Living in Albania

The love rush one might feel they first settle in a new place tends to dull after a few months or years. But after seven years and I feel like I am falling more and more in love with this corner of the world. The peaceful tranquility of our homestead with the rest of the world on the brink of disaster, man made or otherwise, seems to be so far out of reality to the joy we consume waking up here. Yes, yes, Albania is a country with many flaws and numerous needs improvement categories like wide roads with shoulders, waste/recycle management, and their lax rules on smoking indoors. Some of my biggest pet peeves here but neither dampen my deep love and admiration for this land.

Our corner

It provides us food year round between the fruit/nut trees, vines, and garden we have an abundance to keep us well fed all year long. Plus the chickens provide proper pest control and constant supply of protein. And the fat and meat from our pigs keep the deep freezers stocked a few times a year. When we have an excess of food we share with my family that lives in the city, trade with the neighbors and share with our guests.

We've been actively harvesting pears, figs, mulberries, beans, peppers, cucumbers,

zucchini, squash, salad greens, potatoes, herbs and even our first tomato. It's been a tasty few weeks with new recipes of squash wraps, fresh salads, stuffed peppers and delicious bean soups. We've also restocked the deep freeze with 60 kg of fresh pork.

We've hatched 22 new chicks to add to our homestead and to the pest patrol. They are doing a great job. One thing about Albania is that our crops and homes are not sprayed with harmful chemicals or pesticides so without chickens our homestead would be a bug circus. Despite the raging heat that has come up on this last week we are still collecting around 7-11 eggs a day. I suspect that July may see that number dip considering the extreme temps are surpassing the last seven years here.

We've added the trail cam back to the piggy cooling pond to watch the wildlife come by for a quick drink or a refreshing dip. Even caught some night footage of a hedgehog we call Spike (they are suppose to help deter snakes) and so many turtles.

The vineyard is coming along and the difference a month can make is always astonishing.

We've had to step up our watering game with all trees including the chestnut, walnut and hazelnut trees.

Our thana trees (cornelius cherries) have started to ripen.

The figs are coming in fast. The June shinz figs have started to ripen and are delicious.

The apple trees are hanging on by a wing and prayer. We've used this little breathable baggies to protect them from worms and other creatures of destruction but have still lost a few too many.

The plums, lemons, and orange are yielding less than a handful of fruit.

Art has been cutting the grass in the orchard via scythe this month. And I am mean an entire month. He's waking with the roosters at mid sunrise and knocking out a few lines until the sun peaks over around 10 am. Our highs have been in the triple digits for those on the western scale and up to 40 C over here. Most of the pomegranate trees have recovered from the frost but the bark damage of some trees show evidence of loss that will likely die off next season. It's always a give and take with this investment. But the juice come October makes the sweat equity somewhat even out.

Art did get a day off and spent the night with family up in the Albanian Alps and hiked to Mount Vajush. Not his first trip up the mount but equally as stunning. I enjoyed the drive up to pick him up and captured a bit of the wonderous landscape we are blessed to have out our back door.

The Orchard Guard Tower has been occupied 21 days out of 30 in June and we've hosted some incredible people from all over the world. A lovely couple from Australia, adventurous hikers from Germany, a sweet family from Russia, wonderstruck by Albania friends from Portugal, dog rescuing couple from Germany, a super generous couple from the UK, brave bikepackers from the Netherlands and a talented couple from Ukraine. We've qualified as Superhost on AirBNB starting July 1 and have been listed as a guest favorite. The OGT is in the top 5% of eligible listings based on ratings, reviews, and reliability. We are constantly learning and loving the quality time we've shared with each of our guest. Our calendar is pretty full until October but if you heading this way and the dates align come on over and stay a while.

And some of our favorite shots of the month include the birds, bees, butterflies and turtles.

We had the joy of celebrating a month of birthdays here at Homestead Albania. My Art has crested the fifty and over club with grace. My nephews and niece were in town to celebrate their birthdays as well. The quality time is fleeting as the kids grow up but it's always fun when they are all together.

And this my friends is what it is like living in Albania. A glimpse of our highlighted events jam packed into one post but it really is pretty magical to live and play here. When are you coming over?