March

WOW have we been busy!

Now that Spring has sprung there is suddenly everything to do and the longer days mean we've been working until 6/7 o'clock every day. We are making the most of the glorious weather (+25 degrees) to build our new shed. It's also all actions go in the garden - we've already had to strim and mow twice (and it needs it again) and obviously there is planting of veg and watering every day.

But, enough about April, let's look back to March when we had friends and family visiting for the entire month and the weather was much wetter - there was even more snow, which feels like a life time ago already.

Kenneth

When I left you last I was just waiting for Pete and his dad, Kenneth, to arrive with our new car. I say car, we actually bought a 4x4 pick up truck and it is soooo cool!!!! We can drive anywhere we want now and we plan to go camping in it too and sleep in the back! It also has 5 seats, which means we can drive friends around comfortably when they visit - unlike in the van. Obviously I wasn't on the drive over here but the boys said that everything went smoothly and I think they enjoyed the journey, despite the freezing and snowy weather right across Europe. They are arrived with a car full of goodies from the UK - lots of food for the larder and several bits of furniture and appliances. The car was completely full to the brim and we had unloading everything - it was like Christmas come early! 

The travellers arrive!

Starting to unload the treasure trove

Village views

K stayed with us for just under a week and we were luckily blessed with several days of sunshine. The first stop was to SZ to pick up our new residency cards and do a big supermarket shop. With our new resident cards we were able to insure the new car here in BG - they give you a month or so insurance on the condition you the car registered on to Bulgarian plates within that time.

Flowers for Women's Day in SZ

Carrr

We took advantage of the lovely weather to do some work in the garden. That brick flower bed we'd built in February got a coat of render and K helped me begin filling it up whilst Pete was chipping away at the huge earth pile where we wanted to build our shed. We also did some weeding, pruning trees and general garden stuff.

Brick flower bed (looking ugly)

Rendering in the sunshine

Helping

One coat done!

Just keep digging

Safety first when pruning the trees

We did make some time to relax though and we decided to go to Midalidare Hotel and Spa in a village close by. We've been here once before but as it's not so cheap it is quite treat for us! We want to make it a once a year, winter tradition but we hadn't been able to go with the van. We also thought it would be nice for K to see - it's certainly a change from digging in the mud! We had a lovely day wearing dressing gowns and strolling between the pool, Jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and delicious wine! The sun was shining and we even got some sunbathing in.

Country walk

Afternoon sun lounging

Beautiful evening in the orchard

Spa day!

On the 13th we all got up early in the morning for the drive to Sofia. We'd offered to drive K to the airport and my cousin, Florence, had booked her flight to arrive an hour or so after we dropped K off. The drive was easy and very smooth in our lovely new car. Once we'd said goodbye to K we drove around to a petrol station to wait for my cousin.

Florence

As F arrived the heavens opened and there was a huge down pour of rain! It wasn't the best introduction - winter in the rain can seem pretty bleak in a big concrete city - but it cleared up as we drove home and we had a few clear days ahead of us. We managed to rope F into helping us with the shed building so we spent a couple of days finishing the digging in the corner of the garden. Pete dug whilst F and I carried the buckets and filled up the flower bed. The bed is now very over full, but at least everything is in one neat place and we can use the earth as and when we need it. When we got to the corner with the old out-house we had to use our trusty 'jigger-jigger' to help break up the concrete. We had filled the hole of the old toilet over a year ago, with rubble from the house, so we only had to break up the base. We made quite a lot of rubble which we used to fill some of the pot holes in the road outside our house. Always thinking about the neighbourhood! :-) 

Welcome Florence!

Diggy digging

Malko po malko

Flower bed filling up

Rubble in the road

And that's it - we're ready to build!

Love this yellow cornel blossom

Beer time after work

Later on whilst F was here we found time to lay concrete bricks into the ground, onto which we could lay supporting beams and then floor joists on top. This left us with quite a lot of space between the ground and the future floor which we will later fill with large stones and rubble from around the garden. It seems crazy to dig so much out only to re-fill it again, but that's the way it goes! Once the floor joists were down we could build up and, with F's help, we got up the frames of the walls - yay! We're building the shed out of wood, in the same style as the toilet block, so the structure is not difficult to make. 

Working hard

Supporting beams on blocks

Floor joists down

Wall frames in

Cat

But we didn't just make F work!! We also ate a ridiculous amount of food, including baking and eating a cake every few days! One evening we spent about 3 hours making pasta for a homemade lasagne. It was so worth it though, the lasagne was bloody delicious and lasted a few days as a tasty lunch (everyone knows that cold lasagne is the best.)

Making pasta

We went out on walks around the village and countryside and we did some 4x4ing on the very muddy tracks in the surrounding fields. One afternoon we loaded up the car with a BBQ, wood and food and drove to the lake. Last year the lake was completely dried up so we were slightly apprehensive of what we would find there... but VERY pleased to find it full again! Yay! The dirt track there was full of holes and extremely muddy so it was an exciting (and slightly nerve racking - we didn't want to get stuck!) drive. We had a very chilled BBQ by the lake, although it was still a bit too cold to swim.

Gorgeous green

Pretty dead nettles

Lucy likes the new car too - she gets her own window!

BBQ at the lake

Sunset strolls

Misty fields

In the two weeks we also went out on a couple of day trips. One day we took the train to Plovdiv, which made a lovely change and, for the first time, we visited the Turkish coffee house by the mosque. The baklava and muhallebi were delicious but we weren't a huge fan of the grainy Turkish coffee. I know it's how it comes, but anyway! The place was really cool, we will go again and I recommend it if you visit Plovdiv. In summer there are seats outside too, which would make for great people watching.

Pretty Plovdiv

Another day trip we had was to the Stara Planina mountains. It was such a foggy day so we sadly didn't get much view, but it certainly made for some eerie mountain/forest driving. We took the back roads over the Sredna Gora hills (as opposed to the motorway) which was through stunning forest - ideal for mushroom hunting in autumn and not too far from home. Over the other side of the hills we hit the Valley of the Roses and had a quick stop in the village of Shipka to see the church there.

Martenitsa tree

After a fleeting visit of the church we started up the mountains towards the Shipka monument. It was getting foggier and foggier, there was snow on the ground and the trees were covered in ice crystals - it was so beautiful. We found Shipka monument and hiked the few hundred steps to the top. We've not actually visited here before so it was interesting to see the museum and learn a bit about the battles that went on up there. Unfortunately the viewing platform was shut, not that we would see anything anyway! 

Steps to the monument

Shipka monument, this picture looks much clearer than in real life!

Stop for a warming soup at the top of the mountain

Last, but by no means least, was a stop at Buzludzha. We parked at the bottom of the hill (you can drive up but it makes a more impressive entrance if you walk, we think) and slowly hiked to the top. It is a very steep path over open grassland and we couldn't see more than a few meters in any direction, which was very horror film-esque. It was freezing, but it was amazing! Buzludzha is an extraordinary building at any time, but this kind of weather makes it feel even more mysterious and awesome. As expected there was no access to the inside but we walked around and we were surprised to find a few other people as mad as us up there! Pete and I have visited Buzludzha several times over the last 5 years and something has changed every time. All the graffiti is sadly painted over now and the security warnings have got bigger. We don't know what they are planning to do with the place, but I suggest you visit as soon as possible - or it may be too late. 

Gorgeous forest

Cousins! :-)

Long hike into the unknown

First glimpse of Buzludzha

After a long (and chilly) day of sight seeing we drove the motor way back and had a cosy evening at home.

The rest of the time was spent relaxing at home, either in the garden or inside by the fire. Later in the second week it actually snowed for a couple of days - we couldn't believe it! We were just thankful we hadn't planted any veg out yet. There was nothing for it but to hunker down. We played an epic game of Monopoly, we played Scrabble, we read books, did a puzzle, drank wine, ate more cake and watched some good films. Despite the weather we had an amazing time with F and would love for her to visit us again soon - perhaps with a bit of sunshine next time! :-) 

Where did THIS come from!?

Pretty though

Scrabble and wine night

On the 28th we all woke up in the dark, at 5am, to take F to the bus stop in Chirpan. We waved her off and headed home for a nap before carrying on with the day! We had the day to ourselves to clean the house before our next guest arrived the following day. The sun was shining today and we spent most of our time in the garden planting seeds and weeding the remaining weedy beds. 

Clear and tidy(ish)

Ben

The next day B arrived - Pete's bestie. Those of you who follow the blog closely may remember him from previous visits - it was his 4th or 5th time here. He was just here for a few days this time to give us a hand with whatever we were working on. So, of course, he helped us with the shed! Gosh, we sound like right slave drivers! People do want to help us, I think. At least they say they do!

Anyway, B did a fab job helping us make a start on the wooden walls, which was extra work as we have made them double sided with plastic between to weather the building. He was very lucky as the day he arrived the weather took a turn for the better and we had hot and sunny days for the entire long weekend! (In fact, as I mentioned earlier, we've had very hot and sunny days ever since.) 

Working on the walls in the sunshine

B was only here for 3 and a half days so we just chilled in the sunshine and went to the market on Friday morning. He just likes to come to relax and be in nature, so the boys went on a few walks and just enjoyed smelling the blossom and listening to the buzz of the bees. On the Saturday night we had a BBQ outside followed by a rather boozy bonfire that lasted until the early hours. Needless to say Sunday was a rest day for everyone that we spent recovering and relaxing. 

I can't get enough of this pink cherry blossom!

Enjoying the sunset

An evening by the fire

Good night

Monday morning we all drove to SZ and we dropped B off at the bus stop there before doing a bit of shopping and heading home. That is all for March... and what an amazing and eventful month it was! We feel very happy and lucky that our friends and family want to visit us here so often - especially the ones that want to help us!!! ;-) We've had the last couple of weeks to ourselves, and we've been cracking on with the shed. We're awaiting our next guest later this week. 

I will try to be more prompt with my next update and will give you all some updates on the veg garden, as it is really just starting to get going now. Spring has certainly arrived and it is glorious... in fact we are already hoping for some rain again! 

Until next time folks. Chao x