bluegaria: Wells and eggs

We are hoping that the neighbours' pump in our well is properly fixed now. It seems whatever they did the other day did not altogether fix it and it needed priming every time they used it. Usually at the most inconvenient time to us, mainly when we have just sat down to eat.

On the road early

We had a busy morning on Sunday, up at 5am to see to dogs and kitten, quick breakfast , load the car, let all fowl out (a bit worrying as the pine marten was heard in the garden in the night) then off to the car boot. It was a lovely cool morning, Waited hours for customers then they all came at once. Pack up early-ish, quick coffee, call in at Lidl on the way to Hotnitsa for goat milk for the kitten, lunch waiting when we got there (and delicious it was, with good company. Thanks so much to them) and then off home. We were later than we thought we would be, but dogs and cats seen to, fowl checked and accounted for, car unloaded. Before Dave could get into the pool for a cool off the neighbours were round to sort the pump. Not exactly a nice relaxing Sunday.

Our submerged pump is a modern affair, one handed lowering into the well and switch on. Water gushing. But the neighbours' 1978 monster is not only heavy, but attached to a very substantial metal pipe. This pipe had to be winched up and then held steady while the piece of pipe below the pump was detached and a new valve replaced the old one which had been down the well ten years.

So long you can't see where the top is

So there was Dave, standing on the well, trying to keep this pipe steady. No prblem you would think, but it is incredibly long, the well is very deep, so any movement made the whole lot sway alarmingly...it made Dave sweat! It also had to be fed between electricity cables and internet cables and not allowed to touch, just to add to the strain. The pump itself was balanced on a stone. Not a brick which would be steady, but a stone which moved up and down at the slightest breath of wind. Poor Dave, it was a real test of stamina as Jordan and Angel struggled to take apart joints which had been down the well ten years and then clean them and put them back together. Venka was trying to help Dave and her daughter was trying to stop her elderly father from climbing onto the well. Me? I was watching helplessly...camera in hand of course!

Not the most flattering photo of Jordan! Venka helping Dave, Daughter looking on

Angel and Jordan struggle to remove the lower pipe

Winching it back down

Helping hand from Angel, what a relief

All done

Eventually the whole lot was lowered by winch again and tested...brilliant, it worked! They have their own well of course, but it seems it is not deep enough when the weather is dry and they not only have their garden to water, but also two pigs, a calf, sheep and seventy chickens to clean and care for. Of course you would never deny access to water, and it is a shame that they have managed most of the summer by using mains water, which is metred. It's a good job it has been a wet year.

Didn't feel like cooking too much so bacon (Dave) eggs beans on toast it was. Half way through Venka hailed us to invite us around for a celebratory rakia. Now, decisions. Do we finish our meal or leave it as there was bound to be food..............We finished it, it was nice.

So an hour later, after putting the chickens to bed and settling the brat, off we went with a plate of chocolate muffins we hadn't sold (we have to take something and Jordan loves his cake) and sure enough the table was laid as usual with knife and fork, rakia glasses and beer glasses. Venka came out with a huge plate of chunky tomatoes each, decorated with tiny pea tomatoes in red and yellow pear shaped and olives. Hoping that this was it.After all the excitement of seeing how they had been so busy hosing everywhere down and watering, the pump being well tested, we sat down to rakia and tomatoes.

The mozzies were bad but the company was up-beat and I tried not to let my face slip when I was presented with two cold fried eggs, cold chips and cold roast peppers with cold egg sauce. Of course, I shouldn't have had eggs earlier as I had made a salmon pie to take with us to the car boot sale and had padded the salmon out with chopped boiled eggs, so we had already had three each that day, as well as soup heavy with tomatoes. The rakia was very nice though, young but light and made with the pears from our tree which we had donated to the cause. At 9.30 we were handed a chocolate muffin...and still I tried to smile, thinking how I had got everything wrong. I don't sleep well on a full stomach and try not to eat anything after 7pm, especially chocolate cake which I don't eat as it gives me indigestion. But it was a lovely evening, a great laugh, bit of language learning and such lovely generous people.

We managed to get across that we would not need any of the huge pumkins or squash as we had so many butternuts of our own. Venka asked for some seed from our 'English' squashes as she hadn't seen them before, so we will be sending some over....still in the squash of course! It was amusing to watch the looks on their faces when we said that we use the squash as a vegetable for roasting and soup. They are considered a sweet thing here, which of course they are, and used for pies, cakes, conserves and jams. I think I will be sending some soup over there next winter!

I took a Piriton before bed, not just for mozzie bites but also because they knock me out and I slept from 11 to 4.30. Quite good for me. But feeling dull, hot (temps still mid thirties in the shade) and sluggish.

But I really shouldn't moan about eggs, it looks as if we have a major moult going on, the Shumens have stopped laying and my misfits have slowed down. I hope they are not all going to stop till next spring, all that feeding of eighteen chickens and no eggs. I am having palpitations just thinking about it.

Quick update on Splash. He is doing very well, playing, washing, has learned to run and jump, goes to the litter tray when needed and doesn't need prompting to go into his food cage. He has developed a fascination for the chickens and has started to stalk them through the gate, not realising that they could swallow him whole. The geese make so much noise that he doesn't hang around when they are in the garden, very wise. He is growing well and I am hoping he was old enough when he arrived to develop like a normal cat and not a hand reared one, prone to temper tantrums and mood swings. Time will tell.