Tuesday 1st February

White rabbits.....So February is here....January has seemed very long, really low temperatures but in the main, pleasant, if not cold days.  Now I enter into the month of birthdays and the dawning of Aquarius along with the year of the tiger.  It's coming at me from all fronts.  Seven thirty start and I stayed in my pyjamas until the 'get a grip' phrase entered my head but it didn't extend to the kitchen, and I added to it with a bowl from the breakfast cornflakes.  The washing up from yesterday didn't get done until this afternoon...I was busy.  The fire from last night just needed a few sticks to get it going this morning, it started to rain from very heavy clouds so I knew it was in for the day.  I remembered that I my lesson with my student this afternoon and just as I thought about it, his mother messaged me to say that he had the dentist at four so could we bring it forward.  In fact I've put it back until Friday at ten thirty, he's on holiday from school, snow is threatened for the next two days so one day to clear and Friday I should be able to get into Djebel without any hiccups.

Avatar rang her control for my doorbell and she'd come to invite me to a fluffy pancake gathering at eleven thirty with the ladies from the village and it would have been rude not to.  She'd just left when my friend from Fotinovo appeared with a Cornish pasty that he'd made and a pork pie also attributed to his skills and he's come the back way and apparently come through forests where the sun just doesn't shine....ditch to ditch ice so decided to take the long way home for safety.  Off he went with two tins of out of date sweetcorn for fish bait, I just had time to get my coat, hat and fingerless gloves on and skip down the road to Zelinger's house for our lunchtime session.  Avatar was cookin the fluffy pancakes, nobody sat on the floor as per usual, so lunch was served on a low table and we had it on our knees. I managed two of the pancakes with fir tree syrup which I love, the home made yogurt was super but I wasn't sure of everyone dipping their spoon in, eating it and going for a second lot.  Covid has made me far more careful.  My fingerless gloves caused some mirth and I explained it was so I could leave them on when I went shopping and it came time to pay and they got the picture...now they all want some.

I came home, topped the fire up, washed up, filled the log carriers and the log basket to prepare for what might be six to twelve centimeters of snow according to the weather reports.  I settled in to Netflix for a while but at four put some chicken wings in the oven with vegetables to roast in another pan and made sure that there was enough for Avatar.  It was ready by five fifteen, I took hers over to her in a bowl with a side dish of mayo, she was surprised but extremely grateful, she invited me in but no way...I was wanting my supper too.  

I've just checked and the snow has started to fall and the temperature with it.  The garden is white over again so let's see how deep it is tomorrow morning.  I made a good call on my student's lesson.  LN......Now to stoke the fire and settle in for the night......LN

Wednesday 2nd February

Well that snow that I thought would fizzle out overnight didn't.  It was white over this morning and again I thought it would turn to rain but somehow the temperature remained at zero, the flakes got bigger and it hasn't stopped all day.  I was up at six, the fire was still going so I rescued it and got it dishing out heat and started to get on with my day.  I tackled the kitchen first at seven I was feeding the birds, the snow had covered up what I'd put out yesterday and they were soon having breakfast.  I didn't so much get dressed but put clothes over the top of my fleece pyjamas, it wasn't that I was going anywhere today and I'll have a bath later tonight and go to bed in fresh nightwear and smelling sweetly.  

I made bacon and egg for for breakfast and sat in the stairwell watching the birds fighting for what I'd put out there,  The jay appeared and they are such pretty birds, chaffinches were out and about along with the robins, tits and sparrows.  I again tidied up the kitchen and found a 'reduced to clear' pack of spicy sausages in the fridge so fried them off with onions and put them in the slow cooker along with pasata, cannelloni beans and some chili flakes...well it is cold.  Having everything under control or so I thought, I dressed for the outside and set about clearing the path to the woodstore and out to the road, The tractor had been round and cleared the road earlier and as per normal had moved the snow from the road across the drive making it much worse that it should have been.  I cleared out to the road and hoped the next time the tractor came round the driver might notice that I'd been active and he did but the third time he didn't so I had to clear it again.  At twelve I was stoking up the fire, got the biggest log I've managed to get in the burner this year and the electricity went off.  I didn't react and decided to leave it for a while, I have two hours of electricity in the UPS and fortunately it came on about half an hour later....and then went off again.  I left it again and five minutes later it was back and it's stayed up all day.

When I'd made the casserole I noticed that the sausages had a spice in them that I'm not that fond of so I put half of the casserole in a metal dish and legged it over the road for Avatar and she'd been out knocking the snow off the fruit trees.  The snow was very wet and had bent down several of the branches and I'd done that with the oak tree at the bottom of the garden, it had retained leaves when everything else had lost them for the winter.  I had my casserole and s for the rest of the day, I managed a sleep this afternoon and again went out and cleared to the woodstore and brought more wood down and cleared the main house terrace aware that the temperature tonight is supposed to be down to minus six.  Not a bad day, just over nine thousand steps and lots of exercise.  LN.... I should sleep well tonight.....LN

Thursday 3rd February

So the first of the birthdays for this month has arrived....I phoned Princess this morning and there was no reply and eventually she phoned me back and using one of our old jokes said that she was waiting for Redimix to arrive....to get her face job done now that she is getting on a little,  I said that he is due here at eleven so shouldn't be long and we had our usual laughs.  I love that girl of mine.  By now she should have received the flowers and card and it's much simpler to arrange it from the Internet and know that it's going to be delivered...it's just so slow from here thanks to Brexit....and even slower the other way.

The snow had stopped falling, it was just on zero degrees but overnight we'd had about three centimeters and the terraces were white over again as was the yard.  I made bacon and egg for breakfast, washed up and tidied the kitchen and around nine I went out and cleared the terraces and the yard, fed the birds, chased off the cats.  By now the clouds had cleared and there was a hint of sun up there so I carried on and set about outside the gate and up to the road.  Having done that I went over to Avatar's house and cleared her path and outside her gate where the snowplough had left a little heap, she came out and invited me in and I noticed that she had more little pairs of black slip-on shoes outside the door....Haciber and Beyser were inside and so when I finished I went in to join them.  They'd set up a look out point where it was warm, dry and comfortable watching out for the free food to arrive from the local council.  At twelve thirty they were still waiting so off they went...it was late and they were furious.  Avatar doesn't get it so I suggested that we went to see the council but she refused...only likes food parcels from me.

I went home and carried on clearing the snow from the Nipper to the gate and now my exit is clear should I wish to go.  I have made arrangements to give my student a lesson tomorrow so I might give it a try, it's supposed to be minus eight degrees overnight, the sky is fairly clear overhead but with looming clouds over Smolyan and a very thin crescent moon.   I settled down to watch Netflix this afternoon to finish watching the program that I'd fallen asleep in the other night and suddenly there was someone at my door shouting my name.  I went out and it was Haciber with two fluffy pancakes made by Beyser, I said thank you and had them with some pine tip syrup/  I'd no sooner settled down again and she was there again only this time had a bottle of syrup, not sure what it is so again I said thank you and off she went.  This time I did settle again and promptly fell asleep until five fifteen...it's been a hard day.

As for supper I don't think I need any after the pancakes this afternoon....I'll see how I feel later and I'll see how the weather is overnight before I make the decision as whether to go into Djebel or not tomorrow.  LN....Candle lighting tomorrow...it would have been my mother's birthday....LN

Friday 4th February

Happy birthday mum...and I've just checked and you would have been one hundred and six today.....quite a thought and that means that you were thirty when you had me.  I know that I'm doing the family chart but it never fails to amaze me what you actually miss...they are just dates that you put on paper or into a computer but it's only when you start adding and subtracting that it falls in to place.  The boy that dad wanted never lived on earth and he got saddled with me, in fact two boys died before me and he really wanted to keep the family name going and he didn't.  I didn't find out about the boys until a few years ago...no one spoke of those things then and mother had already died when I found out. My sister thirteen years older than me didn't believe it at first until my father confirmed it and he only mentioned the one, not the other.  

Only down to minus six this morning and I'd left the curtain open between the windows and the woodburner and it was sixteen this morning.  It wasn't long before the sun came up flooding the garden and the house with colour and warmth.  The water on the terraces had iced over, there was food out already from yesterday so I left the birds to it.  I phoned my student's mum and said that I wanted to change the time to this afternoon, I'd dug my car out but with last night's low temperature I though through the forest could be hairy and she suggested that I stayed safe and we moved it to next week which seemed very sensible.  So breakfast called and I made a cheese omelette and that's seen me through until now when I'm trying to think of something interesting to cook.  I had a call from my daughter telling me that the card had not arrived and that I should cause a ruck and get a credit for it...so I did.

I lit the fire although it didn't really need it but it's ticked over and kept the water in the radiators warm in preparation for tonight.  I walked the garden and found some really strange tracks in the snow and I'm none the wiser what had made them....I better Google them later.  Haciber came round this afternoon and brought me another pot of pine tip syrup, she must have load of the stuff and I remember my Avatar making it last year.  I wonder if Avatar knows that Haciber is giving it to me.  I settled in to watch Netflix this afternoon and it was a documentary that I'd heard about from breakfast television.  It was regarding a con-man that sort to take control and divest them of money and the tactics he used to do it.  The latest victims two children and her ex-husband are trying to get her away from him but it's almost an impossible task...she loves him.....and he's still getting money out of other women.  

Lovely sunset tonight but pretty swift and it was all over by five forty.  I've just thrown a big log on and I've decided that supper is going to be hot tuna and potato salad so I better get down to the kitchen.  LN....Another day of rest tomorrow.....LN

Saturday 5th February

Another beautiful day, the sun was up around the same time that I surfaced, I went out and put more seeds out for the birds and just sat watching them.  The sparrows were collecting on the japonica in the frog garden and not one made a moved to the heap of seeds until one suddenly got up the courage and left for the stone.  At that the rest followed. there was jockeying for positions, squabbling between themselves, they were spooked by something and off they went back to the japonica.  Two seconds later one left and they all followed and it began all over again.  Eventually the jay disturbed them all until he got spooked and left for the wild plum.

I laid the fire but didn't light it, there wasn't any need but it would be ready for when the sun went down. I popped over the road to Avatar's house to let her know not to cook anything for tonight, I'd got enough mince out to make enough for lasagne for both of us.  I knocked on the door since the key wasn't in the lock, she didn't appear so I started to walk home and then she opened the door and explained that she was slow off the mark this morning but that I should go in.  She hadn't even lit the fire so she set about doing it proudly using the firelighters that I'd introduced her to but only using about a quarter of one section saying that it was enough. She laid her fire very carefully and yes, it went first time so for her, frugality pays.

I went home, I'd had cornflakes before I'd set off for Avatars so go on with filling up the log basket and making my way to the woodstore and filling up the log carrier.  I was aware that it was very icy near the garage because it doesn't get much sun so I found the salt pot and liberally sprinkled it around and hacked away with the garden hoe and removed some of it.  I went out of the back door of the woodstore on to the little house terrace and remembered that the fly screen was only attached by one hinge, the top one has seized up and snapped so that became my task for the morning.  I found the screwdriver that fitted, started looking round for replacement hinges to fit the frame in the workshop but didn't find the bits that attach to the screen itself so went up to the second level of the workshop and removed two from other screens.  I started to remove the original hinges and realised that my fingers were really cold, went inside to find my fingerless gloves and then couldn't find the screwdriver...Tt was one of those days so phoned a friend for an update and spent around forty minutes on the phone by which time my finger had warmed up and so had the temperature and managed to get the old screws out, replace the hinges and all's good.  Tools away and by now it was heading for one, took to the sofa in the lounge, watched a little of the Winter Olympics and promptly fell asleep and missed most of the curling.  

At three I realised that I hadn't started the lasagne so headed for the kitchen, everything done and it was in the oven for four fifteen and out and five and over the road for five minutes past.   I noticed that there were two pairs of little shoes outside her door and thinking that she had visitors, I let myself in, knocked on the inner door holding the food away from the door and was about to tell her that I was going to put the stuff in the kitchen.  She looked surprised, the spare pair of shoes were hers and there was nobody there so change of plan.  I took the food in, put it on the table on the table mat and she said that she was going to eat it straight away so I left her to it with the usual phrase.' if you don't like it give it to the cats'.

I came home and sat in the lounge with mine on the tray and although I say it myself, it was delicious, I'd soaked the tubes first so that they were soft.  Kitchen tidied and I suddenly remembered that the light bulb in the kitchen had blown so I found out the step ladder from the conservatory, fetched a new bulb and set about removing the three screw that hold the shade in position taking care not to drop the glass that protects the bulb.  I managed to drop one of the screws but brought everything down safely and eventually managed to replace everything by putting in one screw to hold the frame in place, sliding the glass into position and then putting in the other screws.  Another job done.  Fire is going well, twenty degrees in the house and three degrees outside and only dropping to zero tonight.  It looks lime we're in for a good day again tomorrow. The only hiccup appears to be that snow is expected next Tuesday...the day of my student's lesson and the evening that I've been invited to supper with my other student's family.  LN.....I might have to have a rethink.....LN

Sunday 6th February

Funny night last night, I watch the Masked Singer, fell asleep when the next programme came on, undressed and went to bed and played silly sudoku until one thirty.  I didn't sleep well and woke at five thirty, tried to get back off but couldn't so out of bed and doing 'stuff' at seven.  Fire cleaned out, logs in and carrier topped up, bird food topped up and by now the sun was showing its little face so no fire needed until late this afternoon.  The usual birds were active but there was competition between two jays and the late comer to the morning session was aggressively attacked by the early bird that not only wanted the worm but all the bird seeds.  It's not that there was a shortage of it but it was pretty determined that the second one didn't feel at home.  Quite a lot of tits and sparrows were feeding but didn't see any of the finches this morning.

I made toast and apricot jam for breakfast, didn't feel on top of the world and have only just come to life so to speak.  It was such a lovely day that I sorted out a load of washing and pegged it out and fetched it in at three, it's now aired and can be put away.  I've had another of those blotches come up on my right elbow and it itches like crazy.  The last lot were due to the doctor prescribing tablets that I was allergic to and I'm wondering if I've now become allergic to the new ones.  The last time I just gave them up altogether and it went away in quicksticks...time to diet, give up mayo and all the goodies and let nature take its course.

The inside temperature went up to thirty five in the stairwell today and the rest of the house around early twenties.  I went out and sat down the bottom of the garden on the wall and sometimes it really hits me how beautiful this place is.  It's the space that makes it so, I don't ever feel 'crowded in' unlike in the UK.  Even when you go shopping you don't feel swamped.  I watched the Winter Olympics today and zoned in on the curling, UK were up against it but managed to pull back and beat China but were beaten by Norway this afternoon.  I also watched the ski jumping...not for the faint hearted.

Settled down with FB today and noticed that Gregory Porter is giving a concert at Plovdiv in July...looks like I might be getting tickets, he's a class act.  It's a bit pricy for Bulgaria but what else is money for....it would be more expensive to see him in the UK.  I made pasta bake with the remains of the bolognaise from last night and used a packet of Béchamel sauce to top it off and it didn't taste as good as my own sauce from yesterday so no more cutting corners for me.  I also baked an apple stuffed with raisins and sultanas, honey and brown sugar...so much for my diet.

Rugby is playing to itself downstairs so it's time I put the boiler on and thought about a relaxing bath.  I'll check out the arm tomorrow...it might mean a trip to the doctor or just stop tablets again and see what happens.  There's something not right and it would be good to know what it is.  LN.....Otherwise, a good day......LN

Monday 7th February

Five thirty start so I gave the fire the kiss of life, emptied the ashes, put a decent size log on and went back to bed with a coffee.  Did my brain exercises with sudoku until I got tired of doing it and couldn't beat my previous records so was out of bed at seven.  I went upstairs and washed and dressed, came down and tidied the kitchen and topped up my coffee and put the Olympics on to check the overnight happenings.  I eventually made a toasted cheese sandwich for breakfast and put half of yesterdays pasta bake in the freezer and the other half in the fridge to have later.

I put food out for the birds and they were soon gathering on the terrace.  I spotted the jay earlier in the walnut at the bottom of the garden but it didn't take it long to spot the activity and head up to claim his and everybody else's share....well he is a big bird.  I started to tidy the cushions in the lounge and stripped off an orange one intending to wash it by hand but instead went to the bedroom and took the quilt cover and bottom sheet from the bed and it all went into the machine.  It was a reasonable day, not much sun but I thought it better to dry the clothes inside and the nest and bottom sheet dry very quickly because they are man made fibre.  I put them on the banister rail but the upstairs desk and they were soon ready to put back on the bed. I also tidied up the heap of kitchen cleaning clothes on the shelf under the sink and measured up the kitchen table benches to make cushions for them.  It's been on my mind for a while and I've never got round to it but I seem to have more time this winter so need to fill it.  This also prompted me to find out what material I have in the upstairs chest in the sewing room and I've got plenty to do the proposed exercise.  I managed to get to the bottom of the chest and put it back in some sort of order and I found material that I'd brought over from the UK with me and done nothing with.....yet....watch this space.  

I made another coffee, heated up the pasta bake and had it watching Countdown...a little more mental exercise.  I cleared away and made the bed up ready for tonight so that's another job done, I checked emails and I've been getting lots from a carpet manufacturer since I started checking out offers on a certain website.....I want to replace the carpet in my bedroom.  It might also entail a trip to Haskovo on the next good day we have, that's where I bought the last ones from.  

I'm with my student tomorrow afternoon and supposedly going to my other student's parents for supper but I'm going to have to wait to see what the weather does overnight.  We're supposed to have snow starting tonight and going on until tomorrow morning and then again tomorrow afternoon so the last thing I want to do it to be coming back through the forest tomorrow night.  Time to think about supper for tonight....it might even be beans on toast.  LN.....Tomorrow is all in the lap of the gods.....LN

Tuesday 8th February

Six thirty start and first job was to check how much snow had fallen in the night.  It was snowing last night when I went to bed but the terraces were so wet that nothing was sticking and it was the same this morning.  The only difference was that there was a very strong wind and fortunately it was to the front of the property coming from the road side.  I made coffee, opened the curtains, brought the fire back to life and put the laptop on the stairwell desk on and the Olympics.  I watched the curling during various sessions in the day and was disappointed when Britain didn't bring back the bronze.

Washed and dressed, it was a cold morning, the snow was building at this point and I made the decision that I wouldn't be going to my student's for supper tonight, the last thing I wanted was to get stuck in the snow if it did start to settle or the wrong side of a tree if it came down as I travelled back late at night.  Call me chicken!!  I messaged her and told her the bad news and she understood, I kept the student lesson this afternoon on the back burner, I wanted to see if the snow stopped falling and I did need a few items from Djebel.  I meandered around for the morning between emails, taking photos of the birds, more tidying of the fabric chest and then it was time to make a decision and I was ready to leave at two.  I got the Nipper out, put on my long padded coat that I'd bought from Greece a few years back, popped over to Avatar's house to see if she wanted anything from Djebel and set off.

There were still patches of ice on the road but no new snow had settled.  I parked up on the main car-park and joined my student's mother in the shop and we had a catch-up....it was good to be out and about again.  My student arrived back from school at around three fifteen and I gave him ten minutes to sort himself out and we had a fairly lively session with the budgerigar joining in as well which made us both laugh.  First job though was to relight the fire, his mother had told him to put a log on, he'd forgotten so it was back to the drawing board Cecil.  Lesson over by five fifteen, down to the shop for a quick goodbye, supermarket for fruit, onions and carrots, bread and now it could snow all it wants.  Home for six thirty, chicken and veg in the oven for supper, lit the fire and now everything is working as it should and supper should be ready any time soon.

The temperature has really dropped again tonight and it's very cloudy so it might very well snow and stick or it might be too cold for snow which should make my daughter laugh, it normally does when I use that phrase.  And now to check supper and the fire, it might be time to throw another log on...it's all go at this house.  LN....It was really good to be out and about today.....LN....Log on and chicken turned over....LN

Wednesday 9th February

It was so light outside that I thought we'd had snow overnight but no...I was just late waking up.  I was into one of these recurring dreams that you can't seem to exit and I really felt sluggish when I got out of bed, very little spring in my step.  First thing was that I noticed the casualty of the bird house that the wind had brought down.  I was tempted to get the hammer and nails out but it needs more than that and since the wind was still blowing, I left it where it was until later in the day....and it's still waiting.

I washed, dressed, walked over to Avatar's house with the clementine that I'd bought for her yesterday and she offered me a ten leva note and she said that she wouldn't release it until she got her seven leva change and we laughed about it.  She mentioned that she hadn't quite got enough blue wool to finish the second sock she was knitting me and I said that I thought I might have more at home.  She also had a problem with her overhead light, one of the bulbs had gone so I suggested that we checked what type it was and I'd get her a replacement the next time I went into Kardjali from my light shop.  She said it was OK and one bulb of the fixture still worked so that was enough for her and I reiterated that I'd get a replacement, if the other one went she wouldn't have any light at all and she now thought it was a good idea.  I went home and realised that I didn't have any more blue but could supply red or cream which she refused, I also took one of my halogen bulbs over but it was the wrong size and handed her seven leva and received the ten note.   Transactions complete.

I returned home and  carried on sorting out the chest in my downstairs bedroom and moved the clothes that my guest leaves here into the wooden chest so that everything was together and put it all in a travel bag that I found in the upstairs sewing room in a much larger bag.  Having moved the clothes out I managed to get to the bottom of the other chest and found enough material to make my cushions for the kitchen and I now know what's in there.  Surprising what you forget.  This afternoon has been a 'more sort out day' and I think it might be a sewing day tomorrow especially now I've decided which material to use.  Lit the fire at five tonight and it's got a pleasant warmth to it, it started the day at minus three, climbed during the day but I think it might be on its way down again but at least the wind has dropped.

Not sure what I'm having for supper so need to check out not so much availability as to what I effort I want to put in.  LN.....Time to go see....LN

Thursday 10th February

Late start this morning and I woke up sluggish and not too interested in the day.  I didn't bother with breakfast or coffee and settled for water, no morning television....I didn't want to shout at it and no Olympics.  Instead I got dressed, checked emails on the upstairs computer and at nine thirty my doorbell rang, or rather my neighbour was there with the wireless control and was wanting my attention.  I opened the door and put down the drawbridge, she didn't want to come in but had my new socks that she'd finished in her hand.  She'd decided to finish them off with beige wool and it wasn't too far away from the one that I'd suggested.  The only difference was that she'd undone the top of the one that she'd already finished and they were both the same....such a perfectionist and they're super.  I'd asked her to make these longer than the first pair she'd made and she had.

I carried on with the tidying in the sewing room, the material is now all back in the chest and I have a bag of clothes that I've got to find where I can take them to a charity collection point.  I've not finished yet though, I've got the chest of summer clothes in my bedroom to go through...it's a slow old process.  I'm not very good at letting go of stuff but it's not a solution to keep buying chests to store it in.  I've also emptied four ski bags and now they're stored in the biggest one...so much space.

I did watch some of the curling this afternoon, Steph's Packed Lunch and Countdown and suddenly felt hungry so I opened a tin of tuna, added beetroot and baked beans and it was an interesting mixture and I'd do it again.  This seemed to revive my mood and energy so I went down and washed up from yesterday and today, lit the fire, filled the log basket and the log carrier, emptied the peelings into the compost bin, the remains of the slow cooker over the wall for the animals.  The fire was slow to start but at last it's sending water round the radiators.  Now to settle in for the night....it's been a beautiful day, the temperature is dropping now so time to cosy up.  LN.....The bonfire has to wait for tomorrow......LN

  

Friday 11th February

So I stopped up last night to watch 'Ronnie - the actual' get knocked out by the Australian that ponces round the table.....I should have gone to bed, I was waiting for the come-back that never came.  Straight to sleep and it was just before seven when I woke up, salvaged the fire since it was minus three outside and seventeen in so now really necessary but it's nice to look at.  I put a load of washing in the machine, it was such a beautiful day once the sun came up so it was a good opportunity to get it outside to dry.  Washed and dressed, made poached eggs on toast for breakfast and decided to rejig the kitchen shelves under the island workshop and move the saucepans up a level, I always asked myself why I put them on the lower shelf in the first place.  

The birds were pretty active this morning and so were the cats.  I think a couple have come into season so that means that we should have another lot of newbies.  I'm very tempted to have a word with the Kmet to see it he can organise a program where we have the vet come out and maybe put them on the pill....Id feed them each and every day if it would reduce the population.  I just don't thank that there's much education regarding cat breeding and how to stop it.  

So pegged the washing out and went down to the bottom of the garden with the waste paper for burning and had a burn up.  Fortunately the wind was blowing away from the washing and over the hillside and it missed me completely as I sat on the wall in the sun until my bottom got cold...the frost must have worked its way into the concrete.  I picked up the branches that had blown from the trees and put them onto the fire, pulled the tops of last years Jerusalem artichokes and slung them over the wall.  The log carriers were filled up, log basket sorted and the rest of the day was mine.  

This afternoon I sat at the table in the stairwell and suddenly decided that I was going to do an experiment with the netting that they put over the house insulation before they apply the finishing and a latch hook that was left over from an old knitting machine that I'd been given and it had never worked.  I cut a decent sized piece of the net, cut some wool up into short lengths and had to work out how to use the latch to knot the wool to the netting...and I did it.  I've now managed to work about a six inch square and have enjoyed doing it.  Knitting frustrates me and crocheting I always seem to get the wrong size hook and it's either too big or too small and I end up undoing it.

Made tuna and potato salad with carrots, onions and beetroot, washed up afterwards and I appear to have made enough for another meal tomorrow.  I was tempted to take it over for my Avatar but not sure it would have gone down well.  Same again with the weather please chaps, I might even head into Kardjali and have a walk round the shops or get stuck into my carpet making.  LN....A very relaxing day......LN

Saturday 12th February

It's been an exciting day.  I woke up just before six, tried to go back off again and no joy so started my day early.  It was cold out, freezing fog so I decided that I would have another uneventful day, not bother with going into Kardjali, I really didn't have much to buy.  I brought the fire back to life, put the Olympics on and carried on with my carpet kit remaining in my PJ's sitting in the stairwell with not a care in the world.  I made bacon and egg for breakfast, washed up, put the washing away and went back to my work for the day and at ten everything changed.  My other student from Djebel asked if she could come round with her sister and the baby for a visit this afternoon and I assumed that that meant around two o'clock.  I messaged back that it would be OK, that I'd just have to get the hoover out and was looking forward to seeing them.  

So hoover out, woodwork polished, went to borrow a packet of biscuits from my neighbour so I didn't have to go into Djebel to buy some, biscuits in hand I came back home and at twelve decided to have a shower and wash my hair and at twelve fifteen there was a knock on the conservatory door...they were early by my reckoning but I let them know that I knew they were there, told them to come in and find seats, I went back in the bathroom and put on the clothes that I'd just taken off, put a brush through my wet hair and tied it back.  By this time they'd settled in, my student, her sister and husband and the baby and realised that they'd brought me a cake and an orchid for a present.  I made drinks, blew the candle out on the cake, they sang happy birthday. I cut the cake and provided plates and forks and we settled down.  The baby was being cuddled and looked strangely at me since I don't really know her and then suddenly started screeching for attention as we started a conversation that didn't include her.  I've  come across this before so I let out a loud screech to match hers and she looked at me in surprise and then smiled.  I turned to her and said that it was her turn for another one and at eleven months old and I was speaking in English not Turkish so she didn't really understand but it stopped.  They weren't stopping long, they were off to make more visits so by one thirty they were on their way and I was tidying up the kitchen, drying my hair and about to settle down for the rugby and I had more visitors.

My friend from the neighbouring village had popped in for a catch-up so kettle on again, more plates and forks for more cake, we put the world to rights and discussed what we were doing for my birthday later this week.  We'd talked about going to Erdine in Turkey but I think we've settled for Greece, the Saturday market, a walk on the beach and a meal at out favourite restaurant if it's open and another if not.  Off they went around four so I took the packet of biscuits back so that I wasn't tempted to eat them and armed with four portions of the cake I delivered them to my neighbours.  I knew that it was just too much for me to manage.  I then realised that my other neighbour who has the next door garden was working  there so I wrapped her a portion up. shouted to her in the garden and told her what it was hanging it on the fence for when she was about to go home.

I eventually sorted the kitchen out, washed the towels, made me a coffee and had another piece of cake and there's only one slice left now which I'm sure I can manage after my tuna salad supper left over from last night.  What a lovely day I've had but I suddenly asked how old I was by one of my neighbours and I realise that three of them are babies....I'm older than three of my old ladies.  LN.....Now there's something to ponder on......LN

Sunday 13th February

Happy birthday to my number one son today...I don't like to think how old he is...where did all those years go?  I hope the card company that I was relying on delivered otherwise I shall be chasing them for a refund.  

I woke up at five thirty and fortunately I snuggled down again and it was eight when I forced myself into the day.  It was a cloudy start and has remained that way all day, it's been cold, windy and even though the thermometer showed four degrees, the wind chill went straight through you.  I washed and dressed in chunky gear, salvaged the fire and made bacon and egg for breakfast to set me up for the day.  I went over to see Avatar to check if she had any wool left that I'd off loaded on her and I was looking for the fawn colour and she had.  It's to work into the rug thingy that I'm making and this afternoon I've finished the first run of white and have now started on the fawn colour...all this while watching the curling.  Meanwhile, she was cooking her lunch which smelled very good and I came back with a small bowl of it and half a loaf of bread that she'd made and there was nothing for it but to have it as soon as I got back setting myself up for the afternoon.

Other than that it's been a matter of keeping the home fires burning but this afternoon I fancied something sweet.  I cored and sliced up a couple of apples, put them into a jug with water, brown sugar, sultanas and into the microwave with it for about eight minutes on high.  I removed the jug and added honey, back into the microwave for a little longer and had it with ice-cream.  The remainder of the apples I skinned and put them in one of the containers that I was due to return to Avatar, added ice-cream and headed back over the road with it with the remainder of the containers that I'd brought over earlier.  

Fire topped up when I got home, I checked the forecast for tonight and it's apparently going down to minus four again so we're back to normal for the time of year.  Shan't need supper, I've had enough food for today and I might not be moving far from the fire if the temperature is low tomorrow....I've got plenty of food in and don't have any need to subject myself to the elements.  LN.....Time to pull up the drawbridge....LN

Monday 14th February

So I suppose it's Happy Valentine's Day for those still interested, for the rest of us it's just another day on the calendar.  February for me is all about birthdays...just so many of them.

Silly early start but I managed to get off again until eight fifteen which made my morning OK except that my lower lip had swollen up again and I know not why.  I've also got a few red blotches on my arms again so I really think that I'm due another trip to the doctor to see if they can identify what is really causing it.  I did the normal morning chores and it was suddenly nine of the clock and thinking about it, I hadn't been out of bed that long.  It was another cold start, minus three and white over and the sun has been out and warmed inside but it was still pretty chill outside, the wind was cold.  I did managed to tidy up the under terrace garden, pulled up the gladioli stalks from last year and dead-headed the Michaelmas daisies.

I didn't do much today, the highlight of afternoon was a phone call from Princess as a catch up and her calls do cheer me up and we bring out the humour in each other.  She's on half term and I think she decided that she needed a break from housework hence the call.  I'm having a problem picking up hair from the landing carpet, the hoover creates so much static that the hair just sticks to the carpet.  We then both started brainstorming a solution and came up with sellotape and a pair of shoes...I'm working on it.  Enough of the fun, she went back to cleaning her cooker, I filled up the log basket, filled the log carriers and lit the fire at five.  

Out on the town tomorrow with a visitor to the region, we're meeting at ten thirty and let's see where we go from there.  We shall probably end up here since she hasn't seen the house.  I have mince in the fridge that I should be something with for supper so I suppose I better get it into gear.  LN.....Quiz night tonight on the television....LN

Tuesday 15th February

Happy birthday to my grandma who would have been really old today...one hundred and thirty five to be precise...that's what following find my past lets you find out.  I remember my grandma very well....she had a leather chaise longue in the living area and I used to pretend, at the age of seven may I add, that I knew how to swim and I used to demonstrate it.  Never tried it out in water at that point, my mother and father couldn't swim and I didn't manage it until we went to the local swimming baths for lessons when I was nine.  After that I was OK as long as I could touch the bottom of the pool and now at my grand old age, I swim like a fish but keeping my head complete out of the water.  I was never a natural.

I've had a lovely day today.  I picked up my guest for the day at ten thirty in Djebel and we came back home.  She'd seen the house around eight years ago and I think I've updated it a little since then.  We had coffee and a chat, a good catch-up,  Her circumstances have changed, she was visiting her son and they have a three year old daughter who's taking to the life here very well...local nursery school and learning some of the language.  Just before one we set off for Zlatograd, taking the road through Velikdenche which still had lots of ice and snow in the forest where the sun never shines and eventually made the main road to Zlatograd and then on to the old village.  Most of the tourist shops were shut so we couldn't see very much of the dinky doos so we made out way to the hotel and ordered lunch.  It was a nice day outside but fresh, we were going to eat outside but everyone was smoking so we chose inside instead.  The service was very good, the barman spoke English but I persevered with my Bulgarian and it was understood.  I ordered pizza for myself, salad, cheesy chips which I hadn't had for ages and something cooked in a pot was very well received.  Soft drinks for both and the whole meal only came to thirty five lev...try doing that in England.  Very pleasant conversation and I was invited back to her son's house for supper tonight but there was no room within....I was utterly stuffed after the pizza and we even left some chip on the plate....lightweights.

Back to where she was staying and I saw Bekir and his son working on flowerbeds/vegetable beds and I mentioned that I had one or two jobs for him to do that wouldn't take up much of his time namely the leaking outlet pipe to the downstairs toiled where the seal has gone.  I've bought the part but I think the toilet has to be removed to fit the new connector and he's the man to do it...after all, he fitted it in the first place.  I was invited to look over the work that had been done, I saw this property from the beginning and was interested in how they had developed it.

Home for six thirty, fire lit, don't need supper and I probably shan't want breakfast.  Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow unless Bekir finds a slot in his current work to fix my toilet....fingers crossed he will.  It's supposed to be the last but one of the winter moons and it's very bright tonight heralding another frost I fear.   LN.....Sunny days but chill.....LN

Wednesday 16th February

It's been a funny old day....very quiet for most of it and a rush to the finishing post and the race has been delayed until Sunday or Monday....and now I'll explain.

I was watching the television last night until pretty late and fell upon a play and when I looked up it was two thirty and really time that I went to bed.  I got into bed and tried to settle down and nothing happening so I started to play Sudoku until I fell sleepy and by now it was heading towards three thirty so I tried again and it was just before seven thirty when I woke up.  For the last few days I've had an enormous amount of energy...spring must be on its way.

I washed and dressed, made scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast, did a load of washing, pegged it out putting the pegs in firmly, it could have landed up in Greece if not.  The sun was playing hide and seek with the clouds but the washing was soon dry.  I watched the Olympics but got out my mini carpet and settled down to add more wool to the canvas.  I had good intentions of going into Djebel and buying a cake for the ladies for tomorrow but it just seemed too much like hard work.  I also thought about getting my head down but there was no need, I felt OK.  At three I got the washing in from the line and on to the airer and went back to my mini carpet and at four my phone rang and it was Bekir asking if it was OK to come round and sort out the leaking toilet which I welcomed with open arms.  I hate it when things just don't work as thy should do.  

He arrived with his son, attempted to sort out the leaking junction pipe from the toilet outlet to the pipe that takes it down the garden.  He suggested silicon and I said no to that idea, I didn't want something that was going to be a temporary measure, I wanted it to last.  He managed to get the old connector pipe out but with difficulty and unfortunately the one that I'd bought was the wrong size so we went into Djebel and bought the correct one.  Bekir had done the original installation but he'd forgotten how the pipes under the tiles went but once the connector was removed he realised that taking the back tiles off from the ledge at the back of the toiled would not solve the problem.  The other problem was that the toilet is set in concrete so the next solution was to remove the concrete from round the bottom of the toilet to release it from the floor so I checked the little house for any spare floor tiles just in case we had any accidents...and I had some.  After a while I suggested that they left if and came back for a full day.  It was obviously going to take longer, it was five thirty already and they'd worked a full day somewhere else before they came to me.  He's got work tomorrow somewhere else so he will phone me and come either Sunday or Monday and off they went.  I have the second toilet upstairs so no real problem.

Djebel in the morning to get a cake to distribute round the village and then I have my student in the afternoon and will take more birthday cake to friends in Djebel.  So now the moon is playing hide and seek with the clouds....the temperature should be better overnight.  LN.....Not so late to bed tonight.......LN

Thursday 17th February

Well it was another late night and I was still trying to go to sleep at two thirty this morning and it was seven when I woke  up and still managed too stay awake all day.  It's been a full on day, lots of cards and good thoughts coming my way, greetings from my ladies telling me that there's lots more years yet to get under my belt and wishing me lots of health to achieve it.  

It was a little cold outside so I stayed in except for emptying the remains of the bird seed onto the terrace and filling up the container with more seeds from the large water bottle where it was moved to when the vermin chewed through the plastic bag it came in.  I went to get my breakfast, realised that I had a few specks of green on the bread so that again went out to the birds or cats and didn't bother getting more bread from the freezer, I was going into Djebel in a short time to buy the cake for the village.  Breakfast went on to the back burner while I washed and dressed for town but then I got involved in answering messages, emails wishing me a happy birthday and organising my documents for the trip to Greece at the weekend.  Eventually into the Nipper at ten thirty, I parked up and went to my favourite cake shop and settled on the large on.  I also bought myself a bright yellow pot of lilies and was given a hyacinth in a pot.  I popped into the supermarket and bought eggs, bread, spicy sausages and a fruited brioche bread and headed for home ready for the delivery service of cake to the village.  I sliced it up, parcelled it up, walked round the village with it and confused the ladies, they had cake on Sunday so why two lots.  I explained and they got it.

Lovely cards and my daughter phoned and so did my son later in the day.  I delivered enough cake to my older students mum's shop for the family and took the rest with me to my student lesson and had a super present of a selection of perfumed oils from the family.  As for the lesson, my student had done lots of homework for me, we read through a text but he just wanted to practice conversational  English and that was OK with me.  It's all about confidence.

Home for six thirty, I lit the fire, cooked one of the spicy sausages with onions and had it with the crust of the new loaf. More telephone conversations and my niece broke the news on FB posting a photograph that must have been taken just over fifty years ago.  LN      Thanks to all my friends and family for making it a special day......LN

Friday 18th February

Seven thirty start and it was only one o'clock when I went to bed last night.  Tonight I have to set the alarm for tomorrow morning, I have to be at the departure lounge by seven thirty and with the lane being out of action, it's going to take me a little longer so early night for me.  I was a little slow off the mark, I was watching the Olympics and working on my magic carpet sitting in the sun.  The fire was worth salvaging, it wasn't too cold out but the wind was keen, I could have relied on the sun but thought I'd just be really settled for the day.

Facebook was pretty active, late birthday greetings coming in since I don't make my birthday common knowledge on FB but had been picked up by a few friends from other comments made and published.  It suddenly hit me that it was time I got into outside clothing and not wallowing around in PJ's so I washed and dressed and headed to the kitchen, realised that I had some left over spicy sausage and onions already to go so made an omelette with cheese in it.  That's kept me going all day and just as I was finishing up a couple of friends arrived with a late card and present....the card hand painted and that's already framed and the jar of marmite remains unopened at the moment.  I'd run out and forgotten to bring some back from the UK so it was a welcome surprise and purchased in Greece so can be replaced when finished.  We sat in the sun and had coffee on the terrace and off they went to Kardjali on a shopping expedition.  

Washing went into the machine, it was such a brilliant drying day but everything needed securing well or I was likely having to rescue it from Greece.  I felt an urge to have another attempt at finding the relatives that went out to Canada to live but hit so many brick walls that I abandoned the attempt and settled for the curling and how good was that.  It was a really long game, right to the wire and we knocked out Sweden in the semi-finals and have made it through to the finals as have the men.  At least we will have two medals, unsure of the colour at the moment but well done to the teams.

No need to eat anything else tonight, I finished the cake off this afternoon while I watched the curling, got the washing in and it's now sitting on airer especially with the fire going all day, the house is really cosy.  I've just put the boiler on for a soak in the bath....clothes will be put at the ready, market in Komatini tomorrow morning early and then we'll play it by ear...market garden and a restaurant and it depends on which ones are open as to which one we choose.  LN.....Bath-time calls.....LN

Saturday 19th February

At two thirty this morning I had a nagging feeling that I needed to take a Covid test before I went with my friends to Greece just in case I'd picked up the bug and it would be discovered at the test point at the Greek border crossing.  I tried to get back to sleep but couldn't so found a test pack and carried it out and it was all OK with the customary 'C' being indicated.  By the time I'd faffed around it was too late to get back off again, I'd set the alarm for six, we were having an early start to the crossing to beat the traffic that can build up, I was having to go via Velikdenche and I wasn't sure of the travel time so I set off at six fifty and arrived at their house at seven twenty five.  We were ready to leave at seven thirty and at the border crossing, there wasn't even a queue, passports checked. passenger locator forms checked and we were through the border and down to the virus check and we got the thumbs up...we were free to carry on.

First stop in Komitini was the market and some stall holders were only just setting up while others were in full voice.  Fresh fish, fresh vegetables and clothes lucky dips were all to be had and this time I controlled myself and bought nothing....I have too many clothes already.  It was cold out of the sun and once we'd finished at the market we headed into town and walked round for a while, bought steak from the indoor market and then back into the car and made a beeline for the villages along the coast and the sea.  By now the temperature had climbed and in the sun it was very pleasant.  We made our way back to Fanari which is my favourite spot on the coast, coffee sitting in the sun and then an early lunch which we lingered over in the fish restaurant which turned out to be very busy for February.  Homeward bound with a stop off at Lidl which is much bigger and better than the one in Djebel, back to the border crossing and we handed our passports over for stamping, the boot was checked and we were back in Bulgaria and only two cars in front of us so no time at all for the process to take place.

The idea was to have the steak at my friend's house but instead I brought it home with me, I'd had such a good lunch that I'd really not got any space for it so it's sitting in the fridge and will be kept for tomorrow.  Lovely day, it was good to be out and about and Greece is so near and needs visiting at least every two months or so....I must make entries in my diary and as long as you go early to the crossing before the Romanians get up and about.....it's no great effort.  I've taken lots of photos and have spend time trying to get the off the phone since I didn't take my camera and it will have to wait until tomorrow.  I fell asleep watching the television this evening and didn't wake up until eight thirty, catching up on the sleep I didn't have in the early hours.....and now to bed for more catch up.  LN......Steak supper tomorrow....along with photos of today....LN

Sunday 20th February

What a silly night last night and I'm so pleased that the Olympics have finished.  I'd watched most of the curling, the ups and downs and slides on the ice so it was inevitable that I would watch the GB final with Japan.  I somehow got into watching Saturday night TV, the BBC had announced that there would be a warm up before the even, I was also watching Notting Hill, an old film but I'd never seen it and before I knew it it was two so I decided to stay up.  It was very much GB's game, Japan played well but were no real competition for the women and by half time there it was on the cards that GB was going to take the gold but there's many a slip between cup and lip.

I lasted the course, I'd kept the fire in and went to bed at five thirty this morning and woke up at eight and have been going ever since.  I made toast for breakfast, fed the birds, left the washing up, brought the fire back to life, got dressed in work clothes and promptly sat down in the lounge and put on Netflix.  I hadn't got any series on the go so looked at the options available and thought I'd give 'Kurt Wallander' a go and watched the first episode.  At this point I would normally carry on and watch the second but I switched it off, collected the household rubbish, leather waistcoat on. work boots, firelighter and headed down to the bottom of the garden.  I took the lid from the burning barrel, cleared out the tin cans ready for the container in the village and noticed that there was a hefty branch of one of the trees in the bottom garden that had broken off.  I got the fire going first, fetched the saw from the little house and removed the branch, cut it up and that went in the bin too.  I put the lid back on so that nothing escaped and headed back up the garden and decided to mend the bird table that had got damaged in the storm.  I didn't make it and it was very difficult to take apart, I modified it slightly and made a temporary fix of the roof to the supports with nails and I'll get some rubber roof tiles to protect the roof form the weather.  My attention was drawn to the raised garden in front of the little house wall and the bottom rail had given way and soil was escaping and it just looked untidy.  I've now replaced the  bottom rail but I've yet to add the finishing old engine oil coat to protect it...time was marching on at this point.  Tools, screws and nails away, finally swept the little house terrace collecting up the rubbish that had collected over the winter and took the old wood removed from the repair and got rid of that on the bonfire that was still happily ticking away.

I decided to cook an early supper so the steak brought back from Greece was cooked on the griddle pan in butter and oil, towards the end of the cooking I added sliced onions to the pan to caramelise them and to finish it off fried an egg and all served on a slice of bread.  The steak was OK, a little on the big size but I managed it all and there's very little left for the dogs only the bone trimmings.  I'm feeling tired now  but will stretch it out until after Antiques Roadshow and then get my little  head down for some catch-up bedtime.  It's been a pleasant day temperature wise and I was into post winter tidying and felt that I'd achieved quite a lot.  I've managed to do my ten thousand Fitbit steps and tomorrow looks like being another spring day so I might get some flower seeds started off and I've got vegetable planters that just need compost, seeds and water.  It's the first time I've tried them so I'll e trying out beetroot, carrots and potatoes in three of them,  You actually use them to fully grow the vegetables, not transplant the seedlings to the garden.  Bekir is supposed to be coming tomorrow to fix the downstairs toiled but I haven't heard from him yet so still up in the air.  LN.....I've got plenty to get up to.....LN

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