Starting to think about details

Well, six weeks (or less) and counting and I've started to let really small details enter my mind about the journey and other things.

Counting down

I have been trying to limit these kind of thoughts for the last few months so I don't feel like I am jumping the gun or getting too emotionally involved in something happening in the future (to the extent that I don't appreciate and enjoy every second of these last months and weeks) but now I feel it is time to really focus on the journey and making sure it is as comfortable and successful as possible.

First of all I have (hopefully) finally got a working Julian with battery charging from the alternator and a few bits to finalise this weekend around the airconditioning unit (which runs off 110v so needs a transformer now to work). I've bought the transformer and an American style 3-pin plug to put on the power cable instead of the confusing UK style one that is currently there; this will definitely be done this weekend.

Keeping toasty warm

So we'll be warm in the mornings / evenings / lunch times when we stop for lunch.

Talking of lunch, I am starting to think about planning what food and supplies to take which will be bought on the last Friday before the journey. My thoughts are along the lines of:

• enough bacon and eggs so we don't have to stop and shop for that
• enough bread for barms and butties for the first three days and try to buy after that
• enough butter and butty filling stuff so we don't have to look for that
• long life milk for brews
• tea bags / coffee
• driving sweets (already bought and in Julian as it happens)
• chocolate bars and emergency rations

I am going to be making a list and working out exactly what we'll need over the next couple of days; you may be lucky enough that I actually post this as a blog. I bet you can't wait.

Sassy with her new tent

I also am aware that I really need to do something I have been putting off; mainly because it is going to be a really difficult process. I need to ring all the countries we are going to cross to double check that they are OK with Sassy; now I know they will be OK but some may require some paperwork which the vet will be very happy to stamp (for a fee, obviously) but I need to find out about it. I keep forgetting (or putting it off) and tomorrow I really must dedicate a little time to phoning at least the French and German embassies to find out what they require. I have been told this information from several sources now so I can't ignore it any more. There will definitely be a detailed blog post about this as I cannot find anyone who has written a guide to "transporting a bunny across Europe" and I would like to fill that gap.

I'm off to see my parents in a couple of weeks and we're going to have a session with the walky talkies then to work out how we will use them. I have bought the parents new carryon bags as well so I'll take these down at that time.

This evening I am going to go through all my clothes and work out what I have so when I get to the stage of packing I have a rough idea in my head in advance.

I have got myself organised

At the weekend I am in Blackpool for probably the last time and will be doing the following tasks:

• build the humanure toilet
• fix the hookup cable
• fix the trailer power cable
• practice pack including using the tarpaulin
• change the plug on the aircon and install the transformer
• get both roof boxes on Julian
• put the other bike rack on Thomas
• fix Sassy's food / water supplies in her travel hutch
• try out the generator

I also want to take Rambo for a walk on the beach (so I need to find out when the tide is out) if I can possibly get time. It is going to be a busy one!

At home I am taking another few boxes of things up to be packed, as I appear to have space and I found another few things I had missed. Most everything is gone now however. It is a strange feeling to realise just how close I now am to this thing happening.

Briefly to update on progress over there I've continued to have updates from Lubo and the process seems to be moving on; I suppose I shall really find out mid February when he promised the initial planning process response would be back to him. The electricity is specifically promised to be done in the next two weeks and this will also be a good indicator of how well things are going.

So there you are; you can see that my mind is full of things and I am living this last period in England right to the full.

Shakespearification weekend

This weekend I was away to Sheffield (which is always a pleasure as I lived there for a while and absolutely love the place) to see A Comedy of Errors at the Lyceum; it was part of the "welcome back" things I did with my young lady :)

A scene from The Comedy of Errors

We went on the train on Friday and found that yes Sheffield is the one place you can go to if you want to be rained on more than in Manchester. The hotel was brilliant however, and really well located right in the centre of town. Our evening consisted of walking down Devonshire road until we got to The Old House where the amazingly knowledgeable staff assisted us with our beer choices (they have a beer menu) and we enjoyed Pie Friday. From there to the Devonshire Cat which is an old regular haunt of mine and another pub with a menu for its beer list. Drinking these freshly brewed (and mostly local to Sheffield) ales makes you realise just how rubbish mass produced beer actually is.

I had only booked the one thing for the whole weekend (the aforementioned Shakespeare) which left us with all the time for serendipity and relaxation that we both needed. After a very lazy morning (with cooked breakfast only interrupted by a very rude banker or bankers husband, not sure which) we headed out to explore Sheffield on foot. First of all we wondered looking at the gorgeous buildings that are above the generic shop facades throughout the country (frankly) and then decided to wonder in the direction of the Fat Cat, a pub I have heard about but wasn't sure if I had visited, and who she had been recommended to visit.

This took us down towards the Don and to a region I used to work to work through however the council has ruined it largely by putting the ring road slap in the middle. Where there was an industrial quarter which would have been hundreds of years old, now there is a dual carriageway. So sad.

Industrial Buildings

Fortunately it hasn't all been destroyed and as we reached the Cat we realised there was a really interesting looking museum right next door. It was shut however would be open again on Sunday so we put that down as something to try to do.

A Bessemer Vessel

We wondered around outside the museum for a bit looking at the industrial relics on display and enjoying the peace and quiet of the wind gently rustling the grasses in the silted up length of river running past. Lovely.

Neither of us were hungry in the Fat Cat so it was one pint each (mine a pint of Kelham Best which was just incredible) and then we walked to get the tram two stops up the hill with the aim of walking to where I used to live and have a look around that area. The weather had other plans. Having been absolutely gorgeous all day all of a sudden then was a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder and the heavens opened. It was so bad we legged it to a bus stop for shelter and caught the bus back to the hotel. It wasn't all bad though as this meant we could watch the first Hobbit film and rest until going out for food and the theatre.

Food was Wagamammas which was tasty however the service wasn't great, and we were at the theatre early to have a pint before the show. This is where the difference between mass produced crap and real ale really came to me as I left most of my beer untouched. It was just too sugary and cloying and nasty.

Another scene from the show; including Squeaky Cop

So, to the purpose of the trip and what a great show it was. Seriously (and I know this link will expire soon and won't really be relevant in a few months but I don't care) go and SEE THIS SHOW! It was funny, irreverent but also so true to what Shakespeare should be. Absolutely fantastic and had the whole place laughing out loud throughout, resulting in about four or five returns to the stage by the troupe at the end to accept the ovation.

Afterwards my mind was so full of the show I couldn't even think of going anywhere noisy so we just went back to the room and talked about it for ages; it really was that good!

Flowers in the Peace Gardens

Sunday morning  had no desire to risk a re-run of angry-banker-couple so we went to the Peace Gardens for breakfast and to walk around the lovely displays of plants and flowers from around the world. It was also raining so being under cover was a bonus.

Some Cacti in the Peace Gardens

After spending a relaxing time slowly perusing we walked back over the the Kelham museum and got there in the dry. As we were about to pay one of the staff came rushing over saying "the engine is about to run, go and see it and come back and pay later". I do just want to say that this is the attitude that ALL museums should have; I found it inspiring that this person was so excited about his exhibits that he was aware of someone coming in a little late and wanted to involve us.

The video above was taken while watching this engine running. It is an incredible thing, and awesome when you realise that what has been saved is only a small part of the end to end process. There was a massive mill attached as well which could roll thick armour for battleships using the power generated by the engine.

After this exceptional experience (which brought forth applause from those watching) we went back, paid and then spent two hours walking around the informative and diverse displays in the museum. I learned what Bessemer meant (having seen references to it all over Sheffield including one pub I used to drink in regularly having be renamed to it).

A multi knife.... wow

The quality of steel which Sheffield produces is well known and there were loads of examples in the displays showing off the product of this excellence.

The Stagecoach (with benches on the roof)

The museum also included a small transport museum with cars and motorbikes made in Sheffield and a stagecoach which had been repainted but was originally used around Sheffield. Just imagine being sat on top of this on those benches; the information board said there is a story where all the external passengers froze to death it was so cold on one journey.

A detail of the Don River Engine

We were in the museum so long we actually got to see the engine running for a second time and this time we stood so close we could feel the heat from the steam; brilliant. I had spotted some wood working chisels in the shop and after thinking about it decided to buy them to take with me to Bulgaria; not only was I supporting the museum and the artisan who made them, I'd have a life long memento of this trip.

And so home via the train again.

It was a great weekend and just what I want to do with these last weeks; I got to return to a city I love but see so much in it which I never saw when I lived there. I will admit to a small shiver of fear intruding yesterday evening when I got home from the trip as this weekend is something I have been looking forward to for as long as I now have left in the country and it came round really REALLY quickly.

Something small but major

So the blog has been a bit sparsely updated recently as I don't want to bore y'all with writing about the same thing (oooooh the move is getting closer etc etc etc) every day. This doesn't mean that stuff hasn't been happening so today I'm going to run through the recent updates and progress.

European Travel Kit

First of all, the progress referenced in the title. I've mentioned before that to drive in Europe you need to have various items in various countries, by their law. For example, in France you need a breathaliser and also a reflective jacket for each person which has to be stored in the main body of the car. To prevent being stopped by the cops to see if you have said jacket the advice is to hang it over the back of each seat.

This item I have been holding off from buying because of concerns that the countries would change their laws and the kit would go out of date. This week I got close enough to the leaving date to go out and find a couple of kits and buy them. This is a small, but major, step on the way.

Things with the architect are apparently moving on; I've been having email conversations via my contact and apparently should be able to expect some permission to build around mid February; if this can happen I'll be very happy. There are still confusions between one person asking a question and another; I was under the impression that I would be able to arrange the electrical survey and then EVN would be connecting the temporary connection. According to Lubo this isn't quite the case though he will get the electricity connected by mid February. We shall see; it could be "jobs for the boys" but all these fees are included in the price so I won't be getting any unexpected surprises.

Thinking of getting this one

Julian has gone back into the garage as I just couldn't be bothered dealing with the useless camper van dude again. The electrician there has identified a problem with the component which splits the charge from the inverter to send it back to the leisure battery. The part has been ordered and will be fitted soon. This is very good. I also got them to double check that the reason the aircon wasn't working was voltage issues and it is. I am now waiting to confirm the wattage of the unit so I can purchase the correct step down transformer from 240v to 110v.

This is a good place to once again link to one of my favourite websites that I have found during this whole process. The reason I can link to it is I have decided I will be making my humanure toilet in England and taking it with me; this is so I can be sure I have somewhere to go as soon as I arrive, and also because I wasn't totally confident on finding the correct size buckets etc. I'm actually quite looking forward to giving it a go and I am using the design on pages 166 and 167 of the Humanure Handbook. Of course I'll be blogging when I make it :) I won't blog the first use of it, though. Probably :D

I have had the tarpaulin and other fixings delivered to the studio, and also bought a tyre pressure gauge and a really powerful torch for the journey; the only thing left to buy is the snow chains for Julian and I'm not totally sure of the size of the tyres so I'm holding back on that until I am with him again next.

Not getting through that, huh

Lastly but by no means least concerningly it has been reported to me that the new road I was hoping to use to get to the school has now been closed because the EU may have withdrawn funding to complete it. This is rather a concern because the other route (which may not even be open anyway) is much narrower and windy. I was concerned initially that it may not be passable but with more thought (I've driven it once) I think it would be OK. It would be nicer to drive straight in, especially as late as it probably will be when we arrive at our destination but we can't have everything.

So there you are; stuff HAS been happening.

Lamb of God

This weekend was another instance of "for the last time" as a long-planned weekend away with my two best friends occurred. We decided to go back to our roots and find a really heavy gig to go to as a celebration of my leaving.

Lamb of God

I found the Lamb of God tour and when we realised that the London gig was at Brixton (I don't THINK I'd been there since I saw Skunk Anansie there in 1997 or so) and on a Saturday tickets were bought without hesitation.

So after a night of awful films (including this gem which I actually loved, and would recommend to all of you.. honestly) we had a morning of more dreadful films (are you seeing a pattern yet?) we sloped into London on the train and found ourselves a pub in Victoria, just up the line from Brixton.

In the pub with my mates

Pub lunch, and a couple of pints each, and the bill was not extreme which rather shocked me too. We got to the venue about half an hour before the doors were due to open and, true to form, the metal fans had all turned up really early so the queue was round two whole sides of the building.

Waiting for the first band

It didn't take that long to get in, once it started moving, and after hitting the merch (and buying a t shirt with a skull with a beard on it; how awesome!) and the bar (where three small bottles of Carling cost as much as my t shirt, which was overpriced) we headed for our seats and managed to grab extra legroom seats on the front of a bay with a great view of the stage.

The first band on were a band called Huntress. They were SO metal; taking it back to what it all used to be about with screaming guitar and brilliant songs (with weird lyrics, as we found out when reading them on the CD my mate bought). I had a silly grin on my face throughout the entire set. One of the things I'd forgotten about metal gigs was just how into it the crowd gets. After years of going to non-metal gigs and seeing just how sparse the crowd is for anything other than the headline act, to witness just how rammed the place was for this band (who were on about half an hour after doors opened) and how the crowd reacted reminded me of why metal gigs are so good.

After Huntress there was a short break and then a death metal band from Poland called Decapitated took the stage. This was unremitting and LOUD and I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Huntress but it was impressive and the singer(?) had the most amazing long dreadlocks which he flung around to the best effect. The one strange thing was they kept going off stage and coming back on between songs and the lack of interaction with the crowd kept me from feeling that involved.

The road crew prepare for Lamb of God

Once Decapitated finished the crew jumped on the stage and did their really efficient job of derigging the drum kit and clearing everything away, then getting the stage set for Lamb of God.

Stage set, waiting for the band

There was quite a long wait with the stage prepared and nothing happening and the crowd got a little restless, chanting "Lamb of God" and cheering when any member of the band was spotted back stage or moving around behind the drum riser.

Then the main lights dropped and the build up music started rumbling and building the suspense and finally the band burst onto stage in a crash and bang and explosion of noise and energy. It was like men after boys; these guys have been around for a very long time and it shows why they are huge and managed to sell out Brixton completely.

Lamb of God ripping it up

Everything about the show was big and loud; the lights were impressive, the strobe effects were overwhelming at times, and the volume was such that the liquid in our beer bottles was vibrating and throbbing.

An awesome picture by my mate John

We were (as previously described) in seats in the circle however as soon as the band appeared we were on our feet and we only sat down for a few moments after that point, jumping around in place and generally getting into the spirit of things. The whole of the circle was doing the same thing and the reaction of the crowd seemed to be getting to the band as they commented a couple of times just how amazed they were.

In the spotlight

After what seemed like moments, but was actually about an hour and a half, the band finally finished their set and left to major applause and we headed fast towards the underground to start the journey home. We beat the crowds (by moving faster than anyone else) and were able to get home in time to get cheesy chips from a place near my mate's house.

Ripping a new one

All in all, this was a cracking weekend and a fit and proper way to celebrate our friendship and the times we have had together.

Swan Lake; wow

Last night I went to the ballet for the first time. I love classical music, have been to musicals and operas, but never the ballet. The girl I met before Christmas had returned from her travelling and this was something I booked to welcome her back :) I'm an old romantic fool :D

The only picture I took; our view

All I can say is "wow"! The music was incredible, the dancing magical, and the whole thing passed in a flash of amazement and enjoyment. I am not ashamed to say that there was more than one occasion when I had tears in my eyes and had to blink hard to clear them so I could keep watching the stage.

I'm not going to go on too much in this blog about the story, as you can find that elsewhere, but I did want to highlight a couple of things which I loved so much.

A stock photo of the production we watched

First of all I was really pleased that I had managed to track down a production that was not modernising the story or the set or the costumes. The costumes were just stunning. Really ornate headdresses and the Queen's long flowing dress was sumptuous and gorgeous. Every single item of clothing added to the feeling that you were looking in on something magical happening in a fantastical world.

The swans

The dancing of the swans was also magical (a word which I am going to overuse in this post as it is the most accurate word for the feeling); the way they floated across the stage, emulating the flight of birds as if denying the effects of gravity, and the strength and agility of all the dances drew gasps and much applause from the whole crowd.

And finally, the music. The lead violin was just amazing, nailing the solos and at times the musicians caught my attention more than the people on stage particularly when the trombone was blatting, and the kettle bells were thundering.

Just beautiful dancing

So yeah, I really enjoyed this night, I would recommend the ballet to anyone who hasn't been - it would probably help if you like the music (or classical music in general) as at least then if the dancing bores you you can shut your eyes.

Curry Cooking Course

As part of my decision to try and take some opportunities to learn some new skills before I go I went on a Curry Cooking Course at a restaurant in Manchester this weekend. I went with my mate Kirsty who introduced me to the fantastic Mancunian tradition which is Rice and Three. He is a curry monster just like I am.

Ready for the course to start

Upon arriving we were sat down and given some traditional Chai Massala while we waited for the course to start. This was surprisingly lovely and consisted of boiling milk and steeping tea leaves in the milk (normally loose leaf, but they admitted to using tea bags for consistency reasons) and then adding a couple of other ingredients which I am trying to remember as I type this.

Starting the Rogan Josh

They split us into two groups with one learning the two starter dishes and the other going into the kitchen with the head chef to learn the two mains. I was in the group which went into the kitchen first to see how to cook Lamb Rogan Josh, Chicken Jalfrezi and Pilau Rice. We were not actually each going to get a chance to cook at a station and prepare our own meals (probably due to space limitations) rather the head chef was preparing the dishes on one of the big gas hob stations but while allowing us to get involved stirring and mixing and adding the ingredients.

Stirring the Rogan Josh

Both the mains started with a similar base, where a load of vegetable oil was poured into the bottom of the pan and then, when it was really hot, onions and garlic were added and stirred, until browned. What was noticeable, and probably the first thing I learned, was the sheer amount of garlic that was added, and also the high temperature at which the oil was heated; this meant that the garlic disintegrated during the stirring, and the onion browned off really evenly. The smells were incredible.

The chef was cooking his own dishes and there was no measuring device in sight as he just took a spoon of this, and two of that, while building up a flavoursome and colourful sauce. The chef started another big pan with a load of water in it, and added a couple of other spices to the boiling water then put the lamb in it to boil off for 20 minutes or so. He also put a substantial amount of ghee into a pan and heated it up until fully melted, then added a few other ingredients and then poured a load of water in. This was for the rice.

The Chicken Jalfrezi

It probably took an hour but it felt like a couple of minutes and he had pulled the Jalfrezi off the heat and we were getting our first taste. It was amazing! He had added a large amount of rice to the water which was boiling hard, and then reduced the heat under the pan while putting the lid on with weights piled on top.

One other little tip I did spot was when he added the egg white to the Jalfrezi he did not stir at all, allowing the colour of the eggs to distribute itself through the sauce as it wished. This is a small tip but explains the interesting striations I have seen when eating Jalfrezi before.

The Rogan Josh was ready next and I must say it is possibly the nicest curry I have tasted; I am normally a Jalfrezi man but I reckon I may introduce this as a bit of variety next time I am out for a proper Indian meal. So many flavours, so much subtlety, and a flavour which lasted long after the mouthful had been swallowed.

This is the rice

The last thing to be served to us was the rice and this also blew my mind; it was so tasty and so fluffy and delicate. Amazing. I will be buying ghee and using it from now on to make my rice!

So with the mains observed we moved onto the starters and here we were hands on and actually preparing the dishes ourselves. We were to make Chicken Tikas and Lamb Chops which were to be BBQd over coals and flames.

My Chicken Tikas

The main part of this was preparing the marinade and then coating the meat and putting on a metal spike in a kebab style arrangement. It was great fun getting our hands coated in oil and spices and then learning how to best arrange the meat on the spike.

Kirsty very proud of his kebab

Each marinade was very similar involving either a teaspoon or a table spoon of ingredient and with some picked particularly for flavour and some for colour, once again the colours and smells of Indian cooking brought a smile to our faces.

Cooking the starters over flame

Once again we weren't actually involved in cooking the dishes, probably for insurance purposes as the flame grilling station was very hot and probably dangerous for all of us to crowd around trying to turn our own spikes however as they were finished the chef handed them out so we got to eat them fresh and really hot off the cooker. I have rarely tasted chicken as tasty and juicy as those Tikas, and the Lamb was beautiful both juicy and crispy from the flames. Wow.

I got a pot of each main, and a pot with a couple of the starters in, to take home with me and I will be enjoying them today (as you read this) at work.

I am deliberately not revealing the ingredients as if you want to learn what I did, you should go to Zouk in Manchester and get on one of their excellent courses.

Reflecting on what has happened and what I am doing (part 2)

This blog follows on from the one of the same name which ground to a shuddering halt when I couldn't find a picture and thought I had lost an entire set from one of my visits. However, in bed last night I thought "hang on, that was the November trip, when my friend wasn't in the country and we were travelling without her help, and I KNOW I saw those pictures" and wouldn't you know it, I've just looked and there is the picture. So I'll copy-paste the last paragraph from the other blog, and continue where I left off in here.

The rook in the valley

Carrying on, to another moment in this journey was one of the house hunting trips with George from Bulgarian Properties. We had viewed a couple of places which were not really suitable and were on the way to the last viewing of the day. The drive took us along a really difficult road, bouncing around in the 4x4 and thinking "wow how can we even THINK about moving up a road like this"; a thought which probably took hold of J slightly more than me because when I got up to the houses I immediately felt so happy and relaxed. All you could hear was two rooks calling to each other across the valley, and there were no houses within sight. What an isolated and amazing place. To finalise the memory, complete the story, it would not have been practical to buy these as a main residence as they would have been cut off for a couple of months every year, and getting building materials to them would have proven way too difficult. Also, sadly, one of them got sold and we would have wanted to buy both properties. Just shows again that this process is not simple, and you can't presume things will work your way.

The final thought, more a key moment I suppose, and an observation to give faith to anyone who is house hunting in a foreign country.

The dream house in the November trip

One of the companies which I dealt with a couple of times (Bulgarian House) let me down a couple of times. The first time it allowed me and my friend to go on the drive which took us to the dream house (which in the end I couldn't track the owners down for, but still that day out was another key moment in the hunt) and the second time was just before we left for the trip which I had decided would be the last one devoted to looking for a place to buy.

This is the first picture I took of the school

Because they let me down before the trip (unlike the first time) I went off-script and decided to include a property which had been discarded due to size and cost. My thinking was "why not just go and view it, we don't have anything else to do and may as well fill the afternoon viewing slot". After 13 houses we met up with the agent and went with him and his people across a bridge so narrow we had to pull the wing mirrors in. As we pulled up outside the building I took one look at it and thought "Oh wow!" and J took one look at it and said "it's waaaay too big!" but as we walked around the potential and excitement grew and grew. We had seen maybe 3 other houses this trip which were even slightly suitable but this was trumping them all easily.

The wreckage of the celebration meal

That night we over-ordered food and completely stuffed ourselves while deliberately not thinking about the school but on the plane the next day we spent almost the entire flight planning on how we could use the space, whether it would be practical, and trying to keep the excitement from overwhelming us. It felt like fate when the new price came in within budget and the moment two months later when I walked out of the council offices as the new owner of the school is probably one of the most amazing feelings of my life.

So, if you are house hunting and you are being let down by agents, just keep your head up and always keep some backup properties for this case and you never know you may just see The One as one of those backup properties.

Mmmm dark beer

The final thought is about a theme which has run through every trip I took with J over to Bulgaria. We found a little bar in the centre of the main town within a few minutes walk of the hotel we stayed at regularly. Our habit was to arrive at the hotel, dump our bags, then walk over to this bar and allow the general feeling of relaxation to settle over us while we sunk a beer or two of the excellent local brew. It was in this bar that my first confidence in the language started to develop as I was able to understand and ask for a colder beer than the one they offered me. This is a really happy memory, but also slightly bittersweet as mentioned yesterday as I am going alone.

Reflecting on what has happened and what I am doing

With only eight weeks left until I leave the country it is probably understandable that over the last few days I have been thinking about this whole journey and considering all the things which have happened in the past two years.

In this blog I am going to revisit a load of historical pictures from the many visits to Bulgaria right from the first time, and use them to talk about how I am feeling right now, for posterity-sake; I know many people will never do anything like I am doing and I think it is interesting to try to capture the roil of emotions which are going through my mind right now.

Snow in the airport carpark, with the hire car

So, going all the way back to that first visit, flying out to Sofia from Manchester with basically no expectation or idea of what to expect. The snow was quite thick on the ground when we collected the car from the friendly car hire people and we got lost on our way out of Sofia (down to my resistance to asking questions but we managed to find the road and then that legendary fog came down; so thick that I couldn't even see the sides of the road as we were driving near Plovdiv and Acenograd. It was a good thing that I had the satnav, and J with me, as I would not have been able to drive if I hadn't had a co-driver to read the satnav and warn me of the routes.

There are a few specific things which have been running through my head for the last couple of days, though, specific to this trip.

The battered truck wheezing along

First of all was a memory of taking this picture. We were in the hotel booked by my friend and I remember waking up and looking out of the window and seeing a dirty, unkempt looking street with this ancient looking truck puffing and panting as it tried to pull across the street. It was such an unpromising sight, such a distance from the natural beauty that we knew (or at least, hoped) would greet us. You may think that it put me off but I can remember taking a really deep breath and laughing and saying "look at that; we're in a different country... how amazing is that!" and then spending the next two or three minutes trying to count all the skodas and other ancient vehicles which looked so dilapidated they would have been condemned in the UK.

The other thought actually goes back in time from this picture. The road towards that first town travels down a hill and around a couple of corners (past a police check which has stopped me just once in all the times I have been travelling; he asked to see my spare wheel and then waved me on, having learned a couple of English words off me, but that was a different time) and I have for some reason been fixated on this part of the drive, remembering that first ever time and the feelings I was experiencing as I drove us down towards our destiny, not knowing the future, and then thinking about how it will feel to drive down that stretch of road in March with my parents with me and once again be driving towards such a momentous destiny.

It is these two things which have been bouncing around my head, bringing echoes of the past to my consideration of the future which is rushing towards me so fast now.

Now to talk about another couple of key happenings in the last two years which have come to my thoughts while planning this blog (these have NOT been bouncing around as "echoes of my past" though, not in the same way...)

Here is me, falling in love with Bulgaria

The third thing which always stuck with me from that trip was a specific spot which we found while driving around which we returned to a couple of times in that trip. It was just a gravel stretch next to a road above a little village and with a mountain-lined valley stretching out below. The only sound was that of cow bells tinkling on the animals which were straggling along the rocky banks below the road, and the only company very irregular horse and carts pottering past. We had bread and cheese and I had a HUGE and amazingly tasty orange and we just sat there, quietly and both of us falling deeply in love with this amazing country. That was the moment, right there, when the decision was made; Bulgaria was the place for me.

One sincerely bittersweet part of these memories is the fact that I was planning on going with J and, though our separation has been remarkably amicable, I am going alone and these memories were all created with her, and she was part of it. It just goes to show that nothing does happen as you plan, not really.

[A SPACE FOR A PICTURE WHICH I CANNOT FIND RIGHT NOW; PRETTY UPSET ABOUT THAT TO BE HONEST.... DAMMIT]

Carrying on, to another moment in this journey was one of the house hunting trips with George from Bulgarian Properties. We had viewed a couple of places which were not really suitable and were on the way to the last viewing of the day. The drive took us along a really difficult road, bouncing around in the 4x4 and thinking "wow how can we even THINK about moving up a road like this"; a thought which probably took hold of J slightly more than me because when I got up to the houses I immediately felt so happy and relaxed. All you could hear was two rooks calling to each other across the valley, and there were no houses within sight. What an isolated and amazing place. To finalise the memory, complete the story, it would not have been practical to buy these as a main residence as they would have been cut off for a couple of months every year, and getting building materials to them would have proven way too difficult. Also, sadly, one of them got sold and we would have wanted to buy both properties. Just shows again that this process is not simple, and you can't presume things will work your way.

.... well this blog has just ground to a halt because I couldn't find that picture above... and now I want to end it....

Cheers for reading.

One more step on the architect trail

Well this is a nice change; I am once again actually blogging about progress over in Bulgaria :)

Progress :) YES!

Earlier in the week I went through the frustrating complexity of sending money over there to pay the new Architect (Lubo) the up front amount to retain his services. Yesterday I received an email from my contact saying he had received it, and already sent the form to Sofia to get the PuP done. He seems to think that this'll be received back either way by February and then he'll make sure to get the temporary electricity connection in and sorted.

240v hookup

As soon as that is done I'll be getting Bekir in to take the power from the consumer unit and put some plug sockets up in room 13 so when I arrive I can immediately plug things in. I'm going to ask if he can put a 240v hookup connector on the outside of the building so I can also immediately hook Julian up when I arrive.

Talking of Julian he hasn't yet got back into the garage about the electrics so I am going to chase this today; the latest I'll send him over is on Monday next week. I really do hope it isn't a costly job; I still haven't had the invoice from all the work done on Thomas either!

Fingers crossed

I've got my meetings happening in the next week or so to discuss hopefully having a contract after I have gone; if everyone can cross their fingers really hard for me that would be great; having that extra income would be so useful for me.

So, a short update today, but still good. It is SO nice to know things are progressing in Bulgaria again.

Bodging security and balding Sassy

For the last couple of months we have been a bit concerned about Sassy as a slight bald patch on the back of her neck has not stopped spreading.  I also needed to talk to a vet about a pet passport and my nerves about cutting her nails encouraged me to ask the vet to help with this too.

Sassy and her bald patch

So on Monday I picked Sassy up (for the first time for a while) and put her in her new carry cage and we took her to the vet. She was very good, though I don't think she really enjoyed the experience and sat with her back to the door the whole way there. The vet gave her a good examination and pronounced her healthy, if slightly overweight. She advised that the baldness was probably down to either stress or a mineral imbalance. We are now rebalancing her diet to include far more hay than before, and I need to look out less sweet food for her. I also do not need to get a pet passport (indeed, they don't DO a pet passport for rabbits) but she did advise that I get her shots done, including one for mites just in case the physical exam missed anything.

She was unhappy with us for a little while after we got her home, sitting in her cage and shaking, but interestingly she has been super happy and friendly ever since; I am wondering if getting her nails clipped has cheered her up.

Last night (as you are reading this) I legged it over to the studio again after work. I have finally lost patience with the useless camper van person who screwed up my electrics and have called Chris at my normal garage (which I should have done in the first place) and he has a man he can give Julian to.

This means, however, either unpacking the whisky or making it secure. As I am quite happy with the way I have packed it I decided to put a lockable door between the main cabin and the toilet. I had also taken delivery of the generator and another book (link here) and also a kick boxing stand for J.

The uncut chipboard

In the storage unit I had previously spotted some chipboard laying around and I grabbed a piece of this and marked out the size of the gap I needed to fill. It surprised me, having measured it, just how narrow it actually was; only 500mm. I also recovered from hinges from an unused door to use to hang it in Julian.

Chipboard cut down to size

It was the job of only a couple of minutes to use my jigsaw to cut the chipboard to size; it is very soft wood and certainly this will not be a long term solution to the problem of privacy in the toilet/shower.

Whisky secure

One I offered the wood up to the gap I found that I had cut it very close to the right size, but probably slightly too large to swing. Also, the sofa was sticking out and I would need to cut a shape to allow the door to open and shut. This, combined with the fragile nature of the wood, caused me to change my mind about hanging it on hinges and I decided to just baton in it place for the time being and re-visit the door with better quality wood and more time (and daylight) to judge my plan better.

My next task was to drive Julian out of the unit to be parked behind the gate (Dan is a bit nervous of driving him) but it was a good job I did as it ended up being quite a difficult job requiring lots of shuttling back and forth to avoid scraping the drivers side on the wall. He is now parked outside so I will find out just how successful my waterproofing efforts have been. Hopefully he'll be in the garage towards the end of this week or early next week so I can finally (!!!!) have working electrics in him for the journey.

The generator

Having pulled Julian out of the unit I set to with the last task of the day; putting the generator together. This was not as easy as it should have been as there were no instructions however a couple of minutes of staring at the bits and I worked it out. I have not yet started it as I need to get oil and fuel and by the time I got to this I wanted to go home so next time I am there I'll give this a go. It looks pretty hefty (as you can see) and with the two 240v outlets should suffice for lights and power tools as is my plan for its use.

Grumpy Sassy

So now I need to book Sassy in for her jabs, I bet she'll look even grumpier than this when that happens.

A couple of other little bits of progress; I have booked the Parents into their hotel in Bulgaria for when we get there and I did manage to get the suite for them :) Don't say I don't spoil them ;) Also, it's getting closer to my leaving party at my studio in Blackpool so if you want to come along please shout and I'll send you details. Less than 9 weeks to go! woooooo.