Awesome weekend, and storage

Once again we reach Monday and I'm back with an update. It was a great weekend so let's get into it.

Family outing about to kick off

Rosie wishes these were real sweets

About to tuck into our lovely lunch

Starship about to go to space!

Rosie looking at me through her magnifying glass

Rosie's big eye!

Saturday was a long anticipated and planned  trip to JUMBO for some Christmas shopping. This is a nice family tradition we have started mainly to get out as a family and also we wanted to pick up some decorations. We had a lovely day, Rosie was very good and enjoyed it a lot. We spent more than we should, but bought more awesome than we should (but you'll have to wait until December 1st to see it) and then went for our lunch at the Italian restaurant which was lovely as always. I drove us back and we got back five minutes before Starship's launch target time so Rosie and I sat on the sofa, and Angela joined us as well to watch the launch. There was much cheering and excitement as it took off. Great memories made! After that there was lots of play time (I went onto the treehouse with her, had some swing time and other fun) and she also played with one of her purchases which was a magnifying glass. Great fun.

Rosie with our new reindeer and sleigh

The new posters are getting framed

Sunday I have few pictures however it was another good day with a trip out with Rosie around lunch time to pick up a Christmas Decoration that Angela had seen in town and wanted. There was time for swinging and play time, and Rosie and Angela had some lovely time together as well. I took some time to prepare my posters for framing on the roof stairs and they are all set now to be put up.

Filling up our gas bottles

Halil does some final touching up

A space cleared for the shelving units

Shelves fitted and unit secured to the wall

Halil gets paint on the walls finally

Finally we get to today. The morning felt like very little happened with the men, but then I was super busy with various meetings and going to the bank. About the only thing I caught was Halil patching up some more of the gaps where they fixed the cracks. Bekir cleared away by the wall in the playroom and then me and him carried the three new units down to check the fit and work out where the extra shelf is going to go. For the rest of the day Bekir was working on securing the IKEA shelving, and also putting up an extra shelf above. There is now loads of storage for Rosie and her toys. Halil was assisting and also doing some painting in the playroom. I think we really are close to finished now, thank goodness!

Painting pallets for Christmas

Lots of cuddles

Beautiful sunset as we swung

After school me and Rosie were out on the patio as I painted some pallets. I'm making a solid heavy base to strap the reindeer and sleigh to so it won't blow away. I began by trying with spray paints but that really didn't work so Angela grabbed some external paint from the little shop and we got two coats done before finishing up. Rosie was cuddling Dutch while watching me and then we went for a swinging session and enjoyed the amazing sunset before heading inside for some book time before dinner.

So there it is. That was the weekend and today. Thanks for reading and back tomorrow.

A crazy weekend, and Monday

What a weekend it has been. I'm going to get right into it as this is going to take some time I think.

Can you spot the frog?

It went right inside

First of all however while watering I spotted an interloper in one of our watering cans; this little frog was sat right on top looking at me however as I moved to get a picture it dropped down inside to hide. As of today however it has moved out.

Hitting the road in Thomas

The amphitheatre is looking run down and dangerous

Beautiful view across the valley

The fallen down building is still standing, just

A stunning autumn display

Down the dirt track towards The House..

... which is no longer there!

Rosie with her sausage and chips.. kinda

Sliding fun

Dutch with his new toy

Asleep after playing

Saturday was an epic day. Once we got ourselves all together I jumped in Thomas with Rosie and we headed out for a drive. We were aiming for The House (very long term readers may remember this as a place I've tried to buy a few times but always failed) via a mountain pass with some interesting sights on the way. We stopped at the old amphitheater but sadly it wasn't possible to get inside any more. Next up was another property we have tried to find the owners for in the past but failed; it was a glorious day and the view from there was enough to make me think about trying again. From there we drove onwards, up the windy narrow road and down the super bumpy dirt track before arriving at the turning circle by "The House" to find that it has been knocked down and the whole plot recently fenced in with some fruit trees planted all over it! Oh no! After this visit we headed back to the local town for some lunch, which was ok but not great, then spent an enjoyable time in a park with a bucket swing, some slides and other cool apparatus. Then it was back on the road heading home, via a stop at a garden centre for a load of compost for the raised beds. We got back in time to have a lovely play with Dutch, and gave him his new toy. Then he fell fast asleep on the step.

The first long raised bed is completely full

More plants for Rosie

Sunday was when things got interesting this weekend. Angela was out and planting lots of seedlings in the raised beds, including new ones in Rosie's little area and we are already almost out of space in all the raised beds so I'll be needing to assemble and fill yet another one soon. I popped out into town briefly (or so I thought) before lunch only for the gear stick to break in Betty as I was trying to leave the carpark of the hardware store. I couldn't select reverse and forward gear was only 3rd. A friendly local pushed me out of the space (I was nose in) and then I limped over to the mechanic who was able to arrive just after Angela got there to collect me. He took her in and we went home. Drama over? Oh no. Later on Angela noticed that Thelma was dropping blood and she very sensibly did a lot of research and found that this could be a very serious issue. We rang the vet and arranged an appointment for 6pm for her to be seen and potentially have an operation.

In our ring side seats before the show started

Rosie with her bag of popcorn

Right up in the rafters on some cloth!

Rosie doing her "tightrope" walk

Another short ride on a pony

New noisy toy

Swinging from a ring only by her feet

We then had a rest and had decided to not go to the circus with Rosie as Rosie was feeling a little unwell however she woke from her nap so cheerful that I said I'd take her on my own, while Angela took Thelma to the vet. This is what we did, the circus was not the same one as last two times and wasn't quite as good I didn't think but we did enjoy it and the two younger members were amazing - the girl did some high wire and rope tricks that were astounding, and the young guy did juggling and other tricks that were also great. At one point Rosie went out into the arena to walk the "tightrope" which was fun, and at the half way break she again got to ride a pony around the arena and get a picture. In the second half I got my chance in the limelight as I was called up with three other men, had to dance around the edge of the arena (yes... dance!) and then they did a trick where we all sat on stools, laid back and braced ourselves, and they removed every stool from under us! My legs hurt for hours afterwards. Rosie got a new sword that lit up and played sounds and we got home just after Angela. Thelma, it turned out, did have the potentially life threatening illness and the vet had kept her in to do emergency surgery and we were to collect her in the morning.

Taken the canula (??) out

Thelma getting cuddles

We both took Rosie to school this morning, stopped off for breakfast (which we have missed for the last couple of weeks) and then headed to the vet for Thelma. She was so happy to see us (having spent the night in a cage near cats, which she hates!) but is so weak it's really sad to see. She's now got sole use of the fenced area by the fire so she has space to recover as she has stitches in and they won't be taken out until Thursday. Poor little thing, it's so unusual to see her so lethargic.

Getting set to with more shelving

A new leg was required

Super long screws to hold it secure

Everything is now level

Drilling to secure the work top

The men today worked more in the workshop, though less got done than I expected. They did fit the rest of the shelves around the table saw, which involved lots of measuring and trimming and sanding, and once that was done they got onto the shelf for the mitre saw. They had to put another steel leg in place, which also slowed them down of course, and did make a couple of miscalculations for the height of the saw, but by the end of the day this is almost done. I'm really hoping tomorrow is the final day for working on this.

They are inseperable

I'll leave you with this picture and a couple of videos to show how well Dutch is settling in. He very nearly got renamed today to Bilbo but Rosie changed her mind and now that's set in stone. Honest.

There it is. Thanks for reading this epic update. Back tomorrow.

Roadtrip

Where did I leave you? Ah yes, leaving Belgium on Friday morning.

Up and at it at 6am, we packed the final bits and bobs for my journey into the car, I checked I had all I needed food wise close to hand and then we both set off. Himself on his bike and me shouting "faster, faster" at him until finally he couldn't keep up. I was off and headed home!

I would just like to say at this point that I had a wonderful birthday and was spoiled rotten by an amazing boyfriend.

Ok, enough soppiness.

As we left the sun was starting to rise. A perfect start and sadly my photo does not do it justice, but I can be forgiven as I was driving.

Sunrise

Pat and I went at it and before I knew it I was beyond Frankfurt. Normally this stretch of road is quite busy and you get to see a plane or two taxiing over the motorway bridge runway. Not this time. This time I thought I recognised the bridge but very soon, I was beyond it and traffic was flowing normally. This was a real bonus, but sadly means I did not get to take the photos I said I would for the Beard. I stopped soon after for fuel and lunch in what I think was the hotel we slept in on one of our trips and where I left my comfortable pillow. I seem to remember the car park and the buffet type restaurant.  I had some (very salty) Indonesian noodles.

Lunchtime filler

I drove on and on at as steady a pace as I could, just around 75mph. Disaster struck. About 70km outside Nuremberg, here exactly, Pat flashed her "Stop" and battery warning light. I was lucky enough to be about 400m from a parking section off the motorway and I hesitated, wondering what was going on, but then heard a noise, like I had driven over something, so I pulled in.

So began the drama. After speaking to the Beard and he reminded me that I had taken out the EU breakdown cover I got straight on the phone to the RAC (other insurers are available).  They promised that in around on hour I would have someone out to have a look. In the meantime, the power of Google proved pretty danged good and we diagnosed that the fan belt had come off. Under the bonnet sure enough, the fan belt was off. This must have been the noise I heard.  To cut a long story short, and also because it is funny and embarrassing, a guy finally pulled up in a van behind me as I was calling the RAC back after 1.5 hours to see what was happening and I hung up. He proceeded to look under the bonnet and had no English and my German is limited to about ten words (numbers). I thought "great, this will be fun". Next thing I know he is off chatting to some truck driver parked up behind me and eating his packed lunch. Next thing I know is the truck driver comes over and in very broken English asked me if I have called a mechanic. I ask him if they have not called one. It suddenly dawned on me that he wasn't from the RAC at all, he had just stopped and offered to look in case he could help! Nightmare. Feeling rather stupid and a little bit amused, I was back on the phone to RAC who informed me, eventually, that they had messed up and not spotted an email coming from the rescue man and so he was unable to find me. Second time lucky then.  I gave them the coordinates from the TomTom again and was told another hour. By this time it was 7pm and I was not happy. I was running out of water and only had crisps and sweets to eat. I could not cook because I had no water, there were no toilets at this layby and it was around 30 degrees. I tried not to panic but realised that the sun was beginning to set and I was alone at the side of a German motorway.

By 8.30 I had a truck, a young mechanic and was getting Pat loaded onto the back of the loader to be taken to the garage where we would await the parts in the morning and book into a hotel for the night.. Frustrating, but by that stage I was extremely tired and the idea of an actual decent night's sleep was welcomed.

Poorly Pat

Hotel rear

Hotel front

I was on my way again later than expected around 12 noon. Originally I was supposed to be picked up at 9am, but at 11.30 Pat arrived with the mechanic to pick me up. I was just happy to see her back on the road, so I paid the hotel, dropped the mechanic back to the garage and paid him and I was on my way again. I drove nonstop, bar to get fuel for almost five hours and stopped in Austria for some food somewhere around Vienna. It wasn't a long stop, a bit like most stops really; fuel, toilet and a quick bite and back on the road. I even used the gas camping stove.

Lunch :/

I have very few other photos of the drive back, but I can tell you that once into Hungary I just wanted to keep going. I drove all evening and after dark, aiming for Szeged, but at around 10pm I was shattered and simply had to stop. I parked up in a well lit service station right outside the diner and made hard work of trying to get some sleep. The motel was full and I had no choice but to try and sleep in the car. Now, I am not the largest of people, but it was a struggle. Eventually I dozed off and woke about an hour and a half later.  I went into the diner, grabbed a coffee and ciabatta and hit the road again. No point sitting there tossing and turning. About an hour and a half later (around 2pm) I had to stop again as the old eyelids were starting to drop. My plan at this point was still to get to the Hungarian border with Romania. I felt safer stopping in Hungary overnight than in the mountains of Romania, so this worked out quite well. I grabbed another two hours sleep and was up and driving again when the sun rose.

Sunrise close to Romanian border

I crossed the border in daylight into Romania and I was happy with how this worked out. I was feeling this as the last stretch home now and was excited. I peaked too soon. TomTom and I had a falling out and he wanted to sleep every few minutes, whereas I wanted him to stay awake and guide me over the Romanian mountains. TomTom won and I had to resort to road signs and a paper map. Wasn't frightened at all, honest! Romania is such a beautiful country and I really hope that we can take a trip sometime to see more of it. Stunning. This was coming out of the mountains and heading towards the Bulgarian border.

Big dam

Beautiful

It was further from this point than I thought and, thankfully, Tom decided to wake up about here to guide me through the winding route to the bridge into Vidin. I was on home soil at last!

Home!

What a journey. I drove on, right through until 9.30 that evening so that I could have my own bed to sleep in. I was exhausted. And shaking. I arrived at the Old School to the neighbours shouting to make sure it was me who had driven in and was greeted with hugs and smiles all around. They let me go to bed very soon after though, so I appreciated that. They are lovely people.

I had driven that whole journey and made it back on the day I had expected to without foreseeing an 18 hour delay in Germany. I was so very pleased with that effort. Home on Sunday night.

Monday arrived way too soon. I think I woke at 7am and rolled over, waking again at 11am. I had arranged to get the dogs collected on Monday and was surprisingly up for that trip, even after driving 2000 miles in 2.5 days. I must have been on auto-pilot. I stayed the night with Chaz and Ivan, had a few beers and fell asleep on Ivan's lap whilst waiting for my dinner. I was so knackered still. They laughed and luckily did not mind too much as Chaz has done the journey himself and finds it tough for a good few days afterwards.

In all honesty, all of last week was a washout for me. I did very little to be honest and I took the opportunity to rest and recover. I had to get Thomas MOT'd before I collected the dogs. I ordered Pat's new headlights, have now got those fitted, change the speedometer sensor which was playing up and tightened the accelerator cable on her ready for re-registration next week. That took two half days to sort out, but hopefully we will have a straightforward import process next week.

Since then, I have found my eggs and preserved peppers that next door has kindly prepared for me whilst I was away.

Bless

So, I unpacked and made a mess in the kitchen on Monday. It drove me mad on Tuesday, so it went from this:

Mess

To this:

Much better 

I felt much better.  I also laid the dining table out nicely as I had bought a new table cloth/runner thing to stop the table getting more damaged.

I love this room

Apart from that, there has been very little happening. Although I have realised that I haven't actually sat down that much after writing all of that. The garden is still producing and still needs watering and there is only one chicken laying currently, but I still have an abundance of eggs. Pretty standard stuff here. I am not going to upload any more photos tonight, but I have harvested a load of peppers and processed them yesterday and today. I am afraid I am about done now and so I will update you further when I do another post. Possibly on Thursday.

On Friday morning, the Beard will arrive and make the puppies bark, waking the whole village at around 4am. But we will just have to forgive him. Two days/nights that I am looking forward to very much.

I am signing off now so that I can take half an hour before I hop in the bath to ease my back. One day at work after three and a half weeks off and I am already stiffening up! I am getting old.

Leka nosht.
A xx