Sunday 10th January

Thanks Linda..yes I got home safely and have had a few days settling in again.  The house is now back up to temperature and the walls have heated up...it's amazing what happens to buildings after three weeks with temperatures of up to minus twenty...   As to my Princess...they knew how far it was but it's another thing experiencing it and I think she would have but she ran out of time only being there for about seven days.  Next time....and so pleased that you are all keeping well and may it continue throughout the year....

So this morning it was a pretty late start for me.  I rescued the fire and lit the little one.  It was a dull start to the day and the wind cold so I eventually got dressed at around ten, got the wood in, took a pack of mince out of the freezer leaving it to thaw on the worktop,  Walked the estate and there have been no bovine attacks since Friday so I think the work I did has proved successful.  

As I went out to the little house I noticed that there was water between the glass and the frame of the door to the porch.  I eventually ended up removing part of the putty and you'll probably remember that the door frame wasn't square so there was a lot of putty packing going on.  So I removed some of it, eased the glass back in and got some brown silicon and packed that between the frame and the glass and I need to buy some more tomorrow to do the other pane.  I'm just a little concerned that the putty isn't going off quickly enough so I'll be out with the silicon and the glue gun tomorrow.  The other option is to get the new door frame and door in and it really wouldn't take much to do but it would be better to leave it until after winter so today was a temporary measure on a temporary solution to a polythene covered porch...

Cleared up my mess and got a bonfire going to get rid of the kitchen waste and empty tubes and got the makings of a shepherd's pie going.  I cooked the meat on the little wood burner in the kitchen but unfortunately it wasn't hot enough to do the potatoes and the oven wasn't hot enough to brown the top so it was back to the main cooker.  Temperature has gone up and tomorrow is forecast for fifteen degrees but tonight we are back to the zero.  

Supper finished, served with a dollop of brown sauce and it was delicious and as a tribute to my son I prepared and served it in one of my Christmas presents.  I was just finishing off my supper when there was a knock on the door and it was Haciber with a loaf of home made bread and it was still hot...she spoils me.  Still taking the tablets so I'm now on mineral water...it's going to be a long month.  Darts final tonight...I was amazed how little the women get when they become the world champion....I think it was only twelve thousand pounds and the runner up five thousand....let's see what the men get.

So tomorrow I'm off to Kardjali with my painter and taking Gouldjan into school so that she doesn't have to go on the six thirty bus.   I'm in there to collect my new driving licence in time for my next big birthday.  Enough for this time....LN...Ski Sunday, Darts...who says I don't enjoy sport...LN

Monday 11th January

So it was a three am start and so it was chuck a log on the biggie, I read for a while and then back to sleep until a respectable seven thirty.  The best sunrise since I've come home and it was well worth capturing.  Fire, ash can, coffee and then to horse since I'm doing the taxi run at eight thirty from the bus stop in the next village...Gouldjan to school and my painter for some shopping in Kardjali.  Both were on time and Cinderella changed her shoes and left her little black rubber shoes for her mother to collect later...  she handed me a couple of letter that had arrived while I was away and I really should check with the post office to see if there are others.  Dropped off Gouldjan and opened my letter from Australia and it was from Linda...so a big thank you ...with some super photos and other items.

Firstly to KAT for my driving licence but I couldn't get through to the lady that she needed the paper counterpart to return to the DVLA.  I left it at that and I've since found out that the document is no longer required in the UK so perhaps she knew better than I did.  So now my new licence has five years on it unlike the UK equivalent issued at the big birthday...that only has three years on it.  Over to Kaufland and I discovered that my usual head of police has now retired and was doing his shopping.  He asked if I'd got my new one and I reckon that he would still be walking round after a couple of hours with nothing in his trolley.  He was such a popular chap.  Over to Lidl for more goodies and picked up a  cork remover and a Pyrex five litre casserole and two packs of beer although I'm still being good.  It's for when I fall off the wagon.

Home for one thirty and my painter inspected the work I'd done on the door yesterday and he approved.  We'd stopped off at Djebel on the way back and got some more silicon and my painter has decided that it's his work to finish the job properly....that's how he works.  Dropped him home and gave him the wine box that I'd opened before I'd left for the holiday....I told him to throw it away if it wasn't good.  Settled in with my book on the sofa in the sun but unfortunately the eyes headed southwards and I woke up a couple of hours later.  Fire checked and the little one lit in the kitchen to keep that area cosy and now settling in for Pointless and Eggheads.  

Nothing for supper tonight...I might make a sandwich later...I've been nibbling chocolate.  Now to settle in for the evening...LN...I have snooker to look forward to as I continue with the sport's theme...LN  

Tuesday 12th January

So last night I lingered in a really hot bath but this time I didn't take a Kindle and it was just as well...yes I fell asleep but it's the norm for me.  I was in to bed by twelve and with the sleep I'd had in the afternoon I was expecting a sleepless night but it was a wake up at three thirty and I threw a log on and then back until seven twenty....fantastic.  I lingered with a coffee and played on the pc and was just about to start my breakfast and still in pj's when I painter appeared to cow proof my fence with the branches that they use here.  Not sure of the name but the cows hate it...huge spikes and really not nice to handle.  I got the log handled loppers from the workshop and off he went trimming the hillside with enough for me and Haciber but he had to use her long handled tool for carrying it back....it's really lethal.

So I had my breakfast and went out to help him which is the norm and my contribution was to get the wire cutters and the wire and head down to the section that he'd already done and secure it to the barbed wire and the fence.  I then found some wood as supports for the lower section and hammered them home with the club hammer.  I told him that I was going to pay him for his work and he said that if I did he wouldn't work for me any more to which I replied that I wouldn't take him in to Kardjali again so we reached a truce...  

Off he went to Haciber's and I cleared up the garden, watched the cows make a quick assessment and off they went down the field...result.  I was head down for a while this afternoon....I think it must be the fresh air knocking me out....or lack of alcohol...I'll have to monitor the situation.

Supper of sweet and sour pork under way and the rice is just cooking.  The pork was on offer at Lidl yesterday for only two lev and I've just tried a piece and it's very tender but it might have something to do with the pineapple and juice that it's cooking in.  So winding up for tonight...both fires going and it's toasty in but the temperature has been up to fourteen outside today.  Raining now so perhaps it's getting ready for the deluge and low temperatures forecast for the week end.  As for me...LN...Pictures and supper...LN

Wednesday 13th January

Seven start and the fire was just in and needed rescuing....but that wasn't difficult too do.  I decided though to clear out the soot from the top of the boiler, put the soot in the ash and took it down to the bottom of the garden finding my way through the mist.  I washed up from last night, sat down with a coffee and enjoyed the fire and the images that the flames and the smoke forms.

Sorted the kitchen, prepared boiled eggs and toast for breakfast and then it was time for a shower but mainly to get my hair washed...I was feeling bedraggled and unkempt.  Got partly dressed but had a towel round my hair when the phone went and it was Gouldjan asking if I intended going in to Djebel since she'd missed her bus, no cars had passed the bus shelter and I was her last resort.  I explained that I was sitting at the computer with wet hair so asked her to give me ten minutes to dry it but I noticed that it was the Librarian's birthday so gave her a quick call, suddenly remembering that Gouldjan was still in the bus stop.  Quickly into clothes, on with a hat and down to her village, picked her up and dropped her off and decided that I'd take advantage of being in Djebel.  I got my road tax for Beauty and the Beast and this year you have to produce the car documents so that there's a record on computer of car that it's been allocated to.  Over to the hardware shop for the silicon and home to dry my hair.

It's been a lazy afternoon.  I've watched the snooker final and at four fifteen I hear the door open and Gouldjan had popped in on her way back  from work.  We ended up looking at flights to Germany and it looks like we might be making a trip in May to see her boyfriend who has gone over there to work.....  Heated up last night's supper and have just eaten it while watching Eggheads.....kitchen needs sorting again...a woman's work is never done.

Tomorrow is a girlie day out in Kardjali and if Gouldjan can manage it she needs a lift in to sign up at the German Language School....it's now becoming real for her....moving over there to work alongside her man.  Eight thirty my time, fire needs a log on...LN...I have work to do...LN

Thursday 14th January

So yesterday I didn't have a sleep in the day and at three this morning I was wide awake and into my Kindle....doesn't make sense.  Anyway eventually I got my head down again and came to at seven and lazed around drinking coffee and playing on the various bits of electronic gadgetry  including making a birthday card for the Librarian to fill in time until I got my act together ready to head for Djebel for ten.  It was a misty start hardly being able to see the end of the garden but there appeared to be a late frost and when I came to get into the car it took me a while to clear the screen.

Everyone waiting for me and the Librarian decided that she didn't mind driving in and Gouldjan was on time and we set sail for Kardjali.  Dropped Gouldjan off and she was making her own way home, did the charity shops and picked up a rather super top for three leva and it's waiting for a cruise...Shoe shops had nothing much on offer and we filled in the time before lunch in Kaufland.  Mrs D of S had a good shop, I picked up a few things including a couple bottles of wine and I did remember nail varnish remover which had been on various lists and forgotten for the last few visits.  We parked up and went for a pizza and cheesy chips lunch, stopped off at a little supermarket as we walked back to the car and the final stop was Lidl.  I succumbed and bought one of the triple position ladders at much cost to myself but I'm sure someone will get some use out of it.  

Home for four thirty and got in the wood, lit the fires, made a coffee and up to watch the snooker which had already finished before the allocated scheduled time and promptly fell asleep in front of the pc.  I was woken up by the pig door bell and one of my neighbours was there with her children and had a letter for me.  It was already open and from my bank but there was nothing much on it that anyone could take any  information from...just as well.

Nothing for supper...I'm still topped up from lunch.  It's almost nine my time and the temperature has dropped but loads of stars out and a beautiful crescent moon....they all stand out so much since there is little light pollution round here.  I'm going to whiz round the channels to see if there is anything worth watching ....LN...Probably not and I'm down to the bread van tomorrow to get a couple of loaves for the freezer in preparation for the forecast snow fall...LN

Friday 15th January

Very, very slow start today and there was nothing to really get going for.  I eventually got dressed and did the chores, washing done and on the clothes airer since I didn't see the point of putting it outside.  Toast and coffee at roughly ten, washed, dressed and then got it two lots of wood so that I'm fully stocked up ready for what could be lashings of rain tomorrow and snow on Sunday.  I've also put two baskets of logs ready in the little house so they're easy to get at if the yard gets snowed in and a metal bowl and bucket so that I can empty the ash cans in the little porch.  How's that for preparation!!

Read for a couple of hours lying on the sofa and the temperature in the house was up to twenty two so reasonably comfortable.  The fire has been going none stop since I got back but it's ticking along nicely this year....the wood is dry and mainly oak and really burns slowly but with some heat.

Over to my students and stopped off for diesel on the way over but when I got there I realised that I'd lost my hat out of the pocket of my jacket.  Had a really good evening with the family and it's surprising the topics we cover and with opposing views and it gets very lively at times.  Two twenty somethings, two fifty somethings and me and Turkish serials going on in the background and tonight kicked off because there was a programme about dinosaurs on.  Was it the 'Big Bang' or what or who's behind it all?  Worth every penny that one.  They did have a nice surprise for me though...letters and a parcel had been held for me at my student's house since they knew I was in the UK and thank you DS....a beautiful calendar to remember you by all year...and a couple of cards from girls I used to work with.  

Stopped off at the garage and they hadn't found my hat lingering on the forecourt...and so I drove home and it wasn't on the grass outside my house.  I reversed into the drive looked at the back of the car and there was my hat on the back fender...the gods were with me...I love that hat but goodness knows how it got there or how it stayed there on the drive back.

Fire still going when I got in...another log to keep it in and now to bed.  LN...to my virtuous couch...LN

Saturday 16th January

Six thirty start so into the kitchen and made my lemon, orange juice, salt and honey mixture along with a cup of coffee and after throwing a log on it was back to bed for me.  I read until I got bored with the book, checked emails and did stuff on the Kindle, a little brain training on the DS and eventually got up at eight twenty.  

It was a bit of a dull morning.  The mist was rising along the road to Greece in the valley but it soon closed in the mist really came down.  I headed for the kitchen for more coffee and decided that it was a couple of poached eggs on toast for breakfast and they were done to perfection.  I don't like any movement in the white and the yolks have to be runny yet warm.  Not much to clear up so I put everything into the sink and left it for later.  Out for another load of logs so that if it does snow tomorrow I've got enough to keep me going.  I've read that we are supposed to have eighty centimetres of snow tomorrow....thirty two inches for the unmetric.

I settled in this afternoon doing what I do best in the winter ...reading until the eyelids go southwards and generally rest for an hour or so...then it was time for more coffee since it's still an alcohol zone but the resolve almost when today when I read on the internet that it's good to relax over a glass of red...but I abstained.  This afternoon the rain really came down.  The temperature is around seven degrees at the moment and if it had been cold it would have been white all over but instead I have a lake at the bottom of the garden and the sheep trails are covered in water and it's still raining now.

So supper was another shepherd's pie....the last one was so good that I thought I'd make another one.  Orange juice is my chosen beverage for tonight and it's just after seven here, watching a very peculiar programme on BBC2 about alien behaviour in animals...Time to head downstairs now and enjoy the evening.  I can't wait to get to the end of this book to see the outcome but it's another long one...I need a snappier set.  LN...I'm hoping that I can show you some white over shot tomorrow...fingers crossed...LN

Sunday 17th January

Well when I woke up this morning I thought it was half three and I was really surprised when I found out it was quarter after six...result...Fires were both going so brought them both into life and then back to bed with my coffee.  I looked out expecting a wet vista thinking how much rain we'd had last night culminating in a massive thunderstorm which fortunately I didn't see or hear a lot of.

Out of bed by eight and I needed to go down to the bread van.  The snow this morning was only a covering but if it comes down tonight, I wanted to put bread in the freezer so not to run out.  Washed and dressed, boots, hat and coat at the ready waiting for the tout of the horn and off I went clutching my two leva note.  Lots of the women from the village down at the van and I hadn't really seen any of them since I'd returned and it was good to catchup again.  Walked back with Haciber and while I was out I decided to get the wood in, empty the ash cans and have a bonfire to get rid of kitchen and toilet rubbish and then I could get holed up for the day.  I had some of the fresh bread with butter for breakfast, on to the sofa  and out with the book.  

Settled in this morning with a cooking programme and this afternoon it's the snooker final so we're half way through it already.  Supper is some pork kebabs that I found in the freezer, I sprinkled them with Cajun spice and into the little cooker with them.  Sitting at my desk in the twilight and I saw my hare belting across the garden...I guess he'd probably been after my beetroot tops.  I did manage to get a ghostly shot of it but it was taken through the glass so it's not that good and the little camera just hadn't got the magnification...Agh well, he'll be back.

Down for supper now and then this evenings snooker session....It's started to snow again and the temperature is dropping rapidly and it's supposed to be minus ten tonight...LN...Stay safe everyone in the UK and I wonder what will stop tomorrow...my van made it through...LN  

Monday 18th January

What a brilliant outcome for Ronnie last night.  I stayed awake to watch it and was so pleased when he won.  He was so focussed last night at at times was very clinical...congrats...

Well it was seven forty this morning so it's getting better every morning.  Fires, coffee, breakfast of scrambled eggs this morning done on the kitchen petchka, washed, dressed and ash can, wood in and then it was what can I get up to now.  It was only half past nine.  There was a thin layer of snow and it was coming down very gently.  Checking the thermometer it was up to or down to...however you want to look at it...minus five this morning.  The overnight washing ended up on the airer in the bathroom and it's now ready to put away.

I read for a while and did the usual email and FB updates.  I've at last finished the book that I was reading my Donaldson and I'm so pleased I have.  It was a fair futuristic yarn but much too long for my attention span but I can't manage to put the book to one side and go on to the next...I have to persevere....The snow stopped at around eleven, the wind got up and blew the snow around but then it subsided and then the sun tried to break through.  It didn't really make it...there was little blue sky around..just a wintry glow.

I had a brief afternoon nap on the sofa, ended up with biscuits and cheese for lunch and Haciber came round with the local yoghurt drink and asked if I'd seen the new photographs on FB of my Avatar's grand-daughter.  I fired up the Kindle, got it on the internet and was able to show her the said photo of the engagement party including my Avatar in the front row.  She was so pleased...I think the village hears about these things but don't manage to see the photos especially since it's all happening in Germany.

Pointless, Eggheads but Filmon has tended to freeze frame quite a lot today.  It must be something to do with the weather.  The moon's up tonight but there were no sightings of Harold Hare this evening but a lot of the snow has gone from the hillside so it's leaving my beetroot alone.  The moon is up and it's a fairly clear sky and the forecast is a very big minus for tonight and on that note, I'm about to close all of the curtains to retain some of the heat that would otherwise disappear through the windows.  I've already drawn the curtain between the lounge and the stairs so that area stays really toasty.  LN...I'll be checking out the thermometer tomorrow morning....LN

Tuesday 19th January

Seven thirty start and it must be because I'm as snug as a bug in a rug.  Both fires were handing on this morning but there was no resuscitating the biggie it was too far gone so I stuck a fire lighter under and it was still reluctant.  Having said that, they have both gone like a dream today with little effort.  I was mentioning to a friend on the phone the other day...this year it might be down to the wood or that I'm more experienced in the art of wood burners.  

Toast for breakfast, the morning chores and had a bonfire.  The poor cats aren't doing very well at all...there's not a lot of waste and when I throw out the bread for the birds, the cats leave it alone so they can't be that hungry.  There was a glimmer of lightness about this morning but it was a mighty cold wind.  I started reading one of the new books that I'd put on the Kindle and after two chapters I was on seven percent...now that's much better and there are about eighteen books in the series...I'll keep you informed.  I phoned the Librarian to see if she had fixed her mobile after I told her to take the battery and sim card out and it did the trick...I could get through.  I am an engineer....

Haciber and Beyser came round so that she could see the pictures of my Avatar's grand-daughter's engagement on FB and I handed her her late Christmas present.  Haciber had had hers the day after I got back so she was a happy bunny but the other one wasn't since she'd not got hers.  I also took Zelinger's down round about lunchtime and had to stop for a slice of cake and a banana juice drink...I think they're trying to feed me up and I can do that on my own.  I was back for two and settled down with my new book again until I nodded off for my afternoon siesta....I came to at about four, put potatoes and onions to roast and a couple of chicken legs in the oven and then set about preparing a pudding.  I'd got lots of apples so I cored six of them, stuffed them with dried fruit, brown sugar, cinnamon, butter and covered them with honey, and into the oven with them.  I took two served with a dollop of cream over to Haciber, two for me and two for tomorrow....delicious they were.  I did tell Haciber that the dish was hot, she didn't believe me but soon did when her little fingers started to get warm.

Supper over and stuffer, just after nine my time so I'm thinking of putting the boiler on to heat up the water for a bath and then to bed.  Don't know if anyone caught the programme on Egypt last night....I was tired but managed to stay awake to watch the end...brilliant stuff.

Temperature is going down tonight and is threatened at minus double figures but at the weekend it's supposed to be going down to minus twenty-one which is the coldest that I've ever known it here.  Wish me luck although the house holds up well with all the insulation I have.  So LN...I'm so rested yet it has been a good day with the neighbours....I'm really settling in again...LN