Seaside Village in Italy Paint By Numbers

My second paint-by-numbers picture hangs finally on the wall. I bought the kit shortly after I finished by first paint-by-numbers picture last winter, and it took me longer than a year to open it and start my new picture.

This time I had chosen a kit with a very detailed painting, I wanted it look like a real painting, with tiny brushstrokes and sufficient color range and in this regard I am very satisfied. However, the colors came a little different than the ones I had seen on the computer monitor, when I ordered the kit - they seem to me a bit too loud, gaudy and garish, despite the abundance of white, grey and brown in the picture.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the process a lot and there will be other paint-by-numbers pictures in the coming years, I'm sure. What I still haven't decided is whether I prefer to buy it framed, as was my first picture, or frame it afterwards, as this second one. The later option is easier to order online and the choice there is limitless, compared to the availability in the physical shops in Sofia.

A few snapshots of the process, which started sometime at the beginning of July: 

14 July 2025

20 July 2025

 

06 August 2025

I am a big lover of audiobooks and I listened to several, both in English and German, during the painting of the picture, which took hundreds of hours to finish.

23 August 2025

 

31 August 2025

 

18 September 2025

I was worried about the crinkles of the canvas, as the kit arrived with the canvas folded in a box. I researched the treatment of the crinkles before I started the painting and ironed it carefully, which removed the crinkles only partially. However, the final stretching of the picture over the frame helped a lot and I don't think the crinkles are visible any more. 

My kit did not contain an acrylic varnish, but I've been researching the topic and I'm thinking of buying some and varnishing the picture, to protect it from dust, moisture and light - not that I consider it a masterpiece, but I nevertheless value the effort and time I invested in it and would be sad, if it was damaged or ruined.

Bosnek 2025

Bosnek is one of our favourite places on Vitosha in the autumn. The trail from the village to the Live water spring is easy and extraordinary beautiful, when the leaves are colored in autumnal tones and it's pure pleasure to hike there. 

However, the village is fairly far from home, the drive there is long and the traffic is usually busy, so we visit it quite rarely - the last time was four years ago. This last Sunday, however, the weather forecasts were for a cold and partially cloudy day after a couple of cold and rainy days, so we decided to postpone our annual big hike on Kladnitza and to go to Bosnek.

It was definitely the right decision, as we had a marvelous time there, despite the biting cold in the morning. 

The promised Indian summer is eluding us this autumn, but the trees on the southern slopes of Vitosha are in their most gorgeous outlook.

Hike info:

Date: 19 October 2025

Destination: Live Water Spring, Bosnek

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 10.5 km

Elevation gain: 100 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): 4 hours

Average difficulty: 3 / 10 

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda Cargo pants, Burda longsleeve, Burda hoodie, knitted woolen socks

I: lingerie, Burda hoodie, leg warmers, fingerless mitts

As usual we took the detour to Borova polyana and had our picnic there, under this big beautiful tree. The sun shone through the clouds and it was warm enough to enjoy our usual beers and tortillas :)

The obligatory visit to the Live water spring.

And back to the village along the same trail. The sun was strong in the early afternoon and the temperatures rose, it was a very pleasant hiking experience.

Razgrad in Autumn 2025

Just a couple of photos from my visit to Razgrad this week. I was lucky to enjoy some nice mild weather with lots of sun in the afternoon, a welcome break from the cold, that met me back in Sofia.

::The town square 

::The old Ibrahim Pasha mosque, now being restored as a museum and the monument of Master Manol, a legendary builder in Balkan folklore

::The old clock tower

::The gates of a house in traditional style and the towers of the church

::The community center

::War memorial

::The city park

Framed Cross Stitch Italy by Franz Heigl

In 2008, before the blog, I was crazy about cross stitching. It was my main hobby and I stitched quite a number of pieces of needlework, including this cross stitch, which was designed, based on a painting by Franz Heigl. I like it a lot, but I had never even washed it after finishing it.

Lately I saw an identical cross stitch work, framed in a wooden frame from IKEA. I had the same frame, bought for a different project, but the frame turned out to be not suitable for the intended work. Serendipity - Italy by Heigl was to be finally framed and hanged on the wall.

 

I dug up a few photos of my process back in 2008.

I must have started the cross stitch in May 2008:

My progress in June 2008:

A month later in July 2008:

Almost finished in September 2008:

It stayed in this condition in my cross stitch box, with the light yellow lines still unwashed, for 17 years!

Proudly hanging on the wall, I am truly happy that it finally adorns the room.

Quiche

Quiche is one of the dishes, that I've been obsessed by lately. I used to consider it difficult and time-consuming to make, but I came upon an idea for the crust, that revolutionized my understanding of the dish and quickly turned it into a staple.

I've gathered some pictures from the last two quiches that I baked recently, but the varieties are endless - quiche is more an algorithm, than a recipe.

The main feature of the dish is the crust, which I prepare into the chopper.

Ingredients:

• 90 g wholegrain flour
• 85 g white flour
• 60 g water
• 55 g sunflower or other vegetable oil
• half a teaspoon of salt

Preparation: 

Mix the ingredients in the chopper with short pulses, until a dough is formed. Place the dough in a form and spread it evenly on the bottom, forming a border of 2-2.5 cm on the side. Cover the dough with baking paper and baking weights (I use a bowl of designated beach stones).

Bake in a preheated oven for 20 min at 200C. Take the dish out of the oven, remove the baking paper with the weights and bake the crust further for 5 min.

Meanwhile prepare the filling. For my Quiche Lorraine I cooked a handful of chopped mushrooms, which I spread on the crust.

Then I prepared a mixture of 3 eggs, 140 g milk, 60 g flour and ham, chopped into small pieces, which I poured on the mushrooms. I covered the filling with grated yellow cheese.

I baked the quiche in the oven for about 25 min, until ready.

This dish is equally delicious warm and cold, served with white wine or rose.

The quiche can be also vegetarian, here I made one with two zucchini, lightly cooked with olive oil and chopped dill. Once they were ready, I covered them with a tablespoon of wholegrain flour, to bond the moisture. The filling is made of 3 eggs, lightly beaten, milk, flour and cubes of feta cheese and yellow cheese, spiced with black pepper.

I'm a big fan of the zucchini version, and I've tried the same recipe with broccoli. The brilliant thing about quiche is, that it is an extremely flexible dish, adjustable to the contents of your fridge :)