Tuesday 22nd January

Lovely surprise last night.....phone call from my son and we relived all the times he has been in plaster as opposed to plastered.  I suppose that at my age it is quite an achievement not to have had something encased in the white stuff and I don't mean snow....

None of that around today.  It has been a beautiful day and so much so that I didn't light a fire until four this afternoon and had windows and doors open to let some fresh air into the homestead.  Had a bonfire this morning and was surveying the countryside when I heard the gate latch go so I headed back to the terrace and there were four of my neighbours come to see how I was faring and it was a beautiful day for a walk from the bottom of the village.  They inspected the plaster and the bruise and were almost drawn to tears but I managed to get over that I was OK it was just he arm that was the problem.  I think here that if there is anything wrong...you are ill...not a lot of stoicism.  So they sat down on my bench and they all produced presents.  I was so overawed is a good word.....they have little but they give such a lot.  Emaula's mum brought two litres of milk from her cow but I had to refuse.  I just don't drink enough so the sweetie is bringing it back tomorrow as yogurt.  Having them all lined up I asked if they minded if I took a photo...so they all adjusted their headscarves and now I need to get printing and laminating......

Got my head down for an hour or so this afternoon and feel much better for it...Ken Follett is no more and now on to Bernard Cornwell who I love.  Lovely story teller.  Supper tonight.....haven't a clue but I've just had a very weak rum, hot water and a couple of aspirin.  I seem to have the beginnings of a cold and I want to stop it before it starts so I might be peeling an onion and sleeping with it next to my bed tonight....LN...things to read and do...

Wednesday 23rd January

Beautiful sunrise just after seven this morning and it was all systems go quite early on.  The Librarian asked if it was OK to come over and was I doing anything and my response signified that I was doing very little.  Remsia came round quite early, said that it was such a good day that her husband would be able to chop the rest of the logs into petchka sized chunks and no sooner the word than the blows and three hours later I have another pile of logs.  Emaula's mother arrived with the home made yogurt promised from yesterday.  The Librarian arrived at lunch time along with my Avatar and neighbour and I swear there were more people in my garden than in the rest of the village.

So sweet and sour pork with potato wedges for lunch followed by yogurt and the preserved strawberries.  Delicious.  Decided to sort her computer out since the Google icon had decided to play up but got in through the side door so to speak.  The arm is giving me gyp tonight and one handed typing is not doing any thing for my health and patience......so LN.....would just add that the sunset tonight was stunning and appears to be the forerunner of bad weather to come.....let's wait and see....

Thursday 24th January

Very quick update tonight.  Torrential gales all day and thunderstorms on and off for most of the day.

Usual routine apart from cleaning out the fridge, getting my small woodburner outside so that I could give it a good clean out and remove the pipes.  I'm into Djebel in the morning on the bus and coming back with a new set from the hardware store and I'll clean out the others when I'm more able.

Gouljan dropped in this afternoon on her way back from school to check on progress and she is coming round on Saturday morning to help me clean the pipes for the big woodburner knowing that next week's weather is going to be very cold.  When it came time to leave the heavens opened so I insisted she borrowed my ski jacket, put up the hood and left down her umbrella since she could well have been over the Greek border by now.

So I'm saying LN....I think I heard a rumble in the jungle.....

Friday 25th January

Six thirty start and finished my Lee Childs' Reacher book and then realised that I had about thirty minutes to get washed, dressed, measure the lengths of the new pipes that I wanted for my little woodburner in the kitchen and get that bus.  Gouljan's mother was on the bus so we sat next to each other and she tells me that she is coming to help me with the pipes for the big woodburner tomorrow morning but I said that if it is snowing to forget all about it now that the little one is operational.

Got my pipes, fifteen leva.....went to the leva shop and got a few things went to see my student's mum in the car-parts shop.  We sat and chatted until I got cold and decided that there was no way that I was going to wait for the one-thirty bus so I grabbed my pipes from the hardware and took a taxi home.  Well worth and had my fire going in quicksticks but there really wasn't any need because the sun was shining on my stair well and it was up in the twenties in the house.

Assembled most of the new pipes and had to ask my Avatar to push the last one in.  She arrived with ho cooked rice si I gave her a bowl of my spaghetti bolognaise that I had made when I got back from town so it was swapsies.  Little one back together and fire lit.  I managed to open a bottle of wine one handed with a few curses thrown in but job complete.  Supper over, kitchen tidied, two fires going .....glass of the red stuff and another Lee Childs Imabout to start.  

There's a halo round the moon and apparently you count the number of stars within the halo to tell you how soon the bad weather will arrive and since I see no stars.....tomorrow looks like it will be as predicted and the temperature is already below zero......LN.....time to batten down the hatches.....LN

Saturday 26th January

Four am this morning I stuck my head out from under the duvet and noticed that the garden had a smattering of the winter white stuff and by five the terraces were full.  My little woodburner is at last behaving itself and providing that Gouljan could make it here the biggie was going to have the pipes cleaned.  It was precautionary.  Normally I would do them every month but since the wood is so good this year I'd let it run on but threatened with minus fifteens or so for the next couple of weeks....thought it was a good idea.

Didn't light the fire and at nine Gouljan phoned to say she would be here by ten.  Now I know that this is Bulgarian time so I decided I would see how much I could manage with one hand.  I got all of the pipes out and the air wasn't so blue, managed to clean half of them having forward planned a big plastic bucket and my flue brush into the hall but my stumbling block was not being able to remove a curve from a straight.  I cleaned out the fire, cleaned the glass, laid the fire ready for lift off and she arrived with mother at ten thirty which I thought was pretty good.  I immediately got told off for what I had done and explained that all that they had to do was to clean two straights and a bend and it was assembly time.  Ten minutes later....all in place, fire lit no smoke and warming up nicely not that it is cold in the house.  It's amazing what a difference good wood makes.

So we sat and had coffee....Gouljan's mother said that I should move in with them so that she could take care of me.....I said that I didn't need it but that if she wanted a rest from the cows she should move in with me.....They left at just after twelve.....I made a sandwich and started to read but my eyelids were going south so I went to bed for a couple of hours.  Snow looks like it's set in for the night.....I've got in enough wood so LN....back to my book and fire.....LN

Sunday 27th January

So today is CJ's birthday so happy birthday my sweet.  As for me.....the first job was to fry a couple of eggs, bang them on toast and lash them with brown sauce.  It is Sunday after all.

I cleared the terraces and the path to the little house so that I could get some wood in.  I wasn't out but I wanted to stock up again. I got out my trusty snow shovel and single handed....well it had to be didn't it....I ended up half filling the scoop and pushing it in the general direction I wanted it to go.  It sort of worked but at least I can walk out safely to empty the ashes from the fire and get the logs in....Don't want any accidents do we now

I finished the latest Lee Childs and he has drawn me in somewhat as an author.  Good plots, easy style and still wondering at eighty percent on the Kindle.  He rolls out a story well.  Started the next one in front of the fire....but the call to wash my hair and get out a dustbin liner for my wrist and have a shower was spoiling the plot.......so into the kitchen for the plastic bag and jobs a guddun and I feel so much better.  All the castoffs are in the washing machine with the delay set so it operates at cheap rate.

Back to the fire and to the book.  Tony Blackburn is doing his stuff......and it might be a little beer tonight with a curry from the slow cooker....LN....it's relax time.....and let's hope we see a little sun tomorrow instead of the overcast grey of today...LN

Monday 28th January

Lazy start......the fire was reluctant to start and I should have taken it apart and started from scratch but you know what it's like...I can do this....go on...you know that you want to.  Scrambled eggs on toast today and managed to do it but I'll tackle the cooker later...
Eventually it got going and it has been successful all day.  Got my wood in and walked the estate.  The snow is gently thawing once the sun got behind the clouds and that's where it stayed most of the day.  There was a glimmer just before it went down but nothing to write home about.

KingDom and his lovely A came visiting today and it was good to catch up.  They are over for a couple of weeks and we'll take a trip out to Kardjali.  I think they are taking pity on me not being able to get out.  Got only fifteen percent of Reacher (Lee Childs) to read but I was told that one of the books is being made into a book but the lead role is being taken by Tom Cruise and that doesn't fit well with Reacher's book description.....ahh well....another image shattered.

Back to the last few percents and my warm fire...LN....

Tuesday 29th January

Really good night's sleep and felt good this morning except the better you feel the more you want to do but you can't do much...white stuff on my right wrist ...incapacitating...   

Having said that......poached eggs on toast for breakfast, wood in, fires going and settled on leek, onion and potato soup for lunch.  So what were my challenges...peeling onions, slicing leeks and...peeling potatoes.  So the last time I made it I asked my Avatar to do the potatoes for me but this time I managed to do two large ones myself with my big carving knife and it worked.....well sort of.  I think there was a lot of wasted spud....but the end result was fine.  When it was finished I took some in a jug to my Avatar and she complained that I had given her too much so I told her that it would do two days.  Two bowls for me followed by homemade yogurt with those lovely strawberries.

So up until lunchtime we had freezing fog which eventually cleared and the sun came out.  Only for a couple of hours and it didn't move much snow but it was nice to see.  Done a lot of reading today......I'm getting a little bored.....but not long now......two weeks and counting....LN...back to my book....thank goodness for the Kindle...LN

Wednesday 30th January

Well that's it then.  I heard today that two of my friends have gone base over apex and are multicoloured like I am.  The first was down because of her animals...taking a dog for a walk and the second one tripped over getting out of work.  That's three of us now so the rest of you will be fine.

Freezing fog again this morning but the hazy sun pushed the temperature up and there are patches of green showing through on the garden.  It hasn't all gone and it's getting colder and tonight will freeze what's thawed so it's watch how you go tomorrow.....not that I'm going far.  Did play around outside this lunchtime and was told off by my neighbour for doing stuff when she delivered her home made yogurt.  They are really looking after me.

So this afternoon I got tired of reading and found 'The King's Speech' on the PC and watched it.  Such a good film and I think I might be changing my opinion of what's his name Sprules.  Such a good portrayal of Churchill.  Fire ticked over all day but I've livened it up at about five....I could feel the temperature dropping.

On to my next Lee Childs until I get sick of him and move on to another author.....but again...such a good storyteller.  Down I go...supper might not happen ...I'll save the fish that I got out of the freezer for tomorrow.  No real appetite or enthusiasm tonight....LN...I have a fire that needs attending to...LN

Thursday 31st January

Six thirty this morning wake-up and decided it was't worth lighting the fire.  I'd emptied the ash can earlier and listened to the mosque calling the believers to life and gone back to bed with a coffee and my kindle. I'd opened the curtains in the bedroom to watch the sun break through and spotted that it was worth a shot so legged it and got the camera.  And then I lit the fire..

As for breakfast I was tired of eggs so found a tin of tomatoes with a ring pull so put in two slices of toast, used half the can and reckoned that the other half would do for supper.  Eleven o'clock and did I want to go shopping to Kardjali with Kingdom and A and the answer was yes.  Lidl for basics and Djebel for essentials and home by about three thirty,  My freezer is full of meat and my fridge with butter and cheese.

Put the shopping away and prepared my supper. Managed to peel and slice one large potato, make a sweet and sour sauce to put on some fish and into the oven for one and a half hours at gas mark 180 degrees.  Perfect.....served it up...ate it up and a glass of wine....drunk it up.

Two new books from my visitors.....finishing the one I'm currently on first.....LN....finish this and back to my fire....