Tag: The Good Life

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...

Not that you would know it - the sun is shining, the skies are blue and temperatures are around 19-20C ... I have to admit it is strange as in October as you know we had about a foot of snow. Christmas here is rather understated and that is what is so wonderful about it - there was a small xmas market in Veliko Tarnovo, which we visited and there were lights across the town, but the shops aren't heaving and people aren't shaking collection tins in your face and there isn't even a hint of Slade or Wizard blaring out of the stores. We have exchanged xmas cards with our closest neighbours and one old lady brought me a little present (so sweet)...I couldn't have a nicer community to live in. That also includes the ex-pats here - we have three Russians in the village, a part time Scotswoman and another English lady and we are all invited for Christmas dinner together...so...

No that is not a spelling mistake – it has been one of those moments over here when you just have to keep focused on why you are here in the first place and just how lucky you are to have all that you have!! This picture epitomises why I am doing this – I lived this life as a child and would like it back and living here allows me to have enough land and the climate to make it happen, not to mention the availability of a lot of very cheap and nice wine of which I have plenty...or at least that's what I started off with... There are many positives about living in Bulgaria in fact way too many to list and they far outweigh the negatives, but sometimes you just want to scream and throw things...this has been one of those times, but as I generally don't scream and however much I'd love to throw things, I...

I returned to being a five year old again this last week as the first snowfall hit our village - we had around 10 inches in total, some areas had more and all they predicted was snow flurries...I'd hate to see it when they predict a blizzard!! Well it made the house and garden look lovely for a while as it covered up all the crap we have lying around, but also broke a couple of trees at the bottom of our field, which still need to be cleared up properly - they were plum trees of which I have lots so no big loss, just I probably wouldn't have chosed those ones to take down. The dogs (especially Kia) loved every minute of it - jumping through it, rolling in it and chasing snowballs, generally being a puppy again (even though she has just turned three) - after the sadness of losing Diesel it was nice to see the...