Working all day

Back to the normal service for me (and you) today. It's been a corking day though I've spent all day until later than normal at my paid work. The workmen have cracked on substantially though so there is plenty to talk about.

Humanure nicely covered over with hay

I don't remember an alarm going off this morning but I do remember A getting up while I stayed firmly in bed and refused to move. I was feeling particularly exhausted for some reason and I didn't even really wake up when she came through with a brew for me which she placed on the table next to me. When I woke up to drink it it was not that cold, fortunately. I was aware that the builders would be arriving soon and coming through the bedroom onto the balcony so I took myself into the guest room to keep sleeping however the move woke me up and soon afterwards I was up and about. I had one task to do this morning which was to empty the humanure so I went straight out and did this. When I got back in I did the washing up and was just finishing this when A got back with just Sally and Gyuner as Bekir had other things to do today.

Water from the deluge yesterday

While I was outside getting the humanure done I took a quick stroll around to see the outcome of all the rain yesterday. Now we didn't get all that much; there is a RED weather warning for Bourgas today (more than 70L of water per square meter!) however we had enough and the sad wreck of Rambo's pool has returned. The drainage on the balcony has worked quite well as well but the amount of damp there is in the new cement cladding is concerning. I spoke to Bekir yesterday about getting the tiles onto the top of the wall and this comes back into focus when you see that damp. We shall see.

Shivering little puppies

The puppies were kicked out the house once I got out of bed as they were playing a lot and jumping on my face while I was in bed (another reason I ended up getting out of bed when I did) and when A got back they came back inside and went to sleep. The weather change has really been met with some unhappiness by them and they were lying in their bed shivering. We gave them a rug to tuck themselves inside however they declined this and crawled out from underneath then lay there, shivering again. Poor puppies.

Gyuner gave us a present to celebrate the birth of his daughter

As I briefly hinted at yesterday Gyuner's wife gave birth to another daughter during their holiday last week however I wasn't sure how it had gone so was a bit circumspect in informing you all. Anyway he was very pleased when he arrived today and handed me and A a little packet of sweets each to celebrate the birth. He really is a lovely guy and I'm very pleased for him.

Damp start to the working day

The balcony tilers who didn't come in yesterday because of the terrible weather had returned this morning though I must admit I'd not have if I were them. The one was back on with finishing off the cement around the walls while the tiler kept on cutting and laying tiles. It was quite cold today and progress was a little slow though by the end of the day they have started laying the tiles in front of the bedroom door.

Scaffold over the stairwell

Sally was straight into the living room and on with the plastering. When I went through to take the pictures he had moved the scaffold over the top of the staircase and was happily on top of it plastering away. He laughed when I said I would never go up on top of it there. He's just so phlegmatic.

Snoozing in the bed

A's arm was a lot better this morning than yesterday (as witnessed by the fact that she was able to drive to collect the men) however she was also very tired because of the pain and so when she found she didn't have any work to do first thing she took the opportunity for a quick snooze first thing. The girls had gone through with her and when I popped in to check she was OK I snapped a quick snap of them asleep under the covers. I didn't wake her up and slipped back out.

Even less secure; he just gets on with it

The next time I went out to stretch my legs I found that Sally was off the scaffold but was still above the stairs. He was casually stood on some pretty dodgy looking planks plastering the lower part of the wall. Terrifying to watch.

This kept the birds out of the garage

I took a little walk around downstairs after this and spotted something which I've meant to mention for the last month or two but always forgot when I sat down to write the update. Today I snapped a picture to remind me and while it doesn't look like much any more due to damage from the work that has been done around there it still makes me so very proud of A. I struggled all last year to secure this window (where the garage door will be eventually) against bird entry and A managed to solve the problem really effectively. She's pretty amazing, huh.

Slow progress on the tiling

I had told A that she had to get up regularly while she was working to stretch her legs and prevent her arm from being in the same position for too long. She headed off with the camera obediently and got pictures for me through the afternoon. Here is the progress mid morning on the balcony tiling.

Starting to sort through the wood to build the shuttering

The other workmen were making some pretty good progress on the driveway. They had dug out a channel down the side of the drive and were in the process of putting the wooden shutters up which they will use to pour the cement for the retaining walls. This they did all day and I was called for advice about the steps we went up from the back of the drive onto the back bank. We have chosen a 1m wide gap that will be in the middle of the back wall. I can't wait and I was bouncing around a lot today as I do when progress excites me.

Shifting the huge pile of bricks

Gyuner had the unenviable task of shifting all the bricks which had been thrown off the roof yesterday and stacking them up next to the green building. There were more than either of us realised and it took him til after lunch to finish the job.

Chipping away at the concrete step

Once he had finished this he knocked on the door to Room 13 for his next task and sadly it didn't get much better for him. We want to finish off the back door area, put a little patio in and remove the old steps to make them take up less room and also shift things around a little bit so there is less chance of flooding and this is what I asked him to make a start on. The lump hammer has gone missing which meant he was doing this with my old metal hammer. I must find the lump hammer for him tomorrow, or buy a new one. It isn't right to expect him to use the wrong tools for the job. He kept at it, though, and obviously didn't complain. An excellent worker.

Another wall nicely plastered

Sally had been working away all afternoon and midway through it finished off the plastering on the middle wall. It looks so much better in there now with only these two walls done; I can't wait to see it in a few days time. Rather than start on another wall today he got on with the bricking up that Bekir had begun yesterday. It isn't absolutely finished yet at the end of the day but it's very close. Tomorrow I will want Bekir to finish off the wood store so Sally will have to carry on with this.

Tomorrow they will have to double this up

At the end of the day the other builders snuck off quietly as they do and this left us with the chance to think about the next steps out there. They had said they would just fill in the gap behind the boards with concrete however upon further thinking I reckoned that I wanted it to be a wall and therefore they'd be putting more boards up to keep it to a certain width. A had a look while I was taking the men and she thinks the same so I'll be having fun explaining this to them tomorrow.

Loving the warmth

The journey back was pretty uneventful and when I got home I found the fire lit (it had even been on this morning for a while) and dinner cooking and the smell was lovely with the fragrant wood and chilli on the oven. The puppies were also loving the fire being on and had found a really comfortable position not too close so they didn't burn but close enough so they were lovely and toasty.

Lovely big grin

Dinner was really tasty as expected from the smell and I wolfed a huge plateful down before I remembered to take a picture. Since then I have been typing here, arguing on twitter, watching the rugby and chatting to an old friend on facbeook. Hence it taking a bit longer to do this update than usual. The girls have been dozing on their bed near the fire all evening apart from just after we finished eating when they came over to see us. Look at that smile!

So now it is nearly time for bed and I'll just get these pictures in and head via the shower for a snooze; the weekend is still being paid for in sleep terms I think.