Dear EP, Message from Seth- walnut trees give off some sustance from their roots which inhibits the growth of other plants in that area, so maybe the forsythia is in the wrong place.
Those sunrise pics are stupendous.

Friday 9th September

Thank Seth from me Jean....the walnut tree is two meters away from it and if I don't get any decent walnuts this year...it's a gonner.  I'm going to get it pollarded this year and so the forsythia can stay there for the time being....but I bow to Seth's greater knowledge...I'll keep my eye on both.  When you look what's growing round it...not much appears to be inhibited....and as for the sunrise...you'd love it out here...sunrises, sunsets and moon rises are Bulgaria's specialities...oh and the starry nights...fab....so little pollution in the villages...

Silly night again.  At four I was wide awake and reading and decided to get the internet up and have a flit around but the Kindle was dead.  I'd put it to charge last night and I know that the cable is a bit dodgy at the device end and I thought it had finally packed up.  So I knew there was another one...somewhere...so I searched and found nothing so sent off a couple of emails asking my next week's guest to see what he could do for a replacement.  Back to sleep at six and eventually came round at eight thirty, coffee, didn't water since it was spotting with rain and I'm ever the optimist, dressed and out by ten heading for Mrs. D of S's for a catch-up.  Left there at twelve and over to the Librarians and she'd been down the wood yard and had come back with some really super material to make a table.  Off to the restaurant in her village for lunch and was joined by some of her neighbours and eventually we set off for the wood yard with one of them in tow. Picked what I wanted, paid the bill, got it cut to a size that I could manage to get it into the Beast, managed to squeeze the Librarian and friend back in and set off for her village.  Ten lengths of two meter, twenty five centimetre wide and about five centimetres thick....Cracking for a table top, stair treads or door frames for the little house.  I think I might be getting some more when the men start back.  Good to get it now though before we have any rain and it gets wet....it's now stashed in the little house.

Lots of promise of rain but nothing to really write home about.  I just want one big downpour....I'm going to have to water again tonight and it takes me an hour to do it.....Better get going now then...I've got a tenderloin of pork to cook that I got out of the freezer last night...silly me.

Nothing now until Monday when I pick up my guest from Kardjali and I'll do a major shop then.  There's no point in using up Diesel  for a trip out.  Garden calls...the sun might just pop it's head out to say goodnight....but not worth a shot.  LN...I've got a garden to water...LN

Saturday 10th September

It looked a promising start so I was out watering the garden making sure that they all had a good drink.  I really don't know why I bothered...well yes I do...the rain didn't really come down until late this afternoon and then it was only for about ten minutes and it cleared again.  It was stop, start, stop, start for most of the day but still very warm.

Poached eggs on toast for breakfast and I walked the terrace and looked at the number of leaves that are hanging around the place despite my sweeping them up and putting them down the bottom of the garden.  I suddenly remembered that Lidl had an offer on for a leaf sucker up that shreds them at the same time and the offer was only on for today so I was in the car at ten thirty more or less and got one.  I picked up a few more items and moved on to my favourite car park by the bank at the top end of town and the attendant started to complain that I'd not paid the last time I was there.  When we left he wasn't there so I told him that was the reason.  I think he was hoping that I'd cough it up but more chance of hell freezing over....he should have waited.  So I stayed there for about twenty minutes...into the cheapy shop and picked up a work shirt for my guest for next week, a top for my student and a tee-shirt for myself for the princely sum of one pound eighty more or less....how can you refuse.  Off to Kaufland and I'd been asked to buy some cigars while I was in town and managed to get King Edwards for a very reasonable price and leaving the store I saw a couple of friends on the car park and chatted for a while.  Home via the dirt road eventually.  I'm not sure where my brain was but I drove straight past it and ended up turning round about two miles down the road....

While I was waiting for last night's curry to become tonight's curry I opened a packet of peanuts, dropped some into a bowl and it's a good job I did.  There was something that looked like a staple or part of a machine now I have to remember where I bought them from to take them back.  A complaint might not be heeded but at least I will feel better.  As for the curry... it was delicious.  

Very pleasant day...there's something about shopping on your own...my time, my pace and a general meander.  A little late updating but again...where did the day go.   LN...Might have a busy day tomorrow...LN

Sunday 11th September

Five thirty start and still hadn't made the decision about busy day or not but by six I'd made it.  My journey was to Sofia Airport, I left at just after eight and gave myself plenty of time to get there.  I was there for twelve more or less and a very uneventful journey and I stopped for a coffee and to spend a penny in that time so really good time.  The standard of driving needs really looking at....several well over the speed limit and overtaking and undertaking in all the wrong places.  The Beast handled it beautifully...a little more on diesel than I thought it would be but still withing reason.

I went over to arrivals and got my internet connection going and there was no response to the message that I'd left this morning once I'd made the decision so the person wasn't aware that I was going to be in the airport.  Sod's law...there were four flights arriving at more or less the same time so I was on tenterhooks that I didn't miss him.  The look of surprise on his face when  he spotted me was worth waiting for...the last message from his was 'well if you can be arsed...I'd appreciate it but no worries if you're not and guess what...'I was arsed'....

Into the car and back on to the road without a break until we got to the other side of Assenovgrad where the drinks come back down to normal  rates...not the towny rates.  From there it was only three quarters of an hour into Kardjali.  We made one stop and then I've just dropped him off home.  If I hadn't have bothered...he would still be on the road instead of in his local.

I stopped on the way back to take pictures of the sunset and had a chat with one of the locals from the other village about the beauty of nature.  He asked where I'd been and when I said that I'd been on a mercy mission...his response was 'bravo'....So a fizzy water and juice on the go....no supper since I had a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar on the way down....now for a little Filmon and bed....It's been a long day but well worth it.  LN...I like days like these...LN

Monday 12th September

So last night after a long day I was falling asleep at the screen and eventually I was tucked up at eleven and straight through until seven this morning.  Perhaps that's a cure for insomnia...drive for five hundred kilometres and then go to bed.  I caught the end of the sunrise and watched it go behind the cloud on the horizon and it's been in and out all day.  Poached eggs for breakfast after I'd walked the garden with my coffee in hand and by rights I should have watered but I didn't.  Bonfire to get rid of the house rubbish, two loads of washing after the beds were stripped and the third was only half done...the electricity went off at lunchtime.  

I didn't have to be anywhere until three thirty this afternoon so I showered and washed my hair, left the house at just after two, filled up with diesel and headed to my student's parent's shop to wish them happy holiday.  Lots of the local shops are closed as the owners spend time with family for Kurban Bayrami 2016 (Eid el-Adha), the Islamic Sacrifice Holiday.  

So I got to Kardjali on time to meet the bus from Sofia and my guest who's with me for the next three weeks.  We stopped off at Lidl to get a few things and headed home via the lane and made it back by five more or less and then the evening has just shot by.  I set the washing machine off again and managed to get it out by six and brought it in at eight...completely dry.  Watered the garden since some of the shrubs were looking a little worse for wear with leaves hanging down so it looks like it might be on the agenda for a while.  Pepper steak sandwiches for supper with fried mushrooms and onions followed by ice cream and chocolate cake...and they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions...I intended to keep this weight off...we'll see...

Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow...just a catch up of all things gardening like mending the polythene garden cover ready for the broad beans to go in.  It might also be a time to sit down and plan the holiday that we might be taking.  LN....I'm heading down to be the hostess with the mostest...well for the first night anyway...LN

Tuesday 13th September

Seven start this morning and that sun is getting later every day.  Seven fifteen this morning but my guest was snoring away in the downstairs bedroom when I crept down to make coffee so I came back up to bed and watched the sunrise from the balcony.  Pretty late breakfast....last night's peppered steaks were taking some shifting so it was ten thirty before the urge to cook bacon and egg followed by toast and marmalade.  As for the rest of the day it's flown by mainly because breakfast was late.  Two guest around breakfast time...Gouldjan and her intended turned up with some meat for there festival for us and an invitation to the wedding breakfast tomorrow at four thirty and five minutes later Haciber appeared with a lower shank of lamb for us.  Good neighbours....

And now to the tasks of the day.  First job was to get my new leaf blower/sucker set up and into use to get rid of the perpetual leaves that blow into the porch by the main door.  I was having to sweep them up two or three times a day so they didn't get into the house....So it was assembled by my guest, he broke the back of it but it's different from the one that we have in the UK...there's no safety switch on it but you have to have all parts assembled for safety.  So when it wouldn't work...I was out with the book...identified that it was a hidden safety switch in one of the long pipes and it was closely followed by....'read the manual' plus expletives.  The lawn mower has been serviced and more spacers so the wheels don't wobble any more, the blade has been removed so that I can buy the correct one on our next trip to Kardjali or Haskovo...whoever has it in stock.  I've trimmed the lavender and hung up around eight bunches to dry in the little house and the rest can go on the compost...there's just so much of it.  The garden is watered already tonight...the hose connectors have been sorted and I've got drenched several times today trying to move the whirly thingy from one patch to the next.  The final job was to attach the battery charger to Beauty...she's about to be made roadworthy again...especially if the men come back to work on the house after the holiday.

There's a gently snore coming from the hallway...I think I've worn him out already and only here for one day.  I think I'll give him an easy day tomorrow....as I said I'm out for the wedding at three thirty heading for Momchilgrad so he might decided for himself that it's down in the sun with a book.  

Lovely evening....no wind, a few clouds, rose blue sky where I've missed the setting yet again....the snoring has stopped ...I can go be sociable again.....LN....No pickies...I've been far too busy organising the troop....LN

Wednesday 14th September

Seven o'clock start again...sleeping upstairs must suit me...something to do with the altitude.  Crept down for a coffee and took it outside carefully closing the door behind me so that I didn't let too much cold air into the house and it was a little nippy.  I was joined not long after and soon there was some heat in the sun and it turned into a beautiful warm day.  I was down for the bread van forgetting that I'd got a loaf out of the freezer last night when I needed to make room for something else.  I had hugs with my ladies, came back and it was scrambled egg on toast to use up the eggs so I can get fresh ones tomorrow.  Toast and marmalade to follow...the diet has gone to the wall...

So what did I get up to today to burn the calories off?  I finished stringing up the lavender that I cut yesterday and hung it in the little house, had a bonfire and cleared out the old burning pit with a view to working out where I want to site the new one so that I can see it and that it's efficient and safe.  It's on the drawing board tomorrow.  I moved the new wood from the workshop in the little house into what will be the lounge so that it's out of the way while the workshop is in play by my guest.  Beauty is mobile again now that the battery's charged and the tyres need to be pumped up tomorrow,,,,I was too busy thinking about getting ready for a wedding to achieve much more today....I'd done enough and it had warmed up too much to get stuck into mega activity.  I briefly saw Gouldjan this morning as she was being driven round at the rate of knots to achieve everything before the lift off and she told me where the ceremony was to take place and I more or less made it to the right spot and on time.

This was to be a civil ceremony....they were saving their pennies for a new life in Germany and I don't blame them at all.  I was the only one that wasn't family and I'm proud to have been invited.  I've known Gouldjan for about seven years through the ups and downs and her beau ever since she met him more or less.  Good choice on both their parts and I'm wishing them every happiness when they start their new life together.  And now for the event.  It was in Momchilgrad and the Wedding March was played and it reminded me of home.  There was plenty of room for guest...it's just that we were thin on the ground.  The bottle of bubbly game out along with the bread and honey that's fed to the couple by the mother of the groom....and the ceremony was carried out by a lady.  Short and sweet, champagne popped, bread stuffed, loads of photo opportunities then down to the square for more pickies and over to the restaurant for a bun fight/  We may be small in numbers but we all had a good time.  Off they went, mothers cried as is the norm and I drove myself home via the rough road.  

Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow except that I might try to order the blade for the lawn mower to save a trip into Haskovo and the new leaf vacuum has to go back...the bag has split second time out.....gggrrr...why me.  I'm out of my party clothes and into PJ's and about to get my book out.  It's been an exciting day....LN...Cinderella has found Prince Charming....LN

Thursday 15th September

Just woke up in time to catch the sunrise this morning...another late start for me.  Out for seven thirty on to the terrace with coffee and this morning I needed eggs from the van.  I walked up to the top of the hill to catch the van at its earlier stop so that I could find out if Remsier was my guest from last night that really confused the heck out  of my guest from England.  Never the twain shall meet due to a language barrier and even with the phrase book...nothing doing.  She had called round last night and it was to tell me that her computer wasn't working and it was due to a configuration error.  I went back later but the commands were in Turkish and I worked out that there was a cable missing and try as I might, I couldn't find one with a loose end.

Back home with eggs and cheesy bread and breakfast was fried eggs on the said cheesy bread....so good we both went back for more.  I cleared the kitchen and out to the garden for a bonfire and a bit of digging.  I spent some of the morning on the computer trying to find the blade for the lawnmower and after a couple of local phone calls I gave it up as a bad job and we are likely to be going into Haskovo tomorrow.

Gentle afternoon in the garden, the Librarian came over on her way back from Kardjali and no sooner had she gone and I'd started the watering, I had five more guests staying in the lower village.  Two from Istanbul, another local and the one from Holland and over for their festivities.  One conducted tour and then in to finish off supper from the slow cooker which held the festival meat from Gouldjan's mother.  It was very tasty and tender...unusual for Bulgaria since they don't hang it long enough.  Just finished the kitchen and came up to do the blog when I noticed the moon.  I caught the photo of it full while my guest took a couple of what looked like a boy running with it.  You have to have a good imagination to be here.

So maybe Haskovo tomorrow, Lidl to take back the bag which has split from the leaf blower....just my luck egh.  LN...I'm going to sit out on this balmy night...LN

Friday 16th September

Well it was a matter of recording the start of the sun's travels and also that of the moon today.  The rest of it has been very busy on the shopping and communication front.

I tried to make more phone calls to order the part for my lawnmower to no avail, I did managed to contact Bekir and I've arranged for them to start work on the 26th September to complete the wall and he's going to order my winter wood for me so that's another thing off the to do list.  Breakfast was fried eggs on the rest of yesterday's cheesy bread and then it was to horse.  I cleaned up the shredder machine that was due to go back to Lidl since the bag was split and loaded it in the car.  I got the receipt for something else that I'd ordered from MTD lawnmowers and if I had to drive to Haskovo and they didn't have the part, at least they could place an order for me and it would be sent to my address...All courts covered.  I also phoned Gouldjan to see where she wanted me to leave the memory stick with the wedding photos on it since we would be out all day so I left it with her mother at the house and managed to see the newly weds in the next village as they drove home and we set off down the dirt road to Kardjali.  The machine was returned to Lidl and I have a note to hand over when the new one is delivered to the store.

Our shopping trip was successful....new metal connectors purchased for the garden hose and fitted once we got back.  I got coffee filters for the new coffee machine so that I don't end up with coffee grains everywhere, we had lunch in town so it's a snack for supper and we were back for six this evening so it five minutes sitting with the Kindle on the terrace with fruit juice for me and a beer for my guest and then on with watering the garden.  As I started I saw that the moon was creeping over the hill in more or less the same spot as the sun came up this morning and it had a lovely pinky tinge to it.  The rest of the garden was completed in the moon's glow and now it's time to eat.  

Just a few pickies of the sun and moon...no time for anything else today.  LN...the hunger bugs are biting...LN

Saturday 17th September

Rotten night...at three I had cramp in my right calf and I was hopping about on the cold tiles to try to stretch out the muscle.  Don't you just hate it when that happens.  I was awake the second time at seven thirty, sun was up, my guest was up and putting the coffee on and we were out sitting in the sun when the bread van came.  I legged it down there, Haciber had a box of chocolates that she was handing round...her grandchildren have gone back to Sweden today and this is a little parting gift.  The holiday is over...all back to normal now but the border crossing is experiencing lots of to-ing and fro-ing...not a good day to venture to Greece despite the weather.  Bread and cheesy bread from the van and back to bacon and egg stuffed cheesy bread for breakfast...delicious.  I hung out the washing I'd done last night to give it a blow and set to with doing a bit of a clear up on the shrub and flower bed under the front wall of the house.  At that point I explained what I needed to do with the concrete pipes that had hung around on the ground between the wall and the house and between us I now have a step made out of one of them.  

We came in for a lunch of cheese and onion rolls and sat in the sun for a while before heading off to Djebel to get some chicken wire for another job that I've earmarked my guest for but that will be done tomorrow.  Put a lamb joint into a casserole with potatoes, onions, carrots and peas and I'm just about to head to the kitchen to thicken the gravy with Bisto....a proper meal for the troops and there is a fat cream cake for afters....

So tomorrow I have a baby party where it's a bit like pin the tail on the donkey only it's pin the note on the child.  This is the new granddaughter of my favourite restaurant lady and the sister of my birthday companion.  Twelve o'clock in Djebel or there abouts and it's normally salad, chicken leg and potatoes, cake and soft drinks...I'll see what this one turns out like.  

Beautiful evening and I'm waiting for that cracking moon to show up....it's the time of the full moon...I'll check for vampires under the bed.  LN...I'm kitchen bound...LN