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Elsa Peters
September 1, 2013, 5:33am Report to Moderator

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Sunday 1st September

White rabbits...new month...activities recommence with my student in two hours time....better get showered and breakfasted...

Watered the garden before I left realising that we were in for another hot one.  It was mainly the acacia that I put in and at last one or two of them seem to be perking up.  As for the rest of the flowers. my Avatar was worried about how much water she was using while I was in England but a few good saturations and we have flowers on those that were looking very dried out.  

The family were very pleased to see me but mother and father had gone to his family home in a village a few kilometers from Djebel in search of walnuts and came back with ...nothing...so I've offered them mine.  The did ask me if I needed them to make baklava and my response was a withering look....enough make it in my village so that I don't have to.  They should be down later in the week to collect them.

We didn't have a lesson as such...my student was explaining how she had just had a week's holiday after carrying the fort during the factory's two week annual shut-down.  Her role in the sales and purchasing department is to take some of the calls but without her boss she was having to take all of the calls and she was particularly unnerved by an Italian lady who thought she could speak English but I reckoned that she was putting an 'a' on the end of everything.  I did an impression of this for my student and she responded that that was just like the Italian.  In the end she asked her to put the question in an email to her and all was resolved.

Their house is full of 'guests'.  Her maternal grandfather was there and insisted on talking to anybody who would listen and even to those who didn't.  He lives in Turkey and has one more week before he returns.  Cousins were there too and uncles.  A very full house.  Lunch was a busy affair with home made banichka, fried peppers, tomatoes and grapes plucked from the vines.  It was surprising to find that the elder sister also peel grapes and spits out the pips...we were two of a kind much to the consternation of the rest of the family.  Black tea and then home stopping off for a loaf of bread since I didn't have any in.  

I have nothing on the back burner for tomorrow apart from cleaning the house through ready for my guest....I think I'll give my other student another week off...   LN.....I've got to find another book....I've finally finished the other one and she has left cliff hangers but I'm loathed to start the next...maybe I'll give that another week... LN

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Elsa Peters
September 2, 2013, 4:36pm Report to Moderator

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Monday 2nd September

Slept the sleep of the just last night.....and it was a seven o'clock start. The previous night I'd got chilled at about five in the morning so I took the precautions of adding another quilt as well as shutting the door.  Down for coffee and caught the reflection of the sun, well in fact two of them in the little house windows but by the time I had the camera out...the clouds had obliterated it.  

The house work is done...confirmed that the flight gets in tomorrow and that I shall be there to meet it and not too sure what Plovdiv airport is like never having been there but I'm anticipating 'small'.  Don't think there is much chance of missing her.  

Now don't know whether you remember or not but I was having issues with my service provider telling me that I could upgrade to a faster connection for the rest of the month for a small fee.  My contract was already out so a couple of months ago I asked what I could do to stop receiving these stupid emails and I was told to take out a new contract and it would all be at the new speed...so I took the man at his word.  Guess what...the stupid texts and emails have started again so I think a visit to the shop is on the cards or a word with customer service.  They do speak English fairly well so I'll give that a go first.

Supper is nothing tonight....I might be picking later but it's been too hot again to bother too much about food and preparing a meal.  Out to water the garden now but after my atrocious water bill....four leva and a few stotinki...about two pounds...I think I can manage to afford it and as for the beetroot...I have to get them up soon or it will be getting the family over as it might end up in a similar situation to the giant turnip....slight exaggeration maybe...but might need bigger jars that anticipated.  More like pensioner's beets than baby beets...

LN...garden then a little beer me thinks and probably toasted cheese sandwich...now there's a thought...LN
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Elsa Peters
September 3, 2013, 11:29am Report to Moderator

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Tuesday 3rd September

Lovely long sleep again and woke up to technology.  I played on the DS until the red battery light came on and then onto my new challenge on the tablet...Angry Birds.  I like this game....bombing pigs into oblivion and having to use your imagination and cunning to angle the chickens or the big fat roosters to smash the surrounding brickwork and  wooden trellising into smithereens...Anyway...played that until the warning that I had only four percent of battery left so both charging...finished the housework and final tidying including a special fluff up of the cushions for Ms Kingdom...and that's a gentle hint that Kingdom should be getting some soon if she has her way.

Repotted a very sad geranium that had been overtaken by a dandelion so that should do better.  Watered the rest and at last I have new green shoots starting on those I thought were dead through lack of water.  Acacias are looking OK but not holding my breath... honeysuckle are showing signs of rapid growth and the maple looks to be forming a new bud at the top ready for a growing surge.  Keep looking at the cactus and know it needs repotting...and I dread doing it since there isn't a lot of root to hold it in place in the new sandy soil....I'll have to google it to see if there is anything else I can do to improve its chances.  It was only an inch when it came...and look at it now....and again that's specially for Kingdom...he gave it me to look after.

Dug a little in the tundra and the head of the fork separated from the handle...the soil is so dry and hard.  The beets still remain.  It is for a day when there's nothing else to do and with a guest...they're probably better where they are....

So shower, hair wash, check the car over for water and oil and off to Plovdiv airport.  I was expecting the Librarian but maybe she has other fish to fry now that her son is here....she's not exactly written out a list...but close.  Might catch you later and wish me luck...this could take some time Oates...



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Elsa Peters
September 3, 2013, 11:47am Report to Moderator

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Tuesday continued

Now I had a mare of a time posting the pictures and you're lucky to get one with the message.  Now this is all down to the speed of my connection and a quick update...I phoned the supplier this morning and was told that there was nothing they could do about it...it apparently it's in my contract but that's in Bulgarian so I'm not going to read the small print even with my new +2.5's..

And there are no more pictures for today....goodness knows what is happening to the connection but it might be worth five leva to keep it at the top speed after all...aaarrrhhh... >



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Elsa Peters
September 4, 2013, 2:42pm Report to Moderator

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Wednesday 4th September

All go today.  Another hot one and only a few clouds in the sky that are doing nothing to drop the temperature but the wind today keeps everything moving and bearable.  Toast for breakfast...my Ms Kingdom was not up for much after we stopped off on the way back from the airport and landed up at a fish restaurant.  

I found the airport alright...only one mistake and that's where the sign said three kilometers to the airport but I missed the arrow and thought it said straight on and so I did.  Instead it was a directional arrow for a right turn.  So much for keeping you guessing....so carried on, did a quick turn off the road at a very difficult junction, your life in their hands and went for it and fortunately there was a lull in the traffic and I headed back from whence I came.  

Now this road is a bit like wacky racers in that it's a three lane highway and the middle one is a free for all so with about two hundred meters to go to the junction I put my indicator on and was ready for the left turn.  Sodded a few up behind but I'm in front remember.  Lovely airport...small very friendly and the plane was thirty minutes early since most of the passengers were travelling with hand luggage.  Not my guest...she came through with a big bag on her back and her rucksack on her front and once I'd removed the front one to give her a hand there appeared to be a danger of her ending up on her back like a grounded turtle but we negotiated the exit quite well...went to the car and on our way to Asenovgrad in quicksticks.  Missed the turning for Kardjali but off roaded for a little while in Beauty and there it was...Kardjali turning....and it was non stop until the restaurant.  Sharan, cheesy chips and salad, orange juice for me and a beer for Ms K and then back home stopping off for eggs and a loaf of bread in the supermarket in Djebel.  Sat up with a beer until we were both ready to hit the sack and both to our individual virginal couches.

Into the car this morning with a mission.  Over to their house...check on the new roof, measure up the rooms, pay builders and suppliers and added to the list was a call on the Librarian for a trip to the loo and coffee.  All tasks completed and home for just before five.  I've powerpointed the plans, she's reading her book...chicken wings and salad for supper and the chicken is going in and the beer is coming out.  It's going to be a chilled evening...LN...
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MikeyB
September 4, 2013, 7:39pm Report to Moderator

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You had Sharon for lunch?  
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Elsa Peters
September 5, 2013, 5:18pm Report to Moderator

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Thursday 5th September

Thanks Mikey B...no...we had sharon (fish) for supper, not lunch...and so delicious but I left the head....the eyes put me off.

Lazy day....have done very little apart from basics and spend the afternoon checking out the bus departures from Kardjali bus station so the Ms K is in Sofia in time for her flight to Cyprus.  Nice afternoon flight but come the border opening...it could be a flight from Alexandroupolis or Thessaloniki instead....makes more sense than traipsing all the way to Sofia...four hours on a bus.

Breakfast was bacon and eggs and we didn't have much after that until it was spicy sausage (specially for Princess) with potatoes, onion and served with pasta...and we were doing OK until the wine got opened since we were out of beer.  Only just after eight and we have more or less finished drinking for tonight.  It's not that we don't have it but I'm driving and seven thirty tomorrow and she flying so no bad heads for either of us for tomorrow.  May be were showing a little responsibility in our old age and tomorrow hopefully we'll be back to normal but she'll to in Cyprus and I'll be changing beds ready for the next.

Email today from my Princess who is still getting excellent marks for her essays that she's putting in as part of an History 'A' level that she has decided to take.  I did ask how she was bribing the tutor but to date, not necessary at all...she's just a bright kid and must take after her father.  She's back at school organising the naughty ones...but she loves it really...ABC is what it's all about.

So now to attack the Angry Birds with a vengeance.  I've knocked off a few more levels but stuck on one at the moment.  This could take some working out but I have time and patience....and determination.  Downloaded several new books on to my Kindle by recommendation so a few to keep me going.  It's always good to hear of other authors that you might have missed and if you don't enjoy it...you can always say that what they suggested was sh*te.  Really good for maintaining friendships.  So it's LN from me.  We might finish the bottle but we have lights out at nine and have to be in the car for seven thirty, all bright eyed and bushy tailed tomorrow...LN time for a refill....
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Elsa Peters
September 6, 2013, 5:06pm Report to Moderator

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Friday 6th September

Up nice and early, in the car for seven thirty, Kardjali by eight ten and bus ticket purchased by eight fifteen.  She was on her way by eight thirty.  I left the bus station and bought breakfast, sat in the car and finished it and was ready to shop 'til I dropped or the money ran out.

Local hardware shop first and got some woven baskets for the bathroom, heat protectors for the dining table, found another swinging garden chair for the cherry tree but this time with arms and found that they stocked loft ladders so I won't have to journey to Plovdiv  to get one.  Not sure it if will fit though Cinderella...I might need my very own Buttons to make fine adjustments to it so that it goes between the beams in the final bedroom to be finished.    On to Billa for a few food items and finally Lidl to find that they no longer stock the fish portions and it seemed to be a 'one off' for them...what a shame.  Back to Djebel for bread and then into the car shop to chat to my student's mum to catch up with the gossip.  I'd met her mother in Lidl earlier and heard that they were off to Greece for a week so I was able to tell her what she was doing before she could tell me.   Stayed for about two hours, home for about three thirty so a late lunch and by four my eyes were closing so onto the sofa in the lounge.

Seven thirty. a knock on my door and Avatar was there with Emaula and they had a message from the dentist.  Apparently he is off to the sea for the weekend and has moved my appointment from Monday to Tuesday morning.  They were both surprised that I was asleep saying that it was early...what they didn't realise was that it was an extended afternoon nap...not an 'in for the night' early night but it won't be long before I move upstairs and head down again.  Have the feeling thought that I might live to regret it...tomorrow morning could be an early start.  

LN....I'll risk it...and thank you Ms K for the donation to my newly started Cyprus holiday fund but it wasn't under the eggs where I expected to find it...   Hope you've arrived safe and sound, let the planning commence and the cushion fluffing start...LN

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Elsa Peters
September 7, 2013, 6:13am Report to Moderator

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Saturday 7th September

Not too bad...slept until six and there was a lovely red and blue glow over the mountains before sunrise.  The hojja sang in the morning with the dogs howling it in and then all peace was restored.  Got myself a cup of coffee and watched the sun come up.  The air was cool but I've watered the garden as it's been forecasted for upper twenties again and some of the plants still need it especially the acacias which seem to be thriving.

So what does today hold?  Not anything on the agenda but I might go and sort out the little house back terrace.  I've got several plants that would do better getting their feet in the soil before winter and it's a relatively sheltered spot.  My old tree chair needs restoring...two winters out there and three summers have taken its toll and next year I shall have the two of them swinging from the cherry....a list of takers is being assembled...all enquiries on a postcard please!!

Breakfast and to horse....



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createdbyme4you
September 7, 2013, 4:35pm Report to Moderator

Hi from London but longing to be in Bulgaria
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Hi Elsa Good to read up on all your adventurers  and your keeping well    postcard from me     name to go on the list please

Jackie
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Elsa Peters
September 8, 2013, 4:10pm Report to Moderator

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Sunday 8th September

OK Jackie, your name is on the list...in fact your name is the only one on the list....

Silly night last night..woke up this morning at silly o'clock, read for a couple of hours and was wide awake when I should have been fast asleep.  Dogs were yapping but don't think that it was down to them but at the alarm call of six when the hojja started, again they all joined in the chorus.  Don't you just love 'em.

Beautiful sky this morning with fluffy pink clouds and I posted on FB.  Not very often I do that but seemed right this morning.  Off to visit my student but this morning I was supposed to teach her sister how to swim so I tried on my swimwear...reckoned it looked OK and messaged my student to say 'on' or 'off'.  Sister decided that there was a nip in the air so it was off but as the day wore on it got progressively hotter but it was too late then.  My swimsuit was at home and I was in Djebel.  Todays lesson was on silly English phrases that have several meanings and her homework is to make sentences, as many as she can manage using the word 'point'.  That should keep her going and we went through the phrases that she has to use at work and she came back with an interesting concept that the woman who is over the department says that she would be better using such and such a word and not the one she chooses.  I've asked her to document the phrases that she uses and we'll run a comparison....I think we might come out on top...

Parents were making 'lutenitsa' today.  Roasting peppers, squidging tomatoes, shelling garlic and boiling it all up to make a mush that they bottle.  We tried it out and it was OK and we went through the logistics of preparing it yourself or buying it from the supermarket and I think I came out on top....It is so labour intensive but I suppose you don't get the same satisfaction from popping a jar in your supermarket trolley.  We ate melon outside on the terrace but I don't do flies very well and there seemed to be quite a few around.  My fork stopped after they increased.  This family is so lovely and it's good to see the man of the house stirring the pan as the lutenitsa cooks.

So home at four thirty...my chicken is cooking and it will probably be that and a huge chunk of bread for supper since they fed me as is their want.  The beer is on the go...and what a beautiful night it is.  Calm, peaceful and I've nothing to do except kill a few 'Angry Birds' and train my brain with my DS....LN...it's not a bad life.... Forgot to mention my student is in Greece so no lesson tomorrow and my dentist has cancelled because he is off to the beach...the day is all mine...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 9, 2013, 5:04pm Report to Moderator

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Monday 9th September

Silly o'clock start and this time it was down to the dogs....read for a while and eventually got back off at about five and didn't hear the mosque or the dogs at the normal start off time.  Washing out by nine thirty, sorted out my shoes and decided that several summer things were beyond their sell by date so will find their way to the container tomorrow.  I did rescue a pair that I bought in China and they now have a new lease of life.  Several jars and bottles will be off to the container as well since we don't have recycling here yet in all its glory.  There are one or two in Kardjali but you really have to look for them...I've not ear marked them yet.  Tidied out the third upstairs bedroom, got rid of a lot of cardboard and polythene that has some how found its way in there and boxes from the toaster and the handbasin.  I'm looking at winter clothes that are in bags and thinking that it won't be long.....September is the prep month for our winter.

Planted out the jasmine and some of the cuttings that I've managed to half inch from Kardjali.  As long as I water them they should have enough time to build up roots for the winter and where they've been planted I can keep an eye on them.  Got four lavender to go in but I think they are better where they are for the time being and the plants that I brought back from Greece are potted up and my fingers are crossed.  They seem to grow everywhere over there and virtually on the beach so they might stand a chance in my garden.  Worked it out today...we have been approximately ten weeks without rain...no wonder everything looks so dry.

Good news...I got a phone call from Bekir today....they're starting work tomorrow so I suppose I better get a red, amber, green checklist in place with the things I want doing and the order I want them done.  Haven't really given it much thought so far this year...but I'm sure I can fill their time profitably.  Dentist for a scrape and polish tomorrow and then on to Kardjali to buy the loft ladder I've spotted and a shelving unit to go by my desk on the upstairs landing.  It's got two drawers so it should make it look a little tidier.

Almost eight my time.  Can't say that I'm thinking about much food but there are the remains of the chicken from last night lingering in the fridge.  Might just have to knock up a few chippies to go with it.  Early start tomorrow...I have to get fuel, I don't think I have enough to get there and back and then make it into Djebel so I'll head there first.  LN...I really have to get my head round that list... ...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 9, 2013, 5:15pm Report to Moderator

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Monday continued

Let's see if I can manage to get the rest of the pickies to load...M-Tel...rubbish....and worse since I complained about the service.  I wonder if they have a special button for people like me....



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Elsa Peters
September 10, 2013, 2:51pm Report to Moderator

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Tuesday 10th September

They are back...what more can I say.  I got the petrol before I picked them up and out they came from the restaurant where I meet them with their little bags containing food for the day and new work clothes.  Now I swear I've got more work clothes in my rabotilnitza..(work room) than they have on the local bazaar but I've offered to wash them but they still insist on new.  So we looked round the place and nothing has intrinsically moved or changed since they were here last except that I swear Sally has taken off a kilogram and now weighs less than a bag of cement and Bekir has had his hair cut.  We talked about things to be done and the list was made on the back of a cigarette packet and it's basically....metal under the tiles on the roof between the little house and the workshop incase we have twenty foot of snow, the drainage channel at the back of the workshop and the front wall which has now to be extended to the end of the building going down the lane.  It's my land so I'm going to fence it before some other beauty lays claim to it.

So made them coffee and set off for my appointment with the butcher of Djebel for a clean and polish.  I sat waiting for the ten o'clock bell to toll and my neighbour had got it wrong...my time wasn't until twelve so into Kardjali to buy the loft ladder and the chest from Lidl which is now sitting partly assembled in the hallway but I think I need a drink to complete it and that won't happen until I get the men home and dry.  Talking of which....I think it won't be too long...it's been a warm one again today and they've been up on, as it turned out, a hot tin roof and now the tiles are getting replaced.  I am so demanding... ...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 11, 2013, 4:25am Report to Moderator

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Wednesday 11th September

Just had to capture this morning from my bed....early but worth waking up for.  And on another note...Happy Birthday to Angela, my dear friend that has threatened me with another visit...it can't come soon enough and the men were already asking how you are.  You made quite an impression on them.  Big hugs and have a good day....and now to get dressed and get those pesky men to start work...all go here...



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Elsa Peters
September 11, 2013, 4:35pm Report to Moderator

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Wednesday continued

Lovely morning...the men finished the roof and moved outside to start attacking the wall working in the shade with a gentle 'gypsy' wind blowing from Greece.  Friends arrived and we chewed over the fat and had coffee and off they went heading to Kardjali, find a local hotel and then make their way to Greece for a few days now that the border crossing is open.

As for me...I went out and helped the men with the front wall, took my new cabinet outside to get the measure of it and knock in a few more dowels and noticed that the clouds were gathering in the west and it seemed to be getting darker.  There was a rumble of thunder but suddenly it started.  There was a mad dash to get the stuff that I was working on inside, the wind howled, I rushed to get my big patio pots under the canopy, the rain came and it was like a tornado.  My patio umbrella swung round and headed with the wind and I thought I was going to lose it.  Had to run indoors and close the doors and windows that were banging and by this time the thunder had got extraordinarily loud and the lightening was banging into the hillside.  We lost the electricity, my UPS was buzzing away and looked out into my little garden from the ground floor bedroom and I had lost one tree from the side of the garden and one from the hedge which had also pulled down my wooden construction.....I'm gutted but at least my special tree withstood it all and only lost its fir cones.  So Sally and I walked the garden at just after five and I suggested that I take them home...it looked like it was in for the night but now it is a beautiful calm evening.  Coming home there was a complete rainbow so I rushed home thinking that it would have its pot of gold in my garden...no luck.  The roads were covered in all of the debris from the last ten weeks and at least the rain has cleaned things up....apart from where my men are digging out...it's a bugger of a job with lots of tree roots....they might have a better day tomorrow....LN...on the bright side...I have two more lots of wood that I didn't have yesterday for winter...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 11, 2013, 4:48pm Report to Moderator

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Really last on Wednesday

Thought you might like these...very dramatic after an exciting day....LN



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Elsa Peters
September 11, 2013, 4:59pm Report to Moderator

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And once more for the ladies and gentlemen



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September 11, 2013, 10:21pm Report to Moderator
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Great photos!
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Elsa Peters
September 12, 2013, 5:43pm Report to Moderator

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Thursday 12th September

Thanks for the complements...you can't take bad ones here.. .

Someone had stolen the Greek mountains and every other one this morning....the mists had enveloped everything.  I was awake at just before five this morning since I woke up with the light on at three.  Switched them off but the sleep quota was used up so hence the early start.  Played Angry Birds until I hit a level that I couldn't complete but my flat battery saved my pride and went on to the DS where I smashed one of my records....well life's like that...you win some and you know the rest.

Out to pick up my men and back here for eight thirty and my have they struggled with the heat and trying to stop laughing at my attempt to complete the pile of bits that I lovingly refer to as a 'cabinet'.  I was doing OK until I realised that I had put in the centre support upside down, had used to much glue and hadn't thumped home the dowels sufficiently.  Going forward...I'll know for next time but I don't think there'll be one.   Bastard thing came with insufficient downs and holes in the wrong places without I'm dreadfully mistaken and there's every chance.

So Bekir got his head down and was awakened by me bashing seven bells out of a lump of stone and I think he thought it was a fire engine.  Sally was laughing but Bekir's response was that he thought we should go into Djebel and get a decent or half decent pick to finish the job...and we did and they're still finishing the job...there are just so many roots from two huge trees to be got rid of before they can lay the foundations for my new wall.  And oh how they love me...not...   Did manage to get pictures of them for next year's calendar...not much to show except that they have their little rubber shoes off...not keep calm girls.

Took them home and nearly had a catastrophe....I'd followed a forty foot long wagon for about two kilometers and when it was safe to do so...I indicated and started to pull out and some silly buffoon from about three cars behind decided to go for it.  I spotted him in my mirror and braked as he drew opposite my window with a stream of abuse....he picked up speed and carried out and I stayed where I was until the next opportunity arose.  His number plates were from Smolyan....I think he was from the planet zog but I did offer to buy the boys a brandy when I dropped them off.  No need...they were clutching bottles of German beer that I had given to them from Lidl.

Home....fish fingers and chips with mayo and tomato sauce and I probably won't sleep tonight so I better get on the mastica to knock me out.  LN...I'm on a mission...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 13, 2013, 6:47pm Report to Moderator

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Friday 13th September

Well it's over virtually and nothing untoward has happened ....well not out of the ordinary...

Suffered last night for my late supper and I should know better but don't.  Tonight I have had nothing since four this afternoon so I shall probably be awake because I am hungry not stuffed to the gills.  Showered and shampooed and met the men with wet hair clutching thermo coffee mug.  I'd not realised the time and it moves on very swiftly on some mornings and this was one of them.  Down to the yard and ordered the materials for the wall....phoned the sand man and he cometh, or rather cameth while I was in Kardjali getting more dowels to finish this bloody cabinet.  I start it, the men laugh, I go and do a bit more and they keep on laughing.  Now Bekir has offered to do the job for me but it's only a cabinet for goodness sake and it's all pre-drilled and there are instructions.  Tomorrow with a little help from a hammer it will be put together and filled with all the crap that sits on my desk.  

As for the men...the wall was no problem until we came to removing the gate supports which are asbestos, partly filled with sand and the rest concrete sunk about two feet into the ground.  It was a bit of a job and now it was my turn to laugh and it ended up with Bekir visiting one of my neighbours to see if they had anything bigger than the normal hammer to really give it some welly which is just what they did.  It was the most enormous metal handled metal lump hammer I think I have ever seen but it did the job.  Rest of it down, new concrete gate support already in place although temporarily supported by wood either side to stop the roaming cows, my do they work quickly when it's Friday night and the boys are at the bar already.  Dropped Sally near his local watering hole, Bekir with his mates in another one and I carried on to the Librarian's since neither of her phones raised her today.  She's fine and with her son is attacking the garden with a vengeance and uncovering allsorts.

Enough for tonight...we are having the odd flash of lightening but not near enough to hear the bangs yet...the cabinet is in just in case it rains tonight...I should hate it to get spoilt now I've become attached to it.  There is a beer on the go and at half past nine, no food will be passing my lips tonight...LN...want to get this posted and the computer to bed...LN  



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Elsa Peters
September 14, 2013, 6:46pm Report to Moderator

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Saturday 14th September

My day of rest but unfortunately it started at three thirty this morning with the zzzz of a mosquito so I sprayed with the stuff and decided that until I was ready to sleep again I would play on the DS....bloody thing only landed on the screen so I shut it down, moved it into the upper hall, and blow me down if it didn't escape and come back to terrorise me or its brother or sister did...ggrrr.

Went back eventually buried under the covers and dawn struck at about eight for me.  Meandered around outside, checked the garden but it had rained in the night so there was little to do.  Thankfully I had got the cabinet in last night otherwise it would have been petchka bound this morning.  Delayed finishing it until I had had a packet of Haribo for breakfast and then took the bull by the horns or rather the cabinet by the instructions and set about creating what the designer had planned.

It is up...no bits left over, sited in the hall by my desk and now that sorting out begins.  I did come out with a brainstorm though.  It's supposed to be a video cabinet but mushroom boxes with their upper nodules trimmed fit into the upper shelf and become drawers that do not fall to the ground when they are opened and can remain open at a tilt to select anything one wants to select.  Last mushroom box without payment at Lidl...one more trip and I shall be complete.

Supper tonight...sparer rib chunks (not exactly chops)m but delicious and at a fraction of the price.  I marinaded them this afternoon with the usual but added Piri Piri sauce so not sure what Tommy will make of the bones but anything apart from bread which is the usual feast of the fettered is better.  Nine thirty my time...Bette Midler is blasting away and I shall be soon to sleep.  Off with my student and her parents to raid the walnut trees at the old school provided that the weather looks OK...no way do I stand in the rain for a few walnuts.  LN...Bette's finished so now to find something else to boogie to...washing up done so my work is ended for today...I'll update you tomorrow...LN



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createdbyme4you
September 14, 2013, 7:02pm Report to Moderator

Hi from London but longing to be in Bulgaria
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Hi Elsa you so inspire me mushroom box, breakfast,I especially like lunch and dinner  : I'm so jealous
Jackie  x    
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Elsa Peters
September 15, 2013, 3:24pm Report to Moderator

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Sunday 15th September

Jackie...inspiration comes in all forms...glad to be of service in the words of Bicentennial man....x

So I was doing OK for time this morning and thought that I'd planned it well until my Avatar appeared inviting me to a wedding this afternoon...Apologised saying that I had arranged for a walnut gathering session with my student's parents.  Quick shower and into some clothes that had not been ironed and I hear you saying it now Mikey B...shame on me but for goodness sake...I was potentially up a tree with a big stick.  As it happened..it was not me up the tree.  Sat around at their house for a short while drinking black tea and eating cake provided by their neighbour and then all packed and into the car...not much chance of an English lesson today...we were off walnutting.

Over to the property in Momchilgrad...it is still as big as ever and my student's parents were surprised at the size of it.  Their is not to reason why...we want walnuts....there are seven trees to be depleted.  We were spotted on the way in but fortunately I have sufficient Bulgarian and three locals with me to state my case of which I'm certain...but then next time we take a tarpaulin and spread it on the ground...every new shake as he climbed the tree meant we were going over the same ground several times.  Now I'm into time and motion in a big way and though we had sufficient labour...there are ways to do things and I've formulated the technique for next year and it wasn't what we did today.  Anyway...all is safely gathered in....and then down for a picnic in the grounds by which time the next door neighbour that I know was round with yogurt drink.  We loaded the car with the cache....grabbed the food and sat down in the shade and demolished the lot.  On leaving there was another local to prove to that we had a right to be there....as I held my passport at the ready...well not quite but almost.

Back home...beautiful day, beautiful evening and supper is still in the freezer.  Got a little glass of 'rocket fuel' on the go which is namely gin, sweet martini topped up with tonic water and so named because it 'makes you go quickly'....my ex-mother-in-laws favourite and did me through a few years till I knew better....and now I know that two is sufficient unto the day.

Men tomorrow...the materials that were ordered didn't come on Friday as to be expected but the list is already assembled if the wood doesn't arrive.  My list is endless and they have until I move on to the next phase of life to complete it...I joked with them on Friday that I shall be in a wheelchair directing operations while they appear with walking sticks or zimmer frames....picture it in your heads....

So LN.....I'm off to get the walnuts out of the car and lay them on the terrace to dry....I have work to do...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 16, 2013, 4:58pm Report to Moderator

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Monday 16th September

Bloody mosquito...I took all the precautions, I sprayed the room about one hour before I went to bed, closed the door and windows and a little b*st*rd woke me up at three this morning.  I heard it and I had this itching on my hand so not sure if it's a genuine mozzie or on of those small wee beasties but I really hate my nights disturbed.  So on to the computer and played a few silly games and went back to bed at five hiding under the bedding but then woke up at six cold as you like.  The temperature had dipped so out again and on with the socks that have yet to come off and a little cardie, that did come off and was replaced with a sweater to pick up the men.

Over to their village, back here in quicksticks and I settled on the kitchen terrace peeling the green stuff off the walnuts.  I cleared the basket and kept half and gave the rest to my Avatar so that she can make me some baklava when it is their silly season.  Nothing much for breakfast, men are busy doing the wall or rather digging out the foundations and I'm pleased to say that it is now ready to start the construction but it did take until five thirty today.  The materials were delivered just after lunch and everything was there.  The breeze blocks were left in the lane but the wood is safely stored along with the metal....try that in the UK.  Unfortunately there were just so many roots wrapping themselves around the old stone work that it was a hell of a job to remove the stone and the roots but job's a guddun...tomorrow they start and I'll add, weather permitting.  It started to rain as we got them in the car for home and it must be some association with the word 'concreting'.  It always seems to manage it.

So home now and the lightening has started so it's going to be a quickie this evening and the pc is going to bed.  Looks like it could be another evening of Angry Birds and my how I love it.....repetitive but the challenge is there to complete the level.  A few pictures of my six o'clock start....of my shelling of the walnuts and the bounty that I found in the lane that requires that I go out and get a couple of bottles of gin.  I came up with this theory that because I had a very indulgent tent moth caterpillar that finished the leaves off, the poor plant has done its best on the fruit front.  Just a thought.  On that note...LN...I have and empty glass and an equally empty stomach...I'm kitchen bound...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 17, 2013, 7:10pm Report to Moderator

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Tuesday 17th September

It's a late post tonight...I have guests.

Picked the men up today and they have made a start on the wall...Interesting interlude with Semile the sheep farmer at lunchtime...I now have a barrel bung carved by Stara Mush who has now gone to higher pastures but no barrel to put it in.  There was a cost involved that I don't want to discuss...but maybe one day.

So off this afternoon and went down the new road for Slanchogled...Sunflower village...and made it all the way to the new junction with the Zlatograd road and without anyone turning us back....the new road had been constructed so that they could put a massive pipe underneath the existing road and if we have a digger...we can make a new road...no problem peeps.

Did various DIY shops today for my visitors, arrived home in time to make potato salad and 'stuff' including a stupendous sweet and sour barbecue spare ribs for supper with potato salad, took the men home and back to finish supper.....is there no end to my talents.

Third glass of red on the way...guests asleep...almost ten and I still have things to do...but feeling very relaxed and at one with the world.  Super day to day and was able to photo lots of things that I normally end up viewing because I am on the end of the steering wheel....LN...enjoy the photos of my world...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 18, 2013, 5:40pm Report to Moderator

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Wednesday 18th September

A fun packed day.  I woke up at seven this morning...that extra glass of wine last night put me out for the count and I slept like the proverbial log.  Picked up the men, got them back in time, bacon and eggs for breakfast for my guests and out to see what the men were up to.  Bekir was walking back towards the house along with Emula and carrying a trusty lump hammer and ...my concrete post that was the old electricity pole is no more.  I'd asked if it could come down before the new wall was build and down it has come.  Bekir attached a rope to the top, Emaula was on the hammer at the bottom, Sally was watching and ready to jump if necessary, my Avatar joined in the fray and bang, bang, Emula's hammer came down upon the post, bang, bank and a little tug and  and the next thing it crashed on to the road.  I did a little police work directing traffic round it and then a few more bangs with the hammer and I now have three sections that might be used for something else....in typical BG form.

So off we went to Greece to try out the new road to Komotini.  Fantastic and Greece in one and a half hours from my house to the beach...it has to be done again.  Until the Shenanigan agreement goes through we still have a police post to encounter but that should be removed after Brussels and the rest make their minds up.  Beautiful road, good lunch but at inflated prices in comparison to BG but it is Greece....Coffee by the Aegean Sea,,,now what could be wrong with that.  Home for six, men delivered to their door and what a lovely day it has been....LN....very rested, and now for a little food and vino before bed...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 19, 2013, 7:26pm Report to Moderator

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Thursday 19th September

Another lazy start to the morning with Angry Birds playing a major part of it.  Over to pick up the men, and then off to look at houses with my guest.  We went to see one that they had seen before and it still needs a decision..off to visit another friend who wasn't at home and whose telephones don't seem to work.  Back to Djebel to sort out a haircut for my guest and what a wonderful improvement at a cost of...now wait for it...five leva for a complete restyle.  She's also found the hair colourant that she would use in the local shop for a fraction of the price...complete restyle and colour for about nine leva...four pounds fifty and it just has to be done.

Over to visit another house this afternoon which appears to be something that needs dragging into this century after being advertised as being fully modernised.  I've put the feelers out for others if the mayor of the Djebel surrounding areas can find one but the specification is two decera of land and panoramic views...not that we ask much.

Men home after we have planned the metal inserts in the wall which they have agreed to make to my specification after they decided that it would be very expensive to have them made professionally.  Into Djebel to fill up with fuel for the morning trip and picking up a bottle of wine as I left and as I drove home I saw the moon and it is absolutely stupendous...there are no photos....it wasn't so impressive as the light faded but tomorrow will be another day.

LN...supper more than filled a gap and now I'm going to digest what I've stuffed down...I'm in to Angry Birds now...LN
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MikeyB
September 19, 2013, 7:36pm Report to Moderator

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Quoted from Elsa Peters
Sunday 15th September
Quick shower and into some clothes that had not been ironed and I hear you saying it now Mikey B...shame on me but for goodness sake...I was potentially up a tree with a big stick.  As it happened..it was not me up the tree.  


Well as long as your underwear was clean on, then I guess that's all that matters!  

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Elsa Peters
September 20, 2013, 9:14am Report to Moderator

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Friday 20th September

Men working and still at the wall building ...I asked them to make it taller today...The one side appears to have hardly any wall since the ground slopes down towards the gate and it just didn't look right.  Unfortunately it is distinctly autumn today...and a tad on the cold side.  I've even resorted to long trousers and socks apart from the other stuff before some bright spark asks me if that's all.  Now going to check that they are still out there and haven't walked off the job....I can't hear the chip, chip of a stonemason,,,
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Elsa Peters
September 21, 2013, 7:39pm Report to Moderator

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Saturday 21st September

This morning was a little bit cloudy.  Sorted out the blown down trees and then off to visit a friend in an area that I haven't been to before.  Arrived around three this afternoon and sat at the Vulture Sanctuary until he arrived and then we started to explore the area.  On the way though I did stop at the Studena Voda lake to take some photos only to be approached by one of the heavies who told me that I was in the border area and I had no right to take any photos for security reasons so everything that I took can't be published.  I also realised that Kardjali was at the other end of this lake or reservoir and it had taken me two hours to drive there.

At the vulture sanctuary I found out that they are Egyptian vultures, about twenty nesting pairs that come back year after year and I really should investigate it further.  Went to see his grandparents house and found out something about the area.  Apparently his grandparents were Greek and the previous border made this Greece....not Bulgaria at all.  He also mentioned that there is a bridge in the town where there was a great loss of life and they are celebrating one hundred years of history.  Again his English is OK so I understood that it's to do with the First World War but I don't know enough to quote him so again, I have to look it up.  

Journey time taking the southern route was just over two hours but I came back via the back lanes into Kardjali and it took about one and a half hours.  Much quicker and not such a hazardous route.   The southern route was full of hairpins and twisty turny roads.

So back home.  Stopped off at Djebel to get some chicken wings and supper was those with Piri Piri sauce, potato salad and coleslaw.  I'm stuffed but sticking to the beer tonight.  Having guests here has raised the quantity of red wine that has been consumed and it was time to put a stop to it.  Enough for tonight....I'm to my virtuous pit...LN...tomorrow is a day of resting before the men start again...LN  



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Elsa Peters
September 22, 2013, 9:04am Report to Moderator

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Sunday 22nd September

Brilliant moon last night again but the bloody dogs from  the neighbourhood were all barking and baying at it.  So much so that I took to Angry Birds until the battery ran out and the DS was already out of juice so I went back to reading until I felt that my eyes were sufficiently heavy to get me a few more zzz's in.  Lovely sitting out in the sun this morning with a cup of the black stuff on MikeyB's bench until the need to become active set in and I started a bonfire but realised that it was quite the wrong thing to do.  The breeze had got up and it wasn't safe ...I had no intention of setting fire to the hillside.

So cooking supper last night and the gas bottler eventually gave up the ghost but considering that I haven't filled it since last September it has done a year at a cost of about thirty leva.  A whole year for about fourteen pounds so that can't be bad.  Tried to get the connector off this morning but I need a Bekir to do it.  You sort have have to pull, push and twist all at the same time so I'll wait until a man with the knack, and I know he could probably do it with one hand tied behind his back though I won't do that to him since it's not challenges you want out here.  I give them enough by asking if the wall could be about twenty centimeters higher.  And their response is...it's what you want...not what we want to give you.

Right out with my trusty hedge trimmers....I'm going to remove the old grapes and toss them over the fence for the sheep....to horse
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Elsa Peters
September 22, 2013, 4:33pm Report to Moderator

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Sunday continued

Well the grapes are still hanging and the hungry sheep have now gone over the knoll but they didn't know my intentions so I have nothing to feel guilty about.  I always get this way when people leave...a very slow day for me.  I've played on the computer, answered emails that I should have responded to a few days ago but tonight I have got in some wood and lit the fire.  It's chill but not cold but it gives a different ambiance to the house...

I had a visit from Remsie today with her two grandchildren and since there is no photographer in Djebel they sought me out to take pictures of the children for their school documents.  They wanted passport size which I did and then she asked if I could take one of the two of them together for herself...now how could I refuse.  She came up with twenty leva which for them is a great deal...she went back with twenty leva and five photos for school and one for herself of the grandchildren,  The parents are working in ...somewhere in Europe and she looks after the day to day requirements.

Radiators are ticking over beautifully.  I've just turned the immersion off reckoning that the fire will do its stuff and produce enough for me to have a thoroughly good shower and then curl up with either Angry Birds which is mind numbing but pleasant or the DS now that it's charged which is mind numbing but competitive...what a choice.

Chilled but cool with Chicago playing tonight to be closely followed by Sting...it's all planned...LN...No food tonight...tuna mayo with toast at four and that's going to see me through until tomorrow....LN
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Elsa Peters
September 22, 2013, 5:49pm Report to Moderator

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Sunday continued

My sunset...



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Elsa Peters
September 23, 2013, 7:20pm Report to Moderator

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Monday 23rd September

So morning this morning was fierce and blasting out but instead I opened the doors and windows to let some air into the place..Having lit the fire last night, I shut up shop but had to open it up this morning....fresh, clean air...

Picked up the men, played around in the garden but this morning have not much energy for anything.  Went into Djebel after lunch to replenish the gas bottle and I am told that there won't be any until half past three so went into sit with my student's mum until the bewitching hour.  We talked Yusti's new school and the final bill for England...I really must sit down and work it all out.

Clouded over this afternoon...but was till OK.  The men have worked on the wall and we are onto the next phase...like towers....and they are making everything as if the next earthquake is imminent...and who knows...it could be.

So supper tonight was chicken wings with potato fritters with mayo...you can't have a meal like that without it.  Absolutely delicious....and now ready for tomorrow and Tommy will have another delight,  LN...I have other things to do....sleep tight everyone...



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Elsa Peters
September 24, 2013, 6:17pm Report to Moderator

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Tuesday 24th September

Woke up at three this morning with the light still on and a tablet under my left shoulder.  This was one more angry bird so straightened up the quilt, switched off the light and went back off having a dream about mice of all things.  Fully awake by five, on to the computer until six, realised that there was at least another hours sleep in me and was still thinking about 'five more minutes'and another five minutes until the urge to make the drive to pick up the men kicked in and 'she was off'.  Over to the materials yard to order the metal for my wall panels that the men are going to make and yet more bags of cement.  I am now considered to be OK to withstand earthquakes up to a certain magnitude...I'll have to find out which.  Quite funny today...Bekir was telling me the benefits of compressed steel to make the railings as opposed to boxed and he was quoting how long each would last.  I think he actually gave me a guarantee of twenty five years with the flat metal.  I'll stay around to prove him wrong hopefully.

So dug around in the garden and lifted the beetroot that must be done tomorrow.  I also lifted the carrots and I really have some peculiar shapes and sizes and unfortunately one meal and they'll be gone.  Lopped the grapes down and they have gone over the fence for the sheep and cows and that all started because Sally kept knocking them out of the way as he got his stuff together for another load of the white hard stuff.  The boys worked hard today...they didn't leave until seven thirty and I was almost tempted to put the outside lights on.  Tomorrow's work is to put up the four columns to support the metal work and then...I have a wall and only two to go plus one that goes round the whole property and the little house terrace.  That should keep them busy and also keep the local materials yard in business.

Back home by eight fifteen and I'm knacked tonight...little supper, little drink and then to bed.  I'm getting too old for this lark...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 25, 2013, 1:29pm Report to Moderator

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Wednesday 25th September

Good night's sleep but the tablet was still in the bed with me and I'm supposing that I was just too lazy to put it on the side table since I was playing with the light off.  There are worse things to wake up with I suppose.  Dogs and the hojja at the mosque sang in the sunrise...one morning I must record it.

Off promptly for the men this morning and they set straight to it and are now making the columns for the wall.  By the end of the night I shall have it done and the machine gun posts go in later this week...A little bit of local news...my first Gouljan's sister has given birth to a baby boy....my well wishes to the family.

So what did I get up to?  Stripped the beds and had two loads of washing out by nine thirty....the beetroot is sitting pickled in three large jars and it looked like there had been a major accident in the kitchen.  It's one of the messiest veg that I know but at least it's done.  I phoned the Librarian this afternoon and asked if she had a vacancy and arranged to stay tonight so that I have less of a trek tomorrow to pick up the men.  The cost...a bottle of beer and a bowl of potato salad...I love this bartering.  

And talking of bartering, I am now the proud owner of six bags of sheep shite ready for my garden for the winter.  It is such poor soil that I need to take drastic measures and it was deliver for the price of one two litre bottle of beer...that's neighbours for you but no potato salad this time.  I can't let it be known in the neighbourhood how good my potato salad is...they'll all want it.  

Early posting as I said...I'm out tonight and can't be bothered taking my laptop.  I'll settle for Angry Birds when we've had supper.  Back to the garden...I have some shite to shift before I go...a little of the black stuff to spread and washing to sort to leave the house straight just in case I have burglars...I can't have them thinking it's already been done...LN in advance...



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Elsa Peters
September 26, 2013, 5:12pm Report to Moderator

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Thursday 26th September

Supper with the Librarian last night and eventually got to bed at about eleven and slept the sleep of the just.  One visit to the toilet overnight but after that I didn't want to wake up and did a quick one two to get the men.  So today's challenge should we choose to accept it was to get the documentation in place to get electricity and water to my friend's place in Momchilgrad.  Now I haven't told him this since he hasn't responded on FB but what a day.  Picked the men up and headed for Momchilgrad.  It was decided that Sally would be better off working, be it solo at my house since the negotiations would be boring to him.

Over to the waterboard who wanted to see the official documentation for the purchase of the said property and that was at the electricity board office.  Now the lady that we had communicated with earlier was not in so it got rather complicated and we had to go back later.  So over to my men to order my windows which was a five minute job and then on to the electricity board so that we could get connection to the property.  They said that without a new planning document they couldn't do anything so complete with post-it note, we went to the municipality to get the work underway.  Now when we got there we were told that it wasn't possible to go for a change of use and that all schools should remain schools.  My comment was 'Why did you sell it then if there cannot be a change of use?'.  So off to the waterboard to see the original lady and it has been decided that Bekir is a water 'maestro' he can do the work but we have to keep quiet about it so we went to the property to measure and calculate what we needed to complete the water connection.  As it turned out we are able to connect unofficially to a water supply that we don't pay for and to the official one that we must make the connection to that will get signed off.

So back to the electricity supply.  We went for lunch and received a telephone call to say that we could not have a temporary one on the old connection since that would not be allowed.  So we went back to the electricity company...who gave us another post-it note to take with us and when we are there I threw a very gentle wobbly which instigated the inclusion of the mayor of Momchilgrad.  After several telephone conversations he has assured me that we shall have an electricity connection even if it has to be via the local mayor's office....

So home...the men were on their bikes around five thirty...I had had enough and so had they...a little red wine tonight and I feel positively chilled and it was a beautiful sunset.  So frustrating but successful day....tomorrow we are back to normal...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 27, 2013, 6:05pm Report to Moderator

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Friday 27th September

Lazy morning and well in time to pick up the men.  Went down to the materials yard to pay my debts for yesterday's metal delivery and then back to design, yes that ciggie packet came out again, the way that I wanted the metal to look for the front wall.  I'm not ostentatious as those that know me don't need reminding....the fence is plain, painted brown (well will be) and normal and it looks divine.

So I mentioned to Bekir that I could probably play at moving stone today from the dump to the work in progress but he suggested that I moved the sheep shite from out of the bags since it doesn't keep well in there so today I have move and scattered six bags of the stuff, cleared out the weeds and the finished growing stuff, like tomatoes and cucumbers, and spread the black gold.  Not sure I like the smell of it around the place but it has been worse today because it...and wait for it....it rained.  It was such a joy to be out there...it wasn't heavy but the thunder was rumbling in the background but tonight it has really set in.

Bekir knackered his metal cutter today so we have on loan one from Semile my sheep farmer who also insisted that Bekir wear his soldering headgear even though I had offered to buy them one today which they refused.  So the upshot is...I have four panels completed and the undersides painted, the columns don't have their 'hats' on yet but that can come later but it looks really good.  I think Bekir's soldering set came out of the ark and I really should have posted a picture but I didn't want to offend him.  It did the job but tomorrow is another day and it's sitting in my workshop...oh dear.

So boys home.  They are not with me next week working on my friends place so we've got the tools out ready for a Monday start.  The following week it is a holiday for them so it is going to be three weeks before they are back with me....boo hoo.  Tomorrow morning cleaning and tidying and maybe a lesson with my student since she or I can't do Sunday.  Supper tonight was a spicy sausage, onion and potato omelette....I might not move for the next few hours and I'm still finishing off a wine box from my last guests....slow aren't I....LN...washing up then hitting the sack...it's been a good day and a lot has been achieved by all of us...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 28, 2013, 6:09pm Report to Moderator

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Saturday 28th September

Seven start and straight through last night and so a few Angry Birds to welcome me to the day.  Down for a coffee and then to the garden and picked up where I'd left off yesterday.  The fire was rip roaring and my Avatar appeared on the terrace just because she saw lots of smoke and wanted to make sure that it was a controlled burn up and yes it was.  We walked out to the gate...I told her where the rest of the wall was to be constructed and by the time I'd got back to the fire...it was in the doldrums.  I put more combustible material on but it got to the stage of smoking.  Now you know what it's like...you expect it to burst into flames because no smoke without fire but the little beauty defies all the laws of nature.  So I took it apart again, played around and it was having none of it so in to the men's workshop and came out with all of the stuff that they should have set fire to before they left and off we went again.  Result....all of the small branches from the tree that came down have gone, the vine from the little house and the mildewed grapes have gone, toilet waste has gone along with the empty crisp packets that have appeared in the upstairs waste bit...I must have lodgers that I don't know about .

Swept through to clean out the debris to welcome my guest and had a time in the back of my mind and was working to it.  Unfortunately he was pre-my clock and I don't think I had had a wash but the time he put in his appearance.  So off he went for an hours sleep having partied yesterday and early morning planed while I showered and washed my hair to face my audience in Djebel.  

He was up within an hour and off we set working from a list of things that he wants and things that he needs and over to the supermarket and it was chicken and chips tonight.  Supper over, lashings of mayo so my night might not be as peaceful as it should but it's my own fault.  So now he's champing at the bit to update his own blog so it's goodnight from me and hello from him....LN....I'm back to my gin and tonic tonight...LN
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Elsa Peters
September 29, 2013, 6:35pm Report to Moderator

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Sunday 29th September

Silly night.  I'd closed the door thinking that it was cold and woke up at three feeling that there was no air in the bedroom so opened the bedroom door and at five had to get up to shut it because it was cold...Cant' win can you.  Eventually woke up to rain which drifted in on thick fog so at eight thirty when we set off for a fun day with an architect and an hotelier in the central part of the country, we were in jeans and sweaters.  As we progressed it lifted and off came the sweaters and back to tee-shirt weather.  What a day.  The journey took longer than expected and sat-nav did its usual and she missed the turning and at once recognised the road and we ended up in a back passage that I'd ended up in with a previous guest thanks to sat-nav.

Constructive day with the architect and all the issues appear to have been resolved...my friend is able to go forward be it ever so slowly.  We have to seek POPs which appears to be 'Pertaining of Permission' to go for permission to apply for change of use.  Fun egh.

Had a super late lunch but unfortunately mine was delivered after everyone else had finished but we put it down to the fact that I had ordered chicken and they had to catch it first.  It was also covered with cornflakes so they might have been flaking the corn so to speak....anyway....it was almost sent back to the kitchen but I 'chickened out' and accepted it.

Back complete with my newly acquired window washing tool carried over from England so tomorrow at some point I shall be trying it out to wash my stair case windows to see what a hash I can make of them.

Surprising about the journey back....autumn has already arrived and it doesn't appear that the place we visited is so far north but here we maybe have more pine trees that don't change colour.  Home at eight thirty....drinks poured...just taken the pickies off a new camera and that's news for another day...not into supper but my guest has just scoffed the biggest chicken mayo sandwich I have seen for a while and is currently reading while he waits for me to finish so that he can do his blog.  LN....let's see how the pictures load and tomorrow the men are working at their new location....so location, location, location....let's hear it for Bekir and Sally....LN



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Elsa Peters
September 29, 2013, 6:37pm Report to Moderator

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And another forgotten one.

Lovely night sky



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Elsa Peters
September 30, 2013, 6:08pm Report to Moderator

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Monday 30th September

Six o'clock start and had to wake up my guest with an alarm call but tomorrow I hit him over the head with a brick.  First day I can cope with and after that...he gets the normal treatment.

Picked up the men in sheer luxury...they are used to my little car with the naff suspension but got forbid they get used to luxury...I can't afford it.  Got to the school via the old road and Djebel and stopped off for breakfast picking up banichka and iran for the troops so the first job was to unload the car, unload the food on to the table tennis table and enjoy what was on offer.  Did managed to purchase a couple of teddies at the market on my way through to the cafe and so I have new underwear at the cost of just under six pounds.  I love Bulgaria.

So breakfast over and Sally and Bekir set to on the trenches and within an hour we had water into the property and it is from a spring so nothing to pay...Now I call that good.  After that they set about digging the second trench that is an official connection to the local water board and we have most of the trench completed and connection will come tomorrow and signed off per se.  And the good news is...we are able to have the electricity meter installed but possibly wednesday from what seemed like a hopeless situation.

Cleared the last couple of rooms and the first brew was served at about ten thirty...the Librarian put in an appearance with her son at about one thirty and I went off with her to complete some work with an insurance company where my Bulgarian would be of use.  After one telephone call in Momchilgrad we were advised that we had to go to Kardjali so off we went to complete the dastardly deed.  Back to the school in time to watch the last brew being served, the men were still digging at the trench with anticipation of meeting someone else's pipe but it wasn't to be tonight...we have to dig for victory tomorrow.

Home via the new road and it shaved about fifteen minutes off the time.  Routes now having been established ...it's all systems go.  Supper tonight was spicy sausage with a hint of chilli with pasta and I have left the kitchen in the hope that the magic fairy in the shape of my guest clears the kitchen and does his buttons bit.

The matches are out since we forgot them today and had to rely on the men and the lighter, the tea towel is languishing in the hall at the ready and tomorrow is another day of fun and frolic.  LN...I won't be too long before my head hits the pillow....LN



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My Diary by Elsa Peters (only location)

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