Shopping frenzy

Hi there. I was going to play my computer game for a short while this evening while A is preparing some amazing sounding chinese dish but then I remembered I had to write this; the sacrifices I make for this blog. So now I sit here as she cooks up a storm next to me and I look through the pictures to remember the details of the day.

Mist in the valley, sun bright above, strange mark on lens

First of all I was disturbed in the night, or rather very early morning, by the sound of a fox barking which made me jump out of bed and take the torch onto the balcony. I couldn't see anything but I know I heard it; at least we're securing the birds every night now. I had lots of really vivid dreams last night and when the alarm started going off I was really tired. Once again A got up and took the girls out leaving me to doze and for once I stayed there a little while. I dragged myself out of bed when the puppies came back to see me and made me open my eyes to see what a lovely day it had started out as.

The waste drain gets fixed into place

It was a very slow start to the day for me, brain wise, and I was knocking back the brews to get caffeine into my system. A headed off at the normal time and I set myself to working to try and shake the cobwebs. Eventually, just before she returned with the men, I finally felt myself start to wake up which was quite a relief. Today the target for the men was to get the floor in the bathroom finished and start the decorations in the guest room. First of all they finished the concreting around the waste pipe from where the sink will be. There was quite a lot of conversation about how much of a slope to put down to the drain for the wet room and eventually we settled on a step up of 10cm into the room and a drop of about 2cm to the drain, with a flat platform in the first part where the toilet and sink will be. Sorted.

A looking exotic

A had put a band in her hair this morning which I think looks really lovely so I snapped a couple of pictures as I sat working and she was at her desk briefly. She was still not feeling well today and was resting the whole day, apart from when we went shopping but more on that later.

Bekir getting going with the cement

And so, with the measurements agreed, Bekir cracked on with the floor while poor Sally went up and down the stairs with his buckets bringing up cement that he had mixed outside. This went on through the whole morning and by the time lunch came round the floor was almost completed.

Rambo in the trailer while we had a delivery

At one point during the morning there was a persistent beeping from outside which at first I ignored then suddenly I realised that we were expecting deliveries and it could be the window people. As I was about to go down to check it out Bekir emerged from the guest suite and went dashing down the stairs. It turned out to be the plasterboard being delivered. Most people over here are very scared of Rambo and so I put him in the trailer which has morphed into his temporary restriction area.

Another delivery

I didn't help unloading this time as I was busy and feeling a little tired and achy still but I popped down to pay and then watched briefly as Sally and Bekir unloaded at top speed. I didn't count the sheets off as Bekir was doing that and they are now stacked just in the entrance where Rambo normally sleeps.

Thelma's first meeting with Sassy

Louise loves Sassy

During the morning, A appeared and decided to take the girls in to meat Sassy. Louise is endlessly fascinated by the rabbit however Thelma's only contribution so far has been growling and barking. Anyway, she made sure to keep hold of them at all times and Thelma was happy enough, though more interested in sniffing else where around the room then seeing Sassy. Louise was chuffed to bits and went nose to nose. They are such lovely puppies.

What a beautiful day

The day had carried on being so lovely though I didn't get to see that much of it today what with working and then sleeping over lunch and missing eating as I wasn't feeling great all day; achy and tired. Just before lunch I did go downstairs to see A who was resting in the shade with the puppies and I decided to get a picture looking across the patio. It was so beautiful and is an angle I don't take enough of.

We had a visit from the boss of the other building firm during the morning as well which was good. I settled the balance for the kitchen and then took him round to talk about possibly replacing the flat roof. Bekir helped out with this and I have emailed him the details so I should get a quote soon enough. He also made it clear that the quote he had given for the basketball court was to do the whole area and therefore as I only want half a court I could half the quote. Very tempting indeed.

Taking the broken wing mirror off

As Bekir was coming down from his lunch break I was stood by Julian having a look at his rear view mirror which had broken during the drive back. I had managed to get some of it removed but the bold holding the actual mirror in place just wouldn't move. With a few different tools and some frustration he eventually managed to get the bolt rotating and now Julian is safer for his trip to KAT tomorrow. Fingers crossed we get the paperwork sorted and I get a Bulgarian plate and insurance for him. It will be so nice to know he is able to be used regularly again.

And so I headed inside and up to bed to rest. I really wasn't feeling great. Just as I was dozing off fully though my phone rang and it was the hardware shop to tell me the tiles for the bathroom had arrived. I tried to doze back off after this disturbance but couldn't get back off so read for a bit before going down. I did feel a bit better even for not having had a deep sleep. A was still out with Rambo (the girls had curled up with me) so we got everything ready, put the puppies into their cage, and headed into town. Our first stop was the shop I'd been to yesterday and ordered the Room 13 tiles. We did have to wait a little bit as there were a few customers but soon we had backed Thomas up to the loading ramp and they were packing him up. They brought two pallets of tiles over at first but fortunately we had only bought a few from each as I was starting to panic about fitting them all on his bed.

Thomas looking quite low on his dampers

From there we went round the corner to the other shop and found the normal friendly man, eventually, who sorted us out and then we had five people loading this huge stack of tiles on as well. Thomas was looking quite down on his suspension from all these tiles and so we cancelled our other shopping plans and drove carefully back home.

A pile of tiles for Room 13 and the bathroom

When we got back I went in to do a bit of work and then we all worked together to unload him. With all of us there it didn't take that long to shift them all and we stacked them in the entrance hall at the bottom of the stairs rather than carry them straight up. They'll be lifted up tomorrow or next week I reckon.

Now it is out of bounds

While we had been out Bekir had finished off the bathroom floor which is now cordoned off to allow it to set. I know this could have all been done with wood and a suspended floor but that is not how it is done here, and this will be very long lasting. We just have to hope for no leaks, as my dad said.

Very old light bulb with water in it from last year

With the floor done both Bekir and Sally were in the guest room working away at making good for the next stage which is to run the electrics in. I think I will take quite a lot of interest in that part and may even, if they don't do it all tomorrow while I'm out, get that done over the long weekend as it is Bayram on Friday and so no one is working. They took the old light fittings down as I'm asking them to reuse them for the lights in there and the bulb in one still has water in it. The fittings will need some refurbishment but should be fine.

Fun in the sandpit

We had a too-brief visit from SandS during the afternoon as well (they couldn't stay as they had been shopping which was a shame) which was cool as we got to show off the progress we have made recently and they agreed to puppy sit so we can go to Italy for our friend's 50th birthday. It was lovely and it's good to have people who you can help as well. After this I finished my work and A took the puppies out. They went back to playing in their sandpit, now sadly much diminished, but they still love it.

The lady serves up a mean dish

And so it was time to take the men and again the journey was without incident. I drove back really fast and got home to find A was hard at work preparing some interesting Chinese meal (maybe she'll comment the name as I can't remember it). We ate on the roof and it was absolutely lovely. So tasty and filling but not heavy; just perfect for what was still quite a warm evening; the temperature had shown 34 degrees as I pulled in through the vehicle gate.

Gorgeous sunset to end the day

Since then I've been typing and A has been out feeding the birds and Rambo. I'm going to stop before putting the pictures in and go and help her out with the other chores so this will not be published straight away. The sunset that has been happening out of the back windows has been lovely though so I'll just leave you with this picture.

Tomorrow; KAT.