Week 24

Well as forecast we had big storms Sunday night and it continued most of Monday. But rain can't stop work and I really want to get the sun lounger area cleared, so wet gear on and off to work! Sensibly Pamela touches up areas with fresh paint indoors and unpacks a few more boxes (we still have about 20 to unpack in the garage but we are ignoring them for now).

Torrential rain

The idea is this area will become a BBQ and sun lounger area. A good few weeks work though as all that wood has to be chopped and stored first.

When there is a lull in the torrential rain Stefan pops in. For some reason he wants us to bring our camera and follow him. Oh well, I got a few hours work in before the first interruption and this excursion may be interesting. Off we go to his house, he ties up his killer spaniel with the nastiest fangs we have ever seen, and we are beckoned into a barn after he has removed the goat that was blocking the doorway. Stefan had brought us to see his new born kid goats. Then we had a tour of his land when our question of water hoarding was answered. He had an old petrol tanker, minus the cab, sat in his garden along with an untold number of barrels all filled to the brim with rain water. There was then an intricate network of pipes that fed water to every piece of his land. He just opens the tanker valves and gravity does the rest although goodness knows how he got a petrol tanker into his garden in the first place. As usual before we leave we are given a fresh egg from his chickens and handfuls of herbs.

Stefans kid goats

No need for a downpipe when you have an old vine. Stefan cut a length of vine, inserted it into the guttering then into a water bottle. The rain ran down the vine into the bottle. We collected 30 litres of water in a few hours this way. Ingenious.

Tuesday the sun is back and it is into the mid 20's again. Pamela is out in her beloved veggie plot and I am chopping some  wood for stacking when TH, Stefan and Baba B all turn up at our house. Not sure if it was pre-planned with the others but Stefan had heard my chainsaw and knew it needed sharpening and was not running properly. How do they know these things? By the time he has stripped it down, cleaned, fiddled with every screw on the saw and sharpened the chain it is amazing the difference. Even I could hear the difference. Not sure what TH or Baba B wanted but they hung around. Then Stefan and I had a beer and everyone toddled off. Work resumes for a few hours when Stefan returns with a metal nut in his hand. Now, our Bulgarian language skills are probably that of a new born child so how he ever thought I knew what welding was in Bulgarian I will never know but off we all trotted to his house again. This time I had to also bring my chainsaw. He sets himself up on a couple of stools, sits Pammi in the shade and then proceeds to sharpen the chainsaw again but decides too many teeth are ruined and I should buy a new chain. Then off to one of his numerous outbuildings where he is building a grinder for sharpening tools. It is amazing, made just from old bits of metal he obviously found lying on his land, a massive old stone wheel, a motor and some very dodgy old wiring. He needed me to hold the metal whilst he welded. Good, at last we are helping someone instead of everyone helping us. Job done, he attached two bare wires into a socket and it fired into life. Pamela is given more herbs and off we go again. At least we do not need to water our garden tonight so just an evening spent in the courtyard eating and watching the stars.

Stefan

Gifts from Stefans garden

Wednesday is a scorcher but today Borko and the team are coming to install our new steps. It is great to see them all again and once they have given my work the once over they begin on the steps. The six main steps each weigh 250kg yet Borko manhandles them out of the trailer on his own. He is a legend. Within a few hours the steps are complete, including an extra bit of pathway that they had to wait for the materials to be delivered for. They did an awesome job and so quickly. It has transformed the front of the house and Pammi is happy as no more muddy slope. Once Borko and the guys are gone we have an early lunch and as it so hot take the afternoon off and test the sun loungers. We are happy to report that they work fine.

Borko the Man Mountain unloads the steps. He is awesome.

A great job done in only a few hours

Thursday is another really hot day with temperatures hitting 28 today. Pamela has a few jobs she wants to do in the holiday let and I need to weed the vineyard so spend all day clearing weeds. Not thrilling reading for you but that was our day. In the evening Baba B popped in and stayed for some food. As usual she is not impressed with our wine (we find out later in the week she worked in a winery for many years and is very knowledgeable about wines, no wonder she won't touch our plastic bottled, 2 litres for 3 leva, supermarket specials). However we soon discovered that she will not refuse hot chocolate and brandy. At last we find her weakness!!

A very happy Baba B

Friday is cloudy but still very hot so I crack on clearing the sun lounger area. There seems to be no end to the piles of wood but we will be grateful of these in years to come. Pamela is cleaning the holiday let in preparation of her sister and brother-in-law's arrival next week. They are coming to stay for a week which we are really looking forward to. Just as she finishes and goes to start planting out more seedlings Baba B comes to the wall and invites us for an evening meal. She makes a potato and yoghurt bake and a spinach and yoghurt bake which were both delicious and of course all washed down with Rakia and real wine.

Saturday Pamela does the deep clean of our house whilst I strim all the paths, the top land and our new lawn. It has grown at a phenomenal rate and needs cutting already. After lunch we Skype Pamela's daughter in London before Pamela tests another sun lounger, which she is quite proficient at, whilst I chop yet more wood. An early finish today as the temperature reached 29. After an early evening meal Pammi and I went for a stroll around the village without the dogs, something we have not done for ages and made a nice change. Tonight I got to use the water that we collected in our new water but. It makes life so much easier but even a full barrel, which was collected during one storm, is still not enough to even water the vineyard. We need more, at least another 2.

Sunday is a day of rest. Almost. We get up really early as it is forecast to be 30 degrees today and Pammi wants to get some weeding done. Whilst she does that I get on with some admin work for the holiday let. We then have a nice leisurely breakfast in the garden in the early morning sun. Pammi goes to plant out some more seedlings when Baba B calls her over. We cannot work out what she wants so off she goes. Half an hour later she is at our gate, new blouse on and wants us to go with her. I work out that we are about to meet some more neighbours who live at the top of our lane who we have not properly met yet. Again this seems all pre-planned as they are clearly expecting us. They are a lovely couple with an amazing house complete with a real bath and a swimming pool. It turns out they are master wine makers and are telling us that TH is totally wrong about the vines he has given us and that they will all rot from bugs. I have apparently totally wasted my time planting all the vines that I have! I am not going to do anything for now other than to see how they grow and if they fail I will pull them out and start again. They cost us nothing but time and effort which we have plenty of. Whilst there they also wanted to know about our new steps. They own a farm and their tractors etc use our lane so after an hour of drawings and charades I presumed that as our new steps are close to the road they could not get their tractors round the bend. Even using google translate app on our phones we were getting nowhere in finding out what the problem was. We offered to move them, but that was not necessary so we were at a total loss as to what the problem was. Time to call Super Monica then. As usual, even though it is a Sunday morning, she answers our distress call and sorts it all out for us. A complete star as always. It turns out the neighbours are concerned that the builders did a bad job and did not put our steps down to our garage. We never wanted them down to our garage. They are for guests who will arrive at the front gates but how do we explain that. Anyway drama over and we give a big sigh of relief. Later some more guests arrive who speak English and ask us the same question. At least we were able to put their minds at rest that we had work done exactly as we wanted and are so happy with them. We were itching to test the other sun loungers at home so made our excuses and left with Baba B who then wanted to Skype her daughter in England. That done off she went home and we spent a very hot afternoon testing sun loungers, Pammi's beetroot burgers and cheap wine. It is now 2030hrs and am sat writing this blog in t-shirt and shorts with a glass of vino. We must have been crazy to take on this new life at our age. Not!!

Vines sprouting

Spinach and lettuce

Beans, Peas, Radish and Rocket

Sun lounger testing area

Have a great week everyone. Take care.

Week 23

A week of completed jobs, stunning weather and interruption after interruption after interruption..... just village life.

The weather is forecast to be absolutely scorching this week so up early to make the most of it and the first day of our long lunches followed by late evening working. Best laid plans and all that... I was hoping to start on the sun lounger area this week and as I could not fit the wood cutting trestle into the car last week I went off to Ruse to collect one and a few other materials. There is so much wood to cut that a trestle will make life so much easier. But there was still the hammock supports to finish and I cannot stand having jobs unfinished so when I got back I began work on the beams but the weather was so hot that it became impossible to work. Whilst I am out Baba B gives Pamela some wild spinach, which we now know we have an abundance of in our garden and more seed potatoes. So an early finish before the evening shift begins. We are having to water the garden daily now and it is a monumental task. Pamela uses the hose on the vegetable patch whilst I go to the local spring to fill our 11 litre bottles to water the vines and potatoes. The spring is only 50m away but it takes about six trips back and forth just to water the vines. It takes nearly two hours every night just to water and we are questioning whether the cost of the water and time taken makes it worthwhile, time will tell.

28 degrees soon stops this job

Love these new long lunches

Tuesday we are up early and chomping to get into our new routine but turkey herder has other ideas. Pamela is planting out her seedlings and I am cutting wood for the support beams when the 'horn of goodwill and delay' is sounded. Turkey herder has brought a bag of 'bob' (navy beans, so called because they were a cheap staple diet for the American Navy) which he has decided we are going to plant, but we manage to persuade him that it is too hot and we should wait for the cooler weather of evening to do it. Just this conversation has taken over an hour but nobody here has any concept of time and we seem to be the new focus of attention, TH even watches us from his garden across the village to see when we are out and about before ambushing us. Everybody is so kind and they are just helping us but their only concern is planting whereas we have the business to set up and think about, but they really don't understand what we are trying to do. Hey ho, just go with it. We really cannot and should not complain.

By mid morning I have finally finished the beams, another job ticked off. Meanwhile Pamela is planting yet more seed potatoes donated to us by neighbours but the land is rock hard from the combination of sun and the fact that the area has never been dug over before. It is so hard I have to use a mattock to break up the soil before Pamela can fork it over. To fill in the couple of hours before lunch I tried out my new bushcutter. This turned into an epic few hours of strimming as Baba B needed her front verges cut, then a neighbour across from her wanted hers done. It was a win win for everybody really, the lane looks so much neater now (which we will great for our guests) and we can pay back a little of the kindness they have all shown us. For lunch we had courgettes stuffed with feta cheese and walnuts from our trees, cooked in the clay oven. Served with salad and a beer or two, followed by a nap on the sun loungers. We could get used to this. The evening shift entails more watering but has to be abandoned when Baba B arrives at our gate with homemade wine. Another couple of hours socialising which was lovely and must be nice for the villagers to have some fresh blood in town to 'talk to'.

Trying to break up the soil ready for planting

Lane looking all neat and tidy

Stuffed courgette

An evening with Baba B

Wednesday we just get out into the garden when 'the horn' is sounded. Today we are going to plant 'bob', no excuses, he has even decided where they are going to be planted! So off we go, him and I with our tools and Pamela in tow to actually sow the seeds. Once we are both briefed and given our instructions we set to work. It is so so hot, 29 degrees today, but he has decided this is what we are doing and the scorching sun is not going to stop us. A couple of hours later and the seeds are all planted, a job really well done, just not on our to-do-list for today. Satisfied with his work off he goes. Pamela then starts on her work in the vegetable plot for the day and I start strimming the top piece of land. By lunchtime we have both finished what we had planned to do for once so had a vegetable moussaka for lunch before chilling out in the sun. Only the watering tonight on the evening shift so we are finished by 9pm then time for a few glasses of wine and cheese and biscuits under the stars.

TH starts to prepare the soil for planting 'bob'

Maizi, Marple and Me testing the new hammocks

Most of the new land strimmed, just needs a few saplings removed and the fencing to go up. You can just make out the vegetable plot in the distance beyond the holistic barn. We may at some point put a log cabin up here as the views are stunning and would be an amazing holiday let.

TH has given us yet more vines, we now have in excess of 100 so Thursday's job is to get the last batch planted. There are now so many that I have to extend the vineyard by another two rows. Incredibly some of the vines I planted a couple of weeks ago are already sprouting shoots and leaves. Pamela is planting out her seedlings at an amazing rate now and has cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage sprouting. Another section of onions go in, as well as peas and broad beans. It seemed a really chilled out but productive morning. We stopped early as usual but I needed a few bits to complete the hammocks so we both went off to Opaka about 9kms away. Whilst there we checked out the outdoor swimming pool in Opaka which has a lovely restaurant and bar overlooking the pool but sadly is not open as yet. It will be a lovely place for our guests to spend a day and admission is only 3 leva, just over a pound. We still cannot find a waterbut anywhere and as we were halfway to Popovo already, and we had some spare time, we decided to go there for a look around the market. We picked up some fruit and veg, Pamela got a new purse and nail polish, oil for the chainsaw and a waterbut! It was so hot and so we really spoilt ourselves and sat with an icecream in the town square watching the world go by. It was a lovely couple of hours. We had a late lunch that day so just did the watering again early evening before a few drinks under the stars.

Having ice cream in the sun

Friday we are up really early to take the dogs on a long walk before it gets too hot. Our old route around the hotel grounds has been stopped as they now padlock the gates so we now go out into the woods at the bottom of our lane. It is beautiful and a safe place for the dogs for run around as much as they like. When we get back we have breakfast as usual in the courtyard before Borko and Ani come over for coffee and to drop off the stone pillars which we are going to use as front steps to the house. The pillars weigh 250kgs each and despite our best efforts we decided to leave the unloading to the builders next week when they come, so Borko just unhitched the trailer and left it by the side of the road. After Borko and Ani had a tour of Pammi's vegetable patch they left and Pamela then spent the whole day cooking. I decided to get the firepit built for the chill out area which was really easy to do and cost nothing as all the stone I used was just lying around. It makes a real difference to the feel of the area. Borko had also dropped off a couple of smaller pillars that Pamela wanted, although at the time we wanted them for outside the front gates. We decided to drill them and set solar lights in them instead and set them alongside the hammocks which at night looks really effective. The temperatures have been between 25 and 29 all week but it is forecast for rain tonight so no watering - yippee. TH then pops in and gives us some pumpkin and squash seeds along with instructions on how to plant them. He then surveys all the work we have done over the last couple of days and when he is happy we are following his instructions off he scoots. Just as we are tyding up Baba B arrives at the gate and brings Pamela some spices and Pansies that she has bought from the market. We then get invited back to hers for drinks. She plies us with homemade wine, fresh walnuts and locally produced goats cheese. Gorgeous. This socialising is exhausting, we are used to a few drinks then bedtime. However when we finally get home we decide to test the new firepit and open another bottle of wine watching the sky fill with stars. A great end to the day.

Maizi and Marple enjoying the countryside

Work starts on the firepit

Vegetable quiche for lunch with homemade coleslaw

Round at Baba B's

Pammi chillin by the firepit

Saturday I went to Ruse to get the summer tyres fitted to the car. Winter tyres will wear too quickly in the hot sun as they are a softer compound than summer tyres. I try numerous garages to find 4 that match or even have a bit of tread on them (some are even so bald they are showing wires!!), but have no luck. I will have to try the garage in Popovo when we are there next week. Pamela gives the house a really deep clean whilst I am out and I time it perfectly as she finishes just as I get home. Another gloriously hot day with rain forecast for tonight, so no watering again. This heat and rain is really helping the new lawns though. Early evening we even get to skype a friend back in the UK which was lovely as they used to live out here so could relate to everything we talked about.

Our dogs are obsessed by vegetables and will sit patiently until you give them a slice of carrot or tomato

Time for an evening vodka and tonic

Beans, radishes and beetroot

Spinach

Brocolli, cauliflower and cabbage beds

After breakfast Sunday morning Pamela and I left the dogs at home and went exploring the woods for new walks. We wanted to make sure it was safe before taking them. However every track came to a dead end or was too overgrown to go any further, but for an hours stroll it was lovely. On the way back we met TH and he showed us his vegetable plots before giving us some fine bean seeds and a jar of beans from last years crop. We also met his wife for the first time who seemed lovely. We got back home and just got started on a few odd jobs around the garden when Baba B called us round to her house. Somehow this was preplanned and we had missed the invite, or it was a very well organised impromptu meal for about 10 people. We had navy beans with fried onions and cabbage, banista, fish in a paprika and tomato sauce, breads, cheese, a bulgar wheat and fruit desert followed by brioche bread. All washed down by copious amounts of red wine and rakia. We had not even changed out of our work clothes as we had no idea what was about to happen. Thank fully we did take a good white wine with us as a gift to Baba B so did not feel too bad. As usual Pammi is introduced to everyone as Baba B's fourth daughter. It was a really nice meal and everybody made us so welcome. Back home early afternoon we pottered in the garden as it was yet another lovely day but within minutes the clouds gathered and we had a huge downpour. The gardens really need it so no complaints from us. Hence the blog being written now before hopefully sitting under the roof overhang and watching tonights forecasted heavy thunderstorms.

New woodland walk

Dense woodland walk

Baba B's feast

Enjoying Baba B's feast

The chill out area

More flowers as a gift to Pammi from Baba B

Have a great week everyone. Work here next weeks starts on the sun lounger area and the front steps and of course more plants going in!!

Take care.

Week 22

Monday's weather as forecast is stunning so as planned I make an early start on the new vineyard. All the old vines have to come out first and despite their age are not as hard to get as I had feared. Then the new vines had to be planted. Taking two stems of the new vines you insert them in a 'v' shape with an upside down bottle in the centre. This has the neck cut off and a section cut out for putting water into so the water goes straight to the roots, exactly as I was shown how to do by turkey herder. I was cracking on. Then the familiar call at the gate and tooting of horn. This time turkey herder has brought reinforcements with him so that somebody new can tell me I am doing it wrong. Sure enough he does. After a different set of instructions on how to plant vines is given, off my new instructor trots to start trimming trees. All good. Then he starts on the vine down by the courtyard. For every cut that he tried to make turkey herder had a different option and way of doing it. It was hilarious that they could not agree between themselves the shoots to cut but it turns out the new helper is a vine master and wins the duel in the end, but he was ruthless and there is hardly any shoots left. We have checked on the internet and that is how you are supposed to prune a vine but it looked harsh.

So then I am told to bring a bucket and beckoned to follow turkey herder and T back to his house. This is really nice of them and we really really appreciate all their help but I have a heap of work to do, every day this week is planned out and this feels like I am wasting time. But I have learnt to just go with it so out comes the beer, rakia, cheese and sausage. A swift small beer is consumed before luckily turkey herder has to get home, but before we all depart, off he trots to fill my bucket with strawberry plants. T even gives me a bottle of his homemade rakia.

Old vines coming out

New vines going in

Some of the old vines

Short back and sides sir?

Whilst I am off drinking beer, Pamela is renovating some more chairs for the courtyard

Tuesday the weather is gorgeous again so Pamela gets to planting the new strawberries that we were given yesterday and I get on with the vineyard. Then the inevitable horn and hollering at the gate. This time we are given a huge bundle of red grape vines and off he goes. Amazing. That day we both manage to finish our jobs we started ahead of schedule so I pop off to the wood merchant to buy some timber for the chill out area hammocks. It is ordered and delivered within an hour.

More strawberries going in

Beans are growing fast

It has been so hot we have had to get the hosepipe out

By Wednesday I am ahead of schedule, planting the vines was easier than expected so I treat all the timber for the chill out area with preservative and let it dry in the sun. Pamela as usual does all the domestics and then heads for the vegetable plot. I had to get some things from the garage and the lock has been temperamental recently. This time however the whole tumbler just falls inside the garage as I try to unlock it! Now for honing my burglar skills which means I am in the garage within minutes just by removing a window pane which was scarily easy. Another job for the list then to make the garage safer. Anyway it turns out that a screw had fallen out of the lock, a five second job to fix for once.

First couple of coats of preservative on

Thursday I head off into Ruse. Tomorrow is my birthday so a few neighbours are going to pop in and we are doing a tapas type feast. Whilst in Ruse I also pick up a bush cutter for clearing the top land and manage to find good quality sun loungers that we have been looking for for ages. A really successful trip, nearly, although there was no room to buy the wood cutting trestle I also need. When I get home I realise I have forgotten to buy some good wine (we normally drink anything that is cheap but our neighbours are used to good quality homemade wine), so off we go again to a local town that has a good vineyard there. Stocked up with wine we head home when we bump into Borko and Ani who take us to show us a house they are renovating. It is gorgeous and they have a surplus of stone that would be ideal for our front steps..... a new plan forms....

Whilst I was out turkey herder had dropped off a huge bucket of seeding potatoes. When we get home he pops round to give us our customary tutorial on how to plant them.

Friday we plan to take the day off as it is my birthday. As usual things don't always work out as planned, especially here. 8am turkey herder is at the gate. He wants to take our garden tools away to sharpen them. We try to give him a gift for all he does for us but he will not hear of it and says he does it because he wants to, not for reward! Tutorial over we have a lovely cooked breakfast in the blazing sun before I decide to pop into a nearby town to pick up some brackets that I know they stock there and I could not get in Ruse. I get the car out of the garage to find that yet again I have another puncture. I pump the tyre up and thankfully it seems to hold all the way to the tyre repair garage about 10km away. It is repaired, wheels cleaned, balanced and tracked and all for 8 leva about 3GBP.

Birthday breakfast

By the time I get back it is early afternoon and as I pull up outside our house a neighbour and his grand-daughter stop. Then Baba B comes out and we all go into the courtyard for a cooling drink. It is 27 degrees today and is absolutely stunning. Once they have had a drink and a tour of our garden so they chceck we are doing things correctly off they go. Pamela and I spend a few hours in the sun drinking prosecco and peach juice and making use of our new sun loungers.

Tools sharpened and even a new handle fixed

Testing the new sun beds

The clay oven is lit and we make mouth sized jacket potatoes, feta cheese parcels and brushettas with a variety of toppings. As usual we bought lots to make but events got in the way. Just as we started cooking Baba B, her daughter and grand son arrived. They wanted to use our internet so that we could all talk to her daughter who works in the UK. We had a lovely evening just chatting, eating and drinking.

Baba B, Stefan and Eva

Baba B, her daughter, baby Daniel and Pammi

Late night snack in the courtyard after everyone had gone

Saturday we are up early and raring to go despite a late, for us, night. The weather continues to be sunny but is a little breezier today. Whilst Pammi does domestics and then returns to tending her precious vegetables I make a start on the chill out area. The wood here drives me insane. OK so it is stupidly cheap but even the machined wood is so warped or out of square it is unbelieveable. I have bought a new saw for this job but it soon becomes apparent that this won't help in getting straight cuts. Using a set square the cut marks by the time you have gone 360 degrees are up to 4mm out, so if you cut by the markings your saw bends and it gets stuck in the grooves. So so frustrating and it takes hours to make just the eight cuts I need to and still they are not square!!

But by the end of the day all the main frames are made, erected and set in concrete. Just the support beams to attach and they are finished.

Main frames for the hammocks and rope chairs up

Pamela meanwhile is planting all the seed potatoes we have been given which is back breaking work and takes her all day. She worked so hard.

The grass seeds are growing at an amazing rate

Sunday morning is gloriously sunny again. We have eaten every meal, every day this week in the courtyard. We are even planning that as this weather continues we will get up at first light work until about ten then stop as it is so hot. We will then have a very long lunch and resume work when it gets cooler. But for today Pamela is giving the house a deep clean as the weather is bringing out the bugs and we don't want ants in the house. I get to use my new toy, a bush cutter, to clear the top land. Turkey herder drops off some more seed potatoes and Baba B gives us a Brioche type bread loaf which is absolutely gorgeous. We are so spoilt.

This bread is gorgeous, buttery with a vanilla sugar coating

This is the next project, clearing this land

Sunday afternoon we pop round to Borko and Ani's to look at the stone which we want to use for the steps up to our front gates. He will deliver and fix these next week which will make a massive difference to the look of the house. Once home again Pamela waters the garden which is not a small daily task now but as yet we have been unable to find anywhere that sells waterbuts. Meanwhile I have written this blog whilst sipping red wine in the sun. Happy days.

Take care all.