Bulgaria 13/12
Had a visit from some more builders this morning. Not sure what happened to Dimko and his gang, but I did note one morning that he was out the back talking to the builder that’s doing the shed. They then got into Dimko’s car and headed up into the village, where they stayed for over an hour……since then, he has avoided me like the plague, and I’m concerned that Stoyan has put the frighteners on him. These guys are doing some work at Martins just now and when he asked Dimko when he was coming to me, he just said ‘Ne’. Unfortunately there’s not enough Bulgarian and English in common, so Martin was unable to find out the reason why he wasn’t coming to my place. Given how keen he was in the first instance, my suspicions are that he’s been warned off……..if I find out he has been, I’ll be less than pleased.
The guys that came this morning were really pleasant and say they’ll have a quote for me by Christmas…..I did ask that they give me a good Christmas present 🙂
They said they could start some of the internal work before Christmas, if I liked, but I declined because I really need a few days of peace and quiet here to get the place ready for Jillian. I’ll be in Sofia meeting her this time next week…..Eeek !!
While the builders were here I asked them about my septic tank….one of them knows the Mayor and popped up to see him for me. Hey Presto !! two hours later a tanker truck turned up with a very large hose attached and for the princely sum of 100 levs, I now have a pristine septic tank….well, as pristine as a septic tank can be 🙂 It was obviously in need of a bit of sprucing up…Holy Mother of God, the smell was horrific…it even permeated the house. So glad I didn’t get it done in summer, it would have permeated through the whole village then, I reckon. …which would have made me as welcome as a pork chop in a synagogue.(sic)
I did have some concerns about the condition and size of the tank, given the size of the house, but no worries…it’s huge and appears in good condition.
One less thing I have to think about now………..hopefully for a good few years to come.
Speaking of pork…..had another visit from Christina today and she’s obviously been a very busy woman since the death of Babe on Sunday. This time she bought me some home made sausage. It’s kinda like brawn, but chunkier….and it’s delicious. Plus she’s given me a slab of raw pork, so I’m going to drag out my Bulgarian cookbook and see what I can create from it. But that might have to wait until Jillian’s here. God, I hope she hasn’t gone vegetarian since I left Australia. 🙂
I also found out that two English women are coming here to live. They found out about me on a Bulgarian forum, apparently. It seems they’de like to talk to me to get the lowdown on living in Miladinovtsi. There’s also a rumour that an English guy has also bought a house here as well….if this keeps up, I’ll have to move to another village. 🙂
I’ve also had some good leads for procuring that elusive leg of ham that I’m after, in Yambol…this again came from the same forum,( thanks Mariana) so it’s proving to be very handy indeed.
So, tomorrow I’m off to Yambol to see what I can find…with any luck I’ll at least find somewhere that I can order one….or maybe, if I’m really, really lucky, walk out the door of some Yambol butcher with one tucked under my arm.
So, that’s one turkey, cuppla chickens for roasting, a bunch of mince pies, decorated house, Christmas puddings (hopefully in my sister’s suitcase), fairly lights (alongside the puddings in same suitcase), festive table clothes…….no Christmas cake, because I didn’t have time to make one…..and as yet, no ham…..but Christmas is starting to look like I might just be ready for it…..Fab !! Just a quick prayer to the patron saint of electricity, to make sure it stays on, and all should be well on the day. 🙂
After a brief spell of quite mild weather, it looks like winter’s starting to put on it’s serious hat……it’s been very cold today and I doubt we’ll see too many warmish days from here on in. Got the fire cranked right up tonight…I hope it can cope when it gets really, really cold.
Must away and get a few more things done….
Until next time
Dovishdane
mercer
Sue Mercer,
Bulgaria 2005
©
