Thursday 29 April 2010

Rude Awakenings

This morning things were rather noisy here and I was woken up to the sound of my 2 teenagers arguing about pig food at 6.30am! Apparently we've run out - no one tells me when the bags is 1/4 full though - they wait until there's nothing left and then complain grrrr. Well that's kids for you I guess.

I'm off out this afternoon to my little gardening job which I enjoy. It's nice to get some work done in an orderly and purely ornamental garden and see other people too. Sometimes I think I spend too much time here at home and other times I relish the fact that I don't need other people around me constantly. I'm quite happy surrounded by the animals and pottering about as I do most days.

What makes you happy?

The Grass is Always Greener!

The grass here is amazing right now - very lush, thick and green. Apart from the part of the garden that we wanted to have grassed! That's just a bunch of weeds that look somewhat bare in patches and altogether shabby.

What is supposed to be my summer vegetable patch is growing huge tufts of fantastic grass, in between the stagnant pools of water and mud, oh and not forgetting the spring which is still flowing in the middle of the garden unfortunately.

The weather is supposed to be glorious for the next 10 days so it would be ideal to get outside and get planting - but not me and not yet. I am not giving up hope though because I will have a vegetable garden this year, like the last 2 and we will get a good variety of crops. I just need more patience and a rotovator!

Still no sign of bantam chicks or turkey poults and the piglets are getting bigger by the day - cheekier too. Their mum, Charlotte, spent half of yesterday outside in what will be my melon patch, rooting around, grazing happily and wallowing in a hole she made that I filled with water for her - result one very happy but filthy pig!

Tuesday 27 April 2010

Yay More Friends On The Way

The village we live in is quite small compared to others, about 1000 people live here, mostly Bulgarian or Bulgarian Turkish. There are 3 English families live here full time but many more have bought properties here either for investment purposes or as holiday homes.


We've met some of the other ex-pats with houses and they're a nice bunch of people. A lovely couple that we met last year who have a house at the other end of the village are right now on their way across Europe and I believe tonight they're in Hungary so should be here within the next couple of days hopefully. Plus we have another set of friends and their 4 children hopefully moving to Bulgaria soon. So this summer should be the best so far with lots of good company, hopefully a few BBQ's and laughs along the way.

So far we've made a lot of friends from all over the UK and further afield and some great Bulgarian friends too, but ti's still nice to be able to converse easily in your native language. The kids are doing great at learning not only to understand Bulgarian but also to read and write it, I'm not sure I'll ever get up to their standard though but I do try. At least we have some fun while trying to learn and mistakes often turn into jokes!

Sunday 25 April 2010

Starting to Take Shape

After a couple of busy days in the garden I've noticed more and more seedlings starting to show themselves which is inspiring. Spinach, courgettes, squash and cucumbers are coming along nicely. The tomato and pepper seedlings are also doing well and  hopefully will be in the ground soon.

We've been building an enclosed and dog proof patch for melons to grow, with mesh sides so they can climb, and slightly raised beds to make weeding a little easier on my back. later on in the year the raised beds can be either converted into a hot bed system or we can use the posts that are already in and create a polytunnel type structure and extend the growing season a while.

 Today we're having a "Quiet" day as last night we had a wonderful BBQ and a few drinks.....well maybe more than a few lol. Although I don't feel ill or hungover I am really tired, slightly chilly and low on enthusiasm so have managed less than I'd have liked to achieve but the jobs needing done will still be here tomorrow. I did get some more strawberry plants in, helped hubby to sort through some stuff in the small tool room (which will be my utility room at some point) and have a lovely pan of pease pudding on the go which will be lovely at tea time with our ham salad.

Now I think it's time to "Veg Out" in front of the TV until animal and human feeding time! Normal life will return tomorrow lol