Friday 10th April

Seven twenty start but I did have a late one last night.  I had my Badedas bath and thoroughly relaxed but not an ounce of sleep in me when it came to sleep.  It must have been one thirty when I got off.  So curtains open, coffee, back to bed, Soda Crush and Arthur (not Alfred as I stated yesterday), washed and dressed and ready to face the day.

I stood in the kitchen wondering what to do with the eggs and settled for scrambled done in the microwave and better than having a smelly poached egg saucepan to sort out.  It went down well, kitchen tidied and then it was time to think about what I wanted to do today.  The wind was very gentle so far, it got up around eleven, but then settled down again.  So what have I done?  The bird table is up and functioning and I've weighed it down with a couple of heavy rocks and that should hold it steady.  The shrub in front of the bird table wall has been trimmed, it was getting tall and I've repotted the lacy hydrangea.  I had a bonfire and got rid of the old broken pot from the newly potted shrub along with the plastic bag from the last of the potting compost.  It looks like I shall be using the soil that the moles leave in heaps for my next lot of seeds...not much chance of getting compost in Djebel.  I've also replaced the water barrel and hooked it up to the guttering and hoping that the snow has finished.

Had a lengthy chat with my painter...he was working delivering the food to the old ladies of the village and according to him...all are well and there are only six cases recorded in Kardjali.  I said that I'm gong to Djebel tomorrow and did he want anything....he suggested that we go in together and I said that that wasn't on...if he told me what he wanted I would deliver it to his door.  Two not from the same house if the police are there could result in a fine....no thank you.

I sat down the bottom of the garden on the wall and looked back at the house.....I do love my house and I'm still amazed at the transformation from wreck to very comfortable dwelling.  To top it off...I heard my first cuckoo of the year and I think it's my hickup-ing one...and if it is...it's been coming here for around six years.  I can't imagine there are many of them with that type of call.   I walked back up the garden and I've noticed that I've lost on of the handle catches from the lawn mower so I found another bolt and nut in the little house and did the repair.  I've searched the garden in case it came off as I was mowing but not managed to find it.  It should turn up eventually.  A few more seeds that I brought back from the last cruise are planted up and we'll see what appears, if anything, and the one that has germinated has put on its secondary pair of leaves and the first ones are shedding.  I don't know if this is normal...again...I'll wait and see.

I've lit the fire, haven't decided on what's on the menu for supper and I suppose I should give it some thought.  Not such a late night for me tonight but I didn't have an afternoon nap so I should be OK.  LN....A very gentle day in the garden and quite a lot done.....LN

Saturday 11th April

So that early night meant absolutely nothing.  I was in bed early enough, couldn't sleep, started another book about Arthur, got sucked into it and eventually put it down and switched the light off at three this morning.  It was still seven thirty when I woke up, turned over and it was eight thirty when I got ready to face the day.  I fried spicy sausage and made sandwiches for breakfast slathering them with tomato ketchup, it's a not normal breakfast for me but they really needed cooking.  I'd meant to put them in the slow cooker for last night's supper, didn't get round to it.  I didn't have any adverse reactions to them...they must have been OK.  

As for the rest of the day...I've read, played games. did a load of washing and pegged it out as it was a beautiful day.  It went up to twenty seven degrees in the house and eighteen degrees out of the wind but unfortunately, the garden isn't completely out of the wind.  I live on a hillside and the wind drops off the mountains.  I opened up the little house and moved the potted plants out into the sun and gave them all a good watering.  I dug out a couple of oleanders that had died over the winter, they'd been nibbled by something over the winter and I think they must have become diseased.  I'd cut the one oleander right back, was about to put it ready for burning and noticed two little leaves starting below the area of the damage so put it into a new pot and topped it up with new compost.  I carried on in the little house workshop and found lots that had been hanging around and had a really good bonfire and pared the lavender by the steps down to the garden right back and burnt that too.  There was little chance of that starting again.

It was six when I came in and somehow I'd meandered through the day.  I hadn't bothered going in to Djebel...I think I'll go in tomorrow for some Easter eggs....well it is Easter Sunday.  Have a happy Easter all of you and remember to stay safe.  Our latest restriction is that we must always wear a mask when we are away from home....some of my neighbours were out and about today without masks and they'd been delivering cakes to everyone for something or other.  It worries me in that I feel they think they are isolated in the village and so safe from the virus.  There have been cars running up and down and lots of pictures posted on FB where they are away from the village and others sitting in their gardens with family from outside the village.  I'll stick to my hillside.  LN......I'm used to solitary confinement......LN    

Sunday 12th April

Another lazy day, well it is Sunday....and a special one at that.  It's a little subdued here but unlike the rest of the religions that have closed down there central headquarters, ie, the mosques, I believe that most of the churches are open in BG and have celebrated mass, all drinking from the same cup and accepting wafers from the chappies in charge....I suppose they think that religion will save them but I doubt all of them.  This is why I think there is going to be an explosion here.

Seven thirty start and another glorious day and it would have been the perfect day for a full day's gardening but I never found the energy or enthusiasm.  I didn't bother with breakfast and got suitably dressed for the supermarket and the petrol station.  I was slow off the mark....I needed money from the cash point and have only used this card once and when it came to the number that needs to be entered...I hadn't got a clue.  I don't remember numbers on keypads...I only remember sequences and I'd forgotten the sequence.  I searched for the note that came with the card and only managed to find the one that came with the previous card...three years before but I did manage to find the note that I'd made on the sequence demonstrated on a diagram of a keypad and went to Djebel armed with...maybe it will, maybe it won't.

I found my mask out, ensured that the petrol can was in the Nipper and headed for town.  I stopped at the petrol station and noticed that only one driver in the queue was wearing a mask and the attendant wasn't.  I put my can near the pump and asked for fifteen levas worth of petrol and he filled it up.  I asked him about the mask and he said that it was damp and he'd washed it and was waiting for it to dry.  Back to the car, I stopped off and had a few words with my student's mum who was working in the shop just to check that they were all OK and then carried on to the cashpoint we laughed that if the sequence didn't work, I'd be back to borrow money for my shopping.  I got my money, went to the supermarket, bought what I needed and came home, unpacked my shopping, put it away and made an omelette for breakfast...a really late breakfast, it was just after one and I was surprised how late it was.

I moved the table that had been in the lounge for the winter, the spring in the conservatory out onto the terrace in front of the conservatory and will search tomorrow for a wood preservative to add a little colour to it and also waterproof and protect it.  I gave the run a good shake, swept the conservatory and tidied up the shelving that's become a dumping ground.  At three I came inside, that sun was OK but the breeze was cold and I settled on the sofa with the Kindle, sleep came easily and I woke up to catch the end of Willy Wonker and the Chocolate Factory and I love this version.   I went out and walked the garden, cleared the old wood from the base of my Greek pretty shrub and put it in the bonfire, stood and watched the black cat sunning itself on the wall and then patrolling the perimeter.  

It was good going out and I might even make an effort to go into Kardjali at some point this week,  I have official documentation to sort and I understand that all offices are open and business is normal.  Lovely still evening and now just one decision...supper time and not a clue.  LN....Gardening tomorrow with a new resolve....LN

Monday 13th April

What a night and what a day.  I was awake at three and read until six, head down and woke up at eight thirty so I'd managed to catch up on some sleep that was lost.  I made coffee but there was no going back to bed...tempus was fugiting...not that there was anything planned...only gardening.  I put transponder TV on and watch Piers Morgan until my patience ran out...we have so many experts and the postmortem is usually carried out by one knowledgeable chappie who is not exactly bothered either way.  I switched channels as predicted, the Beeb had managed to track down the parents of one of the nurses that attended Boris and where Boris only gave out the first names allowing them some anonymity...well done Beeb.

Off with the TV, sausage, egg and fried bread and back to the sofa with the book to let the food go down.  The weather was good and at twelve I made the decision to finish off the little house grass that I hadn't managed when the petrol ran out.  I'd filled it up with the old stuff and finished the little house lawn and for a second time it packed up.  It was what I wanted, I wanted to turn the machine over and clean underneath...the grass had been so damp that it had clung to the underside.  So I filled it up again and set about the side grass which hadn't had any attention this year and the rest of the afternoon was spent on the sofa watching quiz shows and pushing the mower.  The entire lawn is now looking cared for and I became very aware at one point that there was a hooded crow on the tree in the field next door and I reckon it was waiting for me to drop down behind the mower...so I kept my glasses on so that it wouldn't peck my eyes out if I did.

My final blast was to get the strimmer out and trim the grass in front of the main gate and round the window frame gardens in the side patch.  Tools away at six and the battery from the strimmer on charge ready for tomorrow and as for tomorrow....it's going to be a day of weeding, trimming back the damaged shrubs and strimming the really long grass at the bottom of the garden and near to the walls.

My night on the TV tonight....University Challenge second semi and then to bed.  I'm now going to see what I  can come up with for supper....I think it's going to be tuna salad, I've got carrots to grate and potatoes to boil.  LN...Better get a wiggle on.....LN

"I think there is going to be an explosion here." Same here. No masks, freely mixing with neighbours. One family involves a guy who has been working in the UK. On arrival back here from the UK he was instructed to go into isolation for 14 days. Police called at irregular times too make sure he was home and not out. From that experience you would think he would no better. Not at all. Out in the family plot next door, talking up close to the neighbours. Not one of them wearing a mask. He called Vania to the fence, I refused to let her approach, and to tell him why. Oh, thats OK, I was in isolation for 14 days so I don't have the virus, excepting that since then he has been around and about all the neighbours, who knows what they have.

Sorry, end of rant, almost, I get so annoyed with these idiots. If all stayed at home for the 14 days the virus would die, as it is it keps getting replenished everytime someone goes out and spreads it. We have been out shopping once in the past 3 weeks. Why can't other people do this?

Anyway, be careful, this virus is a very unpleasant way to die. I have a long term illness which is quite similiar.

Tuesday 14th April

Like you Trevor, I'm giving a wide berth to my neighbours.  I don't use the bread van, he goes to all of the villages, takes money, hands out money and it's not the way that I want to see my maker.  The padlock isn't on the gate yet, only the hasp across and that seems to be a sufficient deterrent....no guests...no bugs.  Stay safe, both of you.

I had my Badedas bath last night and managed to get out in time to wrap up in a couple of bath towel and watch the second semi-final of University Challenge and I'm now able to recognise the teams.  I love the second one in the line up of the team that won...he has the most fantastic recall of such obscure topics...and a deserved win by one hundred plus points.  Next Monday should be interesting.  As for supper, I did use a tin of tuna with grated carrot, pickled beetroot, chopped onion and boiled potatoes and mixed with mayonnaise.  It was a lot of food and forced it down but I did leave half of the potatoes for a breakfast omelette....so that was my start to the day.

As for the rest of the day...I think I wore myself out yesterday so the weeding and strimming will have to wait for another day.  Arthur is getting very interesting...the rumour is that he has been killed when Lancelot tried to take the throne after he has supposedly killed the current king...I'm abandoning the tv tonight, this is muck more exciting.  It's the second of three books so I have enough to keep me occupied.  Looks like the weather is changing.  I've just attached another bungee between the bench and the surrounding balcony rail.  There are too many big windows up there that need protecting.  Nothing for supper...I demolished a packed of biscuits with a hot coffee and I have the stains on the sweater when I miscalculated the distance involved.  LN....A restful day.....LN

Wednesday 15th April

So I was awake at five this morning, read until it was time to start to circulate and watched Piers Moran....and why are they still slagging off the government and bringing on all of these experts...and as for the outside reporter, I reckoned Susanna was tempted to pull the plug on her...she just wouldn't shut up.  I got fed up of it and turned over and decided that my book was far more interesting...I'm now on to the third book in the series...Excalibur.

It had rained all night and the water barrel was almost full already and that's two hundred litres....at least I'll be able to measure the water that hits the garden.  I looked out and the rain had turned to sleet and not long after, the front came in from the north and the grass turned white.  The temperature was only two degrees so I headed to the little house, opened up and took the geraniums that had gone out for the spring back into the little house.  I wasn't sure what the rest of the day would bring but I didn't want to lose them.

Coffee and breakfast, I had two more sausages that needed something doing with them before they completely dried out so sliced the one and had it for breakfast with fried bread and an egg and the second one went into the slow cooker.  I added a half can of beans, a small tin of tomatoes, onion and some chili flakes and it had all day to cook and was ready at six this evening.  I'd laid the fire a couple of days ago and decided to light it at around twelve and took to the sofa with the book and yes, got my head down for an hour of so, back to my book and interspersed with a FB and emails, I whiled the afternoon away watching the weather slowly improve.  

I served supper at six and put the cooking pot in to soak...after a day's cooking it needed it....and the food was delicious.  It's turned into a lovely evening, almost worth a walk outside but hey...too cosy inside.  Time to throw another log on and tidy the kitchen....I hear that Kardjali is closed for the weekend so I'll save my visit for early next week but firstly check in the internet if there are any stretched deadlines so I don't have to go at all.  LN....Minus two to plus five and rising.....LN

Thursday 16th April

It was a really late start this morning...I didn't wake up for the first time until seven thirty and I rolled over and it was eight thirty when I woke up for the second time...result.  Eventually I washed and dressed. beans on toast for breakfast and I settled in to my book to wait for my breakfast to go down.  The morning marched on and it was suddenly twelve and I really thought it was about time that I got on with something.  It was a beautiful day...yesterday snow and today, sun......what a funny old year it's been so far.  I must just congratulate the walking Captain and his fantastic achievement and at just over twelve million, he puts the other comic aid, live aid into the shadow.  He's one man that took on the challenge from his daughter who offered to donate one hundred pounds to start him off,,,he was saying his thank you to the NHS for the care he received.  What a star.

So I headed down the garden with the electric strimmer and set about removing weeds from the bonfire bucket and then had a bonfire to get rid of household rubbish.  It was hard work, this strimmer is heavier than my first electric and the battery operated one so I had a brainwave and brought the little electric mower to the bottom of the garden and it worked Cinderella.  I adjusted the height of the wheels so that it was on its highest setting and I was amazed.  The little machine even tackled some of the longer clover but it did cause the bucket to fill up quickly but I deposited it over the wall so no great hardship there.  

I came in for a coffee and a packet of biscuits and sat in the sun on the terrace only moving my spot to another bench when there was a very persistent wasp that was scraping wood to make its new home.  I toyed with the idea of fly spray but then just moved instead.  Back to it and as you know the grass gets done in stages but now it's all done, I've knocked up over ten thousand steps and my watch sent out its fireworks (not real ones) on my wrist to signify the achievement.  Supper was local corned beef fried with picked beetroot, served on toast with a fried egg on top and served with a glass of chateau voda.....water to you and me. More of the same tomorrow it the weather stays good, there are a lot more corners that the strimmer or the little mower can get in to.  LN...And now..relax......LN

Friday 17th April

So I got annoyed at Question Time again last night....what do they always find it necessary to knock the government especially the hostess without the mostess.  I somehow then carried on to watch Masterchef and I was fascinated by the deserts that were knocked up under the guidance of a master pastry chef. Unfortunately the one that I wanted to win was taken out last night and hasn't made the final.  Bed by midnight and I took to the Kindle, Soda Crush and my book and it was two before I switched the light off and got to sleep and it was a seven start this morning and I watched the sun come. up.  The morning mist was hanging in the valley and very high light clouds in the sky.  Coffee and back to bed with the Kindle and there was an email for a holiday that was exceptional value going out in February next year.  I gave it a fleeting thought but noted that it was for seventy plus days and I can't imagine being missing from here for that length of time in the winter.  

Washed, dressed, cheese omelette for breakfast....I'm economising on the butter.  I'm down to a last quarter of an inch in the packet and now Kardjali is out of bounds until Tuesday next week...no on in and no one out since it's Easter...the government hopes to restrict visiting family but I think they are clutching at straws.  I have the feeling that this is going just to take off here...the number of infected people has gone up and so have the deaths.  We're not allowed out thought without a face mask and yet Britain are still claiming that they really aren't effective.  So many experts.  My student's mum messaged me for a catch-up and I dropped out that if her husband has to go to Kardjali to work next week then he might be going up to Lidl with my shopping list....butter, tuna, baked beans and bacon.  I can't get those in Djebel.

Out to the garden with the strimmer and little lawn mower. I've had a really good day and again cracked the ten thousand steps and another couple of days should see the garden knocked into shape.  Just so many weeds this year.  Toys away and I came in at six, boiler is on, pork chops are in the oven and will be covered with a barbecue sauce and then back into the oven to finish off.  The potatoes are on to boil so I better get my a into gear.  Badedas bath tonight to ease away the aches.  LN...And it's only the start of the gardening season....LN

Saturday 18th April

And another beautiful day and filled it with lots of strimming and weed pulling but I really don't seem to have made a dent in the weeding.  There's always tomorrow.

I had my Badedas bath last night, went to bed at eleven and woke up at seven so that was particularly good for me....and with no stops and starts at all.  Coffee and back to bed with the Kindle and I stayed there until eight.  I'd bought a four pack of little local sausages the last time I went shopping, the bread was growing mold so that went out for the cats and birds so I used up two of my eggs and made and omelette and grated cheese into it.  I even opened up a pot of yogurt, put some cherry jam into it and that was breakfast over and done with.  I washed up, tidied everything away, on to the sofa with the Kindle and read another couple of chapters on my book working up the energy to head out to the little house, get tooled up and off to the garden.

I started on the long wall and strimmed behind the two gardens opening up the path to the bottom of the garden.  It's so good to see the garden springing into life considering that at the beginning of last week we had snow.  I had five minutes on the log at the bottom of the garden and joining the cuckoo was the hoopoe bird.  I doubt I shall spot it but it's good to hear that it's back.  I also noticed that the martins are back and they are rebuilding the old nest under the eaves of the little house.  I carried on to the bottom of the garden and moved a load of clover from yesterday's workload, did some more strimming and uncovered a tamarisk that I'd forgotten about so I cleared the ground round it and stuck a wooden surround round it so that I won't lose it again...until next year but it should be bigger then.  I came up the short wall, the cable had broken so I can now add to my repertoire....strimmer repairer.

Tools away at six and my sheep farmer was collecting his cows from Haciber's paddock and at a distance we had a conversation about the virus.  We both agreed that we didn't know if we had it, had had it or come into contact with it but we also agreed that there was likely to be a severe peak in about three weeks time when all those that headed out to see relatives over their Easter.  Not sure about supper...not hungry at the moment and I'll see how I feel a little later.  It's supposed to be twenty five degrees again tomorrow so same again....it's definitely my day for weeding.  LN....Looks like summer is round the corner....LN