We've got a golden house

Happy couple taken on the night out

Unusually for today I'm going to start with a picture, taken on our night out on Saturday night by one of the other patrons. We both loved this picture and so I wanted it to be on here.

Sunday evening

Ahh Sunday. It feels so long ago now. It's so busy and so much is going on that sometimes it feels like we're on a roller-coaster out of control. It's a good roller-coaster though, full of awesome progress so onwards.

My plate on Sunday night

The sun sets on another day

There was no more progress on Sunday, obviously, other than us stuffing a huge Sunday Roast inside ourselves. We finished this quite early and put a film on but everyone was really tired. A headed to bed not long into it but I stuck it until Ivan was also tired and we left half an hour unwatched. I ended up on the sofa as I just couldn't sleep and I read my book until about 2am before dropping off there then getting to real bed about 3.30. That was not the nights sleep I was looking for.

Monday

Monday was Easter Monday but I was working anyway, while A had the day off. It's a good thing that A gets the men in the morning as I in no way would have been safe to drive at that time in the morning.

Very foggy when I finally woke up

It stayed chilly

A workmen outside the window of Room 13

Drip strips applied

Asen working on the next wall

Drilling for pegs

I dimly remember waking up when A did and seeing a beautiful peach glow out of the window as the sunrise lit up the fog. I thought about getting the camera but that thought disappeared as I dropped off back to sleep and by the time I woke again the sunrise was over but the fog remained and it was just grey and dreary. There had been quite a heavy frost the night before with the temperature dropping to about -2 so the workmen waited for this to clear before getting on with their work. The head man was working on putting insulation along the walls of the flat roof building while the rest of them were up the scaffold applying drip strips and making progress around the windows. It was a cold start and they were wrapped up warm.

Preparing the walls in the Utility Room

Bekir runs the light cable into the bathroom

And now corridor plugs

Inside Bekir and Sally had gotten stuck in as usual. They are still working on the back corridor and side rooms but it's getting close now to move on from there, I think. Sally was continuing with his cement work, this time finishing around the windows and also preparing what will be the utility room, and the last room completed. Bekir had done his channeling and was making a good start on running cables for the lights, switches and sockets. Later on Sally followed him round and put a skim over these cables so they would be secured.

Spud planting has begun

Rambo running proudly with his Kong

Louise making a sun trap out of the sand pit

Three spud towers now complete

Thelma helping A plant spuds, or not

Louise licking Rambo, who thinks she's after his kong

A admiring the flowers in the tortoise garden

A was making the most of the excellent weather that followed on from the fog (eventually) to get things done in the garden and she first of all planted out her potatoes in the two towers I had made. This prompted me to get a move on and I spent a bit of time putting together the final tower and then she put the spuds in that as well. The puppies were all enjoying themselves outside though shortly after this picture Rambo tried to eat the mix that the men were putting on the wall and got locked up in the trailer to keep him from poisoning himself. Our tortoise flower bed has just erupted and looks amazing; I can't stop looking at it.

The first of the render is put on the walls

Four skimming, one mixing

A complete change has occurred

Tidying up after the skim

Sassy's new storage box

It was just after this that massive things started happening on the building; the men started to do the skim of plaster that will cover the entire building. This involves applying the material and then, after it has gone off very slightly, dragging a tool over it to bring out channels which will help to drain the water off the surface. Ivan was heavily involved in this as he wanted to ensure an even coverage of channels and once they had begun doing this wall they couldn't take a break until it was completed. It took about four hours and once it was done the change was astounding. Ivan didn't take a rest but was out onto the balcony with a scraper to remove the splashes of this render from our tiles. While he was doing this I was getting a few of my chores done like building the storage unit for Sassy that we picked up the other day, and also checking out my new ladders which are very nice indeed.

Armoured cable ready for connecting up

The sun goes down

Superb chicken and rice dish

While I was taking the men home A got around with the camera to see what Bekir and Sally had got completed. The armoured cable has been run in through a hole from the kitchen into the utility room and he's also run the cable from the utility room into the garage though it isn't connected up yet. Exciting times. When I got back we sat in Room 13 while our dinner cooked and chatted and decided to get Okhtay back again the following day to get on with scraping the kitchen walls. Dinner was superb and a great example of A trying out a local dish and finding she's good at it. We didn't watch anything but just sat chatting til about 10pm when we were all tired and it was bed time.

Tuesday

Today is the day when the year really got back into the old routine with the men, as the weather finally was good enough for me to get outside while A was out getting the men and do some heavy work prior to my paid work beginning.

I got my morning graft in this morning

The sun breaks through a gap in the clouds

Clearing away so the walls can be scraped clean

Hard to see, but a dip is there for the consumer unit

We slept pretty well, other than being disturbed by Louise crying to come into our room as she was cold, and were up and about at our usual time with only a few grumbles from me. We said morning to a few of the workmen and then when A headed out I got my walking boots on and started shoveling soil for the floor of the orchard. It was a nice morning, but still quite chilly so I wore my hoodie, and I worked away until A got back. Louise ran in front of Thomas which prompted lots of shouting as I tried to warn her, and stop Louise. There was no squished dog so that was OK in the end. Okhtay had joined us again and he got straight away stuck in to clearing away a space so he could begin to scrape the walls. Bekir then got started in the utility room making a space for the new consumer unit, which will be sitting in the wall, and chipped away at the hard stone to make a void.

Our workmen get started applying primer

Primer dried, they put the paint on

First coat applied, and it's looking great

There then came a slightly difficult period. The other workmen still hadn't emerged to get on with their work by the time A got back and I could see them sat in their room around the table having chatting and not looking in any hurry. I was feeling quite frustrated as there is still a lot to do and it felt like there was no urgency here, particularly as it was a great morning for working outside. Just as I was about to go and knock to ask what was happening our friend went in and then they came out and got stuck in. Later on they again downed tools and I went out to ask why they weren't working. I'm not sure my Bulgarian is really up to that kind of situation but I was quite frustrated so I gave it a go. To cut a long and awkward story short we expressed frustration that the workers were not showing initiative in the absence of our friend and requested that should they be delayed again, they pick another task from further on in the job and get on with that rather than waiting for direct instructions. We shall see, but this complaint is only a small one considering what excellent work they are doing across the board.

Okhtay scraping away at the walls

In the middle of putting this concrete up

A smile from Sally

Red hot drill

Inside while all this was going on Bekir and Sally and Okhtay were carrying on with all their tasks. When I went down to offer them a coffee I found the wall skimming going very well. Sally was briefly pausing in doing some cement above the lintel and Bekir was drilling out holes for the fixing for the large boiler we have bought. He was having to put the holes into the structural cement and without the SDS he was using my normal hammer drill. I captured him as he paused and cooled the bit down with some water splashed over it and it was so hot the water turned straight to steam. Amazing!

A slightly different angle, with all the puppies in view

Removing the hard lower render

Work continues around the corner

I got out again in the afternoon to check out the progress outside, and take the daily picture, and got a picture looking up from the lawn. You can see the roof tiles in this picture and how well the colours match together. The men had left the first coat to dry and moved round the corner to the side of Room 13 to do the concrete skim there. One of the guys had the breaker drill and was removing the remaining render from the wall towards the corner.

The men putting the second coat on the front wall

More gypsy wiring going on

It rapidly became time to take Bekir, Sally and Okhtay home and as I was leaving the other men were putting the second coat on the paint on the front wall. Inside Bekir had put some temporary power into the garage so the freezer would still be on over night, and had done a fair amount more in the utility room. Sally's cementing is nearly finished and Okhtay has almost cleared an entire wall, including using the hammer/axe tool to take the plaster off, not just the paint.

The example window ledge painted for our review

Thelma waiting for us while we look at the colour

The sun sinks towards the horizon

Men still at work as the evening draws in

A glorious sunset

There was then another decision to be made. We'd picked a darker colour for the window ledges only but as I was walking around I was thinking it kind of liked the way the very light colour looked around the edge. We discussed it and decided that the bought paint should be applied so we can see what it looked like and then maybe choose a lighter colour if we didn't like it. After much thought, and looking at it from all angles, we decided the colour we'd chosen was perfect for us. Thelma had her ball and waited patiently while we discussed. It was a beautiful evening and so the men decided to make up some time missed from this morning and got stuck in to painting the rest of the windows. As I was typing away at this A came dashing in shouting for me to go to the roof terrace to get a picture of the sunset. It was amazing.

So there you have it. Only two weeks until our first guests of the year arrive as well; the pressure is truly on.