Bright, sunny, short and T-shirt wearing day.

We didn’t rise until 9am and with only a few grains of coffee left on the jar our morning beverage was mostly life-giving honey. We eventually ventured out to tackle the metalwork on the wood-store roof around 11am (shocking). As soon as we emerged, we were met by Milen who had come for a ‘nose’. He was impressed by our woodwork, but less so by our metal work and informed us he knew a man who could do a better job. David asked him to get a price and we would see.

With the metal work no in abeyance we moved onto the pool barn which is in need of a lot of cladding. We looked for a long time at the right side of the barn and then decided to tackle the left side as David changed his mind and said he preferred that side to be left open. Basically we had to fill in a triangle that was divided in half by a small pillar and punctuated by uneven beams. Once a strategy had been decided, I cut the wood and David nailed it in place.

With the small section completed we paused for a break. Three egg sandwiches each coupled with another brief visit from Milen.

The rest of the afternoon was spent (without interruption) filling in the larger section, without any significant problems. I did whack up the stereo and treated central Bulgaria to “Land of Hope and Glory” and the “Enigma Variations’, which I am sure the local jackals, weasels, squirrels and sossals appreciated and promptly placed on their Christmas list.

The sun was relatively high in the sky when we finished, so it was decided to replace a couple of pieces of wood that had fallen out during the winter from the back of the barn. Then there was a sit down in the sun and a chat. David aired the idea of putting a sauna in the corner, I vetoed it as daft. Then he aired the idea of filling in the other end of the barn as he liked what we had done today. I agreed and that is the task tomorrow.

As I thought that David was getting rather smelly and he countered my complaint that I was riper than he, it was decided to put the immersion heater on and have a shower. Soon smelling like two English roses, we dined at the bar in Dryanovo, stopped at the supermarket on the way back to purchase coffee and finished off last nights film before hitting the sack.