Sally's Christmas

This year was supposed to be our first xmas without either of our kids with us. Or so Sally thought!
Shane is in the UK looking for work and visiting his girlfriend, Teri and her fiance Steve were going to Devon to visit Steve's aunty.
Veselina asked me to meet some relatives from Sofia airport on the 21st December..........
Now please click on the link to see what actually happened.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i15W9LQVYT4
May I also take this oppertunity to wish everyone a very Happy New Year.

November 5th.

Another year goes by, Guy Fawkes night has been celibrated. We invited a good mix of ex-pat's and Bulgarian's to help with the festivities.
All went with a bang!
The fireworks were supplied by us and a few friends, food was also supplied by us and friends, curry from Wendy, Chocolate cake from Vessie, Soup from Jill, Cake from Meggie, egg plant from Milka, drinks from almost everyone, including Rakia!
35 people came and watched, ate and drank. The weather stayed dry, calm, just right for the firework's.
On dates like this we hope that everyone get's to try new foods that they may not have had before, it's there all you have to do is try!
Thank you all for helping the evening go well.

Heidi

Firstly I want to say sorry to everyone who has asked me why I have not been updating this site. A few weeks ago we lost our lovely dog Heidi, she was 13.5 years old and a part of our family for more than half of our married life. Anyone who knew her loved her, she was such a great dog. Things we miss, coming home and not hearing her coming down the staris to greet us, Heidi used to come to me around 10.30pm and tell me it was time for bed! She would moan and groan until I gave in, she would not go up to bed until the light's were on, doors opened and I was there as well. She always looked after us, if she smelt fear, she told us. We had an incident a few years ago, when a man came to our house to talk to us, Heidi did not like this man, if we had not held on to her coller than man would be history. If gypsies came to the gate, they would back off when they saw her, even though she was old by this time. She could be trusted with any child of any age. If Sally screamed out, she would be there, ask Kahl......

We really miss her.

Geri our German Shepperd puppy, 7 months old now has a lot to live up to, although she is a funny dog in different ways. When she want's to get up she just touches my nose with her nose, no longer just jumping up with both paws to try and flatten me to the bed.

More later.

Dentist

A couple of days ago I was eating my dinner and had a hard bit in what should have been a soft dinner. I thought it was a piece of filling that had come out, coupled with the fact that when I had a hot or cold drink there was pain in my tooth.
So I plucked up the courage to go and see the dentist.
The night before I went we were in Meggies restaurant and John and Lil our friends were there, Lil said she too had a tooth that required pulling out, but she was too scared to go, so was holding on for as long as she could. I managed to get her to agree to come with me the next day.
Anyway, off we went, Sally went around the corner to Billa a supermarket whilst Lil and I headed off to the dentist.
We had to wait a few minutes while someone else was having treatment, which did not help Lil's nerves. Then it was her turn.........the dentist, Dr. Villie, took a look and said "Ok, it just needs a filling and everything will be fine". Well if Lil was not already sat down, she would have fallen down! She was "made up", total bill was 31 Lev, not even £14, that was with a check up as well!
Then it was my turn, I sat down and told Dr. Villie where the pain had been, she had a good look and said that I had indeed chipped a small piece of tooth off, but it did not require any attention, so she did a check up and everything else was fine. My bill was 6 Lev, £2.70.
I have to say both Lil and I think this must have been our best trip to the dentist ever.

Sally's Bulgarian Cart

Today we see the unvailing of Sally's restored Bulgarian cart.

We call this model a Mark 1, as it has large wooden wheels, the slightly newer ones have car tyres and wheels, but they do not look as nice.

These cart's fetch quite a premium as the locals do not always want to sell them, but Brit's love them. So a cart in good order can cost as much as 300 Lev (£150). We were lucky and got this one much cheaper.

Firstly, it had to be washed down with the jet spray, then taken apart and sanded down with an orbital sander. The colour was an issue, Sally wanted White and Brown, I pointed out the dirt would show more than the paint, so we agreed on Red and Black.

Sally has done this almost all on her own and has done a good job.

It has taken 4 months, but then there was no rush. The flowers do make it look lovely.

Our puppy dog is now 6 months old and is a true Bulgarian dog! She spends most of the day outside and only comes in a few times during the day. This is not how we thought it would be, however she is happy. She even stays out in the garden when we are out. As we leave I tell her to "Guard". I like to think she understands me.

Life is great.

Today is another warm day, the sun is high and the football season has started again. So this afternoon is going to be too hat to be outside, must be OK to watch the footie then!
Life here is as normal, slow, relaxed and freindly. Not so many people around this year as the credit crunch hits Britain. We are seeing some effects over here too, house prices are dropping a little, the smart Bulgarians know they need to reduce the prices, some who are not in any rush to sell are holding out.
There are many other bargins to be had as well, shops here are holding sales, cafe's and restraurants are not so busy as last year.
This credit crunch comes as no big surprise, the boom times could not last forever. If your looking to buy, then NOW is the time to act, do not wait any longer.
I have a very large three bedroomed house with six rooms downstairs and 5340sq metres of land, right on the edge of a lovely village, requiring a samll amount of updating, for 28,000 Euros!!!!!!!!!
How can you go wrong?

Watering time!

In the mornings we have to water the garden, however sometimes you get a little more help than is required.
Check out how Geri our 5 month old German Sheppard puppy assist's.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCU2LCsv-Yg