Winter 2007 21st Nov
It was minus a lot last night and although the sun is shining today, its really cold and the sky is clear so it’ll be very very cold again tonight. I remember last year when Svetlana said that if I stayed here for the winter I would die. I laughed and put that down to general Bulgarian pessimism but now I see that she was right! There is something so very real about winter here – theres nothing pretend about how cold its going to get and how hard it is to actually keep warm – I keep looking at my wood pile for a sense of security!
I can feel a sense of hibernation coming on – my energy has changed and I’m slowing down. My diet has also changed – it was just the other week that we were still trying to eat all the tomatoes in the garden and having lovely salads now all i can think about is hot stews and soups which is fortunate as I have the ingredients for a great many soups –pumpkins and meat. In the summer I was always up around 7.30 or earlier now I have my breakfast in bed and stay there for ages!
I have a new perspective on this house now – so far I have only really lived in it in the summer and then actually I don’t live in it – sometimes I’m never in the house between getting out of bed and going to sleep at night so my thoughts then are about the outside and the field. But now it’s the opposite – its too cold to do anything outside so I’ve started thinking about how the house could be more efficient in the winter. Its like life has two very distinct halves here – summer and winter – even though there are 4 clear seasons, spring and autumn are short and then before you know it, its either 45degrees or minus 20.
I bought a thermometer today so I can give accurate temperature readings.
I’m curious now to see which of the trees will be the first to bud in the spring and what happens to the plants sitting in the soil. Some plants are so amazing – how come spinach doesn’t die in minus 10 or when its covered in snow? I’ve still got leeks in the ground and parsnips but probably the most amazing plant is Jerusalem Artichoke. I planted it to see if it was good for shade – the plants grow to 8-10 feet. It was and it also wasn’t bothered with the drought or the heat – it still grew and now the tubers are still in the ground and they’ll stay there all winter till I need them. They’re not everyone’s taste as a vegetable – a bit of flatulence guaranteed- but the garden is going to be full of them making shade next year. I gave some to Vasilka today – she had never seen them before but was impressed by their resilience. Hope she doesn’t mind a bit of wind.
Oh my God-there’s a jackal or something howling in the garden! (real action news!) I heard one the other night but the dogs were out and they went crazy – barking for ages. They often do that, especially Tino as people who have stayed here will know. Now I know that he wasn’t just barking at shadows. He’s locked in the shed right now which is why they’re able to come so close. I just went to the door to see if I could see them and Little Jackie ran in with a mouse and at the same moment Wor Geordie pounced on another mouse behind the logs. Plus Tino was going crazy barking in the shed – peaceful silence one minute and animal chaos the next. It was also too cold to leave the door open to chase the cats out so I’ve shut the door to my bedroom and left them to it. I wonder if I’ll know the difference when I hear a wolf.
It feels a bit like the edge of the world here right now. Not in a scary way but I was just looking up the field and realising that beyond it is woods and wild land. It was daytime when I was thinking that though and now I’m thinking I wont be walking out in the dark again for a long time. I can hear the jackals now down by the spring.
Cant decide whether to keep Tino locked up and they come in the garden or listen to him bark all night or maybe he might get eaten! Jess has developed a new character too – in Ireland she learned how to be an Irish Farm Dog and run after cars and bark at everything. Here there is actually something to bark at plus there are some quite ferocious dogs around here so she’s learning how to be mean and nasty – not often but I have seen another side to Jess sometimes and she’s a bit scary. But I don’t want her to get eaten by the Jackals. It’s a pity I’m scared to go out cos there’s a lovely almost full moon and I do want to see them. I’ll wait till somebody is here.
I’m going to learn a bit about animal tracks – easy to spot in the snow. Keith, my Scottish neighbour who was a gamekeeper and who yesterday sawed through his foot with a chain saw, knows all about tracking –he reckons he’s seen large cat tracks. Keith is ok but in plaster for a good while. But we now know how the hospital system works.
A few normal kind of things that happened yesterday- I got up early and went to the Wednesday bazaar in the village – its just small but has all the seasonal equipment – thermals, hats etc and a good second hand stall. I bought some great green shiny leggings and angora socks. Chatted with a few people, pretended I didn’t know Tino and met Laura. We went for a coffee in the secret supermarket and in my best Bulgarian I arranged to buy some Rakia from the guy who has the eggs. Later as I went to collect it, I passed the little old lady at the Turkish house chopping some logs – the axe was almost as big as her and I commented on her muscles – she responded by effortlessly slicing a huge log in half.. Then I met Norm, the cow guy and he introduced me to his turkeys which I hadn’t seen before. He said he would kill one for me – that was kind but I’ve no idea when he meant which means he could arrive at any time with a freshly plucked turkey. I then bought 5 litres of really nice looking plum rakia and walked home as the temperatures plummeted and everything started to get crispy – then the jackals came out………