Slow Village Life - But Only With More Time There

Back in the village of Skalitsa, the pace of life just comes to a stand still for everyone there, nothing changes there on a day-to-day basis and you know what to expect every time. There is always time for everything, no rush, no panic and the talking just carries on like there is no tomorrow. So why are we always in a rush?

The reason is quite simple, lack of time there. We only have a few days in the farmhouse before the return to work. The tidying up the garden, including finally pruning and burying the roses, a bit of a spring clean in the house, then visits to our neighbours who we haven’t seen for over a month and the time is up! In no time at all our stay came to an abrupt end, no time to wind down and acclimatise to village life at all.

If only we had more time there, we’d eventually slow down and not worry about time constraints. It is my plan to spend more time there in the spring with the beginning of the growing season, this has to be done of course as most of the food will be for the family meals in Yambol and the next winter. We don’t intend to miss out on many crops and harvests this year like last year. In village life there is always something to do unlike living in the town, even in winter, chopping wood, clearing paths, milking goats, sheep and cows and still burning fallen leaves even in December. There is just something I love about being busy, but doing things slowly on the farm, Galia is different, she can quite easily do nothing and be content with that, I can't.

We got to taste the village good once again at our neighbour’s house, fresh goat’s cream cheese, today’s laid chicken eggs and salami only made last week. Then there was the exchange and tasting of our home made Rakia. Sometimes we forget that the food and drink tastes even better it the villages than in the town. It seemed such as long time ago that we'd eaten at our neighbour’s house and is always a pleasure in winter anyway without the invasion of flies around.

Now we’re back in Yambol one day later, yesterday seems such a long time ago, but the taste of the village is still with us as we plan to go again New Year’s Day after excepting an invitation to a friend’s house in Yambol for New Year’s Eve. Can’t wait for both!