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.