Who Lives in a House Like this ?? that’s right, I do !!

There just aren’t enough hours in the day here.  I’ve been very busy indeed, and as always my website and my emails suffer. But I’ve got a lot done and the house is coming along at a gallop….I’m as happy as a pig in poo.

I decided that I wasn’t going to miss out on the  seasonal produce this time, so I’ve been eyeballing (and procuring) as much produce as I can for free and buying up other stuff when it’s at peak production, and therefore cheapest prices. I have a cupboard full of mulberry, strawberry, apricot and peach jam. I’ve got peach chutney and three fruit marmalade and some terrific plum sauce. I’ve got a freezer full of tomato pulp and various stewed fruits for cooler weather pies …or something.

And my tomato bushes are still producing a little, so there’s going to be probably one last cook up.  Maybe some Lutinitza.

The peaches are just coming to the end of their season, so in between all the cooking, I’ve eaten my own body weight in the damned things. God, they are just gorgeous, so many a meal recently has been peaches and yoghurt, or peaches and ice cream or just a big plate of juicy, delicious peaches.

So that’s my excuse for not keeping my site up to date…and I’m sticking to it.

It’s been really, really hot for quite a few weeks, but amazingly, yesterday, the first day of Autumn saw the temperatures plummet.  It’s gone from high 30s down to low 20s…I’m cold !!!

The change in season was heralded by an almighty storm on Tuesday afternoon, the last day of summer.  It came roaring in and, just to keep me on my toes, was enough to smash a window upstairs.  I guess this is just  part of living in a house with over 100 large windows.  There’s been many a window smashed here in the short time I’ve owned the house. Now I’ve found the glass repair man, I did ask about safety glass. Only in Sofia, apparently…

Anyway, it’s off to Yambol tomorrow to get the bloody thing repaired..thank god it’s only a few lev.

And my house…

As much as I regret losing Ivan, it’s interesting just how much more I’m getting done.  I became far too dependent on him, but he did come into my life when I was very sick and vulnerable and I let him do things.  He was always telling me not to do heavy work, he would sort it, and I let him. I guess what I failed to see was how slowly thing were moving, because I was often waiting for him to sort different things out for me. I’ll never forget the time he was a big part of my Bulgarian experience, but I’m my old independent self again and I’m fairly ripping through the work.

And the new builders ?? fabulous….

take a peek at the changes…

Now, anyone who has visited me in this house will remember the incredibly precarious stairs…with no ballustrades !!

One of the last things my Sister in Law, Enid said to me as I left Australia was ‘get those bloody stairs sorted’ !!

well, I have.  Not only do I have railings, but tiles as well

The railings are still to be painted, but as I type, Lozev paints…

And they’re still as steep as buggery, but your mountain climb will be so much more pleasurable because they look so much nicer AND you’ve got something to grab onto as you struggle to reach the top  

The large area of very rough and ugly cement at the front of the house has gone through a bit of a change.  A large, old Russian truck arrived one morning and dropped off even MORE cement

The truck was driven by a big bloke that looked and sounded like a Bond villain, Russian, of course.   I was leaning over the balcony taking pictures and decided I wanted one of him.  He spotted me, posed on the step of the truck and said, in a very deep and heavily accented voice, ‘hello dollink, you take my picture, yes ‘?

Well, yes… and here he is

Anyway, he drove off and the men got to work.  

And not too many hours later, and after a visit from a metal worker, the house looks like this:

And yes, that’s Lozev…still painting, painting, painting.

One of the main things I’ve wanted since coming back is a fence that will keep my little darlings in.  My Gina has always had a real talent for escaping, so I asked the builder to think ‘dog proof’ while it was being constructed. Now, your average Bulgaria man doesn’t much like getting advice,specially from a woman.  Dimitor( builder) kept telling me the fence would be very high and that was what I needed.  I explained that my dogs were too bloody lazy to get out of their own way, let alone over a fence.  I stressed that they were under the fence dogs, not over.  Did they listen ? Not for a moment, and when the fence was finished, it looked great, and it was very tall indeed.

And how long do you think it confounded Gina ??  About 10 minutes actually.  And she is such a  bitch, in more ways than one.

I watched her from the window, just to see what she would do.  She did the entire perimeter until she found a weak point.  She immediately started to squeeze herself under.  I shouted her name, over and over.  She looked back at me and with a contemptuous flick of her tail, she was gone.  Mia was contemplating joining her, but perhaps my tone of voice was enough to make her hesitate. Needless to say, when madam eventually came home, soaking wet and covered in black mud, it was the chain and the tiniest dinner she’s ever seen in her life…and the cold shoulder from me.

I rang the builder, and we have now (hopefully) ‘Gina Proofed’ the fence.  Sometimes cement really is the best thing in the world.

Another thing I’ve always wanted here was a nice area, under the grapevines, to spend the lovely summer evenings…and I’m well on the way now to having just that.

I had to sacrifice half my tomato garden

But there’s a very nice man called Stoyan down there right now who’s making it lovely

He’s doing the stonework at the moment and hopefully, I’ll get a few last warmish nights so I can take advantage of it.  They’ve already installed a power point in the garden so that me, the Queen of fairy lights, can turn it into a lovely little twinkling corner of my garden.

What else ???

I’m going to see if I can stretch my money a little further and get the last wall of the house rendered.  Unfortunately the money I lost to Ivan has made a large hole in my budget, but I’m thinking of heading back to Australia for the worst of the winter months to work and earn some more money to make up for my loss…if I can get some work, of course.

And my lovely, albeit sometimes naughty girls?  They are just pure joy for me. I’m still can’t help going downstairs and spending time with them in amongst all the work I’m doing. Gina is turning into a ‘talking’ dog and always has plenty to say, especially first thing in the morning. She and I are a little alike …we’re both a little past our use by date and she awakens as stiff as me in the morning. The two of us have this sort of walk around the yard first thing, stretching our aching bones and making groaning and cracking noises….

Mia, on the other hand, just goes nuts every morning and runs around and around the yard…gallumping around with her huge happy face beaming.

They’ve both lost weight, which is good. Though I didn’t really want Gina to lose too much, it seems to be coming off her faster than off Mia, which is the wrong way around really. I take them for a walk/run every day, or when I can and they just love it.  Mia now walks up to their leads, which are hanging off the front window, and takes them in her mouth pulling them towards me in the hope that I’ll spend my entire life walking them around the village.

Because of the builders being here, and because every Bulgarian is scared of Karakachans, the girls are having to spend a lot of the day in their compound.  Mia is constantly plotting a way out and always gives me the badly done by prisoner thing when I go out there

I think she really was contemplating whether she could squeeze her enormous self through this window in a bid for freedom

but when I suddenly appeared, she cleared off back behind her mother.  Which is also very funny…when Mia is in trouble, she tries to hide behind Gina.  It really is like an elephant hiding behind a mouse.

I reckon that’s probably enough for today.  Ciao for now

what the ????

On Friday night, the earth moved for me !!  Four times !!!   And, my god, what an experience !!!!

Has my luck changed ? Have I been swept off my feet ?  Well, kind of…I’ve experienced my very first earthquakes and let me tell you, it was one of the most frightening experiences of my life.

I was here watching the idiot box late on Friday night when I heard a ‘boom’ and the house shook, just a little.  I used to be in the Air Force and when they did bombing exercises,  you would hear a boom,  followed by a little shuddering of the house, so I assumed that the Bezmer airbase, which is quite close, must be playing war games or something. I also wondered if there might still be active mines around this district and maybe it was mining operations…not for a moment did I even think of earthquakes.

Anyway, about an hour later, it happened again and this time it was a little stronger.  The house shook enough for things to rattle this time and I started to feel a tiny bit nervous.

I know that Bulgaria has earthquakes, but not in this region, so once again, I pushed that silly fear to the back of my mind and continued to wonder what might be happening.

Not long after that, I was in my bed, fast asleep and this time it wasn’t a ‘boom’, it was a “BOOM” and the whole house shook and sort of rolled.  Everything was rattling …windows, crockery, ornaments, everything and I was absolutely shitting bricks.  Lying there I wondered (nervously) if I should be running out of the house or just remaining where I was and wondering exactly how flat I would be when my concrete edifice came crashing down on me. I sleep in the buff, so I very nervously got up and put some clothes on and then wandered around the house trying to decide what I should do.

I checked out the neighbours and there were no lights on, only mine, so I figured if it was a real concern they would be up as well, so I went back to bed.

Moments later, it happened again !!!  Jesus,  I was almost besides myself….I have no experience in these matters, but it was a lesser tremor this time and I thought perhaps they were getting less and less, so I went back to bed and lay there thinking about concrete…

Anyway, the next day I went over and asked Hristina if indeed it had been earthquakes, and yes it was.  I asked if it was usual in this area and the answer to that was No.  Apparently the quakes were much bigger in other parts of the country and this area had only experienced very mild ones.  Bloody hell, I certainly don’t want to be there for a big one then.

I did make the comment that it would be a real shame if my house came tumbling down after all the stress and grief (and money) I’ve gone through to get the place finished.  Hristina was quick to assure me that my house is ‘very, very strong’ and she doubted it would ever fall.  Was she saying this to reassure me and make me feel better ?? who knows..but I’m still here, and the house is still standing and the builders are hard at work here today continuing the renovations.

Just another amazing experience here in Bulgaria …though one I hope I don’t have too often 

BOO!!!

So much done, so little time…

I got a  bit of a bollocking from my friend Brian….he of the apricot jam and instant coffee, way back in 2006 after my operation.  He even rang to see if I was still alive, and indeed I am, but it really has been all go here…

There’s been work on the house, a lot of work…I nearly lost my Mia…and there’s been the sacking of the builder, but lets start with the house.

The front has been rendered..not the best job I’ve ever seen, but it has made a huge difference to the appearance of the place

I’ve had a couple of local blokes working for me, sanding and revarnishing the wooden windows and repainting all the parapet around the balconies, and this has made a huge difference to the look of the house

I’ve been back on the brushes and the third floor is looking really good.

Because of water damage inside the house, I’ve had to pretty much redo all the painting on the third floor.  Ivan was supposed to do some work on the house while I was still in Australia, but this work was not done.   Apparently, winter was extreme and there was water running down the sides of my house for months and the walls inside were damaged.  I got a guy in to repair all the plaster and have been repainting like crazy to get the place back to prettiness.  I think it’s looking pretty good now.

And Ivan…well, what can I say.  I guess there’s no fool like an old fool, and when I was here last August he was at his charming best and I fell for it.  We talked about work that was necessary on the house, mainly to get the water away from the building.  I told him to go ahead and do the work and left money with him to carry out said works.  Can you see where this is going yet ???  Yep, no work AND no money.

I’ve been back three months and his behaviour has been slightly erratic, to say the least.  One day, all over me like a rash and having lunch together and the next day, an unhappy,angry man.  We talked about him doing the work and he kept fobbing me off with stories of the amount of work he had to do with his sheep and he kept saying ‘tomorrow Sue’. But as we all know, tomorrow never comes.

Anyway, I gave him three months and last week I rang and asked him to either do the work, or give me my money back.  his response ?  to shout at me…a lot.  Like I’ve said, I’m not the pathetic, weepy creature that left here two years ago…I’m back and I’m as strong as an ox, mentally and physically, so I didn’t get upset, I didn’t shout at him.  I remained perfectly calm and just kept saying ‘Ivan, it’s my money and I want it back’  He just kept shouting and getting more and more worked up, so I quietly told him to keep the money and hung up on him.  “Goodbye’ was the last thing I said to him.

I got straight on the phone and organised other builders to come out and give me prices..this has been done, and I have someone starting work here on Wednesday.  And Ivan, who I suspect might have money issues just now, gets no more, not a single stotinki from me.  His loss, not mine.

I am deeply disappointed about the loss of the friendship and his company, because when he’s good, he’s fantastic. But it seems he has fallen out with half the district while I’ve been away, so at least it’s not so much of a personal thing.   Male menopause perhaps ???

Now, my lovely Mia…

Mia is the happiest dog I think I’ve ever met.  She is full of joy and energy and constantly brings me joy and smiles with her enthusiasm and total love of me.

this is the big silly face that greets me every day and brings me great joy.

Last Tuesday she was not her usual self  late in the day around dinner time.  She was very lethargic and listless and I could smell a strange sickly sweet odour around her.  It got worse…she suddenly started to vomit, really, really violently, then she collapsed (in her vomit) and lay on the ground with her eyes rolling back in her head.  Was I getting a little distressed. ??…indeed I was.  I rang Maria, the vet, and she said I needed to get Mia to Yambol as quickly as possible.  Can I lift 55 kilos ??  Indeed I can’t.   I called Gina.  Why ?? I don’t know. Maybe I thought she could help…I don’t know, I was getting very distressed by this time.  Anyway, when Mia saw her mother, she struggled to her feet, which was my chance to maneuver her towards the car and get her into it. I had called some friends, Janet & Keith, in a nearby village and they said they were on their way to help me, but as I managed to kind of body slam the poor thing into the car, I rang them and said I was on my way to Yambol.

They met me on the road and Janet accompanied me to the vets.  I probably shouldn’t have driving, but Janet can’t, so it was a fairly scary trip into town for her I think.  I was crying and barely able to focus on driving because I thought I was losing my lovely girl.

We got the vets and there was a glimmer of hope when she dug her heels in at the front door and didn’t want to go inside.  It was the first sign of strength that I had seen since she started being sick. Anyway,  after blood tests, that showed all seemed to be OK, tests to make sure she hadn’t been poisoned and a couple of injections, Mia started to show signs of recovery. I don’t know if it was something to do with whatever made her sick, but she also dropped an enormous amount of hair….all over the surgery.  It was really odd.

I had been mowing the yard all day and was absolutely filthy, both in clothes and in body.  I went to town like this…hey, my dog was sick and I wasn’t really thinking about how I looked.  When it was all over and it was time to return home, Janet asked if we could stop and grab a drink and maybe  something to eat.  ” Of course”, I said, because I was feeling a little hungry and thirsty myself.  We headed off to the Kebache caravan outside a local supermarket and I told Janet that perhaps I shouldn’t go in, considering how I looked, so off she trotted.  It was very hot, so I got out of the car and stood next to it.  Mia, by this time was pretty much back to her usual self and had her enormous, smiley face hanging out of the car window, and Janet and I were standing there eating great big sausages between slabs of bread….we looked at each other and just started laughing.  We must have looked a sight to all the shoppers…10.30 at night, standing in a car park, me looking like I’d been dragged backwards through a muddy paddock and Mia’s huge face smiling out onto us both…..we certainly got some looks from passers by.

And what was wrong with my Mia ? well, we don’t really know.  it had been a very hot day and Maria thought maybe the heat had got to her.  I did explain that my girls spend the hot days like this

downstairs, sprawled out on the lovely cool tiles.

We did discuss the fact that she is too fat…they both are, and so they’re now on a diet, which is making feed times very funny.  You should see the looks on their faces when I place their simple and small dishes of food in front of them.  It’s like I am personally torturing them or something…they look so hurt and pathetic.  Are they dying of hunger ? of course not…they’re fine.

Since that night though I have found out that five other dogs in the village have been sick, with one of them dying, so maybe it was poisoning and maybe because of her huge size, she was able to survive it.

And the final word on that night…I’ve mentioned before that Karakachans have these amazing spotted tummies.  They’re like an inside out Dalmation and because she had to be shaved for an untrasound at the vets, I can now show you what I’m talking about.

Isn’t that the cutest thing. Under all that hair lurks a cute, spotted body, because the dots are all over her, not just on her tummy…she has a nasty shaving rash, but at least she’s OK.

I have more, but my time today for sitting at the computer is over.  Time to get ready for a little socialising. I have a BBQ to go to tonight but first I must go downstairs and give my girls a hug. 

ciao for now

Folklore day out

God, I’m getting told off now for not keeping this up to date, but you have to be kind to me.  I have a lot to do and I’ve been doing it.

I’ve completely redone the third floor and it looks damned spectacular…even if I say so myself. And I’ve been out picked 5 kilograms of mulberries and turned them into jam,  mulberry syrup (which is bloody good on pancakes), stewed mulberries for a possible pie in the depths of winter, plus made a boatload of apricot jam. The kitchen has been running non stop for days.

It’s a damned miserable day here today, so I thought I’d sit down label all my preserves and if time permitted, get at least one entry done here…

So, let’s get started by casting our minds back to June 12th..that would be the day after my last entry, but what a day it was.  I had known for some weeks that I was off to Yambol with the villagers for a singing dancing competition.  No, I wasn’t doing either, but I was certainly taking pictures of them.

So, 8.30 on the morning of the 12th, I headed up to the village community centre and there they all were in their colourful splendour. And even better, while I’d been in Australia for the last two years, their numbers had grown. There were a few new faces plus three of the local men. I’ve been to a lot of these events over the years and Miladinovtsi has rarely had any men involved, so it was nice to see some there this time.

We piled into the cars and arrived at the Yambol sporting complex, where I was greeted by the sight of even more colour and motion

These events are something they clearly take seriously and while other villages were performing, I took a few shots of the Mila folk checking out the competition.  You can see the tension in their faces

But once they took to the stage and got their event underway, they certainly did the village proud with the performance.

I’m not sure what story they were telling, but there was bread being broken, wool being spun, song, laughter and dance…

Did they get through to the next stage ?? Buggered if I know,but I’ve no doubt that if they did, someone will turn up on my doorstep one day telling me to be somewhere on a particular day at a particular time and away we’ll go for another fabulous day of folklore. I love these days. !

As I write this, Mia is lying on the floor behind me, snoring …..like a man !!  Bloody hell !!  you have no idea how loud it is…Christ, I don’t need a husband, I’ve got two dogs doing a perfectly good job of deafening me with snoring….

and Yes, Mia’s finally made the journey to the inside of the house, but that’s another story that I promise to tell you soon….suffice to say, the weather is lousy and both mother and daughter are luxuriating in the comforts of the ‘inside world’

I’ll be back…

Alive and kicking

I know it’s been a little quiet on here lately and I’ve had a few folk contact me who are missing their ‘daily dose of Bulgaria’.

I have so much to write and so many photos to add, but the time pixies have me under siege.  I know Bulgaria is a different time zone, but I didn’t realise that there was one called ‘whooshing past incredibly quickly’ .

I’m painting, gardening, making jam by the bucket load and by the evening Nana is just too damned tired to sit down and write.

I will be back, I will bring things up to date…..and I’ll try and get last pics of the storks before they start leaving their nests and getting ready to fly south for another year..

And here’s just little something to remind myself of why I like living here:

for now….ciao

cherries

Well, I may have lost my entire cherry crop to fruit fly, but at 1.50 – 2.00 levs a kilo how many of these do you think I’m eating

And I happened upon some mulberries the other day when I went to visit a friend, so I also have a mulberry/cherry mixture soaking in a rum and sugar syrup, just in case there’s an ice cream moment sometime this summer…

I think I feel some jam making coming on…

and Rain Stopped Play…

It’s amazing how quickly some people can work.  Ivan arrived here on Saturday morning and left three rough looking fellas in my front yard…and yes, there’s not a word of English between them. Actually, that’s not quite true.  Ivan introduced one of them and said he was an ‘evangelist’, and this man has managed to say to me ‘ God bless you’.  That was after I handed him a cup of coffee and a biscuit.   I did respond that I doubted the good lord would have too many blessings for me, but, of course, he didn’t understand a word of what I said.

Anyway, they just got stuck in and in just four days they’ve gone from this

to this

 

The front of the house is almost finished, but of course, Sod’s law kicked in today and rain has stopped play…bugger !!

Like all things though, the rain has a bright side.  The weather has been very hot and dry and everyone’s garden has been needing that little extra that a good downpour provides, and so today the gardens are looking terrific. Refreshed and wet…

And the building work ? that also has an upside and a downside…I’m thrilled that the rendering has happened so quickly because it really will make the house look much better, but can you imagine the amount of crap that’s getting into my house right  now. ? There’s cement as far as the eye can see. The men have to come into the house to access certain parts of the front wall and everytime they do, a little more cement finds it’s way in.  I’ve been trying to stay on top of it by cleaning after they leave at night, which is around about 8pm, but I seem to be losing the battle.

That’s my front door !!! and it will all be cleaned up when the jobs finished, but at the moment, it’s a little overwhelming.

The cement mixing is taking place a the back of the house  and being barrowed around the the front.  Because there’s so much cement around the ground at the front of the house, the dogs are currently banned from going around there.  Now this should keep them out of the worst cementy areas, but everytime I forget to shut the back door, and I do, they come bounding in for a hello and a bit of love.  Unfortunately, there’s enough cement around the back for their feet to get a nice coating…which they then bring into the house. So you can imagine what the the dark grey tiles I have downstairs look like.

In amongst all the grey though, my roses, splattered with cement, are bravely blossoming on

And they really do smell delicious.

I just try not to look around the house too often. It really does make any more serious cleaning in the very near future a moot point.  For now, I’ll just mop and sweep every night knowing in my heart that one day it will all be over

Around me, life continues.

I made mention about the storks that had set up a nest on a pole about 100 metres up the road from me. Well, they’ve gone !!  I watched them building their nest, I watched all the mating behaviour, which at the top of a power pole was fairly interesting, I watched the dive bombing that was going on from two other storks, I watched the pair apparently resisting the evictions and settling in and then I awoke the other morning, looked up the road to see how they were going…and they had gone.  So I can only guess that the bird fights in the sky that I watched were a territorial thing and the new kids on the block ultimately lost the war. I feel quite sad.  I was enjoying them so much, but I guess that’s life and nature.

The locals are still furiously cutting meadow grasses and getting them dried off and stored for their animals in winter

 

They go out in their carts, come back with them filled and then they spread the grass on the road until it dries out.  Once dry enough, it’s bundled up and stored in nice dry sheds.

And the social life goes on. This time a party for a friend, Dimitor.  He’s a young man who drives a taxi in Yambol.  He speak perfect English and has rescued me on more than one occasion.  He has also become a great friend.  He’s a lovely young man with a lovely family and I was welcomed into their home on Monday night to celebrate his birthday.  He has some terrific friends and the night was very funny and very enjoyable.

 

That’s Ivo with the right sized container of Rakia 

And this fella with the checked shirt and the very happy face, Slatko , which apparently means gold, was just a joy to be around.  A man who loves to laugh and a wife to match…they just exuded such happiness all night.

I have really been having some good nights out, but have to admit, feeling my age after working and playing hard.  Might have to ease back little I think.

That’s it for now, but I just thought I’d put this picture of Hristina and Volcho’s cart in,  because I like it

ciao for now

Bang,hammer,sand,paint,drink,fun,rest.

Boy, it’s busy around here just now…

The scaffolding is up on the front of the house  

And yesterday a very large, old Russian truck arrived at my house and dumped a very large amount of  cement to render the front wall of the house.

 

Today there are three particularly rough looking individuals currently throwing large amounts of that cement render at said wall.

 

I’ve had Penka here getting my badly weather damaged window and door frames sanded and varnished and already they’re starting to look  so much better.

and she’s pretty happy to have a bit of work.

And why aren’t I out there sanding and varnishing my own doors and windows ? Well, I haven’t exactly been sitting around buffing my fingernails….in fact, because of all the work, I don’t have any left.

So I’ve been back on the paintbrush.  As soon as I arrived back here, I decided I no longer liked the colour of the stairwell at the entrance, so it’s out with the wishy, washy pale pink and in with the strong warm maroon.

There’s been some water damage  on the internal walls, on the upper floor so I’ve had to scrape them all back and as soon as they are completely dry, Ivan will re-plaster so I can repaint. The damage occurred because I never got the downpipes on the house before I left and subsequently, all through a very long and bad winter, water has been streaming down the outside walls and gradually making it’s way all the way inside.  Ivan is putting the downpipes on while the scaffolding is up and will also repair the damage that’s occurred to the outside render as well.

I’ll definitely have to get myself back to Australia for a bit more work if this continues 

and then there’s the garden…all my plantings are coming along very nicely, but I think I’ve lost my entire cherry crop to fruit-fly.  The tree didn’t get sprayed and I checked last night because some of the fruit is ripening.  Unfortunately, the riper the fruit, the more it seems to have been infiltrated by bloody fruit fly.

Ivan is due out here later, so I’ll ask him if I’m too late the salvage at least some of the fruit…there is an awful lot of it, and I would at least like a few cherries this year.  Mind you, I did purchase some the other day when I was in Yambol and when you’re only paying 1.99lev for 1/2 a kilo, it’s almost not worth the price of spraying my own tree.

And in spite of a massive plague of aphids in my roses when I arrived, after a bit of a spray and a few good waterings, my first blossoms have emerged

I’m happy 

To things of a social nature.  I’ve been doing a bit of it since I got back, haven’t I …

Monday was Saints Cyril and Methodius Day…Yep, there’s a holiday for the men who are credited for inventing the Cyrillic alphabet.  Still I got to go firstly to Hristina’s for a lovely feed of lamb and all the accompaniments and spend some time with not just her family this time,

but a few of Volchos cousins as well.

 

I don’t think I can ever express my affection and gratitude to Hristina and Volcho. They are so good to me and treat me like one of their own. They are terrific people

And if my afternoon at their house wasn’t enough, Choko and Penka invited me to Choko’s mums place, and what an evening I had.

This is a gypsy family. Even though the average Bulgarian doesn’t have much good to say about the gypsies, this is a lovely family. Choko works hard and Penka is working for me at the moment. The are very hospitable and welcoming and I had a terrific evening of drinking, eating and dancing…not me, them.  I’m no dancer. There were more kids than you could poke a stick at and loads of cousins, brothers, sisters, and quietly working away looking after her brood was the Baba, Katia, Choko’s mum.  70 years old, ten children, numerous grandchildren and still keeping a watchful eye on all off them.

 

 

 

That’s it for now. I need to go and do some more work.  I had a bit of a lay day yesterday so there’s plenty to do today.

I have more news on my storks, but that can wait until tomorrow….or the next day…or the next time I have time

ciao for now

Hmm, why did I bother ?

So, it’s three weeks since I arrived back home and most of my time, as you probably know, has been spent cleaning.  But today’s view of the house begs the questions…why did I bother ? Why didn’t my brain kick in and remember what it’s like having various Bulgarian rough stomping in and out of the house….while working with cement. Don’t get me wrong, I’m very pleased that there’s work underway and the balconies are looking great, but my lovely clean floors all look a little (or a lot) like this

and that’s what three floors of the house looks like today…bugger !!!

Now, Ivan is due back today to start rendering the front wall of the house, so, do I clean up (again) or wait and see how things pans out ??  Writing this will give me some thinking time…

Lot’s of bits and pieces happening as well.

what’s this then ?

that would be the summer veges !!  Thanks to a lot of help from Hristina, we managed to plant a swag of  домати  – domati (tomatoes), пиперки – piperki (peppers) and  патладжан – patlajan (eggplant – aubergine).  

Unfortunately I was a little late for garlic, onions and potatoes, but that’s ok.  Spuds and onions are cheap and I reckon I’ll be pretty happy living on tomatoes, peppers and eggplants over the summer anyway.  I’ve also organised to buy milk and eggs from Hristina (though the battle to pay her for anything continues) and honey from another person in the village.  I’m also going to ask about buying my сирене – cirene (soft white cheese) from someone local as well. I know I should have done all this last time I was here, but it all became so unhappy and difficult that I just never did…this time I’m starting off on the right foot and so far, so good.

and what else have I been up to ?

Well, I had a bit of a social afternoon on Tuesday.  Ivan announced he was doing a koorbarn (?) Yes, I’m not sure how to spell it either, but I do know what it’s all about. I guess it’s kind of like an offering for things to happen.

He kills a lamb and it’s then cooked in water and herbs and spices ( I think)…and I know it sounds bloody awful, but it tastes spectacular and it as tender as a baby’s bum.

Now, it’s not a religious thing, as far as I can ascertain, but in 2007,  he did the same thing here in Miladinovtsi and when I asked him what it was about, he said it was to bring good health to the villagers that winter. This time, it isn’t winter, so I asked again ‘ what is this all about’ and he replied ‘ to bring rain…we need more rain for grass for the sheep’

So I guess it’s all about tradition, one of things I do love about this country, they still have some. And I’m happy to go along and have a great big bowl of tender lamb with slabs of fresh bread and a wee rakia or three in good company and wile away a few hours during an afternoon

Still no bloody rain though !…and now I have a vege garden that could used a good dousing.

The Koorbarn was held in Tenevo, the village where Ivan now has his sheep operation, so after lunch we went up to the sheds and I had a bit of a wander around. Look who I found:

Isn’t he beautiful and he’s just a puppy…look at those feet. !  This is another of Ivan’s dogs and just around the corner I found another:

Yes, indeedy, Mia’s Dad, мечка – mechka, the Bear !!  and doesn’t he look a little like one.   I never really thought  Mia looked that much like him, but take the colour out of his head, and they’re really quite similar.   They are certainly alike personality wise…he is a lovely natured dog and so is she.

And speaking of madam, there’s a reason why I called her my ‘fat bottomed girl’ and that hadn’t changed.  Looked at the size of this

and while she lurks in the shadows plotting a way to get into my new vege garden

her mother just relaxes  and sleeps on…

Even the neighbours are commenting on the the amount she sleeps, but I figure she’s done the hard yards and now it’s time for her to lay back and enjoy a lot of love, some half decent tucker and some nice warm sunshine.

Speaking of which, it’s time for me to get back out there…give the dogs a big hug on the way past and do a little more in the garden….

for now…ciao

My little darling…

There are 3,742 reasons why I never had children…

I got me a couple of dogs instead, but after the last couple of days, I’m almost thinking children might have been a  better option.  And why am I saying this ?  That’s a question only Mia can really answer, but as she is a dog, I’ll have to answer for her…just before I strangle her. !!

Let me take you back to Saturday afternoon…

Ivan delivered bags of cement here for the start of the work on my balconies.  The driest and safest place to store them seemed to be the garage, and so they were all stacked in there.

I was busy doing things around the place and suddenly realised that I wasn’t hearing a lot from the dogs.  They usually hang around me quite a bit, so their absence is always noticeable. I went searching and was greeted at the garage door by a very large, very ‘grey’ dog with a great big stupid cement filled grin.!!

Bloody Hell !!  Mia had been playing in amongst the cement bags…half of them were torn open and she had clearly been having a wonderful time. Gina’s innate sense of Catholic/Jewish guilt had stopped her from participating…she was sitting in the back corner of the garage looking very uncomfortable indeed.  She certainly knew that what was going on wasn’t going to please me.

Actually, my first reaction was to laugh because Mia really did look funny…completely grey and as happy as a sandman.  But then I looked at the reality of it and quickly figured that ingesting cement probably wasn’t going to do her  much good.  I dragged her around to the hose and did my best to flush out her mouth and get the lumps of cement off her gums and teeth.  She’s a very good dog…I had my hand right in her mouth and she never once resisted me or growled or made any attempt to bite.. She’s a very big , strong dog and I’ve no doubt if she wanted to, she could take my hand off at the wrist, but she was a very good girl.

Anyway, I watched her for the next few hours and noted that she was having difficulty eating, not a  problem my girls ever have, and I knew there was something amiss. I just had to get to the vet and find out what damage had been done to her.

So, first thing yesterday morning I filled my car with dogs.  Yes, I know there’s only two of them, but that constitutes a car full of dogs for me. And off we went to town.  Mia was still very quiet and I was feeling a lot of concern about what might be the outcome of her crazy day in the garage.

The good news is that she’s fine, but she had done damage. Apparently cement ‘burns’ and she’d burnt all the delicate tissue in her mouth, her tongue and her gums.  They looked worse than they were, and it’s amazing what an injection of anti-inflammatories and antibiotics will do.  She back to her old form today….big, boisterous and full of joy and mischief AND she got stuck into her breakfast this morning  like an animal who had never been fed.

It was a big day at the vets for both of them..they both had their ‘we don’t want any babies just yet’ injections and Gina had a pedicure, well, she had her nails clipped, and I got to give my first injections. Rather than cart the dogs into Yambol everytime they require rabies shots, or ‘no babies’ shots or whatever, I can just buy the drugs and do them myself.  Maria taught me how to do them and I was so nervous about it.  I was sticking needles into my girls and I felt this enormous sense of responsibility…crazy really.

We managed to get them both on the scales…Mia came in at 53 Ks and Gina a mere 35Ks…

And the best part of it all…I walked out of there yesterday with two mostly healthy dogs that had had injections and pedicures and care, a handful of pills and potions for Mia’s mouth, the next lot of worming tablets for them plus 15 Ks of biscuits for 89 lev…They’re happy and I’m certainly happy.

Here’s a little Bulgarian lesson for you:  The English word ‘happy’ is the Bulgarian word for ‘bite’…so never say to a Bulgaria that your dogs are happy, because they will back away very quickly indeed 

Today, my house is echoing with the sounds of scaffolding going up around the building.  There’s downpipes to be put on the house and I’m getting another wall rendered. There’s various Bulgarian rough wandering around on my numerous balconies repairing and strengthening them and making them look nice and one day, in the fullness of time, I’ll get a decent fence so the dogs can roam a little more around the yard.  I did ask Ivan if the fence could be done first-ish, but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. The rest of the work is pretty important anyway, so I’m just thankful that there’s something happening.