Dark Skies Looming

.....and the snow lingers on too, but even though it’s a Sunday the daily routine doesn’t stop.

The cockerel struts around in clear knowledge that he will be fed. He might have to wait until the cows are bedded and milked, so in the meantime, makes the most of the scraps he and his mates can find lying around the barn. Goats need feeding more now as they await their new-borns in the spring and of course Sunday lunch needs preparing.

Whilst all of this is going on behind closed doors, minus fourteen outside, (and thanks to the hard earned logs), plus 28 inside, of course neighbours need to be checked on and kept up to date with everything else that is going on in the village, so a quick pop outside to freshen up and pass the time of day is a necessity.

Keep warm.

.......it just keeps on coming!

The snow continues to fall and the village continues to get on with daily life. Obviously at this time of the year the crops are unworkable, but the winter brings with it other work, such as I mentioned the other day, chopping wood, cleaning hearths, lighting the wood stoves and of course clearing the snow so that you can get the work done. Our neighbours too have the pigs to tend, chickens to feed, eggs to collect, goats and cattle to milk. Life goes on here in the village despite the weather. If it doesn’t you freeze or starve.

Snow Day!

Snow day has arrived and these four just love to play in it!

The rest of us, well maybe a little sledging and skiing, but only after the logs are chopped, the fires are lit and the stew is bubbling away on the stove.

Tomorrow, we’ll possibly have a lovely winter barbeque, jacket potatoes and hot chocolate or perhaps mulled wine.



Where Life is Good

Nestled in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains, we are well protected from the worst of the weather, so summers are generally hot and dry. But we’re not in summer now, we’re slap bang in the middle of the winter season, which means that all around us is white with snow and it’s beautiful.

As with most of our neighbours, we spend quite a lot of the day chopping wood for the two wood burners and a little extra for the open fireplace in the lounge where we settle down in the cold evenings. It might be minus 18 outside, but inside it’s lovely and cosy, curled up with the dogs on the sofa.

The roads are generally very good and of course cars built for the weather, so a trip into Deva is easy, unless we meet a stranded car and tow it up the hill to safety. Weekends are B-B-Q’s in the snow, either at home, the neighbours or after a day skiing in the mountains at the side of the cabin with hot wine and tuica.