Bonfire building

Tonight I am writing this update sat on the sofa in the living room with the fire glowing away and warming me up to one side, the puppies in their bed in front of it half fighting and half bathing in the heat and the wind howling outside. It has been really windy since last night and all day today but inside we've been cosy. We haven't been inside all day, though, as you'll see.

Sorting books sat in front of a roaring fire

Dozing off in comfort

After the blog was published last night I went through to the living room and found A surrounded by books which was was in the process of putting on the new bookcase by the stairs. The fire was roaring and the puppies were really enjoying it as well. I sat on the sofa and we just enjoyed being in here finally. I kept dozing off on my recliner and after a while Thelma came on and joined me and fell fast asleep as well. What a lovely relaxing and comfortable evening we had; just perfection.

It was a tired couple who went to bed and we both fell asleep really quickly. The puppies weren't disruptive at all which was great however A had a bad tummy in the night which disturbed her and then I was worried for her as well. When she came back to bed having drunk some water we both got back to sleep and we were not out of bed before 9am which is a lovely lie in for us. I made us a brew and then when we had drunk it we headed out to the shops again to pick up the things we had decided the night before that we needed like an ash hoover and some more plant pots.

Tidied up the mess in the kitchen

On the way back we dropped in so I could get cables to plug the record player in and then we went past the local town to pick up the rug we'd bought for the living room, and try and pay our water bill. The post office was shut so that latter wasn't possible but ekont had the rug well packaged up and it fit in the back bed of Thomas just about so we headed home. The puppies were, of course, very happy to see us when we got back and we were also quite hungry so A cooked porridge before we got started with the main task of the day. While she was doing this I took the ash hoover down to clean up the mess in the kitchen though there was so much eventually I used a shovel to remove most of it. The hoover was a great success, though, and will be perfect for keeping our petchkas clean and tidy.

Nice and warm

Making the basic shape with wood and cardboard

After eating we got ourselves wrapped up warm and went up onto the top bank to start to build the bonfire. It wasn't that cold today, really, just the wind was strong and biting. We started out by getting a tall length of wood for the centre and surrounding it with cardboard boxes and then leaning heaving beams against these and the central pole to support it. This actually worked quite well.

Proud of our bonfire

Next we filled in the gaps inside with smaller pieces and then steadily built around the edges in a pyramid until we had used all the wood available. We hadn't emptied any out of the "wood room" in the flat roof area at all, unlike our plans, however it turned out we had enough there without any more. This means we will probably be having lots and lots of bonfires over the winter as we try and clear that room before the spring. Oh well, we like bonfires.

Not very happy to be out here, but Rambo doesn't care

The puppies were up with us while we were doing this but they were less than impressed about the weather. The spent almost the whole time huddled together in the long grass with their backs to the wind trying to stay warm. At least they had their coats on which I think they were actually happy for. Rambo was also around and about a lot and he kept sniffing Louise who is still "on". Poor Rambo, he doesn't have any bits anyway!

Striking a DEATH pose

After a rest for a brew I headed back outside with the scythe to cut away the dead grass from the land around the fire. It was slightly chillier again as the clouds had gathered once more so I put my hood up and A went on the roof to take pictures and got me to do a halloween type pose. It didn't take long to clear away an area about 3m distance from the fire. I'll probably do a bit more tomorrow, maybe even take the spade out and remove the soil. I'd rather be safe and do a bit more work now than have a spreading fire on Friday night.

Dining table in position

While I was out doing this A had put some food in for lunch and so I came inside and straight away helped carry it through. We have moved the dining table over to near the fire and it was easy to pull it out in front of the fire so we could eat and watch the flames. It was perfect.

New rug rolled out in position; lovely!

After eating A ran Henry around the living room and then we did the great unrolling of the new rug. This had been bought from a lady on facebook and so we'd only seen the pictures she had posted on the listing so I for one was a little concerned however when it was out it fitted so well it could have been designed for us. The puppies were very interested and spent quite a long time smelling it all over (indeed Thelma has JUST gone back over now and is doing this as I type) and I also wound up laying on it looking at the ceiling for a bit enjoying the different perspective.

I went to set the record player up and found that it came with a pre-fixed phono cable rather than plugs to fit your own which meant the cables I had bought were not the right thing. Rather than going straight for the snips and bodging two cables together I jumped in Thomas and legged it back to the shop where I bought a kit that not only had the female phono extensions that I needed, but also an adaptor which will allow me to do the job for my dad on his old record collection. When I got back we had a brief time thinking the record player was broken before I remembered it was not ACTUALLY a phono supply and switched it to another input on the pre-amp and then it worked great. We have listened to some Pink Floyd and some Beethoven since then.

Whisky on the shelves

A was lazing in front of the fire with the puppies while I pulled crates of whisky in from the corridor and went through to find all the open bottles, catalogue them and put them on shelves, while leaving the closed bottles for another day. I found I had too many open bottles to fit on where we had earmarked for whisky on these book shelves so I've still got a crate to display. I have 54 opened bottles of whisky. I know. Whoops.

Wind blown trees

As I have said the wind has been howling today. I tried a few times to get a long exposure shot of the trees blowing around but it had to wait until the evening when the light went as the early pictures were just over exposed. It's been wild. It was so windy that the rabbit hutch on the balcony actually blew over and that is not a light item!

So now A is just about to bring dinner through and this evening we're going out to watch a band with the policeman in who I met at KAT a few months ago. This should be really good fun. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.

We have a usable living room!

Today has been a pretty eventful day, very busy as well. We've done loads and now as I am typing this, just back from dropping the men and with a dinner which I am cooking bubbling away behind me, it's also a rather satisfying one to look back on.

A cloudy start this morning

So last night A was already in bed when I published the blog and I went through straight away and we were so tired we both fell asleep. I dreamt about my new push lawnmower (yes, I know) and was up in the night as usual to let the puppies out. It's not a good thing that they no longer do a whole night without disturbance. We both woke up before the alarm however as soon as it went off I suddenly became tired again which is just typical. We got up anyway and set to our morning tasks. It was a much more overcast morning and actually, even though the thermometer was higher, much chillier than yesterday.

Checking out the petchka pipes

Record collection waiting to be put out

I had tasks to do inside this morning first before heading out to do the kindling. First of all I offered up the petchka pipes in the living room to see if we had enough. I also had to chase a very scared robin out of the living room which left a lot of mess all over the place that I then had to clean. It looked like we had nearly enough pipes for the living room which was good so the next thing I did was to drag all the records upstairs ready to put onto the shelves just outside the living room.

I could no longer put off going outside any longer and so I wrapped up and went to do the kindling. I only ended up having time to do one basket full before A returned with the men. I had to grab Louise as she made a mad dash to go greet them, taking her near the truck, but hey. She is so excited all the time.

We didn't hang around at all after A got back and went straight to go out to town for our shopping trip. As A was driving Thomas round to the gate I noticed the rear right tyre was quite low and when we stopped her and checked we found a big nail stuck in the side wall. Not good. This prompted me to get the empty sawdust bags as we would need to go to the garage round the corner from the carpenter. A drove us there and this time the carpenter was open so we were able to fill our bags up and I've arranged to go back on Monday with plans so he can make the new toilet unit. Lyubo at the garage was very happy to sort out the tyre and got his juniors to do the work, treating it as training. When it came to paying time the conversation went like this: "how much?" "three leva." "how about five?" "no, three". Crazy cheap.

We headed to their shop to try and order a replacement wing mirror glass but she couldn't find one on her supplier list so she's going to get a generic kit for Monday. From here we headed to town (A driving again) and had a rather expensive but very successful shopping trip. I got lots of boxes into which I can sort my trainset, and we also got some more plants and beer and food and everything we needed. When we got back it was just about lunch time and the men we working hard. We hadn't had breakfast as we'd planned a short trip out so A made me porridge which was very tasty.

It's hard to work with these three around you

A let Rambo off his lead at lunch which meant that when Gyuner went out to get back to work he had Rambo and the two puppies right in his face while he tried to dig. I called Rambo away but he ignored me which isn't cool. Eventually A, who was sat down on the porch looking through our plant purchases, came round and got him. He's starting to get less obedient again.

New chimney nearly there

Bekir had made superb progress again and the new chimney was shooting skywards. It was looking very good for having this all completed today and us being able to use the living room over the weekend which was our real desire. Very exciting.

Potting the new plants

As I mentioned A was down on the porch with the plants that needed to be potted up. We had bought some new plant pots for those we wanted to keep in the living room and together we got all of them separated out and into the new pots. We then watered them in (though we found why the smaller three plants in the one pot hadn't grown; there was a big slab of rock in the bottom blocking the drainage and they were swamped) and then took them upstairs. The big plant had become really floppy so we staked it up and tied it in place for support. The new plant, a miniature palm, looks really good.

Malko chisto fire

Bekir started a fire down by the edge of the driveway and while he was waiting for his cement to be ready was going round doing a little pick. I joined in and then later, when she had finished pegging the washing up, A did as well and we made a really big difference. We were also able to collect a lot of metal items from the land which went into the bag for the wheelie bin. It was still burning when I came back just now from dropping the men off.

Garage door looking great

I don't have pictures of the next as we got so involved just in getting it done but together A and I emptied the garage of rough wood from the old roof and put it up onto the top bank so we can build the bonfire for next week with it. It took a couple of trips in Thomas in the end. We were going to empty the other room that is totally full of wood but now we think we'll have enough maybe. We'll see. Anyway, Sally was working away while we were doing this and he has got so very close to finishing now. I'll get some detailed pictures for you tomorrow but I can tell you he's put handles on, a shoot-bolt into the floor and extended the bottom to about 2mm from the concrete to prevent rats getting in. Excellent.

Last bits of grouting

We spent some time cleaning in Room 13 and then A got the dining table into the living room while I collected together some logs for Room 13 and the bedroom and also burned a load more rubbish on the outside fire. Bekir was inside now, having completed the chimney work (bar a few small bits of metal he wants to do) and was grouting in the living room. This takes so little time he flew round it.

Fixing supports for the petchka pipes

With the grouting done Bekir moved on to fitting the pipes for the petchka and I helped him out. It takes no time as he first of all drills a hole in the ceiling, then hammers a wooden plug in, then twists wire around a screw which he fixes into the wood. It is then the work of a couple of seconds to wind the wire around the pipe and provide the needed support. We ended up with enough pipe to do the job but we had to put two short ones together at the end as we need one more medium length one to finish it off. When we can we'll buy this but there is no rush.

A lights the living room petchka

Even before he had put the final wire in place Bekir was encouraging us to light the fire and so A got it going while I collected some logs and then brought up some chipboard to put over the stairs to keep the heat in. It lit really quickly and pulled the heat through very well though the new pipes smoked a lot which meant we had to open the door and windows to air it out.

Grinding down the excess steel

Bekir was onto the next job straight away which was to grind down the central pole of the stairs so it no longer protrudes above floor level. As I thought this didn't take long and then we put the chipboard in place and discussed that he could make a better cover for us next week which would be strong enough to walk on. I was then into Room 13 to start preparing dinner and then it was time to take them home which was eventless, though less grumpy than it has been with some conversation going on which is good.

Thelma almost touching the pethcka

When I got back the fires were all lit but I was told not to go into the living room just yet. I was cooking, anyway, and starting this update so that wasn't a problem. We were laughing a lot at Thelma who was laying so close to the fire she was almost touching it. I'm amazed that she doesn't burn her bottom doing this.

Lovely living room

Eventually food was ready so I served it up and through we went to the living room to eat. A had put candles out and tidied up and it was a lovely space to walk into. We ate the spicy pork pasta (I didn't take pictures for a recipe post, sorry) and enjoyed being in this room finally. Even though the fire was only just lit it was still warm enough in there for me and hopefully we'll find that over winter we can stay warm in there. I think we'll need the better cover to the stairs sooner rather than later as it is annoying to not be able to use them and also it was hard to remember to not walk across it.

Louise looking at a spider

So I stopped eating and started typing as fast as possible so I can go back into the living room where the ladies are now. Just now as A took the puppies out for their toilet break after dinner, though, I was called down to see a huge spider that had run across the porch. It was curled up and playing dead but it's still clear how big it was.

So I'm going to get this wrapped up and published; tomorrow is another busy day but no alarm call, other than the puppies. Yay.

No power or water

I'm starting this before taking the men home as we're going to be heading out for dinner this evening and I want to get this done and out the way as much as I can now. So onwards.

Foggy tree

Pre dawn glow over the valley

Last night we were in bed relatively early again though this time it was me who was very tired. I fell asleep pretty much straight away and slept quite well. I did have to take the puppies out in the night and it was a gloriously clear night with a super bright moon once again. When the alarm went off A got up and I followed her almost straight away to get a brew on and grab the camera as the sun was rising and I wanted to get pictures. The fog was not up around us but was still down in the valley and it was just another beautiful morning as you can see.

Thomas with the first frost of the year

There is the sun, again

It had been colder than I realised last night and Thomas was covered in a layer of frost. The sun popped up as I was watching and so a picture was required. This is the first sunrise I've watched for ages. It was lovely. I headed down to scrape Thomas and then decided to start on the wood however I found it was frozen and too slippy to work with so I just spread it out a bit to catch the sun and dry out during the day so I could process it later on.

Thelma is less pleased than she looks

Louise looks like a grumpy super dog

I was back inside before A left to get the men and the puppies were so cold, shivering by the fire, that she put their coats on them. They were not impressed once more but soon enough were running around after their toys and happy again. Poor little mites are going to struggle when the weather really closes in.

Just a little bit of soot

Once A had left I took a quick trip around to see what the men had achieved at the end of the day yesterday. Here is the result of cleaning the chimney which Bekir is now rebuilding. On the left is the tool room and they have literally taken the wall apart to clean it. On the right is the kitchen and this will need cleaning up before they leave. Lots of soot and it had been years since it was done.

Security on the garage door

As mentioned yesterday Sally made lots of progress on the garage doors and had nearly completed the catch and security for it. We didn't open these this morning but left them for when he got in. This will be so good to get completed and he looks on track to finish them this week or early next.

Puppies staying warm

As I couldn't do the kindling I found other tasks to do this morning. There was some humanure from the kitchen to do which was stinking the place out and then I saw that we had quite a lot of rubbish collecting up to be burned so I headed out onto the top bank and cleared it all, including doing a rubbish pick around the place. The puppies were really funny as at first the came to the back door then turned round and went back inside but eventually they joined me and stood right near the barrel where it was warm.

Beautiful morning, if a big cold

One of many mushrooms on the top bank

I was up there until A got back with the men at which point I was just wandering around to collect wood and kindling for Room 13. It was such a beautiful morning though there was a raft of cloud threatening to cover over the sun and cool it down fast. Up on the top bank there are quite a lot of mushrooms at the moment as well, it having been so wet last week, and I'm not sure if these are edible or not. I meant to ask Bekir today but forgot. Maybe tomorrow.

Louise is nearly fully recovered

Louise's wound has now almost totally healed. She has the tiniest of red marks there where she once again scratched the scab off completely however it looks like it is going to not even have a scar. Her hair is also growing back well but the best and most noticeable thing is how bright her eyes are and how they are watering less than ever before. It's great to have her healthy again.

First load of soil delivered

And so I settled to work and so did A and then suddenly, at exactly 9am local time, the power went off. Now it does do this sometimes and normally only stops off for about an hour so we both kept working on battery power and she managed to complete two files before the battery died on her laptop. The annoying thing was that this power outage continued until 4.30pm and so the files she typed had to be done by someone else. So frustrating! I decided after a while and reaching a block that I would head down to the local shop to pick up the bits for making a short extension cable into the bathroom. As I was driving out the front gate Bekir yelled at me from the roof and here was our soil being delivered. I had to hold the cable up with a big stick as he drove in the front gate which was fun and then I ran up and got pictures. as he unloaded it. This was only half of what we had ordered and as he left I followed him down the hill to the shop.

Taking down the telephone cable to the farm

I left Bekir removing the cable (it is no longer in use which is good as it means the box on the back of the house can also be removed soon) and when I got back from the shop with everything I needed he was on top of the green building getting the last of it down. The power was (obviously) still off when I got back and I spent the next hour wiring the extension cable together. This took so long partially because the cable I had bought was thick and it was a struggle to fit it together and partially because the Little Lady came over with some bayram food and I spent some time sat on the balcony with her chatting and with the men.

The chimney pokes through the roof

By around lunch time Bekir had got the new chimney up above the roof line and was cracking on fast. It was a frustrating day for them as well, with no power, as Sally had prepared himself to do the next steps on the garage door and this is impossible without power (he was welding and grinding) and obviously Gyuner was struggling without the pneumatic drill but Bekir was unaffected.

A tidying up our pantry

Once the power to her laptop finally died A and left the warmth of Room 13 and started tidying the next shelves out in the corridor. These will continue to have our larder on them over winter however they had become quite cluttered with kitchen stuff we'll not use until the new kitchen is in place, badly organised jars of preserves from over the years, and general rubbish. Over the day she cleared all the shelves bar the bookshelves and it has made such a massive difference.

Whisky collection

I distracted A for a while to help me start clearing out the tool room. We took the long wood poles that were in there and first of all shifted them outside through the window then got them stored away in the green building, along with a few other pieces of wooden beam that were laying around the land. After this was done I started to bring up the whisky boxes to the top corridor and it's only when I'm moving them like this that I realise quite how much I have. This weekend I'll get all the open bottles into the living room and then it's a case of finding the shelves on which the display bottles can go.

Storage unit finally built

With this done it was lunch time and I had a small sandwich and that is all. After a little bit of time relaxing I headed on to my next task which was, rather than clearing the tool room, to tidy the gardening room. It was such a mess in there that it needed some shelving just to make a start at tidying. It took me at least an hour of cursing and struggling to put this together as it kept falling back  to pieces as you moved to the next step however I have now got a load of ideas on how to build it more efficiently next time.

Really uncomfortably messy room

Much tidier now

So with the shelving unit built I got Gyuner help to lift it inside and then started tidying. It didn't take long but after I was done the change was amazing. I still have to tidy through the garage stuff that is stacked in there, and we have a LOT of kindling bundles to go through as well, but the gardening kit is all straightened away now nicely.

Sally bricking the gaps up

As I mentioned, with the lack of electricity, the other two have had a tougher day today. Sally has been picking up bits and pieces of work around the place that he has obviously had his eye on to do. First of all he has put the final touches on the cement around the balcony doors from the living room and then he started to finish the surround to the kitchen door onto the patio. He's brilliant.

Hammering  a chisel into the rock to break it

Bekir getting another delivery of cement

Gyuner was having an even more difficult day. Bless him, though, he just cracked on and did everything he could. At first he dug the soil away for the hole in the existing chicken house and then, when he hit rock, he went and used the pickaxe and widened some of the other holes that needed attention. When I was working on the shelving unit he had a chisel and a hammer and was painstakingly chipping the stone from the bottom of one of the first holes he had dug. Later on he also dug the the hole in the chicken yard out with the pickaxe until it was too deep to swing it. I was very impressed with him today and he also seems to have cheered up. He was working with Bekir again as well, mixing cement and shoveling it into a bucket for Bekir to haul onto the roof. I think this made quite a big difference to his mood.

Finally power is back

I woke A up from her afternoon snooze once I had completed tidying the gardening room (well I say that but really Louise woke her but jumping on her face and licking her) and then headed outside to work through some kindling. The power was still not on and I'd given up on doing any paid work today. When I was about half way through my targeted wood A came out to say the power was back on and immediately Sally plugged his power tools in and got to work on the garage door. Gyuner finished up what HE was doing and then took the pneumatic drill into the chicken house and cracked on with that hole. The ViK water, which had gone off about an hour after the electric, was not back the last time I checked; great.

New dining area; very nice

I came in for the last bit of the working day to start on this update as the power was back and while I was typing (about six or seven paragraphs in) Bekir called through to say that they were ready to leave. It was another quiet journey back however there was a laugh as we drove past a police car sat in the dark trying to catch people out so maybe the thaw in relations really is occurring. When I got home I found A had used the heater in the bathroom and it had made quite a difference; it was lovely to shower in a warm room. Because of the lack of power we'd decided very early that we would eat out this evening so once we were dressed and ready I drove us to our favourite restaurant. It was absolutely packed full with not a table spare in the usual place we eat however we went through to the back and found a whole other seating area that was really lovely and comfortable.

Illuminating the clouds

Bright moon

I'd bore you with pictures of the food (I did take them) but I'm not going to. It was very tasty indeed; we ordered a plate of olives which were superb. The only problem with sitting back where we did was to not get to enjoy the singer with the Improbably High Heels but we were greeted by the keyboard player and she said hello when she came back past so that was good. When we left A drove us home as I'd had a few beers and I did my best to get a good picture of the moon through the clouds but none of them came out right so you'll have to make do with these two pictures and combine them in your head.

So we got back, the puppies (all of them, including Rambo) were pleased to see us and now it's nearly time to go to bed and sleep. We've a busy day planned tomorrow in preparation for a busy weekend so sleep is needed before then.