Another very busy month has almost escaped us. More volunteers, more work done and I'm still riding the horses too. So pretty happy all round. Well, apart from waiting the last 3 weeks for a new internet service via Vivacom........Fingers crossed tomorrow is actually the day they WILL turn up, unlike the last 3 appointments they've broken. If all goes well, we will be joining the 21st century and have broadband in less than 24 hours time.
For most in the UK, broadband is the norm these days I'd expect. But we have waited over 5 years. So when I heard from a lovely friend that someone she knew in the village had broadband installed, we both went into town to enquire. "Yes" said the sales assistant, who speaks very good English, and the following week my friend did indeed have broadband installed. Alas they didn't realise how many people here would want the same so after the initial rush apparently the system couldn't cope with demand and has had to be modified by the engineers.
In other news, my garden has been wonderful this year. My plan for using less water, more mulch seems to have worked well and the straw bale plants have flourished. We've had a bumper crop of tomatoes and many other things and I'm still picking vegetables daily. Really makes a difference to our food bills, especially when, at times, we've had 8 or 9 people here to eat daily. There are more straw bales in place for next year and I'm hopeful we can continue to make improvements.
The ponies are looking well and continue to improve in their ridden work. I've been hacking out a lot with a friend and it makes such a difference to have someone to chat to while riding. I feel fitter too, which is a good thing as I do tend to be on the lazy side. But with the weather finally cooling off it's so much easier to go riding. It's already getting dark earlier and every day we notice more leaves falling from the trees and the temperatures drop slightly. I've already emptied the pool as it hadn't been used for 2 weeks, it just needs put away somewhere rodent-proof for the winter.
Regular readers might notice a new widget on my blog - I'm also writing articles and publishing to Hubpages.com so please feel free to click and have a look. The link should open in a new window.
Tuesday, 25 September 2012
Monday, 27 August 2012
Time Flies!
Whoa there, it's almost the end of August and our summer has been rather hectic to say the least. We've had horrendous heatwaves, family visiting and I made a quick trip to the UK to see family. Plus all the usual jobs in the garden, arranging winter animal feed and finding things to do with all the produce we've grown.
Life goes on in Bulgaria and although it seems to move at a less frantic pace it can still be tiring. Luckily we've had some wonderful volunteers this year and have achieved more than expected. Still, there's plenty to be done and more volunteers on the way. We also have 2 kittens now, Treacle & Trixie. they're bundles of fun and growing fast!
Today we're having a break from the extreme heat of the past week where the thermometer was well over 40 Degrees C. It's presently raining, windy and overcast, a lovely change. Early this morning I've been out for a hack on the ponies with a friend and thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially after the ponies had a 2 week intensive training course this month and are now much more sensible, responsive and nicer to ride.
Here's a selection of the latest photo's taken here by some of our volunteers.
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| Riding with Michele, a volunteer who came and helped with the ponies. |
Life goes on in Bulgaria and although it seems to move at a less frantic pace it can still be tiring. Luckily we've had some wonderful volunteers this year and have achieved more than expected. Still, there's plenty to be done and more volunteers on the way. We also have 2 kittens now, Treacle & Trixie. they're bundles of fun and growing fast!
Today we're having a break from the extreme heat of the past week where the thermometer was well over 40 Degrees C. It's presently raining, windy and overcast, a lovely change. Early this morning I've been out for a hack on the ponies with a friend and thoroughly enjoyed it. Especially after the ponies had a 2 week intensive training course this month and are now much more sensible, responsive and nicer to ride.
Here's a selection of the latest photo's taken here by some of our volunteers.
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| Trixie |
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| Maggie |
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| Molly |
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| Baba |
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| The gorgeous Charlotte |
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| Yantra |
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| Maya after a bath |
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| Milka waiting for a bath. |
Wednesday, 23 May 2012
Latest Photo's
I wanted to share with you some photographs of our latest volunteers and the work they've done. Five out of six are leaving this weekend to continue their travels and we're so lucky to have had them stay with us.
So this Blog post is dedicated to all of the volunteers we've had over the last year, who have helped, created, laughed and enriched our lives. Thanks guys and girls!
So this Blog post is dedicated to all of the volunteers we've had over the last year, who have helped, created, laughed and enriched our lives. Thanks guys and girls!
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| The ladies off to work. From left to right : Joanna, Allison, Cheryl, Camille & Dee. |
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| Nick having a go at Archery. |
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| Dee & Antoine at the archery range. |
Wednesday, 16 May 2012
Changing Times
May has been a strange month so far. We've had higher than average temperatures and lower rainfall, until this week when all of the rain seems to have fallen over 2 days with more forecast. So today was an indoors, quiet and pretty dull day.
Maybe it's because hubby filled the above ground pool? a freak weather pattern? or possibly just global warming/cooling? Who knows for sure? But please just let me have a little sunshine during the day and rain after 8pm :)
Our volunteers are getting along well and working very hard. They have a few projects on the go and some are staying longer than planned as they'd like to see things through and complete tasks they have a part in. I really must say that they're a lovely bunch of folk, from a variety of places and with many skills and ideas between them. Plus they will eat almost anything so I'm getting to try out a few new recipes, which seem to be appreciated.
The vegetable garden is starting to produce again and is almost fully planted. New raised beds have been built and there are a few experiments on the go using old straw, compost and whatever I could find around the place. I'm glad to say that the last 3 years trying to improve areas of soil seem to be paying off nicely.
We have some lovely new artwork done by some of the volunteers, more planned for another rainy day and hopefully they will remind us of the fun we had when they were here. The sewing machine has been getting regular use, new cushion covers made, garments altered or repaired with some fabric leftover for more projects.
Our orchard area is now clear of the many young, wild fruit trees that were dominating the area, new fencing has been erected and a stone wall rebuilt. Hopefully soon the weather will break and it can be finished. Then the horses can enjoy grazing without being tethered.
I'm off to bed soon and hope you are all enjoying life, but before I go I wanted to answer Michael's comment from my previous post.
There are a fair amount of British expats in the VT region, and differing reasons for moving to this area. Some may find solace in the fact that there are others close by that they have things in common with, others because property is cheap here. Personally we moved here because we loved the scenery (and did look at other areas of BG before VT). Plus we could find what we were looking for - which was a structurally sound house (in need of renovation) with more than the average amount of land. Truthfully the British residents in the area are pretty well spread apart and do not live in each other's pockets. We are 1 of 4 expat families living in this village (10 people in total including 3 children) and a very small proportion of the village inhabitants (at the last census 806). We all live in different parts of the village and have Bulgarian friends and neighbours.
Keep posting the comments folks :)
Maybe it's because hubby filled the above ground pool? a freak weather pattern? or possibly just global warming/cooling? Who knows for sure? But please just let me have a little sunshine during the day and rain after 8pm :)
Our volunteers are getting along well and working very hard. They have a few projects on the go and some are staying longer than planned as they'd like to see things through and complete tasks they have a part in. I really must say that they're a lovely bunch of folk, from a variety of places and with many skills and ideas between them. Plus they will eat almost anything so I'm getting to try out a few new recipes, which seem to be appreciated.
The vegetable garden is starting to produce again and is almost fully planted. New raised beds have been built and there are a few experiments on the go using old straw, compost and whatever I could find around the place. I'm glad to say that the last 3 years trying to improve areas of soil seem to be paying off nicely.
We have some lovely new artwork done by some of the volunteers, more planned for another rainy day and hopefully they will remind us of the fun we had when they were here. The sewing machine has been getting regular use, new cushion covers made, garments altered or repaired with some fabric leftover for more projects.
Our orchard area is now clear of the many young, wild fruit trees that were dominating the area, new fencing has been erected and a stone wall rebuilt. Hopefully soon the weather will break and it can be finished. Then the horses can enjoy grazing without being tethered.
I'm off to bed soon and hope you are all enjoying life, but before I go I wanted to answer Michael's comment from my previous post.
There are a fair amount of British expats in the VT region, and differing reasons for moving to this area. Some may find solace in the fact that there are others close by that they have things in common with, others because property is cheap here. Personally we moved here because we loved the scenery (and did look at other areas of BG before VT). Plus we could find what we were looking for - which was a structurally sound house (in need of renovation) with more than the average amount of land. Truthfully the British residents in the area are pretty well spread apart and do not live in each other's pockets. We are 1 of 4 expat families living in this village (10 people in total including 3 children) and a very small proportion of the village inhabitants (at the last census 806). We all live in different parts of the village and have Bulgarian friends and neighbours.
Keep posting the comments folks :)
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Volunteer Season is Here
What a lovely month this is turning out to be - in fact, the last 4 weeks have been fabulous. The garden is coming along nicely, animals all happy and shedding their winter coats and we have volunteers staying with us again.
All's good in my little world. We're enjoying life again and winter is definitely behind us. There have been some lovely nights in and out with friends, my birthday, beautiful sunshine, temperatures rising and everything is green and healthy looking.
Hubby surprised me and bought a new camera for my birthday, plus tiled the kitchen walls. Once I get a new memory card I'll be out and about taking snapshots of my daily life for you all to see.
Keep posting the comments folks, I really do enjoy reading them and wanted to say thank you to anyone who reads this blog for sticking with it.
Back soon with an update on what's growing well and any other news from my corner of rural Bulgaria.
All's good in my little world. We're enjoying life again and winter is definitely behind us. There have been some lovely nights in and out with friends, my birthday, beautiful sunshine, temperatures rising and everything is green and healthy looking.
Hubby surprised me and bought a new camera for my birthday, plus tiled the kitchen walls. Once I get a new memory card I'll be out and about taking snapshots of my daily life for you all to see.
Keep posting the comments folks, I really do enjoy reading them and wanted to say thank you to anyone who reads this blog for sticking with it.
Back soon with an update on what's growing well and any other news from my corner of rural Bulgaria.
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.
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.
Tuesday, 28 February 2012
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 :)
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 :)
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