Dust, sweat and beers

Hello there everyone. It's been another full on day and again I'm late starting this update however I'm not feeling quite so braindead this evening so hopefully it won't be quite such a struggle this evening. I didn't get any reports of typos in the update yesterday which was a surprise as normally when I feel like that I am quite lazy in my typing.

A's tomatoes in the raised bed

Lidl bought chilis doing well again

A's peppers are doing really well too

My vine has grown well

More super growth

Anyway, on with the update. First of all a raft of pictures taken yesterday evening by A as she did the watering round. We have had a lot of productivity again (the amazingly tasty sweetcorn only being the first to come to harvest) and it shows that while some of the land is very rocky, dry and not great for growing, we also have areas which are excellent. As I was commenting to Chaz and Ivan the other day, as our Humanure gets producing and we get several cubic of good compost onto the land every year that will only help loads.

Sun appears

When I went to bed last night I had a slight headache and when I woke in the night it had turned into a real stinker which lasted all through the night. A was woken quite early by Louise jumping on her (she also came to say hello to me but I was pretty asleep and with the headache battering me so much I didn't allow her to really wake me) so she was up and about from that point, other than a quick cuddle later and to bring me a brew which, to me, appeared like magic as I was asleep when she brought it. I sipped from the brew a few times and then got the energy to get up, get some headache pills, and join her on the balcony again. The sunrise had been absolutely stunning again but also the girls were out on their morning exercise which A had videoed this time. They have so much energy in the mornings and really love chasing around and recently their range has extended over nearly all the 2.5 acres of our property which they are just loving.

Despite having such a stinking headache I finished my brew and went downstairs to do the task for me before the sun came up; moving the dry hay from the patio into the green building. The first thing I had to do, before I could push each forkful through the window, was to move the old window frame that was stacked up against the wall. This had been saved last year at much effort with the idea of using it as a guide to build Sassy's run on the balcony. Unfortunately during the storms it actually blew completely off the flat roof and broke so now it will just be burned. The other thing is the ultimate location of Sassy's run is still under consideration.

Moving the hay into its storage

With access cleared I moved all the hay into storage in about 15 minutes, just working slowly and with quite small loads as I had to carry it underneath the very low hanging branches of the tea tree and if I took too much it just got caught in that. It was really good to get this done and actually when I came back inside and onto the balcony for another brew I felt a whole lot better for having kicked on and done it. My theories on the headache involve the 41 degrees in Kardjali and also the ridiculous amount of fly spray we had used the night before as we were overrun with flies. I am really careful to drink loads and I had almost 2L of water on top of all the other drinks during the day, so I do not think it was dehydration. Anyway, I was just relieved that it had passed.

All of Room 13 is now sealed

When A headed out to get the men I paused in my day job, which I had started for a few minutes, to complete my morning tasks. First of all I washed up in hot water A had put in there earlier and then I got the brush and got on with doing the last bits on the floor in Room 13. I was not quite finished by the time they returned but it didn't take me much longer and so we left it to dry all day (some of it has a LOT of stuff on it as they are deep holes with lots of dust which will next be concreted over before we tile). This is a great step to have done and hopefully tomorrow we may start the concrete and tiling.

Resting on the power lines

Clinging to the wall and bricks

The swallows which nest around us have for the last few days been joined by a huge number of their mates as they prepare to migrate. A was outside and called for me to get a picture of them and so I did, both congregating on the power lines and also clinging to the walls. This is the style of flock that I remember seeing here in previous years and which I just don't really remember from last year. It is good that A is getting to see this.

Waterproof strip, and stabilising bricks

I had forgotten to feed Rambo this morning, what with all the other jobs I did, so A went do this while I settled back into working. I did, however, pay quite a bit of attention to what was happening in the bathroom as progress was going on. I was able to watch as they used some of the waterproofing from the roof to bend over the bottom of the wall and onto the floor, behind where the plasterboard will go, to act as a barrier to leaks and then they used old bricks to fill the bottom part of the wall as well.

Bekir fits the plasterboard

After this it was full steam ahead with the plasterboarding for the men and this took them most of the rest of the day, what with having to fit awkward shapes and at one point there was some changes to the boarding they had done in the roof. Mid afternoon (and jumping ahead of the narrative here so forgive me when I go back in time in a minute) they ran out of joint strip so A had to leg it to the shop to get more while Bekir distracted himself with lighting in the bedroom and vestibule while Sally did some Betonkontakt on the walls but once we had more supplies Sally was back on finishing the joint stripping. More of this later, though.

Designer Air Macks, special from Nike for Bulgaria

The thing that scuppered our day today was about 11am the internet completely dying. I could keep working but A is unable to do anything without it so she text her boss and we decided that if it didn't come back we'd go to town at lunch to the office to complain. Lunchtime came round and still no internet so down we went and we requested an engineer which was promised us immediately. From there we headed to the market where I bought some more flipflops (though not the ones I wanted) and then A went to a different stall where they tried to overcharge us as we're English (first price: 20 lev to which a "no, too expensive" immediately brought the price down to 10 lev). We walked away from that stall and the first stall, where I bought mine, called us over and she bought exactly the same flipflops for 8 lev. I don't mind being slightly overcharged for a few things however this stall was very rude so whatever price they re-quoted I would have walked away, cheeky so and so's.

This mainly just amused us though and we were off for more purchases before heading home. We went past the hardware store to find when our buckets were due in and were told Thursday so that's in the diary now. When we got back the men were working again already; they are also feeling the pressure. We had some food (really lovely cheese and tomato butties with the lovely fresh bread from the men's village) and then the balance of our lunch was used up moving windows from the living room down to the store room downstairs, so the men can get straight on with the living room when they are done in the guest suite.

I had asked Bekir for help on sharpening my scythe and during the morning he had suddenly started on it so I grabbed the video camera. I want to be able to do this my self however I am a little nervous of the technique as you can see. He did say I could hammer it if I wanted however it should be good like this so tomorrow morning I will be down in the long grass by the driveway swinging the scythe again and getting back in shape.

Chainsaw maniac

The rest of the day was working so I bring you a couple of small amusing moments in our breaks. First of all I promised you a picture of chainsaw and so, rather than a boring picture here is me looking scary. With a chainsaw. That isn't running. Yeah, I hadn't yet tightened the chain and got it running with Bekir's help so I wasn't about to kill myself running it just for a picture. I got the chain almost right and Bekir did check it out and sorted it out for me just before he left.

Rambo getting a cooler shower

It has been super hot again today but we're seeing a new pattern to the weather, as observed yesterday. We are no longer seeing the katabatic winds but it is now clouding over just after lunchtime and staying cloudy until after sunset. This is not so bad as it stops the flamethrower affect of the sun however it has been feeling a lot more muggy with it. Rambo has been struggling a bit and so today A got the hose and managed to get him cooled off with it. Shortly after the photograph he ran away then shook himself dry all over her but I missed that with the camera unfortunately.

Where's Louise?

Louise has a thing for hiding under things; if there is a chair on the balcony she'll choose to sit under it rather than in the open. During the afternoon today she hopped onto A's chair and squeezed herself back behind her as she sat, in her way. A then got up to do something and when she came back Louise had stretched herself out over the whole chair but not only that, she had hidden underneath the towel that was there. This in 34 degree heat inside in the shade. Strange little puppy.

Working into the evening

It was time to take the men at about 6pm as normal and Sally had finished the joint stripping while Bekir had made good progress on the lights. As I drove I asked them if they wanted me to finish off the betonkontakt in there and I don't know if there was a misunderstanding but they said yes. The other amusement on the way was a few drops of rain which prompted the usual jokes that it would rain in their village but not mine. Anyway when I got back I didn't stop but got straight into the bathroom to finish off the sealant onto the wall at first and then the floor. The dust on my bottom is because of sitting on the scaffold to get back down off it. It actually didn't take long to do this and I finished before dinner was cooked.

Dinner time

A had poured me a beer so I went onto the balcony as soon as I finished and we sat out there for a bit enjoying the sight of all the birds out in their compound. Dinner was ready shortly after which we again ate out there, Jerk Chicken with a lovely potato and egg based salad, and we enjoyed the lack of direct sunlight.

I have been unable again to help with the evening tasks as I have been doing this update so A did the watering, sorted the chickens out, and is now going on the warpath against flies in the bedroom. I have some orange juice to drink and then I will probably get an early night again. We did get a kip this afternoon as well which I forgot about which was much needed; the siesta is a requirement in this sort of heat. And yes, the internet came back on during the afternoon with no visit from the engineer. We also had no window people come which was not good; we are insecure in several places and I really want this completed before my parents arrive NEXT WEEK!