4th October 2013

A cold but mercifully dry day greeted us, merciful in that it hadn’t turned the garden into a quagmire overnight. We spent the morning securing the last two supporting pillars under the sagging beams of the pool barn. Miraculously, all went off without a hitch: the car jack behaved like a champion, no wobbles, no topples, no heart-stopping “oh no” moments. With the final pillar in place, we began tidying up, only to be interrupted by Milen, who arrived just in time to inspect our handiwork. He gave an approving nod, as though personally blessing the barn, before requesting that David fetch some supplies from Sevlievo, our destination tomorrow.

Once Milen had departed, we finished tidying up and took a well-earned lunch break: toast and coffee. Simple, humble, yet hitting the spot.

The afternoon was dedicated to the lumberjack’s life: retrieving the old rafters we’d previously lobbed into next door’s garden during roof work. After much dragging, carrying, and wheelbarrowing, we managed to wrestle them all back into

David’s already crowded garden. Then came the satisfying bit: I fired up the chop saw and began slicing the rafters into solid logs for the fire, while David piled them neatly onto his bursting log store.

These rafters, riddled with woodworm but forged from impressively dense hardwood, took a toll on the chop saw. By the end, the blade looked decidedly worse for wear; I suspect it’s now dreaming of an early retirement.

Mid-afternoon, as if nature had a sense of dramatic timing, the temperature took a sudden, biting plunge. The cold hit instantly, prompting a double-time effort to finish chopping and stacking before we turned into icicles. Finally, we made it indoors, lit the wood burner, and defrosted ourselves over the reheated remains of last night’s pasta bake. Warmth, and morale restored.

Evening entertainment was Django Unchained, a film heavy on Tarantino’s trademark flair, blood, and gore. With carnage still vivid in our minds, we eventually drifted off to bed, soothed by the comforting warmth of the house and the faint but satisfying scent of smoked hardwood.