Week 17

Monday and the weather continues to be sunny and warm giving us the opportunity to get more outside jobs done although it does mean that I have not even thought about all the work that needs doing inside the holistic barn.

I start work on building a fence to define the guest sunbathing area and the exotic garden. Pamela makes some fishcakes for tonights meal and some tomato sausages as well as all our other daily chores.

Maizi supervises the construction of the fence. There will be a ball around somewhere......

All up - just needs painting now

Maizi surveys the finished work

Homemade fishcakes and stirfry veg

Tuesday is recorded as the hottest February day since records began with temperatures of 27 degrees!! Pamela spends the day in the potting shed as we have lots of seedlings coming up now and some need repotting. We have lettuce, rocket, aubergines, chilli and spinach all growing which is really exciting. Pamela is also laying out the vegetable plots so that she knows where everything is going. Today I manage to finish the fencing. Painting it is going to be like the fourth bridge so I'll start that tomorrow. Borko and Ani pop round as we need a wall plastering which will be done tomorrow. It is great to see them again.

On Wednesday a couple of Borko's guys come and plaster the clay oven. The weather is not great so I nip off to the wood merchant to discuss the possibility of getting some decking wood. He looks at me like I am crazy when I tell him what I want to build and he seems to think that the weather will destroy decking very quickly, But other countries that have extremes of weather have decking. I need to investigate further but it seems the best option for us and will be in keeping with the rest of our home rather than a large slabbed area.

Thursday Pamela starts to repaint a unit that was upstairs but now we want to use for the outside kitchen. I start painting the new fencing. There are some old damaged fence posts lying around so I use them as hardcore for cementing over an old soakaway. I mix over 100kg of cement by hand.

Two ball obsessed dogs and wet concrete do not mix

Maizi with painted fur where she sticks her head under the fence I'm painting

Friday is groundhog day. I continue painting the fence until I run out of paint. Pamela cleans, prepares meals and spends time clearing weeds from the salad garden. We need quite a few materials for jobs that need doing before Samantha, Pamela's daughter, comes out to visit us next week so tomorrow I will need to get to Ruse and do some shopping.

Saturday morning I get off early into Ruse, I have not got time to waste a whole day there. As usual Karma has different ideas. Just outside Ruse I get a puncture. No drama I have a spare tyre. Except there is no jack or wheel brace in the car. Great. I am not that far from a tyre fitters so limp the car there. But it is closed with no signs of it opening anytime soon. As we have found before Bulgarians will always try to help and a couple of cars stop to assist but none have jacks or tools. Then a young guy stops who speaks English (how did he know that I was English do I have a union jack tattooed on my head??) Anyway he offers to take me to a garage not far away so off we crawl at snails pace. He even stops cars at crossroads so that I can get across before the lights change. When we finally get to the garage he makes sure I am ok then apologises that his English is not that good (!!!!!!!) then drives off. A really nice guy. The garage don't have the trye sizes I need but off they go and an hour or so later two new tyres are fitted and I am on my way. Of course the quick trip into Ruse as usual turns into an epic day trip.  Pamelas lays out more vegetable plots and finishes painting the cabinet whilst I am out.

Pams funky cabinet

That night I browse a few blogs that I follow and am shattered to learn that a friend of ours has suddenly died. She and I communicated regularly and only on Wednesday she had sent me a recipe that she had promised. She was always there to help, advise and encourage us. She was a legend and will be very very sorely missed. Our hearts go out to Sara's husband and family.

On Sunday I wood clad the front of our house and then start repainting the fence and posts. Whilst in Ruse I purchased some screening so that we can section off the old barn which is an eyesore as it is cluttered with wood and old furniture. Pamela has a groundhog morning in the potting shed and cleaning but then uses her super new green paint ot revamp our dining table.

Before

That's neater

Loving that funky green

This week we have both been suffering from a flu virus and are exhausted, So next week we will pretty much take a week off (we'll see how that pans out!!)

Sleep well Sara. You will be missed. x

Week 16

I cannot believe it is blog day again already, the weeks are flying by..... and we were worried winter was going to drag on and we would be housebound and bored. No chance.

It has been a strange week. It started off really well. Monday saw the sink finally finished. We are really pleased as it was done using a box of floor tiles we found in a barn and wood left over from another job. It cost next to nothing to do so is not as frivolous a thing to have done as you might think, anyway it looks great and will be less of an eyesore when guests dine in the courtyard. We may even enter it in 'pimp my sink 2016'  :)

before

work in progress - note super sunny weather. Suntan in progress too

after and even Buddha is set up in the herb garden now

Pamela gives the walls in the let a coat of paint and then spends some time in the potting shed sorting out the seed trays. Her days are non stop. By the time the dogs have had their walk, breakfast made and eaten, cleaning done, woodburner emptied of ash and prepared for relighting and she has had a meditation, the morning has gone. She says every morning is like groundhog day. Usually we share household tasks but I have so many jobs on outside that is it not possible right now. I do feel guilty about it but this may reverse come the spring / summer as she is definitely the gardener of the two of us.

Tuesday and I make a start on the stone path that will connect the house to the holistic barn. It will run across the piece of land that we hope to use as a sun deck for our guests. It is 130 square metres, so a big area. I would like part of it to be an exotic fruit garden, figs, avocado, limes, lemons etc. I have found a company in Plovdiv who supply hardy olives, figs trees etc so it may happen. They even sell palm trees. I have started to plan the decking area but the area slopes downhill and sideways and we need to do it as cheaply as possible so hours are being spent on youtube researching how to set up the base which will be 66 square metres. Also so far I have not found any pressure treated wood out here so it may mean treating every single bit of wood before construction. Every bit of this job spiders web off into another job.

This is going to be a huge project

Out in the potting shed we have seedlings sprouting up, rocket and lettuces mainly but as they were sown in just soil from the garden this is really encouraging.

Seeds sown in garden soil, potted in cut off toilet rolls under old window panes and they have started to grow!!

Hopefully this lot will keep us fed in the coming year

but there is still ice on the inside wall from weeks ago

Wednesday Pamela attempts to give the doors in the let a coat of gloss paint but for some reason paint is really inconsistent here. We bought 2 tins of gloss white, exactly the same make and batch number, one was so ridiculously runny it was impossible to paint with and one so gloopy it left lumps everywhere. That job has been abandoned for now until we get some decent paint. Instead she turns her hand to renovating some old chairs found in one of the barns by stripping them down, repainting them in exterior paint (one that actually works!!) and making cushions from an old throw and some leftover fabric.

I spend the day constructing the path from the sandstone that the builders took up from the floor of the holistic barn. Some of the stones are huge and find that the only way I can move them is by using an old metal sledge. It is hard work. The ground slopes downhill and twists and of course the path has to run against the twist. It is a pig of a job but we decide to just let the stones pick their own path. It is not straight or perfectly even but we like to think of it as rustic and authentic!

Pammie makes a start renovating the chairs

Moving rocks with the use of a metal sledge escorted by Maizi and overseen by Marple

Maizi and Marple 'helping' cement the stones. I used 200kg of cement. It should be still standing long after the Great Wall of China

Finished at last

Maizi's tail has now healed following our bandaging but we have discovered that both dogs have a real talent for attracting ticks from the woodland walks. It is now an unpleasant but daily chore to check them and de-tick them every morning. Apple Cider Vinegar is supposed to be a natural defence against ticks and fleas so I have a recipe from the internet for a solution that has to be applied to their coats weekly that should deter the ticks. Next time we go shopping we will pick up a few gallons!

Friday and I wake up with very severe man flu (a cold). For some reason it has knocked me off my feet and really has turned into flu now. I spend the next few days sleeping and trying to shake it off. I have had a couple of bouts of pneumonia in the past so any colds tend to go straight to my chest and really affect me badly. But I have been taking Monica's Grandmothers herbal tea every day with a glass of brandy (for it's medicinal properties only!!) and it seems to be working. It is so frustrating being ill. The weather has been changeable with the odd shower but mainly sunny days. I could be getting on with the central garden as there is so much to do. Guaranteed when I am back on my feet we will have days of nonstop rain!!

Sunny Sunday morning spent sewing in the courtyard. Maizie as always amuses herself with a tennis ball and a step to make it fall so she can chase it.

Pamela continues to run the house, sort the let out and make the soft furnishings for the courtyard and the benches in the herb garden. The chairs look great - only another half dozen to do.

Good job Pammie

Cushions for Pammies seat in the herb garden.

Maizi plays 24/7

Sunday and the weather is stunning. Almost an English summers day. For the first time in 2 days I feel like getting out but I still don't feel good. That said we cook and eat our lunch out in the courtyard and even take a stroll up to the village shop. Hopefully tomorrow I will be back to work!

Sunday lunch Gorsko style

Week 15

Borko and the guys have now finished and so Pamela, the dogs and I are left on our own. It feels so strange not to have them around but at the same time the house feels 'ours' now.

The weather has been stunning this week so we have got lots of jobs done.

Monday I wrote the blog whilst Pamela spent most of the day cleaning. Having a log fire creates so much dust and Marple is shedding fur by the bucket load! Maisie has managed to graze her tail and as she wags it A LOT our house resembles the Texas chainsaw massacre. We end up bandaging it.

Poor Maizi

In the afternoon I go off to the builders merchant to order materials. It is a big order and the guys in the shop don't speak English so it takes a good few hours to ensure I have everything using charades, google translate and google images. I need a 150 nuts, bolts and washers and 100 screws and we have to count them all individually in the shop as they don't sell them by the box. Customers in the shop end up helping us count them as it is taking us so long. On the way back from the shop I get stopped by the Police for a defective headlight. I thump the headlight to see if it will work knowing full well that the bulb has blown. It makes the officer laugh and he says that that is the Bulgarian way to mend things!! Anyway no drama and he lets me on my way.

Tuesday I changed the headlight bulb, I am bound to get stopped again if I don't. But it cant be on the side of the car where it is easy to access the bulb, no, I have to remove acres of plastic just to get at the bulb holder. Anyway it is done now.  After that there are a couple of odd jobs to do when my drill burns itself out. The world hates me. It is the most crucial tool I need for the upcoming jobs. So Pamela and I have to make a evening dash into Ruse to pick up a new one.

Wednesday and the materials are delivered. Time to try out my super new drill then. Only to discover that the drill chuck is not compatible with my drill bits. Told you the world hated me. No way am I going into Ruse again today so I just potter around the rest of the day.

Snowdrops in the garden

Thursday I put up new fencing in the garden. Both the dogs are getting far too inquisitive about parts of the gardens that they are not allowed into. Also our neighbours have chickens that roam around their garden and we are sure our dogs will take a very keen interest in them. I have never erected chainlink fencing before but it is fairly easy and the posts mainly go in with ease. Apart from one that has to be set into a concrete path. With only a hammer and bolster I eventually make a hole big enough for the post but it took ages. At least now the garden it totally secure and we can relax when the dogs are running around freely. In the afternoon I began to pimp the garden sink.......

Friday is off to Ruse again to get the correct drill chuck and get the final bits and pieces for the holiday lets. A full day as usual. It was nice though to drive back in the dark and with two headlights actually be able to see the road.

Limousine we saw in Ruse

Saturday and Pamela does a full spring clean of the holiday let in preparation for repainting the walls. We want to be sure that there is a good coat of paint everywhere so that it remains looking good for as long as possible. I start cutting the tiles for pimping the garden sink. I resent paying nearly 50 leva for a tile cutter that I may never use again so use a disk cutter instead. It is so easy and cheap. The weather continues to be amazing with hot sunny weather. The temperatures are more like spring and are forecast to be in low 20's by next week.Tonight we are having homemade blue cheese and carrot sausages so I make some bread rolls which for some reason turn out a bit too doughy. More experimenting needed. The sausage Pamela made tasted good but the texture was not quite right so the meal was not as successful as we would have liked. Next time hopefully will be better.

Homemade hotdogs

Sunday is Valentines day so we have a nice breakfast of mushroom omelette out in the courtyard. Pamela then spends the day making chutneys ready for the summer. We had searched all over for malt vinegar but could not find any so she used white vinegar instead. We'll find out if in worked in a few months time. She then made homemade bean steaks which were lovely.

Whilst working in the garden I can hear drumming and music with occasional singing coming from the village square. I run up there to see a procession of men going off into the distance....

A few hours later and I can still hear the music but it is getting louder and seems to be going up and down every road in the village. They eventually reach our road.....

It is a festival that celebrates the vine and wine makers of the village. The most prolific wine maker is chosen as the wine king and parades the village with his wine bestowing good wishes for the forthcoming wine season. We are invited to join them but we have so much to do and want to make the most of the good weather. As the day goes on the music and merriment gets louder and is accompanied by large amounts of gunfire. Alcohol and guns. mmmmmmmmmm

Pammies chutneys

Valentines meal of bean steaks

The garden sink before it was pimped

Work begins.........

Next week the weather is forecast to be even warmer which is good news as the jobs I want to do are all outdoor. Hopefully we will see some big changes in the garden over the coming weeks.

The Transformation Post

This posting will be all pictures as it shows the amazing work Borko and his team have done over the last 13 weeks, with a little work done by Pamela and myself!

Just 13 weeks ago.....

...... and today

Then

now

Vegetable plot before

Vegetable plot now

Vineyard before

Vineyard now

Herb garden then

Herb garden now

Potting shed before

Potting shed now

Guest room before

Guest room now

Guest room before

Guest room now

Guest lounge before

Guest lounge now

Guests wet room was a store room

Guests wet room now

What was a store cellar

Is now our bedroom

The new kitchen area

What was the kitchen

Is now our living room

Old WC

New WC

Our wet room then

and now

What is amazing is that there have been construction changes to the house and barns, this is not just a cosmetic makeover. Incredible in only 13 weeks.

A massive thank you to everyone who has made this happen so quickly and so much better than we ever imagined. Monica, Borko and his team have been outstanding and none of this would have been possible without them. Thank you so so much. X

Still plenty to do though before our first guests arrive................