Well, what a busy day it’s been at Pirin 16…….
I started the day with a visit from my wee english speaking friend, Nikolai, who was in Miladinovtsi for the day visiting his grandparents. After we caught up on all the news, he took me over to see Karlina, his Great Aunt, to talk turkey……literally….and guess what ?? I’ve got me one of those free range Miladinovtsi turkeys organised for Christmas.
Karlina had already slaughtered and disposed of her entire flock, but she took me up the road to a neighbour who has agreed, for the princely sum of 25 levs (8 quid), to slaughter one of her turkeys for me in time for Christmas…..no head, no guts, no feet, no feathers, just the well plucked body :o) I just have to pop up the road when I’ve got room in my freezer for it, and she’ll do the dastardly deed for me…..
Rejoice Jillian….we will have turkey on Christmas day. :o)
I had a hard time convincing everyone that it wasn’t one of the 50lb turkeys that stomp around the village that I wanted…..I kept saying ‘malko, malko’ (little, little) but they all just smiled and agreed that I needed a ‘medium’ one. I’m slightly nervous about what they mean by ‘medium’ in this country….I’ve seen the size of the meals they serve up….usually enough for a small village, let alone one person.
Now, to find a leg of ham……
I figured while I had an English speaker in my grasp I’d make a few enquiries about the fellas that have talked to me about doing some of the building works. The father, Dimko, was raised in Miladinovtsi and is remembered by the villagers…his son, Balcho, seems to be well thought of and when I asked the question ‘would you let any of them into your homes to do work?’, they all agreed that they would….could this be a good sign ? Could this be the answer to my prayers ? I also found out that there’s an electrician in the village, but he’s as busy as a bastard and the chances of getting him are very slim indeed.
As well as sorting the Christmas turkey situation, I’ve managed to to organise Christina and a few others to come in and sort out the front garden…and this time I know they’ll turn up. Christina is about the most reliable person you could hope to meet in a days march….I can’t wait until the day when I can actually have a proper conversation with her…she is such a cracking woman. Even with my appalling lack of Bulgarian, she’s so warm and friendly and is so very kind to me.
Anyway……just as there was a brief lull in the day’s activities, the builders turned up, this time with a carpenter and two plumbers in tow. Jesus Christ, what a rough looking lot…Bill & Leslie were a little apprehensive about leaving me in the house with them, but they had no worries…the neighbours were keeping a very close eye on proceedings. I had a visit from Christina and a little later, another from her husband…just to make sure everything was kosher. And when I looked out the door a few hours later, there was a gaggle of folk sitting outside Christina’s, chatting and keeping a wary eye on the house.
So, hours and hours and hours later the survey of the building came to an end….and just a few hours after that, Balcho returned with some prices for me. They are very keen to get working, but I told them that I wanted to compare their quote with the other one I have, and would make a decision based on that…which seemed to surprise them a little. I guess they thought that because I’d asked for prices, it meant that they had the job.
I have had a brief look at both quotes and these guys are looking pretty good…but what’s their work like I wonder. ? Perhaps I’ll get them to do a couple of the smaller jobs and see how they shape up. I’m giving myself 24 hours to think about it anyway…I might be in a rush to get some work done here, but I’m not stupid enough to just let these blokes in without a bit of thought.
Tomorrow I’m hoping for a slightly less busy day. Picking lint out of my navel sounds like a good way to spend a few hours…but that will be after I oil the boards on my bedroom floor. They don’t seem to have heard of polyurethane (sic) in this country and the varnish job that was done on my floors was far less than satisfactory. The floors were already starting to suffer from the lack of protection. I’ve been trying to find linseed or neatsfoot oil for the last couple of months and at last I’ve found a source of linseed oil. I’ve already done the kitchen and living area boards…and they look spectacular, even if I say so myself. :o)
Time to take this aged body off for an electric blanket experience… :o)
Leka nosht
