Must say your pic of the mountains is wonderful (2nd one down)  won't see you until January I am afraid.  UK is great isn't it?

King Dom

Friday 7th December

Well thank you kind sir and looking forward to seeing you both in January and I hope you're not sailing round...it might be next January not this.  You seem to be doing the rounds with the new job....enjoy...from a landlubber!!

So this morning sees the snow gone but the winds are fair whipping the clouds over the Greek mountains in an East to West direction.  It's pretty nippy too so work will happen this morning and bunker down for the afternoon.  With several new books on my Kindle don't think I shall go short this winter and plenty of dry wood to keep me toasty.  Shower and then to horse!!!  Catch you later.

Hi Elsa, Glad you arrived home safe and I am enjoying catching up with your goings on each day, feels like the holidays was not that long ago, Dennis and I are well into to work now,it has been a heatwave in Brisbane this week very different to Bulgaria and New Zealand.enjoying the lovely photos

Janet

Friday continued

OK thanks for the confirmation of the heatwave Janet and as for the holiday, to me it seems like a dream and so long ago.  I'm pleased for the sake of your children that you are paying into the pension fund.  I tell my kiddiwinkles to do the same and I can keep taking it out   And by the way...welcome.

So the best laid plans.  As you know I have unscroupulous individuals that want to join the blog so that they can sell stuff.  Just so long as I don't verify their account I am safe.  While I was in Australia I had to pay for the satelite connection and it didn't come cheap so I ignored the applications intending to sort it out when I got back.  Today I did.  I had ninety three pages of applicants with about fifty on each page and so my day was made up of ticking boxes and pressing the delete key and was I bored.  Trouble is it's on going, not so bad as long as I keep on top of it.   That's why Janet is now posting....you are special....only yourself and T were saved from the almost five thousand.   The rest went with a whosh but a slow whosh that tok me about two hours to do.

It started off cloudy this morning, turned into not too bad a day but the temperature has dropped now and it looks like we are in for a cold night.  The fire has ticked over all day, logs sitting in the log basket ready...bring it on.  Used some of the chicken tonight and made a curry that was delicious and I've left the dishes for the maid to sort out...yep that's me tomorrow morning.  Going back to my book..reading Death Du Jour...Kathy Reichs.....I'll let you know the verdict.  LN...back to the book and the fire...

Saturday 8th December

What a day of lethergy,  I can honestly say that I've done very little.  I put the chicken bones ready for Socks and then decided instead to make it into soup and that's going to be my meal for tomorrow.  The rest of the curry was ready for about three o'clock so I'm replete.

I finished the book and it was a very good ending.  I got the impression that she wanted to tell me that she knew her stuff in her day job.  For me too much detail and lists go over my head so I start skimming.  Such a shame..perhaps I would learn something if I bothered with the detail...but there again I have no intention at my age of becoming a pathologist and I'm far too squimish.

Weather started off with mist in the valleys again.  There was a glimmer of sun this afternoon but that quickly disappeared behind the cloud and it started to rain.  I had a visit this afternoon from Emaula.  He delivered my internet and house phone bills and I must have a ghost.  There was a charge of just over four leva on my house phone...that might need looking into.

So five thirty and I've just banked the fire up.  I've got BBC Radio 2 chugging away and there seems to be chaos on the roads and it's Saturday.  Again didn't listen to the detail...I hardly think it will affect me out here.  So down to the fire now....think I'm going to start on something with the wool that I picked up the other day from Kardjali.  Let's go and be creative.  Have a good evening and I think I've taken my first booking of the New Year...LN

Sunday 9th December

So at silly o'clock this morning I was awakened by a shooting pain from a tooth that I really should get seen to....and will this week. The routine is that you see a dentist, he sends you for the x-ray and then down to business.  Decided to do the washing on cheap rate.  I'd got the machine ready last night but it was too early but at three this morning it would have been wrong not to.  Made coffee, back to bed, continued with the new book and it looks to be a goody, switched off the light and was going off again when the thunder and lightening joined in with the gale force winds and torrential rain.  It rolled on for about an hour so I got up again and put the washing to dry in the upstairs bathroom, put another log on the embers and snuggled down again.

Check emails, had an automatically generated one from my internet hosting provider saying that the monthly fee for one of my sites had been declined.  Checked payments, rang the bank and there was no problem.  Made the manual payment, contacted them by email only to be told that it was their system that had failed.  I replied saying that perhaps they should check their systems first before the letters were sent out!!  I received an apology.  That's worth a lot isn't it for the trouble it caused.  (Imagine grumpy old lady.)

I rearranged the kitchen putting the freezer in the bedroom after checking the weather for the next couple of weeks.  It is going down into the minus so I shall be needing to light the kitchen woodburner so that it maintains the temperature during the night.  Had a phone call from Gouljan and the Christams tree purloining had to go on hold.  She thinks she is going down with flu....maybe next week end weather permitting.

Couple of fried eggs on toast for a late brunch and made a chicken stew and put it into the slow cooker for later.  Had just finished washing up and looked out of the kitchen window and my Librarian had brought back my plants that she had stored for me while I was away so I had company for the rest of the afternoon, food at three thirty with a glass of the red stuff and off she went at five to get settled in for the night.  Back to my book, it's sevenish my time, quick update and I'm hoping that the dental anguish stays away for tonight otherwise I could be at the dentist in the morning.  I think I'm putting off the inevitable and it's not that I don't like them....I think there is a lot to do.

Going to close....into Djebel in the morning to see if I can get some wool that is suitable for the knitting machine...LN....down to the kitchen for a refil...

Monday 10th December

I was a slow starter this morning.  I was up, at 'em quite early but slow to get in the logs and get the car started.  Eleven thirty saw me heading into Djebel and I got to the post office just as they had shut the door for lunch so into my student's parents shop for a chat, gave them my old camera as promised and tried to remember how it worked, went to the market and got some wool for my machine and a quick trip round the supermarket to get the essentials.

Took Beauty down to the garage to get the horn seen to since there was no 'honk' and that's where the trouble started.  New honk was necessary and that entailed adding a new cable.  At three I was still standing around while they were investigating so I decided to take the Beast homeward and I arranged to pick up Beauty on Friday going in on the market bus.  Went via the post office and this time it was open, paid my phone and internet bill and home James, the fire was ticking along nicely so added more fuel to the flames to get the temperature up since it appears to have fallen outside.  

Looked at the contents of the fridge and so it was spicey sausage, potato and onion omelette for supper and I feel as full as a little tick and so much so that I have just opened my eyes after a half an hour zizz infront of a warm fire despite trying to read an excellent book.  

Eight thirty my time, looking at the weather for Kardjarli and it is definitely going into the minus over the next few days..winter drawers on so to speak.  LN...back to the book and the fire.  

Tuesday 11th December

Silly o'clock and yet again but after reading for an hour I went off again and woke up at seven ten...result.  It was a beautiful sunrise this morning and the grey mountains were edged with the red of the sun.  The few holes in the clouds were also tinted with the redness.  Alas it all changed.  The sun came up and tried hard to break through the clouds but it wasn't to be.

Breakfast of poached eggs on toast and then out to clear up the geraniuns that had so far survived my being away and put them in the house.  I put a bucket around the rosemay, cleared out the bonfire pit and got rid of the rubbish.  The lilac had taken a bashing from the high winds so neatened it up and burnt the debris.  I also found two dead birds on the balcony of the second house and they looked so sad.  I think the ginger tom is responsible but I the bonfire became their funeral pyre.  Dug up a few of the bigger dandelions and thistles that were battening down for the winter.  My trusty Engl;ish form still works and dug over a couple of the vegetable beds and loosened them up for the frost to do its stuff.  Eventually the weather got the better of me....the rain came and it has carried on for the rest of the afternoon.

It was reading in front of the fire this afternoon until my eyes couldn't manage to stay open so must have nodded for an hour or so.  I just hate this weather....cold and damp never did much for me but it's supposed to be sunny tomorrow but cold over night.

So what am I doing now.....I have fell upon the film Sense and Sensibility on another link that I was looking at and now about to settle in for a couple of hours.  Not sure how old it is but I haven't seen it before so sorry but that's about it for tonigh.  LN....no supper tonight...fish finger sandwiches at about three this afternoon so nothing to do later....now for my film....

Wednesday 12th December

What is it with me waking at silly o'clock....maybe I've got into the habit of reading in the middle of the night.  I set my internal alarm for seven but it doesn't seem to be working...Australia has a lot to answer for.....I'm back in the European time zone...get it.

Eventually back off and at five thirty I'm awake again so throw a log on the fire but it took a little time and effort to get it going.  Silly me last night thought that I'd put a biggie on so that it would tick along gently but it was just too big to tick.  I've run out of coal though, that might have made the difference so it's on my shopping list.

Breakfast of scrambled eggs for a change, put in some dried beans to soak and then they went into the slow cooker to be processed later.  Walked the estate and decided to have a go with the knitting machine with the thinner wool that I got from the market.  I started with forty stitches, lost some on the first pass and ended up with about ten somewhere in the middle.  Now my machine in the UK has bells and whistles, this one is very basic and at one point almost found itself alone on a hillside but not this one. I persevered.  Itr is still on the landing but another day might give results.  I think the whole thing could do with a smattering of oil and it was too much like hard work today to walk to the other house and get it from the tool room.  Tomorrow will do.

Beautiful sunrise, beautiful day and the house was warmed by the sun.  The beans got manufactured with onions, honey, tomato paste, water and I now have a huge pot of my own baked beans but baking was not part of the process .  Now that is a rhetorical question...why are they called baked beans?  So served up tonight with hamburgers and fried slithers of potato as an alternative to chippies and washed down with a little beer.  Back to my book...not sure if I like his style but the story is OK if a little far fetched.  More details to follow.  LN....I'm back to the fire now that I've eventually go it going like it should be.  I'm not going to apologise that sunrises and sunsets seem to be my speciality...I look forward to both each day.  Especially for D....did you see the whales?  LN

Whales - I live in Wales - Dementia is sad thing it comes to us all.  Any chance of a taxi from Plovdiv 14:30 26 Jan?    Tidy Byt