It just doesn't stop

The title of this blog was settled at the end of yesterday but today has been such a rush I changed it. Having got our place nice and tidy finally it's now in a total state again, and won't change at least until Monday. But that is preempting my update so get reading to find out more...

Wednesday

Having failed to leave on Tuesday due to the rain we still had our insulation workers on site on Wednesday but they were hurrying to get done and out of here during the day. It was a normal work day for me and A so we were stuck at our desks for a lot of it so there aren't actually all that many pictures.

A really overcast and low cloud start to the day

Needing some more work

Thomas with a load of pipes

Asen up a tall ladder

Much amusement painting with a makeshift handle

Sally getting stuck into the plastering in the nook

It was a miserable start to the day with a smattering of rain which fortunately cleared quite quickly. There were so many jobs left to be done that both A and I were a little unsure if everything would get done in time. The biggest thing we were concerned about was around the door and window from the bedroom to the balcony. The men were up super early obviously full of beans at the thought of finally going home. A picked Bekir and Sally up and went via the shop to buy the pipes we need for the drainage towards the grey water. It didn't take her long and I had to ask Bekir to wait so I could grab the camera and get a picture. Asen was up a ladder fixing flyscreens at the back and scaring me with his disregard for how high up he was; they just don't care. It was a day of odds and ends for them and there was a lot of smiles, including when they bodged together a long roller using a broom. Inside the electrics were still being worked on while Sally was starting to plaster the walls of the nook; what exciting progress.

Ivan waving a hose around

Power washing the tiles

Having to scrape the mortar up

Sally nearly done this wall in the nook

Rambo sitting AND looking at the camera

As I say it was a pretty busy day for both A and I and we weren't really able to get out much to see what was happening. The one time that I did get out was when Ivan needed a hand getting a hose onto the balcony so he could power wash the tiles and remove the plaster that had dropped on them. He didn't have the power that he was wanting, unfortunately, so it was all hands on deck with scrapers while he sprayed. They did a pretty good job in the circumstances and have convinced me that we do need a power washer for all the outside tiles we will have. Inside Sally was still plastering away and Bekir (of whom there are no pictures at all today!) was working away on the electrics down the corridor towards the bathroom, hoping to get this all totally completed. At around lunchtime Chaz came to pick up one of the workers and he didn't stay long before he was scooting back off. Almost before we knew it later on it was time for Ivan to go with the final men and we had a lovely group photo on the porch taken by A.

Resolving the blockage while The Special One looks on

This is called Salad of Boss and it is

A beautiful sky to come home to

Such a huge smile from Louise

For the latter part of the afternoon I had a bit of a run in with my accountant who I found was over charging me for something that I didn't actually need so that was quite a lot of fun and now I am looking for a new accountant. After this finally stopped it was time to take the men which was easy until I got back and found I couldn't get through the gate. The mini digger we had hired for Thursday was being delivered and they were stuck on the hill into the land with the wheels spinning on the truck pulling the trailer. After a bit of effort they eventually unloaded the digger and it was all OK. I shook hands with the boss and agreed to see them at 8am the next day. With us finally in an empty house we had decided to celebrate by going to our favourite place for food so, after I had distracted myself briefly by taking all the remaining curtains down, we  packed ourselves off down there and it was lovely. When we got back the sunset was marvelous so I dashed onto the roof terrace to get a few photographs. There was then a bit of time to relax on the sofa with the puppies before we headed to bed.

Thursday

That was when we thought it was over for a bit and we could relax. That didn't count for me and my cunning plans. It was a pretty bad night's sleep for A unfortunately and I was a bit disturbed as well so when the alarm went off there was a lot of snoozing and then I was up making coffee for A so she could snatch a little more rest.

A very much nicer morning

This plum isn't looking great

These poppies are though

She dragged herself up and got dressed to collect the men leaving me with a bit of time before the digger man was due. It was a cool morning but the sun was shining and warm so my first job was to water the plants inside and sort Sassy out. Next I went and mixed some of the preparation that Bekir had got us for treating the disease that is afflicting a number of our trees in the orchard. I had to put 0.4ml into 2 litres of water and after a few attempts I got the pipette right and so went and sprayed every tree. Apparently I've got to do it again in 3 days time. While I was out there I got a lovely picture of the poppies on the pile of dirt we pulled out of the chicken house. Lovely.

Bekir about to make a start on the plumbing

A load of soil for the orchard

Mini digger gets into spreading action

Seed trays that didn't produce any produce

A stowaway amongst the seed trays

A got back with the men not long after I got in from doing this and I sent her pretty much straight to bed to have a rest as she was exhausted. I headed downstairs to chat with Bekir about today and we discussed plumbing before he got stuck in with cleaning up and channeling for the pipework. I went back to my desk, looking at my watch as there was still no sign of the digger driver nor big digger with hydraulic breaker and then at about 8.40 the first truck load of soil arrived in the truck. He emptied this out by the orchard and then the digger driver came along and spread it all over where I wanted it, doing in about half an hour what would have taken me weeks. There was still no sign of the hydromech and the driver had disappeared in his truck without taking any of the big pile of rubble so I went back to my desk to wait and then, feeling impatient, did a bit of a tidy around after the insulation workmen. As it happened I only had some old seed trays to sort as everything else had been made tidy. Brilliant. While I was doing this I accidentally caught a lizard in the wheel barrow which I let go after getting a picture.

Mini digger clearing the track onto the top bank

And now off to dig out the basketball court

Finally clearing away this rubble

Mini digger arrives about 11

Very quick moving soil

With the spreading done the digger was free so I asked him to quickly clear away the new route onto the back bank, involving ripping out some of the brambles and bushes and clearing a load of stones. He did this in double quick time and there was still no sign of the other digger so I made a snap choice and sent him onto the top bank to dig out the basketball court. In that time as well the truck driver had come back and emptied a second load of soil onto the top bank near the basketball court so I suggested the digger just keep piling up all the soil he scraped up in the same place. Meantime the truck went down and started loading up and hauling off the rubbish from the dump site. Bekir and I had been in looking for buckets and found three usable ones but almost all of them in there were split on the base which was strange. About 11am finally another digger came along but I was quite flabbergasted to see it was another tiny machine and no hydromech. The boss was there and I again made it clear how much hard stone there was but he smiled and said this machine would be fine. I disagreed but he was confident. To be fair to him this digger did an excellent job very quickly where there was no bedrock but after an hour or so he stopped as he couldn't continue. Surprise, the bedrock had stopped him.

Still more digging to do, but what quick progress

Finally we get the tool for the job

Channels for the pipes for my sinks

Sally plastering in the dining room

Lots going on, so much for a quiet day

The digger up on the basketball court took a short break to help with the truck loading the rubble then did a bit more work before he disappeared off to get a different attachment to attack the bed rock. There followed a bit of waiting around before finally at about 1pm he came back with the hydromech and got stuck straight into digging. He was quite close to the existing pipe and electric cable but managed to miss it all. I ordered 5 cubic of sand which the truck driver (also the second mini digger driver - are you keeping up?) headed off to get but by the time he got back the trench was too deep to drive over to dump it where it was needed so it just stayed in the truck. Inside Bekir was managing to make some progress despite all the distractions I kept throwing at him while Sally was on with his second coat in the dining room. One of the distractions Bekir had to contend with was about 1pm the firm for the whisky display shelves came over and the took a fair while of discussions to work out a design. They went off to calculate a quote (it came back and was extortionate so we won't be using them) and I headed into town to pick up some stuff and also finally get my SDS back which Bekir really wanted for his channeling.

Still digging away

Plaster on the floor, not where it should be

A problem with the ceiling in the nook

In the end the diggers were here right to the end of the day and they have left their machines here until Monday when they will be back to finish off. I did say to the boss, who kept coming to see what was happening, "I told you there was a lot of stone" but anyway, we may end up with the sump and pump for the grey water (see here for the design I'm following) on Monday. A had popped out in Thomas and got some deliveries from ekont as well as picking up some anti-swallow-nesting supplies; we had been told that they hate the smell of bleach so she bought a banned substance in our house and I watered it down and sprayed it. Against all the odds it worked. And so it was time to take the men, leaving the diggers still going. When I went down I found a glum looking Sally watching as Bekir pulled the plaster off the ceiling in the nook; it had flaked and fallen down. I was a bit surprised they hadn't scraped as much of the old paint off as I thought they would and now they have been set back a bit. I tried to get some smiles from them in the car and succeeded to an extent and they also have tomorrow off so now A and I do get to relax finally.

The correct way to end the day

They left their HGV here

I think they need a tractor

A very excited about her kebab

Mine is superb as well

Accidental double dessert

Chocolate everywhere

When I got back from dropping the men I found A sat on the balcony with the puppies nursing half a glass of beer and waiting to go out for dinner. The truck, still with the five cubic of sand in the back, had been driven onto the back bank and parked up to wait for Monday, proof again that the pump driver was an idiot in refusing to go up. Anyway we got ready and went pretty much straight out, having a laugh on the way at the Lada in the field overloaded with small bales of hay. We went to the kebab place that Chaz and Ivan had recommended to us and once again the food was incredible. We even had dessert but ended up by accident with two as the scoop of icecream we wanted on the side of our pancake came in a separate bowl as a whole dessert in itself. Suffice to say I didn't struggle to finish it all.

And so the day has ended. I've parked Thomas across the driveway so it's not possible for someone to come and steal the mini diggers, both of which have been left here with the truck. A had a brew before heading to bed about an hour ago and I'm going to go and lock the chickens away, let the puppies out for their toilet, and then hit the sack myself. We get a bit of a lie in tomorrow; how awesome is that.

Some storms, some rushing, nearly done

It's been a strange couple of days with quite a lot going on but a feeling of the last days of school as well. The weather hasn't helped, for sure. Anyway, onwards.

Monday

Monday was the big day of the concrete pour with a cement pump and wagon booked to arrive at 11am to start pouring and a second due at 12 to finish the job. This was the plan. We shall see what happened to that best laid plan...

A very horrible view from Room 13

Asen cutting the lengths for the pins

Sally starts to plaster the ceiling in the dining room

Plastic and metal inside wooden frames

The day dawned so dull and miserable you couldn't see across the valley from the window in Room 13. I was up and about doing my morning routine which includes emptying humanure as we're all out of routine with all our visitors and then back to my desk to get on with my day job. The workmen went outside to continue getting ready for the cement lorry and Asen was cutting up lengths of wood to act as pegs for the wooden frames. While this was going on Bekir was continuing his work on the electrics while Sally had made a very exciting start on the plastering in the dining room. This will involve two coats of byal and he was flying through the first coat. The construction of the forms for the concrete was going well though it was really miserable out there.

The boss man walks with the driver

Bekir works on the outside light

The father moves rubble to put on the track

Clouds build over the parents' hotel

He arrived early and even more grumpy

Early on Ivan had rung the company for the cement to get them to double check on the access up to the top bank for their truck. The boss of the company came with the driver and they wandered around looking concerned and making noises about how it was dangerous but then agreed that they would do it when Ivan pointed out that we would be laying broken up mosaic from the side of the house on the track that leads onto the top bank. Success. They were expected at 11 so we had a couple of hours. Bekir was still working away on the electrics and was outside tying off the cables which will have the sensor light outside the kitchen door. The father and Ivan worked together to shift the rubble onto the track and had done a really good job when the pump truck arrived unexpectedly and not just that it was not an integrated pump but a separate machine. There then followed twenty minutes of discussion which resulted in this pump truck turning around and leaving as the driver, who was very grumpy, who had previously agreed to go onto the top bank was now refusing to. Ridiculous, particularly as a mixer truck with six cubic of expensive cement was already on its way and this meant it was dumped at full cost to their company.

First coat on the roof terrace wall

Asen makes a start on the balcony wall

His father does the garage wall

The grumpy driver returns

It is a very heavy truck

Here is the cement lorry

There then followed a period of telephone calls and panic which resulted in, wait for it, this same driver turning round and coming back, after they'd prepared another mix, but he was still refusing to go onto the top bank. Ivan shrugged and the workmen said they would just shift it with wheelbarrows. While they were waiting the work continued around the building with more paint going on and more plastic being tacked up to protect the walls from splashes from the cement. Finally, an hour after originally booked, the pump pulled forwards onto the patio and set up, initially in the wrong place and then to my eyes still not far enough but again the grumpy driver just ignored all requests and did whatever he wanted to do. I was feeling distinctly unimpressed with this company by now.

Usmivka has a chat with the driver

Thelma and Louise watch, with A

The first pour is done

A very huge pump

Having to manhandle the hose because he refused to move closer

Father and son work together

All of the excitement had attracted our neighbour's attentions and Usmivka had come over to chat to one of the drivers, who he knew, and Bekir, who had come out as well to check out what was going on. A had taken the puppies, who were now confined until the cement was dry, up onto the balcony and Louise was singing a song for me which was lovely, if noisy. And so the process began and there was an amazing amount of running around for a little while as it was all hands to the rakes and shovels to get the cement into the correct places before it went off. I was outside as long as I could be but work called me in so I couldn't stay the entire time. While I was there they poured the front in record time but then, again due to recalcitrance from the grumpy driver who refused to move his truck a few metres forward to help out, the cement had to be dumped and shoveled by hand. He really was a grumpy so and so and because of him I will never use this company again.

The second driver watches on and laughs

Super grumpy driver prepares to abandon the job again

A poised and ready to shovel

With a sensible driver things are much easier

Lots of cement rushing down to the men

Hard work, but the men are having a laugh as well

We nearly had enough left over to do the whole path

With this in hand I returned to my work as I said and then after an hour popped outside to see what was occurring. I found a second cement truck had arrived and was parked on the top bank with the driving looking very bemused and amused at the truculence of the pump driver who was still refusing to drive up there (patently really easy to do as this guy hadn't had any problems) and had just cleaned his machine and was driving off. After some discussion A persuaded Ivan that she should be allowed to shovel this waste material into a wheelbarrow and pour it underneath the washing line however he took over pushing the barrow anyway. The new driver was far more reasonable and intelligent and he manouvred his truck so he could unload it down a chute made of plastic into the trench that needed filling; much more sensible. This did mean the workers had to go very fast to move the cement before it overspilled but despite herculean efforts it was quite messy. A did a great job, though, on the path. Now we won't trip over stones any more.

Louise with bone, Thelma with ball

Lots of plastering completed today

A huge storm all around us

The storm cleared away, though still threatening

With the cement poured and the trucks gone the men were pretty exhausted and took a break for a while as they had shoveled many cubic of cement in a very short time. I was still working away while A was playing with the girls a bit on the top bank after her exertions. Inside, and very much not forgotten, Bekir and Sally had worked to complete their tasks. Bekir was nearly done on the electrics while Sally had almost plastered the dining room; it was looking great. I went out onto the back bank with Ivan to have a look at the progress and saw some very bad weather indeed coming in threatening to hit us at any moment; it was very black with lots of lightning around. Not long after it was time to take the men and true to form their village had beautiful hot weather while on the drive back I was watching fork lightning ahead. I was quite tired by this point myself and the evening involved a very lovely pork curry, a fire in the living room, two bottles of beer and a glass of Kilchoman. Unsurprisingly I slept really rather well after that and was not disturbed at all by the storm in the night.

Tuesday

Apparently in the night there was a huge storm, lots of thunder and lightning and when A took the puppies out for the toilet in the night she was watching the flashes and bangs. I don't know about any of this as I was dead to the world and only woke up not long before the alarm. What a full nights sleep and just what I needed after the stress of the day before.

Raining into a bucket

Snowing up in the mountains

I was up at the usual time and we were ready for A to go pick up the men when we had a call from Bekir cancelling their work for today due to storm damage in their village. I love this about Bekir, he never waits until it is too late but rings as soon as he can to let us know. At our village the rain was still falling and it was quite torrential; Ivan noticed that where some of the guttering isn't quite complete it was emptying onto the new cement path so he headed out with Asen to put buckets underneath to protect the not-yet-dry concrete. As it happened there was no damage so that was good. With the weather set to be terrible for the morning I got Ivan to cancel the digger that was coming to dig out the trench for the kitchen and bathroom water and after I'd done everything I could for work we go into Thomas and went for our morning journey out to visit an obshtina in a nearby town to investigate some plans. I'm saying no more here now other than when we went for a bite of brunch we found the cafe refused money for the banitzas as someone had paid for them to be free all day; very strange but apparently a tradition to honour the dead. On the way the weather was pretty bad and as we climbed into the mountains the temperature dropped and suddenly it was snowing! I stopped to snap a picture as I couldn't believe it. The trip was pretty much a success and we were back to the Old School by lunch time.

Plastering underneath the balcony overhang

Shaped to channel water to the drainage

Attempts from swallows to build a nest

More finishing around the windows

When we got back the sun was just coming out and the men were working again having had the morning off due to terrible weather conditions. There was a lot left to do, it seemed to both of us, and we were a little concerned that having pushed their departure back from 3pm today to tomorrow morning they still wouldn't have time to complete it all. We'd already agreed that the chimney stacks can be left as they haven't been started yet however everything else needed to be completed. The concrete path was looking outstanding though and did a great job during the rain from the night and morning. Inside our annual fight with the swallows has begun and they are trying to build a nest in Rambo's entrance hall; indeed as I type this I have helped Rambo chase one out of there and he almost caught and killed it!

Looking absolutely amazing from the top bank

One of the butterflies fluttering around

Louise watching something

Thelma returns the ball

Louise chews a stick

Thelma reaches a thrown ball

Sisters sitting happily in paradise

The flyscreens are on along the corridor

Plastering on the bedroom window finally

I was having a particularly frustrating day at work even though I'd been away all morning I was still waiting for things to be done for me so I took myself outside to enjoy a burst of sunshine in what promised to still be a dull day. While I was up there I was watching some beautiful butterflies including one lovely blue one that I didn't get a picture of sadly. After a little while A came out and joined me, bringing the puppies, and we had some nice time playing with them before I headed back inside. The finishing off was continuing with fly screens going onto windows and finally the balcony door and windows being plastered ready for painting.

Finishing off underneath the tile overhang

A second coat on the bottom part of the wall

A bowl of very tasty pork in mushroom sauce

This was not part of the plan for late April

And so the evening beer began early as I didn't have to take the men and now I've finished my second and I am going to resist the urge for a third. I worked late and so did the men but the weather turned again and it rained so they weren't able to stay out until 8pm; their decision to take an hour off at 3pm therefore was a bit frustrating as they lost that time as well. They have got a fair few hours of work left to do tomorrow; here's hoping the forecast is right and the rain that is falling now disappears over night. Dinner was a superb pork in mushroom sauce with lovely potatoes and green beans on the side and went down very well however the temperature drop means the petchka is once again lit.

Now I've finished this I can go into the living room and sip another whisky before hopefully sleeping very well again tonight.