Saturday 27th October

Six thirty start and as I went down to make the coffee I noticed that the fire was still in....magnificent so I thew another log on it that promptly went out.  I did empty the ashcan so that might have been retaining the heat but anyway up...it was a good starter log for tonight.

Washed, dressed and ready for the off at eight thirty and over to the agreed meet up by nine.  I was off with R of F and his family to Greece yet again.....I'm getting spoilt.  No time for a coffee, we were off on the open road Toad and what a happy man there was at the border crossing.  He asked us to put the windows down so that he could see in, wanted to know everything, where we lived in Bulgaria etc. and it was out of sheer interest not in an official capacity without he was hiding it well.  Over to the Greek window and we just got out passports back and no one looked in the car at all.  So over to the market in Kometini and there were a few bargains to be had on the clothes stalls.  I managed to get me a purple knee length goose down coat with a bright pink lining for the princely sum of three euro.  I'm sure my Princess would have been snatching it from me if she was still here.  I bought grapes and that was about it on the fruit and veg front and I really thing the Sunday market is better but a good time was had by all.  We stopped off for coffee and cake on the way back to the car and were surprised that it was still there...I think it would have been towed away in the UK....but nobody adheres to the signs.

The decision was taken to head down to Fanari....K of F's son is over to we were doing the tourist trail and it included flamingos and spiders' webs but it has to be done.  This is where we live and the amenities.  There was one interesting observation...a man was going swimming and we did look out for the pile of clothes.  It was almost like a Reginald Perrin episode.  Last seen heading off the point but we didn't hand around long enough to see the outcome.  Back to Lidl...they have a few different items in there and we stopped off at a brilliant market garden.  I'd 'stolen' a cutting from a bush that none of us knew the name of and then they had them in the garden centre so I am now the proud owner of one about three fee tall and the lady guaranteed that it would withstand the cold.  We'll wait and see.  The same happy chappy was at the border post and wished us well on our way, back to the house for coffee and I have an admission to make....the batteries for the camera were charged but the camera stayed at home.  I remembered it half way to the meet this morning but had to rely on the visitor for the shots.  Thank you and you know who you are.

Lit the fire...the cuttings are sitting in water and will be planted tomorrow.  I have chicken wings in the oven which should be ready any time now and it's Strictly Halloween tonight. LN....Kitchen beckons.....LN  

Sunday 28th October

Early bed last night and had the sleep of the just until five so I put the clocks back and enjoyed my extra hour.  Seven when I got to face the world and the tablet was too handy by the bedside table so I was playing Candy Crush for an hour or so and I think it felt sorry for me having spent four days on one puzzle.  The next three came out first time, I was awarded lots of time and extra lives so I switched the thing off....what a wast of time when there are other things to do.

Lovely day and the temperature inside the house was twenty five...I threw out the stale bread along with a few brown bananas for the animals.  I attempted to clean the kitchen but got waylaid doing other things and decided to make scrambled eggs for breakfast.  I was just sitting down to it at the winter table in the stairwell when I heard the gate latch go but there was no one making an entrance to the yard.  I went out to investigate  and my next door neighbours were approaching the door.  I went out to meet them, we stood on the terrace for a while and I got the impression that the man wanted to see inside the house so I invited them in.  The breakfast sat on the table and after the conducted tour of up and down, they left and were off to Turkey at eleven thirty so I made my way back to my now cold breakfast.  I eventually finished the kitchen and everything is shipshape at long last.

I didn't stop there.....I went back out again and set to on cutting back the shrubs ready for winter.  I saved some of the trimmings, cut them back and put them into water.  I'll be potting them up tomorrow.  This afternoon I worked on my ancestry but didn't get very far forward or backwards with it.  They seem to have missed out the name of the spouse  on some of the marriage records.  The older ones give more information making them easier to track.

A little television, Strictly results tonight and then to bed. Gardening jobs tomorrow if the weather permits...need to take advantage of the exceptional weather.  And for supper...some more of the cheese and biscuits and a bunch of the grapes that I bought in Greece yesterday.  LN...Time to relax....LN

Monday 28th October

Really good sleep last night and woke up at six bright eyed and bushy tailed.  Lovely skies to wake up to so I went out on to my bedroom balcony but that wind was really cold.  I filled up the lungs, took a few paces round the balcony, noticed that the lemons were turning yellow and note to self...the lemon tree will probably spend the winter in the conservatory,,,we'll see.  I emptied the ash can, put yesterday's washing up away, made coffee and promptly went back to bed....it's a nice warm nest.  I played a few games of Soda Crush and it's back to normal...I have a difficult one and only about six lives before I get the orange screen and I refuse to buy lives...I'll wait until it feels sorry for me and gives in....I know it will happen.

Washed dressed and had visions of lots of gardening but I only really came to life at around two this afternoon.  Marmite on toast had added to the lethargy. that  extra hour that I'd filled up yesterday had taken its toll and I felt knacked today so by eleven thirty I was ready to rest my weary head...so I did...and felt much better for it.

So at three I was out there....I filled up the pots to take the cuttings but didn't manage to get them in.  The swinging bench is now inside and the cushions from all of the other outside furniture is adorning it.  I've planted up a couple of red tubular honeysuckle plants that I've been nurturing and this entailed attaching a plank to the old grapevine so that it's got some support so there was a little hammer banging going on.  The neighbours love me...not.  I've put the long bench in front of the conservatory window and the small bench is ready to go inside for the winter...it's tidy up time.  The flower fridge has been weeded and I've collected seeds from my tall white flowers that shall always be name 'tall white flowers'...I know no other.  Filled up the log basket from the carrier and then filled up the carrier but I shan't be needing it tonight.  It was twenty four degrees in the stairwell when I looked at seven tonight...it would be a waste of logs.  

Nothing fixed in stone for tomorrow apart from getting the cuttings in and clearing more of the terraces and cutting a few more shrubs back.  Winter is coming....but so far...no snow on them there hills but it won't be long.  LN...TV....relax...and bed....LN

Tuesday 30th October

Silly night last night...I got caught up in ancestry and didn't get to bed until two this morning.  Not so bad though...I slept all through and woke up at seven so five good hours...and no fatigue today.  The sun struggled this morning...it looked like it would be a pretty dramatic sky but it fizzled out and went into pastel shades so I thought I might as well start my day.  Coffee and then I went for the second option...I went back to bed.  The machinations of finding my grandparents on my mother's side and their families was proving a tad difficult.  It's not so bad when you have the eighteen hundred censa  (if that's the plural of census) or censuses...it makes like a tad easier but with very common names...it's a bummer.

Anyway I had a second attempt at starting my day, I settled for toast for breakfast with marmalade  and eventually got out to the garden for around one thirty.  I started  off with a bonfire that was very reluctant to go, left it to its  own devices and headed up the garden to finish trimming the lavender bushes under the terrace.  I'd half done one but now it's finished and I've got rid of the honeysuckle that's been bullying one of the lavenders into submission.  I think I've tamed it....I can see the lavender bush at long last but it has some recuperation to do.  I'll keep an eye on the honeysuckle next year.  The skimmia Japonica cuttings are potted and so are the buddleia and they're in the little  house to 'winter' along with the others.  Let's see what survives but they're in the best place.  Collected the big white thingy seeds ready for next year, trimmed back the tobacco and a few more bushes and most of the debris went over the wall.  At least the methane should smell sweeter if they managed to get through the lavender.

Second go at the fire and this time I managed it and go quite a head of steam up, put the toys away and locked up and was surprised to see that it was almost six...a good afternoon's work.Funny little birds around today...not seen them before but they have very orange under tails.  I also noticed a pair of wagtails on the little house roof cleaning it up for me....so the summer birds go and the rest arrive.  I think it's going to be tuna salad tonight just for a change...too lazy to cook.  Out tomorrow night at my student's for supper...it seems ages since I've seen them and I'm looking forward to it.  They've decided to forego the woodburner this year and rely on an heat exchanger...I await the results.  LN...Hunt for food is on....LN

Wednesday 31st October

Very restful day today....normal morning routine and went down for bread and a cheesy bun and then back to fry off bacon and egg and enjoy my breakfast.  The van man seems to have a different route and appeared from the bottom end of the village and surprised us all.  I headed down to Zelinger's house to have a few words with her and she was chopping small wood. She had a large pile of wood that was obviously from a house roof that needed chainsawing so I saw my painter working in Beyser's garden and  gave him the nod to go down and check out if he could do the job.  I like her...she's one with a really good heart.  

Breakfast over, I hung out the washing, thought about gardening and then put it to the back of my mind and a message from Mrs D of S put it even further to the back.  I did go out and return the cushions to the outside furniture and emptied the container that I usually keep them in to see if I had gathered any wildlife but none to write home about.  I intend bringing the chest into the downstairs bedroom and didn't want to bring anything in.

So Mrs D arrived with the little one and we had a very entertaining session, reading books, eating crackles and blowing bubbles and off they went after an hour or se,  I settled down with the kindle to have a read and yes, you've guessed it. promptly nodded off for an hour or so for my afternoon siesta, read for a little longer, an hour with my ancestors and then washed my hair, dried it and off to Djebel for supper with the family.  Food was good, company was exceptional and I enjoy the family dynamics.  Part Turkish, Bulgarian and English subtitles and the hours just fly by.  I've messaged them to let them know that I've arrived safe and sound but the internet was very slow to connect tonight...must be something going on somewhere in the world.  LN...Very restful day...LN