Never got back to this yesterday…had a big days painting and was dog tired last night, so I had a huge glass of wine instead ..
So, here I was the other night writing my diary when Christina and another woman called me down. I invited them up into the house and was introduced to Karlina, who is one of my across the road neighbours, and what a fantastic woman. She’s a real live wire and again, though we didn’t speak the same language, she had plenty to say. I was armed with my phrase book and we managed to work out that she is 56 (pedeset shest) and I am 50 (pedeset) and she is keen to learn English. She wanted to know what Bulgarian words I knew and we walked around the house with her asking me the english words for things, and her then giving me the Bulgarian words. Basically, she has offered to teach me Bulgarian if I teach her English….hallelujah (sic), this could be the answer to my prayers. It won’t happen straight away as all the villagers are currently preparing for winter, but it could be something to do on those long winter nights and could make a huge difference to my coping here.
Karlina wanted a guided tour of the house and my colour scheme got the thumbs up from her….each room we went into she inspected, then grinned and I received many ‘mnogo dobres’ (very good) and a big, enthusiastic hug. It was quite bizarre…I haven’t been hugged like that for years. While on the ground floor, a couple more local women turned up and another guided tour of the house was conducted with much ooooing and aaaaing going on….from them, not me :o)
The conversation that was happening during all this (along with much miming) was obviously about the fact that I was doing all this work myself. There was a lot of tut tutting about me climbing ladders and feeling of my arms for muscles (didn’t find any of course)…but this was from women who toil, and I mean toil, day in and day out. I get the impression though, that roles here are very clearly defined and what I am doing is probably what the men do, not the women.
Anyway, we wandered out the the front of the house, only to be joined by Christina’s husband and the Mayor and his wife. They were chatting about me and pointing at the house making painting actions and then they discussed my Bulgarian.(well, lack of) I knew they were, because all the words I had said to Karlina were mentioned and the Mayor added a couple more that I had obviously used when he had visited…all this with much grinning and laughter. Karlina then indicated that I was going to teach her ‘angliski’ and she was going to teach me ‘bulgarski’, which evoked a very enthusiastic response from the gathering. Perhaps winter classes in the big hoose ?
It’s about 8.30 when the women indicate that they have cows to milk and the gang started to disperse…….a very entertaining couple of hours.
I did discover while out there chatting (well, listening), some ripe peaches on one of
my trees…..
I picked them and offered them to the gathering…they all refused and indicated that I should have them….and I did, and two of those babie were my dinner with some gorgeous local yoghurt…Mmmmmm :o) Big, juicy, freestone peaches, smell like heaven and sweet to taste.
I can’t wait for next summer when I can really take advantage of what’s already growing here and what I get planted myself…there’s something about picking food from your own yard, it just seems to taste and smell so much better.
Another of life’s simple pleasures that I’ve rediscovered since moving here is the smell of sun dried laundry. For over six years it’s been the drying room for my washing..there aren’t many washing lines on the fourth floor of an Edinburgh tenement….and I’d forgotten just how good clothes smell when dried outside….delicious, and climbing into sundried sheets is definitely one of lifes pleasures…overwhelming desire to roll about in my clean washing :o)
More news on the kitchen front…Doncho says he should be here Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday (love a man who hedges his bets) and I should have a kitchen mostly up and running by the end of the week. Dare I get excited ????
But no news from BTK…..so still no further on the internet front and the telephone line is still as noisy as a bastard…..Booo !!!
Painted one of the stairwells today…bloody hell, what a pig of a job…had to paint the walls up the side of the stairs and paint the underside of the stairs above me…..and I’ve got two more of them to go. If I was two inches taller, it would have been a lot easier …..tonight I’m really knackered and have a dose of painters neck. I think I might do what the bible says and have a day of rest tomorrow :o) Might just puddle around and get some herbs planted….
