Stuff that's happened since

Now we're just going to sweep through the past few months as quickly as possible, just picking out things that have happened.

Grass and Garden

Exploring the jungle of the garden

Very very long grass

Louise decided to ride with me

The fenced garden is so over grown

Making some really good progress

Starting to hack the brambles out

A fully loaded bee

Nearly completed the brambles

Flower beds buried in weeds

And cleared again

So, one thing that we've spent a lot of time on is cutting the grass and keeping the garden nice. The grass was super long when I got back from the trip so I ran the ride-on around and it took ages as I had to empty the collector so often. It wasn't only the grass that was overgrown but the garden as well. I went into the fenced garden and weeded it out to try and find the potatoes and the onions. It took a few days but was a very satisfying feeling to see the soil reappear from the tangled weeds. Angela and Rosie went away for a few weeks and I took advantage of this to attack more garden jobs. First of all I was clearing the tangled brambles that had taken over behind the chicken house and this also took several days of working every morning before the sun came up. The rest of the garden needed focus too so I had a lot of fun (honestly!) weeding through everything and I got it all done as a nice surprise for Angela when she got home.

Rosie picking tomatoes

Angela harvesting potatoes

Rosie planting potatoes

Carrots and tomatoes

New raised bed full of soil

We've also had a bumper harvest of tomatoes this year, so many that Angela got quite fed up of processing them. Rosie and I have been picking tomatoes almost every evening after dinner for weeks and weeks. We pulled a bunch of potatoes out of the raised bed and then Rosie dug some more in, though it doesn't seem like those are coming up yet. The raised beds have been so good for us this year, and the flowers that Angela planted are maturing well - the entire garden is really coming along. I have also built some metal raised beds for the patio but don't have pictures of all of them unfortunately. One of these has been given to Rosie for her to look after and she's so far doing really well with it.

Adventures with Rosie

Rosie with the Old Farmer's dog (we call her Josie)

Dancing while we wait for food

Achieving a state of zen

Mummy and Rosie riding their bikes

Me and Rosie having a swim in the river

Bouncing with a new friend

Rosie at the Classic Car Show

Camping in the big family tent

On the back of James' bike

Enjoying a BBQ on the patio

Riding James around the pool

Throwing her glider

Exploring the region

As usual we've had a lot of fun with Rosie, including several weeks visiting her cousins. I am not going to write a lot here, the pictures tell the story.

Steam Excursion Day

Last but not least last weekend I took Rosie on a "treat day" up to near Veliko Turnovo to ride on a steam train. It was amazing and here is that day.

Rosie very excited with the play area

Having a tasty burger and chips

Rosie in her awesome cupboard hiding place

We went up on the Friday afternoon, after lunch, and got to our hotel in time for a short rest before we headed out to find food. The hotel room was very large, almost an apartment, and this gave us plenty of scope for hide and seek. It also had a balcony and Rosie was very excited to watch a couple of bats swooping around in the early evening. It was a perfect place to stay, really.

Rosie wearing her official hat

Both so very excited for the day

Let's make some smoke!

Rosie with her flowers

Re-enactors gathering by the locomotive

The next morning we were up and packed and out to Lidl to grab some breakfast and spend some time in the play area next to the shop. I heard the sound of the train's whistle and that prompted us to head to the station. Rosie was having a great time and she was so excited at the train. She did wear her hat into the locomotive however I was being interviewed for TV and couldn't get a picture (and they wouldn't let me turn round to get one which was annoying). Pretty soon we were on the train and it was making steam as we pulled out of the station. The day before had been Independence Day and part of the attraction of this trip was some re-enactments of the events of the day. Rosie was able to gather some flowers that were used in the show, and was even given some by one of the ladies who was taking part.

Making her face look happy

Steaming along the line back to the car

It was a super hot day, getting up towards 40 degrees, and when we reached the end of the first leg it was quite a walk to get to a restaurant from the station however we were able to slot in on the end of an occupied table and get some good solid food in us. Rosie was tired but doing well. I was tired as well! After lunch we went to some shops so Rosie could spend her pocket money and then made our way slowly back to the train, via an ice cream parlour of course. I had a little rest then while Rosie watched some tablet and then the train was filling up and we were on our way back to our original station. It had been an awesome day, and Rosie had loved it so much. Brilliant.

Maisie broken down and waiting for assistance

We drew lots of pictures, resting on those logs

Rosie made a fire as it got dark

The journey home was going really well when suddenly round a blind corner I saw a motorbike on my side of the road looking to overtake a truck. I swerved to avoid it and went off the side of the tarmac and then, as I struggled and fought to guide Maisie back onto the road the rough edge of the tarmac ripped a hole in the tyre and also damaged the rim and I was immediately fighting a flat tyre. I was able to keep control and stop the car safely, thankfully, but then we were stuck by the side of the road as my jack was too tall to fit underneath Maisie! The insurance I took out did come with free roadside assistance and fortunately we did not have to wait long. Rosie was an absolute star, I cannot praise her enough, during this whole process. While we were waiting she encouraged me to draw with her, which distracted me from pacing and waiting and then when the repair man was there she did everything I asked her, stayed safely out of the traffic (it's a very dangerous road, and where I was stopped was a bit dodgy to be honest) and was just a diamond. Soon we were back on the road and she was asleep pretty quickly again.

So there it is. I think I've caught up. I'm hoping that the men will be back next Monday, while tomorrow I hopefully will finally get the new rims and tyres on Maisie. Thanks for reading and back Monday.

A busy week of no men

Strap yourselves in as this one is going to be a long update; it was quite a busy week with a fair bit happening last week and today the men returned so let's get to it.

The plants, ready for planting out

Angela on the prowl looking for gaps

Grandma gets her weeding on

Tomatoes for lunch

Saturday morning was a day in the garden with Angela and my mum getting stuck in to planting some new flower Angela bought and then getting some weeding done as well. I actually can't remember what I got up to but never mind; it was a nice morning either way. We harvested some tomatoes for lunch which is always a pleasure as well - I just love having things fresh from the garden.

The vegetable garden at the Observatory House

View from the upstairs terrace

Inside the lounge upstairs

Having watermelon on the grass

Rosie watches Brian have an explore

Brian munches on his dinner

In the afternoon we went to see the observatory house with Dincher which was a lovely trip. It was a warm day and we were welcomed with open arms. Dincher and I spoke to the owner while my mum and Rosie went for an explore and then I joined them and we looked around the place again before being invited to sit at the garden tables and share in watermelon (grown on the grounds I think). When we got back it was time to to rest then before dinner we spent a lovely time with Brian having his dinner and running around the lounge.

Having fun with chalks on the patio

The toad that we had to relocate

Lots of fun in the pool

Rosie on the swinging spinning thing

Grandma watches Rosie feed the chickens

Sunday was another fun day, with chalk time before breakfast. We found a toad that had to be relocated (wearing gloves, of course) and it was also actually warm enough to swim again which was great. It was such fun having a swim and we were all in the pool for a while. We went for our dinner to our normal restaurant and Rosie had loads of fun in the playground before we came home and it was chicken feeding time and then off to bed early for a very early start the next day.

An early start for everyone

Bouncing on the trampoline

Feeding the chickens and ducks

Monday started at 5am and we were out the door by 6am, all of us, heading towards the hospital to drop Angela for her surgery. The journey there was very easy and we arrived just in time however we need not have rushed as the admission process took hours. We waited a short while then headed back leaving Angela to queue and queue and queue. The journey back was also very easy and Grandma joined Rosie on the trampoline for a bit. Angela eventually got seen and told her surgery would be the next day so she was finally able to eat and drink a bit. We fed the chickens (Rosie is getting good at this) before heading to bed as I was pretty exhausted from the day.

Rosie saying Morning to Mummy

The fish getting fed

Grandma in the garden

Rosie playing in the school playground

Having a lovely swim with Grandma

Tuesday morning we had a quick call with Angela and Rosie also sent a picture to her to say morning; she was missing her mummy. We got the routine done fine, however, including feeding the fish then it was off to school with her. Grandma had a relaxing day, though she spent a fair bit of time in the garden in the morning, and before we knew it it was time to collect Rosie. When we got there we were a little early so let her have a nice play in the play area outside the school. It was once again nice enough to swim and we all went into the pool again and had a nice time. Angela's surgery happened in the morning and she was able to get up and about very quickly indeed which was great. We were even able to have a quick video call before bed - wonderful. Less happy was the fact that Brian was not looking very well at all through the day and sadly he passed away late in the evening. We did our best but it is very hard looking after wild animals like that.

Grandma back to the weeding

Now she's mending

Rosie will her lolly

Dinner time smiles

Wednesday was another full day for Grandma; she spent the morning in the garden and the afternoon sat on the balcony mending various bits and pieces for us including the peg bag and several teddies. After school Rosie was very good and I let her have a lolly from the shop we went past. For dinner we had Sausage, Egg, Chips and Beans which was very nice indeed.

Grandma and Rosie at the finish line

The big screen that we watched them approach on

It got quite busy in the end

Thursday morning I dropped Rosie at school and went straight from there to the hospital to collect Angela who was being discharged that morning. It was a really simple drive up and back and so good to get Angela back and healing so fast. I had a rest in the afternoon before heading to collect Rosie with Grandma then we rushed into town as the Tour of Bulgaria was in our region and the finish line was in our local town! We found a spot and then discovered we had about an hour or so to wait so grabbed a quick drink in a bar before heading back. It was awesome, we waved and cheered and blew whistles and honked the bike horn (I bought this for Rosie which was a noisy mistake but funny) as the cyclists came past the finish line. We did wait a bit for the presentation but in true Bulgarian fashion it was very late so we left just before. We were totally blocked in with traffic when we got back to the car as all the roads were shut however just a few minutes later they reopened the roads and we could get home.

Rosie welcomes Mummy home

Playing with her chalks

Rosie fell asleep on me after throwing up on Angela

A walk to the headland with Grandma

I think these are trapdoor spiders

Rosie was so happy Angela was back; there were lots of snuggles and cuddles. The end of the week and weekend I didn't take so many pictures as it was quite busy. Saturday was lots of time outside playing and then on Sunday Rosie suddenly got sick, threw up everywhere several times, fell asleep for a few hours, then woke up full of beans. We even went for a walk that afternoon with Grandma - incredible how quickly kids recover.

A glorious sunrise I watched with Rosie

Bekir chisels away the old mortar

Working from the top of the porch roof

Up the long ladder by Room 13

Cutting carefully with the grinder

Another window ledge is done

And so we reach today. The workmen were in by the time I got back from dropping Rosie and after a bit of a chat they headed out to get a chisel bit for the drill. They made very good use of this during the day as they worked to remove the insulation on top of the window sills that has been blocking our drains. Halil (not in any pictures more by accident than anything) was assisting with lots of tidying and shifting to support Bekir as he worked his way round the building with a hammer drill and grinder. By the end of the day they have done about half the windows we need repairing so hopefully tomorrow they can finish the rest. It was very noisy, particularly when they were working on the windows in Room 13.

Rosie and me on the sofa

I'll leave you with this picture of me and Rosie sat in the lounge in the middle of a Little Miss Marathon while Mummy cooked dinner downstairs. Angela has recovered really well and is able to drive again now which is great.

Thanks for reading; back tomorrow for a much shorter update!