June part 2.

Maisie and Sarah 19th - 26th

So we said goodbye to Caz on the Sunday afternoon and then we had that evening and the next morning to clean up the house and get ready for our next guests! There was a massive storm in the afternoon which gave the veggies a good drenching and made for some gorgeous views over the Rhodopes. 

And so it begins... courgettes galore

Our friends Maisie and Sarah were flying into Plovdiv airport - the first of our friends to do so. Train times didn't work out well so we decided to go and pick them up as it's only an hours drive away. The airport is the tiniest I've ever seen!! We all got home around 10pm and had dinner, drinks and a good catch up. 

Sarah was only here for four days so after a day chilling at home - sunbathing and walking around the village - we decided to have a day out in Plovdiv. We got the train there as it is cheaper and easier than driving and had a lovely day wandering around the old town and through the Kapana. We'd taken a picnic which we ate in the park, under the shade of the trees, by a big group of men playing chess. It was a very hot day today and set to be getting hotter and hotter as the week goes on. We got home around 6ish and the sun was still blazing so we relaxed by the pool for an hour or so before having dinner. 

Walks around the village and to the lavender... 

Plovdiv...

Roman stadium and a mosque

Pretty park

Picnic time

View from the train home

The next day was another scorcher so we drove to the waterfall (as our lake is out of use now!) We had a lovely day hanging out by the water, having a picnic, reading and chilling. The waterfall/river is mostly from rainfall and snow melt, so I think this is the last time we will visit this year as it will be too dry from now on. It had already dried up dramatically since we were there less than two weeks ago. On the way home we took Lucy for a walk through a small village and to a very old, little graveyard. We then stopped at the local hotel for dinner as it was Sarah's last night (and we were too tired to cook!) 

Breakfast in the garden

Marigolds in bloom

Hot cat

 The waterfall...

Pete climbing the rocks

Walkies in Ostra Mogila...

Dinner at the hotel with a big storm a brewin'

We missed the market this week as we have plenty of veg coming from the garden and it will be just the two of us again by next week. We spent Friday relaxing in and out of the hot, hot sun before taking Sarah to the bus station and saying farewell. Maisie was here for the weekend and it was really too hot to do anything except lie down and drink Pimm's! We actually had a go at making our own Pimm's (Google Summer Cup recipes!) as we had most of the ingredients and we got creative for the missing ones. It actually turned out very tasty indeed and is a great alternative whilst living out here where Pimm's is unavailable! I recommend all you other Brits abroad do this! On the Saturday evening we had a BBQ and Maisie and I stayed up into the early hours drinking G & T's and chatting away. Sunday was a very relaxed day and an early night, ready for an early train in the morning. 

It must be love! :-)

Homemade Pimm's

Chilling in the garden

Courgette pakoras

Another load of courgettes...

Last dinner with Maisie

Maisie's train was delayed half an hour, which was okay as she had plenty of time to get to the airport. We'd given her the advice to not get into a taxi without agreeing the price first but she messaged us later saying it wasn't possible to do that and all the taxi drivers had insisted on using the meter. She said that the meter had gone up to 60 leva. Now, we haven't actually done this journey in a taxi but the airport is only 10 kilometres from the city centre so shouldn't have been more than 15 leva, if not less! We were so angry as this is typical for Bulgarian taxi drivers to rip off tourists - it's happened every time we, or a friend, have got a taxi in Sofia airport (BE WARNED!!) Pete actually phoned Maisie and spoke to the driver before she'd paid. He politely asked what the guy was up to and why he was a theif and he managed to get it down to 25 leva! Still too much, but still - yay!!! Go Pete!! :-) 

Another fabulous week spent with our friends! Maisie is one of my oldest friends so it was so great to catch up with her after 2 years and also lovely for me to have some girl time! Thanks girls! :-) <3

Evening stroll with the doggy...

27th June - 5th July Alone time!

So, for the last week and a bit it has been just me and Pete again - it is so quiet! We've been resting our livers and trying to get a few bits and pieces done on the house. The only problem is that the temperature has been rising and rising and got to about 43 degrees last weekend. This is really not ideal for doing anything, let alone gardening or painting the windows on our south facing house.

Tooooo hot!!

But, of course, we're mad so we worked anyway! We've pickled onions and made courgette chutney. We've cleared the outside, front wall of the house. We've weeded the veg beds, pruned the vines and generally maintained the garden. Everything was looking quite tired and sad after the heat wave but on Monday we had a good downpour of rain which perked everything up a little. There is also a 'hosepipe ban' in the Chirpan area so we have to limit the watering, which is not good news. We also went on a hunt for a new swimming lake but found the lakes we were looking for are owned by a super rich hotelier and are off limits for swimming. We've had campers, who were a lovely Romanian couple and we ended up having dinner and a few drinks with them. We've harvested courgettes, spinach, chard, more courgettes, beetroots and our first few tomatoes and chillies. We've also planted cauliflowers (they were selling seedlings at the market) but I'm not sure how well they will do if this heat keeps up. 

Chutney making time

Preparing veg in the garden

Trimming the vines

Vines are making some good shade now!

Salad entirely from the garden (except the cheese!)

We put up the outside cold shower - it connects to the hose

Beans and kale harvest, onions ready to pickle

Front of house before...

And after. Much better!

Lake at Mogilovo...

Very pretty but for fishing only

Tart with courgette base - delicious actually!

Sunflowers near the village

Walking Lucy was only possible after about 8.30 when the sun was going down, it was way too hot any time before then! At least I got some nice evening photos though.

Chard harvest

Hummus made from chard stalks and tahini - very tasty, I recommend you make it if you're growing chard!

And, best of all, we have started to paint our windows and doors! We've decided on a traditional Bulgarian look so picked a dark brown varnish with beige for the details. I started by painting the downstairs windows - we'd already sanded and painted these a year and a half ago so they were easy and quick to do. Pete had the less satisfying job of sanding back the upstairs windows, which we haven't touched since living here! He did a great job scraping and sanding back the old paint, but there is a lot more work to be done to them - including some new glass and new putty. We've also painted over the purple front door and that now matches the windows. The first floor of the house is looking fab! 

Trying to stay cool

Window before...

And after

Pete working on the upstairs windows

Bedroom window before...

And after

New front door

Downstairs all matching :-)

So that is it! Summer is officially here and it is so good to be able to enjoy it with friends. We are now waiting for my cousin and her friend to arrive in Chirpan and we have three more weeks with guests ahead. Thanks for reading everyone! Here are a few last pictures from the last week... xxx

Cleaning the pool is now a daily chore, but at least it cools us down!

Stormy days

The hollyhocks I planted two years ago are finally blooming

View of the new patio and veg garden

Freshly picked ingredients for dinner...

And dinner is served. Chicken with salsa verde and lentils

Evening stroll

Goodbye!