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 :)
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
Friday, 17 February 2012
Bring on The Cabin Fever
This week hasn't been my best. We are still snowed in and although it's certainly not -20c something now it's still cold and there has been fresh snow overnight. Yesterday I felt really rough and could have quite happily gone to bed and given up on the day.
It's like living in Narnia without the fun adventures. Yes, the garden looks beautiful in the sunshine, all shimmery and clean. But I'm tired of the inactivity now. The poor animals are bored too. Bored animals usually means more repair jobs in the Spring and this year will be no different as the pigs have managed to demolish half of the barn wall. Having a bout of cold hasn't made thinsg easier for me and I'm still sniffling and coughing and short of breath at times but I'm getting better and since I decided to give up coffee I'm also sleeping much better than I have done for a while.
On a much more positive note, hubby is now a grandfather. His daughter gave birth to her first child, a son, on valentines day. The new arrival is named Ethan Jay and both mum and baby are doing well. Hubby flew off to the UK last weekend in the hope that he could be there when the baby was born and his wish came true. He's due home tomorrow though and it will be lovely to have him back and some company again :)
We had a slight mishap here last week. Eon turned up at the door and announced they were disconnecting our electricity. Apparently we should have had a letter to remind us that November's bill hadn't been paid, but to this day that letter has not arrived. There was nothing we could as they went direct to the electricity cables outside the house and cut them. Luckily we rang a friend, Dimitar, from Veliko Tarnovo and he went to Eon, paid the bill and the reconnection fee. We spent a strange night by candlelight and within 20 hours EON were back to switch us back on. Lesson learned, never miss a bill! Even though December and January had been paid they are well within their rights to disconnect the supply if there is a bill outstanding for 90 days.
Today there is brilliant sunshine, but a nippy wind. I've been to the village centre this morning for a cuppa with the ladies and a few essentials. If the weather forecasters are correct we're due to start thawing out over the weekend, so I'll have to try and finish the new ditch that hubby started, which should help drain the snow melt from the garden quickly. There's only a small bit to finish but I couldn't even see the ditch earlier today! It's time to check drainage areas in the hope that our garden doesn't get flooded. I'm looking forward to better weather, riding the ponies again and getting to work in the garden. I'm missing the long days, my shorts and flipflops and eating fresh vegetables that I've grown. What are you looking forward to this year?
It's like living in Narnia without the fun adventures. Yes, the garden looks beautiful in the sunshine, all shimmery and clean. But I'm tired of the inactivity now. The poor animals are bored too. Bored animals usually means more repair jobs in the Spring and this year will be no different as the pigs have managed to demolish half of the barn wall. Having a bout of cold hasn't made thinsg easier for me and I'm still sniffling and coughing and short of breath at times but I'm getting better and since I decided to give up coffee I'm also sleeping much better than I have done for a while.
On a much more positive note, hubby is now a grandfather. His daughter gave birth to her first child, a son, on valentines day. The new arrival is named Ethan Jay and both mum and baby are doing well. Hubby flew off to the UK last weekend in the hope that he could be there when the baby was born and his wish came true. He's due home tomorrow though and it will be lovely to have him back and some company again :)
We had a slight mishap here last week. Eon turned up at the door and announced they were disconnecting our electricity. Apparently we should have had a letter to remind us that November's bill hadn't been paid, but to this day that letter has not arrived. There was nothing we could as they went direct to the electricity cables outside the house and cut them. Luckily we rang a friend, Dimitar, from Veliko Tarnovo and he went to Eon, paid the bill and the reconnection fee. We spent a strange night by candlelight and within 20 hours EON were back to switch us back on. Lesson learned, never miss a bill! Even though December and January had been paid they are well within their rights to disconnect the supply if there is a bill outstanding for 90 days.
Today there is brilliant sunshine, but a nippy wind. I've been to the village centre this morning for a cuppa with the ladies and a few essentials. If the weather forecasters are correct we're due to start thawing out over the weekend, so I'll have to try and finish the new ditch that hubby started, which should help drain the snow melt from the garden quickly. There's only a small bit to finish but I couldn't even see the ditch earlier today! It's time to check drainage areas in the hope that our garden doesn't get flooded. I'm looking forward to better weather, riding the ponies again and getting to work in the garden. I'm missing the long days, my shorts and flipflops and eating fresh vegetables that I've grown. What are you looking forward to this year?
Wednesday, 8 February 2012
Snow, Ice and Yet More Snow
Winter has totally hit us, and we've been snowed in for about 2 weeks now. Nothing really unusual in that to be honest but the temperatures here plummetted and were below -20 degrees c for quite a while, making any outside jobs truly miserable. The whole of Eastern Europe is in the midst of a polar winter and parts of Bulgaria are snowbound, roads closed and without power, while others are flooding terribly. This winter has been declared to worst in 100 years.
So far we've had snow, then a day of thawing, followed by more snow, freezing rain and snow again, falling heavily for the last 2 days. The animals are bored being cooped up and the cat has taken to sitting on the hall radiator to warm himself up - between shouting for food, sleeping on the sofa or screaming for attention! He's even learnt how to open the bedroom door and gave us both a fright a couple of nights ago when he appeared hanging on the door handle! He's been called a few names lately but I won't post them here to be polite.
Hubby's off to the Uk at the weekend, only for a week but I'll be alone with the animals. I've had a short dose of flu but am feeling better today and we finally managed to get out and do a small shop yesterday, stock up on dog food and pay a few bills. I was really quite worried that the internet would be cut off as it's one of the bills we can't pay in the village and I knew it was overdue.
According to the Bulgarian news this polar winter will last until 20th February and then the temperatures should rise and stay above zero. Let's hope it gently melts the snow, otherwise we'll be waterlogged - even living almost on the top of a hill we have flooded once. Luckily we've managed to add more drainage ditches at the top of the garden so they should help drain water away from the house.
Heere's hoping spring is soon here and work on the garden can start again :)
So far we've had snow, then a day of thawing, followed by more snow, freezing rain and snow again, falling heavily for the last 2 days. The animals are bored being cooped up and the cat has taken to sitting on the hall radiator to warm himself up - between shouting for food, sleeping on the sofa or screaming for attention! He's even learnt how to open the bedroom door and gave us both a fright a couple of nights ago when he appeared hanging on the door handle! He's been called a few names lately but I won't post them here to be polite.
Hubby's off to the Uk at the weekend, only for a week but I'll be alone with the animals. I've had a short dose of flu but am feeling better today and we finally managed to get out and do a small shop yesterday, stock up on dog food and pay a few bills. I was really quite worried that the internet would be cut off as it's one of the bills we can't pay in the village and I knew it was overdue.
According to the Bulgarian news this polar winter will last until 20th February and then the temperatures should rise and stay above zero. Let's hope it gently melts the snow, otherwise we'll be waterlogged - even living almost on the top of a hill we have flooded once. Luckily we've managed to add more drainage ditches at the top of the garden so they should help drain water away from the house.
Heere's hoping spring is soon here and work on the garden can start again :)
Thursday, 5 January 2012
300 Posts & Happy New Year to all
Double whammy - Best wishes for 2012 and my 300th post here. So what does the future hold for us all? I'm not even sure I'd like to know if it was possible. Much easier to take things as they come and work out any problems on the way.
Speaking of problems - we've had no phone line now for 16 days thanks to Vivacom, their inept customer service and even worse, their ability to actually listen to clients and get off their backsides and fix the problem. How many e-mails and phone calls will it take to finally get sorted? I hope they don't expect to be paid for this month either.
Did you make any New Year's resolutions? I will admit to not making any at all this time round, nor even really thinking about it. Christmas and New Year have been a very quiet one for us and my days have been much the same as normal. Animal feeding, mucking out, riding the ponies and not much else. But the weather has been good, bright and sunny even though we've had a fair amount of snow.
I've figured out that Maya really likes snow, and loves to go out hacking in it. Instead of being quite laid back and happy to plod she can get quite exciteable but does calm down after 10 minutes or so. The snow has almost melted now but we're due more at the weekend but hopefully if all is well on saturday Karen is going into town so I can hitch a lift and stock up on provisions again. Karen has been over today so we managed a nice leisurely hack out with both of the ponies. It went well apart from Milka getting a fright when my dog Baba ran up behind her twice. Baba doesn't usually come with me but must have decided she fancied a change of scenery!
The 2 dogs we have been caring for over the holidays will be going home this weekend. Their owners Alex and Jodie are due back from Texas and are looking forward to seeing their pets again. It'll be a little quieter with 2 less dogs and a cat and great to see our friends again.
I'm already thinking about what to plant this year in the garden, but will have to wait until the ground dries up before I can really do anything. I'm hoping we have more volunteers too as there are plenty of jobs and I really do need the help. Plus I enjoy having friendly, interesting people about the place. It's always lovely to hear their stories, swap ideas and generally have a laugh.
Our friend Neville is back in hospital unfortunately as he has an infection. He's been rather ill again but hopefully is on the road to recovery. Get well soon Neville xxx
Speaking of problems - we've had no phone line now for 16 days thanks to Vivacom, their inept customer service and even worse, their ability to actually listen to clients and get off their backsides and fix the problem. How many e-mails and phone calls will it take to finally get sorted? I hope they don't expect to be paid for this month either.
Did you make any New Year's resolutions? I will admit to not making any at all this time round, nor even really thinking about it. Christmas and New Year have been a very quiet one for us and my days have been much the same as normal. Animal feeding, mucking out, riding the ponies and not much else. But the weather has been good, bright and sunny even though we've had a fair amount of snow.
I've figured out that Maya really likes snow, and loves to go out hacking in it. Instead of being quite laid back and happy to plod she can get quite exciteable but does calm down after 10 minutes or so. The snow has almost melted now but we're due more at the weekend but hopefully if all is well on saturday Karen is going into town so I can hitch a lift and stock up on provisions again. Karen has been over today so we managed a nice leisurely hack out with both of the ponies. It went well apart from Milka getting a fright when my dog Baba ran up behind her twice. Baba doesn't usually come with me but must have decided she fancied a change of scenery!
The 2 dogs we have been caring for over the holidays will be going home this weekend. Their owners Alex and Jodie are due back from Texas and are looking forward to seeing their pets again. It'll be a little quieter with 2 less dogs and a cat and great to see our friends again.
I'm already thinking about what to plant this year in the garden, but will have to wait until the ground dries up before I can really do anything. I'm hoping we have more volunteers too as there are plenty of jobs and I really do need the help. Plus I enjoy having friendly, interesting people about the place. It's always lovely to hear their stories, swap ideas and generally have a laugh.
Our friend Neville is back in hospital unfortunately as he has an infection. He's been rather ill again but hopefully is on the road to recovery. Get well soon Neville xxx
Saturday, 24 December 2011
White Christmas
We've had snow this week and it looks like it might actually stick around for tomorrow so it's a white christmas here. Everything looks crisp, white and clean, but the temperatures aren't that low - Yet!
As it's only the 2 of us here we aren't making a big thing of christmas but will be having a nice home reared pork joint with all the trimmings for lunch and a quiet day. There's a possibility of alcohol being involved too :) I'm also making up 2 spare lunches for our friends Patrecia and Neville and will walk down with them on boxing day. Poor Neville was meant to be coming here for christmas lunch as Patrecia should have been going to the UK to spend the holiday with her grandchildren, but Nev took poorly and ended up in hospital having major surgery and is lucky to be alive. He's home now and comfortable so I thought it would be nice to make them a lunch too.
Unfortunately we won't be able to telephone friends and family tomorrow as Vivacom have recently renewed our phone. We now have a fixed wireless connection instead of the old analogue line, but it's not working properly and we cannot dial out at all. Not even to customer services! I'm hoping it may miraculously be fixed tomorrow but that may not be the case :(
I've not been riding as much this last week due to the weather, but have the last 2 days managed to get out on one of the ponies. Maya and I had a lovely canter across the fields today in the snow. Certainly warmed me up and I felt completely free. I'm leaving off riding Milka again until the weather clears a bit, as she's a bit more of a handful and I don't fancy falling off in the snow - what a wuss eh?
This morning we had a visit from Karen and Peter, friends who live in the village. Karen has made us a lovely Christmas cake and also brought me a pair of Mountain Horse riding boots, designed for cold weather. Plus a rug to cover the horses back during cold weather. Maya and I certainly appreciated them both today, my toes and lower legs were toasty warm. Thanks Karen.
Well I'll sign off now and hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas time. May all your dreams come true and enjoy the festive season. Love to you all xxxx
As it's only the 2 of us here we aren't making a big thing of christmas but will be having a nice home reared pork joint with all the trimmings for lunch and a quiet day. There's a possibility of alcohol being involved too :) I'm also making up 2 spare lunches for our friends Patrecia and Neville and will walk down with them on boxing day. Poor Neville was meant to be coming here for christmas lunch as Patrecia should have been going to the UK to spend the holiday with her grandchildren, but Nev took poorly and ended up in hospital having major surgery and is lucky to be alive. He's home now and comfortable so I thought it would be nice to make them a lunch too.
Unfortunately we won't be able to telephone friends and family tomorrow as Vivacom have recently renewed our phone. We now have a fixed wireless connection instead of the old analogue line, but it's not working properly and we cannot dial out at all. Not even to customer services! I'm hoping it may miraculously be fixed tomorrow but that may not be the case :(
I've not been riding as much this last week due to the weather, but have the last 2 days managed to get out on one of the ponies. Maya and I had a lovely canter across the fields today in the snow. Certainly warmed me up and I felt completely free. I'm leaving off riding Milka again until the weather clears a bit, as she's a bit more of a handful and I don't fancy falling off in the snow - what a wuss eh?
This morning we had a visit from Karen and Peter, friends who live in the village. Karen has made us a lovely Christmas cake and also brought me a pair of Mountain Horse riding boots, designed for cold weather. Plus a rug to cover the horses back during cold weather. Maya and I certainly appreciated them both today, my toes and lower legs were toasty warm. Thanks Karen.
Well I'll sign off now and hope everyone has a fantastic Christmas time. May all your dreams come true and enjoy the festive season. Love to you all xxxx
Sunday, 18 December 2011
So Much to Tell
Where to start? It's been a while since I last updated, and there have been a few changes around here yet again. I've been making the most of the lovely weather we've had recently and indulging myself......by getting out and about on the horses.
There's so much of the village we rarely see and it's lovely to be plodding around the lanes and seeing things from a different view. Driving in the village you tend to miss things, pass them by or just don't have the time to look properly. Riding the ponies gives me the chance to take things in more, speak to the locals as I pass and just enjoy the beautiful countryside around us. And the ponies have been fantastic too, much better than I could imagine. There's a story to how I ended up back in the saddle so here it is.
If you've followed my blog you'll know that we've had the ponies for over 3 years and I've never really successfully ridden either of them. Partly due to a total loss of confidence on my part and the fact that they were only really ever used for pulling a cart in their lives before we bought them. Now I'm an experienced horse owner and have ridden for 30 years, but got stuck as I'd tried what I thought was the right way to retrain them and to be honest it hadn't really had much effect.
I had taken them back to basics when in reality they didn't need that, what they needed was a confident rider to just get on and ride! So when my friend Laura popped over one day with her Bulgarian rider Anton, that's what happened. Laura competes at 3 day events around Europe and does very well. Anton is her stable lad, who helps out and also rides very well. So on orders from Laura, poor Anton was literally thrown on one of our ponies, straight from the field and told to ride. I watched and suddenly saw a riding pony, working well in walk, trot and canter and not the driving pony I've been looking at for 3 years! So the next morning I put the tack on and went for a ride, got back safe and exhilerated(sp???) and did the same with the second pony - well what's the worst that could happen? So I've been riding most days since and it's given me a new sense of freedom and some much needed exercise too. And my driving ponies are now enjoying hacking out and being riding ponies :)
There's more news to post but I'll wait for another time, off for tea now and to relax with my husband. Catch up with you all soon.
There's so much of the village we rarely see and it's lovely to be plodding around the lanes and seeing things from a different view. Driving in the village you tend to miss things, pass them by or just don't have the time to look properly. Riding the ponies gives me the chance to take things in more, speak to the locals as I pass and just enjoy the beautiful countryside around us. And the ponies have been fantastic too, much better than I could imagine. There's a story to how I ended up back in the saddle so here it is.
If you've followed my blog you'll know that we've had the ponies for over 3 years and I've never really successfully ridden either of them. Partly due to a total loss of confidence on my part and the fact that they were only really ever used for pulling a cart in their lives before we bought them. Now I'm an experienced horse owner and have ridden for 30 years, but got stuck as I'd tried what I thought was the right way to retrain them and to be honest it hadn't really had much effect.
I had taken them back to basics when in reality they didn't need that, what they needed was a confident rider to just get on and ride! So when my friend Laura popped over one day with her Bulgarian rider Anton, that's what happened. Laura competes at 3 day events around Europe and does very well. Anton is her stable lad, who helps out and also rides very well. So on orders from Laura, poor Anton was literally thrown on one of our ponies, straight from the field and told to ride. I watched and suddenly saw a riding pony, working well in walk, trot and canter and not the driving pony I've been looking at for 3 years! So the next morning I put the tack on and went for a ride, got back safe and exhilerated(sp???) and did the same with the second pony - well what's the worst that could happen? So I've been riding most days since and it's given me a new sense of freedom and some much needed exercise too. And my driving ponies are now enjoying hacking out and being riding ponies :)
There's more news to post but I'll wait for another time, off for tea now and to relax with my husband. Catch up with you all soon.
Sunday, 20 November 2011
Dentist Time
Recently a horsey friend living not too far away recommended a mobile vet who was newly trained and looking for new clients in Bulgaria. He'd been to visit her horses and floated (rasped) their teeth so this week I've had him here to see our 2 girls and of course Maggie the donkey.
We've been asking locally for a couple of years to find a vet who had the right equipment and knowledge to come and make sure our girls were comfortable to no avail. In fact the locals just laughed at the idea of a horse needing a dentist! As time went on and hopes faded of finding someone our lovely donkey started having a bit of trouble eating her hay and keeping weight on, which usually mean there is a problem with the teeth.
So when Thursday arrived I was quite looking forward to meeting the vet and watching him work. I wasn't disappointed either. He was very nice, professional and kind to the animals. They were sedated and had probably their first ever teeth rasp done without any major hiccups. Then it was onto the cat - who was castrated on our dining room table!
All went well, everyone came round from their sedation and even the poor cat was back to normal within 12 hours and shouting to be fed again. I'm not even sure he's realised that certain parts are missing, but he's already in winter, lounge lizard mode and spends most of his days curled up with the dogs sleeping. Lucky animals!
We've been asking locally for a couple of years to find a vet who had the right equipment and knowledge to come and make sure our girls were comfortable to no avail. In fact the locals just laughed at the idea of a horse needing a dentist! As time went on and hopes faded of finding someone our lovely donkey started having a bit of trouble eating her hay and keeping weight on, which usually mean there is a problem with the teeth.
So when Thursday arrived I was quite looking forward to meeting the vet and watching him work. I wasn't disappointed either. He was very nice, professional and kind to the animals. They were sedated and had probably their first ever teeth rasp done without any major hiccups. Then it was onto the cat - who was castrated on our dining room table!
All went well, everyone came round from their sedation and even the poor cat was back to normal within 12 hours and shouting to be fed again. I'm not even sure he's realised that certain parts are missing, but he's already in winter, lounge lizard mode and spends most of his days curled up with the dogs sleeping. Lucky animals!
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