Party

So obviously yesterday there was no update, not even the really short one I was thinking about doing to let you know I wasn't doing a long update. I just got too busy unfortunately. So here goes for both days, though today has been a really chilled day so not much has happened.

Thomas nice and snug inside

Our evening, night and morning followed the usual routine apart from A was the one who the puppies disturbed and they did want out this time. It was another chilly start to the day but there was no need for A to scrape any windows or worry about that as Thomas was inside the garage from the night before. When she left I went down to take pictures and watch and she was able to drive straight out with no adjustments which is great.

Teddy is getting big

While A was gone I started the tidying up around the house that would go on with one or other, or both, of us all day. I did a burn and cleared the back patio and various other things. A took her camera with her again for this journey and Teddy, as always, was out to say hello so she snapped a picture. He has grown so much so fast and has a fair way yet to go. It looks like his leg is a lot better as well.

A's morning shot from the cheren put

My shot, with Rambo

It was another glorious morning to begin a glorious day and while I was outside at one point I grabbed a picture of my favourite tree with Rambo just on one of his patrols. A, at the top of the cheren put near the men's village, also stopped to get a shot. Just lovely.

Thumbs up again

The first job of the day for Bekir and Sally was to get the downpipes in from the guttering he had fixed the day before. We had agreed that putting in the storage tanks was too much now; it had just got too late to do all the tasks including boxing them in with insulation and giving them a firm foundation high enough to put watering cans under the taps. Instead the water will just come straight down and then be directed onto the land. At least it will not fall all the way and splash back up the walls as it was doing.

Digging another hole

Hikmet was out in the orchard digging out the missing two holes for the cherry trees. He was working away with the pneumatic drill with no problems so I'm still not sure why he refused to use the chainsaw for cutting the wood. Either was he was making really good progress, helped by the fact that down here the soil is actually quite deep and he could dig a fair amount out with a shovel before hitting the bedrock.

Louise wearing her mud-socks

The puppies were both outside all this time digging and chasing and having a great time. Louise came bouncing over to me when I went to see progress and she was so filthy I had to get a picture. This is easier said than done when she is in such a cheerful mood as she doesn't settle for very long at all. They love living here almost as much as I do, I think.

Working together again

Bekir and Sally cracked on with the downpipes working together to put the fixings in at the top and the bottom and then get the pipes safely secured. This involved some quite precarious work for Bekir leaning out of the living room window and when Sally went to put the ladder on top of a load of wood I refused to let him and went to help him shift it so he could be safe. Health and Safety can sometimes be over rated but being careless with your health is never a good idea.

Sally fixing up the balcony tiles

After Bekir no longer needed his help Sally went onto the balcony where he had spotted that Sezgin's men hadn't quite finished the job and had left a little gap around the edge of the tiles next to the wall, where water could get in and freeze and cause problems over winter. He fixed this, and also filled in some other holes; another brilliant job from Sally.

Temporary downpipes

Bekir was on with the rest of the pipes that didn't need Sally's help and, other than being distracted by me wanting to go get the certificate for the gun from the policestation which ended up being a waste of time as the copper wasn't working it being Friday, he finished them all with time to spare. We'll have to see how we cope with the long plastic pipe but the idea was to keep this water out of the drainage and have it onto the land. We shall see.

Incense stick causing a thermoclime

All of this time A had been busily cleaning and tidying and getting ready for the evening and I had been joining in, when I could get away from what was proving to be a busy overtime day. I swept the corridor, stairs and entrance while A did everything else. It is definitely getting easier to clean as we seal the floors and walls, but it was still a job of all day. I also took lots of buckets of water up to around the bonfire just in case and helped the men a bit as we carried the water tanks into the kitchen to store over winter, and also Bekir and Hikmet carried the pool table upstairs for us, right before they left.

It was about 4.30 when I finally got them in the car, half an hour after planned but not too bad, We dropped Sally at his village so he didn't have to carry his welding equipment anywhere and I gave him a big hug and much thanks then it was off to the normal drop off point for Bekir and Hikmet who I also thanked and hugged. The work they have achieved this year is phenomenal and they so deserve this break. I can't wait for them to be back next year to start working on the list we have for them. There is a chance that we'll get one more day out of them this year as the window people have still yet to fit the doors and window we're waiting for so this may not be the final farewell of the year, but we shall see.

All ready

As I drove back up the hill I saw the soil lorry driving down which surprised me as Bekir had said he didn't think he was coming now and it would not be delivered until Monday. No matter the first load had been emptied correctly so I parked up, put Thomas in the garage again, and then began to run to get everything sorted before 6pm when we had told people to turn up. I did more water to the fire until the water stopped completely, carried chairs around and brought them onto the balcony as well as in the living room, and assisted the lorry driver when he brought his second load and dumped it. It was with great pleasure when both A and I, showered and ready, sat down on the sofa and relaxed.

A full room of people

At about 6pm I had a text from the neighbours but, having only just stopped, we both wanted a bit of time so I put them off for an hour. The first people to arrive were SandS which was perfect and through the next while people arrived until the living room was full and I was back on a mission to get more chairs. The neighbours came but sadly the kmet and his family didn't however we were almost out of space as it was. Chaz and Ivan arrived as well, bringing gifts (lots of people brought gifts which was unexpected and lovely) as well as two lovely ladies from their village who we both chatted to and enjoyed their company.

The Little Lady's bread

Food wise we were also well supplied. A had been cooking almost solidly for two days and had made a lovely curry, and an Irish stew, for the mains. SandS brought their patented and much loved cream potatoes and The Little Lady arrived with a tray full of her lovely stuffed bread which almost all went immediately. We had the food first as everyone was hungry and the best thing happened for dinner time; you know it is good food when everyone stops talking and a peace descends on the company.

Lighting attempts number 3 and 4

As it got closer to 9pm it was time to light the bonfire so we all adjourned onto the top bank and I struck a single match and watched it catch straight away. After a few minutes it had died again which is just typical as every other bonfire has lit really easily. After some faffing it was Orhan who got it going really well, though A's attempt on the other side also was going strong.

Everyone enjoying the bonfire

The sparks were amazing

Once it got going it really got going and the heat was again quite amazing. Everyone stood around and watched though I was distracted a couple of times to collect stragglers who were struggling to find the house. One of them ended up in the village across the valley and could see the fire but didn't know how to get here. Everyone arrived before the fire had even started to die down which was great as I didn't want people to miss out. It roared and sparked and made me realise that previously we've had afternoon bonfires and not waited til the dead of night like this. We had no problems at all with the fire spreading and didn't need any of the water. While I was away collecting one group the central column fell out but Orhan again was on hand to kick it back in.

The fireworks were so loud, some plaster was knocked off

As the fire died I sent everyone onto the balcony while I got ready to set off the fireworks. There was a little delay as the camera was set up to video it, and then I had trouble with the matches (the box I had only contained 6 matches and I had 6 things to light. Typically I got five off fine and then the last one guttered out and I had to run inside to get another box) but wow was it worth it! The five big fireworks were huge though they were quite separated but the real star of the show was the big box which I lit and ran to get onto the balcony before it finished. All I can say is "WOW!"

Louise didn't want whisky to calm her down

When we got back inside we found that while Thelma hadn't enjoyed it while the fireworks were exploding, she had already calmed down completely however Louise was really struggling and it took nearly half an hour for her to stop running around the room jumping on people and panicking. This is something to definitely consider for next time; poor little mite. The neighbours left pretty much straight away after the fireworks as it had got quite late but it was so nice they had made the effort and they certainly seemed to enjoy it all. Everyone else stayed and we had some whisky (though as you can see Louise was not a fan) and stood around chatting and listening to the music mix (the same mix as at my leaving party 2 years ago) and then in dribs and drabs everyone left until SandS, the first to arrive, were the last to leave.

A stunning moth on the wall of the porch

Fire still burning as we went to bed

After everyone had gone A and I sat up for quite a while continuing to listen to the music and relaxing ourselves. We had both been quite stressed about this evening, unsure who would turn up if anyone and just generally worried it should go off without a hitch and it really had done which was great. We had some texts from SandS as they drove home saying they had seen a wolf on our road as they drove home which was quite a thing to know and made us worry about Rambo. We had a beautiful moth on the wall of the porch which was less threatening but easier to photograph.

Louise assisting A as she swept up

We slept like the dead, once we went to bed, and I woke up so dazed I snuck out to go to the toilet not even realising A was already up and making a brew until I heard the kettle boiling. We were both feeling quite alert, once brews were in hand, and so we got on with cleaning up. There wasn't that much to do, to be fair, and after a washing up session we went into the living room where the puppies didn't really help with the cleaning but they did make us laugh.

Lovely flower from SandS

As I mentioned people brought us some lovely presents last night and the best one (other than the Bulgarian Blowup Hammer) was this from SandS. Such a beautiful plant and it really fits in with the rest of the greenery we have for the living room. They bought one for themselves as well which is the sign of a good present. So thank you very much everyone, and particularly SandS.

Footprints in our new memory foam rug

We hadn't put the new memory foam rug down before the party though in hindsight it would probably have been OK but once the sweeping was done it was brought out and stood on straight away. This will really keep our feet warm and comfortable and we have put it right at the foot of the sofa we normally sit on.

Fire pit the morning after

One of the big ones

The box, exploded

I took all the burnable rubbish up to the fire drum and got rid of it all and then took a walk around to check out what had happened. The fire was pretty much out; it was still smoking a tiny bit but not enough to catch fire again when I put some left over kindling from around the edge. Up near where I had set off the big fireworks I found one stick from them which shows just what a still night it was. Straight up and down. The box had exploded everywhere and there's a bit of a mess to tidy up here but that'll be for tomorrow. I was feeling quite tired already and not really in the mood for much energetic at all today.

Ready for cleaning

I did want to achieve something so while A did some paid work she had for overtime I got the duster out and cleaned up the pool table. I also switched Henry onto the European plug which was on the list to do. The pool table is now sat in the corner of the living room and can be pulled out for games over winter which is great.

The girls were in the front room with me a bit today and at one point there was a moth which Thelma spotted. She chased it for a while, very playfully and carefully not touching it, before I decided to video. As soon as the camera was out Louise came belting across and the hunt was on. It ended a while after I stopped filming with Louise chewing and swallowing the poor moth. Hunters, these two.

Snoozing puppies

Lunch was the lovely potato dish that SandS had brought which was very nice indeed the next day. We've a bit left still which may well be tomorrow's lunch I think. We'd received a text from Ekont that another parcel was waiting for us so like an idiot I didn't pay attention to it and went down at about 2pm to collect it except the text told me they shut at 1pm. Oh well, it didn't take that long and I'll just have to head down on Monday. After this I was feeling quite drained and so I went onto the sofa and ended up falling asleep for a bit. I woke up quite dazed but pretty quickly felt a lot better. The puppies had joined me in my doze which was great.

Much tidier kindling pile

A few chores presented themselves after this. The birds were being very vocal in their desire for food so I got some bread and rice and went and threw it to them. After this I found that they had run out of seed in their feeders so I grabbed them and then on the way through to refill them I decided I would shift all of the kindling to a better place that wouldn't mean I had to climb over it when Thomas is in the garage and so after tidying up to allow this I shifted it all over. Then I filled the chicken feeders and took them back. Of course all of this activity meant that I forgot to pick up the scarves which are still on the top bank near the fire.

Stunning autumnal colours

And so the day draws to a close. It has been so lovely today though we have spent most of it inside recovering from yesterday. The sun has shone all day and the tea trees are continuing their colour change into winter. This is what we missed last year and what I was most looking forward to as we are staying and not leaving; we will finally get to see the full range of the seasons.

It's nearly time for dinner and then a film for the rest of night before bed. Tomorrow will have to be more active as we do have a fair number of chores to get done but we needed the rest today.