Green is good.

[sirona_fics]

6th May is St George's day over here, so everyone with a name derivative of 'George' has a name day - like, for example, Georgiana, my cousin. All of us picked up and went - hasn't happened in a while, it's usually just me and my cousin, or sometimes my sister and her fiance as well. We were all there together for 2 nights, and the amount of (home-made) wine that was consumed was staggering. We once drank our way through 8 liters between the four of us. Luckily, we make out own wine, have done for over 60 years, so we are all used to it, meaning no nasty hangovers! For me the only side effect is a slight irritability the next day.

My Grandma's house is in the most beautiful location, right at the base of Rila mountain, which is the tallest on the Balkans. Springtime there is absolutely breathtaking. We went up to Rila Monastery as well, which we try to do every time we go over there, it has a very strange but immensely uplifting energy surrounding it. I'll try to take more pictures next time; everything was so green that I actually forgot to snap it - I was overwhelmed by the freshness after such a long, cold winter. My Grandma's garden is looking up, too, but wasn't as green as it will get in, say, a month or two. I'll snap more pics of it then, too.





Inspired by prettypriestess' recent pic spam, I thought I'd upload a few of my own. These were taken at Rila Monastery, Bulgaria.
















There were these two cats, obviously living and being fed there. They were the most people-friendly cats I've ever seen! They weren't bothered by us at all, and literally swarmed around us in search of food. As you can see, they are nowhere near starving! There was this little human, he must have been about 3, he was facinated by them. His dad was all over him, trying to get him not to mangle them too much. He was trying to feed them crisps, saying, "eat, eat!", then when they turned their noses up, he promptly ate them himself. XDDD Seriously adorable.




My darling people being all silly 'n stuff XDD (from left to right - my sister's fiance, my sister, my cousin). I'm much more of a snapper than a poser, there aren't that many pics with me in them (unless someone papz me).





In otehr news, I finally made it to see KickAss. And it was AMAZING, OMG I LOVED THAT FILM!!! HitGirl is my favourite thing ever. They should totally make a film where she's the main character, she stole the film from Nick Cage, for fuck's sake!!!

Also, the last 20 minutes or so of the film - I WANTS ME ONE OF THEM, PRECIOUS. FR REAL, BBS.

This afternoon - Iron Man 2. Expect another gush at some point.

Comments

[aurrai.livejournal.com]

What is it with everyone going to their grandma's places these days? (I'd get on the bandwagon but it's a seven-hour drive ㅠㅅㅠ). The old-school architecture really appeals to me. I'll have to get myself over to Europe one day. One day.

[sirona-gs.livejournal.com]

Well, depending on which route we take, it takes (alternatively) 4 or 5 1/2 hours to get to my gran's (reduce estimate by 1 hour if my dad is driving and we don't make any stops). So it does take time, and sadly we usually only go if we have a few days off, otherwise it is a killer to make the return trip a day after getting there.

Re: coming to Europe - come visit me sometime! I'll take you to all the really old places so you can marvel at how the buildings are only barely falling apart.

[aurrai.livejournal.com]

AHAHA SUCKERED YOU INTO GIVING ME FREE ACCOMMODATION YESSS

Europe always seems so green! This is all I ever get to see so I'm really envious of you. I hope you don't take it for granted.

You know I was feeling sorry for myself the other week not knowing anyone else in the LiveJournal Naruto fandom living here; I can only imagine how few Bulgarian people you meet! D:

[sirona-gs.livejournal.com]

Winter here is really fucking long (or so it seems to me), so when things start getting green again I feel as if I'm coming back to life together with Nature. I never take it for granted.

"I can only imagine how few Bulgarian people [in the LJ Naruto fandom] you meet!" None so far. People here aren't too much into anime and manga - I think that whole subculture sort of passed us over. I'm sure there are some people, but I am yet to meet any that are over 15 years old. I should probably put more effort into finding them, though... But I am far too lazy.

[prettypriestess.livejournal.com]

What. How do you guys LIVE like that? My grandma is like... a 20 minute drive away. I go there and mooch food all the time. My OTHER grandparents are EVEN CLOSER. And they have WAY MORE FOOD.

I BET YOU BOTH FREQUENTLY STARVE WITHOUT NEARBY GRANDPARENTS TO SPOIL YOU TO DEATH, DON'T YOU?

[sirona-gs.livejournal.com]

I KNOW, RIGHT? I had to learn to cook, I'm that far away from Grandma's place! Also, my other grandma is a fantastic cook, but not the nicest person you've ever met. We're not particularly close.

[prettypriestess.livejournal.com]

D8 THAT FAR AWAY? So you, like, cook. Every day. MY GOD, WOMAN. YOU NEED SOME HELP.

The grandma with the pretty garden is um, a pretty nice woman. Because she likes us. But, I'm pretty sure she runs at least three circles of Hell. Plus, she's a necromancer. >.>

[sirona-gs.livejournal.com]

"So you, like, cook. Every day. MY GOD, WOMAN. YOU NEED SOME HELP. HAH, GET READY FOR THIS. I ENJOY IT.

My living-far-away gran is a total tartar. She is a proper old-fashioned matriarch - y'know the type, "DO THIS OR YOU'LL BE SORRY". I love her like woah. I'm actually named after her, and look like she used to when she was my age. She is awesome. Also, one of the strongest women I've ever met emotionally.

My other gran is more like "the snob smelling something unpleasant" sort. She used to make us eat with books under our arms so we'd learn to sit at the table properly. There was also the walking with books on our heads for bettering our posture. Excellent for manners - not so good for fostering affection. I felt like I was in one of the more unpleasant Jane Austen novels - early "Mansfield Park", perhaps?

[prettypriestess.livejournal.com]

I ENJOY IT. ...WHAT. WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU? YOU LIKE COOKING? URGH.

My garden grandmother was the one with the manners and the making us into Mature Adults with budgets and good husbands, unlike our mother. The other grandmother is SO COUNTRY it's not funny. Like, she can kill and skin animals! And has! AND THEN SHE COOKS THEM. and they're delicious.

They're like... as far apart as they can get. :/