Vets visits and plumbing fun

I'm struggling to get back into the routine of these updates at the moment; it's probably not helped by the fact that we are having such a lovely visit from my parents to be honest. Anyway it is Friday morning just before A heads off to collect the men and I'm only just sitting down to start this update which was due last night.

Wednesday

The forecast had been for better weather to be with us from Wednesday and certainly when we woke up this was the case; finally a morning nice enough to take our brews out onto the balcony.

Rain water collected in the wheel barrow

A spud tower filled to overflowering

Sally making use of rainwater

The archway to the bottom corridor taking shape

Pipes to feed hot water to the downstairs

Puppy footprints in the concrete floor in the bathroom

When A went to collect the men I headed outside and did the watering round and cleaned off a load of caterpillars and eggs from the brassicas. I was then free to pick up the first of my morning chores which was to fill the spud tower with soil. I managed to get one layer finished just before the men got back which was good; it's nice to be back into routine. Sally was back to it mixing cement to finish off the squaring off the walls around the entrance. We had a laugh as he said "this is the real free water" and proceeded to use some rainwater that had gathered in a bucket by the driveway; they really are frugal. Bekir had run out of tiles just before going into the toilet room so I suggested he work towards getting the utility room completed so we can use it and the kitchen sooner. We're very close now down there; it's quite exciting to think soon we'll be able to lay in the bath and soak.

Sally mixing away in the sun

One working, four watching

Louise cuddling A

A very high flying jet

We had noticed that Thelma's eye was looking a bit red so when I headed into town to go to the bank once more I took her up to the vets to get checked out. The man wasn't there but a new assistant was and she spoke some English so it was dealt with quickly, with me being sent to a normal chemists to get her an eyedrop. And this advice dispensed immediately and for free. When I got back I was straight into my day job and so I was quite busy and didn't take all that many pictures during the morning. Sally was out mixing his cement on the driveway while A took the washing and hung it out with a crowd of "helpers". And that is it for the morning. A was so very busy with her work again but she managed to get the job done and on time so took a few minutes in the sun on the balcony with Louise and I rushed out to join her when I heard the jet planes flying around again. It's so hard to see them as they are flying very high but I finally managed to spot one and get a blurry distant shot of it using my long lens.

A new right angle joint to feed water to the utility room

Finishing touches on the archway

The pump is plumbed in

Pushing the washing machine into the room

A tight squeeze indeed

The parents had borrowed Thomas to go for a walk, it's so nice that they can do that, and they got back just before Lyubo arrived for a coffee and to see the place. It was lovely to see him as we haven't since John and Magda were here and so we took a tour then sat on the balcony and enjoyed the visit. By this time much progress had been made downstairs and Bekir had done the plumbing in the roof to feed water to the utility room. Sally had finished all the squaring around the ledge and arch into the bottom corridor and was ready for his next task. This involved moving the washing machine from it's long home by the trench and getting it into the utility room which was achieved easily, though it was a very tight gap past the pump. It was during the afternoon that there was the second of our vets visits. We were stood down near the chicken house when Thelma suddenly came rushing out of the undergrowth shaking her head violently and dived into some grass to rub it on the floor. She then ran around holding her head to one side and shaking it repeatedly. I was worried she had been bitten by a snake and A agreed so she jumped into Thomas and rushed her to the vet. The same lady was there who I had seen earlier in the day and she was surprised that Thelma returned with A and not I. Anyway they were happy she hadn't been bitten by anything, gave her an antihistamine injection, and sent A home.

Clouds leading towards the setting sun

The sun, a disk behind a cloud

What a show the sky put on

And so it was time to take the men home which was easy apart from the fact that as I drove I started feeling quite dizzy and unwell; as soon as I got home I took myself straight to bed and rested and I slept right through dinner and so missed a lovely chilli. I got myself up to help with the watering round and was pleased that I did as it energised me a little bit. The sunset was glorious and I took my mum onto the roof terrace to get pictures before we headed downstairs to relax on the sofas before it was the real bed time.

Thursday

It was a good nights sleep for both of us until Louise suddenly had a huge attack of the sneezes that went on and on and on. She had sneezed a few times the night before but this was so violent. We got her calmed down and back to sleep after a little while but it looked like yet another vets visit would be on the cards.

A lovely start to the day

Sally taking the rotten plaster down

The old plaster mixed with paper

Squirty fill

For my morning chores while A was out I did the watering and then screwed another layer of planks onto the spud tower at the end and proceeded to fill this new layer. I got all of this done before they got back which was great. Sally was making a start on the entrance window surrounds however A and I had been talking about maybe getting all of that back wall tidied up and resealed so after asking how long it'd take him roughly I set him the task of removing all the crumbling plaster and putting new cement into the gaping holes. He got stuck in with a will and removed the old door frame that was collapsing on its own, revealing that the plaster had been held together with paper. Shocking. Bekir was in the bottom corridor doing little bits and pieces while he waited for A to get back from her shopping trip with my mum, bringing the extra tiles so he could finish the toilet floor.

It's hard to type when your puppies are doing this

Dad putting another coat on the bedside table

The ducks enjoying their pond

Brushing the wall down before applying cement

I was once again working away though the puppies were making it hard going. My dad was in the workshop putting another coat of paint on the bedside table which is now nearly completed. The duck pond has been emptied and refilled, it was almost an infinity pond for them as we forgot to turn the water off, and the ducks are once again luxuriating in a swim. When A got back we headed out to the vets with both puppies and they were again examined, Thelma was taken off the eye drops and both had an injection and we have been told to go back on Friday and Saturday to get two more for both. It's a real concern, that they are both so sickly right now. When we got back I found loads of progress in the entrance hall and it's already look so much better.

Horses in their stables

Getting the lawn a bit shorter

A hole trimmed into which the water can pour

Running the water down the drains

Our plan for the afternoon was to go for a horse ride so we got ourselves together and headed down to the stables. When we got there it was deserted (apart from the horses) but eventually someone arrived and after a bit of waiting he made it clear that we should go back the next day as they weren't really ready for us. It was a lovely spot though so it wasn't too bad to have waited there. When we got back I was able to take a bit of time away from my desk to push the lawnmower very quickly over the lawn that was hacked down the other week. Then came the next fun of the day. The shower was not working at all by now so I asked Bekir to have a look at it and this delayed his leaving by about half an hour as we fiddled around with the boiler. At one point we had a pipe running into the bathroom and Bekir undid the connection at the boiler to run the water out of it. There was some spillage but we did OK. Sadly we didn't get the shower working and it was getting very late so I said we'd look tomorrow and took them home. I haven't driven that fast on that road for a long time.

The view from our table at the restaurant

Some salad with ground walnut on it; very nice

Just a plate full of meat

A crescent moon as we left

With the guest shower out of service it was back to the good old days for us as we had showers in the trench. I had the quickest shower I've ever had and turned us around and out the door so we were not that late for our dinner date with SandS. We were at the restaurant next to the central lake called The Watermill and it was a lovely evening. We really didn't rush our food and enjoyed chatting and catching up until finally the midges forced us to leave. Dad drove us home as I'd had a few beers and I went straight to bed when I got back, not even wanting a brew.

And so there you have it; you'll have to wait until Sunday for what we've done today.

Marking time

It's been a strange couple of days, at least for me. I know a number of the readers consider that I bash on with lists and dedication and never a pause towards the end goal but that is more a reflection of how I type than reality. These last two days have very much felt like I am marking time, I have had no great urgency towards anything and haven't really felt that bad about this at all. I think it's largely to do with the weather being so unsettled and uncertain but also my left eye has been sore for the last couple of days and I think I need to get some eye-drops for it.

Sunday night and Monday

My lack of drive has not reflected on everyone by any means. It's been a busy enough couple of days.

Sunday evening nibbles

Sally masks off the consumer unit

Bekir making a start on tiling the corridor

Finishing touches being applied around the consumer unit

On to the next task already

Sunday night after I'd done the blog post we repaired into the lounge to listen to some music and drink tea and eat the awesome ginger cake A had made. It wasn't a greatly late night but I was very disturbed and slept badly so got a lie in until just before A left to get the men. When they got back they got stuck in with working towards our immediate goal of getting the kitchen fully operable. Sally's part in this was to fill in around the consumer unit with cement and then plaster over the top of it while Bekir was getting started on tiling the corridor and small rooms. After some discussion we agreed that he would lift the level of the floor in the corridor to match the rooms so there would be no little lips to trip over and on he worked. Once Sally had completed the consumer unit he went out into the entrance and began to work on sealing the inner front doors. This is great as it will mean when the wind blows we will no longer have the strange moaning wail that we have become accustomed to.

A huge storm misses us again

A is very pleased with her garlic

Nice juice garlic cloves

My mum cleans our washing machine

I had gone out during the morning with my mum to the bank and then the shops but after that I was stuck to my desk with paid work, the first day back but far less horrible than I had expected it to be. The weather continued to be really unsettled with some quite amazing clouds building and threatening us but nothing really bad hit. There were rumbles and Bulgaria got hit quite badly with storms in quite a lot of places but we escaped. Dinner was going to be a Thai curry and for this A cut down the first of the garlic bulbs that she had hung up to dry and was very happy with what she found. My dad had been in painting the bedside table during the day while my mum did an absolutely awesome job of cleaning up the washing machine that had become quite filthy while being sat there for the past two years. Very soon we hope to be able to get this into the utility room where it will live permanently.

I have no more pictures yesterday, another example of how strangely unfocused I am feeling at the moment. The trip to take the men was pretty uneventful apart from the newly scraped cheren put up to their village has collapsed under the weight of a deluge during the day and was slippy and slidey and not much fun to drive on. When I got back dinner was nearly ready and once again we ate in the dining room. It's so great to be down there already. A took herself to bed early but I had some more ginger cake and tea before going through. It wasn't the best nights sleep as Rambo was up barking and howling but it was better than Sunday night.

Tuesday

This morning I had chores to do and I emptied the humanure before A got back with the men. My eye was feeling a little better when I woke though this didn't last long and now it's quite sore again.

Sally getting on with the next front door surround

Bekir working on the doorway

We have another door hung

The parents had a nice slow start to the day and so both A and I knuckled down to our work while Sally continued fixing up around the entrance doors and Bekir got on with his tiling. He very quickly got to the point where he found that he would have to fit the door on the utility room (it probably could have been done by the carpenter in the end, but never mind) and so he began to dig out some of the floor to accommodate the frame. I was really busy and didn't get away from my desk much for the rest of the morning and then the door was hung and he was on with the tiling before lunch.

Puppies curling up on the sofa

A puppy bed on the sofa

Sally smiling as he works

Removing the old shuttering before replacing it

The puppies have been very unhappy with the way the weather has been; they love the heat and hate the rain, and today they have spent most of the day curled up on the sofa sleeping and being grumpy. We ate our lunch sat on the balcony in the sun which was really lovely, the parents having taken a walk down into town for market day. It was so pleasing that the weather has been better today and the threatened storm hasn't hit. For the rest of it Bekir has nearly run out of tiles so we'll be having to get to the shop again soon, though he'll be able to complete the corridor and will only be short for the pantry. This means that tomorrow he can get the pump rigged and we'll have a working boiler. Sally has finished the doors, has cleaned the area around the entry window, and has removed the old shuttering by the arch and replaced it; at this rate he'll finish all of these tasks and we'll have to find him something else to do.

The tiles approach completion

A view of the garden from the roof terrace

Distant rain that is heading our way

A regular visitor to our house

I had a really boring meeting which I sat in without speaking and was able to get a jump on this update which was great and when it was over I checked out the progress. Bekir has been cracking on with the tiling, though he apologised for being slower than he planned as there was a lot of fiddly stuff to do in the utility room. I reckon he'll be grouting and finishing off in there tomorrow so we could have hot water in the kitchen. A was super busy all day today so mid afternoon I sent her off with the camera to get some fresh air. She chose to go on the roof terrace and took some pictures while she was up there which was great. I was cooking today and made a start on the spicy pork pasta before I left to take the men home, leaving A to stir the pork slices so they would be done for my return.

Lit for the first time ever in our house

Building up the fire

The view from my chair at the table

It was an easy journey, and their road wasn't as slippery as they had no rain today, but when I got back the pork still wasn't that cooked so dinner was slightly delayed. I'd had the idea of lighting the open fire for dinner as the forecast is for the weather to pick up so this could be our last chance to do so without broiling ourselves alive. A got it lit and set it going and it drew quite well, though there was some smoke initially. As we get better at this we'll reduce that smoke leakage I'm sure. It burns well with the doors shut which is great for winter when we will just want the heat and not care so much about the romanticism of flickering flames.

Dinner went down well and so now I'm just finishing this off before heading for a shower and a relax before bed.