Nearly into Room 13

As part of my new push to get these updates out more regularly I'm sat down on Friday evening after a hectic day and I'm going to try and publish this tonight. I may achieve this or I may not; I'm also playing with Thelma and Louise and am waiting to hear from A so it could be that I delay the completion until Saturday morning. Here goes.

A digging over the spud patch with bird assistants

A nice neat row of seed potatoes

Thelma digs at her stick

The rain closes in

A resting with the puppies

Back to Wednesday and the rain held off in the morning long enough for A to get into the garden and plant out her spuds which I had collected the day before from ekont. The chickens and ducks had followed her into the fenced garden and were busy digging it over, which was useful, but when we started putting the seed potatoes down they had to be removed. I did help a bit doing this but almost 100% was A and now we have three (or maybe four?) varieties of spuds planted with three different growth rates. Thelma was in digging at her root once again which helped somewhat but mainly she wasn't in the right place. After this it started to rain and became quite miserable; the trips up the hill in Thomas to empty out the coal dust were disgusting and messy and I told Ennis (for that is the kid's name) to take the rest of the week off until it clears again.

Walls now taller than the reservoir

The lights are being hung

Yulhan helping out with the welding

Sally took back over and completed the task

The hanging of lights has been completed

Some more finishing off; the vestibule floor. Finally.

In terms of building work it was quite an exciting day; Sally worked outside while he could, what with the weather, and got a long way towards completing the second reservoir housing. Inside Bekir was hanging the lights in Room 13. When the weather closed in Sally went to doing the welding for the legs for my workbench and Yulhan gave a bit of a hand for a while.You can see, I hasten to add, the safety helmet we bought for Sally in these pictures but they often decide to not bother with it. Bekir managed to get all the lights up in Room 13 which is wicked; we had to work out our heights for them and I think I'm happy with what we have chosen. Yulhan's job, having completed the painting, was to lay the tiles in the vestibule outside the guest bathroom and he made a good start on that before it was home time.

Cloud hanging low in the valley

A sleepy duck and a hungry hen

The journey home was easy and on the way back I was watching as the clouds were pooled in the valley; it must have been dank and damp over there. We had a good laugh as well at one of the ducks that was stood up fast asleep while the chickens ate bread all around. It was my turn to cook on Wednesday and I made my spicy pork pasta (click the link for the recipe) which was just superb and then it was an early night for both of us as the next morning was going to be crazy.

There is the bus that will take her away

Front window seat; top skills

A breakfast to get me through the day

Thelma and Louise getting their fight on

The first alarm went of at 3.45am and that was bad but we were both out of bed and downstairs when the back up sounded at 4am and that made me jump. Her bus was at 5am so we were ready, down the hill, and waiting when it pulled up and she got on, grabbed the window seat, and began her journey to Sofia to fly home to see her family. I drove home feeling sad as I will miss her (and I am) and after a brew I headed back to bed and got another hour which was much needed. After collecting the men it was time for breakfast and I made bacon and egg butties to cheer me up. The puppies were a bit unsure why A wasn't around but then they started chasing and fighting which was great to see.

The second housing is completed

Sally with Thelma (hidden) and Louise

Yulhan finishing off the tiling

We have light!

Of course the workmen were cracking on once again. I went outside to see Sally first and found that the second housing was completed, including the sloped roof and a lintel over the doorway, and he was starting to layout for the final one. I decided the doorway should be towards the orchard and he set the bricks ready for that and carried on. Inside Yulhan had all but finished the tiling of the vestibule; the next task would be grouting. Finally Bekir had all the lights hung and the light switches wired in by lunch time. They look really good and I'm pleased we went with the low hanging lights in here.

Thelma in mid air as she runs back

Thelma getting away from Louise's interception attempt

Louise accelerates hard to catch up with Thelma

Nearly caught her, and Rambo joins in the excitement

A tug of war stalemate ensues; Rambo watches on

Seeing as I'm on my own I'm doing my best to entertain the puppies and not get too tied up with hobby time or rushing around after the men. To this end I have taken them up onto the top bank to play both yesterday and today. It's good for me as well to just stop for a bit and have time for them. Everyone got involved in yesterday's fun and Louise got stuck in for a lot of it. Rambo was really good and played along very nicely which is always a pleasure; he's a lovely dog when he wants to be.

Guest room doorless

Buckleberry Ferry

Puppies hinting that it is bed time

Inside Bekir was continuing with the electrics while Yulhan, who had finished grouting in the vestibule, started the next task which was to fit the final two doors. This involved first removing the old door for the guest room and by the end of the day it was gaping and ready for some serious demolition work to occur. I had a bit of a hobbying evening last night and got more stuff done on my rivers and the ferry. The puppies were lovely; I played with them a bit then they took themselves off to have fun and chased each other around and around the room. I missed out on videoing most of this however I caught some of it, and a fight they had. I was really tired and so were the puppies and they both took themselves up the stairs to encourage me to go to bed. Which I did. And I slept really well indeed.

Yulhan hammer drills the wall down

Bekir wiring plugs

Sally laying bricks. Still.

When the alarm went off this morning I did not want to get up so I didn't and I snoozed it. Thelma, even after this slight lie in, refused to get up and stayed there. She's a lazy one. I had a lovely hot shower in the newly tiled downstairs shower this morning which was epic and woke me up enough to collect the men. Yulhan was straight in with the breaker to widen the doorway for the new door while Bekir got cracking with wiring up all the plug sockets for Room 13. There are a lot of them. Sally, meanwhile, was outside in the drizzle and cold getting on with the final housing for the reservoirs. It really was a miserable day today and I've done a lot of rushing around, or so it seemed to me while I was living it.

Bekir drilling a new hole for our internet to come through

Health and safety?!

A woodpecker on the ground

Blooming marvellous

The new door is fitted

I was supposed to go into town to meet up with Lyubo but cancelled at the last minute as I was just too busy. We also had a bit of a disaster with the internet as Bekir accidentally drilled through the cable however, as per usual, the support guys were out really quickly and put a new cable in and now I have internet though I'm finding that the upload isn't working well; I couldn't do a video call just now with A which was a huge shame. While I was washing up this afternoon (yes my routine is all to cock) I saw a woodpecker hopping around on the grass so snapped a picture though I don't think it came out all that well. The cherry tree is blossoming already which is lovely to see; spring is definitely very close now. We finished the day with all the plugs wired and the first curtain rail begun in Room 13. I was really hoping it would all be done so I could move up there this weekend but alas that isn't the case. I've got plenty on my list for the weekend anyway now so I may not have got time as it is.

And so I have managed to get this done this evening. The puppies have just taken themselves off for another fight and chase; Louise was sleeping on my lap and I was throwing the ball for Thelma then Louise jumped off and that was that; great fun. It was lovely to talk to A as well before, even if my internet didn't let me do the video call. I will have to get that looked at. Thanks for reading and I'll be back again sooner rather than later.

Half a week of progress

After my last update, which ran to 90 photographs and I don't know how many words, I have decided to pick up the update baton a little earlier this week and get a quick one done this morning. It is now Wednesday morning and A is out collecting the men. I've finished my morning chores (fed Sassy, done the washing up, lit the fire to take the chill off) and thought I'd get this done as well. So here goes.

Red sky in the morning...

The broken wheel is removed

Sally making use of his new machine

Coal shed being dug out into Thomas

Up the top of the village throwing the dust into the dump

Yulhan gets the ceiling painted white

The wheelbarrow is fixed

This update begins with me writing the previous post as it took me all day, on and off, to do that. So let's go back to Monday and the glorious sky that greeted us when we got up to collect the men. It was not very long lasting, indeed it had faded from its initial colours by the time I had the camera, but while it was visible it was stunning. Indeed it was quite an efficient morning photograph as A, heading downstairs already, heard me walking across the living room and guessed to pass the camera up the stairs to me. Teamwork. The workmen got stuck straight in, and we had an extra body starting to do my job of digging out the coal shed. Bekir ground off the old broken wheel on the wheelbarrow and welded a new one on so we're back to having two builders barrows which is great. Sally, after a little nudge, got the mixer running and since then he has seemed to be loving it. As I say our new guy, I've not caught his name accurately yet, is doing the disgusting job of digging out the coal shed and was straight in there chucking the dust into the back of Thomas. When we did the first empty we dropped down into town and bought him a new shovel as our old one wasn't good enough. Finally inside the painting had started on Room 13. What an exciting time!

Sally laying more bricks as the house grows

A bucket full of flowers to plant out

Border flowers

Three tonnes of sand

After Sally had done his mix he got straight back into building the housing for the reservoir and the generator. The big cement bricks that we bought are making this go very quickly and should also have some insulating properties as well I hope. I was out to the shops a couple of times and one of those times A headed out into the garden and did some planting out. We had been given some lovely bulbs by the Little Lady the other day which had kept well in a bucket of water but now they are planted along the border near the garden, with my ice follies, looking beautiful. The busyness of the morning continued with two truck deliveries, one of sand and the other of stones, which have replenished our diminishing stocks. We also did two trips up the mountain in the morning to empty Thomas; this new kid is really doing well.

Bekir measuring for the drain

Tiles laid

Sally getting close to done here

First course of the next building laid

Half way down the wall

There was even more progress in the afternoon as Bekir got into the downstairs shower and laid the tiles in there. He suggested a nicely patterned layout which I immediately agreed to and I think you can see just how well it looks. Outside Sally finished the walls for the first housing and moved round the back of the building to make a start on the next and at the end of play the first course of bricks was done there as well. The painting inside was also cracking on and we could finally see the colour I had selected on the walls; I am very pleased with it indeed.

Clouds and rain on its way

The sweetcorn seedlings, getting covered

Courgettes under custom made cloches

A very happy sight; a pea seedling

All afternoon the weather had begun closing in with heavy clouds and some wind picking up. I headed out with the cloches to protect the sweetcorn and courgettes which A had planted out earlier on. I also found a wonderful sight of the peas finally starting to show; we've yet to have any success with these plants; hopefully this year we'll get a crop. They are in the old spud beds which means we can easily build a framework for them to climb up. Because of the wedding our Sunday roast occurred on Monday night and it was superb but I ended up having a bit of an upset stomach and had a bad nights sleep.

Bekir measuring the metal

Cutting up our sections

The light fittings being moved out 15cm

Already made good by the end of the day

A damp bricklaying day

Over half done by the end of the day

Tuesday had a rainy start, Sally was able to get a mix done and begin work but then it started to rain quite heavily. I headed out with Bekir to the metal yard to get the materials for making the legs for my work bench in Room 13. It took a little bit of time but eventually we were served and came home with enough material to do the job. By this time the rain had largely stopped and as it happened Sally could work outside all day. Inside Bekir was grouting in both bathrooms, as he's also put the tiles around the window in the upstairs one, and then at the end of the day I suddenly realised that the light fittings above my bench would be too close to the wall as I've gone for really deep shelves. Without a grumble Bekir was up and channeling and moving these fittings. This morning he's moving the final two and then a small amount of paint will be required. Yulhan completed all the painting in Room 13 and the colour is just perfect; it was glowing so much that I thought a light had been rigged up. Perfect colour. Sally, meanwhile, had made some good progress again outside and the second little house is coming on well.

Some of my scenery, set up for a game

Louise waiting to go to bed

Looking towards the quarry

The coal shed is getting clearer

After a dinner of an absolutely superb lasagne we set up and played a short game of SBG which was a lot of fun. A was quite tired, after working all day, but as she's going away tomorrow for a holiday we both wanted to get a game in as we haven't done it for a while and also we've been sat watching TV programmes a lot recently. It was a good game and I enjoyed it more because I finally beat her! We had a quick brew before bed but Louise thought this was very much an unnecessary delay and sat on the stairs waiting for us to go up. This morning was still very overcast but we've had a few glimpses of sun every now and then. Sally is still able to work outside currently while Bekir is shifting light fittings before getting on with all the rest of the electrical work in there. Yulhan is tiling the vestibule outside the upstairs bathroom and outside the young kid is cracking on with his job; this was the state of play first thing this morning and you can see he is about half way done. Excellent.

Right, that was a good idea, getting this blog written now. That's a much more reasonable length. See you at the end of the week.