Monday 25th March

So I thought I'd do a quick update on my blog and bugger...I got error messages to say that the site was down.  I could get into the diary page but it wouldn't go to the diary.  Contacted Fasthost and they were amazingly fast at answering my email and checked out the details for me.  Meanwhile back at the ranch I decided to run the error messages and they were identified as being Google related and then back to Malaware...our friendly chappie in the background and he found the problem straight away, quarantined it, deleted it, restarted the system and everything in the garden is rosy...well not really...not my favourite flowers.  So why do they do this, drop stuff on your system to cause you grief...there are some sad bast*rds out there....

Now waiting for the phone call to start viewing houses, schools and the likes....might settle for some toast and stuff first now that my immediate problems have been solved...catch you later....oh and my other favourite website is up and running again too...somewhere else to waste some of my precious time...  

Monday continued

What a beautiful day day.  Noisy sheep this morning forced me to record it and put it on Facebook.  Alpacas were suggested but I think there is no way that Semile will change his animal husbandry for me...   My guests arrived, and we set off to find the person that was selling the school.. I had been there before...they had tried to sell it to me about four years ago and I had forgotten all about it.  It was the bridge into the village that gave it away...I remembered the bridge but had forgotten why I'd been to the village.  OK...another time...same place but different time zones but we'' see how the impression went.  This time it wasn't me buying it.

Went round the school and it is so sad.  There are lots of momentos of what it used to be but the neighbour was so kind and provided us all with glasses of the local yogurt drink but not savoured by some.  I found my way into what would have been the science room and found some marvelous glass science equipment and managed to half inch the same and it's washed and spruced and sitting in my lounge.  There were three of them and one of the others was half inched by the person showing us around the house.  I know not what it is but it is beautiful....Now I don't feel guilty at all....

So off we went to find another set of people to show them houses and guess where we ended up...Dushinkovo...one of the little houses at the bottom of the village and no way was I allowing them to buy that...This is my village.  So back to mine...the bottle or red was opened and the white was demolished.  The male of the group stuck to tea but I think it had something ti do with the fact that there was a car outside and the distance between me and the hotel.

Cold chicken tonight washed down with a little of the red from the difficult to get into bottle.  Fire going...newly acquired possession pride of place in the lounge...it's been a good day...LN

Tuesday 26th March

And that's nearly another month gone.   and I'd ask where.

Nine thirty bed last night and slept through until six when I was awakened by the ...pitter patter of raindrops.  Not so bad here but apparently in came down pretty hard in the villages further to the south leaving flood and pestilence behind.  Cleared up a little this afternoon and there was a glimmer of sun but not for long.  Unfortunately looking at the long term weather....not much sun about at all but the temperature is rising and not much lower than five overnight so my garden can get a bit of a start on.  No more frosts are scheduled so I can get some of the shrubs out.  Garden looks a little wet to dig over though and no way can I get my trusty lawn mower out to reduce the height of the clover etc.  Not that I would do it...I've lined up Emaula to do the deed.  He's eager for work and he's a good lad.  Just needs to dry up somewhat.  IO'd borrow some sheep or a cow but I think most of my flowers would go as well.

Fire going all day today at tick over speed.  Breakfast was toast, lunch cold chicken and supper is going to be chicken and mushroom soup.  Made it this afternoon and it's sitting on my woodburner stewing nicely....and ready when I am so to speak,  Tommy has got a good carcass to go at tomorrow,,,I didn't bother putting it in the slow cooker to extract all there is to extract from it....he can have a treat.

So quiet today after a busy two days....visitors flew home this lunchtime.  Sorting my car out tomorrow and getting it back.  It's time I practiced driving again...almost forgotten what to do though I must admit...taking the bus is no hardship.  Perhaps I'll leave my car until Friday..no rush...   LN...supper time...

Wednesday 27th March

Six thirty start and this time it was the fact that it was getting light.  Not that we've seen much of the sun today at all...a brief glimmer around lunchtime and that was it.  Went out to empty the ash can today and there was a letter in a brown envelope to tell me that my pension has been increased...not what I expected which was to tell me that my winter fuel payments were being paid.  I mentioned it to the pensions office about six to eight weeks ago and they assured me that they would look into it.  So I phoned this morning and there is no record of me having even instigated a claim or even of my phoning the office.  Now these people are supposed to work for me.  I help to pay their wages so does that not mean that they have a responsibility to me to give me their full attention when I spend more money phoning them to check up on the work they are purporting to do!!  Now after speaking to someone who had to go and see the supervisor in the next office...he promised that someone would phone me back....I should have got 'someone's' name and used it as ammunition the next time that I have to phone to be told that they is no record of my enquiry.

As for the rest of the day...had a chat to the Librarian, managed to respond to several emails, did a bit on Facebook and had a rather pleasant morning.  The soup from last night got recycled to this lunchtime and I delivered half of it to my Avatar and the bones to Tommy.  His tail was going ten to the dozen as he saw me walking along the road...very clever dog.  About three this afternoon Avatar is at my door with the same container that I had delivered the soup in and I could see that it was half full.  I looked at her kind of funny thinking that she hadn't liked it and brought it back.  Noooo.....she thought it was delicious, had it with bread and had brought some of her homemade yogurt as a thank you gift and that's in the fridge for later.  We laughed as I explained what was going through my head.

Got my head down for a short while this afternoon.  There was a glimmer of a rainbow but by the time that I'd got my camera and the shovel out it had gone.  Spent some of the afternoon deleting the spammers that want to sign up to the website so that they can advertise their crap.  I've contacted the guy who runs the blog site to see if there is any steps that can stop them getting through.  I have to cope with the American time differences but maybe we can get it sorted....it would make my life easier.  

Just revving up the hot water for a shower tonight, clean jams and bed and an early night.  Didn't bother sorting out the car today...there's always tomorrow.  I think yogurt will suffice tonight....LN

Thursday 28th March

Woke early, decided to put my head down again and woke really late for me...eight thirty.  Slow to get started....my wrist seems to be a bit of a problem in the mornings and it takes longer to wake up that the rest of me.  A couple of coffees did the trick, did emails, websites and Facebook, decided that I would light the fire after all since it was cold and damp.  Eventually it cleared up enough for me to get out my trusty fork and head for the garden to tackle the veggie bed.  Now there are five small sections to it and two and a half are cleared of mainly clover.  Much of it was lobbed over the fence and the sheep put pay to it this afternoon on their noisy trek back to the yard.  I know why they are noisy...the lambs keep losing the mothers and the mothers keep losing the lambs...careless lot.  I worked on the garden until my wrist told me it was time to pack up and rest it.

Surprise ...I got a phone call and my winter fuel allowance should be in my bank tomorrow....and this I didn't expect.  I queried last years and that is also being looked at....result.

Lunch today was tuna mayo on toast washed down with water of all things.  Sat down with my book after lunch, went and did a little more in the garden but enough was enough...don't egg the pudding as they say.

Seven my time....lunch is still filling the gap so I might even go without again...down to check the fire, back to my book and peace perfect peace...LN  I'll be posting pickies of the garden tomorrow and I've got a white azalea struggling hard against the elements....it's worth recording...LN

Friday 29th March

Good Friday...paahhhh.

Six thirty start and messed around on the internet until I realised it was eight ten and I had half an hour to get to the bus. Met all of my women waiting for the milk wagon to pick up the white stuff that they had expressed this morning and by golly was it cold this morning.  Poor Tommy was on the road and again, he just didn't look well but Hacibar said that she would see that he got back home safely.  Looks like another trip to the vet.

So off we went, not a full load this morning but one of the regular alcohol abusers decided to plonk his backside next to me and I was thanking goodness that I'd taken my Kindle with me so that I could look occupied.  He's lonely, about seventy but managed to talk to himself all the way to Djebel.

To the shop to find out about the biggie, walked down to the garage and they said that it had been fine for the last two days but this morning it didn't want to start so we decided that I would get a lift home, we would take the battery out of the biggie and start the little one with it which we did and I set sail for Djebel after having to double back because I had forgotten to display my road tax.  It was still in the house.  So down to the garage and the heater didn't appear to be working and the light to the radio wasn't displaying either and I wondered if that was where the electricity from my battery was going.  They played around when I said that it smelled a little warm and apparently the front fan wasn't cutting in.....that's now fixed.  Went back to the shop to sort out the insurance and they hadn't got any of the window display stickers to prove that you have insurance so panicked for a moment, went to see another friendly soul from my favourite restaurant and was pointed in the right direction...I am now insured and the gears....despite being a bit of an issue is only a major problem if I have to go into reverse.  Forward gears are fine.  Let's hope this starts tomorrow...

Cold all day today and despite a roaring fire, I still feel cold.  I got the steak out for supper tonight but it's taken ages to thaw out so I settled for fish finger sandwiches with mayo and tomato sauce....Researching cold starts for Pajero and failing to keep going after ignition on the internet but my concentration has waned...the temperature has fallen so I'm off downstairs. LN....and no the camera didn't come out....by the time that I'd got back this afternoon and got the fire going there was very little light left.  LN....I can't say that I have fish to fry...I've done it's fingers already...LN

Saturday 30th March

Woke up to misty hillsides that cleared briefly and then came back again.  Eventually it all cleared and we have had a beautiful day but with a slight wind.  Sat and watched a little bird for some time as he fluttered around my from garden.  Looks like a wagtail but too black unless they have winter colours...

I've had visitors galore this morning and not for a cup of sugar.  My avatar came round this morning while I was still in my jimjams wanting me to split a twenty leva note for her but I only had a ten so I gave her that and she said that she would bring me the five later as she gave me five in change.  The she proceeded to invite me to a food bash tomorrow night with the ladies of the village and so I said that the other five would pay my share towards the 'do' so she didn't owe me anything and that was that.  Blow me down, an hour later and there was Emaula asking me if I could split another twenty so the five that Avatar had given me was now handed over to someone else in the village...it's a money go round.

Remsier was my next visitor to collect the photos of the wedding that I had promised her but I'd unfortunately run out of photographic paper so I printed them up on card and told her that I would laminate them tomorrow for her.  And a while later she was back and brought me a Easter card from Linda...so thanks for the card.  You are so thoughtful....I forgot all about this festivity since no one really celebrates it in this neck of the woods.  And the finale...Avatar was back with the five leva that she thought was due to me from this morning and I explained that surely it was going to cost me five leva to go to the bash tomorrow night...I'm confused but eventually we got it all sorted so the final debt is Emaula at five leva....

Did a little bit in the garden this afternoon.  Potted out the daffodils and the hyacinth for the house that had gone over.  Got the work prepared for my student tomorrow and checked out that the clocks go back at silly o'clock in the middle of the night.  That steak that I got our last night and tried for breakfast was relegated to the slow cooker with chilli, honey, tomato paste, stock and rice and is ready as we speak.  Just didn't do it for me this morning.

That's about it....supposed to be a good day tomorrow...will put the clocks forward tonight so that I don't get caught short in the morning....LN...supper calls.

Sunday 31st March

Just to say Happy Easter to the believers, enjoy time with family and friends and eggs without feeling guilty....I shall miss my family but enjoy my friends....catch you later...

Happy Easter to you Elsa  
Jackie

I always enjoyed Easter as a kid more than any other holiday but as an adult and not being overly religious not so much.

But Happy Easter to Elsa and OPs