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.