First topic message reminder :

My first year in Bulgaria.Lets see what I have done.

Bricked up old doorway,ripped out old windows fitted new PVC front door and windows, ripped out old kitchen and fitted new, tiled complety new wet room and fitted electric shower,replaced lounge ceiling with plaster boarded, fitted carpets and lino, decorated throghout rendered the outside of property, rewired complety,fitted new consumer unit fitted outside lights,I have had builder in for approximately one week, and my friend and his son came over from Turkey for 10 days to give me a hand, .. I am sure there is more

I am not a qualified tradesman nor a registered builder.. ( PS the electric company have tested the rewiring and said it is ok. )

If you can wait for it, the Plovdiv Fair in early Spring is a really good place to buy garden machinery. I picked up my rotary hoe there about four years ago..waited until almost closing time on the last day and ended up getting it for about 300 leva less than normal retail price. I go every year and check things out and find a huge showing of all sorts of machinery and equipment from all over the EU and as the venue is purpose built, the whole experience is quite pleasant.

What a great read from all of you I have really enjoyed reading this even though I have had several hits at it, Its nice to know that there are people on here who are completely honest about their life and their first thoughts of their life so far.

I think one of the biggest hurdles that people new to this country face in the early stages is the reluctance to try and stop comparing what they have here to what they had at home. You need to think forwards at all times, work out what needs doing[and it's usually a lot] prioritise the workload according to needs and rejoice whenever a milestone[however small] is passed. Remember, every journey begins with a step.

If all that fails..there's always the Rakia!!

I take my hat of to you all :Great:when I first come over in April this year my house looked lovely all the spring flowers in the garden
not much to be done so I thought opened the door that's when it hit me OMG ,where do I start :shocked1:the dirt, spiders,rats mice droppings all there like they were paying rent .
It took me 2 weeks just to clean, the people in the village all come by just to have a look and laugh at this mad little woman covered from head to foot in dirt . The more I CLEANED the more the bl**dy dirt and dust come back ,and when the rain came the MUD and more mud.
It was my next door baba that come over with her stick told me this has to stop and stop now ,best advice ever,
I thought (SILLY ME)it would be like the UK .So I watched what she done and copied her more or less every day up early in the morning tidy sweep once then down to get bread milk we stopped to have coffee depending on how many joined us this could take all morning
and this my friends was just the beginning

That, my friend, is absolutely the right way to go about things. Rome was never built in a day and nor will your house be. Start at the top..get the roof sorted..waterproof and all that, guttering and drainage etc so you have a dry canvas to paint on..the masterpiece will follow! Pick the most important room next [usually a bedroom or somewhere to kip down after a hard days graft]. Next should be a bathroom/shower and WC , even if it's temporary. Food and meals are quite easy to arrange here in fair weather, so don't be too concerned at the start...the good stuff will come later. And we are all waiting for the invite to the house warming party!

If you want it to happen..it WILL happen!!

bgbazz wrote:

That, my friend, is absolutely the right way to go about things. Rome was never built in a day and nor will your house be. Start at the top..get the roof sorted..waterproof and all that, guttering and drainage etc so you have a dry canvas to paint on..the masterpiece will follow! Pick the most important room next [usually a bedroom or somewhere to kip down after a hard days graft]. Next should be a bathroom/shower and WC , even if it's temporary. Food and meals are quite easy to arrange here in fair weather, so don't be too concerned at the start...the good stuff will come later. And we are all waiting for the invite to the house warming party!

If you want it to happen..it WILL happen!!

Thank you and yes you are right one job, step, at a time

Its just a thought . If our BG members lived close enough to each other then perhaps we could help each other out ..

You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.... Would it work.? I feel like starting a new thread on this subject ..

TNT1 wrote:

Its just a thought . If our BG members lived close enough to each other then perhaps we could help each other out ..

You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.... Would it work.? I feel like starting a new thread on this subject ..

This would be great and can work as I give a days work in exchange for a lift into Yambol and back to pick something up also would love to see a free-cycle something like they have in the UK

Good idea TNT1 Would be wonderful