Finally achieved it!

Good morning. Well, it was actually a bit dull and miserable with a shed load of rain and cloud. I was certainly not feeling inspired to dig in the garden which was the task I had set myself for today. The corn is getting out of hand in the raised beds and it really does need replanting. Not a chance today, it rained most of the morning. At about 10am and after several coffees and the animals breakfasts, it started to brighten. Good. I was not feeling inspired and sat with my blanket over my legs like a granny until then, watching You Tube clips.

When I did go out, someone was very happy about the rain!

My pond is back!

Having had no motivation whatsoever, when the sun made an appearance I suddenly got the urge to be productive. I decided the garden would just lead to me getting soaked and so I looked down my to-do list and thought the garage probably sounded more achievable. I set to it.  This is the mess.

Mess!

 More mess...

More mess

To be fair, the actual mess was caused by me when I was rat hunting. The filth was already there.
I am a bit of a stubborn one and once I start something, I generally finish it, grumpy or not. As the heat got up I was up and down to the main living area for drinks quite regularly - it is dusty in there. I spotted our friends had sent a message and said they were going to call in. That was a lovely surprise as I have been alone here, except for the drainage men, for a week or so.  Just before they arrived I started to move things around.

Clear one, fill another

The bottle room that I had cleared a few weeks ago actually came in handy. It is dry and I think storing stuff in there for now is a good idea.

I didn't want to, but I decided that I couldn't do half a job and I got stuck into the wood pile. I had been taking lumps of wood to burn from this pile up until the point it became warm enough to go without a fire at night. As the pile diminished, I started to find rat droppings. I knew there were still rats around as some poison had gone missing recently and I had also spotted some fresh droppings in the back rooms. Sure enough, another nest; thankfully empty.

Another nest

I threw all of the wood that was within the area of the nest out to in the pile that would be burned (along with the window frames with paint on them) and I carried on clearing up with my face screwed up, as usual. The thought of these critters makes my skin crawl.

I eventually got over the whole rat thing, wearing my thick rubber gardening gloves obviously, but it was tidy again. Halfway there.

Stage one, complete!

 As expected, S&S arrived around 2pm with their intern. She is a lovely girl, from Paris and clearly fascinated with the buildings and lifestyle.  I got S to help me with all the heavy moving inside; the sink and the dining table and then we all pitched in to move the trailer out the back of the garage. This makes it a lot easier for me to get stuff out the back now, so that is great!

Back home

 S&S had arrived earlier to bring me the sat nav I feared I would need if I was to find their place in the mountains, so now I can visit. This is a lovely thing to have the loan of. It makes me feel a lot more confident. After they left I carried on stubbornly with the rest of the garage clear out even though I just wanted to go and lay on the chair on the terrace. I am so glad I did. How great it feels to have another room cleared.

Mission accomplished

 How much better does this look? Although, it does show some apparent damp spots. Hopefully the drainage will sort this out finally.

At last

 I had been putting this off for ages and I am so pleased I finally got the motivation to tackle it.
Sat on the swinging chair in the porch, winding Rambo up about the birds I spotted some unusual colour down at the end of the garden by the fallen quince tree. I have no idea what he planted last year and I suspect he doesn't either, but look at these beauties!

More random flowers

 After a busy day in the dust and heat, Rambo and I took ourselves to the balcony for the last couple of hours of the day. He struggles with the heat at the minute as he is only starting to shed his coat, so the shade was the best place for him. I on the other hand am pink and hoping that I will be a little browner in the morning!

Chilling with Mum

I am not quite sure, but around these parts it is usually an Egyptian Vulture that circles in this way.  I am sticking with this. There seems to be lot of these around the area at the moment.

Vulture

With this, I bid you goodnight. I am starving and have been putting dinner off for a Skype call and also the blog.  Take care.

Leka nosht.

A x