Grapevine One
Summer 2009
by Martin Jeffes
Martin surveys all that he has explored, with Margaret following
Introduction by Barry and Margaret Williamson
Martin founded, built and managed the Sakar Hills campsite in SE Bulgaria, before recently handing it over to his son Matt and retiring to the south coast of England. Near to the campsite Bulgaria meets Greece and Turkey, making a rare European triple point, which for forty-five years was the southern end of the Iron Curtain. It remains a place where cultures, languages, religions, histories and much else meet; a place where a bicycle takes you through the three countries on a magnificent circular ride. We should know!
What follows are just a few of the many words Martin has written over the years, words that create their own landscapes, populated by people whose activities are captured with a wry humour. Here we are at the interface of Bulgarians, English ex-pats and a heterogenous bunch of worldwide campers and tourists. Complementing this rich mix is Martin’s fascination with Bulgaria’s origins, using his trusty Land Rover to trace the remnants of Thracian and Roman occupation.
The following collection of Martin’s writings over the years is one of seven.
The other six collections are:
Martin in Bulgaria and the Balkans
Martin in England
Martin in Australia
Martin in his Land Rovers
Grapevine Three
Grapevine Four
As well as many Photographs
Martin founded, built and managed the Sakar Hills campsite in SE Bulgaria, before recently handing it over to his son Matt and retiring to the south coast of England. Near to the campsite Bulgaria meets Greece and Turkey, making a rare European triple point, which for forty-five years was the southern end of the Iron Curtain. It remains a place where cultures, languages, religions, histories and much else meet; a place where a bicycle takes you through the three countries on a magnificent circular ride. We should know!
What follows are just a few of the many words Martin has written over the years, words that create their own landscapes, populated by people whose activities are captured with a wry humour. Here we are at the interface of Bulgarians, English ex-pats and a heterogenous bunch of worldwide campers and tourists. Complementing this rich mix is Martin’s fascination with Bulgaria’s origins, using his trusty Land Rover to trace the remnants of Thracian and Roman occupation.
The following collection of Martin’s writings over the years is one of seven.
The other six collections are:
Martin in Bulgaria and the Balkans
Martin in England
Martin in Australia
Martin in his Land Rovers
Grapevine Three
Grapevine Four
As well as many Photographs
The Internet arrives in Kolarovo.
With the arrival, this week, of an Mtel ‘Homebox’, or to give it its correct name, Wireless Gateway, yesterday Grapevine’s Kolarovo offices were connected to the worldwide web. To mark the occasion, Grapevine’s editorial staff have collected a few pieces of local news and gossip to distribute to the world outside the village. Is the world ready for this?
Coincident to the above, Kolarovo residents have been able to enjoy one of the regular summer events, the July Kolarovo Airshow. As usual this event, which combines feats of daring aerobatics with crop-spraying of the vineyards surrounding the village, promised villagers an uninterrupted view, with its 5.30 am start. The event is made all the more interesting for spectators, given the advanced age of the ex-Russian army helicopter, by watching for any bits dropping off the plane.
The editorial staff, having watched the show, took themselves off to the Raisky Cut Motel for a swim and lunch, meeting Keith, Michelle et al from Bulgarska Polyana, followed by an evening barbecue.
Hanging around in Kolarovo
Tuesday saw the first meeting of the Kolarovo Hot Air Balloon Club, at the Castra Rubra Vinery construction site. As the club does not yet have a balloon, the on-site tower crane was employed to create the effect, and the inaugural flight was made by mayor, Stefka, in a wire stillage, accompanied by a Grapevine cameraman.
The flight, which lasted about 5 minutes, was enjoyed by all, not least the crane operator, who thought it was hysterically funny to get the stillage swinging in a wide arc by moving the crane boom back and forth, while the occupants were suspended about 30 feet off the ground.
Another meeting is planned for an evening in the future, for better photo opportunities, with the sun in the west.
Business News
Sakar Hills Camping reports slow but steady business this year. Takings are up a bit on last year, but visitor numbers are not matching the proprietor’s optimistic forecasts.
Construction of the shade-support system over the three concrete pitches has been delayed in the planning stage but, if the proprietor’s wife has anything to do with it, will go ahead soon, ready for next year.
Last year’s decision to purchase an old, not working, ride-on mower seems to have finally been vindicated, following its overhaul by the mower man in Harmanli last year. Recent problems with the cutter-blade working loose after about 15 minutes' use seem to have been overcome by super-glueing all parts of the blade assembly together.
Vinery
Ivan, lately numero uno yoghurt supplier, has confirmed that conversion work to turn his yoghurt emporium into a vinery is soon to start. Work is expected to be completed in time for the grape harvest. That being only two months away, and this being rural Bulgaria, such optimism seems somewhat unfounded.
Meanwhile, the massive new Castra Rubra vinery continue with building works to increase their output. Last year they, reportedly, produced a million bottles of wine.
Motors
Daryl and Bob recently returned from the UK with a couple more examples of our motoring heritage, and a caravan, all for sale at ’Cars are Us’ in Hylabovo.
Weather
The last two weeks were very unsettled, with good weather in the mornings and the days heating up to thunder storms in the evenings. This pattern culminated in a very severe storm a week ago, after which we saw an improvement. This week has been more like the usual July weather; hot, hot, hot. Temperature now, at 4 pm, is 35 degrees, and it’s clouding over, so may be another storm on the way.
With the arrival, this week, of an Mtel ‘Homebox’, or to give it its correct name, Wireless Gateway, yesterday Grapevine’s Kolarovo offices were connected to the worldwide web. To mark the occasion, Grapevine’s editorial staff have collected a few pieces of local news and gossip to distribute to the world outside the village. Is the world ready for this?
Coincident to the above, Kolarovo residents have been able to enjoy one of the regular summer events, the July Kolarovo Airshow. As usual this event, which combines feats of daring aerobatics with crop-spraying of the vineyards surrounding the village, promised villagers an uninterrupted view, with its 5.30 am start. The event is made all the more interesting for spectators, given the advanced age of the ex-Russian army helicopter, by watching for any bits dropping off the plane.
The editorial staff, having watched the show, took themselves off to the Raisky Cut Motel for a swim and lunch, meeting Keith, Michelle et al from Bulgarska Polyana, followed by an evening barbecue.
Hanging around in Kolarovo
Tuesday saw the first meeting of the Kolarovo Hot Air Balloon Club, at the Castra Rubra Vinery construction site. As the club does not yet have a balloon, the on-site tower crane was employed to create the effect, and the inaugural flight was made by mayor, Stefka, in a wire stillage, accompanied by a Grapevine cameraman.
The flight, which lasted about 5 minutes, was enjoyed by all, not least the crane operator, who thought it was hysterically funny to get the stillage swinging in a wide arc by moving the crane boom back and forth, while the occupants were suspended about 30 feet off the ground.
Another meeting is planned for an evening in the future, for better photo opportunities, with the sun in the west.
Business News
Sakar Hills Camping reports slow but steady business this year. Takings are up a bit on last year, but visitor numbers are not matching the proprietor’s optimistic forecasts.
Construction of the shade-support system over the three concrete pitches has been delayed in the planning stage but, if the proprietor’s wife has anything to do with it, will go ahead soon, ready for next year.
Last year’s decision to purchase an old, not working, ride-on mower seems to have finally been vindicated, following its overhaul by the mower man in Harmanli last year. Recent problems with the cutter-blade working loose after about 15 minutes' use seem to have been overcome by super-glueing all parts of the blade assembly together.
Vinery
Ivan, lately numero uno yoghurt supplier, has confirmed that conversion work to turn his yoghurt emporium into a vinery is soon to start. Work is expected to be completed in time for the grape harvest. That being only two months away, and this being rural Bulgaria, such optimism seems somewhat unfounded.
Meanwhile, the massive new Castra Rubra vinery continue with building works to increase their output. Last year they, reportedly, produced a million bottles of wine.
Motors
Daryl and Bob recently returned from the UK with a couple more examples of our motoring heritage, and a caravan, all for sale at ’Cars are Us’ in Hylabovo.
Weather
The last two weeks were very unsettled, with good weather in the mornings and the days heating up to thunder storms in the evenings. This pattern culminated in a very severe storm a week ago, after which we saw an improvement. This week has been more like the usual July weather; hot, hot, hot. Temperature now, at 4 pm, is 35 degrees, and it’s clouding over, so may be another storm on the way.
Grapevine Two
Summer 2009
by Martin Jeffes
Round and About
Mid-August: In some summers this is the hottest time of the year. Summers when the thermometer hits more than 40º in the afternoon, with no wind and the air stiflingly hot and still. Even the birds find a shady spot to stand in for a while; it’s as if everyone is waiting for something to happen. Summers when the nights are so hot it is difficult to sleep: but not this one. This year the temperature at seven in the morning is about 20º and by midday it has risen to between 30º and 35º, but often accompanied by a breeze from the north, which has helped to keep things pleasantly cool.
At this time of year you start to notice the shift of the seasons. The evenings are starting to draw in; it gets dark just a little earlier. Migratory birds, perhaps fooled by the cooler than usual airs, seem to be thinking about selling up and moving on. In the early mornings the swallows and housemartins assemble in large flocks on the power lines to practise formation flying.
Birds that are not normally seen here put in brief appearances. Recently it has been the bee-eaters; slender birds, with multicoloured, irridescent plumage and long beaks, they swoop and swirl around Grapevine HQ for three or four days before moving on.
August is one of the favourite months for visitors from the UK. John and Carol, in Biser, have got John-Carol’s brother staying, and Keith and Michelle, in Bulgarska Polyana, seem to be having a steady stream of house guests; this week it’s Michelle’s son Lee and his girlfriend Sonya.
August is also one of the worst months for wild fires. One has been burning for three days now, away to the south, and the smoke is visible from Grapevine HQ. Everybody keeps one eye on the horizon during August for early signs of a nearby fire. Watching the Harmanli fire service turn out to attend a blaze is like watching the Keystone Cops in action.
Business News
Sakar Hills Camping has just had its busiest two weeks of the year; mainly French and Dutch campers, though also with quite a few from Slovenia, but all a really nice bunch of people.
The management are looking for a way to suitably express their gratitude to the Municipality of Harmanli for their continued help and support, or lack of it. In one week, one of their roadside camping signs on the edge of the town has been knocked over, another has had a diversion sign put right in front of it so it cannot be seen, and repairs to a burst water main required the digging of a large trench, by a lunatic digger driver, right across the entrance of the campsite. Currently, entry to the campsite has to be made over a series of boards, as efforts continue to try to press down the resulting pile of surplus mud, accumulated when the aforementioned trench was backfilled, or partly so, by the digger. Why is it that there is always twice as much soil after the event than came out of the hole?
Several block-bookings for September hold the promise of a busy time next month.
Visitors
Kees and Beya visited Sakar Hills Camping again this year, with their daughter Eva and their three cats, as did Arthur and Geri, all from the Netherlands. Lots of bikers from all over Europe have dropped in for a night or two.
Comet Magbaz, always a welcome sight in our part of the world, appeared at the end of April and dazzled us with its brilliance, before moving away in mid-June, on the outward leg of its annual journey, to the cold, dark wastes of the other side of the universe; somewhere called Finland. A faint message was picked up by the local radio telescope, located on the roof of Grapevine HQ, recently, giving a pinpoint position. Sail on, Comet Magbaz!
Ben and Hirma Bosch stayed for five days in August, before going on to a Bulgarian folk-dancing festival in Kotel, central Bulgaria. They joined the editorial staff for a very pleasant lunch last Saturday at Atanas's parents' house to celebrate ‘Virgin Mary’ day. The traditional meal of courban, a usually-inedible boiled-mutton, ghastly sort of soup, was served, which, for the first time in the writer’s experience, was very good. On Saturday we all celebrated the ‘name day’ for all those called Maria and Mary. This is an important religious and family day, because of the connection to the Virgin Mary. It is a holiday as significant in Bulgarian family life as Christmas, and an opportunity for families to get together and have an extended meal; something they are very good at. Colinka’s partner in the village shop in Biser gave out chocolates, another tradition, to customers in the shop, in similar celebration of being called Maria, although, almost certainly, the same prefix would not be applicable.
Raef and Meriam, German bikers on BMW 1100cc bikes, arrived a few days ago. They’re on the final leg of a three year trip around Europe and Asia. Of the Hylabovo chapter of the Hell’s Angels there is little or nothing to report. Founder members Bob and Daryl are still at large. Anyone wanting a pre-used, one-lady-owner, never raced, rolled or rallied, 4 x 4 vehicle (subsequently owned by three National Hunt jockeys, a Formula 3 driver and an Irish demolition contractor) should head their way.
Gardening News
Stefka Grosev, mayor of Kolarovo and founder member of the Kolarovo Hot Air Balloon Club, leaves on the 17th of this month for a ten-day holiday with her granddaughter Christina. Holding everything together in this vibrant community of twenty souls has clearly taken its toll, and she feels in need of some R and R (not rock and roll). She goes with everyone in Kolarovo’s best wishes, since it will be a somewhat quieter place without her for a few days. While she is away the cabbages recently planted in the garden at Grapevine HQ will be lavished with every care and attention, in a bid to get them to overtake hers in growth, so bringing to this office the Kolarovo Cabbage Trophy this year.
Some may remember how, last year, just when we thought the Trophy was ours, the garden water supply at Grapevine HQ mysteriously packed up, and she was able to steal the Trophy from under our nose. Her husband has been told that he must feed her chickens while she is away. The futures market in dead chickens has taken a sudden dive on receipt of this news.
This is the month when all the garden produce planning goes haywire. So good is the climate here that, this month, so many things ripen at the same time that it is impossible to eat or freeze it all. The garden here is currently giving up Swiss chard, spinach, okra, broccoli, aubergines, sweetcorn, marrows and tomatoes: lots of tomatoes. Potatoes, onions and garlic are lifted and stored; beans, runner and yellow, are in the freezer, which is now full to bursting.
Sakar Hills Camping is daily deluged with plums, peaches, melons and apples. Guests leave with bagfuls, not believing their luck.
Cabbage plants for the winter are in and, in the absence of our neighbour, being cosseted and encouraged to outperform hers.
Logs for the winter have been delivered and are being stacked. Tenders are being invited for the log-cutting contract.
Ilya, proprietor of the little restaurant by the reservoir at Studen Kladinets, has grown a giant pumpkin this summer. It is at least a metre in diameter, and still growing. He and his wife are well, the view is as good, and the food as simple as ever.
Local Archaeology
Archaeological work this summer has been going on at Perperikon, where they are now moving down one of the side-slopes, exposing more signs of habitation. Work has also started at the Deaf Stones, at the upper level of the site, just below the rock-carved steps. Lots of interesting bits and bobs, including iron nails and pieces of glass.
New Team Member
New addition to the Grapevine team since the last issue is Milligan, the footballing cat. His prowess with the ping pong ball is amazing. Also known as ‘El Moronico’, he is a four-month old tabby cat, completely devoid of an ounce of sense and, seemingly, totally fearless; he regularly risks dreadful danger by biting the editor-in-chief’s ankles. Swift and terrible retribution, rained down on him from on high, has so far failed to curb his enthusiasm for this dangerous pastime. If the editor-in-chief has her way, Kolarovo might become the first Bulgarian village to put a cat into space. Meanwhile he continues to eat, sleep, grow, play football, wreck things and plot his revenge.
Local Works
Work on the extension to the Castra Rubery vinery in Kolarovo carries on, more than ever at fever pitch, in order that there can be a practical completion by the start of the grape-picking, which is only some three to four weeks away. All the new buildings look as though they are to be clad in the same, very attractive, grey stonework as the original buildings.
The proposed change of Yoghurt HQ into a vinery seems to have been nothing more than another dream. Anyone planning a yoghurt-making venture, contact the writer.
Work has, also, been feverishly going on at Keith and Michelle’s project, the Bulgarska Polyana Wildlife Park, aided and abetted by Mervyn and Matt on groundworks, and Dereck on carpentry. It is due to open its doors, or gates, to its first visitors in about four weeks' time. Main attractions are two dogs, one cat with a kitten, twelve fish in very little water, a garden full of tortoises, a splendid collection of dead snakes, and a young goat that eldest son, Ben, swapped for his mobile phone. He says he has difficulty in getting a signal on the goat, but the ring tone is unusual and the calls are free.
Mid-August: In some summers this is the hottest time of the year. Summers when the thermometer hits more than 40º in the afternoon, with no wind and the air stiflingly hot and still. Even the birds find a shady spot to stand in for a while; it’s as if everyone is waiting for something to happen. Summers when the nights are so hot it is difficult to sleep: but not this one. This year the temperature at seven in the morning is about 20º and by midday it has risen to between 30º and 35º, but often accompanied by a breeze from the north, which has helped to keep things pleasantly cool.
At this time of year you start to notice the shift of the seasons. The evenings are starting to draw in; it gets dark just a little earlier. Migratory birds, perhaps fooled by the cooler than usual airs, seem to be thinking about selling up and moving on. In the early mornings the swallows and housemartins assemble in large flocks on the power lines to practise formation flying.
Birds that are not normally seen here put in brief appearances. Recently it has been the bee-eaters; slender birds, with multicoloured, irridescent plumage and long beaks, they swoop and swirl around Grapevine HQ for three or four days before moving on.
August is one of the favourite months for visitors from the UK. John and Carol, in Biser, have got John-Carol’s brother staying, and Keith and Michelle, in Bulgarska Polyana, seem to be having a steady stream of house guests; this week it’s Michelle’s son Lee and his girlfriend Sonya.
August is also one of the worst months for wild fires. One has been burning for three days now, away to the south, and the smoke is visible from Grapevine HQ. Everybody keeps one eye on the horizon during August for early signs of a nearby fire. Watching the Harmanli fire service turn out to attend a blaze is like watching the Keystone Cops in action.
Business News
Sakar Hills Camping has just had its busiest two weeks of the year; mainly French and Dutch campers, though also with quite a few from Slovenia, but all a really nice bunch of people.
The management are looking for a way to suitably express their gratitude to the Municipality of Harmanli for their continued help and support, or lack of it. In one week, one of their roadside camping signs on the edge of the town has been knocked over, another has had a diversion sign put right in front of it so it cannot be seen, and repairs to a burst water main required the digging of a large trench, by a lunatic digger driver, right across the entrance of the campsite. Currently, entry to the campsite has to be made over a series of boards, as efforts continue to try to press down the resulting pile of surplus mud, accumulated when the aforementioned trench was backfilled, or partly so, by the digger. Why is it that there is always twice as much soil after the event than came out of the hole?
Several block-bookings for September hold the promise of a busy time next month.
Visitors
Kees and Beya visited Sakar Hills Camping again this year, with their daughter Eva and their three cats, as did Arthur and Geri, all from the Netherlands. Lots of bikers from all over Europe have dropped in for a night or two.
Comet Magbaz, always a welcome sight in our part of the world, appeared at the end of April and dazzled us with its brilliance, before moving away in mid-June, on the outward leg of its annual journey, to the cold, dark wastes of the other side of the universe; somewhere called Finland. A faint message was picked up by the local radio telescope, located on the roof of Grapevine HQ, recently, giving a pinpoint position. Sail on, Comet Magbaz!
Ben and Hirma Bosch stayed for five days in August, before going on to a Bulgarian folk-dancing festival in Kotel, central Bulgaria. They joined the editorial staff for a very pleasant lunch last Saturday at Atanas's parents' house to celebrate ‘Virgin Mary’ day. The traditional meal of courban, a usually-inedible boiled-mutton, ghastly sort of soup, was served, which, for the first time in the writer’s experience, was very good. On Saturday we all celebrated the ‘name day’ for all those called Maria and Mary. This is an important religious and family day, because of the connection to the Virgin Mary. It is a holiday as significant in Bulgarian family life as Christmas, and an opportunity for families to get together and have an extended meal; something they are very good at. Colinka’s partner in the village shop in Biser gave out chocolates, another tradition, to customers in the shop, in similar celebration of being called Maria, although, almost certainly, the same prefix would not be applicable.
Raef and Meriam, German bikers on BMW 1100cc bikes, arrived a few days ago. They’re on the final leg of a three year trip around Europe and Asia. Of the Hylabovo chapter of the Hell’s Angels there is little or nothing to report. Founder members Bob and Daryl are still at large. Anyone wanting a pre-used, one-lady-owner, never raced, rolled or rallied, 4 x 4 vehicle (subsequently owned by three National Hunt jockeys, a Formula 3 driver and an Irish demolition contractor) should head their way.
Gardening News
Stefka Grosev, mayor of Kolarovo and founder member of the Kolarovo Hot Air Balloon Club, leaves on the 17th of this month for a ten-day holiday with her granddaughter Christina. Holding everything together in this vibrant community of twenty souls has clearly taken its toll, and she feels in need of some R and R (not rock and roll). She goes with everyone in Kolarovo’s best wishes, since it will be a somewhat quieter place without her for a few days. While she is away the cabbages recently planted in the garden at Grapevine HQ will be lavished with every care and attention, in a bid to get them to overtake hers in growth, so bringing to this office the Kolarovo Cabbage Trophy this year.
Some may remember how, last year, just when we thought the Trophy was ours, the garden water supply at Grapevine HQ mysteriously packed up, and she was able to steal the Trophy from under our nose. Her husband has been told that he must feed her chickens while she is away. The futures market in dead chickens has taken a sudden dive on receipt of this news.
This is the month when all the garden produce planning goes haywire. So good is the climate here that, this month, so many things ripen at the same time that it is impossible to eat or freeze it all. The garden here is currently giving up Swiss chard, spinach, okra, broccoli, aubergines, sweetcorn, marrows and tomatoes: lots of tomatoes. Potatoes, onions and garlic are lifted and stored; beans, runner and yellow, are in the freezer, which is now full to bursting.
Sakar Hills Camping is daily deluged with plums, peaches, melons and apples. Guests leave with bagfuls, not believing their luck.
Cabbage plants for the winter are in and, in the absence of our neighbour, being cosseted and encouraged to outperform hers.
Logs for the winter have been delivered and are being stacked. Tenders are being invited for the log-cutting contract.
Ilya, proprietor of the little restaurant by the reservoir at Studen Kladinets, has grown a giant pumpkin this summer. It is at least a metre in diameter, and still growing. He and his wife are well, the view is as good, and the food as simple as ever.
Local Archaeology
Archaeological work this summer has been going on at Perperikon, where they are now moving down one of the side-slopes, exposing more signs of habitation. Work has also started at the Deaf Stones, at the upper level of the site, just below the rock-carved steps. Lots of interesting bits and bobs, including iron nails and pieces of glass.
New Team Member
New addition to the Grapevine team since the last issue is Milligan, the footballing cat. His prowess with the ping pong ball is amazing. Also known as ‘El Moronico’, he is a four-month old tabby cat, completely devoid of an ounce of sense and, seemingly, totally fearless; he regularly risks dreadful danger by biting the editor-in-chief’s ankles. Swift and terrible retribution, rained down on him from on high, has so far failed to curb his enthusiasm for this dangerous pastime. If the editor-in-chief has her way, Kolarovo might become the first Bulgarian village to put a cat into space. Meanwhile he continues to eat, sleep, grow, play football, wreck things and plot his revenge.
Local Works
Work on the extension to the Castra Rubery vinery in Kolarovo carries on, more than ever at fever pitch, in order that there can be a practical completion by the start of the grape-picking, which is only some three to four weeks away. All the new buildings look as though they are to be clad in the same, very attractive, grey stonework as the original buildings.
The proposed change of Yoghurt HQ into a vinery seems to have been nothing more than another dream. Anyone planning a yoghurt-making venture, contact the writer.
Work has, also, been feverishly going on at Keith and Michelle’s project, the Bulgarska Polyana Wildlife Park, aided and abetted by Mervyn and Matt on groundworks, and Dereck on carpentry. It is due to open its doors, or gates, to its first visitors in about four weeks' time. Main attractions are two dogs, one cat with a kitten, twelve fish in very little water, a garden full of tortoises, a splendid collection of dead snakes, and a young goat that eldest son, Ben, swapped for his mobile phone. He says he has difficulty in getting a signal on the goat, but the ring tone is unusual and the calls are free.