Saturday 11th May

Early start again and woke up to a miserable sky, not quite raining but very threatening.  I threw out the state bread for the animals, felt a few spots of rain so quickly moved the chair on the terrace further under the balcony to keep the cushions dry and remembered that I'd put the seat cushions on the bench and chair on my balcony so I took them in, they were only slightly damp so they're now hanging up in the upstairs bedroom.  I just timed it right though...a few minutes later the heavens opened and it was stair-rods falling and the thunder was striking up.  Again the mountains were hidden and the temperature was down to fifteen degrees and it hasn't moved much higher on the thermometer all day.

I made a poached egg for breakfast using up the last of my neighbour's eggs so will either have to pay or beg for more if she won't accept any money for them.  I've got a couple of shop ones in store but there's no date stamp on them and after a while I always think of them as being suspect.  The result...the animals get them.  Washed up and tidied the kitchen and that was the sum total of my activity for today.  I was cold so used a blanket to cover my legs and this afternoon I watched the world Triathlon series.  I followed it in the Olympics and find it quite a challenge for them covering three disciplines.  As for the swimming, they were having to avoid swans on the lake in Leeds.  The two English hopefuls were knocked off their bikes early on by the one who won who admitted in his post race interview that it was a saddened victory since he caused the collision and rode away from it.  At least he admitted it...that took some guts.  The women's race was brilliant with the British girls taking second and third places to the French and the winner managed to achieve a fifteen second lead over the others knowing that she had to take a ten second penalty for mounting her bike before the line at the start of the second section.  She did a brilliant uphill run to make up the time, served her penalty on the last lap and still managed to come first.  I was also amazed that when they played the French national anthem I was still able to remember the words that we were taught in out first year French lessons over sixty years ago.  Thank you Mr. Draper.

Supper was the remains of a shop-bought Russian salad with a tin of local corned beef, baked beans and beetroot and it was very tasty and easy to make.  The dishes can wait for tomorrow and as for the weather, it was still raining a few moments ago and I made the decision around four that I really didn't want to risk getting wet at the Jazz Festival.  I've just got over a serious cold which needed antibiotics so didn't want to risk anything else.  LN.....Rain, rain, pretty please...go away......LN

Sunday 12th June

Seven thirty start and stayed up until late watching Netflix because there wasn't an ounce of sleep in me.  I suffered for it today though, I was ready to nod off at around eleven and did for an hour or so.  Baked beans on toast for breakfast this morning, I needed something warm to keep me going.  It was another miserable day and has settled at around sixteen degrees all day and my body just isn't used to it.  I did put some long trousers on and a fleece sweatshirt but even that has left me feeling cold..... I must have acclimatised to what we have called 'summer' even though it's been interspersed with rubbish days.

I caught up with the second day of the triathlon from Leeds and watched the mixed event where four competitors complete the three disciplines but this time they made it that the women finished the race and we managed to achieve second place on the podium.  It was quite an achievement...our two best men were taken out in a pile-up yesterday in the men's event so others were brought into the team as substitutes. Our final female managed to pull back around thirty two seconds to achieve the second placement.  I take my sport seriously!!  With the Commonwealth Games looming, let's hope that the casualties get back to fitness.

It's at last trying to dry up and there was a final flourish of a setting sun although the clouds remain very thick and low over the mountains.  I haven't checked what is happening for the rest of the week but maybe I was a little premature packing away my thicker sweaters.  I did toy with the idea of going into the little house and clearing 'stuff', I walked the garden this morning and only managed to spot Blue out trying to catch some warmth but I'm guessing that it found the winter hole that it had come out trying to get some protection from the rain and cold.  There have been no sightings of the others scampering across the lawn to get to the fruit trees, not even under the mulberry.  

Time to look for something for supper, I'm tempted with Kardjali tomorrow, my latest HP printer has to go back to the shop.  Despite my best efforts at running cleaning functions on it, the new colour cartridge I installed insists on only printing green ink.  It wasn't expensive, but it was a genuine HP cartridge so not cheap but I must admit that I'm tempted with the new Brother that you can fill the reservoirs at home.  It makes much more sense.  I managed to get a photo of the setting sun and that's all we've seen of it today,  The northerly wind is delivering more steel blue skies which look as it they're about to drop their load at any time.  LN.......Roll on the second phase of summer......I need swimming pools and sun.......LN

Monday 13th June

Oh what a lovely day....early start but the sun was up already and the terraces drying off nicely.  When I went to bed last night I noticed that there was a moon so I'd got my fingers and toes crossed that it was going to be good today.  I made toast and jam for breakfast, I popped on the scales this morning which is the first time since before Christmas and I've only put on half a kilogram which is fantastic...that diet can wait.

I walked the garden when I noticed that there was one of the tortoise near the mulberry and eager to see which one it was I went out in PJ's with camera to hand.  Rosy looked comatose, not going anywhere fast, Green God was munching away on something and down the bottom of the garden CS was doing nothing, getting his energy up.  I noticed that the lavender at the bottom of the garden was full of butterflies but catching them on camera was an altogether different thing.  The hebes have really started flowering and have so many colours from deep purple to white and pink and really brighten up the garden.  As I walked back up the garden I noticed that the little bed at the top had a flowering lavender that now had the butterflies.  I did my best, not brilliant but better luck next time.  

I came in the house, had a shower and washed my hair, wrapped a towel round me and headed for my bedroom balcony.  I took out the cushions and set up home on the bench and enjoyed the sun and the breeze.  The sheep were out and about but no prying eyes, they were too busy munching at the grass and there's no shepherd to worry about.  My hair was almost dry so I came in and finished it off with the hairdryer, got dressed to the underwear stage and went out again to the balcony and sat out there for an hour or so.  I'm so pleased to see it back.  I popped over to see Avatar and got her shopping list, set off around twelve after packing up the printer and finding out the guarantee and the rest of the documents and headed for Kardjali.  There was lots of traffic on the way in, mainly Romanians heading back from Greece ignoring all the double lines and hatched areas.  It's time they set up a police block around the area and handed out a few fines.  

I didn't want to be long today, T-Maxx first stop but they had nothing reduced enough, on to Kaufland for a few items and then to the printer shop to negotiate the repairs process with a lady who I crossed before.  She quoted one month, I said that was ridiculous and she replied that she'd text me if it arrived sooner so I went back in the shop to see if I could buy a cheap one to see me through. No assistant came to me to see if they could help so I walked out and decided I would try and set up the old Brother to see if I could get it to work.  Went into Lidl and seemed to spend a lot of money on very little  and finished off at the supermarket in Djebel for the final items.  Home for five thirty, Avatar's items delivered to her door after I'd put my chicken in to the oven and was surprised when I saw a car pull up at my gate when I was n Avatar's house.  She yelled out of the window to see what they wanted, I set off for home and it was a friends neighbour wanting to know when his friend was returning from England and I said I wasn't sure.  Off he went, chicken turned over to finish off, supper served up for Avatar and delivered, plated up mine and had it watching the tennis from Queens.  

Washing up can wait, just caught the moon coming up with the remains of the shading of the setting sun on the clouds and feel so much better after a day of sunshine and activity.  LN......I'll find things to do tomorrow morning and student in the afternoon.......LN

Tuesday 14th June

Five start and not a good night's sleep.  I settled on the sofa and have fallen on Downton Abbey that I've heard of but never seen before and now I'm drawn into it on Netflix.  At seven thirty I made breakfast, washed up, fed the birds and then got into lightweight clothing and out on to my bedroom terrace for an hour of sun.  No sign of any tortoises this morning, it might have been too hot for them and when you think about it, the shell must be  very difficult thing to regulate the temperature of....I must look into it more.

I decided to get my texts ready for my student and fortunately the newly installed old Brother printer was managing to print everything I wanted.  I found three texts tp give my student a choice and we settled for the London Marathon on the Thames which is twenty two miles long, not quite up to the land distance and apparently it's become rather a cult following.  It occurs on a Saturday in September and is for all crafts, original or replicas but is now run as a handicap race.  Before I set off I did have a catch-up sleep and this is settling into something I've got to get out of before it becomes a habit so tonight I'm off to bed at eleven.  

I set off for Djebel at two thirty and arrived in time for the lesson, the boy wasn't ready so I sat with his mother in the shop.  My arthritis was playing up this morning in my first finger on my right hand so I'd bandaged it after putting Deep Heat cream on it.  She recommended 'tapping it' and offered to do it for me but instead I went to the chemist and bought a pack of Voltarin tablets which have started to work already.  The pain has gone already and we talked through other methods including putting Rakia on to a cotton swab and covering it with polythene to make sure that the Rakia didn't evaporate.  I listened to no more of the 'Old Wives', settled in with the lesson and finished off with the usual soft football at about five thirty.  We went down to the shop and talked more. she gave me eggs from their chickens and husband and son arrived from the garage and it was now six thirty, time I left.  I did buy more work gloves and bungy ties and made a diversion to my other local family, I'd remembered to put a forsythia in the car that I'd grown for them so I delivered it.  The parents were working in their wonderful productive garden, the daughter was off somewhere, I had water and some Turkish delight sweets and home for seven thirty.  Cold chicken for supper followed by a sour cherry yoghurt and now I'd on my countdown to bedtime.    Nothing to do tomorrow and it's weather dependent as to what I get up to.  LN......Nice day....LN

Wednesday 15th June

So seven start so much better.  I carried out the usual routines, hung around in PJ's for a while and toured the garden,  Rosy was out sunning herself near the wild plum tree but there was no sign of any of the others apart from Blue down the bottom of the garden.  The lavender was again covered with butterflies but as for the either of Buddleia, no flowers so no butterflies and I suppose it is a little early.  I sat outside on the terrace on the bench and it was such a gentle morning, I watched my two nesting pairs providing food for the offsprings, listened to the cuckoo still trying to get a mate and all was right in my little corner of the universe.

I went inside and poached a couple of the new eggs from the ones I acquired yesterday and had them on toast and sat in the stairwell eating them.  I can also report that they were very yellow yolks as predicted by the donor. I washed up, threw a few slices of sliced bread out for the birds and the sparrows soon descended.  Went in and washed and dressed, put a load of washing in the machine and went to return a dish that belonged to Zelinger.  I didn't see Avatar's stick and shoes and thought she was in Beyser's garden along with some of the other ladies but I was wrong but Zelinger was there so I returned the dish.  I sat down for a while, my next door neighbour was also there, refused coffee but unfortunately they don't speak much Bulgarian only Turkish so I listened for a while, got the gist of some sentences but said fond farewells and went over to see Avatar.

She had the dish washed and ready for me that I'd taken the chicken over in the other night and we had a little catch up.  She said that she went to bed at nine last night and didn't wake up until nine this morning....lazy bones....but said that she was intending too finish cutting the rest of the grass today but I haven't heard the mower going.  Looking at mine again it's put on a growth spurt and needs another trim.  I think the mower has to go down to the lowest position now...it's getting silly.  Two days of rain, two days of sun and that's all it takes and by now I usually have brown patches on the grass, this year it's still very green.  Washing out and it dried very quickly, again it was one of those days that I could have done lots but done very little.  Tomorrow morning I have one of Gulcan's friends coming round, she's asked me to help with her English but I have no idea what help she needs.  If it's conversational that will be OK and she only lives in the next village so an hour each week will be fine but I really don't want another 'student'.  It's too much like hard work and I don't need it.  More cold chicken for supper and overnight I'll put the rest of it in the slow cooker and conjure up something for tomorrow, I might even throw a can of pineapple in it and make it oriental for a change.  LN......Better straighten the house up if I have a visitor in the morning......LN

Thursday 16th June

Six thirty start and looked like being another glorious day.  Threw some stale food over the wall and again almost stepped on Rosy....she seems to have established herself under the wild plum near the old veg garden.  My student was coming at ten thirty so I tidied the lounge and plumped up the cushions, took the dust off the top of the low shelving and watered the plants.  I noticed that my old bathroom plant has now put up to clusters of flowers and one is just opening.  Unfortunately the leaves have slight yellowed so it might be a case of cutting it back after flowering to heal itself.  I made toast and jam for breakfast, cleared the house rubbish and had a bonfire.  I'd intended to clear out the burning bin but that's still yet to happen.  I went upstairs, washed and dressed for the garden and while I was upstairs removed the winter sheets from my upstairs bedroom and made up the new bed.  I'm tempted to move upstairs, I enjoy sleeping in the room with the door open to the balcony but the nights haven't been that hot yet but the room's ready for when it happens.

My student arrived on time, she's a very pretty seventeen year old who still attends Djebel school but I had difficulty decided how to tackle the lesson.  My Bulgarian is not brilliant and she was really not understanding even my simple phrases and I think that her spoken language at home is Turkish which makes it really difficult.  I found out one of of the basic texts and asked to read it and it was very difficult for her.  I couldn't seem to find the starting point and she was unable to translate the simple text into Bulgarian for me.  We move up to my computer on the landing and I showed her one of the English speaking websites and suggested that since it is free that she signed up for it.  We went through a couple of the exercises and worked through them together and I suggested that she used this approach as well as another website that I used to use where you can set the base language to learn and which language you want to use as the base language.  I said I thought she should sign up for a free fourteen day trial and if she got on well with it, it's not expensive to buy.  Of course I was reading it in English which she didn't understand and all she could say was ...'I want to learn English'.  She's already completed around seven years of English at school and stated that the teacher did not know English and it's obvious that she learnt very little.  I also said that she should start looking at films in English with subtitles in Bulgarian so that she could start hearing the language spoken.  I'm going to give it a few more weeks to see what effort she puts into it, I want to help her but we're starting from a very low base line.  When it came time for her to go I realised that the four big sheep dogs were potentially on the road so I offered to take her to the next village in the car which I did and dropped her off at her lane.

I parked up and popped over to see Avatar.  She'd just finished weeding the new pepper patch so we sat in the garden in the sun and both commented at how tired we felt.  The morning had exhausted me.  Pegged out the washing, settled on the sofa and yes, you've guessed it, I woke up at four more or less.  Washing in and then I made moves to the kitchen, stripped the remains of the chicken from the carcass, gently fried an onion, added the chicken, a small tin of tomato puree, half a tin of tomatoes, a little honey and ginger and finished it off with half a tin of pineapple and some of the juice.  To go with it I boiled up some pasta and when it was cooked mixed it with the chicken and served up two dishes, one for me and one for Avatar.  I walked over to her house and she was fully covered spraying the garden for bad beetles, she sprayed the grapes and was heading for the apple trees.  I let myself into the house and put the dish on the table and told her to throw t away if she didn't like it....and we always say this to each other.

I came home and eat mine, washed up everything in the kitchen and dried it leaving the kitchen tidy for tomorrow.  I'm not sure what tomorrow will bring.  LN....It's in the lap of the weather gods......LN

Friday 17th June

Seven start and another glorious day.  There was a chill in the air but it soon warmed up and I was on the lounge terrace sipping my hot honey and ginger mixture which has become my morning favourite.  I must buy some more honey and ginger and make up another pot....this one is getting empty and the last ginger root I bought started shooting so I buried it and now it has leaves or fronts forming at the top of the plant and I'm really not sure what ginger looks like.  Better get the book out.  Yesterday I walked over to Avatar's house carrying the plant and straightway I told her that it wasn't a present and was mine.  She was intrigued and said that she could do that and stop buying it from the supermarket but I told her it would take some time to get to the size she needed to keep her in ginger and honey....she gets through quite a lot of it.

Scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast which filled the gap and I've had nothing since.  I washed the mats from the kitchen today and left myself with another job to put on the list....kitchen floor needs washing over.  Another load of washing into the machine...it was a pity to waste such a good drying day and I've just fetched it in now giving it a good shake so as not to bring in any unwelcomed guest.  I strimmed the yard and the outside of the wall to get rid of the seed heads and it looks much better and the rest of the morning, I was drawn in by Downton Abbey on Netflix and just couldn't let it go until the heat had gone out of the mid-day sun so at two thirty I headed out and took the heads from the poppies so that the lavender stood a good chance of being see in the little old veg garden.  I did the same to the escalonia at the base of the little house terrace so at least I could now see it and perhaps I might have flowers  now that it's exposed.  It also opened up the area for a plant that I grew from seeds that I bought back from Greece on one of the trips,  It's survived two winters, looks healthy enough so maybe this time I'll be lucky.

I was just starting to clear the weeds from the old burning pit flower bed when I was surprised to see that my English friend from one of the local villages had arrived so it was an excuse to down tools and get the kettle on.  Coffee made we sat on the terrace which by now was shaded and chewed over the fat and had a good old catch-up.  He did ask if he was stopping me from cutting the grass and I said that he was but I didn't mind at all, it was still too hot so I made more coffee and he left at about five.  I got the mower out, dropped the wheels to the lowest setting, replaced a bolt that had fallen out from the handle with another from the workshop and I'm sure to come across it hiding in the grass.  So I managed to achieve down to the mulberry so that's one third of the garden done but by seven I'd had enough.  Tools down, mower away and I'll do the rest tomorrow.

I haven't seen Avatar today, so no comment on last night's supper and I'll take it that no news is good news.  As for tonight I haven't a clue what tonight will bring so must get my thinking cap on, it's late so probably tuna with Russian salad nice and easy and quick to produce.  LN.....Sorry, no pickies but promise to do better tomorrow.....LN

Saturday 18th June

So woke up on the sofa last night with Downton Abbey still playing and not being sure of what I'd missed, I switched the TV off and noticed that it was one thirty when I made my way to bed.  Slept through until seven, made my bed, boiled the kettle for my morning jungle juice and took it outside and sat on the bench.  It was just the cuckoo, the frogs and me and I seemed to have beaten the rest of the birds into activity.  The sun was up but no warmth in it so I didn't stay out there long.  Today's plan was to finish the rest of the grass and that was going to be it for the day.  

I struck up the mower at eight thirty, did a quick patrol first off and was surprised to see Rosy at the bottom of the garden and as for the rest of them, them remained unaccounted for so I would have to go carefully near the shrub borders and keep my eyes open.  I picked up from where I'd stopped last night near the mulberry, the grass was damp but I was determined to make a start.  It wasn't that the grass was long but it was the stalks that made it look untidy but I was having to empty the grass catcher every three or four runs and the machine was so heavy to push.  Eventually I finished the main house grass and came in for breakfast, water and settled on the sofa to see what I'd missed last night from Downton Abbey and realised that it wasn't much so I went out again.  This time I removed the grass collection box and did the rest of it with a stick holding open the cover so the grass was flying and the only danger is that the odd stone is thrown up so I put the safety glasses on.  I didn't have another break until I'd finished it and eventually came in at four, put the mower away, filled up a bowl with hot water and shower gel  and sat on the terrace with my feet in the bowl mainly to take off the dust from the mowing.  I went into the house and came back with the scissors and foot cream, cut my nails and rubbed in menthol foot cream and relaxed.  

I came in, relaxed on the sofa, had forty winks, woke up and watched another episode on Netflix and was surprised to see Avatar at my door so I went out, she was returning a dish from the other night and I remembered that her daughter in law had sent me some photos on Messenger for her so I went in, grabbed the phone and showed them to her.  They are of her great grandchildren in Germany/Belgium and she was so pleased to see them and later I'll print a couple of them out for her. We were watching the cows and suddenly she shouted 'elen' which I know is 'deer' and I couldn't understand where it had come from.  Apparently the sheep farmer and his brother have added a couple of deer to the herd so I grabbed the camera and managed to get a long shot of it.  Off she went, I cooked fish fingers for supper, have just finished eating them and now listening to Paul McCartney at the BBC.  They really did write some original stuff.  Nothing on for tomorrow so far, it would be good to go to a pool if the weather is hot but can't see that's on...it's a cool night and I've closed the windows and a cardigan is about to go on.  LN......Bath and bedtime will follow it pretty soon.......LN

Sunday 19th June

Well Sunday is the day of rest and it certainly has been today.  Seven start, decent breakfast of bacon and eggs, yes two of them since the yolk burst on the first out of the shell.   Washed, dressed for the garden and have done very little in it.  It promised to be a good day but then the clouds rolled over and the wind got up so my plan to go swimming faded into the background.  I did sit out early on and listened to the birds and my starling was very busy feeding the little head that was popping out of the log on the little house terrace wall and it won't be long before it takes on a life of its own by the looks of things.

I settled down to Netflix and Downton this afternoon and yes, you've guessed it, I felt tired from yesterday's efforts on the grass cutting so had a nap that lasted longer than I thought it would.  I was just considering watering the pots, one or two of them were looking a little shabby after the wind and sun today when the daughter of one of the ladies from the bottom of the village arrived.  With one axe complete and one axe broken and she was on the way to our local repair wizard to see what he could manage to achieve.  This is the lady that goes round my plants to see what I've got and sets out a list of the ones that she wants 'babies' from.  Added to the list we now have aloe vera and oleander and I've told her she'll have to wait for both of them.  She was determined to break off one of the new shoots from the oleander and I think I shouted at her to get her hands off it and she turned her attention to the mulberry and asked for a plastic bag to collect some.  I went in the house and got one, we half filled a bag and off she  went to the man down the road to sort out the axe.  I finished watering the garden, put the hose away and noticed that I have more to pot up and should get round to it tomorrow.

I went back to Downton and watched a couple more episodes since there's nothing else on Transponder which supplies my English viewing and I've only just realised how late this update it.  Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow so far, I'm really missing out on swimming this year so I must check out the weather reports for the coming week.  LN....Now a couple of pickies of my starling......LN

Monday 20th June

Silly five thirty start and I've felt a little grumpy all day.  I was cooking breakfast at seven thirty, washed up and kitchen tidy by eight and unsure what to do with the rest of my day.  The sun was up already and so was the breeze but not a cloud in the sky until much later.  I set up the hose pipe so that the shrubs down the bottom of the garden could have a decent drink but unfortunately a couple of the connectors between the three hose pipes decided to play up.  I ended up changing one, taking off the narrow gauge hose with holes in it at the end of the line to reduce the pressure and in the end ran it at half pressure.  The permanent fix will come about when I go to Djebel and buy new connectors tomorrow.  I let it run for about half an hour then turned it off, no point in wasting water on grass that only grows when it rains and then wants cutting again....I say don't encourage it.

I settled down to Netflix and the current binge worthy series but at ten I made my way to the terrace, plus swimsuit and sun oil and settled on the bench.  I toyed with the idea of getting the sandpaper out and rubbing down the balcony railings ready to get a top coat of 3 in 1 on it but the feeling didn't last long and I reverted to type and sat on the chair with my feet on the plastic table, oiled myself down and pinked up nicely.  I came in at twelve thirty since it was getting pretty hot out there, opened a five litre carton of apple juice which I thought was a three litre box so lots to go at, got myself a mini-choc-ice from the freezer and settled back and finished Downton Abbey...it is no more so now searching for something else.  

It had been a long time since breakfast so peeled three potatoes and diced them, put them into cold water with a couple of eggs to hard boil, opened a tin of tuna, put beetroot and a chopped onion in a bowl with mayo and waited patiently for the eggs and the potatoes which didn't take too long.  Peeled the eggs and chopped them, drained the potatoes and added them to the mix and supper was done.  It looked a huge bowl but somehow I managed to finish it...I should sleep well tonight.  Cows are wending their way back home but haven't seen the little deer again, black cat was munching on something under the mulberry tree but didn't managed to see what it had caught.  I did take a photo but it wasn't obvious and I was too lazy to go outside and check.  Thought about swimming tomorrow but remembered that I have my student tomorrow afternoon so will probably leave it until Wednesday...I've checked the weather and it seems to be OK.  LN.....Juice required...I've got a lot to get through.....LN