Tuesday 21st September

Bit of a cloudy start to the day but eventually it cheered up, clouded over again when I hung the washing out but the breeze picked up and it's all now dry, the bed remade and the rest folded and put away.  And that really sums up my day.

After coffee I eventually made it down stairs by nine after getting washed and dressed putting the same sweater on as yesterday since there was a chill in the air.  I'd bought my Avatar a hairbrush yesterday from Lidl so I walked over and my painter was over there and there was a tray of goodies from the bread van on the table so I managed a free breakfast in pleasant company.  Today they were heading into Djebel, Avatars brothers wife is not well so they were visiting and my painter was going to Djebel with them but catching up on jobs that he had to do.  I came back, pegged out the washing that I'd put in and it had done itself while I was breakfasting over the road and then the day was mine.  He's still not been over to try the shoes on that I bought for him yesterday but said that if they're too big he will put serviettes in the toes....Solution and result.

I was in a picky mood so had a yogurt, half a packet of mixed nuts and raisins and watched Netflix again getting engrossed in my series.  Eventually I switched it off, got the washing in and made the bed up, played around with ancestry for an hour or so and gave in to temptation and ordered my Calligraphy set from the shop in Sofia.  I had a phone call from my daughter and told her about the Lamy pen set and she said that she'd got the set and that the nibs were so smooth to write with and that swayed me.  She said that she was on her way to Argos to pick up a new kettle that she'd ordered and it reminded me that I have thirty pounds of old gift cards from Argos and I suggested trying to pay with them but she'd already paid.  I really don't remember how they came into my possession, in fact they might belong to one of the children but apparently, checking the internet, as long as the pin codes are OK and intact, they can still be used.  I'll put them in my luggage next time I go to England....if I ever get there again.

Tuna mayo for supper mixed with potato salad.....it's after seven and cooking is not on my list for things to achieve.  It's clouded over again and the air is very still.  LN.....No moon to be seen tonight......LN

Wednesday 22nd September

Silly night again, I stopped up to finish the series I was watching on Netflix and now I have to find something else to keep my interest going.  It was very dark, very psychological. extremely well acted and now on to the next.  I opened the door to the balcony, hung out the cushion to dry and came back inside.  The sun was just making its way up to the clouds and out again but it was ccccooooolllddd and it's much too early, it's only September.  Coffee, washed and dressed in a fleece and jeans and guest correctly that it was going to be a house day.  I made toast for breakfast with the last scraping of butter and it's on the list for Lidl and it might very well be tomorrow.  

Decided to do a little more ancestry and write out the chart that I've been doing for a friend.  It's very difficult to get the spacing right and on the second attempt it got thrown in the bin, I'd missed out one of the children and I've tried very hard to keep them in date order especially when they have ten of them and carry on to have ten children....it can get very messy.  Eventually I thought I'd give it a try on my old computer using Excel but firstly I had to boot it up to see if it would still work.  It has been in the sewing room, back bedroom and not used for about two years but I knew that it still had the old version of Excel, I don't get on very well with the 'newly improved developed programs'.  Anyway I plugged it up together, found a new power cable that had a two pin plug on it instead of the three that I was using with a adaptor, and was about to try the other connection when there was a shout from the porch and I had a visitor.  It was his chart I was working on and I mentioned that I was having problems and it was as I suspected, I'd used the wrong connector not the VGA connector.  Problem solved, I made coffee for both of us and we sat in the lounge for a catch-up regarding his trip to Greece with his brother.  I wasn't sure whether two would be coming back instead of the three and I think it got close but now he's back home and settling in to his routine.  

Off he went and I'm pleased to say that I've managed to achieve what I set out to do, an Excel version of the family chart going back approximately seven generations and more to follow now that I can see it plainly in front of me.  I know the dates that I still have to chase and now that it's electronic it's so much easier to manipulate and make changes to dates.  I managed to get a version on to a memory stick, brought it up on my main computer, printed off four copies as worksheets and what a good day's work.

At about six I put my toys away, realised I was hungry so boiled up diced potatoes with peas from the freezer, opened a tin of tuna, diced an onion, added beetroot to the bowl, strained the potatoes and peas and added those to the mix with mayo.  I cleaned the kitchen as I went and took the bowl with me into the lounge to watch Tipping Point, finished off with a chocolate pudding and now I'm stuffed to the gills.  I had a phone call this afternoon to advise me that my order for the pens plus the cartridges will be in Djebel in the morning so I might very well carry on to Kardjali to pick up the things that I forgot on Monday.  Some weeks it's like that.

It started raining around six and now it's cold, wet and miserable and I almost lit the fire but thought better of it.  After all I've only got four tons of wood to last me for the winter and spring....   LN.....I've had a good day......LN

Thursday 23rd September

So last night when I was getting into bed I realised that I was cold so I found the feather quilt from the guest room and snuggled down under that as well as the rest of the bedding that was in there.  The result!!  I slept very well until seven this morning, opened the door to the balcony and upended the plastic table to drain the water from it, made coffee and went back to bed to check emails and play a few silly games.  My morning in a nutshell.

I'd filled the kettle last night so didn't realise that the water was off or about to go off until I heard the gurgling around nine thirty in the boiler and remembered that there was a digger in the field near the pond and that Avatar had mentioned that work was being done on the water supply.  I looked out over the hillside but no men were visible but it was still only nine of the clock so it was a little early to expect them to start, but then they rolled, around ten of them and it the water came back on around five this evening.  I made fried tomatoes on toast for breakfast and followed it with a yogurt and that's done me through until now except for a few breadsticks and cream cheese and a few Joucy sweets.  I'm never sure how to spell it but that's what's written on the bag.

My plans went to the wall today...I was expecting my pen to be delivered to the courier office and then I would have been off to Djebel and followed it up with a trip to Kardjali. I need butter from Lidl, fire lighters and potting compost....and what a shopping list that is.  If I'd had an early start I might have carried on to Haskovo for the compost but it wasn't be.  I'll probably get the phone call in the morning from the courier and see how I feel.  I've carried on with my friend's ancestry chart and I'm pleased with how it's turning out.  I'm following up on the gaps in the dates and now the chart is on the computer I can make the changes as I go and now it's time to put mine on in Excel.  I did the original in PowerPoint. it was very fiddly to change and make edits so I have lots to do as the winter sets in.

At five thirty this evening I realised that it was going to be a cold night so I lit the wood burner to make sure that the pump and everything was working correctly and that there was no smoke coming out of the pipes from the wood burner to the chimney and everything is OK.  The only fire lighter I had was from last year so it was about as much use as a chocolate fireguard so I made twisters out of paper, the wood was dry and it caught easily.  The temperature in the house is twenty four so that extra quilt might have to come off tonight but outside has dropped to fourteen, the sun's just gone down so let's see what the final temperature goes down to.  No supper tonight, the boiler has stopped gurgling so most of the air is out of the system.  LN....Spotted Blue filling up on the new grass...the others appear to have gone AWOL..... LN

Friday 24th September

Another silly night, I thought It was time to get up but it was only three, no sleep in me and I spent the next few hours playing games.  I was to Haskovo today if the plan worked out so when I felt sleepy just before six I was concerned that I would sleep through the departure time except that hadn't yet been set....I was waiting for a confirmation.  As it happened the second awakening was at seven thirty, washed and dressed and the departure time was set at ten more or less so I made toast and was ready for lift off.  I also had a text from the courier, my pen set had arrived so we built that into the equation and stopped in Djebel, paid my money and got my parcel...and it's beautiful.

A uneventful journey into Haskovo and first stop was at the market garden for the potting compost but that is now on the back burner.  The only one that they had was fifty lev, over priced so all I bought were two red weigela, a fire bush and my Christmas tree with roots that will come in nearer the time.  The prices have actually gone down since the last time I was there and I think they're struggling like everyone else.  We stopped off at another out of town store that we like and I bought a rack for my boots so I can actually see what I've got and a few early Christmas presents.....they had a sale on so I struck while the iron was hot.  Pizza at our favourite restaurant and it wouldn't have been complete without an ice-cream from the stall near the restaurant.  

By now time was marching on so we set off for home looking like Kew Gardens on the move.  We hit a bit of a traffic jam as we hit Kardjali but were still home for about four thirty, the car was unpacked and I have work to do tomorrow, I made coffee and we sat in the late afternoon sun enjoying the end to the day.  Off they went, I checked my emails and FB messages, sorted out my boots and put them on the new rack and tomorrow I'll finish the job.  I shan't need supper tonight, the pizza was a big one, I've taken off the sheet from the bed and have now a quilt cover to see if that's why I was unable to sleep last night.  Lovely skies tonight, absolutely beautiful.  LN....I've had a lovely day....LN

Saturday 25th September

So I had a late bath last night and didn't find my Kindle floating when I woke up.  I'd put it on the basin support next to the bath thank goodness.  I woke up around midnight, dried off and went to bed and slept through until seven thirty this morning and felt much better for it.  I sat out on the balcony, the sun was already up and it was just a calm beautiful morning with pied fly catchers taking their breakfasts from the air and then finding a place to devour said beasties.  I made toast for my breakfast, found the remains of some ham and gave that to my black cat, made another coffee and was then unsure what to do for the day and as it happened I did very little until later this afternoon.  

I heard the bell being rung and my painter was there.  Avatar had sent him round to collect his boots that I'd bought for him, telling him how good they were.  I fetched them from the Nipper, opened up the bag and he was seriously impressed and so he should be.  I asked him to try them on but he said that his sock needed changing and that before he tried them he was going to spray the inside because of 'mushrooms' and my eyes must have shot to the heavens.  I showed him the sole and it was obvious that some one had worn them only once and decided that they weren't for him.  There was no charge for them, I said he can come and clean out my guttering before winter and that seemed a fair swap to me.  He said that he was going to clean Avatar's chimney but apparently her son had gone off to Kardjali and so his plans were scuppered.

I planned to plant up the shrubs that I'd bought yesterday but really wasn't in the mood.  The day was creeping on, I checked a few more details of the chart that I'm doing and then decided to go into Djebel for the items that I'd not managed to get yesterday, namely firelighters, insect spray, drain cleaner and floor cleaner.  I also wanted to take a purple and a green cartridge for my student's mum for the new pen that I got her.  It was still on the desk and she's using it so I'll have to make a sleeve for it over the next couple of days.  Next stop was the supermarket, I bought another supply of chicken wings for tonight, mayo and carrots to go with the potatoes and onions for the roasted veg, drove home around four and went over to Avatar's house to see if she wanted me to cook supper for her.  She had three of the ladies from the village sitting in her garden while she was working in the garage and she said that she would love me to cook enough for us both.  She said that the ladies had come round and sat there for a couple of hours while she went about her business and I would have to have said something...there again...she's so much nicer than me.

Supper in and everything ready for five thirty.  I watched the end of the World cycling championship and the Italian girls played a blinder and squeezed the Netherlands out of first place and into second in the sprint with an Italian coming in third.  What a result for the Italians.  My supper was devoured during the programme 'History of a house' which I love and it seems to fit in with my heritage chasing and family charts.  Washing up done, kitchen tidy for tomorrow morning, Strictly tonight and the first individual dances of each couple.  Just about to get washed and into my PJ's.    LN....The evening is mine.....LN

Sunday 26th September

A bit of a disturbed night, more of a restless sleep and felt jaded for most of the morning.  I really couldn't get my teeth into anything and get anything off the ground if you know what I mean.  I made coffee and sat out on the balcony enjoying the warmth of the sun, just a few chainsaws buzzing around but that's winter for you in BG.  I got a load of washing into the machine fairly early on and was pegging out by eight thirty.  I walked the garden and spotted Blue in the garden by the long wall and that's where I found it last spring and where it had made its winter hideaway.  Maybe its thinking about this already but it would have been early, apparently we have twenty five degrees plus for the rest of the week so that can't be bad.  Lovely array of Michaelmas daisies by the steps going down to the garden and they're covered in butterflies and the bees love them.  Unfortunately the camera doesn't pick them up very well so I thought about running a competition to see how many we could spot......(joke).

I eventually made toast for breakfast and tried out the butter that I'd bought in Djebel yesterday since I wasn't up for a Kardjali trip.  It was OK and as good as that from Lidl so that's another reason for not making the journey to the great beyond.  I finished off with Greek yogurt that supposed to include berries according to the pot and so far not one has been found.  I'll delve again tomorrow, trade's description and all that but I shan't get round to reporting them.  I made my way into the little house to check on the cuttings that are in buckets and noticed that a hoover that had given up the ghost was sitting on the table so I took it apart.  The on/off switch ha been playing up for about a year but it seemed to be OK so maybe there's a problem with the board to the switch.  Anyway, it was nothing that I could mend so I put the lid back on it and replaced the screws.  I've got another one so no real problem.

I took to the sofa and watched some of the golf and yes, my eyelids went southwards and I felt much better for it.  Washing in and put away , a tinkle on my cow bell and my garden neighbour delivered me a bag of potatoes from her garden and this year they look small but good.  I think she's clearing up her garden for the winter and only has cabbages for her cows growing there now.   About an hour ago she came round again and brought me about two litres of home made yogurt that I've added to the collection in the fridge....who's going to be a healthy bunny for the winter.  It was all go at my abode, I looked down the garden and spotted one of the tortoise legging it across the garden so I went down to see which one it was and it was Green Goddess that I haven't seen for ages.  I took a photo for posterity and two seconds later, Rosy was heading down the garden and two seconds later, Avatar appeared with last night's food containers, washed and ready for another time so I took her into the little house and showed her the buddleia cutting that seem to have taken and she's put in an order.

It's almost six thirty my time, the balcony door is still open and the sun has warmth in it, I'm beginning to think that putting the winter weight quilt on the bed was not such a good idea.  Off to get potting compost tomorrow, a new supply has been found at a reasonable rate so probably going to get about five bags of the stuff....the post definitely need it.  Not sure about supper, about to put my thinking cap on but I did see a recipe for Jerusalem artichoke roots, oven baked like jackets so might be giving them ago.  They make the garden look lovely at this time of year but are very invasive.  And now kitchen bound and on to other things.  LN.....Good day once I got started....LN

Monday 27th September

Six thirty start but then back to bed until seven thirty and felt much better for it.  Coffee but didn't sit out, washed and dressed and intending to leave just before nine to meet up before going to the next major town in the opposite direction to get the potting compost and as it happened, some pigeon food ready for the birds for winter.  If I get mice in the little house it will probably be gone so I better find a different container that the plastic bag it came in....bin with lid springs to mind.  Before I left I'd promised to take over some self set oak trees that have spring up in the bottom garden by the long wall, day lilies and iris so I dug up some of each and put the oak into a plastic bottle since it was very dry where I'd dug them from.  I nipped over to see Avatar, the last time I'd asked if she wanted anything from the supermarket she balked and didn't respond so I went and drilled it out of her this morning, she wanted garlic cloves.

So into the Nipper just before nine and headed down the rough road and was at their house by nine fifteen so not too late.  We had coffee, chatted for a while and set off for Kirkovo and made the purchase of six bags of compost, some broad bean seeds and plastic sacks so that I can go manure stealing at a venue yet to be identified.  We came back the scenic route and it brought back memories of my house and school search and some are still unoccupied but no...I'm happy with where I'm at.  Back to theirs and we sat in the garden with yet more coffee, I decline lunch and went to one of the shops in the village that I used to go to years ago and bought brread, grapes and the garlic for my neighbour and the total cost....two leva thirty stotinki.  I'm not sure if she weighted the garlic, they were nicely formed cloves not like the giant things that you get in nets and on my way back to the Nipper I met a lady that I hadn't seen for several years.  She lives in the same village as Bekir and Sally so I suppose my news will be doing the rounds by the end of the day.

I decided not to risk the rough road coming back, I don't like that you have to cross over the traffic and the junction that I use is not signposted and it is the road of death so instead I came back through another scenic route through the village on the ridge further south than my village.  I parked up, took the garlic over and told her it was one hundred leva or nothing so we settled for nothing and we sat in the garden in the sun spreading more gossip as per normal.  Walked home and unpacked the car, potting compost in the little house and not having any breakfast a cooked a late lunch of chicken cutlet and had it on a sandwich and that should do me for the day.  Half six my time, I've been watching the woodpeckers on the Lonesome pine and eventually they settled for ground feeding.  Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow so far and that's a nice thought...the day is all mine.  LN....Splendid day and ticked off a few boxes.......LN

Tuesday 28th September

Another silly night, I fell asleep and missed most of my Monday night quiz programmes, went to bed at midnight and was awake by three and never to go off again until eleven on the sofa.  I did receive a few messages on Messenger from other insomniacs and answered a few others that I'd neglected and eventually settled down to Sudoku getting out of bed at eight.  I'd decided against Kardjali, nothing really to go for apart from my cheapy clothes shop but I could take some back to them...I have enough, in fact too many.

Washed and dressed and made a cheese and ham omelette for breakfast.  I used three eggs but it still didn't seem to touch the sides and I was then in a picky mood for the rest of the morning until I fell asleep on the sofa.  I woke up at  twelve, took the gardening tools out and set about the day lilies that had really dried off and then started to get some life back into them.  I've now moved some of them into other places in the garden, they're so prolific and look good even when they're not in flower.  I planted the bay tree in the big grave garden bed, cut back the rose bush and trimmed the lavender.  More lilies went in this bed along with Echinacea that was a gift and one of the weigela that I bought from the market garden the other day.  I cleared lost of couch grass from all of the beds, it just has such long root runs on it and it's very satisfying when you pull out a long thread of root.  

I put my tools away at around four, the temperature has dropped and it's very still and threatening rain which would be good for the plants that I've just planted.  I popped over to see my Avatar but her son said that she's not in the house so has gone AWOL which for her is not heard of.  A search party might have to be organised....   I've just made a bowl of tuna mayo with potato, carrot and peas and that's cooling off and ready for supper.  One step ahead of the game....I should have restless nights more often.  I have managed to knock off ten thousand steps today and I really wasn't aware of doing them.  LN...My supper calls....LN

Wednesday 29th September

So I went to sleep watching TV last night but managed to wake up in time for the programme following the people that have lived in a certain house.  It was twelve when it finished but I really wasn't ready for bed so I settled for ancestry and to the old lady that we bought the house from in nineteen seventy four.  She had two maid servants living with her, she was living on her on means and I was just curious what happened to her when she moved out and we moved in.  I found the household on the nineteen thirty-nine census and a marriage date for the owner which I never knew about.  The two maids who were sisters had been with the lady and her mother since nineteen twenty four but only found them in the previous house, not in the one we bought.  One of the sisters died not long before we bought the house and the remaining sister stayed with the old lady.  When we moved in the house gave me terrific headaches, the children were only two and three and slept in the room that the maids had used and my daughter would wake up at two every morning and tell me that a 'lady that looked like Polly put the kettle on' woke her up.  Of course with both of the children in the same room, they were both awake so I asked the neighbours and she told me the story and the names of the maids and confirmed that they used to wear mob-caps.  It made sense to me, the sister that had died was looking for her sister who had moved out so I stood on the landing, told her where her sister had gone to live, that we now lived in the house so she should move on and find her.  That night and ever after, the children didn't have disturbed nights...result.

So after this research I looked at the clock and it was four in the morning so I went to bed, slept well until seven, washed and dressed by eight, made poached eggs on toast for breakfast and meandered through the morning.  I don't know how it started but I found myself in the little house tidying up the pots and getting everything sorted for taking cuttings from the plants on the terrace.  I'm not really sure how the next stage happened, the shelves in the porch are now tidy, the yogurt pots have been moved, some of the old plastic pots have been put for burning, the floor has been hoovered and the carpet put on the line and beaten.  What a day and I even cleaned out the hoover and it goes like a dream.  

It was six thirty when I finished and locked up the estate....no photos today, I really haven't had the time. Supper time has come round again so now it's down to the kitchen with a quick scratch of the head and waiting for inspiration.  LN.....It might even be beans on toast......LN

Thursday 30th September

So...a good night's sleep and it was seven thirty when I woke up...result.  I tried sitting out with my coffee but much too cold to be bearing my assets to the elements so I didn't stay out there long, straight into breakfast of buttered toast.  I checked out the plants that I'd put in the other day and they seem to be OK, I ignored the black cat with it's pitiful  screech that passes for a meow, went back inside and started to clear out the shoe containers that have been unsorted for a couple of years or so.  My socks have been sorted into winter and summer, I'd found a few items that needed washing and I took them downstairs to put in the washing machine, headed out to the porch and decided to tackle the sinter hats and everything went into the washing machine.  There was a fair wind blowing so everything went out on the line and was dry in quick sticks..

By now I'd found myself in the porch so I put everything that needed taking to the little house in a container and that's where I spent the next two hours shifting stuff around.  The seeds are all ready for sorting, the yogurt pots and cheese containers are on the window sill along with the flower pots all ready for when I start planting my seeds giving them a start on next year.  A lot of work was going on at Avatar's house, they were patching the roof to the woodstore and garage, her wood burner is installed and ready to go and she decided not to buy a new one and go with the old model.  I'm still toying with the idea of taking out the old one from the kitchen and replacing it with one that shows the firebox but it is only in case the electricity goes off and I can't run the central heating.

So tonight I'm organised, supper is in the oven and should be ready anytime now.  I've lit the fire, brought in a bucket of starter wood and thinking that it's not that cold but it's for comfort factor tonight.  LN....I might even put the boiler on and have a long bath......LN