A landmark and more progress

So today is a bit of a landmark post to this blog as this is the 300th one that I have published (including the couple of guest posts which have been so gratefully received) which is a remarkable number considering I would have said I'm not disciplined enough to stick to keeping a diary as I've tried and failed before on many occasions. Maybe it is just that the subject matter that I am writing about is so fascinating and awe inspiring to me that I find that when I am feeling less than motivated I get really sad to think that I won't record what has gone on that day.

Before I start I have long planned to include in this blog post a few little tidbits of the statistics of the posts on this blog so I hope you will bear with me; they won't take long.

So, the big headline number is that as I type this blog I have gone past 57,000 page views. That makes an average of 190 per post. My first post (here) was published on 29th July 2013 which means I missed another anniversary very recently as the blog has been going for just over a year The most popular month the blog had was March, which was when I actually traveled out here, and where I received 9,179 view in the month. My most popular blog post (with 453) was Day seven - Ihtiman, Bulgaria to ULTIMATE DESTINATION - the day (and what a day) when I arrived here after that journey across Europe with my parents. My least popular (languishing with only 56 views at the time of writing) is Working on Julian which will hopefully now get a few more clicks as It has a great picture of me in a white overall, and some fascinating text about my preparations to leave. The folder on my harddrive for pictures and videos which I have taken to record my adventure currently stands about about 61GB of data, and 16,000 files. Finally, for this section, I have received 687 comments (including my responses, obviously) which averages to over 2 for every blog. Please do keep your comments coming in as I love reading them and endeavour to reply to each and every one.

Thank you for reading and getting so involved in my adventure. I am so lucky to be out here and being able to write about it, and have you people reading it and sending me words of encouragement, really does help.

So, with that firmly in mind, how far I have come since I started writing the blog, let alone started on this journey, let's go back to last night and me, laying in bed, listening to the "bom.. bom.. bom.." of some very loud music from not the town across the valley by further round to the left, maybe the small village down the hill or even a car parked up somewhere. It kept me awake until near enough 1.30am and I was not impressed at all. I was very close at one point to driving down to find out what was going on and telling them to shut up, but I fell asleep so didn't do this. I wasn't only disturbed by the music; late in the night Rambo started barking fit to wake the dead but when I went onto the balcony to find out what the intruder was it turned out to just be a large tortoise that was walking past the pile of rubble near their cage.

Hazy mountains and the edge of the sun

When the alarm went off this morning you can understand that I was not in a really good state to wake up and it got snoozed for 45 minutes before I was able to get myself out of bed and down to feed the boys. The sun was shining brightly when I got out of bed and I headed out onto the balcony again to snap a load of photographs of the haze and the sun. I loved this one, with me zoomed in on the hills over the way. Just stunning. The boys were on their best behaviour again this morning, though Rambo once more was growling when I went to stroke him while he was eating. Because they were so obedient I didn't lock them straight away but allowed them ten minutes of running around time before I had to leave to get the men.

Roof over the stairs nearly all solid

I left dead on time today and didn't have to stop anywhere, fortunately not seeing anything to photograph while I drove, and pulled up exactly on time at the usual place. They were ready for me and I was able to tell them that I was only "Gore Dolo" today due to the loud music from the night before. Bekir was also good to remember to ask how the rain had effected the roof and was pleased when I told him it was OK. When we got back I went to make breakfast but found that I had forgotten to get any more bacon out of the freezer so I had to settle for an egg and mushroom butty which wasn't quite up to my usual standards. The men were banging and thumping away very quickly as always and I nipped upstairs mid morning to make them a brew and take some shots. They were just closing off the last bits of the planking in the roof and were making great progress as you can see.

Gorgeous Zinnias

After eating my breakfast and seeing her off to work I went to do the watering round; the pressure stood up today and I was able to water everything within range with the hose, then filling the can and taking it up to the top for watering the Zinnias and Magnolias. The Zinnias really are starting to look good, and I'm excited at the thought of growing many more of these next year. The Magnolias, now they don't have any blossom on, look very ordinary but so long as they survive the winter they will be stunning again next spring.

Bekir and Sally on the roof

While I was up the top I took great pleasure in watching the men as they worked together putting the finishing touches on this side of the roof. They work with economy of movement and as I've observed before Orhan seems to fit into this very well providing the tool or section of wood they need next without needing to be told twice. He is also a cheerful fellow and really seems to be friendly; today he was showing me the scars on his head from a motorcycle accident which look pretty bad to be fair.

I spent most of the morning doing paid work and when I wasn't able to, playing with Ralf and Rambo. Rambo managed to get himself shut away for the afternoon when I came downstairs at one point with Ralf and not only was Rambo lazing around inside the house by the stairs, he growled at Ralf as Ralf ran past! Suffice to say when he looked at me he immediately looked guilty and lay down submissively and I took him to the enclosure and put him in there. He knows he isn't allowed but he still comes inside; he can go in the porch and the entrance room so it's not like he came in to escape the heat. Anyway, I had lunch of my own tomatoes again and the new cheese I got yesterday; very nice, and then decided to get Julian ready for driving as I will be taking him down to the vehicle licensing place on Wednesday with Lubo to get him registered onto BG plates. Exciting times.

Before I tidied in Julian

It didn't take me long to tidy through, secure everything, and save all the change which had been laying around the side and I also found the tweezers which I thought I'd lost. I had taken a brew with me and after I finished the tidying I sat for a few minutes and just enjoyed being in there. It was another excellent moment of reflection as I considered again the journey, and the time spent sleeping in there before the bed and bedroom was completed. It isn't that long since I left but it feels a very long time. I should sit in him more; he has a really good vibe to him. I'm really quite excited about getting him drivable again so we can go on overnight trips places.

A nice day for an afternoon stroll

Filling those last little gaps

After this I did a bit more paid work but was dragged away by Bekir needing to go to the builders merchant to get some of the narrow strips of wood, two big buckets of glue type stuff for sticking the plastic waterproofing down (very expensive) and a load more nails. I had fortunately paid him just before as I didn't have enough cash on me for everything and he was able to sub me til I got back. Quite embarrassing really but that's life. I was able to look through their bin of hosepipe bits including regulated splitters, hose joiners and some pulse jet watering spikes. I will remember next time I go down to take the fitting from my hose and if it fits I will pick some of those things up I think. When I got back I found that Sally was just getting right to the end of the finishing off where he was wedging in small bits of wood to fill the gaps between the planks.

Test application of the bezir

When we had left to go to the shop Orhan had just started painting up the decorative boards with the bezir that I had chosen under pressure last week. It looked a really good colour and I think it will match the colour I picked for the windows very well. I wish I'd had more warning that I'd have to make a decision like that but hey, so long as it looks nice who cares.

Holding the first panel in place for my confirmation

With all the bezir painted on it was time for the men to start fitting the decorative planking to the side of the roof. I was alerted by a shout from Bekir who was smiling and waving to me through the window of Room 13 from his vantage point on the roof so I grabbed my camera and took the boys out for a stroll and for me to get pictures as they took this important next step. After they had it roughly aligned they asked how it looked and I was pleased so I said so then I watched for a bit more, headed up to the roof to get some more (not as good) pictures, then went back to work.

Metal work and paneling in place

It was a couple of hours later that I realised I'd been buried in both work, and a short time spent sat on the balcony reading my book and enjoying the sun. I jumped up and saw that, as they were affixing the side panels they were also putting the brackets in place that would hold the guttering. They had made loads of progress and there are only two more side panels to be fitted. It was not long after this that it was suddenly time to go so the usual ritual was observed apart from me forgetting to lock the front door and being reminded by Bekir and Sally to go back and do so. It turns out that I'm not getting my extra worker to finish the fence tomorrow, but he's trying to get one sorted. He also expressed that the rest of the roof will be done really quickly as this middle section was the hardest part. We talked briefly about making the sun terrace weatherproof as well and he has a plan for that also.

Current state of play

There was a clutch of policement on the road near their turnoff, including a border agent, and they had just stopped someone who got out of their car and left their door open into the traffic. Not clever. This person had gone by the time I came back past and the cops were all standing around waiting for their next victim though fortunately that wasn't me. I got back safely and remembered today to go straight out and get the progress picture. Tomorrows is one I am really looking forward to.

The sun on its way down

I started cooking my potatoes for the potato salad I had planned (it worked out very well and was lovely, thanks for asking) and then typed some of this blog. I could see that the sky was lovely however so I took Ralf up with me and snapped some shots of the sun as it hid behind some clouds low in the sky.

Ralf watching Rambo who has just started to jog on

While I was taking those pictures I realised that Ralf was getting excited and kept looking over the side of the roof terrace. I looked down and Rambo was there, looking up at us. I wish I could have got that picture but as I brought the camera round to bear on the shot he moved and started running. You can still see how poised Ralf was though.

Gorgeous end to the day

After eating I again went onto the roof and took some more shots of the sun going down, using my filter (thank you dad) this time and I am really pleased with this result. The sun has been out, barring a few small clouds, all day and the temperature on Thomas went up as high as 35 degrees while we were out at the shop. That is hot. Tomorrow is set to be similar.

So there it is, I didn't do half the things I planned to today (I was all set to shift the wood from round the back but other things distracted me) but I can probably blame the really bad night sleep last night for my lack of energy. It'll be an early night tonight and then tomorrow I'll get loads done. Just you see.

EDIT...

The moon this evening

So, as I was uploading and putting the pictures in place I happened to look out of the window and saw that the moon is out and very clear tonight so I popped onto the balcony to snap a picture. This is just taken on full auto (the flash actually went off!) but I think it has come out pretty well. I just showed this picture to my Special Guest and she commented on how dark it already is. Midsummer has definitely passed and this ties in with a thought I had while I was driving back from dropping the men off, in shadow along some of the road, and remembering not so long again when that was in full sunshine at that time during my trip back. So time passes and how it flies.

Stunning sky at dusk

While I was on the roof I was blown away again by the beauty of the dusk sky and, using the long zoom I had put on for the moon shot, I had a go at capturing the amazing colours and shades of the sky as it tended towards night. I just heard a screech owl flying past and all the noise I can hear at the moment (apart from the buzzing of the fridge and my fingers tapping on the keys) is crickets and frogs. Brilliant. Night.

Near enough a perfect day

Well here I am again and today has been a corker. I want this done, and it'll be short, so no delaying.

A really thick fog this morning

My sleep last night was pretty fitful as I had rested so much of yesterday and I was also trying to find and kill a couple of mosquitoes that were zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzing around the room. I got one of them but the other was way too quick to catch. I was woken in the night by a bat flying down the chimney and out the petchka opening into my room. I tried to get a picture but it was way too fast and it was only later I thought I could have videoed it. The bat was far cleverer than the bird and as soon as I opened the fly screen it was out into the night. I followed it and looked at the milkyway, and the stars, and then headed back to sleep. I was woken by the dogs barking but ignored them but eventually decided I should get up because it sounded like they were out of water. The first thing that struck me was how misty it was, after having been so clear in the night, and it took a while for this to burn off.

Both trays have seedlings already

It was even cold as I stood on the balcony taking the picture but then, as I turned to go back in and get on with a brew and the feeding, I saw that the lettuce seeds, which I only put in the other day, have already started to poke green above the soil. Wow. How exciting. This just proves that where I planted them by the entrance really isn't getting enough light.

Feeding time was pretty good today, no problems at all, though I did start the process of getting Rambo to understand that growling when he is eating when someone else comes near is not good. This could take some time. I started off very slowly, just stroking him while he was eating and when he growled, telling him to sit down and then making him wait til he stopped growling before allowing him back to his food. We shall see. It isn't good enough really as he has never had anyone threaten his food but this is a problem he has had for years which was just never addressed. Ralf also only ate half his bowl and, even though I have left it out for him all day, he hasn't touched it. I think he doesn't like this meat that I have fed him. He's going to have to learn to just eat it because he isn't getting anything else until he does.

My big melon, and flowers

After the feeding there was no need for watering and I went in and had kinda middle-class scrambled eggs, as there was no mushrooms in to add to make them really posh. They were very lovely indeed, however, as the bacon was done perfectly into crispy cubes. My Special Guest had survived her night out and we talked for a little bit before she cracked on with her day and I went out to carry on with the weeding of the front "lawn". I checked on the melon that had been spotted by Bekir on Friday and it was even larger than yesterday; at least twice the size. While I was working I found another couple of fruits as well so I'm going to have to add this to my routine to check every day. The flowers were super pretty on the melons as well.

My hand planted Honeydew Melons

I filled up the four big buckets with weeds and went in for a break of a cup of tea and some chocolate bars and then went out and did four more. It is harder work than you would expect, walking along half bent and then pulling up weeds that are pretty well established and require you to use your whole body to yank them out of the ground. It was pretty satisfying, and I had Ralf pegged near me, and Rambo kept trotting over to say hello as well. I took a bit of a break to look for Jesus (still no sign) and also check on the melons by the olive trees. They are also growing well.

Can anyone identify this one?

Another tree I checked out was one down by the front fence that has shiny red berries in it. I have no idea what this so this is your question for the day. Any clues? I'd love it if this was another edible crop which is just on my land.

Tomatoes still hot from the sun for my butties

Lunch was cheese with home grown tomatoes on bread which was tasty but more important as I was so hungry from the effort expended in the morning. I had done eight big baskets full and was getting close to completing the job. I had a shower then heaed down to my favourite little shop to get fresh bread, eggs (20), mushrooms, onions and beer (4 big bottles). I also got some cheese and nardenitsa and as always the cost of this trip was so minimal (about £12) it astounded me.

Still got bits to do, but much nicer now

When I got back I went straight out into the garden to finish off the weeding and, with seven more buckets full of weeds, all the tall weeds had been pulled out from the driveway to the edge of the green building. I still need to go up the other side of the drive, and also keep regularly on top of it, particularly for those nasty thistle that are everywhere, but the worst of it is done and now it will just be a maintenance task.

A huge pile of weeds

The volume of weeds which I pulled up is amazing; this pile is nearly as tall as I am and the weeds are squashed in tightly as they were in the buckets. I now will hope that it rots down nicely; I may need to build a retaining wall again for this but that isn't urgent just yet. There is loads more to go in, as I keep on top of the ever expanding area of cultivated land.

So my task for the day completed I headed inside for another cup of tea and spent some time just chilling out before deciding that I would put a film on. I picked "Two Guns" and I was quite pleasantly surprised. It is by no means an intelligent film but it had its moments of cleverness and a few bits which made me laugh. I was entertained. While the film was on I paused it a couple of times to start roasting my tatties and then put the pork belly in to roast with it and finally I chopped some cabbage and boiled it up, taking a bit out for Shiva (I'm now convinced, sadly, that Jesus is a gonna somehow) and letting Ralf have a bit of a run around in the process.

My dinner, waiting to be eaten

Dinner was served sat on the balcony and it was lovely to be out there, in the sun with Ralf pottering around (and getting excited whenever Rambo went past on one of his rounds) and getting stuck into my next book; Memoirs of a Geisha. Talking of books, I did some research on the book I recommended yesterday and found out that it was all based on falsity and he was a plagiarist to boot. This does not take away from the entertainment of reading it, but does put a sour taste in the mouth as you find his reassurances at the end are just lies.

Hiding under the chair

I finished my dinner and came in for a beer and to type up this blog, which has taken me near enough no time to do. Ralf had his tying up point inside moved from the ring on the door to Room 13 over to the ring on the door to the room next door (that is a lot of doors!) because he was continually trying to climb on my lap again this morning and clawing at my legs to do so and this was starting to get annoying. He has settled into the new limitation and while i have been writing this he has curled up underneath my extra chair very quietly. Now he isn't nagging me I am getting up very regularly (I have done three or four times while I've typed this over about half an hour) to give him fusses and cuddles.

So I can't be bothered now to wait for the sunset so publishing it now.

Change of plans

Today has been a day of plans changing and I didn't even expect to be sat here writing a blog as I went out for the evening however the weather (which has been pretty atrocious on the whole this year) foxed that plan as well. But anyway, that's (as always) me getting ahead of myself so back to the beginning.

Totally horrible miserable start to the day

So I headed to bed last night, read a bit, then went to sleep as the storm which blew in went away again without really bothering me or dropping much rain or anything. I was woken this morning, however, by one of the biggest bangs I've heard and the whole house shook with it. I tried to get back to sleep, though I thought about trying to capture another big bang and a little while later I really wished I had got the video camera out as another one happened and again shook the house. There were quite a lot of other more distant bangs but nothing as impressive after this. I did get back to sleep eventually and woke again at about 8.30 and decided I should probably go and feed the boys. It had been raining when the first explosion woke me and it was still raining now and it looked pretty set in. What a miserable start to the day.

Just a small storm in the last few hours

I headed out to feed the boys and they were pretty obedient again, they really are getting the hang of feeding time if they aren't perfect at all other times. With the rain there was no need for a watering round so I went straight inside to make another cuppa and have some breakfast. I while I was sat at my computer watching some sport I looked on this excellent lightning map site and found that yes, there had been quite a lot of activity the night before around my area and (though I'm not posting this) there was a few strikes within a mile or so which would have been the huge bangs I heard.

(clockwise) stairs, towards sun terrace, above Room 13, open roof

It took a while before I built up the courage to go upstairs and check the state of the roof under the not-sealed new part of the roof but when I did open the door and go up I was pleasantly surprised. There was standing water but very little and not enough for me to bother trying to clear it off. The areas where there was no roof at all were obviously the worst, but even the gappy planks were doing a bit to prevent the horrible flooding I had experienced before.

Set in for a dreary day

I took a short turn around the roof, getting slightly wet but hey I'm English I should be used to that right, and and I took some pictures looking at the different aspects, trying to see if there was any sign of a let up in the cloud. There wasn't; all around there was low cloud, rain, miserable and dank and horrible weather. Just to remind you, this is supposedly a Mediterranean climate and today is August 2nd. Just ridiculous how bad the weather has been this year.

I don't know what he wants...

I spent a large part of my morning either on the computer watching sport, chatting to people online or laying in bed reading. In fact, that is how I have spent most of my day today. Ralf last night was super clingy; he was sitting by my feet as he does but then he'd force his way up looking to get on my lap. The few times last night that I let him up he just wriggled and jumped straight down again, only to be trying to get up again a few minutes later. He was like this again this morning. How can you refuse that face?! Well I can, I tell you.

Ralf taking an interest in the neighbours

One thing that crossed my mind was maybe he wanted out (he is on his lead again inside as he will use the rooms with no floor for a toilet which I suppose is understandable but not something I want to allow) so as last night when he started acting like this I took him outside and he dashed ahead and had a really long wee so maybe that did have something to do with it. While I was out with him this time it had mostly stopped raining so I took a little turn, had a check on Shiva and Jesus (no sign of either of them this time) and then heard clucking and was amused to see the chickens going past with a couple of tiny chicks running after them. Ralf was also most interested as you would expect.

Over the morning it cleared

I spent most of the next few hours in bed, resting and trying to shake off a nasty sore throat and headache which had taken me over last night and had woken up with it feeling worse. With the weather and this there was the first change of plan which is referred to in the title. I had planned on walking (or driving) down into town as there was some sporting event, maybe wrestling, taking place. I cried off with this and rested right through until it was time for my Special Guest to get off to her leaving do and I pulled myself out of bed and saw that in the time I had been switched off the clouds had blown away and the sun was out. I popped onto the balcony to record this, and felt a little bad that I hadn't gone down to the sporting event that I had been so looking forward to.

I fried up the bits and pieces that I had laying around, running out of mushrooms and onions in the process,and also discovering that the nardenitsa had gone off so replacing that in my recipe with some cubed bacon and I made myself a pretty good spicy bacon and mushroom pasta for my dinner, nearly 3pm and very late but I only started feeling hungry as I was dishing it out. There was an unpleasant moment during this when, having given a chunk of the nardenitsa to Ralf I decided (against my usual habits) to give the rest to Rambo. He took the meat and, as I walked past him to go onto the patio to stand outside for a minute, he started growling really aggressively at me. I obviously was not going to stand for this so I subdued him and forced him behind me while I walked him back to their compound and put him in there in disgrace. This reinforces my decision that I need to start training him very soon on the fact that food (which he understands isn't his when he hasn't been given it) is not something he should growl over when I come near him while he is eating.

As of yesterday

After this I remembered that I had not taken the progress picture for last night and so I popped up onto the back bank with Ralf and snapped the shot. It was quite nice and I stood there for a few minutes enjoying the sun and the breeze before heading back in. She headed off out about this time so I was left to my own devices again.

A grasshopper's shed skin

I went back to bed and read until I had finished the book I was reading which was really excellent and was, which I had hoped it was but hadn't realised, based on a true story. I would recommend this to anyone. The time I finished the book was about the time I would need to set off to meet S and S in town if I was going to join them for the evening festivities. I got up, had a drink of water and finding myself feeling largely better I shook myself and decided to go. I put on my jeans, then found my new shorts and changed into them then realised that the shirt I had put on, even though it was clean from the wash, was dirty so I went to get another shirt from the downstairs wardrobe. Clinging to the front of the wardrobe was the shed skin of a large grasshopper which looked so spooky and awesome I decided I had to snap a picture but this proved slightly harder than you would think as the flash washed the detail out, but the no-flash was a long exposure that was hard to steady.

Mother and child

I then realised that I could not find my car keys for Lucy anywhere and I searched high and low, tidying Room 13 a bit in the process, before deciding to look in the last place I knew I'd had them and there they were, still in the ignition of Lucy who was parked under the tree on the track! What a relief. In the field just there was another lovely sight as the little foal was nuzzling up to its mother. I snapped a whole load of pictures then, waving to the cousin from the farm, and the Little Lady who was shelling peas on her balcony, I headed down into town.

The street is full of market stalls

When I had parked up and walked down I found that the market was still there, though it was being packed away as one stall holder after another decided they had had enough, but the whole street was still full of stalls and people walking around checking out the wares. It was lovely to see so many people out and about. I went and sat to wait for S and S for a bit at the place we agreed to meet, texting them to let them know that they couldn't park in the usual place.

All the fun of the fayre

After a bit I decided to wander around again and went back to the main square where I was amused to see cotton candy being sold by a large number of stall holders, and loads of people were walking around eating it. Shortly after this I headed back and just as I got to the meeting point again my phone rang and S was on the phone describing where they were at so I walked the couple of minutes over and found them straight away.

Really black clouds blowing over

We stood chatting for a bit then decided to find a beer and some food and S very kindly bought me a chicken skewer and a beer. We had to move from the table we had chosen, however, as the lovely weather was over and the wind picked up and huge dark threatening clouds were blowing in. At times the wind was so strong it really did feel that the tent we were under was about to disappear. This really is not what you expect in Bulgaria in August.

Before the rain and after (4 mins between shots)

After eating we went to watch the singing but then it started raining heavier so we (along with most of the crowd) ran for cover at the edges of the square while the poor performers kept at it and the hardier souls stayed put.

It didn't rain for long so we headed back out into the centre and I was really pleased as I got to stand and video a whole performance from the musicians, singers and dancers that were doing such a great job on the stage. About half way through this you can hear applause and a group of dignitaries came and sat at the front, accompanied by some very humourless looking men with earpieces and hands tucked inside their suit jackets - the very image of the Balkan security officer. Very serious looking men indeed.

After this the rain began falling again and S and S and their companions decided to bail on the whole thing and headed off, which was quite a sensible decision in the end. I stayed for another 20 minutes or so, enjoying just strolling round the edges of the crowd watching the performance, and enjoying said performance as well, before deciding to leave before it got too dark so I could get back in daylight. This was a very good time to go as I got to the car just as the downpour hit though I got completely soaked through at the other end as I ran from Lucy to the front door.

So I got back in time to write this blog today after all, and I have done so in a very short time really, listening to the Band of Brother sound track and feeling quite chilled out and relaxed really. Tomorrow the forecast is for better weather and it would be really nice to get out and do some more weeding, and maybe even get round to shifting the piles of wood from the back bank before the men tear the next section down. We shall see. The headache which is still hanging around now may be combined again with the nasty sore throat so I may take the wiser course and rest again.

Some awesome discoveries

Straight into it tonight; I seem to have gotten distracted by twitter and not started this til quite late again. Whoops.

Bright rays from the rising sun

It was another up and down night last night, heading to bed pretty early and waking feeling like I had slept enough to find that it was only about midnight. I did have one success; I splatted the mosquito that has been nibbling on my for the last few nights. That was a big win as its whining around has not helped me relax. When the alarm went off I snoozed but got up before the time elapsed and, after a toilet trip, was in the shower having a super scrub when the snooze went off again. I almost slipped over on the floor past the drain in the trench and I am now thinking that putting some cheap, grippy, shower tiles down in there may be a good idea. Feeding time was a simple one again, and I was stopped while leaving the side door by the sun rise. Stunning. Everything was good until it came time to go in through the side door before the watering round. First of all Ralf hung back and then, just as he was coming, Rambo erupted from his "sit, lay, stay" position and dashed over towards the front door, causing Ralf to jump and then tear after him. I put them both in their enclosure after this and did the watering round without them.

My honeydew melons are doing well

It was quite nice to potter around again without them distracting me and I did the hose watering first, giving the new chili plants a good soaking (two of them are not looking very healthy at all, but the other eight look fine so we will have to see what happens) and then dragging the hose round the Olives, Melons and down to the tortoise enclosure. As and when we plant things in the fenced garden I will need a longer hose so it can reach but time enough for that. I may eventually put a standpipe up there and, as this is a better idea than trailing hoses everywhere, I'll probably just buy an extension to this one which can then be used in its own right.

A lovely splash of colour

The pressure on the water wasn't great but I still managed just about to get water over everything I was aiming at on the entrance garden and I did take the opportunity to snap a picture of the Fuchsias which have now seemingly bedded in well and almost all of them are now covered in flowers. They aren't really growing fast, but at least they are flowering. The Zinnias are still looking lovely, but the same as yesterday, and again I broke up the soil before watering and this is working well for me. Finally, as I was down by the Silver Birches I took the leaf off that had the strange eggs on the bottom and I should probably carry out an inspection of all the trees to make sure there are no more of them.

Definitely an orekh

Finally for this watering round I have an extra step which is to take the small watering can out onto the balcony and soak the lettuce seeds. While I was pottering around about to feed Sassy I suddenly saw something which is probably one of the most exciting things I've seen today, and maybe even growing wise all year. One of the two walnuts which I found while digging out the entrance steps (both of which I potted up) has sprouted and now it is a veritable seedling! I know this may seem small but I am really pleased as this was one thing I wanted to try and do and I've managed to get a seedling at the first time of trying, albeit one that had already got roots when I picked it up.

Squished snake on the road

I didn't set off for the men quite as early as I have been doing, being happy with the shots of the storks yesterday, but I did ensure I had time to stop by the road where I had seen a snake that had been squashed. I only put this here to show the size that they can reach over here; I have no idea if this is a poisonous one but there are often snakes squashed on the roads and I do wonder if people actually drive at them deliberately. I've yet to see a live one though?

View from near the men's village

Despite this pause on my journey I still reached the top of the cheren put a few minutes early so I parked up again and this morning the view across the valley down to the Greek mountains was lovely, showing off both the morning overcast which had blown in, and the sun shining on river mist in the distance. I stood for a while just looking, enjoying the cool breeze, before heading down dead on time and collecting the men. On the way back Bekir made it clear that he wanted to pop into town but I also did so said to wait until after breakfast and we'd go, which was fine.

Breakfast was bacon and eggs on bread (standard) and also super tasty and then just as I finished up Bekir came down having got to a point where he needed the oil for his chainsaw so we headed down into town and first went past the builders merchant for some "bezir" which is wood stain, for the decorative surrounds. I was really put on the spot here to pick a colour and I went for a fairly neutral, but dark, colour so the silver guttering will be set off nicely. I hope it looks nice. From there it was to the same garage which sold him the oil previously, though it took some time to find the owner to sell it to us. We then stopped past the shipping office to pick up my parcel (it is only my second time in, but they recognised me. HAHA) and finally Bekir picked up a power supply for their radio from a leva shop next door. We were out all of half an hour and had full success.

It's Shiva again, still no sign of Jesus

When I got back I didn't let the boys out straight away but took a turn around the front, looking again for Jesus (no sign; just Shiva clambering off the new pile of dirt which had been in their tray) and then just spending a few moments soaking in the peace of this, one of my favourite spots. I also inspected the trees down there, trying to work out which ones are the walnuts and spot any fruit on them.

New roof extending

As I turned round I saw that the men had made plenty of progress even this morning, and the planks had been laid across almost the whole of this side of the new section of roof. They hadn't quite finished it at this time but were on a short break with a coffee and it took them til nearly lunch time to complete the fiddly bits around the chimney.

Yet more cucumbers

The other thing which had happened while we were out was the Little Lady must have been past and she had dropped off a bag full of cucumbers. I still have SIX in my fridge and now I have these to deal with. It is so funny really. A vat of their cow's milk would be really gratefully received as well. Anyway, I'm now looking for (sensible, publishable) suggestions of what to do with them.

The boys at their playful best

I spent a large proportion of the morning watching this documentary on Orcas and ended it feeling rather down at what humanity will do to animals, and what corporations will do to lie and cheat to continue their inhumane practices. I have long thought that animals must have a sense of self and to see the terrible things that happen purely to entertain idiots.... It made me sick. I had to get out and shake the funk off so I went and watered the chilis and pots again and the boys did their thing and were funny and cheered me up, dashing after me and playing a bit. It was a good moment.

Lots of weeds all over this lawn

Lunch was cheese with my home made pickle and was very satisfying, and then I did what paid work I could and rested a bit while the men had their lunch and the banging was stopped. It started pretty soon after I woke but I felt a lot better again for the short shut eye. I worked a bit more then felt really lazy and slobby and decided to get out and do a task which has been on my mind for a bit, that I could tackle in short stages and wouldn't take it out of me, or so I thought. The front "lawn" which I first scythed has turned into a mass of weeds now the grass is gone and I want to pull up all the tall weeds, and particularly the nasty spiky things that are endemic on my land and with which a daily battle is in progress all over the place. I went down by the drive, took four of the big buckets, some gloves and a few tools, and set to.

Done a load, plus the strange vine

The first session of clearing I filled each bucket up twice and emptied them out by the compost heaps (I am now into my third different heap) and I was absolutely shattered after the effort of bending over, pulling the weeds, and then carrying the buckets as they were actually quite heavy. This took an hour but it was really satisfying and also quite intriguing as one of the huge vine type plants that infest the front lawn, when I pulled it out, looked very interesting so I decided to leave the rest in place and check with Bekir what they were.

Turns out the vine is a melon plant. Excellent

As I was clearing up a car parked on the lane and the driver got out and phoned Bekir who came down to see him. He got tickets for something in the big town on Sunday, and invited me but I have plans for tomorrow already so said I'd do it another time. It was nice to be invited though. Anyway I took the opportunity while he was off the roof to ask him what the vine plants were and had my suspicions confirmed when he said "ahhh Bostan!" which is the turkish word for melons. It turns out that I have LOADS of melons growing on my front lawn. They are water melons, not the honeydew which I planted by the Olive trees but still; what a lovely surprise.

So what is this as well?

The rest of my afternoon I flitted between my laptop, the weeding I did another load of four buckets, and then a few bits and pieces right next to where the compost is being piled) and while I was doing that I saw this strange looking plant (pictured above) with two long white flowers, and a spiky fruit in the base between the two stems. Any ideas anyone? Just before it was time for the men to go I lay down and read for a bit as I was feeling pretty tired. Bekir had taken my extension up to the roof for their radio so it was good timing to be in the bedroom so he could pass it back through the window for my light to plug into.

Another storm is building

And so it was time to take the men home and I dashed to the toilet quickly before we left and was able to take a picture of the thunder clouds which were starting to build across the valley. They really do look rather amazingly awesome as they build and the energy in them which then is released in the lightning and thunder is obvious well before the storm breaks. This one was looking like a really big one; similar to the one that kept me awake the other night and led to the flooding. My fingers are crossed it does not turn out like that again.

I had asked Bekir earlier in the day about getting another workman to finish off the job T left undone and he had seemed happy with it. Before we got in Lucy I pointed out that if I was getting a 4th workman I'd need to know as she was too low to go over the uneven cheren put with another body in, so would have to come in Thomas. We agreed to leave it on Monday, and he would try and arrange for Tuesday. This is a good thing.

Rainbow is bottom left

The drive with the men was simple as always with no problems and as I was coming back down the cheren put I decided to stop and quickly get some pictures again of the threatening weather that was all around, even this much further south (about 20 km away). I was rewarded with the sight of a rainbow in the far distance, below some different massing clouds, and while it is very faint in the picture I decided to not zoom in too much on it as the clouds are stunning as well.

Awesome shapes at the top of the clouds

The storm is heading my way

When I got to the bottom of my road the police were there stopping people for driving too fast which is a really good thing considering the accident which happened there though is probably a little too late. As I climbed the hill the clouds on my right were just amazing and I parked half way up and snapped some pictures. You get to see both as I loved the zoomed in detail of the swirling of the cloud on the right, but then also showing it in context with the rest of the cell added so much as well.

I got home, let the boys out (they are getting better all the time at shutting up before I open the gate) and came upstairs to have a beer as I was gasping. I then got distracted by twitter and forgot to take my status picture (and it would have been a good one as the men have done loads today; you'll just have to wait for tomorrow) and also as it approached 10pm I have not eaten either as I stuffed my face with snacks after my weeding session and have spoiled my appetite. Maybe I'll just eat a cucumber.

The storm which was building has now started flashing and banging all around which, combined with the music coming up from town, some fireworks earlier and finally what sounded like gunshots, makes this a very exciting evening indeed. Ralf was super attentive this evening, continually trying to get on my lap and then, when he was up there, just wriggling and jumping down again and I took them to their compound when the storm got a bit closer.

I'm hoping that tomorrow is going to be a day out for me into town as there is some sort of sporting event taking place early afternoon and then some music in the evening. I may walk in, I may drive, but I will almost certainly be on my own as my friend has decided to not join me, and S and S are probably going to come down for the music, so I'll just take my kindle and camera and chill out and watch the world go by. Time to stop this now, put the pictures in place, and then attempt to sleep through another thunder storm; you'd have thought I'd be good at it by now.