Getting home

Wow; what a week that has been! You have already read about the first part of it and when I left you last I was in Hungary and waiting for rescue. Now I sit here in Room 13 once more, finally home, and after many more adventures which I am about to regale you with. So sit back and enjoy what will probably turn out to be quite a long update.

Our hotel, and our morning chauffeur

So yeah, there we were in our room in the hotel in Hungary or rather I was as A was outside getting air. Just as I was finishing typing and publishing she came rushing in to say the SOS had rung and they were on their way to collect us. I jumped in the shower and when we were ready we went to the reception area where we sat and waited for about 40 minutes before finally the chap arrived; it turns out that Bulgarian time doesn't just apply in Bulgaria. No matter, it was great to have the lift and it took so much pressure off us to just be picked up once more and taken back to poor dead Harrison at the vehicle graveyard.

Breakfast in the temporary field kitchen

We arrived at the Service at about 1pm local and were quite hungry by this point so the first thing we did was to pull some boxes of food out and set up a little field kitchen on the grass next to Harrison. A was in charge of bacon as I started to pull things out of the back. We were making three piles; one which we definitely knew we had to take, one which we didn't mind leaving but wanted to take, and a final one which we were pretty sure we'd be leaving behind. This was quite frustrating as we'd already whittled our items down so much prior to heading off from Blighty but Ken's van isn't quite as large as Harrison and we were not sure if everything would fit.

The big man trying to break the steering wheel lock

The mechanics at the garage were really helpful; where they had parked Harrison up he had a broken car on one side and a broken 7.5 tonne truck on the other so we had asked them to try and move the car so Ken could reverse up next to Harrison. There followed quite a farce of attempting to find the keys (no joy) then trying to break the steering lock (it creaked but didn't give) and then the really big man you see in this picture started trying to throw it out of the way; he made quite a lot of progress but we eventually just told him to stop and we'd stack up the other side of the broken truck.

Moving the cooker again

Everything out of Harrison

It really did not take long to shift everything out of Harrison and into the stacks previously described; we really were getting very good at this loading and unloading thing. The last item to be lifted off was the cooker and for this we once again called on the helpful chaps at the Service. The really big fellow was not around at this time but the one I thought looked like a barbarian horseman was and between us, using some straps as carrying aids, we shifted it out of Harrison and deposited it on the grass to await the arrival of our Man with a Van.

A brew and a smile in the sun

We had a communication saying that he was about an hour and a half away so we brewed up and settled down in the sun (and it was lovely and warm) to wait. After all the panic and stress of the previous 24 hours this was a much needed relaxing moment and the sun on my face, the tea in my hand, and the book to read was just what I needed. As you can see from the picture we kept our spirits up quite well through all this.

Exactly when he was expected Ken arrived in his van. First of all we spent a little bit of time looking at Harrison and his judgement was exactly the same as mine; it was perfectly possible to get him back on the road with a welder however it would be a VERY temporary fix and as we were in an official rescue service station there was no way they would risk sending us away with such a bodge job done by them. We tried to persuade them to let us do the fix but there was no way to and so we had to just put that aside and move on. Loading was slightly more complicated than into Harrison as it was a smaller space however we fitted nearly everything in that was in the first two piles. The only things which we left were the fridge/freezer, large desk, bookshelf and projector screen. All of these were left in the back of Harrison and I will go back past in June and collect them, hoping they are still there by then of course.

The room in the Romanian hotel

With everything into Ken's van we hit the road and I read and dozed as he drove. We didn't take long to get to the Romanian border and there were no real delays there at all and then we were on our way through the villages with the amazing gypsy palaces by the side of the road. Next time I come past I will stop and get pictures; they really are something else. We were held up at one point by a Romanian train at a level crossing but my pictures did not come out of this; it was too dark. We drove until about 9pm and then Ken pulled over at a hotel he'd stayed at before and we checked in for the night. This was not a very comfortable night as the mattress was about two inches thick and the pillows weren't even that. On top of the the layout was weird; the corridor to the rooms went along the front of the building and then then rooms opened from there and didn't have any other windows so to have some fresh air you had to open a window onto said corridor. This meant that not only did you compromise your security but when someone went along the corridor talking loudly at 3am they woke everyone in the place. Crazy.

Gorgeous view to snow covered mountains

At 5am we were up and back on the road, Ken driving again (in the end he didn't need me to drive at all on this journey) and, ignoring the sat nav all the way, he drove us quickly through Romania. We went back pretty much the route which we had driven back last year and soon we were going through the gorgeous resorts of the Transylvanian mountains. It didn't seem quite so lovely this time which was strange as it was raining the other time. From end to end Romania was far less attractive this time; when we stopped briefly for a cuppa and a butty it was by a lake which sounds nice but was pretty industrial and ugly; maybe into the mountains a bit more would be nicer and, from the amount Ken was ignoring his Satnav, maybe we went a different more attractive route. No matter, it was just really good to be moving once more.

WE ARE HOME!!!!

Ken had told us last time of a shortcut to avoid Bucarest and our plan was to take it on this journey. As we were approaching the turnoff on the main road it started to snow and this made Ken worried about whether the roads would become difficult however he made the decision to risk it and this was a good one; the snow stopped and there was absolutely no evidence of any once we were off the main road. It was an easy road and very soon we had arrived at the border checkpoint where, with barely a glance at the passports, we were waved through and onto the bridge. BULGARIA!!!

The sun sets and we are still travelling

We were not going to be able to continue that night on to our house with Ken as we had interrupted some important deliveries he had to make around Bulgaria over the next few days. Because of this he had arranged for a friend of his who apparently had exactly the same van to be waiting at Ken's house so we could transfer everything and then head down the next morning. When we arrived I immediately saw that this other van was far smaller and there was no way we would fit what we needed to in. After some discussion we decided that Ken would let me drive his van on down that night so long as it was returned by his friend that night. Ken had a bit of work to do before he could let us leave so while they were off doing that I made some space in the back for Rambo. Ahhhh Rambo, he was SO happy to see us but he'd put a lot of weight on over winter and was in need of some exercise I think. I couldn't make that much space but he was happy to jump in and settled himself down very quickly and so we headed off. I made a bad decision to not go to a local petrol station which resulted in a long stressful drive over a mountain following the satnav to what it claimed was the nearest one. We got there without running out of fuel, fortunately, and were even on a road which our driving companion knew so we could ignore the satnav (again sending us the wrong way) and head down a route he knew. The sun was setting as we drove and I was wishing we hadn't stopped the night before but had pushed on; unloading in the dark is far from my favourite thing.

Climbing the hill to our village

We drove through some areas of quite deep snow and then suddenly there was none and we were feeling positive however as we got closer and closer to home the snow got deeper and deeper and then, when we came to turn up the hill to our village we were driving up a narrow single track cut between 1.5m high banks of snow. At least, with the tarmac having been laid last year, the snow plow had gone up it at all. I was careful as we went through this narrow gap however at one point I clipped a mirror and lost the glass; this was about 100m from the top; so close! As we pulled into the village centre where the tarmac stops we realised that was as far as we would be going. The snow plough had not gone down the dirt track at all and the snow was very deep. We parked up and A and I jumped out to take Rambo home and find out what was going on at the Old School.

This turned out to be quite a mission as the snow was so deep I was up to my knees and thighs and as I was still wearing the little blue slipons with no socks I kept losing them in the snow. In the end I went barefoot and it was like walking on needles. Rambo's enclosure was completely snowbound and when we put him in he just jumped straight out again. We slogged our way to the front door and opened up and left him in the porch for the time being. I was in agony with my feet by this point but I knew I had my walking boots so I rubbed them dry with a towel, with pins and needles as they warmed up, then put clean socks and the boots on to go back to the van. I had the idea to take the big tarpaulin over and unload everything by the watering place next to where the van had reached and just leave it all there for another day. It really was clear that there was no way we'd be carrying any of the stuff down the lane any time soon.

Bed in the Little Lady's house

As we walked back up the lane to where we'd left the van the Little Lady came out of her house and gave us both huge hugs. She made it clear that she had a bed for us that night and that we should come and see her once we were ready. This was just the beginning of the generosity of our villagers that would put tears in my eyes over the next day or so. We managed to get back to the van a bit easier with the right shoes on and started to unload and then the Special One appeared and helped us out. As we were going (and bear in mind this is about midnight) a few more villagers turned up and helped. The Kmet was there, slightly drunk, and gave us a hug but he was off to bed pretty quickly after that. Unloading was once again relatively easy especially with the Special One there to assist with the cooker. I drove down the hill with the van and waved our super helpful friend off on his long drive back up north, then walked back up the hill in the dark. It was really peaceful and a much needed break from rushing around. Once I was back to the top I slogged my way along the lane to shut the vehicle gate which we had initially gone in through, and to check on Rambo who was penned in the porch and then went over to the Little Ladies house where we were greeted with hugs by Usmivka, treated to coffee, lovely yoghurt and an amazing omelette, and then left to fall asleep finally after a really busy and hectic, but satisfying, day.

Where we had left everything the night before

We woke early and without any alarms set the next morning and A was up and off while I stopped in bed for another ten minutes or so then felt lazy so got up myself. I walked up to the stuff to check on it and everything was still there though, having now walked up and down in the daylight, it was really clear just what a mission it was going to be to move everything down.

Snow bound but still home

After this I went back over to the school to start to boil some water for a brew. This was the first time I could see the state of the land and the school and it was gratifying just how well the place had stood up. The roof was dry as a bone and only the fact that the roof terrace hadn't been finished meant that there was some seepage down the back wall of Sassy's room.

Rambo bounding towards me through the snow

A was out by Rambo's enclosure trying to dig out the entrance so we could put him in there properly if we had to go out for any length of time. This was far from an easy task as the gate opens inwards and so we had to force it to open the wrong way so I could slip through and complete the task. Rambo was out bounding around and having a great time; he's always loved snow and this was more snow than he had ever seen ever. To be honest, it's pretty much more snow than I have seen before either. It didn't take long, using the snow shovel, to make space for the door to open but then it was quite a challenge to make it go the correct direction again.

Overhanging snow

One thing which we had spotted pretty quickly was just how much snow was sliding off the roof and the fact that this was happening most, and building the biggest overhanging cornices, above the entrance porch. As the snow melted it was slipping down and then every now and then collapsing to the ground with a thump. This made leaving the house quite an exciting time as you had to check as you ran below this threatening weight of snow.

Snow demon!

Of course when there is this much snow it must be thrown at other people and we were not long in getting down to it. I think this one, which A is about to let loose, missed however she did get me well and good later on. I went arse over tit at one time trying to run away as she was showering me with snow but I got her back just after that. Snow can be so much fun!

Starting to chuck the snow off the roof terrace

With the shoveling by Rambo's Enclosure done I took the snow shovel up onto the roof (after quite a lot of palaver trying to find the keys to open the doors; in the end A found them which was a relief) and started clearing around the edges. At this time the snow was about three feet deep up there and it was quite a physical challenge to keep moving and get all the way round; I would certainly be working off my belly in this.

Melting snow on the petchka

One thing which wasn't working right turned out to be the cooker. The gas was flowing fine, there was no leak anywhere, but when you had lit the hob and then released the knob it just went out and nothing we could do (or have been able to do since, despite help from Usmivka and the Special One) has fixed it. The petchka, however, was roaring away happily so we filled a pan with snow and sat it on top to melt. It took ages but eventually we had water which I poured into the kettle and sat on the camping stove to make a much needed cup of tea which was black as we had no milk left.

The downed power cable

Poor Tea Trees

Badly damaged plum tree

Quince trees flattened

Pear partner completely destroyed

While this was slowly melting A took the snow shovel onto the balcony and started clearing that as well. She had found that there was some seepage through into the toilet room and I found later that the wood we'd piled inside had got slightly wet as well so we were keen to get rid of as much of this as we could to slow down the water damage. I followed to help her and took a few pictures around of the damage that had been caused by the snow. Sadly the tea trees had suffered quite a lot with many branches down, the big oak was also quite battered and our favourite plum tree looks very sad indeed. We were less upset by the fact that the quince trees had been badly damaged but sadly half the Silver Birches have disappeared and all the olive trees are gone as well. The fact that there was no electricity was made most clear by one of the power cables, going across our land, being draped on the ground.

Villager convoy

Around this time villagers started turning up carrying boxes from our baggage; we had arranged with the Little Lady that it would be OK to stack up our stuff in her hallway however this must have been lost in translation with the rest of the village as they just picked things up and brought them to us. Pretty quickly we had a steady stream of men carrying things appearing and asking where to put their loads. After a while we decided to just smile and let them help and it really did put a tear in my eye at how helpful they are.

It was a little warmer here this time last year

The Little Lady had told us that while the paid for water was not on, the free water was still running so I took the snow shovel and dug a path out to the man hole then got it opened and turned on both supplies. That first cup full of water, from the tin cup still hanging on a nail by the tap, was great. It did remind me of a picture taken last year when I was digging the trench to take the water inside so I got A to get the camera and roughly reproduce it; what a difference a year makes!

Mmmmm bacon and eggs

We had been trying to fry bacon on the petchka for about half an hour but while it was hot enough to cook it couldn't get any sizzle on really. Eventually I got bored waiting and transferred it to the camping stove which cooked it very quickly including an egg each for our butties. This was much needed sustenance and necessary for the efforts I was going to be putting in very shortly.

Shoveling away with the snow covered view behind

By this time the sun was fully out and it was actually getting quite warm which was lovely. We were working in tandem to shovel the snow from the balcony and making quite good progress. Before eating breakfast I had cleared above the toilets and then A carried on a bit more around the edge while I went outside and did some lifting of baggage from the pile which was reducing very fast indeed. Soon we were left with only three things: the two sofas and the cooker. This was the biggest challenge we would face as carrying such heavy items over slippery ground could prove dangerous. Myself and the Special One carried the really heavy two seater down together and put it in their outhouse and then we went back and stood looking at the cooker.

With four people it was easier. Not easy, though

The first idea was that we would carry it into another neighbour's yard to be left until we could get a vehicle down the lane however as the path to this was being cleared another villager turned up with the idea of getting two long lengths of wood and using straps to enable four of us to lift it between us and carry it down to outside the barn where the sofas were going. I got the straps from my copious supply and this was effected very quickly indeed. With four of us taking the strain it was far easier but it still hurt quite a lot by the time we were near the barn and could put it down.

Moving the sofa, and exhausted after that effort

With the three seater the only item left, and us needing the tarpaulin to wrap around the cooker as it had to stay outside with the door to the barn being too narrow, the four of us returned and lifted and carried it down. I was starting to get quite tired by this point and the strength and endurance of my, quite frankly, aged helpers was putting me to shame. They are just so strong! We manouvered the sofa into the barn then laid the tarpaulin out and put the cooker on and wrapped it all around it and we were done. What an amazing thing it is to have good neighbours. What I had expected to take me and A days to achieve had been completed in one morning. What a place this is.

Snow melting near bent guttering

As I said earlier there is no real damage apparent around the house other than this tiny bit of bent metal guttering which is underneath where the largest amount of snow has gathered from the roof. You can see just how much melting was going on by the afternoon as the sun beat down however this also meant that the snow was falling quite regularly with huge thumps and bangs as it went.

Just about to try Lucy

One problem with there being no electricity was our phones were rapidly running out of charge, indeed A's phone was completely dead by this point. To this end we headed to Lucy with the battery with the idea of getting her started up (though she won't be moving anywhere for a good while) and using the car chargers for our phones. She took some digging out but started at the second attempt and then ran sweetly which is really good news. Of course we didn't leave her running while we charged as there was no need but it was good to have some power, and the knowledge that she has come through the winter OK despite the tea trees falling on her.

A flinging snow off the balcony

After this it was back to the routine of shoveling snow from the balcony. I can't remember what I was doing, maybe moving something or avoiding work, but as I walked up the stairs one time I could see A hard at it and caught her just in the act of flinging a shovel full of snow from the roof. Mainly, however, we again worked in tandem as it was quite exhausting to keep at for too long without a break.

Set up two chairs with the table

A walked down to the village below ours, which has a shop in it, and picked up some essentials including some bottles to gift to the men who had helped us so much with the moving and then when she got back we went to have coffee with the Little Lady, the Other Brother (who had turned up by this point with his little daughter), Usmivka and the Special One. This was lovely and we had some very nice greek shortbread to go with the coffee but didn't stop for that long as we had so much to be getting on with. One of the tasks was to put together the table and chairs which Cjc had given us and I did this to break up the effort of throwing snow.

Keeping the beers cool Bulgarian style

After this we had a short break then A dug out the two remaining Hungarian beers we had bought at the hotel and we went onto the balcony with them, a chair, and the determination to clear as much as we could before we had to stop for food. A stuck the beers into the snow to keep them cool and this worked superbly well. Our routine was for one to shovel while the other sipped beer, laughed at Rambo, and sat on the deck chair.

Mid leap

The only time she can claim to be an angel

A had been determined to make a snow angel but had forgotten until we were up there throwing it all down to the ground so she took aim at a virgin section of the snow and, when I said "GO!" ran and jumped into it. Wearing a vest. And she laughed at me for being in shorts and wellies earlier. Anyway, she had great fun making the angel and then needed help standing up again to get out of there.

Rambo on his rounds through the snow

While we were up there horsing around and chucking snow off (much to his confusion as he stood watching it land in front of him when he was by his old pool) Rambo was out and about doing his old circuits of the land. He loves snow and was up to the top bank right by the fence and then round and round as he did last year. It was great to see him starting to settle in again so quickly after his enforced holiday and he had a huge grin on, and was bounding like a puppy, for the whole evening. He wasn't the only one; we have both also had stupid grins on our faces ever since arriving finally the night before - being home feels so good!

Night falls

Pretty soon the light started to go so I went inside and started cooking up; macaroni cheese from a tin with bacon fried and added. This went down well, particularly chased down with a half of Bulgarian beer and then it was time for bed. With no electric there really is no point in sitting up after sundown. Fortunately we were absolutely exhausted so even though it was only about 6.30 local time we fell pretty much to sleep and slept through the night relatively undisturbed. It was pretty cold in there, but with the duvet and rug over us we kept warm enough.

The face in the snow

We woke to heavy fog as the clouds had come in during the night. Through the door onto the balcony I could see a face and when I pointed it out to A she was sure I'd made it but I hadn't; it had appeared over night. We actually saw another face later in the day on the front garden snow so maybe this isn't so strange as we thought but I can tell you it was a weird thing to wake up to.

At least something survived

Our tasks today were to walk down into town to do some shopping for food for later and maybe do some more clearing of snow from the roof terrace and balcony. Before we headed out however we went into the garden to see what if anything had survived the winter. It needed digging out again as the snow was very deep in there and sadly we found that all the beetroots had rotted completed but as I dug along I discovered that the turnips had grown really well and we had three pretty good sized crops. Sadly only one of them was good to take back to the house as the other two had been pushed out of the ground and gone wormy; I think I had planted them too close together which is a lesson learned.

It is melting, but still very deep

After A had cut up the turnip to find out what was good to eat we headed out to town. It was a really nice walk down the hill and then finding our way into town via the pedestrian shortcut and it only took about 20 minutes. We found that this shortcut also took us to the train station for the town and we had to walk across the tracks to get to the road; no up and over bridge here.

Damaged electricity pylons

As we were going we saw that one of the high tension pylons which carries the electricity around here had actually snapped at the top and bent in half, with the next pylon along having been dragged to one side quite substantially. That is a LOT of snow and no wonder we were cut off. The EVN guys had driven up the hill towards our village as we were walking down, however, which gave us some hope that we may be back on the grid sooner rather than later.

On the way I was texting S and S who have also suffered from the snow. They had just managed to get their car down their lane and so agreed to meet us in town for lunch and then to give us a lift to the big shop to do a more substantial stocking up. I went to the solititors straight away to put my Bulgarian phone on charge (no car charger for that) but he was busy so said to come back in half an hour so we got credit for said phone then settled in a cafe to wait for S and S. They arrived shortly after and it was a pleasure to see them both after so long. I couldn't stop in the cafe for long as I had to get back to the solicitor and then I spent ages in his office as he hunt and pecked out the contract to open my new business. It took so long that A and S and S went over to get their kebabs and left me behind. Fortunately I wasn't held up that long and managed to finish my meal as they did theirs. A has been going on about this kebab all winter so it was good to get it in early in the stay.

From here we were off to the main town to do a few things: I had to go to the notary to get a form signed for the business opening and then go to the bank to open the business account (A got her personal one at the same time which was great) and then we walked back to Kaufland and did our shop. Finally we went past Lidl for a few bits and then it was back to the solicitors to drop off the paperwork I had collected. He was not at his office when we arrived but as we sat down in the cafe next door he turned up and was so quick he didn't even switch the ignition off as he dashed into the office, took my paperwork, and left.

S and S drove us back up to our place and helped us carry our purchases in, then left clutching a load of petrol cans to fill up for the generator which they were still needing. The best part of getting back was the Special One showing us that the power was back on! I went to our master switch and sure enough there it was; light and power! EVN had been on the land and tided up the loose cable by throwing it in a loop onto the roof of the green building but hey, it was out of our way and now we could get online and have light and not have to go to bed at a stupid early time.

Dinner from a tin

The rest of our evening was spent tidying and clearing away. I stacked up all the model railway stuff and the whisky out of the way while A cleaned the fridge now we would be able to use it. I then settled down to write this humungous update for the blog and in between times the power went off for 5 minutes (just enough time for A to find the candles we bought and get one lit before it all came back on again) and have eaten our dinner which was tinned ravioli on toast - gourmet!

I am now exhausted and have to upload, position and label 44 pictures on this blog so onwards and upwards and see you tomorrow. Yes, daily blog posts will now resume (internet dependent, of course).