Bulgarian life
150. Cider and other stuff
Phwoar. Did someone say cider? Is there a better word to describe cider than ‘scrumptious’? If there is, I’m all ears. We’ve bottled this year’s bounty and have already started drinking it. It’s so … scrumptious. There is no other word, is there? Sadly, we’ve got...
148. Vegetable-related OCD. Snow. The joy of rustic toilets
Excuse the incoherent ‘here’s some stuff we’ve done’ nature of this blog. It’s gone 5pm on a Friday and a large vodka awaits… As the nights are so cold now, I harvested all our butternut squashes the other week, then spent a happy 10 minutes arranging them in...
147. Very English concerns: Weather and booze
Brrrr As is typical in Bulgaria, the change in seasons has been marked with a huge temperature swing. After months of a pretty constant 25–30°C here in the mountains, we’ve dropped to 15°C in the blink of an eye. I realise that’s hardly arctic, and in deepest...
146. Autumn love, preserving like a boss, and a trip to the Rhodopes
Autumn is my favourite time of year – specifically that dreamy early September period when the evenings are cold enough for a sweater but the days are hot enough for shorts and flip flops, and the leaves are *just* starting to turn. And the food! Oh my, I love...
145. How not to be self-sufficient
It’s weird what we prioritise. We’ve never planned to be truly self-sufficient – we just don’t have the land or time for that – but we’re always looking to cut down what we have to buy from shops. However, rather than being self-sufficient in obvious things like...
144. Adventures in Melnik
I hate to be a ‘Look at my holiday pictures’ bore, but that’s essentially what this post is. Just think yourself lucky I haven’t invited you round for a full-length slideshow accompanied by cheese and pineapple on cocktail sticks. That’s how we still do it in...
143. Courgettes. Walkies.
Freaking hell, it’s August. How did that happen? Here’s a not-so-brief rundown of what we’ve been up to lately. For those who are short on time, this post can be neatly summarised as follows: courgettes galore monastery fun death walk from hell For those who are...
142. Weeds, gore and sightseeing
My God, the weeds have been rampant this year. All that heavy rain, followed by scorching sun, followed by more rain, then sun, sun, sun… The veggies and flowers have loved it. But so have the weeds. We’ve got a ridiculous problem with bindweed in our garden, which...
141. Krushuna Falls and Devetashka Cave
I don’t know why we don’t get out more. Aside from nipping to the shops or market, popping round to see the neighbours or going for our sporadic Bulgarian lessons, sometimes weeks and weeks go by without us really going anywhere. Is it because we’re content...
140. So long, supermarket suckers
I love this time of year. Not because the weather is glorious and the garden looks better every week (although it is and it does). No, I love this time of year because every day we’re eating food from our garden. Even if it’s just a simple salad, the ability to nip...
138. Sun in Sozopol
If you're wondering why I've been quiet, it's because last week we pootled off to Sozopol for a little break with my family, and this week I've been generally readjusting to non-holiday life. Last week I was rolling out of bed and into the pool before eating a...
137. Soggy
From what I can gather from Facebook, emails, etc. it’s been glorious in the UK lately. Lucky old them. It’s still cold and rainy here and I’m getting really cheesed off with it. I mean, spring is usually quite wet and very stormy (which I love), so I don’t mind...