You Can Take The Girl Out Of The Village.......

But not the village out of the girl! I've been into town shopping today and while it's lovely doing something different from the normal I do miss the peace and quiet of home. Some people live their lives entirely in a town and thrive on it but to be honest I don't miss the hustle and bustle. Yes, it's easier to find things you need, public transport is abundant and there's plenty to do and see, but for me it's not what I want or need in my life right now. I'm happier at home or even down in the village cafe chatting over coffee with the local ladies.

The village centre is always kept clean and tidy, at this time of the year it's full of flowers and most mornings is quite busy with people buying bread, meeting up and generally doing their morning chores. Friday mornings are the busiest since it's market day and everyone seems to be in a good mood. A lot of the villagers have no transport apart from donkey/horse and carts so rarely go out of the village, they survive on food grown in their gardens and basic necessities that can be bought in one of the many shops.

When we first moved here I did find one or two of the shopkeepers quite blunt but now that we know them all better things are great, and they're used to me asking the bulgarian names for things by now! They do appreciate that I am trying to learn Bulgarian even if sometimes I struggle with things I don't usually buy.

I'm not sure I'll ever be totally fluent in Bulgarian but do enjoy being able to have a conversation with the lovely friends we have here. Reading and writing Bulgarian is something I find very hard and admittedly I don't really try. Place names, food items and road signs I can manage but that's about all. Maybe I should add learning to read and write Bulgarian to my winter things to do.

The piglets are growing up so fast and are hilarious to watch as they dart around the yard and will play with anything they can get hold of - tonights game involved an empty feed bag and they looked like they were having a great time. Mum is totally unconcerned when they are in the yard and usually carries on munching at the bits of grass growing while they play. They are so unfazed by us being around and enjoy a bit of a scratch. We still have 3 of the older piglets here too and they are getting rather big and have been busy making themselves a wallow by tipping their water bucket at least twice a day! They're filthy but happy and that's what counts.