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Elsa Peters
September 1, 2014, 4:50pm Report to Moderator

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Monday 1st September

So where do I start with the concert in Sofia?  We organised the taxi and got there at about six fifteen so plenty of time to get in the football stadium, find our seats, have a quick hot dog for supper and purchase a small bottle of wine each to have for the performance.  At seven ten we headed back to our allotted seats and that's where the fun started.  Someone was sitting in our seats and they had tickets with the same numbers on them as ours.  Now let me tell you a little of the history!!  We booked the tickets for this event in November more or less and it was supposed to be in May but they cancelled and changed the venue so tickets could be carried over or rebooked so we rebooked and apparently some little clerk somewhere made a mistake.  Unfortunately it wasn't only us and there was a lot of confusion.  As per normal in this situation management do not appear and when it was getting to ten minutes before the kick off it was suggested that we went and go a couple of chairs and stuck them where we wanted to....so we got a couple of beach chairs and stuck them behind the section in front of ours and it appeared we started a trend as were joined by the other unfortunates and we made up our own row.  The first half of the concert was disturbed by others arriving late saying that it had taken them an hour to get into the venue and to find their seats were taken when they got there so it was a fiasco.  Anyway we were settled and we'd peeled the numbers off the seats we had managed to acquire and settled down and by the time it had got to the second half it had all calmed down.  There were also discrepancies where people with much less value tickets were appearing with their own little seats and plonking them anywhere...there appeared to be no marshalling...

As to Andre...I was disappointed.  He didn't say that he was pleased to be in Sofia and didn't connect with his fans at all.  I didn't have an 'emotional' moment with his that I've experienced at other concerts I've been to....he seemed tired...sang well and hit the right notes at the right time but it didn't really do it for me.  He warmed up just before the end of the concert and was escorted out to do yet another closing song, and another, and another....and really not a word was spoken throughout the  performance.

So out into the night and taxis were like hen's teeth so we followed the crowd and found a restaurant bar and settled for coffee and brandy to finish the night and back out into the night and we picked up a taxi straight away and back to the hotel for a little snifter before we laid our weary heads on special soft pillows at the Holiday Inn.  

Ms KD had forgotten to turn her alarm off so we came to at seven so on with the coffee, books out and internet checked and set off for a nearby shopping precinct which had absolutely nothing to recommend it.  We managed to find a cafe for breakfast, back to the hotel and I decided that I would take the early bus back to Kardjali so that she could get her head down if she wanted since her flight wasn't until this evening.  Taxi to the bus depot and I was on the one forty.....slept most of the way down and into Beauty by five thirty, Lidl diddles and chicken and a few goodies and back to Djebel for just after six.  Saw one of my neighbours so he had a lift home ,

Chicken more or less ready, unpacked, lovely sunset and really pleased to be home.  I've ventured out into the big city but wouldn't swap my place for another pension.  Time to check the chicken and serve it with fresh crusty bread....I'm off to the kitchen...LN  and the photos have to go on the next post...can't put them on the first post of a new thread...LN

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Elsa Peters
September 1, 2014, 5:21pm Report to Moderator

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And here they are



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Elsa Peters
September 2, 2014, 5:47pm Report to Moderator

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Tuesday 2nd September

Woke up early this morning because I went to bed early last night...I was absolutely whacked.  Read for a while and then head back down again and it was just before eight when the strength to go down and make coffee kicked in.

Went out and watered the garden this morning.....I didn't manage to get round to it last night and boy did they need it.  Unfortunately I tugged at the hose pipe a little too hard and ended up with water squirting out of the side of the connector but I managed to put it all back together again so it was alright for tonight.  Today has been a really lazy day...I think the weekend was too exciting for me...I'm not used to so much activity what with the pre-wedding bash, the wedding and up to Sofia on the bus and a concert...I'm getting too old for this.  

I was out on the bedroom terrace reading in the sun until it got too hot to be out there so back...Lunch was a chicken mayo sandwich from the chicken I cooked last night and a bottle of German beer.  A second beer followed it, it was head down this afternoon for a catch-up and then lay on the bed reading until about six, down to the kitchen and more of the cold chicken for supper.  Out watering the garden and I saw Remsie's donkey going past my gate at the rate of knots closely followed by Remsier and I heard my Avatar yelling something along the road.  I went out and my Avatar was waving her stick to try to stop the donkey and now it was stuck between the two of them and Remsier made a grab for the rope tied round its neck, it gave out a half-heated back kick but it was restrained.  She gave it a good thwack and then took it home.  The joys and excitement of country living...!!  

Decided to harvest a few of the seeds from the sunflowers that had broken off and was getting them into a pot and I heard the latch on the gate to and Gouldjan appeared clutching a carrier bag.  We sat on the lounge terrace and she took some rolls that her mother had made from one of the bags and also produced a packet of three shower caps that she'd found in Kardjali and had remembered that I'd searched high and low for them sometime before.  I opened the packet and gave her one of them for herself, we chewed over the fat of how she'd got on flat hunting in Kardjali and she hadn't had much success.  She did mention that there is a very nice picture of me on Facebook from the wedding and she's promised to send it to me tomorrow.....I might even post it if it's good enough...I really don't like photos being taken at all.

So off she went, another beer has found its way on to my desk, almost nine my time and so I'm back to my book.  It's a very grey night and tomorrow the temperature is supposed to be dropping with thunderstorms on the way.  So the watering job might be off the list...LN....I think a little more of that chicken before bedtime....LN



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Elsa Peters
September 3, 2014, 5:27pm Report to Moderator

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Wednesday 3rd September

What a day!!  It started well but I guessed there would be rain before bedtime and I wasn't wrong. Breakfast was on of the rolls that were delivered last night by Gouldjan filled with bacon and egg and brown sauce...so what could be nicer.

I went out into the garden and decided that today would be a good day for putting in some of the cuttings and managed to get a couple.  I sat out on the bedroom balcony to finish last night's book and just managed to get in before the rain came down bringing in the cushions with me but leaving out the chair.  And it poured.  The thunder came, rattled round a bit, the weather got better and the thunder went off to its next location and back it came again.  It's been like that all day.  Now I thought the garden needed it and was quite upbeat about the amount falling but then I looked out and my sunflowers had changed from vertical to horizontal so I I've jsut been out there getting damp in the process and secured them to the railings over the wall.  

Started a curry off with the remains of the chicken and decided to phone the Librarian but she had been to Kardjali today so it's booked for Friday.  I shall freeze it tomorrow and it will come out on Friday.  It was going to be a preserve day...I have lots of beetroot that need bottling and the rhubarb that needs making into something but there is no way we could get the petchka going outside in this weather.

So today has been a day of variances...rain, stop rain, rain, thunder and lightening, more rain and more thunder and lightening and it's only September for goodness sake.  This year has been like no other...please can we go back to normal....LN



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Elsa Peters
September 4, 2014, 5:50pm Report to Moderator

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Thursday 4th September

I slept with the door closed last night and put an extra quilt on...it was cold. Seven thirty start this morning and the weather was not much to write home about or even tell you about and I went back to bed with my book and a coffee and didn't get out until just before ten.  This morning was not exactly action packed and I don't think I got the activity bug until about two this afternoon and then it was all go until about half an hour ago.

Got a load of washing in since that yellow thing had decided to show it's face and was pegging it out about three.  I decided that the base of my special tree needed some work and firstly I cleared the bricks and concrete that I'd dug up when I first started on it.  So set to again with my English fork and cleared most of the base and planted up a cotoneaster horizontalis that I'd purloined from somewhere in Kardjali and was getting too big for the pot. It's companion that I don't know the name of but it is a good sheep and cow deterrent has also been planted up on the hedge line where I lost the cherry.  As I was digging there was a strange noise coming from under the bricks and I can only assume that it was a mole and probably going hell for leather in the opposite direction for safety.   On the first visit with the wheelbarrow to the bottom of the garden, I ran pretty close to the lawnmower trimmings and turned round and saw a couple of tortoises hiding in one of the heaps.  Lucky tortoises but I think the one had other things on his mind which became more apparent on my visits to the bottom with more bricks.  

Started the bonfire to get rid of the weeds and the kitchen and toilet  rubbish and sudden noticed the sunset but as I went out of the gate to take a photo Remsier's grandson made me jump...I hadn't seen him but he was talking to their cat that has obviously taken a liking to me and my fence.  We chatted for a while and for them it's school next week....I went back to the garden and was drawn to the beetroot parch in the veg garden and decided that it was time to harvest them,  Quite a little haul and so I know what I'm doing tomorrow afternoon when I get back from Kardjali.

Lovely still evening but some of the clouds look ominous....so I'll keep my fingers crossed for good weather tomorrow.  Kitchen bound...to find something to satisfy a sort of hunger.....and open a beer....LN.....boots blacked tomorrow for the big city...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 4, 2014, 5:55pm Report to Moderator

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And there's more



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Elsa Peters
September 5, 2014, 4:12pm Report to Moderator

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Friday 5th September

Rubbish night...there was a mossie batting around at three this morning and the tummy rumbles kicked in about the same time.  There is a lot of bottom issues and sickness around Djebel at the present time and mine seems to have gone on longer than most but not so severe.  I'll just keep on at the alcohol and keep my fingers and legs crossed.

Managed to dry my hair and be completely assembled when the Librarian arrived prompt as you like and off we set with one of her locals in tow.  He was off the to the hospital and she'd jokingly said 'Kardjali' and he responded in the affirmative.  Sp dropped him off at the hospital...we parked up near to the M-Tel shop and I suggested that we went in and sorted out her outstanding bills and internet connection.  She now has a piece of paper stating that she owes them nothing and it was their fault and everything in the garden is rosy so to speak.

So into my favourite second or nearly new bedding shop and managed to get a couple of lilac coloured full length curtains for three leva and then to do the business that she had come to do.  We walked over to immigration and they were now demanding another document before she could have her registration card.  We didn't understand fully what this was all about so make our way to a woman I know who is a translator and now the  date for completion had been moved to the 5th October.   This is Bulgaria.

Over to one of my other shops and picked up and autumn jacket for seven leva and does it have style and panache...and for seven leva...dream on.  The Librarian came back to mine and we had coffee and I found out some recipes for beetroot that she can try out and I shall be trying out tomorrow....I have to use it up somehow and I shall be blasting g forth with the outside petchka if the weather holds.  Supper tonight was the chicken curry from yesterday with rice and with side plates of like pickle and mango chutney....almost like being back in the UK on a Friday night is curry night.    

So LN....a little beer on the go and now set for a chilled evening but I've set the Citronella going so that the bastard mossies won't stand a chance tonight.....three o'clock is not good for anyone...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 6, 2014, 6:29pm Report to Moderator

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Saturday 6th September

Six thirty start and it was raining.....and not a good start to the day.  Back to bed with a book and a coffee and eventually surfaced around eight.  Breakfast was fried egg and bacon sandwich with brown sauce, well it is the weekend  then the beetroot were staring at me so I realised that I had to do something with them.  Had a visit this morning from my Avatar's sister in law and they brought round my wedding invitation for the twelfth of September to be held in a hotel in Kardjali.  Another venue, another twenty leva to pin on the happy couple.....

Into Djebel to buy the necessaries for the chutney that I'd decided to make including kitchen scales.  Ity's one thing to guess but when I'm going from lbs and ounces to kilograms I need something as a reference point and at five leva I can run to that.  I did stamp my foot though and asked them to search for another colour.  The one in the shop was yellow and after much searching we came up with a blue one...not quite blending in with the rest of the kitchen but as for yellow...no way.  Stopped off and had talky time with my student's mum in the car shop and I was asked where I'd been by various shop keepers.  I suppose I do hibernate a little but all's back to normal now.  In tp the supermarket and bought oranges, apples, onions, garlic, grapefruit that I though were oranges at the onset, cabbage for another recipe and various spices.  I sat out in the garden and peeled the beetroot, onions and apples, grated the apples and the zest from the oranges and squeezed out the juice, put it all in a big saucepan and set to.  Now I thought that I would need lots of jars,,,wrong...the sum total of my endeavours was five jars....so must do better next time or get a bigger saucepan.  It was going well until half-way through I ran out of gas and had to resort to electric....so tomorrow I need to get my gas bottle filled at the gas station and I think I need a new bottle.  There was some mumblings last time about if leaking but it's done the year without mishaps.

Everything bottled and I was going outside to tidy up the debris and suddenly Gouldjan and the beau appeared.  I was surprised but iI think I was a stopping off point so that he could turn round and not have to take her home.  Her parents have not yet met him, they had tea and biscuits in the garden while I supped my beer and I ended up taking her home.  Kitchen tidied...the rest of the curry was heated up is not demolished, student tomorrow in Djebel and soon be head down for me.  Nine thirty my time so LN...I've achieved with the beetroot but such a low return for four hours work....I'll have to see if I can cut corners...LN



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Elsa Peters
September 7, 2014, 5:19pm Report to Moderator

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Sunday 7th September

Bit of a restless night and I was reading at three but back off again by about four so not so bad.  Six thirty start but I revelled in the fact that I had nothing to do and nowhere to go until about ten this morning so lay half asleep and half awake until just before eight.  It wasn't a good morning but by the general standards of world weather it wasn't too bad.  I went out at about eight thirty and circumvented the garden and viewed the estate and at nine there were Semile and Jaylan's boys at the door with two yeast pancakes in their hands.  I'd heard a car pull up and the latch of the gate to so I was expecting someone but not the lads.  They explained that the pancakes were in memory of the grandfather that had recently died, as is the tradition here and I looked and saw that they had come in the car.  Now these boys are only about twelve or thirteen so I asked who was driving and they said they both were and the four year just looked on and it went straight over his head.  I suggested that one was steering and the other doing the pedals and we had a little laugh about it  and then off they went  kangarooing down the road to the next pancake drop.  Really I'm quite concerned in that the taxis round here have time for no one and nothing and it wouldn't take much for a 'catastrophe' to happen but so long as it's not me involved...it's for the parents to come to terms with.   I just told them to be careful.....  

Off to my student at ten thirty and mother is working in the garden getting rid of the grass, cleaning out and trimming the geraniums ready for winter.  The first daughter was busy bottling something or other and it's a really busy time of the year for them.  They've got peppers coming out of their ears and they're making juice like crazy.....I think it's just inborn and inbred.  Chicken and potatoes for lunch with a melon from their garden and you can tell how much rain we've had...there was no richness of flavour in it.

So home for four thirty more or less and I've spent the rest of the day designing the embroidery for the lavender pillows and trying to work out how I could make transfers which seems to be eluding me at the moment...so back to the drawing board Cecil.  I suppose it if was on tracing paper I could stitch over it but there must be an easier way.  I did spot a Jay pulling at something in my garden in the new bit that I'd dug under the tree so managed to get a few shots of it.

No supper for me...stuffed to the gills after a very decent lunch....I'm about to settle in with a film so I'll say LN.....I'm in Kardjali tomorrow registering with the new doctor and trying to swap out the old gas bottle since the man at the gas station said that the bottle connection was not good the last time I filled it....wish me luck...LN



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gottaknit
September 7, 2014, 8:37pm Report to Moderator
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If you want to make transfers for the embroidery how's about this. Draw the design on paper. Use a largish needle to make perforations all along your lines. Place it on the fabric and use some cotton wool and talc to go over the lines and push the powder through the holes. - should be visible on the fabric, provided it is a dark enough colour. If you are working on white, perhaps you need gravy powder?! Anyway, you get the picture.
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