Todorov Den at Arbanassi

I've just noticed that I wrote this blog post and didn't publish it.......oopps!

On Saturday  March 3rd I headed off to Arbanassi, which is a village about 30 minutes drive from us that is very popular with tourists and holidaying Bulgarians, I met up with 2 expat friends and we had a great afternoon.. Arbanassi is a beautiful place, very traditional looking but also full of stalls selling souvenirs. There are some lovely looking restaurants and hotels, a large castle-like place that is very over the top for my tastes and also riding stables where there are a lot of sport and competition horses kept.

Todorov Den is a celebration of the horse, loosely translated it's St. Theodore day. Horses have their manes and tails plaited and wear red & wed bands to follow the tradition of Baba Marta and then there's a parade through Arbanassi village to the centre.Where the mayor, priest and a large crowd are gathered to celebrate and watch the proceedings. There are prizes for the best turned out horses and each rider and horse are blessed by the Popa (priest).

The weather was sunny, but cold and very windy. Despite that, the horses all behaved really well and a good day was had. Some years there is shojumping back at the stables but this time the ground was too wet to be safe. Some people did get to ride the horses around the yard and the children present all got to pet Gina the Shetland pony.

So a much needed afternoon out with friends, a few laughs and beautiful horses was just what I needed. Here's a photo of the carriage horse pair.

The Big Thaw

Hubby has been home just over a week now and life is slowly returning to normal. It's lovely having him back but I do really miss my 2 kids. For them, life has improved by going back to the UK. They're both doing well at school, have lots of friends and seem happy. That's waht counts at the end of the day, I'm just a little sad that I don't see them every day.

In other news there was a huge thaw over the weekend, temperatures rose, the sun shone and the snow is almost gone thankfully. We can finally get the car out again so headed out on Saturday morning to collect bales of hay for the ponies and donkey as we'd run short. Luckily we bought some in the village so didn't have far to go, only to arrive home to find water rushing under the garden gate and a river flowing down the garden! The water level got so high that at one point we started moving electrical goods and furniture upstairs as the water got into the house and kept rising. A few hours of baling out, moving things around and trying not to panic were had, until the water slowed down and started dropping......phew :) So nothing ruined, some wet floors and socks but we're ok. Now there's just the mud to cope with.

So fingers crossed spring is now really on it's way. This week (1st March) we'll be giving and receiving martenitsa's again. They're the traditional red and white wrist bands or pins that we wear to appease Baba Marta in the hope of good weather. They're worn until you see the first storks of the year, then tied to a tree or placed under a stone for luck. The 3rd of March is Todoroff Den, a day to celebrate horses, this year I'll be heading out to meet friends at Arbanassi and to see the parade of riders there. Also coming up is International Ladies Day on 8th March, and that's a day out for the ladies of the village, should be fun as they're a comical bunch once you can understand the Bulgarian language. So a busy month for me and if the ground dries up enough I'll be starting my Spring planting outdoors also, onions and radish mainly. I have a few seedling in pots inside already, garlic and peas overwintered in the garden but I think the lettuces have been eaten by snails so I'd best plant more.

Hopefully I'll be back to riding shortly too, it seems like years since I last went for a hack out. I'm just waiting for the ground to dry a little more and I'll be off exploring again. The ponies and donkey haven't had the easiest of winters and were really bored when they couldn't get out. Maybe this year we'll have time to build a small turnout paddock with a shelter which is much needed. One of the ponies had colic the day before hubby came home so a visit from a local vet was needed and a very stressful night was had by me. Luckily she's fully recovered now but cannot have any straw bedding as she will eat it and that could be part of the problem.

I'm off to my bed now, but hope you're all having a good week. Leka nosht :)

Chestita Baba Marta

Once again it's the start of March and for the Bulgarians that means Martenitza's. Lovely red and white bracelets or broaches given to friends on the 1st of March to appease Baba Marta.

I really do like this tradition and so do the kids, who were busy last night making red and white plaited bands for all of their friends at school. Last year I blogged a piece about the day so here's a link to it for anyone that would like to have a look. Baba Marta

We still have snow on the ground despite a week's reprieve and higher temperatures. Just goes to show how unpredictable things can be here weather wise. One day we were out in the garden working in T-shirts in +17 degrees C and the next the snow was back again. Temperatures have been pretty low and rarely above freezing for the last week, even during the daytime. And according to news reports we're to have a week of higher temperatures mid march then back down to freezing again. Best not put the thermals away yet!

Still spring is only just around the corner then the hard work will start again. We've got fence building, gardening and planting to do, a compost heap to spread and various other outside jobs that need attention this year. Sounds like it will be a busy year and I'm looking forward to it.