Summer in the village

It's very interesting to watch the cycle of the seasons in a small village. The neighbors have made two hay cuttings on the various hayfields in front of my house during the last two weeks and the technology used (or lack thereof) ranges from a communist-era tractor and standard baler to a horse-drawn cutter and a load of people forking the loose hay onto donkey carts to haul back to make into haystacks near their homes.

When I drive to work each morning, I pass groups of people of varied ages heading out to the fields to hoe and weed and water everything from cabbage to tomatoes to tobacco. Living in town, it was easy to forget that many people here still depend on subsistance agriculture to get by, but now I see the evidence on a daily basis. It's humbling, frankly.

The plums have been harvested and it looks to be a good year for apples and grapes. The wheat looks ready to harvest and the sunflowers aren't far behind. It's nearly time for the pepper and tomato harvest and soon the whole village will be scented with roasting peppers and simmerng lutenitza. It will be mouth-watering!

We're also enjoying watching the storklings learn to fly. Our pair had three young ones again this year and now that they are as big as their parents, that huge nest is pretty crowded! The adult male spends a lot of time on the chimney on the next house, just watching the kids flap around. I can't say I blame him!

In just a few weeks it will be time for the the Sabor, or village fair. That's the signal that back to school is just around the corner. Can't say I'm ready for that!

Looking back to May

The Monday after graduation, I travelled across Bulgaria with some friends and family to see Plovdiv, Etara, Bachkovo Monastery, and Veliko Turnovo. Leaving Blagoevgrad, we headed up through the mountain pass at Borovets. Lots of fog slowed our driving and there was still snow on the ground in some places. We had lunch at a charming little ski shack, "The Happy Duck." Please note the (rude)skiing duck on the chimneypiece!

On the way, we stopped at the Assenova Krepost, or Assen's Fortress.



It's far up in the mountains and the fog swirling around was quite creepy. We kept waiting for someone to challenge us for being there!

Plovdiv was lovely and we saw lots of interesting sights and shopped quite a lot. We even settled on a paint color for our house, based on this one:

We saw the remains of the Roman Odeon on our first day there and it has been beautifully excavated.

More about the trip tomorrow!

What's up with this site?

I'm not quite sure what the problem is with Blogger, but for the last week, no matter what computer I use, the program opens with an error on the page and I can't post. At this point in time I can write, but I can't add a post title. Very weird! ETA - after posting this, I tried to edit the post and could add a title.

Pavillion ideas

One of my goals for the A&S 50 is to make or buy an appropriate pavillion for my persona. Now that I've finally settled on 14th century Bulgaria, it was easier to find an illumination of one from that time and place that I like and which complements my heraldry. In the Froissart Chronicles, there is an illustration of the execution of the Christian prisoners after the Battle of Nikopolis in Bulgaria. Despite the gruesome nature of the illumination, the red pavillion in it suits me perfectly, so I'll be looking for lots of red canvas! (And yes, I realize that it's almost certainly an Ottoman tent. I still like it and it's from the right time and place!)

Sun-browned and happy

I'm back home from this year's Winchester Pilgrimage and once again, it was awesome. Photos tomorrow! We couldn't have had better weather - sunny and warm every day!




A corner of the encampment at the Hospital of Saint Cross.





Here's the family on the walk.



The fiber twins - Spin and Knit!







Constanza and I vowed to do better on the Pilgrim's Knowledge competition this year and we tied with HE Susannah of York for second place. We won a beautiful candle lantern made by Lord Matthew Baker to light us along the Pilgrim's Way. Not too bad! We offered to help with next year's competition and are going to add information about Orthodox saints too. :)



Many of our friends were there and I am so glad that Lady Sofia di Marcello was able to come with us. I think she really enjoyed meeting everyone and going on pilgrimage.





Pretty Winchester buildings.



The Cathedral.







During Court, HE Genevieve la Flechiere was put on vigil for the Order of the Pelican. She will give her answer at Raglan Fair in August. I really wish I could be there, but my work schedule prevents.

On a different note, there have been more than 400 aftershocks since last week's 6.0 - in fact, there was just another little one. It's getting old, frankly.

What's shakin'?

That would be us! I'll do a real update later today, but for now - wow! That was a noisy 5.8 earthquake! First tremor felt here at 03:06, first aftershock at 03:10. Novinite says the entire population of Sofia is out on the street. That would be something to see. Here's an update - they're now saying 5.9, maybe 6.0.

Gifts

One of our graduating SCAdians stopped by my office today to say goodbye and to tell me about his plans for the future. He'll be working in Tirana, but plans to come back to campus for at least one College (SCA) event each semester for the next year. Then he hopes to go on for a Phd at Oxford. I guess at that point we'll have to hand him on to the Insulae Draconis lot, but until then , he's one of us. It was good to know how much he values the Society and our company. It was the real gift of the day.