Mine!

The closing is over and I am now the proud owner of a nice little house in the village of Kocherinovo. Since I was on a roll, I went ahead and bought a car too. Go me! Now I'm set for driving back and forth to work on snowy roads - it's a Land Rover Freelander!

Closing!

Thursday, 9am! Woo hoo!!

Class update

The cordials class went well, despite a number of no-shows due to the local flu epidemic. Mixed berries and pears were the hands-down favorites for ingredients and the spiced pear cordial I brought as a sample was a big hit.

We'll be tasting the class's work in March at the Todorovden Revel in Bachevo. It will be the College's first overnight event and I am really looking forward to both the horse races during the day and the feast that evening.

A new time-sink

I am within days of closing on a new (to me) house in a neighboring village, so my posts are going to be pretty sporadic in the forseeable future. I've spent the last three weeks filling out a myriad of forms and signing things but the finish line is in sight. I visited the University bookstore today and got my first load of packing boxes. They won't be nearly enough, but even nested together they completely filled Plamen's car.

After closing, I'll have to wait for better weather to start the repairs before I more in (Mostly new windows and insulation). As it's currently -9 C, I can understand that standing on a scaffolding in the wind isn't a preferred job just now.

I did manage to bottle up 2 liters of pear cordial and another of plum today and start a new batch of blackberry on its way. I'm teaching a cordial and mead class at tomorrow's revel, so it seemed like a good thing to get on with today.

Last post of 2010 - Chestita Nova Godina!

It's 9:30 pm here and the fireworks are already lighting up the neighborhood, so I'd better finish up posting for this year!

I am hopeful that this will be my last New Year's Eve in this house. It's been a good place to live, but it's not mine and there's no garden to speak of. I've spent the last year looking at properties and I put a down payment on a very nice house with a large garden in a nearby village as my last business of 2010. All the contracts will be completed and signed in early January and I should be able to start renovations no later than February 1, 2011! That also means that this should be my mother's last New Year's Eve in South Carolina, since she will move here when the renovations are finished. That will be great for both of us. 2011 will be a year of many changes, but I anticipate that they will all be good.


And I should finish up my travel postings, too. During the rest of my time in Singapore (in no special order) we

- went to the Night Safari, which was amazing. It's a zoo specifically for nocturnal animals that is open only at night. I have never been so close to wild animals without some kind of visible safety barrier.

- hung out at the pool and had lovely G&Ts

- went to an amazing Korean barbeque (Chang)

- visited with Logan's and Hye-Jung's friends who were really fascinated by Bulgaria

- ate Teppanyaki

- went shopping for jade on 10/10/10, a most auspicious day

- bought bento boxes at Takashimaya (my new favorite store)

- ate chilli crab, chicken rice, and kaya toast (not all at once!)

- went to Chinatown

There was much more than this, including many more sights, restaurants, and shopping, but these were the highlights. I definitely want to go back to Asia and expecially to Singapore, which was so much more amazing than I could have imagined it would be.

Goodbye from East Coast Seafood and Happy New Year to one and all!

A break for some things SCA

I didn't spend all my time this fall in Singapore and I have actually gotten some things on my A&S 50 list done. My recent interest has been in brewing cordials and mead. Currently I have a batch of chestnut honey mead and pear, plum, and sweet cherry cordials underway. The first trials of sour cherry cordial are long gone (half a dozen bottles). We tried it out at Winchester, Raglan Ffaire, and the Yule Ball and it got progrssively better. I can hardly wait for summer and the next crop of vishni. I will be making quite a few bottles! I plan to start a new batch this week with frozen blackberries for the past summer and some new Rakiya (home made) that I just received as a Yule gift.


There are more bottles brewing than this. I just wanted to show a small sample.
















I also learned how to make quince paste with the bumper crop this year. It's really nice on a slice of baguette with a piece of strong cheese!

A little more Singapore

We did all the fun and touristy things too, like riding the Singapore Flyer and going up to the viewing deck of the Marina Bay Sands hotel. The Flyer is the world's tallest ferris wheel and is 165 meters tall. It beats the London Eye by 30 meters!























You can see the theatres known locally as "the Durians" from both the Sands and the Flyer. They're quite different in style from any other theater I've seen.









You can't be a real expat in Singapore without visiting the Raffles Hotel and drinking a Singapore Sling. I'm happy to say that Logan and I did both!