What a Whopper!

Well a busy time it has been lately and progress on the extension is good. All in all life is great at the moment, the weather is nice and I feel like we're actually getting somewhere. The extension is looking great and we found time for other things like giving the 2 spaniels their last haircuts of the year and bathing poor Vasko. I must say that he didn't really enjoy the occasion but smells a lot better now. His coat feels much less greasy too but he will always look scruffy.

 Sunday was our first wedding anniversary and although we didn't do anything really special it was nice just spending some relaxed time together. I was positive that hubby would forget but he didn't and to my surprise even managed to present me with a gift..........not the usual kind though, and something I didn't need but still nice all the same. Another dog and she is called Yantra after the river near us where she was found and hubby was fishing at the night before our anniversary!

So here she is, a very sweet little girl probably about 6 months old and very bright. She's been staying in the house and never made any mess, has got used to the other animals quickly and become Molly's new best friend and playmate.

I must point out that he's not in the habit of bringing stray dogs home but since they were fishing quite a way from any villages decidede that he couldn't leave her there to fend for herself.

So now back to the original title of this blog entry - What a Whopper! we had English friends from a nearby village come to visit last week, it was great to catch up and have a chat over coffee. Each time they visit the lady brings me seedlings, seeds or cutting which I really appreciate, and this visit was no exception. Also in the boot of their car were a few butternut squashes which we love and 2 huge pumpkins! Out of curiosity I weighed the pumpkins yesterday and was amazed at how heavy they are - a repectable 24 and 25 kilo's! So any pumpkin recipes readers have I'd be glad if you could send them my way lol. Here's a pic of one of them on our bathroom scales

Well that's my lunch break over so I best get on with a few jobs I've got lined up for this afternoon.

Blown Away

The weather here has taken a huge turn for the worst, it's been really windy and much cooler than you'd expect for early September, in fact we're already back into long trousers and long sleeved tops! The wind is playing havoc with my garden and some of the plants have been totally uprooted, I've just had to fetch the lilo for the pool from across the garden too lol. The forecast says it will warm up again in a day or so and the temperature this morning is a cool 16 Degrees C, big change from last weeks 36 Degrees C.

The horses are enjoying the break from the heat and the wind seems to be keeping the flies off them too, they were both slightly over excited this morning when I put them out and jumping around like idiots. The piglets are coming on in leaps and bounds and thoroughly enjoying the larger space they have in the barn now. Last night I gave them a huge pumpkin which they devoured in about 15 minutes whilst mum ate her tea. We have to make up 2 feeds now as they push poor Charlotte out of the way, the plus side is that they are now much less dependant on mum and she can get a little rest while they play.

Other news this week is that hubby has been working away in our extension that he built last year and has now opened up the wall that was keeping us from getting into it. We left the wall in place until we had the time and money to do the internal works on the extension and now it's almost done. So we've gained a beautiful hallway with double ceiling height and an extra bedroom which we needed for my daughter. When the kids come home next week there'll be a lot of sorting out to do as they can finally move into their permanent bedrooms and we will move into the large room they've been sharing. Hubby has worked long and hard on this project and it's a lovely space, I'm so proud of him. In the future we'll add a staircase to the extended hall so access the huge loft space we now have after altering and renewing the roof last year. We're on the home straight as far as renovations go now and I'm looking forward to seeing the house completed. This was my view from the computer desk last week.

I'll post a pic of how it looks once we get some paint on the walls and tidied up etc. Typical that when I started trying to clean up the demolition dust the hoover decided to blow up, 2 minutes work, a puff of black smoke and now it's an ex-hoover! Oh well, at least I have a sweeping brush and plenty of cloths. The dust is everywhere and will take me a few days to clean up. Until we're ready to break through the bedroom wall into the planned ensuite bathroom we have no more major work or demolition to do and can concentrate on finishing off jobs slowly over the winter. Or that's the plan anyway!

What do you have planned for the colder months?

Something a Bit Different

Today sister in law and I have been out of the village and done something totally different. For the first time in years we've been to a car boot sale and actually sold things instead of buying! Years ago I used to quite regularly attend car boot sales in the UK, but probably haven't been to one now for over 10 years and had forgotten how hectic they can be.

When we headed off this morning the weather was overcast and breezy and just a nice temperature. We found the venue which was a lovely camp site run by British expats. The website for the campsite can be found Here and the scenery there is fantastic. There were already quite a few cars lined up along the road and a few sellers set up. We parked and got out of the car and were suddenly surrounded by a large amount of people (mainly Bulgarians) trying to see what we had to sell. A manic 20 minutes follwed while we tried to get things out to sell and answer questions on prices etc in Bulgarian and English, there were a few hand gestures (nothing cheeky of course!) and we were struggling to get things out before people were wanting to buy!

Phew....this went on for at least an hour, the table we'd taken along got sold before we managed to actually get anything onto it and there was almost a rush when a microwave came out of the car! It was a lot to take in and a lot of people to try and keep track of, but eventually it did start to calm down and things were a little easier. It appears that the Bulgarians are actually quite good at haggling and looking for bargains but I must admit my language skills deserted me a couple of times lol.

Still it was lovely to do something different and to chat to a few people we recognised and some we didn't. Everyone was good natured and polite and the coffee Nev, our friend who had helped bring along some of the things to sell bought once the rush had died down was really appreciated. All in all a good half day out and something we'd do again, although next time maybe we'll try and get there earlier to get set up before the hoardes descend! There really is a good ex-pat community in the area, and we need to try and keep in touch with some of the lovely people we've met a bit more. It always good to know there are others with similar tastes or ideals living not too far away.

Hubby stayed home and set to work on reinforcing the barn door. Charlotte broke the bottom panel some time back but her and the piglets needed to be moved into the barn as they've outgrown the pig sty. So now we have all of the pigs sleeping in the barn which should make life a little easier and gives the 10 rowdy babies much more space to play, they seemed very content when I fed them all at tea time and were enjoying the bale of straw that was put in for them to sleep on. Tomorrow I'll clean the small sty out and hose the floor down ready for Charlotte to go back in there when weaning time arrives.

After the excitement of the day I've had a lovely quiet and very peaceful night, hubby is out fishing so I've caught up with a few things on the internet and chilled out. Back to work tomorrow as there are still a lot of jobs to do before winter arrives and the extension to finish hopefully before the children get back next week :)

Normality Resumes

I'm feeling much more settled and less emotional again, which is a relief. In fact I'm feeling rather positive and looking forward to seeing the kids when they come home in about 2 weeks time. Hubby has been working here this week mainly and it's great seeing the house change, jobs being done and some of the things we've been dreaming about starting to happen. Tomorrow we should finally be able to knock through the old house wall and have access to the extension that hubby built last year. It should make a huge difference to our lives and finally the kids won't have to share a bedroom! The house and ourselves have gone through so many changes in a relatively short time and I'm really glad we took the plunge and moved here.

Molly has been out in the yard today trying to play with the piglets, but she's not too sure about them and is a bit wary. The piglets on the other hand are not fazed at all and really enjoy the time they spend outside and rooting around in the barn. They've discovered the delights of apples, cucumber, pumpkin and tomatoes lately and are all eating well and gaining weight. At just over 3 weeks old they look really well and are very boisterous.


Vasko is once again having minor health problems, I discovered a burst abcess a couple of days ago and have been treating him with antibiotic spray and making sure it's kept clean. Today I gave him a brush and found he also has a skin complaint so I'll have to get some medicated shampoo and give him a wash while the weather is warm. He's very patient now and allows me to handle him, and even sometimes decides he wants attention. It's great to see his personality emerging and tea time is still his favourite part of the day.

Lastly, I can't believe I've managed to ramble and rant my way through 210 posts here! Thanks to all of you who continue to read the blog and share parts of our life story with us.

A Funny Old Day

Maybe it's just me not feeling quite right or possibly I'm slightly over-emotional today but it has felt quite strange, my usual routine got slightly altered and hubby worked at home which makes a change too. To be honest though I'm just feeling a bit blue, low and run down, missing the kids and thinking about loved ones lost or living in other countries.

My youngest sister would have been 29 today, but was taken away from us 10 years and 3 days ago by cancer. I still miss her dreadfully and always will. She was an absolute darling and I don't know of one single person that ever had anything bad to say about her. I also learned a couple of days ago that a relative who spent 27 years of his adult life caring for his mother, never married and has always been so unselfish has 3 months to live. Why do bad things happen to good people?

Serenity

Is there a master plan for all of us that dictates when our lives will end? I'm not sure, but then again neither am I a believer in heaven and hell and being truthful I'm not so sure about religion at all. I was brought up in a catholic family, through catholic schools etc but still am not totally convinced what I was taught was right, but I can't say for definite that it's not wrong. I'm happy for others to have their beliefs and know some people who get a sense of calmness or something from what they believe - there's nothing wrong with that, if it helps them then why not? Life would certainly be dull if we were all the same and shared everything.

Writing things down in this blog has a calming effect on me, it helps me put life into perspective, and although sometimes I rant, moan or go off on a tangent it's kinda like a religion for me. Now that my I've said what I was feeling I can get on with more day to day things.

In the kitchen today I've made cucumber chutney, but held off from tasting it until it's had a few weeks to mature in the jars. And inspired by Sue from Our New Life In The Country I made the most amazing slow roasted aubergine, pepper, tomato, garlic, herby mustard sauce to go with the other things rapidly filling the winter stockpile. I even managed to sly some of our ever present cucumbers into the dish and you can't taste them at all. Thanks Sue, it really was a very nice and easy way to make a wonderful sauce.

Well my day is almost over and tomorrow I shall wake up feeling different again, in a good way. Negativity doesn't hang around for long when you have a good life.

You Can Take The Girl Out Of The Village.......

But not the village out of the girl! I've been into town shopping today and while it's lovely doing something different from the normal I do miss the peace and quiet of home. Some people live their lives entirely in a town and thrive on it but to be honest I don't miss the hustle and bustle. Yes, it's easier to find things you need, public transport is abundant and there's plenty to do and see, but for me it's not what I want or need in my life right now. I'm happier at home or even down in the village cafe chatting over coffee with the local ladies.

The village centre is always kept clean and tidy, at this time of the year it's full of flowers and most mornings is quite busy with people buying bread, meeting up and generally doing their morning chores. Friday mornings are the busiest since it's market day and everyone seems to be in a good mood. A lot of the villagers have no transport apart from donkey/horse and carts so rarely go out of the village, they survive on food grown in their gardens and basic necessities that can be bought in one of the many shops.

When we first moved here I did find one or two of the shopkeepers quite blunt but now that we know them all better things are great, and they're used to me asking the bulgarian names for things by now! They do appreciate that I am trying to learn Bulgarian even if sometimes I struggle with things I don't usually buy.

I'm not sure I'll ever be totally fluent in Bulgarian but do enjoy being able to have a conversation with the lovely friends we have here. Reading and writing Bulgarian is something I find very hard and admittedly I don't really try. Place names, food items and road signs I can manage but that's about all. Maybe I should add learning to read and write Bulgarian to my winter things to do.

The piglets are growing up so fast and are hilarious to watch as they dart around the yard and will play with anything they can get hold of - tonights game involved an empty feed bag and they looked like they were having a great time. Mum is totally unconcerned when they are in the yard and usually carries on munching at the bits of grass growing while they play. They are so unfazed by us being around and enjoy a bit of a scratch. We still have 3 of the older piglets here too and they are getting rather big and have been busy making themselves a wallow by tipping their water bucket at least twice a day! They're filthy but happy and that's what counts.

A Task A Day

Today I feel like I've not achieved much, I've felt too hot to do anything outside so have pottered about indoors for most of the day, not really doing anything in particular but doing something! The washing is done and hung to dry, another load on the go. The bathroom and kitchen have had a quick whizz round and tidy up, the animals are all happy and I've sorted out collection of barley for 2 of our friends.

Yet still I feel like nothing much has been done - so off to the kitchen I went to make pease pudding. While there I got to thinking that if I could set myself a task to cook/make something for the winter every day then it would soon mount up and I'd start to feel like I've achieved more. So that's my new challenge and I'd be really grateful if you could help me by sending recipes that I could try and I'll let you know how I get on. To add to the pease pudding today I've also roasted peppers for the freezer, pureed a load of chillies we were given (these will be frozen in ice cube trays) and am busy right now making fresh tomato and bean casserole which will also be going into the freezer for the winter (and tastes fab I must add!).

I've finally managed to take a photo of a hummingbird moth in the garden. They're wonderful to watch but dart about very fast and so are hard to catch on camera. Their wings make an amazing noise as the pass close by and they love the flowers I have growing. The vegetable garden is a bit of a washout this year as it was so wet for so long. I'm not going to stress about it though, just need more careful planing for next year and to try and preserve/freeze as much as I can from the produce we do get. The neighbours have been bringing cucumbers, tomatoes, aubergines and chillies by the bagful and I'm very grateful for anything they can spare. Hubbys sister has had a great crop of pumpkins and courgettes, and some of them are already frozen or made into chutney.

Just a quick thanks to new readers and those who continue to read my blog. I'm loving the comments and it's great to know people visit and comment.