Very warm still

Wow it really is being warm here at the moment which is just wonderful, if we weren't having to work :) Once again it has been in the mid to high thirties today and the breeze when it has come has been a real relief. Anyway, the update today starts yesterday so let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

This big fella was eating our greens

I went out last night to do the watering round and finally actually pull my weight around here. It was really nice to be out there and enjoy the growth in the garden. Recently we have been noticing that something has been munching on the chilis we planted in the garden. I was thinking maybe moths or something like that however as I was up watering I heard some loud rustling from up in the deep brush that we have not yet weeded out. I bravely waded in, not caring about snakes, and found our culprit; quite a large tortoise! I grabbed it and carried it round to the other end of the land and let it free down there; we'll have to keep an eye on that and make sure it doesn't get back into our growing.

Balls having a good flap in the water

While I was out finishing the watering round A got her long lens on and got some good pictures of the ducks and chickens out for their evening stroll. She managed this evening to get a cracking picture of Beaker and Balls having their really regular swim though the best shot only involved Balls having a good flap while in the pond. They are swimming in it so much at the moment and we spent some time after that discussing how we can get a bigger pond out there with a filter and a pump; we'll need to plan this before any work is done on the drive as we'll have to get some armoured cable over there and also a water supply.

Louise folded into the bean bag and still fighting

The puppies were up there with her and they were playing and fighting hard. They love A's beanbag and spent a lot of the evening playing on it. Every now and then one of them would start to dig which is not a good thing so we have to shout at them but mostly they just chase each other over it, bouncing around and having a great time.

The sun goes away yesterday evening

As I mentioned yesterday I had decided that yesterday evening, almost as a counterbalance to the film watching evening on Saturday evening, to spend the whole evening sat on the balcony watching the sun go down and appreciating where we are and the surroundings. The only thing which detracts at all from the peace is the sound of vehicles on the new road and yesterday evening there were quite a lot of motorbikes revving up and down it which was a shame.

Lovely evening sky

This in no way detracted from the lovely ambiance and we loved the evening. The sunset was stunning and as the evening progressed, eventually getting too dark for us to keep reading, the sky turned through so many stunning colours. The moon came out later on and then there was Venus (I think) next to it and I got a long exposure shot resting my elbows on the tumble-down chimney on the balcony.

Eventually it was time for bed though I had a shock when I got in and checked the clock next to the bed which is still on UK time and thought it was not even 8pm yet. I was all ready to read for another two hours but A pointed out my mistake and after a bit of reading the light went off. It was another relatively good night sleep however once more the fan was on and I do think the noise prevents deep sleep. I got up in the night to go to the toilet and saw that the light had been left on in the porch; when I went down to turn it off there was a firefly flitting around the hallway; if only I'd had the energy to go and get my camera to video it but I was pretty focused on returning to bed.

The girls watching as I do the humanure

This morning I had a proper lie in as A left me to sleep and when I woke up she was out on the balcony with her brew enjoying the morning. Once again I joined her and we sat there sipping and enjoying the morning. It is now becoming a routine to do this and we talked about keeping it up even when it is snowy. A headed to get the men at the usual time and I swung into action with my chores. The first and most important was to empty the humanure and food waste which I did very quickly.

I took this so I could say "Hot Chocolate"

The other task was to get a burn done as we had quite a lot built up. It lit with one match and was flaming away within seconds. The girls were out with me and had gone on a nice long explore up towards the top of the land so I let them stroll for a bit then called them down and eventually they came running; they are getting better at the recall thing.

Damping down the new concrete

Bekir and Sally arrived not long after, interrupting me making some good progress on my paid work and I took them up to see the electrickery I had one. I learned a bit straight away as Bekir pointed out I'd used the wrong cable for the boiler; it needed to be much thicker for the power it would pull. He also said I should get different light fittings as the plastic ones aren't great when mounted on wood however he was impressed and after a little disappointment at making mistakes I was just pleased again to learn. The first thing Bekir did after getting changed was to water down the new concrete in the bathroom as it is so hot at the moment there is a risk of it cracking. I think it is important to say that today I found it quite hard going; I wasn't unhappy as such as much as just struggling to keep going, feeling very blah and tired and a little more down than I want to admit over the wiring mistakes. It just proves that even living in paradise you can have down moments. Fortunately it passed.

Painting the walls and ceiling

Sally was straight into the bedroom with the betonkontakt painting it all over the walls and ceiling to seal the permeable plaster. This took most of the morning and then he got stuck in putting "byalo" on the roof. All the time he was working at this Bekir was at the wiring and I had the fun task of explaining that I don't want the black wire to be positive (apparently that is the standard here) but the brown as Steve had done it like that downstairs. He understood and so I'm happy that my wiring will be consistent.

When it got to lunch time and they stopped work I found myself completely battered. I'd taken a half hour lie down earlier on as well but this time both me and A went to bed and slept for about 45 minutes. It is strange that in the heat of the day when the sun is beating down our bedroom is cool with the breeze however with the way that breeze has been going it stops at night and our bedroom is hot then.

Later starting to plaster

Lunch today for me was toasted cheese sandwich a la schiedler (a family tradition) which was great and as I was just about to eat Bekir requested a trip to the builders merchant so I finished up and down we went. As we were leaving the nice lady who works there asked about Thelma and Louise and requested a visit from them so the next time we need to go there I'll be taking two extra passengers. Their fame is spreading.

Toad in the Hole for our dinner

The rest of the day was spent with us both working and the men getting on with their jobs until quite late. I found I can pause Eurosport player which is great as the day wasn't over when I left to take the men. The drive home was pretty eventless apart from almost running someone over who walked behind Thomas as I was reversing to turn round in their village, and I got home to find A well into the process of cooking Toad in the Hole for dinner. I did start typing on this update but was going slowly so it was only a few paragraphs in when we headed out onto the balcony once more to eat.

What kind of fly is this?!

I heard a fly buzzing on the bedroom flyscreen so opened it to let the horrible creature out and was shocked to see this nasty looking thing sat completely still and not moving even as I shook the screen. I was able to get a picture and then A came along and knocked it off so it flew away; I'm glad that is not in the room any more before our bed time arrives!

Dinner was stunning and I finished my whole plate of food because I'm a fat so and so. It was lovely sat out there and we were again able to watch the chickens and ducks at their evening walk. For an update on Baker I showed her to Bekir today who said she should be fine, keep feeding her up and then she'll be able to go back in; great news. A has just been down feeding her again and apparently she is eating OK, though not drinking a huge amount. She'll stay in isolation for a bit more I think.

And saying goodbye to the sun just now

So I get to the end of the day with the sound of the girls fighting along the top corridor, Sassy banging her cage so I don't forget to feed her, and the sun having just gone down out the back windows. I'm about to head out and do the watering and then it'll not be long before we're in bed and trying to sleep again.

These days are very busy indeed.