Building Projects

To further our plan for turning our homestead in Bulgaria into a comfortable and cosy place for traveling families to stay we have several projects in mind that we shall be working on in the near future. Just how far we get with them and the order in which they are tackled will depend to some extent upon the various material, financial and human resources available to us.

Summer Kitchen: Faulty guttering and a few loose roof tiles combined to create some serious damage over the last year to one of the small outbuildings. We intend to completely dismantle the building and recreate it as a covered, partially enclosed summer kitchen. We are hoping to reuse most of the old materials (mud, bricks and roof tiles) and incorporate some decorative elements which will turn it into something functional and creative.

Compost Toilets: Definitely room for improvement here! We don't intend to get rid of the old outside toilet just yet, but we do hope to add some more aesthetic compost toilets, both inside and outside the house.

Hayloft-to-Den Conversion: We would like to clear out one of the haylofts and turn it into a cool space for older kids as a den or story-telling corner. For younger children we want to finish sorting out the ground-level playhouse in the garden.

Cowshed-to-Craft-Workshop Conversion: This is a bigger job and to do it the way we are thinking of will mean we shall need to acquire a few new skills first, such as working with natural mud and lime plaster. If we manage to make the place really cosy it could also double up to provide additional sleeping space when we have a lot of guests.

We shall be documenting our progress with these various projects and hope to be able to post some impressive 'before' and 'after' photos over the coming months!

Summer 2009 in Voditsa

Heading back to Voditsa in less than two months has brought a flood of memories back from last summer. Here are some of the highlights:

There were many 'unknowns' before we left Israel last summer. As it turned out the electricity was fine and just waiting to be switched on. The leaky tap we had been told about was the only real plumbing problem, and our wonderful neighbours Dancho and Stefan were a great help in getting that sorted within hours of our arrival. The weather was hot, but pleasantly so with occasional thunderstorms every couple of weeks.

Despite our intention to set up a compost toilet we managed the whole summer with just the original outside loo (with supplementary chamber pot in the bedroom)! Bathing was no problem either with a makeshift shower area outside using water warmed up by the sun during the day in plastic beer bottles.

Another project we thought we would manage but didn't even get started on was the outdoor living/cooking area. Hopefully that will get done this summer. What we did manage to do was to give most of the rooms a good clean and painted two of the bedrooms.

We did a lot of work in the garden and even managed to get some tomatoes and peppers going (though we had to leave just before they were ready for picking). The barn area and playhouse got tidied, and a couple of windows and doors got painted as well as the main entrance gate. Most of these jobs were achieved with the help of friends and family who came out to visit us: Bartek and Gosia (Poland), Ahava and Ravit (Israel), Nasta (Greece), Carole, Tina and Nikki (UK), Yair (Israel) and Yak (Czech Republic). In addition to the physical help they contributed they also kept us well-fed, in good spirits and provided some wonderful musical interludes. Thank you all.

Bartek managed to get up into the loft. It looked very sound and dry - fortunately no unpleasant surprises there! On the other hand, a trip up to the roof above the kitchen showed fairly extensive rodent (?) damage. That's something we shall have to take care of next time as it's causing the kitchen ceiling to bow.

We learnt how to bottle preserves for the winter, and how sing a few Bulgarian folk songs. We enjoyed being around each other as a family and having time for each other, never hurrying anywhere or being under pressure to get things done to a deadline. We were also treated to a road trip which enabled us to visit Varna and Nessebur and other interesting places along the way, and we became good friends with the local children after organizing some art and craft activities. These were all precious experiences.

We didn't get a donkey (though I haven't yet given up on that one!), but we did buy two chickens and were given a small rabbit (which we should have named 'Houdini' as he managed to escape from every place we put him - and eventually ran away).