Sunday, February 26, 2017

96 & 97.

Winter sunset

Last of the sun on the hills
Hello! We're still here!
 
Festivities
 
When I left you last time it was just coming up to Valentine's Day. We celebrate our anniversary on Valentine's day (sickening, I know!) and this year we decided to splash out and go for a day at a spa hotel. We both had an hour long massage, which were amazing, and then we spent the rest of the day between the pool, three saunas, a steam room and a Jacuzzi. It was so good. Neither of us have ever done anything so self-indulgent in our lives so it was quite special, and we now realise why people spend money on these things! The hotel is in the hills and the pool looked out over snowy hills whilst the sun shone through and made it feel like we were on holiday. The hotel is also part of a very good winery, so we treated ourselves to a nice bottle of wine as well - how luxurious! Back home we made posh burgers for dinner. All in all a fantastic day.
 
Pete looking very relaxed!

Wine by the pool

Drive home

The vineyards of the winery
 
Huge burger for dinner
 
On Valentine's Day in Bulgaria there is also a holiday to celebrate love, as well as wine (or, more specifically, the first trimming of the vines.) There was a small festival happening on the day in the next village, which we'd arranged to go to with S & G. We met them around midday and headed off to find the activity. In the centre of the village there was a band playing traditional music, people dancing and free wine. It was a brisk day but the sun was out and there were quite a few friends of ours there so we had a great afternoon. A few of us went over to a friends for a while and we met some lovely Bulgarians who are starting an organic farm not too far away from us - it is so nice and encouraging to meet young Bulgarians interested in this way of life. Later on we went, with S & G, to the town hall where there was more free wine and food laid out for anyone who wanted it. This is where all the locals were (all the men at least) and we had a hilarious night drinking too much and dancing more. It was around midnight by the time we were home. Needless to say the next day was a write off after that 12 hour drinking marathon!
 
Village centre in SG

At B & A's house

Dancing in the town hall
Inside jobs
 
Early last week the weather was still a bit drizzly, which gave us the chance to do a few finishing touches in the mezzanine as well as some other odd jobs around the house. In the mezz we finished the skirting and fit the plug sockets and stained glass lamp - this lamp was made by Pete's step-dad for our campervan a few years ago. It is now re-homed in our cosy mezzanine, and looks perfect there. In the kitchen we hung a small shelf and fit a metal bar over the cooker to hang utensils on. In the bathroom we put up a tile skirting and some trim around the low shelf - two jobs we've been meaning to do for over a year and, now finally done, have made the bathroom look finished. In fact I think we might need to re-paint everything else to match!
 
Stained glass lamp in the mezz

Tile skirting in the bathroom
 
Bar with butchers hooks for utensils

Small shelf with old postcards
Food
 
I know I said I was going to stop writing so much about our meals as it can't be interesting for you all. BUT we (mainly Pete) have made some bangers these last couple of weeks so I couldn't resist. Not much to say, just some pics...
 
Asian chicken and glass noodle soup - with our own chicken

Butternut squash gnocchi with sage and garlic butter
 
Pot stickers (aka Chinese dumplings)
 
Chicken Raz-el-Hanut

Home made scotch egg
Walks
 
So aside from the aforementioned miserable days a couple of weeks ago the weather has been improving and all the snow is gone. In fact we can't even remember what snow looks like. This week just gone even hit 20 degrees and we've been outside in shorts and t-shirts. Now the snow has melted the orchard and surrounding fields are all looking lovely and green and the gorgeous weather has made for some beautiful sunsets. Here are a few snaps of those and some walks we've been on.
 
Last of the snow in the orchard

Lucy in the fields

Man and his dog

Sunset stroll
 
Walking on a cloudier day

Misty view of the village over the forest

Misty morning

Green fields and sunshine on the way to Chirpan

Evening hike up the hill

The ground is covered in crocuses

There is logging going on in the forest above our house
 
 
Outside jobs
 
Now for the main event... work in the garden! It is such a relief to be outside in the fresh air and being active again. We are feeling energised for the year ahead and so excited for spring to arrive. We've even noticeably wanted/needed to sleep less - I think it is cool how in tune and dependant on the seasons we are living out here. We have decided to dedicate this year to getting the garden sorted, so there has been a lot of discussion and planning as well as work.
 
The first lunch outside this year (Pete made a Bulgarian bakery item called a Giozleme - it was delicious)
 
There were a few things we wanted to get done in the garden as soon as possible, the first one being to prune the fruit trees and grape vines. Aside from hacking our way through the fruit trees when we first arrived we have not paid them any real attention, and because of that have not had any fruit from any of them the last two years. We spent a few days cutting everything right back - Pete was up a ladder snipping and sawing the branches off whilst I followed him around collecting the debris. From this we have collected several boxes of kindling and a lot of good wood for bonfires or even for next winter. We also burnt a lot as we went as there was just so much to deal with!  
 
Trimming trees

Lots of wood to sort
 
This disaster zone where the fig tree has grown through the wall

Fig tree cut right back (just the wall to deal with now)

Bonfire at the end of the day
 
We cut the grape vines right back as well - we want to use our trellis properly this year and use the vines mainly for shade, although some grapes would be a bonus too. We also cut the actual metal framework back by half as it was too big for what we want. This has opened up a messy corner of the garden and made it look slightly more manageable - oh we do have our work cut out to get this garden sorted! Anyway, underneath the trellis we plan to have our main seating area and have started scratching out some flower beds and mapping out where patios etc. will go.
 
Working on the vines, there is still snow in the garden

Vines trimmed right back

Starting to dig out a flower bed
 
The whole trellis... before

... and after, cut in half

We have lots of metal to up-cycle now!

We've also been generally clearing weeds and clematis from around the garden in the hope it will make everything more manageable when spring does arrive. We pulled all the vines off the back of the house which were threatening to bring down our stone walls.
 
Pulling the weeds off the back of the house

Clearing (this is actually tidy compared to before)
 
Aside from pruning the trees the other big job we wanted to do early was to lay a stone path from the front gate to the house. Last spring was very rainy and, therefore, very muddy - so we really wanted to get this path done before any substantial rains arrived. We were expecting it to be quite a big job but in the end it only took four days. There was an old stone path (going in the wrong direction) so we were mostly able to just move and re-lay those large stones. The day we started work on the path was wet as it had rained over night, so we had a lot of mud to deal with - but it was well worth it. We think the path looks great and can't wait for some grass to grow round it now.
 
 
Beginning work in the mud

The first step - getting this right actually took as long as laying the path

Digging up the old path

Setting the stones in their positions

Me laying the stones in the ground

All finished, up to the second gate

View from the other side
 
Carrying on to the house - placing the stones out

And they're in :-)

Since the path has been in we've spent the last couple of days properly clearing the main garden area. We've sadly had to demolish our massive garden table as it collapsed under the weight of the snow - we will be rebuilding a slightly smaller one soon. We've also taken down the chicken coop and dug up all the earth from there, which is perfect to go into the compost. Clearing that area has also opened up a new space in the garden, which looks great and has inspired us for new garden layouts! We spent a day in the garden clearing all the stones and raking everything out so that, hopefully, we will get a good layer of grass (or at least green weeds) across there. We have decided to get rid of all the small stones from the garden - of which we have MANY - by using them on the dirt track up to the campsite. We had a few issues on the track last year when it was wet, so this is a solution that kills two birds with one stone (or many stones! ;-) ) We've taken about 10 small rubble bags up there so far and only got a couple of metres of track, so we're a long way off yet!
 
Starting to take down the chicken run

Tidying up the garden - can't wait until it's green!

Path to the house

Demolishing the coop

Pete has also dug up a load of stumps - this Cherry tree stump was HUGE

Chicken run all gone

All these stones were collected for the campsite track

The beginnings of a stone track

Collecting logs for the house
A couple of other jobs have included turning over last years compost, which is now ready to use, and digging up the Jerusalem artichokes.
 
Turning the compost
 
Jerusalem artichokes
Other photos..

We've grown cress in the kitchen!

Bilko checking Pete's beard for food!
 
Scrabble night

Bilko helping me on the computer
 
And that's all for now folks. I will try to get back into the weekly swing of blogging as writing a two week post when you have been busy is quite daunting! And we do plan on being busy for the next month or so - carrying on in the garden and getting the campsite ready for April. Chao xx