Working, London and a birthday

It's been a while since I updated as I've been so incredibly busy with work. I actually haven't got all that many photographs or videos at all from the last ten days as it feels like all I've done is travelled or sat at this desk. Now I am sat back at this desk for you lovely people getting this update written. I hope you appreciate it.

Tomatoes and peppers from the garden

One batch completed

A box full of beer

Goodness inside

A bearded man with a beardy bottle of beer

Out for dinner again

My Beef Iskander

She got pancakes with chocolate sauce

The update is bookended by tomatoes. Lots of tomatoes. Our raised beds (and the long bed down the side of the fenced garden) have started producing a huge harvest. These pictures are from a week ago last Monday and as I type this A is making more preserve to follow this lot. I'll get involved once we have to take green tomatoes off as I want to make some more chutney this year. I had another awesome arrival as well that day as my beers from Islay Ales arrived after being safely couriered across Europe. These have now gone into storage to wait for cold weather and Christmas. I was working all day, which will become a refrain during this update, and we headed out for dinner to have Iskander and Kunefe. Unfortunately they didn't have Kunefe (which outraged A) however she made do with some very lovely pancakes.

Getting ready to start on this

The Beorn as Man figure

A beautiful sunset

I've got a picture of a lovely sunset from the Tuesday, as well as evidence that I tried to do some hobbying that day, gluing together the Beorn and Bear model which A is going to be using once I've finished it. On the Wednesday we had a delivery of wood, the second batch, which Bekir came over with and we dumped outside the garage for us to eventually store inside as our long term supply. And that is it, other than working. I really was very busy in the job I'm doing at the moment and it was a bit rubbish with me stuck to this computer and A sat downstairs.

Sat on the 5am bus again

The seat I always get

First night dinner

I'm a trend setting hipster, donchaknow

An awesome and exciting group of people

Two colleagues hard at work

The alarm went off at 4am on Thursday morning as once again I was getting the early bus to Sofia to fly to the UK, though this time to London for business. The bus journey was pretty scary as the driver kept trying to over take on blind hills and corners and having to swerve to avoid killing us (and oncoming traffic) and then on the flight just as I managed to drop off some kid came screaming up the aisle, stopped, and yelled back at his dad and so I was rather shattered by the time I arrived at my hotel, post train and underground. I had a shower, a nap, then made it into the office for a brief conversation with the guys there before taking myself for beer, a burger and a read. The next day was the beginning of the main meetings and I was most impressed with my "hipster laptop bag" (seeing as we were in Shoreditch) but less so with the breakfast. The next two days passed in a blur of meetings and discussion but were so super productive and it felt really worth while having travelled over. We went out for a meal on the Friday night to a very nice restaurant and after that had a few beers at a pub as well.

It rained. Hard.

Thelma doesn't like thunder storms

Melon grown in our garden, and Oranges - A trying to keep me healthy

Home made bread butty, brought to my desk

She's an artist!

A celebration whisky that the week is over (for a day)

All in all it was a great weekend but by the time I got on the plane back home, after a 2am taxi pickup for a 3.30am bus to Gatwick, I was pretty tired. Sadly once again I struggled to sleep on the flight and then on the bus as the air conditioning on the bus didn't work when the bus was driving fast (and they do like to drive fast). Still I was home half an hour ahead of schedule and so happy to be back. After a shower the first thing we did was get into the pool and we lay there for a fair while relaxing and enjoying being together again. The next day it rained and rained all day, with a storm as well (which Thelma was very unimpressed about) but I didn't see much of it as I had entered into my really busy schedule of 14-16 hour days that I have kept, with barely a break, on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday this week. It was worth it as I was able to demo the software I was writing yesterday afternoon and people seemed very impressed. A has taken the week off which is frustrating as I'm so busy however she has discovered an incredible talent for drawing and has produced loads of superb artwork through the week. Such a talent!

A getting ready to unwrap her presents, with help

Sat on the balcony having a brew together

We're about to harvest all them there tomatoes

All of them!

Mixing up a storm

And so to this morning and what a morning it was. It is A's birthday today and so I woke her with coffee, puppies, and pressies in bed. You wouldn't really have known who was supposed to be unwrapping the presents as Thelma in particular did most of the tearing. She then settled down to chew and all the bits of paper while A relaxed and we both laughed at them. Such funny girls. For the first time for ages A and I went onto the balcony with our morning brews and sat and enjoyed the warmth, peace and quiet, and relaxation. It was lovely. Then it was time to go out and harvest the tomatoes which I mentioned earlier. We managed to get a lot, and there are loads still not ripe (and even some flowers still blooming!). Before she got on with processing them, and I came upstairs to type this, we went onto the patio with a brew and A played tug with both Rambo and the girls. They love that toy! Since then I've quickly typed this and A has put two HUGE pans of tomatoes on to cook down. Brilliant.

I'm going to leave this there; it a few hours SandS turn up to puppy sit and we head out to a hotel for the night and I cannot wait! I'll see you again next time, thanks for reading.

How long? (post by A)

Exactly three years, is the answer.

The question? How long ago did I leave London for  Bulgaria?

Three years have flown by and I can hardly begin to tell you what a great decision it was. There have been rough, smooth, funny, sad and all that comes in between; not to mention, damned hard work. However, if you asked me to do it again I would, in a heartbeat.

We have gone from this:

Old, Old School

To this, in under three years; what a transformation! This does not show any of the internal work and is merely the tip of the iceberg. What a journey.

New, Old School

The only internal photo I will put up today is the one of Christmas in the new living room, which is still a wonderful room and one which we really need to make more use of, now that our living space is growing - I guess that is the problem when you have so many rooms to choose from.

Cosy at Christmas

Life could not be better. This is obviously aided by my lovely Beard - what a great idea he had that day when he asked me to come and join him. I am sure there have been times when he wished he hadn't and I am sure there are times when he is very glad.  The important thing is that we make it through all of those times and it just gets better each day.  Look at us, how can it have been anything but a good move?

New Year's Eve

Enjoying some music

We are a little cold here

Going to the beach!

Amidst the work, the blood, the sweat and the tears we still manage to have a bit of fun, which is exactly what life should be about.  I think we have it nailed.  What a team.

Snow angels, in a vest

This warms my heart

Pepper lady

Enjoying the view

Ming, the climbing chicken

Three years. THREE. I cannot even tell you how much it only feels like yesterday. Packing in my job (one which I loved) and my flat (which I also loved) was a huge step, way back then and it was terrifying. I needn't have wasted any of those sleepless nights at all.  Here is to many, many more with my wonderful Beard and the little animal family.

I will leave you with the obligatory sunset picture; one which is beautiful on screen and breathtaking in real life.

Amazing

Food, pools and wood

Hopefully this update will be a short one; we've had quite a busy day today and both of us are exhausted - I just took a power nap and A is still asleep as I start typing this. I'll break it up into sections as I sometimes do. I'm praying that the clouds that have rolled in today (though the promised for cooler weather with those clouds hasn't come) drop lots of rain so we don't have to water. There's been barely a dribble so far though.

While I was away

I have a number of pictures taken by A while I was away over last weekend which I did want to share; most of the photographs, to be fair, were of Thelma or Louise, or both Thelma and Louise however who can argue with that.

A's excellent idea to go for a kebab

Puppies tired after their 4am start to get me to the bus

Thelma saying hello to me

A about to stack lots of wood

One of several batches of tomatoes to be processed

The Little Lady, Usmivka and their daughter and son in law

The first picture is of me on the day before I went as we went out for a kebab which I had forgotten about. I do love those kebabs there. And so the next day we were both up early and out to get me to my morning bus and while I travelled all day A worked and the puppies rested. They wanted to say hi to me so A sent me some pictures which was very lovely to received. On the Saturday A hit a really super productive streak and was out early stacking the wood which I had sorted for her before I left and then, this completed, she harvested a load of tomatoes and turned them into sauce for the freezer. Unfortunately something that she did that day really hurt her back and so she was in agony for days; it's actually only just got better following advice from one of her friends on some stretches to do. I was very firmly advising her to rest it so thankfully she listened and didn't hurt it worse. She did get invited over to the neighbours as the daughter, who has lived away in Europe for many years, is back over for a visit right now. I've yet to get over to meet them so hopefully that will be this week. Finally a video of Thelma being very vocal over her toy; she does love that tug toy, though it is now falling apart quite badly.

The heat, the drums

And so I got home and was happy to be home and it's been pretty awesome since. Home is definitely where the heart is.

Super happy to be home again

A table full of awesome food, or it was a while before anyway

Sunset, and not a cloud in sight

Starting to clean the pool out

Emptied and ready for washing

The wash commences

Getting a swim in the puppies water bowl

On Wednesday (I having got home late-ish on Tuesday) we went out for our dinner to our favourite restaurant and for the first time for years we sat in the big main hall to eat. It was a lovely meal, I went for my old selection from when I was house-hunting all those years ago and A went for our current and enduring favourite of Lamb in the Oven. The puppies were very pleased with the meat we took back for them. I was sadly back to work immediately though my week was a tough one as I was tired from the travelling so I don't have much to show from during the week however the heat was up and the sunsets were stunning. A's back slowly got better through the week and on Thursday she was able to get into the pool to clean it as it had got quite minging. I helped to empty it after she had scrubbed the grit and bits off the floor then she got the hose and washed it all down. We set the hose to refilling it immediately but our water pressure was low so it took until Friday to fill. One little creature was not prepared to wait; when we went to bed on Thursday night I noticed a frog swimming in the dog bowl in our temporary bedroom!

Back in the pool and loving it

What a gorgeous sunset once again

Final wood is ready for putting away, of this batch at least

Puppies watching us eating doughnuts

When the pool was finally filled we did not wait around but jumped straight in; it was absolutely lovely, having filled slightly slower so the temperature was perfect even though it hadn't been sat in the sun long. We actually went in the pool three times on Friday and twice more on Saturday to make the absolute most of the heat before the forecast change today. There was another glorious sunset on Friday which I headed onto the roof terrace to photograph and I'm sure last night was the same but I missed it. After that sunset shot I was outside sorting the last of the wood for A to stack into the wood store; we have arranged for our next delivery to occur on Monday so the same again will be arriving. A had been shopping for us in the morning so when we settled down with our books and a cuppa in the evening we had a doughnut each, the puppies were most unimpressed that we ate while they had to watch.

BBQ Sauce arrived safely

The scenario I've been waiting to play

My scenery looking the part

The winner with her prize

Another table set up for battle

This is Louise's way of lying when she's too hot

Close combat between Elves and Corsairs

Saturday was a really awesome day from start to finish. As already described we were in the pool a couple of times which was perfect but we also got a delivery from the UK of some awesome BBQ sauce from my friends at Islay Ales. After collecting this A and I played a scenario of SBG that I've wanted to have a go at for ages; it was a very quick game as she rolled as well as she could and I didn't have a chance but it was such fun to use my scenery finally. She won some Norwegian chocolate which I'm hoping she'll still share with me. After this I set up another board and we began a points match game which we played until we decided to pause. In the evening we ate burgers with the last of the original BBQ sauce, watched Face/Off (which is just as close to a "favourite film" as I have) and then finally ended the day sat on the balcony watching shooting stars and drinking tea. Wonderful. I do love this place; days like those are so valuable to me right now!

A day trip

We always say we need to get out into the surrounding area more than we do and so this morning we packed ourselves into the car, after our chores were completed, and took a really enjoyable drive through several areas that we have not explored before.

The tortoise sat in the middle of our gate

He was not pleased to be lifted out of the way

Some hunter had left a cache in the forest

A beautiful peaceful valley we found

Heavy traffic on the roads we were driving along

Another view down a valley towards distant mountains

The castle we climbed up to with my parents a few weeks back

An artist at work

What a beautiful picture this is!

On the way out of our gate I stopped to move a huge tortoise that was in the way; what a beast! We were driving around for about four or five hours, including several stops for short strolls, and found some beautiful spots, some truly peaceful areas, and drove up a few very interesting logging tracks as we followed the satnav along our rough route planned in ten minutes before we left. It was a really lovely way to spend the morning, and the puppies enjoyed sniffing all the smells every time we got out of the car. We were up in the serious hunting areas and found a cache of some sort (I didn't move the tarpaulins just in case) at one of our stop points. The views in a lot of places were stunning. We live in a beautiful part of the world. We got back much later than expected as we'd been having so much fun while we were out and we were both absolutely exhausted. We had lunch, finished our game off (after terrible luck with the dice on Saturday A managed to cut through my models very quickly today but not quite quick enough and I managed to pull a win out of the bag at the end) and then it was time for a rest. I only power napped and got up to do this update and since I've been writing A has joined me in Room 13 and has done a lovely picture with pastels.

Still no rain....

It still hasn't rained, though; we'll have to go do the watering anyway soon.

So there you are; another week gone. I'll be back again as soon as I can, but the next update will not be from me as tomorrow is a very important date!