Only a few days of freedom

Howdy! Firstly and before I forget, here is Thelma shouting at Rambo' Kong, which is almost as large as she is. I had forgotten to include this last week.

And so to the main post: What has happened? Well I have been unwell with a cold and lots of aches and exhaustion, but in true A style, got extremely bored. I did sit around for a few days, but with sudden bursts of energy, I did a few things - I have a list. The Beard keeps adding to it, just so he knows I am not being totally useless.

Sadly for you lot, the main focus of my week is the new petchka stove in the kitchen. I cannot tell you how awesome this is. The heat it is pumping out (up to 15kW I believe) is brilliant and not only does it make the whole kitchen/dining/nook areas really quite toasty, the heat is not escaping through the hatch and into the living room too much. It is taking a chill off up there, but there is a noticeable rise in temperature as I descend the stairs. Anyway, I have been quite excited to try the cooking in it, so I put it together as best I could and got it connected.

Hooking it up

I just could not wait to try something in the oven, so I tried (for my second attempt) to make a Banitsa (translated locally as Bathing Pie). This is a combination of a fair bit of butter, white (sheep's) cheese and yogurt, although I believe you can use milk also and filo pastry. It is one of my favourite local dishes.

First meal

The petchka was great but I think I hadn't put it together well enough because it did start to back up with smoke; so much so that I had to open doors and windows at one point.  But it is sorted now, as you will see later. It did warm the space up very well.

Warm glow

I have been lighting it around lunchtime some days just so that I can use it to cook. This is quite sad, I realise that but I simply cannot help myself. I am sure the novelty will wear off in a few years.

Lunchtime soup

Evening casserole

We had been waiting for Bekir to become free just to do a few bits to seal off the edge of the insulation before the frosts come. On Saturday morning at 7.30am (quite a shock to the system, it has to be said after all my recent lie ins) I picked him up from the cafe as usual and we headed home for him to get cracking. He didn't try to rush a tiling job for the top section and sensibly just sealed the edges to stop any moisture getting in behind the insulation. Fair enough and probably a better choice than putting himself under pressure to finish it all in one day.  He did finish off the chimney breast though and also put a lip of 5cm tiles around the wall to the attic, with silicon underneath as a double barrier to any gaps there. That was great to see as there had been some water coming in at that wall and getting down to the ceiling in Sassy's old room.

Trimming

Edging

Silicone seal

Happy with the roof and relieved to get that done, I had asked him to have a look at the chimney and check for blockages as initially, as I mentioned, the kitchen was quite smokey during the week and I was seeing smoke escaping from the chimney entrance, as well as from the pipe joints which is very dangerous. I obviously stopped using it until I was able to get him to have a look for me.  He did a sterling job and even checked it for me by burning the rubbish paper and cardboard he had brought down from the roof. What a man!

Arm deep

He had been up on the roof and I could hear a lot of crashing and banging coming from the chimney and when i went to look and get a photograph, sadly I could not get sight of him from any position and I was not going to give the Beard another heart attack by getting up there again myself. So he had been lowering this down the chimney to check for blockages. Improvisation indeed.

Found a dumbbell

Finally, he finished the job I was unable to do and he secured the pipes so that the did not sag and leak any more. I really don't know what I would do without him.

Securing the flue

Now, what else has happened? Well I did a few bits and pieces. I moved this all by myself - it was heavy - and put in place to see if it looks ok. It will hopefully house our recipe books and gardening and preserving books when we get around to moving them all down.

New bookcase

I also went to town on Friday to finish off the registration at the local vehicle office for Pat, which went surprisingly smoothly. She is now officially a Bulgarian car and fully legal. YAY. (I have no photos to post as it was all paperwork and garages and pretty dull).  I also went and had a couple of links removed from my watch and picked up this bad-boy for our bonfire and fireworks party. The puppies will not be impressed.

Bangs for the party

The dogs have been fairly good with the drop in temperatures and only really come inside when it rains. This does mean that a lot of the time, Louise is getting up to no good. We have several of these instances and I had ONLY just showered her the day before for doing this exact same thing. Little brat. I don't quite think she understands that there is no point in hiding your scent with fox or chicken poop when you are hunting things if you stand and bark at it before you chase it. However, she will learn, hopefully.

One of MANY times

 Thelma has been wanting to chase her ball more than the rats, which is fairly standard.

The ball whisperer

And this daft big lump has just been taking life very easy. One thing I am very pleased about though is that the day I went to register Pat, I was gone for about four hours and when I got back he came trundling down the drive to get a good look at who was coming in. It is good that he makes himself visible when he isn't sure who has arrived.

Daft as ever

Finally and after many delay tactics, I did a pepper harvest. As mentioned, the weather has changed and I don't want to lose a whole harvest to frost. And what a harvest it was!

Pepper fest

I stopped picking at this stage as I knew I was going to struggle for time in getting them all processed. There is at least the same amount again in the garden but I simply cannot face another pepper for a few days. I pickled some (there are about another five jars in the pantry which I did after these two).

In a pickle

 I de-seeded and froze some.

De-seeding

I also roasted some (in the new stove obviously) and stored with roasted garlic, peppercorn and olive oil.

Roasted and steamed

So yes, we are not even close to finished at that stage however, I did finish what is in the bowl in the photo below on Monday.  We will be eating peppers for years!

Not even close to finished

So in other exciting news, IT IS ONLY A FEW MORE DAYS UNTIL HE IS BACK!!!!!!!

Sorry, but I have actually missed him a lot and cannot wait until Friday night and I will drive to Sofia to collect him at around midnight.  There is still a debate in my head about whether to take or leave the pups as it is such a long drive and as it will be night time they could probably sleep more than comfortably at home for 7 or 8 hours rather than being stuck in a  car. I will decide on the day. Next time I write will probably see this face feature a LOT.

The Beard

Off to eat the rest of my awesome casserole, cooked on my new awesome stove last night. Be good folks and I will see you all soon!

Leka nosht.

A xx