Bits & Bobs

I guess because I’ve got so far behind with my diary, cohesion is a little difficult, but things have happened throughout August, some little, some big and scarey and some which I’ve decided deserve a mention and maybe a few pics.

One thing I omitted from my entry when my mates were here, was the very frightening storm that hit one day.  We were actually on our way back from Yambol when the weather took a turn for the worse, starting with the sky going a very unusual colour and the wind becoming incredibly strong. 

As we turned into the road to Miladinovtsi, this was the sight that greeted us. 

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Deb asked me to stop so she could take these pics. I did so as I could see no problem…well, she was only out of the car a matter of seconds before we realised just how fast this storm front was moving. She grabbed the snaps and leapt back into the car just as the wind struck us.  Hells Bells, it was really frightening.  I was struggling to keep the car on the road and feeling very concerned indeed about the house.

Now, we’d all experienced a cyclone at some stage of our lives, and the conversation in the car was very much along the lines of ‘this is like when Alby struck’ and ‘ this is looking very much like a cyclone sky to me’ with me saying ‘no, you get spectacular storms here, but not cyclones…I think’

It may not have officially been a cyclone, but jesus Christ it was near as damned to one.  We got to the house and literally struggled to get inside. The large doors downstairs had blown open and some of the glass had been blown out of the smaller doors, so we were greeted by a howling gale blowing through the house.  The glass in one of the big doors then smashed, so Deb & I did our best to shore things up before we went up to see if there was any damage upstairs.  Fortunately not, but we were all so nervous we kept well away from any glass, which is no mean feat in this house…the bloody place is 50% glass. It was very scarey and seemed to go on forever, and yes, there was a calm moment in the middle of it, but unlike a cyclone, which turns around and comes back the other way, this storm continued to rage in the same direction.  God, it was such a relief when it stopped, and happily I had no more glass casualties.  I was off to Jeravna the next day so contacted Ivan, who in his usual generous and obliging manner, got all the breakages repaired while I was swanning off to the mountains with my buddies.

To other bits and pieces…..I went searching for white sheets and pillow cases the other day.  I don’t know about you, but when I stay in a guest house or hotel, there’s really nothing nicer than crisp, clean white linen so I decided it was time to get a stock in.  I was in Sliven and found a manchester store that had every conceivable colour of sheets and pillow cases but I couldn’t see any white.  I asked the assistant if they had white bed linen, and she said ‘Da’.  She then explained that I would need to come back to the shop in 15 minutes.  I figured that she must be going to get the linen from another shop..perhaps ?? 

Anyway, I had plenty of other things to do so agreed to return in 15-20 minutes….and I did…..and she had a pile of white sheets and a pillow cases waiting for me.  Did she get them from another shop ??  Er, No…in true obliging, Bulgarian style, she rushed off to some dressmaker somewhere and had the sheets run up for me, there and then.  Ah, I love this place.  There really aren’t too many places left in the western world that would even bother to do that anymore…..most likely tell you to come back in a week or two…..

So I got my nice crisp, clean white bed linen, freshly made….fabulous !!!

And then there was this…..

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Oh yes indeedy, the road slaughterings are up and running again…….this particular sheep, who just days previously had been running around my backyard fattening up on the jungle that is out there, met his waterloo in honour of Our Lady of the Assumption.  I guess the only assumption this poor sod made was that he might live a long and healthy life.

Interesting how I’ve hardened to this.  When I saw my first roadside slaughtering at exactly this time last year, I ran from the sight and stood in my house, feeling very disturbed indeed thinking ‘Jesus, how can I live somewhere where this is happening….in fact, was it really happening or just a bad dream??’….This year i ran for my camera so that I could catch every moment for posterity….how things have changed.  🙂

Miladinovtsi was visited by some travelling gypsies again this year.  I guess this is an annual thing..I dont really know, but there were gypsies camped here for a while last year as well. Love them or not, they are a colourful, interesting race and the children are just gorgeous.

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There are resident gypsies in the village and I know people moan about them all the time in Bulgaria but I’ve had no bother from them…in fact the ones here are always very warm and friendly and have never asked me for anything.  I take pics for them, especially of their children, and this brings them great pleasure and creates much excitement in the families when they see them. The children are beautiful, and I love taking pics of them…

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Aren’t they fab…..I just find them so natural and full of the pure innocence, the joyous cheek and mischief that you only find in children.  They are truly delightful.

And on that note, I think I’ll call it a day for August. Time to start on September and if I’m lucky I’ll get my first entry up before October comes crashing in on me.  Where the hell is all my time going ? Obviously the time pixies are working particularly hard stealing it from me  🙂

Until September…

dovishdane