Monday 11th April

Up just before seven and had a bit of a sleepless night.  I’d made the mistake of drinking a litre of peach juice while I was watching Filmon last night that resulted in two trips to the little room last night.  Washed, dressed early and put on a shirt which was changed to a sweater as the weather closed in and the wind got up.  Toast for breakfast and pottered while I waited for the Librarian to arrive.

We set off at nine thirty for Kardjali and the first stop was Lidl so that I could pick up the garden wheeled rubbish carriers that they’d got on offer.  Because I hadn’t seen them before in BG and mine that I’ve had for eight years since I’ve been here is looking a little worse for wear….but it’s served me well.  So not only did I buy one…I got two and the Librarian bought one.  A lady stopped me in Lidl and asked if they were for use in the garden and I explained that I really wanted them for carrying logs from the log store and into the house.  Her eyes shot up in surprise….and she said ‘Bravo’ so she must have thought it a good idea.

Breakfast in town, trip round the market, into the Euro shop, Kaufland and I picked up more plants and back to Lidl for a few things we’d missed on the earlier trip.  Home for lunch, the Librarian nobbled my rhubarb promising to make me a rhubarb crumble and off she went at four fifteen and we’ve arranged to meet up at eight thirty tomorrow to do her market.  I lit the fire since it’s really cold, damp and miserable today and promptly got my head down for half an hour….out like a light.  

More logs on the fire and looks like an evening with my book….LN….looking for more plants tomorrow…petunias from the lady that I got them from last year…LN

Tuesday 12th

Up by seven and dressed and out by eight.  A quick ham sandwich for breakfast walking the terrace with a cup of coffee.  Not such a good day...lots of mist on the mountains and almost but not quite raining so I dressed for the weather with sweater and body warmer.  Picked up the Librarian by eight thirty and two of her neighbours that were lingering by the pick up point and we almost had to hoist the old lady into the back of the Beast.  She only had little legs and was about eighty years old.  Parked up and hoisted her out again and off she toddled.

Down to the market and found some really established Japonica Kerrria in the market for three lev and I got two for me and the Librarian got one so we walked back to the car and left them there and back down for the petunia lady.  I selected seven really lovely plants of coral pink and others of dark purple and I'll put them in the pots tomorrow.  We did the rest of the market but nothing really caught my eye so picked up a kebab with the intention of eating it at the motel in her village over a cup of coffee.  Stopped off at the hardware shop on the way back and bought two rolls of plastic coated mesh to put on the long wall so that the plants have something to cling on to and headed home after we'd sat and had lunch.  

Arrived at eleven thirty and unloaded the car leaving it by the wall since I was out to supper tonight at my student's home.  Watered the plants and they should be fine for tomorrow, a guest arrived at just after one and he hadn't been to the house before and wanted to see what I'd done to it.  We started with the photo's ore-renovation which is always a good place and he was suitably impressed.  He's still waiting to buy his which can be a slow process here.  He left at just after four so I was out with the coffee and my book and happily passed an hour on the sofa and left for my students and just after five thirty.  Lovely evening with the family...father has the beginnings of a cold and we were laughing at his vitamins he was shovelling down as a precaution.

I've arranged to pick my student up on Thursday to take her to the regional office to do paperwork to do with her employment...a nice early eight thirty start so I've told her to be ready.  We'll do a little shopping in town and have lunch.....Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow apart from planting the newbies....LN....I'm ready for my bed after a pretty hectic day...LN

Wednesday 13th April

Just before seven start and opened the curtains to the sunrise so I was out with the camera.  There was mist over the mountains but it was full morning glory as the sun continued to rise.  Something beautiful about this place.  I took my coffee outside, the cushions were damp from the overnight dew but I sat on them all the same.  Not good for old bones but I didn't stay out there long...there was a nip in the air.

Washed and dressed by eight and down for the bread van for a loaf of bread and a cheesy bun for breakfast.  I noticed on the way back that Haciber's grass in front of the house was getting on for a foot high so I told her I'd be round with my strimmer to take it down for her.  She asked me how much so I said one hundred leva and in the end it cost her a box of Swedish ginger biscuits and three eggs...that's about the going rate but I didn't want to take anything but she insisted.  It set me back....I used up all the battery charge so I had to find something else to play with...and I did.  The petunias are in the pots, the marigolds are in the grave garden, I've moved the maple to a better place and it fills the gap from where I'd removed the choisya, the pinks are in a new white bucket by the front door and the cornflowers are in three places in the garden.  Everything water and I went round and had a word with everything wishing them good luck in their new positions.  Walking back to the house I spotted a little lizard sunning herself on the terrace and she kept perfectly still while I went to get the camera.

Cheese and pickle for lunch at one thirty, read for a while, went out to attack the rest of the bushes in front of the long wall.  First job was to remove the old guttering that's lain there for a few years and it's now waiting for the scrap man.  Cleared a few bushes and strimmed underneath and I can now put some of the new shrubs against the wall to add some colour to that end of the garden.  Came in at four for a read and got my head down for an hour, went down to get the tools and some of the debris is ready for burning which I might do later.  Tomorrow I'm picking up my student at eight thirty and we'll end up in Kardjali for lunch....and despite the age gap...it could be a 'girlie' day.  LN....A day of achievement...LN

Thursday 14th April

Up at five thirty this morning and back to bed with a coffee since there wasn't a hint of day break.  I got the Kindle out and read for a while and was out of bed for real at seven, washed and dressed and out to talk to the trees to tell them to get on with the move but it was rather a dull start to the day.  There were a few spots of rain and I noticed that the clover in the grass or my excuse for a lawn had really started to grow again and rain has been forecast again for the weekend.  

Picked up my concentrated oil that I'd asked my student's mum to order for me and paid my dues.  Over to my other students and knocked on her door at exactly eight thirty as agreed.  She was wearing a little summer number while I'd chosen a pair of jeans and a polo neck with my body warmer and I considered I was dressed for the weather.  She grabbed here umbrella but the design of her outfit meant that there was no way she could add a jacket to the outfit.  Over to Momchilgrad and she completed the paperwork and we headed in to Kardjali.  The original Mania is no more ...there is a notice on the door so the Thursday bargains have come to an end.  We headed down to the leva shop and I picked up a few things that I wanted and a few that I didn't but I only spent seven leva so it wasn't that painful.  We stopped off for coffee and I had a cheesy thing for breakfast and then over to out usual car park for a meander round two of the other shops that sell cheapy clothes.  Kaufland and more plants, we avoided Lidl and back to her house for coffee and I was home just after three thirty.  

I looked at the lawn, then the weather and decided to bite the bullet and get on with the job.  I did the section in front of the lounge terrace emptying the grass catcher as I went and was planning on finishing when I'd got half way.  As it happened I had a brain wave to leave the catcher off, jam the back flap up with a stick and do the rest of it with the grass being forced out of the back and to one side.  The upside was I didn't have to empty it but I got absolutely covered so when all the toys were away, I stripped off on the patio, hung the clothes on the old grapevine so that the grass could dry and I could brush it off and made my way to the shower.  

So tomorrow is a day for pottering and I've got some more plants from Kaufland to put in, a little strimming and a burn up later.  LN...I think the lawn mowing technique might become a favourite...LN

Friday 15th April

Silly night again and I was awake at two this morning and read until three thirty.  Haven't a clue why...I'd worked well in the garden and thought I would go straight through but didn't.  I woke up for the second time at six thirty and sat out with my coffee and watched sun up, washed, dressed and out to the garden with the burnable rubbish by eight.  Cleared out the bonfire pit and got it burning fiercely so cleared all the debris which saves the cats spreading it throughout the garden.  So with an empty wheelbarrow I set about filling it with the clover from the side garden and at ten I felt the need of sustenance and beans on toast filled the bill.

I took the Kindle outside and sat in the sun with another coffee and got pinked up.  I'm still wearing long trousers to work in....Working in the long grass you're never quite sure what's there.  I've got bitten by spiders before in what they consider their territory and not only painful, they itch like mad. Back to it and finished the patch I was working on and planted up about ten gladioli.  I got the strimmer out and had a go at the bottom of the garden towards the wall and using a rake distributed the soil that I'd dumped from by the toilet but it got too hot so I came in.  Knocked back several glasses of water and then onto the sofa with the Kindle and it was head down for an hour or so and back out there with a reloaded strimmer and packet of big daisy seeds collected last year and spread them around with fingers crossed.

Smoked pork steak into the oven with chopped onions, potato and carrots and left them while I finished off outside and put the toys away.  Finally came in at seven....had a really good day in the garden and another couple of days and it should all be knocked into shape and then it'll be time to start all over again.  LN...A few clouds around tonight...fingers crossed for tomorrow...LN

Saturday 16th April

Six thirty start and I was sitting out with my coffee after watching the sun come when my painter arrived clutching a carrier bag with a white lilac tree for me and another plant that he swore was like the one that I'm growing in a pot....wrong but I had to show him the pot to prove it...I asked him if he wanted to go into Kardjali but he said that he had to dig his garden so I've arranged that we'll go next week when my visitor is here.

Checked my phone and I had a missed call and a text inviting me to a mountain ramble to a officially closed village that is used as a mountain retreat part of the year by Dutch arty types.  No water, no electricity, dirty road leading to it and I thought why not....not done much walking since I've been here.  Played follow my leader to a restaurant in one of the southern villages and met up with another couple of friends that I haven't seen for a while.  We all piled in the Beast and part way up a mountain track, left the car and off we set.  I'd shod myself well in a pair of old trainers, they were all geared up with hiking boots but I managed quite well.  We found the village after climbing up to 900 meters and most of the houses were falling down and goodness knows how they manage when they have summer camps there.  Not for me....

Stopped off and had a Thermos of tea and biscuits at about three and then set off back to the car and did I have a few issues reversing on such a narrow road.  Eventually the four wheel drive was brought into play and we made it, piled back in to the restaurant where we'd met up and had a very reasonable meals of several types of salad, chippies and chicken wings followed by ice-cream.  The three year old daughter from the restaurant apparently has a thing about 'Frozen' and couldn't get her head around the fact that I was the real Elsa and she tried to encourage me to undo my long hair and plait it the same way that the girl had it on the 'Frozen' poster that they had up in the restaurant.  Unfortunately despite several attempts the water in the bottle remained warm...no magic in my finger tips.

Home by eight thirty, fire lit although it's been a beautiful day and not really necessary.  We managed to do twelve kilometres and that was up hill and down dale.  I've really enjoyed it and will be doing it again.....LN...Hot bath but short on the Radox and then to bed said Zeberdee...LN

Sunday 17th April

Seven ten start, coffee and sat in the garden taking in the morning air.  I read for a while and then got my act together and took out the wood burner pipes to clean them but realised that the pipe that I use to poke out some of the soot from the chimney I'd lent out and hadn't got it back.  I was sitting with my second cup of coffee when my painter arrived in the garden with a telephone bill and he asked if I needed help....he insisted on taking the pipes to the bottom of the garden and cleaning them but pointed out that the brush had seen better times and I needed to replace it.  He also asked if I had one of the smaller ones that they get up on the roof and shove down the chimney and I didn't....but now I have.  I fried off the gammon steak that I'd defrosted the other day and had it with a fried egg and the rest of the baked beans and felt thoroughly stuffed.  Into the Beast and to Djebel, had a chat with my student's mum about nothing in particular and bought the pipe from the hardware shop.  They only had the big brush not the small one so I headed to another hardware shop and gave them my business.

On my way back to the car, my phone went and it was the couple that I was out with yesterday.  They'd left car keys in a jacket in the back of the Beast and asked if it was OK to head over to pick them up.  Apparently they had a spare but five minutes later they phoned back and informed me that the key was only good enough to get it out of danger in case of an accident and not one for driving with....At this I offered to drive it over to them, it was and still is a lovely day so I headed for the new Greek road and was there in ten minutes or so.  We sat in the restaurant and the little girl from yesterday came over and called me 'Elsa' like her star out of Frozen...she hadn't forgotten.  We chewed the fat for half an hour or so and then I was back in the car and took the back road from the new road and it made it an easy journey.

I put the pipes back and there's still a smell of smoke and a reluctance for it to go but that could have been due to the wind.  I'll still have him upon the roof tomorrow....and then it will be done and dusted for the rest of the year.  I've just realised that the snooker season has started again so here I go again with my following of Ronnie your actual....So.....lovely day today....superb weather...more of the same tomorrow please...LN....Fingers crossed...LN

Monday 18th April

Fell asleep in front of the computer last night and woke up at twelve and staggered down the stairs and to bed.  Trouble was having had an hours sleep I was awake at two again, read for a while and it was six thirty when I was 'compos mentis' again.  Coffee, outside but unfortunately the windows caught my eye....and I knew that the Sahara rain dust had to be removed.  I'd been on the computer this morning and missed the bread van on it's way up the village but caught him on the way down.  I stood with his grandmother, Beyser while I was waiting for him to arrive and unfortunately...having strimmed Haciber's garden she asked if I would be able to do hers.  I explained that I needed to charge the battery and it wouldn't be today but it's on the list along with millions of other item,  Having done the one neighbour though...it has to be somewhere at the top.  My painter didn't turn up to do the chimney.....it's been transferred on to the 'pending' list.

So breakfast was buttered fresh crusty bread with a lump of smoked cheese.  I sorted out my clothes stored in the bedroom and put the winter stuff away.  Stripped the upstairs bed ready for my migration which should take place over the next couple of days.  My guest arrives on Friday.  Washing into the machine and headed for the computer, chased up more cutting blades for the strimmer and my attention was drawn to an advert for yoga retreats and as I read through the advert I chuckled when I looked at day six's itinerary.  Breakfast and 'sinner' had replace breakfast and dinner...typo's...don't you just love them.  I did use the contact form to let them know....let's see if it's ever changed.  

Windows...to horse......outside all done, inside, just the lounge and hallway to be done.  The old sun lounger is out of the little house and under the tree again but I sort of ran out of steam and decided that the sofa and book would be my resting place for the afternoon.  I didn't bank on nodding off for an hour or so.   More reading.... and now I'm watching film on and looking at the windows from my desk...result.

Tomorrow's list has nothing on it apart from more winter clothes away and a few summer things out of store and a little more gardening...the shrubs need sinking into earth....LN....I'm getting there...LN

Tuesday 19th April

Six thirty start, the washing had finished overnight....I'd set it for the cheap rate electricity.  I'd emptied the fridge out last night and only put back the stuff that was worth eating....the rest has gone.  Out on the terrace by seven for my coffee. first job was to get the bonfire going as I wanted to burn the rubbish before I hung out the washing.  The weather wasn't that good.  There was a cloud base and I thought that rain was imminent so it was out with the lawnmower, cleaned the underneath around the blade and by nine I'd mown the complete top of the garden where the clover seemed most active.  What a start to the day.  Out with the washing, sat out and had bread and cheese for breakfast with my next cup of coffee and by this time the sun had broken through so I took my book out and generally recovered from the mowing.  I took some beef out of the freezer last night and this morning made a curry that went into the slow cooker so that was another job done...ticking 'em off time.

Next job was to move the winter coats from my downstairs bedroom and sort it out into upstairs, downstairs piles.  I stripped the bed, loaded the washing machine again and back to the book while it processed.  Back to the bedroom and dragged the outside sofa onto the terrace and put the cushion into the little house and found the mop and bucket.  All clean, bed made up....and now it was time to finish my upstairs bed....I have officially migrated.

Washing all in, supper was delicious but there was a fiasco with the rice.  I put it to cook and then meandered outside to water the plants and I got a whiff of burning...yes you've guessed it so put on some more, went out to get rid of the first lot and just managed to salvage the second.  No fire tonight...it has been a hot day and the house is still in the twenties.  Just about to turn over for Eggheads....I missed Pointless...I was Skyped.   Only a couple of pickies today...I've been to busy to be out there with the camera.  LN....Time for tele...LN

Wednesday 20th April

First night in my upstairs bedroom and such a huge bed after the one downstairs.  I did drink too much fizzy water last night so had one or two trips to the little room....it's a good job I remembered I'd relocated....

Washed and dressed by eight and down to the bread van for my breakfast cheesy bread and was settled on the sofa with my book and another coffee and my painter arrived clutching his back pack spray container intending to do the chimney and then the Roundup on the base of the wall at the bottom of the garden.  I've decided that I want a path running along the wall and the plants about a meter in so the cows don't think I've installed a take-away counter for them.  As it happens it was too windy to spray so we concentrated on the chimney and the cleaning thereof...

He borrowed Haciber's ladder not realising that I have better ones than the rickety one he came back with.  We used the head of the lump hammer to weigh the brush down to break through the debris in the chimney and it was all attached to a length of rope.  His first job was to dismantle the chimney cover that my builder had crafted from roof tiles....it's going to go and be replaced with a preformed chimney cover from the builder's yard.  Maybe not so artistic but easier to remove and replace to clean the chimney.  So I was on the bottom end while he bashed away from the roof and in thirty minutes all was restored and I have a clean chimney without much mess at all in the downstairs bathroom.  Lump hammer restored to it's correct functionality, ladder returned and off he trotted with his back pack.

I set about cleaning through hovering first and mopping everything and my home is now finished for guests.  It's not been such a good day today.  It looked like it was going to rain this afternoon but it hasn't so far.  There's a fair wind blowing and it's been dull all day until the end when the hillside lit up as the sun was setting and there was just a final flourish in the sky.  The cows seemed to settle on the hillside on the other side of the garden not protected by a wall and I was a little concerned when they decided that they would all lie down and it looked like they were resting before the onslaught on the boundary.  As it happened the farm hand appeared, rounded them up and took 'em out....Rawhide.  

So nothing to do tomorrow.....I've got the fire going tonight and I've just managed to cook some turkey burgers for supper...not gourmet but adequate...fills the gap so to speak.  LN...Count down to lift off...LN