Last month we discovered that our soakaway was broken, so decided to construct a reed-bed system to handle the grey water from our kitchen and outside sink. The idea is that eventually, the cleaned water from this will feed a pond, somewhere else in the garden. Preparation First, we got a Bulgarian trench-digger to dig…
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Kitchen, garden, and what else has been happening in April
The garden has taken priority in April but we’ve still managed to get some work done on the kitchen. The plasterboard has had it’s first coat of plaster, and the chimney and walls have had a second coat of cob put on them. The slats in the loft space have mainly been insulated, plaster-boarded and…
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How to break a soakaway, and what we did next
Most Bulgarian village houses have a soakaway to deal with grey-water from the kitchen. This is simply a hole in the ground, often lined with tiles or old tyres, and all your kitchen water goes into it. They’ve been using these for years here. Mostly, they are not a problem, until we come along with…
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Rocket stoves and Hugel beds
We’ve had a couple of extra helpers visiting for a few days last week. Anna and Olof are on a round-the-world trip, visiting various projects and learning about self-sufficiency, and practising permaculture. Danni and Richard are still here, but Anna and Olof’s interests (permaculture and rocket stoves) seemed too good to pass up! It was…
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Kitchen update
Work on the kitchen has been progressing well this month, and our plans have expanded somewhat from the original design. No surprises there! Having stripped out the old suspended ceiling, we’ve realised the original mud ceiling is in very poor condition, and would need to be totally replaced. So, we’ve decided not to bother, and…
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Many hands
We’ve had quite a good response for our request for volunteers on Helpex. Our first volunteers, Richard and Danni, have arrived from England and are settling in very well. They arrived on 5th March, having spent a few days in Sofia. After a couple of days settling in, we have worked them hard ever since!…
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The summer house
After helping the Velikov family move their belongings to Popovo, we have now got the keys to our new second house. The house is intended as a base for family, friends and volunteers to stay in, if they want. It’s a small property; one main bedroom, kitchen, living room, a second bedroom in an adjoining…
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Next project – The Kitchen
My work in the bathroom is now complete apart from touching up around where the chimney goes through the roof but I can’t do that till the leak in the roof has been fixed.So while Joe finishes off the plumbing and the electrics I’ve decided to start on the kitchen. The first step was to…
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