I had an unintentional week off from blogging. Since it is cherry season, and the harvest is in about a month we will be busy with that and all the other village work. There will probably be other lapses in writing.
The village has had us most of the last week. Weeding, pruning, planting, and even avoiding snakes! Just a little one, he was less than 3 feet long.
Just a little constrictor
He was sunning himself on the road when the little munchkin and I were returning from the Greats. (The Great Grandparents.) Fortunately, the neighbor lady I was walking home with saw him. I was busy driving a new kiddie contraption that needs a little adjustment. The steering was a little off…. but we avoided the slithering sunbather by a few feet. He or she was so happy to feel the heat, the stones I threw to shew it away were not headed. not a few minutes later, the hubby came alone in the tractor and a stick at his back side made him move reluctantly on to the side of the road.
In my blogging absence I have come across lot of things to share, most of which I cannot recall. But one that does stick out is the load pop I heard yesterday. I was in the apt with Mama and the baby. The loudest bang you can imagine out of now where startled me. Now, normally I am not unnerved by such things. But, since our first trip to Serbia 5 years ago, when a bomb went off in our building at 6AM, I am now a little weary of loud bangs and pops!
Mama said it was a car tire popping because of the heat. Another new thing to learn about in Serbia. Apparently, it is not uncommon for tires on old cars to pop on hot days. Interesting…
We have had a few summer type thunder showers in the past week. The lightening show was fierce on the the earliest. and the sun cam out while it was raining on both. There is a saying here when the sun shines during a rain storm here in Serbia, they say bears are getting married. 🙂 Cute, huh?
On our day in town of “rest” we had coffee with a friend on his rooftop! The view from the top of the bank at sunset was stunning!
I love sunsets!
Plants and so many chimneys covered the roof for the myriad of wood stoves that heat so many rooms.
This was the coolest chimney I saw.
The little monster ran around the roof with joy at finding a new place to explore. Avoiding the many hands of friends, she laughed, giggled and fell a few times too. Eventually all the running and laughing turned to fussing and we had to get back home to put the munchkin down for the night. I love how excited she gets when she is tired and she sees the bed. It is just how I feel sometimes.
Our slava, Sveti Nikola
Today is our families Slava. I am not looking forward to it. It is a fasting slava with fish and beans. I hate the fish, and the beans are made with no oil. so they stop up the plumbing. I am going now to eat some non-fasting food so my body doesn’t lead a revolt later that will put me in agony!
The early morning tradition for the day of slava.
Wish me luck!
I will post about the slava when I can.
Dobar Dan!
Chronicles of Serbia 
That was a cool catch-up on your news. I love the idea of bears getting married; almost as much as I love that post-storm moment with warm sunshine and the smell of steaming earth and leaves. I’m with you on the fish & beans predicament…. Buy yourself a bag of prunes and hope for the best, girl 😀
I didn’t eat any of the beans. or much of anything at all. I was “lucky to be distracted by the little one during the meals. and had foresight to stash junk food in the diaper bag to scarf down while she napped. 😉 it all worked out rather well! No plumbing problems! Now to listen to the thunder and rain for as long as I can today. Maybe a few bears will get hitched again!
I love Sidney snake. I wander about the vineyard in my flip flops. Mrs Sensible goes nutty… she tells me there are snakes out there and one of these days I will get bitten. Pah!!!
She might be right as a couple of weeks ago I saw a huge snake crossing the road. I don’t know if it was a biter or a strangler.
I don’t doubt there are lots. Keep a heavy foot pounding the ground. they may steer clear as they can feel the vibrations. There are tons here too. In our orchards I have seen a couple. I am sure The rustles I have heard have been more than just the pretty little green lizards that move like lightening. I am grateful, there are far less venomous vipers here in The old world than back in the U.S. and no poisonous spiders! My brother almost died from a spider bite last year. no joke!
I was bitten by a spider last year and my ankle ballooned. I think it was an allergic reaction. They put me on antibiotics because the bite became infected…
Wow, crazy what a little spider can do! here is what happened to my brother… if you feel like reading.
http://lafemmet.blogspot.com/2012/04/along-came-spider.html
Why did you swap to wordpress?
I was uploading pics from the computer and ran out of space on blogspot. (that was before I started using the URL option.) I started looking for another blog site and found I liked the layout for wordpress better. It was a good switch. I really like WP for lots of reasons!
I am new to this blogging lark, I started in September and have only used wordpress.
It is nice and easy.
I read the post about the spider bite and a couple of others, My bite wasn’t as bad, it just created swelling and a big blister.
I started writing as therapy and long letters home on my first visit to Serbia. Culture shock was really hard on me. Now, I just love writing and sharing my experiences with friends and family back home. I would never have guessed you just began. You are a great writer!
That is very kind, it’s not true but it is very kind, I write just for the fun and to practice.
I have a book that is being printed, whether it will sell is another story.
I haven’t found too much off a culture shock here, it is just a bit crazy and things just take longer to happen and be a bit more complicated.
I also like the fun comments that get sent back and forth. PN