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.