It’s A Fine Line…

by Jane8 Comments
Between Pride & A Fall It has been a long, long time since I last posted here. I wanted to let you know why... Image by Here and now, unfortunately, ends my journey on Pixabay from Pixabay Back in 2020 when we all became aware of the pandemic, I thought the toilet paper hoarding, empty shelves and the confusing instructions from the UK government were hilarious. First world problems.  Also, and this is important. I felt very lucky to be here in Bulgaria, surrounded by land. Not confined to an apartment or city house and where all the shops were operating as normal. Not one person to be found hugging toilet paper like their life depended on it.   When the vaccine started rolling out I was also delighted to find out that I didn’t need to wait for my age bracket to be called in. I could just turn up and get jabbed at the local hospital and on 23rd February 2021 that’s exactly what...
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Meet The Team – Part Three

Meet The Team – Part Three

by JaneNo Comments
Dimitrina I sometimes think that I can do everything and I’m having to learn that I just can’t. Not because I am not capable, but there are only so many hours in a day. When I’m trying to work full time, fully renovate a property, keep our current house going, promote events, look after 4 dogs, chickens and bees and create a garden capable of feeding my guests, something has to give. Tomorrow is the 1st of March which here in Bulgaria is called Baba Marta (Grandmother March), so I thought it appropriate to introduce you to my very own Baba Marta. Meet Dimitrina! Dimitrina is both a friend and a neighbour. She is above all a family woman and her daughters, her son and all her grandchildren live in and around the village. All of the villagers here have made us feel so welcome since moving here, 7 years ago, and this family have given us so much more than we could ever have anticipated. The main...
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What To Blog?

What To Blog?

by JaneNo Comments
And A Little Of What Not to Blog? Usually I have a heap of things going on. When it comes to the decision of what to blog, it is more about what not to blog… this week is a little different. We have been doing things, of course we have, when do we ever not do things!? Filling Time The thing is, having had the whole house rewired, the only thing we are really doing right now is filling in the inevitable channels, sanding walls and testing out some paint to see if it covers ok. Do you really want a whole blog on all this lot? I think not. Long story short! It is gonna look like it was never touched. A bit like being back at square one. Except with an additional month’s worth of work and a pocket full of cash lighter. Clearing Out The other thing I’ve been doing is emptying the knee-deep soil, mud, old animal dung and various carcasses out of the...
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Meet The Team – Part Two

Meet The Team – Part Two

by JaneNo Comments
Katie Well here we go… part two of meet the team, introducing Katie! This is so exciting for me as I’m a little bit of a fan of Katie, I have to admit. She has definitely been an influence on my journey over the last few years. To have her agree to be a part of these retreats is humbling. So where do I start? I met Katie through her Mum. She was visiting her here in Bulgaria. From the moment I encountered her I instantly wanted to know more about her and to become her friend. This young woman had a sense of elegance, an ethereal, freeness that I could only dream of.  She exuded a natural mystical, spiritual, witchy vibe that I wanted to grab onto, with the hope that I would soak up a little of this just by being near her. What Katie Does Katie is an intuitive Ayurvedic yoga teacher, women's circle facilitator and reiki master teacher. She hasn’t just learned these...
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Toilet Talk

Toilet Talk

by JaneNo Comments
The Big Toilet Debate I don’t know if you remember the big toilet debate. I think I may have mentioned that the one thing that we have debated and debated and yes… debated some more, was the toilet situation at the new house. In fact, it was this issue that made me come up with the idea for You Decide - Design Dilemmas. I couldn’t take any more weeks of going round in circles, researching on the internet, surveying the land etc., etc.,. I decided to let you guys make all the difficult decisions going forward. For those of you that live in the UK and the US, most of you will think….well just plumb in a couple of units and off you go… what are you worrying about woman! That may be the case back in the western world but out here, in our village, mains sewage is not an option. Currently up at the Bee House we have a ‘long drop’. For those...
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Meet The Team – Part One

Meet The Team – Part One

by Jane2 Comments
Kristina I am writing this in two parts as there is so much to say about these wonderful women and I don’t want to cut it short for the sake of ‘blog’ restrictions. I am so excited to share our team members with you all. These are real women, living real lives, who are looking forward to helping me create something I just know is going to be so … what? How do I describe what I have planned? There are so many relevant adjectives: Relaxing, connecting, freeing, experimenting, fun, delicious, discovering… I am making it my aim before the end of this month to put together a guide to what it ‘actually’ is, please hold me to this! So, this is Part One of meet the team. Kristina WillsChef @ Bee You Retreats in 2022 I first met Kristina through her sister. We had helped Camilla move into her new apartment in Bansko and with her younger sister about to move over from Australia into our region, we exchanged...
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Christmas Presents

by JaneNo Comments
Giving & Receiving For some reason since moving out here, we don't do Christmas presents. We don't give them and we don't receive them. Does that sound sad? Well it isn't I promise, as it takes away a lot of pressure to find something that the other person hasn't got, that they want and that you can afford to buy. That's a lot of stress just because someone says you must buy a gift on this day. I Am Not A Scrooge! Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay I'm not a scrooge, I enjoy Christmas now. I love the lights, the food, the time together, the terrible repetitive TV, the winter weather, the carols, the cheesy films, the lights, the decorations and the extra tot of alcohol. But I hate all the commercialism - I can give or receive a gift any time of the year - and because Dan feels the same way there is no guilt trip, no pressure, no family tradition that we...
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Ask The Audience – You Decide!

Ask The Audience – You Decide!

by Jane2 Comments
Do You Wanna Play? Image by Ylanite Koppens from Pixabay Christmas is coming and it’s the time for parlour games… oh my God am I some sort of Victorian peasant or something… What I mean is the UK Government have outlawed board games and singing this Christmas so I have invented a new game to keep you amused. It’s called You Decide and like all good puppies it is not just for Christmas. As you know we have a new house. This house will become a retreat twice a year for women. Women that are at a crossroads in life (we've all been there). Maybe their kids have grown up and left home and they have the chance to discover who they are (other than a mother). Perhaps they are recently divorced and need to find out who they are all over again or maybe they are close to retirement and the ‘job’ had defined them for so many years. Whatever their story we want to...
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