out with the old and in with the NEW!

'THEY' say that you can tell whena girl writes by the anount of exclamation marks that punctuate her sentences!!! it's true... I AM A GIRL! With much to exclaim about!
heating water over a fire outside to drag to the 'bathroom' - is now a thing of the past!
Cooking on a woodstove... also a thing of the past!
Filling the kettle...you guessed it... A THING OF THE PAST!
Bathing from a bucket/makeshift shower doodah... a thing of the past!
Being cut off from the world... woo hoo!! ANOTHER THING OF THE PAST!
!!!!!LOTS TO EXCLAIM ABOUT!!!!!
Nowifonlymyspacebarwasnotathingofthepast!!!

The House

 Getting ready for bath time... find and chop firewood, make fire under pot... take out and water with bucket and syphon water through shower rose.... erm - and Shower!

 Dinner.... is tricky! But Pioneers have taught us well! And now we just need to see how the oven side works, and do some baking.... NOT! oh... note to self, the top of the woodstove is NOT A SURFACE TO PUT DOWN PLASTIC CUPS!

 My hunter-gatherers doing their thing and gathering wood! They are so good!

 A little something pretty... They were courting  it is Spring here after all...

 

 After a long day of hard work, a little rest in my chair goes down just fine!

Rickety wheelbarrow ... such a blessing! in fact we have been so blessed repeatedly as there are usable tools here. Sure they might look slightly different to what we are used to, but they work none the less!

So until we have connection these postings might continue to be a little sporadic. 

We are working our coms mostly from our mobile phones.

moving right along...

 Just a short walk from The House...Gostilitsa, then take a look at the "Guest House " sign below, and not that the Stambolov Guest House, can you see Gosti? House of Guests.

 Well.... we have bought some beds! And bedding. And... a kettle, now for the electricity connection and we could probably manage some tea!

 Looking for cars is a little trickier than browsing the internet, one also needs to see past the white dust...

Well ... previously when we were here, we were unable to see our neighbours at all, as there was too much greenery. Well winter has certainly changed all that.

 At least now we are able to really see how much work is needed...

 A last puddle of frozen snow!

The view from our room...

Breakfast at Tiffany's... not!

The staple meal of the breakfast table... olives, cucumber, sausage , hard boiled eggs and bread.
This is what we have each morning. We have our own kettle and all the goodies to build a cup of tea to accompany the meal.
The hostel also provides a 'pasta service' each evening. Which, of course, translated means they serve pasta each evening. Though to be honest, its not something we look forward to and rather prefer the local fare elswhere for our dinner.

Talking Turkey

 The skies are blue, the air is fresh... no, rather the air is a cool 7 degrees Cel during the 'heat' of the day and I cannot read the signs...

 Plans are being made and money spent in obtaining tickets to Bulgaria from Istanbul, where it turns out we will be crossing the border at a 'cool' Three AM and changing over from bus to train at that stage. Interesting travel times...

 I am fine with looking at the water and eyeing the seagulls but rather hesitant t get my feet wet. We are quite happy to join in with the fashion statements here being jackets and gloves. Ears get cold so when we go out tomorrow we will be taking our beanies along!

 Pretty lights in Taksim

The passage to "Home" scary huh?

She hangs her head in shame.....

Its been quiet for a while it's true to be sure
So much going on, including manure
Though good stuff abounds and things get done
Shortage of time though, is making us run.

Geysers are popping and drains going bust
builders are building, always covered in dust
Fences are ticking and sparks sometimes fly
Things keep breaking and we're wondering why?

Look on the bright side she says to JP
if its on the blink now, then you will see
you fix it and mend it so that when we are gone
nothing will will break because its already done.

So back to the kitchen and off she goes
Prepares food for 20 new missions heroes
She says that in faith and believes it is true
Mapping Point is here again... where are you?