Monday 21st February

At last ....a whole night in my bed with a six start but that's OK.  Coffee made and back to bed and an hour of sudoku and then out to face the day.  I put the television on and ended up swearing at it and I've decided that it's Richard Madeley's approach to deciding he's got to batter the truth out of any guest that he has on and offers opinions on everything, championing the cause.  So at this point I switched it off and got on with 'things.

I made poached eggs on toast for breakfast and sat at the table in the stairwell and watched the morning mist lift and I was pretty grateful when the sun came out watching the temperature in the house climb.  Back to the kitchen with my plate and remembered that I had a nardinitza that needed something doing with it before became only fit for the cats.  I peeled the skin from it, sliced it and fried it off in the skillet that I'd used to  cook the steak yesterday, added sliced onions and after the onions had turned colour I added water and put it all into the slow cooker.  I added passata to it and that was either lunch or supper or potentially supper for Avatar and myself with pasta.  It was still cold outside so I sat in the sun and worked on my mini-rug and I've not worked out a pattern...well sort of. The brown is the border and it's going to have a circle in the centre but I'm not sure what colour that's going to be.  

So at this point I put on my waistcoat and went outside, filled up the log basket and brought in a full log carrier.  I checked out the work I'd done yesterday on the raised garden in the yard, found a pot of old engine oil and the brush was still in it so I set to on the raised bed and coated it with the engine oil.  It not only makes it look better but it protects it from the weather and the bugs.  The bed was looking pretty empty so I transferred the wallflowers that had sat out all winter in a terracotta pot into the new bed taking lots of potting compost with them.  Having enjoyed the 'painting' I decided to carry on and headed to the end of my wall adjoining next door's garden and painted the wooden fence that the men had put up to keep the cows out.  Tools away, I'd had enough so I came in at three and had a late lunch or early supper and watched Countdown and did some more on the rug,  It was really quite a silly move, listening to a program where you have to make words out of the letters picked at random and calculating a number from manipulating random numbers while pegging a rug......doh.

I lit the fire at five thirty, by now the temperature had really dropped and I was cold. After an hour and a half it's now pleasant, the boiler is on and I'll have a bath while waiting for my quiz night to get going.  Student tomorrow afternoon and so far, nothing on the agenda.  Bekir hasn't shown his face or telephoned so I might have to make a call to find out when he's coming to finish the toilet,  I just don't like chasing but I don't like being let down,  LN.....And now...relax....LN

Tuesday 22nd February

So I managed to wake up in time to catch my quiz night and promptly went to bed afterwards.  I feel I'm still catching up from the lack of sleep over the weekend.....so an early night for me tonight.  I woke up first at six this morning, snuggled down again and came round for the second time just before eight so I was well into the morning.  It was dull and cold so I went upstairs and got dressed in the clothes that I was going to wear for my student this afternoon so realised that the day was going to be a very restful one...no gardening, chopping sticks or cutting down damaged tree branches,

I was in the kitchen when I heard a tap on the glass of the conservatory and noticed that Avatar was on the outside lookin gin.  I went out to meet here and invited her in and asked her where she'd got to yesterday...she was noticed for her absence.  I'd looked for her stick and little black rubber shoes twice, there was no key in the door and I thought she might have been taken by aliens or had gone to visit her brother.  The actual story was that she didn't feel well, had not wanted anyone in the house so had put everything inside to stop anyone barging in.  I told her that she had to put my number in her phone and to call me if she had problems and she told me that she had my number but that she had no money on her phone so I took the phone from her knowing that I could add credit for her at the local supermarket.  I saw her off the property and made sure that she was safe in her gate.  I made toast for breakfast, watched some morning television, chopped a few sticks and laid the fire for tonight and found a couple of chicken legs from the freezer and that was going to be supper for Avatar and myself.  

Off to my student's lesson, he's such a smiley lad and was hiding from me when I got to the apartment.  He's absolutely football mad and I almost have to hide the football to get him to sit down and concentrate.  We did a very short text with a few complicated questions and the translation took some doing.  We managed it though and his homework is answering questions about the effect of tourism...is it worth it and how does it affect the local people and is it worth it.  It should give him something to work on, we did discuss it and I gave him a few ideas and let's see how it gets interpreted.  I stopped off at the supermarket and got bread and the phone topped up, was home for just after six so set to and lit the fire and put the chicken in the oven.  Supper was delivered along with the phone and I knew it was late so she can heat it up tomorrow if she wants to save it until tomorrow.  I had mine with roasted parsnips and potatoes and now I'm thinking that it won't be long before I'm switching things off and heading for my bed.  LN.....So far, nothing to do tomorrow,  I'm sure I'll find something......LN

Wednesday 23rd February

Good nights sleep and woke up at seven thirty.  It was a cold miserable day outside and it's stayed the same most of the day.  I washed and dressed so that I stayed warm, the fire was still going from last night so I topped it up and it's been going well all day.  I needed a hot breakfast so had bacon sandwiches with brown sauce, back to the kitchen and washed up from last night and this morning and gave the place a tidy round although there wasn't really much out of place.  I did a load of washing and got it out on the airer in the bathroom, there was no chance of drying it outside, I've checked it now and turned the sweaters round to face the radiator, the rest of the stuff will soon be ready to put away.

Avatar came round to hand me back the dish that I took over last night and the ten leva to pay for the top up on her phone.  I think this last bout of illness frightened her a little and if she'd have had money on her phone she would have phoned me.  I made the point to her that with two cars, it she needed to go to the doctors or hospital we could do it double quick without bothering her family.  She nodded, knew I was right and promised to do it and was almost in tears...so I told her not to cry, just remember what she needs to do.  We just about speak each other's language, our Bulgarian is as bad as each others as the rest of the women in the village speak Turkish and that's more natural for her.  It must be funny to watch when we're both searching for the Bulgarian words.

I filled up the log basket and two log carriers so that if it's the same weather tomorrow, at least the logs will be at conservatory temperature.  This afternoon, I needed food so made tuna mayo sandwiches and I'm sure that I shan't want anything else tonight.  For most of the afternoon I've been working on the mini-mat and it's beginning to get filled up.  I've still to decided the shape I'm putting in the centre but it won't be necessary for a few days yet unless the weather is so bad that I stick with what I know where it's warm and dry.  LN.....No pickies today...just too miserable....LN

Thursday 24th February

Another good night and woke up at seven.  Usual routine, salvaged the fire, made coffee and went back to bed and played sudoku.....it was a windy, cold morning and I toyed with the idea of working in the little house and getting some veg seeds in the new containers but decided that it was just too cold to be out there...it could wait for another day.  I didn't have to get wood in, I'd brought in two full log carriers yesterday late and had plenty to last me the day.  Washed and dressed, remembered to put my Fitbit on that had been charging overnight and I seem to have a problem with the charger.  It doesn't seem to latch on properly and I must have spent a good five minutes trying to attach it last night....it had been on for most of the day yesterday and had done nothing.  It's not that they're cheap and this one was only purchased while I was in the UK last Christmas and I hope I don't have to run the gauntlet to get a new charger for free.

Beans on toast for breakfast, washed up, put seeds out for the birds and bread and the jays seemed to favour the bread.  There were three of them and one of them was insistent that the other two should have none and they flew of for easier pickings.  Not much activity from the tits and even the sparrows were missing today, guess they must have holed up in sheltered places, that wind was cruel and even though the thermometer said it was four degrees it felt like minus four with the wind chill.

I settled down to Netflix and finished watching Young Wallander and was pleased to see the back of it.  I've left it at the end of the first series and first might in fact be the last'  I hunted around and decided to go back and watch 'The Last Kingdom' which I really enjoyed last time around but I think I will appreciated this time and not rattle through it.  I had a late visitor, Guldjan's mother appeared with yogurt drink, yogurt and home made butter and they're now in the fridge.  She asked if I had some large plastic water bottles and we went into the little house and she tied six together and went off and should have been singing 'Ay ho'.  It really was a fleeting visit, she didn't want anything to drink or eat and was eager to get on her way.

Not got anything ready for supper so far so I shall have to delve in the freezer for something that's not going to take a long time to cook.  It's supposed to be going down to minus three overnight again so the fire might be banked up in readiness.  LN......It might be more of Netflix.......LN

Friday 25th February

So I was brought our of a very deep dream by the telephone and I answered and it was Bekir asking if it was OK to come and fix my toilet....yehhhh....of course it was.  The downside...his son was at college so he needed transport so I said 'nine o'clock', dressed quickly and set off via Velikdenche towards the main Greek road watching out for Police and Romanians.  I was unsure of the condition of the rough road to the meeting point and fortunately there was a man at the bottom so I wound down the window and asked him and he said that it was OK so that would take approximately fifteen minutes from my journey.  I was ten minutes early and Bekir arrived and we were on our way.  Again I took the Velikdenche road, I'd not been down my own rough road so didn't want to risk it.

We assessed the situation, found the hammer drill and the bolster drill, the extension cable and he was away.  It didn't take him long and the toilet was removed and we were then looking in the little house for other things trying to work out what we needed to buy from Djebel.  We needed silicon and 'teracol', we wanted cement but they only sold it in big bags so it would have been a waste with snow heading this way again next week.  So the pipe was cleaned out and despite a search for a new seal, he had to clean out the old one but it was still OK.  The toilet was installed, screwed down to base and the toiled was secured to the floor.  He cleared up, tools away, said to leave it for a couple of days so that the cement stuff went 'off' properly.  I offered money and he said that I could have today as a gift but I said no and gave him what I though was good for what was half a day's work more or less. By one thirty we were heading this time down my rough road to the Mazaks road and it was a slow journey but we made it.  Heading hp Bekir's rough road he suddenly realised that he'd left his telephone in the bathroom so I turned round, and off we set back to mine.  The phone was in the bathroom and again we set off for Bekir's village.  On or way the first time we'd noticed that there was a speed camera and a police car parked up away from the junction and so this time I told Bekir to smile just in case we'd been caught on camera.  Safe and sound in his village, I joked with him that I wanted ten lev for the taxi fare and he thought I was serious so I laughed, dropped him off and then decided to go into Kardjali to top up the freezer and fridge, to fill the Nipper up with gas since it was now running on petrol.  

Kaufland first where I bough seeds for the garden, then Lidl where I bought more plants so tomorrow it looks like I'll be busy.  Shopping away, fire lit and supper has been a sour cherry yogurt and I've got a packet of biscuits waiting in the wings.  It's been a productive day and Bekir said that in a month's time he should be free to start work on the little house so we put a rough plan together as to what was to happen first including a balcony on the third bedroom of this house.  Things are underway.  LN.....Better start saving my pennies.....LN

Saturday 26th February

Seven thirty start, the sun was shining but it was still minus three this morning and white over.  Washed and dressed quickly, I waited for it to warm up before I went outside and popped over to see Avatar to deliver some butter that I'd been given and would never use.  Fed the birds, set the fire ready for later, emptied the ash can and put in a load of washing.  It was such a beautiful day with a stiff breeze and it was pegged out by ten.  

I went into the little house to start with the plants that I'd bought yesterday and decided that the first thing to do was to go down to the spring near the lake and fill up some water bottles so I put six of the large water bottles in the Nipper and headed down to the lake.  The water was really running well and no soon had I put it under the outlet than it was full and it was all done and dusted in fifteen minutes door back to door.  I tidied up the floor of the little house so that I had a clear view of the table, found out the labels and the marker pen and was all set.  Four lots of seeds went into damp kitchen roll and I shall wait for those to sprout and pot them up.  I find that this is the best way to do them especially the sunflowers.  The lupin and delphiniums are fairly big seeds so they had the same treatment and I'd bought lavender and sweet william that had come with their own little greenhouses and only required watering.  I've not tried them before so let's see how they go.

Washing in, fire lit, the temperature was falling rapidly so it was a good move.  I had a home made pork pie for lunch delivered by my friends from the next village and I was surprised how good it was for a first attempt.  I shall have to put in another order.  I followed it with a chocolate pudding and put on Netflix and continued watching 'The Last Kingdom'.  It's been a good day today but if the seeds all germinate I shall have a lot of them to pot up, it's a little too early to be putting things outside and thank goodness I've got the little house to keep them in.  I've just put the rugby on and am watching the England, Wales game and it's a little stop and start, not much scoring going on.  

Beautiful sunset tonight and it's hard to believe that snow is forecast, boiler on for a bath and I shan't be too late into my nest.  LN.....Might be clearing snow again tomorrow.....LN

Sunday 27th February

So my predicted snow didn't happen until three this afternoon.  First came the rain, then the sleet and now we're white over again....I thought we'd said goodbye to it after yesterday's sunshine but it seems to turn on a sixpence so to speak or a stotinki.

Seven thirty start.  I'd had another night where I just couldn't get off to sleep and it was almost three when I put the light out with my fingers crossed that this time I would find myself in the land of nod.  I obviously did, woke up and lit the fire since there was nothing hanging around from last night except a blackened log but a fire lighter and a few sticks soon got it going.  I made bacon, fried egg and fried bread by nine thirty but was hanging around in my PJ's at ten when there was a face at my window and my neighbour from the bottom of the village was there holding a loaf of bread and declaring that it was a gift for health.  I've not heard of this custom before but accepted it, she'd delivered ten loaves to the village and was now on her way home.  She had some good news though, she's given up her job in Kardjali to come back to the village to look after her ailing mother and it's not before time.  I'm assuming she's getting financial support and good luck to her, she's the one that always wants the plants that she sees in pots in my garden.  I look forward to chasing her out more frequently if she is living here.

I didn't have the bath last night but ran one about eleven this morning, kept the boiler on so that the water would heat up again...it was a long slow bath and obviously I went to sleep in there.  I washed my hair, emerged and dried myself and then my hair, dressed in warm clothing and relit the fire...it had burnt out completely but it didn't take long to get it going again.  I put Netflix on and went back to 'The Last Kingdom' had a break and made tuna mayo sandwiches with the fresh crusty bread, banked the fire up again and settled down under a blanket this time.  By now the sleet had arrived which soon turned into snow and now it's pelting it down and we are white over.  No food for me, I've had enough for today, half six and now I'm going back to the rugby.  LN....Snow shovel at the ready for tomorrow.....LN

Monday 28th February

So the forecast was for one to two centimeters and I'm thinking someone got it wrong. It was throwing it down at midnight so I went to bed and left it to it and this morning, completely white over and much more than expected.  I'd closed the curtains last night in the lounge and the big one between the winter lounge and the stairwell so the temperature in the stairwell was only fourteen degrees with minus two outside but one the fire was going it soon warmed up.  The bird feeding spot was covered so I went out at around eight, swept the snow off the stone and put the seeds out and it didn't take long for them to start congregating.  I also put some on the table under the balcony to they had a choice of two sites.  The wind was keen and for a time they preferred the shelter of the balcony but the stone was a favourite for the regulars including the jays.

I made my breakfast and by nine I was sitting down to morning television in the lounge but soon got fed up of it and tried Netflix only to be presented with the log in screen which was a by product of the electricity going off and reestablishing the internet connection.  Now logging in with a keypad and having to move the cursor over the keys is a bind so I switched it off, moved upstairs to the computer, put the news on, got bored so ended up with ancestry for a while chasing a few leads especially the dates of death of some of my relatives.  Tired of that I went out and cleared the path to the woodstore so that I could fill up the log carriers, continued by clearing the gate to the road and the Nipper to the gate so that if there's an emergency I can get out.  Apparently according to Avatar the tractor came though at three this morning and the road remained clear but very wet.  It's dried up now so with the forecast of minus seven tonight, the road should be OK tomorrow.  

I moved to the lounge, managed to sign in to Netflix and carried on watching 'The Last Kingdom', fell asleep and woke up at one three more or less and made my way to the kitchen.  I'd offered supper to Avatar this morning so made my bolognaise sauce, put the pasta on and delivered my offerings just before five and had mine when I came back from her house so supper over early.  Washing up done, there's pasta left and more sauce so I have my supper ready for tomorrow...nothing like forward planning.

Lots of birds feeding and I suppose I have too keep going since they've come to rely on it.  Thank goodness they're quicker than the cats that seem to linger....no casualties to date.  I don't think I shall be seeing my student tomorrow, I'm not sure how the road will be through the forest and I don't think I'm going to risk it.  I shall leave it for another day.  LN....Time to keep the home fires burning with a metal bucket handy to move it to the little petchka in the kitchen should we lose electricity.....LN