Tuesday 1st December

Well I can now say count down to Christmas….this week I have to go out and spend. spend on the pressies for my ladies…time is marching on.  

Went to bed last night …in my bed but unfortunately I was asleep by ten so awake at silly o’clock.  One day my sleep pattern might adjust itself to…normal…well I can hope.  So I got up and made coffee, got my book out and read for an hour or so.  I tidied the kitchen and had breakfast at seven and was prepared for my painter at about eight thirty.  Now the job that he was coming to do was to remove the last of the putty from the little house porch and he reckoned that he could do it in an hour or so.  And some.  It ended up that we removed the polythene to make the job easier, I hacked back the grape vine and started a bonfire, the metal is all painted now, second coat goes on tomorrow and it gets glazed asap since there is no protection there at all now.  No rain forecast for the next week or so so we should be OK.

Off he went at lunchtime clutching the rosemary that I’d cut back so that I could get its winter jacket on.  This year I don’t want to lose it and I set to clearing out the flower beds and most of the weeds and eventually got my bonfire going.  

Came in at three thirty and lay on the sofa reading in the sun and food started entering my head.  Cheese on toast with brown sauce and then I wanted something sweet so I fried off an apple in butter, added lemon juice, brown sugar and honey and had it with cream and now I’ve finished for the night.

The bath that I was going to have last night didn’t materialise but I’ve just soaked for an hour taking care not to nod off as I read the Kindle.  I’m on book five of Goodhead and there is some appeal although I do flip over some of the pages.  He goes into a lot of descriptive detail.  

Seven thirty my time…beautifully relaxed after a day in the fresh air and the garden certainly looks better for a little effort as does the porch......LN….I think it’s time for a glass of the red stuff...Sunrises and sunsets tonight.....LN

hi just to update you on my glasses  i have two pairers   one for driveing one for  reading.done the same day    call you later

Wednesday 2nd December

So more business for my optician....I should be on commission....

Seven start this morning and once again I had my painter call round to finish painting the little house porch.  We managed to find a sheet of glass and I have one pane cut...the other worker should be arriving tomorrow and then it's all systems go.  Despite the weather forecast...there appeared to be a few drops of the wet kind but the way the temperature has gone down it almost might have been the white stuff and really, I don't want it yet.  In a couple of days time it should be fine.  

So at eleven this morning my painter asked me if I was going into Djebel and he was about to walk the six kilometres so I decided to go in and get my tyre fixed just so that he didn't have to leg it there.  He's a very independent sort and made noises that he was quite happy to go on foot but I realised that we could get more paint to finish the door that is half done because we ran out, a proper lock for it instead of using chain and padlock, it wasn't the tyre but the valve so they fitted a new one and finally into the supermarket for a loaf of bread and home for twelve thirty.  

Out with the new bread and a tin of tuna and mayo and it was back to the old favourite.  I wasn't lighting the fire since I'm out tonight at my students home for supper but as I lay reading on the and my eyes shut for an hour or so I woke up really cold so it's now roaring away and I'm back to being comfortable.  

Taking Beauty tonight since it was the one with the puncture today and it was strange driving it again.  There were gears to think about but at least the battery is topped up again.  She took her time to burst into life this morning.  Not much of a sunrise this morning but again the sunset was spectacular......so just a couple for you and ....LN....it's almost time for the off.....  LN

Thursday 3rd December

Seven twenty start but it was a three a.m. wake up in the chair again and I'm not sure of at the point of awake and sleep.  Never mind...I sloped off to my bed and remained there until seven twenty so not a bad night's sleep overall.

I was working in the garden just before eight,  I emptied the toilet rubbish bins, kitchen waste and out to the garden with matches in hand.  I also emptied the wheelbarrow of the contents and distributed it over the garden.  The bonfire was cleared out before ignition and all went well and all my rubbish was incinerated.  So far so good today....

My painter arrived sat eight thirty and we had to play around with a couple of tins of paint of the black and brown variety to come out with something that resembled the one that we had used for the rest of the porch.  We reckoned that we needed the computer but we managed it anyway....

Porch finally painted, tomorrow if the second man doesn't arrive I am going into Djebel and find a man to cut the glass for us.  I work out the cost of labour...what is going to cost less....and I go with the result.  There was some paint left after the porch was completed and so I cleared the sand and gravel from the base of the fridge that's been turned into a fridge and it's been repainted for the spring...

Every finish by twelve thirty and I was out creating my winter shield for my broad beans.  Now broad beans don't mind the cold but they dislike the mush of snow so they are now protected.  I was reading this afternoon since my fire had been going all night and I'd kept it going so that the house was absolutely comfortable.  I lay in the sun reading until the eyes heading southwards and I was having a silly dream advising my son that he should be aware of the sea as he headed out in a small boat and woke up in a bit of a sweat.  All this without a drink...

Went out and finished my winter shield for the broad beans....and tomorrow if my other builder arrives I shall call up my painter and the porch will be finalised...If he doesn't arrive...I'm in to Djebel and finding out the cost of cut glass....I don't really like things to take up too much time.  Results have to be costed and financially viable.

Carried on with the reading and fire control and tonight is really comfortable in the house.  It's not cold outside but it is December....and heading that way.  Supper was chicken in the oven with roasted potatoes, red onions, sweet potato and beetroot and the result...delicious....and I'm stuffed.  Pointless and Eggheads...and now the Strictly recaps....and tomorrow decision day as to what to do and how much it will cost me.....LN....I've had a lovely day....LN

Friday 4th December

Another silly o'clock start and I just couldn't get off again until five and awake at six thirty.  I think I ate too much last night before I went to bed!!

So emptied the ash can and laid the fire ready for later, washed up and generally meandered around and started to read at eight thirty.  My painter came round at nine and brought me some red onions from his garden and said that he was off to sort out Hacibar's antenna for something...this man just gets all the jobs that no one else wants...he's a godsend or an Allah send to the old ladies...me included.  We still have no news about the other builder supposedly returning from Turkey but My painter said that I should give it another day or so and then get a quote if nothing is forthcoming from that direction.  I just like things done...

At nine fifteen the electricity went off so there was no chance of lighting the boiler because of the pump and with little or no activity on the building front I decided to go into Kardjali rather that get cold in the house.  I headed to Djebel and went round to my students to take a couple of gifts for the family, my student's sister tried to tempt me with tea or coffee or even chocolate but I said that I'd had enough coffee this morning and didn't want to spent all my time working out where the nearest loos were...   and then my phone went and it was the Librarian asking if I wanted to go into Kardjali and so we met up on Kaufland car park.  First stop pizza for breakfast. into the new Euro zone shop and I got most of my pressies, back to Kaufland where I got the rest.  My Christmas shopping is complete....

Home for three and still no electricity so at four thirty lit my backup petchka in the kitchen. read until the light was fading and just as I'd started lighting the tea lights on it came.  Big boiler lit, little one has now gone out and everything in the garden is rosy but sorry...no pickies today.  Cold chicken leg for tonight and an early night for me...but not too early so that I'm up well before the lark.  LN....a little drink I think and time to throw another log on ...LN

Saturday 5th December

As it happened it wasn't an early to bed.  The fire was chugging along nicely and at ninety percent of my latest book complete I decided to get to the end of it....I wanted to see how it ended so bedtime came at one thirty this morning but the upside was I woke up at six thirty after an undisturbed night.  Coffee, cleared out the fire, got in the logs, shower, shampoo, cars jiggled around and into Djebel and my student's parent's shop while waiting for Mrs D of S to arrive on the bus.  Birthday chocolate for breakfast but we headed into Kardjali for general top-ups.  I'd done most of mine yesterday so only a couple of things to get but fun all the same.

We hit the charity shops as is our want and I've ended up with a green sporty jacket for one leva and put onto Mrs D of S's bill.  I have my first pressie for the forthcoming celebration... I'm not allowed to refer to it as Christmas.  Over to the coffee shop for breakfast where the waitress like to practice her English and we encourage her to try.  Onwards and upwards trekking round shoe shops and I managed to get a pair of red boots for twenty eight leva and two sizes larger to accommodate my hand made knitted woollen socks...nothing like staying warm when it really hits.  

Belgium chocolate time in Lidl since they're on special offer and back to Djebel for the last few things that Lidl doesn't sell.  Off she went in her taxi back to her village and I made sure I put my foot down so that they didn't overtake me before my turn off...blow the diesel cost...it's the principle.  Home for two, fire sorted, shopping unloaded and the pressie wrapping has to wait for tomorrow.  Everything is purchased but I want a day of it...today was lie in the sun with the door open until the temperature dropped, door closed and snooze time.  

Lovely day today...very relaxed...fire is going like a dream and the house is really toasty which is just as well...it's threatening minus temperatures for tonight.  'Strictly' providing Filmon doesn't start playing up with a little beer for company....LN...Today's temperature this afternoon makes it difficult to believe it's December...LN

Sunday 6th December

Six thirty start and straight into it.  Kitchen tidied, old glass jars put ready to find their way into the workshop and breakfast of bacon and eggs with fried bread on the table by eight.  There was mist on the hillside. not even a hint of sun this morning and the threat of minus temperature for last night didn’t happen.  The terraces were damp and it was cold but not freezing.

I didn’t get dressed…and got settled on the sofa reading and enjoying my Sunday morning.  At ten thirty there was a neighbour at my door and asking if I could sell her a tin of Nescafe coffee since the travelling shop had only the ready sweetened packets and none of the ordinary stuff.  She clutched the eight leva in her hand expecting me to make a slight profit on the purchase price but I gave her the fifty stotinki change and told her to get herself a cup of coffee with it when she was out.  As a parting shot I asked her to not tell anyone else…I don’t want my ‘special buys’ to go and I end up paying ten leva fifty for it.  I apologised for being in my PJ’s and we laughed about it.  I settled back down again and then Hacibar arrived at my door clutching some of her home made bread for me and explaining that her house phone wasn’t working and could I help,  I sent her off home promising I’d be there when I was dressed and five minutes later I was at her house, I plugged the phone in and pressed the ‘On’ button and off it went.  Unfortunately she had lost the date and time settings but I’ll ask my painter to sort it tomorrow.  He will be able to find his way through the menus.

By this time the sun had broken through and as I left Hacibar’s house another of my neighbours was chasing four errant cows up the new asphalt road towards the village.  She explained that fifteen cows had spent the night in Remsier’s field and not at her request.  So this afternoon, the seasonal decorations came out and I’ve two sets of twinkly lights on the dried poppies from last year and a Christmas tree.  My festivities are beginning but I didn’t manage to wrap the presents.  I took to the sofa in front of a the fire and the eye lids headed southwards for a couple of hours….I appear to be catching up on the silly o’clock starts.  

Tomorrow if the second builder doesn’t arrive, I’m measuring up the glass and heading to the glazier and placing the order, there’s nothing else on the horizon.   LN…now to continue with a restful evening after a very restful day.  LN…..

Monday 7th December

One a.m. toilet break and read for about ten minutes and realised that it wasn’t what I wanted to do…head down and a seven o’clock start for me…result.  Decided that I have to keep on top of the washing so that I don’t leave anything when I go to the UK but looking at the freezing fog I thought I would be hard pressed to get it dried if it continued like that.  Sorted out the clothes from the third bedroom that I no longer wanted so those got washed as well and by the time they were all done…it was up on the clothes airer in the bathroom…it seemed the better option and as soon as they were up there…the sun broke through…ah well.

Breakfast was late but the scrambled eggs at ten were delicious but they sure do make a mess of a non-stick pan.  No workers turned up today so I measured the glass and tomorrow I’m off to Djebel come hell or high water.  The fire has been going all day to day and why not…I have enough wood cut and sitting this afternoon wrapping the presents in Santa’s little grotto was very pleasant.  I’ve realised I have a couple more to buy…and so they’ll be got tomorrow and then…complete…let Christmas begin.  Delivery is scheduled for next Sunday.  Only two things on the agenda…advise the post office to hold my fan mail until my return…and car to Djebel so that it’s there for when I get back.

Lovely sunset tonight yet again…don’t really want to bore you with them but feel that I must…LN….Just a little of the local whisky which tastes more like brandy with a little hot water…keeping colds at bay…LN

Tuesday 8th December

Six start and it was OK by me.  I read until seven, got up and made coffee, decided to get washed and dressed in case any builders arrived but I all I got was my usual man advising me to leave it one more day before I measured up and ordered the glass for the little house.  

Breakfast was only toast and blackcurrant jam and there was no need to light the fire as the sun was up and the house was warm.  I did lay the fire ready for the evening and emptied the ash can remembering that I had a nail stuck in the grating which I removed.

At twelve I decided to convert the three leeks into leek and potato soup and I put a couple of chicken legs into the oven to drop it into the soup at the last minute.  I also took a couple of flaky pastry slabs out of the freezer that I intended cooking separately to adorn the finished article.  It was a longer process than I thought but at three thirty two pies were done …one for Hacibar and one for me….She’s so good delivering home made bread and yogurt that it’s my way of saying thank you.  Pies were delicious and still have soup for tomorrow.

Got my knitting out today and added a few more rows to a pair of wrist warmers…..Countdown and now into Pointless….it’s been a lazy day.  Fire lit at five this afternoon and toasty inside…wine box opened.  Arranged for my painter to come round at nine in the morning and we are measuring three time and ordering once.  LN…the evening is still young…LN

Wednesday 9th December

Really drab start and no sunshine at all today.  The wind has been cold and I really must remember...it's December.  Breakfast of poached egg on toast that set me up for the day...I'd finished tidying the kitchen as my painter arrived and we confirmed the measurements for the glass for the little house porch.  I found out a pair of fingerless gloves for him as it was icy out there and we set off for Djebel to place the order by about nine thirty.  On the way in I emptied my old jars and bottles into the container and I saw him thinking about one of the empty bottles and he saw me look at him.  I wanted to get rid of not bring any back with me.

As we reached the first shop he took off the fingerless gloves.  I asked him why and he said that men don't wear red, that it's a colour for the ladies.  Now this is the first time that I'd heard this.  In the first shop they had stopped cutting glass and at the second the man was working in Kardjali and there was no one there to price the job.  I decided at that point that I would go into Momchilgrad and speak with the men that made all of my windows and they've agreed the cost and that it will be done by Friday....result.  It will be completed on Saturday or Sunday in time for me heading off.  We headed back to Djebel and my painter had picked up from the little house a five litre wine bottle and we headed over to the coffee shop for more supplies.  He took three litres and I bought one and it's not bad for three leva a litre.  I dropped him off at home and he insisted that I went to see his garden and I came home with beetroot, carrots, onions.  I'd taken a joint of pork out of the freezer yesterday and this got put in the oven with roast potatoes. turnips and beetroot.  The fire had been going all day and while it cooked I lay on the sofa with my book and the eyes headed southwards for an hour or so, woke up and sorted the late lunch/dinner making Bisto gravy to top it off.

Six fifteen my time and let the evening begin.  My book is hotting up at seventy percent, my wine is down to sixty percent and my contentment is around one hundred percent.....Lucky old me,  No pictures today...no sun rises or sets.  Well there probably were but not in my neck of the woods.  LN....another gentle day tomorrow me thinks...LN

Thursday 10th December

Five hours undisturbed sleep last night...midnight through till five of the clock and for me....cracking.  Got my book out and from eighty five percent to the finishing post by eight thirty.  As I've said before, this particular author seems to slam it into the last fifteen percent to get the story untangled but you know what it's like...when you're into a series you just go with it until the last book.  Fire lit and wood in which seems the backbone of life in Bulgaria....as long as you're warm...the rest can wait.

I phoned the Librarian to see if she wanted to come out to play today.  I was intending to go over to hers and pick up the suitcase and straight to her local shopping centre for the last of my presents....three more and finished, finished, definitely finished....Unfortunately she had other plans but said that she would be over later this afternoon.  I settled in and finished wrapping the presents and put my usual personal touches to the greeting cards and when she arrived, the leek and potato soup was turned into roasted beetroot. leek and potato soup and it went down a treat.  On the negative side....she forgot the suitcase and on the plus side she sampled the local coffee shop wine and we have another convert.  

We chewed the fat and dragged one or two over the mill and she left at just before five but she forgot to take the rest of the bottle of wine with her....such a shame.  There was a toot outside and my local postie had letters for me from the UK which was rather nice.  She's going to hang on to any mail that I have until I return to these fair shores.  

No need for supper, the soup is still filling the gap but there is enough cold pork left for a sandwich later on should the mood arise.  Now to find the next book in the series....LN....the night is young...LN

Friday 11th December

Seven start and read until eight thirty and then up to the computer and got to watching a video of Edgar Casey and his futuristic predictions.  I'd forgotten all about him and it was very interesting .  Back to my book for a while and then it was time to light the fire...the wind was really cold this morning and it's been going all day.  

Time to defrost the fridge,,,I'm switching both the fridge and the freezer off while I'm not here...the last thing that I want to come back to is a kitchen awash with food if we have a power cut like last year.  So there I was with my head virtually in the fridge and I heard the door rattle and there was the Librarian holding the suitcase that she'd forgotten yesterday and a bottle of wine as an extra present since she was so pleased with her from me.  We'd seen a large picture in Kardjali the last time we shopped there and I headed off the next day to get it as a surprise for her...and she was really surprised.

We sat and had coffee and I suggested that we headed off to Djebel for lunch as the soup kitchen.  Over to the coffee shop for more wine to see her over the Christmas period and some in reserve for me when I get back.  Home for three and off she went, I finished off the fridge that had a huge build up of ice in the ice box finally bringing into play...the hair-dryer.

Supper was cheese, potato and onion pie just to use up the left over cheese and I put in a strudel that I found in the freezer and used up the last of the cream.  So packing in the morning.....I've started making a list of the chargers that I need to take with me....and I'm only taking hand luggage so no that much thinking to do.  Down to tend to the fire....the temperature's dropping so it might be going all night tonight.  LN...the machine is about to go into action...LN

Saturday 12th December

Silly three thirty start this morning and I had to resort to reading.  I tried to go back to the land of nod but it wasn't going to happen.  I made coffee and tidied the kitchen at five this morning, the fire was still going so I topped it up with a couple of logs and everything in the garden was rosy so to speak...apart from the fact that I was sleep deprived.

Two loads of washing finished by eight this morning and I was setting fire to my toilet rubbish and kitchen sling-outs when I noticed that my painter was at the gate and he'd brought a selection of old locks so that he could work out which sort I wanted for the little house porch ....and we did it.  Into Djebel and the shop sold them so we bought one and we had all the other bits to make it work and happen.  I now have a lockable door to my little house porch but ....no glass...yet.  This was supposed to be cut today and we could pick it up but we received no phone calls so I'm really not sure what's happening.  I'm hoping that we can pick it up tomorrow so that my painter can putty it in but I'm not sure if they'll be anyone there...I'll check it out first thing.

Lazy afternoon until I realised that I had to get in everything outside in and that included wheelbarrows and barbed wire and all is safely gathered in.  Suitcase is packed, clothes washed and just the odd things to do like switch off the water to the outside sink and drain the pipes.  I spent about an hour sorting keys and padlocks and they're now all in the right place...how many keys and spares does a girl want...

Fish fingers for a late lunch, back to my book for a while, back to the suitcase for a while and then over to Strictly.  I think it's Anton's time to go....they just didn't shine.  Really cold night tonight but I looked up and saw two reflections of the sun in houses on the opposite hillside and then there were pink vapour trails at sunset.  It's been a beautiful day today despite the fact that the wind was cold and my two loads of washing are now put away but the nest has made its way on to the bed....the fleece sheets are out and they're also on the lounge sofa-bed for Mrs D of S since she's spending the night here before we leave for Sofia.

Just after ten thirty my time...almost time to get my head down to see how long I manage tonight.  There's suppose to be a meteor show tonight so I'm about to go and check it out....Tomorrow I need my glass or it's polythene it on Monday....and what a shame after we've worked so hard to achieve.  LN....I'll keep you up to date and there will be pictures if we succeed...LN

Sunday 13th December

Well it was another silly o'clock start but my mind was chewing over the fact that I didn't get a phone call about the glass for the little house porch.  Read for most of the morning and poached egg for breakfast and my painter arrived with the good news that the glass might be outside the workshop in Momchilgrad.  He tried to phone the boss but to no avail...we reckoned that there might have been a little too much mastika knocking around last night so I decided to head into Momchilgrad which turned out to be the right move.  I'd dismantled my gas bottle to get it topped up before the winter and so we stopped off at my painters to pick up his two gas bottles and we headed down the 'rough' road to the factory and the gas station.  On our arrival at the factory, the telephone rang and the message was...ten minutes and the boss would be there...result.

Back to Djebel and we headed back with the glass and started to assemble the porch.  Some worked ...some didn't.  The metal window frames were put together by domestic not masters so some of it isn't square so we knew that we had out work cut out.  Another into the mix was that the guy who had sold me the putty had not realised that it was months out of date so it didn't really want to gel.  Back to Djebel and I bought  
three packets of good putty and as we got to working on the glass insertion...three wasn't sufficient and so I went back to Djebel to by what they had left in the shop.  Unfortunately the metal in the windows wasn't square so we've done the best we can...As for this year we will make a proper job of it when the house gets done.

Hacibar came round with some stuffed vine leaves so it was out with the forks and the wine and we did what we could.  The guy that sold me the out of date putty came round and asked if he could take a look because he is the 'maester'.  Off you go...we did what we could do with the 'unsquare windows' and the fact that we ran out of putty.

Tomorrow I'm delivering my frozen the Librarian, picking up putty from the hardware shop in Benkovsi and picking up Mr's D of S on the way through....Bath boiler on and I'm going to wallow tonight but after I've seen Strictly....LN...the meteors are out there again tonight,,,I might be out on the balcony shrouded in a blanket...LN

Monday 14th December

Found out that Kindles don't work when you float them in the bath...I should have known better that to take it in there with me but it's currently drying out and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  Thank goodness I've bought a spare...

Five start and couldn't manage to get off again so emptied the freezer and was in the car at eight fifteen heading over to the Librarians with the freezer contents...I didn't want to come back to a smelly house if the electricity went off as it did last year.  Minus four this morning and looks like being another cold night with a sky full of stars.  I kept to the timetable and picked up Mrs D of S and she's had a very lazy day reading while I've ticked off the things on my list and I'm pleased to say that all's quiet on the western front.  I think my biggest issue has been with keys...I have so many and now it's down to three to go....and that should see me through.  Padlock for the gate, house and car key....

Managed to cook spag bol for supper and it's pleasant having company in the evening.  I still have a bowl of it left so if Hacibar is about she can have it in the morning or if not, the dogs and cats are in for a treat.

Sorry...no pickies tonight....I didn't put it on the list so it didn't get done....LN....early night for us both....early start tomorrow...LN

Safe trip home tomorrow Mrs P!

How long are you home for this time?

hi you two have a good  holiday  happy new yearxxxxxx

Tuesday 15th December

Sitting in the hotel on a free WiFi....now what can I download?

On the bus for nine this morning. Sofia and hotel by one thirty and beer and toasted sandwiches by two.  Let Christmas commence.  Slept the afternoon away and topped up the beer quota this evening....and now settled in my room and not catching the shuttle until ten.  Unfortunately Mrs D of S is out at five SO .....we've said fond farewells and plan to meet up at the bus station when it's all over.

And now time for bed said Zeberdde. LN...Eight per cent of my Kindle to go....LN...

Wednesday 16th December

So as Mr's D of S was stetting off for the airport I was tempted to wave her goodbye at five this morning...yes I was awake and didn't managed to get off again.  There was a bit of an enigma this morning int he hotel.  There was a kettle for preparing the morning life support system...ie...coffee but the cable to connect the base of the kettle wasn't long enough to reach the electrical socket and the table that the kettle sat on was too high so that the kettle was supposed to be suspended in mid air.  My practical solution was to move my suitcase under the socket, balance the said base and kettle on said suitcase and insert the plug.  Solved and result and the problem was now that there wasn't a sachet of coffee in the container and I could have settled for chamomile tea but believe me...it's never worked yet.  I eventually caught the room maid and she delivered the required object so back with the kettle on the suitcase and everything in the garden was rosy,

Caught the nine thirty shuttle to the airport and straight through security having been relieved of belt, boots, jewellery, and almost standing naked was subjected to the wand....which I passed with flying colours.  On to the flight for eleven thirty and Gatwick for just after one fifteen and the train down to Brighton for two thirty and as for he weather....raining and dull and looking at Acuweather I think it will be like this for the rest of the holiday.  Off to Lidls and bought a bottle of port and on to the wine shop and a couple of bottles of organic red jumped up at me.Managed to find a card shop and my task for tomorrow should I chose to accept it is to get them address and posted....I'll see how tomorrow goes.  Telephone calls from number one son and number one daughter tonight...it's good to talk.....and tomorrow there is nothing on the agenda so far...first day of my hols.  There was a request from my son that I make a trifle to take up for Christmas day....he obviously wants everyone to be asleep before the Queen's speech.

Chicken Dansak take away this evening but not as good as I remembered it....and I think I'm heading for bedibys soon...I'm knacked.  LN...there will be pictures tomorrow....I need to take a walk down by the sea just to check it's still there....LN

Thursday 17th December

So it was a UK five start for me which equates very badly with BG time but since I fell asleep in front of the TV...went to bed at ten it was nothing more than I deserved...  

So I read for a while. went down and couldn't find the coffee so thought my life was at an end but there it was...lingering.  Back to bed, back to the book and eventually at seven I roused myself and headed on to emails and the world in general and started my day.  I ended up with toast and black current jam since the butter in the fridge was next to the garlic and the Clover nestling in was not to my liking...it's a spread for goodness sake.  My task should I choose to accept it was to get my Christmas cards done and posted today.  I had a couple of overseas ones that I hadn't managed to do before I left and now they are winging their way to the designated drop-offs. It was around two before I'd finished my cards using post-code checker to check on both addresses and recipients but sixteen away in record time....

This afternoon I was looking through old photos until my Princess arrived having finished her year at the local school and we hugged and caught up with the last year.  I love her to bits and she knows it and she reminds me so much of myself at her age....so what's not to like.  At four she was heading to get the meal for her boys....I went down to the village with her and posted my cards, stopped off at the local co-op for bread and new butter and walked it back home just at the point the heavens decided to open and it's still going now.

I did take some lovely photos of the morning wake-up but I can't manage to open image resizer so that they get accepted onto this software....tomorrow I'll investigate it further...someone's PC is always more difficult than your own.  Tomorrow it's saying goodbye to Princess as they head of for Australia for Christmas....but fortunately they will be back before I'm catching my flight back...and that will be the time that we shop till we drop and catch up on late pressies.....

Tomorrow out for lunch at my Princess' house at one....it will be lovely to see my CJ and my SIL.  Pictures will follow as soon as I sort out the software,,,,LN...Technology is a bummer...LN

Friday 18th December

So I've still not caught up with the two hours that I'm owed sleep wise...It was a five o'clock start for me again and even though it's my house I still creep about so as not to disturb the resting.  I made it down for coffee at seven, breakfasted by eight and hair washed and dried by nine thirty and then the house came awake.  

Resizer has been sorted and I think it was because I've been set up on this system as a guest and so it wasn't letting me change the settings but now it's been fixed.  Final card to buy and money deposited in grandson's cards....they're off to OZ tomorrow so all donations were gratefully received....and what a lovely day we've had.  A little Proseco for starters, wine with lunch and laced coffee to follow....and it was one of those long, long lunches with a break in the middle for unwrapping presents.  So now we're home leaving them to do their packing.  I've put the remains of the vegetables in the fridge and it will get fried up tomorrow....I have two butternut squashes so I'll be searching for a recipe later....more potatoes...the remains of the Christmas pudding, cream and brandy sauce and a pair of leggins that my daughter no longer wanted.

Nine thirty and it really feels like a Sunday to me...stuffed after lunch and not wanting anything else to eat until tomorrow.  Nothing on the agenda so far apart from the fact that I have some presents to get so I might head into Brighton tomorrow on the bus since parking is so expensive.  I'll let you know what I get up to.

Back down for the tv.....at least it doesn't seize up like Filmon.....LN....I might see all of Strictly tomorrow...LN

Saturday 19th December

Not so bad this morning....I had a seven am start but it was all down to the fact that I started watching a film downstairs and the timer was on and so I lost the end of it.  Went upstairs and realised it was on in my ex's bedroom so continued watching it and then he started snoring...there were three remotes by the bed so I gave up and thought I would try and catch up with the film at a later date.  I'm not into the terrestrial tv of UK and the amount of remotes you need to vaguely try and control the input and output.  Filmon...you are forgiven your hangups....

So I had visions of going into town today to start my Christmas shopping but instead started hunting for a photograph that I wanted to put on Facebook.  I've joined a few sites and some of the photographs are very much part of my childhood and schooldays and there was one in particular that I was determined to find.  Me and the lads on the old rec in a football pose and I eventually came across it and it's been well received now that I've posted it.  I also had photos of school plays that I was in going back to the early fifties and they've got posted as well.  As for the rest of the day I've spent the afternoon tidying and shredding lots of accumulated crap that I really want to get rid of.  This house wants tidying and I do not want my children to have to go through loads of shite it I kick the bucket unexpectedly so it's down to me and my three weeks here.  One of the filing cabinets is empty and half of one of the book cases...I've had a good day.  

Toast for breakfast, tuna and mayo sandwiches for lunch and half a bottle of wine for supper with a chocolate snowman while I was watching Strictly...the final and now we have to wait for the second part of it starting at nine so hence the update before I get ensconced again.  No supper for me...I might just go back for the other half of the bottle if it hasn't disappeared before I get downstairs again.  

Out for lunch tomorrow with two very special friends at a restaurant they use but I've not been there before....I feel that I've achieved a lot today...more to do but five years away leaves it's mark on a property...but I'm getting there.  LN...I can feel Strictly calling me...LN

Sunday 20th December

Well for me Strictly was a let down.....I thought either of the girls should have won....they had scored to well all the way through....

Seven start, jammed the shredder and spent half an hour poking and prodding with a pair of scissors and managed to free it up eventually.  Toast for breakfast and off to church for eleven this morning in my little church, over to the market garden and managed to pick up the first of my presents and made it to our friends in good time for making it to the pub restaurant in time for the allotted hour.  The menu was good...they go quite often bit was my first time there and I was impressed by the food but not the service.  I took almost two glasses of wine before the food arrived.  Steak, ale and mushroom pie for me with chippies followed by a treacle pudding with custard and cream and I feel utterly stuffed....still....

Back to our friends house this afternoon and we sat around chewing the fat.  I think I nodded off for about half an hour but that's what friends are for...they let you.  The church that A goes to was holding a candlelit carol service with brass band playing the carols so I said that I would keep her company.  She knew quite a few of the ladies there....I knew only her but my biggest beef of both churches is that they change the words thinking they are updating carols where for oldies like me, we still remember the originals and it seems quite strange to get happy clappy over them.  The other frustration tonight was that there were nine carols in an hour and we were up and down like flipping yoyos......

Home now after some torrential downpours today...shopping tomorrow to get this remains of my shopping finished and then I'm back to sorting and shredding again...so much to do and so little time.  I've had confirmation that all is well with my home in BG....the little house porch has been finished in my absence and the gaps filled in and is now supposedly water and windproof and apparently I have a 'season greeting card' from Holland.....I wonder....LN and if it is...wonders will never cease and happy boxing day to you both....LN

Monday 21st December

All I could hear last night was the rain belting against the windows so I was awake most of the night.....Welcome to the UK.....and looking at the weather reports we have this more or less until I go home...joy of joy...

Up and seven and washing put to dry in various places in the house...no way that this was going to catch the breeze so to speak....I grabbed a coffee and headed back to bed with the Kindle but I couldn't settle.  The idea of going shopping had left my brain since the forecast wasn't good so I had toast at eight and started to get to grips with all the old documentation that was lying in my study.  I've had a belting time today getting rid of old manuals for the different projects that I'd been involved with and creative material for the companies that I'd worked for.  Some I'm taking back with me and not for my benefit but for Gouldjan's...there's development material that she can use in her job once it's translated.  There's a whole lot of NLP stuff which might help her with her personal development.  So at twelve thirty this lunchtime I was still ripping it up and my ex informed me that he was out to lunch with his boy's club and that he would be back by four thirty more or less....sober or not.  I'm still working in the study and the old music room....it's amazing what get's put into corners and it's quite cathartic to dig and delve.  I did manage to clog up the shredder and yet again and I think I've done the same to the hoover but it does look much better than when I arrived.  The next area for improvement is the bookcase....I have so many lovely books but to get them out to BG would cost a small fortune so they are being parceled up for the grandchildren and the rest can go to the charity shops.  I have a hint of ruthlessness about me...

So despite the weather I'm off to town tomorrow to get the last of the presents.  It has to be done.  There are no photographs....you have probably got your own perspective on the weather if you're in the UK and you certainly don't want to see mine.  If you're in BG...stop gloating...it doesn't become you.  LN....I've missed Pointless and Egg Heads...I've not adjusted to the two hour time difference and forgot all about them....Much too busy shredding and destroying my past...LN

Tuesday 22nd December

Yet again the wind and the rain kept me awake most of the night...does it never stop here?  I made the mistake of looking again at the weather for BG...wrong move...   So at five this morning I was reading which I suppose in the grand scheme of things is seven in my other life so not so bad.  I'm still trawling through boxes of stuff accumulated over a life time and this morning found my old school reports and what a little star I was although I say it myself.  It all seemed to go wrong around the fifteen years of age when I think rebellion for most things set in but it sort of carried me through life tenaciously....and still does.  So bacon sandwich for breakfast, washed, dressed and on the bus to Brighton to do my one day Christmas shopping which has worked out well.  The shopping centre was packed and I refused to go into Waterstones...I'm still not used to crowds when everyone is milling around.  On the whole though, most of the shop assistants were very pleasant...obviously lots of customer service training.  

Back on the afternoon bus complete with bags full and into the local hotel for a pint before we headed home.  This turned into two but we decided to have the afternoon special lunch so that no one was responsible for heading for the kitchen when we got home.  From one of the waitresses I found out that the first girl to serve us was  Bulgarian from Veliko Turnovo and she had been here for five years.  Her English was so impressive that I would never have known that she wasn't local.  We exchanged a few words in Bulgarian and she said that after five years she has trouble speaking Bulgarian when she is in England.  I think she was being polite about my Bulgarian.  I settled for fish chips and mushy peas followed by a treacle and date pudding with ice cream.....it would have been rude not to.  On to the next bus and home, out with the red and have just woken up in front of the television and such is life in the UK.  

The wind is still howling and the rain is still raining..is there no let up?  Present packing tomorrow and a final onslaught to Asda....I have a trifle to make for the festivities at my son's home.  LN....The count down is on...LN

hi my friend you have been getting ready for christmas,   me i am chilling out . sitting in our bulgarian  sun shine.  i am ready for it to . just made stuffing , hassan is coming for dinner  christmas day . he has been in for drinks every day.  one day stopped for dinner .shepherds pie   .have a lovly christmas  see you in january.

Wednesday 23rd December

You and me both my Librarian friend.....I was in Lidl today...so much choice and not so tidy as the Bulgarian equivalent but there was a Bulgarian girl on the checkout so we shared a few words together and she complemented me on my use of the language....They get everywhere...and make me realise what I'm missing

The sun was coming up as I looked out of the window this morning but there was no heat in it.  The washing that I did was out in the conservatory and that is almost as wet as when I put it out there.....I miss BG.  Took the paper rubbish that I've accumulated up to the tip today and the house is looking much tidier.  I've got one more batch of shredding yet to do and that should be it.  Went to Asda and got the contents of the trifle so tomorrow that will get made in preparation for 'the day' and what a lot of people were shopping and so much money being spent.  We did the circuit in the Marina shopping centre and it is such a sad sight.  There are probably only three shops remaining from the originals in the whole centre and they are hoping for an upsurge when the latest lot of properties have been completed and occupied.  As we walked back from the shopping centre to the car, the heavens opened....and so endeth the first day without rain since I've been here.

Back home and it was my turn for cooking so I put my hand to chicken wings with onions and potatoes with mayo....one of my favourites back home....and it was delicious although I say so myself.  Tomorrow is present packing day and I seem to have acquired even more....and worked out it is two weeks before I go home.  I've done well so far....Part of this year's trip was to clear out the things I left behind six years ago and I'm doing it.  Another ten days after the holiday period....you might never know I'd been here....haha.

Unfortunately no photos...they were taken on a mobile phone and apparently it locked up and nothing came out of it...technology egh.....LN...Only one more day....I'm getting there.....LN

Thursday 24th December

And two weeks to lift off.  The weather has been so naff that I'm still spitting feathers about it...I'm really not used to it.

Five thirty start this morning and it was DS and Kindle until the rest of the world awoke.  I went downstairs and by eight I'd made the trifles for tomorrow and all that needs to be done is to get the custard on them and cream and shiny balls tomorrow and that might be done with the grandchildren...So today it was finishing off wrapping the presents, labeling everything and putting the items that are not presents but gifts to the family ready just to pick up and run.  We had kippers for breakfast and they've been with me for the rest of the day.  I really shouldn't have done but I did so there is only me to blame.

The presents are done, labeled and my son and daughter-in-laws present got half wrapped....it was just too difficult...legs sticking out everywhere.  I'll let you know what it was tomorrow...they might be reading this.  My packing is done more or less but it's deciding what I intend wearing tomorrow...I have a new owl jumper but hey...still not sure I'll see what takes me in the morning.

So this afternoon headed in to Brighton and found a shop that is selling Suffolk latches at two pounds each so bought five to take back with me.  I'm thinking I need to book a bag but we'll see.....early days yet.

And tonight I'd like to thank everyone that reads my life in BG and to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year....it means a lot to me that you take time out from your day to read the ramblings of an oldie....LN....and have a happy day tomorrow...LN

Friday 25th December

Lovely day with my son and his family.....I have no photos to post ....they are still in the camera and will be liberated tomorrow.  I hope you have all had a lovely day.....I'm stuffed to the gills....too much food but the drink, fortunately is in moderation.

LN....short and sweet....LN....

Merry Christmas Mrs P to you too!

As you know I always check in to see how you're getting on, and it very quickly became part of my evening routine many years ago. Think I've been doing so since the start almost, and it's been amazing to see what you've achieved in almost 7 years!

I even remember the school house...  

Anyway love you lots second mummy, hope the weather improves and you have a wonderful New Year!

Mikey B

Saturday 26th December

Mikey B ....thank you and yes I'll send you the certificate of adoption ...it's in the post.  To you and your beautiful family...may 2016 be your year...as well as mine of course...

So last night was a little of Mrs Brown's Boys after the children were in bed and after wee dram or two it was straight to bed expecting the children to be up and at it at the crack of.  I was awake at six thirty and not a stirring from the house so I turned the brightness down on the Kindle and played Angry Birds until I heard movement and went down to find my grandson with a puzzle on the floor and the other outlaw in the kitchen at the right end of the kettle so the coffee was quick to administer the life saving drug that is morning.  The rest of the house came slowly round and the last one to rise was my daughter-in-law and by that time the outlaws had fixed breakfast for the children, I popped two slices of toast in the toaster and got myself sorted and then it was time to put up the bird feeding station that I'd given my son and daughter-in-law for their Christmas present but once it was out in the garden and the fat balls attached....we think it might have to go back as not a bird came to peck...early days though...

We were into the car just before lunch...they'd planned to go to the cinema to watch the new Star Wars which wasn't on the top of my agenda.  Lots of traffic on the road on the way home with the M25 appearing to be blocked so we headed for the A roads and the journey wasn't too bad.  Hope for around two and I slept through several episodes of David Attenborough on a tv station that I'd never heard of before....Digital came about when I was out of the country and no amount of explaining does the trick....the problem is I can't be a*sed.

So this evening is creeping on and tomorrow...off to church and then more of the same sorting out the stuff that I walked out on seven years ago.  The children are under strict instructions that if they want it...take it...if not...charity shop.  I might get a box together to send if there's enough of it that I want but as it stands at the moment...it doesn't look like that will happen....it's very therapeutic and cathartic...

So now a little Angry Birds before bedtime...and a few photos from yesterday....LN....Hope you all had a good day yesterday....I did....LN

Sunday 27th December

Six thirty start and it was Angry Birds and DS and couldn't manage to get stuck into my book.....my little brain was too active.

Eventually made it down to the kitchen for seven thirty for coffee and then straight up to sorting, sifting and shredding and managed to clear another three sacks of 'stuff' ready for the recycle bin at the end of this month.  It's not so cathartic as it was....it just makes my back ache but I think I've come to the end of it now.  I'm now concentrating on clothes for the local charity shop and getting a pile together for when they open for the new year.  It's a shame really....I've got evening clothes that I'll never wear again, more fleeces than I ever needed and jumpers that I've never worn but desperately needed at the time...consumer madness and even though I've developed the bug in Bulgaria...when the jumper only costs forty pence roughly....I chuckle and consider that I'm giving it a new lease of life.

Just put chicken in mushroom soup in the oven with roast potatoes.  I can't say that I'm really thinking 'supper' yet....I found a box of After Eight this afternoon and I gave them a fair bashing.  The remainder are out of the box and by the side of my bed....midnight feast if I stay awake that long tonight.  So time to open up another of my Christmas presents....a bottle of wine....and to find a glass.  There was a hint of sun today which didn't last too long so no photos...you'll just have to make do with the text...It's another brief update today...apart from the fact that it is reported that it's going to be minus fourteen in Kardjali tonight....LN...Stay warm everyone who's there...LN

Monday 28th December

Well I was lying in bed and happened to catch a touch of pink in the sky and well, you know me and it was out with the camera.  It wasn't as dramatic with no mountains for the sun to pop over and it really didn't amount to much but it was still pleasant to see.  The birds were also out in force and loads of seagulls flitting about and that was about as much as I saw of the day.

I got stuck in again and sorted loads of stuff for the charity shops and a man came round and he's interested in the old brief cases that I've got and he has a friend that will take all of anything to do with haberdashery and knitting patters including books so they're all stacked up ready for him.  Apparently he takes a commission on what he sells but he's a good friend of a friend so as far as I'm concerned he can take it and credit me when I get back.  I've got loads of knitting wool in the loft that can can go to the same home and ooodles of material that he's interested in so the chest on the landing gets done tomorrow and the wood brought down from the loft if I have the energy.  It's all go here.... There's as heap of 'stuff' that's been put ready for my son....if he wants it fine ...if not it can go to the same guy.

Just watched University Challenge and Connect and that's a rather large lady presenting it.  Tomorrow is a trip into Brighton so that I can pick up a few things from the pound shop that I want and also to return the clock to Lidl that appears to be taking it's time signal from Germany and no amount of setting it manually seems to make it want to tell the correct time in the UK.....Maybe Angela has decided that we should all adopt European time and it's her way of trying to introduce it via Lidl.

So it's getting late my time.  I'm feeling very jaded today having worked my little socks off and am looking forward to my bed that's if I can find it underneath all the clothes that I pulled out of the wardrobe for the charity shops....Cathartic be buggered....only ten days before I head home for a rest.  LN...Looking forward to Princess and co, returning to the fold....it won't be long now...LN

Tuesday 29th December

Well it was a six thirty start this morning and since the Kindle was charging it was the small one and back to the book that I've started skipping over pages.  It was too early to wake the rest of the household but down for coffee at seven thirty and straight into the sorting, ripping, tearing and moving stuff into a different hiddey hole.  Breakfast of poached eggs at ten and one of my bug bears is the poached egg pan.  The yolks turn out hard and the whites are still opaque so mine went back in upside down...I can't stand phlegmy eggs...and then back to it.  

There was a suggestion to go into Brighton on the bus since the parking is so expensive but I only wanted a couple of things from the pound shop and almost five pounds on a return bus fare....it wasn't really worth the effort or expense so it's gone on to the back burner.  So this afternoon I was tracking flights and Princess and Co are safely back on home soil landing at just before seven o'clock this evening.  There is no welcome home text....they just need to settle in gently otherwise it could become a blur....They've done a lot since last Saturday and I'll wait for the update in their time.

Well supper looms so I'll go see what simple to prepare from the freezer....I'm not too hungry but it's been a while since breakfast.  There were some lovely pink clouds around this afternoon but no sooner were they there but they'd gone and we're now back to what appears to be April showers.  The garden has snowdrops and daffodils out...it's December for goodness sake.....bring on the winter.  Enough...no photos....not a lot happening but I'm sorting, labeling and will be start to do it in my sleep if I'm not careful....LN...about to start on the anesthetic....LN

Wednesday 30th December

So when I woke up this morning I staggered to the bathroom after only a glass of wine last night.  I had to hold on to the furniture on my way and on the way back and I felt decidedly sick...not a good way to spend the end of the year.  I guessed what it was and really only needed a second opinion from the doctor...hoping at least to be able to get an appointment. Labyrinthitis struck me about eight years ago and I was hoping that it was it since I knew what it was but remembered how long it was to recover from it....too long.

At nine thirty I went up to my doctor's surgery at the top of the road having to ask my ex to escort me up there since my head was all over the place.  My eyes failed to focus but I faced the receptionist and was honest with her from the start explaining that I was on holiday here and used to be registered with them.  She checked the computer and I'm still registered and the best she could come up with was that I couldn't have an appointment that day explaining that they don't to walk ins....so now I'm a walk in not a patient.  I explained that I was having problems walking having to hold on to anything in sight and since there was only one person in the waiting room I thought she was being a bit 'officious' not 'efficient'.  So off she toddled to the doctor and I could hear that I was still a 'walk in' but he obviously took pity on me and I sat down and waited and still no others turned up.  The old lady went in to see the nurse, one man came out and in I went.  I didn't know the doctor but we went through the symptoms, I said that I thought it was what I had eight years ago.  He asked me more questions, took my heart rate, blood pressure, sounded out my back, checked my eyes with a light and pronounced that my diagnosis was correct..in his humble opinion.  We did have a few laughs especially when I said that I'm normally very fit and at least I was breathing and despite the fact that I didn't feel well, I do have a problem with containing my humour.

So down to get the tablets I'd had before thus promising me an alcohol free month and apparently they are great for losing weight so those ten pounds should be off for my birthday and back to a size ten.  I spoke to Princess and they are home safe and sound and all shattered.  I asked about the landing and she said that she thought the plane was going to tip over it was so windy.....and I said that I'd watched it down on the computer.  I lay on the sofa all afternoon and slept so not a lot of activity.  I've put it down to doing too much too quickly and pushing myself or maybe it's shredder's fever.  

No photos and I feel I'm letting the side down.  Soon to bed....and just for the record...it's raining again and my thoughts go out to all those that are going to have to start clearing up again.  LN.....From the pill popping alcohol abstainer...LN

sorry to hear your news  about balance. keep taking the tablets,,,,happy new year .

Thursday 31st December

Thank you my dear Librarian for your well wishes....I've been much better today...the tablets kicked in early unlike the last time.  But three days without alcohol....I need your sympathy...haha.

Seven start and into Lidl to get a few things and to take the clock back that keeps time with Germany.  Apparently the technicians hadn't got an answer for it so recommended that we returned it to the store.  Checking out the receipt I also noticed that I'd been charged twice for a pack of beer and I mentioned this to the manager when he was doing the refund...and guess what...he refunded me the seven pounds and forty nine pence as well as the clock.  Made a trifle this afternoon and over to our good friends for a fish and chip supper and then out to watch the firework displays.  Drive home was good and the gritter lorries were out...there could be a change in the weather.

Well this is the last update of this year...Happy New Year to you all and I hope the year brings you health, wealth and happiness in whatever form you want it in....LN....I'm ready to count down the minutes...LN

happy new year   seding much love  take  care xxxx