Thursday 30th November

I woke up at four this morning and have any idea why.  I played on the Kindle for a while, woke up even more, made a coffee and went back to bed with my book.  I opened the curtains just as the morning was breaking and what a thrill and pleasure to see it unfold.  I think it went through all of the colours in the palette and if a red sky in the morning was a shepherd's warning ...I was in for one heck of a day.  I took about eighty pickies and selecting which ones to post was a real problem.  

The water was still off, no phone call from Bekir so the day was mine.  I collected up the stuff that needed burning, emptied the burning pit and got it going and it got up a fair head of smoke.  I dug over one of the little beds, cleared the weeds and when I came back in the house it was only nine thirty.  What a long morning it'd been.  Toast and grapefruit marmalade for breakfast and then back to the sofa with Merlin and Arthur, I could have nodded off but I had a phone call from the garage to say that the Beast was ready for collection.  I got out of my garden trousers and put my jeans on, it was a cold water wash and I slapped on cream, there was a really cold wind blowing and a little lippie.  I set off for Djebel stopping off in Rogosche  at the post office and was handed three letters from the bank in the UK and one of them again was requesting a reply with thirty days from the date of the letter.  It was dated the 4th November so that wasn't going to be achieved.  So down to the garage to hand back Black Beauty and pick up the Beast.  It was strange driving the automatic again...nothing to do.  I stopped off at the garage shop and sat with my student's my for an hour or so and then stopped off to buy bottles of water just in case the supply wasn't restored.  I was home for three thirty, the fire was still going and  I decided to phone the bank to say that I wouldn't be meeting the deadline and why the heck did I have to jump though hoops when Bulgaria hadn't caught up with the EU rules.  Sofia might have done but no way had it got down to Kardjali.  I suggested she altered the records, I'd got through security to speak to them so it would save a lot of bother.  Strangely she agreed to do it and said they would contact me if there was any issue with it...Result.  At five Haciber was knocking on my door with home made bread.  We discussed that it was good the water was now on but she told me not to drink it....so I offered her one of the bottles that I'd bought and I carried it home for her.  I did mention not to tell anyone about it...they'd all want one.

I put a jacket potato in the oven with a chicken leg and it did it's own thing.  The wind has got up tonight and it's blowing a gale out there and so much so that I've had to batten down the hatches, the bench from my balcony is sitting in my bedroom, the wheelbarrows have been moved into the garage and the swinging bench has been laid flat.  I couldn't managed to carry that anywhere.  Not only was it windy but it was chucking it down...I'm pleased I'm in for the night.  Supper over, almost ready for a book at bedtime...I'm up to eighty percent so should manage it tonight.  LN....I've got two days of washing up to do.... LN