Week 43

After I wrote last weeks blog we went for a stroll around the village. Baba B called us into her garden to show us a lamb she had had delivered that day, it was so cute and was happily munching on grass. We all cooed over it for a while then Pammi and I went on with our walk. Little did the lamb or I know what was to come..............

Monday morning after the usual chores Pammi went to prepare the let for our guests arrival this week whilst I started to strim the garden. It was another scorcher of a day so I decided to strim the lane where at least there was some shade. With only about twenty metres or so left to do the blade cover of the strimmer was ripped apart by a rock, exactly what happened earlier in the year. So a quick trip to Popovo to get a new one and also a spare for when it happens again. By the time I get back the sun has moved round and it is blisteringly hot but I want to get the last stretch finished. Just as I start Efan comes out of Baba B's garden and calls me over. He is about to slaughter the lamb and needs my help. Gulp. We are vegetarians, I have never slaughtered a lamb and we try to live by Buddhist principles. Everything about this situation is against my beliefs but a) I do not want to offend our neighbours and b) by being part of the process and caring about the lamb, perhaps it will suffer less. Well, I caught the lamb as quickly and as stress free as I could and whilst I held it Efan slaughtered it. It was over in seconds and the lamb appeared not to suffer. Baba B stood and said a prayer whilst the process took place then Efan expertly butchered it. Afterwards we all went and had a beer in the garden before I went and finished the strimming. Baba B's family are coming from Canada, England and Bulgaria this week, the first time they have all been together with the new grandchild, so the lamb meal was going to be very special. Later that evening we had to have our meal under the cover of the kitchen as a huge storm started. The rain was really heavy and lasted for hours, there was definitely going to be some damage to our crops in the morning. Oh and today it is exactly a year since we were in paid employment!!

Do you remember the Good Life episode where they had the great storm and awoke to a mud bath? Our garden reminded us of that this morning. We had so much rain during the night that everything is sat in puddles and a number of plants have fallen over due to the weight of the tomatoes and the sodden ground. Pammi spends the next few hours tidying the garden and repairing what she can. Luckily we only lost a couple of plants and most of the damage was superficial, broken stakes etc. The cover came off the pool and it is full of debris. Great. Our guests arrive tomorrow and the pool is unusable. The only option is to empty it and clean it out. It takes hours but eventually it is done and is all nice and clean again. Pammi has picked lots of tomatoes so in the afternoon she makes more sauces. To preserve all the chillies and peppers we have I make some ristas which not only look really cool but are a great way to keep them, they will even carry on ripening whilst hung. By the afternoon the sun is breaking out again and the good weather looks like it will return.

First couple of ristas

Yesterday this ground was baked solid by the sun

The tidy up begins

Today our guests are arriving so a last minute check to make sure everything is right, clean all the outside spaces and we are ready. Even the sun has returned today although the earth is still sodden and will take days to dry out even in this heat. We do not want to start any jobs as we are not sure what time our guests are arriving so we just chill out and read. By six o'clock we think maybe they will not arrive today so we have our evening meal. But they do arrive later about nine thirty so we put their bags in the rooms then all go next door to Baba B's for another meal. Our guests are family of Baba B and will be staying with us for a few days. The great thing about Bulgarian family meals is that although there is loads of food, only a small amount is put on your plate and a mouthful is taken every now and then between lots of drinking. As we had already eaten nobody notices that you eat hardly anything, although the food was delicious. Sensibly I only had one Rakia and Pammi stayed off it totally. We have a great evening but it is three thirty in the morning before we crawl to bed.

The first of many toasts

Thursday we are up at 0600 as usual but on less than three hours sleep are exhausted. We tidy up the courtyard as we all sat around drinking when we came back from Baba B's this morning. That done we have breakfast then spend the day chilling out. The rest of Baba B's family arrive, so now we have a full house here too, but they all go next door to have the lamb feast. In the afternoon we go for a walk and end up meeting Baba B's family who had the same idea. One of Baba B's daughters had gone to meet her old school teacher and friend, it turns out we already knew them. We finish our walk together then all back to Baba B's. That evening we are invited around for drinks and yet more food. The grandparents sit around shelling walnuts whilst everyone else chats. The weather is getting a bit chilly at night, high twenty degrees but it does feel cold as it drops at least ten degrees of an evening. All the Bulgarians are in coats and jumpers and we even grab our fleeces. Autumn is coming. By midnight Pammi and I call it a night and head for bed.

Cracking walnuts

Whilst the Babas de-shell the nuts

Another great night

Teaching little Danni how to pick tomatoes

Friday morning and all the guests leave today. It has been great but exhausting, we are not used to all this socialising. Pammi needs to get on with preserving more produce but we have run out of jars again. Some of the family are going to the Black Sea for a few days and as I am heading to Popovo for the jars, and where the main Varna road runs through, I lead them through the maze of villages to get them on the right road. Back home Pammi and I spend the rest of the day weeding, it is amazing how the weeds have sprung up since all that rain. 

Saturday is cleaning day so I am banished from the house as usual. It is Pammis birthday tomorrow so I go off to Ruse to buy some fish as that is what she wants for her birthday meal. I get some lovely sea bass and king prawns, a real treat as they are so expensive out here. When I get back I carry on weeding whilst Pammi preserves yet more produce. We now have about fifty jars of sauces, relishes and chutneys and yet more is ready for preserving. Pammi is getting fed up with the preserving so I am having a go next week.

Sunday is Pammi's birthday so a day off today. I nip out to Opaka early morning to catch the fresh bread delivery and get there just in time to get hot bread and french sticks. Back home we have scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and bucks fizz, all her favourites. Afterwards whilst I clear up she answers all her birthday messages and speaks to her sister Angela on the phone. The rest of the morning is spent reading, her on the phone, or messaging friends and family. Samantha skypes and  we have a nice long chat with her. Technology is amazing and makes the distance between family seem insignificant. It is a beautifully hot day and we even get to spend some time on the sunloungers for a quick nap. Late afternoon we shower, get changed and start her birthday meal. I pan fry the prawns in garlic and chilli, sprinkled with herbs, all from the garden and they are absolutely gorgeous. Next up is sea bass cooked in the clay oven, salad and steamed potatoes, again all from the garden. It is a lovely evening but just as we are finishing, from nowhere the rain starts. A quick dash to clear everything under cover before we have a quick cloudburst. It does not last long but there was a lot of rain again. But it was a lovely day and Pammi enjoyed it which is what matters.

Birthday girl opening her cards

Much of the day was spent on the phone

The coming week we may have some guests coming back for a few days and there is lots of work weeding to be done as well as the usual preserving. And a test ride of a motorbike.........

Week 42

Where did that week go??? Despite the hot weather quite a bit done this week.......

After the usual morning tasks Pammi harvests lots of produce as she wants to preserve more tomatoes today. As Saturdays foray into Popovo to buy jars was unsuccessful I am sent to Ruse to see if I can get some off the market there. It proves difficult to find them and after about two hours of walking what seems like every street in Ruse I eventually find somewhere that sells them. I buy all 26 jars she has in the shop. Back home I help Pammi cut vegetables for the sauces she is making. She makes about 10 litres of sauce today. Then she tasks me with making falafal. They look great but that night when I cook them I use a new oil we have not used before and they are a disaster. Back to our normal cooking oil then. After our meal we go for an uneventful stroll around the village. It has been a pleasant 27 degrees today but the evening soon gets cool although remains humid. A few glasses of vino, play with the dogs then off to bed.

Beautiful sunrise this morning

Some of todays harvest

Yet more peppers

Todays first batch of chutney and relish

Tuesday morning up bright and early as usual. It is forecast to be a scorcher today and it is, in the mid 30's. Breakfast this morning is peaches (from Baba B's garden), local fresh yoghurt and strawberries from our garden, it was sooo nice. Before it gets too hot I want to repair the woodstore roof as it leaks. Whilst Pammi waters the garden I prepare all the materials we will need. After breakfast the roof is still in the shade so Pammi hands me up the new tiles whilst I lay them. It only takes a few hours but as with everything here the roof slopes downwards, sideways and narrows from left to right so was not the easiest to repair. Hopefully it will last the winter now though. Next Pammi does some domestics whilst I make a start on chopping logs to fill the woodstore. By mid afternoon the sun is beating down and I call it a day. Pammi goes off to meditate whilst I grab a book and head for the shade. Tonights meal is jacket potatoes cooked in the clay oven served with a selection of salads nearly all made from our garden produce. Our evening stroll is followed by playing ball with the dogs and watching the stars. It looks like we will get a full moon this week.

Yummy breakfast

Repairing the wood-store roof

The dogs love vegetables, especially tomatoes

A selection of yummy salads

When the alarm goes off Wednesday it already feels like it is going to be a hot day. So whilst I water the garden Pammi gets on with todays harvest. Lots more preserving to do today, we can hardly keep  up with how fast it all grows. We even have corn husks now on our corn stems, they were only planted a few weeks ago and are about 2 metres tall now. I spend the rest of the day chopping logs but the chainsaw soon gets blunt again. I seem to spend as much time sharpening the chain as cutting wood which is frustrating. However I have a new woodcutters axe and it makes light work of the log splitting and is more fun than using the chainsaw. Well it would be if it wasn't quite so hot!! We work a full day today as we want to get these jobs out of the way. After our meal we take a stroll around the village and meet two adorable little puppies playing in the street but sadly (or should that be sensibly) Pammi would not let me take them home with us. As we get home the clouds start to roll in and we are clearly in for some rain. Later that evening it arrives so no watering for us tomorrow. Yay.

Another beautiful sunrise

These puppies were so cute

Thursday starts off sunny, goes cloudy, then is really warm by the afternoon and raining by the evening. At least the weather was varied today and the gardens need the rain so much. Even our lawn is starting to come back to life now. Pammi is making spicy lentils today and is trying a new method of using a jar bath to cook tomatoes and seal the jars. Normally she sterilizes the jars, cooks the sauces separately then fills the sterilized jars. Everybody else seems to slice their tomatoes, fill the jars, then place in a pan of boiling water to seal the jars. Unless we were doing something wrong it seems a longer process so we will go back to our way of doing it. The only up side is that it is totally free as we use scraps of wood on the BBQ to boil and simmer the water. I carry on cutting logs and get the wood store filled with logs and kindling. That evening we have the spicy lentils served in flat bread with the falafel which, cooked in our usual oil, in the clay oven, was delicious. Today was my mums birthday so we phoned her and she had actually received her card although it took three weeks to arrive. Post is at best unreliable here and greetings cards are hard to come by, so in future we will probably just send e-cards at Christmas etc. Later we watch the rain for a while from under the roof overhang then have an early night.

Jars of sliced tomatoes in the jar bath on the BBQ

Containers of spicy lentils for the freezer

Woodstore filled ready for the winter

Tonights full moon

Friday we take the day off from working and head to Popovo market to see if we can get more jars. Thankfully the store is open and we get another forty jars. On the way home we stop off in Opaka to get the few bits we need then go for lunch in the restaurant there. When the waitress takes our order she clarifies whether we want one sandwich or two. I nod my head confirming we want only one. When our order arrives we have two sandwiches. This has happened before and it dawns on us that I am confusing the waitresses. Out here you nod when you say no and shake your head, side to side, when you say yes. I still find it so difficult to remember that. So no wonder they get confused. I ate both sandwiches, all six of them, anyway. Lunch over, I wobble to the car. Whilst we are out and about we decide to head to Ruse and do the monthly shop. A bit early but we were going to do it on Monday anyway so it will free up that day to prepare as we have guests arriving on Wednesday. It is incredibly hot and humid and, shopping completed, we are glad to be home. We are still full from lunch so just have a light snack for tonights tea. Then the storm starts to roll in. It gets very dark and then the deluge starts, big spots of rain at first, then the lightning show, then torrential rain. As usual the electrics go off for a few hours but worse, so does the internet, so no Radio Edna for us this evening. We sit on the steps watching the incredible light show, the dogs have already retreated indoors as they know the signs of a big storm starting now. It is a huge storm and very impressive.

Storm clouds rolling in

The lightning starts

More storm clouds

By the time we wake on Saturday morning the storm has finished. We inspect the garden but amazingly there has been no damage. Pammi wants to do the deep clean of the house today and apparently I don't do it right so I am banished from the house. It is Pammi's birthday next weekend so I go off to Ruse to get her a prezzie. On the way home I see Borko and stop for a chat and to give him some rifle targets that I have had in the car for weeks and been meaning to drop off at his house. We arrange for him and Ani to come over for coffee next week which will be great. It is so hot today and when I get back Pammi has finished for the day. We both spend what is left of the day reading and chillin out. Tonight I make garlic mushrooms (mushrooms are not easy to come by out here so when you can get some it is a luxury) and fried chillies followed by paella (the best ever according to Pammi). By now it is starting to get dark but we go for a quick walk around the block and meet Efan in his cart. He has been cutting corn and his cart is full of it. Eva is staying with him this weekend but is not on the front seat. Efan pulls back a blanket to reveal Eva curled up, smiling and wrapped in a blanket, fast asleep. It would have been the cutest photo ever. It was getting late so we let him get on with his chores and we finished our walk. Back home we played with the dogs before having an early night. It was so humid though that we even had to have the fan on tonight. A few hours later we are woken but torrential rain. No watering again then, every cloud has a silver lining......

Garlic mushroom starters

Wish I could have got nearer for a proper look and photograph the actual bike

Hundreds of swifts

One of the many water springs in the village

Sunday morning comes round and there is no sign of damage from the nights heavy rain. No watering then but I want to photograph the sunrise this morning so am up at six and leave Pammi in bed. When I get back Pammi is up and in the garden. She never did get her lay in and got up when I left. It is a good sunrise and I get a few good shots. After breakfast Pammi harvests yet more produce and starts preserving it. As we have had so much rain recently I hope that the ground is damp enough for me to dig up the remaining rows of potatoes. The rain has not even broken the surface of the soil despite how much rain we have had. But it is easier to dig than it was, so despite how hot it is today, I dig up the last three rows of potatoes, about 50kg in all. That is the top land all harvested now so will need digging over soon which hopefully we will get someone with a horse and plough to do for us. The rest of the day Pammi spends preserving tomatoes and peppers and I write the blog. Tonight we plan to have a BBQ but the forecast is heavy rain so we'll see............

All picked this morning

   

Pizza base sauce

Moroccan spiced sauce

Sunday afternoon chill out 

(or it's all right for some, as Pammi wanted to call it!!) 

Early morning mist and sunflowers

Sun peeps over the village name sign 

Looking out over the top of the village

Another gorgeous day coming

Next week we have more guests booked in and it is Pammi's birthday. Should be a good week.

Hope you all have a great week. Take care.

Week 41

Hi all,

Monday morning again. These weeks just go so fast. Today we prepare for our guests arrival tomorrow so after the usual watering, weeding, breakfast rituals Pammi gets on with cleaning the let. One of the outdoor table cloths has got a burn in it so I go off to Ruse to get a replacement. When I return the cleaning is all done and Pammi has started cooking for tonights meal. We are having cabbage leaves stuffed with spicy lentils coated in a tomato sauce. As it turns out we save the cabbage leaves for tomorrow when our guest arrives and have the spicy lentil mix in a wrap, Fajita style which was really nice. Later that day we get an email to say our guest has cancelled. A real shame as we were really looking forward to meeting her. Maybe next year. After our evening meal we take a stroll around the village and manage to make it all the way round without being kidnapped into a bar or someones house. It is an amazing sky tonight and manage to get some good photo's.

Great sky tonight

Awesome

Todays tomato harvest. They are coming thick and fast now

Cabbage leaves stuffed with spicy lentils in a tomato sauce

As we have no guest today now we just potter around cleaning the house, outside kitchen and pool. It is still incredibly hot so by lunchtime we retreat to the shade to read for the rest of the afternoon. TH pops in to tell us we need more jars for our produce and that there is a store in the next village that sells them. We know we need some more so maybe tomorrow we will go and see. That evening we eat the stuffed cabbage leaves that we cook in the clay oven. They were gorgeous. Pammi has just discovered Facebook. She is half Czech so can now keep in close contact with her family via messaging so she spends hours tonight messaging her family and reminiscing. It turned into a very late night but they all enjoyed it.

Pammi beats the carpets Bulgarian Baba style

Marple with a vine leaf

Wednesday starts off with the threat of rain but it comes to nothing and by the afternoon we are back to scorching sun. Over half of Bulgaria is on alert for wild fires due to how long we have been without rain now. There have been a couple in our area but nothing that has been a threat to our village, other than the roadside at the bottom of our hill which caught fire yesterday but burned itself out. Pammi today is making tomato based sauces for the winter and needs a new pan so I am sent off to Ruse to get one. Before I go though I light the BBQ to boil water so that we can sterilize the jars. Once back I help chop the tomatoes and prepare ingredients for the sauce. Pammi makes a batch of twelve litres of tomato sauce mixed with peppers, onions and chillies so they use all the ingredients that we currently have an abundance of. We have worked out that on current vegetable production and consumption we will need another forty, one litre jars. I suspect it may be more. Whilst the BBQ is still hot we cook tonights meal of fried potatoes, salmon quiche, homemade coleslaw, tomatoes with olives and goats cheese and vitamin salad (shredded beetroot, carrot and courgette). Late evening as it cools down a bit we take a stroll around the village and see Efan but he is busy we go on by. As always all the villagers are sat outside their homes watching the world go by or chatting with friends. We return home to play with the dogs and enjoy a glass of wine.

This herb chopper was made by Pammi's dad long before she was born. 

Efan has sharpened it for us and it is used regularly

Sterilizing jars on the BBQ

Preparing ingredients in the garden

Sauces made and bottled

Every ingredient fresh from our garden

Thursday is a scorcher but the forecast is for rain by this evening. We still water the garden though as we have been promised rain before and it did not happen. It has been at least two months now since we had rain and the gardens could really do with it. The tomato plants are still growing so Pammi spends some time tying up the stems to support them, many are so  laden with fruit that they are bending and snapping. After breakfast I go down the lane being a womble picking up all the litter that is strewn around by the stay and wild animals. The bins here continue to be emptied on an irregular basis so are all overflowing. I fill five sacks with rubbish but by the next day the animals have shredded the bags. Oh well, at least we made the effort to keep our part of the village clean. Tonight we eat courgette fritters with a green bean salad. There is something very satisfying about eating a meal that has been produced purely from ingredients in your garden. I cannot even begin to describe how good the tomatoes are here. There is absolutely no comparison to the shop bought, forced ones that we were so used to. A cliche I know, but you really can taste the sun in the juiciness and deep red of the tomato flesh. That evening as forecast the heavens open and we have a deluge overnight. It started off as steady showers but soon got heavier and heavier. Typical, every night is so clear and yet tonight when there is supposed to be a huge meteor shower the sky is full of clouds. Maybe tomorrow will be clearer.

The outdoor kitchen by night

We are about to get very wet

Water melon for breakfast every day

Friday we woke to it still raining so no watering today. The temperature has dropped 12 degrees in 24 hours. Mad. After breakfast we both clean through the house before heading off to Krepcha to try and find some more jars. There are only 3 or 4 shops in the village and none of them had any jars so we will have to find out from TH exactly where he gets his from. However we did notice a small road sign pointing to Krepcha Rock Monastery. We have never heard of them so will have to investigate more and plan to visit another day. But today we need the jars urgently and we know they sell them on Popovo market so off we go. The rain lashed down and we got absolutely soaked, added to that the store that sells jars was closed and the cafe that sells amazing banista (cheese filled pastry) was also closed. Not a good day so off home we squelch. The rest of the afternoon we spend watching a DVD. We have not done this for months and it was a real treat. The rain finally stopped and the sun came out so we could resume normal service of outdoor living although everything had an autumnal feel about it. We eat our meal outside and then go for our evening stroll which was uneventful. The evening temperature had dropped to 20 degrees and we had to put on our fleeces. How quickly we have got used to 35-40 degrees. Maybe we will need to get out the thermals this winter. Again the sky is overcast tonight so no meteor show for us again.

The fields of sunflowers are all dying now

Remains of wildfire in the background

Bowed sunflowers as far as the eye can see

Saturday the weather returns to summer, hot and sunny. First stop of the day is Dve Mogili market which we have never been to before. Apart from vegetables there is not much else there so we decide to go and find the rock monastery at Krepcha. A search on the internet reveals why we have not seen this advertised anywhere or in any guide books. It was a local secret that was only made open to the public last year. The plan is that it will be restored and that monks will again inhabit it. It has the oldest Cryllic inscriptions to be found in the Balkans, dating to 921. There are wall paintings, runic signs and inscriptions in Hebrew and Cryllic. It was a very serene and peaceful place. We carried on driving through the countryside as we had never explored there before. It was very beautiful with lots of cliffs, forests and cute little villages. Our next stop was Popovo again to get the jars. We arrive just as the shops close for lunch, a two and half hour lunch break at that!! Shops that close for lunch at lunchtime on a Saturday rung alarm bells but there was nothing on the door to indicate that they closed for half day. Still it was an opportunity for us to try a cafe that we liked the look of. But it was dawning on us that the town was being deserted, a really nice town centre cafe on a summers day and there are only a couple of tables occupied. Having waited the couple of hours till the shop allegedly reopens we walked back down to the market. Still it has not opened and every store now seems to be closed. We hang about but soon give up and head home. Another wasted journey. Pammi has had the recipe book out again is making Tabbouleh with flat bread for tonights meal. It was so full of herbs as it should be and was beautiful. 

Krepcha rock monastery

View out of the monastery

Just stick a motor on your back wheel

Water melons at Popovo market

Popovo town centre

At a cafe in Popovo

Fresh homemade bread toasted sandwich filled with egg, white and yellow cheese. It was so tasty.

Sunday morning we have a lazy chilled out breakfast. The ground is still sodden from the storms on Friday so no watering. We clean the outdoor kitchen and courtyard before going for a walk. When we get back Pammi goes off to meditate and I get on with writing the blog. Then Efan and Eva pop round so we eat watermelon and drink tea in the courtyard before Eva wants to play in the hammocks and then the pool. She is soaked by the time she has to go home but at least she will sleep well this afternoon. After lunch Pammi takes the car out, the first time she has driven since we got here and apart from 'the gear stick is on the wrong side' she had no problems. So the rest of the days plan is just chillin out and then ringing family....... unless something else happens of course.

One of many frogs in a pond on this mornings walk

Eva and teddy clean Buddha...

....then she cleans the pool

This coming week we plan to preserve more vegetables and start cutting logs ready for the winter. Have a great week everyone. Take care.