This is my blog about emigrating to Bulgaria. It starts with the idea and will take you through all the steps I am taking to create my new life in this wonderful idyllic country. Thank you for reading.
Please make use of the comments box to ask questions or suggest blog subjects too :)
So obviously we didn't have workmen on Monday; I had a call at 8.20am from Bekir saying they would be back today, on Wednesday. I had slept very VERY badly the night before (I actually got up at midnight and worked until 5.30am as I got fed up trying to sleep) so it wasn't the worst thing to not have the men around.
The men return, Sally working in the top corridor
Sally gets stuck in to priming
Sally plasters
Bekir reinforcing the porch roof
Sealing and closing the gap
Repairing tiles
Today, however, Bekir and Sally (only) were back; Halil was off to his college and the wood guy hadn't come back but maybe tomorrow I hope. We had some tasks lined up for Bekir not in the top corridor while Sally got stuck in doing the priming of the walls (until he ran out of primer) and then he started plastering what bits he could. Bekir was fixing the top of the toilet shed to the wall with silicon and then skimming it again, and also working on the roof of the porch to do the same thing, before he went onto the balcony to fix the broken tiles and generally seal it for winter.
Distant rainbow
The day was a really busy one for me but they cracked on throughout and hopefully tomorrow will see the priming finished and more plastering done, the balcony completed and some blinds put up in Angela's Art Room and the Games Room. We shall see. We did get hold of the window people finally and they should be out next week to do the urgent jobs we have for them, and before the end of the year the glazing should all be done. Today has been a generally sunny day but I'll leave you with a picture of a rainbow in the distance.
I've decided to do this update in hope and expectation that the men DO come back tomorrow and so this is the end of the week off. I wanted to do this anyway as we've actually been quite productive and also I won't want to type for hours tomorrow evening. So this is a clear the decks for the past week, and fingers crossed I'm back tomorrow with more.
Sanding down the table
Rosie helps me assemble book cases
Stored in the gym
First thing to talk about is we did start sanding down the dining room table. I got some really good disc patches and they worked very well in the end. Since the first few sessions I've done nothing more, really, as I now need to either take the legs off, or turn the table, so I can sand all the rest and I got distracted with other tasks. What distracted me was the delivery of five more book cases for the library. I've put one up a day every day, apart from Wednesday when I was not feeling very well and had an early night, and Rosie has helped me (and actually helped - she put the dowels in the holes, helped push some of the metal catches into place - she's a star) and now as I type this I have only one more remaining before they are all assembled. Very satisfying.
Clearing the raised beds
Potting out seedlings
As well as this progress inside Angela has been making huge steps outside; she has cleared out some raised beds and started off a load of seedlings on kitchen roll inside which has produced about 60 cabbages and other assorted winter veg. Rosie helped her put these into seed trays (and again, she did help as she was responsible for sticking her finger in to make a hole.. sometimes) and they are now growing well outside. More flowers arrived for our little garden by the path and today the number of butterflies and bees around them was purely amazing; check the short video to see.
Beautiful sunrise
A bit of a misty one
Storm clouds over the school
Rainbow in the distance
I'll leave you with a few pictures of the weather and sky this week; we've had a very changeable week with very hot days, and then rain and storms and cold weather as well. Autumn is truly upon us.
Here's hoping that tomorrow I'm back with another update; if I am not you know they didn't arrive.
Welcome back to the final blog post for a week; next week the men are having holiday.
Beautiful sun rise
Halil mixing cement
Breaking up the small bits
Sally and Halil cover the door
Halil repairing the walls
Bekir doing a little electrical work
Sally finishing up the ceiling
The day dawned again cooler and again we sat on the balcony after the watering and enjoyed some time of Rosie running around, watching the sun come up. The men arrived on time and set to work, Halil and Sally mixing up more cement while Bekir got Salet (I think that's his name) going again in the wood pile in the chicken house. With cement prepared the plastic needed to be hung to protect the doors so they could get on with the rest of the repairs. Sally was back up the scaffold working on the ceiling and getting very close to completely finished by lunch time. Indeed, he stayed a little late and did the final polishing before going for his break.
Ready for sanding tomorrow
Cleaning and repairing the floor
Sally climbs down for the final time this week
Cutting our own wood
Looking up at the house
Top corridor drying
Dinner in the lounge
After lunch I had the men help me move the new pool, and then Bekir helped me shift the dining table into the garage. We have some Danish Oil to work into it as it's getting quite jaded and we'll do it out in the garage because of the smell. After this Bekir fixed up some gaps in the floor with cement and tiles and Sally got the final bits of the wall repaired then it was all hands on deck tidying. Outside the new guy was working away reducing the pile of wood to usable lengths. I reached the end of my work day, a long week it has been but successful, and went and lay on the grass in front of the house and relaxed for a bit, then spent time with Rosie. We checked out the state of the upstairs corridor and both wowed at it - it does look great. Because the dining table is in the garage we had our dinner in the lounge on one of the gaming tables which was rather nice.
Wood delivery
After dinner, just before we put Rosie to bed, another wood delivery arrived. Rosie was so tired (and so are we) that she went down very early so I've got the blog done, got a little hobbying to do, then it'll be an early one for me as well.
Thanks for reading; back soon, but not sure how soon.
Welcome back to another update, and another busy day for everyone, even Rosie.
Sunrise again glorious
Halil shifting cement while the wood gets sorted
Sally brings the mortar back to life
Back to ceiling repair
A little electrical work in the library
It was again cooler to start, with cloud, and the sun rise had to be photographed during the morning watering round. The men arrived on time and brought another worker who got stuck in to the pile of wood however we worked out we had been short-changed on the delivery so the "missing" cube or so is going to arrive tomorrow I think. We cleared the wood store of all the junk that was stacked there and then the task of stacking (and splitting the oversized logs) began. While Halil and Bekir were doing the clearing Sally got stuck into the mixing of the mortar to get back to repairing the ceiling in the corridor. He's cracked on very well with this today, as well, and it should be complete for tomorrow. Bekir had worked out why the power kept tripping so much yesterday and decided to run a new cable for the light in the library which he did before lunch.
Wall repairs as well
Splitting oversized logs
On with the upstairs corridor
All the wood, stacked away
Starting on our own wood
End of day result
Dusty dirty work
Upstairs Halil was labouring for Sally but also getting some patching of his own done on the walls. Outside the progress was incredible and shortly after lunch it was all but done, he'd raked up all the small bits of bark and stones and left the area cleaner than before the wood was dropped. Brilliant work. With the light downstairs completed including plastered over Bekir went back to the upstairs corridor and got stuck in there while the final wood was stacked. When this was completed we pointed the guy at the big pile of wood in the chicken house and he started cutting it with the chainsaw. By the end of the day he'd made a dent and hopefully the guy will be back tomorrow to finish this and, if our missing wood arrives, split and stack that as well. Inside the men were still working away, with Halil and Bekir tidying while Sally carried on repairing. It is a big job, this part of the renovation.
Relaxing on the balcony after work
Out for dinner
Angela had been back to the clinic again with Rosie and I think we're all but all set for school now which is great. After I finished work I legged it to town to collect the thick carpet underlay we ordered for the library then I spent some lovely time with Rosie on the balcony. We then went for food at a local cafe which was really lovely and now we're back and Rosie is asleep so I've been able to get this update written.
Hello and welcome to the update for today, Wednesday and hump day as we begin the slide down towards the weekend.
The sun peeks between two clouds
All around view from the balcony
Three men back at work in the top corridor
Sally applies cement to the ceiling
Bekir working in the library
The day dawned much cooler than previously, definitely with an autumnal chill in the air, and with lots of black clouds over the back of the land towards the north. We spent some time on the balcony before breakfast, after watering the plants, then Angela went out with Rosie to the clinic and I went to work while the workmen got stuck in with their jobs (Halil was back again today) with Sally starting to repair the ceiling while Halil supported and did some wall repairs and Bekir worked on the electrics. Sally spent all day working up the scaffold putting cement onto the ceiling and it is a slow and difficult job as the ceiling is wobbly and uneven and he cannot get into an easy rhythm of work. Bekir for his part finished the tasks on the top corridor and went down to keep working on the electrics in the library, wiring up the lights to the switch so now we have working lights in there; he also tripped the main power about ten times which caused outrage for Rosie when her one and only TV show time was interrupted, and left me happy with my UPS purchase as it kept everything safe and running when the power kept flickering.
Delivery of firewood finally
Sally at the end of the day
Halil sweeping up
Sunset
Just before the men left we finally had our delivery of 5 cube of oak for winter so that's a task now for the next few days. Sally had been grinding away on the roof, a thankless task indeed, and Halil was sweeping and cleaning up after the messy jobs that had been worked on today. Just now after dinner I went out and started sorting some of the wood into "needs splitting more" and "OK to stack" as hopefully Hikmet will be back tomorrow and will be able to get stuck in to this task for us. The sunset was gorgeous again and I had to go onto the roof terrace for the picture.
So there you are; another day done. Back tomorrow.
