July 2008 We are still busy at Rock House

Hummingbird hawk moth

Mitzy meets Goldie

The Onions in Store

The Winter Preserves

This month saw the start of some very warm weather indeed 46c that is hot. We follow the locals and get our chores done early, and spend the afternoon inside. We have now almost got all our crops in. This meant that we had work to be done again in the kitchen, and in the store shed. Our onions are dried and we have strung them to hang ready for winter use likewise our garlic. We had a stringing lesson from one of our Bulgarian friends, thank goodness our strings passed the test.......... if they failed it was back to square one.
The chickens are growing fast and our two boys are starting to crow in the mornings. They are still young and have not quite got the hang of the cock-a doodle-loo we get some funny variations of it.
Our holiday apartment rental has been very slow this year, so it was with some excitement that we received a bookings for early August and late August. We are looking forward to having guests to stay. We can feel the barbecue calling, it will be fun to have an evening on the patio with our guests.
As August approaches we really have to start making plans for our winter. Hard to think about cold and snow with the heat here at the moment, however it's time to plan and plan we will. Please call back the end of August for more tales from Rock House.

June 2008 A mixed month indeed

The New Arrivals

The sunflowers in Bloom

The Stork

A Gift from our Bulgarian Friend

June 2008 is very different than June last year. We have had some hot weather, however this year it has been humid with many thunder storms. The crops have loved the water and most things are showing early this year. We have picked many of our crops and prepared them ready for winter. This entailed much activity in the kitchen, jam making, pickling, bottling , freezing, drying and baking. Unfortunately we lost our entire crop of peas to the pea moth. This is something you have to expect as it is our first year of growing, and we have chosen not to use any pesticides on our crops. We grew English peas and next year we shall grow Bulgarian peas as none of our neighbours had a problem. Another lesson learnt. We have some new arrivals here at Rock House. We are the proud owners of eleven chickens they are settling in very well, we watch them with great interest, each of them forming its own character. We are looking forward to having our own eggs later in the year Jasper and mitzy also watch them with interest, but we are sure for very diffrent reasons. Hopefully in time both chicken and cats will lead a full an happy life here in harmony.

May 2008 One Year On

The veggie Garden Now

The Patio

The Back Garden Flower Bed

The House

Where did that year go. We have had our ups and downs but would not have missed the journey for one moment. Would we leave our bit of paradise NO NO NO is the answer to that. Life here is different and can at times be a real challenge but we love everything about our new life the ups and downs make you even more stronger to strive to get things right in the future. We are growing all our own veg, and we both feel so much healthier we pick we cook we eat. We lead our lives at our own pace and are so much more relaxed. We do work hard and sometimes the challenges are not easy to meet. We work as a team and if we really are stuck we know there is always someone that will help and advise us. The locals are a warm and friendly people and we are privileged to call them our friends. The weather now is beautiful and we are looking forward to a long hot summer. I will post once a month to keep you updated with our progress as we head for year two.

April 2008 Showers come to Bulgaria

The bulgarain Lawn Mower

The Veggie Garden in the Making

The Flower Bed in the making

April showers come to Bulgaria just as they do in the UK. March saw changeable weather with some high winds and now we have showers. We are not altogether unhappy about some rain. We know that in the following months every drop of water will be needed to tend our gardens. Sometimes we suffer for water shortages in the villages so any water we we can save now will help with this situation. We have had a back up tank installed in our home so that when we have mains water the tank fills up and allows us to have water in the house even when the mains is not working. We take running water for granted in the UK but here we have learnt to save water where ever possible. We recycle whatever water we can, also we have a working well in the garden and this is used to water the veggies with.

March 2008 the Month of Change.

March the 1st Celebrations Stara Zagora

The 1st of March sees Baba Marta Day here in Bulgaria. March 1st is probably our most intrinsic holiday because it is unique to Bulgaria. The custom of wearing martenitsas (red-and-white threads worn as a decoration) is only popular in Bulgaria and it is perhaps the most positive one in all our folklore. The traditions related to March 1st as well as the martenitsas themselves are associated with optimism and anticipation of warmer weather, fertility and well-being. This tradition is based upon the founding of Bulgaria in 681 AD. The name March comes from the Latin Martius, i.e. ‘of Mars’, the god of war, son of Jupiter and Junona. Old Bulgarians called it “birch month” – because the birch trees begin to grow leaves and give sap. Other traditions connected with March include that very early in the morning, even before the month begins, the young ones must be the first to meet the willful old woman. Thus she will be smiling and merry, the weather will be good and sunny. People wear the martenitsas until they see a stork. Then they tie it on a fruit-tree branch, make a wish and are sure that it will come true.

February 2008 and the Snow has Gone.

You can't See Me

A Good sleeping Place

The Boy's Relaxing

The snow has gone now but the temperature is still low and cold. We have been out and done some shopping. Just to top up the cupboards in case we get more bad weather. We are busy planning the veggie plot. Again we are making a journal of what we want to grow and where the best possible place to put everything is going to be. We are also planning on having some chickens so we are getting plans down for making the hen house ready for our new arrivals. We are not sure how our two cats will feel about having some feathered friends around only time will tell. We are sure that they will cope with them very well. Mitzy & Jasper our two cats have been with us since September and are really part of the family now. Our Bulgarian neighbours say they are lucky cats to be spoiled the way they are. We don't think they are spoilt we just think they are well loved.

January 2008 and Still the Snow is here

The Village Church
The Village School
The Park
One of the Village Streets

Christmas has come and gone and still we have snow and lots of it. We have not been able to get out of the village for some 3 weeks now even with the 4x4. We spend our days chilling(no pun intended) We use the time to relax and prepare for the busy spring and summer months. We keep a journal of things we have learnt this winter to make next winter even more cosy. We pride ourselves that we have not run out of food or any essentials. So we got something right. Our Bulgarian is coming on slow but sure. We have spent time with friends in the village over the winter and all this helps us to learn. We are told by the village people that the snows will last a couple more weeks then things should get better. We have taken many pictures of the village in the snow it really is very pretty. Not many adjustments to make for next winter just a couple of things to make us even more cosy.