June part 1.

Ben 1st -11th

On the 1st of June Ben arrived in Chirpan - our first visiting friend of the year (and the last of last year too!) He was here for a good amount of time and had already said he'd like to help with jobs around the house and garden. We held him to his word and whilst he was here we built the patio underneath the vines. We also did quite a lot of pottering about in the garden and dug out the area for the inflatable swimming pool and got that up. We didn't work him too hard though - he was on holiday after all - and we had some lovely days chilling out at home as well as a couple of days out. And, of course, we ate loads of Pete's delicious food, a lot of it fresh from the garden! It was a really relaxing but productive week and a half and we are very happy to have visitors again. 

Welcome Ben!

The first afternoon/evening involved a stroll around the village and a stop at 'The Honey's' to buy honey and drink the obligatory glass of rakia. Later that night there was a HUGE storm that rumbled right over head and lit up every horizon with sheets and forks of lightning - perhaps the best I've even seen. 

Lavender getting more purple all the time

One evening's feast

During Ben's stay there was also another car boot sale in Srendo Gradishte so we were all up early and went off to sell bacon rolls. The morning was quite overcast but luckily the rain held off and it was another successful event. There were a few more stalls there this time, now all we need are some more customers!

Goats cheese, peach and basil for lunch

Harvesting the last of the radishes

Lovely, lazy cat

I made an Indian feast which we ate off my new Indian Thali plates

Photos from the veg patch. It is madness how big everything has got even since the end of May - the heat and rain has just made everything shoot up. I even planted some rocket seeds and they came up in a day and a half! How is that even possible!!?

Cucumbers flowering and forming

Aubergines flowering

Peas are ready to eat

Already getting about 4 courgettes a day

Courgette and corn bed is now massive

Loads of tasty basil

Laying the patio. We managed to get this done in one long and scorching day. Annoyingly we didn't actually have enough stone to finish it, but the part we have done looks fab! Thank you Ben for all your hard work - especially in the crazy heat! 

And we begin

All done! Only one corner to finish when we have more stone

Time to get in the pool!

After a few days of hard work and spending time at home we decided to go out for the day. The weather was really hot so we headed to the nearby waterfall, stopping in SZ for a bit of shopping and sight-seeing first. After a swim, picnic and chill at the waterfall we drove up to a small village called Kazanka, which we'd not visited before. It was a cute little village and we went for a gorgeous walk in the surrounding hills. Before going home we stopped off at our local hotel for a beer and duck hearts and chips for dinner - a perfect day out, it felt like we were on holiday!

Waterfall...

Kazanka....

Walking through butterflies

Church in the village

Sunset over Chirpan

After our day out we had another day or so chilling at home and one evening we had some English friends over who were visiting their holiday home for a couple of weeks. It was a fab evening with them and made for some sore heads the next day!

Harvest time

However, despite the hangover, it was Ben's penultimate night so we were up early as we had planned a short trip to the Rhodope mountains. We bought Lucy with us and off we went. First stop - Assen's fortress in Asenovgrad. Pete and I have been here a few times now as it is a beautiful fortress and monastery in a fantastic location (and it's also only 3 lev to go in!)

Assen's fortress...

Once we'd climbed to the top of the hill and taken in the sights we drove on in the direction of Belintash - a rocky plateau thought to have been inhabited by the Thracians. We had not visited this area before but were all up for some exploring so we picked a couple of villages to head to in search of a guesthouse. We took our time driving into the mountains, stopping regularly to forage for mushrooms. Pete and Ben know what they're doing when it comes to mushrooms and Ben managed to find a cep - which was exciting! The area was very beautiful - we passed a few small villages but decided to aim for Mostovo as we'd seen there were guesthouses there. The approach to the village was stunning - winding up a pointy hill with a clear stream running in the valley and a small, white church at the bottom. Although the village was tiny there were no signs for any guesthouses so we asked the locals, who pointed us in the right direction. There were actually a few options but we went with the first we saw - The White House - which was run by a very friendly couple who offered to make us dinner later in the evening.  

River and church at the bottom of Mostovo

Drive up to the village

Before eating we went out for a wander around the village, saying hello to the people and animals, and into the surrounding forest. We came back int the village around 6 and had a beer in the local bar before heading back to the guesthouse for dinner. Dinner was good - the usual sausages but with home made chips and salad from the garden. We were all pretty knackered after a long day so decided on an early night.

There were lots of shy goats around the village

Mostovo

Guesthouse owner making us dinner

We were up early to take Lucy out for a short walk before breakfast. Breakfast was homemade Makitsas (doughnut type things) with a strong coffee and a glass of Ayran - very Bulgarian and very tasty! From Mostovo we drove up to Belintash and spent the day walking up to the plateau and exploring the surrounding area. It was incredibly beautiful with awesome views in all directions. There are no ruins up here to show ancient inhabitation but there are carvings in the rocks and old stairs carved into one of the cliff edges. We had a fantastic day and after some more foraging we even found three more ceps - woo!

Cosy communal area

Bulgarian breakfast

Belintash...

Ben

Ancient steps up the cliff face

Panoramic views

Me and Lucy

Modern stairs and view over the plateau

Local herbal tea at a tea stall

We drove leisurely home, stopping off in a couple of villages and picking up some local goats cheese on the way. In the evening we had a meze style dinner and an early night as Ben was getting the 7.30 bus in the morning. We were all up at the crack of dawn and said our goodbyes to Ben - it was an absolute pleasure having him here again! :-)

Home grown veg, local cheese and homemade pate

12th - 13th

Whilst Ben was here we had managed to pick up some more stone so we were able to finish our patio. We got the stone for free from a friend in Chirpan - he was a man who had recently installed our new internet box and had noticed we were laying a patio (we'd had the stone piled up.) He instantly told us he had lots of similar stone spare and to come and collect it whenever we like! When we went to collect it he also gave us some beautiful old butter churns and a clay pot which he was going to thrown away! What a generous man!

Laying out the last stones

Anyway, we had run out of time to finish the patio with Ben, but once he'd gone Pete and I were able to finish the last section in an afternoon. The next day we set out our big table and rejoiced at having a pretty, shaded area to sit in for summer!

Finishing the last stones

Tada! Lovely :-)

I also received a wind chime for my birthday on this day - good timing!

Okay, this may be boring for you but here are another load of garden photos (you can scroll past if you like!) It shows just how much everything grows - in only 1 week - and it's good for us to keep a record, so sorry!

Harvesting again

Looking over the garden

Cucumbers, peppers and aubergines

Corn and courgettes, growing by the second!

Huge courgette, salads and toms

Carrots, beets and moreee!

Yet more courgettes and squashes

Flower bed coming along nicely

Aubergines getting swamped by coriander

Spinach growing fast

Vines are starting cover the patio

Sunset over the campsite

Cat ;-)

Caz 14th - 18th

On the evening on the 14th our friend Caz arrived. He was only here for a few days and he'd offered to help us around the garden and wanted to see how village life was out here. We spent the day of his arrival tidying up the place and then went to pick him up from the bus stop in Chirpan. We spent the first evening sitting on our new patio, catching up on over 2 years news and gossip and introducing Caz to some of the local tipples!

The next day we had a big breakfast, went for a walk around the village and pottered about at home. In the afternoon we decided to go for a walk to the lake... an hours walk from our village, which in the hot hot heat of the day was a struggle but at least we would be rewarded with a swim at the end of it. Or not! To our horror and disappointment the lake was empty. We have heard that other lakes and rivers nearby have been diverted or damned to feed agricultural fields, so that could be the case here too. We really hope that the lake refills as it was so beautiful, great for swim and, more importantly, was an ideal habitat was plenty of birds and wildlife. Anyway, the area is still very pretty and we rewarded ourselves for the walk with a relaxing picnic and a snooze in the shade instead.

Helping the locals get to the shop!

Walk to the lake

Wild foxgloves

I need to do a whole wild flower post this month too!

Empty lake! :-(

:-(

Pretty doggy :-)

Lovely picnic

Over the next couple of days we relaxed at home and Caz helped us in the vegetable patch. It was time to harvest beetroots and onions as well as to thin out the carrots. We'd waited until now to thin out the carrots so that the thinnings were big enough to cook with - which they were and Pete made them into a very tasty soup. We pickled all the turnips and beetroots that we'd harvested, some are still left in the ground as there were just too many - and there are more on the way! The onions needed to be left out in the sunshine to dry out and we will pickle them later too - they are only small so perfect for pickling. Once we'd done the harvesting Caz and I planted out more seeds - another batch of coriander and parsley, cabbage and broccoli.

Carrot thinnings

Harvesting beets

The turnips were small this year, but still good for pickling

Varieties of beetroot

Drying out onions

Planting more seeds

Me and Caz - the pickling factory!

Amazing carrot soup for lunch

All jarred!

Another tasty dinner

As well as the vegetables we decided to get creative with some lavender as it is in blossom at the moment. We'd heard it was a good mosquito repellent so we mixed it with some of our homemade rakia and let it brew for a few days. Although it looked very pretty it the bottle I am sad to say that it hasn't worked at all! What did work though was the lavender syrup that Caz and I made which is lovely and refreshing with some cold water or in a G&T! It was so great to have Caz here, especially as he was very helpful in the garden and he says that he learnt a lot from us too! :-D Oh, I almost forgot, he also helped us to mow and strim the campsite - which was hard work walking up and down the hill in the heat of the day - what a champion!

Lovely lavender

Pete strimming

Caz mowing

Whilst Caz was here we did also let him rest! We chilled by the pool, chatted, went on walks, ate lots of food and enjoyed several bottles of wine. On the Friday we all went to the market and showed Caz the sights and smells of Chirpan! He also offered to take us for dinner on the last night so we went to one of the traditional restaurants in town, which was lovely.

Rainy morning walk to the lavender

Flowers in the garden

Walking to the top of the hill

Wild flower bouquet

Me and Caz :-D 

Wow! What a fabulous two weeks with our amazing friends! There is more to come but I think you've seen enough photos for now! Good night all!!! xxx