Bulgaria 12,13/02 Figured I only needed one diary day to cover the last few as it’s all been about just getting the place organised, making sure the builders are happy and doing what I want and generally continuing the catch up following all my visitors.
I managed to extract my parcel from the Bulgarian authorities today. I returned to the Poshta this morning, ensuring that I was there well before 11.30, only to be told (once again) that I couldn’t have it. The reason this time….they only give parcels out on Monday, Wednesday and Friday…ARGHHHH.
I’m still looking a bit rough from this cold I’ve got and I made a few pathetic noises, coughed a bit and said I’d come all the way from Miladinovtsi. The woman I was dealing with must have felt sorry for me because the she made a couple of phone calls, another woman appeared and indicated that I should follow her, which I did, and a five minute walk later, arrived at the local Customs Office. Eventually the person who obviously looks after parcels from overseas arrived and after inspecting the contents and getting me to sign various bits of paper, the parcel was mine.
Jillian left here with a list of bits and bobs that I’d said I could use and she’s already sent me the first comfort parcel. It was great, just like a mini Christmas. Among the things she’s sent me are two lipstick holders. These are little folding pouch things, the exact size of an average lipstick, that have a little mirror in them. These completely flummoxed the Customs inspector so I had to get a lippy from my bag and give him a demo of what they were for. He looked slightly bemused by it all and handed me the parcel with a bit of a smile on his gob.
I checked out the rest of the contents properly when I got back to the car and now have things like pillow protectors, tarragon for the fabulous beetroot salad recipe that Jillian taught me and stuff for calming my wild and bushy eyebrows…the little things that one can’t get and that really do make a difference…Thanks Jillian, you’re a wee star 🙂Still a small issue with the car…the sticking accelerator is still haunting me. Again, it only seems to happen when things are cold…..which they still are. Anyway, it looks like I’m just going to have to fiddle about under the bonnet wherever it happens and just make sure I never start the car in gear. I was fiddling under the bonnet when the builders arrived this morning and was immediately joined by one of them, looking very concerned…probably because a womans place is not under the bonnet of a car in Bulgaria. Anyway, he realised that I seemed to know what I was doing, and thanks to watching Tony when this happened before, I do, but waited until I was settled in the car and on my way before he walked into the house to start work. Isn’t that nice 🙂And speaking of building work…they’re making good progress already and it’s so nice to go upstairs and actually see changes occurring.
While I was in Yambol I called into the local bathroom dealer and organised all the tiles for the floors and all the sanitary ware and tiles for the upstairs bathroom. I don’t think the people at the bathroom shop have ever dealt with someone like me before. I walked in, checked out tiles, said I wanted 100m2 of a particular floor tile, 10m2 of white wall tiles, pointed at a bath, a hand basin, a toilet, towel rails, soap rack, shower and taps and just said ‘I’ll have that, that, that, that and that, etc’ and the whole process took me about 20 minutes. That’s the way to shop. And the whole shebang set me back 2,200 levs…and they gave me ten percent discount…Fab !!
I’m starting to get my excitement back about the house now that things are taking shape. By the end of last year I was feeling quite despondent about it all because nothing was happening, but I’ve got a whole new lease on life just now. I believe I can see the light at the end of the tunnel…and this time it’s not the train coming.
The last couple of times I’ve been on the road from Miladinovtsi to Yambol I’ve seen some amazing birds of prey. I think there’s both hawks and eagles and they are huge, massive things. They’re everywhere, sitting in trees and on lamposts, keeping a beady eye on the paddocks below them. I take it they’re waiting for any movement at all of something that’s edible. And crows…enormous flocks of crows. Tony made the comment when he was here that they’re the biggest murders he’s ever seen and he’s right..these aren’t just murders of crows, they’re massacres. !! And on the way back from Sliven last Friday, a truly vast, almost sky darkening flock of geese flew overhead. And I saw a stork today……..
Are these the harbingers of Spring ??? Please god they are….it’s very cold again tonight and I can’t wait for some warmth for these old bones.
It’s time to get close to the fire and sample a small Rakia…just to warm me up, of course.
Cheers now
mercer
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