Week thirty two.

 

Every day has been like this :)

What a glorious week it has been!!! It has been sunny, clear blue skies with teperatures in the mid twenties everyday! It's like summer again - we've been working in shorts and t-shirts and eating lunch outside in the garden. BLISS! We're trying to make the most of it though as we know it can't last forever.. We have been busy again getting alot of things done around the house and garden, but nothing major, so it has been a productive but relaxed week.

 

Me writing the blog last week.

Thursday

 

So today was a good working day. In the morning I got started with painting in the bathroom - we had decided we didn't like the wall we'd left white and wanted to paint it blue to match the other wall. It needed a couple of coats and throughout the day I got it finished, we think it looks much better now.

 

This left wall now blue too

 

Once I'd got the first coat down for that I wanted to give our new window a second coat of oil as Hristo had said we should do that. In the interest of saving time when I did the first coat I'd left the masking tape on the Windows so I wouldn't have to do it all again. This was not a good plan! Once I'd finished the second coat of oil - a job that should only take half an hour - I found that the masking tape had melted or something and would not come off with out some hard scrubbing and alot of vinegar. This ended up taking the rest of the day to get clean so was definitely not a time saver - oh well we live and learn.

 

Took the window off - this will be nice to do in summer!

Working..

Ahh annoying masking tape :(

Clean and lovely

 

Whilst I was doing this Pete was also busy up on the roof, giving the chimneys a second coat of render. Now we are officially water tight and should have no leaks over winter. :) Once he'd done that he got the chainsaw out again and got to work cutting more wood - we have started a 'small log pile' as our bedroom wood burner only has a tiny hole for the logs!

 

Bilko is helping Pete

 

Wood wood wood

 

Oh yeah and whilst we were working Lucy took her self for a walk and came back COVERED in grass seeds - we thought she had a swarm of bees on her!

 

In the middle of all this we had a little interval where we went down the road to see George, who had asked if we could give him a lift into Chirpan so he could sell some scrap metal at the junk yard. This was great as we were quite excited by the idea of visiting the junk yard! So we picked up George and his metal (oh also we got more goats cheese!) and headed to Chirpan. The junk yard was great and apparently you can buy anything - you just have to haggle for it! We didn't buy anything today though and after George was done we headed back home to work some more.   

 

Gifts from George - plums and cherries

 

In the evening we were invited to K & R's for a drink as they were leaving back to England again this weekend. As we've now done the walk to SG in the daytime we decided we'd walk there so we could both have a drink - this was slightly scarier in the dark but very easy and only about half an hour between villages. We had a really fun night drinking K & R's homemade wine and we even ended up getting the disco lights and electric guitars out!! Haha!

 

Party time! :D

Friday

 

Market day again and we were up early and spent all morning in Chirpan. We did some shopping then stopped for coffee and lunch and enoyed the sun. Back at home I did lots of boring chores like cleaning, hoovering and doing laundry whilst Pete wanted to work out in the garden so decided to start the tedious job of digging up stumps - of which we have many. We spent all afternoon doing this and Pete also made a wood stove out of two tyre rims we'd got when we went back to the scrap yard today. This is something he's wanted to make for ages and it works great! Hopefully we can get Hristo to weld the two pieces together and it will be really good for cooking in summer.

 

The park in Chirpan

Two of many horrible stumps

New cooker!

In the evening we had some dinner and then headed down to our local bar to see DW as she was sadly leaving the next day to move back to England. S & G were there too and all the usual locals and it was a fun evening with a sad goodbye at the end. We already miss you DW! :(

 

 

Saturday

 

Today we had set ourselves the task of building the bathroom door. The space for the door is quite narrow and we haven't been able to find an existing door to fit, so we decided to build our own 'bespoke' barn style door! We had all the wood ready to go and started with building the wall out to reach the gap and then made the frame. We had to plain and sand all the wood first so the whole thing ended up taking us all day to finish, but we were very pleased with the results! The only issue was when we hung it the door ended up only opening about half way as we'd made the across batons too long and they hit the wall. This was easily fixed but it was already getting dark so we thought we'd finish it off in the morning. I did have time though to paint the frame in the bright orange varnish we'd bought - which looks so cool!

 

Building the wall forward

Frame in

Plaining

Nice hinges

Door! Back!

Door! Front!

Orange frame

 

Yesterday we'd seen Hristo and he'd invited us around for a drink this evening to say thank you again for taking him to the Still. We were a little bit nervous as we haven't yet spent an evening with only a Bulgarian but we ended up having a really funny night drinking his homemade wine (which he served us in pints!) and eating his homemade preserves and homemade sausages made from pig lung, which were actually delicious. And some how we managed to keep a conversation going all evening with us understanding actually quite alot, but also lots of gestures and a little help from a dictionary!

 

Pete and Hristo

Sunday

 

In the morning we re-did the door - taking off each of the batons and shorting them by a couple of inches. I then varnished the door whilst Pete was in the kitchen making marmalade with tiny mandarins they are selling in the market at the moment really cheap. I also did one layer of filler around the window reveal in the yellow room as we want to get that finally finished and looking nice. Once we'd done this we left the door to dry and headed down the road to our paid job for a few hours, where we did weeding, raking and planted a few flowers to come out in spring.

 

 

When we were home again I hung the door and put a handle and a lock on - so now we have a bit more privacy in there! :) Pete was outside digging up more stumps - I'm telling you, there are loads and it's hard work. In the evening we had a fire, watched a movie and chilled in the yellow room.

 

We also engraved a flower!

 

Monday

 

It was an early start today as Hristo had his second round of rakia to take the still and we left with him at 8 o'clock. Once we'd driopped him off and helped unload the fruit we left him to it and headed to Stara Zagora. We had 55 levs Worth of vouchers to use at once of the building shops before the end of November, so thought we'd go as we needed a few bits anyway. We ended up buying, amoungst other things, a large roll of foam, which we had wanted for ages for our sofa inthe yellow room, but it was too expensive. Now seemed like a good time to get it as the vouchers made it basically free! We also went on a mission for more scrap yards (K & R had told us about one) and we ended up finding two and buying some cool stuff like a big bench and a huge metal frame that I'm sure will be useful one day!

 

As we had nothing to rush back to we decided to drive the scenic route home through a few villages and past a large winery/spa, which we have never done before. The road was not in great condition so took alot longer than the main road, but it was very pretty and we even discovered another lake that is only a few kilometres from our village and you can drive to it.

 

Passing vineyards

When we got home it was already gone three, so we just re arranged the yellow room to make the pallettes into a corner sofa and put the foam on - this looks so good and makes the room feel much bigger, we should have done it from the start! In SZ we'd also bought a curtain rail which we couldn't get in Chirpan, so in the hallway we were able to hang our thick velvet curtain, that we'd got in Sofia, which should keep out the draft much more than the thin curtain we had up before.

 

Making..

Decorating..

Using

Warm, thick curtain

Another evening sitting by the fire. :)

 

Tuesday

 

Back to work today and Pete started the day by having a huge bonfire with a load of brash that has been drying out in the fire pit since August. Most of it was crappy twigs, but he did go through it first and manage to salvage anything that would be good for the woodburner. Whilst he did that I was inside doing a second layer of filler on the window reveal, as well as taping and joining the small piece of plasterboard that was left showing behind the bathroom door.

 

 

This was all done by about 10 and then we headed down the road again to do some more paid work as we'd bought more flowers to plant and needed to do a massive raking session as all the leaves have dropped from the trees now. This took a few hours and then once we were home we chainsawed down a big dead tree in our garden and had another afternoon chopping fire wood and making kindling from all the little sticks. We now have nearly three more boxes of kindling to get us through winter!

 

Working...

Tree there

Tree gone

 

We did this for a while and then got hungry so had a late lunch, after which we decided to not to any more wood chopping and instead we put up our down pipe which we had finally bought the brackets for. The pipes are pretty and silver but do not fit together nicely at all so it is slightly wonky (what isn't in our house though!) but it is practical and means the walls won't get wet if it rains - and that's what counts at the moment. We also used our old solar shower water butt to put at the bottom to catch rain water - although with the storms we get here this won't last long at all. We plan to come up with something much better than this eventually so we can recycle rain water for the veg garden next year.

 

Bilko helping again!

New down pipe on.

 

Feeling productive and still with an hour or so left of day light we decided to head up to the walnut orchard and have another bonfire to burn all the fallen leaves. We plan to one day make this field into a wild flower meadow and apparently to make a good meadow you need earth that is not so great, otherwise the grass will get toomuch nourishment and just take over. This is why we wanted to get rid of all the leaves, but after half an hour or so of picking them up and taking them to the fire we realsied this would be a long and boring job. So we soon re-thought our plan and decided we would rake the leaves to the bottom of the walnut trees - where obviously we do want to soil to be rich and help the trees grow. Hopefully this is a good plan that saves us time as well as being useful!

 

 

Just as the sun was setting we bought up our new bench and sat at the top of of orchard, having a beer and watching the lovely sky. Another relaxing evening in - oh and I cut Petes hair! We got all the dreadlocks out and now it is looking lovely and heathy again!! :)

 

 

Wednesday

 

Another good and busy day today!

 

Firstly I sanded back the yellow room window reveal and then Pete did a great job plastering it so it looks all nice and rounded on the edges. Together we then tilled the skirting in the bathroom, which we've been meaning to do for ages but hadn't got around to yet.

 

 

Pete then spent all day working outside in his short shorts! As the weather is being so amazing we thought it was as good a time as any to start planning our veg garden. So Pete was hard at work with the pick axe getting all the remaining stumps out the ground and then mapping out and scratching in where the walls of our raised beds will go. Already this is starting to look great and make our garden look alot more organised.

 

 

Whilst he was doing that all day I was inside working on the airing cupboard. I put wooden noggins across and then screwed in plasterboard so the top half is covered and there is a space where we can access the pipes (if we need to) and shelves for storage. I didn't make the big shelves today but I did make a small side shelf for cleaning products! Woo!

 

 

 

Once I'd done that I thought I'd have a go at sanding back the upright beam we've left uncovered in the bathroom. I didn't think it would be anything special - we only left it out to add a bit of character. But once I'd sanded it back and oiled it, it turned out to be absolutely gorgeous - probably my favourite wooden feature in the house so far. So that was quite exciting and has now made me want to keep all wood exposed!

 

A few scratches and marks but such lovely grain!

 

Lastly I foamed, taped and fillered the plasterboarding I'd just done and then called it a day. We'd been told by the internet that there was some kind of meteor shower happening this evening so we thought we'd have a shot at trying to see it and have an evening around a bonfire. We cooked dinner on the fire again - roast potatoes, roast squash, whole roast garlic and beetroot wedges, yum yum yum - and ate it with coldslaw and goats cheese. So good. We didn't end up seeing any meteors, but we did have a very nice evening outside - and not even that cold considering it's mid november.

 

 

Thursday

 

A similar day to yesterday really. Pete was outside again digging away at the hard earth to make way for our veg patch. We have five  beds scratched out now - including one circle one! :) Pete also dug out about 5 small trees, two of which we hope to keep and re-plant in the camping field.

 

 

Trees to save!

I was in and out all day doing bits and bobs. I started with painting the window reveal - we'd decided to make it yellow to match the walls. This took three coats so I kept coming back to that. I also painted above the skirting and behind the door in the bathroom and grouted and siliconed the skirting as well. These were all small jobs that kept needing to be left to dry, so whilst doing this I also wanted to clear the outside area at the side of the house.

 

Small sunflower :)

It's so nice - the room now glows yellow.

All painted and covered

Grouted

 

The outside tap is here and we use it to store buckets and wheelbarrows - so it has become a bit of a disaster zone (we still haven't cleared up some of the roof stuff from September :O ) So I started by clearing all the clutter and rubbish and then had a look at the outside tap and water pipes that still needed properly protecting from freezing. I think our idea of boxing it off is good, but it needs way more insulating. I decided to shovel a load of earth around the concrete blocks so they were more underground. This was good but if it rained and we needed access to the outside tap it would be so muddy and horrible. So I used all the stone that was lying around to make a platform around the tap and even a footpath from the concrete patio. It ended up looking really pretty and hopefully being practical too - something we should have done ages ago as using the outside tap has always been a horrible experience!

 

Before

After

So we can stuff insulation in the blocks to cover the pipes

But for now we can use it as a sink

Once I'd finished all this Pete was still working, so I thought I would carry on a bit too - and I quickly shovelled some earth around the septic tank lid so as to fill the gaps at the edges and kind of level it out. Slightly pointless but it had been annoying me for weeks! Once I'd done this we both stopped working and had a lovely evening inside again - with yet another great dinner of Moroccan style cous cous (this is EXCITING as we can only buy it in Sofia) with meatballs.

 

 

Friday

 

We woke up automatically early this morning so had a cup of tea in bed and set of for the market at about 8.30. We didn't have loads to buy today so were back home before midday. It was another hot day so we had a relaxed lunch in the sun and then did some small jobs before having an afternoon off. Pete was back in his veg garden, this time laying stones in to make the base layer for the walls. Whilst he did that I was in the bathroom again, finally covering the hole above the door. This has taken so long to do because I was hoping to do something funky with some stained glass, but in the end I gave up on this as the gap is quite small anyway and we have a load of wires and a junction box to hide - so plasterboard it is. This was a bit fiddly as the gap was so small and I had to stand on a chair, but it didn't take long and now finally the bathroom is fully closed off from the hall.

 

Chirpan

Stone going in

All closed off

Window looking pretty :)

 

This afternoon has been spent sitting in the sunshine and writing the blog. Pete is now making dinner, and then it is off to the bar for our regular Friday night catch up with S & G!

 

 

Now writing the blog inside with the pets!

 

Thanks for reading - Priyaten Den!! :) xxx