Tuesday 1st February

White rabbits, white hillside, white dog and making my garden his home....I must check out if he is sleeping in my wreck of a house, no not this one I would know....

I have no time to spare this morning and will have to post pictures later....I have just been asked if I am OK to have my Bulgarian lesson at 10 o'clock this morning and haven't done homework, haven't had breakfast so I'm in a hurry and for me to be out here in a 'hurry' is not something I do....and we're off...

I've got it wrong....no wonder it's hard to heat the house...D of S thermometer registered minus 17 degrees, I'll post the proof later and considering he is only 10 k from me....I think I'll have to get myself a new thermometer or he'll have to move 10 k up the road into the tropics.....

Tuesday continued

Well my lesson was 'In the Restaurant' so I can now order Bulgarian soup like their is no tomorrow...I went into Kardjali today and topped up with zebra print and also bought the material for the next bedroom...coral with a hint of yellow to match the tiles.  Two meters wide, 3 meters long for 46 leve...£22 of anybodies money---bargain.  Did the rest of my shopping in Lidl and Billa and homeward bound and back to two fire needing attention.  And five cows in my garden..grhhhh.

Fences down, now rebuilt and tomorrow I am buying barbed wire and let the buggars sort that out.... Supper...pork in pepper sauce with pasta..delicious...and fell asleep in front of a roaring fire and woke up to...none in the hall...kitchen still going after three days...I love it...LN..off to sort fires...

Wednesday 2nd February

Having read D of S blog and his thermometer recording lower that mine I decided to resite my yesterday so that I could see it from the stairwell window.  So I popped on the outside light and I'm not sure who was more confused.  There was a bloody great cow asleep under my portch....which was obviously disturbed by the light but more disturbed when I opened the door and sent it on it's way.  Now it was still darkish, and it didn't quite know where to go but I threw the nearest thing that I could find at it, namely a lump of wood (and not big before the animal rights people jump up and down and I would state now that animals have no rights in my garden) and chased it and it stumbled over the metal bar that forms part of the lower hedge.  Nice and cosy egh.  I wouldn't have minded too much but I think it emptied its bladder where it lay and it certainly took it's time and made a deposit before it left.  Now at this point I had forgotten about the thermometer but I checked it out...minus 15 and I was out in pyjamas chasing bastard bovine.

So the fires that I thought were on their way out last night seemed to survive the night and now I have both going and I can her the odd crackle from my desk on the top landing.  Today is definately the day for doing the fence...I am fed up of it now....game over....barbed wire, nails, wood from around the place and a sense of humour.  They probably have a discussion in the cow shed at night (that's the ones that make it home) somethig like 'Did you see the look on her face.....can't throw very far can she or very accurately.

Breakfast, shower, car, nails and barbed wire on my list...and then down to action but I'll wait for it to warm up a little first...but  a couple of pickies of the white dog and sunrise....

Wednesday continued

So it has been decided by one of my ladies that I should tie up the white dog and claim him as my own and that would keep the cows out of my garden.  Now I don't want a dog, if I go to England it would create a problem and when I voiced this the three of them offered to feed it while I was away.  They're a determined lot.

So today I did get round eventually to doing the fence and a reasonable job I made of it.  Watching the locals work though on their fences, there is a bush that grows round about that has very sharp thorns, murderous to get near and they cut it down and weave it between stakes in the ground.  So I have asked one of the locals if he will chop down a few of these bushes and thread me up so to speak and we'll see if that works.  The dog idea is OK but if the bushes work even better.

So before I went fence repairing I have made a start on my headboard.  I had a rather lovely piece of timber that had a natural curve on it so I had a brainwave this morning and took it down to a neighbour who has a saw on cogs that will tackle anything.  I was invited in, the wife made me coffee while the man did his stuff and he would not accept any payment for it so there is a present on the way next time I pass.  I also found out that he makes furniture so I might download something as a test peice for him to see how good he really is before I commit to things like wardrobes, etc.  Useful to have him in the next village though.

Got back home and out with the workbench, the plane and the sander and stripped down to my vest because the sun is now HOT and got to work on the balcony.  Wood preservative applied and tomorrow will find another piece of wood to finish the said headboard and then the sixty minute workover can take place.

Lovely shot of my ladies today and one from my day out with Gouljan's mother preparing the dishes of the day.  I still don't know how they manage to get into those positions to work.....

Thursday 3rd February

So this time '29 years' ago I had delivered a lovely 7lb 7oz little girl.  So good morning Princess....Happy Birthday.   Let the frogs take care of you today.

I just love my morning skies out here.....so dramatic and it's so cold even without looking at the theremometer I know it is well into the minus.  I would take more....there is much more red in the sky now and the wind is whisping it with grey so not sure what kind of a day we are in for....let's just wait and see and I'll report back later...

Thursday continued

Sent Princess some flowers and got an email asking if they were from me because they were addressed to Princess and with our favourite phrase 'moon and back'.  I'm told they were beautiful...thank you Interflora.

Well it stayed cold all day and my big woodburner just wouldn't get going.  Tonight though burning brightly as we speak but the little one had been going since Saturday night without being emptied, was due for sorting but then Gouljan appeared with ...pancakes....so we sat down, had a little Bulgarian / English lesson and she left at about 6.00.  Straight on to fire duty, little one relit and now doing what all good wood burners should.

Managed to hang my curtains in the bedroom and cut the wood for making the headboard.  Supper was meatballs in tomato sauce with red cabbage and carrots with cherries and yoghurt to finish on.  Two yoghurts down, one to go but please, no more for a while.  

I've decided that the furniture maker that cut my wood for me yesterday has his first commission.  I want a wooden chest for the bottom of my bed and it will be a test piece for him.  If he's good there'll be more.  LN I'm going to sort fires, pour a drink and then get my head down....looks like being a really cold one tonight....

Friday 4th February

Happy Birthday Mum....no longer with me in spirit but there all the same.  I'll raise a glass later on to you.

Beautiful morning, cold wind so I decided to get the housework done....sorted fires out first, hoovered down stairs and upstairs and then decided that I should really get on with the headboard so opened my polystyrene door to one of the unfinished bedrooms and decided to work inside since it was -10 out and I would have probably been blown off the balcony had I moved my tools outside.  So got the plane going and the sander and then had to go downstairs to answer the door....sawdust everywhere so why did I bother....Anyway upshot is, headboard complete...not sure if it requires modification but I'll save that for another day but then started at the top with the room that I had been working in and made my way downstairs....Kotovo...finished and now to think about supper.  Headboard is in place, bed dressed after a fashion...pillows not secured yet so I really think that I am back to the drawing board.....

No cows in the garden...not sure if it's the repaired fence or they haven't been let out because it's so cold...and it looks like it's going to be another cold one tonight....winter drawers on... LN...supper and drinkies me thinks.

When you 'hovered' downstairs, I imagined an inspector gadget type helicopter sprouted out of your head?

Saturday 5th February

Quoted from 25

When you 'hovered' downstairs, I imagined an inspector gadget type helicopter sprouted out of your head?

You are right and there is one attached to my hoover as well.....you may mock the afflicted but I even fluffed up my cushions just in case you descended.....

Now I was advised that you could get free ebooks from Amazon and could download Kindle for your PC and I though 'books on tap'.....blighters recognised my IP address as not being in the UK and said that they couldn't send the requested ebook.  The bit that amazes me is that they didn't say that they couldn't accept an order for the book token that I sent to number one son and family for Christmas....no they took the money for that, no problem at all.....that's my top moan for the day....now on to better things....I have done all my 'chores' and I think I might just check if the library in Samodiva is open today....I reckon Stalin would be a little bedtime reading...

Saturday continued

The library was open and I took out several books though Stalin is in the UK unfortunately...but I can have several more of Hitler if I was that impressed.  I'll pass on that one.  Then what a good day...my nearside tyre was a bit down so I went into Djebel to buy a tyre pump but was told to go to the garage where they would 'service' me but I still insisted on buying one but then went down to the garage and got 'serviced'...I have also arranged for the exhaust to be renewed on Monday.  It's making rather a lot of noise and even I'm embarassed by local standard, not much wrong but for me, not acceptable.  I give too much warning that I'm on my way.  After the garage I went to the local blacksmith and managed to get over that I wanted him to make my curtain poles in metal so I go back on Monday with a photograph of one from B & Q so there is no mistake and a picture of the windows in my bedroom so he can be sure that he knows what I want and exact measurements.  Quote for a 3 meter length of curtain rail...30 Leva and if they are OK he can have all my business.  He also makes ballustrades for balconies so that could be a bit more for him.....

On the way back I called into the furniture maker.  He wasn't at home but will be on Monday.....I have designed a unit for my bedroom and one chest for the foot of my bed and he can do one as test piece before he starts the second.  It's coming together...

Weather...beautiful today.  I sat out in the garden at the 'library' and had two cups of coffee and now it's a really calm night promising a real hard frost.  Two woodburners going and the one in the kitchen is finishing off my chicken legs for supper tonight with crusty bread...sounds about right....LN...time I put my pc to bed....