Settling into a new routine

So it's a bit late starting this, as seems to be the case more and more often. I've just come in from the balcony after being tormented by flies while eating a superb BBQ and now I'm going to try and keep this down to a sensibly short length so I can publish this evening. We shall see.

Sunday evening

Unexpectedly after such a lazy (and wonderful) Sunday day there was a sudden burst of energy in the evening after the blog was published. I think this could be part of our new routine mentioned in the title of the blog as we make use of the slightly cooler evenings to achieve things outside that we cannot during the burning heat of the day.

Putting my back into digging a hole

Happy harvest of good-for-tummy flowers

A huge (dead) beetle plus Thelma's nose

Hung out to dry in the entrance hall

The sun goes down on a wonderful day

My task for the evening, after doing the watering, was to dig out the holes into which we will put two of the new olive trees. This was a job I thought would be easy however the new soil has compacted and is very shallow anyway so I was there with a pickaxe and shovel working up a sweat for a while before I was happy with the depth of the holes. While I was doing this A went round and collected a bunch of the yellow flowers that she has been advised to gather and dry to make a tea that is good for bad stomachs. There is loads of this growing on our land and I think she should gather more but this is all she decided on that time. On the way back in A pointed out a large beetle that had died by the entrance so we got some pictures before spending the remainder of the evening on the balcony reading, only going inside when it got too dark to see. What a lovely evening and after the so-much-needed relaxing day it was great to get some exercise and tick some boxes in the evening.

Monday

Monday and back to work and it's always a struggle to get yourself into the mood for being stuck at your desk after three days away from it. It was also another beautiful day and so doubly tough.

The day begins in a hazy glow

Little Lady has her fire lit!

Loads of low hanging fruit

Half a bucket full very quickly

The top mesh is on and looks great

A safe welder, for once

Bekir putting the detail around the windows

It was a warm night and a hazy and hot day and by the time I woke up, well after A had got up, the sun was up and glowing through the shimmer. I did my morning dig on the pathway while A was out getting the men and then the second part of our new routine kicked in as we made a start on an old exercise book that I have which my Dad and Mum used to do, from the Canadian Airforce. It's very well written and builds you up nice and slowly to a peak of fitness suitable for your age and I recommend it very highly: 5BX (for men) and XBX (for women). After this it was a quick shower and then time to work for me while A had her day off. We were most amazed to see the Little Lady had her fire lit with the temperature reaching above 25 degrees at 9am but I suppose she was cooking. While we were doing the olive trees the night before we had spotted one of the plum trees was overloaded with ripe fruit and so A took a bucket out and half filled it with easily reached fruit. Sally was working away finishing off the vine frame and I caught him welding carefully using the mask we bought. Inside Bekir was nearly done on the first wall of the bathroom and it was looking excellent.

A up a ladder looking for plums

A beetle stealing one of the ripe fruit

7.5kg of fruit

Sally sliding down the wall

At lunch time I took some time away and went outside with Bekir's tall ladder and A to get to the fruit on the plum tree that was higher up. We worked together with me footing the ladder and making sure she was safe while A went up as high as she dared and collected the ripe fruit. We spent a fair while doing this, moving the ladder around, and then I picked some of the low hanging fruit that I could reach and by the end of it we had a nearly full bucket that weighed about 7.5kg. I immediately sorted through this and threw away about 15 fruit or so that were damaged that we hadn't noticed while collecting, and now I have the joyous task ahead of me of processing these to freeze. We also need to get back out and harvest the rest as they will be ripening over the week. During the afternoon Sally finished up by the vine and even tidied up (I helped him heft a huge chunk of concrete into the wheelbarrow) even though I'd told him to leave it until the next morning when it'd be cooler so I put him to fitting the glass shelf that I bought in the hope of using it to display my whisky. After seeing it I'm not sure I want to trust this contraption with my expensive collection so we may have to look for another option. I was called upon again while he was doing this to foot the ladder as just as I took the picture shown I noticed he was sliding down the wall. He never stopped drilling though and I got there before catastrophe struck.

Meat cooking on the BBQ

Puppies relaxing on the balcony

Sun and haze while we eat

One wall complete including window surround detail

A good start made on the second wall

The pear tree stark against the setting sun

Stones to aid drainage for the olive tree

Planted in the orchard

Braving mosquitoes for linden blossom

Full moon on Summer Solstice

Bright moon above local town lights

With the shelf put up unsatisfactorily for both of us Sally went outside to get a start on the next which is to do the concrete platform for the wood store and one of the water storage tanks. By the end of the day he had mocked out the shape I asked for and Bekir was suggesting some changes so we left it there and I took them home, only once being almost killed by an idiot Greek driver. When I got back the BBQ was lit and we had a really lovely meal on the balcony again. On the way out to plant the olive trees I snapped some pictures of the progress Bekir had made and after feeding the puppies A joined me outside picking from our tea trees, though she got munched by mozzies something wrotten. Last night was a rare night as well for the full moon falling on the Summer Solstice, something we won't see again for 60 years or so, apparently. It was certainly very bright and lit the room when we went to bed. While we were lying there A suddenly worked out that we had had our ceiling fan running the wrong way around and when this was fixed the cooling breeze was much better and I fell asleep OK.

I forgot to say that I went out with Bekir during the day to take the broken kitchen pump back for warranty repair and on the way we went to ViK to complain about the water. They didn't know it wasn't working so its a good thing we went and by the end of the day it was back. We're heroes!

Tuesday

It was an OK night for me, other than being disturbed by poor Louise who took another horrendous sneezing fit in the night, and Sassy who had to be encouraged to stop banging twice, once by me and once by A. Unfortunately it was really not a good night for A and once again she was up early.

Banana plant put outside for summer

Louise caught mid sneeze - poor mite

A shelf to hide plumbing, and put our shower gel on

Sally considers his next move in the heat

By the time I woke up and had my brew she was off to get the men and I was feeling a bit jaded so I did the washing up and the watering, moved the banana plant outside onto the balcony, and had just had time to break up 20cm or so of soil for the path before A got back with the men. Sally saw where I was digging and strongly encouraged me to go slowly as he though a water pipe ran just ahead of where I was; maybe it was a good thing I'd been slow and not progressed as much as planned. Anyway it was a working day for both A and I so there isn't all that much to say about what we did. Bekir was making good progress again in the bathroom and had reached the point of the little ledge I'd asked him to do to hide some plumbing and provide a shelf in our shower. Outside Sally was working away in very hot weather to prepare the ground for concrete and inside it was 30 degrees in the shade. Amazing.

A little shelf for the shower cubicle

Plumbing in the water storage overflow

A "cor-gette!"

BBQ skewers

The view from the balcony, reflected

Stunning golden sunset to end the day

I went into town the Bekir to collect the fixed pump (it had had quite a serious fault from the looks of the cold welding that had been done to it) and we went past a government office to try and file some papers for me but the queue was too long so I put it off. The rest of the afternoon was taken up with working and then it was time to take the men home who had had a really productive afternoon. I was almost killed this time by an idiot Bulgarian driver who I blasted on my horn when he finally got past me after nearly taking out several cars coming the other way. Idiot. When I got back once again the BBQ was lit and A had made up some amazing skewers using a courgette from our garden! We ate on the balcony in quite a brisk wind that still didn't blow the flies away. It was still a lovely meal and afterwards I sat staring at the reflection of ridge across the valley and again reflecting on how gorgeous a place we live in. Since then A has done the watering while I have typed this up and the sun has gone down in a blaze of glory which I captured while watering the plants on the balcony.

And there you have it; about an hour to type up which is much more civilised than it can be; time for a cold shower before bed.