January, Just a Big Ole Hunk of Positiveness!

Wow what a month so far!!! Love 2011 it's been everything 2010 wasn't, in fact ying & yang in comparison.
So now we are into February & I have hardly posted this year. Been in the grip of gripe, the Bulgarian phrase for cold/flue/winter unwellness! I need to get to Dr's but snow stopped that, then when I did go into Gorna it took sooo long to get showered etc I was too late. Problem is I not only am very weak, so everything is a real effort, I have vertigo & now my balance is shot. Being upright is like walking on a ship in a storm, very funny though :D
My mantra this year is positive, positive, positive, so you will see this word a lot!!! I may be poorly but I am not down & depressed because I am alive & I get prayer requests every day which make me thankful for only having an unbalanced existence at the moment! My year is going to be a good year!!!!
I have lots of things & opportunities lined up already & have just taken our first booking for B&B accommodation this year with another lined up. I have 3 sets of people coming over to view houses in the spring & all in the first blossom of the year, fantastic. My daughter is booking me flights to UK so I can meet my newest grand daughter & I will get to catch up with all my family & friends I haven't seen for 13 & 18 years so far a wonderful year in the making. Oh & my mum is coming out for a month finally :D There is other stuff in the offing but I don't want to jinx them so mums the word at the moment :)
Even the government are doing some really positive things for their country on a local level. Two recent actions by them have helped in the area of disease.
A wild boar was found near Burgas with Foot and Mouth disease. It seems to be under control now after measures were taken to stop further contamination. It was the first case in 12 years here, lets hope that's it for at least the next 12!
The flu situation here is not too good so the Bulgarian government in the hope of limiting the spread of flu, has closed a lot of the schools, it should help with minimising the amount of flu sufferers, we will have to see. There is a nasty virus which I wouldn't call flu but then it is winter!

Sweetest girl in the world my lovely Kammi

The snow has been nowhere near as bad as normal. Small drops no more than 6 inch it just takes a long time to melt. We have been snowed in 3 times this year & temps are pretty cold but considering we normally have snow 3' - 4' deep & last year was -27c we have done remarkably well. So well in fact, that we are due 2 days at +17c & 1 at +16c within the next few days. This means it will likely be warmer than that, yes its mad, isn't! The sun is shining & I can't be down about the snow when the sunlight is glimmering off the top & my Pine tree looks so choc box gorgeous! Saying all that we awoke to no water today as Nigel accidentally left the pump room door ajar so it froze, but being Nigel my night in shining armour he has it sorted & we are now back to normal. He had to go off to the cheshma (spring) to get water for drinking washing & the toilet etc haha The spring here is lovely pure water it's better to drink than our tap water & FREE! & even better its just down the road. In the spring it will be a hive of activity with people getting their rugs washed after the winter months. You will see washer women with more rugs than they could possibly fill their houses with. People pay them to take their rugs to the cheshma to wash for them ( no washing machines here). You will see donkey & carts full of rugs & there are railings there for drying out of said ruggery :) Thankfully I can put mine in the machine. The cheshma is also the place to go to wash your car, & this is also a common sight throughout the spring & summer as it is very dusty here then. Ahh village life its probably the gossip hot spot too, we have two cheshma's in our village most just have the one & a large lake which I have yet to find. We have seen the lake from the road out of the village it looks beautiful & the sat nav also points it out but finding it is another story, & believe me I have looked on foot & Nigel has driven as far as possible then trekked on foot but still nothing, as yet! One year we couldn't even see it from the road as it was such a long hot Spring Summer it had dried up, until we had the snow melt in winter :D


My gorgeous boy Reggie watching over his herd!

The kitchen area is now being finished off as we ran out of paint & grout during the snowed in period so pictures soon. Nigel has worked so hard on what in effect is a temporary kitchen but our temporary could be quite a few years yet & running a B&B means we want a comfortable area for people if they want to socialise with us or if the weather is inclement.  I am well up for 2011 lets hope it's well up for me :D