Well here we are halfway through May, and the busy season is upon us. We try to get as much done now as we can, as we know that in a few short weeks it is going to get slightly warm, and we end up doing what the locals do. We will then be working in the mornings and the evenings, and keeping out of the way of the hottest part of the day. Even when we are working it is a case of wearing hats, as the sun is a lot stronger than a lot give it credit.
What have we been up to? We spent a couple of days giving Pete and Claire a hand fitting their kitchen, and they are happy with the end result so that was a job well done. Our pool is now up and full of water, so now all it has to do is warm up. We are trying a solar pool heater this year, it looks like glorified bubblewrap just floating on the surface of the pool, but even if it prevents the heat escaping during the night it will be worthwhile. Net's studio has now been recladded with bark strips and perspex windows put in, so Net can paint away to her hearts content over there. Most of the woodwork on the barn has been restained, just the finishing bit to do tomorrow, I've also been up on the roof refitting some tiles that have slipped during the gales, who said we don't get wind in Bulgaria? The satellite for Sky is now up and running, many thanks to Chris for giving us a hand with that, it is really nice listening to English radio while we are pottering round in the garden. We just have to get used to the time difference, I still haven't been able to catch pop master but i will do at some stage. The grass has had several cuts, but it grows like Triffids at the moment, you turn your back and it's like you have never touched it. When I was cutting out the front it was about a foot high, so it was more like hay making out there, it is always advisable to keep the grass short as there is no telling what might be lurking in there, and Net has a bit of a phobia about snakes. Not to mention the local sheep and goats leaving their ticks for the cats to bring indoors.
Talking of cats we have a new addition to the family, we now have Mini Mog, who is very similar in colouring and markings to one that we lost earlier in the year, hopefully our grand-daughter won't notice the difference. We do have another kitten on the way but it is only 3 weeks old at the moment, Net has already named it Sillyo, which should please Ashleigh when she comes over later this year. The cats have taken a liking to playing in amongst the Garlic plants, so they are looking a bit squashed at times. They have also taken great delight in filling in most of my trenches, that I carefully dug while Net was over in the UK, so who knows where the veg seeds have ended up, there certainly seems to be a lack of carrots. George and Violetta decided that we needed more tomato, pepper, cucumber and chilli plants, so they bought some round while Net cut Violetta's hair. If nothing else we are going to be living on them with garlic, onions and squash, either that or we will end up fed up at the sight of the things. I will give George his due, he has planted them all up for us, not that we haven't done so for the last couple of years on our own, but in their normal style they know best. Sometimes we dread the doorbell, and what it might bring.
The weather has been variable to say the least, and we have had a couple of cracking thunderstorms, not to mention downpours of biblical proportions and temperatures in the 30s in the shade. You can feel the air pressure building before the thunderstorms hit, so we head under the porch and pull up patio chairs to watch the show. Our Boxer, Fenny, never used to like the storms in the UK, but now seems quite happy to sit and watch them with us, Sirius is more interested in seeing what the cats have left in their bowls.
It hasn't all been work here as we have managed a couple of days out, and have found a few places where we can download books onto our kindles. We have also shown Jolanta some of the closer garden centres, Net and I are as bad as each other when it comes to plants and I ended up coming home with a very nice Acer, and a few more Fuschias. The garden centres aren't what we were used to in the UK, but they are getting there, and you can get some quality plants here, they might be a bit different at times but they know what grows here more than we do. Having said that our English Foxgloves and Hollyhocks are doing a treat so far this year.
On a finishing note our Icelandic friends are now back in the village, so we would like to say welcome back to Johann, Kristin, Halldora and Halldora's boyfriend.
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