Sunday, September 25, 2016

75 & 76.


Well here we go with another massive update (it's only taken 3 afternoons to write and finish!) It's been an amazing two weeks with friends and now we finally have our van back from the garage and are back in to the usual routine (which is difficult after a 'mini-break' from working!) The temperatures this week have dropped hugely and we've had the sudden realisation that winter is coming. Anyway, on with the post...

Monday 12th (part two)
 
So the boys ended up arriving home a little later than expected as they struggled to hitchhike and there were no taxis in Chirpan (not even in the taxi rank.) Pete also tried to call a taxi but it didn't turn up - oh the joys of living in Bulgaria! It was about 6 o'clock when they got here and we gave Ben the grand tour of the house and garden and also Hristo popped over to check on our rakia. We then spent the rest of the evening catching up in the garden - we ate the cottage pie I'd made earlier and drank a bottle of our elderflower wine. Ben had bought with him two very nice bottles of whiskey from Scotland, which is Pete's absolute fave, so, at around midnight, I went to bed and left them to drink that and play guitar.

A couple of photos from Sofia...

A not-so-cheesey Banitsa

Wild mushrooms in the market
Tuesday 13th
 
We woke up at normal time and all went out for a stroll around the village. We took the scenic route, to show Ben around, and then went to the shop to pick up fresh bread and a few other bits. Usually bread day is the busiest morning in the village, but today we saw almost no one. This was a bit of a shock after a 'busy' few months over summer and really shows how many people have gone back to the cities now as kids go back to school this week. Back home we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast of eggs and bacon followed by a selection of our homemade jams - this is the life ay! After chilling out for a while we decided to go for a walk. It was a hot day, but not unbearable, so we headed for the dried out lake as the track there follows a forest and the boys wanted to look for mushrooms. As expected there was not a mushroom in sight (because it has been so dry here for so long) but the walk was lovely anyway and the lake looks completely different from when we were there last.

Walking

The 'lake'

The 'lake'

The boys walking

Door for a hunting lodge
 
Once we were back in the village we went to the shop to drink a cold beer before going home to relax in the hammocks. In the evening we dragged the dart board out of the barn and got it fixed to the wall so the boys could play darts - don't know why we hadn't got it out earlier in the year. We also got a BBQ going and Pete made a feast of chicken and Ouzo, which was delicious. Once we'd eaten we got the fire roaring and sat out until late drinking and chatting away.

Dart board is out

Sunset

Lucy :)
Bonfire
Wednesday 14th
 
We all had a long and lazy lie in this morning but finally dragged ourselves up as breakfast (or lunch) was calling. I made eggs and grilled tomatoes whilst the boys washed up and made coffee. Whilst we were eating we got a call from our mechanic saying that he needed us to come and have a look at the van now he'd taken it apart - hmm that doesn't sound promising. He kindly offered to pick us up, so after we'd eaten we had showers and then relaxed in the garden until he came to get us. Ben decided to stay at home but we went off and the drive into Chirpan was probably the scariest ride of my life. The mechanic drove ridiculously fast and I had to keep my eyes closed to ease the fear. Thankfully we got to the garage in one piece (with only one near-miss) to find the van in the garage with what looked like all it's insides laid out on the floor! We had kind of been expecting this to happen - he'd taken out what he needed to replace and found more problems behind. So it was into the shop to order all new parts, including a whole new clutch. Eurgh.

Van in bits
 
We declined the offer of a lift back, as we value our lives, and headed off into Chirpan centre to do a little bit of shopping and then out to the edge of the town to try and hitchhike. A Wednesday afternoon is apparently not a popular time for driving around and we had to wait quite a long time to get picked up. A couple of people stopped but were going to the wrong village and then, eventually, an English friend of ours drove past and took us right to our front door - what a hero! :-D

Hitchhiking

Church ruin just outside Chirpan
 
Back home we all had a cuppa and then decided to go out for a short walk before making dinner. We went our usual walk to the lavender fields and showed Ben the village graveyard. Back home I did a bit of tidying up and got a BBQ going whilst Pete prepared dinner and made flat breads. In Chirpan Pete and I had bought a selection of Bulgarian beers (all lager) so Ben could sample a few of the different brands - as we're all ale lovers this wasn't the most exciting tasting session, but still nice to do. For dinner we had BBQ chicken wraps with salsa and coleslaw and it was delicious. It was a lovely warm evening with a very bright moon so once we'd eaten we went out for a night time walk around the village - which was, of course, very very quiet, but we did manage to spot a hedgehog. Back home it was still quite early so we went into the yellow room and watched a documentary before having an earlyish night.

Catching butterflies

Lavender fields

Village graveyard

Dinner time

Hedgehog!
Thursday 15th
 
We had a few things to do over in SG today so we all got up early and set off on the walk there after a quick brekkie. It was already fast becoming another hot hot day but the walk over the hills is very pretty and it's nice to show it off to our friends when they visit. We had wanted to book an appointment at the distillery in SG for when our rakia is ready but we were disappointed to find it was closed today. We then went to pick up some keys so we could do a little bit of gardening for a friend but the keys weren't available so weren't able to do that either. Oh well, we took a stroll around the village - which is a very pretty one - and then we stopped in to see some Bulgarian friends who were in the process of making wine. We stayed there for a while, tasted their young wine and met the volunteers they had staying and then we went around the corner to get a cold drink in the café.

Bottling the rakia mixture

Walk to SG

Cow in the (very dry) river

Café in SG
 
On the walk back home we stopped to pick sloe berries and rosehips but there was a very large, black cloud coming our way and thunder and lightning booming and flashing around us. In the end it barely rained at all and by the time we were home it had already passed and we ate lunch in the garden. After lunch we went for another short walk to collect more berries and then came home and chilled out in the garden. We also stopped at Hristo's house so that Ben could have a look around and Hristo asked if we wanted a lift to Chirpan in the morning - which of course we did as it was market day, so that was a result. At home the boys played guitar whilst I harvested the very small amount of tomatoes that were ripe. I also picked all the bad ones - which were more than there were good. We are still having problems with blossom-end-rot, as well as having a problem with shield bugs which suck out the inside of the tomato once it has ripened.  

Storm brewing

Dry landscape

Picking sloes

Old gate on the walk

Not a great harvest
 
In the evening we ate, yet another, yummy dinner, sat up and played Bananagrams for a while and had an early night.

Guitar and beer time
Friday 16th
 
We were up in time to have a cup of tea and get ready to be at Hristo's. He drove us in to Chirpan and dropped us off in the centre. After saying thanks and goodbye we went off to get a coffee from a machine and some breakfast from a bakery. We then spent the whole morning wandering around the market, exploring the charity shops, doing a bit of boring food shopping and then went to the kebab shop for a second breakfast. It was a lovely morning and we enjoyed showing Ben the sights of Chirpan and introducing him to all our regular stall holders (who also enjoy meeting all our guests!)
 
Just before midday, with all the shopping in hand, we trundled up to the bus stop in hope that the 12 o'clock bus to our village did really exist. But, in the end, we never found out as a friend drove past and stopped to give us a lift home - yay!   
 
Back home Pete and I unpacked the shopping and, in the process, gave the fridges a good clean out as they needed it. The boys then hung out in the garden for a bit - reading and enjoying the shade - whilst I harvested our entire tomato crop; all green ones, of course. I'd looked up a recipe for a green tomato pasta sauce and we'd decided it was better to get them green and use them up than let them ripen and risk them rotting/getting eaten by bugs. So I cut up all the tomatoes and put them in the oven for an hour to roast, whilst we sat outside and had lunch.

Green tomatoes ready to roast
 
Once we'd eaten Ben and I did a bit of gardening - Ben cut down all the old tomato and bean plants and I harvested all the chard, which hadn't been done for ages. Ben is a gardener back in the UK so gave us lots of advice on how to improve our veg patch next year (although growing in Bulgaria is quite different to growing in Scotland I imagine!) Whilst we did that Pete finished of my tomato sauce (by blending it) and prepared some dough for dinner later. It was a very hot afternoon so it was soon time for a break in the shade with an ice-lolly.

Chard harvest

Bald chard

Tommies are gone

Green tomato pasta sauce for freezing
 
The boys then decided to get the air rifle out and went into the orchard to shoot at targets and drink beer, like real men! Whilst they did that I cleaned up the house a bit, watered the garden and cooked, chopped up and froze the chard I'd harvested. I then went up to join them for a bit and did some shooting myself - I don't know why we don't get this out more often, it's so fun! Pete and I then prepared a pizza and a couple of focaccias and after a bit more shooting it was time for dinner. Once we'd finished eating we locked up and headed down to the bar for a drink. We ended up staying until very late and the boys drank quite a lot of Ouzo! It was a good night.

The boys shooting in the orchard

Gunny!

Pizza for dinner

Aww - best friends!
Saturday 17th

So, needless to say, that everyone was feeling a bit rough today - so it was a lie in and chill in the garden day. We'd spoken to our mechanic yesterday who'd said that the van should be finished by Monday, so we wanted to book the distillery for next week so we could make our rakia whilst Ben was still here. We had the phone number for the still in SG and went over to our neighbours (Chainsaw Man) and asked if he would call them for us, which he did. Unfortunately we were unable to book there as the stills they have are very big and we only have a small amount. This was a bit disappointing, but luckily our neighbour thought we'd be able to book in Spasovo instead, as they have smaller stills. No one had the phone number for Spasovo, but Chainsaw Man ushered us all into his car - including Ben - and drove us down the road to Spasovo and to the still owners house. The still owner was a very sweet and slow old man who, of course, cracked open a bottle of rakia as soon as we arrived (which wasn't much welcomed due to the large quantities of alcohol consumed last night!) But, out of politeness, we powered through and sat and drank a rakia with him in his garden, whilst he looked through his diary to check available times. Thankfully Tuesday was free and we booked a slot for 5pm - exciting stuff!

Booking our slot at the still

Back home it was more chilling out, eating dinner and then a movie night.

George popped over to play darts

Hammock time - Lucy loves Ben!
Sunday 18th

Ben was off to Sofia this afternoon to pick up his girlfriend, so we really only had a half day and didn't have much planned. In the morning we took a stroll around the village and went to visit George to see if he'd be able to give us a lift to the bus station later, which he could. Then we went home and ate food, relaxed and I started writing some of the blog before going out for another walk, this time up through the forest at the top of our land. I've not actually been this way before and it was very nice - following a small hunting track through the trees and then opening out a bit and offering lovely views of the village (it would be a great sunset spot!)

Shakshuka for breakfast

Long, hot climb up the hill

Pretty shaded track

Nice view to the village

George was planning on going to Chirpan anyway so we went with him at around 2 'clock and then had an hour or so to kill before Ben got the bus. We were all hungry, and Ben had a long journey ahead of him, so we went to the Pizzeria in the park and all had a pizza and a beer. At 4.10 the bus arrived and we waved Ben off on his journey. We then ummed and arred for a while as to whether to hitchhike or not, but in the end we decided just to get a taxi as Sunday is a quiet day anyway and it was getting late so we didn't want to risk it.

Pizzeria

Chirpan

Back home we tidied up the house and I raked the garden and then Pete went out to help George collect fruit for making rakia. He came back at about 10 o'clock so when he was home we just watched some TV and had an early night.

The garden area all raked up
Monday 19th

In the morning we just faffed about and did chores around the house. We also picked up all the stuff I'd raked up in the garden and managed to fill two rubble sacks of dirt, leaves and other rubbish that has been collecting on the floor for months! We also spoke to our mechanic who told us that our van would be ready tonight and then George kindly took us into Chirpan again so we could meet Ben and his girlfriend, Katie, off the train at 3 o'clock.

As we were hoping to get the van back we decided just to stay out in Chirpan for the night and show Ben and Katie around a bit. We did a bit of shopping, had a coffee and then had dinner in two halves so we could experience two different restaurants! It was a really fun evening but by 11 o'clock the van still wasn't ready and everyone was feeling a bit tired, so we sent Ben and Katie off in a taxi to go home and get some sleep, whilst we waited in town for the van to finish. We went and had a coffee at the only open restaurant in town and we even considered getting a room in the local hotel, but it was 40 lev a night so not worth the money so we just sat in the park and waited. It was a pretty cold night and by 2am we were feeling very tired so we called the mechanic again - who was still working - but he said that he had found more problems and that the van would not be finished by tonight. This was very, very annoying and upsetting as we had planned some day trips for this week and had the still booked for tomorrow, but there was nothing we could do except get a taxi home and go to bed. Not a good end to our day!

Dinner part 1

Very cute, begging cats in restaurant 2
Tuesday 20th

We slept in slightly later than usual as we didn't get home until after 3 o'clock last night, but when we got up we had a lovely leisurely breakfast and enjoyed the beautiful morning. We then went for a wander around the village to buy bread and show Katie around. We stopped off at George's house and told him the bad news about the van and he very kindly offered to take us to the still this evening - what a hero!

Breakfast time
 
Clouds starting to surround us
 
We then spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out in the garden and preparing wood and everything for the evening at the still. As George only has a small car he took Pete and Ben first with all the material and the wood (you have to bring your own wood to fire the still) and then came back to pick up me, Katy and all the food and beer we'd prepared! The still in Spasovo is tiny and very old and rustic so it was a really cool experience to be able to share with friends. We drank beers and heated up a pre-made stew over the fire and just had a great time! The owner of the still wasn't there but luckily there was one other guy using another still, so he could help us with any problems we had - not that there were many. We'd taken with us 120 litres of the fermented fruit, sugar and water mixture and we ended up with roughly 20 litres of rakia at about 55% alcohol - pretty cool eh!? We were happy anyway! :-) It was all finished after a bit less than 3 hours and we called George who came to pick us up and drop us home. This evening a storm had been circling and it had started to rain a bit, so when we got home we sat up in the yellow room for a while having a night cap and chatting away. It was a really good night.

Fruit mixture and wood, ready for the still
 
Pouring in the fruit mixture

Starting the fire underneath

Happy people!

THE FIRST DROP OF RAKIA!

Warming up our dinner

Views outside the still

Leaving the still
Wednesday 21st

As our plans for a day trip and night away had been spoilt (still no news on the van) we decided instead to have a day out in Plovdiv as we could get the train there. We taxied to the train station, then got the train - where we had to stand and hang out the windows, which was actually really nice - and then spent the day wandering around the city and seeing the sights. Once the sights had been seen it was time for a beer and we spent the rest of the afternoon bar hopping! We found some really nice places and ended up meeting George for a bit as well as he was in Plovdiv too. We got the last train home to Chirpan, all feeling very merry, and got a taxi back to the village. Another great day!

Ben and Lucy having a cuddle

Chirpan train station

Train ride

Katie and Ben

Beautiful Plovdiv

The old city walls


Cheers!



Foozeball at the rock bar


Thursday 22nd

It was Ben and Katie's last day with us today so we spent it just hanging out at home. We went for a short walk - today was quite overcast and it was the first time we've been cold in what feels like forever! We ate a big breakfast and a big lunch and then in the evening had a BBQ. Hristo came over in the evening as well and we had a big bonfire to keep everyone warm. Whilst we were all sitting and chatting we heard some gun fire from the other side of the village (a regular occurrence in Bulgaria, especially on a holiday - which it was today) and Hristo asked if we had a gun, which, of course, we don't. He then popped home to get his pistol to let Pete and Ben have a go at firing it! Katie and I stayed well back but the boys enjoyed themselves firing a few shots into the air and, as Hristo said, 'they were real men now.' A hilarious Bulgarian experience for everyone!

Walking through the thistle forest

Cloudy day

The sun appeared for our BBQ

Bonfire
Friday 23rd

We were up early as Hristo had offered to take us to Chirpan for 8.30 this morning. B & K's train wasn't until 11 so we got some breakfast and Pete and I did our usual market shop. We were at the trains station on time and said goodbye to our friends - it has been a fantastic 2 weeks and we hope to see them again next year!

Breakfast in Chirpan

Once they'd gone me and Pete heading for home - we managed to get a midday bus in Spasovo and then hitchhike from there, which ended up taking an hour in total so wasn't too bad. By the time we were home and unpacked it was gone 2 o'clock so we just had a nap, mosied around and did a bit of tidying. Later on I decided to bottle up all our rakia - this involved mixing what we had with mineral water to take it down to 45% and then funnelling it into loads of glass bottles - we've ended up with about 19 litres. :-) I also labelled all the bottles in Cyrillic but then realised I'd spelt 'rakia' slightly wrong - what a fail! Oh well, we know what it is anyway! I also filled one bottle with aniseeds and one with juniper berries to experiment with making ouzo and gin flavoured alcohol (two spirits we much prefer to rakia!)

Mnogo rakia

Aniseed and juniper berry experiments

In the evening, at about 7 o'clock, we got the long awaited phone call to tell us our van was finally working! WOO HOO! We ordered a taxi and went straight to the garage. The mechanic is very sweet and went through every single thing he'd done - including a load of photos he'd taken along the way. The engine and everything inside had also been cleaned and looked brand new, so we were very happy. Several hundred Levs later off we drove to meet S & G in our village bar for a celebratory beer! We were feeling pretty knackered, and also it was absolutely freezing this evening, so it wasn't a late one and we got home and went straight to bed.

Saturday 24th

We spent the morning doing a proper clean up of the house and we had a couple of visits from friends in the village who stopped by for a cuppa. We also wrote a huge shopping list and then spent the rest of the afternoon in Chirpan stocking on building materials like wood and plasterboard. In the evening I got a bit more of the blog written up and Veso came over for a beer, but it got too cold so he didn't stay long. Once he'd gone we went inside, snuggled under a duvet and watched TV - we could definitely have had the woodburner going this evening, it's crazy how quickly the temperature has plummeted and it really feels like autumn has arrived. At least the days are still sunny and actually still pretty warm.

Sunday 25th

So, finally, it was back to work upstairs today! We spent the whole day finishing the plasterboard in the mezzanine level and got all the gaps foamed, ready to be taped and filled. It looks fantastic and it is exciting to be making progress again. We finished working at about 5 and Pete is now preparing dinner whilst I write the blog. And we are definitely on a detox until our next guests arrive!

Not a great photo - I'll have some better ones next week!

So that's all for now folks. Do skoro! xxx  

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