Friday 1st March

Chestita Baba Marta.....welcome Grandmother March....and let's hope it'll be kind to us.  It started off cold with that chill wind but when that dropped it turned out quite balmy.  I didn't light the fire, there was no need, toast and jam for breakfast again, washed up and tidied the kitchen, curry powder into last night's chilli to liven it up a little and eventually washed and dressed to face the day.

I was unsure what to do.  I'd planned on Kardjali but it was a slow start for me.  I felt really tired with a few aches and pains from yesterdays pulling and shoving and chopping wood and heaving heavy bags of boxes and leaves to the bonfire but the aches wore off as the day wore on.  I saw my painter as I was manoeuvring the Beast in the yard so that I could get the Nipper out and we discussed his job with the local authority.  He's got it for two years and the pay is pretty good saying that it's on his doorstep so to speak and he's at the beck and call of the locals.  I did suggest that he might like to fit in a repainting of my front railings but I don't think that comes under 'council work' but later in the summer he might like to do it on a Saturday and Sunday.  It's really only the top and bottom rails that need a light sanding down and then the new paint applying.  Come to think of it I might even get round to it myself come the summer.

I drove straight into Kardjali and went to order new glasses for reading because I need a second pair but the shop was closed...joy oh joy.  I drove back to Kaufland, parked up and did the circuit ending up with chicken legs for the freezer, Bulgarian yogurt because I like the jars that it comes in and make super jam pots and a large packet of toilet rolls.  All packed away and on to Lidl this time using the list and came away with everything I needed and headed back to Djebel.  My student is home from University in Sofia so we had a chat and then I went into the shop and sat with his mother after exchanging Baba Marta bracelets and put the world to rights again.  I heard some banging coming from their roof and they're having the inside of the  roof insulated.  I must go and check it out....it's an idea for the little house.  I understood the principle but I need to see the end result.  

Hope, parked up and put the shopping away and the next thing there was Haciber and Zelinger at the door inviting me to a get together at Zelinger's house tomorrow celebrating her husband's passing.  I decline the offer saying that I was going to Greece for the day and she was disappointed and I said sorry.  I gave them both bracelets and we had a little joke that there was a certain person who would be upset that they hadn't got one...and she shall remain nameless on here.  Off they went and I felt a little guilty so I put more of the bracelet into a bag along with a box of chocolates and ten sachets of coffee and toddled down the road with it.  I met another neighbour at Zelinger's gate so she had a bracelet and one for her daughter.  The rest of the goodies I handed over to Zelinger and she'll do the business tomorrow.

So the curry stuff is warmed through in the slow cooker and let's see what it tastes like now.  I'll have the fire extinguisher at the ready.  Eight thirty start to the venue for tomorrow for the trip to Greece, I don't really need anything but it's nice to hear another language.  LN...Off to the fire....LN

Saturday 2nd March

Silly night last night...I was watching the Athletics from Glasgow and we were winning medals like they were going out of fashion,  Laura Muir...fantastic...went like a bullet from a gun with about six hundred to go so she went.  Eventually the programme finished and I took to my bed with the Kindle to have five minutes settle down time and that went down the pan.  At the first attempt I finished a game that I'd been playing for a couple of days and followed on with two more at first attempts and shut the think down...it was heading for almost one thirty...time for sleep.

Six thirty start, and today I was out at eight thirty and heading to one of the nearer villages and then on to  Greece and the market.  The border was empty and we were more or less straight through the controls and onwards to the market.  The town was very quiet and so was the market and not so vibrant as normal.  I didn't buy anything so we left the market and parked up to find a coffee shop and afterwards to meander around the shops.  I was introduced to a perfume shop where they make up 'fakes' for you but she'd never heard of Samsara...I shall have to go back, she can get her nose into and see if she can come up with something similar....A test piece for her.  We found a fantastic butcher's shop and both of us bought rump steak...Onward and upwards to Lidl and I only bought packets of seeds giving me lots more to do tomorrow and then to a market garden but sorely tempted as I was...I bought nothing.

Back through the border, I sopped off for a coffee and a view of the improvements to the garden and at four set off for home but stopped off at Mrs. D of S's to catch up with them both and the little one.  She makes me smile...she really is her own person.  Home for six, lit the fire, cooked the steak with onions and added a fried egg into the mix and had it on toasted bread...delicious.  More athletics on the TV now, the Voice later so that's my evening sorted.  Nothing much to do tomorrow...I might make a start of the seeds by sorting the pots out and getting a few started.  LN...The fire needs sorting....LN

Sunday 3rd March

So last night I fell asleep in front of the computer watching the television and ended up crawling to bed at midnight.  My first awakening was five o'clock and then back to sleep until eight twenty...absolute bliss and I woke up fully refreshed and totally rested.  

The washing up still remains to be done, I didn't bother with breakfast, I read for a while on the sofa and decided that I would put the boiler on and at eleven this morning I went into the bath and got out at one, I didn't even dry mu hair with the hairdryer, I towelled it off, put it in a hair clip and let it dry naturally.  Supper was put into the slow cooker, a chicken leg onto potatoes and carrots covered with water and a chicken stock cube and left to sort itself out and it did.  I lit the fire at four this afternoon to get the house temperature up...it had been cold and miserable all day and no sun had broken through so I settled down to watch the athletics and the cycling this afternoon and it's till on now peppered with Dancing on Ice.  I served supper at six thirty and actually made Bisto gravy to go with it and again, the dishes are in the kitchen and will be tackled tomorrow morning.

Heading for a reasonable time to bed tonight...nothing on the agenda for tomorrow, it's a Bulgarian holiday so little will be happening.  No pickies either...nothing much happening in the garden apart from the cats that I've chased out.  LN....A very rested day.....LN

Monday 4th March

Midnight to bed after watching the athletics and again Laura Muir won the gold with the British relay team taking the silver.  The girls 'done' good so to speak.  

First awakening at five thirty, second just before seven so not a bad night's sleep.  First task was to wash up but before that I had to clear the burnt bits from the slower cooker and the chicken bones from last night and some old rice and it was over the wall with it.  The animals were in for a treat.  The sun was up at seven and I managed to catch it before it ducked behind the cloud bank.  The rest of the sky was blue so it looked like it could be good for later and it was but that wind was cold all day.  Kitchen cleared, cleaned and everything washed up, a load of washing put in and it was all buzzing by seven thirty in my household.  I was washed and dressed before eight and was toying with the idea of either going to the garage to sort out why the rev counter is high when I start the Nipper or head in to Kardjali. The morning was full of 'could does' and I did nothing except get the rubbish by having a bonfire which seems a little silly after putting the washing out to dry...ah well...the garden is big enough.  

I finished my book...Sea Wolf...played a few games, had a nap in the sun and had muesli for a late breakfast as part of the new regime.  I think I need more milk in my diet so this is the way I'm going to take it.  I took it the bowl outside and sat on the bench near the stairwell window in the sun and out of the wind.  Not sure it's going to be a firm favourite..I'll give it a few days to make my mind up.  Bacon and egg takes a lot of beating.  I lit the fire at four thirty and it was a slow process getting it going...I think the wind is in the wrong direction but at least it's going now.  The inside temperature is twenty and the outside eight degrees but the outside relay station must be out of the wind.  It seemed much colder to me.

Tomorrow I am going to the garage to get the Nipper sorted and get a few old tyres from them to spray paint and plant up for the garden.  The seeds I bought from Greece are going to do nothing while lingering in the packet.  I might also dig over the veg patch again and get in the new beetroot seeds..I've got some new ones which are long not the normal round ones and are worth a try.  So Monday night is my night for TV Catch-up tonight...omelette for supper everything else is going to take too long,  LN....Supper and relax...LN

Tuesday 5th March

So much for my television that is my Monday night special that I don't like to miss.....well I missed it.  I fell asleep in front of the computer fifteen minutes into the first one and slept straight though the second one and woke up half way into the next programme which I immediately turned off.  Bathroom, undressed and bed by midnight and woke just before six this morning with the sun beginning to colour the sky.  Again it was one of those morning when I turned to playing Soda Crush and on the second attempt the one that I'd thought was impossible came out so I was offered smarties and mega destroyers and I managed to finish the next two in quicksticks.  The downside is the game awards you time and lives so it was eight this morning before I got out of bed and made coffee.  

By this time the sun was well and truly up and the temperature in the house was galloping upwards so I washed, dressed, breakfasted on muesli again and was ready to head to the garage by nine fifteen.  I explained the problem to the garage owner and he said that it was completely normal and to do with the automatic choke so I settled for a wash but refused an inside clean...I said that was mine to live with.  Any way that done, I asked for and was give a couple of decent tyres, loaded them up and drove back to Djebel and stopped off at the car shop to buy the blue spray paint and was given ten eggs from their chickens at the garage so it was a very cheap car wash. I went round to the local council offices to pay my house rates and for my local car tax....and I'm still paying for two houses and two rubbish collection fees and was advised to see the 'technical department' who would take photos to verify that I had no one secreted in my little house and the fees should be reduced.  I'll leave it for next year.

I bought a few things from the supermarket and went into the hardware shop and noticed that they had lots of new seed packet in but no Nicotina so I was handed the catalogue and they're not listed even though they stocked them last year.   So home James and I saw my young neighbour who's mother lives in the village dragging branches of a type of bush that they use here to cow proof their gardens.  I asked her if she wanted some barbed wire...I had lots left from the days when I had to keep the cows out, she said yes so I loaded it in the wheel barrow and followed her down to her house.  She had more trips to make for the burning bush and tomorrow I've offered to help her with the barbed wire so I'll be down with my hammer, staples and wire cutters...I've already given her the metal to secure the barbed wire.  So my neighbour popped back when she'd finished her work and invited me to her mother's house for coffee but since I was drinking one here I suggested that she stopped here for one and I found her a profiterole to have with it.  I'd bought them back from Djebel and they were slowly going down so she was very lucky...

Six my time....I managed ham sandwiches for a late lunch so not that eager to head to the kitchen yet and I might not even bother.  Tomorrow....neighbourhood work so I better get my strength up with an early night and save a profiterole for her mother...I fear the rest might go later.   LN..Must remember thick gloves for tomorrow....LN

Wednesday 6th March

Early start after a good night's rest and settled in to play Soda Crush.  Again it was a similar story to yesterday...I finished a difficult one that troubled me last night and I was knocking off challenges until eight this morning only stopping for more coffee.  I was waiting to run out of lives and I didn't....so I shut it down, I'd had enough.  Slow to get washed and dressed and finished off the muesli for breakfast...it is no more.  I've got cornflakes somewhere in the kitchen so that's going to be breakfast from now on.  I cleaned out the top of the wood burner and banged the pipes to get rid of the soot.  It's made a difference, it was slow to get started yesterday.

I got the tools together and put on the work boots and started heading down the road towards my neighbour's house.  We were fence building.  I was stopped on my journey by Haciber and called in to the house to meet her sister who was over from Turkey.  The chocolates came out, an offer of coffee and eventuality the Turkish delight brought over by her sister.  I declined everything except the Turkish delight, surprisingly her sister spoke really good Bulgarian and I had a really good conversation about children and grandchildren.   So I made my excuses and carried on to the lower village and again I was bombarded with the offer of coffee and chocolates by her mother.  We had a visit from my painter, he was carrying ready made up breakfasts for the elderly in the village.  I didn't even know that they did it....bread, soup and compote.   Eventually we headed towards one of her other gardens carrying one of the packed breakfasts which we left at another neighbours.  Again the chocolates came out and this time there was a chicken leg taken from the pot on the wood burner and was put on a plate so that we could share it.  I took a token offering...all I wanted to do was get fence building.despite the fact that there was no sight of the barbed wire.  She'd decided that she was going to keep that for round the house.  

Eventually we found the garden and it was down a lane at the bottom of the village.  We took the old branches from last years defences. rearranged them behind the uprights and added the new branches that she'd cut yesterday.  It didn't take long to do and then we went for a walk round the bottom of the lane and I saw houses that I'd never seen before.  The village did look pretty desolate and a lot of the properties have fallen down and a couple of them were for sale.  We headed back and I settled for water not coffee, sat down with her mother for a while and headed back home and for me it was a bit of a let down...I didn't really do anything.  

I settled down on the sofa with the Kindle in the sun, had my afternoon nap and woke feeling cold.  The clouds had come over and it was actually raining...we have April showers in March...this year has been so unpredictable so far  I lit the fire at four and it's ticking along nicely.  I might be going in to Djebel in the morning...Haciber's gas bottle is empty....her son was supposed to come today to get it filled for her but if he hasn't ...I've won the prize.  Chicken wings and roasted veg tonight and it was delicious and to finish it off...profiteroles.  LN...I'm off to the kitchen....LN

Thursday 7th March

Stayed up late watching the offshoot of Marigold Hotel until I got fed up with the little Crankies....so I went to bed with the vision of one of the 'challenges' of having blood removed and the plasma injected back into your face for rejuvenation.  What some people do.  Five o'clock awakening according to my Fitbit so back off again and the sun was up, hiding behind the clouds but it looked to be a good day.  It would have been but the wind was strong and keen but there again...it's only March.  I found the cornflakes and that was my breakfast, dressed warmly but took a long sleeved t-shirt out with me just in case that wind dropped.

Today has been spent cleaning flowerpots, spraying some of the larger ones blue and splitting up the cuttings I took at the end of last year and putting them into their own pots.  I was surprised that I had six very healthy cuttings from the fire thorn on the way to Kardjali.  I'd been drawn to it by the number of bright orange berries on it so took the chance and it worked.  Some will go as gifts.  I also have seven forsythia cuttings that are just coming in to flower and when I took a few of them out of the pot, the roots on them are really healthy looking and the top doesn't do it justice.  It will need to be cut back after flowering  and then it should throw up more shoots.  I've also put in a climbing hydrangea, a tamarisk and a snow-berry, weeded some of the side garden and came in for a late lunch of tuna mayo with toast.  Haciber arrived and brought me a couple of yeasty pancakes probably made by her sister and told me her son had come over yesterday and got the gas canister filled so that was off my list of 'to do's'

A Woman's Day lunch tomorrow in Zlatograd....all arranged and pick up times published.  LN....Last night's chicken wings for supper...LN

Friday 8th March

And welcome Woman's Day....lots of FB messages with photos of flowers.  It's a big thing in Bulgaria.  Caught a brilliant programme last night on BBC2...a blind man visiting Turkey.  This time last year I was out in Cappadocia so appreciated the walk down Memory Lane and the fascination was with the comedienne who became his eyes for the journey.  She ended up being able to paint pictures in his mind's eye and understanding where he was coming from when he moved into the world of bees admiring how they work as a community...everyone knows their place and is happy with it.  Maybe we could learn a lot from bees and ants.

Six thirty start, shower, hair washed and dried and worked out a timetable to get everything in this morning.  I needed to get to Djebel, buy flowers, go to the cash point, deliver said flowers to the appropriate venues so I had targets.  I was in the car at nine thirty and stopped off at the shop nearest the mosque and bought everything in one fell swoop.  First stop was at Guljan's mothers shop and it was cake all round, an offer of coffee that refused and I was still on time.  Next stop was the cash point and that was working and next to my hardware shop to hand over one of the single flowers and finally to my student's mum shop to give and to receive.  I love the feeling of warmth.

Back into the Nipper and over to Ms D of S's and she was waiting outside so that the little one didn't kick off as she was leaving.  We headed to the next pick-up point but we were early so stopped off at the local leva shop and I found some woven chord for 25 stotinki per meter and felt that I would find a use for it so bought fifteen meters.  At the second stop we were early so we stopped for coffee and sat out in the garden on such a beautiful day and eventually made the third pick up point and the Librarian was waiting.  On to Zlatograd and ordered pizza , salad, chippies with cheese, local specialities and beers for the ladies and water and orange for the driver.  Not that it's a problem for this alcohol free zone.  We were heading home at three, dropped off with flower pots at each pick up and I stopped off at Ms D of S and the little one was so pleased to have her mummy home.  I carried on home, put my flowers in water and then delivered to my ladies and they were all happy bunnies.  

No need to light the fire tonight or to find food....I ate too many chippies, had too many slices of pizza and not enough salad.  LN....It's been a lovely day....LN

Saturday 9th March

Seven this morning and it looked as if it was going to be a beautiful day...and it was.  It actually got up to nineteen degrees this afternoon and the old adage sprung to mind that you shouldn't cast a clout 'til May is out but you could almost have been out there with shorts and a t-shirt this afternoon......until the wind got up and the sun started to go down.  Cornflakes yet again for breakfast and I've started to feel hungry around lunch time but I staved it off only eating peanuts until six this evening.

So what have I been up to today?....The washing was out by eight thirty this morning and I got out the new spade with the deep spit and really turned over the soil on the veg patch.  I'd cleared the weeds around three weeks ago so there were only the odd ones that needed removing.  I've planted broad beans, carrots, parsnips, onion sets, beetroot and wild garlic and I'll wait and see what comes up.  I might have just buried a seed store for the garden ants...I had one carrot come up last year and no parsnips.  I sorted out the mole runs and put down poison...I don't really like doing it but the garden becomes a liability where they've dug underneath.  The upside is that they do leave some really good soil for potting up stuff so I collected up a barrow-full and the pots are ready for the flower seeds.  I'm leaving it for a while...apparently we're going down to minus figures this next week so they'll do for a while.  I've put the sweet pea in to soak as per the instructions...apparently they find it easier to germinate.  I changed tack and chopped enough starter wood to last me out this year, watched a little of the rugby this afternoon and really settled in to watch the English game later this evening.  I'd set the fire this morning so put a match to it...it's not really necessary but it takes the chill off the house when the sun goes down.  The house isn't cold but it just feels much warmer.  I did managed to take some pickies of my almost resident woodpecker...but only at a distance....he's not that friendly, shrieking when I appear in the garden as if it's his or her territory.

The boiler is on...I'm about to go and have a soak to ease these weary bones....nothing on for tomorrow and after all...it's Sunday...day of rest.  I might find something creative to do like glass painting....now that's an idea.  LN...Bathroom bound...LN

Sunday 10th March

Seven twenty start and it seemed about right for me.  Bit of a disaster last night...I love to watch the Voice and fell asleep through the first part of it and was too tired to do anything about it so went to bed knowing that I could catch the replay this afternoon...so I did.  It was house to mountains fog or mist this morning and I could hardly see the bottom of the garden so I made a coffee, threw out some bread for the birds and watch the sparrows fighting over every scrap.  No woodpecker is evidence this morning but he had lots to hide in. the jay headed for the walnut and flitted between that and the mulberry but stayed fairly well hidden.  Poached eggs on toast for breakfast, gone was my pledge to have cornflakes every day but it is Sunday and I had washed up and was ready for action by nine.  

I planted up some of the sweet peas in the tyres holding the willow on the little house terrace because they have the depth of soil that's required.  I've never really been successful with them in previous years so let's have one last try before I banish them to other gardens.  My second failing is growing lupins but I noticed the other day that my neighbour has got one that's survived the winter and she told me that I'd given it to her.  I shall be looking for seeds from hers for next year.  So I set about repotting some of the shrubs and put some of them outside in the sun minus the pots so that they could dry off.  I think I might have over watered them in their winter dwelling.  The azalea that was about to be heaved over the hillside surprised me with a little green shoot so salvation was to hand, the poinsettia has gone to that great garden in the sky along with my gardenia which didn't take to the winter at all well.  Some of the garden shrubs have been pruned, the clematis , wisteria and passion flower have all undergone trims and look better for it.  They should start sprouting with a vengeance.

The wind got up so I came in around two and watched the Voice, caught some of Ronnie O'Sullivan in the snooker final on ITV 4 and watched some of a programme about a guy who raises orphaned kangaroos and I was amazed when one of the others gave birth and it hitched itself into the pouch.  Fascinating....  I also found time to sweep the porch and wash the floor over, light the fire and get the house toasty for tonight.  I've put some thought into supper but having munched on peanuts this afternoon I can't say that there's much inclination to get ensconced in teh kitchen...maybe later when the snooker has finished.  

More of the same tomorrow in the garden if the weather holds.  I started with a jumper today, went down to a t-shirt and am comfortable in the house for the moment.  LN...Coffee time....LN

Monday 11th March

Seven start and the reflection of the sun from the little house windows woke me up...it was bright when it came up but then disappeared behind the hanging clouds.  It turned in to a reasonable day, a little cold in the wind but I was on a meander day.  I settled for cornflakes watching Piers Morgan and catching up on the Brexit catastrophe that we call politics and leadership.  It was getting on for nine thirty by the time I was washed and dressed, I laid the fire, filled up the log basket, and prepared to do battle with the elements.

I moved the plants from the work bench in the little house so that I could actually use the work bench.  The cacti has taken up residence in there during the winter.  I noticed that the Aloe Veras had put on substantial growth over the winter so maybe they should stay in the little house and not be allowed on to the terraces or live in the shade.  I split up more of the honeysuckle into it's own pots and repotted the bathroom vine.  It was looking very sad.  I dug up one of the shrubs on the long front wall that had died last year in the drought and will use the branches for the sweet peas.  I turned over some of the soil under the little house terrace and put in the sunflower seeds and also put some in where I dug out the dead shrub.  There was also a lot of honeysuckle self rooted and three of those little beauties I took over to Haciber and planted them in her garden.  The rest of the sunflowers went into a pot and now are in the conservatory and I'll put them out when they're big enough to fend for themselves.  

I came in for a coffee at two, lay down on the sofa and promptly nodded off for an hour or so and woke up cold.  The clouds had come over, it was still thirteen degrees out there and twenty two in the house but I'd only put a t-shirt on so time for a sweater.  I also lit the fire....I needed background heat just to keep the house comfortable this evening...and it worked.  I cooked turkey dippers for supper with thinly sliced potatoes and what a disappointment they were.  The ones that I've left are for the hillside to see if the birds do better with them and as for the rest in the freezer...yet to make my mind up.  Free day tomorrow...I was off to Kardjali with Mrs D of S but it's been delayed for one week but i might still head in myself to Kardjali and get my car and company taxes sorted out.  LN....I'll see how I feel in the morning....LN

Tuesday 12th March

Seven start. cold miserable morning but no rain so far.  I went back to bed with a coffee and toyed with the idea of Kardjali and put it on the back boiler until the morning had moved on a bit....and that's where it stayed.  Cornflakes for breakfast which didn't really touch the sides, I did the usual maintenance on the computer and settled on the sofa thinking about a fire.  I think my body has got used to the warm weather and I felt chilled to the bone.  I made another coffee clutching it to my bosom and eventually gave in, set the fire and put a match to it and it's been going all day.  I read for a while, played games, watched some morning tv and succumbed to an early lunch at round twelve thirty stuffing my little face with potato and onion Spanish omelette following it with bottled peaches and cream.  

Supper has gone in and should be ready in about half an hour, the boiler is on for a bath, the radiators are hot, the fire is going like a dream and I'm feeling that I could have spent the day better.  If it's dry tomorrow I'll go in and do the work on the documents that I intended doing today.  I've got until the end of the month....so there's no immediate panic.  LN...Supper calls...LN

Wednesday 13th March

So I had my bath last night and then ran out of sleep genes and it was one in the morning before I laid my little head on the pillow.  At least the bath had warmed me up, despite the house temperature I'd felt chilled to the bone earlier.  Straight through until seven this morning. coffee, back to bed, the house was still warm from last night's fire but it was one degree outside and there was snow on the mountains and not much sun around.  The terraces had more or less dried off but there was a very gusty wind out there.  I dressed for a document day in town putting on an extra sweater, washed up from last night, had my cornflakes for breakfast sitting on the stairs and was in the Nipper and ready for the off at ten.

I saw my painter working on the road and stopped for a chat and confirmed that I'd pick him up at nine thirty on Saturday morning....he needs shopping from Kardjali.  I stopped off at Djebel at the car-shop when I noticed her husband's car on the drive when it should have been at the garage.  Apparently he has gone down with flu, there's another batch of it going around and I'm hoping to avoid it.  As I was going to Kardjali I asked her if there was anything that she wanted and the response was a loaf of special bread from Lidl.  First stop was at the options, I noticed that the shop was open so I I parked up and handed over my prescription, picked two pairs of frames and the glasses would be ready after four today...pretty good treatment.  I moved on the the central car-park and booked three hours  knowing how long documents take.  I handed over my car document at the first office and I was in and out in five minutes and thought that it was going too well.  I went into the NAP to sort out my company documents and it appeared that the world and all it's friends were doing the same thing so I waited clutching my numbered ticket and eventually saw a lady that refused to speak English and spoke her native tongue at great speed and I gathered that I didn't have to submit any document for a non-trading company.  I asked her whether I needed to go to the National Statistics Office and she replied that she didn't know....helpful soul.  I walked down to the office and yes...I did have to have my company details registered as non-trading and she completed the registration for me.  I again asked her if I had to go to the company registration office and she said she didn't know....so I walked the mile down to the office and a very helpful lady gave me the necessary forms and I have until the end of the month to complete and return them. The end is in sight.  

I stopped off for a pizza at one of the central restaurants, back to the car park, down to Kaufland and picked up a few items and I was now filling in time until I could collect my glasses.  I went into the Leva shop and bought a few gift bags and then on to the opticians, glasses waiting and paid for, on to Lidl, picked up the bread and a few things for me, dropped off said bread and home for five thirty.  It's been a long old day...

Fire lit, Haciber came round and gave me a jar of pine-tip syrup and I got her back with a small chocolate sponge cake that was on offer from Kaufland.  I put it into her cardigan pocket...woe betide anyone seeing contraband going between residents.  I don't really understand it but go along with it for their sake.  So far no need for supper, the pizza and chippies are still lying heavy and it will probably be a ham sandwich later.  The objectives have more or less been achieved and ticked off...I only wish that departments would speak to each other and make the journey easier.  LN....Now relax and I've realised I'm sniffing...oh joy.....LN

Thursday 14th March

Bit of a funny day.  Normal wake up , I checked the temperature and it was minus one outside but fortunately it was plus eighteen in.  The fire remained unlit, coffee did the job of the fire and warmed the inside and I washed and dressed in gardening clothes more or less straight away, and it was going to be a bit of a meander day.  I had a couple of ham sandwiches for fortification, I hadn't worked out a plan and by lunchtime I'd had a bonfire, cleared part of the little garden near the bottom wall and run out of steam.  It was sunny but cold so I came in for another coffee, settled on the sofa and promptly went to sleep for an hour or so and felt much better when I woke up.  

I'd looked at the olive tin plant holder in the bathroom for quite some time and knew that it needed replacing.  The poor tree was looking as if it was struggling for life so I accepted the challenge.  I carried it down stairs, got the tin snips and removed the old olive tin, found a new one and covered it in heavy string securing it with glue, replanted the container and it's now sitting in the bathroom and the old one is ready for the skip.  I'm pleased I've done it.  I cleared the garden of last year's old plants and relit the bonfire, finished off the garden by the wall, planted another shrub near the wall behind the bonfire and spent the next ten minutes playing peekaboo with the woodpecker.  It started off on the lonesome pine and was on the side away from me, moved to the pear tree and ended up in the mulberry.  Thank goodness that the camera has a good zoom on it.

Everything locked away by six.  By this time it has started spitting with rain that it had threatened all afternoon, I came in and lit the fire, locked the door and have settled in for the night.  Nothing on for tomorrow so far...more of the same I think.  LN....Rubbish morning...reasonable afternoon....LN

Friday 15th March

Bit of a dull day to wake up to so I made coffee and went to bed and played Soda Crush until it had warmed up outside.  I had a good run of winners and found that an hour had gone by and it was time to get up and about...I had a garden to do.  I settled for poached eggs on toast for breakfast and ended up with a slice of toast with strawberry jam...I was building up my reserves..  Cleared the kitchen, tidied round, watched the news and in desperation turned off and headed out.  

I started off by moving the new cuttings out on to the little house terrace to get some sun.  I moved some of the other pot plants out but tender ones like the lemon have stayed inside...the weather is still very unpredictable.  I headed down to the bottom of the garden and worked on the garden I'd started on yesterday and then it became robbing Peter to pay Paul.  I moved day lilies from the side garden and planted two lots up and daisies from the main terrace garden.  It's beginning to look like a garden and should fill out.  The little garden by the washing line I dug out completely and removed lots of couch grass and bindweed and then planted up a forsythia, a snapdragon that I'd taken out and felt sorry for and sprinkled some seeds that are known at 'Forking' something or other...and I can't wait to see if they grow.

I came in for lunch, settled for a bowl of muesli and went back out again.  More sunflower seeds planted up, the inside of the long wall at the front is weeded and dug over, I've removed the old string holding up the plants to the front railings and need to trim up the roses before I secure them again.  I dug over the old bonfire bed, sprinkled zinnia seeds over the bed and covered them with new compost.  By five thirty I'd had enough so I put the tools away, got a load of logs in, locked up outside, came in and cooked fish finger and chips for supper.  What a good day.

Tomorrow I'm off to Kardjali with my painter so it's a nine thirty start at the bus shelter in his village.  I don't really have to get anything..I did my shopping on Wednesday but I'm sure I'll find something that I can't live without.  LN....Let's hope the weather stays fine for it....LN

Saturday 16th March

So I got tired of the charity television last night, switched off and went to bed at ten thirty.  I hadn't lit the fire last night and I was cold so the best place for me was in the nest.  It wasn't long before I was in the land of nod and straight through to six thirty this morning.  It was Narnia again with the mist hanging in the valley over the river on the road to Greece.  It was white over and it was down to minus two and because I hadn't had a fire last night I kept on the move.  Coffee, shower, hair washed, dried and dressed ready for town.  Breakfast was a bowl of cornflakes and I was in the Nipper at nine twenty and set off and arrived early and my painter was waiting in his garden.  He'd not been in the Nipper before and he seemed to be hanging on at every corner and told me to slow down.  I said that I wasn't going very fast but before the car is higher than a normal car and there is very little front on it, it appears to go fast.

First stop at Basmar...he needed to buy more work boots but they were all too expensive and not very strong.  We moved on to Kaufland car park and into another work wear shop and he managed to find a pair.  On we went to the central car park, in to the cheapy shop and I picked up a few things and he picked up a computer bag suitable for his work and then down to the market for a meander.  There were lots of tomato plants for sale but I still think it's too early and I don't want to build a poly tunnel, it would be over the hills and far away with the winds that whip up over the hillside.  We went back to Kaufland to do the food shopping and I bumped in to Bekir and Sally out for a Saturday spin round the shops, back to Lidl, stopped off at Djebel for a couple of items and back home for three twenty.  

Coffee and a ham baguette for a late lunch, fire lit and it was a rugby day.  I'm watching England now and where has the team from the first half gone?  I think it might be time to switch off and not bother to watch the end...I'm of a nervous disposition.  Gardening day tomorrow it the weather is good...I've got the bug again.  LN....Back to the rugby....and it's a draw...LN

Sunday 17th March

Seven start this morning and the sun beat me to it...ah well....I've worshipped it all day.  Washed, dressed for gardening yet again and it's been a day of moving stuff, repotting and checking out the survivors from the 'needs replacing' or 'take cuttings quickly'.  Cornflakes and muesli for breakfast, two loads of washing pegged out by ten.  It was a beautiful sunny windy day and just perfect for getting stuff dry.  I also emptied out three little pots that I'd planted up with seeds from Greece thinking that the only things coming up were weeds.  I sifted through the soil and found three seedlings that I've now put into a better pot with potting compost and fingers crossed...I shall be watching them.  I also brought back some long seed pods from Greece that look remarkably like Oleander pods put they're not ....they're now potted up.

I came in at one and made a large tuna mayo baguette for lunch.  I played a few games on the computer and it was three before I went out there again to get the washing in.  I was also drawn to an old bucket that had been used by the workmen for playing around with concrete.  It was looking very dishevelled and now it's a lovely shade of blue.  This place is looking more Mediterranean as the days go by....I'm spending too much time in Greece.  Toys away and all locked up by six.  No fire tonight...it was eighteen degrees outside at six.  

Nothing on the agenda tomorrow.  The only thing that I need to do is to get my forms for SUT completed so that I can hand them in on Tuesday when I'm heading in to help Mrs D of S with her documents.  I'll be heading in to Djebel in the afternoon when the market crowds have dispersed.  LN.....Settled in for the night....LN

Monday 18th March

Late to bed and early to rise left me feeling jaded all day.  I was doing OK until lunch-time and after that it was downhill all the say.

Cornflakes for breakfast and yet again so that's one regime that's appearing to stick, I stripped the bed and washed everything in sight and what a fabulous day it was for drying.  Sun was shining, twenty one degrees out of the wind and a brisk wind heading up from the hillside so I pegged everything well.   I grabbed the gardening gloves and the secateurs and attacked various shrubs that have been left to their own devices over the winter.  The hypericom and  Greek pink flowering plants have been spruced up, the daisies have had last years old stalks removed and the new additions to the bottom of the garden bed look to have taken already.  I'd tried to get on the internet earlier in the day so checked it again at around eleven and it was still down.  I'd checked out everything at my end so I phoned the company and apparently they hadn't any power to the antenna and she couldn't give me any hints as to when it was going to come on again.  I'd also had a phone call from the post office in Rogosche ion Friday so I phoned her back to confirm that she was working today, she was so I got the Nipper out and headed out to her village.  Apparently I had two cards waiting for me, birthday cards as it turned out so I told her that I was going to have another late birthday but no cake.  One from my son that was posted on the sixth of February and the second around the same time from my good friend Yvonne which included a letter.  We've been friends for fifty eight years...where did all those years go????

Late lunch of ham sandwiches and a couple of chocolate mouse and consequently nodded off...a full tummy requires rest but at three, Haciber came round and asked me why the Nipper was parked outside.  I'd not bothered to bring it into the drive intending to go up to Djebel to get my documents for tomorrow completed which I didn't get round to doing.  Ah well another day and there's no rush....Mrs D of S has other fish to fry so I shan't be going to Kardjali tomorrow.  I headed out and brought in the washing and made the bed up so that I wouldn't be doing it at the last minute.   The internet was still down so I took to reading this afternoon, got the Nipper back into the drive and then went back to my book.  It's been a very lazy day.

So plans have changed for tomorrow...I'll get my documents done though.  It's almost a full moon, it's a starry, starry night and there's a song there some where.  The temperature has dropped so I'm pleased that I lit the fire at five...everywhere toasty.    LN....Monday night is my night for the tv.....LN

Tuesday 19th March

Five thirty start and I'm still not sure why.  I tried to go back to sleep again but nothing doing so I made coffee, and settled back into bed after I'd taken the morning sunrise.  It looked a little cloudy out there but at first light it was interesting watching the grey clouds turn to red and the patterns they made.  I went out on to my upstairs bedroom balcony to take the pickies but only stayed out there for a while.  It was cold out there, no frost, just cold so I came in to the warm and back to bed.  Washed and got partly dressed and at eight thirty Haciber was at the door waving a coffee filter at me and asking me if I was going to Kardjali.  I explained that plans had changed and that I wouldn't be going until later in the week but she didn't want a box of the coffee filters that she was waving but wanted the larger size.  I went to the kitchen and found a part filled box knowing that I had another box in the cupboard and asked her if it was the size she wanted and sent her off with about eight in the box.  I'll check with her again to confirm that she doesn't want the bigger size.

I settled for cornflakes for breakfast and sat on the stairs to eat them.  I'd seen an advert for a holiday to Corfu that was using the hotel where I'd spent my honeymoon all those years ago so phoned up the company to see what the extra was for a single room.  On the hotel website single rooms are advertised so I was hoping that there wouldn't be additional costs but the young lady on the other end told me that there was always an additional charge in Europe for single occupancy.  I challenge this but she wasn't moving from her stance...'that is the price and there is no movement' and I shall have to think about it.  As I put the phone down I saw the note from my friend Yvonne that was in the birthday card and since the internet was down, yet again, I decided to go on the main machine and create a reply in Word.  I usually write the reply but the computer served its purpose and I added a couple of joke inserts.  

I meandered around garden and checked out the vegetable patch but to date nothing has raised its little head into the outside world.  Last years beetroot have taken on a new lease of life and I should really dig one up to check out what the bottoms are like.  Despite the sun, the wind was cold so I didn't stay out there for long.  The sofa drew me in and I settled for my Kindle and read until my eyes headed southwards, woke up cold so lit the fire....despite the sun.  No need for supper, I had a filling lunch finishing off with yogurt and chocolate pudding...unless the worms start nibbling later.  LN....Early night for me.....LN

Wednesday 20th March

Five thirty start and yet again but today I managed to get through it without a nap so hopefully I shall get a better night.  Last night I seemed to be in a very light sleep state with a dream that sort of went in and out and I woke up shattered.  It might have something to do with the moon and the pull on my subconscious...and I've got to blame something and I didn't have a late cheese supper.

Washed, dressed, walked the garden and was listening out for the bread van.  He was on time this morning  but the rest of the ladies were slow off the mark.  He didn't have either the cheesy bread or the uncut loaf so I settled for a slices and came back and had toast and jam for breakfast.  I tidies the kitchen and cleared the rubbish and headed down for a bonfire taking the garden fork and the secateurs with me.  The fire went first time with one match which surprised me so now time to trim the oak which had several leaders coming from it and it now has one.  I'd like an oak tree down there not a bush.  I trimmed up the rose bush that's growing in the wrong place...I hadn't the energy or the heart to try to remove it and moved over to the shrubs in the gardens under the walnut and trimmed the arose and the potentilla which was looking pretty unruly.  Next job was to clear the weeds from the bottom garden beds but my heart was only half in it so I did half of the bed, the cold breeze got the better of me so I came in for a coffee.  

I made a quick cheese sandwich to go with the coffee and then headed out to get the lawnmower going for the first time this year.  It was very reluctant to fire but I persevered and eventually it sprung to life and then died and after a few gentle prayers to the heavens and a few more pulls at the throttle we had lift off.  The clover started to get very tall and the clumps of grass that took me ages to cut through last year with the strimmer had started to take hold so I'd learnt my lesson from last year.  It has been pretty dry and the wind has taken away the moisture so I made hay while the sun shone...the top third of the grass has been gut and according to the weather forecast, next week is going to be sunny so the rest will be done.  I think it might be down for an oil change, a good clean underneath and the cutting blade could probably do with sharpening...I might ask my painter to do it for me.

So in desperation I contacted my student to see if she would fill out the forms for me to take to SUT tomorrow to get that off my brain.  I arranged to go round to the house at more or less six and it only took about half an hour to do and so I know what I'm doing tomorrow and my shopping list is ready.  I got up to leave and there was a quickness to everyone and suddenly I was told to sit back down and bean soup appeared along with bread, home made yogurt, pickles and grated carrot.  No excuses were accepted.  I stayed until nine fifteen, we've booked a trip to Assenovgrad for a look at the bridal shops and mother of the bride outfits for the sister's wedding in September.  I thought it was a little early but they seem to think that the new season stuff is just about to start flowing in.  I said I'd check out Mania for my outfit...

So Kardjali for documents tomorrow , I want a eighty litres of potting compost to throw around a bit and I need to pay my telephone bills before the sword of Damocles falls.  LN....Achieved a lot and a relaxing evening with the family....LN

Thursday 21st March[b][/b]

Straight through until seven thirty this morning and how good is that.  Coffee, no back to bed, sorted out the documentation that I needed to take today and I thought it was going to be 'in and put' in a flash.  How wrong can one be.  I filled up on muesli before i set off and that was the sum total before I managed to get a chocolate bar from Kaufland.

So armed with my documents I headed for SUT...the third floor of the law courts and only had one person in front of me and soon it was my turn to display my array of documents.  I sat down, she started and suddenly the lady was pointing to another declaration that I didn't have and kept repeat one phrase over and over but the volume did not help the understanding one little bit.  I eventually got a word in and asked her where I could get the form from and she didn't know.....so I left the office.  I headed to an office where I know a translator but she wasn't in so I asked the lady sitting at a computer where the other lady way.  She said she didn't know and looked at me oddly.No I knew that she knew who I was talking about and didn't understand her attitude but suddenly a car pulled up outside and a man who I believed to be her husband came in.  He asked how he could help, I explained the problem and she translated the word that the lady had assaulted my ears with as 'accountant'....and not having one I had alarm bells.  I thanked him and said that I'd come in to see his wife and he retorted...'ex-wife' so I said sorry and made a swift getaway.

I went back to the car park and went to what used to be my starting point.  I went to NAP and asked to speak to anyone who was able to speak some English and the lady that I spoke to had handled my documents before.  I explained that I hadn't had any joy with SUT and that I felt that system changes had meant that departments are not speaking to each other.  Clever lady...she found the form, printed off my details and sent me on my way...back to SUT....the queue was now four deep so I waited, waited and waited.  Eventually it was my turn, everything was in order, the computer inputs were made and she thanked me for my patience.  I told her I'd see her in another year's time.  

Kaufland, Billa for filter bags for Haciber, Lidl and half an hour with my student's mum in the shop and I'm knacked.  I arrived home at five thirty, shopping away, chicken wings and vegetables in the oven for supper, I didn't bother with a fire it's twenty one degrees in the house.  I've just finished supper, I think I'm going to linger in a hot back and then straight to bed...it's been a long old day.  Librarian is coming round tomorrow mid morning, we'll have lunch and I have to update her Kindle...give her some new stuff to go at.  LN.....My legal work for this year is complete.....LN

Friday 22nd March

What a performance last night!!  I mentioned I was going for a bath and that I felt extremely tired after my document day and I kept to my word.  Into the bath at ten and I promptly fell asleep and woke up at twelve.  I vaguely remember moving the water with my feet to circulate the remaining warm but eventually I woke up enough to put more water in so that I was warm when I got out of the bath.  It reminded me of when my mother used to bang on the bathroom door asking me if I was awake or not when I used to have a bath at home.  I've always done it and suppose always will but not recommended.  Because of the evening 'nod' I found that I wasn't ready for sleep and spent the next couple of hours playing Soda Crush on the Kindle eventually putting the light out at three this morning.

I was still awake by seven thirty and didn't bother with breakfast since I was out to lunch with the Librarian.  I sort of found myself in the garden putting mothballs down mole tunnels and moving hollyhocks that had taken root in the grass and transferring them to the long wall garden.  There was no sun when I went out and that wind was really cold so I didn't stay out there too long and the next task was to take the mats out of the conservatory, give it a sweep over and then wash the floor.  The morning was going well so I thought I'd take a break and check out  the internet and no joy...it was down again .  This week has been absolutely rubbish...just like a bride's nightie.

The Librarian arrived at about eleven thirty, we chewed over the fat for a while, I sorted out her Kindle, deleted books and added a new selection for her so I've given her Harry Bosch and Kay Scarpetta which should keep her busy.  We headed up to Djebel and had lunch at the soup kitchen, stopped off at the supermarket and I bought profiteroles and we had those as pudding when we got back.  I also managed to offload some of the wool I'd bought with great plans in mind and done nothing with.  I kept the thicker stuff and sent her off with four ply....too narrow for me to do anything with but I did have high aspirations at the time.

I made another string covered container with the rest of the heavy string I have and then decided to have a go at glass painting and went about it the wrong way.  I wanted to paint the very attractive Turkish tulips and should have printed off the photo first to use as a pattern.  Instead I painted what I thought it looked like on the glass jar and it looked nothing like and I found out that nail varnish remover works a treat and I'll have another go at it tomorrow.  The only another thing that's on the agenda is to finish the remainder of the lawn...weather permitting before it gets the upper hand.  Supper tonight was what I thought to be hot-dog  sausages but I heated them up in water, slapped four of them on to French stick but as I bit into the first one, there was no way those skins were meant to be eaten so I ended up squeezing out the filling onto the bread with tomato sauce and ii did the job.  I'm now working my way through a pack of local 'Smarties' that I was introduced to by Mrs S of D's little one but they don't taste the same since they're not pre-licked.  LN...Tomorrow is going to be a gentle day.....LN

Saturday 23rd March

So my morning coffee was taken out on the terrace but I did go in to get another sweater on.  That sun was deceptive again mainly due to that chill wind that seems to belt over the hillside.  Washing in it looked to be a good day for drying just so long as you attached the clothes securely otherwise you could be a few short at the end of the session.  I fried the sausages this morning in the hope that they would taste better but added bacon, fried bread and an egg into the pan just in case they didn't....and they didn't so they went over the hillside for anyone who could managed them but I did split the skins to make it easier for the wildlife.  I got the second load of washing out and removed the two containers of oven cleaner from the side shelving in the kitchen and tossed the idea of cleaning the cooker but it went by the way and the containers are still on the kitchen table...maybe tomorrow.

I had a bonfire, tidied up some of the trimmings from the shrubs and decided that the lawnmower was going to be taken for a walk.  I removed one of the wheels and cleaned underneath it, it was jam packed full of last year's grass.  I also checked the oil and topped that up and decided to use up last years petrol before I added more to the reservoir.  Now serviced and ready to go.  I would get to clean underneath when the petrol ran out whenever that happened otherwise you get fluids flying everywhere.  So little bed done and dusted by twelve thirty so I came in for a drink and five minutes but I was out there again in quicksticks and I was three quarters through the big house grass when the fuel ran out.  Now the fun could start.  I tipped it over and with an old screwdriver dug all the rubbish from underneath and there was a lot of stuff that I obviously didn't remove last year.  Ah well...new season.  I topped up the fuel and surprisingly there was almost enough to fill it up and as I started it again...there was an almighty puff of smoke, the oil had obviously worked its way into the engine while it was upside down but it still kept going.  I finished the rest of the grass and now I need to concentrate on the gardens,,,the weeds look more obvious now that the grass appears to be knocked into shape.

Had a conversation with my very good friend in Gibraltar and a holiday looks to be on the cards both ways...they could be coming here and I could be going there.  I love the Rock...after all I spent four years there in my early twenties and still fond of the place.  Not so many of the old ones still there, they've gone off to the great beyond some earlier than they should have done and I still have lots of memories.  I watched the gymnastics from Birmingham on Film on...and there seems to be new faces for the British team that I don't recognise.  Either they're resting or retired and I suppose I'll never bother to find out.,,,it's not a passion I just admire the physicality of it...such control and precision.

I lit the fire at five...it's not that it's cold in the house but just comforting...I've had two nights without it.  I'm undecided what's on the menu for tonight but rest assured it won't be sausages.  Seven my time, nothing fixed in stone for tomorrow but I might be round with the old engine oil on the wooden surrounds to the flower beds and I have to make a few more for the shrubs at the bottom of the garden.  It just allows me to mow and strim round them without damaging them and to keep the main shoots weed free.  Bit of woodwork, bit of painting, bit of gardening, bit of weeding.....that's my day sorted then.  LN....Time to throw a log on the fire...LN

Sunday 24th March

Lovely morning again and I started playing Soda Crush and wasted a couple of hours...well not wasted exactly. I think I let my subconscious make the moves and I knocked off about eleven games winning super pieces as I went.  The more you win, the longer you have.  Eventually I shut the Kindle down...I needed bread so had to get dressed to head down to the van.
So I waited and waited and he was really late....my ladies were champing at the bit so I waited until they'd been seen to before I placed my order.  Beautiful day again but a really cold wind.

Ham sandwiches for breakfast...it was sort of midway between breakfast and an early lunch and it did me through to this evening.  So I've been taking cuttings today of my bottle brush shrub and my pretty red wavy flowers from Greece.  The bottle brush looked like it had been slightly frosted and was very tall and thin.  Now it's short, shooting from the bottom and I have seven cuttings from it so fingers crossed.  The Greek one was in the same state so that's been trimmed back too and again I have about six cuttings even though i have three of the same plants growing in the garden...I'll find more spaces for the cuttings or my neighbours will benefit.  I tidied the little house, sorted out my seeds, took the electric strimmer apart, gave it a service and refilled the spool.  I tested it...and it works...result.

Had a visit this afternoon and we put the world to rights....He said that he didn't follow the barbecued lamb up to the restaurant last night since he's given up drink and realised it would be a temptation.  Off he went, I finished off the seed sorting, put my tools away and locked up the little house and workshop.  I came in and lit the fire...not necessary but 'nice to have' and in the freezer found some steak that I bought in Greece.  I thawed it out, sliced it in two because it was quite thick, fried off some onions and then fried the steak and an egg followed it into the pan.  Delicious...that will do until morning.  Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow apart from more of the same.  LN....Time to relax.....LN

Monday 25th March

Lovely moon last night and caught it while I was sitting at my desk pretty late on so I had to get the camera out and do what I do best.  It straight to bed after it....woke up at tow thirty and managed to get off again until six....and this time to watch the sun come up.  I do revolve around nature.

Breakfast was the rest of the steak only this time cold on a sandwich and it set me up until three this afternoon.  I pottered around in te garden for a while and then settled in to unscrew the glass door from the cooker, give it a good clean and then tackle the inside and the racks.  The cleaner that I'd bought that I thought would do a sterling job failed me and it needed quite a lot of elbow grease to get the job done but it's all back together now.  It's not perfect...I'll have another go at it when my heart's in it....it wasn't today.  

I got a couple of the outside furniture cushions out and sat watching the garden and the birds.  I'd taken a cup of coffee with me and half a pack of biscuits and ended up dunking the lot of them but then suddenly the wind got up so I came in.  I also set about taking off the protective cover from the door to the little house from the raised terrace.  The builders had left it on, I'd ignored it but now I was beginning to notice it and a little each and every day should finish it by the end of next year.  There's got to be something that removes it when it's old but it's just finding the right product.

So toys away quite early on and everything locked up.  I lit the fire around four thirty...I was cold and it's ticking away quite nicely.  I'd forgotten to take any pickies today so only have the one of the moon last night but it is worth posting.  More pottering tomorrow ...I'm feeling a hermit phase coming on....shrubs, cutting and seedlings normally get me out of it.  LN....Just takes a little time.....LN

Tuesday 26th March

Six start and the sun was up...beat me to it this morning.  It looked like being another beautiful day and it was until around lunch time.  Toast and Marmite for breakfast sitting out on the terrace and I hadn't even bothered putting on my hoodie....it seemed very Mediterranean and not spring at all.  So this morning's task should I choose to accept it was to clean the battery operated strimmer that I should have cleaned before I put it away for the winter.  I firstly checked it with one of the rechargeable batteries and with the first one, no life was trickled into it.  I replaced it with the second battery and this time there was life but not as we know it....it struggled.  I removed the battery, removed the plate that holds the cutting blade taking care to put the screw somewhere safely and remembering that it goes the opposite way to a normal screw so not much chance of finding a replacement.  The guard was the next thing to come off and that went straight into a bowl of water to soften the grass residue.  Everything cleaned, I oiled the spindle and put it back together again, tried it with the battery and now it was sounding as it did out of the box.

Not I really put it to the test...I cleared the garden edges of the little house terrace and followed on down the long wall and it now looks so much better.  It's the area that the mower doesn't do comfortably...a little stony and raised tree roots.  I went round the wooden little garden surrounds, moved to the front gate and did under the wall at the front of the house and around the downstairs bedroom grave garden as I call it.  And then the battery expired so I put it on charge and cleaned the machine again.  

Lunch called at one , tuna mayo and very little happened after that this afternoon.  I got a load of logs in, settle don the sofa with the Kindle, got my head down for an hour or so, the temperature outside dropped, windows and doors were open and I woke up cold.  Quick trip round the house shutting windows, fire lit, cleared up outside and locked up and soon raised the temperature in the house.  It's supposed to rain tonight, dull tomorrow so it's back to sweaters and the vest...and I thought that summer had arrived early.  Not good news for my friend in Latvia though....she planted up seeds...and they've just had another snowfall and the locals are blaming her...

House pursuits tomorrow .  I'd like to sort out some new curtains for the downstairs bedroom and make it more guest friendly.  I might have to make a visit to the second hand furniture warehouse just to see what's on offer that might interest me or I might try my hand at glass painting and this time using the picture of what I'm trying to recreate.  LN...Tomorrow is full of possibilities....LN

Wednesday 27th March

Reasonable night's sleep and found out that it had rained overnight.  The terraces were drying up by the time that I went out to start my day.  It was a pretty slow start for me...I was watching Piers Morgan and I reserve judgement on the man and he does talk over people but he does say what the normal ones of us thing about Brexit...let's get it over with and leave.  Most people are sick of it now...so much ill feeling over something we have negotiators that are supposed to be doing something about.  I think that in constituencies where they voted to leave and the member of Parliament is not supporting the decision, they should be voted out.  Just my thinking.

Toast and strawberry jam for breakfast with my third cup of coffee, a little more time on the sofa with Kindle and trawled my huge gardening book to find out when the best time is to cut back the oleander that's not looking too good after the winter.  It said spring is the best time so I told it I was going to cut it back so that it could should down it's branches.  I hope it was listening...it's had a very big haircut and now the trimmings are sitting in a bucket of water and I'll see if there are any cutting from it tomorrow.  I set about tidying the little bed by the steps down to the garden.  I planted low Michaelmas daisies and they're thugs.  Three quarters of them are now along the big wall where it's been a dumping ground so let's see how well they do there between the shrubs.  I've cleaned round the buddleia at the bottom of the garden and tomorrow I'm making wooden surrounds.  It's been on my list but I've not got round to it yet.  

Brilliant day in the garden for woodpeckers, morning and night.  I'd just line up a near perfect shot tonight and suddenly it took flight and Haciber was in the garden shouting for me to go to the door.  I legged it down the stairs and she presented me with a jar of some syrup, I asked her if it was strawberry or pine tip and she said she didn't know.  I thing she sorts through what she's got in the store cupboard and I get the ones that she's got the most of.

In at five thirty, toys away and all locked up.  I lit the fire...it's been a chill old day and I need the warmth.  Supper of chicken wings and roasted vegetables for tonight....I missed out on lunch today.  More of the same in the garden tomorrow weather permitting and I'm hoping it's warmer. Long wall on the agenda tomorrow and more strimming.  LN...Busy time in the garden....LN

Thursday 28th March

Silly night....I woke up at four and couldn't get back off again.  Got my head down at six and woke up at seven and washed and dressed by seven thirty.  It was a dull old day. cp;d and damp and that wind was blowing over the hillside.  I tidied out the fridge and threw away some of the things that had been lurking there...over the wall it went.  I don't like feeding cats and the likes in the garden.  

Poached eggs on toast for breakfast, kitchen tidied and everything put away and ran the washing machine with the dish cloths in at a high temperature and dried them in the conservatory.  I did mange to get out to the garden for a couple of hours planting up the nasturtium seeds and moving some of the self sets and putting them where I wanted them not where they'd decided to grow.  The sun eventually came out but that wind was really cold and it drove me inside so it was tools away, the unplanted seeds back into the conservatory for another day.  I looked at the sunflowers and it's time they were out there but it's supposed to go down to minus two tonight so perhaps it's better they stay where they are for the time being.

It's been a sofa afternoon with the Kindle and I lit the fire by five this afternoon.  Not many birds about today.  I did see the tits taking nesting material into the log by the garage and fingers crossed that they don't get frightened off.  I think I'm heading to Kardjali tomorrow and head to the second hand furniture shop just to check out what they have that might be suitable for the downstairs bedroom.   LN....Time to settle into the evening.....LN

Friday 29th March

Sun was up already again this morning....six fifteen start.....roll on springing forward.  I was still in bed at seven thirty with my coffee and then a sudden burst got me  washed and dressed and ready for action at eight.  As it turned out there wasn't much action.  Lovely as it was the wind was gusting cruel, throwing everything around the terraces and there was no way I was out there with my trusty garden implements...I made my mind up fairly early on.

Toast and cheese spread this morning which made a change.  I went out and secured everything that was moving around the terrace and putting them against the back terrace wall of the little house where it seemed to be sheltered....and it seemed to have worked.  I filled up the log carrier leaving it in the workshop thinking that I had enough in the house to last.  As a precaution I went out and dragged it into the porch but also took some of the old logs and put them in a plastic bucket.  I'm getting rid of the old stuff.

I haven't a lot to report...not much happened in my camp today.  I watched the birds trying hard to fly into the wind...they didn't seem to want the easy option and there wasn't much out at all.  Such a shame...the sun was beautiful but there was no enjoying it.  Fish fingers and chippies for supper and the washing up can wait until tomorrow morning.  LN....I need something sweet to finish on.....LN

Saturday 30th March

Much of a muchness today.  It was a beautiful day again but the wind was raging, cold and there was no way I was going out there.  Seven start, sun was up again before me and back to bed with my coffee, washed and dressed and moved on to the sofa catching up on morning TV.  I caught a programme about American parents with autistic twins and they'd planned to take a holiday with their two older boys and it included a flight.  They said that the airlines in American allow you to have a practice run and I'd never heard of it before....what a brilliant idea.  They'd decided to take the autistic boys who were not developed speech to a special centre that had been built in the seventies by a Texan so that his daughter could have sensory  and safe areas in which to play.  The statistics were given that one in sixty children appear on the autistic spectrum and that really surprised me.  Interesting programme.

Eventually I breakfasted on beans on toast and that's more or less done me for the day along with a few nibbles.  I washed up and tidied the kitchen and feel better when those jobs are done.  I don't feel guilty at all about sitting down with the Kindle and filling time .  The other interesting programme I caught up with was Professor Brian Cox explaining the timeline theory....Again...a fascinating thing to watch, no wonder his live tours are sell outs.  Haciber pooped round with a box of chocolates for me to take one...It's her birthday so I'll have to remember to get her a little something when I next go to town.  My first tulip is out in the grave garden seen from the downstairs bedroom and I'm amazed at the different colours and the blossoms that are out and the promises of things to come.  I've got harebells, lily of the valley are poking through and a marvellous array of daffodils.  When the forsythia fades the Japonica Kerria quickly follows on, then spirea or bridal wreath as it's known and then lilacs.  I love spring but please stop that wind or we'll have no blossoms at all.  I just hope He's listening..

Fire lit at five thirty and it's really slow to get going.  I think the up-draft has to compete with the wind rushing over the top of the chimney.  It's the live programme of the Voice this evening so I'll watch this until I fall asleep in front of the computer and catch the rest of it tomorrow on the re-run.  LN....Now to go and find something for supper....LN

Sunday 31st March

Nearly there and that's a quarter of the year gone already...soon be time to start thinking about ordering wood.  So I stopped up to watch the Voice last night and what an almost impossible task to find four from nine.  My favourite got through and the other one that I wanted to didn't.  I think he'll have a future in show business though...he's so talented and seems to be a genuinely nice person.  It was late when I went to bed, not much sleep in me and with the hour going on it was four thirty when I put out the light and seven thirty when I put it back on again.  It was a leisurely start to the day so I made bacon, an egg and fried bread and sat in the sun at the table in the stairwell eating my breakfast.  I tentatively put a load of washing in hoping against all odds that it would be still there if I pegged it out on the line and sure enough it was.  The big stuff went out, the little stuff went on a line that I rigged up in the conservatory.  I might never have found that again.

Breakfast over and first chores done, I decided that I would wallow in the bath for an hour or so and get my hair washed.  There was enough hot water for the first fill so I put the boiler on for the top up and spent around an hour and a half in there.  I threw a pair of leggings on and a hoody and gave myself a pedicure choosing a coral varnish.  Feet get very neglected here in the winter..socks and more socks and very little fresh air gets to them.  They look much better now.

The washing came in after about an hour and a half and I'd lost nothing fortunately.  I forgot to add that it was still blowing a gale.  I walked the garden and was amazed how the leaves have come out on the berberis bushes and the others scattered around the garden.  At last the rhubarb has coloured up after being stashed under a bucket all winter but at least it lives.  The washing is now in the upstairs bathroom airing and will be ready to be put away in the morning.  I lit the fire at six to give a boost to the temperature in there just to make sure.  I've run a very green first time washed hoody through the machine and that's not on the radiator on a coat-hanger.  Laundry basket empty and I felt that I've got a little more energy today to get things done....probably because it's mother's day or mothering Sunday as it should really be called.  Quite strange really...yesterday I came across old photos on the computer of my grandmother, mother, some of me and some of my daughter...the female four generation line.  It evokes lots of memories of people, places and things.

Eight fifteen my time and and it's just getting dark....roll on summer.  Lean pickings in the fridge...I shall be taking to the freezer or settle for a cheese sandwich.  LN...I'll not starve overnight....LN