A long blog break

Well hello again from Bulgaria! It's been quite a few days since I blogged and luckily for you, nothing much has been happening due to an internet outage here for a couple of days. But let's start with Sunday.

I worked very hard on Sunday and moved all of the slabs that had been broken in the process of digging out the drainage. They had all been piled up on the patio. It was heavy work and technically a blue job - you're welcome, love!

Slabs

And after a long slog and plenty of huffing and puffing, they were cleared. I would like to point out that whilst I make a big deal of this, I am thankful for the fact that it is speeding up my metabolic rate and therefore helping my weight stay off. So it is not all bad!

No slabs

I also attempted to clear the sand. I did manage some, but it was really back-breaking work and I gave up before I finished the sand. I will finish it in stages. There isn't that much more to go now.

Sand pile

Less sand

Monday was an official day off the blog as the Mr had posted his second update from Islay and the whisky festival. What happened on Monday then? Not really a whole lot to be honest. I was working and so, I worked.  In between, I fed all the animals - sometimes it feels like a zoo and with three more on the way (two really, but the Mr needs feeding too) it is going to be pretty hectic here for a while until everyone settles and we get into a routine.

So talking of the Mr, he should be back here within ten days if all goes to plan. At least that is the hope anyway. It has been a long three months and I will admit that even with the rats and all the hard work, I really have enjoyed my alone time and I am glad I have had the opportunity to go it alone - but it will be great to have them back here with me to start getting on with life again. Not least for the break of daily blogging!

Anyway, Monday - well I can barely remember today, never mind Monday, but I fed the chooks and Sassy and did a watering round (I think) and then I went back for the Benny Hill session with Kit and Kat to try and get them out of the house and into the enclosure. That was fun! They are surprisingly fast and when the get scared and flap around, it makes me jump so then they get past me. Anyway, we got there in the end.

Outside at last

Really that was Monday. Rambo got fed as usual and now it seems that the dislike for the swallows is mutual as they were actually dive-bombing him when he turned his back on them. I did laugh. But aside from that, I worked all day and went to bed reasonably early.

Tuesday was a disaster. I worked first thing and was going well with what looked like a busy day. Now it was a bit overcast and my internet kept dropping in and out but for most of the morning it posed no problems. Then around 11am, it all went down. And it stayed down.  I tried everything I knew to try and remedy it but nothing worked, so I gave up. I had to contact work and let them know that I would be unavailable at the last minute and I legged it into town to see if there was a problem with the connection at the supplier. Apparently there wasn't and she was stumped to find out that I had no connection and told me that she would send an engineer.

Back home and all I could do was get outside and enjoy some free time really. Rambo and I had some fun with half a tree that when I told him it was his he was certainly not letting go of it - haha.

My stick

What I did notice was that we have an extraordinary amount of butterflies in the front garden and also down the side of the lane. They are attracted to the tea trees along the front mainly. I was mesmerised by them for well over an hour before I went for a closer look.

Flutterby

As I went around the bottom bit of the garden I could hear a loud buzzing noise. What I found was not anything like I have ever seen before. Hornets in the UK, in my experience are not very big. I spotted these on the oak tree and without much exaggeration, can honestly say they were about 4-5cms long. They do not seem very aggressive, but when one left the bark, I took no chances and legged it! I have no idea why all the wildlife has to be so much bigger here!

European hornets

Wednesday was a complete washout, both in terms of weather and productivity. I spent most of it still trying to fix the internet and the rest trying to fix the laptop that now would not allow me to access it at all and was in some king of repair mode with nothing I did allowing it to repair! I went to bed and sat on the chair in the porch for most of my day and evening. I couldn't even watch a film, so I went in a sulk to bed around nightfall. Frustration and I do not mix well.

I was awake at 5.30 today and thought better of getting up so early. I lay and tried to sleep again but it would not come, so I played a bit of the game on my phone and surfaced around 6.15 to have coffee on the porch with Rambo. I needed several of these before I was as chirpy as he was. Still no sign of any engineers, so my plan was to head into town and check to see what was happening and then head into the larger town with the Mr's laptop that I had clearly broken to see if I could get it fixed somehow. I had thought of buying another laptop for myself, but I was warned off that as he has this one that he doesn't use.

As I was gathering my things to head to the internet office I heard a car and there were the engineers! Hooray! We had thought that perhaps one of th cables that runs underneath the desk had been damaged because of the weight of the desk running over it, but five minutes connected on his laptop and I was checking on my phone to see that the connection had been restored! Absolutely brilliant!

With the Mr's laptop still needing fixed, I set my old laptop up to allow it to update after not having been used in months and I set off to Technopolis in the large town. They were so helpful there and I was able to speak to someone who spoke great English and he set to fixing it up for me. I had to hang around, but I didn't mind and had the chance to look around and marvel at how much cheaper everything seems to be here.

Success! We got it working (ok, they did) and I was back off home with a few things that I had to add back onto it, one being Office, which I bought and did successfully but the  photoshop programme will have to be done later as they didn't have any in stock - never mind.

Back home and a quick catch up on the net with the Mr to check his packing progress and I was off out again. I needed chicken feed and wanted a proper yard brush so that I can clear the patio properly. Whilst picking up the brush I spotted a barrel, perfect for rat proofing the chicken feed. Result!

Barrel

I had to actually take the wheelbarrow to the car and drag the sack of grain I bought from the car to the wheelbarrow to get it inside. It was, as my Pappy used to say, "a hundred weight sack" but whatever that means, I just know it was much too heavy for me.

With much faffing around and careful positioning of said sac, I managed to get it tipped into the barrel and sealed. Game on!

Full of feed

I sat with Rambo again for a while on the porch. He had gotten into lots of trouble today and I think because he had seen me leave a few times today he was starting to get that anxiety back. The last time I left the gate he had pushed the bottom of it open and sneaked out. He was punished obviously. I cannot have him getting out and troubling the livestock around the village. He knew he'd made a mistake though as he ran back to the gate when I spotted him! Little bugger. Anyway, we sat on the porch and watched three storms roll in and out. The sky lit up with forks here and there but they didn't last long and soon it was a mere rumble in the distance. In fact, they are still rumbling around now.

Storm clouds

So, you are up to date. That was hard work and as someone advised me on Twitter earlier, rather than trying to remember in much detail, I have just put everything down that I remember, so it may be out of sequence slightly or even the wrong day, but it all happened all the same.

Just as I remember, as I was sitting on the porch feeding Rambo, Sanie (Little Lady) called over and I spotted her son carrying a sack of something over this way. Bless them. Orhan had gone and bought some chicken feed for me today and they were bringing it over! I felt so bad, but I offered to pay them for it anyway. What absolutely wonderful friends and neighbours they are.

Time for tea now and perhaps another storm viewing from the porch before I lock up Kit & Kat for the night and settle into a movie, if the electric doesn't give. It has been flickering away now and I just need to hit publish!

Leka nosht!

A x