64.

This week has been another absolute scorcher - all of us struggling to even move, let alone get much work done. We have powered through though and managed to get our toilet block completely finished - so now we need to get organised and start advertising!

 

View from what will be our kitchen

Friday 24th

 

Market in the morning, Charley came with us this week so we stopped for brekkie as well. Back home we unpacked the shopping and then all felt like we were melting, so decided just to give in and spend the rest of the day at the local pool. It was great.

 

I love these flowers that lots of Bulgarians have in their garden

 

Pool and beer time

 

In the evening me and Charley did a little bit of gardening whilst Pete made a delicious dinner of stuffed courgette (from the garden) and veggie masala - soo good!

 

Saturday 25th

 

I spent the morning down the road doing a few hours of gardening whilst Pete and Charley nipped into Chirpan (again - how can we do this much shopping!?) to get the last few bits needed to make the compost toilet. We had finally figured out how we were going to do it and were aiming to have it done by the end of the week.

 

Bits and pieces for the toilet

 

After lunch we started to cut holes and assemble the chute for the toilet, but ran out of time to get much done as we were going out to SG festival. Just after 3 we headed out for a long and very hot walk over the hill to K & R's house to catch up with them before heading out. We had a few beers and some food there and then wandered into the centre, where we met up with S & G. The festival was much quieter than last year but we got involved with the Bulgarian dancing (and Bulgarian wine) and ended up having a really fun night. It was another long walk home over the hill, in the dark, to get home though!

 

Beer time!

Sunday 26th

 

The three of us all woke up with a bit of a headache so used that as an excuse to do absolutely nothing all day. We ate food and watched films, it was good.

 

Monday 27th

 

As we'd had a rather relaxed weekend we were all up early this morning and raring to go! Pete was on fencing duty and he got on with doing that whilst me and Charley were concentrating on building the toilet. We'd basically sorted out the chute so it was just a question of cutting a hole in the floor and securing it in place. This all turned out to be much easier than expected and ended up looking really good. We then built and wooden frame for the top and covered it in planks of wood to match the walls. We had to get a neat hole in the top of that as well for the toilet seat to sit in. Next it was securing the toilet seat down, and that was the top half of the toilet finished - just to sort out where the waste actually goes now!

 

The boys

Pete getting more of the fence doe

Hole cut for the toilet chute

Brackets on the chute to secure it in place

Plastic bin fitted into the chute

The whole thing boxed in

 

Toilet!

 

As we were doing all that it had started to spit with rain (although it was still bloody boiling!) so Pete had moved inside to start making plum chutney and preparing another feast for dinner. At about 4 our friend D popped over so we stopped for an hour or so and had a beer break. We also got a visit from Hristo who stayed for a while whilst we carried on working - he was quite impressed with the compost loo idea!

 

Showing H the new loo

 

We carried on working once D had gone and we all worked together to get the tank fitted properly underneath the toilet chute. Again this turned out to be so much easier than we expected and we even remembered that we had a spare car jack, which was perfect for getting the tank to slide up the chute and sit in the correct place. There were still a few more things to do before the toilet was actually useable, but it was amazing it have it all in place! We then did a quick clean up and I even dug out some rugs to make it look more homely.

 

The tub jacked up to the chute

Hose and tank for the liquid waste

 


Tidy

 

For dinner Pete had prepared an Indian feast, which we thoroughly enjoyed before heading inside and watching a movie.

 

MORE YUMMY FOOD

Tuesday 28th

 

We had a nice relaxed morning doing a few chores and Pete and Char took Lucy out for a walk. I decided to harvest all the perennial spinach as it was getting huge and was no good for salads anymore. I cooked it all and then froze it in individual portions. I also harvested broad beans, runner beans and peas. We haven't grown anywhere near enough peas to actually bother podding them, but there are delicious whole anyway - we'll definitely plant more next year!

 

Veg garden is doing great

Squashes coming up in Charley's no maintenance garden

Preparing spinach for freezing

Beans and peas

 

After a few hours of pottering the clouds started rolling over and it looked like it was going to rain. We decided to do a trip out to SZ as we needed to stop at a supermarket as well as get a few last bits so we can start making the solar panels. We ended up spending the rest of the day out and got everything we needed. And it didn't rain.

 

Sunflowers everywhere!

 

Back home I grilled loads of vegetables and we ate them with left over dhal, yum. We then spent the evening sitting out under the stars playing cards and other games.

 

Wednesday 29th

 

Back to work today! After the usual coffee and quick water of the veggies we all got started on different jobs. Charley was in  the house giving the bathroom a clean and tidying up. Pete was up in the orchard painting a sheet of OSB black, in preparation of our solar panels. He also organised all the bits and started to work out how it was going to work. I was upstairs finally emptying and organising the wardrobe - this wardrobe has been in the house since we got here and was FULL of clothes, coats, sheets, rugs etc. some of which were salvable, which is great!

 

Painting OSB for solar panels

I've got to sort out this wardrobe

Inside the wardrobe... newspaper from 1995!

Piles and piles of stuff from the wardrobe. And a buggy!

 

At some point it started to drizzle a bit so Pete left the painted OSB to dry and came inside to prepare a spinach and cheese banitsa for breakfast (yum) and make some gherkins from the mountain of cucumbers Baba Villay and Hristo had given us over the last couple of days.

 

Gifts from the neaighbours

Gherkins

Homemade banitsa for breakfast

 

After brekkie it had stopped raining so Pete went back up to the orchard to crack on with the solar panel. We have bought 150 metres of black pipe and the plan is to clip it to the OSB in a spiral. He got this going but stupidly we'd only bought 50 clips, so he ran out pretty quickly and couldn't carry on. At least we know the plan will work and will have to get some more clips asap. Pete then got the toilet organised by putting a small bag of gravel behind the tap in the large tub - this will act as a sort of 'french drain' and means we can run out as much liquid as possible without the solids following. The reason for doing this is because the waste will compost a lot quicker if it is dry. He also filled the bottom of the tub with a thick layer of wood chippings, also to help speed up the composting time and soak up as much liquid as possible. As well as doing that he filled a small bin with a mixture of ash, soil and wood chippings which will be scooped into the toilet after each use. So now the toilet is in action!

 

Making a start on one solar panel

Toilet ready to be used

 

Whilst Pete was busy doing all that me and Charley were inside the house getting the kitchen organised. For the upstairs renovations we need to move all our kitchen stuff into one room - this was a bit of a squeeze as we have two fridges and a chest freezer! But we managed to do it after a long day of moving stuff around. The washing up equipment has been moved outside and we set up a gazebo so w can stay shaded/dry, depending on the weather! There is still some furniture to move from upstairs and we need to take the mini boiler and washing machine out too, but for today just doing the kitchen was enough.

 

Bilko still loves the dirty seed tray!

 

This room needs to be cleared

And so does this room

Kitchen before

And kitchen after..

... with EVERYTHING squeezed in.

 

New washing up area

 

Later on in the afternoon Charley left me to finish the last bits in the kitchen and him and Pete sorted out a vent from the compost toilet to hopefully stop it smelling. Again this all went together much easier than anticipated and took no time to install.

 

The vent is on

 

In the evening Charley cooked a lovely Asian chicken soup and we stayed up again having a couple of beers and playing games.

 

Thursday 30th

 

We got up early today and me and Pete went to Chirpan to buy more clips, more OSB and other things for the solar panels. We tried to be as quick as possible but we sold two shops out of clips and still needed more!

 

Back at home Charley took Lucy out for a walk and then carried on clearing upstairs - getting out the last of the furniture and all the planting and gardening stuff from where we were growing seedlings. Me and Pete got stuck into making the first solar panel properly which took some time as we were just making it up as we went. We did end up getting a few kinks and having to put connectors in, but we tried to make it look as tidy as possible and we think it looks pretty good. It was such a hot day that even touching the black pipe was nearly burning us and we were not feeling energetic at all! We managed to make a start on a second solar panel but as we were so sweaty and hot that we ended up calling it a day and went to chill out instead!

 

The room is clear

 

Fixing the kinks

 

One solar panel finished!

Bulgaria map up n the loo block

 

Another lovely warm evening spent in the garden, although an earlyish night as it was market day tomorrow and we had lots of work to do!

 

Friday 1st July

 

The morning was spent at the market and other shops, as well as going to the glass shop and ordering two mirrors for the toilet block, we were given a phone number to call to see what time they'd be ready tomorrow.

 

Back at home we unpacked the shopping before getting on with the rest of the solar panels. We finished the second panel and then made some amendments to the first one before deciding to have a go at actually getting one on the roof. This was scary business and we were especially glad to have Charley here as we'd never have done it just the two of us! First we spent at least half an hour pruning back a tree that was going to be in our way and then Charley got up on the roof ready to be handed the panel. Me and Pete were at the bottom and we had to slide the (very heavy) panel up a ladder, with Pete standing on the ladder and taking all the weight, until Charley could get hole of it enough to heave it up. It was quite dangerous but it was successful and we were very excited to have one panel up!

Second panel finished

Measuring for the brackets

Huge brackets to secure the panel to the rafters

Chopping down some tree first

Securing the panel...

One panel in place!

 

This spurred us on to get the third solar panel finished - which we did in a couple of hours and it was the best one by far, now we knew what we were doing. We then hoisted the remaining two panels up on to the roof so they were all in place! By now it was about 5 o'clock so we stopped for a coffee and considered going to the pool as it was anther boiling day and we were all feeling knackered. BUT after some deliberation we actually decided to just crack on and get the panels plumbed in. This was another two hours or so working - including doing the heat welding to join it to the actual shower - but we did it and again there were no leaks! We're getting good at this plumbing malarkey! We have figured out we have about 80-90 litres of water sitting in the pipes, so really it is like having a small tank up there, and amazingly the water was warm even when we first turned it on and tested it. Since plumbing it in we have been showering in there everyday and it is working a treat, so we are pretty pleased. :)

 

Then there were 3!

 

Cold water running up to the roof

Hot water coming down into the shower

 

In the evening Charley kindly offered to make dinner even though we were all so tired and after a delicious spag bol it was time for bed and an early night! Good day!

 

Saturday 2nd

 

We had an early start today and first thing I went down the road to do an hour of gardening. There are plum and apple trees in this garden that are fully loaded with fruit - so we need to get thinking on recipes!

 

When I got home Pete said he'd called the mirror man but hadn't understood a word he'd said on the phone! We decided to just go to the shop anyway and see if they were ready - and we needed to go soon as we knew they closed for lunch. So it was straight back out the door for me, fast drive to Chirpan and we got the mirrors with no problems. Whilst in town we spotted two bicycles fully loaded with travelling gear so went over to the owners to see where they were from/what they were doing. They turned out to be an English couple cycling across Europe to Istanbul. We told them about our campsite and invited them to stay if they wanted to (sadly they never turned up :( )

 

Back at home we found Charley had been working hard - tidying up and sweeping the toilet block as well as making a cool swing that was hanging from our big almond tree, which is great! We then all spent the afternoon doing various things on the loo block that needed finishing - like trimming the ends off the brackets, running an extension lead up and securing a few plug sockets in place, putting fairy lights up, hanging the mirrors etc. etc. The place is now looking fab and fully functioning - yay!

 

Mirrors and fairy lights!

 

Temporary plug sockets

 

Once that was all finished we stopped for a late lunch and then the boys chilled out whilst I decided to un-plumb (is that a word!?) and un-plug the electric boiler and washing machine upstairs. So now we are back to washing up from a cold hose over a concrete sink that is, for some reason, only as tall as me knees - which makes it back breaking work! Oh well, it won't last forever. Once I'd disconnected everything I dragged the boys from their hammocks and made them carry the washing machine down the stairs to it's new home in the garden. Upstairs is now pretty much ready for demolition.

 

All empty

Heavy washing machine

 

Once all that was done we got cleaned up and headed out to meet K & R and S & G for a night out in Chirpan! S & G had loads of family staying with them so we ended up being a group of 12 people and we had a fun night out in a couple of different bars in town.

 

Everyone went to the bar as Pete took this photo!

Sunday 3rd

 

Today was another chilled day, with a nice relaxing morning in the house. Late morning some friends popped over so we sat with them for an hour or so and had a coffee. Once they'd gone we ate some breakfast and then I quickly plumbed in the washing machine whilst Pete fixed the strimmer and Charley chilled out. In the afternoon Pete had to go over to SG to strim a garden for a friend but annoyingly he was rained off so that will have to wait. I have written the blog and we have skyped my parents and eaten dinner. A nice chilled day.

 

Our lovely garden :)

 

Chao for now! xx