107.

Hello! It hasn't quite been a week but I wanted to get this post done as I am off on holiday tomorrow - ooo! I am going away with my mum whilst Pete stays here and looks after the animals and vegetables. Don't worry, he has been told not to work too hard and he will be joined by his mum too, so he won't be lonely! We've been fairly busy this week getting a few bits and pieces done before I go and the weather has been stunning! :-D

 

Saturday 29th April

 

We have been looking after our friend George's fruit mixture for rakia all winter and today was the day to take it to the still. (It is not common to make rakia over winter because of the cold, but George had extra fruit last year - so why not try it.) G came over around 10 and Pete helped him get everything ready for the distillery. Pete then drove with them to the still (they needed to use our van) and so was out for a few hours helping them get set up.

Preparing the 'jibri' for rakia

 

Whilst all that was happening I was working in the vegetable garden. I planted the tomato, aubergine and courgette plants that we'd bought at the market as well as a load more seeds - including more basil, coriander, carrots and radishes. There were also a few inside grown seedlings (fennel and mixed salads) that needed transplanting.

 

Pete came home early afternoon and we had some lunch before both going back to work in the garden. Pete made a support for the cucumbers out of a spare piece of fencing and planted the cucumber plants. We'd also bought a bunch of about 20 red pepper plants and I was unsure exactly how to plant them as they weren't individually potted. I called over the wall to ask Baba V how to do it and she offered to come over and show us. She bought with her a home made dibber that she said her father had made! She showed us how to plant the peppers (you put two in each hole) and then approved all the other planting I'd done. She is the best neighbour! 

Baba V and me planting peppers

Loads of veggie pics coming up! ...

Various types of salad

Cucumbers with support

Aubergines and peppers

Some tomatoes - we have left a walk way this year for better access

Climbing and dwarf peas doing well

A couple of courgettes

We have more courgette and tomatoes that we have planted from seed ourselves, but they are not quite ready yet.

Chard, kale and spinach

The veg garden

Flower bed not doing too badly - we hope these shrubs grow bigger and bigger

 

A bit later on in the afternoon we went over to Baba V's to chainsaw one of her trees that she wanted cutting down and we stayed for a coffee and a chat (I use the term 'chat' quite loosely as Baba V speaks no English and our Bulgarian is still limited. But we are getting better all the time and she appreciates the effort and company!) 

 

Anyway, it had been a long, hot and muggy day and it looked like it could rain so we packed up the garden and headed inside for the evening.

 

Sunday 30th

 

We needed to do some gardening at our friend's house this morning so we headed down there first thing and spent a few hours planting and weeding there.

 

We had S & G and another friend coming over for some drinks this evening so in the afternoon Pete made a big Spanish omelette and a selection of focaccias and breads to snack on later whilst I cleaned and tidied the house - it is lucky we have friends who visit or our house would never be tidy! 

Beer snacks

 

In the afternoon Baba V called us over and handed us a huge plate of burgers and chips, two plates of dessert and a 2 litre bottle of beer! Why!? Because it was her birthday! The tradition here is to give gifts on your birthday, rather than receive them. We were very grateful and ate the entire meal whilst it was still warm. Yum.

Baba V's birthday gift.. to us!

 

Our friends came over around 6 and although it was a very warm day the sky was still overcast and threatening to rain so we all sat in the kitchen. We hadn't seen these friends for ages so it was great to catch up and we had a great night with lots of beer, wine, cakes and snacks. :-)

 

Monday 1st May

 

A bit of a lie in was needed this morning, but not too long as we had plenty to be getting on with. The task for today was to make the gates for the walnuts orchard. The threat of rain had definitely passed and the sun was blazing down on us today. We measured and made both gates and it ended up taking us most of the day. We got everything screwed together but couldn't bolt them properly as we didn't have the right size bolts - so that would have to wait, but at least the main part was done.

Working in the shade of the tree

We got some of the bolts on

Huge hinges bolted on too

 

Late afternoon we chilled out a bit and had some late lunch before taking Lucy out for a long walk through and around the village. It was such a beautiful day! In the early evening we spent some time in the veg garden doing a bit of weeding, tending our lovely veggies and giving everything a good water - this is now a daily routine. For dinner I made a butternut squash and chickpea curry and I made so much that is has fed us for three days in a row.

Walking in the graveyard

Wild flower season is starting

Veggie curry and garden salad

 

Tuesday 2nd May

 

An early-ish start today as we needed to go shopping in Stara Zagora but didn't want to spend the entire day there. We needed a few building bits but it was mainly for the supermarkets. We also wanted to go into the centre of town for some lunch and clothes shopping but it was sooo busy and we couldn't find anywhere to park - I think the May Day holiday must have been carrying on!

 

Once we'd got what we needed we headed back and then had to stop in Chirpan for some more things. It was already about 4 o'clock by the time we were home - so much for not spending the whole day out! Although it was getting on we were determined to get the gates finished today, now that we had the right bolts, so we spent a couple of hours doing that and managed to get the done. We even took them up to the orchard to make sure the were the right size (they were - thank God!) but by then we were tired and our drill had run out of battery so we called it a day.

The gates are finished, just to hang them now

Evening dog walk

 

We did the vegetable garden routine and for dinner we had wraps with cold left-over curry and salad from the garden.

 

Wednesday 3rd

 

The first thing on the agenda today was to hang the gates! We popped over to H's to borrow his extension cable (we need 4 to get to the top of the orchard) and then got on with bolting the hinges to the posts. We'd put some temporary screws in place which turned out to be an absolute nightmare to get back out again, so the job took a little longer than expected. But, a few hours later the gates were up and looking good. We will put some slats across the holes and paint them at some point soon, but they look fine and the hard part is done! :-)

We have gates, at last!

 

Once that was done we had some lunch and then I planted the two small bushes that we'd bought yesterday in Stara Zagora. One of them is a pretty, yellow Broom plant and we are not quite sure what the other one is but it has nice coloured leaves. I then spent the rest of the afternoon strimming in the walnut orchard - underneath the trees and some areas where the land is too wonky to mow needed doing as the grass was getting long. In fact the rest of the field already needs to be mowed again.

Broom planted next to raspberry canes

Front wall all weeded

Another new shrub - the label say it's a japonica, but after Googling we're still not sure

 

Strimming the campsite

Site looking lovely (still no leaves on the walnut trees though)

We've started to weave sticks through the fence - it could take a lot of time and a lot of trees to finish!

 

Pete did a bit of digging out of the bigger weeds that even the strimmer won't get and he also set up an outside kennel for Lucy as it is warm enough for her to sleep outside now. We then set up a little tent that we have which we haven't actually used it yet and we wanted to check it was alright for future guests. It's actually a very cute one man tent and it looks lovely sitting underneath the trees in the campsite.

Little tent

Bilko likes the tent

 

It was a gorgeous, warm evening so we took Lucy out and then came back and had a glass of wine, or two, soaking up the sun on the balcony. For dinner we had warm left-over curry on jacket potatoes. :-D

More pics of the pretty flowers

View to the village

Thursday 4th

 

It has been yet another glorious day today, weather wise, but we've spent a lot of it inside. In preparation for Pete's guests we've given the house another clean and made up the spare bedroom. Pete has also cooked a load of food and we have gotten everything ready for selling bacon sarnies at the Srendo Gradishte boot sale on Sunday. I have also cleaned the toilet block in the campsite and we changed the compost toilet so everything is clean and lovely for any guests that may arrive. I forgot to mention that we have been using the solar shower all this week and it has been fab!

Sweetcorn starting to appear - we are going to try a '3 sisters' bed this year

Courgettes, squashes, tomatoes and other seedlings thriving in the sunshine

 

This afternoon I have packed for my holiday and then sat out in the garden writing the blog whilst Pete has been preparing more food. We are just about to go and cut down another tree for Baba V, take Lucy for a stroll and then make pizza for dinner.

Blogging in the shade of a tree

 

Thanks for reading everyone, I'll update again when I am home! xx