It's been grey

We're back once more and it is Monday morning, just starting my second brew of the day, and wanting to get this done and published as I have a few things that I need to do today. Still no men back but it is still quite cold so no problems there; I'd not want to be working in an unheated room in this weather either! Indeed, I DON'T want to but today I have to; more on that in a bit. I've just got a few pictures today so this one really should be a short update. There's also some interest regarding a change in the law that effects us.

Heavy overcast above the parents' hotel

Thelma returns with her ball

Three puppies after one tiny stick

Louise races across the top bank

Louise checking out the camera

She was looking up at me

She was shivering and wanting to go back inside

Their preferred spot, as I cook Spicy Pork Pasta

As the title of this post suggests it has been pretty much overcast all week. Overcast and cold, with biting north winds and every now and then a small settling of snow. It certainly has not been the weather for getting outside very much but we have wrapped up a couple of times and taken the puppies onto the top bank to throw balls. I went on my own to do this earlier in the week and then yesterday we took half an hour together and did the same. Thelma, of course, loves this but Louise, unusually, has also been getting really into it, running like a loon and bouncing around manically both times. Rambo, who normally is a bit over bearing when a ball is being thrown, has been joining in really well and all in all both these sessions were wicked fun for us and them. We'll be doing that again today I think. It is also really nice for us to get up on the top bank again. Apart from that the puppies have been sat right in front of the fire (or wrapped up in their blankets) waiting for summer.

Superb peppered steak

The scenery I have built, part 1

The scenery I have built, part 2

Louise having a look at the scenery

A game in progress

For ourselves we've had a pretty good week, for the most part. I've done a fair bit of modelling and A has been back at work. We have also managed to get a couple of games of Hobbit SBG in, including test playing a scenario I've written myself, which has been great fun to get back into. I've had an interview for a permanent job which went OK but I'm waiting to hear if they're OK with me being in Bulgaria. I've also got a couple of contract jobs bubbling on the horizon. I met up with our solicitor for lunch to arrange about a Change of Use for the building as the law has, apparently, recently changed in two ways. First of all it is now finally actually possible to officially change the registration for our property to a residence. This is important as it is now apparently impossible to register for a residency card if your property is NOT registered as a residence. I've started the process for the Change of Use (once again) so we'll see if it works out.

Thelma covered in muck, shouting at her ball

A purple haze

Spot the woodpecker

A small quantity of snow to greet us

Checking out their frozen pond

Two beef Iskander kebabs

Snow on the peaks across the valley

A chopping firewood

Bought logs stacked up outside

Other than that we bought Thelma a new big ball for the balcony and she loves it. She also gets absolutely filthy while playing with it outside as she digs it into the undergrowth then tries to dig it back out again. On Wednesday evening, as the sun was going down, the sky was the most amazing colour; a purple-y red. Very strange. We've had some wildlife returning with a sighting of some swallows the other week and now the woodpeckers are back (being shy as always, though; this photograph was taken through the kitchen window and not using the longest lens). Thursday night it snowed and we woke to more snow falling on Friday however it didn't fall for long and has mostly melted already once more. The ducks had their pond back for a few days however once again it froze over and they were not impressed. Once we (if we ever do) get the big pond and the pump and a running stream in that pond shouldn't freeze other than for the very coldest times and they will be very happy then. We went out for our dinner on Friday to have Beef Iskander kebab and it was superb; such a tasty meal, that. I've done some stuff around the house and have the big scaffold in the guest room to fit the curtain rail finally. That is a job for today and will be me working in an unheated room. Yuck. A got the chainsaw out once again and did a load of cutting of the wood we gathered off our land the other year; she's on for doing more of that today. After she finished this we worked together to shift all the new bought wood out of the garage into the wood store where it will dry a bit better; that is what two cubic looks like.

Sassy sat in her hutch

I'll leave you with a picture of Sassy who has wintered outside very well once again; the problem we've had is getting in to clean her tray out regularly enough with all the snow but even with two water bowls cracking in the cold she's fine and happy every day to see us. It's going to be good to get back outside and interact with her more. Indeed as I type this the sun has just come out so let's hope the warmer weather is on its way.

Thanks for reading; until next time.

The proof is in the.... tilth

Another week has gone by and it's been another tough one all round. I'll be keeping this brief again to get it out there (I copied the pictures off my phone and camera yesterday but didn't even get anything typed up so I'm later than I wanted to be). You'll have to wait for the end to understand the title though.

The icicles fell and shattered

A very slight smattering of snow

Seamus' face has melted off

Lovely open fire, just very smoky indeed

The melt has very much set in this week and from having a full whiteout at the beginning, right now there is hardly any snow left. The first thing to go was the big icicles hanging from the edge of the wood store. On Monday there was a very slight fall of snow which fell for a few hours and it was cold enough to settle however it never got past a slight smattering at any point. Seamus was continuing his face-melting experience showing that we get more sun in the afternoons as the side pointing east was totally fine and the side pointing west wasn't there any more. The less said about the rest of Monday the better but it was a pretty terrible day and we'll leave it at that. Tuesday was almost a total write-off however we did try and light the open fire again but once more the amount of smoke that escaped into the room made us sadly close it up and let it go out; we WILL get that sorted as we love having it lit but right now choking on fumes isn't a nice way to live.

Disc-sun through cloud

Sun sparkling on the snow

It turned into a beautiful day

Broken windows on the raised beds

Lettuce has done well

The remnants of the day

A holding Thelma (to stop her jumping up) and Louise

Rambo came out so we said hello

It was a hazy start to the day on Tuesday but that rapidly burned off and the afternoon was once again glorious with a really warm breeze, the first of the year, and beautiful blue skies. The snow was sparkling while I was doing my washing up as the sun made its appearance and that brought a smile to my face. A got outside and cleared the snow off the raised beds and found quite a lot of damage to the glass; the old windows are showing their age and the weight of snow for so long caused about half of them to shatter and fall through. Fortunately none of the beds with things growing in them suffered this fate and the garlic and lettuce are looking excellent. I was just slightly too late onto the roof terrace to capture the full glory of the sunset however it was brilliant to be up there feeling the fresh air (A would say "freezing" but I prefer "fresh") and looking once more at the beauty in which we live.

I ran onto the balcony to get this picture

The morning sun shines onto the bank

The garlic has survived really well

Wednesday; who knows what happened on Wednesday, apart from it was a very hazy sunrise again but this time a colourful one. I rushed onto the balcony with the camera and enjoyed the fact that finally we have no snow on there as it has all melted. The sun was shining on the snow-covered back bank, however, and prompted a second picture looking away from the sun. It won't be long before we're having our morning coffee sat on the balcony again - how I have missed that! There isn't much else to say about Wednesday apart from A got a picture of the garlic growing well; that'll be another good harvest and once more we'll not have to buy shop grown bleached garlic this year.

Mist in the valley, cloud above; sun in between

A huge sun glimpsed through the haze

It must be Spring!

Thursday was another glorious day and we even managed to get Pat out and on the road (though she won't be trying the lane again any time soon; it's VERY muddy and there was much wheel-slippage as A guided her along the lane). The sunrise was once again beautiful and once again I was out onto the balcony first thing to capture it. We met up with SandS for lunch at our favourite restaurant and that was just lovely; they brought their baby who was a bit unhappy but looking so well and we loved seeing them - it was a delayed birthday meal for S and so she got her present as well, finally. While I was getting ready to go out I decided that after the warm breeze of the day before Spring must have sprung so the clippers came out and my winter plumage was removed. I feel much better now, back to "normal".

Louise trotting along the patio in the sun

Thelma has Rambo's huuuuuge kong

She can just about carry it around

We head up the hill for a leg-stretcher

We had to carry the girls as we went past the cows

It is melting fast now

Rambo bouncing in the slush of the stream

The snow still hadn't melted up the track into the mountains

We were back out for lunch again on Friday meeting the new family relatively local to us who have bought a school and this was another lovely time; really enjoyable. It was a glorious day again and we spent the morning out with the puppies throwing toys and getting fresh air for ourselves. When we got back from our lunch we went straight out again and walked up the hill a way, though not all the way as the snow was still quite deep up there and the going was not easy, but it was beautiful and really worth while to get the fresh air and stretch our legs after being cooped up for so long over winter. Rambo in particular really enjoyed jumping in the snow and the fact that the stream has water in it that he could run through. The girls were also having such a ball as they ran far ahead sniffing everything and racing each other through the snow. It was just what we needed and we both felt the better for it.

The snow has almost all gone

Muddy driveway by the parking area

The turning area is filthy too

Lots of rubble spread to improve grip

The first humanure collection point is ready to be emptied

Look at that lovely soil! AWESOME!

Starting to fill up the raised bed

The chickens go digging for grubs

A peck of hungry birds

A shifting soil around; it is really good quality now as well

And so we get to yesterday and it was a pretty good day; as I said at the beginning of this update the snow has largely gone now and the rain that was falling was hastening its departure. A went out to town first thing to do the weekly shop and while she was gone I got my rain hat on and went to start work on the drive which is holding up well with all the rubble put on it last year but getting muddy in places. I spent about an hour or so with the wheelbarrow shifting material from the big dump mound and spreading it onto the drive and when I reached the end of the green building I went inside for a brew and a rest. Technically I'm supposed to finish this job today but that may end up happening tomorrow now. The early rain cleared quickly and by the afternoon it was a truly glorious day and so we both went outside into the garden. And now we get to the meaning of the title of this post. I opened up and made use of the first humanure collection point and wow, what awesome quality tilth it has produced! We have filled the new small raised bed entirely with it, as an experiment, and I've also added some to a few of the other raised beds. There's still more in the collection area though so we'll have to work out what to do with it. The chickens were loving this task as I found about fifty of the grubs that they love to eat so much and eventually they worked out where I was getting them and started digging for themselves. We went over to the neighbours for a coffee during the afternoon and this put an end to our efforts but it was good to get out there and feel the energy of a new year start to flow.

The promise of a lovely day, not looking like it'll happen though

And so we get to today; it's a grey day now, cold and miserable and looking like it may rain, but first thing when I got up it was glorious and my decision to run back up the stairs with the camera was a good one. The fire is snapping and heating us up and I think the rest of the driveway can wait a bit unless it does brighten up or I get a sudden surge of energy.

Here's to Spring and things growing and the sun shining once more.