Wednesday 1st December

White rabbits and they certainly would have been if they'd spent the night outside.  It was minus two last night, white over and c.ccccold out there.  I did venture out the balcony to take pictures of the morning sky but i didn't stay out there for long.  The first light photos were magnificent...there were so many colours in the sky and they changed pretty rapidly as the sun got nearer to starting it's work for the day and eventually, it came up, it went behind the clouds and didn't come out until later.  

I didn't bother with breakfast, I did keep the home fires burning from last night's embers but was pretty slow off the mark to get anything done.  The bruiser of a cat was sitting on the wall waiting for food, Black cat was nowhere to be seen so I left it a little later before I took the food out.  I moved up to the computer on the landing and checked out the hotels in Sofia and eventually settled for booking.com and made my choice.  The hotel that I was originally going for was quoted as being one hundred and thirty but a direct booking with them suddenly got up to one hundred and ninety and I really only want a bed for the night.....according to all report of visits to England, I shall need all the money I can lay my hands on.  Solved the mystery of my Avatar's requirements...it was ginger root or 'gingerfill' in Anglo-Bulgarian and this morning I made a card for my student for his birthday adding money so that he can buy what he wants.

Eventually off to Kardjali, stopped off to deliver the card and first stop Lidl to get a cook book for my student's mum.  If you spend thirty leva you get a token point and need five to get a free cookbook and she only had four so with my shopping I completed the card and received the book.  I didn't find a mask in there which was the main reason for going so carried on to Kaufland, completed my Christmas shopping, back to Djebel and delivered book and home for four thirty.  It's been a long expensive day....thank goodness Christmas only comes once a year.  I was at the stage where some of the people on the list could be ousted but my good nature wouldn't let me do it...maybe next year.

Wood in, fire relit, the rest of the chicken wings are in the oven and should be ready soon.  LN..... Enjoy the pickies.......LN

Thursday 2nd December

Four a.m. start and I've no idea why.  I played a few games of Sudoku, didn't managed to get off again so was up and about by seven putting away the washing I did at ten last night.  The boiler must have been going quite some time keeping the radiators warm so all goo in my little world.  The fire was still going so I coaxed it to life again, the radiators were soon up to temperature and despite the cold wind, it was plus two this morning on the outside weather station and eighteen in the house.  The house temperature soon went up with the fire going so I sat with my PJ's still on and started wrapping presents and have moved on to family specific bags now and only a few other things like chocolates to buy.

Had a late message yesterday to tell me the good new that I don't have to have a PCR when I arrive back in Bulgaria and it was followed up with a 'Can we come round for coffee? and my response was that it was fine, I'd picked up four jars of Nescafe Gold Blend for just under ten leva each so they could have a jar if they wanted.  With impending visitors I decided it was time to get washed and dressed and it was such a lovely morning that I brought in the remaining pots into the little house and gave everything a good water.  I also tried unsuccessfully to mend the outside cushion container damaged in the storm the other night but it can wait for another day.  It's inside for the winter since all is safely gathered in and the cushions all dry so they got stuffed back in it and the lid placed on top.  Next job was to move the Beast out from the garage and sweep the leaves from underneath it and generally clean up the area.  The bricks are stacked neatly as are the concrete blocks, the starter wood is tidied and the wheel barrow with the old wood is now in the wood store and I'll bring it in to get rid of it now that it's dry.  I put the Beast back in the garage and remembered that I'd bought a cover for it so laced it on and it should protect the front of it from the worst weather.  I used a couple elastic bungy cords and some other elastic so there can be some movement with the wind.

My coffee buddies arrived around eleven so we sat inside, chewed the cud, put the world to rights and mainly discussed doctors.  As we started to discuss high blood pressure tables making comparisons, she said that she was on some and had come out in red blotches similar to the ones that I had from the tablets that I'd been given.  She said that she'd seen the specialist who'd suggested eczema and I said that I'd had the same prognosis but I showed her my arms and not a mark in sight now that I've temporarily given up the tablets.  Curiouser and curiuoser....as the Mad Hatter said or was it Alice?  We've made plans to assault the doctors next week to sort it out and I'm taking my three packets with me and the photographs for proof.  Off they went, I carried on with sweeping up the leaves and sawing a few old short planks making it easier to chop them into starter wood.  I now have one complete bin ready for when I come back from the UK and will probably get another done tomorrow.

Little house locked up by four thirty and I caught the end of Countdown, I relit the fire by five since the temperature was dropping considerably and the house is all cosied up for the night.  It was good going out there and getting things done, the temperature was fourteen degrees and the sun shining and inside it topped thirty four with the doors open.  LN.....More of the same tomorrow please.....LN

Friday 3rd December

Another really horrible night.  I went to bed at twelve and was still awake at three thirty eventually nodding off but again awake at six thirty.  Maybe not taking the tablets is suiting me, I seem to have lots of energy, achieving a lot but just not sleeping.  I was washed and dressed by seven and present wrapping and sorting and made my list of everything that I need to get to say ....jobs a guddun.  I have found myself a box of chocolates short though, I finished that off when I was present wrapping this afternoon.

So at eleven clutching my list I headed into Djebel, parked at the top of town and enjoyed the walk to the centre.  I stopped off at one of the little shops that I use for gift bags, cards and ribbon and managed to find every thing I wanted, carried on to the real centre, chatted to a few people that I haven't seen in ages which was nice, arranged to post some cards in the UK for another friend who has the dinky doo shop and then walked back to the Nipper.  I moved to the supermarket car park and picked up a trolley, this was going to be necessary.  I needed three bottles of red, one Smirnoff and nine boxes of chocolates and as I said, I'm not one short but I enjoyed them.  I drove home, unpacked the car and set about finishing the task and all that's left to do are two family boxes that are part done but not finalised.  I have all the components, just got to decided where they're going.

The wrapping paper is all sorted and neatly in a box with the rest of the gift bags, the unallocated presents in another and everything else is under the pot with the Christmas tree lights on in the lounge.  I must remember to find my snowman to put on the top of the teasels, he's gone AWOL this year.  The fire's been going most of the day and has now been ramped up and the house is cosy.  I've just put the boiler on, I fancy lingering in a bath tonight and am feeling very good about Christmas.....I'll be putting a CD on next...not like me at all.

Supper has just been taken out of the freezer and thawing and it's going to be a chicken cutlet and will be pan-fried.  Not sure if it will be before the bath or after and maybe even eaten during, that's the beauty of living alone, you have so many choices.  I've just given up on the Ronnie snooker match, I really don't like the one that he's playing and I don't feel very sporting about it.  I just want Ronnie to win but it's looking very unlikely at the moment.  

Nothing on the agenda so far for tomorrow,  It the weather is good I might finish the starter wood and there are a few geranium cuttings that need planting up.  LN....Kitchen, bath, television and bed, hopefully for a better night's sleep......LN

Saturday 4th December

Another silly start of which I've taken full opportunity.  I woke up at four again, played games for an hour or so. made coffee, ran a bath and lingered there for about an hour and a half, dried my hair, dressed and ready for the day by seven.  I cleared out the wood burner and laid it for later in the day, made toast for breakfast with lashing of jam and wrote my shopping list.  I left the house by eight thirty, stopped off and discussed the present that I'd see with my student's mum to see if he had already got one and he hadn't so that was another thing sorted.  There wasn't much traffic on the road but Kardjali was humming.  There were also lots of police cars parked up in the hidey holes and hopefully I missed all of them...well I wasn't stopped anyway so fingers crossed I'm OK on the speeding. I shall find out the next time I go to renew my licence or when I go over to Greece.

First stop Kaufland and the only thing missing from the list were the serviettes that I normally buy for my other student's family as I joke because the father insists on halving them when I stay for supper and I'm sure he does it when I'm not there.  I also found that the same chocolates that I'd bought from my local supermarket in Djebel were one leva cheaper than the ones in Kaufland so I picked those up on the way home.  I moved to one of the central car parks and went into the Beauty shops and found the elusive masks so bought two of them for my upcoming trip.  Negotiated the back way to the Panda shop and got my student's present from the list, another pair of reading glasses for two lev.  I carried on to Lidl and found some frozen honey roast parsnips and they're in the freezer, the serviettes even though they're not Christmas ones but they're coloured and final stop for gas for the Nipper and back to cheap fuel.  I've been running on petrol since yesterday.

Final stop was the Djebel supermarket for the chocolates and some spicy sausages for supper if I get round to cooking them, fire going and I'm in for the night.  A little minor problem, one of my metal pictures was crooked on the wall and as I straightened it up the little nail shot out into the either so I've just had a visit to the little house and came back with a hammer and a pot of nails, and problem solved and it's back on the wall.  I've decided to leave the present wrapping until tomorrow morning and then I can consider myself finished unless the Santa decides differently.  

I'm now watching the snooker again and the one that knocked out my Ronnie yesterday is just getting smashed out of the next round by the Belgian....and I'm rooting for him.  LN.....Strictly later....my Saturday night entertainment.....LN

Sunday 5th December

What a surprise, it was just before seven when I woke up this morning.  Quite a change for me, I was getting fed up with my four a.m starts and I was pretty slow out of bed and into the day.  By the time I was ready to face to face the day it was getting on for nine so I headed for the kitchen and made a bacon sandwich which set me up for the day.  Kitchen tidied my plan for today was to get the rest of my presents wrapped and I achieved that by one.  Now all I have to do is to put the village ladies presents out of plastic bags and into gift bags and to make up a few more bags for some of the other ladies.  

The other thing that was chuntering round my brain was the recent update to the requirements for entering the UK.  I mentioned this to a knowledgeable friend and we discussed it over lunch.  I'd read the update as a PCR was compulsory but it's an either/or a Lateral flow so I know the one that I'm going for so Monday for me is going to be a very busy day before I catch the bus to Sofia on the thirteenth to get to Sofia ready to fly out on the fourteenth.  Talking about lunch I was treated to a chicken Sunday roast with all the trimmings...a lot of effort had gone into it and a big thankyou to the cook and bottle washer for a very restful, relaxed day.  I'd taken the back lane to get there but decided that the back lane wasn't an option on the way back so I came back through another village and that was enough to cope with.  You sort of run out of road signs and keep you finger crossed and your foot hovering over the brake pedal but there was nothing untoward on the road...the cows were all locked up for the night.

Fire lit and going quite well.  I've just thrown a large log on and that should do me for the night.  Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be a little on the dull side with intermittent showers.  I don't think I shall be going far but I have plenty of things to do.  LN....Christmas has officially started...the 'After Eights' are opened......LN

Monday 6th December

Not such a good night, six start and woke up to a dreary morning.  Last night the stars were out but no sign of any bright sky this morning but on the bright side, I went out empty the ash can and looked towards the mountains over the road and there was a double rainbow.  They weren't complete and by the time that I'd got the camera out there wasn't much of it left and by the time I'd have got the shovel out it would have gone completely.  The treasure will live for another day.

I was up and about by seven thirty, washing away, fire lit and it's been going all day.  I fried off a spicy sausage for breakfast and had it in a sandwich, popped over to see my Avatar to tell her not to bother with supper tonight.  I'd put the other sausages with onions, chilli flakes and passata into the slow cooker and there would be plenty for the two of us and it saves her having to cook supper for one.  I knew that Zelinger's blood pressure monitor's batteries had given up the ghost and I asked Avatar if she knew what batteries the machine took.  She didn't so I suggested that we went down to her house and we could check it out and see if they were ones that I kept in he house. It's only just down the road so we walked down, surprised Zelinger, I checked out the machine and they'd not even worked out how to get into the battery compartment, it was simply a slide lid to access.  I saw that there were two triple AAA batteries in there so I went back home and found new ones in the olive tin.  I went back, removed the old ones, put the new ones in and it didn't work.  I tried them all ways, checked them against the Duracell originals and mine seemed bigger.  In desperation I replaced the old ones and it worked and I seem to think that somehow it had got knocked off kilter....and now it was working again and since she relies on it and so does Avatar, it's just as well.

I came home and most of the afternoon has been taken up with watching the Crown, playing on the computer, emails and Facebook.  The house is up to twenty one degrees, the fire chugging along nicely and I made pasta to go with the spicy sausage, food delivered over the way and I'm just about to serve mine up.  It's raining very heavily now and looks like it's set in for the night....there'll be no going down the back lane to Kardjali tomorrow morning when I head to the doctors.  Quiz night tonight and I'm really going to make an effort to catch it all but I'll see how it pans out....who knows.  LN.....A very restful day.....LN

Tuesday, 7th December

So I got stuck into watching my television quiz games last night, turned over and watched some thing else and Brian Cox appeared on the screen and I find space and how it's being investigated with the Hubble telescope and I stuck with it until two my time.  It was throwing it down, the wind was howling and thunder was rattling around and it took me a while to get off to sleep.  I'd made arrangements for a meet up in Kardjali at nine at the Polyclinic so set my alarm for seven fifteen but the rain woke me up just before seven, alarm cancelled and messaged to say that I thought we were going to get very wet and we agreed to save it until tomorrow.  It did dry up slightly around lunchtime but the fire has been going all day and has ticked over beautifully.  

I didn't bother with breakfast, I knew I still had to buy a few presents so wrote my list and wrapped the remaining ones....this is to sort out the bags for the ladies, they have to have the same things otherwise there could be all hell to play.  I left for Djebel around eleven, only had two shops to go to so thought it wouldn't take long and it didn't.  My main purchases were packets of biscuits, yet more chocolates, pasta, bread and profiteroles for me, lemons for Avatar and Zelinger and from the lev shop it was mainly serviettes to fill up each gift bag.   I dropped the lemons off at the respective houses, drove home, unpacked the car, made a coffee and rationed myself to three profiteroles and watched a few episodes of the Crown.  At three I gave myself a good talking to, switched off the TV, settled in to wrapping and can now say that I've finished with the gift bags.  I went to the computer on the landing, found a snow scene from my old pickies and have printed out the gift labels.  Good to go.

I've warmed up the remains of last night's supper and that will do me until tomorrow morning and it's going to be poor pickings for Black Cat.  Washing up done, kitchen tidied, fire topped up and that's me done for the night.  The wind's dropped and it's still damp outside and I'm hoping it will cheer up a little for tomorrow's hospital visit.  It's been a good day and I'm clattering every nearer to lift off.  LN....Better find things to pack......LN

Wednesday 8th December

I had a late bath last night, fell asleep in the bath and quickly to bed once I'd dried off and straight to sleep.  I woke up at six thirty which was just as well, I'd made arrangements to be at the Polyclinic with a view to changing my doctor and that went quite down the pan.  I checked up on the protocol and was taken back by the young lady in reception who's English was about the best I've heard in an undiscovered pocket of bureaucracy.  She outlined the process and it seemed very easy but principles came into play.  I went to see the new doctor, I explained why I wanted to move from my current doctor but I was hit with a wall of politics in that when he goes on holiday, she sees his patients and vice-versa.  I thoroughly understood the reasoning behind it so made an appointment with my current doctor and that couldn't happen until eleven forty so I now had about an hour and a half to kill.  

We had coffee, my partners in crime had booster jabs, more coffee and I checked up on the best times to get a lateral flow test for my forthcoming trip.  This is going to entail going in to Kardjali at the crack of on Monday, the results will be through quite quickly, drive back home, finalise securing the house, delivering the Nipper to the garage and get a bus or taxi to Kardjali to pick up the bus for one thirty to Sofia....and then relax for a four hour trip.  This will all happen if the LF test proves negative otherwise everything goes to the wind and a shed load of money goes down the pan.

Eventually I got in to see the doctor.  I related how I'd had another allergic reaction to the last lot of tablets that she'd prescribed and confirmed that I'd purposely not taken any tablets to prove that the rash on my arms and other parts of my body was a reaction to the last three lots of tablets that I'd been prescribed.  She took my blood pressure, it was quite high so I have more tablets to bring it down and others to treat the reaction.  I have to phone her in the morning with the results when I take my blood pressure tomorrow.  I'm getting tired of it now...it's all taking too long to get sorted.

I drove home, remembered that I'd  got my student at three this afternoon, I didn't bother getting a new text, I'd got one from last week about the Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersson and it was so long that we did a paragraph each and he did the last two.  We use the phone to translate words into Bulgarian for him and he asked if I could give him another lesson before I go to England.  Such a little star and so keen I asked his mother if I was going into the correct apartment and it raised a smile.

Home for six, fire lit and it's as well, the temperature is really dropping and there was snow on the mountains when I drove into Kardjali this morning.  Please stay away snow....I've got too much to do.  Tomorrow is the day I sort the packing including unusual charging cables and basics....most other things are in the UK including clothes that I bring out year after.  Ten of the clock my time so time to get my head down and hopefully get a good night's sleep, they've been missing lately.  LN.....Fingers and toes crossed......LN

Thursday 9th December

So the sleep started off well but I suddenly developed cramp in my toes and ankle and I was hopping around the bedroom for around ten minutes and almost brought to tears.  I eventually got back off again and it was seven when I woke up for the next time and I didn't feel too good.  I took my blood pressure and it was high so I took my daily dose but before I did I opened up the computer on the landing and printed out the patients' leaflet for both and the side effects are exactly the same that I got with the other tablets so I'm not holding out much hope.  I took my pressure again at ten and it was within the parameters so I was a happy bunny.

I laid the fire, went out and got in more logs and then started doing a final clear-up outside.  The benches are in, the other bench moved to its starting position before the other one was mended, the sitting bench from the long wall is in the wood store and the other from the terrace into the little house. Final job was to pull the final outside patio tub from the furthest possible point on the main house terrace into the little house and it was hard work.  Eventually I made it, gave everything a good watering and that's now finished until I get back.  Gardening fork and spade are away for the winter with only the snow shovels remaining on view and hopefully they won't come into play for a while yet.  I moved inside, my packing is done, documents sorted, money sorted and clothes to wear for the journey are hanging on a coat hanger and only boots to clean.

Television on and I watched around three episodes of the Crown or should I say, I tried to.  The eyelids went southward and I missed a lot of it but not to worry, I know the on going saga if not the ending. I popped over to see Avatar, she's finished the one purple mitten and has not enough wool to finish the second so I'm off to Djebel in the morning to see if they have any on the market in the same colour or a close match.  No supper organised yet so it might even be beans on toast...and there's nothing wrong with that.  LN....I'm feeling better than I did yesterday....just want Monday morning to come to know if I'm on my way or not.....LN

Friday 10th December

Well don't know whether or not it's the new tablets but it was just before eight when I woke up this morning and what a morning it was.  The rain was lashing, the wind was howling, the few things left were flying and the bird table ended up lying against the bush on the terrace.  I looked out of the window onto the road and yard and the yard was under water and the drive was waterlogged too.  The ditch that has a pipe going under the drive was obviously blocked with leaves and the drain from the yard wasn't draining.  Taking the plunge I put on my padded trousers, work boots, waterproof, (supposedly) jacket and headed for the wood yard to get the tool for removing the leaves from the grating over the pipe. I cleared the first drainage pipes from the yard which did more or less nothing since there was so much water outside and then set about the big pipe under the drive leading to the lane.  I prodded and pushed, lots of branches had been brought down by the gale and I pulled them out to and eventually there was a gush and off it went down the lane and didn't take too long to clear the drive once the main exit point was cleared.  I looked over to Avatar's house and she was out there too digging a channel at the side of her house and talking to her later, the water was up around the house and she was concerned that it might go over the door step.  I went over to see if she wanted any help but she told me to go home, we were both soaked with our own problems.

The jacket is drying out, the boots are upside down in the porch in a bowl and I went to the kitchen, stripped off and everything went in the washing machine just as the electric went off.  I carried on upstairs and ran a bath, grabbed my Kindle and soaked for a couple of hours, for part of it I was asleep yet the Kindle survived.  Eventually the wind subsided as did the rain, I lit the fire once the electricity seemed stable and generally relaxed.  I did managed to get the bench and the chair in from my balcony, I'd forgotten about them in the clear-up and now all is safely gathered in.  The bedroom is looking a little crowded but I'll be moving downstairs when I come back, the chair is in the guest room and in nobody's way.  

Very pleasant afternoon keeping the home fires burning and messing around with chargers, batteries for the cameras and doing very little else. I popped over to see Avatar and she told me that this morning she was up in the attic with pots and pans catching the rain coming through the roof.  The wind was blowing in that direction and finding its way between the tiles and that was before she noticed that the garden was under water and dug the trench.  It's been a poor day for us oldies.  

The sun came out and the sunset was quite pleasant but now it's gone, the rain has come back again and so has the wind.  At least I've got nothing that's going to change location over night.  LN.....Now to find something for supper.....LN