Friday 11th March

I ended up playing silly games in bed last night switching the light off at two.  Unfortunately I didn't manage to sleep in any later than six thirty so I was up and at 'em, getting the fire going again eventually.  I hadn't got any small tinder to start it off so I went out to the wood store and found some of the smaller logs but it was evil outside.  The thermometer inside showed that the outside temperature was minus six and with the wind whipping round, it sure felt like it.  I filled up the log carrier brought it inside and it didn't take long before the hot water was belting around the radiators and with the sun coming up it felt very good very quickly.  I opened up the curtains to bring in what the sun was offering and settled down on the little sofa and put on Netflix and my series but rationing myself to one episode.  

I made a decision to go into Djebel to buy a few items since the snow was very light and it wasn't going to deposit much today.  I dressed for the outside and put another sweater over my fleece, padded trousers and I was good to go.  I went over to see Avatar to see if she was OK, put my mask on, she had seen me walking towards her house and opened the door.  I didn't go in, asked her if there was anything she wanted from Djebel and she said clemantines and I thought she was joking.  I'd bought her about two kilograms the other day but she wasn't.  I also suggested that she came in to Djebel if she wanted money from the cash-point or alternatively I could get the money out for her, with receipt showing her balance and telephone notification that money has been withdrawn, it's common practice in Bulgaria.  

Off I went to Djebel, first stop cash-point for the pair of us, onwards to the supermarket and I first got her clemantines, got them weighed up, paid for them and put the change with the receipt into the bag with the fruit.  Next my shopping and I was homeward bound within twenty minutes of arriving in town.  I parked up, unloaded my shopping to the porch, and walked over the road with the clemantines, card and receipt and kept my mask on and went into the house.  We sat at opposite ends of the room and she updated me on the saga of Beyser from the other day.  She'd got drawn into it by Beyser's grandson, who drives the bread wagon and firstly they had to break sin since the key was on the inside and once in she ended up helping Beyser to get dressed and only realised what a predicament she could have put herself in afterwards.  Hence my mask.  We sorted out the finance. I took ten leva to cover the last two lots of clemantines and I went home, put my shopping away, made some local type corned beef sandwiches for lunch, promptly had an afternoon nap and have had a very lazy afternoon.  

Chicken wings and veg in the oven for tonight and are more or less ready now, the temperature has not got above minus three point five all day and tonight it's destined to go down to minus eleven.  At least the wind has dropped and it's been dry all day.  I've just been out and filled up the starter wood bin, supper is ready and I'm settled in for the night.  LN.....Spring seems so far away.....LN

Saturday 12th March

Well another surprise at seven this morning...it was white over again, snowed in the night and the temperature was minus six.  I noticed that the feeding stone was covered in snow and the birds waiting in the forsythia so I went out and put the bird seed down and they were soon after it.  I didn't linger long, it was cold and that wind was icy.  The jay was making several visits but I had other fish to fry, lit the fire from last night embers, cooked spicy sausage and fried egg for breakfast, toyed with the idea of a bath but instead settled for a shower.  It only means that I can wash my hair in comfort and not have to angle myself in the bath to rinse the soap out of it.  I dried and dressed quickly, dried my hair and the day was all mine and stretched before me.  What did I do with it?  Very little.

I caught up on the news from Ukraine and noticed that Bulgaria is advertising for properties that might be used for refugees.  Full details of the properties have to be submitted to the government and I wonder what response they will have.  I haven't seen Avatar today....I think we all feel safer in our own houses until this threat is over, I know I do and even though I can take a test and confirm that I'm OK.....you're not sure if the others are.

I finished off 'The Last Kingdom' and it didn't really follow the books so now I've got about three books to go to retrace the actual story.  Utred has been returned to his family seat in Northumberland much sooner that the author intended and I thought his daughter died but now she's established in her father's castle.  Apparently there are no more series planned, just a film to wrap it up for the followers believing that #destiny is everything'.

Not a clue what is on the menu tonight, the fire is already stoked up and when I went out to take photos of the sunset, there were snowflakes in the wind.  That's probably how it started last night.  LN.....More photo's if it's white over tomorrow......LN

Sunday 13th March

Slept through until seven this morning, minus seven outside and needed to start the fire straight away which was easy since it was still going from last night.  I didn't bother with breakfast, emails and Facebook and nothing much going on.  I fed the birds outside and they were soon round especially the jays and sparrows, blackie was hopping it's way round the garden foraging for anything it might find.

I'd washed up from last night and decided to dirty the kitchen again and put sliced onions in a pan with spicy sausage and fry it off.  I opened a tin of cannelloni beans, threw everything into the slow cooker and set it to high......supper was in.  I set off to see Avatar to let her know not to put anything on for supper, there was enough for both of us and outside Haciber's house sat an ambulance. I was wearing my mask and pointed my finger towards Beyser's house to check on the news and he said that she was already in Djebel as was Zelinger.  Apparently the ambulance had taken Haciber to the doctor in Djebel, he'd confirmed that she had Covid and had to stay in the house and not go round the village.  So that's three down and that's all because Zelinger had a visitor from Turkey and since no one is jabbed, it doesn't take long.  And since they're all or heading towards their eighties....vulnerable to say the least.

I chopped more starter wood and filled up the log carriers and the log basket.  I had another go at the old wood sitting in the old house and only came in when I got cold despite extra layers.  I intended having a bonfire but instead dug up some of the chickweed from the little bed between the steps, moved into the little house and planted up some tobacco seeds that I'd bought.  By now the temperature was dropping yet again so I sat in the sun in the stairwell and carried on with my little carpet and I've managed to finish the outside and now can concentrate on the pattern for the inside square.  The pasta went on to cook around four this afternoon and at four thirty I was walking over the road with Avatar's supper and came back and had mine, washing up done and everything locked up for the night.  Productive day but it would have been better if it had been a little warmer but apparently the temperature is on the up according to Accuweather.  LN.....Thank goodness for that.......LN

Monday 14th March

Seven start, fire rescued from last nights ashes and I settled for hot water not coffee this morning.  I feel I.ve been having too much caffeine and we'll see how long that mood lasts.  Washed dressed fairly early on, minus four degrees outside and that only managed to get up to four degrees during the day.  It's been another day of cold winds, the sun's been out but I didn't really venture out until late this afternoon for a bonfire.

I had an hour of breakfast television until they dragged out the mayor of London who seems to always be willing to comment on anything and so I switched him off and went on to Netflix and another Norse tale of Valhalla, just for a couple of episodes.  I had a brief period of activity, log basket filled up and I watered the plants in the little house and then topped up the log carrier and suddenly remembered that I'd not had breakfast and since the clock was moving towards eleven thirty I had bacon and egg with fried bread for brunch.  A full tummy deservers rest so I settled down for another episode of Valhalla and promptly nodded off for about an hour or so and felt much better for it.  I haven't been sleeping well, my arms have again come out with red blotches that have been itchy and that's disturbed my nights.  Another visit to the doctor my be on the cards so I better look up the phrase 'I think you're poisoning me' and see how she reacts to that.  Alternatively I can ask for a full MOT, we're entitled to one each year so I might go for it insisting that we definitely do blood tests, something must show up.

Countdown this afternoon and Rachel Riley is returning thank goodness.....I'm not sure who was dressing the other lady and sorting out her hairstyles but let's go back to normal and now the television is playing to itself while I finish the update.  Jays were out in force today but the bully definitely doesn't like compatriots while he/she/it is filling it's beak.  Student tomorrow so really should sort out an interesting text and homework for him......we missed last week because of the snow.  I shan't be bothering with supper, my brunch seems to have lingered along with a half packet of biscuits this afternoon.  LN.....Time to pull up the drawbridge.....LN

Tuesday 15th March

So last night I was having problems with my Fitbit and getting it to communicate with my phone and was about to throw it in the bin citing Fitbit as 'rubbish' and why did I bother again.  Eventually I restarted my phone and 'bingo' it worked....so not sure who to blame, the machine or me.  Good night's sleep and woke at seven and again we'd had a heavy frost over night and it was white over.

I'd had a bit of a soot fall in the emptying hole in the bathroom so decided this morning to take the pipes out of the petchka and clean everything out only this time I was doing it in two sections so I didn't dither putting them back in....and it worked.  Everything out, everything cleaned and everything back in and lit it to check that there was no smoke escaping and success....it all worked well.  I hadn't bothered to get dressed before I started to clean the pipes outside, PJ's aren't much protection but I'm sure I got it done quicker.  Up to the bathroom, washed and dressed for my student's lesson this afternoon, clothes into the washing machine and soon pegged out on the line.  I popped over to see Avatar and to check if she wanted anything from Djebel and she said that she's got the sniffles and I was so pleased I was wearing my mask as I sat the other side of the room.  So on the shopping list were some Analgesics and cough mixture so that was my first stop when I drove into Djebel.  I told the assistants that the items weren't for me so not to give me the expensive ones or ones that they get commission on so they searched the shelves and came out with the cheaper items.  

Student lesson about the polar bear and how well it's suited to where it lives and the nearest thing that I came up with for the word 'traction' concerning its feet was likening it to winter tyres verses summer tyres....his dad owns a garage!!  I chatted to his mother after the lesson and the sun was just setting as I drove home.  The temperature was dropping pretty rapidly so I parked up, delivered the medication, opened the door, collected the washing from the line, lit the fire and all that in fifteen minutes.  Clothes on the airer in the bathroom and should be able to put it away in the morning.  I was originally going to try for the doctor tomorrow but I think I'll leave it until later in the week, I need to write down what I need to say to her, I need a diagnosis of why I keep coming up in these red bumps and if it's down to the tablets, I need an expert opinion on tablets that really are for me.

Not really wanting supper again.....I had a fry up of spicy sausage and egg for brunch before I left for my student and that's still sitting towards the top.  Fire duties and I need a coffee.  LN.....Time to switch off and ralax......LN

Wednesday 16th March

Another silly night and eventually got to sleep around two this morning.  My internal alarm went off at seven, it was a dull morning threatening rain but we avoided it all day but it was damp cold, not biting cold that we've had for the last few days.  I put the washing away from yesterday, did a general tidy round, found my cheapy ring that had fallen off my finger yesterday but wasn't obvious when I looked for it at the time but now it's back where it belongs.  I lit the fire, not quite sure of what I was going to get up to but while looking through FB I came across an article concerning the rates for electricity for residents who'd had to have a company when they originally purchased the properties.  A ruling was obtained that bought properties this way would be expected to pay business rates and this concerned me, I'd had no notification that my tariff was changing but I wanted confirmation that I wasn't sitting on a timebomb so I found my original contract with the company, got dressed, cooked breakfast and headed into Djebel to discuss it with my student's mum.  Before she viewed the contract, her advice was not to go to the electricity offices to discuss it reckoning that I would come out paying more but after reading the contract, it was made out to me in my name only confirming the company name....the tick box for 'private person' was ticked.  No visits to the company for me.

I carried on to Kardjali and to the hospital and managed to make an appointment to see the doctor on Friday at eight forty which is much better than fighting for an appointment on the day.  I moved car parks and went to pay my home phone bill but apparently there was no bill outstanding and thinking about it, I vaguely remember paying it online...that's age for you.  Next stop Kaufland for potatoes and a few more things but there were no offers on chicken legs and wings so I wasn't able to but the items on Avatar's list.  I moved on to Lidl and filled up on forbidden dairy foods and ice-creams, loaded up the car and headed home, put everything away, lit the fire that had gone out, had some of the cream cheese with breadsticks, a chocolate pudding and promptly fell asleep for an hour or so.  Popped over to see Avatar to let her know that the offers weren't available but that I'll have another go on Friday after I've see the doctor.  She also told me that the police had come to the village to check that Haciber was isolating in her house.....they are taking it seriously.

It's been a day of sorting things and I like it when I get the answer to something that's been on my mind such as the electricity charges.  It's not that it would be a problem, Bulgaria has the lowest electricity charges in Europe......and now I don't have to worry about it.  Next hurdle.....visit to the doctor on Friday....let's hope that goes as well as today.  LN.....Fire duty calls....LN

Thursday 17th March

Seven thirty start this morning, two degrees outside but another of those cold damp mornings that chill you through to the bone.  Having said that, it didn't take long for me to get the fire going, get into some warm clothing and do very little for the rest of the day.  Breakfast was some vanilla flavoured breakfast 'pillows' that I'd found in the supermarket with milk and they filled me up until lunch time more or less.  I settled down to watch Netflix after swearing yet again at Good Morning Britain at the opinions and interpretation of the news of the day and I fell upon a series of a clairvoyant and predictions that he made.  I'd watched the first one and there was a face at the window and I got up to unlock the door and it was my friend from the next village.  He'd taken his car into the local garage for an overhaul, paid his dues and was on his way home.  

We moved into the lounge since I'd set myself up on the sofa close to the fire, he made the first coffee and I made the second and we chewed over the fat.  We got round to talking about the new parking system in Kardjali and since it had concerned me yesterday that I didn't know how it worked so I asked him to download the app for me and he did and set me up.  All I have to do is put my card details against it and when I park up in future, if I'm in one of the pay zones it will automatically take one lev from my bank.  It's a little cheaper than getting it towed away or clamped.  Another problem solved.  Off he went around one thirty and I went back to my Netflix, slept through one of the episodes and at four thirty put chicken wings and veg to roast in the oven.  Supper was underway.....and now it's ready.

Just need to get a load of logs in to warm up in the conservatory overnight ready for tomorrow although having said that I have an early morning appointment with the doctor so need to leave just after seven thirty.  LN...Let's see what she comes out with this time....LN

Friday 18th March

I went to bed fairly early so that I would make sure of waking up in good time to get to the doctor's surgery on time.  Seven start, looked out of the window and it was white over, we'd had a sprinkling of snow in the night and there was ice on the terrace with the temperature showing minus two.  Now it was more important to be on the road so that I didn't have to rush.  I washed, dressed, didn't bother with coffee in case she wanted me to have a blood test and was in the Nipper for just after seven thirty remembering to take my old tablets with me and this visit was going to be a 'look...where do we go with this?'....

I managed to park up near the hospital and arrived in time to check in for my appointment, I was asked if I normally paid and replied that one time I did and one time I didn't so I offered up one lev and carried on to the waiting area and was first in.  She asked me how I was so I related the story of the problems with the last lot of tablets she'd given me before I went to England for Christmas and told her that I wasn't taking any at the moment.  I took them until I got the bad reaction, stopped taking them and only started when my blood pressure went up.  It's a vicious circle.....she managed to find another packet of tablets that I think must be a sample and I'm to take them for two weeks and if there is no reaction they will be continued, if there is I'm off to Plovdiv for tests.  I have a result of sorts.

Back to the Nipper and over to Kaufland and did mine and Avatar's shopping, I didn't bother stopping anywhere else until I got to Djebel and my local supermarket for cinnamon since the doctor recommended it in yogurt for blood pressure.  Parked up in the drive and unpacked the car, put my shopping away and calculated Avatar's bill and delivered it to her.  That icy wind was still blowing so I lit the fire when I got back home, cooked a breaded chicken fillet and had it with Russian salad watching the television, cleared away, got settled again and promptly fell asleep for an hour or so.  I popped back to Avatar's house, she'd mentioned that she thought her blood pressure wasn't behaving as it should so I took my little monitor over and confirmed that she was OK and had nothing to worry about.  I came back and got in a load of logs and watered the plants and emerging seeds in the little house, I'm surprised that they've bothered to put there first leaves out.  Time to switch off, nothing on the agenda for tomorrow especially if it remains this cold, I've just checked the weather and we're supposed to be down to minus six again tonight with real feel around minus ten....come on it's nearly April.  LN.....Full moon tonight and starry starry night....LN

Saturday 19th March

Another early start which set me up for a snooze later in the morning.  It was another cold start to the day, the sun came up but the wind stayed on its path from the north and has chilled me to the bone most of the day when I was outside.  The moral of the story is....don't go out.  I didn't light the fire. the house soon warmed up when the sun lifted in the sky and there was a lot of residual warmth from last night's fire.  I could have rescued it this morning but chose not to and that log would burn later in the day.  I took my first of the new tablets and my blood pressure was down to a very respectable level and I've got another one to take tonight so I'll see how I go with this one.  

I'd taken out a packet of cooking bacon from the freezer last night that looked like it had been in there for too long and I needed room for something else.  It had thawed overnight so I took some of it and fried it off intending to made a sandwich, tried it, didn't like it so it went for the cats.  The rest of it went into the slow cooker with two onions and a can of peas and that's potentially supper for me or breakfast for the cats...the proof of the pudding will be in the eating later this evening.  That was about the height of my activity for this morning, I watched the indoor athletics where the English seemed to put up a pretty poor show and then finished my Netflix clairvoyant series.  There wasn't a second one so I jumped around a little and found that one series that I'd been watching towards the end of last year had acquired new episodes, obviously a weekly series on an American channel.  I watched one then saved the rest....and went out to have a bonfire.

I'd got lots of layers on but chose to put a hooded sweatshirt on before I set sail for the bottom of the garden.  The sun was still up but it was still blowing a gale out there so I didn't longer long, the lid was soon back on the burning barrel and I'll tend to it when the weather warms up a little.  It's getting pretty full and needs clearing out completely and the residue dumping against the wall in the corner of the garden.  It's pretty stony down there so needs a layer of something resembling soil and I'll put sheep shite on it when I get round to having some delivered.  Came back inside for the camera and took a few shots from the bottom of the garden to post tonight and loaded up the log carrier so that I've got plenty ready.  Having said that I've only got through two so far today and I've plenty left so no panic.  Had a slight panic when I got back inside, I'd got too many clothes on and the top hooded sweatshirt was very reluctant to release itself from the body and I almost thought I'd be legging it over the road so that my Avatar could give it a tug.  Eventually I secured my release from my straightjacket, breathed a sigh of relief, stirred the 'soup' and switched off the slow cooker, got the fire going again and now it's time to draw the curtains and get settled for the evening.  LN.....Now what's on TV?......LN

Sunday 20th March

It was another early start but not a lot of activity for the day.  Nice morning, the sun came up and I thought I was in for a day in the garden but I was in for a disappointment.  I put my nose out to throw the remains of the slow cooker over the wall for the cats, spotted Blackie huddled under the terrace against the lavender bush and it promptly ignored me.  It didn't take long though for it to slink up to the wall, leap over it and tuck in to the booty.  I never went back to check how it was doing, that wind was too cold to stay out there, twenty degrees in the house and minus one outside so it was obvious where I would be.

I made a cheese omelet for breakfast and sat at the table in the stairwell eating it.  It didn't really fill the gap so I ended up buttering a chunk of fruit loaf and then cleared the kitchen and got dressed.  I tidied round and realised that today wasn't going to set the world alight so I put the TV on and settled down to watch the World indoor athletics and at last we have won our first bronze medal and the Union Jack was on display for the first time.  Once they stopped transmission I put Netflix on and settled for the 'Black list' and eventually got into the story.  There were such a lot of flashbacks from the previous series that it was rather disorientating at first, it was a few months ago when I saturated myself with it.  I lit the fire at four thirty, drew the curtains to retain the heat and at five I cooked a couple of hamburgers, sliced up a potato very thinly, made crisps and I really enjoyed supper.  I'm now back with the athletics and am watching the women's long jump and the British girl has just jumped into third place so fingers crossed for another medal.

Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow so far, it's supposed to be minus four overnight and once six degrees and breezy in the morning.  There's supposed to be more snow on the way for Tuesday morning and evening.....come on...we're all rather sick of it.  If that wind would drop, it would be really pleasant.  LN....Roll on the real spring....LN