Cement in the columns

I'm late starting this update today as I was out for a beer and chat with Dincher and I just got back; let's get to it.

The sun is just about to appear

The line of the sun sliding down the hill

A lucky tortoise I saved from the road

This morning I was again up and at it early, watching the sun rise over the mountains (and the line of the sun fall down the hills behind us) while working away. I took Rosie to school today to help Angela with other tasks she had to do and on the way home I was very pleased to be able to save a tortoise that was stopped mid way through crossing the very fast road at the bottom of our hill. Fortunately the car in front of me avoided it and there was no one following so I pulled over, ran and grabbed it and put it on the verge. I love tortoises and there's something about seeing a 70-80 middle aged creature squashed by some idiot in a car that drives me mad.

Bekir fits the final bits of rebar in place

Mixing up a batch of cement

The leaky pipe, and the wire attempt at fixing it

Halil brings the cement to Bekir

Wall widened, time for blocks

Welding the final upright in position

The men were in (actually we saw them turn to the village as we headed to school) when I got back and working on the end wall past the duck pond; this needed some more reinforcing and then a small amount of cement to widen the end wall enough to put some blocks on to bring it up to the correct height. Halil did the mixing with the machine (and I chuckled at the state of the hosepipe they are using, many times mended and still hanging on) and then with the cement they rebuilt the wall before starting to lay the blocks. With the blocks in place Bekir welding the final column in place and that part of the build is done.

Halil delivers more cement

Bekir checks it is straight

The base of the wall extends

Next task was to pour cement into the bottom of each of the columns, to hold those in place very securely before the chain link is attached. I was there for the pour of the first one then had to go back inside but they did every single column between the pond and the gate (which was all of the shuttering they had finished yesterday) before then pivoting to continue fitting shuttering further along the wall. This stage feels like it is going a bit slower than expected but that's mainly because I hadn't understood fully what was involved in doing all these things. It's going to be the best chicken enclosure in Bulgaria, though!

The frame is assembled and positioned

The Little Lady harvesting

Having a nice meal with my mate

After school and work I had a lot of fun with Rosie helping (and actually helping) me put together a frame for the garden for Angela. She will train the melons up over this now. It will look great. While we were doing this The Little Lady came over to harvest some of our tea tree and we persuaded her to borrow a proper ladder and not climb on a flimsy plastic chair to access the tree. I then had a last minute invite for a beer and a chat with Dincher, our solicitor and my mate; he filled me in on the latest in our attempt to buy the observatory and that's still delayed so I won't even talk about it any more.

Mo to the car doctor, then more progress

Where is time flying to; it is crazy how quickly these weeks are whipping by. Anyway, Monday again so let's get to the weekend and then today.

Rosie insisted on this morning photograph

Rosie bouncing high

She just loves any form of drawing

Angela and Rosie take the scenic seats

Saturday was overcast but Rosie was insistent that I take a picture of the sky as she could see purples and blues and oranges in it and who am I to refuse. After some nice time outside we had a bit of bounce time then a bit of art time before I hitched Thomas up to the trailer and Rosie and I headed off to get him to the shop to get fixed. Angela and Rosie rode up to the top of the village in the trailer and she was bouncing around and loving it. The journey up was easy but then as I tried to reverse into the carpark at the shop not a single driver on the road would wait; sometime the people over here are so rude and it is almost always when they are behind the wheel of a car. I managed it eventually, left him for repair, and drove back. I was pretty exhausted but after a nice chat with my mum and sister we had some more time outside, then nap time and bed time shortly after; Rock and Roll!

Sat in the morning sun sieving sand. As you do

Rosie back to drawing

More stuff from last week

Sunday I was super busy with my hobbying as I've a few deadlines for things coming up - first thing in the morning I sat out by the sand pile and sieved a load of sand (I use it for texture on my models) which was a super peaceful way to start the day with the birds singing and bees buzzing. Angela had Rosie for most of the day and they again went to the Fayre by Kaufland which was great fun. Later on while Angela was cooking I had fun with Rosie and she did a load more art time. Superb. I also found out that last week the men had built a column for beside the far gate which will have cement poured this week I reckon.

Making a start in the morning sun

Starting to build the shuttering

Front bit all done

Removing the old post

Filling in gaps by the pillars

Halil trimming down the overgrowth

Cutting the leaves off

And so we get to today. It has been absolutely beautiful today, but very hot for outside working. The men basically spent today putting more shuttering up for the concrete that will be poured on top of the wall; Angela had the idea to put the bottom of the chain link inside the concrete which is a brilliant one so they are going to do the shuttering, then pour the concrete for the pillars, then mount the chain link and then do the rest of the pour. Very exciting times. On top of this Halil did a bit more scything and also trimmed down the walnut branches that I cut last week. It has been a hot and slow day but with how fiddly shuttering is, I'm pleased with progress.

Tadpoles in the water

So much cardboard to shred

Rosie drawing in her book

Today Angela has been on a cleaning mission and has made a huge difference in the kitchen, library and lounge. It's amazing what you can do when you don't feel sick. While I was out with the men one time I spotted tadpoles in the water container and showed them to Rosie who was very excited indeed. After work while waiting for her to get home I was able to attack some of this huge pile of cardboard for shredding, a task I've been putting off for weeks as well. Finally Rosie did lots of drawing and stickers and painting before we had a lovely curry for dinner.

So there it is; this week is set to be a hot one so more of the sunshine shots to be expected. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.

Post erection

Early summer really is being lovely; today has been another glorious day all day.

A (pretty poorly taken) shot of a lovely sunset

Having balloon fun before school

Starting to line the posts up

Making sure it is upright

Front fence progress

Welding the post to the guide metal

Getting my strimmer action on

The sunset last night was pretty special as well but I only had my phone on me so the picture is pretty rubbish sadly. This morning Rosie woke up full of beans and we had lots of play before it was school time. The men were in again nice and early and when I got back from dropping Rosie to school they were already welding the first of the fence posts to the support. I can pretty much say that they did this all day, and now have done every post so Monday will be shuttering for pouring the concrete. I think, actually, they may need to do some more blocks by the side of the duck pool, and one more fence post there, but that shouldn't take long. At lunch time I went to use Mo again but he blew loads of smoke. I checked the oil and it was a bit low so I left him until Angela could pick me some more oil up (which, being awesome, she did) and took the strimmer out to trim the areas that I can't do with the ride-on.

Rosie arriving home from school

Mo ready to go to the car-doctor

Rosie playing Pitch&Plakks again

After school Rosie was still full of beans but when I went to check Mo again, put a little more oil in, and started him up he was still blowing smoke. Bekir got hold of the shop I bought it from and they said to run it in but as I went to mow it lost power and got very uneven. Not the best advice in the world; Halil smelled the oil dipstick and you could smell fuel in there. They helped me push him onto the trailer and tomorrow Rosie and I will have a road trip. Oh well. After that palaver I finally got to spend some time with Rosie and we playing Pitch&Plakks for a bit before dinner and cycling.

So there it is; here comes the weekend, back on Monday. Thanks for reading.

Drilling, painting and mowing

Another absolutely glorious day here and more progress across the board. Let's get to it as while I type this Rosie and Angela are getting the garden watered so I've not got lots of time.

Sunrise with some clouds about

About to paint with Angela

Halil sharpens a drill bit

Measuring out for four holes

Drilling the holes

I'm on Mo and I'm mowing on my lunch break

This is where he ran out of fuel

This morning we all went out onto the patio first thing and saw the sun rising over the hills. Rosie insisted on a picture being taken so here it is. I was busy with work from early but they both came onto the balcony before school and did some painting. The men were in on time and first up Halil was sharpening a metal drill bit so the main task of the day could be done. They were drilling four holes in both sides of each angled length. This was to both provide draining if water got in, but also to act as securing points for the barbed wire. It was another day of boring repetitive work for them however they got it done really well. At lunch time I pulled Mo out and ran him over the front lawn which was very long again. I ran out of fuel just before finishing the entirety but I had also run out of time so back to work it was.

Finishing touches as they touch up the paint

Some tree limbs that needed removing

Tidying up for the end of the day

Hungry caterpillar

Awesome looking plums

Mid afternoon just as Bekir and Halil finished the drilling task I went with Halil to pick Maisie up. It wasn't the cheapest of repairs but that was very quick and it's very good to know that someone local is so competent to repair her. When we got back they both got stuck into the painting of the welded areas and they got that completely finished some tomorrow will be the day the posts are mounted - this is very exciting indeed! After work I fuelled Maisie, finished the mowing and trimmed down a Walnut that had a big branch too low to mow under. We will dry that and it can be used for firewood in a few years. Halil was cleaning and tidying up for the end of the day after I finished this and I talked to them about the next steps. We were in the orchard when Bekir pointed out this very big caterpillar on one of the plum trees. It's eating the leaves! We left it there, of course.

Rosie on her Peppa Pig spacehopper

About to start another masterpiece

Rosie shows off her creation

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of after school Rosie. She came home with lots of energy and after waiting for me to finish my mowing (and playing balloons with Angela) I took over while she cooked and it was great fun. We did balloons and space hoppers and then some football on the balcony and finally some painting. She's having such fun with that!

So there you are; another good day, it's still 27 degrees at my desk on the balcony in the shade and the sun is shining and the sky is blue. Here's to tomorrow. Thanks for reading!