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

New Blog for New Year, January 2011

Wow here we are into our third year living in Bulgaria and its been amazing!!! Our first year was a dream, everything we expected & more but the second was a rollercoaster ride never to be repeated, hopefully!
I have made a decision to start this year with a new blog as last year was so bad & I want to leave behind all the negativity this brought into my life. So a new blog for a more positive year, yep even the grip will be positive for me. Here we are with the first of the new blogs..........
This time last year the temps here were -27c I know this as we crashed the car into a bus on the ice & I was sat for 3 hours, with no window, waiting for the police to finish their paperwork! This year we have temps of +24c in the sun tho most days its more like 17c still blooming gorgeous though with lovely sunshine, a very positive start to the up coming year!

The Snow froze to the tree's, truly beautiful

We have had a couple of bouts of snow but nothing like normal. It snowed for one day but then it froze. It was a beautiful few days with the tree's glistening as the snow was frozen to their branches. The sun was melting the roofs slightly then it would freeze again giving us huge icicle's, which the following morning would sound like mini waterfalls as they melted. The dogs certainly love playing in the snow, Reggie gets a new lease of life & play fights with Sophie every morning

Reggie & Sophie having fun

Once the big short term freeze was over everywhere was soaking wet & the dogs had mud bathes. 

My snow frozen Pine tree

So here's to Spring which is just around the corner now, & to the warmth of the sun Woop!!!
I have been honored with some wonderful houses to market this year & have been busy writing these up & getting them on the web. So resting has been great even though some days it has been hard to concentrate or be online for much I have been able to plan what I want to do & now all three new houses are out there just one rental to get up now. I will go to the doctors tomorrow then hopefully get the last of the listings out over the weekend. Hmmm will be a bit lost  then! I have watched all of the last BB, it may have taken place over the summer but I watched the whole series & the ultimate in a week :) that was when I was quite poorly!
Ooh you may be saying, you lazy moo, haha. Well here in Bulgaria when the winter sets in normally all you can do is hunker down till spring arrives. So far its not been too bad, as I said earlier, but we have had two cold/snow snaps which rendered us stuck in the village for two weeks at a time, so you find relaxing things to do. Its book reading time although I have only managed one book, then I couldn't concentrate. I am a little way into Memoirs of a Geisha & struggling, I will finish it but when I can enjoy it better.
Nigel has been beavering away at the kitchen. Working around all the stuff still in there, as we have nowhere dry to store it all. Its proved difficult but all the construction work is complete & can't be seen, a sign of good workmanship, & now the tiling is underway & the kitchen area should be all finished in a couple of days. This however does not mean its all finished down there but I will have a kitchen to cook in while he continues with the rest. All this & it's just temporary :D
Right will finish my last blog with the last of the negative's I am willing to see, then the next on here will be all about how I find Bulgaria. So if you are thinking you would like to visit or move here keep coming back, & to my friends & family here is a slice of my life!!! xxx