Week 58

Welcome to what is now the Pammi blog. As I am working all the news will be about Pammi and her exploits. So here is her news......


Monday we are up early with the alarm as I have an hours drive and start work at 0800. After a quick breakfast Pammi cleans the house and courtyard before making cauliflower cheese for tonights meal. The wine needs decanting into bottles so using a sieve and funnel to separate the pulp and grapes from the liquid she extracts 12 litres of wine out of one tub. It is slow work as the pulp constantly clogs the funnel. The bottles are then stored in the warm of the house to continue fermenting. There is enough grapes still in the tub to make a second batch which we will do later when the tubs are moved into the warmth of the palace. Later in the day she took the dogs for a long walk up into the edge of the forest. It was a very cold but beautiful walk. As usual Marple found a branch to carry all the way, at least it is free firewood when she gets it home. That evening we have cauliflower cheese for our meal with fresh crusty bread. Then an evening of films by the fire.

Icy walk

Wrapped up against the cold. Her first selfie

Bottling the wine

Our first bottle of wine

Tuesday does not get off to a good start as the alarm did not go off but luckily I woke and we only overslept by 15 minutes. Pammi did the daily chores: set up fire for this evening, cleaning and washing up. To improve her Bulgarian language she now listens to a conversation learning CD whilst cleaning. It is freezing cold today but she takes the dogs on a one and a half hour walk again. The countryside looks amazing covered in deep frost which in the shade never melts. Back home she bottles another 18 litres of wine. Then it is too cold to be outside so does some knitting in front of the fire before I get home. She has made a lovely chilli casserole for our meal this evening.

Maizi and Marple having fun

Frost covered thistles 

Lunch for one in the courtyard

Wednesday we are in the new routine already. How quickly we have slipped back into work mode. Alarm, breakfast, work, home, eat, sleep, start again. After Pammi has done her chores and walked the dogs she bottles another 20 litres of wine. There are bottles of wine everywhere. In the afternoon she makes a draught excluder for the holistic barn door and a new dog blanket. Tonights meal is leek pie and mash, real winter warmer food now. Last week the evening seemed so long, now they seem too short and it is soon time for bed. 

Maizi and Marple try out their new bed

Thursday is shopping day so after her chores and taking the dogs for a walk Pammi gets the bike out and cycles off to Opaka for the weekly shop. It is cold and a little windy but sunny so she has a nice ride there. After shopping she stops and eats her banista lunch in the town square overlooking the weekly market. As usual one of the local stray dogs joins her and she shares her lunch with it. When she gets home she prepares our evening meal of aubergine stacks with pasta in a tomato sauce. Unfortunately she forgot about the pasta cooking and it boiled dry. The pasta was welded to the bottom of the pan. It will take days of soaking and scrubbing to get that clean! However the second batch was fine and the meal was delicious.

Lunch in the town square

Ready for the cycle home

Lunch companion

Friday is considerably warmer so she takes the dogs on a really long walk. She walks deeper into the countryside than ever and finds a hunters fire and a stream that has frozen solid. The dogs love it as they can just run free for miles. After her walk she gives the house a deep clean and prepares the pizza dough for tonights meal. Then time for a rest with a book before I get home. We make our own pizzas then sit down to watch a film. We are both exhausted it has been a long week.

Hunters fire

Frozen stream

We will probably just post blog updates every couple of weeks now as they will all get a bit 'samey'. When anything exciting happens we will let you know! Although it is forecast for snow next week so there may be some wintry pictures to show you.

So for now take care everyone and stay warm.

Week 57

Life is nothing but unpredictable.......

Monday is freezing cold. We wake to a very white village covered in sparkling frost. Picturesque but not good for the painting that needs doing. Looks like that will have to wait for a while. So whilst Pammi does the daily house clean, the dogs are shedding their coats now so there is fur everywhere, I cut my hair then give the car a good clean. Anti-freeze and water bottles checked, an extra thick winter coat put in the boot, that is as much as we can do today. An afternoon then of chilling out, internet work and Pammi knitting. It is going to be a long winter.

First snow of the year

Tuesday morning we wake to a thick blanket of snow, it is snowing hard and the sky is full of it. But today I have to go to Ruse for a job interview. In England the country would be at a standstill now but here the roads are perfectly clear and with the winter tyres on the car you can drive perfectly normally. Pammi is at home preparing meals of veggie burgers, hot pots and butter nut squash soup for the freezer. She then spends the rest of the day playing with the dogs in the snow. My interview went well but how I will cope with my limited Bulgarian in the workplace remains to be seen. It continues to snow heavily all day and the countryside is beautiful. They are predicting a guaranteed white Christmas here.

Our snowy lane

Maizi and Marple playing

There are lots of woodpeckers and eagles about now

Outside our house

Wednesday is very cold but sunny. The village looks gorgeous so, unable to do much work, we go for a long walk. We go to the top of a hill that overlooks the valley and surrounding villages that we have not climbed before. We follow deer tracks until they disappear into the thick woodland and carry on until we get to ploughed farmland so turn back. At home Pammi makes us warming soup for lunch then she knits whilst I do more internet work. I send off a couple more applications and am surprised how much work there is here for non Bulgarian speaking people. They could be fake ads but we'll see. The evening follows the usual routine of fire lit, meal then DVD.

The snow is melting already

The village church

Gorsko Ablanovo in the valley below

Hunters tracks into the woods

Thursday morning we wake to another hard frost. It was minus 7 last night but all the snow is gone now. It melted so quickly but luckily with none of the slush that usually happens. It is too cold and icy for the weekly shop to be done by cycle so after a lazy start to the day we defrost the car and go to Opaka. The market is just closing up but walking back through to the car we stop at the donut stall where they are making fresh donuts. I love hot donuts but these were vile. Lesson learnt. Back home we have our soup lunch in the garden, it is very cold but beautifully sunny. It is still impossible to paint so another long afternoon and evening spent pottering indoors. Pammi has made me a cushion so that I can sit on the floor with the dogs in front of the fire at night. How long before they hijack it for themselves?

Frozen fountain. Time to bring it in

My (until the dogs have it as theirs) new cushion

Friday follows the pattern of harsh frost then beautiful sunshine. I am off to more interviews today whilst Pammi is at home doing the daily chores. She takes the dogs up the farm tracks so they can have a good run around before the hunters arrive again this weekend and they will not be able to go up there. Having finished one set of interviews and on my way home I am contacted by another company who want to interview me via skype. So a mad dash home to get set up ready. An hour or so later I have a full-time job. Yikes! This was never part of the plan but makes financial sense and will stop me getting bored. All change again then for everybody. Pammi is so used to me being at home that it will  be as big a change for her as it is for me. But it is not like we are not used to change so here goes again!! A rather subdued evening as I think of the changes to our life again and maybe all the little jobs that I could and should have done now I will not be around all the time.

The girls having fun 

Saturday we are up early and head into Popovo. I have managed to break my spectacles so need some micro screwdrivers to fix them or to find an opticians. Luckily I find the tools I need so that's another job sorted. We have a walk around the shops but as it is now lunchtime most of the shops are closing for the day. We head to find my new place of work so that I can see the state of the roads to gauge my travel time. As it turns out the roads are really good and so will only be about 40kms from home and an easy commute. It is late afternoon by the time we get home. So the fire is lit and the cold is shut out for another day. 

Maizi and Marple enjoy the fire

Sunday I am out for the day doing work related things which should have taken a few hours but ended up taking most of the day. This is going to take some getting used to. Tomorrow I start work so when I get home I get myself prepared for getting back into the routine of work. Pammi has made a lovely bread based meal of dough filled with feta cheese and olives with a couple of salads. It was delicious. After that we sat by the fire with the dogs watching DVD's. The dogs have already commandeered my new cushion.

Beetroot and walnut salad

Cabbage, carrot, lemon and white wine vinegar salad

So a new week, new job, new life again........

Take care all. Keep warm.