Spring Storms return

Another weekend and another Monday done and it is time to catch this blog up to date.

Rosie on the trampoline first thing Saturday

Rosie painting

Lovely panorama from the roof terrace

We also played with the model railway

Mummy and Rosie both enjoying the trampoline

A very bright moon on Sunday night

The weekend was an awesome and tiring one. Saturday being Daddy Saturday I had a lovely time with Rosie while Angela got back to her art room finally. With some trampolining and drawing and painting and playing in her house and riding on her trike and going onto the roof terrace and also playing with the model railway it was a super busy start to the day. We then headed out to get a new car seat for Rosie to go into Angela's car and then headed back home to rest and recover. Sunday is Mummy day and they had an awesome and busy day as well, though the only picture I got was of Angela joining Rosie on the trampoline. On Saturday night there was a huge storm which woke me at 2am and banged and crashed around for quite a while but Sunday night was clearer with an amazing bright moon.

Cooler start and getting stuck in

Clearing the trench up the side now

Shuttering done along the front

Making up more shuttering, in the shade

Loads of poppies

Angela gardening, with Xena "helping"

This morning Angela and Rosie were up early and out the door as it has suddenly reached time for Rosie to go up a school! Where is time going to!! It took two trips to town but Angela managed to get the registration done for Rosie at the new "big girl" pre-school! Very exciting! The men were on time and out in the cooler start to the day finishing off the front trench and shuttering. By the time I got down and out next Halil was on with clearing up the next trench going up the side and they had finished all the shuttering along the front, including the step. The sun burned through shortly after and it was very hot and they were happy to be assembling more wooden structures in the shade of the green building. Just before lunch time I popped out to get a picture of the huge number of poppies growing in the fenced garden and found Angela tending to her garden. It's looking so awesome now!

This storm missed us, but made lots of noise

Securing the wooden shutters in place

Struggling to remove this upright

Removing the last fence post on this side

Xena chewing up a chunk of wood

In the afternoon some storms started building around again and there was a lot of very threatening rumbles however the first few skirted us without even dropping any rain. The men were still working away on running the wooden shutters up the trench and then they focused on removing the old fence posts which turned out to be quite a task as they were so well fitted from last time. I can remember them putting these in before we had the big breaker using just the crowbar to dig. They did such a good job! Xena and Thelma were playing with a log chasing it and chewing it while I was spending a few minutes watching. Just after the workmen left, and when Rosie was home, a huge storm suddenly hit with hail and thunder and lots of rain. It has now cleared and there isn't a cloud in the sky. Such is Spring in Bulgaria.

So there you have it; it's been a lovely evening and now Rosie is in bed. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

First balcony dinner

We have made it to Friday and it's been a glorious day, warm and sunny and lots of progress.

Just removing the wood from around the sink

Getting ready to fit the mosquito net

Strimmer and scythe at the ready

A cleared flat trench ready for a wall

Making up lengths of shuttering

Unloading the wood from the truck

Here is what we had delivered

End of the day, the front run is done

The first task the men undertook was to remove the shuttering from the cheshma and they've spent various moments through the day wetting the cement down so it doesn't crack. Right now as I type this Angela and Rosie are outside watering the garden and making use of the new taps; it is awesome. With this done Bekir and Halil went into Rosie's bedroom and hung a mosquito net up over her bed for summer and then they moved on to the next big task; the chicken enclosure. Finally. First job there was to clear away a load of the overgrowth and then they set to lifting the infall from the sides of the trench we had the digger in for last year. With this completed they ordered some more planks from the shop and while they were waiting for these to be delivered they made use of all the spares we had in the green building and started to build the shuttering for the concrete base that will run all around the bottom of the wall for the chicken enclosure. Not long after the wood delivery arrived and was unloaded so now we should have enough to shutter the whole perimeter. The idea is to get a cement truck to come and pump this all in very quickly rather than hand mixing it all. All in all it was a good day of progress.

Rosie putting lettuce into the salad

Aphids on a thistle

Rosie found a grass flower

Sat on the steps of the slide

Awesome to be back out here for dinner

After work and when Rosie got home from school she was insistent on helping Angela to cook dinner and it was so lovely to watch them together and see how well Rosie follows instructions and is so helpful. Once she had run out of things to help with I took her into the garden and we did some sliding but also had a lot of fun looking at things in the garden. We found some aphids on a thistle and then admired multiple flowers, Rosie getting me to take lots of pictures so she could see. Soon enough it was dinner time and we took ourselves up onto the balcony for the first time this year and it was super magical and awesome to be up there. Dinner was a lovely steak and chips with Rosie-made salad. Superb.

So there it is; the first week of the men being back is done. Thanks for reading, I'll be back on Monday.

Nearing sink completion

It's been a busy one for me at work today so I've not got out as much for pictures; Angela had a busy one as well with taking Xena to the vet for a jab and Xena was sick in the car to make that even more exciting. It has been another productive day, however. Onwards.

Early morning sky

All my girls in one place

Starting to frame for the lid surround

Sloping to make it drain well

Cutting a hole for the main sink tap

Lagged in and drain tap

It was a beautiful sky this morning and I headed out onto the balcony to get pictures. When I got downstairs I found that Rosie and the girls were already sat on Angela having a morning cuddle. The men arrived and got stuck in to their tasks for the day; they were hoping to get everythign finished today. First off was building the frame to go around the top of the walls they built yesterday and they did this, then drilled out for the taps on the back of the structure and ran the pipes there. Next up was building the frame for the back of the sink and then installing the tap correctly, including lagging to prevent winter damage. Bekir also put in a drain tap so we can empty the pipes that run to the exterior and prevent freezing damage like that as well.

Now the interior frame gets lifted into place

A lovely angled roof design

Rebar inside the framing

End of the day, all done

Next up they built the interior frame for the back well, then yet more framing for the angled decorative section above the sink and tap; this is probably not necessary but it'll look much nicer and just adds the finishing touches to the whole thing. Inside this framing they built more rebar metal and then they worked late to mix cement and pour it inside all the frames they'd made throughout the day.

So the men did achieve their aim; tomorrow will be insulating and putting the lid on and then hopefully they can get over and start on the chicken enclosure! Thanks for reading.

Plumbing and blocks

It's been another beautiful day today, though it did get cloudy and cooler mid afternoon, and lots has gone on outside at the sink.

Breaking away the old manhole surround

Working out how the pipes should run

Bekir removes the wooden shuttering

Pipes are in place

Blocks filled with rocks

End of the day state

First thing Bekir cut off the water and began to do the re-plumbing to get the pipes into the correct configuration. He did this before I made a cup of tea to begin work so I went and got water direct from the standpipe. They were then breaking the existing cement a bit to make space for the extra pipe work and after that, and some confusion about the actual arrangement, we've settled on a solution that will work for us (though it isn't exactly what I had asked for originally). Next Bekir removed the shuttering from around the sink interior, while Halil was out getting some more plumbing supplies, and with that everything was settled into place. With that done the next task was to start building up the walls for the little hut that will have the plumbing inside it. We're using blocks (we will need to order replacements for the chicken enclosure task now!) and by the end of the day it was really starting to take shape. Good progress all round.

The football net is on the lawn

Rosie, Xena and the slide

Rosie picked a daisy for me

Making a farm with her blocks

At lunch time I took the new football net (that we've been playing with in the lounge until now) and pegged it out on the grass. Rosie was very excited about this when we got home and we variously played football and then she slid on the slide and also spent a LONG time running around with Xena and Thelma. After this there was just time for some balcony play time before a very lovely dinner from Angela.

Potato field

Last but not least here is the picture promised yesterday; the spuds are coming up really well and Angela did a load of weeding, and then companion planted some cabbages. It's a good year so far for the garden!

So there it is; another day done. We'll be back tomorrow. Thank you for reading.