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Hi everyone,
First of all 'Happy Birthday Mum', ( its her birthday today and she is !! years old).
Well what a week we have had. Monday morning we had to organise some documents for our 'new' car. We bought the car the Monday before mum arrived, sheer coincidence, we were offered a car from a good source at a good price. Too good to turn down although it stretched the finances a bit. Up until now we have used the bus for general trips and borrowed the car from our friend Tica for the trips into Constanta once a month for dog food. We decided early on that Harry had no say in the lifestyle change and it would be unfair to upset his diet too much, so he has the best dog food we could find. Going anywhere on the bus is time consuming and a real experience. The bus is actually a coach, great if you can get a seat but usually by the time it gets to our village it is standing room only. It is a bit hairy but you can't fall over there isn't room - sardines is the word that comes to mind, about thirty standing, yes 30. But now our life has changed, we have a car. Back to Monday, the afternoon was spent weeding, if the vegetables grow as well as the weeds we will have a good crop. This is the first year the land has been used for a vegetable plot, up till now it has been general farm land.
Tuesday, Lew decide it was time our dirty ball of fluff now named 'Snowy' had a bath, I am not sure who got the wettest, but Snowy was a great deal cleaner and the water was very dirty. I had filled the washing machine with water the night before and switched it on for heating when we got up, with Snowy bathed, I started the washing. I always check that the water is on before I start the washing - not today. Lew came in just as I was to start rinsing to say the water was off. A washing machine full of hot water can't be wasted so I washed, leaving the rinsing till the water came back on, shame it was a good drying day. After the washing we decided to sort out the shower, it had to be put away last October when the weather became too cold for outside showers. But now we had a building and with a bit of repair to the plastic base and plastic rods that make the cubicle, we thought that we might be able to use it in the building. After repairs and cleaning, I had the first shower for six months, no I wasn't that dirty, as my Nan used to say - we washed down as far as possible and up as far as possible. Lew had the second shower he was luckier because I had by then worked out how many kettles of hot water to cold water.
Wednesday, Snowy didn't sleep very well woke us up several times during the night. The water was back on so I rinsed the clothes and put them on the line, another good drying day. Lew started digging over the plot I had weeded, preparing it for the planting of more potatoes. I spent the afternoon and into the early evening weeding, in fact it was about eight before we went in to organise dinner. We were both too tired to cook and eat so we made omelettes (we have plenty of eggs). We had just finished when Colleena our milk lady arrived, she is one of our near neighbours, her cow wanders down the road and about an hour later she comes up with the milk. Tonight she came up with the pup we had ordered back in February, so the security team is now at full strength. Latrina, called Latty, is really cute and the spitting image of her mum Frunza (Romanian for leaves). With one large German Shepherd and two small pups, one Romanian moggy and her two small kittens, it really does feel like home.
Thursday, after one very sleepless night, two little pups waking us up every two hours, we staggered out to do more weeding and digging. Lunchtime it started to rain, it wasn't forecast, but it gave us a sort break. It didn't last long and didn't really wet the ground. The security team enjoys coming with us to garden; Latty tries to pull up the weeds with her teeth, Snowy likes to help by showing Lew where to put the fork next and Harry likes to put his ball right where I'm weeding so I throw it out of my way. Sunny and the kittens enjoy the peace and quiet in the caravan. It was another late evening in the garden. The pups were woken up to have warm milk and biscuits when we had our hot chocolate, a cunning plan to try and get a nights sleep.
Friday, it worked the pups only woke up once during the night. Another day digging and weeding - yes it is a big potato patch - when they are all in we will have planted 180 kilos of potatoes. Please note the radish planted last week have just broken through the surface.
Saturday, the pups slept through the night. Lew planted five more rows of potatoes in the morning, while I weeded. In the afternoon we took the 'new' car into Constanta, we had run out of dog and cat food. We do a great deal of our shopping in Metro, a cash and carry type place which supplies the shops. They sell all kinds of things and I have learnt that if I can't find what I want in Metro I don't stand much hope of finding it in Romania. While I was looking at the seeds Lew wandered off and I found him looking longingly at a rotivator that was new in. I dragged him off to do the more reasonably priced dog and cat food shopping. Back home to go down to the church to sort out a new time for the English Club. The youth group are busy rehearsing for their new CD and it was decided that English would be suspended until the CD was cut. We came home to sit on the patio (posh word for some planks Lew put on some left over blocks, so we had somewhere to sit outside) and drink a leisurely cup of coffee, watching; the wheat growing; the chickens scratching the ground for grubs; the new chicks jumping on and off their water tub; Latty and Snowy trying to play with Harry's toys; Harry sleeping off his excursion to the shops; Sunny looking for mice; the sky larks soaring and the sun setting. The bell starts to toll to remind the village that it is Sunday tomorrow.
Sunday, no lay in for us, I had been asked if I could drive some of the youth group to Megidia as they were to sing at another church. So at 9.30 I picked up 5 of the youth group (no the car isn't big only a 1300 size and one of the youth group is a good 6' 2" tall) and joined the convoy. The service started at ten, when we left at one the service still had another hour to go. So church goers out there think yourselves lucky when your service only lasts for one and a half maybe two hours. Then a leisurely coffee before writing to you.
What's been happening in the village this week? From our caravan window we have a good view of part of the village and we saw the ambulance arrive two roads away. Later we found out that a 76 year old lady had been pruning her apple tree and had fallen out of the tree and broken her hip, but she is on the mend now. The village has two new residents, no not two births. Our friend Cornelia has just adopted two boys from one of the homes, she already has a family of five, now Elvis and Marian have joined them. The over winter lettuce and spring onions are now ready for eating, as we had not put in any for over wintering Colleena brought us some to try. We enjoyed the inside leaves of the lettuce and the outside leaves were enjoyed by the chickens, the spring onions were too hot even for Lew to eat and finished their days on the compost heap. The tulips are up and the lilac is in bloom. The vines are beginning to sprout, this years grapes will form on these new shoots. The small sparrow type birds are beginning to nest in the eves. The horses have been out ploughing and we have even seen some of the fields being planted by hand. And the tractor drivers have been hard at it all week.
That's the end of another week in Siminoc, till next week I'll say goodbye ...
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