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When we couldn’t figure out where to put the toilet, we asked for help from our great friend, architect Georgi Hubenov. What we got was a vision for our humble house.

I apologize for this post in advance! Keep it a secret.

We hide her because she is full of enthusiasm! – And our friend Gosho thinks that enthusiasm is a sign of low culture, but we are very happy!

My father, grandfather Tosho called when he saw the project – delighted, excited, full of enthusiasm.

He prays he lives to see it built.

Until now, he only resented our madness.

Thank you, Gosho, for your time and talent.

For us, you are a hero – a mission to make the world a better place than we found it.

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Извинявям се за тази станица предварително! Пазете я тайна.

Крием я , защото е пълна с ентусиазъм! –  А нашия прелиятел Гошо смята че ентусиазма е признак на ниска култура, но много се радваме!

моят татко, дядо Тошо се обади като видя проекта- възхитен, развълнуван пълен с ентусиазъм. Моли се да е жив да го види построен. 

Досега само се гнусеше от нашата лудост.

Благодаря ти Гошо, за времето и таланта ти.

За нас ти се еден герой- мисия да отавим света по добро място отколкото сме то заварили.

350lv when it should have been 100lv

We got only one offer and this is something I would not recommend.

To be honest I will not do it again.

The worker asked for 350 lv (200 eu). A wooping weekly wage for a days work. 

He also promised that he would get the rubbish picked up. I thought it was worth it even if it was a bit pricey.

The two days he was there when I stopped by he was not there and it seemed to me that the whole thing could have been done in a day by one person. There was also a half drunk bottle of rakia (strong bulgarian alcohol) left after he was finished, which really scared the bejesus out of me as the temperatures were really high on the days he worked and also working with a heavy cutting machine was going to be on my mind if I knew about the rakia in advance. Ah sure, all is well that ends well. 

He finished the job in a few days. We could see the beauty of the place…. I realised that I would be missing the plants we had to cut in order to plan the works and I promised the land that we would be back healing the land with robust vegetation as soon as we could take care of it.

I queried that he told me that the rubbish would be picked up within this price, but he vehemently refused to admit that he included that in the initial quote.

When I work with rogue tradesmen I just can’t wait to see their back. 

It did teach me something though. I would not work with people without quotes as it is really difficult to feel accountable for your choices if you have not considered any options.

The seller is selling you a treasure throve of memories; they are selling you their home.

Once you buy it; there is a myriad of humans with different points of view on your life choices, but in Bulgaria to be on the safe side we stick with negativsm and cynicism.

So each “do gooder” and “well wisher” takes no time to tell you how stupid you are – this is the worst life choise you could have made. You have bought a deplorable ruin that would become a money pit. And could you have picked a worse view / access / location?

Now as a woman and a disabled person i have learned to take people’s wisdom with open heart and eyes, but primarily with a pinch of salt. 

I have heard them all. And to be honest I did hear them repeatedly. 

But mostly calmly, sometimes impatiently I managed to focus on what was ahead of us with the joy of anyone who has been given the chance to fix something, to open up opportunities, to get into the adventure of meeting new friends and creating a better place from the spot you have just become a keeper of.

So instead of dealing with others bullshit we decided to deal with our shit – we started with making space to see where to put the septic tank.

After rigorous conversation with family members who have been down the route of renovating an old house and getting opinions from people, albeit not all of them solicited it came down to the following: you need to clean up the space to see what can be put where…

Rem and I bought a house in Palamartza, Bulgaria; a small, but stunning village nearby my birth town Popovo.

We fell in love with the people, they are extremely helpful!
My buddy Desislava Ignatova from primary school has a home there too.

And we found so much support from friends and family- it is just a nest meant for us!

Look at its beauty!

Ha! The windmill makers do not live only in Elin Pelin’ s stories!

Photos Nevena Stanimirova Photography

Аз и Рем купихме къща в Паламарца. живот в село Паламарца, България. Малко, но изключително чаровно село близо до родния ми град Попово.

Влюбихме се в хората- добри, услужливи и ведри! И даже си имам приятелка от детството, която има къща там. Казва се Десислава Игнатова и е учителка в Попово, не се знаем от 7 годишни.

Много ни е драго че намерихме подкрепа от приятели и семейство . Това е просто гнездо, предназначено за нас! Вижте колко е красиво!

Ха! Майсторите на вятърни мелници не живеят само в историите на Елин Пелин!

Снимки Невена Станимирова Фотография