Final push

Last night ended with a beautiful sunset. I just missed the sun as I was running around trying to find the camera again. Silly woman!

Sunset

I was all set for a lay in this morning as my work would not begin until around 11am local time and just as I rolled over for my second sleep, this caught my eye. What a beautiful sunrise. No wonder I love it here so much.

Sunrise

 I did roll over for a second doze after I took a few photos. I was back to work today and after doing a few chores and having several cups of coffee it began. Then it stopped. My usual contact is off on leave for a few days. How it works usually is that she allocates the work out and it appears in my account. If she is on leave it goes to her colleagues or it goes "up for grabs" and you take what you want. There really was very little coming through, but because the system works like this it means that I have to sit by my computer watching and waiting. What a waste of a day. You can't please me, eh? Moan when I'm busy and moan when I'm not. Typical woman haha.

At around 4.30 I got lots of work through. Typical and I also got a knock on the door from one of the workmen suggesting that I needed to get my clothes off the line. It wasn't raining and I was beginning to get a little irritated as this is the man who just walks in and around the place as and when he feels like. Then I heard a lorry. It needed access to the top bank. They had brought a toy, look!

Mini digger

They set to work straight away and started shovelling and moving and levelling the ground, bringing the levels close to where they started. It was a great machine. I think I'd like one!

Clearing

They really flew along the back and filled in the remaining holes. Incidentally, today was this worker's last day, so I am presuming that the other one, Nikolai is staying just to tidy up, otherwise I will have a fair old mess to be getting on with!

Speedy

It wasn't long before he came around the front and started there. Sadly, as the digger went across the patio where they had dug the out trench, the slabs underneath were breaking terrible. But then he assured me (and I remembered) that they had been very careful lifting the slabs from alongside the building and they had lots of speare one to replace any that were getting broken. Great.

Front section

When he had loaded the trailer for the first time I did want to make sure that they were not just dumping it anywhere and when he suggested putting it beside the current pile of rubble, I thought that would be fine; until I saw it dumped. Slightly too close to the washing line  there and there would be at least another four loads. Next time I got him to start a new pile further towards the driveway. Out of the way.

More rubble

There were quite a few more loads done and it was starting to take shape. I am really glad. It means I can clear the patio of glass and nails and any other sharp bits that may damage the puppies.

Clearing a path

Finally, I leave you with what I thought was a great idea; a photo of me in the digger. Unfortunatelt the poor guy had no idea what he was doing and had allowed the zoom to fall out as he looked for the button to push. No matter, I was in it, honest!

In the digger!

So here I am again, ready to get into bed for a 5.30 start. I need to get up and finish the work that awaits me as I am supposed to go into the market tomorrow, I think, with Little Lady and her daughter in law, again, I think! Every day is a surprise!

Leka nosht!

A x

Re-learning to drive part 2

Wow what a week! As I sit here on Sunday afternoon and think back over everything that has happened I realise just why I’m feeling quite so shattered right now. It has been, to be fair, an absolutely epic week so I will get straight into it typing up about it….

 

Rain drops frozen on the roof of Thomas

Monday morning dawned bright and cold but it was only when I got out to the car that I realised quite how cold it was. Thomas was locked in by a hard frost which took a fair amount of scraping to shift. While I was walking around and scraping all the windows I became quite concerned by the amount of smoking coming from the exhaust; now he has been a bit smoky starting recently which I had put down to potentially worn out glow plugs but this looked a little more than that. No matter, he was running OK once started and after I had cleared my view I was off and up towards my appointment with the driving instructor.

I had arranged to meet at the same place as last week, but half an hour later, and I reached the carpark fine and about 40 minutes early as standard. I read my book and chatted with A and then noticed the car and trailer pulling into the carpark. I hopped straight out to assist putting the cones out for the reversing manoeuvre which is what we focused on for the day. I did it maybe five or ten times over the next hour and a half and asked him to take videos for me so I could watch it back, which proved very useful. I have sped them up for you in the video above as 3 minutes of a car moving very slowly backwards is pretty dull. The most pleasing thing about this session was I was able to complete the exercise successfully every time, even when I made a mistake and got out of position I was able to recover it and end up correctly. Right at the end of the lesson I requested practice reversing up to the trailer to hitch up and was glad I did as I struggled with this (mainly the clutch control) far more than anything else. We were making such progress that Pete gave me an extra twenty minutes for free before I had to leg it to work.

 

Super tasty lunch; all the meats

I dropped Thomas back with the garage as soon as I got to Blackpool and then walked back to the studio to work through the day. On the way back I bought a bag of good food from my favourite butchers including a minted lamb henry for my lunch which I microwaved to get really hot and devoured in very short order. The rest of the day was spent focusing on my day job and it was a pretty productive day all told.

 

Comfortable little bed, and breakfast of biscuits

I had planned on sleeping at the studio overnight and had brought a sleeping bag and fold out mattress for this purpose however as the day went on and I felt more and more tired the attraction of finding a hotel took hold. I would be able to go to sleep whenever I wanted without distractions from staff or bands and also I was starting to really appreciate the thought of a change of scenery. I walked out down the road and found a little gay hotel with a spare single room for the night for not much money and was very pleased with myself indeed. I am not sure if they were meant to be open as they seemed a little surprised when I rang the doorbell and then said they wouldn't have a room for the following night but the “Vacancies” sign was illuminated so I didn't feel too bad disturbing them. I went over after finishing work at about 9pm and slept really well, then broke my fast with the lovely biscuits they had provided on the tea and coffee tray. It was a very good night’s sleep indeed and the only problem was the lack of shower facilities; a stand up wash had to suffice.

The next day was the actual driving day of my lessons and I was over to Preston for 8am to meet up with the instructor. It turned out that we had actually met at the driving test centre so I was able to see what went on and had the process explained to me before we set off on the road. This was a slightly sobering experience as I committed two “immediate fail” major mistakes in the first five minutes and then spent the remaining four hours driving around being told to either go faster (“make some progress, man!”) or slow down (“use the brakes! USE THE BRAKES!”) but it was a fantastic learning experience and at the end I felt like I had picked up some good habits again to replace a fair few of the bad ones which I had fallen into since passing my test. One of the best aspects of this instruction has been the logic and reasoning given behind almost all the expected actions; very different from when I first learned to drive when you were told to do things which made no sense.

Little borrowed car from the garage

Feeling pretty wiped out, but also quite pleased with myself, I headed back to the studio and let Dan borrow Thomas to move a few things from his garage. After this he dropped him back at the garage as Chris wanted to see the cold start smokiness for himself. He didn't have a loan car available immediately but towards the end of the day one was confirmed so I popped over and picked it up; I was able to keep this until I got back from my outing the next day and this took all the pressure off the next morning which was ideal.

 

Another bedroom, this time with shoe-supported-window

Once again I made the decision to book into a hotel and went walking around to find one again at about 6pm. The hotel from the night before did not have its sign illuminated tonight but I found a place just a few doors up which was open and very happy to give me a room. I chose the room with the ensuite shower and headed back to the studio to finish working. When I got back later that evening there was quite a lot of noise from the rooms above with what sounded like kids running around and jumping but it quieted about 10pm and I slept pretty well once more. The window did not want to stay open which is a problem as I have to have fresh air but I was able to juryrig a solution with a shoe.

I woke in the morning feeling rested and jumped into the shower only to find that there was no hot water, no matter how long I ran it for. Today was the Big Day of my test and I was starting to feel a little nervous so, against my plans, I logged into work and did an hour or so before breakfast was served. This did help to keep me calm. I then had to decide whether I was going to take up the invitation to watch the preceding test or stay away and arrive just before my own. After chatting with A I decided to head over and I’m glad I did. It had rained in the night but was drying out as I drove across to the centre but then, as I sat and watched the chap do his manoeuvre (I was convinced he would have to do a shunt but he managed to save it very well) and then the unhitching it began to rain quite heavily. The instructor had called me up to come chat with him so I drove from my spying spot and met up with him.

I think this also really calmed me down a lot and the time we spent chatting about non-driving things, including a quick trip to a butty van for a brew and a bacon sarnie, distracted us both so much that we missed the time and the guy from the test before suddenly appeared, beaming as he had passed with only 2 minors, and went away after wishing me luck. He had completed his test quite early so there was time for me to jump into the car and go for a 15 minute round the block trip which again helped so much. When the examiner finally called my name I was feeling pretty good.

We did the first step of the test (read a number plate, answer some questions) and then got straight into the reversing exercise. Other than being a little too accurate pulling forwards so I wasn't between the cones (which is not a marked part of the challenge) I aced it, with no shunts and feeling fully in control at all times. I did get out to check at the end and then back it up another couple of inches just to make doubly sure, but all in all it was an awesome way to begin. From there it was to the hitching and unhitching and this came off as well without (wait for it) any hitches.

Sorry, I couldn't resist that one.

With the manoeuvre part of the test completed we headed out onto the road and drove around some roads which I’d practiced on and some which I hadn't but all roads which I knew pretty well from my time living up there. The examiner was a really friendly chap and was asking me questions about why I wanted to have the B + E and then expressing interest in Bulgaria when I explained my plans. I am sure that partly he was just trying to distract me a bit to make sure I stayed in control of the vehicle at all times but it also helped me to feel comfortable with him as we nattered away. After what seemed like no time at all we were heading back towards the test centre and I pulled up feeling confident, but also pretty nervous. All of that was for nothing though as he confirmed straight away I had passed and with only one minor on the record. What a buzz!

I DID IT!!!!

I shook his hand then went with Peter round to my loan car which had a slightly flat tyre which he pumped up for me and then snapped me standing very proudly with my certificate in front of his car and trailer. I then headed off cheering and talking to myself and feeling so amazingly happy; what a weight off my mind. A was super pleased as well and the fact is this success means I can bring everything we need back with me in June.

 

Nice and tidy front room

That evening I played my game and relaxed at home then got to bed and found that after all the stress building up to my test day I was unable to sleep. At least I had slept well the previous two nights I suppose else it could have worked out otherwise. I did eventually sleep and woke on Thursday to walk to the office for the first time for what feels like ages. It was good to be in there again and see my colleagues who I really do get on with well, but I ended up staying a little later than planned trying to sort a problem out. I got back home and dashed around tidying then legged it to the shop before jumping in the shower and being ready for my expected guests to arrive just about in time.

 

Five nice bottles of whisky for us to taste

Rather than have a large group as usual we had decided to limit the invite list to five of us, harking back to the very early running of the whisky night. Everyone arrived pretty much on time and we got down to the serious business of trying each whisky before we selected our favourite for the night and then drank everything remaining. Every whisky was good, as usual, but Rob had brought our favourite which was Bowmore Darkest.

 

Two good friends, so lovely to see them

With a wee dram having been drunk from every bottle we started round again. Jon was the first to leave as he had a train to catch but he stayed until after 9 and it was such a pleasure to see him again; I hadn't seen him since before leaving last year. After this Lee’s mrs came to collect him and then it was left to myself, Rob and Ryan. Rob bailed about 2am (he was taking his young family to the zoo the next day) but me and Ryan sat up til 4am drinking, listening to music and talking very loudly about lots of subjects before suddenly deciding it was time to sleep.

 

The morning after the night before

When I woke at about 9 the next morning Rob was shuffling around and getting ready to go to the zoo (rather him than me) but Ryan was just a shape underneath the rug in the front room. I ended up having to set up my laptop in the office so as to not disturb him and it was quite late morning before he suddenly emerged. I had already eaten a bacon and egg butty and eventually I persuaded him he would have one. We made a stumbling outing to the shop to get headache pills and Lucozade, though I wasn't feeling at all hung over, and after this I decided I was not going to drive at all today so when Ryan felt up to it we called him a cab and off he went. I managed to hang on in there until about 6pm when, on the way to a shower having rejected the idea of a bath, I accidentally fell into bed and woke up fully dressed at 8pm only to roll back over and go back to sleep.

 

Am man! WILL COOK MEATS!

I won’t say I slept right the way through as I woke again at midnight and got up to sweep up the kitchen and have a milky coffee before putting my head back down but other than that I was asleep until about 6.30am the next day and boy did I need that rest. My busy week was by no means over yet though as I was up and out the house driving down south to Reading to see some old friends down there. Sadly my plans to visit my old studio fell apart on the way as he was unable to get away from another commitment but this just meant I spent more time with Wardy. It was a lovely sunny day and he proudly pulled his brand new BBQ out and proceeded to feed me all the meat! We had a tray of sausages each and two home made burgers each, plus some pasta he cooked. Afterwards I felt like I would never move again.

 

The hotel was a little busy

We sat in the sun until it was time to walk round to the pub to watch the FA Cup Semi Final which had Reading playing Arsenal. He is a Reading fan and even had the shirt to wear, while I’m pretty agnostic to football. It ended up being an excellent game which was really frustratingly lost by a mistake in extra time by the Reading goalkeeper who up til then had been the star of the game. Never mind, it’s only sport and Wardy was able to see that they had played very well indeed. It was a slightly sad pair who walked back to his though and then sat with his wife and two young daughters as they told us about their day. I headed off to my hotel about 10pm feeling quite tired and when I got there I struggled to find a parking space; it was complete rammed!

 

Breakfast time; I was first to be seated

I was straight up to my room and bar a quick surf I was asleep quite quickly. I was a bit disturbed in the night as I hadn’t been able to get hold of A all evening and all sorts of horrible scenarios were playing out in my head but when she got hold of me about 4am I was able to drop back to sleep and slept really well until my alarm went off to get me to breakfast. I actually got down there before they opened but after only a few minute wait they let me in, brought me tea, and I munched my breakfast before heading back upstairs. I took advantage of the internet to have a lovely video chat with A and we agreed the next steps for Bekir and Sally to do after the guest suite and then it was in the car again to drive back up north.

 

The blur is her tail; she was SO happy to see me!

It was not straight home for me, however. Today was a most exciting day. Today was PUPPY DAY! I made really good time and got to the address where Thelma and Louise were waiting for me without having seen a single cash point. I had to go exploring and eventually found one in a corner shop which charged me but today I didn't care; so long as I could get there and pick up the girls that’s all that mattered. I parked back up near the house and knocked on; it was quite a long wait but after a minute or so the door was opened and the friendly lady was there holding both of them in greeting. She passed me Louise and we sat down for a bit chatting about things; she was able to give me a box with the pet food they have been being fed which was excellent. I counted the money out, while trying to stop Louise from jumping off the sofa into some nearby wellingtons, and then was helped over the road with them both by the son.

 

In the car ready to go home

I left the girls in their cage tussling with each other while I dashed inside the Co Op to pick up dinner for myself and then we came home. They were really well behaved and by the time I got back Thelma had actually fallen asleep in the bed, though Louise was still fighting it and clambering around a lot. Their little claws are so sharp they keep getting them caught on things (including my beard and clothes when I am holding them) and the bed was no exception. They seemed really happy though and kept pretty quiet all the way.

 

Playing tug of war with each other

I unloaded the car then brought them in one at a time to the kitchen which is where they’ll be staying while I’m at work during the day. They are such excited and inquisitive creatures it was hard for me to focus on making myself a butty as they gamboled around my feet and played with each other. Eventually I did manage to get the sandwich made and took it into the front room to eat. After that I decided that I should bring them in here with me and I tore open a large cardboard box to cover the carpet in case of accidents which were pretty much to be expected. It was then that I started trying to write this and it proved to be quite hard to stay focused as they both wanted to attack my feet (Thelma’s mouth is large enough to try and eat my entire big toe) and were bouncing around chasing each other very noisily). The first toy they picked up actually was one of their leads so I took that off them and gave them something that is a tug toy and they took to it really well.

 

"You looking at me?"

After quite an energetic hour or so bouncing around the room fighting and playing they slowly calmed down.  For a short while at least. Here Louise is sat in the bed with Thelma sat on the floor near my feet and they are engaged in what seems to be a context of wills. This happened several times: Louise would stare and Thelma would stare back and then one of other would start making squeaking noises and then Louise would be up out of the bed pouncing on Thelma and fighting her only , after a minute or two, going back to their starting positions again. Very strange indeed.

I was being nagged by people to get a video of them play fighting but of course they stopped as soon as I got the camera out. Never the less there is a good example here of how they were bounding around and also just how lovely and friendly they are; I’m already working out that Louise is the one who likes fusses; she’ll stand still for you to scratch under her chin. Thelma is a bit more standoffish but only in that she wants to be in control; she will come running and then run off and play tag with you for ages. They do know their names a little bit already as well which bodes well for their intelligence.

 

Finally settled for a kip

I was really being distracted by them all this time so it was quite a relief as they started gravitating towards the bed and finally settled in it to sleep. They have now been down for about an hour and are both starting to pop their heads up and look however they are still sleeping as I type this. Indeed, Thelma was just snoring for a bit.

I have fish and chips for my dinner tonight and when I stop typing I’m going to wait for them to wake up and then play with them until I’m ready for bed. I hope they sleep OK tonight; they’re going to be shut in the en suite next to my bedroom so I can hear them if they fuss. I need to really work on the toilet training aspect though which is going to be a challenge with me not being around much. Anyway, next week I’m sure there will be so many puppy pictures you’ll all be bored to tears.

Harrison gets a workout

Once again it is the end of the week and time for me to drag my weary self behind the laptop and type this out, with the admonition from A “don’t do a long one” ringing in my ears. And so I will attempt to please her.

 

Stupendously tasty steak

Before I get into the week and just how busy it has been let’s go back to after I finished typing the last post and went to start cooking dinner. We had two huge ribeye steaks, bought from our favourite butcher up in Blackpool, and I did my patent butter mushrooms, oven chips (I can’t wait to get back to my deep fryer) and peas and, if I do say so myself, I outdid myself. The steaks were done perfectly with the fat melty and the blood still running, and everything else was perfect as well. It was a lovely way to end the weekend and while now it is a dim memory it has all been brought back to me by typing about it. I’m good at cooking steaks.

 

I needed my third hand for the transfer application

While I was waiting for the chips to be done well enough to start the rest of the meal I set myself back on with the modelling and found a use for one piece of kit that I didn’t think I’d use yet; it says it is supposed to be for holding tweezers however I could not get them to stay firmly grasped, while not putting more pressure than I wanted on the plastic of the model so in the end I carefully and gently clamped the wing in directly and it worked really well. I haven’t actually touched the model since last week as the transfers really need direct sunlight and I haven’t had time, but it is nearly finished finally.

 

Another tasty burger

The main reason for not getting any more time on the kit is it has been a busy week again. Work has been tiring and I came back from the office on Monday with such a bad headache that I was asleep in bed by about 4.20pm and, other than waking to eat some lovely soup for dinner, slept right through until the alarm the next morning. The headache had been so bad that A even walked round to bring me headache pills during the day. Tuesday was a much better day and I got to go and meet up with my ex colleagues in the pub near work for lunch which was a real pleasure and we have agreed that we’ll do at least one more before I get to go home.

 

Stacking and sorting the train track

That evening I set myself the task of sorting, counting and packing the train track that I have so far. I spent about two hours and didn’t complete it all but at least it was a start. A fell asleep laying on the sofa while I was doing it and I don’t blame her as it wasn’t very interesting but we do have to start tidying and clearing up preparatory for leaving as the date is fast approaching. Wednesday night A helped out and we now have some boxes of nicely sorted track (elastic banded together into fives) and a few over which will get sorted with the final box that is due to arrive this week. I will certainly have enough track to make a good layout.

I don’t have pictures of the next but I managed to pick up a three seater sofa and two single chairs from Freecycle. They were just out towards Manchester and it didn’t take long to head over in Harrison to collect them. It was good to get him moving again (he made a “clonk” as we first set off having been sat for so long) and he made good progress all the way. The tail lift was once again a bonus and the chairs were loaded and we left the collection point within a couple of minutes. These will be my furniture once A leaves with the leather suite and it’s good to have that sorted out. The sofa is currently in the back of Harrison, though we have the single chairs inside as they don’t take up that much space.

Wednesday night was a night out with the extended team at my office as a group of them had come down from the Scottish office for the week. On my recommendation we went to the local with the amazing gammon, egg and chips and I don’t think anyone was disappointed. It was a really enjoyable evening with quite a crowd which slowly whittled down to just me, A and the Scottish guys and it was good to get on a social footing with them. I drank more than I meant to, though not that much, and it took a while on Thursday for my head to clear again.

 

Hugest of tasty pizzas

Thursday evening, after eating lovely bangers and mash with onion gravy we jumped into Harrison and headed over to Fi’s house. This weekend we have been helping Cjc move up there and I had the great idea that rather than have a complicated process of collecting and meeting up in service stations why don’t we just go over and stay the night Thursday where I can work from there on Friday and set straight down south at 4pm without complications. This worked really well and we manage to work our way south and round the peaks to avoid the snow that had closed most of the passes over the tops. When we arrived we had a beer and a nice chat before bed. Working from there on Friday was not a problem at all and by 3pm I had reached a point where I could shut down so off we went in Harrison. There were a few roadworks, and quite a number of accidents, on the M1 but we made pretty good time and reached his flat about 7pm. After a short round of tidying and putting some boxes into the back of Harrison we walked to the Italian in town near him and I had a huge hot pizza with chili oil and Gran Riserva. When we got back to his flat after I was very tired and sat watching him tidying around, then got a burst of energy before bed where we packed up and tidied the last of the DVDs and CDs.

 

Loaded the night before

I slept like a log and woke before the alarm which went off at 6.30. It was still dark so I snoozed it but we were both up and working at the loading by 7am. Cjc has a LOT of stuff and while loads had already been boxed, the volume of boxes was such it had prevented a large amount of the final packing and tidying to be completed. I was tasked with fitting everything into the back of Harrison and so went out, moved all the boxes we had loaded the night before (typical) so they were better arranged and every now and then demanded that Cjc tidy and release an item to me so it could be put in its own special place. One of his friends also came along for the morning to help and she was an immense help with tidying and taking beds down and making cups of tea and generally being of assistance in many ways. I made bacon and egg butties for everyone but that was about the only break and when we finally pulled the shutter down on the back of Harrison at 11.45am we were already pretty tired.

 

Still only about 2/3 full

We didn’t pause but were straight on the road and with only a brief pause to buy a butty and have a toilet break we drove straight to Sheffield. Most of the stuff we had collected was due to be put into a storage lockup he had rented and that morning I had a brainwave and asked A to meet us there to help unload. This was a brilliant idea and without her I don’t think we would have managed. We arrived about five minutes before her taxi brought her and when Cjc had found the locker we went to take a look. A was tasked with emptying his OTHER locker (he already had a small one) and moving the boxes to the new one, while we would empty Harrison and stack it all in there. It did not take long for me to observe that the new lockup would be way too small and after a bit of umming and ahhing (not before we’d already moved a load of boxes to the new locker, unfortunately) we managed to persuade him to upgrade and this was a very good job as even with my master tessellating skills we only just managed to fit everything in it. For a while it looked like we would have to take more stuff back to Fi’s than originally planned and I am so relieved we didn’t.

 

You fat bastard!

It was dark and we were starving as we left the storage so we rang ahead and Fi was ready for the walk (quite a long one, as tired and hungry as I was) to the pub with the good food. It was worth the extra effort though as the burger I ordered (doubled up, with egg and bacon) was immense and super tasty. The waitress didn’t think I’d finish it and expressed surprise when I emptied my plate as fast as everyone else who only had “normal” meals. All the food was good and it was a much slower more contented party which walked back to the house. I was shattered and after a short while back there I went to bed and slept through.

This morning I woke up naturally with no alarm and then dragged my complaining body out of bed (A had already gone for a run! Crazy woman!) down stairs and we started unloaded what had been brought back to be stored there. This was mainly a book shelf, boxes of books, and some kitchen stuff. When we had it all unloaded it was realised that we couldn’t find the little shelf things that the shelves sit on so we found a B and Q and myself and Cjc headed off for it; only a fifteen minute drive we thought. A was left with instructions to have breakfast waiting when we got back but fortunately she waited as the traffic was horrendous and it took well over an hour to get there and back. We did find the correct pieces though so Cjc was left happily stacking books as we were back into Harrison and driving home.

So now I sit here having eaten a lovely spag boll (pictures next week now) and before that had a super long soak in a bath with a generous dollop of Radox for relaxation purposes. My muscles are still aching and I am shattered but I feel human again. It has been a really good workout, this weekend, and not just in terms of physical effort. I now feel comfortable with Harrison and understand his limitations (at one point we were reduced to 1st gear going up a hill!) but also am confident that we will have no trouble fitting everything in and making near enough the progress we need to arrive in three days. I have had another idea as well which is to try and leave a space by the shutter where we can collect Rambo on the way. This is to take us on a route which does not require you to do the major mountains between Bulgaria and Romania, and will also mean A doesn't have to disappear midweek to collect him. This will only work if I can pack Harrison such that there is space, and things aren’t likely to fall on him. We shall see.

Right, a cup of tea has just been brought so I’m going to stop typing (it hasn’t been short, has it… oh well) and see you next week.

Man Flu and Harrison

Another week past and another period of sitting at the dining table trying to remember the last week and everything awesome and interesting that happened. I'm struggling as per but I'll do my best.

Thumbs up for the bacon butty

I remember Sunday as being mainly about having a massive lie in, typing up the post for last week, and not much else. I was still recovering from the night before though no hangover, just tiredness. The picture above is actually from the Friday of last week and was the bacon butty I made for A just before I made my own bacon and egg butty. It is only in here to provide some illustration before I get into the meat of the update. I really can't remember much about Sunday so onwards.

This was my second week at the new job and I was up and off to work bright and early on Monday morning. Not just normally early, either; I set off in time to get to the office at about 7.15am. My failure to communicated satisfactorily with the bank on Saturday meant that I had arranged to call them back on Monday when an English speaker would be in the office. On the drive I had a brainwave and managed to finally log in to my account so in the end I didn't have to ring Bulgaria again anyway. This was a good thing as I achieved what I needed to but it did mean I lost the opportunity to keep trying to improve my language skills. I still find myself sometimes thinking in Bulgarian and I am hoping that continues as it is months before I get back over there.

With the banking sorted out I rang the estate agent for the house we viewed on Saturday and confirmed our interest so an application process was started. Hopefully this will turn around quickly as I want to get over there and settled as early as possible. This process has been ongoing all week and, despite the fact that they use UK Tenant Data to collect their application details and do the credit checks and this company appears to be staffed by incompetent, illiterate and rude people, A is 100% complete on her application and I am now 90%. I have no idea whatsoever what the missing 10% is so am waiting for a reply to my email (they don't answer the phone. Ever).

The rest of the day was spent working away and finding myself slowly getting more comfortable with what I'm having to do. There was also a rather loud young lady who had been on holiday for a few weeks and who felt the need to share at top volume the same anecdote with every new person to come into the office. How I wished I had my big headphones! Fortunately our plans were to move to a new office and I was nagging my boss about it through Monday.

Happy in the new office

It was in the car on the way home that I started to feel a bit unwell and by the time I got home I was struggling; man flu had struck! I went pretty much straight to bed and, other than getting up for some food, stayed there all night until the alarm went off in the morning. Fortunately it wasn't too bad and I'm fully better now, however I went straight to bed on getting home on Tuesday and Wednesday as well. Tuesday morning we moved to a new office but then were kicked out of it during the afternoon so had to squat on random desks in the office however I think now we are finally fully settled in our new home which is quiet and airy and comfortable.

What with me being so badly on Wednesday I was sadly unable to make it to the Reggae Jam Night at our local however I made sure that A knew she didn't have to stay in with me and so off she toddled for a pint of guiness and to avoid cabin fever. She was tasked with getting some videos so I could feel a little less sorry for myself having missed it and she brought back a few, of which my selection is above. It also sounds like she made some friends up there which is good; it's always nice to have a local where you can go on your own and be made to feel welcome. I am looking forward to getting back up there next Wednesday myself.

The man himself about the carve the turkey

Despite being ill I managed to work the full week and was pretty productive with it and by Thursday I was feeling largely better. Thursday was, as my American readers will know, Thanksgiving and so I set myself on the sofa with Sky's NFL coverage on as is my habit. Cecil "The Diesel" Martin is no longer on their show as often as he used to be but they always get him to come back for this 12 hour long festival of American Football. The main purpose for his inclusion in the show is the huge turkey they get in the studio which he has to carve up and then, later on, he gets to eat one of the turkey legs in slow motion and close up. Yes, I know it doesn't sound very nice but it makes me laugh every time. The game that we watched (Lions vs Bears) was a really good game however the second game (A went to bed) wasn't so good and I turned it off just before half time.

And so to work-from-home Friday which was well timed after NFL (though I wasn't up that late in the end) and the fact I hadn't been well through the week. A has worked super hard this week and Friday was no different; I'm not sure there was much of a break at any stage in her typing away. I was also working hard and actually had to stop on a bit later than usual as I broke the build at the end of the day and wanted to fix it. During the day Ken, who is looking after Rambo, had been uploading videos of him onto Facebook so I asked him to send me some and he did; this is my favourite of the lot and everytime we watch it we laugh so much at the expression on his face. Four months or so til we see him again. A misses him loads but obviously I don't at all. Here is a link to Ken's business, transporting animals and other things back and forwards to Bulgaria

We had arranged to meet up with Shuggy again on Friday night, as his mrs was at a gig, and so we were off into town again that evening. Against all the odds we managed to get a table in Port Street which is one of my favourite bars in Manchester with loads of interesting beers which change all the time. It was a really good night in the end, with my old boss Mike turning up with his mrs and then later in the night A bumped into another of my mates, Rob, and so he came and joined us with his friends. We didn't drink that much, neither of us really being in the mood, however when I woke up the next day I was feeling really rough. A said she was too and later in the day Mike text with the same story so maybe one of the pints we had was off. Anyway, I was delicate all day and it's only now, sat here with a bacon and egg butty and a brew on Sunday morning, that the headache has shifted.

Me sat in Harrison

Huge amount of space in the back

There was no opportunity for lazing around on Saturday morning, though. We were off to Wigan to collect Harrison, the White Van. I drove us there and we arrived dead on time then it wasn't that complicated a process (other than the seller having lost the MOT, saying he'd post it on to me, then just as I was driving off he ran over waving it and had found it in his glove box) and we were off, with A driving Thomas, up the motorway to the studio. Harrison did pretty well on the whole, getting up to about 65mph without any problems and, while he is a bit noisy, he is willing and the bad noise that I was worried about seems to go as you go past 50mph. Our plan at the studio was to get some of the stuff out of storage and into the back of Harrison however we decided against it (partially due to really heavy musical stuff piled in front and partially due to desperate need for breakfast and a brew) and just tidied Thomas then left for the cafe.

Me with my pot of tea for one

I was greeted by the owner with "Hello Mr Tea" and our full Scottish breakfasts were wolfed down in no time, chased by every single drop of tea that she had provided for us. I started feeling a little more human after this but as I say even bacon, eggs, tomatoes, black pudding, potato bread, baked beans and toast wasn't enough to shift this hangover. After eating and chatting with the lady we went to look for a washing machine at the second hand place across the road but he was shut so it was back to Thomas and home. There had been an accident on the M6 which delayed us some but we got back pretty quickly and I was straight to bed and slept for two hours which was just a brilliant decision to have made. I woke up feeling a whole lot better and with energy for the evening.

Steak and chips with peas and mushrooms

First things first, though, and when it was time I started cooking dinner. A had picked up some awesome Ribeye steaks and I did my famous butter mushrooms, chips (which were oven, but were expensive oven, and so were nice) and LOADS of peas on the side. It was amazing! You really can't beat a high quality ribeye steak done bloody so the chips get red. Fantastic.

The main event of the week was a present from A to go and see The Alabama 3 gigging at Academy 2. We did not have to rush at all and strolled the ten minutes to the venue from our house. As we approached there was a MASSIVE queue of young people stretching as far as the eye could see but I quickly worked out that there were far too many of them, and they were all too young, for this to have been the queue for our gig. I was correct and we were able to get a beer (only a small one, and the only one of the night as neither of us wanted another) and some gig t shirts before we headed up and took our places by the sound desk. The support act came on quite early before many people were there and they were really good. They are a local band called The Cornelius Crane and their songs were strong which matched their musicianship and I have decided that I want to see them live again. I really cannot recommend them highly enough and my video does not do them justice so get yourself over to Reverb Nation and if you like them, support them by buying their music. Go on! DO IT!

It made such a difference to have a good support act, after the weird shouty scottish beat poet style weirdness of the Jesus and Mary Chain gig. After they left the stage to warm applause (they deserved more people to have bothered to arrive in time to see them) we settled to wait for The Alabama 3 to start. I had been watching a chap stood next to us for a while and, as I thought, it was The Reverend D. Wayne who had come out from back stage to enjoy the music. I have seen various members of the band do this over the years and I really love the fact that they come out and mingle, chatting to their fans and not being stuck up and hiding away. He was quite pissed and was engrossed in a conversation with another fellow and then had to dash off back stage so I didn't disturb him for a chat or a photograph in the end. Not long after he stumbled his way back stage a roadie appeared on stage shining his torch and beckoning them onstage and there was the Reverend, no longer looking (as) squiffy and polished up nicely in a suit.

What a great gig it was. I was dancing and so was A and the band were on form, after a couple of songs to warm themselves up. This was the first time A had ever seen them live and while she liked their CDs she was amazed at how much she enjoyed seeing them live. After the slightly-unpleasant militant political side the previous time I'd seen them ("burn the tory houses" etc) it was great to see them get back to what they do best which is rock the house and make the entire room dance. The sound on this second video is a lot louder than mine (my phone is broken, basically) and you can really hear just how well they play together live. At one point I hoisted A into the air so she could see a bit better and watch the drummer in his groove; in my opinion he is one of the best drummers I have seen as he holds the groove without ever making any mistakes and is not fussy or over-blown but just does everything that is needed to make you want to jump and dance.

With the last song ringing in our ears (but not as badly as after Jesus and Mary Chain, obviously) we walked home and had a cup of hot chocolate each before heading to bed. Such a rock 'n' roll lifestyle we lead. Now this morning (and it is still morning as I type this) I have made a brew and had a bacon and egg butty made for me and typed this and edited the videos and once this is published I'm going to carry on editing as I put together the pictures and videos which I want to show my Nan next week when we go to see her at my parents house. See you later.

In which Thomas goes local

Last night was unfortunately another late night and, what with having to be up so early in the morning to meet up with Lubo in town, I set my alarm. I slept really well, nicely back in my bedding and not in the colder sleeping bag, and I don't think I woke at all in the night; I don't remember waking up anyway.

Good morning Rambo

The alarm went off at what felt like the middle of the night but I gave it just one snooze and then I was up and moving around. Last night I had deliberately left Rambo out over night; I'm undecided whether I should or whether putting him in his compound is a good habit to get into, but I really wanted to see how he would react to it. He was still snoozing on the porch (on his blanket) when I walked round and got up, looked at me and then suddenly did a huge stretch. I know the picture is blurry but it was so funny.

Cloudy sky, cloudy valley

The day had dawned, as have most of them recently, really cloudy and overcast however there was a slight difference today when I popped out onto the balcony in that the valley had its own little section of cloud that had not lifted; this shows that the sun was not burning through at all at this stage. My brew was fully drunk before I did anything however this morning was very unusual so at about 8.45 I said goodbye to her and went to feed and water him, then was straight into Thomas and heading for town.

Reflections in the lake

I got to KAT dead on time (as per usual) having gone past the cash point at Bila to get as much cash as I possibly could; I had no idea how much this could possibly cost but didn't want to be caught short. By the time I parked up the day was starting to warm up a bit though it was still really overcast and I hopped out of Thomas to take a few pictures across the lake that dominates the centre of town. After a few minutes my phone rang and it was Lubo who had decided to go straight to the shop where I was buying the lights from rather than meeting me at KAT as we had arranged. No matter I was with him in a couple of minutes, collected the lights, and then followed him (via a quite dangerous U turn across four lanes of traffic - I really am becoming a local) back over to the garage to get them fitted.

Bit of welding, bit of bodging

The Mitsubushi is arranged such that you need to take the radiator grill off to allow the lights to be changed and this ended up being quite a faff. The first screw came out OK after being hit with a hammer a few times however the second was completely rusted in and the attempts to undo it had totally destroyed the posi head. This is where ingenuity came in as the mechanic pulled a welder over and welded the screw bit to the screw, and then undid it with main force. There was a funny moment when a spark set fire to something (I think it was a rubber cap) and there was smoke until he splashed water on it.

Setting the angle of the lights

After this it didn't take long to get the lights fitted however we found that I had picked the wrong ones; I should have gone for the lights with motorised main/dip control and the ones I had bought didn't have that. How I was supposed to know about this who knows but it wasn't a problem as we took Thomas round to another unit on the same estate and a young lad in there got a machine and manually adjusted the angle until they were correct for standard dip beam. It does mean that I have no main beam on Thomas but that isn't a major issue really.

After this we went back towards KAT and at first (due to the grumpy policeman that kept telling me to move) I went over to the carpark and Lubo went to see if I could go into the garage and then he waved me over and we were off. The first check was for the lights and they were a go; no request to put main beam on. Then he checked the indicators and brake lights, and the parking lights, but fortunately again didn't ask to see the hazards as I still haven't put the fuse in to make them work. He then asked to see my safety equipment and wouldn't you know I had totally forgotten to pick everything up so I walked round to the shop next door and bought a triangle, reflective coat, first aid kit and fire extinguisher all for the equivalent of about £12. Bargain.

After this came the proper vehicle inspection involving lights on bendy stalks and lots of tutting and looking concerned when they thought the number of the plate on the engine didn't match that on the chassis. IF this is the case, then there is no way of registering your car in Bulgaria. That's it. You must have it matching between these two plates, and your V5, or you're stuffed. The inspector got some paint stripper and rubbed away at the chassis number to double check if it was a "D" or a "0" and, after a few very concerning minutes for me, pronounced it all OK and that was it. Someone came and removed my old number plates and I was told to move the car out of the garage.

I parked it, then moved it again and paid someone a token sum for the service of putting a tiny sticker on my windshield and then we were into Office Number One from the other day and the paperwork began. Bless him poor Lubo must have had writers cramp by the end of it but he gamely filled in all the forms and kept at it while I was called out to once again move my car. We went to Office Number Three to pay the bill and then it was back to Office Number Three and a bit more waiting around. After a while I was given two new number plates (unfortunately the old ones were thrown into a box for disposal; I would have liked to have kept them. Never mind.) and that was pretty much it. Lubo had to leg it to an appointment he had already put back a couple of times to help me out and he left me with strict instructions to go back to the same counter to collect both parts of the official registration paperwork.

What a star. I can tell you I would have had no chance whatsoever in completing this registration without him and he did it just to be helpful, giving up hours of his week (when he is busy with work) to assist. I may have been frustrated with him before but now I am starting to forgive him and I hope this continues.

I got one of the people to fit the new number plates, including a pin that had to be embedded in the back to stop you from changing that, and at the appointed time returned to the office where I was recognised, had to put my name on the bottom of one more form, and then I was let go with my documentation. I was done. Thomas was a local.

Time for Rambo walkies!

It was a quick trip to Kaufland for some supplied (bread and milk were the urgent requirements, but I also picked up a small BBQ for when my guest comes back) and then it was home and a feeling of great satisfaction. I had missed out on breakfast because of my early start so was quite hungry and a couple of cheese and tomato butties sorted that out. Two cups of tea later and a short telephone call and it was time for Rambo to have his walk. He was super excited as always, but also pretty obedient in allowing his lead to be fitted, but that is what you expect from a big dog like him. Once again we set off out the main vehicle gate and turned left going down towards the river and Rambo was sniffing everywhere as we went.

Tobacco in the field

At the very bottom of my cheren put, just before you cross the new road, there is a field which has tobacco growing in it. I have watched the farmers, over the past few weeks, plant all of this manually from seedlings (I don't know where they start them off) which took them a week or so, bent double and going every day and now they are in there with a hose pipe watering them painstakingly and hoeing out weeds. Not an easy job at all.

Once across the road I took us down the bank to the gravel by the side of the river and then, after making sure there was no livestock around at all, let him off the lead. He was over the moon and bounced in and out of the river, shaking himself dry as he is wont to while still standing in the shallows every time he was on his way out. Here is a video I took, though the wind was quite high and the wind noise is a bit bad. He really is a mad dog but he's always very happy so who's to complain about a small amount of madness.

Rambo bounding out of the water with his rock

And then running away with it

The stone that stars in that video really did turn out to be a favourite and he grabbed it and ran around with it in his mouth for quite a long time. Even after he had dropped it and we had walked a bit around up and down the sand spit he kept going back to it and sniffing and scratching it. I loved both these pictures so sorry, but there are two. I love how when he is running he is always looking back at me to see where I am; so cute.

Getting myself involved in the water fun

Not wanting to be left out of the fun in the water I decided to paddle a bit myself. I'd changed into sandals but decided to leave my combats on as when I left home the clouds were still largely around. They dry really quick and were totally dry by the time we had walked back up the hill and got home again. The water was not that cold and it was really refreshing to keep dipping in and out. It was far warmer than when me and The Electrician had gone walking through the river up near the abandoned power station that isn't.

War memorial

As we were heading back up we went past the tall white war monument next to the bridge. There was a small posy that had been left there a little while before. It made me think about the fact that today is the 70th anniversary of D Day and, as I have this evening finished the final book in the Reich series which I have been reading for months now, it is all very fresh in my mind just what the world went through back then. I do not think this is a WW2 memorial but it still has the power to evoke and all wars are hell.

Jesus walking around a bit

Walkies done with, Rambo wanted to play kong as always but I was thirsty so after a few chucks I went upstairs to brew up. Both the boys were up and about strolling around in the sun and I snapped a couple of pics for posterity. Mo had once again tipped himself while I was out sorting Thomas this morning but again I righted him before I remembered to snap a quick picture and I am not going to put him on his back purely to take a photograph. I will remember as he does it at least once a day.

Finally got some flames

So it was time for me to finish the chore that I had set myself yesterday but failed due to headache. I put my mask on and went and completed the packing up of burnable items from the area above the stairs. I did hold back slightly on going underneath the damaged section of roof as it looks set to come down totally with really rotten timbers. I'd hate to disturb it and have it land on my head. Of course I wasn't wearing my hard hat either. Anyway it only took about 20 minutes to do that final bit of collecting so I went down, made another brew, and then took a pile of stuff outside to burn. It once again proved difficult to light with the high winds so I actually resorted to a firelighter this time.

Not the greatest fire ever

The trouble I had was I was burning large chunks of paper based stuff and this just compacts and collapses on itself as it burns so if you put too much in, you have to keep digging in and rotating it or it just goes out with masses of unburnt material underneath. It also doesn't burn that hot or stably and so keeps nearly going out. I spent about an hour stood next to the drum with my fire stirring stick (I broke one today so am now using a length of wood from the old windows) continually stoking and trying to keep it burning. As it happened I did not get very much burned at all and I decided to let it burn down naturally and give it another go tomorrow.

The next steps for clearing was to take the stuff down that I had found that I wanted to keep, and then start shifting the broken tiles downstairs. I have decided to start a new pile for these as they may prove useful for interesting crazy paving when we start to do the garden paths. These are broken tiles and not whole ones which will be stacked up out front in case we can sell them, or maybe even use them somewhere else. I may put them in the long green building where I had the excellent suggestion to store the wood from the roof as well.

I did four big bucket fulls of tiles but then got distracted trying to chase a couple of swallows which had flown into the main living area out; their droppings get everywhere and I don't really want them on my stuff. I got one out but the second one just kept flying round and round so I gave up after a while and left it. It'll work it out but for a good time it was sitting on the door onto the balcony and then kept flying back inside, silly thing.

That's much more like it

With my working done for the day I popped some F1 qualifying on and started heating the remains of my stew through and then scarfed two bowl fulls which has good and filled me up. I then started typing this blog but after about a paragraph and a half I decided that it was no good to be sat in here when the weather had become so lovely outside so I poured a beer, grabbed my kindle, and went onto the balcony. It was so lovely and warm that I took my t shirt off and then sat there for about forty minutes, reading and sipping my beer and appreciating the views.

Sunset time again

I stayed there until the sun went down and then came back inside to continue tippy tappying away on this. I have found it a struggle today as my mind has been on many other things, most of which will become apparent over the next few weeks but I'm not going into now. I also distracted myself with a very welcome telephone call and have heard, via my friend, that Lucy cannot have her rear end raised like I wanted so I will need to get over to the garage early next week to find out about it. I'm not sure how I'm going to juggle the cars to be fair; I'll work something out I'm sure.

Say "Goodbye Rambo"

And so I'm going to hit publish on this, a blog written as if wringing blood out of a stone. Tomorrow there is an England rugby game that I am going to watch. I need to try and get up to see my uncle who is over for the weekend not that far away, now I have a car that is legal, but looking at availability I'm a bit concerned I may miss him. Thanks for reading.