Sunday 21st July

So next door neighbours were still out in the garden at midnight and the child was still up and about and they were finding something amusing.  I had to shut the window and I felt quite crabby and that's not normally me but the child is only nine...time she was in bed.  With the sleep pattern disturbed, I read until three but I suppose the upside was that I didn't wake up in the middle of the night...I just started my second shift late...

I was out on the balcony at seven and one of my woodies was going round all of the eating places and it put me in mind of choosing the right restaurant or visiting a tapas bar.  It started off on the lonesome pine, headed down to the donkey at the bottom of the garden, went to the cherry tree but I couldn't get the camera to focus too well on that visit and then down to the wood that stops me from falling over the air pipe from the septic tank.  It didn't longer long at that one.  It also did quite a lot of ground feeding...it was obviously in need of nourishment this morning.  I couple of jays visited  the pear tree half way down the long wall but there very secretive birds and I didn't manage to get a shot of them.  The golden orioles were singing their little heads off but again....very illusive.  I went downstairs and made my second cup of coffee and sat out o the terrace under the umbrella drinking it.  That sun was hot and so I did  circuit and armed with my trusty scissor, I attacked the flags at under the walnut bed, cut them back and cleared out the old flower heads and the dead leaves from on top of the corms.  I should get a better show this next year.  I carried on up the low wall and cleared round the red hot pokers and they seem to be doing well.  The electric lawnmower came out and I did the yard and the grass outside the wall while I was waiting for the bread van.  I needed fresh bread and eggs, I'd decided on boiled for breakfast, so no sooner had he come than I made my breakfast, washed up, pegged out the washing that I'd done earlier while I was waiting for the kettle to boil for the coffee and made my plans for the rest of the day.

As for the list that I came up with, the main one that's still outstanding is to create a ramp my side of the gate.  It's easy to get the Beast out but the Nipper has trouble going over the concrete under the gate.  The one side is OK, it's where it's been cut away so that the rain water drains from the property under the concrete and into the lane when it throws it down.  That's still on the drawing board.  I started tidying up the workshop and putting things into plastic boxes that I bought the other day from the supermarket and now have to label them up....and I need some more boxes.

I watched the athletics this afternoon and the diving finals...it was too hot to be out.  Supper went in at five thirty and I went out at six to take a few pickies and saw tortoise having it's supper.  Woody has just come back for its top up before bedtime and I suppose I better go and check on the chicken and jacket potato...my top up before bedtime.  Time to put the toys away...the garden is looking good.  LN....Nothing so far for tomorrow but I might head in to Kardjali and find a swimming pool....LN

Monday 22nd July

Slow start for me this morning...eight thirty when the little one next door woke me up and it's a good job she did.  I was very slow off the mark, no coffee on the terrace I was more interested in toast for breakfast and then out to the terrace to water the pots that I'd missed last night.  Half nine came round and then ten and I was having issues getting motivated.  I think you know how it is...you imagine doing things positive, I had my mobile and house phone bills to pay, but then it seems to take ages to convert thought into action and then suddenly...you're off.

I got washed, shaved my legs, swimsuit on, long denim dress and linen jacket found from the wardrobe, swim bag checked, wallet checked and packed my tablet to read and by eleven I was in the car and setting off down the back lane.  I parked up near the phone shops in a hatched area along with a whole row of others and hoped no police were lingering and I seemed to have gotten away with it.  Paid over my six leva for the home phone, carried on to the mobile shop and was told that there was no bill, it was being taken out of the deposit I'd left when I took the phone out a few months back and I'm still in credit.  

It was a ten minute drive to my favourite swimming pool in that it kills two birds with one stone,  I can have a lovely day in a reasonably sized pool without any hassle and when I've finished complete my shopping in Kardjali.  Kaufland then Lidl, it was seven thirty when I got home and I must have been in the water for about one and a half hours. I'm absolutely knacked but have that lovely feeling of a day in the sun and fully exercised.

Shopping away and we've just had two peals of thunder so I'm thinking that there's no need to water the pots tonight.  I've gathered in the patio umbrella though in case the wind gets up and it does start to bucket down although looking at the sky....it could be on its way to Greece.  LN.....Time to relax....LN.      

Tuesday 23rd July

According to the Fitbit it was seven this morning when I came to life and what a brilliant morning it was.  Sun was shining it was a very calm day so I stripped down my bed and into the washing machine with it sheets and undercover.  I headed down to the garden and walked the estate carrying my first cup of coffee and removed some of the old lily stalks but feel that they need a little more die back.  I promised myself that I would remake the old bench but that's gone back on the 'to do' list...I didn't feel up to doing much.

Scrambled eggs for breakfast, washing hung out and I headed out to my bedroom balcony with my second coffee to top up my suntan on my legs after they'd had their first outing yesterday without getting them burnt.  I took the cushions out on to the bench, toyed with getting the sunbed from the upstairs in the little house to my balcony but it would have required strength and a length of rope and I really wasn't in the mood for expending energy.  I settled in to G or T and that's Game of thrones not gin and tonic....those days went ages ago....flipped through several of the chapters and concentrated solely on following Jon's story.  I came in when I got a little too warm out there and watched the result of the leadership battle on the big Kindle.  I didn't want to put the main machine on....it saps energy and time....so I went back to the little Kindle and took up the G of T story and realised that we'd probably just gone through out own.

The clouds came over and it was sun and shade for a while but it was still very hot.  I'd taken a bottles of water out with me so kept up my fluid levels and suddenly the wind got up so I  rescued the sheets from the washing line before they headed over to Greece and battened down the garden umbrella.  I made up the bed, took up residence and slept for a couple of hours and felt much better for it.  I checked back on my sleep history for the week and it was pretty poor until last night.  After today effort, or lack of effort, I'm back on average according to the Fitbit...result.  We appear to have had a shower while I was asleep so I'm not watering the garden tonight, I'm thinking about supper but it's probably cheese sticks and cream cheese tonight...I'm following the day's trend of little effort for a result.  

Swimming lesson for the little one tomorrow and I start my duty at ten if all goes well.....I'll wait to hear from his mother.  I'm just hoping that the sleep this afternoon hasn't upset tonight's pattern.  LN....I might even swim again tomorrow.....LN  

Wednesday 24th July

So I must have needed the sleep yesterday afternoon.  I went to bed at midnight and there wasn't a sound from the pavement probably because we don't have any.  Even next door was quiet  probably due to the anticipated rain that never came.  Funny old morning, I was out there by seven thirty and since there could only have been a smattering of rain which had only dampened the terraces, I was out there with the hose pipe firstly on the pots and secondly on the bonfire bed and the vegetable bed but I really needn't have bothered.  I sent a message to my swimmer's mum to see if he was still up for it.  There was intermittent sun here and she replied that he wanted to go for his lesson.  At nine forty five she was on the phone saying that it was raining in Kardjali and did I still want to go and I said it was up to the boy.  He was going to get wet anyway and the water would appear warmer but the Bulgarians don't really like to get wet.  If it's raining, they stay at home or go out with an umbrella.  Any way, we set off and as we did the heavens opened and the road was awash.  It had stopped by the time that we got to the pool and the instructor was sitting outside the gates but there appeared to be no takers.  The pool staff were obvious by their absence so we sat it out for about ten minutes and decided to go home.  We stopped off at Lidl, I bought a few things including donuts and chocolate for both of us and then we headed back to Djebel.

I sat in the shop for a while, the weather cleared up but then the torrential rain started again and it was two thirty before I set off for home.  I put the shopping away and it's turned into a chocolate box day weather wise, blue skies, huge white clouds, sun shining and a gentle breeze.  I was tempted to go out and do a bit to the garden but instead I switched on to  Mrs May's departure and Boris the Bold's acceptance speeches and me thinks he does promise too much but let's wait and see.  

No jobs to do tonight, swimming in the morning and I'm assured that the weather is going to be OK for it.  I have a wedding to go to tomorrow night with the rest of the ladies from the village and it's going to be held at Makaza...the hotel just outside Momchilgrad.  My history with the place and weddings...cold food and slow delivery and slow take away of used plates.    Let's hope it's improved for the guests.  A coach will be going but I might just take the Nipper and go down the back lane...I can come back if I feel the need to evaporate from the scene.  I've had a late lunch and picked my way through the afternoon so no food required for me tonight.  LN....Swim costume at the ready for tomorrow.....LN

Thursday 25th July

It's been a disjointed day and a lot's been fitted in but I'm really ready for my virtuous couch.  I caught the sunrise this morning and we had the best mist in the mountains for a while and that had to be captured as well.  Woody was out at its various feeding spots but mainly on the ground today...maybe it had a headache and just couldn't face the noise.  I settled for melon and cherries for breakfast, put my swimsuit on with the intention of getting in a few lengths but it wasn't to be.  I picked up the boy and we managed to get a marking space in the venue which was a surprise, the teacher was there and he was stripped off and they were hard at it.  I'd stationed myself down the deep end of the pool and they normally operate at the shallowish end but today for some unknown reason they headed to where I was going to get slowly in the deep end mainly because the water is so cold and it was too much like hard work for me to change my position so I took to the book instead.  Eventually they all moved up the other end but by this time it was coming to the end of the lesson and I wasn't sure whether he wanted to stay and play with his new friends or not so I just got my nose in the book until he'd had enough.

I dropped him off at  one thirty, sat with his mother for a while discussing how to make salves from natural healing flowers and herbs and she gave me some of one that she's made to try out.  This one's got Calendula in it along with plantain, olive oil and beeswax and is supposed to be a healing slave for mosquito bites and itching skin so I'll be starting that off tomorrow.  I had a little rest this afternoon and at four I had a shower and washed my hair to start to get ready for the wedding.  The coach was picking us up in the village at six but I'd no idea what I was going to wear but it all came together nicely.  First bus took us to Djebel and we all piled off and got onto a coach for the final trip to the venue.

It turned out to be the same format for every BG wedding.  The food seems to come in drips and drabs and the final came didn't arrive until ten thirty.  I managed to get some long shots of the couple and I still don't recognise them but I know the family.  I'll surprise the grandmother with a picture of the couple tomorrow.  We all went to catch the coach for the trip home but there was only one so we had to wait.  His first trip was to Djebel, he dropped those off and then came back for our village people.  Home by midnight so I'm late posting but better late than never.  LN....It's been a full on day for a weekday....LN

Friday 26th July

It's been a funny old day today.  I phoned England for a catch up call and before I knew it it was getting on for eleven o'clock my time.  It was warmer in the UK though than here which is quite a surprise.  I cleared out the porch and intended and succeeded in washing the carpet and got it out to dry over the garden bench but before that I made a super big omelette, three eggs, a fried off red onion and when the eggs were set I added ham and grated cheese....and that has kept me going all day.

As I said I washed the carpet and the tiles in the porch...it was just looking in need.  I planted up some zinnias and tall white flowers that had been hanging around in pots of water and requiring love and attention and they only got it today.  They'd been discovered growing where they shouldn't and I had to give them a chance of life in another part of the garden.  I hate it when seeds germinate and feel guilty when I don't do anything with them.

As for this afternoon...it did get hot so I took to the sofa with the Kindle and that was it for a couple of hours.  Just before six and now the heat had gone out of the sun I decided to cut the grass and see how far I could go before I ran out of steam and I managed half of it, it was running out of fuel and I was running out of energy and I'll do the remainder tomorrow.  I came in and had a shower and updated my Fitbit wrapped in a bath towel and was heading up the stairs carrying yesterday's washing when I heard someone in the yard.  I clutched the towel closer round me, dropped the basket on the chair and slipped on a dress without anything underneath and went down to see who my visitors were.  It was Zelinger and her grandson who is a waiter in England and who speaks English quite well and they were delivering a joint of meat killed in remembrance of a twin who hadn't made it and a packet of biscuits from Turkey as a present from his parents.  They looked at the garden and Zelinger was amazed how many different flowers I have in my garden and hadn't seen what I call my grave garden before.  She didn't realise that I had another garden that you don't really notice.  Off they went....I suggested that he takes his grandmother to England so that she can learn English.  Out of all the women in the village she has the most potential and hasn't a bad bone in her body so to speak.  

Peanuts and orange juice for supper...it's one of those evenings.  LN....Achieve a lot at the latter part of the day....LN

Saturday 27th July

It's been a day of two halves and the interlude was very exciting and very unexpected.  Six start, I watched the sun come up and managed to get out to the garden by eight and watered the pots.  We were heading for another scorcher.  I knew what the rest of my morning was and I think I was trying to put off starting it so I did jobs like mending the garden hose, I did fry  home grown tomatoes and had them on toast for breakfast and went down the bottom of the garden to start the bonfire.  I cleared the weeds from round the mower and dug out a rather large sheet of polythene that had been hanging around on the steps down to the lower room but I couldn't get it to go.  The polythene was too large to put on in one go and now it's sitting at the bottom of the garden awaiting my attention.  

At twelve I started the mowing which was totally the wrong time to be doing it and I stuck at it for about an hour but came in for a drink and five minutes on the sofa.  This time it didn't end in my eyes lids going south and soon I was out there again and finished the rest of it.  I di seem to thrown the machine around into the very weedy areas, closing my eyes as I did it hoping that it didn't throw up too many stones.  Eventually I gave up, put the machine away and headed inside again and this time I settled down with a packet of peanuts, more water and ended up with an ice-cream and at this point I did managed to get my head down for a couple of hours.   I'd not long woken up when a ringing sound came from my small Lenovo on the table in the stairwell and also from the Kindle.  I'd not had a call before over messenger and couldn't think who would be ringing me and it was my cousin's daughter from Australia....what a surprise.  We kept it going for about an hour and a half, covered lot of ancestry and family history that I'd not heard before and it was interesting coming from her side of the family.  Her grandmother and my mother were sisters but not really close and parental squabbles seemed to widen the gap.  I caught up with my cousin and her daughter when my Australian cruise called in to Freemantal and I spent the day with them both, met Linda's daughter and her grandchildren and we've kept in contact since.  

So for the second instalment.  I went out with the battery strimmer and did round the flower beds. I also dug out the wild flower that stood on the raised ground at the bottom of the lonesome pine and decided to dig the hole deeper and put an extra large flower pot in the hole so that I can either put flowers in it or one of the shrubs that I've got going.  The pot's inserted, the back fill is done and tomorrow I'll decide what I'm going to plant in it.  I'm not bothering with supper....it's been another 'picky' day and it's shower time and almost ten my end....it's the Voice Kids final this evening and I'm looking forward to it.  I know which one I want to succeed so fingers crossed.  LN....Shower to freshen before bedtime....LN

it_didnt_move_when_i_shouted_at_it

That is because it is your new master or mistress. It has adopted you and there is nothing you can do about it.

So you might as well give in gracefully and abide by his/her wishes.

Sunday 28th July

Trevor...none of them moves when I shout at them...I am not a lover of cats but they love me for some reason.  I'm a dog person and why don't they understand that?...

So today has been a reasonably quiet day.  I was quite active this morning but as the day wore on the activity levels dropped and I just enjoyed the day.  I cooked bacon and egg but the bread when I got it out of the packet bad a small patch of mould on it...so I settled just for the good bits.  The bread van today doesn't arrive until ten thirty...it's Sunday...so we were all waiting for its arrival.  There was a lot of activity...Haciber was on her way back as I made my way down there but as I walked back with my Avatar, she was off there again.  Her daughter in law had arrived with the children and there was a birthday in progress and Haciber was providing the goodies.  I went into Avatar's garden for a sit down and a chat and then Beyser arrived and that put an end to the conversation.  With other locals we manage in Bulgarian and Beyser despite her age always communicates in Turkish.  Only understanding about ten percent of the conversation, I took leave and clutching my loaf of bread headed home.  

I'd watered the plants well last night so didn't have any work to do but I did move out the Bougainvilleas out the conservatory to give them a big drink.  It's not that they get under watered but I'm concerned that they might get over watered so I've designated spaces for them outside now and I'll be cutting the one right back tomorrow.  I didn't cut them back after flowering which I should have done and maybe I should have read the book earlier...story of my life.  The other thing that I was making a decision about was to clear the yard of the container that I made for the ballast for the workmen.  I don't think they'll be coming until the autumn, if at all this year, so I'm going to put in a flower bed against the wall and spread the gravel out and that will tidy up round the compost and water barrel.  It will made the bench stand out as well and be a better backdrop for it.

I took the little Kindle out this afternoon again picking out the best bit of the G of T's and then the message displayed letting me know that it needed a recharge so I had to move inside.  That in itself was dangerous...I settled down with the book and that used up two hours of my day but there again...it's mine to waste.  I did flick over to the World Swimming Championship and the men's success with a gold medal in the medley beating the Americans that have won it for the last twenty years.  Well done to the boys but the women came in last in the final....they need to step up or rather splash harden for better results.  I cooked chilli spiced sausage for supper and intended taking some over for my Avatar and suddenly noticed that it was just after eight thirty so I thought it was a little late so didn't bother.  I shall have enough left over for tomorrow so it will be into the slow cooker with it.  No pictures...I've just not got round to taking any.  LN...Gardening day or a day at the pool...not decided yet...I'll see how I feel.....LN

Monday 29th July

Well I beat the sun this morning and watched it come up and then watched it disappear behind the clouds.  Funny incident last night....there were strange noises coming from the bathroom end of the chimney and I anticipated a bird was stuck, eventually it found it's way to the woodburner but not into the burning area and there was no way that I could get to it.  I left it overnight and had forgotten about it until it was flapping against the glass this morning and since I'd been through this performance before...I knew what to do.  I closed all the doors in the downstairs lounge, closed the curtains to the stairs, opened the door to the conservatory and the door and fly screen out to the yard.  I opened the door to the woodburner and off it went, straight towards the light and off into the tree...and it appeared that no harm was done.  

I got on with a few chores, sorted the bonfire and got rid of the polythene, hoed the little new garden to get rid of the 'weedlings' and cooked bacon and egg for breakfast.  I tidied the pots but it got very hot out there so the strimming at the bottom of the garden could wait.  I needed the electric strimmer for that so instead I used the battery one to tidy round the flowerbeds, the yard and the grass between the house and the front wall and it was then that the thunder started and the first few spots of rain came.  I didn't need much convincing that it was time to pack up so I put my toys away, moved the cushions from the outside furniture to the plastic chest on he terrace and secured the umbrella.  It's done about six years and I'd like it to do more.

Swimming was off, it was warm enough and it would have been good but the clouds really came over and I couldn't raise the effort to head to Kardjali.  Gardening was off....what I needed to do required electricity and the strimmer and it was thundering and that's not a real good recipe on a hillside.  Reading, sleep and it's still raining now,  Last night's supper is about to be warmed up and will now become 'tonights', and then it will be an early night for me despite a lethargic day.  LN....Just a few pickies...LN