Saturday 16th March 2019

Today is Todorovden in Bulgaria, a festival often marked by horse racing, and this year one of the local riding schools put on an event for the public. The place is called Alfa Riders and is only about a 15 minute drive away, so some friends and I headed off there this morning.

To begin with everyone was allowed to have a go at the three activities laid on, namely archery, javelin throwing and horse riding. I think the last time I threw a javelin would have been during a PE lesson aged about 14, and although I didn't have the strength to get the javelin to land in the target of a stack of straw bales, I was pleased it at least went in that general direction.

The horse riding just involved sitting on the horse and being led around the field, along with all the other children having a go (I jest, there were at least two other adults who tried riding). The biggest struggle was getting on the beast in the first place, and having grabbed hold of the saddle and heaved myself level with it, I didn't have the strength to then swing my other leg over, at which point the saddle began to slip sideways. Another rider came to the rescue and did the straps up tighter, and this time I managed to get into the saddle without too much drama. It still felt incredibly high and wobbly walking round, and probably not something I'll be taking any further any time soon, but good fun anyway.

After this, there were the competitions for anyone who wanted to participate. Firstly archery and then javelin. The same guy won both events and from the way he was firing off arrows and launching the javelins I suspect he was a bit of an athlete in his younger days.

Time for a snack - an enormous sausage wedged into half a loaf of bread, and divinely tasty - and to watch the proper riders competing in the horse events. Firstly there was an obstacle race. The rider had to dip a cup into a bucket of water, then ride along to another bowl and pour the water in. They did this three times, after which they had to zig zag between bales of straw before picking up a sack of something and riding to a tyre which they dropped the sack into, and finally galloping to the finish line. Some of the horses were a bit nervy of the bales but they all completed the event.

Whilst we were watching, a very animated Bulgarian guy came over to talk to us. His sister and brother were competing and he was clearly very proud of their skills. He himself had spent time in Maidstone, Kent a couple of years ago, fruit picking, and told us about his time living in a caravan there and working for a Romanian boss. That's how he learned English as it was a common language for them to use. Maybe it was the excitement of the day, or the can of beer he was drinking, but he very effusely professed his love for his motherland and how he had to return to her. I love that kind of patriotism, born out of pride and love for his country rather than the negative xenophobic kind of patriotism which social media seems to be sadly full of nowadays.

The final race was just a straight race across the field (Monica, the guy's sister, won) and then everyone lined up for a photo.

The arrival of spring has meant the usual rows and rows of yoghurt pots full of soil covering every surface on the landing, and already the tomatoes, peppers, courgettes, brocolli, cabbage and spinach are germinating. The plastic screens on the balcony mean that it's lovely and warm out there on sunny days, so the seedlings have been getting huge doses of sunlight before coming back indoors at night.

One of the new things I'm trying this year is the propagtion of fruit trees. A few weeks ago a young Bulgarian couple who have moved to the village, had a guy come for the day to help explain how to graft fruit tree sprigs onto wild bushes or trees. I think the basic rule was that you must graft a stone fruit onto another type of stone fruit, and seed fruits with seed fruits. So, for example, you could graft an apple tree onto a hawthorn bush.

He first went along the border of the couple's plot of land, identifying suitable bushes or trees, and then demonstrated the grafting process. First you find a newly growing shrub/tree and clear away all growth around it except for the one main stem. With a sharp knife you cut across this stem at an angle, aiming to get a completely flat ellipse shape. Once you've done that, you take the fruiting sprig you want to graft (which must be equal to or narrower than the host stem). Cut across it in the same manner. Once you've done that then you make a little horizontal nick in both of the cut ends, which is how they will slot together, one inside the other.

Once you have them neatly slotted together you then bind around the join with tape to help secure them, and then cut straight across the top of the fruit sprig and dab a bit of a protective compound on it to stop it rotting.

We were all given sticks to practise on, but I really couldn't get the hang of cutting straight enough, and ended up with lumpy, bumpy ellipses. The others (who were grafting sticks onto shrubs like crazy) comfortingly said it took a lot of practice to get the knack - I'm thinking maybe several years' practice and a massively sharp knife.

Unfortunately, my garden has zero wild fruit shrubs/trees, so there's nothing for me to graft onto, but a bit of Googling said that it's possible to start new trees from cuttings using another method:

1. Start with a huge bucket full of clippings from a Granny Smith apple tree. The cuttings must be of new growth for best results.

2. Cut a sprig down to about 10 inches long and rough up the bark between the bottom two buds. These buds are where the roots will develop, and damaging the bark promotes growth apparently.

3. Dip the end of the cutting into rooting compound. In the absence of fancy stuff you can use apple cider vinegar, cinnamon (like me) or even human saliva apparently!

4. Poke the stick into a pot of nice composty, sandy soil, water and wait.

I have two pots of about 30 cuttings (never one to take chances) and if even one of them manages to develop roots I'll be thrilled. If they all do... well, see my stall at the car boot sale.

It's not just the garden in full flow at the moment, the house is having a mini makeover too. Firstly a lovely friend volunteered to make me a full set of curtains for downstairs, so I chose a gorgeous bright shade of red material which has a little grey flower design on it. It's lovely soft material but quite thick, so no need for curtain liners. Don't they look cosy?

There was some material left over, so I've used the reverse side to make some simple tie backs, decorated with a big silver button and some of my hundreds of crafting beads.

There's still a bit of material left, so I'm going to recover one of the big cushions with it.

The other bigger change is that someone's making me a fitted wardrobe for the spare bedroom, complete with sliding doors. Inside there will be a shelving unit on one side where I can stash all my crafty things like baskets of wool and the aforementioned beads, so the idea is that the spare room can be more of a little work room with everything to hand but neatly hidden out of sight when I'm not using things.

The old clunky wardrobe which was in there has been relocated to the shed, and, with the help of my wonderful DIY shelving skills, it's now a store for all my preserves as well as a ton of other untidiness.

Pickled onions anyone?