Well Helloooo September!

Well September is upon us, too bloody quickly for my liking. Life here in Bulgaria passes by very fast, I seem to wait so long urging in the spring & summer & the next thing the autumn is upon me & I am dreading, as well as looking forward to, the winter! I am a summer person, love the sun & warmth on my bones. Winter here is great if we get the sun too. It can be 3 - 4' snow with bright sunshine & sunglasses can be worn for 12 months of the year, please God that's what we get this year, the sun not the snow! I don't mind the snow here, it's completely different to the UK & seems to me where the idea for glitter must have come from, as it sparkles brighter than the biggest diamond, a real winter wonderland! My problem is not being able to go out for so long, I can & have been stuck indoors for a couple of months at a time, so it all very much depends on what type of winter we have. I don't even mind the -27c temps as our house is toasty hot with the wood burners. Its a hibernation time here & I definitely am up for that but I also would much prefer it if the sun was out, the weather was dry & my vitamin levels did not depreciate too much, SAD perhaps or is that just an excuse for being a miserable cow in winter? Hmmm I'm not sure about the SAD but I am surely a different person when the sun is with me :-)
Right so lets dwell no more on the winter, make the most of what we have & right now we are still enjoying temperatures in the 30's, yesterday it reached a wonderful 33c & the forecaste is for 27 - 32c for a while yet & it is a beautiful heat, meaning we can get around in it light footed as opposed to feeling like we are wading through quick sand!
I love my gadgets, kitchen gadgets that is :-) & I have just acquired a new Bulgarian gadget. Its a roaster for peppers & aubergines :-))))) I am very excited & intend to use it today it saves me getting out my huge George Forman grill & I can get on with the other stuff while it is doing it's own thing. So we are harvesting our peppers, tomatoes, marrows & aubergines every day now, & I am also buying them from the market along with peaches & big black plums.

These were taken a while ago they are a lot larger now & much more prolific.

Yep its that time of year for all the gorgeousness grown on our property but there just is never enough & as its all in abundant season its all soooooo cheap. It would be stupid to not buy extra, canning & freezing it for winter when its all really expensive & lacking flavour. So I am now making plum cakes, muffins, crumbles & sauces, Roasted pepper & aubergine & tomato sauces, ratatouille's, canned tomatoes, tomato & basil breads & sauces for meat all to be preserved for the lean times!

Nigel is replacing the main beams in the barn.

Once he has these in place then he can get on top & remove all the tiles so he can replace the roof supports. It's needed to be done from when we moved here but he just hasn't had the time or it was the wrong season etc. Then the matter was made worse when a locals horse decided to back into one of the beams & broke the stone support it was in!!! The snow is another problem, as it's so heavy on top added to the fact the barn is very old indeed about 70yrs. Lets hope he can get finished before the weather changes for the worst. It's hard work as he is doing it all on his own, no village labor as we are lacking in funds so we will see, these fingers are crossed!
Somehow this week I have twisted or done something to my back, its definitely the muscle right in the center. Wow it bloody hurts too! I did it last week & after a few days all was normal, then it just "went" again, no idea why? So I am on paracetamol & ibuprofen & being very careful & moving very gingerly or resting with lots of cushions! Not fair as I literally have cooking to do NOW but think its someone telling me to get on & read my friends book!!!! My friend Claire has written a couple of books & I have been given the honour of reading them & telling her honestly what I think! Phewwwwww, a big responsibility. I am very proud of her & intend to get on with the reading later today :-) Would be great if I could read in the garden but they are on a memory card & laptops are not very visual in the sun :-)