The August Heat

If you are familiar with these blogs, then you will also know that August often produces some really hot temperatures. At the moment this year has been quite bearable compared to the heat that we had to face last year. One thing that I have noticed is that as soon as the sun climbs into the sky first thing in the morning the temperature climbs quickly. The overnight dew soon gets baked off by the direct sunlight, but that just adds to the humidity, sometimes it feels just like trying to wade through treacle. The heat is manageable, but the humidity often means that my get up and go hasn't even managed to get up in the first place.

A 7 Legged Wasp Spider

We can normally manage to get some work done out in the garden first thing in the morning, before the sun gets up too high. Some people have fallen foul of the sun. It really is strong here at this time of year and you do need to pay attention to what you are doing and how you are doing it. It is really important to get used to wearing a hat when you are doing anything outside, and always remember juust how strong the sun is. We are quite lucky because we have the cellar to retreat to. As the majority of it is underground, at this time of year it does stay nice and cool. Conversely in the winter it does stay nice and warm. Some people have said that they have had difficulty sleeping at night due to the heat, others have had to resort to air conditioning. So far we have only had to have the fan on a couple of times, as here it does seem to get quite cool of an evening.

Mind you, different people have different ways of cooling down. Yesterday the forecast was for thunder showers and sunshine. The clouds seemed to be building just as we had finished working in the garden, so I took the chance to do a bit of pool cleaning. It's not that easy to do when keeping one eye on what the weather is also doing. The clouds seemed to continue building, but then round about midday they began to disappear along with my headache. There was a good reason for cleaning the pool, and that was the meteor shower last night. There is something nice and relaxing about floating in the pool, and just looking up at the numerous stars and satellites shining overhead. There were a few problems with mosquitoes, midges and gnats, not to mention the kamikaze moths, but eventually even they decided to leave us alone. One of the best things about living in a village in the middle of nowhere is that there is so little light pollution. It really is a star gazers paradise living in the back of beyond.

The village might even be entering into the 20th century. A couple of weeks ago they started cutting out some of the road surface for repairs at the top of the village. Unfortunately that is a far as they have got, and each trip out is like driving through the Somme trenches. I am hoping that it has only been deferred due to the heat. I will keep you all posted about the goings on. There is one stretch of road that I really wish they would look at. I am guessing that as it is outside of the village that it isn't the village's responsibility. Unfortunately it is right where two municipalities meet, so I would imagine that they both shrug their shoulders and claim that it is the other's responsibility.

Oil Lamp

At this time of year we try to avoid the heat of the day, and if we have to go anywhere we try to do so either earlier or later than normal. This Sunday saw us going to the car boot sale over in Hotnitsa. It was while we were there that someone suggested going to Duncan's. I have to admit that it was somewhere that I had never even heard of before, so I was more than keen to go there. So in two vehicles we left Hotnitsa and headed to Stefan Stambolovo. I glad that we were following as I would never have found it in a month of Sundays. We did have Ostriches and Peacocks pointed out as we made our way there. Even the Ostrich seemed rather hot, and I would have thought it would be better equipped to deal with the heat than us lot.

In due course we arrived at Duncan's, and even though he had been at the car boot sale earlier we were made to feel more than welcome. We were largely left to our own devices as we were rummaging around through different storage rooms and barns.

Hay/Animal Feed Fork

Everywhere you looked it was though another part of Aladin's cave had opened up in front of you. He has wooden boxes, metal boxes and wooden farm tools and troughs in one area. Barrels and Spinning Wheels and bits of looms in another. It was great and no-one seemed to mind getting a bit dusty and cobwebby.  It was a bit like going to a restaurant that only serves your favourite foods, and you end up eating too much that you end up feeling uncomfortable. Well with Duncan's there is so much brilliant stuff that you don't really know what you want to buy, so you buy whatever catches your eye. Then you have the quandry of how do you get it home. Plenty of others must have faced this dilemma as Duncan very kindly said that we could leave it there and as we were due to be in town today we could pick it up then. Also it gave me another chance to make a fuss of his dog.

Mentsi (thanks Martina)

Just a couple of things before I close this blog. A very warm welcome to Temi, who has just started following the blog. Also once again my thanks to all those who take the time to read these blogs. We are not that far away from our 100th blog, and it is thanks to you all, for your kind words and encouragement that has got us this far. So if anyone has anything special that they would like covered in the 100th blog please let us know.