Weekly Wrap-Up

Send Help — We Are Drowning In Apples!

My week in photos — Week 29 — September 29–October 5, 2022

I have to say, it is surreal to be here in Bulgaria picking apples in a climate and environment that is so similar to the one that we lived in Canada last. Back then, Chris had his own landscaping company which had him pruning all sorts of apple trees at the end of the season. Plus, one of my ‘jobs’ was a volunteer bookkeeper for our local food co-op. Through this role, I organized an annual cider pressing event where we would press apples into cider and sell it to raise money for the co-op.

Many fall days would have Chris and me meeting up to pick apples off of people's trees so that we could bring them to the event. Where we lived, on the west coast, the apples were a real problem as they attracted bears. So many groups would go around town and volunteer to pick the apples to try and relieve this problem.

I’m happy to say that there are no bears here, at least not in this area. But the apples are relentless and there are so many!

Last week I showed a picture of how many boxes of apples we picked on our first day. We figure it was between 150–200 kilos of apples. Well, as we are now onto the pruning stage of the project, and we are getting the apples higher up in the trees, each day we come away with 2–4 more boxes of apples. And these are just the good ones! There are countless more that are coming out of the trees that are not in good shape. Those ones get chucked over the fence at the bottom of the property, or simply fall to the ground.

We figure that there are easily the same amount of apples on the ground and rotting, as there are ones that we have picked. Probably more.

We have had mostly sunny days and the air is crisp and fresh, just like it was back home at this time of year. Some days I have to remind myself that we are actually on the other side of the world because everything just seems so familiar.

Beyond picking apples, we have also been taming an overgrown vine that was threatening to eat everything in its sight. Most of that is dealt with now, though, thankfully.

Beyond our time in the orchard, our first big excitement came on Saturday when we went with our host to a flea market. It was an interesting experience and gave us more of an insight into the local culture. You can read more about our experience in my article, A Trip To a ‘Secret’ Bulgarian Market.

We both love markets a lot and were thrilled to see all the things that were for sale. The produce and items from the farm were amazing and we love how much of a connection to the land that the people have here.

Bulgarians truly love good hearty home-cooked food made from real ingredients!

Our next exciting day was Chris’ 44th birthday which was on Monday. We took the day off and went into Varna to roam around and purchase some things we needed to get. We hit up another thrift store and we found some great deals on winter clothing. We aren’t sure where we will end up for winter this year, but we are better prepared for anything now than we were when we were living at the equator, that is for sure.

It was a bit of a miserable day! The first nasty day we have had here in Bulgaria, I think. So we walked around with our host's umbrella and spent as much time indoors as we could.

For lunch, we decided on Mr. Baba, a restored wooden ship that now sits on shore at the beach. We actually ate there when we were in Varna last in 2015, but Chris claims that he doesn’t remember. So we relived the experience so that it will be firmly implanted into his memory now!

A walk around Varna showed us some new sights that we hadn’t seen before. The architecture in the city is especially stunning!

Then it was back to the house to have some delicious food. We were truly spoiled once again by our host, who continues to make us the most incredible meals.

This time we sampled Rabbit as it is a commonly eaten meat here that is reserved for special occasions.

Other than that, we have been picking away on our project out in the orchard. We are really enjoying being stationary for a little bit and are so happy that we have stumbled on a place that is so warm and welcoming.

And now onto other news………

Something that I wanted to mention in this post is that I will be moving my weekly wrap-ups over to my own publication, Artistic Voyages News. The reason is that I want some more freedom with the pictures that I share including photos of people we meet along the way. I totally understand that Dennett needs to protect herself and is why she has the rules that she does. But of course, I can make my own rules on my own pub, and the photos that I share of people I meet, are always used with permission.

Having greater control over what I can and can’t post is very important to me moving forward.

I also want to import my mailing list from another platform to Medium, so I will be restructuring how I post a little bit, to accommodate them. It’s been something that I have been thinking hard about for a few months now, and I think I have finally come up with a good solution that will allow people to follow us on our journey, but they won’t have to necessarily pay for a Medium membership if they aren’t already members.

So, if you are interested in continuing to follow our nomadic journey, please let me know in the comments and I will tag you in the next post in my new publication. I am hoping to get that started next week.

I would like to wholeheartedly thank Dennett and the Weeds & Wildflowers publication for the opportunity to share my journey in the way that I have been. I am so grateful for the support I received as a new writer on Medium, and I look forward to continuing to post content in the publication in a different way.

Thank you so much to all of you who have joined me on this journey so far!

Much love,

Jill

Thanks so much for joining me in my week in photos. Dennett started this challenge in her publication Weeds & Wildflowers during the beginnings of the pandemic, and it has since grown to include many authors. Check out the amazing writing and photography of Anne | Erika | Jane | Eileen | Juan | David | Mia | Susan | LensAfield | Kim | Barbara | Diana | Barb | Sandra | Shruthi | Ellie | Pene | Olive | Gustavo | Penny | Scott | Sasha | Tracy | Lisa | June | K. Barrett | Ivy | Shell and of course our host Dennett.

If you want to read about my past weeks, I have put all of my weeks in photos into their own list:

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Hi there, we are 2 Canadians, Jill and Chris from Artistic Voyages. We have been nomadic since 2017 living in numerous different countries, and experiencing the life and diversity of our planet on the ground and firsthand. We paint FREE murals in exchange for accommodation. Consider tipping us on Ko-fi!

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