Well I haven’t had time to do the promised before and after collage as yet…it has been all go here as usual. The plumbing for the upstairs bathroom and toilet is now in place, tested and I’m pleased to announce we have no leaks. The central heating pipes are all in place and will be tested next week once we have mounted the radiators on the walls, hopefully with the same result. 
We have bought our new bath, sink and toilet, which still need to be hooked up and set in place but it won’t be long before we have a working bathroom upstairs and I’m stupidly excited about decorating and dressing this room…we did find an old wine barrel that I wanted (note the I in that sentence) to restore and put the sink on…apparently I have admitted defeat and will be building a nice square cabinet instead…between you and me I think this may just be a temporary solution!! 
Ashim has continued in the main lounge to work his magic with the render and unfortunately for him he seems to have got right inside my head…I described what I wanted and he has more than excelled himself, I’m delighted with the result so far and once the stones have been pointed up properly I know it will be amazing. The difficult thing will be deciding on colours to ensure the room stays light but gives warmth too as this will be where we spend the majority of our time in the winter. 
I have also completed my ice-bucket challenge and donated some money to TwitchyNoses charity here in Bulgaria – they help stray and wounded dogs on the streets and carry out neutering programmes as a preventative tactic. I know the money will go to helping local dogs and local people so this seemed more appropriate for me being as I have three rescue dogs of my own. Anyway the video is here if you want a giggle (https://www.facebook.com/turningsimpledifficult) – I did it in the river next to our house and the water was so so cold, so cold I could hardly speak, but with the beautiful sunny weather here I was soon dried off and back to work. It has made me want to get the kayaks out again though, maybe to take them up to the local reservoir and have some fun…I’ll have to mention this to the boss!! 
So since my last blog we have achieved quite a lot I think…we have even painted our first wall!! We do seem to have done nothing but work, but I go to the local market on a Tuesday and pick up my veg and I regularly visit the DIY shop in town…so much so I actually have a rolling discount arrangement with them now…but this has been pretty much the only time we have left the house and you know what, I haven’t even noticed 
(until I wrote this). I think my only complaint about this house (and it will get fixed in time) is the outdoor sink…I am using this on a daily basis and I think it was made for use by a 3ft midget as it absolutely kills my back, more than any digging or drilling or plumbing. So one day this delight of a structure will get attacked with a lump hammer and rebuilt further back from the house and higher up from the ground. For now though…that’s all folks x
Seeing stray dogs around bg is so sad. I’ve just donated a tenner to twitchynoses. I’ve been enjoying reading your blog.thanks
That is so kind James and thank you for reading along…glad you are enjoying it.