goal.

Swept Part 4

With the work done there was still a little bit of the afternoon remaining and I took the opportunity to go to the terrace for half an hour in the sun. Tomorrow I am back at work again until Wednesday, when again I will need to find some more motivation to get something done. Next is the kitchen to be cleared however, I noticed that the veggie beds needs weeded badly. I may have to find a LOT of motivation later in the week.

I will say goodnight and go and start my dinner. It is getting late here and Rambo needs a run before dark.

Leka nosht!

A x

Eagles and dust

Hello again and welcome to my day. It started extremely late today as I had a really late night and promised myself I would not get up at the crack of dawn to watch the rain. 10.30am and I dragged myself up and flicked the kettle on. Rambo was happily tormenting the men and I took my time with waking up. I was particularly hungry after my second coffee which is unusual and had a craving for pancakes, of all things. That is what I had. 5 of them, although the recipe said those measurements should serve 12- 14 pancakes. I am not so sure.

Pancake brunch

I have been struggling with my motivation to read of late as the book I was reading on my Kindle is one of a long series that I love but something the writer is doing is spoiling it. I'm not sure what; maybe the dumbing down of one of the characters. Anyway, I decided to pick another and I found these two. They will do for now.

Reading material

It was a dull day today but when I saw Rambo slumped on the porch I thought I would take him out and stretch his legs to cheer him up a bit. So we set off down the hill. He just loves his walks.

Walkies time

It is not unusual to spot birds of prey around here but this one caught my eye as it was just at the top of the ridge and it had swooped in and tried to grab a smaller bird; probably a sparrow or swallow. It seemed to be very hungry indeed. Now, I cannot decide what it is and the photo is not great either, but I have looked at the Greater Spotted and Lesser Spotted Eagles and thought it was most likely to be one of those but I just can't match the colouration and the tail is not forked, so it cannot be a Kite. Hopefully I will get a better photo one day.

Eagle

When we got to the bottom of the hill there were two options; climb up the hill or climb up and over the rocks. We both went for the rocks. The landscape here is fabulous. I can never tire of it.

Landscape

Even Rambo took time to appreciate it with me. He has finally gotten used to me stopping for photos and now just stops, stands reasonably still and waits. He can be a good boy.

Enjoying the view

Whilst it was cooler and dull today it was still very humid and by the top we were both a little warm and out of breath. However, not as out of breath as I was this time last year doing that, so the fitness levels must have improved.

Up and over

It wasn't a long walk today but it is always nice to get him out and give him a change of scenery for a while, as well as for myself. When I got back I read for a little while and pondered the chicken situation. When I looked out there were many people next door and they were all extremely busy outside so I decided I would wait until I was asked to coffee again.

Not wanting to be totally lazy I ticked off a couple of tasks from my to-do list by clearing the bottom corridor and sweeping all the winter debris from it and the entrance hallway. It certainly warmed me up! I am pretty pleased with this now as it means there are now only four rooms on the ground floor that I won't touch until the Mr gets back. So much dust gathers around and I am going to have to think of a way to combat it when we are finished refurbing.

Entrance hallway

Cleared corridor

The men have been cracking on today and are very close to finishing as far as I can tell. The have been laying the stone edging to the drop from the patio into the garden today. Heavy stones!

Rebuilt

They have also been tipping in the stones to cover the pipework and have only a small section to the front and side of the rooms to the left of the porch to go. I am not entirely sure what it will look like in the end as there is currently rubble piled up everywhere; it has been a very messy job, I just hope it works!

No trench

I am very glad that I don't have to worry about falling into the trench now when I leave. I am so forgetful and clumsy sometimes that I am surprised I haven't already done it.

I am out of photos and almost steam and am going to take my new book to the sofa and relax a while.

Leka nosht.

A x

Rainy day

Firstly, I will point out that there are 18 photos today, but do not worry, I am going to say nothing about a lot of them and just waffle a bit in general as usual - no need to fall asleep just yet.

The forecast for today was for storms; the one that has been going on now for a couple of hours and is threatening to pull the plug on my electricity! I wanted to at least prepare an area in case I got the opportunity to buy a couple of chicks from the neighbour. Off I set, first thing with my coffee in hand and Rambo in tow to the enclosure to firstly bring the hay in that was cut the other day. So I laid it all out and I had the idea to use a couple of our buckets with broken handles as nesting spots. Half filled with sand and half with hay. It will do until Mr gets back and builds the coop.

Nesting area

As many of you will know from my whining on Facebook and Twitter, the water has been extremely unreliable here since I got back and I have been struggling between working too much in this heat and not having a shower available to get clean, so you can imagine my delight, after raking up and lifting and carrying and doing the watering round, that the water was on; albeit with low pressure. This was the result.

Bad hair day

It rained for most of the morning and I pottered around tidying up and getting the backlog of dishes and pots washed up. I did get outside after a break in the showers. This is the section that I will not drone on and on and waffle about stuff I don't know. Here are a few of the wild flowers from the land. Pretty.

Breakfasting beetle

Raindrops

Wild and hairy

After all the damage caused by the snow over winter it gave me great pleasure to find that the lone pear tree on the back of the land was growing fruit again!

First pears

Pink delight

Amongst the grasses

We do have a lot of insects here and I have gotten used to them, except for the big hairy spiders. If I find what has been munching my sunflower though, it may be a goner!

Devoured

The storm held off longer than predicted and in between showers I decided to tidy the porch and Rambo's bedroom (inner porch) as I have seen mouse and rat droppings on the outer porch every day for the last couple of weeks. It is hard to keep anything clean and/or tidy here between Rambo and his shedding hair and the workmen. I also have my moments myself - the Mr would have killed me had he seen all the gardening tools in there. But I got it sorted after a while and in between Rambo trying to grab the broom from me. Strange dog.

Clean bedroom

Clean Ranbo terrace

After the winds today I am going to have to rethink my haystack. Never mind, it was only a makeshift idea. I will leave all that design stuff to someone with the patience for it.

Unsuccessful

 This afternoon I went for a walk to find Little Lady and talk to her about the chicks. I found the chicks straight away and this one seemed to be doing yoga.

Fit bird

I spent a little time looking at it and considering how small it still was. Perhaps they are too young just yet, I will have to check. Little lady didn't seemed to be around and I turned to leave and suddenly I had five chicks all around me. Every stp I took they followed. In the end I waited until they got far enough away and I slinked off. Apparently I am not slinky enough, they literally ran after me and down the lane. So funny watching their little legs go so fast!

Stalked

The storm had threatened most of the day but mostly skirted around us. This did not look appealing at all.

Storm

Bizarrely, at around 2pm the drainage guys turned up. A van dropped them off and they set to work. I was very surprised given the forecast and the fact that they would have been stuck here in the storm until someone collected them again. However, the rain thankfully stayed away and they cracked on with filling in some of the trench.

Front trench out

 Perhaps now the grass can start to grow again.

Garden repair

I have a load more photos of the trenches for the Mr to see, but I won't post them all here. He can see them when he gets back from Islay and the whisky festival; which I have to report, despite the weather, he and Thelma and Louise are thoroughly enjoying!

I will leave you tonight in a hurry as the storm is still going and i am afraid of not getting this posted. So here is a random poppy to make you smile.

Leka nosht.

A x

Motivation returns

Last night I wanted to try something I saw our neighbour cook one lunchtime and I had bought some of these peppers whilst out shopping. She simply drizzled an ample supply of both oil and salt over them and slow fried them. Well, I can understand why; they were absolutely gorgeous and went very well with my pork belly strips and salad. Delicious.

Peppers

I went to bed at a decent time last night but I was awake throughout the night with really quite bad stomach cramps and a bit of a dodgy stomach. I think I woke up about four times throughout. Now I hadn't really been feeling great for a few days on the lead up to this, so it came as no real surprise. When I got up this morning it was around 8am and I didn't rush myself into doing anything. My plan was to go down to the market, but I was still feeling unsure about my stomach and decided to wait a couple of hours. I usually go early but it was around 10.30 before I left and I was really starting to feel better again, thankfully.

They used to allow stalls in this little square section but they seem to have moved all of the stalls to the streets up above. However, there seems to be either the beginnings of something or the end of something in the square with a bandstand and a merry-go-round.

Market day

With not having felt great first thing I hadn't eaten anything this morning and by 11.30, after my mooch around, I was really feeling hungry. I just had to get a kebab from the best kebab shop I have eaten in so far. I did only have a small one and actually struggled to finish it, but I got there!

Best kebab in town

Whilst in the kebab shop I was approached by a big guy who spoke English. He was a friend of the kebab shop owner and said that the boss had said we buy property here and do it up and if we would like to buy another one or knew of anyone who would. I laughed into myself and thought of all the extra work and a little part of me died - haha. He was a very nice man and he told me that he had lived in the States for 15 years before coming back and getting married. It is also funny that people recognise us and (partially) know what we are doing here. Such a small community.

To let the kebab settle I decided I did not fancy a coffee in our local bar and so I sat and admired the little square outside the shop. Underneath the clock are water taps and people do use them a lot, just to get a drink or wash their hands. This is the lovely thing about over here, they seem to have respect for communal areas and don't damage them. I dread to think what would happen in the UK to things like this.

Taking a moment

I got back to the School around 12.30 and let Rambo out of his pen. I got hollered at by Little Lady to come for coffee and it was agreed that I would go over in ten minutes. As it is market day the men all go into town for the errands and a lot of beer, so she gets a rest day also and some time to herself. It's nice to just sit and pigeon chat with her.

I came back home not long after as her phone was constantly ringing and we kept getting interrupted and it was also threatening a big downpour. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do and when I saw the clouds I thought it would be a good opportunity to spend a while running through some of the Bulgarian language course we had got ourselves. I spent about 1.5 hours learning everything from the alphabet to colours.

Language lessons

The clouds had blown off and with the threat of torrential downpours tomorrow I wondered what to do with the hay from the strimming, so Rambo and I were out and looking around when I had an idea. I gave him a stick to occupy him whilst I was away doing my thing. He was very unsure when I told him it was his and he did a little double take. He was also most put out when I called him back after I took a fit of laughing at him just so I could get a photo.

Big stick

I thought if the hay, which was not quite completely dried out yet, was off the ground that after it rained it would dry faster and without moulding if most of it were off solid ground. Who knows? I dug this in and it probably is not as deep as it should be but I hope it holds through the wind and rain due tomorrow.

Experiment

So it was fairly secure and not too wobbly and I loaded the hay. I am not sure what they use here for their fantastic haystacks, but possibly the same idea. I will find out.

Haystack

I was feeling much more energetic now I had done something and I thought about the chicks I have agreed to take from the Little Lady - she has too many apparently. So, without attempting to build the chicken coop (that's a blue job and will probably leave me feeling like I failed again), I had an idea to use Rambo's enclosure for them to nest in at night as he doesn't use it any more and as they will roam during the day, he will be able to use it if the men need to put him away. Win. However, the grass needed some attention in there and I was the only one able to do it. Woman versus Nature!

Grim Reaper

This is what I was looking at when I opened the gate and I already was sorry I had even thought of it, but I needed to at least trim it down a bit if the chickens were to use it.

Enclosure

I took a couple of breaks as the sun was out and it was still hot out there but determination, stubbornness, call it what you will, but it got me through and I cleared a fair old amount of it. At least now the chickens will be able to walk around in there without getting lost in the jungle. They will have to be compounded for about 48 hours so as to get them used to where they roost/nest - my "Keeping Chickens for Dummies" book told me that. Thanks CJC and Fi!

Roughly cut

I got the job done and whilst it is not complete, it will be fine for what is needed. Usually the Mr does all this sort of stuff and to be fair, I may get the neighbours to sharpen the scythe for me as it would be much easier to use if it wasn't as blunt. So tomorrow I will be making two nesting boxes for the chickens and the Mr can build the coop when he gets here so that we can perhaps add to the flock. I really hope Rambo doesn't eat them.

I am about to prepare my salad for dinner and relax with a film and a cup of tea. So I will leave it here and tell you all about the chicken preparations tomorrow.

Leka nosht.

A

Bank holiday Monday

What do you do on a bank holiday usually? I don't do anything strenuous and allow my body to tell me when it has had enough work for a while. Today was an easy day with very little in the way of anything happening from me.

I was up at around 7.30 and took my coffee out to Rambo, sat on the porch with him a while and enjoyed the morning sunshine. The weather is due to change this week and it is going to get significantly cooler with the chance of some storms on Wednesday.

The first thing I did after I woke up was go into town and do the shopping. My fridge was almost bare and I needed to stock up. Halfway round and just after I bought my meat at the counter I spotted this in the fridge shelves. I have to admit that I was slightly freaked out and it took me a moment or two to work out the Cyrillic. Rabbit. All I could think of was Sassy!

Rabbit

I got back and pottered around, putting things away, having some croissants and generally mooching around. As I said, I have been feeling terribly lethargic the last while and I did book this week off to actually recover from being so busy over the last few weeks, so I tried not to feel overly guilty about doing nothing. Having sat around and messed around on t'inerwebz for a little while I took a walk with Rambo around the land and came back in for a nap. I really haven't done much at all. On the plus side, my shoulder is less painful and the bruises I seem to have acquired from somewhere feel less painful. I did notice this though. I poppy, growing from the brick work!

Poppy walls

I didn't do absolutely nothing; very little, granted, but I did do a watering round throughout the afternoon when the water came on in dribbles.

The corn is growing strong, as are the onions and potatoes.

Corn

Onions and spuds

 I was making my way through the garden and down to the olive trees and I spotted an orange flash. There are many butterflies around at this time, but I have not spotted one this colour before. Very pretty indeed.

Tiny butterfly

Now for the bad news. I have NO idea what has happened here but I was most upset. I have been watering our one remaining olive tree as often as I can, water supply permitting and within the last two days, something has happened to it. I do not know what broke the trunk or who has removed it from its bed, but I will get to the bottom of it. I am most cross. This is what I found.

Final tree

No more olives

So the rest of the day was spent lazying around in the sun, watching and listening from the balcony to the chicks I believe are in a nest in the guttering. We will have to think of a way to avoid that in future. In the meantime, it is 7pm and I need to start cooking something really. I have pork belly which was marinated in something or other, so that and some salad will do nicely.

Tomorrow is market day and I want to get down there and have a good old mooch around and take my time; maybe I will stop for a kebab for my lunch.

Leka nosht.

A x