Bookending the day

So today has been an outstanding day from beginning to end. Read on to find out why...

Saying goodbye to the sun last night

Before we get to today we go back to last night and the absolutely lovely sunset. After I posted the update it was still early so I snapped this picture then went out to do the watering round with A. It was a gorgeous evening and the rest of the sunset was lovely also however I didn't get time to take pictures. We slept in the guest room last night which was nice but I didn't sleep well due to not having my pillows, and not having the windows open wide enough. I did sleep so I haven't been too bad today I just felt like I kept waking up in an uncomfortable position.

Waiting to get tearing into them

When I did wake up A headed out as usual to do the chicken run and I stayed in bed feeling battered then remembered that I needed to get her pressies out from downstairs to surprise her with them. By the time I got up she had come back inside though so I went downstairs, telling her to take the brews onto the balcony, and sneaked after her with the big box. Even better she had gone round the corner on the balcony when I got there so I was able to pull them out the box onto the table before she turned round. She had forgotten that it was her birthday and she was so excited to see the presents.

Beautiful peaceful and cool start to the day

The sun shows itself

It was an absolutely lovely morning and I was snapping away at her reaction to her pressies and also the lovely sunrise that was going on. It was quite a cool start which was actually very nice and once again we both commented on how much we're loving being here, and how the appreciation for being here is growing and not going away at all. What lucky people we are, and we acknowledge this.

Excited by a purple helmet

Anyway, enough of the sun rise; there were presents to unwrap. I didn't give a preference to the order for unwrap the parcels so she went for the small one first which was a packet of party poppers for her to use to celebrate. The next parcel, slightly larger, contained a purple skater helmet which, I think, gave the game away for what was in the final, largest box.

She's quite excited to have got the box open

Oh yes.... it is.....

.... PURPLE ROLLER BLADES!!!!!

So she picked up the parcel and ripped the paper off, was temporarily stymied by selotape on the box, and finally managed to get inside to reveal the present that she has been asking for for ages and ages; some roller blades. She was very very excited as you can see.

Dancing on wheels

She didn't waste any time and was straight away putting them on, even tearing her nail slightly in the process but fortunately not badly. .Within a few minutes she had them on her feet and was skating around the balcony which caused me some concerns as there is no rail at all. It was just amazing to see her so happy and really did set the day off brilliantly, both as she had forgotten it was her birthday and I got the pressies out as a surprise, and that she loved them so much. Woo.

They aren't totally sure what to make of this

One other amusing thing to watch was the reaction of the girls. Thelma wasn't sure at all and didn't want to get too close but Louise was straight in there nipping at the wheels from behind. A had a great time swooping all around the flat roof before she sat back down to drink her coffee, of course still wearing them.

Louise looking less than impressed

Thelma a little less upset

I had also bought her some elbow, knee and arm guards as I know she will use these rollerblades in dangerous places and I want her to stay safe. She tried them out and I had managed to get the correct size of these as well which was a relief however she wasn't too keen on them and had more fun putting them on the girls as helmets. They didn't seem that impressed but also didn't seem to care too much; they did look very cute though.

It's been a beautiful day all day today

Before heading out to get the men she had another go on them and then she took them off and had to run. What a lovely start to the day. As soon as she was off I went out, checked over the chainsaw and then got going chopping the last of the thick bits of wood. I got almost all the way through my target by the time A got back with the men which was good, and I left the tools outside to go back to later however never ended up getting time. I'm now going to be working my way through the brush wood pile, getting the biggest logs I can out of there and leaving the rest as it can easily be split with an axe. It's more important to dry out the thicker chunks.

Smiling away as they work

The men were straight in to working on the stairs when they arrived and I went down after a bit to take some pictures. A bit later on Bekir shouted that he had run out of grinder blades so we had to drop down into town to pick some up. I also got myself a new hacksaw for finishing the electricity distribution boxes. On the way back up Bekir's phone went and it was Sally saying the EVN man was there threatening to cut our electricity off. Now we were aware we hadn't had a bill for a little while but this was a bit extreme. I got back to find that he was saying we weren't paying our bills and it would have to be turned off to which I replied "no bill, no paying". He was on the phone to the office and found out my account number, how much I owed, and Bekir and I were straight back into the truck to go and pay it.

What a palaver, and if only they sent bills out (it's very strange to not have received one) there would have been no problem as these bills are not very large. Anyway, it's solved now and when I get a chance I'll pop into the office and complain. It wasn't the last trip out I had to make today as well as after lunch I popped out with Bekir to find metal for the uprights on the hand rail for the stairs and we ended up going to the big town where we found some I liked. We tried to look out some wood for the steps but they didn't have any I liked so we left it.

Twenty steps from bottom to top

After we got back they worked away for a bit more then we headed off a little early as we were going to a wood yard to try and get wood. It is most amusing how they act in their shops as it almost seems like the shop owner is most put out you are there trying to buy something but then suddenly everything is OK and you have what you went in for. We should receive the oak wood steps either tomorrow or the day after which is very exciting indeed. The stair way is now finished and the rails are going on so that will be good timing for the men. The other builders, to start working on the flat roof, never showed up which was annoying but after the owner hadn't replied to a couple of emails last week we weren't totally surprised. I got in touch finally through Lyuben and apparently we'll have some men tomorrow. Additionally I have asked Bekir to bring an extra workman as well to dig out the drainage on the front and lay two pipes along for water to the kitchen and free water to the chicken house so tomorrow could be a busy day.

Happy birthday A! :)

And so it was time for the second bookend. After quick showers each we piled into Thomas, leaving the girls loose in the guest room and hoping they couldn't get out, and went down to our favourite restaurant on the river. It was a lovely meal with just enough that we could take some meat home for the puppies and no rush at all to eat fast or leave when we had finished. We got a wave from the singer and one of the regular serving people which is also really nice. It's just a lovely restaurant, excellent people, a fantastic setting and the cost is so small you could almost go every day.

So we got back, found the girls had managed to get out, and I've typed this up while drinking a cup of tea and dodging A pulling party poppers. She isn't much one for big celebrations but those two periods of birthday-time have really been excellent and I'm looking forward to her enjoying those roller blades a lot; I'll try and get some video for the blog if I can as well.