Sunday 11th November

Early start and I wonder why I didn't just get my head down again...but no....straight into Soda Crush and I solved one that had hung around for a few days and two more.  I was allowed access to the system until six when I ran out of lives...so I got on with my own.  Washed dressed ready to go out and bring the pot plants in but that wasn't to happen.  There was the glimmer of a fire left over from last night that I fanned into action and I put my nose out of the door and decided that it was better in until it had warmed up.

By seven I was hunting in the freezer for a pack of bacon and my hunt was successful so I started the morning well.  I'd had fish fingers for supper last night so the bacon replaced the aroma of the fish and I took the sandwich to the computer and watch a little of TV....but I soon turned it off and I went to try and find concrete proof of some of my ancestors' war records.  There are no relatives left who would know and the records are difficult to work through.  I have hints of the Napoleonic wars and several that disappear from the normal lists and I can oly presume.  I need more time but I'll track them down,

I went down to pick up Gouljan for eleven and we brought back three litre jars to make the pickle.  We peeled carrots and beetroot, took the shells from some very sticky garlic, sliced cabbage and the florets from the cauliflowers and set to with the sugar, salt, vinegar and topped them up with water.  Unfortunately we could only find soluble aspirin so I need to get some tomorrow to finish the job.  Some of the larger cabbage leaves went home for stuffing and the outer went back for the cows.  Some benefited int he short term and we shall in the long term.  I took her home and headed home and got my head down for a short time.  I filled up the log basket and got another lot into the conservatory.  I decided to have a bonfire...the garlic trimmings were smelling out the kitchen and it was still puffing away after an hour or so.  On the way back up the garden I picked the medlars from the tree and decided to deliver them to my student's house for the family.  I stopped for coffee, dropped the girls off at their cousin's house and had to light the fire again but it was soon thumping out heat.  I'd pulled meat out of the freezer this morning and used part of it to make a couple of hamburgers for supper and the rest I fried off with onions and that will form the base of tomorrow's meal.  

Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow so far but I'm sure I'll find something to get up to.  LN...Relax...LN

Monday 12th November

It was a glorious morning.  My first entrance into the new day was at five.  I managed a toilet stop and then decided that I would be OK to get my head down again and it was seven thirty for the second revival...beautiful.  The sun was more or less up, the temperature in the house was very comfortable so I made a start on my day.  Washing in, toast for breakfast and used up the last dregs of one of the big jars of strawberry jam, cleaned under the kitchen worktop tiles on the island unit, rubbish bins emptied, pegged out washing,down for a bonfire and decided to sit on the wall and survey the estate and the hillside,  And where is the camera when you want it?  In the house and it's been a bit like that all day.

I made a list of things that I wanted to achieve today and more or less finished the list apart from go into Djebel and pick up the aspirin for the pickles....it's a job for tomorrow.  I did top up the water in the jars though...I noticed that a couple of them were down and vegetables uncovered so the sooner they're finished and delivered I'll be happier.  After that I headed out and started on the list.

The daffodil bulbs are in and I've cleared out the trug and a couple of the pots to house them.  The little house terrace is empty and the cacti in the little house as is the lemon. the potted oleander and the orange trees and the male lemon are away for the winter.  I didn't cut back the geraniums and get them stashed away...they're still flowering and I might live to regret it....it just seems a shame to cut them back when they're still flowering.  The hyacinths are planted up and the freesias have been unearthed from the petunia and now have a chance to flower without competition.   I've swept up the leaves from the trees in the yard and hopefully there will be fewer now that autumn is really here and thy're now dumped over the wall and maybe the cows will clear them in due course...they seem to eat everything else.  The rhubarb has been cleaned up and a bucket put over it with a rock on the top to stop it blowing away.  And so to tomorrow's jobs in the garden...the rest of the garden furniture is going in the little house, plant pots are going to be cleared away and yes...the main terrace is going to be cleared...geraniums and all.

Supper was boiled potatoes with the mince, onions and gravy and I finished the lot.  I do wish they would use only the meat and take some of the jaw snappers out.  I hate coming across a chunk of gristle.  Fished off the meal with more of the grapes and I might even have to go down again this weekend to get some more.  My students want to go so we could make a day of it..  As for tomorrow....Djebel first thing and then gardening....I did intend taking lots of photos today but I was just too busy.  I did notice that I have narcissus already out and was amazed to see them and the proof will be published tomorrow. LN...About to start a new list...LN

Tuesday 13th November

Six start this morning and managed to find the bears and pop the bottles...yes....Soda Crush and I put it down before my lives ran out.  That's discipline for you.  It was a cold damp, miserable morning and it actually rained so I had a shower, washed my hair and had a lovely relaxing morning.  I had nothing more to do except get aspirin from the chemist in Djebel and bread from the supermarket.  I was still in my PJ's when the bread van man tooted his horn and there was no way I was going to make it,  

I got dressed for the weather and set off at around ten thirty and down to Gouljan's house.  Her father met me in the lane and we shook hands.  I love the formality of Bulgaria.  Her mother was working in the fields and Gouljan had been very busy in the house,....it was immaculate.   She opened up a packet of biscuits even though I asked her not to, made cappuccinos for us both and offered to light the fire which was necessary...it was so cold in the house but I persuaded her against it .  About ten minutes later her mother arrived and she lit the petchka...she was obviously cold.  I left at twelve and parked up outside the car parts shop and settled down behind the counter with my student's mum...it was a very slow morning for customers.  She suggested I went to the little chemist for my aspirin ..the bigger ones have coated soluble ones...not suitable for putting into my pickles.  Anyway...he knew which ones i wanted when I mentioned the Turkish word for pickles.  Over to the supermarket and found that one of the ladies from the other supermarket was now working in this one.  We had a few words, I got bread and chicken wings and a box of eclairs and I headed home, lit the fire, made coffee and settled in with my eclairs.  I checked out the weather report for tomorrow and it was time to get the rest of the pot plants into the little house...the terraces look very bare.

Supper over, fire going well, tomorrow I'm meeting Gouljan at nine and we have yet more work with our newbies.  It's very good to have a Bulgarian speaker when you're doing admin work.  Another couple of eclairs have bitten the dust.  LN....Now in the fridge...LN

Quoted from Elsa Peters

Tuesday 13th November

.Now in the fridge..

Not for long I bet!  

By the way, did you plant up the sprouting Ginger? We did one of ours recently and it is growing well in a low wide pot.

Wednesday 14th November

Another busy day...for those that live here you will appreciate that some things are so difficult to set up that you almost lose the will to live.  Any way ...we live to fight another day and it will be back into Kardjali tomorrow hopefully to get it finished.  So much to do and so little time and thank goodness it's not for me.  
As for those eclairs Trev. my sweet....they're still in the fridge but will be coming out shortly and as for the ginger that will be planted up tomorrow when I get back and fingers crossed I might succeed.

So picked up Gouljan at nine and in Kardjali and at the meeting point for nine thirty.  We managed to find the centre for psychological testing and an appointment has been made for tomorrow morning at nine thirty....all this to keep the option to drive a seven and a half ton lorry on the driving licence.  We ended up in the Polyclinic to set up Bulgarian Health Insurance and it's so much easier when you've retired.  I didn't have any of this backwards and forwards to different departments but hey...tova e Bulgaria.

Eventually we called it a day and the next piece of information has to be downloaded from the internet and we decided that tomorrow is another day.  We drove back to the Nipper who'd been resting at KAT and we headed back into town....Gouljan and myself were hungry so we headed into one of the local restaurants and she settled for soup but I had chicken stew with lots of vegetables and a dish of chips that I dipped in the stew and ate them that way.  Gouljan took the hint and we shared the chippies.  The temperature had really dropped and the food really hit the spot.  We stopped off at Lidl on the way back and I topped up with gas.  French stick and ham for supper tonight that's when I get round to doing it but at the moment I'm not really hungry...it might be just the eclairs, Trev.  Fire is going well and the house is ticking over at twenty two degrees....four of the six jars of pickles have been delivered to Gouljan's house and I'm under strict instructions to shake the remaining jars well to get the salt, sugar and anything else we put into them to get it to circulate.

Tele time....and then early night for me....LN...Let's hope everything gets sorted tomorrow....LN

Thursday 15th November

Silly night...I was absolutely whacked at eight so got myself settled on the sofa for an hour's kip.  The upside was I felt better for it the downside was that I had a mare of a night waking up every two hours thinking that it was about time that morning had come.  It was cold, it was raining and it looked a rotten day to be walking round Kardjali getting things finalised but the rain stopped and there wasn't my walking to be done.  Everything done, lunch in town so no need for me to get creative in the kitchen so a packet of biscuits and another cup of coffee looks like that might be supper.

I stopped off at the garage shop in response to a message on messenger, my house insurance needs securing for another year and the documents will be prepared and sent to the office next week and the premium remains the same....that's a first.  I dropped Gouljan off at the bus stop and was home for two  thirty.  I didn't bother lighting the fire since the temperature was showing twenty five.  The late sun had done it's stuff but I did light  it when the sun went down and the temperature outside has really dropped.

Nothing on for tomorrow so far...Gouljan has to come up to print off her boarding pass for Sunday but the rest of the day is free.  Tonight I don't think that I need to get my head down before the event... I need a goodnight's asleep.  LN...Fingers crossed...LN

Friday 16th November

It's here John Snow.....well not quite...it's his brother Jack Frost.  It was cold this morning until the sun came up and the house temperature shot up to twenty seven.  I got the washing out by nine and it was blowing a gale out there and it was a cold one.  I didn't make the bread van but still had some of the French stick left so finished that off, the fire was still in but I didn't put any more on...I didn't need to.

So I'd made a bit of a list last night of things I wanted to achieve and most of them are now ticked off.  The little house plants have been watered well and they should be OK for a few weeks...they're on shutdown.  I cleared the window sill by the outside sink so the bottles and jugs don't rattle around in the wind.  The plastic chest for the outside furniture cushions is in the little house and I spent a good hour tidying up the tools, the lawnmower is in the workshop and that's been tidied too.  I've tried in vain to find my little axe to get more starter wood cut but I found the big one so I'll count my fingers before I start and afterwards.  The second load of washing didn't make the line and is now on the clothes airer in the bathroom with the washing that did make the line and it should be all ready to put away in the morning.  I lit the fire at around four and it's really chugging along nicely.

Gouljan phoned and came round at five thirty to print her boarding card for her flight on Sunday a.m. and had forgotten her passport which we obviously needed for check in so into the car, I took her home and waited for her, back to mine and it's done.  I'm now under instructions to buy a cake, fizzy drink and chocolate for her mother for Wednesday and to take them down to the house since she won't be here.  She's now back home and I'm picking her up at ten thirty tomorrow so that she can get her hair cut before she goes to Germany....hairdresser charge much more there than they do here...

Full and busy day....at least everything is finished outside now and I even remembered to bring in the swinging bit from the metal garden hammock.  I seem to recall that I forgot it two years ago and the snow was about two foot deep on it.  Kitchen calls...I need to find something for supper.  Gouljan did bring me some mekitsi pancakes that she's made today...those might do if I warm them up or alternatively....cheese and biscuits with silverskin pickled onions.  The plan comes together.  LN...I'm kitchen bound....LN

Saturday 17th November

Six start but after a good night's sleep I didn't mind the early start. I put the washing away and got dressed over my PJ top and camouflage padded over the rest...it was a really cold morning...minus two at eight and it's not really gone much above that all day.  It's been a raw wind.  Down to the bread van and it caught us all out by taking the low road round to the other part of the village before it arrived at our square.  Not many of us out there today....Haciber, Emula's mother and Beyser and that was the sum total.  I got chastised for not wearing anything on my head but I really wasn't out for long.  I also picked up five eggs so today's breakfast was two poached on fresh bread and I sat at the table in the stairwell to eat it.  The fire was still going when I got up so I banked it up and the house has more or less managed to hold twenty plus degrees all day.

So down to pick up Gouljan at ten thirty and we set off for Kardjali.  I didn't have any bacon for this morning but for tomorrow I do.  Gouljan wanted a hairdresser but no joy without an appointment so we headed back to Lidl for the basics and then on to Djebel where she could try out the local hairdresser without an appointment.  I went to the leva shop while she was being shorn and bought the Christmas gift bags for my ladies, a picture frame so that I can get a promised picture that is overdue to Zelinger and another set of fairy lights for the conservatory.  The next stop was  to the cobbler who is going to put another sole on my sheepskin slippers and then on to do some baby worshipping born to a lady that Gouljan used to work with but that I also know.  

I dropped Gouljan off at three thirty and I put the Nipper in the drive...it will be going nowhere tomorrow.  It's been a 'picky' day today so I'm not really up to cooking and I haven't got the appetite either.  So she'll be off at midnight and I'm going to miss her and so will her parents I'm sure.  She left me twenty lev to buy her mother a birthday cake and chocolate and I got a box of Belgium chocolates for her from Lidl.  I just hope they stay intact until Wednesday.  LN...PJ's, telly and bed....LN

Sunday 18th November

Seven start this morning and there was nothing to see so went back to bed.  Some one had stolen the mountains, if there were sheep out there I would never know..freezing fog and not any rain but very fine stuff falling.  I went out to throw the old bread to the dogs and cats and whoever was there first would get it.  The profiteroles went too...they'd gone very solid in the fridge and obviously not the place to keep them.

Eventually got dressed and sorted out the fire.  It only took one firelighter under the wood that was left from last night and it's been going all day.  The house got up to temperature really quickly but I find that if there's not a lot of activity you can still feel cold so an extra pair of trousers went over the tights and reckoned that breakfast would sort me out.  Bacon and egg on French stick with brown sauce found the spot and it's been another day of nibbling at everything in sight and there's chicken in the oven for supper tonight.  

Looks like we're going to have the same sort of weather tomorrow and we've got heavy rain warnings but it's not the rain that's the problem...it was minus out there and it looks like there's not much change of  it warming up until Tuesday.  I did managed to get out to fill up the log carrier and bring them into the porch...such a good idea too have it built...the kitchen seems so much warmer.  I think it's almost time to think about making my Christmas cards ....and I've got one birthday card to make for Wednesday. It's not normal to send them but it's for Gouljan's mother....she's going to be missing her daughter.  LN.....Smells like my chicken needs attention.....LN

Monday 19th November

Seven start and it was so bright that I thought there was snow...but no.  It had rained hard most of the night but there was fog and was still cold out there when I took out the remains of last night's supper and put it over the wall for the animals to fight over.  The cats were patrolling the terrace and there was nowhere for them to sleep now that I've taken in the outside cushions but they're ever hopeful of finding food and comfort.  I am not a cat person and they still haven't got the message.

It took me a while to get washed and dressed.  The fire was still going so I topped it up despite the fact that I was in negotiations to head in to Kardjali with Mrs D of S but the weather put us both off.  No point in walking around and getting wet for the sake of...we can do it another day.  So today I reckoned it was the day for setting up the beds with the 'nests'.  I found out the two fleece quilts and bottom sheets and both the upstairs and downstairs beds have been made up.  By now I'm normally sleeping down but so far it's not been so cold and I do enjoy being upstairs, down is like battening down the hatches and an acknowledgement that winter is here.  I washed the bed linen that I'd taken off and the sheet found itself over the banister and the quilt over the door in the bathroom and it's now over the clothes airer.  While I was upstairs though sorting it out I put the water heater on....I bath later on seems a very good idea.  I did get a phone call from the post office in the next village advising me that that there was a letter waiting for me but that she'd only be there until two this afternoon so I got the car out and went up there to collect it and I'm pleased that I did.  Thank you Linda...your letter has arrived and is really appreciated...what a lovely sentiment ...I'll be dropping you a line in the next few days...

Bacon and egg for breakfast, I have spicy sausages that I'm about to fry off with an onion and a potato for supper and that should see me through until morning.  Another load of logs sitting in the porch...the fire is going well and I'll be keeping it topped up all evening.  Nothing on for tomorrow so far...my diary only has one entry and that's for Wednesday and that's for a visit to Djebel to pick up a cake for Gouljan's mum.  And now kitchen calls...supper before bath time.  LN....Good bit of planning...LN