Slug in Shoe

This morning bad luck decided to catch me very early. It was a wonderful night of sleep as the sun rose at around 7:00 stirring me to get out and do some digging before it got too hot. Within ten minutes I had eaten, washed and dressed up in my village outfit ready for action. All I needed now was my Bulgarian rubber sandals to tred the earth. Left foot first, okay, then right foot but something wasnt' quite right as I felt a little obstruction. Looking closer I had just crushed a slug inot the far end of the shoe. What a mess!

No Vegetables

I was off to Skalitsa early this morning as I had to water the newly laid strawberries put in the ground over the weekend., It has been warm every day without rain so they needed tending to. This was also a chance to dig over the ground for the coming winter. It was to be an extended weekend for me.

Part of my chores this morning was to get some cabbage, leeks and carrots for salads to last over the four days I was to be there. Arriving at the shops as 7:30 in the morning, it was just my luck that all the shops that sold these vegetables didn't open until 9:00. I wasn't prepared to wait, so it was off to the village 35 kilometres away without any vegatables. They don't sell vegetables in the village as everyone grows them and there is no demand. It's like "Water, water everywhere ,but not a drop to drink!"

Zip Broken

It was cold this morning but once the sun had come out it was like a summer's day here. So by lunchtime I was getting quite hot with the warm set of clothing I had put on this morning. As I began to unzip my cardigan to take it off, the zip cam off in my hand. this is non-repairable and not I am stuck with cardigan that will have have the entire zip taken off and replaced. Things are always repaired here in Bulgaria so that is what will happen.

Damp Spark Plugs

After finding the car keys (they were taken by Galia's son as he had to get his luggage out of the boot early yesturday morning) we were all set to go to work on time this morning. Another cold night and steamed up windows as the car's engine was turned over. It wouldn't start! The damp had got to it and of course it dind't go for a run yesturday as the keys didn't turn up until last night. No school kids to bump start this morning as the streets were deserted. Another bus was taken this morning.

Lost Car keys

On our way out to work this morning to find that we couldn't find the keys to the car. I was sure tha tIhad put them in their usually place next to the television in the kitchen as I normally pick them up on the way out to the car. They weren't there and my spare set was in Skalitsa. Now there was no car to take Galia to work in this morning. Late again as the bus had to be taken with us both and full of frustation on a cold Monday morning! Will they ever be found again after 20 minutes of seraching?

Powercut

It was a power cut this evening as I composed an email offline obviously under battery power on my laptop. The power cut last just under two hour just in time before the laptop shut down from battery exhaustion. All plugged in and the email pasted. It couldn't have been more than two minutes when the power went down again before I had managed to send the email. Foolishly I had deleted the notepad from where had copied the message and now with the Internet down for the powercut. I had lost everything I had worked on for that two hours! The power came on again five minutes later and stayed on!

Flying Saucer

The kitchen we have is no more than a two metre by half a metre area and we often have to wait for on another to get out of the kitchen before someone else goes in. This evening was no expection. As I waited for my turn to enter the kitchen I decided to take with me some plates and cups to put into the sink, this was unusal as I'm not allowed to help normally. I wish I hadn't. As my turn came I walked towards the kitchen alley I lost my footing slipping up on the shiny floor. The two cups in one hand were dropped and a small plate int he other went flying into the ceramic wall smashing into pieces. In effect we had a flying saucer this evening in the kitchen, not a UFO though.
That's the last time I try and help out in the kitchen ever!

In a Stew About Moldy Bread

This lunchtime the table was set for lunch as I tucked into a goat stew with potatoes and rice. Lots of stew liquid there to be taken up by the bread that was in nicely laid spread out on a wicker tray. After the meal was eaten there were two slices of bread to be put back into the plastic bag where the rest of the unused loaf was kept. When putting them in the other side of the bread was sighted and was moldy! This sent out a message that I had eaten four slices of moldy bread with my meal not realising it. It remains where I actually get ill with this, no problems as yet, but I will find out in the morning.

Curtains for Me

Whilst lying on bed after lunch today I had a big shock, it scared the living daylights out of me. Suddenly, just as I was going into a deep sleep, I was attacked and hit on the head. I jumped up and half asleep grabbed what I thought was some clothing. It took a full five seconds or so to realise that the attacker wasn't a person but a set of curtains that had fallen off the wall and the knock on the head was the curtain rail which came down with them. Relief turned to annoyance as my sleep was now not to happen as I fixed the curtains and rail back up. Rather funny though afterwards when I though at that moment it was curtains for me!

Triple Dress Problem

In a rush again this morning as we slept in a further 10 minutes because it was cold and we wanted to. This meant that we couldn't be held up at any point otherwise we'd be late for work. Luck always strikes when there is no room for error.

Getting dressed, firstly a button came of my shirt as it was being fastened, no time for sewing as another shirt was pulled out. Then the socks I had put out last night to wear this mornig were foudn to have a big hole in the heel. This wasn't appropriate to wear going into town, so any pair were picked out.

Finally, I could only find one shoe to wear, not even a Spanish inquisition clould have found out that it had fallen down the steps into the garden as Baba cleaned and swept the area last night. It was found after I had put another pair of shoes on and was on my way out!

Bump Start from Schoolkids

After getting back into a normal routine today, the bad luck continued first thing in this morning. It had been a chilly night and the Lada have windows that needed cleaning as they had all steamed up. Then trying to start the car just didn't happen. Rathe than run the battery down with the constant turning over, it was into the garage for some DW40 or similar oil that displaces damp on the spark plugs and sockets. I couldn't find any, so another 10 minutes wasted. A couple of school kids where walking to school as we musterred them to give us a bumps start. This worked but we can't do this every morning. Looks like a visit to the autoshop for some DW40 some time today!

Scavenging Yambol Streets for Wood?

In Yambol town and have to get up at 5:00 in the morning to be at the Rakia making factory. All the wine to be distilled was put ther the evening before so I didn't have to work on my own in the dark. Everything went really to plan as I turned up on time but I hadn't brought along enough wood for the duration, so it was hunting the streets like a gypsy scavenging for wood. The bad luck was when I got back only to find that they boss of the Rakia house had a supply of wood in that he now offered to me for free. This apparently happens quite often!

Back to Yambol Town, No Water!

It was such a lovely time that we had in Skalitsa doing nothing for a change that we didn't really want to go back to Yambol this evening. We debated whether we should spend another night there and leave Skalitsa early the next morning, but that is quite inconvenient as a 5:00 start to the day is a bit too much for us.

We decide to go home this evening, we wish we didnt' as when we arrive at our Yambol town house, the water was off! We had just got out water back in the village today an hour before we were due to leave, now we find no water in Yambol!

We wished we'd stayed in Sklaitsa another night now! Not lack of judgement but lack of good luck.

No Shower

We woke up this morning and both wanted a shower, the water boiler had been on all night so there was plenty of hot water in store but decided to cook Skalitsa Banistas and have breakfast before taking the shower.

After a magnificient breakfast it was into the bathroom to start the well earned shower after a hard week of work. NO WATER! It had been turned off whilst we were eating our breakfast. If it had been taken before we ate there would have been no problem. Now we wait for the water to return, that could be anything from 8 hours to 2 days!

Guests

Off to the farmhouse on a lovely warm sunny evening, not a worry ijn the world as we have the weekend now to look forward to. No guests to cater for for two and a half days all on our own, that doesn't happen often.

As the hourney progressed we decided to give a farmer a lift into our village after he had thumbed for a lift in the village before. The talking was non-stop for 15 solid minutes as is normal over here. We dropped him off without trouble and when on our way to our home.

After parking the car int he garage, we found that our passanger had left his luggage (a holdall) in the car. We didn't know where he was but he knew where we were as we told him where we live. Now we are expecting our first guest tomorrow morning to come and collect his bag. So much for no guests this weekend.

No Rakia and Bad Wine

I had forgotten to bring rakia back to Yambol this weekend and really fancied one this evening as a cabbage salad was being served up. So no Rakia in the house and still a few days to go to the weekend, I'm not an alcoholic so was quite prepared to wait until a the return trip to the village farmhouse before I sample it again.

It was a bottle of wine that was taken out and poured intot a glass for me to drink alongside the meal this evening instead, but anothe bit of bad luck came about. We dont' drinkwine that often and it was home made from 2004. On tasting it, it was not wine but now vinegar and will be used on salads instead of alongside salads! The Gods had it in them that I was not to touch alchohol this evening.

Tooth Chipped

A lovely meal of freshly slaughter sheep was brought home to Yambol last weekend. Our neighbours gave it to us as a present from out village after the slaughtering event. Many thanks were made as we looked forward to the meal of lamb this particular evening.

It is always a great moment as the first mouthfuls of this tasty and tender dish that was made along with all the trimming of Bulgarian side dishes. What could possibly go wrong this evening with such a meal to tuck into!

As the dish was being consumed with enormous pleasure a sudden crack sounded and a sharp pain immediately afterwards results. I had chipped my tooth on a bone from the lamb. It felt like a rush of air continuously whizzing past the tooth with a sharp stab each time it was chewed on.

the rest of the meal was eaten on the other side of my mouth and a trip to the dentist tomorrow to have the tooth seen to.

Texts All Night

I have a British GSM (mobile phone) and use is for an alarm to wake me in the morning. The phone therefore is not used for anything else. In the arly hours of the morning there were text messages being sen tot it all night, five in all. A silly little tune is played when each one is recieved with the light coming on. Each time we were woken by this, but couldn 't switch it off as the alarm would not work. In the morning the texts were checked, they were all from mobile phone services in the UK offering promotions of credit deals!

Why five come at between 2:00 and 5:00 in the morning is a mystery!? No sleep and now very tired for the rest fo the day.

Salad Well Dressed

No bad luck all morning and it was quite relief as there is normally always something that goes wrong. The afternoon progressing quite nicely, then the run suddenly ended with a big spill of oil as the salad we were having this evening was being dressed. The top came of the plastic bottle as it was tilted to pour. Oil all over the table top and too much in the salad. A clear up and ruined salad to mark another day where bad luck strikes.

English Idiot

Sunday morning after a lovely lay in bed and we were looking forward to doing nothing for the rest of the day. On our own at last, but then the dreaded knock at the door. It was an Englishwoman who wanted to meet us and find out about Skalitsa village and Yambol, RIGHT NOW as she was due back in the UK tomorrow! It was 9:00 on a Sunday morning for Christ's Sake!

I've has this before and I wasn't in the mood for this anymore as I told her to go away and leave us alone. I told them to find other Brits and wake them up and find out from them. But they wouldn't go. I just closed the front door in them and went back to bed with Galia. Why do I always get the idiots from the UK calling at my house?

Post When Gone

We had been waiting for the post all morning as there was a book due to be delivered. We were off to the farmhouse for the weekend and didd't want to be held up any more as this was the first time we have had alone there for two months with the family back in England.

All packed and ready to go Galia has another cigarette just in case the post comes over the next 5 minutes whilst smoking. Nothing!

The car is started and we are off. Just passing the centre of town, two minutes later the phone rings, a message saying that the post had just arrived. We just couln't be bothered to go back now and it will just have to wait until Sunday evening. Oh I hate it when that happens.

Bar Stool Fall

Sitting on a chair in a bar with Galia having a cool beer after a hard day's work it was really relaxing and quality time now all my family were back in England. We took a big intake of breath as we looked at each other perched on the stool.

After a while of no talking (very unsual in Bulgaria) I then reache out to hold her hand and lean over to give her a kiss and the stool suddenly slipped from underneath me as I ended up as a bundle on the floor. All the bar looking in at me, it was a highly embarassing moment. This doesn't happen too often to me but when it does I want to just disappear. the only think hurt is little ego I had to start with.

Meat, Then No Meat

My brother said that we could use up all the meat in his freezer as he woudln't be back in Bulgaria for at least another six months. We couldn't believe our luck as we had seen the fish, chicken, goat, sheep and pig meat all from last winter's slaughterings laying there waiting to be prepared and eaten over thsi winter Bulgarian style. It would save us a fortune in food bills and we were entirely grateful for the offer.

So he had now gone and we decide to start this weekend with a little joint of pork, but wait a minute, where are his house keys? Damn, we didn't know, he must have taken them back to England with him. Looks like luck has hit home again.

Chinese Food - Yuk!

Out for the evening to the Chinese, my family are here and they are going back to the UK in a couple of days. We thought they'd like familiar cooking rather than Bulagrian traditional food, whichis why we chose Chinese.

Meals were ordered and the wait was on. What we didn't realise is that the Chinese food here is Bulgarian Chinese style and hardly any of the food that was ordered was eaten! They didn't like it as the Chinese food back 'home' was different. We don't particularly like the Chinese food ourselves (too much deep fried stuff knocking about), but we tried to please. After everyone aired their opinions we decided that we should have just gone to a Bulgarian restaurant and eaten Bulgarian food. Bad luck all round I guess not just for me.

Dive-bombing Garlic

Making a mess on my clothes whilst eating is a habit I am trying to avoid and recently it's worked. The timing of the spoon into the mouth and the hand under the fork with salad prevents spills over my shirt and trousers, but there are occasions where just bad luck hits. This evening was another of those moments.

Bean soup was on the menu as the spoon was gently ladelling the meal into my mouth. We had raw garlic and bread as an accompaniment and that was the cause fo the impending soiling of clothes. I picked up a galic that was peeled and of course it was very smooth and slippery. As it went towards my mouth it slipped out of my thumb and finger and dive bombed into the soup with a great splash. The result was a soup splattered shirt and trousers from the disruption. Who would have thought that a simple galic clove could cuase such a disaster?

Storm Affected Internet

Up early this morning after a big storm last night. Wind, rain, thunder and lightning always make me feel cosy tucked up in bed early. Not much work was done over the weekend simple because it was a weekend and family over here. So an early night and refreshed to start making up for lost time. Laptop on and no internet, the storm must have affected the system. It was off right up until lunchtime after a technician came round to repair the connection. Never a good time for this to happen, but it happened when I really did want to work!

Lost Gas Cap

Filling the Lada up with gas is an easy task but sometimes the distraction lead to problems as it did today.

Opening the car boot and unscrewing a plastic cap to reveal the system that the petrol station gas nozzle fits into fill the tank. This was usual as I went to top up 10 lev of gas into the tank. The attendant started speaking to me and today that was the distraction as I tended to his conversation.

The problem is always apparent at this moment, as the whereabouts of plastic cap that I had unscrewed somehow had totally gone out of my head. Sometime I put is in my pocket other times I lay it on the side to the boot, even on occasions I put it on the driver seat as I get my wallet out from the dashboard shelf. Today though it had disappeared, never to be seen again like real magic!

Will I ever see it again? Time will tell, but in the meantime I just hope that the gas doesn't leak without the cap in place.

Lost Lada

Back to Burgas today for business and had to park my car on the outskirts of the City on the coastal road. No parking fees there yet I'm glad to see.

After a few hours an business over I went to go back to the car. It was about a 10 minute walk, but I never mind walking, it's not often I get to do that now.

On arriving at where I thought my car was, I couldn't find it! Panic set in as I walk up and down the road searching for this beige Lada. Still no luck after 15 minutes with my pace of stride getting faster as the time went along.

It was a cup of coffee at an outside bar to calm me down and give me thinking time. The time was ticking on as I wanted to get back to Yambol before dark as my headlight wasn't working.

Back on the hunt and still no luck as I begin to think that is has been stolen.

Another walk back to where I started only to find the car just 10 metres further back from when I started. Who on earth would want to steal a Lada was the thought as I made my way back to Yambol. It was dark by the time I got there and was stopped by Police who told me what I knew my headlight wasn't working. No fine this time though!

Ripped Sleeve Plus!

It was a visit to Bulgaria from my brother who has a house in a village not far from Yambol. We had got the water and electric back on after a year of non use and we drove him and has friend to his place today.

Although the water was connected, it still needed to be turn on from the main shaft in the garden to run into the house. A simple task, which I didn’t really think would be a problem.

As I approached the shaft it was covered with old planks of wood, which had to be removed, so that's what I did. I was not dressed for this as my clothing was town fashion but a small job unexpected job like this should pose not problems. Huh, one of the planks caught the sleeve of my jacket and ripped hole in it as I levered it away. Bad luck mark one strikes! This wouldn't have happened if I were wearing my blue working dungarees!

Bad luck mark two struck when I turned the water on, brown rusty water spouted up over my best clothes as the water meter that the water had to travel through had sprung a leak! Why did it have to happen to me! I should have let my brother sort it out! That's what you get for helping people!

Lada Lights

It was a good feeling having spent some money on getting my Lada indicator lights and headlamp fixed by a Bulgarian car mechanic. It had been long overdue and the stress of having to only drive in daylight was now over.

Coming back from Burgas on the back road, there were lots of bumps and potholes, which I couldn't see in the dark. By the time I'd got back to Yambol and checked the car this morning, the other headlamp was not working and the indicators were flashing erratically again. Back to square one!

Turkey Muck

With the garage now closed for repairs, my car had to be parkeding the road. Every day animals travel up and down the road and the next morning the turkeys arrived. They are thick animals and the one animal I dont really like, they knew this as around five or six of them they flew onto my car and did they're business on the roof, the bonnet and the boot. It was a great big shout for them to get off and the bucket and cloth to clean the mess off.

I know they will come back and do the same thing again when my back it turned. I can't wait for Christmas!!