Week 8

Monday brings another gloriously sunny day but we are off to Ruse for a get us in a festive mood day. There is an ice sculpture exhibition in the main square, the decorations are all out, there is a small Christmas craft fair and we have to get each other a gift to open on the big day. The ice sculptures are amazing, carved out of huge blocks of ice by various skilled artists, each depicting a wonder of architecture from various countries around the world. However as it is so sunny some are starting to melt but still are very impressive. The craft fair is a bit of a let down, only half a dozen stalls and not really filled with Bulgarian handicrafts as we had hoped. After a trip around the market to buy our Christmas veg, a quick visit to Monica's office to drop off her Christmas present, a whizz around the supermarket and a stop off for a lovely lunchtime meal of creamed vegetable soup and a bowl of homemade pasta we are running very short of time. Pam knows exactly what she is getting me for Christmas but as usual I have no idea what to get her. We are running so late I will have to come back to Ruse tomorrow to get her gift.

Father Christmas with Ruse Theatre in the background

Pamela enjoys the Christmas display

The weather is sure to turn soon so this is the main water feed into the house insulated with a straw bale

Tuesday is back into Ruse so that I can get Pamela a Christmas present. No idea what to get, no idea how the sizes equate to UK sizing and a large rambling city centre mean that it takes me hours to get just one item. Finally purchased and off home again. Pamela spends the day cleaning the house then knitting in the garden as it was a sunny day again. The builders took a day off so it was lovely for Pamela and the dogs to have some quality time in the sun together. Pamela even makes me a Christmas card from wrapping paper as we have found that there are very few Christmas cards to be bought locally (she has been watching the Good Life DVD's again so is in the self sufficiency mode!!)

Wednesday is Borko's birthday so we get him a cake from the local store (a chocolate log and some fruit sponges), then for teabreak we all had cake and coffee. At lunchtime we all shared a beer in the sun.

Borko blows his candles out

Breaktime in the sun

Pamela the hostess

Break over and back to laying the new floors in the groundfloor bedroom

Washing machine and tumble dryer go into the Palace

Thursday is Christmas Eve and is regarded as more important than Christmas Day here as it is the last day of Advent so everybody takes the day off apart from me. I paint the front gates at last so that they match the garage and windows. It is a beautiful day again so when the painting is finished we open a bottle of sparkly wine and enjoy the sun in the courtyard.

Marple sunbathing on her favourite step

Internal gate painted

Main gates finished

Everybody is so kind to us. The local turkey herder who we met back in September and lives on the other side of the village, popped in to bring us a bottle of homemade wine, Stefan who lives up the lane stopped to wish us a Happy Christmas and Mrs B next door gave us socks, wine and homemade cheese pie. We are so lucky. Christmas Eves meal is traditionally a big, mainly vegetarian meal which should be of an uneven number of dishes. Each dish has a significance whether it be to ensure a good harvest next year or encourage fertility. We have traditional Banitsa (filo pastry filled with feta and spinach) salad, olives, feta and tomatoes, mozzarella balls, stuffed olives and a prawn ring.

Traditional filo pastry filled with feta and spinach

Christmas day and it has been a hard frost so it was very seasonal although not the thick snow we had hoped for. We walked the dogs through the woods then had a scrambled egg and smoked salmon breakfast. Bulgarians today will mainly go back to having a meat feast but being pescatarians that is not an option for us. After breakfast Pamela and I go for a walk around the village. Surprisingly the village is really busy. The local shop is open as is the usual Friday Market. There are many villagers sat outside the shops with their coffee and nip, it is busier than a normal day!! The weather starts to turn quite cold so we head home again. Whilst we were out Borko and Ani had dropped off a Christmas gift for us and a bottle of Rakia made from the grapes he picked last September from our vines. We have lobster pate followed by salmon with a spiced tomato topping for Christmas dinner followed by a lemon torte pudding. All washed down with wine from a local vineyard which was gorgeous.

Wine produced just up the road

Saturday and all the builders are back. By the end of the day most of the plasterboard is up on the walls. All the ceilings have to be treated for insects so will be done later. Monica comes over for a coffee and chat and with Borko we all enjoy the sun for a while.

Sun peeping through frosty trees in the forest

Ground floor kitchen starts to take shape

Monica enjoying a coffee

Sunday is a cold start but the sun is soon out again. The builders are continuing to work on the ground floor apartment and I paint the inside of the main gates. It is such a lovely day that Pamela and I take the afternoon off to visit the Medieval village of Cherven which is about 10km away. It is a stunning village with remains of Thracian and Byzantine churches and forts dating back to the 1300's. We spend a couple of hours walking around the site but we could easily spend a full day here. Another time perhaps, but  for our guests it will be a great excursion. In the afternoon we try the Rakia that Borko made from the grapes on our land and it is lovely and smooth but goes down too easily so just enjoy a glass in the late afternoon sun.

Cherven in the Lom Park

Ruins of a church and fort

One of the battlements

Week 7

Monday was the now usual harsh frost followed by a warm and sunny day, it really does not feel like the week before Christmas. The Bulgarian ski resorts are officially opened this week and although it has been forecast for snow a few times nothing has materialised in our village. The day was spent clearing the area which will be the dogs compound and play area. This will be a massive job so will probably not get finished this week. Pam collected a big basket of walnuts from behind the vineyard.

Sunrise viewed from the vineyard

 

Washing walnuts in the garden kitchen in the sun

 

During the day the local dogs are all going mad, even our two growl at the front gate which is very unusual for them. I go out and take a look and get a glimpse of what may have been a wolf. Borko comes out with me and go looking for it. This photo shows what we saw.

 

 

 

Tuesday and Borko is true to his word as he finishes the first floor holiday let. It looks amazing and we are so happy with it. They have done an amazing job in only a few weeks.

 

From this...........

 

........to this

From this.........

 

......to this

 

A real dining table at last

 

Wednesday and the guys take a day off so that we can move all our belongings upstairs before they begin work on the ground floor. We will still be living out of boxes, as we have done for the last 6 months, but everywhere is now clean and feels like a real home. It is so nice to have a shower where you come out cleaner than when you went in. We are still sleeping on the bed settee as our new bedrooms will not be ready for delivery until January but at least we can leave it made up now.

 

On Thursday Monica dropped in for her weekly coffee stop. Borko and his wife also turned up and we were all able to sit in the kitchen and have coffee together - a first. We then headed off onto Ruse to get materials for the next phase of the build and to have a good look around Jumbo, the biggest Christmas and toy store I have ever seen. On the way we get a text from Monica to say that the Police have set up a check point in the next village. Just as we catch Monica up we both get instructed to pull over at the checkpoint. All our papers for the car are in order so no dramas and we are soon on our way again although all we have to do is mention that we know Borko and we will be fine (everyone including the Police all know Borko). We then go and visit the site of the house that Monica and Vlady are having built just outside Ruse. The plot is lovely with stunning views, it will be amazing. Next stop Jumbo and a good hour spent exploring all the aisles. Then off into Ruse where we spend an hour or so choosing fabric for all the curtains before hitting the DIY store. All shopping done we head back to Jumbo as the curtain poles we need are so much cheaper there. We also picked up a pizza in Ruse for our traditional house warming meal of pizza, garlic bread and sparkling wine.

 

Friday I spent clearing the dogs area and Pamela cleaned the house before putting the Christmas tree up. The builders are back, hard at work on the Palace (laundry room) finishing off the walls and laying the floor tiles.

 

Its starting to feel like Christmas

 

 

Hard to believe all this just for a laundry room but it is amazing

 

Saturday and I am still clearing the dogs area!! All the broken roof tiles I drag down to the garage and have started to fill the inspection pit with them. Four hours later and the pit is a quarter filled and the dogs area is starting to take shape. I tidied all the boxes that we still have stacked in the garage. Unfortunately it is quite damp in there so I put all the boxes on old wooden doors and recover with tarpaulins, so far it seems the damage has been minimal. That done I can now get the car into the garage but first it needs a good clean as the country roads are filthy. So I drive it down to the natural spring at the bottom of our road. The water comes straight off the hills so is freezing but is free and the car starts to resemble a car and not a tractor in no time. The builders are cracking on with the ground floor and by the end of the day have ripped out the old ceilings, made a hole for the new bedroom window, ripped out the old sink, floors and have enlarged the doorway as it was hobit sized. All in a day. Amazing.

 

We were hoping to clean and leave the beams exposed but that is not going to be possible. Shame.

 

Old flooring out. We found a number of dead rats and mice under here.

 

Opening for new window being made

 

Sunday and another gloriously sunny day so we take a stroll around the village to explore other parts that we had not previously visited before. The electrician is onsite today putting all the cabling in whilst the builders grout the floor of the Palace and prepare for the plaster boarding to begin on the groundfloor. We have also been told that our bedroom furniture will be delivered on Tuesday so we have to rearrange all our storage boxes as we are seriously short of space to store everything. The rest of the day is spent with the dogs in the garden.

 

Borko takes time out to play with Maizie and Marple



 

 



 

 

 

 



 



 

 



Week 6

Monday was spent pottering in the garden. The weather is cold at night with sunny, warm days. We are starting to get to the point where we have done as much as we can in preparation for this winter and for next years planting. The builders are now preparing the walls for painting by sanding all the joints in the plasterboard.

Pamela takes a well earnt rest to enjoy the sun

Tuesday was spent pottering again until Monica paid us a visit. We spent a few hours chatting and drinking coffee in the sun. Borko has said that he may have finished upstairs by next week so we have to go off to Ruse tomorrow to choose bathroom fittings. The rest of the afternoon is spent playing with the dogs in the garden and writing our shopping lists for tomorrow.

Marple keeps watch from under the gate

Wednesday is the big shopping day in Ruse. At Practice, the large DIY store in Ruse, we are greeted by the store manager as he knows us so well now!! He has even brought deliveries himself to our house so he can see what we are doing. It takes us a couple of hours to choose the bathroom suite, accessories, some edging etc for the laminate and a few other bits that we needed. Then off to Technopolis to purchase a new stereo for our car. We don't use the car that much but with the current stereo each time you go over a bump in the road the stereo cuts out, so annoying and I did not realise how much I love my music in the car until it was not there. No amount of fiddling will get it to work again until you hit another bump when it will spring into life, sometimes. What I really like about buying electrical products here is that they remove the item from the box and plug it in etc to ensure it works correctly before you leave the store. On the way home we drop into Jumbo. This store is huge. I have never seen so many toys and Christmas decorations in my life. Coupled with the Christmas tunes blaring over the tannoy instore and in the car park it really starts to feel like Christmas is coming at last. Sadly we only have an hour or so here as it is getting quite late in the day. We plan to return for a full day trip another time. Our last stop on the way home is in Dve Mogilii to buy some taps and a new shower.

Thursday we decided to clear all the old shrubbery and grass from the front of the house. The plan is eventually to make parking spaces for our guests but there is a lot of levelling required as the land at the front of our house slopes quite steeply.

The clearing begins

 

Ready for levelling next year

 

Friday we drove to Popovo for our weekly vegetable shopping trip. As Borko thinks the upstairs is nearing completion we pick up the tiles in readiness for the bathrooms downstairs. We may get snowed in in the next few weeks so want to make sure we have all our supplies ready (Borko says he and his men will get to us no matter what the weather). In Popovo we also manage to pick up some fresh tuna steaks, a real treat for tonights tea. That evening we feast on griddled tuna and jacket potatoes baked in the log burner served with sweetcorn.

 

Saturday Pamela works some more on the top orchard thinning out saplings and clearing dead leaves. I decide to paint the garage doors to match the new windows, not an urgent job but I like things to match. I even replace a couple of missing glass panes with some left over Perspex from the potting shed. Trouble is the main gates don't match now so they are really going to bug me. I feel another shopping trip coming on..................

 



Before

 

After

 

Sunday we wake to a harsh frost so everywhere is white and crisp, but it looks very seasonal. The sun rises quickly and it turns into a lovely warm day. Pamela and I go for a good stroll around the village exploring roads that as yet we had not been down. We also get to meet a few villagers we had not seen before which was great. Borko and his team are fitting the laminate flooring and the kitchen today. The walls and ceilings are painted, the bathroom tiled and the electrics finished. They are working early morning to late into the day to get finished next week although it is a self imposed deadline, we just want to have a cooker for Christmas. It is all coming together now and actually looks like a home. Can't wait to see the work finished next week before it all starts again on the downstairs.

 

Here are a few interesting vehicles we saw on our walk around the village this morning.

 

 

 

 



Week 5

Monday brings a return to the good weather when we can eat breakfast in the courtyard and enjoy the early morning sunrays.

We have found a nice morning walk for the dogs which is safe away from the dawn hunters in the forests (both our dogs are black and we don't want them mistaken for wild boar!!) We walk into the woodland of a disused hotel at the top of our road. The grounds must have been very impressive once considering the hotel itself seems quite small. Although abandoned there are still curtains at the windows and furniture inside but no signs of vandalism anywhere. The grounds look out over the village and surrounding countryside and give a wonderful vista of the rising sun every morning.

Maizie and Marple on the approach road to the hotel

 

A village well just up the road from us

 

One of two churches in the village

 

Monday is spent in the sunshine clearing the top fruit orchard so that we can see exactly what we have. Over the next few days Pamela rakes and I dig over the land. By the end of the week we discover we have walnuts, hazelnuts, pear, apple, cherry, plum and peach trees with about six terraces of vines.

 

Pamela starts clearing the top land

Finished at last

 

A well deserved tea break on the new rustic seat

 

The view down our land from the cleared vine terrace

 

The builders continue to insulate the Palace, sorry laundry room, where the most pampered washing machine and dryer ever will be housed. There is as much insulation, care and attention being put into this outbuilding as our house but it looks amazing (hope our guests appreciate it!!). Monica also came for a visit today which was great to see her again.

 

Borko insulates the Palace

 

The bathroom starts to take shape

 

 

Thursday is a day out in Ruse with Borko and Monica. Borko knows the owner of a garage where we have seen a car that we like for sale. Monica will meet us later so that we can go shopping for a kitchen, bedroom furniture and tiles. The purchase of the car takes minutes although we end up with a totally different car than we expected. Ruse has run out of car registrations so if you buy an unregistered car it can take up to 90 days to get a number plate. No number plate and the car cannot be driven. Amazingly we find a car with registration plates (one of only two in a garage of about a hundred and fifty cars!!), has insurance (the car not the driver is insured) and a vignette. So off into Ruse to meet the Notary who draws up the purchase contract for the car. An hour or so later and the car is ours. Monica meets us at the Notary to practice her interpretation skills for us yet again and then we join her and Vlady for lunch at a lovely restaurant in the city. Next stop is the tile shop but we cannot agree on tile choice so abandon that job for the day. Off then to the furniture store. We buy a kitchen, two complete bedrooms, a sofa and table and chairs. A whole guest let furnished in minutes although the bedrooms will not be delivered until January. Borko will collect and install the kitchen for us next week. On the way home we pick up our new car. Happy days.

 

Friday Pamela and I head off to Popovo for some shopping. A stop at the market and we have our fruit and veg for the next week or so for less than £4 but the market is getting less and less choice as the seasons change. Cabbages though are in abundance but there is only so much cabbage you can eat. There are also crates of very fresh fish, most are still alive in crates or in a large watertank, as this weekend is Nikulden.

 

Nikulden is the patron saint of sailors, fisherman, bankers and merchants and the Day of Saint Nicholas is celebrated by Orthodox Christians in Bulgaria. Traditionally they eat fish, usually Carp, stuffed with onions and walnuts and their dining tables are richly laid as there is an open invitation for anyone to just drop in to share the feast.

 

Whilst at the market we dropped into a store where they sell tiles. We found the ideal ones and after some tricky 'conversation' we had purchased them. We were then ushered out the back of the store to where another gentlemen motioned for us to follow him in our car. Through the backstreets of Popovo we drove not knowing exactly what our fate was, until we were led to an industrial estate with a huge tile warehouse. Another potential murder / mugging avoided!! Tiles loaded and off we head home. On the way back we have to stop as a large herd of goats and huge sheep block the road so that they can devour the flowers in the garden of a roadside house. The shepherd eventually manages to move then on and we are off again. That evening Mrs B our next door neighbour beckons us over to the garden wall where she shows us some photos of her family and Pamela shows her pictures of her daughters. Mrs B then gives us a large bottle of homemade wine and a bottle of Rakia. It is very fruity and strong but is delicious and will have to be drunk in moderation.

 

In Popovo we were so happy to find walnut crackers........

 

.......but they didn't even manage to crack one nut before splitting themselves - back to using a hammer then

 

Saturday is a rest day for everyone, even our builders who normally work every day of the week. We have our Nikulden feast of fish stuffed with leeks and walnuts cooked in our clay oven. Pamela also makes some homemade coleslaw which she serves with fresh tomatoes, goats cheese and walnuts from our garden. Delicious and all enjoyed in the courtyard in bright sunshine with a glass of Mrs B's homemade wine.

 

Fish ready for our feast

 

Homemade wine and Rakia complete the meal

 

Floors being levelled ready for the new laminate

 

This massive oyster was found in the sand for the cement. That is my large cell phone next to it

 

Picked from the floor of our orchard

 

Marple enjoys sunbathing with her ball