While in the village, I met my neighbour Christina’s husband to discuss (again through Tio) organising people to clear my jungle….a man who’se obviously worked in the sun all his life and is baked an incredible shade of walnut, (or Jarrah, for the Australians out there) but the fabulous thing was when he smiled broadly and revealed an entire silver mine in his mouth…..with the bright sunlight, the reflection was so outstanding, I’m still seeing white dots in front of my eyes…..but I now have people organised to come in next week and help me find the backyard and all that’s containted within…
Miladinovtsi really is a tiny, rural village and I suspect the locals think I’m some kind of mad woman (and no comments from the nut gallery about that, thanks ) for going there to live. I’m this odd, pale skinned, gravelly voiced creature from a land where things are easy and life is soft…..I’m sure they probably think I need my head read, but are too polite to say so…not that I’d understand if they did…..but when I sat on the balcony today having a quiet fag and gazing out at the wide open spaces, hills in one direction, mountains in the other, turkeys and geese bustling around below me, donkeys strolling down the street, for a brief moment I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else…. once I’m resident in the house and made it my own, I think that will become the way I feel most of the time….
and the quiet was magnificent….the odd voice carried on the breeze, the gobbling of the turkeys and the clip clop of hooves……..Oh, and cicadas, the one sound of warm summer days in Australia that I had forgotten, a sound I missed in Scotland and a sound I’ve always loved to hear…..
While writing this, I’m enjoying a very pleasant, very tasty, very cold Bulgarian Traminer and reflecting on the last few days….I’ve met a number of Brits who aren’t just buying houses here but, like me, are uprooting and moving to this country to live. I know, just from the last few days, that it’s not an easy thing to do…and I only have myself to worry about. These people are bringing their children, their whole lives…leaving successful businesses and jobs to start again somewhere where the difficulties seem insurmountable …..but there is something about the feeling here that makes it inviting…..and it’s not just about cheap living costs..it’s an intanglible ’something’ and though I know there will be times when I question what I’ve done (a lot) and times when there will be tears and doubts,(a lot), something in my heart tells me this was a good decision…..
I’m also convinced that if you want to do something like this, you do need support. If I had landed here solo, I reckon I’d be sitting somewhere weeping ….or on a plane back to Scotland by now.
It’s Sunday today and I’m shouting myself a ‘nothing day’….a staring into the middle distance kinda day, a picking lint out of my navel day…. for tomorrow the running around will start again…
