Tag: self sufficiency

I came across a friend's post on Facebook a while back that got me thinking. It was a list of interesting places to visit, incredible events to attend and extreme things to achieve and the idea was you went through the list and ticked off what you had done and what was left was your bucket list …to do before you die. I'm not usually so obedient but thought it would be interesting to see what I'd done and what I had left to do…. Now when you take these sort of tests you can be left feeling two things: 1) Excitement for all the things left to do in the world or 2) Disappointed at not having done that much with your (in my case) 50 years on this earth. That is if you let the internet dictate how you feel about yourself…I don't, I just don't…so I started thinking of some of the things I'd done. I have show-jumped in...

I think the question I get asked the most out here, by other expats, those thinking about moving here and the Bulgarians themselves is, why Bulgaria. My answer is probably very similar to everyone else's, 'because I always wanted a house in France'. This is the truth, since returning to the UK in 1989 from Belgium, I always wanted to go back across the channel and Provence had a wildness about it that appealed to my nature, but then it became popular and out of my price range. So I saved a little more and the French just kept putting their prices up, it was like they were trying to tell me something and despite my belligerent nature, eventually I listened and looked further afield. We found Sicily and fell in love with it, we bought a cheap do-er-upper and had a good friend and French architect complete the renovations for us, only to find that while we'd been busy plastering, painting...

Have chickens they said, chickens are easy they said, fresh eggs they said... They, whoever 'they' are may be need to tweak their enthusiasm somewhat so that I can manage my own expectations sensibly! Yes I love my chooks, I have named them all for goodness sake...some of them twice, but that's another story...and I have to admit that on the whole they are pretty damn simple most of the time, but they do have their moments too! And EGGS...well I'm still buying them from the local farm shop so you work it out. Some of this lack of egg production I must admit comes from the fact that Charlotte and Delia have now officially been renamed Charlie and Dilburt after they were caught having a right old 'cock-a-doodle-doo' one morning...I guess I'll wait a while for some double yolkers from them. I also have some doubts about Amelia and Babs who if not cocks, they are awfully butch ladies with lesbian tendencies.  It is only...

Well that's my year off complete so I better get back to work and start earning some money...no, no, no I'm not giving up and coming back to good ol' Blighty...not unless someone drags me kicking and screaming, but I have decided it is time to stop the pot draining and do a little something to earn my keep! So I've started teaching English as a Foreign Language online, just for two days a week - it's great - and I get the rest of the week off to renovate the house and tend the garden. At least this way my muscles get some time off and so does my brain, win win :-) This change of lifestyle has been an adventure in many ways, figuring out how to bring in a few quid to keep things ticking over while trying to save a few quid doing the work yourself ...we are not lacking in desire, determination or in our ability...

It has been exactly one year today since we arrived at our little piece of heaven in Bulgaria so I thought I'd do a quick before and after blog to show everything we have done (and still to do) We had the place rewired completely, new windows and doors installed and the roof checked over and repairs made (we didn't do  any of this ourselves). Lounge We gutted the lounge ceiling to floor and rendered the walls - this still needs sanding and painting and the floor still needs tiling but it made it at least useable over the winter months ...                   Shower Room (again not us) Paul basically rebuilt this little room for us while we installed the septic tank system ( a lot of digging)...             Kitchen Again this was gutted, rendered, painted, and the fireplace opened up, new oven put in and it did us through winter but we have a stone floor to put down and units to build still (and I'm still using...

If you follow my facebook page of the same name you will know that my good friend and neighbour came back from a stay in France…she is the perfect neighbour - we chat over emptying wheelbarrows (she with grass cuttings, me usually with rubble of some sort) and laugh and moan about our own incapabilities for one reason and another.  I never thought though that she paid too much attention to my ramblings, but on her return she brought with her a gift for both me and my Dan. For him an old oil can, I don't think anything more appropriate could be found on this earth as lets face it if the choice was between me or his BMW all I can say is, I hope they'll be very happy together …and for me…she brought cheese, lots of cheese, something tells me she was paying attention!! You see Mr Royce all those lessons on 'learning to listen' and all...

Well what has been happening since my last blog? I think you can safely say that whatever it is, it has mostly involved drinking some form of alcohol. It seems that the Bulgarians need no excuse for a party although they seem to dream up all sorts of 'reasons to be cheerful'. First there was a party to celebrate the bees and their honey, which we missed as we were busy rescuing a puppy from up near the Romanian border and bringing her home to her new family. Lily is a Standard Poodle cross Old English Sheepdog and her current family couldn't keep her anymore, friends of ours jumped at the chance to offer her a new place to stay and so she has joined their St Bernard puppy and Golden Retriever…it is great to see them together now, Lily is the boss and loving her new found freedom and being spoilt rotten... One good deed deserves another as they say and...

As most of you are aware, I'm on a very steep learning curve out here in Bulgaria, trying to master the language, the culture and learn about growing my own food and keeping my own chickens…this along with renovating our small farmhouse and looking after my three dogs and the little stray cat that adopted us. All this means doing an awful lot of reading, which I don't object to at all … in fact sat with a cup of coffee in front of the fire, it is probably one of my favourite pastimes, but there is sooo much information out there and much of it contradicts one article to the next. So when I came across this little gem "Chicken Hot Topics" by Jessica Lane, I was not only delighted but also a little relieved that I was not the only one that had been through this sifting process of information thingy and also grateful that she had decided to put...

The mysteries of Bulgaria continue to flummox us the deeper we delve...or rather the longer we stay here the more we learn and the more we love it (despite itself)! Why the strange title you may think, well its a long story, but I'll keep it brief. I had been having trouble sleeping, like someone was sitting on my chest (and no it wasn't Dan or any of the animals) or as if I had really bad indigestion. This went on for several days and despite the instinct (when it comes to the dogs) to google the symptoms, I decided I would be more sane if I just listened to my body and gave it time. Then sat on the steps outside I suddenly lost all feeling in my last two fingers on my right hand and that raised a flag in my mind so politely asked Dan if he could run me to hospital. Well politely might not have come into it...and...

Well the new year is here - it tends to do that to us about the same time every year...and every year we resolve to:-   1) Lose Weight 2) Save Money 3) Eat Healthier 4) Give up Smoking 5) Give up Alcohol How many of us actually do what we say we're going to do and how many of us just jump on the wagon with everyone else, not even sure if it is right for us...well I've challenged tradition this year!! There's a good reason for that - I've already dropped two dress sizes just renovating the house, I've moved out to Bulgaria so I can save some money (that's working to a point), I gave up smoking six years ago and have absolutely no intention of giving up alcohol, that would just make me even more unbearable to live with than I am now! So this year my resolutions are more like goals:- 1) Plan and  plant my garden 2) Buy Chickens 3) Eat only my own vegetables for...