Inserting omissions and catchup

Apologies (again) for the big gap between updates,  much and little has been happening in our lives, most if not all of which is touched upon below.






End of June the Brexit referendum was held, Paul and Tracey had opposing  views and other than disagreeing about the best course of action we spent the time in the run up to put as much as possible in place for whichever outcome to have minimal short term effect on our lives in Bulgaria.  Long-term effects are still unsure although taking dual citizenship is an option, English/Bulgarian,  other than the underlying long-term implications the referendum results have not effected our life or relationships with Bulgarians.


Also in June Shadow and Pointy both had 3 kittens,   Shadow managed to lose hers on what we assumed was a hunting expedition but a week  later brought one of them home,.  2 of Pointy's died, of kitten causes, and then we had major trauma and Tracey in tears when she unloaded the washing machine and found the remaining one had been through the wash cycle.   One thing we have noticed is the cats regulate their own numbers, although we think the kitten clamber into the machine herself not that Pointy put her there The thinking behind them self-regulating is in the month after the fire (2014) 3 of the cats had kittens and basically ignored and neglected them, one even giving birth as she was walking.

In July a British friend came to visit.  She first visited us 2 months after we moved in, she just needed some sunshine in her life,  her next visit was a week after the fire (she was told about it so she could cancel her trip).  She was also supposed to come for the roof raising/one year on celebration last year but unfortunately her health didn't allow that.   Diana is one of the few people who regularly tells Tracey when she's being unreasonable and directing her stress in the wrong direction, it doesn't stop us both loving her and appreciating her visits.

Tracey is having some interesting times currently, which means Paul is also, by association.   Possibly it is an age thing but her forgettory is operating better than her memory.   Luckily for both Paul knows her well enough to often know what she meant to say but also have the patience to talk her through things she has temporarily forgotten how to do (such as make a loaf  FFS).    Also the temperature is effecting Tracey more this year so she sends herself on major guilt trips about lack of achievement, whereas Paul seems to have accepted the pair of them have less energy and taking things slower doesn't mean things don't get achieved - eventually.   Despite her forgetfulness the fact that Tracey has started writing down her recipes, rather than recreate them from memory, has meant all the preserves and biscuits have turned out very tasty,   although she does seem to have had some issues with new main course dishes she's creating - not inedible just not her normal standard.









The east wall of the mezzanine extension has been externally clad in timber, which was pre-treated, by Paul using a Japanese technique called shou sugi ban.   Hopefully the south wall will be done this autumn and the north wall next spring/summer.  Paul also started building balustrades for the mezzanine, walkway and landing after finding out Tracey nearly walked off the edge when half asleep.    The area done so far is nearest the new doorway connecting the two parts of the house, and will double as a display/storage area,  Ideas for the actual mezzanine and walkway are still being discussed but could see Paul leaving the woodworking for a while and welding some metal into beautiful safety rails.  Paul also took the opportunity to use a beautiful piece of oak to make some storage drawers for the kitchen,   Tracey thought he was going to do the adjoining cupboard first but now admits the drawers are so useful, that doesn't mean she no longer needs the cupboards.

 

 

 

 

Tracey has spent  some time unpicking seams, measuring, pinning and tacking material for the mezzanine bedroom curtains (heat retention in winter) and then took advantage of having a teenager around to thread the sewing machine for her.   Unfortunately  despite her best efforts much swearing and frustration followed as the the sewing machine seems to sew correctly for 10-15cm and then something goes wrong with the tension.   Surprisingly she has actually asked a friend for help - to sit with her and point out the mistakes she is making, for someone who is not domesticated (other than in the kitchen) she is showing strong determination to master the art of sewing.

 

Paul's youngest 2 children (17 & 15) arrived at the end of July for their annual months visit.   the month turned out to be very mixed, one of the children learnt to ride a (pedal) bike, drive a car, spent time painting (art) with their dad, cooked some extremely tasty dinners (although the wok needed a blinking good clean from a few years none use),  visited neighbours but to be honest I'm struggling to think what opportunities the other child embraced, other than leave the internet and their room 3 times a day, for food.    We did have a few trips out, including one to a Rock Monastery and Nature Park, somewhere Paul & Tracey plan to return to when the weather is cooler.    We also went to a music festival, some friends had organised, and all agreed the highlight of the evening was their village ex-Kmet playing Bulgarian, and Russian, music on his accordion

Since illiya came home, after his broken hip recovery period,  he is being introduced to English food as when Tracey makes things he can keep in his fridge and eat whenever, scones, pasties, biscuits, etc, Paul is being sent round with food parcels.    One such delivery run resulted in Paul coming home with a workmans apron, from one neighbour and a a couple of days work, from another 2 neighbours, as well as 5 jars of honey off Bati Illiya.,


Also whilst the kids were here we had cause to visit a friend we hadn't seen for a few months her car had broken, beyond repair, and she was stuck half way up a mountain with 2 toddlers.   Luckily the old Audi hadn't been sold as neighbour who wants it hasn't raised the money, so we offered it to loan it to her, giving her time to find the right car, at the right price. It also gave Paul the opportunity to visit an area of Bulgaria he had not been to previously and his initial reaction was someone had views to challenge our own.

  

 

We were woken up one night by a herd of elephants rearranging our roof tiles,  the following morning a number of tiles, including a ridge tile had been dislodged.    We think it may have been a byalka (pine martin) after the wasps nests, which every roof in Bulgaria seems to have in abundance.   Tracey was hoping be hiding inside when Paul was replacing the roof tiles, possibly under the duvet, just in case Paul found a wasps nest and they decided to sting her.  Commonsense over-road illogical fear though and she did assist, admittedly from the bottom of the ladder and ready to run if a swarm of wasps appeared.




Since the children went home we got the opportunity to buy dry winter wood at a good price, unfortunately being used to working in cubics, as opposed to tonnage, we slightly over ordered, we may not need to order anymore this decade.  Moving it is a long slow process, especially as bits are being extracted for turning and making some garden furniture, which also adds to the storing it challenge.   Why couldn't it have arrived when we had 2 teenagers to bully into helping us? 

 

Very recently we received great news and news that was less great.   We are to become grandparents at the beginning of 2017 - OK we may not be blood related to future parents, hell we don't even have the same nationality but our French 'kids' are expecting and we are claiming grandparent rights.    Sadly the same day we learnt one of the most unique and talented individuals we know has succumbed to societal pressure, accepted, even embraced, the labels put on them and become a legalised druggie.


This is being edited 17th October, due to my (Tracey's) last paragraph being taken as offensive and an attack.   Yes it is an attack - on a modern society that puts people under immense pressure, and a pharmaceutical business that takes advantage of those pressures.    

Bastards, Banks, Blablacars, Bees and Blowjobs.

As previously mentioned we visited France in April, the plan being to see friends and Tracey's father, although the trip was nearly cancelled when Tracey received a letter from her father confirming he would not be in France at the time of visit.    Tracey was obviously very upset, and didn't believe her father's reason/excuse, this disbelief was confirmed after she spoke to her mother, who spoke to father's neighbours.  The neighbours response when told of the reason given was "he's a lying bastard, tell them to come and stay here and we'll get him round for coffee".      That was never going to be an option, as Tracey knew she couldn't be 3 doors away from her father if he was going to refuse to see her.     Internet friends, we had never met, live about 20 minutes from Tracey's father and we had been planning on going over to meet them, when they initially heard we might not be visiting Haute-Vienne after all they had offered us accommodation there.   After Paul had talked Tracey out of cancelling the trip they were contacted and told we would like to take them up on their accommodation offer, on condition they had some small jobs around the place we could help out with.

So trip back on Tracey continued to struggle organising transport, from Paris to Brittainy, and then from Brittainy to Charante - France does not seem to have embraced the idea of intercity buses and the website for SNCF is frustrating, to say the least.    Luckily one of our previous French helpers sent Tracey a link to Blablacars, in fact she even offered to organise our inner France travel for us.

A Belgian guy who stayed here, and helped out, last year is now living in Sofia, with a girl he met when Tracey dragged him out for a day trip.   We had arranged to meet them in Sofia for something to eat and a catch up, and although they had offered us a bed for the night we decided to go straight to the airport, after the meal, rather than disturb them at 3am (it was an early morning flight).

In Sofia Tracey started having minor panic attacks as her Postbank card was not working correctly, when she tried to withdraw cash.      The Bulgarian currency wasn't needed until we got home - it was to pay the house sitter, but Tracey's need to be organised was being disrupted.    We had a lovely time in Sofia with  Geert & Nina, who insisted on accompanying us to the airport, leaving us with invitations to go and stay when we wanted to see something of our capital city.   Practically the first thing Tracey did in the airport was find another bank machine, which also rejected her card, not good.   Luckily we spotted a Postbank specific machine so Tracey decided to see if she could get it to give her a balance initially - pin number not recognised.      We sorted it out when we returned to Bulgaria, the new/replacement  card had not been registered on their system, banks fault.

Airport was fun, until just before the check in desks opened, with people watching.    30 minutes before the first desk opened things got a bit surreal - we had walked into the airport with our rucksacks, spent the night there unchallenged but now anyone attempting to enter ran the risk of being sent through a pre-security security check complete with bag scans.      OK due to security threats cars are no longer allowed to pull right up to the doors, people arriving can be denied enter to the departures hall but ONLY if they don't arrive at least 30 minutes before the first desk opens.  We're sure there is some logic there, somewhere.

Uneventful flight  from Sofia to Paris, Beauvais, although we will NOT be flying Wizzair again.   Wizzair seem to have squeezed an extra couple of rows of seating in,  we always knew a budget airline would not be that comfortable for Paul (6'4") but even Tracey at a foot shorter struggled for leg room. At Beauvais we were being collected by a driver found through the Blablacars site    https://www.blablacar.com/ before we left the departure lounge Tracey paid a visit to another cash machine, this time with her UK bank card, an audible sigh of  relief was heard when it dispensed Euros.  The driver, and his wife, who were driving us to Brittany, in a Peugeot 2008 powered by methanol,  spoke no English, something we knew in advance, but we managed to have a pleasant 8 hour road trip with them (avoiding paeges)  and communication although stilted did occur

We were dropped off at a car share car park  (I love France) where Pauline and Guillaume were picking us up.      Pauline and Guillaume, for those that don't know, are the french 'kids' who changed their plans after the fire staying to help us get over the worst and restoring sanity to our lives.    They bought their own property in 2015 but took a break from it in June to come and  visit for  our 1 year anniversary roof razing party.     Their new home is beautiful, even though it is a bigger building site than ours, Pauline could bring a sense of civilisation to a scrap yard.   Paul & Guillaume spent a lot of time in Guillaumes workshop/barn/storage area whereas Tracey & Pauline seemed to spend more time outside with the animals or in the gardens.   It might sound as though we were just doing our normal things in a different location but  this is one couple we hope stay in our lives an awful long time - we seem to inspire and bounce off each other so well, both asking  for the others input and both comparing ourselves (sometimes) unfavourably  against the other.   We did provide some practical help as well, with mud plastering one of the future kitchen walls, a skill Guillaume had first practised in our home.

Our time in Brittany came to an end too quickly, although Tracey has found the recipe for Kouign Amann which is basically a pastry using LOTS  of butter and sugar, Paul is looking forward to the attempts to perfect this sugar laden treat.

From Brittainy it was another Blablacars road trip, this time in a Mercedes C class.  .    We think Dave & Stephany were most surprised at our mode of transport, but the driver was a businessman who did lots of long distance driving and enjoyed the company on trips.   There was some trepidation about staying with Dave & Stephany as although we all got along online, and seemed to share similar thoughts and views, people in real life aren't always like their online personae.    Well that was a wasted worry, the only negative, seemed to be they hadn't taken our request for jobs seriously enough but no fear readers, we (mainly Paul) managed to make ourselves useful.   We arrived on Thursday afternoon and almost immediately we were offered the loan of the car if we wanted to go out/visit anyone, an offer initially refused.  

 Possibly other people know Tracey better than she knows herself as being only 20 minutes away from her father was playing on her mind so after establishing the car would be available Saturday we went shopping and then on to Tracey's fathers village.    Tracey had categorically stated she did not want to knock on her father's door but did want to go and see the neighbours, to an extent it was a duty call as they are the only means the family will find out if he's injured, in trouble. or even dead.  Once we arrived the duty side of the visit quickly slide into the background as they are a lovely couple.

 Obviously the subject of Tracey's father came up, Roy had seen him 2 days earlier (despite him saying he was out of the country all month)  this resulted in much anguish (it still hurts) and tears.   After an hour or so Roy offered to go and see if Tracey's father wanted to come round for coffee and a chat,  Tracey was in 2 minds as to this being a good idea or not - obviously she wanted to see her father but was also anticipating how she would feel if he decided not to come.   She still suspects Roy was lying, to protect her, when he came back and said the house was all locked up and he got no answer at either door.     Tracey is still making excuses for her fathers abysmal behaviour but none of those excuses are complimentary to him.    If he feels the need to distance himself from his family that is his choice but she feels he should at least be man enough to tell the truth rather than make up fairy tales.   A sad realisation is that Tracey will probably not see her father again, as although he is welcome to visit her in Bulgaria she will not go to, try and, visit him again to be rejected so cruelly.

It must have been obvious, to Dave & Stephany, on our return that things hadn't gone well and their ignoring of the subject was much appreciated.  We were sad to leave the following day whether this was because of the great people we visited in France or because we were headed to the UK is debatable.   Dave & Stephany very generously drove us to Limoges airport for our flight to Manchester, where one of Paul's brothers collected us taking us to Paul's mum house.

Sunday evening was a great catchup just chatting with Paul's mum, although Tracey didn't get a great nights sleep as Paul got the one spare room and Tracey had to share his mums bed (mum's religious and we're not married).    Monday morning we had a wander around town (depressing, Ellesmere Port is the inspiration for Zombie Apocalypse scenarios) and then spent the afternoon visiting Paul's eldest son and his family, after we had picked up the new car his brother had obtained for us.   (Audi A6)   We paid Paul's mum another flying visit, to pick up our bags etc before driving to the North east, Tracey's family via Manchester beekeepers at Heaton Park.   We'd luckily organised our travel to coincide with the first night of the newbee training session, so Tracey could visit her friends there, thankfully no stings were acquired as she'd left her epipens somewhere in the car.     More time than was anticipated was spent with the beekeepers so we arrived at Tracey's mothers very late.

The next couple of days were spent in a whirl of consumerist consumerism, including a family meal out at a restaurant one of the sisters had chosen.   We nearly didn't make the meal as Tracey's youngest sister was driving and ran out of fuel half way there.

Thursday arrived and with it time to head to the ferry, via Paul's middle son (and family) then Paul's ex=wife and his youngest 2 children.    Overnight ferry Dover to Dunkirk gave us the opportunity to grab a few hours sleep, before starting our cross Europe drive home.   Tracey first drove the new car in Germany where Paul stupidly said 'if you can catch that Ferrari you can have it', after spotting one overtaking us.  A few minutes later Tracey asked him if he required her to get any closer to said Ferrari, she is very impressed with the Audis acceleration and still waiting for the Ferrari to be delivered.     The new car also has cruise control which Tracey isn't convinced about, she appreciates it means better fuel consumption but finds it making driving much less fun, especially on long journeys.

Although Paul's brother had serviced the car before handing it over one of the injector bleed off pipes was blowing so on route repairs were called for.    As Paul is driving Tracey is dismantling a bic type pen and blowing the ink out - it takes a lot of blowing to clear the ink totally.  Other than that the drive home was most uneventful, and we arrived home about 12 hours earlier than anticipated. .

Spring has Sprung, into Summer

It's been a while since the last update, the main reason being Tracey is broken.   Not broken terminally or even permanently but definitely broken.   More about the reasons will appear in the blog update Bastards, Banks, Blablacars, Bees & Blowjobs.

Right then March we had -  French doors in, but surrounding walls unplastered,   They are now plastered, but I cant find photographic evidence.




No corridor ceiling,

There are also lights in the corridor for the first time ever

 





no door connecting the kitchen/mezzanine area with main house,





we were still camping  out in main house, veggie stockade. aka kitchen garden, requiring mesh fencing, greenhouse was still being used as a dry storage area.


The veggie stockade was dug to 3 fork depth and 9 builders trugs of weed roots removed, unfortunately far too many were missed and weeding that area is still a daily chore.   The future fruit/perennial garden is on hold due to lack of enthusiasm/energy/time.

Veggie Stockade producing well

  

Tracey continues to smuggle none meat meals into the menu, much to Paul's disgust   (leek, walnut, bean sausages)     The ducks geese and chickens decided to see who could lay the most eggs so we have more jars of pickled eggs in the cellar, a collection of assorted quiches in the freezer and 24 duck eggs were dehydrated for winter baking, in case the birds decide not to lay in the snow.    One thing Tracey does do when she feels she's 'slacking' and unable to pull her weight is cook, often batch cooking for the freezer as well as that nights, and the next nights, meals.

Labneh in olive oil

Pickled Eggs

One of a number of quiches for the freezer

 

Onion Bhajis, for freezer

Individual pizza bases, for freezer

Dehydrated eggs, for winter bajking

Cookies, just because

 

Rhubarb Pie, for freezer

Bacon, Onion, Mushroom Suet roll (a collection also in freezer)

Tracey was also asked to complete an interview by expat.com who list this blog on their site, this is the link for those who haven't read it  http://www.expat.com/en/interview/573_tracey-in-bulgaria.html



We got 10 new chicks at the beginning of April unfortunately due to fox attacks we lost most of them, so the area that was going to be rabbit grow out enclosures (needed in about 3 months) has been moved up the priority list to provide secure inside/outside secure area for the poultry.   Despite the urgency Tracey is still assembling materials and trying to find a location for the (none burning) wood that is currently in there seasoning.   She has a location in mind but needs to work out if the current contents of new location have any potential future use.   In addition she is having to take more breaks as seems to be suffering from heat stroke like symptoms much more than previous years - it could just be Paul recognises the early warning signs more and makes her stop working and get in the shade and have fluids.

Since we have lived in Bulgaria Paul's youngest 2 children have been coming out for the summer - we said we'd pay for their flights until they are 18, but when the flights were being booked in December James decided he didn't want to come and Ruby could come on her own.  Whether this was because Ruby is now 17 we don't know, what we do know is in April Jim asked if he could change  his mind  and come.   He is now coming after phone calls to the airline because although at 15 he is old enough to fly by himself it is not possible to do an online booking without someone over 16 being booked at the same time.

April also saw Paul and Tracey visit friends in France and family in the UK, but we'll write about that in Bastards, Banks, Blablacars, Bees & Blowjobs (coming before the end of the month)



As the house is progressing we thought it was about time we got some grown up furniture.   We have a 'new' king sized bed in exchange for some garden benches, to be made/delivered by next spring (the benches not the bed).   Tracey has been keeping an eye on the expat selling groups and we have 3 chairs for the kitchen/diner area, to replace the one big leather recliner that dominated the space, unfortunately they were cash transactions rather than barter.

1st purchase

2nd purchase a pair of matching chairs

Tracey also has a new residency card, as although we got the originals at the same time Paul's runs until November  and her's expired May, joys of living in Bulgaria.   This meant Tracey got to practice her filling in forms in Cyrillic, as the friends son we took with us wasn't confident about writing.    Saying that he proved most useful as even though the questions included words he didn't know he had the language skills to ask for clarification.    Some answers were put in the wrong places but instead of rejecting the form the official made corrections, obviously impressed with the effort (however feeble) made.

That's it for the overdue update, but another blog will be with you within days

Was this really the shortest month?

Beginning of February we collected half a cubic of planked white oak, from the house of a friend who had kindly added it on to his timber order to save us paying delivery for such a, relatively, small amount.   Half a cubic translated to 43 planks which is more than enough to make the replacement back door, currently being recorded as the Secret Door project, as Paul didn't want photos of the construction shared until it was completed.  It's not quite finished but he is happy enough with progress for the photos to appear here.    For the first few days, of having the wood, our main activity seemed to be sawdust production, planing the planks and then getting them to the same thickness.   Tracey started getting very frustrated when Paul started using the micrometer and saying 'this plank needs going through again it's 2 thousandths of a millimetre out'.     Guess who worked as an engineer in the past

Micrometer on one of it's many outings

It was just a hole during summer, the old rug was put up to prolong kitchen use in autumn/winter

                       

Paul is happy with the way the door fits into frame

So it goes back into workshop for more work

Don't have the hinges for the door window yet

It's in but not finished

When we went to collect the oak we also got the opportunity to see  the French Windows (henceforth to be called the Friendship Doors) in production.    These came about as after the fire we were given the opportunity to change things we would previously have happily lived with, and because we were having a new kitchen/diner area Tracey thought it would be nice to make it easier to eat outside.    We had been given some surplus, old patio doors to help with the rebuild and Tracey had asked Ian if he could modify them to fit the gap available, after checking with Paul, of course.   It didn't take Ian long to work out that making doors, and a frame, from scratch was going to be much less labour intensive and result in a better quality door.

This is the window being replaced by friendship Doors

Some of you may remember that November 2014 Paul got stopped, after the police caught up with us 5km later, for failing to stop and we thought it had all been forgotten about until the following February when the local police arrived to give him a 200 leva (about £80) fine and a 6 month driving ban.   We were told we could collect the licence from the local police station in 6 months time.    Haha.    August last year we went to the local police station who informed us they didn't have the licence and it was probably in Gorna (location of 'offence').   Paul wasn't happy driving a 180km round trip on the off-chance his licence was in Gorna, so asked a neighbour, who used to be a police officer if he could locate its whereabouts.   Turned out it wasn't in Gorna but at Targovishte police station, so off we toddled to collect it.   The main police station redirected us to the traffic police where we waited in a none moving queue for an hour before Paul walked out, without his licence, obviously.   Anyway Ian & his wife Tracy  have a son who speaks very good Bulgarian and as we needed to choose hardware for the Friendship doors the 5 of us had a trip to Targovishte and Paul got his licence in probably less time than it took Tracey to decide which locks and handles she wanted.

Friendship Doors in Ians workshop

The evening of collecting the driving licence saw us receiving a 'phone call from our part time neighbours (they live in town when working and the village at weekends),  Illiya, our Bulgarian papa, had broken his leg could we go round and help, take him to Razgrad and then on to his daughters in Varna,  Paul picked up the keys we have for his house and went round with the car whilst Tracey found out more information before locking up the house and walking round.   As Tracey was locking up Paul came running back as he was unable to get through the gate - luckily we can also access Illiyas house by going through our garden, fodder field and onto his property.     By the time Tracey arrived Paul had unlocked the gate and was inside with Illiya.  It took us nearly an hour to make Illiya comfortable, pack a bag, change into town clothes (don't ask us why this was important) and get ready to carry him to the car.   During this time we received numerous phone calls frustrated that we were taking so long - Illiya is in his 70s our priority was doing things at his speed not for the convenience of others.    For a frail looking man he is heavier than he looks but we got him to the car without dropping him and proceeded to Razgrad.   Our thinking was we were going to collect our other neighbour, from their town flat, take Illiya to Razgrad hospital for initial treatment and then if the hospital authorised it take him to his daughters in Varna.   Wrong.   An old man, with a history of heart problems and a broken leg sat in the passenger seat of our car for over 2 hours whilst we drove him to Varna hospital, where we had to wait for a few minutes until his daughter arrived.   We know the reasoning - he had had his spine operated on at this hospital, the system is computerised so all his previous conditions are known here but ...   Anyway, the hospital x-rayed Illiya and also checked his heart,  obviously they kept him in.    the following evening we received an update that because of his existing medication they could not operate for 3 to 4 days, which actually meant 6 days because of the weekend.   Illiya had broken his hip, it has now been operated on but the hospital anticipate 3 - 4 months of recovery.

We have previously mentioned our plans to visit some friends and Tracey's father, in France, Tracey had sent her father a card with the dates we would be in France and received no response.   Contact is limited to snail mail and text messages, as he has neither internet nor landline, on his birthday Tracey sent him  a greetings text and  by the end of the day was getting concerned she had not received the normal acknowledgement so sent a second text.    Things rapidly went downhill as the response informed her he had got the card/letter and 2 texts and the dates of our proposed visit might not be convenient, as he may not be around.   After reading this Tracey was upset but also angry, she has not seen her father since February 2012 and he never goes anywhere.  Tracey is still annoyed with her father but more so because she believes he is 'playing games'  and being awkward because she did not check with him before booking that the dates would be convenient for him.   To be fair the fact he has not spent a night away from his home since he moved to France  it was reasonable of her to assume he would be there during our visit.   At the moment we are waiting upon a promised letter, from him, with a definitive answer on if he will be there or not.


As the Secret Door project no longer needed Tracey to be in the workshop, and the weather has been good, she started working on some ideas in the garden, a day or 2 later than planned as she had strained her back moving Illiya.   .     Despite the fact we lost a number of birds recently to a neighbours stray dog we prefer the animals to be able to free range - in the winter this is relatively stress free but once the vegetables are transplanted out they will need protection.    One of Tracey's plans involves using some of the old roof beams, not suitable for inside projects, to build a vegetable stockade.   The  idea being that during the growing season the gates for it will be closed, protecting the vegetables, and once all the crops are harvested the gates can be left open for the animals to scratch around in there.    The other plan is to fence off a second area that will be for fruit and perennial vegetables, the animals will not have any access to this area.     Hopefully blocking their access to large areas will also help with keeping the areas they have year round access to relatively weed free.  it's an experiment and we will see if it works over time.

Corner post for the veggie stockade

Posts positioned just need to add fencing mesh

Paul wasn't totally happy with Tracey's method of positioning the posts, by eye, and doesn't really approve of her measuring distances by saying one full stride, or tips of fingers to opposite shoulder, is approximately 1 metre.   When it came to  choosing the height of the posts Tracey ran into problems and Paul took advantage of it.   Tracey knows how tall she is in feet and inches (5'3") but had no idea in metric (1.6m) so asked Paul, who is 6'4",  how tall she was ... his response 'Short'    Funny man,

One of three tables now covered in seedlings waited to be transplanted

Posts going in for the fruit/perennial area

We received a 'phone call from our part-time neighbours before the weekend to see if we could help them take some trees down.    Our response was let us know when you're in the village and if we have time we'll help.    When they arrived Paul  was presenting the Secret Door to the existing frame, to locate hinge positions, and Tracey  was varnishing the Friendship Doors. We were given Martinitsas, for 1st March, and told we were busy and did not have the time to help them

We can now see us moving back into the kitchen/diner part of the house before too much longer which is a relief to Tracey as she is currently cooking on the bedroom pechka (woodburner) and beginning to get a bit bored of food she doesn't get to play with during the production stage.

Tracey's current cooking facilities, along with the halogen oven

Friendship doors frame in postion

Ready for glazing

Death is one of those areas where whatever we want to say about the person has the potential to sound  trite and meaningless to those left behind.       One of the followers of this blog has been very inspirational and encouraging to Tracey and it seemed that Tracey & Sara, despite only having met in the real world once, had much in common with their outlook on life and food.   We knew Sara had joint problems but were totally shocked when her husband announced her death.  Dave is continuing with Sara's blog which records their life and fantastic achievements since moving to Bulgaria.   For those interested in a similar, but different rural life in Bulgaria we recommend a trip over to see http://debrazzaman.blogspot.bg/, at the moment Dave is using it to come to terms with his loss but even that gives a personal insight into the Bulgarian traditions surrounding such a painful subject.


Whether it is the fact that we haven't one a big shop in over a month, so are running low on basics or Tracey's restricted cooking but Paul has been having weird dreams.  It was the end of the world, to most people this would be enough of a nightmare scenario right? No, what Paul's nightmare was is that we have no baccy nor coffee nor meat stockpiled, meaning it will be a long slow healthy suffering. and dying as a veggie!     Tracey is having evil thoughts of weaning him over to a veggie diet, starting off with one veggie meal a week, then 2, then 3 ...