Thursday 9th January

Thank you easyJet.  Check in was daunting though going through security.  I thought I've got it right but I'd forgotten to put a lipstick in the bag for them to check and they found a shadow of something metal that they couldn't identify in the hand luggage.  She asked me...I told her it was metal and covered in leather that you bend the corners up to make a dish that would normally sit on a desk.  So the whole blooming lot had to come out for her to get down to it and I'd packed it so carefully that I felt it didn't go back properly and then came the next check at the gate and I anticipated some surly senorita asking me to get it into the hand luggage guide line container but there were so many for the flight that all was well.  

Into Sofia just before one, told the taxi driver that I wanted to be rushed to the bus station and he obliged and managed to get the one forty bus down to Kardjali which arrived at just before six.  Unfortunately the ongoing bus to Djebel was going to be in half an hour so I took a taxi instead and went to my student's parent's shop and he was holding the fort until his father finished at the garage.  The Beast was sitting outside the shop so I loaded in  my luggage, picked up the keys to the jeep and the house from his mother and set sail for home stopping off at the local supermarket for bread and a few essentials like red wine, beer and a chicken for tomorrow.

Kept the lights of the jeep on and removed the padlock from the main gate.  Everything has remained the same.....I just have a minor repair on the temporary screen by the door.....it appears to have dried out and is only attached in one place at the top.  Tomorrow I'll get a wedge in there and everything will be rosy.  Unpacked my luggage, water heater on, fire going and radiators are toasty, beer opened and I'll let you have a stab at the order in which the tasks were completed.  I bet you can guess now that we've been together for all this time.

Packet of chipsticks for supper.....cooking can wait until tomorrow...I don't think I shall fade away.  Phoned Princess and logged in that all is safely gathered in and I don't think the bad weather is arriving here until the weekend so I shall have time to get out there and just .....be.  LN...it's good to be back....LN

Sleep well tonight Elsa. It is always good to get back to your own bed!!!    

Friday 10th January

As you said Danuta, it's good to be back in your own bed but there again I was in my own bed in UK.....but Bulgaria makes the difference...   So for the next few days you are going to be photo-less....unless I can managed to get my printer working with the camera card.  The data transfer cable is sitting in the printer in the UK...gggrrrr.....I forgot it.  And no, the printer will not take the card so I'm stuffed...double gggrrrr.

It was white over this morning and minus four when I managed to get out to see the thermometer.  The chill had definitely been taken off the house, I kept the fire going most of the night but I was so pleased that I was wearing my 'onesie' that my daughter gave me but think I frightened my Avatar when she came to bring me back my keys. The word she used was 'bear' and so it was into the shower after she left and thought I better get reasonably clad before the local sheep farmer reckoned that I was a threat to his sheep.  Another neighbour came round with my internet bills saying that she had seen the lights on last night and Gouldjan came round after work this evening to give me an update.  But back to the weather....as I said cold this morning but it has been a beautiful day getting up to twenty five in my stairwell.  The temperature is dropping now though and we are in for another cold night.  

Showed my 'onesie' to Gouldjan and she wants one.  Trouble is she's very tall so she'd have to be there when it was purchased I think....they haven't yet got out to Bulgaria.  Lunch today was spicy (without the 'e') sausage and onion omelet and I think that's me done for the day.....the chicken can wait until tomorrow.  Now back to Harry Dresden and Mr Butcher.....fairy tale plots and this one is about the Billy Goats Gruff.....LN....must get on...I have a beer getting warm....LN

Saturday 11th January

So it's been a steady procession of visitors today and I think I ran out of Bulgarian words.  There's only so many that you can get under your belt.....

I've cracked the photo issue.  I knew that I had a card carrier somewhere so I searched all the likely places and as a last resort thought I'd try the box marked 'Camera bits' created for the Canon and that's where I found it.  Now how organised is that!!  So you have photos, well a few anyway but by the time that I'd found the thing and resized what was in the camera, the sun was just setting in the western sky so I had to go through the who process again.  

Today has been a day of sorting things that I brought back with me and finding places for them.  One present was a superb calendar of 'Fred and Ginger' and it's my intention to start off each month with the photos and I better give credit to Carousel Calenders before I get lynched.  As for the rest of the day I got in more wood and loaded up the wheelbarrow with the next load.  Unfortunately my log carrier from last year has developed a dodgy wheel so until I get it repaired I don't want to put too much strain on the other.  Tried to blow up the punctured tyre on Beauty but there appears to be a nut missing from the thing so everything will be done on Monday.  The battery is flat again so I'm thinking that something must be draining it or I need a new one.  Always something isn't there but at least the Beast is doing it's stuff,

Breakfast was sausage and fried egg and for supper the chicken.  It was going to be with chippies but the potatoes had gone soggy so they are off to the hillside for whoever wants them.  Out came a slice of bread and it was just as good and probably not so fattening.  Fire going well and I'm just about to put this thing to bed and settle in for the night....it's been a relaxing day, if frustrating at times, because I ran out of words, with friends...LN...perhaps I should start studying Bulgarian again...LN

Sunday 12 January

Seven ten start, kitchen for coffee, opened the curtains, back to bed for a few minutes with my book and noticed the start of the sunrise.  Went up to my summer bedroom, out on to the balcony and there it was...morning was on it's way.  So while I was upstairs it was on with the pc and into emails and the likes and at just before eight...that sun blasted forth and morning was here.  It's been a spring day, wall to wall sunshine, gentle chill breeze but nothing to write home about and a good day for completing what I'd set out to do.

My Gaudi fence has hung on for the last four years but now that I have the replacement in breeze blocks there was no need to have it there.  As it was it was only standing by virtue of the fact that either Sally or Bekir had propped it up against the wall.  When I knocked it together, literally, there was no shortage of nails and I hammered for all I was worth since it was a north wall boundary fence and the cows used to climb on the bank and be over in a flash and it did the trick.  Now it was time to go and it's gone...not entirely.  I ran out of steam but the rest will be done tomorrow.  It's also time to replant the things growing there but I did start uncovering the remains of another polythene mine and it was too good a day for bonfires...tomorrow!!  I also found the statutory one shoe and jam jar lids that come with the turf.....and this takes me back to the early days when all the rubbish was dumped in the lane but some of that lane is now within my boundary.

Head down for an hour after I'd put my tools away.  I woke up to a fire that was doing nothing and it was all down to me deciding to put a huge log on it so out with a firelighter and some little stuff and it's ticking along nicely now and the pump's circulating lots of hot water to the radiators.  Supper was leeks and in place of potatoes I used potato wedges to fry off with them, added some chunks of chicken and stuck it on the woodburner until I was ready for it.  

Tomorrow...back to the fence to remove the wood, shift some soil around and think about what I'm going to be planting and where I might have to acquire it from...LN

Monday 13th January

Facebook reminded me that it was Buddy's birthday today so messaged on Facebook, phoned her when I knew she should be up and about and she asked if she could come over.  So got showed and dressed, the washing was ready to be hung inside since the outside temperature was minus four this morning and she arrived at just before twelve.  I had her present and a card waiting for her and she was wearing most of the other gifts from her son...and that's what sons are for.

We went into Djebel in her jeep and I forgot everything that I wanted to take with me...typical.  Lunch was taken at a local cantina at the grand cost of eight lev and that included the tip...she's worth it and then we walked, yes I repeat walked to the shop so that I could pay my internet account and on to the post office where the queue got miraculously short when I appeared and the rest of the people had to step to one side so that I could pay for my road tax for my two vehicles...total cost....134 lev....approximately seventy pounds for one year for both.  Saw my students' father in there and we had a little chat and into my leva shop.  Found some A4 picture frames.  I'd found Desiderata and Mitzva on the internet and I wanted to frame them for Buddy and myself and they were presented to me in the leva shop.  A little seven year old girl was in there and she was trying to convince her mother that she desparately 'needed' a set of baubles for making into necklaces and bracelets and I told her that Christmas was over and that there were no presents until next year.  So the mother gave in and as we got to the cash desk, the lady knows me in there and I told her that it was on my bill.  She smiled, the child was unsure what was happening and the mother was surprised, the child even more so but she said thank you and the cost of the gift...three lev....well worth it.

Back to mine for coffee and some biscuits and as she was leaving there were two men that I've never seen before and it turns out that the family lives over the hill from me and it was obvious that they wanted to see the improvements that the 'English' person had done to the house....and it was a full tour.  It was a father and son, they lived in Turkey and the father was fascinated as to what I'd done as a 'job' in England.  It really seemed to matter.  

So off they went....because we had lunch in town I really don't have room for much more.  Fire is going beautifully and for the first time of being back I need music tonight.  I've just listened to Anastasia and now I have Marti Caine playing away and I'd forgotten how good she was.  Tomorrow is putting the tax on the windscreen, going into Djebel to do the things that I should have done today, checking with the local post office for anything that is lingering since I was away for just over three weeks and sorting out Beauty.  LN..back to my music, my brandy and hot water and my book.  Just to keep you informed, my parcel has left Vienna so is a damn sight nearer than Newhaven....the appliance of science and the internet....LN....it's been a good day...and for those of you that love to see the stars in all their glory in a dark setting...get your backsides over here...LN

Tuesday 14th January

I'm still parcel watching and it has just left Hungary.  It's quite reassuring to know that it's on its way....now there might have been hands in it already but I know the box is being transported as we speak...   Weather has been gorgeous again and spring still appears to be nudging winter over for a day or two...

Woke up at three thirty on the sofa in front of the fire and fortunately I'd got into my night clothes earlier otherwise I would never have managed it.  Took the key from the outside of the door, switched off the lights, headed for the bedroom and woke at seven this morning....my do I seem to need my sleep now that I'm home.  I'm betting that it's the fresh air.  I know I live on the edge of the Downs in the UK and there were a fair few gales blowing and horrendous downpours but maybe it's different here.  

Emails, FB, my other favourite website and then down for a breakfast of baked beans on toast with lashing of butter.  Sank a few coffees and decided that I should really write a letter to my friend who I used to work with about fifty years ago.  We stay in touch...I phoned over Christmas but she was looking after her father in Blackpool and I got the update from her husband.  She's not on the internet so we do snail mail and I did...two pages of font twelve and three of photos.....

Off to Djebel with the list.  Took in the foot pump and that's now fixed, handed over the football annual to my student and I think it was appreciated.  The letter was posted this afternoon and then I sat with my student's mum in the shop and chewed over the fat until I got cold and then over to the shop to get my potatoes.  Supper tonight was chicken, carrots and peas in a mushroom sauce and served with pasta and it was delicious and very filling and there's enough left for tomorrow.  Tomorrow's variation will be into the oven with cheese on the top and come out as a pasta bake.  How's that for forward planning!!  The chicken carcass is in the slow cooker so it looks like soup and more soup in the days to come....how far can a chicken stretch?  

So eight ten, PJ's on only today I'm heading for my bed a little earlier before I actually feel the eyes heading southwards.  Must admit though, the house was still warm despite the lack of fire at that time in the morning so it's no wonder I nodded off.  LN...a little brandy and hot water might just be what the doctor ordered and then to bed...weather forecast for tomorrow is same as to day and the moon is lazing across a star laden sky...LN

Wednesday 15th January

What a ridiculous night...as you know I had an early night last night and so at four thirty this morning I was champing at the bit and wide awake so got settled with Jim Butcher and another one bites the dust.  Unfortunately at three this afternoon I was ready for a nap but I fought it back and now I'm OK to go through until ten tonight as it stands at the moment.

What a horrible day.  It was overcast and dull after what was a promising start and this afternoon it started to rain.  Not that we don't need it but snow would have been good.  My friend has an apartment in Bansko and there is not a 'real' flake of snow there.  There are snow machines that are doing the things for the tourists but winter as I said has been kicked aside by a false spring but I'm sure it will come back with a vengeance later.

My problems today....my wood burner is belching out more smoke than I like to tomorrow the pipes all come out.  I cleaned up as best I could without taking it apart and really it only takes about an hour to have it dismantled and reassembled and so that's what will happen tomorrow morning...without fail.  No way do

Wednesday 15th January

What a ridiculous night...as you know I had an early night last night and so at four thirty this morning I was champing at the bit and wide awake so got settled with Jim Butcher and another one bites the dust.  Unfortunately at three this afternoon I was ready for a nap but I fought it back and now I'm OK to go through until ten tonight as it stands at the moment.

What a horrible day.  It was overcast and dull after what was a promising start and this afternoon it started to rain.  Not that we don't need it but snow would have been good.  My friend has an apartment in Bansko and there is not a 'real' flake of snow there.  There are snow machines that are doing the things for the tourists but winter as I said has been kicked aside by a false spring but I'm sure it will come back with a vengeance later.

My problems today....my wood burner is belching out more smoke than I like to tomorrow the pipes all come out.  I cleaned up as best I could without taking it apart and really it only takes about an hour to have it dismantled and reassembled and so that's what will happen tomorrow morning...without fail.  No way do

Wednesday 15th January

What a ridiculous night...as you know I had an early night last night and so at four thirty this morning I was champing at the bit and wide awake so got settled with Jim Butcher and another one bites the dust.  Unfortunately at three this afternoon I was ready for a nap but I fought it back and now I'm OK to go through until ten tonight as it stands at the moment.

What a horrible day.  It was overcast and dull after what was a promising start and this afternoon it started to rain.  Not that we don't need it but snow would have been good.  My friend has an apartment in Bansko and there is not a 'real' flake of snow there.  There are snow machines that are doing the things for the tourists but winter as I said has been kicked aside by a false spring but I'm sure it will come back with a vengeance later.

My problems today....my wood burner is belching out more smoke than I like to think about so tomorrow the pipes all come out.  I cleaned up as best I could without taking it apart and really it only takes about an hour to have it dismantled and reassembled and so that's what will happen tomorrow morning...without fail.  The fire was going and so today was not the day but no way do I want to wake up with carbon monoxide poisoning....not that I would but that's not the way I want to go...

Into my next Jim BUtcher...I believe I have a fixation but once the series is finished I'll go on to the next.  I'm about to do my pasta bake...well a girl needs to keep her intake up...woman cannot live by bread alone....pasta and chicken is an alternative.  LN...I think I've managed to track down an old workmate from years ago...I'll keep you informed...LM