And it really does. Everyone is working really hard, as they do from ’roundabout now until the last vestiges of summer warmth have gone. The vegetable gardens are going in, the animals are being fattened, Hristina, and I’m sure most villagers, have lots of baby every-things just now…chickens, turkeys,puppies, kittens, and grass is being cut and gathered for winter feed for when it’s too cold for the animals to go out every day
And my progress ? Besides being under the weather, I’m still managing to do bits and pieces…in between collapsing on the couch periodically.
I’ve managed to get my living area looking far more civilised
and every square inch and every little thing in the room has been washed AND I’ve thrown out loads of ‘stuff’. That is such a good feeling and one of the things I love about starting again all the time, it’s when I find the ‘if I haven’t used it for a year it goes out’ rule applies and it really is easy to chuck stuff out. I’ve actually got some empty shelves and cupboards…and will do my best to keep them that way.
And it gets better…though perhaps not for my already expanded waistline…
I decided to have another crack at making bread. Whenever I stayed with my brother Tony while I was in Australia, I got to enjoy his home made bread. When he and Enid went away for a while and left me in charge of the home, I even knocked out a few loaves myself, so made the decision when I came home here to start making bread here.
So, carefully following Tony’s, recipe I attempted to make my first Bulgaria loaf of bread
The result was terrific!! even I’m impressed…and it wasn’t made without drama. I shoved all the ingredients into the bread maker and hit the start button. It did what it was supposed to do, all that difficult kneading that none of us want to do and then went into the proving stage. I was peeking through the top of the machine and it was rising beautifully….then…the bloody power went off !! Now, it continued to rise, so I didn’t lose heart. I checked the manual that Tony sent me and it said in this occurrence, when the power returned, hit the ‘bake only’ button and everything would be OK. Huh ??? My bread machine doesn’t have a ‘bake only’ button. My heart sunk a little, but I remained optimistic and continued to feel that way until the power came back on and the bloody machine started the cycle from the beginning. My beautiful risen, just ready to cook loaf collapsed like a house of cards. Bugger !! I thought, but then decided to just let it run and see what happened…and guess what ?? It kneaded (again), it sat and rose beautifully (again) and then cooked beautifully…..
I’m as happy as a sandman. Can I repeat this success ?? who knows, but I reckon I’ll give it a go and see what happens.
And still my biggest time waster, but one of the nicest things about being back, are my girls.
Look at that almost famous jaundiced look of Gina’s…she hates having her pic taken 🙂
I have always loved them dearly, but my return to Australia meant I never really got to spend time with Mia as she grew up and to watch Gina recover from her hard life and become a more relaxed, less stressed dog. Now I’m with them and I still just can’t resist them…I really do keep popping outside just to hug them. I talk to them, so the neighbours will think I’m definitely crazy now, but that’s OK. They respond as only a loving faithful animal can. And I love to just sit on the front step with a big, boofy karakachan on either side of me, just ‘being home’. I still have to have them tied up a lot of the time because they just can’t resist the urge to bugger off and explore the village, but I have spoken to Ivan about sorting a good, solid, high fence and once that’s done, they will be able to roam around the yard a lot more, which will be better for them I think.
And last but not least…Just about everyday I get a pretty special sunset here, but life doesn’t necessarily have to be about colour all the time. This was my evening sky on Thursday…
Stunning, isn’t it… a few God rays there for everyone.
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