Week 21

Well this week did not go according to plan so no progress on the chill out area and that may well be delayed for yet another week..........

Monday started well enough and the weather was stunningly warm. Pamela started to renovate some more chairs for the courtyard and I was cracking on getting the laminate floor laid in the Holistic Barn. You know those times when you just want to get your head down, crack on and finish a job, well the barn was feeling a lot like that and I was going well when a scooter pulls up at our gates and the horn is incessantly blown. It is the village turkey herder, a really, really nice guy but he speaks mainly Russian, no English at all and he would not win any charades contest. He can see our garden from his land and has come to tell Pamela that she is gardening all wrong. Whatever you do here someone will drop by to correct whatever you have done, then somebody else will pop by to correct what the last person told you! Anyway he toured our land, trimmed some tree branches, showed us how we should have laid out the garden then he sees our new strawberry patch. To be fair the plants are minute but they will grow and they were cheap. They are planted randomly in the bed. He stands shaking his head, then mimes how they should be laid in rows, grabs an old paint tub that I have been using as a bucket and beckons me to follow him. Off we go, me on foot, him on his scooter that is literally held together with zip ties to his house. I was expecting a traditional farmhouse but inside it was like a showhome with massive flat screen TV, bling furniture and every modern appliance you could imagine. We sat and drank some homemade peach juice which was amazing then he took me on a tour of his land to show me what ours should look like. Bucket in hand off he went to his rows of flourishing strawberry plants and completely filled the bucket with plants for us. He then showed me how to plant new grape vines and finally gave me a bottle of homemade wine and sent me on my way. So generous of him. However that did mean that it was now mid afternoon and I had lost my momentum in the barn. I called it a day and went off into Ruse to pick up some more underlay for the laminate as we had decided to lay it double thick as people may choose to sit on the floor when they meditate and it will be warmer for them. Whilst I am gone turkey herder (have to call him that as I cannot pronounce his name and it would be impossible to spell) came round again to drop off some vine shoots for us to put into our new vineyard. Amazing of him.

Picking us some strawberry plants from his plot

Bundles of new vines

Are you sure you are close enough to the fire Marple?

So Tuesday is back on track laying the floor. It is not easy as I have no jigsaw and the saw I have has a blade with a mind of its own, sometimes it will cut straight, other times it may veer to the left or right. The barn slopes downhill and sideways but amazingly the floorboards need very little cutting and finish with full width boards. The skirting takes longer to fix as the sandstone needs drilling to fix each length of skirting. But by the end of the day it is finished. Yipee. Turkey man comes round again, I suspect to ensure we planted the strawberry plants correctly but also to give us onions to plant. The people here are amazing.

Finished at last

Wednesday morning we spend moving all the Holistic equipment into the barn and dressing the room. I even get a chance to do some painting in the guest let as the doors still needed glossing. Whilst Pamela unpacks and sets up the barn we discover that the Ipod we use for meditations, Reiki and has our gong meditation on has gone missing. We have put it somewhere really safe. Too safe. We spend hours looking for it and still cannot find it. Days later we still cannot and have no idea where we could have put it.

The wet weather has returned and the girls just love rolling in all the mud.

It rains nearly all day Thursday so Pamela makes curtains for the barn whilst I start to create a Facebook page for the business. It is just an experiment to see how easy it is prior to designing the website but before I know it, it is published and 'likes' are streaming in. We get a few booking enquiries within a few hours. Now of course that means I will have to crack on with setting up the website, looking into setting up the business officially and no doubt seeking the Mayors permission. None of that sounds easy so can wait for another day.

At least the mix of sun and rain is making our new lawn grow

Pamela makes the barn curtains

It is monthly grocery shop time again so Friday is spent shopping in Ruse. Nothing exciting to report but it does always mean that we get a treat of pizza and garlic bread that night.

Saturday the weather is lovely so Pamela is back out planting her seedlings of white beans, butternut squash and onions. She then makes fish cakes for tea. Happy days. The dogs have been trampling the herb garden so Pamela wanted a fence made which took most of the day but at least I got one coat of protective paint on before the rain started again.

New fence to protect the herb garden

Sunday morning we had a bit of a lay in, more due to the clocks changing than anything else. But this is our new rest day / excursion research day. After breakfast we set off for Basarbovo rock monastery which is the only active rock monastery in Bulgaria. Luckily for us it is only a very short journey from here. The weather was gorgeous when we left home but was raining hard by the time got there and on our return we had a heavy hail storm! On the way we saw our first stork sat in it's nest atop a telegraph pole.

The rock monastery was worth a visit and was very busy but only took up half an hour of our day so we then headed off for Orlova Chouka caves which again are very close to home. There are nearly 12000 bats in the caves which are 14km long. Unfortunately they were closed until next week but in the time we walked round the grounds there was a steady stream of visitors so it must be very popular when it is open!

The monastery

 Beautiful light fittings in the monastery

Wall carvings

The view over Lom valley from Orlova caves

This is a view point. 100m drop down into the valley. Minus safety rails. Health and safety is not a big consideration here

Stunning

As always lots of steps to climb (I use the term steps loosely as I am sure there were once steps but now mostly are crumbling away)

So now a chill out for the rest of the day. Blog written, just the weekly calls to family in the UK and then I am making Paella for tea. Next week work starts on the new vineyard as the weather is forecast to be hot and sunny.

Take care all.

Week 20

Another week has sped past and although not a large variety of jobs completed this week we have made progress and even managed to take a day off!

Monday and Tuesday Pamela continues turning the soil and planting out seedlings in her vegetable plot. I am still pointing up the sandstone in the holistic barn. By day the weather is warm but we have even had a couple of frosts this week. Luckily most of Pamela's seedlings are under glass or plastic bottles which seems to work well at protecting them, but also condensation forms in the bottles and they are almost self watering. Unfortunately the frost does claim her courgette plants, but it could be worse.

Maizi is so obsessed with her ball she even sleeps with it in her mouth

A present of freshly picked flowers from our neighbours garden

and another present, handmade by Baba B next door

By Wednesday I have finished the sandstone pointing and give the walls and ceilings another coat of paint. It is so cold in the barn despite the sunny weather and takes ages for the paint to dry so it is a case of applying coats between other smaller jobs. The earth is drying out nicely now so I am able to rake it and plant the grass seeds at last. Construction of the hammock frames will probably start next week.

One wall nearly finished

All raked over and grass seeds sown

Making nettle tea for our plants (thanks to Minty & Pete for the idea), as it is an organic feed for the seedlings

Thursday was an early finish day, Pamela finished off a few jobs in the potting shed, I gave the barn another coat of paint then took the pistol up the orchard for some target practice. By mid afternoon we had opened a bottle of cold beer and enjoyed the sunny weather. I have been mostly in the barn this week and it seems forever since I have seen sunlight and been outside in the sun.

More gifts from Baba B, beans, tomatoes and fruit compote

Friday we take a day off, sort of. We justify the day off as research for an excursion for our guests so off we go to Veliko Tarnovo which is regarded as one of the best cities to visit in Bulgaria. It is only about 90 minutes from here but we set off early to make the most of the day. It turns out to be an incredibly hot, sunny day and we almost feel like we are on holiday! VT makes a great day out with a large choice of shops for retail therapy, historic sights, lovely walks along the river, craft shops and an array of restaurants. We chose a restaurant that had a lovely balcony overlooking the river with amazing views of the town which is set on a hillside. However one thing that we never get used to is how your meals are served here. Whether you have finished your starter or not your main course will be served and not everybody's meal will be served at the same time, it comes out in the order it is cooked. I had finished my main course before Pamela's was even served, in fact we waited 20 minutes between me finishing and her being served!! This is not unusual but takes some getting used to.

Cobbled streets lined with handmade craft shops

Lunch on balcony

Love these tiled roofs

Marinistas tied to a magnolia tree

Looking up to VT from the riverside

Huge monument by the riverside

Fruit market in the town

Great street art

Looking down the valley

Wine jugs we bought from a roadside potter on the way home from VT

Saturday and Sunday is back to work as usual working in the garden and painting the barn. By Saturday lunchtime Pamela has turned over nearly the entire vegetable patch ready for planting, a massive job well done. Sunday morning Pamela spends in the sun knitting cases for her glasses amd I finally finish the barn ready to put the flooring down next week.

Ready at last for the flooring to go down

Tulips in our garden

All being well the holistic barn should be totally finished this coming week and Pamela will get more seedlings into the ground.

Take care all.

Week 19

Monday is a lovely day, sun out , Pamela's seeds germinating and me starting work on a new project.

Pamela spends the day planting out beans, courgettes, rocket, cabbages, cauliflower, broccoli and butternut squash. There are even flowers sprouting up in the potting shed. She is making areas in the garden for each type of vegetable but is staggering the weeks that she plants them out so that we get a steady flow of produce throughout the year. She is using old roof tiles as footpaths to make it easier to pick the produce. 

Pam loves her garden

I have started work on digging over the land that will be the chill out area for our guests before being able to rake and then grass seed it.

Tuesday is the same again, Pamela in the vegetable garden and me digging over the soil. Unfortunately it rained last night so the soil is so heavy to turn over but I am on a mission now. Once a have a goal I just go for it, but what I wouldn't give for a rotavator. But the first area is soon dug over, raked and seeded. The stones are laid for the strawberry patch and we plant 2 new apple and 2 new pear trees.

Marple helps flatten the grass seeds into the soil

That evening I try to write the blog having been drying out the laptop since 'the incident'. But it soon becomes apparent that there is some damage that I cannot work  round. Off to Ruse then tomorrow to get a new keyboard or laptop.

The rain comes in bucket loads today so it is just as well that I am not gardening. We are not complaining though, it is the best possible start for our new lawn. I get a plug-in keyboard in Ruse and amazingly it solves our laptop problems, and for only £3. To make the most of the trip I also order the  new flooring for the holistic barn which we won't need for a few weeks but if possible I do not want to have to come into Ruse again for a while. I have been badgering Pamela for weeks now to let me buy a gun, I grew up with them, they are a great hobby and being in the countryside now you never know when you may need one. Pamela is 100% anti guns so I am really surprised when she says that this is a once only offer that if I want one, to get it whilst she is not with me!! This is awesome, akin to her finally letting me ring Nicole Kidman back and agreeing to her request for me to be her lover (OK, OK, that puts this blog firmly in the fiction section but you get the idea). So a few hours are spent drooling over every gun I can find (and that's a LOT out here) until I make my purchase of a sensible but very powerful pistol (just going to have to work on Pamela to get that rifle I really want though....... small steps, small steps).

Maizi loves her cuddles

Some troughs out of the barn that Pamela has filled with bulbs

Thursday back into the garden but the weather is cloudy and wet and makes for hard work turning the soil. It is too wet to be sensible for Pamela to work on her plots so she gets writing some more meditations, so is time well spent.

For the last couple of days a van with loudspeaker has been going round the village. We have no idea why so take a walk into the village square to see if we can find out. No joy with that task but we do find a notice that tells us our house tax is due and that if we pay it before April we get a 5% discount but we have to go to the Municipality office to pay it which is 10km away. A job for tomorrow.

Friday morning, despite heavy rain, I finish turning over the soil for the new chill-out area. The soil is far too wet to rake so that can wait for another day, at least all the hard work has been done. In the afternoon I go off to pay the house tax whilst Pamela writes more meditations. The office was fairly easy to find and I had previously researched all the documentation that I needed. I wanted to try and do this on my own without Monicas help. Yea right. The cashier must have missed the course on customer service and definitely did not go to charm school! I handed over all my documents, my ID and Bulstat card (shows that we are the registered owners of our house) and explained in what turns out to be incomprehensible Bulgarian that my wife and I are the only occupants. Despite her repeated shouting at me I cannot understand what I am missing / have done wrong so a call to Monica ensues. As usual she sorts it in minutes. At least I tried I suppose.

Monica also later tells us that day that the van that was coming round the village was collecting lamb leather. ... we have so much to learn.

Ready for raking and sowing grass seed

Apple and Pear trees in, Strawberry bed planted and using bottles as small propagators

(wish she was growing bottles of wine though)

Cannot wait for the vodka beds to start growing!!

As the weather seems set on rain for the next few days I spend Saturday and Sunday working on the holistic barn. All the beams are finally stained and protected and a first coat of paint goes on the walls. Whilst the first coats are drying Sunday is spent pointing the brickwork, a tedious job but is starting to look good. I can just chill out listening to the radio whilst doing it and it is a nice respite from all that digging. Pamela spends Sunday morning digging in the garden until yet again it starts raining. We both stop mid afternoon and have a lovely meal of egg mayonnaise followed by chilli bean balls in a blue cheese sauce, honey drizzled carrots, corn and jacket potatoes. Yummy. Just finish the blog and then a nice glass of wine in front of the fire whilst it rains - again.........

Starting to look good

  

Week 18 part 2

Well the laptop survived Pamela's attempt to make it grow and thankfully a new plug-in keyboard seems to mean we are back to full working mode. But a new keyboard meant a long trip into Ruse again. So whilst there I picked up a few materials we needed, ordered the laminate flooring for the holistic barn and bought 20 strawberry plants for the new strawberry beds, oh and an air pistol, more of that in next weeks blog.

I left you working out the blog (sorry, hope it was a little bit of fun though!!) up until Tuesday night when we had a massive thunder and lightening storm that lasted for hours. We stood under the roof overhang with a glass of wine and watched the valley light up with fork lightening. Sadly I could not capture it on film, I will have to work out the settings on my decent SLR camera one day.

Wednesday is spent preparing for Samantha's arrival. We give the guest accommodation a last clean through and prepare a welcome basket for her of a few Bulgarian treats including walnuts, olives, beer, rakia (Bulgarian brandy) etc. We plan to spend an evening around the clay oven eating, as much as possible a Bulgarian themed buffet. We have a selection of olives, sareena (feta type cheese), banista (filo pastry whirl filled with cheese and spinach), Pamela's beetroot burgers and chilli bean balls and small peppers stuffed with rice and vegetables. Also a selection of breads and Bulgarian cheeses (a real luxury as cheese is so expensive here).

Thursday is the start of a four day holiday in Bulgaria to celebrate Independence following the end of Ottoman rule in 1887. There were many famous battles around our village and our street is even named after the day of independence. There is a large monument at the top of our road dedicated to the soldiers who fought in the battles so we hoped there would be a big celebration. Unfortunately as Samantha arrives today we have to go to Ruse to collect her so will miss the celebrations here. The plus side was that we got to see the celebrations in Ruse.

Soldier in traditional uniform

Flowers, mainly red and yellow carnations are placed on the monument in Ruse square

No matter where in the world, bikers will always be there to honour their soldiers

The ceremony was lovely but we had to breakaway as Samantha had arrived. The weather was gorgeous so we headed to a restaurant we know and spent the afternoon catching up and eating. When we got home we had a few beers in the courtyard with cheese and biscuits and postponed the buffet until tomorrow. Or so we thought!

Friday we awoke to the heaviest rain we have experienced since being here. Sorry Samantha (then again she bought it with her!!). It was torrential and according to the forecast was set in for the day. We had a leisurely breakfast, can't remember the last time we had to eat indoors :(, before deciding to head out for the day anyway. So off we went to Ivanovo which is a 13th church hewn out of rocks and is very close to our village. Although being nearly 30 years old Samantha was admitted as a child!!

Incredible how crisp the colours still are. Easily as impressive as the wall paintings we have seen in Egypt

Samantha climbs in pouring rain up slippery rocks. Just because....

Pamela was terrified Samantha would fall so had to walk away. Samantha then managed to slip over just as she got back down to the foot of the rocks! It was so funny.

just walking in the rain.....

Ivanovo was a lovely place to visit and we will definitely go again. We then headed off into Ruse for a bit of retail therapy and then for a meal. But by the time we got home we were ready for a hot meal so we had homemade vegetarian Moussaka (at least it was sort of traditional - minus the meat). A great evening though just spent chatting over a beverage or two or three. Pamela and Samantha stayed up until gone three in the morning then wondered why they were exhausted the next day!

Saturday and the weather picks up a bit so off to Cherven we go . Again Samantha gets admitted at child rate (thank goodness Pamela or I were not admitted at OAP rate or there may have been another revolution out here!!) we never paid before as it was out of season but is really cheap anyway. We spend a few hours exploring the ruins of the 13th century medieval town before heading home for our buffet in the sun at last. Whilst I light the clay oven and prepare the buffet Sam and Pam go for a walk around the village and pick up some more wine.

Buffet starts in the sun, normal service has been resumed weatherwise

Moody picture of 13th century ruins in Cherven

Pamela and Samantha

Samantha plays with Maizi and Marple

Sunday is Mothers day and already time for Samantha to go back to the UK. It has gone in a flash and there is still so much to show her but we have all had a great time. It is another fine day so we have Mothers day breakfast in the courtyard. After which we run Samantha back into Ruse to get the Taxi, we use a couple of guys who are great, they speak English and will give you a history lesson during your journey. After Samantha is collected we go and collect yet more materials for jobs to be done. The weather today is absolutely gorgeous, sorry Samantha. Next time hopefully the weather will be hotter for you!

Mothers day breakfast.

One thing we did do Sunday night was finalise the plan for the guests sun lounger / chill area. The sundeck idea has been dismissed due to construction and maintenance costs and we will now grass the whole area but have a chill-out lounge with hammocks and swing chairs. The next blog will show you how far we are with it already...........