It snowed

I'm back rather sooner than expected with a shorter update for you - dinner is currently sizzling away on top of the kitchen petchka and my stomach is grumbling so I'm going to do what I can before dinner and hopefully not have much left to finish afterwards. One really cool thing is that I have got the record player and amplifier back in business so we were able to put music on last night and can listen to more tonight - I hadn't realised quite how much I missed that. Anyway. Onwards.

Sunday evening

It's a short enough update for me to roughly do it by the days, for old times sake.

A's choice - toast to dip in olive oil and balsamic vinegar - lovely

Chicken strips with sesame, and A couldn't wait

Lambs' liver - on the menu as "plucks"

Gorgeous grilled vegetables

My choice of the Pork neck

Pork ribs which are superb as well

After I published the blog we went out for our dinner to our favourite restaurant which was lovely. The carpark was absolutely packed, there were even three coaches parked up, and the main hall was full of a function however we got our usual table and ordered a nice varied selection of dishes, all of which were very tasty indeed. We packed up quite a lot of meat to take back for the puppies and they really enjoyed it. We also found out about the new years eve offering down there and we are almost certainly going to get our tickets bought soon.

Monday

Monday was the last day our workman was going to be here before the forecast cold snap. The alarm was still set and it was still a shock to wake up. He is very good and just turns up and gets started at dead on 8am.

This washing did not stay out long

Low clouds obscuring the parents' hotel

Sassy sat on her hutch

Neco asked for a portrait

The chimney has been renewed

The small room is ready to be floored

Carefully covered to protect from snow

A was off into town to get some last bits and pieces before the weather changes and before she went she hung the washing out to dry on the line in the vain hope that it wouldn't rain. I was out there as she drove away pulling it in as the rain started immediately. It did dry well inside on racks next to the fire so not a problem. It was very low cloud and pretty grim all day and rained on and off but never heavily - just that drizzle that is depressing and gets you soaked. Inside Neco was finishing off everything he could of the walls and I think he's managed to get it all done - now he really needs to find a labourer to help with the floors. It's crossed my mind to offer to help myself but we'll see - if he isn't back and the weather warms up I may call him and suggest it. We covered over the var before he left so the snow wouldn't spoil it and then it was pay time and off he went. We had a lovely quiet evening watching CSI, playing with the puppies and relaxing and off to bed where I turned the alarm off with some relief.

Tuesday

And so we get to today and an unexpected awakening as my carefully turned off alarm from the night before turned out to still be on and it woke us up and, as is usual, this time we both were awake and got straight up. Typical.

Not heavy but still falling

Thelma hides under the rocking chair

A warming up after going outside

Thelma wants back in

Rambo and Louise are much happier in the snow

The pear tree in the chicken enclosure

Rambo catches a snow ball in his mouth

The chickens and ducks don't like snow

A large difference since the last update

Trying to get the sewing machine working

Very excited to check out her first baking

A rather impressive loaf

We'd been promised snow and a light dusting greeted us when we got downstairs. It kept falling very lightly for most of the morning. A had worked a bit on Monday to allow us to have today completely off from work and so we had a nice relaxing start to the day, getting the fire going and doing various bits and pieces inside and watching the snow fall. The puppies were not very impressed but Rambo was very pleased as he loves snow and particularly enjoys catching snowballs. The birds had refused to come out while snow was falling heavily but did emerge briefly - they are not fans at all. A got to finally have a go at two new toys today - she baked a loaf of bread in the bread-maker my mum gave us, and also managed to get her new sewing machine operating correctly. We also headed out as we were expecting a delivery from the UK however it has not arrived, though it was due by Saturday. I snapped a picture looking across the front just as a contrast to the one in the previous update - how fast it can change here.

Skillet sizzling on the kitchen petchka

Parsnip and carrot mash, potato and leek mash, and lamb cutlets

Louise grins

So I got to just before writing about today before dinner became ready and I had to take a short break. It was lamb with two different types of mash and it was lovely! Ironically having just sat here and typed about how nice it was to have the music back I almost forgot to put any on this meal but I remembered in time and saved the day. I do love it. After dinner we sat and listened to the remainder of the side and the puppies joined us. Louise really is so dangerously cute and she knows it - if you could bottle that cute you could make a fortune!

What have I been up to?

I've not been back into Room 13 since Sunday - what with Bekir not coming I've not felt the urge and also I've just been wanting to relax a little and have a short break. I'm certain I'll be back to it and finishing what I can, working on the raised beds as well, this week. I did get into the tool room and clean and tidy it out so it's ready for me to do the raised beds wood and I also hoovered the kitchen and cleaned up a bit but mainly I've been, you guessed it, modeling.

Earth colour painted on, and an extra lump of rock emerging

The courtyard has paving slabs scribed onto it

Real twigs used to model trunks supporting the stairs

Stairway carefully glued into place

Nearly completed the inside of the walls

A cut down tree, and shovels in the background

I'm trying to get my town walls diorama finished and so have been focusing on that and not doing any more painting of miniatures. Part of what I was expecting in the most recent delivery is the tool to enable me to make a start on the model railway diorama so I really hope that comes soon. Anyway, I've been practicing lots of techniques and found that while I was rubbish at static grass application with a little effort, a lot of YouTube watching, and some patience I can do it OK. I am really close to finished on this now, just a few little details which I should get completed tomorrow. I am proud of my steps as I really didn't know how they would turn out but particularly like the little detail of the cut down tree and the ditch being dug.

And so there you have it - a nice brief update for you today. Thanks for reading.

Workmen and other progress

What a week it has been, and continues to be. It seems like so long ago that I did the last update though I know it was only a few days really. We've both been very busy and so this Sunday afternoon has turned into a collapse session and much needed it is! So, what has been happening since the last update?

Room 13

First of all there is the progress that I have been making in Room 13. We need to get this done so we can move back up there as, nice as it is to have the computers down here, it is too tempting to sit at them of an evening.

Scraping the paint off the walls. Three years in to the task

Lots of mess during this job

Spray can fun working out where to run the power to

Marked out the ceiling for the light positions

I began the week having cleared the room out and on Tuesday went in to mark up the channel runs so I could drill them out and run cables. I got very little of this done, however, before I realised that I would have to scrape all the walls first as the loose paint was falling off and taking my careful markings with it. I spent the entirety of my energy for that day just doing this but it was much better at the end. I have been (with the help of many people) been scraping these walls in Room 13 since the first week of when I moved here - funny how some things take ages. The next day I shifted the scaffold in and used a spray can to mark up all of the positions for the lights and plugs and sockets so that I could get the drill out and get started on the main event. I found out fast that I needed the SDS for this as the smaller drill didn't have a chisel bit and it actually was quite a quick job; it was just unpleasant as there was loads of dust and also my hands kept vibrating with the tool even after I'd turned it off.

I need to do about ten or twelve of these

In the end it took two days to do all the drilling, because I was determined not to push too hard, and I eventually did the last channel, to get power to the lights above where my desk will be, while A shot a fantastic little video of me. Another job done and no injuries caused to myself. I was now left with the task of attaching the junction boxes for where I'm splitting power off to go to wall sockets and so yesterday I did four but I ran out of motivation, particularly as Bekir wasn't able to get in to remove the boiler and so I'm rapidly getting to a blocked position up there; hopefully he can come soon and I can the job done. I've not been back in that room today, apart from to close the windows, however I'll try and get motivated again tomorrow.

In the garden

Our forecast is for snow next week so we've been trying to take advantage of the sun while it remains shining and get the garden finally ready for winter. A has been leading this charge with me going out mainly to push wheelbarrows of manure around.

Drilling out holes in the duska

It's been wired onto the bottom of the gate

Now puppies can't get out quite as easily

Thelma stubbornly standing in the sawdust stream

Half a wood-worm

A load of chopped wood, and Thelma picking one for herself

Louise has been in heat for the past week or so and has been very insistent on going outside to see the little dogs from the farm down the road. It was only when she saw the tiny puppy trying to mount her that A realised, however, that he is a he. We've ordered our new gates but they won't be finished for months, and won't be fitted straight away either, so A took herself down to the gates and fitted some wooden flaps around the most open parts to prevent escapes (and stop other dogs coming in - I chased the big black dog off the land again and found he's dug under the fence so that has now been filled in with big rocks again). Louise now cannot fit out between the gates which is a relief. Another job is continuing to cut up the wood we collected from around our land last year and A has been making great progress here. With the temperature dropping we need to have plenty of intermediate sized wood to help us start our fires to stay warm.

Digging over the garden in the late afternoon sun

Another load of manure spread

A putting more manure around the bases of the trees

A nice load of manure to feed the tree in the spring

A final watering for this twig

Collecting fallen leaves from under the tea trees

A spreading bubble wrap around an olive tree

Tying it in place to stop it spreading

Leaves to cover the bubble wrap

A lovely warm blanket to keep our little trees happy

In the garden A has dug over and manured two of the four beds now and they are looking nicely prepared for next year. I still haven't done any more on the raised bed however I will need to get that done sooner rather than later as we have lots of progress on the seedling front (more of which later). One of the main tasks on the list has been to prepare our trees for winter and so today we finally got ourselves outside to do it. I was bringing wheelbarrows of manure from the village pile while A spread them around the base of each tree and then watered it in. The olive trees got a slightly different treatment as after the manure was on she covered it with bubble wrap, loosely tied in place around the stakes to help hold the tree up, and then covered this with leaves. After this we went round all the other trees and put leaves over their manure also. Hopefully this will prevent the roots from freezing and also will feed the trees as the leaves and manure rots down.

Builders!

One very exciting thing about this week is the return of builders. Finally. We had a message from The Other Brother saying "your builders are coming tomorrow" so the alarm was set and at 8am they both arrived and got stuck in.

Starting to take old plaster down

A lot of the plaster is very rotten indeed

One more load of rubble is removed

The old floor was 10mm of concrete on top of dirt

The breaker comes out again

Making a start on the bigger room

A sand delivery is made

Resting in the warm sun for a bit

Good progress being made on the walls

The task is to make the Men's Room, and the little room next door, habitable and prevent the dust and damp that currently plagues those two rooms. They had to remove the rotten plaster and also dig out the existing dirt floor and then replace it all with a properly insulated concrete floor and new walls. We only had two workers for two days as on Saturday our main man turned up alone saying his mate had a bad stomach and today again he's on his own, however the progress is pretty good. They have dug out all the floor in the little room, ripped all the rotten plaster off the walls, and now Neco is putting concrete onto the walls to strengthen them and seal them. There is still a lot to do and I think he may well pause soon until he can get another labourer to help as digging out that floor on your own, pushing the barrow with the spoil to our spoil dump, all on your own is a very tall order. He's expecting the snow on Tuesday and expecting to have to stop work for a bit then which is why he has worked both days of the weekend.

General stuff

Other than all of this rushing around with the building it has been a rather lovely week this week. Cold at times but also really warm when the sun has been out.

The sun just burning through the fog

Sheep glistening in glimpses of sunshine

A beautiful rustic view

Foggy distant ridge

Front lawn green once more

The sun as it sinks at the end of the day

Crocuses putting in an appearance

The general pattern of the days this week has been very heavy fog in the mornings which has burned off just before lunch time to leave beautiful blue skies and a hot sun. This has helped us as A has been able to do her work during the day (she's been VERY busy in her paid job this week) and then get out into the warmer weather once she finishes up there. The land is looking rather beautiful as well, and the grass has gone green very quickly with the renewed moisture. I managed to get a picture of a few of the crocuses that grow under the Tea Trees before the chickens and ducks destroyed them like all the rest with their scratching - this area may well have to be fenced off as "out of bounds for poultry" next year.

A load of green shoots have appeared

Even more green shoots here

Just a few tiny ones in this pot

I think this is a mole cricket?

As previously mentioned A's seedlings have been doing really well. We have loads of shoots appearing and I've just checked round and there are even more now that have come up since I took these pictures. This puts a good pressure on me to get the nursery raised beds built as we'll need to house all of these soon enough. While she was digging and watering outside this week A also found this bug which I think is a mole cricket. If it is then the fact that it is dead is no bad thing as they are voracious.

Puppies

As per usual the puppies have provided us with entertainment (and annoyance - I had to go into the guest room one night as Louise was disturbing me too much) all week.

Louise finds a warm place

Chewing a bone nearly as big as her

Thelma will not let go

Look at the mess I have made!

Louise does a dance for Rambo, who isn't impressed

The sisters nap together

Getting comfortable for a Sunday afternoon snooze

Louise has taken to climbing the stairs to the very top step and sleeping there. This is a very smart move when you think about it as heat rises and so that is probably the warmest place in the room apart from their other favourite haunt which is right underneath the fire. This is particularly true as we've begun to winter-proof the house (including hanging curtains) and we are shutting the hatch during the day. One thing that they both love is a good bone and they had one each on Tuesday. Thelma did manage to chew it to bits all over the new rug which was funny. Louise has two boyfriends, not just the little boy from the farm but Rambo and she has been hanging out with him a lot all week. He, of course, can't do anything about it. Oh well. Just now, while I've been typing this, A has been getting a well deserved nap on my lazy-boy and the girls decided to join her and climbed under the light blanket and fell asleep there. Bless them.

My week

And finally... I've done a good amount of modelling this week but also I headed over to Yambol to visit the accountant and sign off all the details around my trip to Belgium. This was on Wednesday and it was an early start but ended up being a relatively painless process and I was home by 3pm before it got dark. I've no pictures from that day (I did see loads of birds of prey as I was driving but no chance to get a picture) so here's my modelling update.

This picture is for my Dad to show him me working in detail

Some firewood bark glued to the base

All ten spears done

The city walls, from the inside

Some rocks, a cliff and a tree stump

Set up for our game, which A won

As well as painting up miniatures, which I've done a bit of this week, I've been working mainly on a city wall diorama. This has helped me try out many different techniques including making spears from copper electrical wire, two basing methods, dry brushing, painting bark to look like stone and an attempt to model paving stones. It's still a way off completed however it's coming on well and my ideas for the story behind the scene are also solidifying as I create. We got a chance, last night, to have a quick game as well which was great fun and made use of some of the scenery I've been making. I cannot wait to get the next delivery from Dostavki as it will include my hot wire cutting tools I hope and then I can get a start on the railway scene.

And so I will leave you and reward those who got to the very end of this update with a picture of embers glowing in our kitchen petchka while our food cooks in the oven next to it. I love this life.

A lovely glowing fire