New Charlotte Pics

Here are a couple of photo's I took of Charlotte enjoying the sunshine a couple of days ago. She really does enjoy time outside and extra attention from anyone walking past. She's so friendly and loves company usually but still isn't keen on Yordani, our friend and village pig expert. I'm not sure why she's taken a dislike to him (especially since he bred her) but she has and makes it well known when he goes near her!

These pictures don't actually do Charlotte any justice, up close she's very pretty and quite a size - probably close to 200 kilo's now and looking really well. She loves a shower with the hose pipe and then a mud bath to follow! But it stops her from getting sunburnt and she thinks it's great fun. Luckily for me the piece of garden she was in is to be converted to raised beds this week so all the rooting around hasn't really damaged anything.

Well I'm off to get some sleep now and prepare myself for another day in my little rural paradise. Where is the place you'd most like to be now?

Barbecue Season

Barbecue season has well and truly started here in Sushitsa and we love it. Eating outdoors around the big table while the sun sets is great, better still with good company and maybe a few cold beers.

Last night we had a lovely meal, then once the sun had truly set, moved indoors for a tequila or 2 and a game of cards. We had a good laugh, played poker and pontoon and had a good night. Although once everyone else had gone to bed and I was the only one left awake there was an awful commotion outside - off I went to investigate and I think I disturbed a fox trying to raid the chicken pen. Poor Butch, out Bulgarian heinz 57 varieties dog was frantic, barking like mad and dragging his kennel (to which he's chained) across the garden. On closer inspection I found the large cockerel outside in attack mode and a small black hen huddled under a bush looking a bit tatty! So today hubby has made the chicken house more secure and we'll be making sure all the birds are safely locked away at night times.......at least I know now where our 2 bantam hens and 1 bantam cockerel have gone to!

Soon we'll be having home grown salad with our meals as the lettuce and radishes are almost ready to eat mmmm. We're still no further forward with the main part of the vegetable garden as there's so much water there. The top soil has dried to a hard crust but underneath is mud, although the spring that appeared after the last rain has slowed right down now so hopefully it won't be much longer before the tomatoes, peppers and chillies can be planted outside.

Work on the raised melon beds has stopped and Charlotte has enjoyed a few hours out in the sunshine in the area that we will be using as it's fenced and she can roam loose, chew on the grass and please herself for a while. She's made a huge pit in the ground which I filled with water so she could have a good, old wallow. Half hour later and there she is, mud everywhere, grunting away happily and even posing for the camera! I'll get the photo's added later though as I'd like to take a few more of various things.

My squash, pumpkins and peas are finally starting to show themselves, everything else is coming along well and I have yet more seedlings on the go in the house to be planted out this month. The next few weeks should be quite busy in the garden and also with lucerne being cut and the grass that needs scythed, dried and stored for winter. I may even lose a little weight (fingers crossed) and will most definitely be topping up my tan while I work :)

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!

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!

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

Updated Piglet Pics

Breeding pigs was something we just kind of fell into, not a truly planned event but needless to say it's been an experience. One that we will repeat.

 

The piglets are a joy to have most of the time, they're happy, funny and so friendly, but that doesn't mean they won't end up on a plate! Raising any animal for meat is a job on it's own. There's time, energy, patience and also the monetary factor to consider. Animal feed is not cheap and by the time you work out how many hours has gone into caring for the animal realistically you can buy meat from a supermarket for the same price. It's the knowledge of knowing the animal has had the best life possible, been fed properly, cared for and loved and also met it's end without being overly stressed, man handled or treated badly.

Our pigs all seem to enjoy their lives, they love a good itch and will follow you around like dogs. Mind you it's not all plain sailing as they can be extremely vocal at feeding times and do occasionally push us mere humans out of the way if we're not quick enough putting feed bowls down. They also can be quite destructive but that's because they're so nosy! We used to take our first pig, Mikey, for walks on a lead - that gave the locals something to gossip about ;)

For me, raising pigs has been challenging at times but very worthwhile. We do eat pork and by far the best we've ever eaten has come from our own pigs. Last year we tried gammon and bacon too with great success. But mostly I like keeping them as they're intelligent, clean and are great with people. I think they're cute too - I mean how could anyone not love a face like this....