Paige, being a tourist and preps for winter

Paige, the 5th child of our  combined 6 arrived on the 6th of October.  She was due to spend a month with us but as happened she stayed 10 days.  This was her 2nd visit to us in Bulgaria and the quietude of the village and Terry’s manic work schedule left her struggling with boredom.  What was good, once the car had been fixed, was our trips out and about and the opportunity to shoot the wind with her.  We went to Veliko Tarnovo a couple of times and on the second visit we strayed off the main road in the old town to find friendship bracelets for Paiges best friends, Brooke and Jess.  It has been such a long time since I’ve walked VT as a tourist so I stopped to take some pictures.

Paige, she of the excellent results and the best team member I’ve ever encountered.  The Yanks would have her in a snap of a finger but she is having a UK degree education in Law first

The icoic and ubiquitous shot of the stepped houses of Veliko Tarnovo and the river Yantra below

Paige and I wobbled tentatively down this walkway to hang over the balustrade and take our pictures .

I loved the tongue in cheek creativity of these very modern installations with an almost gothic backdrop

Where is this bar Hipster

Maybe this is bar Hipster?

Tourist heaven but still cute, though the paving was murders to walk on

Old Veliko Tarnovo meets new Veliko Tarnovo

Modern Old Veliko Tarnovo

Yesterday Keith popped round and as he parked up on the track he informed me there were 4 tiny puppies outside our garden wall.  I studiously ignored the fact as Keith and I drank a cuppa and shot the breeze for a while.  As he left I took a saucer of milk and found that one of the pups was dead.  The remaining 3 were the plainest blackish smallish pups I’ve ever seen.  I put the saucer down and encouraged them by gently rubbing their noses in the milk.  They all drank and I walked away hoping beyond hope that their Mum would be back soon to reclaim them.  Of course I knew they’d been dumped here but by whom is a mystery.  I shall be checking the cctv!  When Terry arrived home I left for the shop.  By the time I’d returned home those 3 ragamuffin pups were installed in the old kennel with ground dried food mixed with milk and his much loved, fur lined jacket, for bedding.  That man is such a softie around animals.  I have already contacted a rescue centre but I have little hope of getting them taken off our hands.  Yorkie doesn’t help the situation by offering to pay half of the food bill for them.  I am not at all happy.  Not one little bit.  I don’t aspire to be a crazy dog lady.

Autumn arrived this morning with a 10 degree drop in temperature which everyone was happy about because all day yesterday and until about 3am this morning it was still 30 degrees.  There is a noticeable breeze and most plants still in the garden are beginning to look jaded.  New tomato plants have self seeded all over the garden and as an experiment I’m going to thin them out and see what happens.  The market seasons for fresh produce stop sharply.  One day the market stalls are groaning with peaches and tomatoes and the next week it’s cabbage and apples.  There is no going back.  Fresh tomato is canned in many varieties and saved for the winter but I’d love some late Autumn fresh tomatoes.  Here’s hoping.

Walnuts can be seen on almost every track, road and garden either in their green autumn jackets or once the jacket has faded in their wrinkly black/brown covering.  I have started collecting a small sub set of what we have in the garden.  Today the sunshine is back and at 7am it was 23 degrees but the hard unforgiving heat of previous weeks has been replaced with gentle warmth.  It is the perfect weather for the last jobs of the year in the garden and the beginning of the end for external building work.  November is the actual cut off for the garden and December for building works.  And that may be at the end of those months or the beginning.  Our neighbours are predicting a mild winter and I have little reason to question them.

Summer equipment is being replaced with generators, waiting for service, seeds, walnuts and the ubiquitous pruners

The pool has been emptied and cleaned ready to be dismanteld and packed away for winter.  The hardcore behind it will be used for the floor of the root cellar and the base of the pool slab which Terry will be digging in next year.  I shall not miss it’s ugly presence!

Recently on a trip to drop Tolyo off in his village of Koevtsi I took some shots of the countryside and  I sat and reviewed them I marveled afresh at the beauty and the sheer emptiness of the land.  So here are some shots of part of the journey as we left Suhindol and started the climb to Koevtsi, complete with cows crossing the road.  Of course they were taken as Terry drove in his usual McClarenesque style.

As it is the weekend Terry is working on the house and is rendering the new gable ends of the old house getting them watertight before the rain starts.  His going out to work has caused significant delay in our own build but like all things Bulgarian it is a matter of evolving and not fighting change.  We’re both flexible bods and enjoy that around each and every metphorical corner there is almost always a surprise.

Well good readers it is late Sunday evening and the pool and pool equipment have been dismantled and put away.  The gable end has been rendered and painted.  The eaves have been enclosed with wood and the wooden fascia plate installed, sanded and varnished.  The 3 stray pups dumped outside our gate are doing fine, eating and drinking heartily.  For tiny pups they are adventurous and try to prance around but only manage comedic half jumps and lots of tumbling.  William, our grandson has proferred the name Rosy for the female.  Terry (he who bought the pups in) has told me not to name them because they ain’t staying!  Amen to that!

I will post update pictures on the next post because right now Terry, Yorkie and I have just finished an enormous roast lamb dinner, the light has left both the garden and our will to move.