Week 45 and half 46.

Hello! We've been rained off today so I thought I'd make the most of sitting inside and write the blog post early. We've been busy so I'm sure there'll be plenty to write about! 

 

Pretty blossom

Friday 19th

 

Market day of course. This morning was really, really rainy and horrible weather, but we braved it and went into Chirpan to do some shopping anyway. By about midday, when we head home, the rain had cleared and it turned into an okay day - overcast but warm.

 

As planned we had a paid working day today and spent a couple of hours down the road pruning trees and more weeding, as well as an hour or so over in SG at our other job. Whilst in SG we stopped in to see M & D for a cuppa, as well as popping into another friends house who were kind enough to give us a bottle of their home made bitter wine. We've never tried anything like this before but it was really nice - it's wine mixed with fruit (apples, pears or quinces) and loads of bitter herbs. Yum.

 

Using the (very dirty) van as a ladder again

Raking up leaves

Stream in SG

Wine and Christmas card

Oh and we got a Christmas card in the post today - only a slightly slow postal service here!

 

After all that we got home at about 5 o'clock, just enough time to get washed and ready to go out for the evening. We had a really fun evening at Hristo's and this week his wife was there - who we hadn't met before and who is really lovely. There was lots of tasty homemade wine and food involved!

 

Saturday 20th

 

A very chilled out day off today. We watched movies and sat by the fire. We did do a bit of tidying around the house and I made some sausage rolls in 4 flavours - plain, chilli and fig jam. Yum! (The fig one's were the best.)

 

 

Sunday 21st

 

Back out in the garden working today. The weather started off a bit grim and foggy, but slowly cleared and turned out to be quite a nice day. Not much to write - we were both working on the dry stone wall now. Pete was laying the stone whilst I was picking out the good stone and clearing the rubble from the old wall, which is starting to look great now it's getting cleared. The new wall is also taking shape and looking really good - Pete is doing an amazing job.

 

Before

After

Before

After

Still got a way to go yet though

New wall is looking lovely

New wall

 

We also saw Hristo and he gave us a fermented cabbage in a bucket and some really yummy sweet bread. The cabbage is something we were eating at his house on Friday - it's basically sauerkraut and is a traditional Bulgarian dish. It actually tastes really good but it does stink the fridge out a bit!

 

 

We stopped working about 3 and got ready to go out to Chirpan with S & G to see the circus! I'd seen posters around on Friday and we'd tracked it down and thought it might be quite entertaining to go. I love circuses anyway and it's more fun than sitting in and watching TV.

 

It turned out to be quite good, although definitely aimed at young kids - we were the only people there without children! There were funny clowns and a few good acts, there were also a few animals, but thankfully they weren't made to do any tricks.

 

Big snake

Monday 22nd

 

Today was one month since applying for our resident cards (it's gone so fast!) so we were off to SZ again to pick them up and do a few other bits and bobs of shopping.

 

Loads of stalls selling 'Martenitsa' - the bracelet worn to celebrate the festival of Spring

Coffee in the park

 

Todays trip was much more successful than last time and we got everything we needed, including our cards. Very exciting to be official Bulgarian residents now! :) It was also a GORGEOUS day with temperatures in the high teens.

 

 

By the time we got home it was late and once we'd un-packed the shopping and taken Lucy for a walk it was nearly getting dark. Although we did have time for a G & T whilst the sun was setting to celebrate the beautiful weather! Also our neighbor, Baba Villay, came back today after being away for winter. She is so lovely and we are happy to have her back and hear the familiar sounds of her working in her garden again.

 

Furry friends

Tuesday 23rd

 

There were bright blue skies today and it got to over 20 degrees, we were hot and sweating working out in the garden again. We were back to dry stone walling - Pete laying and me sorting out the old wall. We got one end of the new wall to the height we want it now, so I think it should only take one more day to finish (hopefully.) I'd run out of space to put the rubble so I concentrated on lowering and neatening up the rest of the wall. I'm annoyed I forgot to take a 'before' photo as it looks so different but you can't tell from the photo!

 

Hot hot hot!

This end of the new wall is finished

The old wall looking neat and tidy



Storing all the spare stone against yet another wall

It was another earlyish finish today as we had more evening plans (also there's only so many hours you can do in one day of dry stone walling!) We got clean and went over to S & G's at about 4. We came early as G has said he would give Pete a lesson in welding - which Pete has been wanting to learn for ages now. We took our wheel rim cooker with us so Pete could weld the 2 bits together and make it one thing. I didn't have a go myself (and I couldn't watch as it would have blinded me) but Pete says it was fun and I think he picked it up quite quickly - although practice makes perfect I think! This is great to know how to do though, and I'm sure there will be lots of welding projects coming up soon. 

 

In action

First attempt - some room for improvement I think!

After the welding lesson we had a lovely evening at their house eating burgers for dinner and drinking cocktails. When we got home, at about 12.30, we were quite shocked to find 10 cubic meters of wood dumped in front our house!! A couple of days ago we'd mentioned to a friend in the village that we wanted to buy some wood soon, ready for next winter. He'd told us a good price (40 levs a cubic meter) and said he'd order it for us, but usually it would take a few weeks to arrive. 10 cubic meters is ALOT more than we'd imagined and some of the bits were absolutely massive - it was going to be a big job to get it all sorted! So it was straight to bed when we got in, with a new plan for work tomorrow.

 

Where are we going to park!?

Wednesday 24th

 

So we were up early today wanting to get cracking with the wood. Unfortunately the weather had turned so it was a bit grey and threatening to rain - it didn't stop us getting started though. Pete was happy with his chainsaw and his axe, getting the wood into manageable sizes - we just wanted to get it into the garden for now, rather than get in cut to wood burner size. Whilst he was doing that I was  picking out the smaller bits that didn't need cutting, and wheel barrowing it all into the garden.

 

Just to mention as well the wood is wet, so needs to be dried out for at least 1 year before using it - so our top priority now is to build a wood store, as we can't fit it all in the barn. To us this seems like an over whelming amount of wood, but apparently a lot of people use this amount in only one winter. We'll see how we go with it, but we have used nothing like that amount of wood this year so we're hoping it will last us for 2 winters.

 

LOTS OF WOOD

 

At about 2 the rain finally started so we packed up and went inside. We'd got about half way (we think, possibly) so we're quite pleased with what we'd done. After a coffee we decided not to completely waste the afternoon and so we drove to Chirpan to buy all the materials we need to build the wood store. The rain has now got worse so we've spent the rest of the day inside, chilling out and writing the blog. Hopefully the weather improves again soon as we have plenty to be getting on with!

 

Slightly less wood

Stacked up in the garden

I'll leave you today with some pictures of our seedlings. We were quite worried about our vegetable seeds as they weren't doing much - but finally we have several types of tomatoes popping up, so hopefully the rest will come with the warmer weather. The flowers are doing great. My bulbs are also starting to grow in the flower bed, as well as lots of wild tulips (I think) that have powered through a foot of earth and are coming up in our raised beds!

 

Tomatoes

Flowers

Bulbs coming through the raised beds

Thanks again everyone, until next time! xx

Week forty four (and a half.)

Tuesday 9th

To start this weeks post I will let you all know our chickens have started laying again! Today was the first day since last year and we have been getting 2 a day since then.

Bilko loves the chickens

 

On Monday we'd had a call from a furniture shop in town telling us that the shelves we'd ordered last week had arrived. So today we decided to have a bit of a shopping day, as a list of stuff we wanted from SZ had been growing over the last few weeks. Not much to say about this day, except that it was a slightly disappointing. Everything we wanted from SZ either wasn't there/was too expensive (this happens almost every time we go though!), the music shop we tracked down for new guitar strings looked as if it hadn't been open for about 20 years, and as well as that we seemed to be surrounded by nightmare drivers all day too!

 

We did pick up the shelves from Chirpan though and put them together (from flat pack) when we got home. They are not our usual style but they are SO useful and have changed our lives in the kitchen as we now have so much extra storage space - we were keeping most things on the floor before!

Flat pack

Organised

Bought some flowers in SZ

Wednesday 10th

 

Back outside to work today, after a pancake with lemon curd breakfast (a day late I know, but still so good!) I finally finished the big, stone raised bed - this had been so time consuming as I was trying to find good stones from the rubble pile and it was more and more difficult the more wall I did. Whilst I finished that off Pete was back in the trench and also finished this job - so a good, successful day. :)

Breakfast

Digging

Raised bed finished - I love the colours of the stone

Trench finished

 

Pete also made tortillas for the freezer today. Chirpan doesn't seem to have the widest selection of bread, so yesterday we'd looked for tortllias in the supermarket in SZ. We'd found them to be relatively expensive (for us anyway) so instead Pete managed to make loads, using only one bag of flour - bargain! And they're probably nicer!

 

In the evening we went for a few beers at the bar with S & G.

The kitten at the bar is very friendly

Thursday 11th

 

It was a gorgeous sunny morning this morning, so we were up early to make the most of it. I started the day by planting some flower seeds - on my new seedling table in the kitchen window. Then I planted my new primrose and loads of bulbs in my flower bed - we'd bought a selection box of bulbs a while ago, as well as some we'd dug up from the garden before doing the raised beds.

Planting flowers seeds

Planting bulbs and flowers

 

Whilst I did this Pete was in the kitchen getting started on a huge batch of marmalade - ready for summer (oranges are so cheap at the moment.)

Marmalade

 

After a delicious brunch of kippers and poached egg on toast we decided to start moving some of the crappy earth into the trench. I know it sounds mad as we've just dug it out and now we're filling it in again - but it does make sense, I think!! Pete filled the trench whilst I bucketed some of the slightly better earth into the newly finished raised bed.  We both found all the digging pretty back breaking - pick axing through the rocks and clay - as well as just being extremely boring, so we didn't last too long, and used the clouds rolling in as an excuse to stop. Jobs like this are better done little and often anyway.

Mmmm kippers

Filling the trench

Bed half full

Storm a comin

Friday 12th

 

Market day again, although we didn't have much shopping to do today. More excitingly was the 'wine and love' festival getting started in Chirpan, complete with traditional dancing and music and freeee wine! Nothing like a glass of red to kick start the day! The festival is actually on the 14th - they celebrate valentines day (hence the love) but it is also the traditional day to trim your vines for a good wine season (hence the wine!) We got some breakfast in Chirpan, to soak up the wine, but didn't stay out long before heading home.

Morning wine!

 

When we got back we unpacked and did a few chores around the house. In the market I'd bought a few pansies, so I planted them in the flower bed, and we'd also bought a table and 3 stool set from a guy in the street - handmade by the look of it. We wanted to keep them outside so Pete gave them a coat of linseed oil and left them out in the sun to dry.

Pansies planted

Oiling the furniture

 

In the afternoon we decided to go down the road and do a bit of paid work. There is still not loads to do at this time of year but we managed to do a few hours of weeding, raking up leaves and pruning. We are going to try and make Friday afternoon our 'paid working day', as it should be easier to keep doing regularly if we get into a routine.

Snowdrops everywhere

 

When we got back it was still quite early and the sun was shining so we sat out (on our new table and stools) and had a cheese board for a very late lunch - we'd treated ourselves to some blue cheese, as well as getting some local home made cheese from a man in the market. Yum yum yum. Pete also made some buns (another variety of bread unavailable in Chirpan) and they are now in the freezer ready for burgers!

Cheeeese board!

Buns

Saturday 13th

 

A bit of a foggy and gloomy morning today, so we had a bit of a lie in and a relaxed brekkie of fried quails eggs on toast - how luxurious! We then spent a few hours giving the house a major tidy and clean. Whilst doing this Pete also put his bacon in the smoker to get all tasty.

Foggy

Lovely clean house

Quails eggs and Marmite on toast

Bacon smoking

 

Once the house was all nice we went outside for another hour or so of moving earth. Pete shoveled good earth into the raised bed, whilst I moved more rocky earth into the trench.

Bed is getting fuller

Trench is also getting fuller

Splitting wood for the fire

 

We decided to finish the day early though, and we went inside and got the fire going as it was grim and grey and drizzly. This weekend is our 4 year anniversary so we cracked open the bottle(s) of fizz we'd bought in SZ and had a lovely evening chatting and playing games.

Bulgarian red fizz - yes it tastes as weird as it sounds!

Animals by the fire

Sunday 14th

 

Valentines and Wine festival day! We'd heard around from our neighbours that something might be happening in our village today to celebrate - although no one seemed 100% sure what! We'd been given a rough time of 10.30am - obviously a normal time to start drinking wine - and had arranged to meet S & G in the centre to check out what was going on.

 

We found a group of men sitting inside at a big table (even though it was 20 degrees and gorgeous blue skies outside) and they invited us in and offered us wine and food. Not the 'festival' we'd imagined, but we were happy anyway! Not much to say except that we ended up staying from 10.30am, and drinking, until after it was dark and had the most ridiculous and fun day ever!! Obviously everyone was quite sozzeled by the end, shouting, dancing and lots of laughing, and we got to practice our Bulgarian a lot! We also met some people from our village we didn't know already, so that was nice.

 

Monday 15th

 

As expected not much was done today except watch a few films. I did actually do a bit of baking and made some walnut macaroons from a recipe I'd seen on another blog. They didn't come out looking perfect but they tasted GREAT and were made using our own walnuts and our own eggs. :)

Walnut macaroons

Tuesday 16th

 

Back to work after a few days off! We decided just to get this trench filled and spent a couple of hours just digging and wheeling barrowing earth - so dull, but we did it! Once we'd done that Pete used a plank and the sledge hammer to flatten the earth where we're going to build the wall, whilst I started laying the base stones for the raised bed.

Compacting the earth

Earth flattened and raised bed base in

We also filled some of the holes that were created by taking stumps out

 

We'd done this by midday and we decided to have a short break by taking Lucy for a walk, as well as going to the shop to get our bread order.

Spring is in the air!

 

Back home we carried on work in the garden. As I've mentioned we plan to build a wall where the 'trench' was - this is so eventually we will be able to separate our own garden from (what will be) the campsite café/bar in and outside the barn. We have also decided to get rid of half a wall that is in the garden already, as it is not really doing anything (except falling down) and it will give us plenty of good stone to build the new wall - which we are going to drystone properly. So we spent the next hour or so heaving huge stones to form the base of the wall, and then filling in the middle space with all the tiny stones and rubble.

Big wall base in

The wall we are removing

Some of it has gone already

Once the base was finished we'd had enough of lugging stone about for one day and instead decided to spend the end of the day trimming our grape vines - I say grape vines, but last year we didn't get any fruit from them at all. We're not too bothered about grapes though (we get enough wine from our neighbours!) but we do want to train it to grow over the huge metal frame so we can have a shaded seating area here. Once we'd trimmed the vine back we kept going and trimmed back all the horrible, thorny rose bushes and other weeds and Pete even pulled up a few more stumps so they can't come back! You can't really tell from the picture - but it looked great and we realized we'd never actually stood in this part of the garden as it has been covered with an earth pile/crazily over grown since day one - at one point we didn't even know that concrete sink was there!!

Vines, and other plants, trimmed back

Wednesday - Thursday 18th

I'll put these days together as I don't have much to write about. We've been working in the garden - me laying the smaller stones, with the pug, for the raised bed, and Pete has turned his hand to dry stone walling. As it turns out he is a natural and our dividing wall is starting to look fabulous - although it is going to be quite a time consuming task as every stone has got to be just right. I've managed to get the raised bed finished in the two days and that is looking great too. It is now set to rain over the weekend so I'm glad I got that done (and covered.)

Laying the stone in the sun

I got a lot done in one day

Hristo popped over to look at our work

Last raised bed is finished!

Both side of Pete dry stone wall

Newly finished end protected from rain

This afternoon we went for a lovely, but slightly drizzly, walk and saw our first blossom on a tree! Oh and this morning my first seed has germinated! It is one of my flowers which is exciting - although, to be honest, we are more looking forward to the veg getting going.

Nice walk

Cherry blossom!

Seedling :)

Corr that was a bit of a long post - I need to get back in to the weekly swing!!

Thanks everyone for reading, until next time. xxx