Charity Doesn't Start at Home in Bulgaria

I have been following a more than interesting story about a kind-hearted Canadian woman and the support of an English Estate Agent in Yambol, who had the idea of exporting hot water bottles from Canada to Bulgaria. The reason for this was because she had seen the poverty of the old folk who suffer terribly from the severe cold of winter in Bulgaria. This was started many months ago with the plan to get them to Bulgaria before the start of winter.

The idea of hot water bottles was a very good one and on paper it was a simple exercise of collecting donations of hot water bottles and sending them on.

It is now mid winter here, it was –10 C last night and even more snow fell. We have no gas being pumped into Bulgaria from Russia and it is a very big struggle right now for everyone to combat the cold let alone the elderly. Never has there been a greater need for hot water bottles for the old and infirm in recent times. The hot water bottles are still not here, but tucked away in a storage point in Sofia Airport with customs officials refusing to release them on a ridicules Bulgarian bureaucratic whim, which basically involved trying to get as much money out of a charitable gesture.

There are two sites I'd like to you visit, one is Our Bulgarian World where the whole saga is logged on their forum. The other is www.novanite.com where a journalist has reported on the story. By the way, the journalist apparently know nothing about Bulgaria and it was alleged he didn't even know where it was on the world map!

Stressing Out Over Garden Roses

For the last 5 weeks all I can think about is pruning the roses in the farmhouse garden. There are a few reasons for this; the first is going back two winters ago. I was living full time in the farmhouse then and in the winter the roses were pruned and buried well in time for the cold winter ahead. This is the Bulgarian way and it works very well. The following spring right though to December there was a single rose picked for Galia every single morning we were there.

Then there was last winter, I was working away from the farmhouse and didn't get to prepared the roses for winter, no pruning no covering them up with earth as they are left to face the elements throughout winter. This spring and all through the year right up to now the roses were very poor, in fact hardly any worthy of picking for a Bulgarian princess.

The thought of going through three Bulgarian seasons without vibrant perfumed Bulgarian roses in the garden is something that I never want to happen again. It was my intention to prune and bury some five weeks ago, but we had guest in the farmhouse and for the last week I have slipped a disc in my back, so it still hasn’t been done. We have been very lucky there has only been one or two night that the temperatures have fallen below zero, so no damage done so far. There is however the forecast of a cold break in the weather and snow on its way for Christmas Day. We do not plan to go to the farmhouse initial after Christmas what with family festivities and my bad back.

Throughout Christmas the roses will be playing on my mind and frustration not being able to physically do what needs to be done. We just hope that there is a speedy recovery and this garden chore can be done within the next week, even is it means clearing the snow out of the way to do it.

Does anyone else have such a strong urge to do garden to the point of getting stressed out about it?

Bulgarian Rats and Ladas in Winter

Winter, Bulgaria, short, sharp and should be well prepared for if you have a car here. Now I have a Lada and very proud of it I am, even though I hate cars. But this is a car with character even though there are elements of embarrassment to many who I tell. Not to me you understand but to many Brits who turn their nose up at owning such a vehicle.

The Lada was meticulously prepared for winter in my farmhouse garage. The battery was taken out and put on a trickle charge via a DIY solar charger designed for AA rechargeable batteries stuck on the kitchen windowsill. Wasn’t quite sure whether it was going to work though but worth a try. In fact the idea is so Bulgarian I was glowing with pride with idea being my own.

The car was packed with blankets underneath the bonnet, over the front radiator grill and on top of the bonnet to insulate against the severe cold that was bound to come. It was as snug as a bug in a rug as they say.

The car was jacked up so the front wheels were raised off the ground in order for the tyres to be laid up to rest. The front tyres both have slow punctures (normal in Bulgaria) so this would insure they are not crushed when totally void of air after a few days. The back wheels were blocked and the hand brake off to avoid stretching the handbrake cable.

The fuel tank was run judged to be almost empty and the gas completed used up as the preparations for winter for my Lada almost complete. It was very reassuring that all this was completed, I was to be away throughout the winter months.

Arriving back at the end of winter the car was seen exactly as it was left. The blankets and sheets were removed in the now warmer weather to reveal the engine after hibernation. The two front tyres totally void of air were pumped up and the car let down onto the concrete garage floor. The battery placed in, connected and with the little petrol that was left in the tank the car sprung to life after about five turns of the engine. The trickle charging system for the battery that was improvised and in place throughout winter worked perfectly. The car was a goer, and within 20 minutes of being tucked away all snug, the car was ready for action.

It was only three weeks later when taking the car out during night that I discovered that the lights didn’t work!

Now here is a warning, because I covered the engine with blankets and sheet during winter, this was nesting material for rats and mice. The next morning I took a closer look at the electrical system. Much of the plastic casing of the relay systems, etc. have been eaten and the wiring stripped of plastic. A fair few of the wires have been gnawed and severed from rat teeth. It is no wonder the lighting didn’t work.

Strangely enough the car would have had no problem with vermin if the bedding material hadn’t been placed underneath the bonnet. This just invited a perfect place for rat and mice nests. Next year this won’t of happen again solely due to me being here all the time this time round. But this is a good tip to remember to other hibernating their cars in garages here.

Don’t make the beds up for mice and rats under the bonnet as it won’t only be lights out before bedtime for the vermin but for your car in the spring.