7 days & Counting....... Food Food Food, Happy Birthday Molly Moo!

Oooh getting excited & happier each day that passes! Can't wait to see my lovely husband again, it's been soooo long :-( Well true to form Nige thinks he can get everything into a small space quite comfortably, until the last minuet when he suddenly realises oh!!! So now he is looking for a trailer to buy in time to pack the overflow & be in Hastings by Sunday. I hope he manages it ok! Everything includes the kitchen sink hahaha. So Nigel has 2.5 days left of work then its, buy & collect trailer (hopefully), pack car & trailer, goodbye meals with children in Birmingham (ahhh), goodbye dinner with my family in Hastings then a day out with my mum then all being ok & ready its a three day trek across Europe to home sweet home! Busy busy time for him! Nigel works so hard & even here it seems there's never a day off for him, always something to do! I know everyone who lives in a Bulgarian village will know what I am talking about, even if your no longer renovating your property its a busy life. Winter is the quieter time out of all the year as it gets too cold or impossible to get out of the village so outside work stops, unless you have livestock.
Winter is a time of indoor renovating & cooking, I love the cooking so much but have put on soooo much weight this year its back to the slimming world philosophy & cook books to see what I can adapt! I need to get in my clothes next year &, more importantly, it's affecting my health!!!!!
I have been doing plenty of jam & chutney making the last few weeks. It's something I had never done before & I really love devising a new recipe & seeing if it works. I have had many disasters with my cherries made loads of batches of jam & everyone ended up in bin or dog, I give up!!! Major successes with the plums though but this was so nice that me who never eats jam has devoured 4 lg jars Oop's!!!!! still loads left & loads of jars of preserved plums too, lovely! I have made some Quince jam but not sure if it's any good I will let Nigel try it if he likes it fine if not I will chuck it & try chutney with it next season! Its all trial & error! I also unfortunately love baking cakes, oh dear, so out of lonliness & boredom I have been baking & eating, baking & eating, baking & eating. Nigel comes home to a freezer full of grape, apple & walnut cakes & various fruit filled muffins hahaha. There are also Soups Bob Chorba, Chili's & crumbles, I ran out of freezer space now just enough room for a few more cakes hahaha.

Success!!!! I have made cream!!!!! Well chuffed, I have been wanting to do it for yonks, I didn't realise just how easy it is, this was whipped too, Mmmm. So next step is to make clotted cream but I didn't want to chance ruining this as its been soooo long :D

It was my granddaughter Molly's 5th birthday yesterday, awe I miss the babes so much, they are growing so quick & I'm missing the best part of their little lives. It was wonderful to speak to her & my daughter Rhea, but sad too! Molly went ice skating & she says she was very good :-) She is also on half term so no school, now in my book that's a bonus but she doesn't yet know that haha. I sang happy birthday to her & she said thank you, oh dear, normally she giggles, but no, now she is a big girl :-(

Molly hasn't been here yet & it looks like it will be another couple of years before they can afford it, totally understandable but sad as she is starting to get a bit too old to really appreciate the ferial nature of village life for a little un, soon she will just be bored!







Well facebook is not working for me today so lots of housework & a rice pudding, problem is I have put my back out! Its a long on going problem I have had for years. The doctor told me exactly what it is but true to form I can't remember, doh, but its something I can get regularly or it can be years. Similarly it can be through doing too much or nothing at all. The only treatment is paracetamol & Ibuprophen mix & complete rest, for sometimes a day or months!!!!! Just have to let it do it's thing & hope I have stopped quickly enough, we will see!

9 Days to go, Woohoowee.... Blinking Stupid Gas, Kokoshka Soupa

9 more days, Nigel leaves England on 2nd November, can't wait just hope his drive back goes OK!!!!!
Had a great couple of days, the weather is truly beautiful blue skies, full day of sunshine & really warm, too hot to wear a big cardi. Oh but indoors its blooming cold!!! So wood burners still being lit & the best of both worlds being lived hahaha. Mind you I filled the bedroom full of smoke last night, not very pleasant. I have no idea why, I normaly light it when I go up but because its been cold I lit it before I went up & walked into a fog! I managed to clear it best I could & by the time I went to sleep the room was fine! I won't be closing the flue down again though, just in case!
Well the gas bottle finally ran out on Saturday as I was starting to cook potatoes & pasta, typical,  so I cooked them on the wood burner. Now this is a kamina (just a fire) not a petshka (wood burning aga type cooker) but it still works just takes a lot longer as I am trying to keep the heat down, it gets too blooming hot in here if your not careful. Anyway I digress, again. Easy peasy I had already got a bottle refilled (only costs 10lv for 8 ltrs) but this is Bulgaria off course. Yovo came round to invite me to coffee the following morning & brought me up the full bottle but the shut off valve just would not fit on there without locking :-( very bloody anoying but I kept my cool & negotiated that he would take me to re fill the one we had just removed on the Monday. As it turned out I didn't need it on the Sunday.
Sunday I made my way to Yovo & Pavlinka's house 10am for coffee. Now again this is Bulgaria & could mean anything & could be any number of people.. The table was laid up bless them, they really make a big thing out of coming over for a coffee. There were plates of biscuits, choc with some sort of choky goo on top, poached pears, cirene cheese (feta) & when I sat myself down out came the cold eggy bread! Now if you have never had this its not pleasant but with some cirene cheese can be quite moorish, I reccon it would be very nice with some fruity chutney! Pavlinka was pasterising some milk & cooking Kokoshka soupa or hen soup, yes you guessed it, after the eggy bread etc out came a huge bowl of soup & a huge mound of Kokoshka oris (rice). The rice was very nice, but i am not a fan of chicken bones & skin so the soup was nice but I was put off with having to check for bits & hoik out unpleasant things. Suffice to say I did not need to cook any diinner!! I gave Yovo an English lesson before coming home laden down with Tikva (pumpkin), Mlyako (fresh from the cow milk) & 3 kilo pears & very please I am with them all. Anto, Svetlana then came to my dom & we made wine. I really enjoyed sitting in the gorgeous warm sun sorting through all the grapes very theraputic & fun. Mini & Kami were in heaven pinching the odd grape when I wasn't looking :-)  My ante room now resembles a brewery as the barrel of vino joins the barrel of Rakia already on the go. I am well chuffed as our vineyard was really affected badly this year & I have lost 3/4 of my grapes from the amount of rain we had early on in the season. I have been given a figure of 25-30 ltrs, we will see, well chuffed if we do as I was only hoping for a couple of bottles! Last years has matured nicely & we still have about 40 ltrs rich red wine which packs a mighty punch. By the time we have finished that lot this years will be aged sufficiantly. Its a shame the locals don't age their wine & rakia's they drink them as soon as they are ready & dont get the benefit of a great brew. All fired up & energised the way you only get from a good day i made a pear & ginger upside down cake & had my dessert when I would normally cook dinner :-)
Today was a trip to Polski Trambesh I havent been for months so it was really good to go especially as again we have a beautiful sunshiney day. I love the trip to Polski the scenery is so much nicer than the other direction into Gorna. The Autumn palete is truly beautiful golds creams browns various shades of green & the gorgeous crimson bushes dotted between a wonderful kontrasten Essen landscape. I so hope it stays this way for just a few more days so Nigel gets to enjoy it.

I tried to get some photos the other day, when I went to Gorna Oryahovitza but through the glass of a moving bus is a bit difficult, these are the best of them....  If you look closely at the above & below pics you can see the B of P.

The birds of pray are visible now, one of the wonderful sights of the next 6 months. Watching them soaring & swooping on their prey is special, but on Friday I saw two together, playing swooping towards & away from each other gliding through the sky together, lovely sight! I am looking forward to getting out one day with Nigel & the camera I want to just drive for the day taking photo's, how great would that be!!!!!

How can you not love scenery like this!!!!!! Unfortunately the rest were rubbish!

I bought a tub of hot corn to eat,mmm the guy puts on a choice of flavourings I had garlic sauce garlic salt & chilli stuff. Oh my goodness delicious & only 1.50lv a large pot! 

I then went & had a great pizza so basically spent the whole trip eating hahaha 

Have also been clearing the garden & bringing in the Lemon tree & Geraniums before we get a frost, I don't want to risk losing my Lemon tree it's done so well this year! We bought it for 40p & it was just a stick in a box with a tiny shoot so its a fighter!
So trying to make cream with the cows milk, clotted hopefully! Oh dear I hope Nigel hurries home so I can stop eating haha actually not funny!

10 Days To Go & Counting.... Cold Snap

10 days to go & I am getting quite relaxed, finally! Can't wait to be with Nigel again! He is very busy taking apart the kitchen units we bought, on the ever brilliant ebay, just hope they & the Belfast sink will fit into the Kia with all the other stuff! I will be well gutted if he can't get them home :-(  Well anyway the best thing will be him home again where he belongs!!!! Notice was handed in on Friday so all systems go go go!!!!!!! Ahh my Mum is going to really miss him & Seaney will be gutted, mind you his Xmas show will be taking up his time & will be all consuming for him, so its a good time of year for Nigel to be leaving as he will be easily distracted.  Sean, my 23yr old step son, was born with Downs Syndrome & I defy anyone not to love him. He is not all clingy lovey dovey he is his own person with everything that entails but his character is funny. Had Sean been able to easily communicate & live an independent life with a career then he would have made an excellent stand up comedian! Instead he & his Saturday club put on a production every Christmas & it is fantastic, his life from now will be consumed with nothing but talking about the "show". I for one am thankful for that!

We have a cold snap here but with glorious sunshine & blue, blue skies. Hopefully a sign of the winter to come, sunny & bright, it makes it so much easier to cope. We can keep toasty warm, we have a wood burner upstairs in the bedroom & downstairs, in fact  we have to wear summer clothes indoors as it gets so hot.  The main winter probs are the water freezing & the roads being sheets of ice or impassable with snow. Last year we had a spectacular crash when with snow chains on we went into a sideways slide downhill into a coach! This year we have a 4 x 4 Kia Sportage I just pray it will be a good girl & cope well over here. I used to say oh you don't need a 4 x 4 here its just scaremongering but after last winter I was wrong. The winter before was very deep snow but beautiful sun so we felt good & the roads were good. The temps were reasonable to, I guess. Last year it would snow & freeze then melt a little & freeze & on & on there were many layers so where it looked ok with soft snow there would be a thick layer of ice beneath. Well all we can do is wait, see what this year brings & make sure we are home early. The night of the accident we left a house where Nigel was installing a new bathroom & it was 7.30pm which was too late. That was the night temps dropped to -27c & don't I know it.  I was sat for three hours in the car with no window frozen solid while we had to wait for police & fill in forms. Well it may be cold but its beautiful. I remember the ice was like diamonds on the bushes & trees like something out of Narnia the winter version, fantastic! For the time being though it's warmer out than in!

13 DAYS TO GO......... Visitor & Dogs

I had a surprise visitor today, no idea how it got in but this is one reason I need Nigel to work on sealing the house. I have had numerous frogs in this year too, some I managed to get out others well I just hope they have kept the floor spiders to a minimum!

Well 13 days to go, now the countdown really starts Woohoo!!! Can't wait to get back to some sort of normality. Just how weird is it to be married but separated!!! It will be 6 months since I said goodbye thinking it would be for two months & how long it would be, wow I am glad I didn't know then what I know now!!! Anyway ordeal almost over then I can relax & stop being paranoid. I have so much respect & a little more understanding for wives of soldiers etc & the long periods of time they are separated for. Also for my mum she has lived alone for sooooo long. Now she is 86 & less mobile but has some great friends & neighbours who keep her company. I am not looking forward to having to do this again but if I have to I will. It's not like we can up & leave the house & we have the animals to think of too. Talking of animals, I have seen the baby Tortoise but I haven't seen the adults for a while. I hope they are readying themselves for hibernation! The baby has definitely grown So I am hoping she will survive another hibernation. I will be hibernating with them too if the winter turns out to be as bad as predicted, though just who it is that makes these predictions is beyond me! I shall have Nigel all to myself for 10 days & then he has a job lined up. I am looking forward to getting out with him & enjoying his company.

The weather here is mixed, we have had a few days without having to light the woodburners but today its chilly wet & windy so its been alight all day. Its lovely makes you feel all homey & comfy cosy. The pups get a bit hot though haha but Reggie loves it bless him! Kami & Mini play all over the place if Mini was human she would be described as ADHD she is truly manic but Kami on her own is a quiet little darling with a bit of pep to her, such a sweety this was them earlier, play fighting.

Minishka is very naughty but also cute & funny

Such a naughty girl!!!

Kamishka on the other hand is far more wary, she was treated really badly & its taking a long time to trust. She goes mental if you manage to pick her up, you have to catch her :-) but she has started to jump up & sit on my lap for a cuddle. Her quietness comes I think from staying out of the way, pretending she's not there!. When Mini or Reg nick her food she just walks away & lets them, I have to stand guard over Mini & as soon as she has gulped her food I have to pick her up & put her outside with Reg. She won't go near him now when he is eating!

Poor Reggie his hip & leg are getting worse, probably due to the cold. You can see his spine has twisted to compensate & his leg is in a funny possition too. Yesterday I noticed he had scraped his tail stump AGAIN. I don't think it will ever heal. Because he cant sit he has been known to just stand completely still for hours looking at the door which can't do his hip/leg much good.

You can see his leg here, bless him!

Kami is a house dog & spends most of the day inside at the moment. She barks at the door for me to let her out for a wee & goes off in private for a pooh

Minishka on the other hand is most definitely going to be an outside dog along with Reggie as she takes every opportunity to wee all over the house, even jumping up & having a wee on the sofa's & is a complete nuisance! she poohs all over the foot paths & on the stairs she even climbed up onto the garden table & poohed!!!! She has a bit missing I think :-)

Sophie has gone awol & comes back for  food a couple of times a week if we are lucky! She has a few families she graces with her presence & thank goodness she is well known now & well liked as I am hoping its that which will keep her out of trouble & pain! Sophie is a true street dog & loves her freedom but just doesn't see danger. She is such a trusting dog! When Nigel gets home we will have to tether her & she will get two walks a day, I am not able to do this at the moment as I think it cruel but I am very worriied about her. She is really happy to be here when she comes but doesn't stay. I think she comes home at night sometimes but for some reason can jump out over the fence but not back in, maybe she has hurt her leg or something? Oh well that's my dogs at this time lets hope Reggie can be helped & Sophie can be stopped! 

One Month Later.... Only 16 days to Go

Wow one month ago I was writing really depressing bloggs, cause I was really depressed John! So how did I get to be here now feeling much better.... No idea but better I am even though I was offline for a month cut off from what was going on. What a wonderful thing that was haha, sometimes its hard to imagine life without internet but it was great & I seemed to have worked my way back to normal! I missed reserching & didn't realise how much I used Google, definately missed Google!!! Missed knowing what was going on with certain people, worst was not being in touch with my lovely family, but thats how it would have been years ago. It was quite liberating I was resigned to not being back online till November but it turned out it was Mtel at fault..Typicaly no one knows how or what to do so they send you home & fob you off with anything that comes to mind. I fell for this for 4 weeks every week it was a different reason & *88 never answers as there is a fault with this too. In the end when I decided after paying for my netbook to be reinstalled yet again, that it must be the homebox thats broken. I got Mary to bring her laptop over & hook up to my wifi & found out that way. The next day Mtel tried to tell me I had to take it back home & phone *88 even after I told her over & over that they hadnt answered for 4 weeks day & night this took 30 mins of arguing back & forth, nicely I didn't shout, & in the end I cried out of frustration & anger & hey presto problem fixed!!! The assistant that couldn't phone from the shop, phoned & it was a fault on the line when I got home it was fixed!!! Now in future when I hit the Bulgarian brick wall I am going to cry cause this tactic flipping works  :-)

Kami loves her sleep :-)

Reggie is better now he passed the stomach problem to the puppies & they too have recovered, Minishka was the poorliest ill for four days solid & just like when toddlers are poorly she just wanted to be cuddled on the sofa! She was really sweet & lovely now she is back to the hyperactive biting jumping dervish :-) Reggie is all amourous & wants lots of cuddles too & Kami is adorable as ever with a little naughtiness which coming from her is very funny.


The winter is getting ready to visit. Some days are warm & sunny others chilly & damp with a few cold ones here & there we have has - temps at night even.  We have distinct seasons here & its definately Autumn now. At the moment we are ok a bit chilly fires are lit all over the village & that special smell in the air reminds me Autumns here winters on the way & i'm in Bulgaria! I lit the fire for the first time on 8th Oct it had been a bit chilly before but I was worried about the chimneys not being swept.

Nigel will be home in just 16 days woohoo!!! So can't wait just marking time now & he will be driving back in our new 4x4 full of goodies millions of books, warm winter clothes (difficult to buy anything decent here) kitchen equipment (as its so expensive here) Sky + (thank goodness the end of 70's retro repeats) but bestest of all a kitchen complete with belfast sink & extractor fan!!!!!! Oh my goodness how happy am I? Well happy thats how :-) all we need is some work top & I have a full kitchen. Its a temporary measure as we are building a new kitchen extension to the house unfortunately this will take a bit of time & I have been without a kitchen for 2 years so far. Its pine so will fit in well as a cottage kitchen & we can always paint it if needs be then when we are sorted it can be used for guest accomodation. We won't be able to get our conservatory furniture over but we will buy a cubic mtr on a truck when we have the money & get it driven over.
Had wood chopped this week. we have loads & didn't need to buy any this year still have most of the logs we bought last year & have 2 animal houses full of it. One house has lots of old wood from windows, frames, beams etc & the other full of walnut branches which I use for kindling. So I have a huge box full of kindling & 14 sacks of wood for the Kamina's then the rest is in the new kitchen in a huge basket, plenty for the next couple of months. Then the barn is full of wood & beams from the collaps & this is still without touching the logs! I think we have more than enough for the aparent very cold winter ahead!
I have heard from a few different quarters that we are in for a very long very cold winter lasting 6 months! well I am not going to panic just have to hope its typical Bulgarian panic & overreaction. If its a sunny winter with loads of snow then it will be ok!

It was Pavlinka's born day last week so we had a tea party & she made her best Banitza yet, Mmmm I couldn't face fish soup, had warned them before hand so thankfully didn't have to upset them or under go a torturous experience. I am a wimp where fish is concerned & it would be full of bones I'm a bit phobic about choking on a fish bone haha. I baked her an apple cake which she loves. Ahh it was a really nice evening even gave Yovo an English lesson after dinner.

 I have done lots of cooking in the last month too & actually made a flipping fantastic Banitza the best in Vinograd hahaha well maybe not but it was truly delicious, the recipe is on my food blog

Mmmmm now I want to make some as it's made me hungry

Managed to collect about 3 kilo walnuts so far, a spit in the ocean compared to last years crop but better than nothing. Oooohhhh wish we had chesnuts would love to roast some in the Kamina Mmmm its that time of year back in Worcester!

Nigel says I have turned into a right Bulgarian villager as I am in bed when it gets dark & many evenings before its dark haha basically its warm & comfy & I can watch telly & drop off to sleep at will. I have the coffee machine & light the fire so cant see the point of staying up downstairs, this will change when he is home so I will enjoy while I can!
I apologise for all the spelling misshaps but spellcheck is refusing to work!