I had a birthday

I'm sat here on Sunday just before lunch time waiting for the video which will be embedded in this update later on to save and then get uploading so I thought I'd make a start on writing as well. As soon as I can leave this desk I'm going to go into the living room and do a bit more on my model helicopter so this won't be finished until much later this evening.

Friday

The issue with the three day update on a Sunday is by this time I really cannot remember what happened on Friday. I know I was working all day, making up for taking the two half days during the week, so probably that is what took up almost all of my day. Let's look through the pictures and find out.

That thermometer isn't looking ideal

My parents' hotel has disappeared

The father primering

And more primer being applied

Both of us were pretty tired and slept through well until the alarm went off and we had to get up and get the day going.The forecast for once had not lied and it was quite a chilly start, down to about five degrees which is quite a shock after the heat we've been having over the past week or so. The sun was out, though, and it was promising to be a glorious day. The workmen are now hard up against deadlines as Ivan has ordered cement to be poured around the base of the wall and this means everything needs to be completed. The scaffold also was needing to come down so a digger machine could clear ready for the concrete so they really had to shift. He had delayed the digger from Friday until Saturday as they just weren't ready for removing the scaffold as they were still just primering on the last back wall prior to painting.

You think this is your chair, do you?!

Happy with sharing

Marking each of the wires for joining in the junction box

Nearly all primered

Asen plasters over the slight lip where the wall changes to stone from brick

Plastering around the windows

While A was out getting the men I was doing the watering round and washing up and getting my normal morning chores completed. A got back and after a cuppa she took off again to do her morning shop which she had put off from Thursday. I was trying to work and the puppies had a different idea about whether this chair was mine or theirs; every time I stood up they both jumped onto it and fell asleep. Eventually I came to a compromise and they stayed there right until A got back. Bekir and Sally were working away in the kitchen. Bekir had the unenviable task of marking up all the wires and joining them in junction boxes and this took him all day. Insulation wise the primer was still going on the walls while a couple of the other men finished off some of the details so the scaffold could be moved.

A delivery arrives

Unloading the duskat

Two puppies very happy with their squeaky balls

I was distracted from my work briefly when a delivery arrived which was the metal and wood for the making of the path around the outside of the building. I got a good laugh from the delivery driver and Asen when I took pictures as they unloaded and then I was back inside to move the puppies off my chair and get back to work. Shortly afterwards A was back and she had brought not just food but a toy for Louise. Louise is not normally very interested in squeaky toys however she loves this new toy and spent ages sat there chewing on it, trying to get the squeak out.

Nicely marked up wires

Sally laughing as he sprays water on the ceiling

A first pea plant of the year

There's a path in their somewhere

Ahhh there it is

A wants to plant something in here today

And now she can; well weeded bed

Final preparations, with help from the puppies

I ate while I worked and then took a short break away from my desk. First of all I went to check out how Bekir and Sally were doing and I found Bekir making good progress on the cables while Sally had discovered one of the pump sprays and was making use of it to wet the ceiling before applying grunt. He was having a great time with it. I decided to do some gardening for my lunch break so A and I went together into the fenced area to weed and clear some more beds. First of all, though, I had to check out the one pea plant we have coming up so far. My job was with the sickle again and I quickly cleared the path between two beds, and trimmed some of the paths I had done the other day, filling two wheelbarrows for the chickens in the process. A was working away on another of the beds in readiness for planting out the squash which have grown very fast on the balcony in the dog food tins. It's a really relaxing thing to work together in the garden, I like it a lot.

Asen skimming inside the porch

The father skimming on the roof terrace

The painting started on the back wall

All hands to the painting

Louise sleeps in the long grass

Ivan cuddles Thelma, who just wants to play

During the afternoon progress continued outside with another layer of plaster being applied in the porch while upstairs the father was against working away on his own doing the roof terrace. This is going to look amazing when the blue tiles are down up there as well. Finally, and most excitingly, the  men began painting the back wall, having let the primer dry for a couple of hours. I stood on the back bank with Ivan for a short while watching them work and chatting which was a welcome break away from my desk. The sun was warm and both the puppies were loving being outside and enjoying the company. I couldn't stay long as was back inside rather quickly.

A small egg with strange markings on the shell

The Old School looking very pretty in its new clothes

Asen drasking the balcony wall

Glowing in the afternoon sun

The view from my chair

A went to feed the chickens and came back with a haul  of eggs including one with some interesting markings on its shell. This one was taken and used to make the burgers we had for dinner on the BBQ but more of that later. Just before taking the men home I went out onto the back bank to get a look at all the progress and now I'm really excited about how it'll look finally finished, maybe in the next few days. Taking the men was without incident and when I got back I closed my computer down and went onto the balcony with a beer and sat and enjoyed it while watching the men as they continued to work, and Thelma as she hassled me to throw her ball for her. It was quite warm with the sun out, though the breeze was chill and when the sun went behind a cloud it got quite cool.

A fully loaded BBQ groaning with food

So many different types of cloud

The sun emerges below the cloud

Another picture taken without looking

Expanse of sky with sunset fire

Straggly clouds lit by the setting sun

Just a stunning display

All the puppies care about is their dinner

Final shot for the day; a ghostly moon

By this time the BBQ was lit and loaded with food for us and Ivan to enjoy. I stayed out sipping my beer and turning the meat every now and then; it was a lovely evening. The sky was incredibly and I took so many pictures of it I've really struggled to limit them for the blog. Ivan had a digger driver come over to check out the task in hand however he ended up not being able to do the job in time. It was the Special One's birthday as well so A and I dashed over to give him his present. Of course we were invited to stay for dinner but with the BBQ on we had to politely decline which was a shame. Next time we'll remember and not cook anything. With this done we settled on the balcony and ate our BBQ as food became ready, with me dashing with my camera to get pictures of the sunset from both the balcony and the roof terrace. Seriously I have thinned these pictures down; what a stunning show. There was meat left over for the puppies which they were very happy about and then it was time to go inside and have a brew before bed. I went out once more to get photographs of the moon which I had spotted while shutting the chickens away; it really was a day for celestial showcasing.

Saturday

Whoops. Forty one photographs in one day and only one third of the way through the update. Since Friday, though, less has happened so I hope this'll be quicker now and not get too epic.

A very cloudy start to the day

Spud tower grows another level

Thelma helping me shovel soil, maybe

Soil is piled up around each plant

Poppies flourishing

Kit watching A watching Kit

Saturday was my birthday and was just a brilliant day from start to finish. It began with a lovely lie in and a brew brought to me in bed and then when I did get up I opened my presents and had an awesome record from A which was just perfect, and some stuff for my model railway from my parents. I also had a couple of cards sent all the way here by family members. After the drama of the evening before it was a dull and cold day and we didn't go onto the balcony to eat my chosen breakfast, egg in a cup, but instead stayed in Room 13. After such a relaxing start I wanted to spend some time in the garden so I helped A with the spud towers by cutting and fixing the next layer of the walls, and then bringing a couple of wheelbarrows of soil over. A then earthed each plant up and filled in the gaps between and so the process has begun. I went inside after this to rest and do some model helicopter building as I've left it for ages and while I was inside A took some lovely pictures of the poppies that are blooming everywhere, and the chickens. It was the perfect way to spend the morning of your birthday.

All hands to the deck to clear up for the digger machine

Even I got involved, and on my birthday!

The Special One gets a lift with the bagga

A new puppy for the neighbours

Just around lunch time the excitement of the day really began when the big Bagga Machine turned up to clean around the base of the walls ready for the path. This was a little earlier than expected so everyone got stuck in shifting the piles of scaffold lying around and making space for the man to do his job. The excitement spread to the neighbours who all came over to take a look and it turns out the driver came from the same village as the Little Lady and so there were friendly greetings. He did a really good job really quickly and then when he left he stopped off for coffee over there as well. I took videos of the bagga machine to share with you all and also the neighbours brought their new puppy over. This reminds me; apparently Teddy ran away so he isn't there any more; we don't have the full story on this yet, though.

From the back corner and looking awesome

The scaffold gets loaded

During the afternoon Chaz came over and joined us as he'd been told it was my birthday and he wanted to come see me. The workmen had been slaving away gathering together all the bits of the scaffold from the various places it had been stacked in preparation for the scaffold lorry which was due later on in the afternoon. They got everything ready in time and so all the driver had to do was lift it onboard and strap it down.

Proof that she took me to a building site ;)

A very very beautiful building site though

A superb Greek Salad

Mushrooms with cheese - stunning

Pork knuckle with superb spuds

Chicken with mozzarella sauce and spuds

Raising a drink to A taking my picture through the window

Taken by the waiter

Thelma with the big bone

As it was my birthday and I was being treated like a king all day I was driven to a surprise location for my birthday meal. After a few twists and turns it was clear that we were heading towards the lake but we didn't go to the fish restaurant but to the posh place a bit further round. It was such a lovely meal with excellent food, good service and the best company there is and we both loved every second. When we arrived there were bagga machines working away on a large construction site next to the swimming pool making a fair amount of noise so we chose to sit inside but then after a few minutes they stopped for the day. We had a lovely location anyway so we stayed. I ordered the pork knuckle and it was so tender and tasty; completely outstanding. A had chicken with mozzarella potatoes and that was also awesome. We left after a very relaxed time and drove back to find that Chaz and Ivan were also home from their meal at our favourite restaurant. I poured us a St Georges whisky and we sat and enjoyed it while the puppies chewed on the bones we had brought back for them. We were all quite tired and so headed to bed once the whisky ran out.

Sunday

And so finally we reach today. I'ts now evening and even after we've eaten our dinner (though we did eat early) but it took so long writing up Friday that I'm not surprised I'm still going. I've got a fair few pictures left to go through though so let's not wait.

The clouds still here

Knocking in uprights

Length of duska fixed between the pegs

Asen bringing more supplies

Drask goes on the garage wall and balcony

This morning we really did have a lie in. The puppies didn't really disturb us and it was 8am before we were up and about for the day; it was so lovely to have such a rest. There was absolutely no desire to do a clean of any room this week as we are hoping to have no builders inside soon and then we'll do a proper deep clean so we had a slow lazy start and I didn't even make dippy eggs like I wanted but instead had cornflakes. Not a traditional Sunday breakfast. They day once again was cloudy and a bit chilly and the workers were split into two teams. Half of them were making a start setting out the wooden frames into which the concrete will be poured while the other half continued with the drask mazilka in the areas where it is still missing. This has pretty much described the whole day for them today.

Thelma is a very mucky puppy

Clouds building to the west

Some huge clouds to the east of us

Ivan painting our school sign

We had been forecast lots of storms the night before however there had been no rain so there was no faith left in the forecast which was for more storms today. I went out to do the watering round just in case no rain fell and while I was doing that there was some rain but it wasn't for very long nor very heavy. It did get the ground wet enough so that when Thelma came in while the men were on lunch she was totally filthy and needed a shower. I had a small sandwich sat on the balcony watching as storm clouds built all around the horizon however the sun was still warm and it was very pleasant. I'd spent a little time doing my model helicopter and went back to that after eating; I was determined to continue my relaxing weekend. Outside Ivan picked up the paintbrush again and was working away on the sign for the school which was a nice surprise as well.

Looking very pretty with a huge cloud behind

Polythene lining the path

Cutting up the mesh

And the mesh fits in perfectly

A very impressive looking storm approaches

The father continues working on the roof terrace

I was feeling quite tired at this time, as if often the case when you relax after a prolonged period of not being able to, and so I headed to bed for a sleep which was great. When I woke, to huge rumbles of thunder, I went out to take the daily photograph and was amazed at the black clouds threatening over the top of the school; up til this point it had been very sunny for us. This particular storm missed us entirely however another was following close behind. The men were working away through the drizzle and with the huge thunder crashes all around trying to get as much done as they could in the weather conditions.

One gets left out in the rain to finish his job

Asen plays with Thelma while waiting for the rain to clear

Then this happened and all work stopped

A sad sight; water coming in through the walls again

Then suddenly the heavens opened and most of the men ran for cover though Asen's brother stayed out to finsih the drask that needed pulling. It didn't rain for all that long and they went outside again but it wasn't long before it rained once more and this time it didn't stop and that pretty much ended the day for them. This is frustrating as we have the cement lorry coming tomorrow. There was also some discomfort as water was coming in through the back wall again which it hasn't done since the drainage went in. After some investigation we found that the black waterproofing material had been cut off too low down and wasn't tucked behind the insulation and this, combined with the fact the drainpipe was just emptying onto the soil, had caused a hole to appear through to the wall. We've put a temporary fix in and will make sure this is sealed with the concrete pour.

Cheese sauce being poured onto cauliflower

A plate of complete awesome

The sun breaks through, once the men had stopped work

A very faint rainbow

Clearing up into the evening

We retreated inside and I got stuck back into typing this while A worked away on diner. We'd harvested our cauliflower though it had been left out for maybe a day too long so was separating slightly but internet checks confirmed this would be alright. She had a short lie down as well but the thunder was so loud she wasn't able to rest which was a shame. Soon enough dinner was served and we went into the living room and the three of us enjoyed a super Sunday roast with the best cauliflower cheese ever. Since then I've been sat in here typing and dashing off to take pictures as the sun has come out and a rainbow has appeared and disappeared over and again in the valley. The forecast is for clear weather until tomorrow afternoon so we're hopeful to still get the cement lorry onto the top bank. Now I'm going to go and enjoy the rest of my evening.

What a long update; sorry, but a lot has happened.