Hammers And Camping Stoves

This is day 6 at Camp Vineyard and a major improvement in the weather was prompting me to get back on the road, which I'm keen to do as I sit here typing next to my beloved BMW R1200GS who has been patiently standing idle for all but one of the last 6 days. But a conversation with Klaas (see previous blogs) and the calls of "Hello Chris" from the array of smiling children had my heart melting again and there's still work to be done here. Of course, it's a pleasure to stay and help these wonderful people, so Klaas and I built this wood store today (pic) which we are both quite proud off as it took some ingenuity to piece together from various bits we could find scattered round the campsite. Proper recycling!
Did have to spend a little time convincing the children, who were sure we were building my new home, that it was in fact a wood store. There such a pleasure to have around and makes all the work so worthwhile.

Heard more about the place today which is terribly sad but ends well. The family who originally owned this property and its reasonably extensive land, also owned 6 other properties all over Romania and were considered 'blue blood' (aristocracy) by the Chauchesku (phonetic spelling) Regime, so were all massacred when found taking shelter in their own cellar. Chauchesku wanted their properties. Once the Revolution was over and Nicolae Ceaușescu was crushed (read: executed), the rebuilding began, but, in this case, no surviving family members or descendants could be traced so the new government granted the properties rent free, on a 99 year lease, to good causes. This is the good from the bad and even better, if the properties have been seen to be properly used and maintained for the good of their causes, they get to keep them outright once the lease has expired. Hence the Childrens Home & Orphanage here on Camp Vineyard, but as you can imagine it's hard work and needs funding as the campsite revenues are not enough. But there are sponsors, like the Dutch family of 3 that arrived today because their daughter who must be in her late teens/early twenties, wanted to hand over the substantial amount of money she had raised for the Foundation, by convincing supermarkets back in Holland to give her, free, the ingredients she needed for the apparently delicious waffles she makes and sold. Thank God for these people, they make the difference.

 Ah! It's sweet little Nina again with another plate of hot food and ice cold beer. "Thank you, thank you". I remove the foil and wow! a mattress-sized slab of lasagna, the aroma is mouth-watering and I rush for my ferry-pinched knife and fork. Well, the best lasagna I've ever tasted, I kid you not; I know I've been labouring all day and am ravenous but this is taste-buddingly outstanding.
Nina returns to collect my cat-licked plate (cat; my new white, feral, furry friend that often turns up and purringly sits on my lap when I'm eating, funny that). I ask and Nina tells me that it was Corrie (Klaas wife) who made the scrumptious food; how she finds the time, beggars belief, especially now, as 5 more children come here, for the afternoon, every afternoon, as of yesterday, because sadly, their father died last week and the mother simply cannot cope on her own, so, of course, they welcome them with open arms.

For me, the rest of Romania and Bulgaria will have to wait, which is fine, as I have the time and today was another great day!

I'm tired and will sleep well but there's wide enough eyes for a movie before bed ... Good evening all x