Winter In Bulgaria - The Problems

Probable unemployment tomorrow aside, we have had some serious weather here, but things just plough on as normal. It takes longer to do things and some things you can’t do with extreme cold weather and almost a metre of snow that remains part of the long-term feature of the landscape in Yambol now. I think I have mentioned many time before that I just love living in these conditions and adapt accordingly. It makes the appreciation and luxury of the other seasons in Bulgaria so much better.

Freezing weather is fine for most if you are tucked away with a wood burner and a outbuilding full of chopped up wood to burn, winter food that has purposely been stored exactly for this season. Eating, drinking and socialising is a long term vocation for most in the villages up and down the country. This was what I used to do, but now during this particular winter I am based in Yambol City with work to attend daily although we still have the winter store of food and drink that last year brought, in fact it was a bumper crop.

Getting to work has been a problem but only because I still have not fully come to terms with dealing with extreme Bulgarian winters and tips to take up with the Lada. Let me explain…

The previous cold spell at the end of last year taught me not to apply the handbrake as it froze solid and couldn’t be released. I learned from that and now this won’t happen again, bit this is only the start of it. The learning curve was the steepest to date as I found that I shouldn’t lock the doors as not only the lock was frozen, but the inside locking mechanism froze up and no way to defrost it.

The battery was flat after a few days of not running the Lada so I wanted to take it out and re charge it. Oh dear, I couldn’t get the bonnet open as another locking mechanism had frozen solid under the bonnet. Finally I got the bonnet open in the evening with hot water, but couldn’t get into the boot as not only the locking system had frozen, but the boot rubber trimming had welded itself to the metal.

After finally getting the battery out and checking the water level, there wasn’t water there but ice. So it had to be defrosted before putting it on charge. Another two days of taxis to work and back. This actually takes away 30% of my daily wages so I wasn’t too happy, especially having to fork out 68 leva for the year’s road tax (vinetka) this month.

Then the was the problem of the road once the car started, after a slight thaw during the day and freezing overnight Ladas don’t work well on skating rinks, I ended up on the opposite side of the road on the kerb and couldn’t move from there, another taxi was sought again. The comfort was that many other cars had been abandoned alongside me.

I take a packed lunch to work each day and have to put it in the fridge in the office, not to keep cool but to stop it becoming rock solid ice. This happened the first day back last week. I had a frozen lunch that day. I took my hat and gloves off at lunchtime and couldn’t get them back on due to being frozen solid. The toilet had frozen up and of course no water at work for over a week now. We have to melt snow for out water source and work in sub zero conditions.

At home we have not had water now for 6 days, the underground pipe had frozen up last Monday and even though we have had a little thaw over the weekend, still no water. There is colder (sub zero) weather forecast tomorrow, so unless we get some water running by the end of this evening it is set to continue. Our water supply comes from purchased water from shops, which have to be carried as the Lada has been out of action, more expense due to the cold.

Baba hasn’t been outside for nearly two weeks as it is too slippery underfoot. At least she is in a warm house and food is ready for when we get back from work. Both Baba and Galia hate the cold and are counting down the days to spring. We all will be very happy when it arrives, but for me winter is a rest season, not labouring in the fields and gardens, I love winter here and for some reason love a bit of suffering in the cold at work. Even with frost bitten hands from work, I really don’t mind the pain, as to me it is a small inconvenience with the seasons to come.

We are in bed at 7:30 in the evening watching television and for us this is the best place to be from the point of saving on heating bills and total relaxation.

Water Returns - Then The Ice Strikes

Hurrah, we have our mains water back after seven days. It suddenly came back to life at 7:00 in the evening after settling down and resigning ourselves for another night of inconvenience. To be quite honest we were so used to the routine of economising with water we could have gone on indefinitely without mains water.

There was a big cheer from us all as the initial muddy water spurted from the tap in our one and only heated livingroom/diningroom/kitchen/bedroom combined space. There were little dances and jigs as the toilet was flushed in celebration. Another reason for a party this evening, well it would have been if Galia weren’t still being treated for her illness and hospital operation.

It is really quite a turn around as I am more than used to being without water and electric on many extended occasions in the village so this wasn’t such a hardship for me at all. But in Yambol City, to be without water for so long was unprecedented to Bulgarian townies in recent times. This was looked on as a big problem by all the Bulgarian household except me, but then like I said, I am hardened to this from village life and secondly I am entirely grateful for being part of this family now and certainly won’t complain, even if I had reason to from the lack of water.

So, water now in the town house and today I went to Skalitsa village to check up on the farmhouse there. I had not been there for two weeks and the severity of the sub-zero temperatures left me thinking there would be a problem there.

I arrived and as I suspected everything was frozen. The water in the toilet cistern was jammed with ice and accompanied with a solid block of ice in the basin. There was no water coming in or out it was rock solid. Looks like back to the outside toilet again, that never fails, it was like visiting a long lost friend.

The electric immersion boiler in the bathroom was also frozen; it couldn’t be heated up until it had thawed out. There was no water coming in or out it was rock solid. Switched on the little electric convector heater I had from a previous village life here and left it full on in the bathroom for a couple of hours.

Switching attention to the kitchen, I have a 30-litre barrel full of water this is kept by the side of the sink to use when we get cut off with mains water. The whole 30 litres was a block of ice, (pictured) solid right the way through and no water in the kitchen of course. It was out of the frying pan and into the fire, no water at all here. The well had water in it but the standing water in the plastic piping had effectively iced up blocking the route for the well water. No chance of that defrosting for at least another day or so as it was still bitterly cold here today at least another 3-4 C lower than Yambol.

No panic, I was in the village now, no rush to do anything this weekend as I gathered wood for the wood burner. At least the wood burner never fails I thought. I was right. Five hours later after roasting a few rooms from the travelling heat from the wood burner backed up by the heater in the bathroom there was now movement. By 7 o’clock this evening everything is running very smoothly on the water front, I can even have a shower before I go to bed.

I was in my element today, I just love the whole day solving problems, dealing with nature that had taken hold of the farmhouse, using the outside toilet, gathering and chopping up wood, even having time to go for a jog on this very bright, sunny, but very cold day. This was the main reason I came to Bulgaria to get back to basics and experience what real down to earth life is all about. The stresses of modern living just doesn’t exist here in Skalitsa on the farm. The second picture is of the scene from Skalitsa I took today, it's there because I liked it.

I am due back to Yambol tomorrow to tend to Galia who is certainly under the weather in more ways than one. Hopefully we can return here to give here a bit of convalescence next weekend.

Weather in Bulgaria

Since coming to Bulgaria in 2005 the weather here has been a series of extremes - why is this happening?

The winter of 2005/2006 saw temperatures dip to minus 24 C something not seen for 40 years in Bulgaria breaking records along the way. Snow fall was here as expected but Bulgaria didn't stop working, just a few more bits of clothing put on with the wood-burners still not having to work to their limit as they are so effective in radiating heat.

Although water was frozen for much of the time, not just outside but inside, there was never a danger of being without water as the clean Bulgaria snow could be melted and used in place of piped and high level well water. In fact in Skalitsa no well water froze up as it lays 23 metres below ground level, even at minus 24 C the system pumped out bullets of ice that have formed in the higher level standing water in the pipes.

The following summer was normal by Bulgarian standards and although there was extended periods without rain the growing season was fantastic and everything thrived in the sub-med conditions waving around 30-35 C for most of the year. In fact from April to November the only real change in temperatures were in the evening when the sun went down ranging from chilly to cold.

The there was last winter, the mildest anyone can remember in Bulgaria, perhaps a couple of days of snow but just a sprinkle this time. Below freezing temperatures throughout this season was quite rare and even then, at best it only dropped to around minus 8 degrees. Of course the winter resorts being high up will alway get the perfect conditions for snow but on the Thracian plain just above seas level something just didn't feel right about the whole weather system.

You just know that a mild winter leads to all sorts of problems in the following summer, not least an invasion of pests and bugs that should have been killed off by the cold. And so it was, but that's another blog subject but you might be interested to read: Indoor Cricket in Bulgaria

So this year and summer where again record breaking temperatures reaching 48 C were not only reached but sustained over a few days in June. Without any real rainfall before this has now caused a total crop failure but not purely from the lack of rain but from the crops not being able to survive the intense heat from what the Bulgarians called African weather.

We are now just over midway through summer right now and temperatures continue to raise concern and today at the end of August 38 C was recorded.

Bulgaria like many other countries worldwide is experiencing extremes of weather but life in Bulgaria will adapt to whatever is thrown at it, it is that kind of country. They will deal with the crop failures and inevitable rise in prices of food from it. They will deal in in other ways with the lack of preserved food for the winter being the most resourceful people I have ever known.

Weather in Bulgaria happens and when in extremes there is no other place I know that I would rather be with the people who know how to deal with crisis situations. The Bulgarians have a history of dealing with these situations after all.

One last point - A friend of mine who was on duty in Iraq with the Bulgarian Army had to endure 67 C during the day and below freezing conditions during the night - I may add that is normal for Iraq! Now thats something to put into perspective.

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Frozen pipes in Bulgaria

The 2005-6 was the coldest winter in Bulgaria for twenty years! How do you cope dealing with the potential of frozen pipes in your home?

Keeping the taps dripping 24 hours a day is one suggestion that works quite well. Throw in a haystack or two into the shaft over the water meter access if located outside as in many Bulgarian homes is another that is effective. Turning the water off and drain off the pipes is probably the best if you aren't there for long periods is another good tip. The suggestion that you put antifreeze in the toilets overnight was another tip that someone gave to me, not a Bulgarian tip, but this doesn't really appeal to me. Anything involving chemicals just doesn't fit into Bulgaria ways here unless a last resort. Any more tips that can be taken on would be useful, before the cold weather hits preferably

This method was tried out recently and worked a treat:

Turn the mains water tap off, leave the taps open and then flush the toilet. This obviously applies to those not staying in their house, perhaps away for the winter to warmer climates. It works as the amount of air in the piping system copes with the expanding water that turns to ice leaving no fractures! Again, this worked as it has been tried and tested.

www.ourbulgarianworld.com

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