What an outstanding day

Today has been a day which just summarises how amazing it is to be here and that includes yesterday evening.

Dinner just before serving

First of all; dinner. We had a lovely roast chicken with peppers and courgettes which had been fried in salt and oil then added in with the chicken to finish off, and a gorgeous fried rice with peas and other random bits of veg chucked in and this was exceptionally tasty but the setting was divine, once again sat at our dining table by the back windows. The girls were very well behaved once more and after we had eaten, A took the responsibility of feeding them followed by the pleasure of the post-dinner cuddles. It's a very busy life here but when you do settle down and relax the feeling is amazing.

The golden stage

The pink stage

The red stage

We'd been commenting during our meal how even though the sunset wasn't all that impressive it was still really lovely to be sat there however once we'd finished eating and feeding the puppies we noticed that the sky was turning red and it was developing into a stunner. We took our beers up and sat on the swinging chair up there and marveled at the colours that developed over the next hour or so. It went from golden to pink to deep red and the display was all around the horizon not just where the sun was actually sinking. What a lovely way to end the day and to be able to sit there in shorts and a vest top as the temperature has started to head towards where it should be at this time of year just added to the pleasure.

Mist from the balcony

After spending such a lovely evening sat on the roof terrace we headed downstairs when it got a bit too cool to sit outside. After a short time inside we were too tired to carry on and we headed to bed. I slept much better last night with no alarms or jumps or panic attacks however we were woken up slightly earlier than planned as A had left her alarm on for some outrageous time in the morning however I declined the offered lay in and turned my laptop on to do some paid work. It was a lovely morning with mist in the valley and after a bit I headed out onto the balcony to grab a picture.

Shaking her broom

A had also woken up with a desire to achieve and she was out early to feed the chucks and also sweep out their house which had lots of uneaten chicken feed and also chicken shit everywhere; these birds are so much messier than dogs! I stood waiting for her to appear at the door so I could snap a photograph and after a little while she obliged.

After this was done it was time for our planned trip into town to visit the bank to open an account for my business so I can invoice and be paid into a correct account, and then to the shops for a few bits. This was a very successful trip; at the bank I had the girl who had opened my first account and she speaks very good english and so was able to help without any problems. We also got some more money out to settle the final bill for the drainage. The shopping trips were also a great success and I bought supplies with which to cook my famous (maybe?) spicy pork pasta for evening meal. We returned home satisfied with our trip.

Three girls in the garden

Not happy to rest on her laurels A was straight out into the fenced garden to weed one of the beds I had dug last year; the Little Lady keeps coming over at the moment with offers of plants and so we're racing to prepare enough garden to accept these lovely gifts. It was getting really rather warm by this point and I was starting to feel frustrated with being stuck to the laptop doing paid work however this was tempered by the fact that I was making some good progress on a problem with my code which has been nagging at me for a while.

Thelma has a really long tongue

I finished up my work for lunch and went out to join A in the garden, however I had no intention of helping so just laid back in the long grass and enjoyed the sun. After a little while the Little Lady came over and told me off for being lazy, then proceeded to plant out ten or so little carrot plants which she had obviously thinned from her crop. She has a little wooden dobber (which A has mentioned before) which is so super efficient she planted all of them without any hassle and in less time than it took me to type this sentence. Amazing.

Measuring twice to cut once

I had another nardenitsa and serene butty (or two) for my lunch and then made the executive decision to head outside and get on with the next bits of the humanure collection point. Yesterday I had completed the two ends so today I set myself to making half of the long back wall. I had been making use of a pile of planks left by some builders or other by the side of the garden however this supply was now running dry so I headed into the green building to find more planks. I found a few likely candidates but then heard yapping and saw that the farmer's Chihuahua was half way up the drive. I legged it round and found Louise staring it down however when I arrived she scarpered, howling, and I was left to charge towards it and get it off the land.

Digging out a new bed

While I was doing this A was back in the fenced garden with the pickaxe (I didn't get a picture of this; sorry) digging out a brand new bed. We're not totally sure but we think that the little lady will be over tomorrow with more tomato plants. I joined her as she was going through with the fork and pulling the weeds out and the bed is looking great. She's using the local technique of a couple of ridges pulled up on which to plant the crops which allows a trench for watering and this is so much better than my labour intensive effort with the wooden surrounds (even though I still like how these look).

Hot and tired puppies

It was now the hottest time of the day and the girls were really struggling. After a few spankings for running all over the newly planted carrots we realised they were struggling and so got their bed down from the cage and they were straight in it and fell asleep. There is almost too much cute in these two and we are becoming boring parents who can't stop commenting on how awesome their children are.

Humanure collection point taking shape

I did half what I planned today but it was enough for me. The heat was getting up and I was also feeling quite tired from the early start. Also, under those trees there are loads of mosquitoes and I got eaten alive while I was putting the screws in to fix the uprights in place. The good thing is that I have only two more panels to make, the other half of the back and the middle divider, and then I'm done and we can start using it. The temporary collection point is pretty full so it's not before time either.

Camouflaged insect

Having made the decision to stop making for the time being I headed over to the fenced garden and helped out for a few minutes as A finished off the bed she was on with. Just next to her was a tall plant and I noticed a grasshopper on it so snapped a picture however when I reviewed the pictures for today I was shocked at how well it came out.

Around 2pm Lubo came over as arranged to talk about the next steps, doing the floor for the kitchen, and it was really lovely to see him again. We discussed our plans and he called the guy who ran the company who had done the drainage. This chap was available to come see us straight away and turned up after about 20 minutes or so. He has promised to get us a quote by the end of the day, and we've also settled the bill for the drainage, so that was good.

Just perfection, right there

I'd forgotten but the Little Lady had come over earlier with her ladder and was up on the roof of the green building (ignoring my warnings about the safety of this manouvre) harvesting more of the blossom from the tea tree. We had retired up to the roof terrace by this point to enjoy the heat and views and the peace and quiet; this is what prompted the title for this blog which I started just after heading in from the roof terrace. I was reminded about the Little Lady by Usmivka coming over and shouting for her. We both went down and I helped hold the ladder while she descended then A carried one of the bags full of blossom back to their house.

Garden getting more prepared all the time

And so the day (for the purposes of this blog at least) drew to a close. I was cooking dinner, working at my paid work, and tippy tappying on this blog (see, men CAN do more than one thing at once) while A was out doing the feeding and watering and other tasks. She had taken this picture of the fenced garden from the roof terrace to show what it looks like right now.

It's been an excellent evening since then however you'll have to wait until tomorrow to read about that.