But first.......
I spent the winter learning a new skill, crochet, loving it. I am still learning new things and I am pretty sure I will for the rest of my life, but for now I have a nice little stock of items for sale. Yes I am still trying to make a way to generate an income for myself, blimey it's HARD! Especially as I can't get to the car boots to sell. The photo's don't do them justice, but it will happen, plans are afoot.
I am managing to read some patterns as I have had an order for a baby hammock. I loved making this and can't wait till it is received.
I made my Granddaughters and Niece's a bag each. The above bag was for my Gothy 10 yr old.
My 11 yr old absolutely loved her bag. I loved her reaction which included the words, OMG I LOVE it, I thought it was going to be some old granny bag, hahahahaha, exactly what I would have thought at her age
So this is what got me through the winter and the darkness, I even managed by torch light when the electric was off!
I had the most wonderful trip to England, the best time since I lived there. I think this showed me how far I had come. I didn't feel an outcast, I felt loved and accepted. I realise I am but it has been difficult to feel when I have been so vulnerable. So a new phase of my life, I am not feeling why me now, but instead how can I get through or around this.
Big thanks to the generosity of my family, who treated me to some amazing meals, in and out as well as all the love.
I met my two newest Granddaughters and what amazing babies they are. I re connected with my oldest Granddaughter, we had some special times together and I think we got a gist of who we were. It is hard for the girls to know me when they don't see me or spend time with me and obviously it is the same for me. I love that I got to KNOW a bit of her soul. Also I spent a little time with my son's oldest, the right in the middle Granddaughter. She could not remember me but I hold out hope that after this trip she will next time! I also had a lovely day with my newest Niece
I had an amazing family time, even getting together with my sister in law and Niece from my first marriage. We talked for hours, it was a lovely end to an amazing holiday with my sister Brenda in Tonbridge, the home of some of my happiest years.
Home in Bulgaria...... I came back with my mum who is 92 in August. She came for two weeks & extended it to three. We had a wonderful time, went out and about with friends, had a lunch here, at home, with more friends. Took her to a Chinese restaurant, Afternoon Tea in a lovely chic tea room, Shopping in the Mall with dinner in one of the best restaurants in VT, shopping in the market with lunch in Polski Trambesh, Dinner with my Bulgarian family both at their's and mine and a trip to Burgas to view a house, lunch with the owners then time on the beach for drinks. Oh and lots of sunbathing in the garden Mum loved being looked after and having company, as did I. The upshot is mum is moving over and I will be caring for her in her twilight years. Giving her a social life, which she is sadly lacking in UK and a lovely relaxed life. We off course will be moving as we will need to be near hospitals etc. A fitting adventure for the woman who has sought adventure her whole life. My mum an amazing lady......
We are now in the midst of a heatwave and have been for a couple of weeks now, with temps of 42c, 45c and 38/39c PHEW!!!!!
I did start to make a mark on the garden but that, now, is a do over, again! Far too hot to get out there with the strimmer with no pool to cool off in, it would be foolishness.
I am looking forward to the day I have some air con, but for now I use standard fans which means no canning or jam making this year. I am though going to try pickled tomatoes.
So my mum is moving over, this means looking for a certain type of house. It has a lot of boxes to tick as we want one large enough for family to stay, mum needs her shower room, living space and bedroom on the ground floor, central heating is a must and it needs to be near the hospitals, shops and beaches as well as a couple of other things. Once mum returned home she became quite desperate to get back, so I have been searching, not easy! I did view another house and took Sylvia with me to get a different point of view. We went to a little beach, which I found with mum, and had the most gorgeous mussels while we watched kite surfing and I had a paddle :-) I went back for a third time last week when picking my friend up from the airport, with all intentions of having another paddle but I couldn't walk on the sand, it was SOOOOOO HOT!
Right now I have a friend from England staying with me, it is great to have company again. We are out and about today, another hot one, I think we will be going around VT. I say think as we are meeting Sylvia in the Tea room in VT first and will decide on the day from there.
Well we had a wonderful day, bloody hot though!!!
We ate and drank our way around the historic and arty part of VT, came home with left overs for the girls and very tired.
The above photo's are from Tsarevets castle and surrounding village. This was the first kingdom and the original capital city of Bulgaria, where battles were won and lost. This is my VT, my city where I live right now. I will miss her very very much when I eventually move.
Take care of yourselves and have a wonderful summer with your families, they are so very special xxxxx
Gosh, I'm amazed at how you have coped with everything this last year. You are obviously a very strong woman. Your mom coming to live with you will be so good for both of you. You will have a few of the luxuries of home that you haven't had for a good while and you will be great company for each other. Hope the crochet/money making works out for you. Do you think you will be able to restart the baking/catering that you were doing at one time? Good luck and hope it all works out!
ReplyDeleteHi Janice
DeleteThank you, funny isee myself as weak, due to I am someonw that cries a lot, I feel pain and rejection deeply. That said I truly believe this is a strength of mine, it's painful but gets rid of it completely, eventualy.
Yes it's lovely to have some times out and about in summer, usually to good restaurants and not having to worry about paying bills as well as food.
The last 4 years have been the worst of my life but I could never consider leaving Bulgaria.
I am still baking and availablefor catering but it is very slow. Christmas is very hectic though hahaha. I hope a diffeent area may bring more in terms of business for me, we will see. X
great read and well done to you we have been living in northwest bulgaria 5 years in a village a wonderful life
ReplyDeleteHi Julie
DeleteThank you so much for your comment.
I love to hear people say they love life here, it's amazing isn't it. I love the culture and her people. Too many look at the negatives but the positives far outweigh those and boy are there lots of negatives to focus on in UK.
Have a great summer x
Hi Joanna, I came across your blog when searching for English expats in VT. I have recently moved here with my Bulgarian boyfriend. We came here from London for family health reasons and uncertain when or if we will return. I am loving it so far. This town is beautiful, as are the villages near by. I have been to other places in Bulgaria over the last few years on holidays but this does seem the best.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, he works here full time and I still work for my London company but only a few hours a week - i'd really like to meet some English people - I'm mid 20's. I just thought you might have some tips for me? do you know any jobs a non-Bulgarian speaker could do here or do you know any good meet up spots for expats? Any tip is better than none.. I hope you're well.
Hi Jane
DeleteOh VT is in my heart, I love her. So much history as well as being very cosmopolitan.
I would think best places would be music pubs. I apologise for forgetting the name but there is one in the main high street, you have to go down stairs to it. They have live music nights, ladt time I went it cost 3 lev. It is on the same side as Shastalavitza restaurant near the original Ego restaurant. There is also Vogue above the ew Shastalavitza restaurant.
Also expat fb groups a good place to find people in your age group to arrange meeting up.
As far as working, most expats work for themselves open businesses advertise via fb etc.
If you have secreterial, IT, office, editorial, etc you can advertise your self for remote working, as with your UK employer. A lot of people teach English online, seems like a great job. Get your qualifications to tezch international students via Groupon deals its is very cheap.
Goo luck on your new life experience, enjoy Veliko and all her secrets, and please keep bme up to date on how you are doing x
Great post, Joanna, as we really do not know much about the restaurants in VT. They seem a bit more reasonably priced than those in Sofia. We bought an apartment in VT five years ago, but so far we have not used it much because we have been in China. Anyway, we will be leaving China next summer (June 2018) and making a permanent move to BG.
ReplyDelete