This is my blog about emigrating to Bulgaria. It starts with the idea and will take you through all the steps I am taking to create my new life in this wonderful idyllic country. Thank you for reading.
Please make use of the comments box to ask questions or suggest blog subjects too :)
I remembered to update on the day! Wahey! Today has been a day of two halves and hardly seeing the men.
Empty bucket ready for brambles
Totally over-full bucket of brambles
Filling in a hole from the wood store into the enclosure
Hopefully enough to keep critters out
I took Rosie to school this morning then when I came back I grabbed the pickaxe and a bucket and went into the chicken enclosure and dug out all the brambles that were starting to come back since my last blitz. I got this completed before the men arrived. When they did arrive they headed straight out with Thomas to go and try and buy cement and a new reservoir for the roof space. Unfortunately my phone was turned off so when Halil was trying to contact me about one they found I didn't see the message until they were already back here, without a reservoir. Ahh well, I told them to head back out after lunch and they got stuck into filling in the gaps in the chicken house wall, and also blocked the final little gap next to the back gate.
1000L water tank successfully sourced
Knocking out dead plaster into a bucket
Wetting the hole down ready for repairs
All nicely filled
After lunch the men disappeared again and were gone for ages but by the time I got home from collecting Rosie they had just arrived back with a huge reservoir. The men got it manouvered into the roof however it's too big to set next to the existing one so now tomorrow they'll empty and remove the old one and then fit the new one. To fill up the end of the day I asked Bekir to have a quick look at some loose plaster I'd spotted in the games room and before I knew it they were up the ladder, had knocked it out and found it was quite a big hole that would have caused a huge problem if we'd left it. By the end of the day this hole has now been fixed. Great work.
Rosie watering her plants
Before dinner Rosie made a bracelet for her teacher at school, having given them a necklace today. After dinner we did our watering and Rosie watered her plants like a good girl. She also got her scooter and bikes out for a ride.
So there you go - that's today. Thanks for reading, back tomorrow.
Another day of progress and sunshine today; let's get stuck in to the details.
We have water to the upstairs toilet
The fog burning off, but still in the valley
Reaching his tools
Making sure the chainsaw is really clean
I found out this morning that the water supply was already in to the bathroom for the new toilet; this had been completed yesterday. Awesome. It was a really foggy and cool start to the day however it quickly burned off into a gorgeous sunny day. The main task of the day was the roof over the porch and all three of the men got stuck in to this task. Halil and Bekir took the chainsaw apart to clean it as it was filthy and starting to run rough and then they worked together on shaping some beams while Sally prepared the tops of the walls. I suggested that they use the table saw to do this shaping (thanks, SandS for letting me borrow that!) however Bekir made the point that the beam wasn't totally straight so that wasn't suitable - makes sense and so they got stuck in with the awesome hammer/axe tool that everyone uses a lot over here.
Rosie helping mummy plant out seedlings
This weed mess is the hugelkultur
I cleared a small patch for spuds
A flower has appeared on our strawberry plant
We were outside as well, A going out early to start digging over another raised bed and I joined her a little later and attacked the really overgrown hugelkultur with first a fork and then the hoe and that worked much better. It didn't take long to clear this and I'll get stuck in to the rest later - it was time for Rosie to have her milk by this time. Our strawberries have begun to flower now so we'll need to think about bird netting over that bed so we actually get some crops.
Bekir positioning the first beam
Measuring and ready to cut
More beams go in place
Sally bricking up the sides
End of the day state
The main task of the day progressed well; Bekir and Sally and Halil worked well together cutting, trimming and hammering into place all the beams that were required for the frame of the roof and this was completed before lunch. After lunch I went into town with Bekir on another failed attempt to find a fitting to complete the installation of the toilets and while we were out Sally and Halil bricked up the sides and started on the front of the eaves below the roof line. This will make the structure more wind and weather proof, which is great. I was considering putting small windows in the angled sides but decided against it today.
Awesome old spray machine
Weed killing the chemical way
A channel... to nowhere, maybe?
Bekir had brought some roundup (which I hate, but yeah) yesterday to put on the brambles that are so persistent and today he brought his pump which is an amazing antique but seems to work fine. He sprayed all the areas we asked him to and tomorrow will finish off and hopefully this will make the front lawn safer for Rosie in the coming years. I'm still not very happy about spraying, however. Bekir also continued cutting the channel for the pipe however he's done it in a very strange direction - unfortunately while this was happening I was in bed with a headache brought on by the storm that was building all afternoon; this storm dissipated however the headache meant I didn't catch this work being done so I'll have to find out tomorrow just exactly where he thinks this pipe is going to go from here!
Streamers blowing in the wind
A beautiful little plant I spotted
The weather cleared, and my head with it, which is good. I took Rosie onto the top bank for a bit while A was cooking and we took streamers from my birthday popper thing which she really enjoyed watching blowing in the wind. Then we sat together on the bench at the top where I saw this beautiful little plant and took a while getting a clear photograph. Identification is welcomed!
So there you are; time to wrap this up and get on with the rest of my evening. Thanks for reading and don't forget to subscribe if you want to know when I publish.
First of all let me wish all my Bulgarian readers (if there are any, of course) a VERY happy March 3rd and Independence day.
Sally sanding the walls in the bedroom
Bekir chiselling out the cement from the kitchen side of the door
Sally applies the primer
Bekir happily laying tiles
Trimming a tile down with the grinder
Paint going on the bedroom walls
The tiles are slowly going on the floor, and they look great
Today has been a bitty day, and a lot less productive than I hoped. We did have Sally back however Halil noticed that the paint we had bought needed primer which we didn't have so Sally had to wait until A could get down to town to pick some up. Bekir was on tiling duty but first he got his SDS drill and chiselled out the step into the kitchen (causing loads of dust) so he can lay the final few tiles we have spare from the kitchen there so it doesn't look odd. He was out for a bit today as well, maybe talking to some guys about bore holes and solar power, and so the progress on the tiling was a bit slower than expected.
The tangle by the entrance is almost gone
Such an awesome job that Hikmet has done
In more positive news Hikmet was in and the weather stayed good all day, though windy, and the amount of clearing he has done down by the gate is incredible. Some of that stuff has been there almost as long as I have lived here and is very tangled. We are going to ask him to stay on and keep clearing and tidying around the entire property as it's so nice to see it look neat once more.
It's been a tired day for all of us here, and so that is where I'll leave it - short and sweet and looking forward to more progress tomorrow, and hopefully a good nights sleep as well for us all. Thanks for reading.
Sorry for the uninventive title of today's blog post - it kind of summarises how uninventive I'm feeling right now; I'm glad to be back to doing short regular updates, however, and this is aiming on being short.
Threatening clouds over Greece past the Mountain House
A lovely family photograph
Four annual photographs on the wall
Swinging in the sun (and wind)
Bulbs coming up nicely
The weekend started off like it was going to snow, really bitterly cold and with a huge raft of cloud over Greece however as the morning wore on, while it was windy, it didn't snow and stayed OK. It was a lovely weekend, all in, lots of family time and also I got a few chores knocked off like rearranging and putting the new annual photograph on the wall and then, after a bit of a swing with the Rosie, I dug up some brambles and we cleared the side garden of stones so our bulbs can come up nicely. I then got the pruning saw out and trimmed and cut down some trees. I'm still sore.
Halil sanding down the walls
A second coat of plaster on the ceiling in the bedroom
Scraping over-spilled plaster from a junction box
Halil takes "cleaning the windows" another step
Hikmet clearing like a boss
And so to this morning; we were down a Sally, but not for a bad reason just that he had to do some work on his own place, so Bekir and Halil were in Rosie's Suite finishing off preparatory for tiling and painting. There was a lot of sanding, some more plastering, and a load of scraping of plaster out of plug socket points all through the day. Halil even took the window off its hinges and cleaned it properly. For Hikmet it was a day of removing brambles from down by the vehicle gate. He has done another great job, even acting as "gate keeper" for me when I headed out late afternoon to meet Lyubo and collect our permission to build for the balcony work. The forecast is for rain for the next couple of days so he may not come but I've made it clear there's lots of work for him here if he wants it, clearing and tidying generally around the land. He is a good worker.
And there you have it. That is much more like the length of update (and time) I want to spend on this. Thanks for reading - see you tomorrow.
Despite my best intentions this week I've not blogged daily, mainly because of wanting to not lock myself away with the computer for the end of my mum's visit. This is a good decision and one I'm happy with, but now I sit looking at lots of pictures and hope this doesn't turn into too long an update.
Strolling around at the Mountain House
The other house is collapsing quite fast now
Ready for a game of SBG
Rosie escaping
A gift from the lovely waiter
Back to last Saturday and in the morning my mum and I went up to the Mountain House to check it out. It was overcast and cold but still so glorious to get up there again. I do hope to get started again on that soon but think it won't be this year at all. The other house is collapsing more every time we visit. When we got back I set up the table in the lounge for a game, then we headed to our favourite restaurant for lunch and Rosie had a GREAT time, running around and even getting a little twirly thing from the waiter (he's the one who gave us the lovely note when Rosie was first born). In the afternoon A and I even got to the play the game we had set up, which was incredible and a lot of fun indeed.
Three generations on a lovely Sunday Stroll
Looking along the valley from the headland
Sunday mum and I got out again, this time with Rosie and the puppies, to walk to the end of the headland. I thought it was cold so we were all wrapped up but it turned out to be quite warm and carrying Rosie in her snowsuit, as shiny and slippery as it is, turned out to be quite a challenge. It was lovely, though, and Thelma got a stick and we had a great time. It was a relaxing day and just what we needed, with a gorgeous roast chicken for dinner.
Brambles being cleared
Primer on the walls
Fine detail priming
Running power
On Monday we had an extra body as Hikmet came to clear the brambles that I just haven't made time to do. He used my old scythe (which Bekir mended) but it quickly broke twice during the day as he got stuck into this unpleasant task. It was great to go out and see the progress. Inside there was work painting primer on all the walls while Bekir finished off all the wires to go through the partition wall.
Hikmet hard at it on the brambles
The partition wall takes shape
Tiles for both rooms
Air conditioning for both rooms
Lovely night sky
Arena all set up and ready to play
By the afternoon Hikmet had made huge progress, despite the problems with the scythes, and inside insulation and plaster board was being applied to the partition wall. A had chosen some tiles and went to collect them at the end of the day, so these are now ready for laying, and also the two airconditioning units were delivered during the afternoon. The sunset was lovely so we all went out to enjoy it and then in the evening A and I got another game in, this time Arena: The Contest. It was a great fun game though we didn't manage to win sadly.
Plastering begins
Hammering in wedges to secure studs to
Nearly done behind the Green Building
Making a good start behind the chicken house
Lots of plastering done
Shifting a pile of brambles for burning
We can see that back wall again!
Fitting plasterboard over more insulation
Out for a beer with a mate
Tuesday began with the excitement of the plastering being begun by Sally, while Bekir and Halil worked together to begin putting studs on the brick wall so we can insulate it. Outside Hikmet had brought along a different tool, almost a bill-hook with a short knife on one end and a pitchfork on the other, and with this he was making much better progress. He finished along the Green Building and then got stuck into the tangle behind the chicken house. After lunch progress continued at a great pace. Sally was nearly done on the walls and ceiling for the play room while Hikmet had made a huge dent in the brambles out back. Bekir and Halil had finished putting studs up and were now fitting insulation behind plasterboard. What exciting times! I had a social life as well and went out for beers with a local friend and it was a lovely walk back up in the dark for a cuppa and to see my mum before we all went for a sleep.
An absolutely amazing sunrise for Wednesday
Bekir preparing for the plug sockets
Hikmet nearly hidden by brambles
Halil with the drill trying to penetrate reinforced concrete
Joint strips on the partition wall
The power for both rooms going to the main feed
An unusual sight as Bekir does some plastering
Halil getting in on the plastering action
Hikmet carrying on his amazing work
Wednesday I was up a bit early and able to catch the most glorious sunrise I've seen for a while. It was stunning and I took a fair few pictures. The men arrived and got stuck in with Bekir and Halil working on fitting supports for the plug sockets while Hikmet just kept on ploughing through the brambles. He had now almost cleared the orchard and was starting work on the bank and the old vehicle access up to the top bank. Incredible progress! The final tasks for the electrics were also completed with cables going towards the supply box and then Bekir and Halil picked up plastering tools and got stuck in to help Sally. All hands on deck to get this completed. Hikmet had meanwhile done the orchard and cleared a huge chunk of the bank as well.
Family photo at our meal
Bacon and cheese and spuds
Roast pork in a superb gravy
A cuddle for Grandma and Rosie
As it was my mum's final night with us we went out for dinner and tried a new place as recommended us by SandS. It was lovely - the food was superb, the service very good and the price was really reasonable. We had a lovely evening and Rosie was also very good and enjoyed a little bit of each of our meals. It was also a sad moment as we were saying good bye to Grandma.
Rosie being an airplane for Grandma
Corner reinforcement
Hikmet clearing by the front now
After the rain, a rainbow
Venus and the New Moon
Thursday was up and gettin ready for taking mum to her bus. She had lots of cuddles with Rosie, and then when the time came to say goodbye Rosie decided she wanted to fly as well. It was an easy drop off but as always with me I'm OK before I leave then I drove off feeling very sad and wishing she could have stayed longer. She had a very good trip home, however, and arrived safely in good time. For the building progress A headed out with Bekir to pick up a few bits and pieces like corner reinforcement while Hikmet dodged the weather (and it was a very stormy day with hail and thunder and heavy rain) to finish the back bank and get stuck in down by the driveway. I shot a short video while I went to check on progress - he makes short work with the correct tool for the job. That night it was incredibly clear and I got some beautiful shots of the New Moon as she was setting, with Venus is close company. Stunning.
Halil scraping and cleaning the windows
A study in greys
And so we reach today and it has been such a stupidly busy day at work that I literally only got a photograph of Halil cleaning the windows in the play room, and the sky after the men had left. They have smashed on today, however, with plastering and the sanding the walls to make them smooth. The playroom is basically done and ready for painting and tiling and plug fitting and air conditioning and lights while the bedroom is a bit further behind but not far; they still haven't closed the gap in the wall however I think that'll be done once the playroom at least has been tiled. Hikmet didn't come today so no more progress outside.
So there you have it; a super long update and I'll be trying to avoid this from now on however it's been a good week and I was glad to not be distracted and to spend more time with my mum.
