Tuesday 25th May 2021

I just found two ticks embedded in me whilst showering this morning! Hopefully they only arrived during the afternoon walk with the dogs yesterday, and haven't been slurping at my blood unnoticed for a while. I managed to pull one off but had to use the tick twister device to unscrew the other one which wasn't pleasant. Now I know why Alfie dog flinches when I'm doing this to him.

I seem to have removed hundreds of these creatures from the cats and dogs over the past couple of months. Whether it's a particularly bad year for them, or whether it's just that we're walking through rough countryside more than at Gostilitsa I don't know, but despite putting drops on all the animals, the ticks still seem to be latching on daily. Alfie with his thick longer fur seems to suffer most from them, but he's very patient whilst I rifle through his fur to remove the latest batch. Sukie and Poppy also pick up quite a lot (they're both cats) but the ticks mainly latch onto their faces or necks so they're quite easy to spot.

Enough of the tick talk, I'm starting to feel itchy!

I'm writing this blog entry whilst waiting to set off to the doctor for my second Covid vaccine. I had the first dose pretty much a month ago, and had no ill effects apart from a killer arm for 24 hours. I'm all prepared to have a lazy day tomorrow, lounging in front of the TV munching the last of my Easter stash of chocolate mini eggs, if I'm suffering again. If I feel fine then I'll eat the eggs by way of a celebration. Win win!

Between vaccine doses I've had another trip away, this time to the coast, which, despite having visited and lived in Bulgaria for 16 years, I've hardly explored at all. This time it was a camping trip to three locations north of Varna where the coast tends to be less developed and more rocky. Our first stop was for lunch on the little peninsular of Kaliakra.

If you haven't been then I highly recommend it as it's such a scenic spot. There are the remains of buildings on the site dating back to the 4th century BC, and a small museum shows some of the finds from different ages, as well as a nice model of how the fortress would have looked. Sitting at one of the restaurant tables overlooking turquoise blue sea with cormorants diving into the water and bright red poppies scattered on the cliffs was truly picturesque.

We headed a little further up the coast to a tiny cove for our first night, and by about 6pm we were the only ones there. The numerous rocks and clear water make it a great place for snorkeling (once the sea warms up!) and even just standing on the rocks I could see fish, crabs, shrimps and even a small snake. There was also a pied wheatear flying around the low cliffs; one of the birds in the red book of endangered species.

The second day we drove towards Tyulenovo, a small fishing village with a little harbour full of metal slipways for launching the fishing boats. The name of the village comes from the word for monk seal, as at one time they were apparently numerous in the seas around here. Sadly no seals to be seen now, but still lots of seabirds swooping around the craggy cliffs as the waves surge in and out of the caves below. I would say that nowadays the area should be much more renowned not for seals but for the evidence of oil drilling. That's right, crude oil.

In 1951, oil fields were discovered in this area, and as you walk along the cliffs to the north of the village you pass dozens of huge storage tanks, covered in graffiti, and see the rusty remains of valves laying crookedly among the weeds. Don't think that it's all in the past though. After years of abandonment, oil is once more being harvested, and you can see several small pumping jacks nodding up and down as oil slowly trickles into the tanks again. Here's a clip of one in action:

It's interesting to see, but also means that much of the area stinks of crude oil and sulphurous fumes, which isn't very pleasant.

After lunch we headed off to find a place to camp, and selected a sheltered little cove guarded by these weird boiler men with their fierce faces. They reminded me of something out of an old Dr Who episode!

The little beach there was smothered in cockle shells, and I collected a big bag full to bring home for decorating the garden.

The third night was spent at possibly one of the loveliest beaches I've ever seen. It was further north still, and was a completely unspoilt stretch of sand bordered by soft dunes and the sea which was once more the most stunning shade of blue.

It was mighty cold though! I badly needed to wash my hair so I thought I'd use a bucket of sea water for the actual washing and then have a final rinse with the precious drinking water. Talk about brain freeze! I really want to come back here later in the year though, after the sea has warmed up, and maybe spend a few days just in this one spot.

This trip has also sent me on a mad shopping spree, trying to find the perfect tent for a bit more of a luxurious stay. The ones I use at the moment are perfectly fine, and quick to put up, but they're really just for sleeping in, plus you can't stand upright in them, so getting dressed is a bit of an acrobatic wriggle dance. I've been eyeing up some bigger tents with standing room and a separate bedroom area, and idly daydreaming about packing the car with a comfy campbed, lots of food, a little table, cosy bedding... I think I'm going to need a bigger clump of trees to pitch my tent in!

I must just mention briefly one other trip which took place a few weeks prior to this one, and that was another jaunt to the river Arda where we went seeking treasure last autumn. No jewels to be found this time either, though I did manage to sift out a bunch of tiny garnets using my new turbo gold panning dish. No, what I want to mention though is the decision to climb up to an abandoned mine at the top of a very steep hill, just outside the town of Madzharovo.

The path to it winds up through woodland before you start making your way up the loose scree which is all that remains of the previous mining activity. The more I think back on this, the more I realise what a wildly insane and potentially dangerous thing it was to do. I mean, these enormous boulders towering above us are ready to tumble down at any point, and the whole hillside is just a heap of loose, crumbly rocks with some rather nasty steep drops thrown into the mix. Here I am, partway up the higher bit.

There were several times when I felt I'd reached a point where I couldn't go up the way I was heading, but didn't feel I had a secure enough hold to get back down again. A bit scary when your fingertips are clinging onto the smallest ledge and every time you move your foot you feel it slipping away from you on the gravel.

As if going up wasn't hard enough, coming back down was a lot worse! My strategy in the end was just to sit as close to the ground as possible and slide down. I figured if the whole thing started to move then at least my head wouldn't be far from the ground and I could just go with the flow, literally! I think the face in this picture says it all.

Having said all that, it was AWESOME!! Hehe.

A quick update on the covid jab, which happened three days ago now. Oh my word, what a bad reaction to it! I thought the first time was painful enough, having an arm that felt for 24 hours like it had been kicked by a horse, but that was nothing compared to this time. As well as the arm pain, which lasted much longer, I found myself shivering in bed with a headache and back pain, which by the next day had moved onto feeling slightly nauseated and very light headed, like when you have a really bad cold or the flu. I literally spent the whole day in bed with the curtains drawn, feeling really wiped out. So much for my plans to watch TV and scoff chocolates! I had no appetite and just wanted darkness.

Thankfully by the third day the light headedness had gone and I just had a few aches, and as of today all that's left is a bruised feeling at the site of the injection. I'm dreading the type of reaction any booster shots might induce now. I was supposed to get my vaccine certificate but some change in the system meant that it's not recognising any non-Bulgarian names, so I've to wait whilst the doctor sends off the correct details to head office. Meanwhile it's back to pottering in the garden as the veggies are now in full on growth mode, and very excitingly, the workmen are returning on Sunday to continue with the house renovations. This might be the year all the major work gets finished, fingers crossed!