Looking for work

This is actually going to be a short update this week; I've barely taken any photographs as frankly you're probably all bored of pictures of snow by now and I know that we are pretty bored of being limited by its presence.

It has also been a pretty tough week for me as I've been quite down; I have decided for various reasons that I should probably start earning again soon and this has opened up the spectre of having to go away once more. I really REALLY don't want to have to go away at all. I have applied for several fully remote permanent jobs and the one that I really wanted decided that, as I'm not actually UK based, they aren't wanting to even talk to me. This is very frustrating and rather hard to understand but that's life. I spent all week pretty much being rather unhappy and focusing on having to leave but woke up yesterday morning to give my head a wobble and I think I've snapped out of it. What is the point in spending my time while I am here being sad and worrying about when I may not be able to be here. Just silly. Also there's been a few bits of bad news from several of our friends which has made both of us sad. So yeah, not too much to write about but let's get it done and posted.

A very messy chicken house to be cleaned out

Rambo watches on....

Nicely swept and ready for hay

My first hot chocolate

A with her surprise present

Having said all of that Tuesday was actually quite a busy day. We got up and tidied up the living room and also lit the fire up there to get the chill off. After this A went out to clean the chicken shed out, now we're pretty confident that our flock doesn't have bird flu, and what a difference that has made. The chooks are very happy to have deep hay to hide in. I was about to help her with that hay when I noticed a van stopped by our gate. It was a delivery of more fire wood however they had managed to get stuck on the ice. I used Thomas to tow them out and up the drive and then was rushing, as they threw the logs into the garage, to stack the logs up so we could still fit Thomas inside. I then had to tow them the entire way back along our front lane to the top of the village. All of this happened and there were no photographs taken at all as we were way too busy to think of the camera. We then had time to finish our tidying before Chaz and Ivan turned up which was a lovely visit. We went out for a kebab (I had a lovely hot chocolate or two) and then via the post office and ekont came back for a brew which was drunk sat upstairs for the first time for ages. They then had to scoot off but A was most impressed with one of the deliveries which was some lovely warm Hobbit Feet slippers. She has worn them almost continually since.

Snow falls again. Fortunately not very much but it did settle

Can you spot both the puppies. They are both visible

Wednesday was a write off for me - spent entirely sulking, looking for work, feeling sorry for myself, doing some modelling and generally not being very productive at all. Thursday it started snowing again. We couldn't really believe it and neither could the puppies who hid in their blankets on my lazy boy and refused to come out. Other than this excitement I was also pretty much focused on the job hunt and modelling - my days are running into each other in my memory and it is only the photographs that reminds me of what happened.

Twelve models assembled and painted to my satisfaction

Putting together another few

I'm sorry to bore you but Friday was pretty much the same. I was feeling a little less unhappy as I pulled out of the gloom as described and I had a good day at the modelling table, finishing off my warband of Hunter Orcs and getting a start assembling the next models I want to create. We did head into town to try and get A registered onto the Bulgarian Health Insurance thing however found that because her residency card isn't valid for long enough they would not let her sign up. Our translator was very surprised by this but the woman was pretty clear in her response. Back to the drawing board there. It was really cold all day, the thermometer on Thomas was down around -10 or -11 all the time.

Early morning view

Mist and smoke obscure the parents' hotel

"The Gap" - where the sun rises in the summer

Here it comes on this winter day

A sheet of ice over the tiles

Saturday dawned bright and early for me - I've been waking up before the sun comes up all week and heading downstairs early to get the fire lit and the room warmed up for A. I went onto the balcony with the camera for the first time in the week, a sign that I was starting to cheer up as there's been any number of opportunities for scenic shots that I have ignore this week. It was a glorious view and I stood as long as my bare feet could stand it on the ice. Stunning.

Rambo's run along the fence

A beautiful view from the lane across the valley

Puppies getting warm again

When we got back we took the puppies for a short walk up the village to the bin. Rambo's run along the side gate is so impressive through the snow, showing where he bounds up and down whenever we leave him alone. It was a lovely day, warm enough to not need our coats, and everywhere the snow was melting. After lunch we went for another walk but I didn't take the camera as one of the reasons for the walk was to recover the lens cap that had been dropped during the first walk and if we couldn't find it I didn't want to risk damaging the lens. I wished I'd taken it, however, as we walked over towards the headland and there were so many wild animal tracks in the snow. We're pretty sure one of them was a lynx as its cat-like paws were huge. The puppies and Rambo were having a ball and so were we; it was glorious and again very warm. Out there, however, the snow was still very deep. Maybe I'll see if those tracks are still there later today and take the camera as we did find the lens cap. When we got back the girls were straight into their cocoon on my chair again.

Foggy start to the day

It starts to burn off

Now the sun is shining and the sky is bright blue

It is still really cold though

Seamus' face melted off

And so we get to today. I was up again early and got the fire lit and this time managed to burn my finger on a log - idiot. A reminded me about the Aloe Vera plant I'd bought her and since rubbing its sap on the burn it is a whole lot better - amazing. It was a very cold one last night (we lit the fire in the bedroom which was awesome as you get to watch the movement of the flames on the roof and walls) and this morning there was freezing fog. I cooked us breakfast and then A has headed out to town to do some shopping. While she has been gone the sun has burned through the fog and it is a glorious day out there though not warm yet. The sun has had quite an effect on Seamus and his face has melted away.

I'm going to wrap this up now and do a few more bits and pieces around the place before A gets back.

Here's to finding a super remote permanent job so I don't have to be away for extended periods of time ever again.