Lessons Learnt - Part Two (Keeping Chickens)

As I mentioned in a previous post, sadly all five of our chickens were attacked and killed one night, and we never got a single egg out of any of them... so as you can see, with regard to keeping chickens I still have a lot to learn. When we return to Bulgaria next summer we shall have a serious rethink before we buy some more, bearing in mind one or two things we have learnt from experience.

Our first mistake I think was buying them too young. It's true, they're very cute (and cost a little less), and it's really fun having them around, but if the whole idea is to eventually get eggs out of them then it's worth buying them old enough to (1) tell what sex they are ;-) and (2) get them as close to egg-laying age as possible. Out of our 5 it turned out that only two of them were females!

Another mistake we made was buying them in two batches. First we bought three (a male and two females it later transpired) - and they always got on well together although there was a definite pecking order and the male always got first pickings at the food. A month or two later we bought two more (males as it turned out) and they were always the lowest down in the hierarchy. For a while they all slept together at night, but as the males got bigger there were fights between them so we split them up: the two young ones together, and the three older ones together.

One evening in the half-dark, we mistakenly thought they were all in the right places, so we locked their cages and in the morning we discovered that one of the younger males had inadvertently got locked in with the older male and had been relentlessly pecked by him until he was bleeding from the neck and wing and breathing laboriously. I was pretty sure he was going to die but when I let them out he seemed to perk up and after a day was running around again as usual. But from then on I was careful to make sure that they didn't get locked up together again. A couple of weeks later I found that they were again in the same cage - the little one right in the corner and I couldn't persuade him to come out so I decided not to lock them in that night, but to leave the door open so that the little one would have somewhere to run to if he was attacked. The next morning all was fine. No sign of any squabbles and in fact I had had a bit of a lay-in because they had all got out by themselves at dawn and didn't squawk their heads off as they usually did for me to come and unlock them. So I thought (very mistakenly as it turned out): "Why bother to lock them in at night? They have plenty of places in the open barn to perch and each one can find his own space.... and I won't have to get up at the crack of dawn to let them out." That was the night they got attacked.

The attack began at about 3 am - I heard a terrible squawking from the barn and went out to see what was up. I turned on all the outside lights and saw three of the chickens staring madly, petrified, into the darkness of the back yard. Then silence - I guessed that whatever it was had been frightened off by the lights and I went back to bed. About an hour later: the same terrified screams, only this time I was beginning to feel a bit wary myself and reluctant to go out - maybe I too would be attacked? At 5 am, a third and final round, this time closer to house, and the noise woke up Lielle. Suddenly we both saw the sillouette of an animal on it's hind legs peering in at our bedroom window. "What's that monster?" asked Lielle. "It's only a cat", I reassured her, but in my mind I was questioning what kind of cat is that big that it can peer in at our window.

The next morning we discovered the carnage - three headless chickens and two were missing completely. The neighbours told us they thought it was maybe a skunk or a pine marten, and when we checked out pictures of both on the internet the one that looked most like the 'monster at the window' was the pine marten. You can check what he looks like here and here. He actually looks quite cute, and in most parts of the world their populations are declining and they are a protected species.

Lessons Learnt - Part One (Homeschooling)

Having returned to Israel approximately 6 weeks ago and spending most of the time looking for a new place to live and settling back into work and school, the time has now come to take a good look at the lessons we have learnt from our time away and to incorporate them into our present and future lives.

One of the main things we focussed on during our 14 months away was homeschooling Lielle. It's quite amazing to think how I envisaged it before we left as opposed to how it turned out in reality. I imagined that we would follow a fairly rigid schedule of school-type lessons for approx 2 hours every morning, giving Lielle the opportunity to choose her subjects, but making sure that we included teaching her the necessary basic mathematical, reading, writing and comprehension skills through those subjects that she chose. In actual fact this is the way we taught her for approximately 3 months - and it was very successful. The advantages were:

(1) having a definite routine and spending a good part of the morning in a learning environment,

(2) it was time spent actively doing things together as a family (Dani joined Lielle in learning English, Lielle taught Dani computer skills, together we learnt about nature by working in the garden and helping our neighbours, etc.)

When we left Bulgaria for the UK where we stayed with family over the winter months, it became clear that it wouldn't be so easy to spend so many hours a day taking over the living space or kitchen as we had got used to. I also realised that for these very personalised lessons that we had been giving Lielle I had been putting in a good couple of hours of an evening in preparation, usually working on it after she was in bed. Now we were spending this time with family and it was clear that the homeschooling would take on a different format. At first I have to admit that I felt a little disappointed at the thought of having to abandon a system that seemed to be working so well, but after some consideration we came to the conclusion that we simply needed to be flexible in our approach and to use what resources were available to us without trying to go against the grain. Out of that understanding we ended up using the time to maximum benefit. We decided to use the local library facilities 3 mornings a week. This was time for working quietly through the few Hebrew workbooks that we had brought with us. Lielle was also able to use the computer there for an hour each time. And last, but of course not least, we were able to read - a lot! We took out around 6 books at each visit and Lielle's English really got kick-started. We took out many easy readers and both Dani and Lielle got hooked on Dr. Seuss. We also read longer chapter books and I was amazed at Lielle's level of comprehension. Through the books we learned about characters such as Anna Frank, and what war-time was like in England for the children who were evacuated (as was Lielle's grandad). We read classics such as "The Wind in the Willows" and Nannie and Grandad treated us to a trip to a special museum, based on the book, situated on the banks of the River Thames. We were also treated to a visit to a pantomime (a very British institution .... "oh no it isn't!" .... "oh yes it is!" - lol) - and of course we read the book first - Aladdin. In short, we simply took advantage of being surrounded by English resources to put the emphasis of those three months on learning English and it really paid off.

One of the things that we needed to create for Lielle was the opportunity for meeting up with other children her age. In Bulgaria this had not been too much of a problem since the village children were on school holiday and there were plenty of playmates. The only disadvantage there was that their level of communication was restricted by their lack of a common language. In the UK, where the language was no barrier, the problem was actually finding other children to interact with. To that end Lielle joined two groups, which in addition to providing interaction with others her age which was our primary motivation, also provided her with additional learning experiences: (1) Sunday school (cheder) at the local Jewish congregation, and (2) Heroes Flexischool - which she attended for six hours once a week. The centre offers a friendly, educational and flexible framework for homeschooling families. Lielle participated in hip-hop dance classes, sport, cookery, arts and crafts, drama, animal care and more and looked forward to it every week.

On returning to Bulgaria the homeschooling took on a more flexible approach. Lielle and I spent a lot of time together and most of the learning was done by being available to answer her questions and elaborate on them, and of course continuing with lots of reading. At the same time she seemed to show an aversion to learning maths, but then, like a guardian angel, our neighbour Elly stepped in. She enthusiastically took on the project of teaching Lielle maths several mornings a week and made it so much fun that it almost became one of Lielle's favourite subjects! It just goes to show how important it is that teachers enjoy what they teach and know how to pass that enthusiasm on.

As our time away was drawing to a close I became more and more aware of how Lielle's imminent return to school was a test not only of her abilities but of ours as her teachers. Had she learnt enough? Would she settle back in? We needn't have worried. Although initially a little slower than some of her classmates in reading and writing Hebrew she is catching up fast and is happy, well-adapted and doing well in her tests. She looks back fondly on the special year we spent away and the freedom and flexibility she enjoyed, but has settled in well and goes happily off to school each day. She has learnt so many life skills and has a wonderful appreciation for simplicity. We are so grateful that we created this opportunity.

In summary: The homeschooling experience was different to what we envisaged but nevertheless exceeded all our expectations. Second grade was the perfect timing for this adventure. Lielle already knew what school was like and so had something to compare it to. She had already mastered the basics of reading and writing and had she been in regular school for that year it would have been mainly one of bringing all the class members up to the same level and reinforcing what they had already learnt, thus for us as her educators it was easier material to work with. I have a great respect for people who decide to home educate their children; it is an awesome responsibility but the rewards are many. I am sure that the experience will remain with Lielle for ever and she will always remember that there are many different ways to achieve our goals, and we don't always have to opt for the conventional ones.

Less than a couple of weeks to go....

With less than two weeks to go before we have to be back in Israel there are so many thoughts in my mind: about what we still have left to get done; about what we have learned from all our special experiences of this last year; and of course about how all this will affect our future back home. This last week brought with it a pleasant surprise - a spontaneous visit from a friend back in Israel. We have come to meet up with her in Veliko Turnovo, making one last little two-day holiday break out of our normal village routine (hence the sudden much-appreciated and unexpected use of the internet again)... so here's one more post, and quick teaser of some of the things we've experienced recently. I hope to elaborate on them and add photos once we get back home....
Lielle has celebrated her 8 1/2 birthday - and boy, has she grown up!
Our enormous sunflowers have been the hit of the neighbourhood and anyone whose seen them has asked for seeds.... it looks like next year we are going to greeted by a whole avenue of them up to our house!
Swept up with the wave of bottling and preserving that takes over the country at this time of year, we have been busy preserving 20 kg of delicious ripe tomatoes - various recipes, and already are eager to open them and taste how they came out .... but the intention is that that pleasure will await us when we next return.
On the not so pleasant side, all our chickens got brutally attacked and killed last week .... the theory is that it was probably a skunk who did it..... must be some skunks, these Bulgarian ones!
We have even been inside a UFO! But more about all that when I next get chance.

Computer problems - updates to follow

So much is happening here as our time in Bulgaria winds down to a close... so much to write about and share, but unfortunately this is also the time that my computer battery has said: "Enough!" So, I shall be writing by hand my last memories of this amazing year out of our ordinary lives, and will hopefully update everything when we return. I hope soon to update you about the chickens (and just what 'pecking order' is, in the most literal sense); about the bumper bean harvest; Lielle's 8 1/2 birthday, and more.

Recycling - here it's simply a part of life

A friend from Israel, who is heavily involved in the country's efforts to boost awareness of reycyling, recently asked if I could help her find out how organic household waste is dealt with in various countries. I immediately put the question out to the "Alternative Ways of Living and Consuming" group on Couchsurfing which drew some very interesting and informative replies. It lead to to really thinking about our situation here in Bulgaria, since I go to the garbage bin about once a week with one small bag which is full mostly of plastic wrappings of various kinds. We have no organic rubbish to throw away. All our food scraps (both cooked and raw - which don’t include any meat since we keep kosher) are put on the compost pile….. The chickens have free range around that area so in fact most of it never gets actually composted but eaten by the chickens! I have a separate compost pile for the weeds I take out of the garden, close to the garden itself so not far to walk and no need of a wheelbarrow. The chickens have access to this area too. They eat some of the greens, but the warmth and moisture generated there also attract various insects which the chickens scratch around and find to supplement their otherwise vegetarian diet. Anything non-toxic and burnable gets used to get the petchka (wood fire) going…. paper wrappings and used toilet paper mainly. To help the petchka along we collect fallen pine cones each time we walk up to the shop, and also reuse old cooking oil to make the paper kindling last longer. Eggshells were a bit of a conundrum for a while. They didn’t decompose very well in the compost pile and the chickens weren’t interested in eating them (probably seemed a bit cannibalistic to them, I guess, even though I've heard they eat their own eggs sometimes). Anyhow, I have been rinsing them off roughly with water to get rid of the sticky albumen which seems to attract the ants, and leaving them near the petchka to thoroughly dry out. Then I crush them and mix some of them with the chicken feed (which is ground corn, bought from our next-door neighbor). Apparently this should give them the extra calcium they need for making their own eggshells (though unfortunately we haven’t have a single egg from them yet). I am also experimenting with using crushed eggshells as one of the ingredients in my mud plaster mix to add a different kind of texture to wall-plastering. At the time of writing this I cannot say yet whether it’s successful or not as the mixture is still drying…. It will be interesting to see how it works out. Ashes from the fire are also reused…. Some are put pack into the garden or on the compost, and some are being sifted and used in various combinations for the wall plastering. Lemons don't seem to be too good in the compost and the chickens seem to shun them - but we use their remains for scrubbing out the sink before throwing them away. Plastic bottles are being reused for water storage, that is quite handy when there are water cuts a couple of times a week and also the water inside the bottles heats up quite a lot during the day so we have a good supply of warm water at the end of hot days for a pleasant shower or to do the washing. Old plaster taken off the walls is recycled by adding water and simply reusing. It has the added advantage of being just the right recipe. In fact so far we haven’t actually made our own plaster but have been using old plaster or mud bricks to recreate the new. Old paving slabs have been relocated to create a patio area; old mattresses and bedding have been utilized in revamping a den for Lielle and her friends. Rocks and stones too have been moved and replaced to create rockeries and interesting split level effects in the garden. Our next big project, the summer kitchen area, will also be mainly using the original roof tiles, mud bricks, etc. in addition to some creative artwork using up old tiles, glass bottles, etc.. It would be interesting to actually check it out, but I don’t think we actually throw away more than a kilo of garbage a week… that is mostly dirty plastic or foil wrappers. Yoghurt cartons, metal bottle tops, etc. are all saved as it seems pretty inevitable that we shall find plenty of good uses for them in the future. Clothes are another thing. Absolutely nothing finds it’s way to the rubbish bin there. Anything that is simply the wrong size or no longer liked is handed over to someone who would appreciate it more. Clothes that become stained become work clothes, and who cares that they become even more dirty in the process. Even these, when too dirty or torn, get torn into strips and used to tie up vines, tomatoes or cucumbers in the garden, or the better looking ones get incorporated into artwork such as the Mexican eye weaving thingies that we made with the children’s art and craft group a couple of weeks ago.

Garden Update

We've been back in Voditsa for two months already and a lot has been happening in the garden. Our first sunflower burst into bloom a couple of days ago. One of them is a whopping 4 1/2 meters high!! We are eating potatoes, chard and courgettes straight from our very own garden and each day we manage to harvest about 30 raspberries which provides Lielle and I with a delicious dessert (I usually mix mine with some tangy plain yoghurt - very tasty). The back garden is a veritable jungle with sweetcorn stalks well above our heads and pumpkins and beans tangling around our feet. I've started to make a little rockery around the patio area too (well, patio-to-be, that of course is yet another project....)

Project: Summer Kitchen - Taking off the old roof

BEFORE and AFTER.... and the various stages of work in between:

A small outbuilding adjoining the house suffered a lot of rain damage over the last couple of years as a result of some faulty guttering above it. Holes appeared in the roof and rain seeped into the ceiling beneath it making it totally unusable and also dangerous. In addition to that the back wall, made primarily of mud bricks, had been slowly eroded away from the leaky roof and there was now a large gaping hole in it.We realized that if we didn't take the roof off ourselves it would most likely fall off, breaking what might be recyclable roof tiles in the process. It turns out that the major beams of the roof are actually in pretty good condition, but some of them will still need replacing or reinforcing somehow. The plan is to get the roof back on, rebuild the back wall incorporating all sorts of creative artistry with littles niches, mosaics, etc. and also have a window in there looking out to our back field. We have taken out the door and windows in the front section and that will remain open looking out onto our two-tiered patio area (yet another "project in-process").

Cool Room Project - A-Team to the Rescue!

Last summer we found the house downstairs pleasantly cool most of the time, and on the hottest of days the little room sandwiched between the two storerooms maintained a pleasant and pretty much constant temperature of around 22 degrees so it was there that we ended up eating most of our meals. It seemed logical that this room should be sorted out to become a functional dining room or additional sleeping space when needed so that has been one of our priorities lately. The room had originally been used as a kitchen and there were tiles on some parts of the walls and a large ceramic sink that needed to be taken out. I started doing some of the easier bits but taking out the sink by myself seemed pretty daunting. Also, on closer inspection of the floor it was discovered that lurking under the carpeting was an almost totally rotten wooden floor that would definitely need replacing and that kind of job is completely out of my realm of experience. Dithering around for a few days and wondering just what to do next, our good friends Lisa and Ewan came up with a plan: like my own personal guardian angels they organized their very own A-team! First of all Ewan came over and took out the sink, took a professional look at the floor and made up a list of materials needed to tackle the job. On Lisa's next trip to Popovo she brought over all the materials: wooden batons, flooring panels, sand, undercoat, nails... And then just to pull the whole thing off they arranged for Chris (their volunteer), their friend Molly and her mum Liz to come over and do a full day's work. In addition Kathy let us have our volunteer Ben back for the day. What a team! To say that it gave the project a push is an understatement. It was really fun and although the job is still not finished it is definitely at a stage where I can carry on single-handed. Since the guys were busy tackling the flooring the gals got up on the roof of what is to be our summer kitchen. This small outbuilding has suffered some serious rain damage and needs to be pretty much dismantled and rebuilt.... another project which I shall write about in my next post.

Water fun with the kids

At this week's arts and crafts session the kids used sticks, corn stalks, wool and strips of old T-shirts to create Mexican eye and cobweb-like wall decorations. Afterwards they chilled off in the paddling pool and it quickly evolved into one big water fight - enjoyed by all. Since none of them came expecting to get totally soaked we sent them all home wearing various old clothes of Lielle - a motley crew indeed!

Volunteering

It's taken me a while, but I have come to the conclusion that to really push forward with our project here and get things done I need volunteers, in fact that is how I discovered the village in the first place when I volunteered here three years ago. So, just over a week ago I took the plunge and signed up with helpx and workaway as a host and am already feeling the benefits!

With help from our first volunteer Ben we have almost finished the mud-plastering project in the cool room and are even hoping to have laid a new floor there by the end of the week. He also helped us sort out the hayloft which is now being used by Lielle and friends as a den. But the best fun of all was having Ben and a couple of other local volunteers join us for our weekly arts & crafts / sports fun earlier today with our regular small group of local children. They joined in enthusiastically with the "capture the flag" challenge and the kids just loved them.

Siren blasts

Yesterday at midday the sound of birdsong was suddenly interrupted by the sound of a siren blasting. If this had happened in Israel we would probably have been running for the nearest bomb shelter, but here in Voditsa it simply aroused our curiosity, so off we went to Baba Tzonka to find out what it meant. It turns out that June 2nd is Hristo Botev day, commemorating the death of the Bulgarian revolutionary hero of that name. A minute's silence is observed throughout the country as a sign of respect as people stand to honor the memory of those who have given their lives serving the country (not unlike our own Remembrance Day which was observed a few weeks ago). Baba proceeded to sing us one of the patriotic songs associated with the day and strangely enough it was the one that our neighbor Dancho had taught us the night before (we had been talking about army service and he remembered it as one of the songs the soldiers sung on their way to the dining hall) - so we were able to join in, a bit. Later in the day Baba popped over to help me plant some pepper seedlings and sang us yet another patriotic song ... you can check them out in the video clip!

Children's Activity Sessions

One of the things that we are most excited about doing here in the village is organizing various activities for the local children. We get a lot out of it too as it helps us with learning Bulgarian and gives Lielle interaction with other children. At the moment we are doing it once a week, and hopefully once the school summer holiday begins in a few weeks time, we shall be able to extend it to twice a week and also make it available to a larger group of children.

Each Sunday afternoon a friend from the neighboring village of Osikovo drives over in her horse and cart together with 6 children ranging in age from 4 - 12. We spend around 3 hours together, usually starting off indoors with various craft activities, and then after a break for a simple snack, we play some kind of game.

This week, after showing them our new chickens, we headed indoors to do some artwork combining oil pastels with water colors for some interesting effects. After the break we headed down to the nearby spring where we let off steam with a water and sponge relay race which was great fun. Other things we've done in the past are tissue paper flowers, making martenitsi and working with salt dough.

We are always interested in ideas for new activities and welcome anyone who has skills to share or who can provide materials.

Creatures in the Garden

As the meadows and gardens fill with flowers butterflies of all colors are suddenly everywhere. There are many different types of spiders too in the garden - this beautiful green one blends in perfectly with its leafy background.
But the thing that has fascinated me most this past week is watching a couple of swallows who have been busy building their muddy nest in the rafters of our barn. It looks as though they have almost finished so hopefully they will soon be laying their eggs and we shall be able to follow their progress.