FREE TEA AND TOAST…

We’ve had our first power cut for a year today, I don’t know why the power should be off, we’ve only had a little bit of snow, but like all power cuts they always seem to be just as you were going to boil the kettle for tea or coffee, or just as you were about to turn the computer on, they normally strike at the  time of maximum inconvenience!!

This mornings power cut was just at breakfast time, now were seasoned country folk we don’t need any modern things like electricity to carry on with our day, a pot of tea placed a top the wood burner for ten minutes and a few slices of bread thrown on for just a couple of minutes. Then buttered and strawberry jam, 40 minutes later the electric came back on.

We were saying to each other, actually why don’t we do this all the time anyway, its free….Why do we use electric for tea and toast when we don’t have too, we’re still conditioned to modern ways I suppose!!

The dogs certainly like running about in the snow, not us though, feet up in front of the fire for Linda and I today.

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FREE HEATING…

Whilst staring into space the other day, I quite often have that facial expression when I’m thinking, I had one of those “Eureka” moments. If I cut a hole in the wall from the temporary fire place in the lounge through to the kitchen, then coupled up the metal pipes from the kitchens wood burning stove, I would then be heating up the kitchen for free.

The heat that is produced from the metal flu pipes even 4 meters away from the fire can still be too hot to touch by hand, that’s a lot of free heat that would otherwise have just gone up the chimney.

The flu pipe used to go off to the right and up the chimney.

I wasn’t able to find a “T” piece despite much searching about the local and large town hardware shops, so I had to kinda make my own “T” section with an angle grinder and bits and pieces from my little workshop/junk room.

Some fancy shmancy  measuring to make it look like I know what I’m doing, then I drilled a circle of holes to make the job easier before cutting through the bricks with a hammer and chisel.

Kitchen side, the metal pipe now comes through the wall from the lounge, very hot, travels almost 2 meters along and then in to the chimney stack in the corner. This pipe throws out probably the equivalent of two 3 bar electric fires on full. The wood burning oven, although we’ve used it in the past, is mostly just for decoration now but I’ve coupled all the pipes together “Just in case” we  ever want to fire it up again in the future.

Also a series of brass hooks have since been screwed into the beams adjacent the flu pipe where Linda hangs difficult to dry laundry, what used to take days to dry in winter now drys overnight!!

On the lounge side, the temporary fire place flu now goes straight through the back wall instead of off to the right, the temporary fire place is temporary because we couldn’t agree whether it should have a surround of old brick or stone, its therefore been left as is until a decision is made.

The lounge is 20m2 and the kitchen area is 35m2, so 55m2 is now heated by just one 14kw wood burner.

NEVER TOUCH ANOTHER MANS NUTS

Never touch another man’s nuts, sage advice for walnut gathering here in Bulgaria. There is a Walnut etiquette here we’ve been learning, any tree on the outside/roadside  boundary of a property is considered off-limits to Walnut pickers and belonging to that property. Communal land, of which there is plenty in villages, our village has about 50,000 m2 of Walnut plantation that any resident of the village can pick for themselves, outsiders would be chased away with specially bred Rabid  dogs and Tetanus enriched pitch forks!!

The old fathers of my village planted many Walnut trees along the West and Southern edge of the village communal land some 20 or 30 years ago as well as inside the village. Also looking at satellite photos to find the  old inter-village roads of yore that are seldom used today, these old disused roads were almost all lined with Walnut trees.

Today, whilst out Wombling (If you have to ask what a Womble is, then your far too old or “Grown-up” to read this blog.) we walked a little way along one of the old tree-lined roads.

The trees belong to the local Municipality, if you live in the local Municipality you are free to pick them, this particular old road is 4 miles (5KM) long.

I’ve seen other old disused roads on the satellite photos and we shall explore those another day, we didn’t walk very far along this road because our pockets and Womble bag were soon full of Walnuts. Linda and I are new to Wombling, taking our inspiration from friends in other villages, we really should bring more bags with us, or the car!!

EDIT:

With so much interest in the Wombles from 40 years ago, they are still going and were this years hit at The Glastonbury Festival 2011, you just cant make this stuff up

WALNUTS

Having never owned a tree before in my life, I now suddenly have 65 trees of various types to take care off. I have been learning from Youtube how one goes about pruning and taking care of fruit trees etc. The largest trees I have are the Walnuts, they must be 25m high and 12m wide, I have plenty of space for them but the issue is that some of them have branches to close to the barn roof and just need to be pruned back a little.

My other fruit trees, apple, cherry, peach, apricot, mulberry, plumb and pear just need a vicious assault with a chainsaw to get them back into shape but Walnuts are a little different, they are a protected tree in Bulgaria and your not allowed to fell them, only to trim them when they are near buildings, the wood from a Walnut tree is worth a small fortune as are the Walnuts themselves.

According to Youtube, winter is the best time for pruning trees, when the sap has fallen back, Walnuts are a very sappy tree and will bleed profusely if trimmed in summer, Linda was bonfire monitor whilst I played chainsaw massacre with the trees.

Because the Walnut tree are so tall and I “Dont do heights.” Another method of trimming the branches was needed…..Chainsaw on a stick!!

This method might not be suitable for some but worked great for me!!

The trigger on the saw was taped in the “On” position, the chainsaw (Which is very heavy) was then taped to two sticks with Linda being my “On – off” switch by plugging and unplugging the extension cables – simplicity itself!!

Walnuts are very sappy trees, after a few hours trimming it was as though it was raining around the tree.

Untill now we had been giving all our Walnuts away to friends and neighbours, feeding them to the dogs, burning them and just throwing them away in the rubbish bin. They are worth money, so we have started to pick some up from around the trees now, the price is per Kilo and they are sold in the shell, buyers drive around the villages here with loudspeakers on their cars asking for Walnuts.

The price of Walnuts depends on the time of year and the region, friends tell us, so putting all information together the Walnut price is between 1 to 3 Lev per kilo (0.50 to 1.50 Euro per kilo) with Springtime being the highest price and September being the lowest price.

NAKED CHICKS

Well, what a week its been here in the village, the feathers have been falling off our chickens, coming away in hand fulls!! Linda scoured the internet for possible causes and thought our poor chickens had every disease on the Planet.

Convinced our chickens had Small pox, Beriberi and Legionnaires disease we called the village vet to attend to our poor chickens and possibly administer the last rights!! It turns out that there is nothing wrong with our chickens and they are just molting ready for winter, our chickens never did this last winter, but as the vet said,

“This winter is cold and started very early.”

We thought this was a silly time for our girls to be  molting, a naked chicken is obviously going to be very cold now since its almost December, more internet research produced the “Chicken Jumper.”

Linda knitted a jumper for “Midget” first of all, since she was the most un-feathered of our birds at the moment, buttons fasten the two halves together under the wings, “V” necks at the front, “Polo” necks are so 80′s now

It was a bit of a struggle to fasten the side buttons, but “Midget” was soon running around showing the other girls this seasons farm fashions.

Next up was “Nora.”

Our girls can preserve their modesty now, and stay warm this winter!!

EASTENDERS in BULGARIA

Life can become strange at times, reading the Sofia Echo the other night (English version) I came across a story about a new TV. show here in Bulgaria. The story is about a Brit who comes to retire here in Bulgaria, the only English actor in the show  is none other than the once mega famous Leslie Grantham, “Dirty Den” from the BBC’s Eastenders.

The show is in Bulgarian apart from when Leslie speaks in English, but by episode 4 he is fluent in Bulgarian unlike most british ex-pats that live here, each episode is an hour long and is actually very much like village life here in Bulgaria, the show  reminds me a little of  Peter Mayles “A year in provence.” When you reach the end of the video you will see a grey box top left corner for the link to part 2 and so on..

The show is called “The English Neighbour.” and was broadcast in September 2011 Bulgaria.

VELIKO TARNOVO FORTRESS

Veloko Tarnovo is the old capital city of Bulgaria, standing on a prominent hill is the  fortress, constructed in the 5th Century.

We first had a slow wander around town, heading towards the fortress.

The fortress was destroyed by the invading Ottoman army in 1393, re-construction of the ruins began in 1930.

The outer stone perimeter wall took 51 years to re-construct.

Baldwin’s Tower, Baldwin was one of the more famous Crusaders of the time and Emperor of Constantinople (Istanbul) he died here in the tower in 1205.

We carried on up towards the chapel at the top of the hill.

Cathy was struggling with the heat, it was only 36c today!!

There was some nice views down the higher we climbed.

Inside the chapel.

The frescos on the walls depict the suffering of the Bulgarian people at the hands of the Ottamans.

Heading back down the hill towards the town.

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ST. TRANSFIGURATION MONASTERY

On the outskirts of Veliko Tarnovo, hidden away in the high  wooded cliffs that surround the old city, is Bulgaria’s 3rd largest monastery. We havent had any time for exploring Bulgaria to date, but since Linda’s friend Cathy is here on holiday, we’ve taken some time off from renovating.

Originally built in the 13th. Century, but repeatedly plundered and burned by the Turks during Ottoman rule, the present monastery was finally re-built once again after Bulgaria gained its Independence from Turkey in 1878.

Once through the arched entrance you enter a courtyard.

The outer walls are painted in frescos and are  in a remarkable state of preservation.

The inside was also in remarkably good condition.

Outside, the monks quarters.

One of the large fallen rocks from past Earthquakes.

THE JOY OF CONCRETE

Ignore my previous posts about how cheap concrete and building materials are here in Bulgaria, because today  I’ve just found it all even cheaper!! Concrete mix, and this time its British Standard stone chippings and not the illegal rounded stone and Sea shells stuff that is still widely used here….10 Lev = 4 GBP a ton, I will of course still carry on searching for cheaper suppliers since “Free” is my ultimate goal!!

With concrete now being even cheaper   than in my original calculations, the driveway for the cars is going to grow to around 200m2, and I’m also going to add another double garage. Also this week I’ve learned that buying cement in bulk that I get a discount, so now a bag works out at about 1.85 GBP depending on exchange rates.  The change in plans requires us to take down another building and some more trees, Maura came along to lend a hand.

We took the old loo down carefully so the bricks can be re-used in a courtyard that I’m going to build later.

My poor abused car was used to pull the tree stumps out of the ground, we did want to use a tractor but since its harvest time they were all busy in the fields.

We’re laying the concrete between 8 and 6 inches thick.

Tom, Bridie and Maura came the following day to share mixing duties.

Bridie was water slave.

Maura was Tea slave.

Linda and Tom were shoveling slaves, whilst yours truly was wheelbarrow slave.

First 8m2 section completed.

Today I took my first delivery of the new cheaper concrete mix, almost 12 tons.

The sand is also proper graded sand, I haven’t seen a single Sea shell.

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BEFORE and AFTER

Just a quick selection of  “Before and after” photos of the work we have been doing on the old place.

The ceiling was a particular challenge, but got there in the end.

Linda has spent the evening making all the “Before and after” photos.

The next job on the list (At long last.) is the garage, the property came with a double garage that you can’t get a car into, hope to start to remedy that little problem on Monday

200,000 HITS!!

I noticed the other day that my Blog hit counter just went passed the  200,000 mark. I would like to take a moment to thank the three people who always read my rubbish and squint at my blurred or out of focus photos, martyrs each and every one of you.

To the other 199,997 people who accidentally stumbled up on my blog and left again immidiatly….Thanks for passing by

ANOTHER NEW TOY

Ron called in to tell me that cement mixers were on sale at PRAKTIKER (Bulgarian DIY chain) only 299 Lev (135 GBP) after discount. He bought one and was going back to PRAKTIKER for more tools today, and did I wish to come along, there was plenty of room in the back of his van for a cement mixer.

We’ve both calculated the cost of buying ready mixed concrete delivered by the truck load Vs buying the ingredients ourselves, plus a cement mixer, the difference is 60% cheaper per cubic meter if you do everything yourself.

So Ron and I drove off to VT. (Veliko Turnovo) bought our various tools etc, not only was it 100 Lev off the mixer, but when I got to the checkout I also received presents as well, and just when you think the day could not get any better…….There’s now a McDonald’s next to PRAKTIKER……We just had to have a Big Mac, chips and large coke each!!

It took me a couple of hours to assemble the mixer and today we tried it out.

Bulgaria is the renovation capital of Europe at the moment, and most houses here come with very large gardens, so if you want to build a parking space for 2, 3 or 4 cars…No problem.

If you want an Olympic sized pool in the garden…No problem.

If you want a patio the size of the  Sydney Opera House…No Problem.

I have roughly calculated that I need about 25 to 30 cubic meters of concrete for the driveway, parking area, patio, barn floor and an assortment of paths etc.

Up until now we have mixed whatever cement, concrete and render we have needed ourselves, manually……This is absolutely back-breaking work!!

One wheel barrow of concrete in just 5 minutes.

THE COSTS.

Ready mixed concrete delivered to your door……100 to 120 Lev (45 to 54 GBP) per cubic meter x 30m3 = 3,000 to 3,600 lev ( 1,333 to 1,600 GBP)

OR

Sand/stone mix….10 Lev (4.40 GBP) per Ton.

Cement….5.40 Lev (2.40 GBP) per bag.

Petrol/Diesel 2.35 Lev (1.06 GBP) per Litre.

SO

On a rough calculation, a cubic meter will cost around 30 to 35 lev  (14 to 16 GBP) per cubic meter doing it yourself.

Saving approximately 70 Lev (32 GBP) per cubic meter X 30 cubic meters = 2100 Lev (960 GBP)

The above calculations are just for concrete, if you factor in cement and render the savings are just as much again, you just have to love DIY!!

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BEE KEEPING

We wandered over to Jordan’s house today where Maria and  Laura were visiting from the States, Jordan has kept bees for years, now he’s retired it’s just on a small-scale (Large for most people) but back in the day he used to produce 2 Tons of honey a year.

His granddaughter Laura also keeps  Bees back home in Washington and wanted to see how things are done here in Bulgaria, so running back home as fast as a professional smoker can run, bounding across the road like a gasping three legged Gazelle with a Hernia, I grabbed my camera and returned.

The top comes off after wafting some smoke about, both Linda and Maria kept a safe Chernobyl style distance away from the hives, but yours truly, with the steely determination of a BBC  War correspondent, stayed within 15 feet of the blood thirsty swarm.

Next the lid is removed.

Then the honey combed wooden slats.

The honey combs are inspected for bee eggs and if the honey is ready for harvest and some other things I’ve forgotten.

The feather is to gently waft the Bees away, the white coloured eggs at the bottom of the honey comb were the wrong kind of Bee and needed to be killed off.

I probably asked a hundred dumb questions about Bees, but both Jordan and Laura were very patient with me and answered all my queries. I fancy having one bee hive myself, and apparently just one Bee hive can produce up to 30 jars of honey per year, which is plenty for the average family or just enough for my toast in the morning.

SOFIA

After spending the last 6 months renovating his house here in the village,  our neighbour Vic is flying back to the States for a rest, we thought we were taking him to Sofia airport, I even had Sofia airport ready on my sat nav.

Half way to Sofia we discover his flight isn’t untill tomorrow and we are actually off to one of his other houses on the outskirts of Sofia, where we are to leave his luggage and then meet one of his old school friends for lunch.  The drive to Sofia now took on a more leisurely pace and both Linda and I looked forward to a day out in Sofia.

Sofia University.

It takes less than 3 hours to drive from the village to Sofia, we passed through the city centre towards Vic’s house with Vic explaining to us what all the magnificent buildings were.

St. Alexander Cathedral above, next time we’re in Sofia we hope to look inside, Vic’s friend is a Director of some Government department and it was a very pleasant surprise to have lunch on their staff roof top restaurant.

The restaurant has a nice view over Parliament square.

After lunch Victor took us on a quick tour of the city centre before we had to drive back to the village, the life of a chicken farmer is not as sexy and glamorous as most people think, we always have to be home before dark to put the chickens away to bed!!

The National Theatre.

Whilst we were walking around Vic was explaining the History of the city and just as he was explaining the British bombing of Sofia during WW2 we happened to pass this statue of people listening and looking up, statues commemorating an air raid perhaps…

Walking further along, more statues.

Surrounded by Government buildings is a 4th Century Roman church called ST. Georges.

The inside of the old church is well-preserved.

Back to the car park opposite the museum, Vic met up with some of his family and we headed back to our 15 chickens!!

ANTONOV BIPLANES

The normal sounds of summer here in Bulgaria have been joined by the deep, gurgling rumble of  Radial engines overhead, if it was possible to mate a Harley Davidson with a Supermarine Spitfire, its illegitimate off-spring would sound like an Antonov.

I’ve seen them parked in a nearby field on a few occasions lately, on the day I didn’t have my camera with me there was 5 Antonov biplanes and one enormous old Soviet built helicopter from the Cold War period, when things were built big and scary, just because that’s how we all did things back then!!

The place was a hive of activity, some pesticides were being pumped onboard one plane ready for crop spraying, the pilot was sat in the cockpit pressing buttons and things whilst  a mechanic atop a ladder looked puzzled by the engines  silence.

I asked Victor my neighbour if he knew what the planes were, he thought them to be old Russian Antonov’s, so a few minutes on Google and the planes are Antonov AN-2, designed in 1946 back in the USSR and entered production in 1947.

The Antonov AN-2 is the Worlds largest single engined Biplane, and amazingly production of these planes only ceased in 2001, they can take-off in as little as 50 meters. (150 feet)

They were all very friendly and were happy for me to take photos, I think that if they weren’t busy having mechanical problems at that time, a little cheek on my part may have got me a look inside!!