A cracking, and busy, weekend

So as a few people pointed out to me (thank you, I now know who really cares haha) I didn't blog last night so this blog will cover two days; though yesterday is a blur as I have slept since then.

A bowl of Ayran

First of all a quick additional picture to supplement the previous day; this is the bowl of Ayran that my little lady neighbour brought over the previous day. This is still in my fridge, barely touched, and I suspect it will be not good pretty soon so I'll try it for breakfast tomorrow and judge whether to get rid or not; it's lovely though, how generous they are. They have nothing and yet want to share the little they have.

So the first awesome thing which happened this weekend was pretty early yesterday morning. I was sat just eating my morning Muesli (and yes, I managed to only have Muesli yesterday; I'm not sure if I should be pleased about that or not but hey) and I heard my name being called, or rather a slight mis-pronounciation of my name, from outside. I almost ignored it, thinking it was the gypsy farmer kid from across the road come to complain about the padlock I've put on my barn, but I popped my head to the window and saw someone I didn't recognise, standing with the Special One.

Thank you to my Aunt and Uncle

To cut a slightly longer story slightly short, it was my local Kmet who I have been trying to meet, bringing me my first mail; a "welcome" card from my Aunt and Uncle which was so lovely to received so thank you to them. I had a brief chat with "youldjan" (or at least, that is what I wrote his name down as) and he told me that a new road to the village would be done this year. We shall see. Anyway, it was great to meet him and he seems like a really nice lad; I hope I can get on with him and he can assist me with the various issues I currently have around architects and planning, but more of that later.

Shortly after they left I swept through downstairs (all the coal dust from my excavating was everywhere, and there was hay all over the floor from moving it the other day) and had a shower and then came and relaxed until my guests arrived. This was my friend, and another expat who is local but living out of the country at the moment. I hadn't seen him since last year so it was great to catch up. After the guided tour, and usual "why do you want something this big" comments we had a cuppa and the he headed off to do some errands while my friend stayed with me and we did a few little things around the place before jumping in Thomas, hitching the trailer, and heading to hers.

We stopped on the way at the market and immediately attracted a crowd of men who were all interested in the trailer and were asking me how much I would want for it. This was quite amusing; one of them even followed us into the shop. When I told them what it cost me they were very impressed, and I probably should have said more. Anyway, I'm going to find out how easy it will be for me to get the trailer registered (over here, they are registered separately from the motive vehicle) and if it is a real pain then I may sell it; otherwise it will prove useful I reckon so I'll register and keep it.

The wasp on the table

After picking up beer, wine and food we were back to hers and then shortly after the other expat arrived and we were out sat in the sun with beer (or wine) and chatting away; this little wasp appeared on the table and started chewing the lacquer off to take back to its nest. Dinner was served after a while and was lovely and then the other expat left.

While we were eating a phone started ringing and after a few minutes of confusion I realised that it was mine. It was my friend who had heard about the potential confusion with the land ownership calling me again. I had scanned and emailed the rejection letter from Sofia regarding my PuP and he was calling back with interesting news. It turns out that the actual reason for the rejection was not what Lubo had told me (that Sofia had changed the law to make it impossible to change use on an old school) but that the Obshtina had not done the processes they were required to do. Why would he lie to me? I don't know, but I can tell you I will be finding out tomorrow. And he better have a very good explanation or I will be getting very angry with him and shouting.

Gorgeous colours in the trees, and Thomas

Anyway, after dinner me and my friend and I had another beer before deciding to head out for a bit down the road to the forest at the end. The plan was to go and dig up some more pine saplings, and more specifically get some Juniper trees for both of us. We threw a pick axe, shovel, and some of the new buckets into Thomas and then drove down and parked just before the trail dropped sharply into the trees so we could have a short stroll while looking for the correct specimens for our bucket.

Reflections in the lake

As we walked we spotted some good options for the fir trees but no Juniper so we kept going down and eventually went round a corner of the trail which overlooked the lake at the bottom of the village. It was so still it was glass-like and the reflections of the trees on the other side of the lake were incredible to see. I love all the colours of the different trees around as well; Spring in this part of the world is an incredible thing to see.

Pulling up a Juniper sapling

A couple of hundred yards further down the trail we spotted some good Juniper saplings and then the going got quite muddy and broken up so we walked back to the Junipers and then I ran (a short way and walk the rest, gasping) back up to Thomas and drove him back to my friend so we could load things into him directly. Digging the trees out was pretty easy as they were rooted relatively lightly in the top soil; I just dug away a bit with the pick axe until it was loose and then wrapped my hands up in my hoody and pulled them out. They are REALLY spiky! We got four or five tiny seedlings before we decided to call it enough.

An unidentified tree

Just next to where we were getting the Junipers was a clump of some tree I didn't know what was and neither (unusually) did my friend. I managed to get a very small sapling dug out but with less success than with the others so I don't know if it'll survive. I hope it does. If anyone can identify it I would be most grateful.

Rose lined clouds

From there we drove back up to where we'd seen the tiny Christmas Trees and parked up. Digging these up was far more difficult as they have a pretty amazing tap root even when they are tiny. I was covered in the clayey soil by the time we'd managed to get three trees and we decided that enough was enough and time to head back home for more beer and more chilling. As we drove the sun was setting and it was reflecting on the very tops of the clouds, causing a lovely rose-lined effect.

The morning sun

Our evening was exceptionally relaxed, with some tuna and mayo for supper while listening to Bob Marley and then I was dozing off on the couch with a glass of Jameson watching the fire and listening to my friend blog. The clocks changed last night so we made our plans for the morning and then I headed to bed where I slept right through and woke up to a lovely view (as always) from the balcony. I love her house!

Our plan was to hitch the trailer and go and collect the dad of one of her students then head to get some furniture that she is having made by a deaf and dumb man who lives in the mountains. We went in for coffee at her student's house and it was a really nice time as the family (father, mother and two daughters) sat with us and did some language stuff and also just had a laugh (for example there was much amusement about the word "the" which doesn't exist in Bulgarian or Turkish). It was amazing to me just how much I understood however my speaking skills were too weak for me to fully join in. We had cake as well as coffee which was like the more watery version from the cafe the other day but much nicer.

A proud man and his machine

After about half an hour both parents came in Thomas with us, we were dropping the mother off on the way to do some visiting I think, and headed up into the mountains to this artisan. His place was incredible and we got the full guided tour including his hand-built wall which is slowly progressing its way round his perimeter. He also has a large swimming pool type thing fed from free water collected from the mountain, a huge hot house with loads of tomatoes in it, and many fruit trees all in perfectly straight lines. He communicates with hums and haws and much hand waving and jumping about and the dad of the student was able to translate him perfectly. His most prized possessions are two Jupiter motorbikes, cold war machines from Hungary or Czechoslovakia I think. They are gleaming and I got some good pictures of them.

The hoopoo bird on the terrace

Sadly all of this amazing work and he hadn't actually finished (or even really started) the furniture we had driven up to collect and nothing he said or showed us could distract from that disappointment. We will probably go back next week. We recollected our helper's wife, and then dropped them both back near their home and went back over to my friends house to drop the trailer off and grab a bite to eat; toast with my mother's marmalade which was epic and really filled the hole. While we were sat eating my friend noticed that there was a HooPoo bird hopping on the terrace so I grabbed my camera and managed to snap a few pictures before it flew off.

New cooker

After this it was off on the other main task of the weekend; heading over to her friend who had a cooker for sale that I was interested in. We arrived but her son, T, was there as she wasn't feeling well and he took us into the house with all the goodies in that were being sold. There was loads of stuff and we ended up loading Thomas with another petchka for my friend, my cooker and gas bottle, a ladder and a load of other interesting items like some manual drills and screw drivers and also some cooking equipment. There was also some awesome Marmite stuff (a tea pot and a toast rack) which I have asked how much they want and I'll but it off them another time.

Radiator on Petchka

I also got a radiator attachment for my petchka which I have installed and am using now, it seems to be making a bit of a difference but it would be better if I was sat close to it. When I got home I spent a bit of time reorganising Room 13 to get the cooker in (I need a plug to use the electric hobs and ovens, but the gas one works great) and I have swapped the tables around a bit to get more storage and food preparation surfaces. I think it is great that I have Julian, though, as looking around I really don't have space for a bed in here.

Little tortoise on the road

While I was driving home I spotted my first tortoise of the year crossing the road. I stopped and took his picture and then picked him up and put him on the verge where he scuttled quickly to cover. I was tempted to take him home but then thought it's best to just appreciate them in the wild.

Stunning sunset

I made myself dinner on my new cooker and sat down to enjoy it. As per usual I was on high alert for cattle coming onto my land and sure enough, after a while, I heard the herdsmen shooing them in for the night. Some of them came up the cut and through my little grove. I dashed out to chase them off but then looked out the back windows and noticed that the sun was going down in a blaze of glory. I legged it back to get my camera, snapped some shots, and then went out to chase the cows away. One of them took a bit of an interest in the smallest sapling but I was able to discourage it with a shout and by running at it. I really should use the post borer (which I now have) to put some in at least just around the saplings. Maybe in the morning I can try.

And so we get to just now. I was relaxing, tippy tappying away nearly finished on this blog when I heard my little neighbour outside shouting for me. I didn't know what was going on so dashed downstairs, thinking maybe there was a problem. She shooed me outside and went to put the padlock on the door however I had come with such alacrity that I didn't have my keys or anything else with me so I stopped her. She ushered me over to her house and inside and before I knew it I was sat down on the floor around a large flat cooking tray covered in a pastry omelette type thing, with eggs and onions and leeks. It was delicious however I had already eaten my dinner so I didn't eat that much. It was a surreal experience but lovely too; as I have said they are so welcoming and the huge hug I got from Usmivka Mush (now that I have looked at what "smiley" actually is in Bulgarian) just showed how welcome they want to make me feel. Special One was there as well as was his brother and we even managed to talk a bit of politics around the table; the TV was on with the Turkish election results.

Pretty quickly I made my excuses as I was too full and I did feel a little unusual having been rushed over there with no warning. I really hope they invite me again and I am going to have to work out how to say "thank you so much for dinner last night, I look forward to joining you again" haha.

Right, time to put the pictures in and hit post. Got lots more planned for tomorrow so I'm needing to get an early night I reckon.