As I gazed out the window this morning – I’m snowed in, so doing quite a bit of that – I couldn’t help but notice a vehicle that was sliding it’s way up the road. Actually, it wasn’t the masses of snow or the sliding car that caught my attention, it was the sheer numbers of people in it. !
The car itself was absolutely packed to the gunnels and to top it off, there were four people sitting in the boot, crammed in like sardines, lid up, legs hanging over the back and all of them having a merry old time. Let’s not forget that the road is so dangerously slippery just now and it was also snowing quite heavily as, with engine roaring, they slid off up the road. Heaven help them if someone had come around the corner in the opposite direction.
And I know I shouldn’t say it, but it was hilarious to see. They just didn’t have a care in the world and were as happy as anyone could be.
I was relating the story to Mitko later on and he told me they were on their way to the cemetery because it’s one year since their mother died. I commented that perhaps they all had a wish to join her… 🙂
I desperately wanted a pic, but couldn’t lay my hands on my long range lens…by the time I found it, they had slid around the corner…damn and blast. I must start leaving the camera and all its bits on the kitchen table. I often look out and see bizarre things happening in the streets below me and as they can’t see me, it really is a chance for good shots. I just need to get more organised.
This isn’t the first time the guys that own and drive this particular car have stopped me in my tracks. They obviously have a gas conversion on the vehicle and a couple of weeks ago, I was walking up to the village centre when I came across one of them doing some repairs to it. He’d pulled the tank out of the car and was sitting on the ground doing said ‘repairs’ ….mainly with a hammer !!
They just make the best of what they have I think and do the best they can with what they have and all the time they appear to be pretty happy and relaxed about it all.
And what else am I doing to amuse myself while the snow falls ? Besides making the living room and kitchen lovely and warm for myself and Gina, I’m having my first ever go at making my own yoghurt. I never realised how easy it is. Well, in saying that, the technicalities appear simple but I won’t know for another 6-7 hours if it’s actually working. I may just end up with a large dish of sour milk, which Gina will love…so nothing wasted.
And Gina is still insisting on her daily walk. We’ve just got back and again the snow was falling and the air was bracing, but I actually love it. I feel great when I get home. There’s been a very nasty flu doing the rounds of the village and one of the women reckons I haven’t got it because I go for a walk in the freezing cold every day. I doubt that’s a correct medical opinion, but I’ve certainly managed to avoid it…so far.
Slightly worrying occurrence last night…Hristina’s sister Donna has been here many times and yesterday she popped in to see if I wanted to buy some Martinitsa’s…they’re the red and white wristlets that people here give on March first. You wear them and when you see your first stork, you hang them on a tree or place them under a stone. In winter when there’s no leaves on the trees, you can see loads of them from previous years hanging on the branches. Anyway, Donna came up the stairs and Gina and I were waiting for her at the top. As she walked past Gina, madam took a sly little nip at her backside !! Fortunately, she only made contact with Donna’s very thick coat, but I was stunned & Donna was frightened because she thought ( and possibly, rightly so) that Gina was going to bite her. I called out ‘Gina !!!’ and she immediately let go and sat there looking deeply ashamed, but none the less, this is not something I want to see happening. I’m worried that it might be a possession thing with me…she doesn’t want anyone coming here…but I have guests coming and if needs be, she will be banished to the dog house whenever I have people here. She’s strong and has very big teeth…I don’t want any problems.
And yet, as I look at her here, fast asleep on her luxurious bed with her best ‘butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth’ face, it seems hard to believe that she would do such a thing.
I wont lie, she has bitten someone. When she was having her pups one of them died and she was distraught. I very carefully took the dead puppy away, but she was not happy about it and she even growled at me. I had people staying downstairs at that stage and I told them that under no circumstance were they to go into the garage because Gina was beside herself and I couldn’t guarantee how she would react to people going in there. Unfortunately, the woman who used to breed dogs, thought she knew best and went into the garage as soon as I turned my back. I was at the front of the house burying the puppy when I heard a god awful scream and a terrible commotion ….Sure enough, Gina had sunk her large teeth into the woman’s calf. I felt terrible that it had happened, but I had been very clear with my instructions. I always advise people to approach her gently and not to suddenly lunge at her…she doesn’t like that at all. A hangover from her beatings, I’m sure, so she does need a little understanding, but she’s been so good since I came back that she really caught me off guard yesterday….something to watch for I guess. And she was fantastic with the guests I had last year, so maybe she was just having a bad day.
She’s still my girl and I love her.
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