Here's the blue moon!

In no way does this picture show just how gorgeous the moon is tonight. My camera just isn't up to the task, but I had to try. The moon looks like it is dancing in and out of the light clouds and is brighter than any I have seen before. Wow!

End of the year with a Blue Moon

Everyone knows blue moons are seldom seen. Tomorrow's blue moon is coming on the heels of one of the worst rainstorms I've seen here in Bulgaria. On Monday, we had hours of pouring rain and thunder and lightning, which is highly unusual for this time of year. These photos show some of the results. They are on the road to Rila and the landslide was huge, but fortunately placed, since it seems to have missed every house and there were no reported injuries.The road crews were hard at work to get the rubble off the road and to divert the new stream back into its original bed in time for the New Year's churchgoers to get to Rila.































The appearance of spring flowers in my garden in December is also pretty unusual. (Global warming, anyone?) The snowdrops are up and blooming and the daffodils and hyacinths are well up. I can't imagine what will be blooming by February!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Today is the feast of Saint Nicholas in Bulgaria and the two preceding days were Varvara and Saint Sava respectively. It's a big church holiday weekend and the official start of the Christmas season and the traditional time to expect the first snow and cold weather of the winter. Varvara is Saint Barbara's Day and it changed our plans for a stitch-n-bitch after work on Friday. None of us remembered until the last minute and it matters, at least here! Traditionally, there is no sewing, spinning, knitting, or any other activity done by women using sharp implements on that day to avoid bringing ill health to the children, especially chicken pox and measles. So we worked on heraldry instead.

The city had the tree-lighting festivities yesterday, including lots of fireworks, and the official opening of the skating rink and the Christmas Village. So now the center of the town smells like sausages, which is a good thing today, since Nikolovden involves eating fish and every store in town has been selling them. For my tastes, fish does not smell nearly as good as grilling sausage!

Christmas is coming!

The tree is up and the cats adore having a new place to sleep/hide. The only problem is that Cara wants it for herself and Sophie wants to be there too. It'll be interesting to watch that play out as gifts get stacked under the tree!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In a matter of a few hours my dining room went from this:














To this:

















to this:




















Cara was not impressed by any of the preparations nor the company, but she did deign to beg some turkey and let Cosmina and Sabina pet her. Needless to say, Sophie was not seen for the duration!
















For those who will ask, the menu was:
Relish tray and dip
Olives (black and green)
Turkey (two, they were small!)
Dressing
Mashed potatoes
Gravy
Sweet potato casserole
Green beans in sour cream sauce
Devilled eggs
Cranberry sauce
Jello with fruit
Rolls
Pumpkin pie
Apple pie
Mince Pie
Pecan pie

Nom!!

Actual Sewing

Here are the promised photos of the needle roll I made for my veil pins




























and the Advent Calendar I made for Constanza. Hope she still likes frogs!

Rila Monastery

I recently had the opportunity to take a first-time visitor to Bulgaria to the Rila Monastery, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It's so fun to watch as the car goes higher and higher into the mountains and the visitor anticipates what it will be like, and then, well, there you are and it's so much better than could be imagined.

This is the view from halfway up the mountain road.


This particular visit was on a crisp, clear day and it was chilly, but not unpleasantly so. The museum has just been renovated and is beautifully arranged and labelled. It's also warm and the displays are all climate controlled. (Unlike the old days when it was damp and cold!)My guest especially liked Hrelyu's Tower, which is the oldest part of the Monastery complex.

















And here are some classic photos of the monastery grounds.