Wide angle

This Sunday update may not get published until Monday due to me not starting actually typing to quite late, and us having a guest over for Sunday dinner so my time being a little bit more constrained than usual. I'm going to do my best to get it out there though. I'm slightly unsure about how to split it up into sections this time so am going to revert to the more "diary" style of just going chronological. There aren't any rules after all, are there.

Thursday

The light was so clear and bright

Everything glistening in the sun

Balcony after the deluge

Rambo relaxing by the raised beds

Wednesday night was a crazy night for me. I was sleeping quite deeply when the biggest bang shook the whole house; I think it was just thunder but at the time I wasn't so sure and after laying there for a while I actually got up to check out if there was a fire in the village as it could have been a gas explosion. After this when I got back into bed the dripping of the rain coming down the chimney and landing on the petchka pipe disturbed me so much that I ended up going into the guest room. Fortunately A hadn't been woken by the bang and so she was able to sleep through. The morning which greeted us when we got up was an absolutely stunning one; the storm the night before had washed the dust out of the air and it everything was glistening and bright and fresh. It was so bright that I struggled to capture it on my camera, despite fiddling with ISO and exposure lengths.

New lens, much more able to capture the vista

The full view of the living room

A was not feeling all that brilliant all day on Thursday and I managed, somehow, to persuade her to rest for most of it. I spent the day working on my day job as per usual so there isn't really all that much else that went on. I did get to play with my new lens, however, which is a 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 IS STM wide angle one and is brilliant. I am not going to go mad with lenses however this has so much value, particularly for the types of pictures I take the most like of a room, or a scenic view.

Brush wood in storage for the winter

Rambo with his wellington boot

Towards the end of the day A was feeling a little better and I was desperate for some fresh air so we decided to get the brush wood from where A had trimmed the oak tree branches and stack it up inside the green building. It did take a while to do this as there was more than I expected but now at least it won't get soaked on the next downpour, which you'll hear about shortly. The puppies were in and out of the green building with me, sniffing everywhere and having a great time. Rambo had found the child's wellington boot that I had stashed for him and was playing with it at the same time. With the job completed, however, it was straight back inside to the warm for us both.

The sun as it sets

Almost a full moon

Night sky

Warm evening in the living room

Our evening was a lovely relaxing one, as they all are at the moment. Having the living room available to us (and I know I keep mentioning this, but it is so true) is such a bonus. We get to relax together, eat our dinner while listening to music on the record player, then settle on the sofa to read, watch films or continue working our way through The Sopranos. We normally draw the curtains when the light drops as they keep the heat in really effectively. Thursday evening was a particularly gorgeous show in the sky, and then the moon was stunning. Sadly none of my pictures have captured what we saw as it was a dim orange moon that was lighting up the clouds around it with a really eerie colour. I just couldn't get the settings right to get both the colour of the moon, and the effect on the clouds. No matter, the pictures are still lovely. And look at how warm and comfortable that room is! We're lucky people.

Friday

Friday morning the rain was back with a vengeance. I have no pictures of our morning as I forgot to take the camera with us but we headed out, with the new wing mirror, and visited the garage. When we got there a police car was parked up in the workshop but they left almost straight away. The puppies had come with us for a ride and had a good time sniffing around, even going into the rain to explore which means my sympathy levels for them when they try and refuse to go out to the toilet when it's raining have dropped to zero. It didn't take long for them to fit the new mirror, though one of the assistants did manage to cut himself on a shard of glass. The bill was a whopping five leva. Amazing. After this A braved the rain to get some supplies, and some more headache tablets from the chemist, and then we made our way home. We had had an epic lie in and so it was already lunch time when we got back.

Tidying the tool room. Honest

Washing my old ties

Mopping the floor

The afternoon we got ourselves back in gear and both stuck into a job. I was doing a pre-job job in that I had another job to do but first I needed to clear up a bit in the tool room. The before and after picture is a bit of a joke as it doesn't look like much really changed but I took two huge boxes of rubbish up to the village bin and sorted things out a lot. I was toying with the idea of moving my tools into the garage area but after some conversation we've agreed to just make this the long term tool room for now. One of the suitcases contained all of my old ties and so I sorted through them and washed the non-silk ones. The silk ones will be done in a delicates wash later on. A was busy as well and she did a really deep clean in Room 13 including mopping the floor with peppermint to try and put off any mice or rats who want to go in there.

Rain bouncing down

The flames hold a secret

It also warms Thelma up

Quietened down with chew toys

The rain had not let up and after finishing our tasks we headed into the living room to have another relaxing evening. The fire was lit and once again it did its job very well. I know that the temperature hasn't dropped that much yet so we've probably got a large shock coming our way but that is the future; for now, before the real freeze, the fire is doing perfectly well at keeping the whole room warm and we are not having to burn that much wood to do so. At one point in the evening I left the room for some reason and when I got back Thelma had dragged her bed so close to the fire it was almost touching! They love it and spend almost all of every evening sleeping in front of it. This evening we decided to get one of the unused hand grenades out for them. By the end of the night the handle had already torn and the cord was frayed. They love it though. We quieted them down with chew toys while we watched a film and then it was time for bed.

Saturday

Low clouds across the valley

The river is very high again

The rain didn't let up and it was still hammering down on Saturday morning. We hadn't been too disturbed by the dripping down the chimney this time but it was still quite annoying . The good thing was we hadn't been forced out of our room by it yet. After a brew we split up as we had different tasks to do first thing before breakfast. I had a shopping list from the hardware store to get so I jumped into Thomas and went into the town. After two days solid rain the river was a raging torrent and town was also quite flooded. The main roundabout had so much water on it the bow wave actually went up and over Thomas' bonnet and a bit further up out of town where some steps come down to the road from a block of flats they were no longer steps but a water fall. Amazing. I drove really carefully the whole way and also dawdled around the shop so it took a little longer than planned but I got everything I needed to complete my jobs.

Chicken house needing a good sweeping out

A getting her sweep on

Puppies in their coats having a sniff around

The pond is rather full

A had gotten herself all wrapped up in multiple waterproof layers, and wellies, and gone out to the chicken house to clean it and sweep it out. It was hammering down by this time and the puppies were hiding in the garage for most of the time; the birds were most put out to have been kicked out of their cover while A was sweeping. She got fresh hay and moved the coop to the other end of the building as there is actually a hole for a petchka which was allowing rain to drip inside. And what rain; the pond was overflowing!

Sleeping by the fire. Again.

A small breakfast

I got home to find A inside with the puppies and the fire on. It was lovely and warm which was great as I'd got soaked just getting out of the car. The girls were proving themselves once again experts at soaking up heat from a fire. For myself I got straight away stuck in to making an epic fry up for our breakfast with bacon, eggs, tomatoes and butter fried mushrooms and a slice of toast. Just what you need on a cold wet day to cheer you up.

Ready to plant the garlic

Thirteen cloves, thirteen holes

Greens growing well

We had planned to plant our garlic on Friday but it totally slipped our minds so with breakfast out the way A pulled a bunch of garlic (just some bought from the shop, but it should be OK) and we headed outside to plant it. The rain had let up by this point which was a relief. There were thirteen cloves in this bunch and it was the task of only a few minutes, using the new dibber that Bekir had made, to push holes for them and drop one in each. These are now under glass and hopefully they will all germinate and grow so we can be a bit self sufficient in garlic next year. The other greens have continued to flourish and we're now convinced we should have another four of these raised beds here. I may make some movable glass cold frames for elsewhere in the garden as well, making use of the old windows, so we can grow into the cold months.

Space made

For these to be moved upstairs

Whisky now hidden back here

After this we again went off to carry out different tasks. I asked A if she could clear out the guest room so we could move the camping gear up into there from the dampness in the tool room. This involved shifting, once again, the boxes of unopened whisky but now it is in a place where it can stay all over winter. I've contacted the company about the stairway hatch and also asked them to quote to make some display shelving for this whisky so if the price is right it can go on display next year.

Power into the garage

I was downstairs in the kitchen and garage fitting the consumer unit and wiring in a plug socket in the kitchen corridor so I could run an extension into the garage to power the chest freezer, and also a plug in roof light to help us see better in there. It didn't take all that long, though I had trouble with the actual socket as it broke on one of the screws so it's only held on with one screw now. I now just need to get into the chicken house and put a light in there and all the power work is done, until the Makita SDS drill comes back from the fixers and then I will try and wire in the garage properly without running extensions around the place.

Erupting clouds above the setting sun

Cloudscape

We were both ready to chill out by this point so once again we were in the living room relaxing. We read for a bit, ate then watched a film and it was another perfect evening. Outside the evening was also glorious. A spotted the clouds from the back windows so I headed onto the balcony and the roof terrace with various lenses to try and capture it as best as I could. The first picture is actually taken with the stock lens and the second is from the balcony with the wide angle. I am enjoying having the flexibility.

Sunday

Today has been an epic day and I'm rushing to include this in the update today as I want you to see what we achieved. The videos below are quite long so I don't know how many of you will watch them all but I think they are worth it. What a day.

She needs to fit this onto the chimney

Climbing up to the ridge

Carefully negotiating to the other roof

She came back for some tools

The hat on the chimney

A was up really early this morning, before the sun came up, as she couldn't get back to sleep after taking the puppies out for their morning toilet and I had a lie in for a bit until she brought me a brew in bed which was just lovely. I got up straight away and we had our brews and then got stuck in to the first awesome task of the day. A was brave enough to say she would walk the roof to get the hat I bought on Saturday onto the chimney above the bedroom to stop the drips from disturbing us. I rigged my camera up on a tripod and we filmed the whole thing, edited down of course now. It actually wasn't too bad and she was very agile up there though I'm glad I couldn't see when she did her little trip walking the ridge! She laughed like a train when she saw it on the video though. Now we're just waiting for the next heavy rainfall to see if this has actually worked.

Dirty great big hole in the roof

You can see right through

New boards all on the roof

Proud roofer with the job complete

Couldn't do it without this one, though

With this job completed we stopped for some breakfast (A cooked scrambled eggs) and then we went out the front for my turn as a roofer. This time I was climbing onto the Green Building roof to put the "mokava" up there, weighted down with paving slabs, to seal the holes in the roof that were allowing water to pour through into the rooms below. The first job was to trim the tea tree back as its branches were causing a lot of the damage. I also swept a huge amount of leafmould off the edge. Next we hauled the large sheets of mokava wood onto the roof and I laid them over the ridge and finally weighed them down along the edges, and on the ridge, with paving slabs. This was quite an energetic task as A had to lift the slabs up to me on the roof and I was always quite nervous moving around on such a rotten base. No matter we succeeded and now the two biggest holes are sealed. There may be others but we weren't going to find them today.

Rambo in the leaves with his boot

And so that ends this update. Our guest has not arrived yet though he is due any moment now so I've managed my target. I'll leave you with a picture of Rambo in the leaves with his boot.

Top dog.

Inside and Out

So as I suggested last time I'm sat down on Wednesday evening before dinner starting to type this up. Looking at the pictures I think this will be a much shorter update which will be nice. I want to get this done before we eat so we can relax together and watch more Sopranos or maybe a film. I'm going to continue the new format though, and not go through each day as I'm getting lots of positive feedback on it.

Inside

So my concept for this update was based around the fact that we have made some pretty good progress both inside and outside and I would split things down in this way. First of all; inside.

Early Sunday morning sweep

Runners back down

First of all tidying. Since we have had the living room finished, and swept out and put rugs down in the hallway, our dust problem has reduced significantly. We still have some, but most of the dirt now comes in on our shoes when we've been working outside. We're trying to keep on top of this anyway and this Sunday we started the day by cleaning the corridor. A swept through before even having any of her brew and I was tasked with shaking out the rugs and then hanging them on the balcony but it started to rain so I just beat them and brought them back in. We have another couple of these runner style rugs which eventually will go down stairs but it is still so filthy there I think we're leaving off putting them out until we've cleaned a little more. It's so nice to not have thick dust everywhere.

Model railway stacked up tidily

One job that I have had on my list and have been putting off was to sort out the train track in the loft out of its cardboard boxes (which could be chewed) and into the plastic boxes I had bought a few weeks ago. I actually started this because I'm sure I've lost a box of DVDs somewhere; there is at least one DVD completely lost sadly. Anyway, I got far enough into looking through the railway set boxes that I just stayed up there and finished the job completely. I now have another task which is to split apart the different gauge tracks as I have two non-compatible types of track up there. I also think I want to get some chests of drawers like A got for her clothes for the track so I can use the boxes for the scenery elements that are all still in cardboard up there.

The truck was piled very high

Carrying the plasterboard in, two sheets at a time

Yesterday I popped out to the shops for a few things. On the way down the hill I was able to give Usmivka a lift with his milk to town as it was market day so that was nice. I headed over to the builder's merchant and ordered a huge quantity of fibreglass insulation and plasterboard as before I can do anything for the model railway in terms of building anything I need to seal the whole roof space - floor and ceiling. I asked them to deliver it about 1pm and the rest of my trip out was a total failure in terms of what I wanted to do. Anyway about an hour after I had left the builder's merchant I was sat back at my desk working away when the van pulled up with my order. There had been a mis-communication and when I thought I said "come at one" they heard "come in one hour". We rushed to clear a path for the truck to the double kitchen doors and then A helped me lift one of the reservoirs out of the way and we started unloading. A helped with the insulation but then the plasterboard was a two person job so she brought my brew down and we just cracked on, the delivery man and I. It didn't take all that long however I'm dreading carting this all into the roof. I have also not ordered enough to complete the ceiling up there. It'll do for now though.

Snug puppies in front of the petchka

The weather has definitely gone to "changeable" (as you'll see in more detail in the next section) and today we had to have the fire on in Room 13 early on as it was actually quite chilly. The puppies really appreciated it and came in from their run around outside and almost immediately were asleep in front of it. The sun did come out a bit later which warmed us up as well and we were able to let it go out pretty quickly. It is quite cold when you're sat at your desk so it's nice sometimes to take that chill off in the morning. Of course we have the fire lit in the living room every evening but for me that's more to watch the flames than because it is cold.

Outside

This section will deal in a bit with the progress we have made outside but first of all let's talk about the weather.

Rainbow early Sunday morning

First few spots on the tiles on the balcony

Raining a bit heavier

Sunshine and heavy clouds

Sunday morning as I was heading out to let the chickens out I looked up and saw a lovely rainbow. It was not long after this that the rain reached us and prevented me from airing the rugs. The sky was amazing with some really bright areas cutting through beneath glowering black clouds. The shower didn't last that long as the wind was blowing so hard and the clouds were scudding along at a rate of knots. When the sun was out, and you were stood out of the wind, it was actually quite warm. The puppies were very much less than impressed and getting them to go out into the wind to go to the toilet was a challenge. They even pooed inside one night as they hadn't gone out long enough the night before because of the gale. We ended up having to let them out via the garage door and then herd them away from coming back in until they had been; little princesses demanding perfect weather to go to the toilet!

Early moon with big clouds

We were sat in the living room all afternoon on Sunday which was great; so excellent to relax (though I was also typing up the uber long update so I didn't get to relax as much as I wanted) when I happened to look outside and see that the moon had risen. It wasn't quite full then (it was full last night and despite the cloud cover the night was so bright with it!) but with the clouds still around and moving so fast I got a few excellent pictures. Shortly after this I headed onto the roof terrace to try and get, on video, the sound of the wind that we had been living with for days now. It plays a note on the open chimney pipes (I will need to get Bekir and Sally to finish them off with caps I think) and in the roof it howls like a tormented animal. The video above is the best I could get, though, and doesn't really do the whole thing justice.

The sun rises above the fog in the valley

Fog bank rolling towards us

Monday evening after doing some work outside I made the mistake of leaving my camera sat on the Julian's bonnet and so when, on Tuesday morning, I saw such a glorious sunrise happening I went for my camera and couldn't find it. When I did find it, soaked, I was really unhappy and put it on my desk in the sun to try and dry it out. Fortunately this worked and it doesn't seem the worse for wear. A was able to get a picture for me of the sunrise which was a bonus - it was such a beautiful thing. This morning was almost a mirror image as when we woke up it was clear, though foggy in the valley and then as the morning went on the fog rolled in more and more until we were completely blanketed.

Stone pile to be moved

Spreading the stones on the driveway

So, other than looking at the weather, what has been going on outside? Mainly shoveling various things into wheelbarrows and moving them from one place to another. Out in the orchard I have to move the piles of stones which are next to the trees from the hole-digging before I can continue spreading soil. A has commented on how the driveway by the gate is quite slippy in mud so I started off taking barrow loads down there and then spreading it around. I think that eventually I may have to remove some of the bigger stones which won't break up and bed in as we need but with all the rain forecast for the next few days that will give me a chance to evaluate. I've been doing this on and off through the week so far, taking a little time throughout the day to go and shift for ten or fifteen minutes. It's good as it has given me a handy outlet from frustration at the paid work and also keeps me active and getting exercise and fresh air.

A wearing her Machine Head t shirt to chainsaw

A had no work waiting for her on Monday morning so she got the chainsaw out and chopped up some more of the Oak tree branches. These were what was laying in the way of the delivery van on Tuesday and today I finally got round to lifting them and putting them into storage. We are now well over half way through this preliminary processing of the branches which is great. Looking at the forecast it is going to be nasty for a few days and then brighten up again so maybe by the end of the next week we'll have it all completed; that would definitely be excellent. I still need to decided on what to do with the brush wood; the green building remains my best idea so far.

The results of the stone pick

Putting the mower together

Shoving it along was hard work up here

It did cut better than you'd think for it being so blunt

Half what will be our front lawn

At one point yesterday I had a few minutes spare during the day so off I went outside with a bucket and I picked up all the stones I could see on what will be our lawn. I filled the bucket completely and I wasn't even being very careful. In my head that was going to be the end of it but later on I got another chance to head outside and so I put the lawnmower together and started to push it over the grass. Now it is completely blunt so this was a really tough undertaking and I ended up with a blister on the palm of my left hand however even being blunt it cut so well, and the difference is so excellent, that I am buzzing even more. I've ordered some sharpening kits to arrive over winter so as soon as they arrive I'll be taking the mower apart and getting it all fixed up - I'm even going to try and get some metal paint for it.

Filled in the old animal ramp onto my land

Today in my working gaps I did more shoveling of stones, eventually deciding that rather than put them on the driveway I should pile them up where the pond will be and see how the stones already there work. Before doing this, though, I decided to follow up on something I'd seen while clearing the lawn. The ramp made by the cattle when they had been coming onto the land before the fence was in was still there and getting filled up with leaves and stones. I took about three or four wheelbarrows of soil over to it and now it is flat. Hopefully this will reseed quickly and the lawn can grow up to the edge of the fence.

Raised bed greens are flourishing

A very small broccoli floret

The raised bed has continued to impress and even since the other day when I took the last photograph the plants in there have doubled in size. In the other garden the two new vines look dead but then so does the old one so I'll just have to be patient until the spring to see if they were a waste of money. The other greens in there are all doing pretty well right now and we've even got some tiny broccoli florets to eat. Maybe they'll go in a roast dinner soon.

Animals

The number of pictures I have this week, and not just of Thelma and Louise, means that once again they deserve their own section.

The ducks floating in their pond and loving it

First of all comes Beaker and Balls, swimming around in their pond. Now that we have stopped trying to filter it (the equipment has been put inside for use when the larger system is installed) the water does get a bit green however they seem to love it and today we were watching as they were eating the leaves that had blown in there. They even go fully underneath and swim up and down and they particularly seem to enjoy dipping their heads under.

Thelma with one of her tiny sticks

Louise doing a rare roll

Sisters will share anything

The puppies have been very involved in everything we have done this week as always. Thelma is never without a stick for very long, even if it is a tiny little excuse for one which won't fly anywhere because it is too light. Even this one she chased and found and refused a substitute because THIS was the one she had found. Louise is less interested in sticks and wanders off on her own when Thelma gets into her desperate stick mode. She likes digging up insects and chasing butterflies. Sometimes, however, they will work together and both enjoy a stick; Thelma likes this less than Louise and always ends up ripping the stick away though this week I've seen Louise win a few times which is good to see.

And finally...

So we come to the last few pictures that don't fit into any of the planned sections above. The rain is falling now and we've eaten our dinner so I'm going to get these done and get this published before I intrude on much more of our evening.

Baking the Syrup Sponge Cake

Just a small roast for two

Sunday was a day of food, and A spent most of it in the kitchen. First of all she wanted to bake and so she got her ingredients together and we have been enjoying the fruits of this labour all week as we eat our way through an awesome syrup sponge cake. No Sunday is complete without a roast and this was no different as she prepared an excellent Roast Chicken with spuds and parsnips and carrots and peppers all roasted together. Amazing. It did well for both of us for lunch the next day as well and the puppies were very much in love with the meat they got off it.

Autumn along the front of the land

Our beloved house, with Thelma and Rambo in attendance

While I was outside today doing the soil into the front garden I snapped a couple of pictures. First of all we have the view along the front looking underneath the pollarded Oak tree down towards the vehicle gate. The weather was amazing at this time, so warm that I was sweating and needed to take my t shirt off which is pretty impressive for one month before Christmas. The second shows the frontage of the building as it is now, with all the windows in and looking much neater than before. This time next year I really hope for a huge difference in how this looks as we want the insulation and cladding to be done.

To close with updates for which there are no pictures I've had another fun time with couriers this week as the parcel reaches Bulgaria and then stops at a distribution centre as "the address is wrong" because they don't understand that villages have no road names. Fortunately I was able to get hold of an English speaking person who helped me out so hopefully the parcel will arrive tomorrow. It has part of A's Christmas pressie in it, as well as a signed photograph of The Hoff which will go in pride of place I'm sure.

So there it is, time to get this out there and relax for the rest of the evening.