Wednesday 1st June

Restful night, waking up at six thirty and feeling much better but was waiting to wake up to see if I really felt OK.  I decided not to go to see the doctor today, the medicine had upset my tummy and I really didn't want to be away from a very comfortable bathroom.  I went out and took a picture of the morning, lots of mist around but it promised to be a good day.  I found bread that needed throwing out and walking to the wall to throw it over I was surprised to see Rosy out sunning herself which seemed quite early for her and more of a surprise is that I didn't tread on her, she was by the old veg garden near the wall and she's normally further down.  I decided to check on the others and only found little Purple down by the bottom wall but no sign of the others.

I hadn't eaten much yesterday so found a packet of bacon in the freezer and fried half of it with an egg and that set me up for the day.  I washed up and tidied the kitchen and mostly today I've been drinking ginger honey with hot water and the medicine seem to be doing the trick.  'I'm coughing better' as my mother would say.  Avatar has been over twice to check that I'm still in the land of the living and the second time she came with a battery from her solar lamp.  It wasn't lighting so I suggested that she took the old one out, I didn't want to do it, she's more like.....my son will fix it when he's here.  Anyway she took the bull by the horns, I gave her a standard AA battery since I used that in mine and told her I'll go over at two to check out if it's lit or not and wake her to tell her...pah...that's going to happen.

Most of the rest of the day has been spent on the sofa and I seem to have been in and out of sleep and I think that's done me good.  I did have a list for today but as with most of my lists, they can wait for me.  I've got a small portion of meat from the freezer but not really inclined to slave over a hot stove so that's going into the fridge for tomorrow.  LN.....It's been a pool day, if only I felt up to it.....LN

Thursday 2nd June

Better night's sleep, headed for the kitchen and hot water with ginger and honey....One could almost get hooked on it.  I had a few slices of bread for the birds so went out to throw it to them and then decided to walk the garden and found CS under the mulberry, Rosy was about five meters away and sunning herself and Green God I spotted about five yards from Rosy and I hoped she was safe from our amorous hard shell.  I carried on to the bottom to check up on the red hot pokers and I noticed that another head had appeared making five in total on the one plant that I'd put in but obviously over the winter the tuber had multiplied.  No views of the other hard shells in my garden but noticed that the grass at the bottom had grown considerably especially round the burning bin so before the next bonfire I'll have to get the strimmer out.

I cooked and ate breakfast, finished the kitchen, intended putting washing in which didn't materialise, made my bed than ran out of steam.  This bug has really knocked me for a six.  I took my medicine and that was and has been my sole achievement for the day and I slept for a good few hours but as they say, sleep is healing. I gained consciousness and stumbled on a Netflix for the clothes designer Halston documenting his rise and his eventual decline and how he managed to sign away his name making it impossible to work for himself again.  It was rather a sad story of a damaged childhood, convoluted life story and eventual decline mainly due to drugs and alcohol.  

I might go into Kardjali tomorrow, food is running low and so is bottled water.  I still need potting compost so I'll check out Kaufland.  Not much to report today and hopefully the weekend will set me back to normal and my energy levels will get back to normal.  LN.......Fingers crossed.....LN

Friday 3rd June

So this morning I decided I was definitely going to see the doctor, the rash that had started on my arm was looking very angry and itched like fury. The royal 'we', me and the doctor, had put it down to the tablets for blood pressure but since I hadn't had any for one week and still came up with blotches, maybe we need another solution.  I was up and about by seven thirty, watched the tortoise under the mulberry obviously feasting on the droppings.  I suppose they'll move to the cherry tree next, they're beginning to turn red I noticed as I did my evening walkabout.  Before setting off for Kardjali I decided to print off my document that needs to be presented before any specialist takes a look at you.  I printed three and drove into town, very little traffic on the road in, I seemed to have missed the rush, and managed to find a parking spot on the free carpark behind the hospital.  

I went down to the basement which is where the doctors have their surgeries and was surprised to find that my doctor wasn't in today so back to reception to check in, one leva handed over and was designated to another doctor and not the usual substitute who speaks English.  So I took my turn at the first designated and asked her if she spoke English, off she went at a tangent and I was turfed out and back to the beginning.  I was then added to the list of my usual substitute, waited my turn, he examined me, noticed the mark on my arm and I reminded me that we spoken about it before but that I'd stopped my tablets a week ago so he took my blood pressure and said that it was well within the safety zone.  He directed me to x-ray and within ten minutes I had my CD copy of my lungs.  He then sent me to see the specialist so sent me up to the second floor but didn't give me a room number so I went to registration to find out the room number and off I went again knocked and went in.  She asked me for my number which I didn't have so back to registration, she struggled through entering the details into the system, a queue was building behind me and eventually she made it.
I apologised to her and and returned to the second floor.  First time, the specialist reminded me of how I thought communism appeared to the western world.  She examined me again, looked at my arm and noticed the rash and said that I was obviously allergic to something so gave me the details of the specialist in Plovdiv and said that I should only go during the autumn-spring months and not now and she said this in English so I immediately jumped on it.  She'd obviously warmed to me, said that my Bulgarian was good too and ended with 'I like you' so I think I'd won her over.  Back to hand the documents to the doctor in the basement, they were at lunch so I waited, saw my doctor's receptionist, left the paperwork with her and off to the chemist for the tablets that had been prescribed.  I have antibiotics and one for food intolerance and even the assistant in the chemist told me the total to be paid in English.  Some do like trying it out. I thanked her in Bulgarian and we both smiled and off I went.

The Nipper was still there, I drove to Kaufland and did a little shopping, on to Lidl and back to Djebel to see my student's mum in the shop.  A little shopping in Djebel and as I got back to the car one of the locals asked me if I was going to the village and asked for a lift.  Usual fashion, he started to undo his seat belt as we left the main road and I asked him to put it back on, my car, my rules and it had nothing to do with the police.  I dropped him off at the bottom of the village where the locals were out on the bench and one of the ladies approached me and showed me her foot that looked like she'd stepped on barbed wire and I said that I wasn't a doctor, only a taxi and laughed and drove home.  Five minutes with Avatar in her garden, unpacked shopping, watered the terrace plants, cooked chicken cutlet for supper and slapped it between two slices of bread, just taken the first of my antibiotic 'bullets' and now thinking about bed.  I feel much happier after being examined and diagnosed and left the hospital with positive vibes after negotiating difficult circumstances with new doctors and specialist.  LN.....I'm definitely on the mend.......LN

Saturday 4th June

Five thirty start and it's been full on except for an hours recuperation around three thirty until four thirty.  It was such a good day that I stripped my bed, the nest is now back to being cotton sheets and lightweight duvet and the zebra quilt cover and bottom sheet is all washed and put away for next winter.  Three loads of washing in total, everything pegged out by ten, dried and put away by five.

I'd lacked energy for the last week and suddenly it's back, I'm still coughing but no headache and my motivation is back.  Last night I'd heard a bit of shouting going on but had taken no notice, I was a little curious but that's as far as it went.  Poached egg and ham on toast for breakfast, I tidied the kitchen, found one of Avatar's dishes in the fridge so washed it up and took it over and she's in the garden with the little woodburner going making strawberry jam.  Suddenly there was a screech and Avatar said that it was one of the ladies from the bottom of the village and se told me that the fuss last night was because a large stray b**** had made a home under the large tree in the centre of the bottom square, had had pups and was in a large drainage pipe under the tree.  She obviously was protecting her pups, was barking furiously and threatening my peace loving neighbours and most of them can hardly walk let alone run from an angry b****.  We went down to look, one of the ladies phone Semile the sheep farmer and his son arrived but she'd obviously moved the pups and herself further into the pipe.  

We went back to Avatar's garden, she stuck another log on but I tasted the jam, too much sugar in it and the seeds from the fruit were very hard and I'm not sure if it was old or unripe fruit.  I came back with the same metal bowl that I'd taken over filled with jam and left her to it.   My task to day was to have a bonfire but first I had to strim the grass around the bonfire to make sure that nothing untoward happened.  I got the bonfire underway and supervised it and when it was going well and there wasn't anything else left to burn I put the lid back on it and carried on strimming the bottom of the garden.  I noticed that one of the shrubs at the bottom of the garden was looking a little 'crispy' so put the hose with holes  around the bottom bushes near the wall and connected up the rest of the hoses and no leaks and that was a first.  I trimmed the round orbs that I've created around the garden and really set to and old ones that I'd missed last year and my attention was drawn to the small bed by the roof tiles.  The wild plums had gone really wild so out came the loppers and that bed just needs stimming and digging over but that's a job for tomorrow.

I've just given the flower beds and pots a good watering, I'm about to find something for supper and then heading for the bath for a soak.  I've had a really good day, I've notched up just under sixteen thousand step and I've planned out tomorrow already.  LN......I like days like these.....LN

Sunday 5th June

Another early start, I made my normal morning hot water and sat on the bench outside enjoying the sun.  All was quiet in my world, an eagle was circling finding a thermal to ride.  I'd watched the concert at the Palace last night and Britain did just what Britain does, produced a magnificently slick programme, wheeling out some of the oldies, the newbies with great perfection.  The lighting of the Palace with images of the queen was spectacular and the 'tea party of the Queen and Paddington Bear enforces the great confidence that the she has, finally divulging the  secret that she has marmalade sandwiches in her handbag.  A lovely sense of fun which hasn't diminished over the years.

As for my day, I finally set about sorting out the pots where seeds haven't germinated, planting those that have in other larger pots removing some of the deep rooted weeds from others.  These were mainly in the ones that had overwintered in the little house and I'd not really paid them much attention but now it's done.  I got the strimmer out and attached the battery but that's as far as it got.  I had a visitor around ten thirty, we put the world to rights in our usual fashion, sat on the terrace with coffees and watched a couple of the tortoise heading towards the mulberry tree.  I'd spotted them earlier and had found Green God, CS and Rosy but no sightings of the others so far today.  Little purple is difficult to find at the best of times and Blue is probably deep in the bushes where I'm watering with the pipe with holes in so that I don't have to stand there for ages to give them a good watering.

Off he went around twelve thirty,  On my list for today was to mow the grass but that didn't happen either.  That sun was very hot so I just went back to sorting the pots and potting compost, came in at two for a drink and a sit down and found that the end of the celebrations was happening later that afternoon so I plumbed that into my memory bank and watched most of it until I went to sleep just catching the end of it.  Most of the decades I remember, I was six when the Queen was crowned and have photos of the street party that we had to celebrate.  There was a football match on the field where the men dressed up in their wives clothes and my sister who was nineteen years old more or less played against the men.  I found the photo the other day and it brought back memories of those times, hard but happy.  People didn't have much but they shared.

We were also reminded that we were living in the second Elizabethan age and I'd never though of it like that before.  It seems significant some how...two great queens with the same name.  And now to find something for supper...it's almost nine my time and I can't say that I've got hunger bugs nibbling,  so maybe go without and settle for a good breakfast in the morning. I've just checked on the MOT date for the Beast, no panic, I have until next month so it's now on the calendar.  LN...Time for a shower and bed......LN

Monday 6th June

Ridiculously early start and it's set me back all day.  At five I was playing Sudoku and should have tried for more sleep yet didn't feel tired enough to get back off again.  The weather was back to rain, thunder and lightning so much so that it took the power off for a short time just as I'd decided to make toast for breakfast.  Fortunately it had just popped up, the kettle had reached boiling point so I opened a new jar of black cherry jam following it with a sour cherry yogurt,  By now the heavens had really opened up, the sky was black so that lawn wasn't going to get processed today.  The power came back on, I settled on the sofa and on to Netflix and stumbled upon the Bodyguard.  Not being in the UK I'd missed it first time round, a bit stilted in places but I enjoyed it with a very good twist at the end.

Eventually it cleared up, the grass was only dry enough to get the strimmer out.  I cleared the patch of long grass behind the old toilet block, trimmed round the boarded beds, some of the long weed heads and between the house and front wall.  It was very damp at the back of the house so not really much grass to mow, I carried on clearing the yard and worked until the battery ran out so put it back on charge intending to finish later.  It didn't come to pass, instead I settled back on the sofa and went to sleep for a couple of hours and was woken by my garden neighbour who'd come round to collect the cherries that I'd offered earlier in the day.  We picked around two kilograms together, they really need about two more days of sun but who's to know whether they're going to get it or not.  I did catch up on the gossip regarding the stray dog and her puppies, it involved the police, the sheep farmer's son getting bitten and a shotgun but I didn't really understand the details, she struggles with Bulgarian.  She's a very hardworking woman and her garden at home rarely has flowers in it, she's got cows that demolish everything and she was amazed by my garden, the number of flowers that she's never seen before and I sent her back with some sweet smelling philadelphus and her cherries.

I walked part way home with her and stopped at Avatar's garden and had twenty minutes with her.  I joked with her that I'd tried to wake her up. which I hadn't but she'd had a few hours on the bed this afternoon.  I found out that the strawberry jam that she'd made had eventually set, she wasn't too pleased with it and is keeping it to herself.  Again we discussed the situation with the stray dog but we settled on being like the three monkeys, see no, hear no and repeat nothing.  I came home at seven, the evening was beginning to get cold so I cooked a chicken fillet for supper, grated a carrot, sliced beetroot and a red onion and chunked a tomato and put it all together for a fresh salad.  It was rubbish, the carrots didn't taste fresh, I finished the chicken and the rest will end up in the compost heap.  My taste buds rebelled.  

It appears that I fell back asleep and woke up at nine thirty my time, just time to wash up and clear the kitchen and then it is time for bed.  Hopefully despite my nodding off at at various times of the day, I shall have a better night.  It might be the antibiotics that are upsetting the system, they appear to be very large and very strong...only two more days to go.  I'm definitely coughing better which reminds me that I have to have the last one of the day.  LN.....Kitchen duties call....LN

Tuesday 7th June

At last a really good night's sleep, it was eight when I woke up.  It was a slow old morning, I did sort the fridge out, sliced up two of the spicy sausage and put it with the remains of the rubbishy salad that I prepared for last night.  Everything went in the frying pan with oil, browned it all off and it went into the slow cooker and this was the basis of supper.  I rinsed the pan, fried off two large tomatoes and that became breakfast on toast leaving only to of the five tomatoes that I bought the other day.  No flavour so now I'll wait for Avatar's tomato plants to flower and flourish and enjoy the result.  Apparently flowers are on them already so I'm waiting with baited breath.  Washed up after breakfast and left it tidy, the sun was out but there was a fair wind blowing across the prairie.  

I didn't feel like doing much so didn't.  I was into the third episode of a new Netflix, a spooky ghost come murder mystery when Avatar appeared on the terrace.  I think she fully expected me to be out and about in the garden but the mood just hadn't taken me.  I went out and she was standing breathing deeply with an 'in - out' murmuring coming from her and saying that my air was just so much better than hers.  Now she only lives over the road but it probably helps to be able to see from whence the wind commeth, like straight over from the mountains with nothing in between so I offered to bottle some for her.  She'd come over for nothing in particular, just that she hadn't seen me out this morning so just checking up on me.  I asked her if she had anything on the menu for supper, she hadn't so I said I'd got enough for both of us and would take it over when I got back from my student's lesson this afternoon.  Off she went and I returned to the TV and watched one more episode and started to get ready for my next trip into Djebel.  

I arrived at two thirty, Yusti's girlfriend is down from Sofia and I apologised for asking her on Friday 'what are you doing here' which in English humour is another form of 'hello' but fortunately she hadn't taken offence.  She's back to Soria this afternoon and Yusti is going with her, she's flat hunting and it's like a jungle in Sofia with shark landlords.  They went, I went upstairs for the lesson, the boy had done his homework, we went over it, read through the next text and fought over who could find the words from the text in the word search.  He got some, I got others...lessons should be fun.  Lesson over for six, more friends were in the shop when I went downstairs so we had a catch-up and promised to see each other again in the next three to five years.  I stopped for a few things from the supermarket, arrived home, put the pasta on and leaving it to soak while I was out made it much easier and quicker to do.  I took Avatar's over and she was just working in the garden on the tomatoes and fresh home made bread had about another thirty minutes to finish so I'll get mine in the morning.  Supper acceptable, washing up done and now I'm ready to go back to my Netflix.  LN......Not a bad day at all......LN

Wednesday 8th June

Well another late start for the day but funny old dream again and I remembered it on waking.  It was more like a nightmare and so real and I'm putting it down to too much spooky Netflix.  Binging wastes so much time again it happened today but at one it was much to hot to be out there mowing the grass and it was an excuse I know but I did go out there again at five and finish the job that I'd started at ten this morning.    Bacon and egg for breakfast, everything washed up from last night and the remains of last night's supper went over the wall and one ginger cat was already waiting for breakfast to arrive.  I dressed for the garden, managed to get a brush through my hair using one of the oils I brought back from England and I must put that on the list of 'things my daughter has to bring over'....and promise it won't be too long.

So out with the mower and I was just getting settled into the rhythm when I caught a glimpse of my neighbour from the next door's garden with a little girl.  I switched the mower off, his wife that had the cherries the other day was with him and I have trouble understanding him, he tends to have a 'rakia' brain most times of the day.  The girl was sweet though, she's only eight or nine, learning English at school so I asked her her name and she asked me mine but grandfather kept interrupting her so I told him to be quiet, we could manage.  I worked out that she lived in Turkey with her parents, another of her relatives lives in the UK and after around ten minutes they left with me ushering them out of the gate and making sure it was closed properly.  I went back to the machine and was surprised when it started first time, usually it's reluctant when it's hot.  Stayed out until I was bored going backwards and forwards, settled for yogurt and peaches from a jar and a packed of mixed nuts and raisins.  As I said, Netflix got the better of me and I watched 'Behind her Eyes' which has a very peculiar twist in the end and it obviously ripe for a next series.

Work over for the day at six thirty and I put the hose on for the shrubs in the rocky part of the garden and had a bonfire. I didn't have much to burn but it keeps on top of it. I moved to the terrace and sat outside with a glass of water and my little Kindle playing Sudoku while the garden was watering itself, turned it off, put the other hose on and watered the pots and the boarded beds.  I didn't longer long outside, the clouds had rolled over and the temperature has dropped and there's a chill in the air, not usual for June.  I'm not needing any supper so far, the nuts are lodged, maybe warm up to the idea later.  LN.....Could have achieved more but not a bad day.....LN

Thursday 9th June

Eight start and this is getting to be a habit.  I've finished the antibiotics so maybe I'll get back to normal now.  Washing in, wanted to phone my daughter but too early for England so put it on the back burner and settled for a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast to see me through the day.  I'd used one of the eggs that my lady from the next garden gave me when I gave her cherries and the yolk was so yellow...home delivered by her own chickens!!

Washing pegged out and I've just realised that I got washed but not dressed for gardening and went out in the t-shirt and cotton trousers that I'd slept in.  I had a late bath last night and just found something to sleep in, I've only just come out of winter p.j's. Just before ten the phone rang and it was my daughter returning my call but it stopped before I could get to it.  I tried to phone her back and got the answer machine, she tried to phone me and it was five missed calls before we managed to speak to each other....and then it was back to normal.  I knew that she had to get to work so didn't prolong the call, she updated that she'd have two more bouts of Covid but working with children it's hardly surprising but was OK now.  She's really looking forward to coming out later in the year and I'm really looking forward to seeing them all.  

Fun tome over, back to the grass.  I'd managed to finish half of it yesterday but that meant that there was the other half to go.  Firstly I cleaned the underneath of the machine with a very old chisel by putting the machine on its side, turned it upright and filled it up with petrol and good to go as they say.  It was very hot out there but I persevered and finished it by around twelve.  So far today I've spotted four of the give tortoise and hand fed CS with cherries from the tree remembering to take the stones out first.  When I start talking to them the heads go inside the shell but at the first smell of food, out it comes again.  Much cheaper than a dog or cat and no trouble, they look after themselves.  I did fill-up the water lids that I use just incase there isn't enough water in the greenery.

Tools away by one, I went over to see Avatar when I found one of the dishes that I'd given her with supper in but now it had a chocolate cake thingy in it.  I popped over to say thank you but the cake was from Zelinger, it was her birthday today so I shouted thank you and happy birthday as she walked near Avatar's gate.  A thank you was shouted back and she went off to her home.  At one thirty I was stretched out on the sofa and must have slept for an hour or so and I woke up to stormy skies.  Realising that the washing was out I went out and rescued it, brought it in an put it away and went back to the sofa and Countdown.  I'm not really sure where the rest of the day has gone, my blood pressure is a little up so I might as well start taking my tablets again now that I've finished the others and the 'little blue one' that's supposed to stop any reaction to any others.....time to give it a whirl.  Seven thirty my time, time for supper and a shower and then bed, I've just had a few more rumbles of thunder and we've clouded over again.  LN......Nothing so far on the agenda for tomorrow....I'll see how I feel in the morning......LN  

Friday 10th May

What a horrible day.  The thunder started at nine this morning and it's been rumbling around for most of the day, rain on and off so it put me off going into Kardjali, walking around in the sun is fine, in the rain not so good.  I only had toast for breakfast with cherry jam, I should have put long trousers on and a warm over sweater, I've felt cold all day and ended up with a blanket over my legs when I settled down for a morning session with the TV.

Avatar came round at twelve and we both moaned about the weather, she'd brought me round a slice of very sickly cake that Zelinger's son had arrived with last night for her birthday.  I had that for lunch and was sure I would have a sugar rush after it but kept going just the same.  A little news from yesterday that I forgot to pass on, apparently earlier in the week the top of the mosque was hit by lightning, all the electrics are out and the place needs rewiring.  I think that must have been the day that there was a flash and everything went off very quickly even before the thunder had started.

Again another afternoon of inactivity, the temperature is down to eighteen degrees today and after a few days of mid twenties, it's a good reason to feel cold.  It's just started to rain really hard again, the upside is that I don't have to water the plants tonight...another job off my list.  The mountains have disappeared and looking at the weather for tomorrow, it looks like the outdoor Jazz Festival might have to be given a miss.  There is an inside area but if it's like anything last year, there'll probably no room at the inn.  LN.....Not a very unproductive day......LN

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

Tuesday 21st June

Woke up at five thirty, much much too early so turned over and managed to sleep through until seven.....much better proposition.  I was fresh out of bread so had cornflakes for breakfast touring the garden and then I made my mind up to do something about the burning pit.....maybe not empty it out but remove the cans and unburnables ready for the container at the bottom of the village.  So removed the cans, put two ore bags of rubbish in it and set it alight remembering to connect the hose just in case.  I popped the lid on when it seemed to be going OK and took the rubbish container back up the garden along with the garden fork, the cans are waiting collection,  I'll get round to it tomorrow.

Next job was to cut back both philadelphus that had gone over against the short wall.  The cultured one was arching beautifully and it seemed such a shame but the woodland variety had started to go wild and had put up new shoots around two feet long,  It's all cut back and over the wall and while I was at it the kerria had the chop as well and the surrounding garden tidied and old poppies removed.  Tools away around twelve, I had my student this afternoon so just time for a shower and hair wash before I left.  Exited shower and ended up wrapped in a very large bath towel on my bedroom balcony to dry off in the sun.  It was a super hot day but it was too late for a swim so maybe tomorrow I will made it although we have clouds in the sky tonight...fingers crossed.

Lesson over and we did a text about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and it took me back to Ur of the Chaldees and the land between the two rivers.  I loved that period of history at school.  I sat and chatted to his mother for a time, left and went to the hardware shop to buy ant powder for my neighbours since they wanted some, bread since I had none and spend time chatting to the lady at my plant shop but she didn't have what I wanted.  One tip she game me though was to buy some pork fat/lard, mix some with water and leave overnight and then feed it to the plants in the evening.  It apparently makes the flowers much bigger and very healthy and maybe worth a try on something I only just care about.  Home for seven thirty which is late for me, supper was local corned beef sandwiches which was 'open a tin, spread butter on bread, add brown sauce and serve.  Done and dusted.  Weather dependent, swimming tomorrow so fingers crossed.  LN.....I need the exercise......LN

Wednesday 22nd June

Seven start and I'd decided that I would go swimming whatever.  The sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky so I dressed accordingly.  I was a bit slow off the mark, I transferred some money to my BG account and they'd changed the way that the website operated and I found it confusing but all was well in the end.  I left at ten complete with swimming bag, Kindle so that I could have a read and sun oil and thought it was a good idea to pop into my doctors surgery just for her to confirm that the tablet given to me by the specialist worked with the heart ones that she'd given me.  With the combination I have not had any skin eruptions at all but the leaflet says to take them for a month and then consult your doctor.  She read the leaflet that I'd given her, read the notes from the specialist and said she would change my heart tablets and gave me a new prescription, decided that she'd like and ECG which the nurse performed immediately in a room down the hall, lined me up for a blood test but that's got to happen another day, I'd had cornflakes for breakfast.  I also mentioned something I've been concerned about and I'll see that specialist next Tuesday after the blood test....all I wanted was a yes or no on the tablets and I got the full treatment.  I took the prescription to the chemist and unfortunately I think she's given me these before....I'll have to check out the old prescriptions.

So back in the Nipper, out of town and up to my swimming spot.  There were a few students in the pool but I got a welcome from the owner as I walked towards the pool and another welcome from the pool attendant.  He came up to me later and asked me if his grandson could practice his English with me which I did for all of two minutes and then I went any lay in the sun with my book.  I was on a day off.  I swam for two sessions of about forty minutes and feel much better for it despite the clouds coming over and stopping my sun bathing.  There were a few spot of rain but nothing to ruin the day for me but at four I was ready to top up on shopping from Lidl and head homeward.

I unpacked my shopping, out a pizza in the oven for supper and waited fifteen minutes for it to cook.  I'd just finished and was having a banana for pudding when one of my neighbours was asking if she could attack my lime tree for the fruit to dry to make some tea.  I helped out by using my long lopper and got her the best branches and she sat in the yard and took the blossom and put it in a bag.  She had her daughter with her that didn't want any of my banana so I put one in a bag so that she could have her own.  Avatar saw that we were tea collecting , my neighbour left and I cut more so that Avatar could take some home.  I watered the pots and the garden and tomorrow I'm going to but my tomatoes into a grow bag and see how they go.

I forgot to take my camera to the pool, tried to find old photos but couldn't so I'll save it for next time which will be next Wednesday f the weather is good.  I've got my student from the next village arriving tomorrow I think unless she thinks better of it.  LN......I might be swimming again if the weather is good....who knows......LN

Thursday 23rd June

Not a good night's sleep and I was up at five thirty.  I played a few games of Sudoku until my eyes were roving all over the place so got up and finished watching the Netflix that I'd started yesterday.   It was based on a book by Harlan Coben, I really love his twists and this one didn't disappoint.  There was a heavy mist this morning and it took ages to lift but when it did I thought we were in for a good day so I put a load of washing in.  I wasn't sure if my student would come today or not, I'd left the ball in her court so I had cornflakes for breakfast and decided to cut back the roses on the front wall.  

She arrived and I was very impressed by the work she'd done.  She'd found a program on the internet but unfortunately she's using Turkish as the base language which is great for her and rubbish for me.  We sat in the lounge while she showed me what she'd been doing and I suggested that she carried on with this was of learning since she seems to have taken to it.  She's coming back next week and I think she'll be ready for constructing simple sentences and I also suggested that she brings her English school book with her.  She stayed for about half an hour and she had to keep her occupied for the week and I noticed that the clouds had started gathering.  I still thought that it would blow over so I pegged out the washing all the time thinking I shouldn't be doing it.  I went back in the house, the sky looked to be getting darker and suddenly the wind got up, the trees were blowing and the rain started.  I ran out and got the heavier stuff in and put it straight in the washing machine and set it for the short program.  Twenty minutes later the rain had stopped , the sun was out and the sky was blue,,,who'd have thought it.  I pegged it out again and thought I was on to a winner and half an hour later it was just as dark so I ran out, brought it all in and it's on the airer in the guest room and that's where it will stay until it's dry.  

It's been like that for the rest of the day almost like English April showers.  I've taken up reading again and have started with Game of Thrones from the beginning but I did close my eyes and get an hour's sleep in and expected it to ne much later when I woke up...it was only one o'clock.  I went back to my book for another few chapters and then settled into watching the tennis from Eastbourne...always wanted to go and never managed it.  

The chicken went into the oven and is ready now but it's only going to be served hot with crusty bread.  So one day without my little blue pills and I have my first red bump back to I'm back on them tonight.  I've done more research on the internet and shall stay on them until have my blood test next week and I'm staying on the same blood pressure tablets not the new ones.  I'm hoping that the blood test picks something up.  Still raining out there but not very heavily....better check out the weather for tomorrow but swimming has gone on the back burner again.  LN.....Kitchen bound...that chicken smells too good to be ignored.....LN

Friday 24th June

Seven start and it looked to be another good day but yesterday started out like this so who's to say what the day will bring.  I had more blotches this morning so I decided that I would go and have my blood test that had been scheduled and go see the doctor again and see what she would suggest.  I set off at eight thirty so was able to park up and get an early test, I handed over my form from the doctor and my GB permit that goes with it so that all cost are paid for and that really confused them.  It was solved by the production of my residency card and I was soon in, was told that the results would be available after twelve that day and so i carried on to see the doctor and she said that the results would be available to her, that I didn't need to wait around.  She sked me if I had started taking the new tablets so I told her that she'd given these to me before and I hadn't connected the prescription with the packaging so I was sticking to the old ones.  The next step was to chase down the name of a specialist in allergies and I've been given the internet address and I have to make my appointment but it's in Plovdiv.  It will not be happening this month and all tablets have to cease for one week before I go and the previous specialist said not to go until the autumn/ winter months....since it is much easier to identify the allergies.  Hey ho....she said that I was difficult to treat so I suggested a shotgun and we had a laugh about it....we didn't work out who was shooting who!!

Back to the Nipper and I moved to the Kaufland car park and went in the supermarket to pick up a few things and managed to sign up for a discount card and the girl adding details to the computer asked if the birth date was correct to which she replied 'bravo' so I must had been having a good day.  I didn't bother with Lidl, I had enough food so intended stopping off at my little supermarket in Djebel but there were no parking spaces so I carried on and was home for twelve thirty.  Lunch and an afternoon rest and when I woke up I took some grapes that I'd bought in Kaufland over to Avatar and suddenly there was someone shouting outside and we found that he was selling honey.  She asked how much it was, she was fresh out of money and needs me to get some from the cash point so I paid her back the jar that she'd given me and I told the man that I would pay for the four but I needed to go get the money.  He appeared at the gate, I calculated that I should be paying thirty two leva and suddenly the price had gone up to forty.  I questioned it, he was adamant that he'd said ten not eight so I paid up, went back to Avatar's house and now she's going to batter him for a rebate.  I'll leave it in her capable hands.

Back home and I settled back into the tennis.  I've decided that I'm going to stick to my old tablets and am going to start the 'little blue pills' again   Hope all will be quiet on the western front,  LN.....The weather looks to have settled down again....I think I need another swim day.....LN

Saturday 25th June

Seven start again and it was a very leisurely morning.  I put the washing away that had sat in the guest room, emptied the waste bins and had a bonfire and shredded a root of ginger and added it to one of the new jars of honey.  I used the grater to start off the process and decided that I would try it with the electric grater and ...wrong....the centre of the root was very woody and I ended up chopping that up with a knife  I think it needs to rest for a couple of days so that the flavour is absorbed but I tested it none the less.  And it was still only eight thirty.  I cleared out the fridge and the cats had a few slices of 'mature' ham which suited them but not me and I've just remembered, I didn't have any breakfast.  

I sat out on the terrace and enjoyed the morning.  It was a beautiful start to the day but the clouds rolled over and there was no chance of going to the pool so I set about tidying the little house and getting rid of more rubbish.  I went up to the upper level and dug out some hanging chairs that had spent the winter up there and found the wooden sun bed but it was just too heavy for me to get down on my own.  I thought about sliding it down the ladder but felt that it might get stuck and then I'd be stuck upstairs and no way down so I left that until I can get help from my painter.  I could probably manage it with a rope and Avatar at the bottom but not sure how instinctive she would be if she had to move quickly.  

A rest was on the cards so I took my reading Kindle outside and sat on outside sofa with that and a bunch of grapes that I'd bought yesterday.  I lit a citronella candle and had the smoke blowing in my direction to keep the flies away and that worked for a while until I thought that I'd be better off inside on the sofa in the lounge and I slept for a couple of hours.  I had a bowl of yoghurt and sliced a banana into it so, so far so good....a healthy day.  Unfortunately I missed the Women's tennis final from Eastbourne but the result was as I expected and it seemed to be a one sided final, the Latvian won.  At five I again made it into the little house and cleared an lot of rubbish that will be burnt tomorrow.  The empty pots and the plastic trays are stacked, the floor has been cleared and the shelving will get attacked tomorrow.  

The farmer's son has been a real nuisance rounding up the cows on his trial bike.  He just seems to rev it so much and you can hear him for kilometers.  I went out to the balcony and saw that he'd taken to the road so I went to the guest room facing the main road and as he came by the house he caught sight of me in the window and wave so I stuck my fingers in my ears and he got the message.  He put his hand on his heart as if to indicate 'sorry', he's a good lad but they just don't think.  Maybe he will in the future.  Cold chicken for supper unless I do something else with it but at eight fifteen my time I can't see it happening.  LN.....Not even very hungry but must eat something.....LN

Sunday 26th June

Another seven start and I took my first cup outside despite the fact that there were a few spots of rain falling.  It had rained well overnight, we'd hat a few claps of thunder when I took to my virginal couch but I hadn't stayed awake long enough for it to disturb me.  I made more honey, lemon, ginger and salt concoction and settled in to watch an episode of Breaking Bad, my latest Netflix and at nine thirty wandered across the road to see Avatar but she was in Beyser's garden along with Haciber.  I took a seat on a crate and was handed a dry cushion, was offered coffee, Turkish Delight and some cherries and declined everything.  I'd not had breakfast yet and was waiting for the bread wagon but that wasn't due until ten thirty so I guested I was having to make do with stale bread.  Avatar and myself went back to her garden and she offered me bread that she'd bought yesterday so I accepted...it was much fresher than mine.  She'd mentioned money from the cashpoint yesterday so I asked if she was still ok for money and she said that she was down to her last few leva.  I invented a reason to go into Djebel, asked for her card, went home and made toast and jam, sat outside eating it and then made my way to Djebel.  No one was waiting at the cashpoint so took her money, stopped off at the local supermarket for a few small packets of biscuits that I don't feel guilty finishing and headed home, going straight over and returning the card, cash and ATM receipt and explaining it to her.  She offered me ten leva for going and to repay me for the honey that I'd got for her the other day but she ignored the fact that she'd given me a jar of honey for free last week.  We got quite loud with me refusing, Beyser came over to referee and we all had a good laugh about it.  I settled for five leva and we were quits.

The rest of my day has been spent with weeding the flower beds interspersed with Netflix and a period of sleep but I didn't come in until eight this evening so I've achieved quite a lot.  I've removed the poppies, from the old veg garden since  most of them have gone over, spread compost over one of the beds near the large lilac and some fertiliser mixture and watered it all in well.  I also planted up some spares that I know now what they are but they're better sitting in the garden that lingering in pots.  When I dug down though the ground was still very dry despite the watering so it really does need a good layer of manure to give it more body this winter.  

The clouds have rolled over again and I'm hoping we have some rain overnight, the garden really needs it.  More of the same tomorrow weather permitting and I might even visit the Djebel market and see if I can manage to buy a few more plants to fill out where the poppies were planted.  I've also found a couple of weigela in a pot on the terrace that I've grown from cuttings and they can add to the old veg bed, they've both finished flowering so should be OK to move.  LN.....Bath and bedtime for me....I'm knacked.....LN

Monday 27th June

Magical morning with the mist hiding the mountains and the sun showing itself over Polyanets.  I sat out for a while but had to remove the cushion from the bench. it might not have rained but it was certainly damp overnight.  I watered some of the pots that were wilting but others with buckets underneath them were fine.  By the time that I got round to thinking about breakfast the electricity was off so it was spread cheese sandwich for me.  The electricity didn't come back on again until four this afternoon so my Netflix was curtailed but at least I didn't sleep through any episodes this afternoon and have to backtrack to find the last point of consciousness.

This morning was taken up with more of the same as yesterday, weeding beds and moving small plants around to fill the gaps.  I noticed the electricity wagon park up and I knew the man so went to have a word with him.  Apparently they were fitting new clocks to all the outside meters, and the power was off because they were rust-proofing the pilons and repainting them.  I thought it was because they were working on the mosque but thinking about it, it's only a hook-up to the mains when the wiring is complete.  I noticed that the women were in Avatar's garden and she called me over, found me a seat and a spoon and we were all dipping into a carton of ice-cream provided by Zelinger.  There was very little left when I got there so I ended up with the tub all to myself and finished the lot.  Off they toddled back to their own houses, I helped Avatar put the chairs away and then came home and got stuck into the garden until it got too hot to be out there.  I settled on the sofa and woke up around three, read the Kindle for a while and was surprised when the kettle started to boil, the power was on.  I went out again carried on where I left off and at six thirty was watering the plants when I saw Emula on his bicycle and he asked me if I still wanted help in the morning. Basically all I wanted was the wooden sunbed from upstairs in the little house to my bedroom balcony so I found a rope out and between us we managed it.  It's now ready for my daughter or for me if I can drag myself away from the garden.  

I carried on with the watering, locked up for the night and am now half listening to Andy Murray and his first step on the ladder at Wimbledon.  I did catch the English wonder girl play her first time on Centre Court and she's through to the next round.  Supper time and it's going to be tuna may on sandwiches I think....too hot to be slaving over a hot stove.  LN....Kitchen calls.....LN

Tuesday 28th June

Seven start and it was a beautiful morning to wake up to. Unfortunately the rest of the day wasn't like that, we had lots of white clouds and a raging wind so the umbrella had to come down as a safety measure.  I've had it for too long to watch it fly over the hillside and then search for a replacement.  I watered the plants that I'd put in the garden last night to give them a chance of survival and when that was done I was at a loose end.  I'd got in my head that the lunch time gathering at Avatar's house was at twelve thirty so I had a few hours before I needed to be anywhere.  I played around in the garden but in my night attire, came in and realised the electricity was off so chances of Netflix were abandoned and I took to the sofa in the lounge with my little Kindle and carried on reading Game of Thrones book one.  I was just warming up for a shower and wash my hair planning to go into Kardjali after lunch when Emula's mother was at the door telling me to come immediately to Avatar's house and by now I realised that she's said eleven thirty not twelve thirty.  Most of the ladies get up early, have lunch and spend most of the afternoon in bed coming out in the evening....a siesta no less.  I said 'give me five minutes' and the response what that it should be immediate, off she went, I ran upstairs and had a wash, put a brush through my hair and tied it back, got dressed and i was over the road in four.  

It was a very formal affair.  They were all seated at the table on the grass under the tree. there was a huge banichka, salad. Fanta or juice and they were all tucking in.  A huge plate of banichka was put in front of me that I knew I'd never be able to get through and I knew now why the pants that they wear have elastic waistbands and I told them so and we had a laugh about it.  I was wearing jeans with a leather belt so couldn't eat as much as they did.  Then came the very sweet cake as in calories not design, Haciber nodded off, Emula's mother set off for her house and eventually there were just two of us with the tidying and the washing up.  We cleared most things, I put the chairs back in the garage and the washing up was left, Avatar had had a busy day and was about to take to her bed for her afternoon nap.  I came home, thought about Kardjali and abandoned the idea, I'd moved my student to Thursday afternoon so tomorrow is all mine and if the weather is good I'm going swimming after I've sorted items on my list.

My this time the electricity had come back on and I saw the man who was spray painting the pylons as I walked back from Avatar's house.  I'm sure he had more paint on his clothing that the pylon ever saw and on such a windy day one would have considered rescheduling but I forgot...this is Bulgaria.  I am hoping that he had full protection on.  So after a lazy morning and a very filling lunch, I turned on the television and watched Wimbledon more first rounds.  Seven thirty I went out and watered the plants for the second time today and the pots and everything is looking good.  I've just seen a strange sight though....no trials bike bringing home the cows, a Renault Clio has just cone over the fields heading back towards the farm and the cows are following.  I'm wondering if this has something to do with my complaints the other day!!  LN....I really do hope so ......LN

Wednesday 29th June

Out of bed at six thirty, washing in by six forty five, pegged out by seven thirty, bonfire and hose connected for safety by seven forty.  While the house was down there I connected up the pipe with holes in it and gave the shrubs a good soaking and used the hand trimmer to neaten up the shrubs balls that I have at the bottom of the garden.  What a morning of activity.  I watered the rest of the new plantings and created a new one in a hollowed out log from the side of the house using a petunia that I'd pulled up an a fit of excessive weeding.  I came in to get myself a drink and looked at the clock...it was ten minutes to ten and the rest of the day was mine.

By now I'd worked up quite an appetite so made two poached eggs on toast with ham and that set me up for the day.  I made my mind up to go into Kardjali, I had a book to buy for my student tomorrow and my little Chuwi computer was going in to see if a repair could be done on it.  I've never yet managed to get the machine to see an SD card and the think just keeps telling me that it's running out of memory so let someone who knows look at it.  I drove in and parked up on Kaufland carpark and walked to the computer shop, the man poked around and said that it appeared that the SDF slot wasn't working.  He took my phone number, gave me a receipt and hopefully I'll hear from him soon.  The machine is only used for Transponder TV for breakfast time, emails and refuses to load FB because of lack of memory.  It makes me wonder if the slot ever worked!!  I made my way to Kaufland but they no longer have books in store so back to the Nipper and on to the pool.

Very few people there and I had a choice of bed and umbrellas.  A few clouds were around but nothing to bother me and more or less straight in the pool which was bliss.  I must have been in there for around forty five minutes doing widths and no one doing lengths so I was in no one's way.  Back to the bed and settled down to Game of Thrones on the little Kindle, got bored with that and back in the pool for around the same length of time and I'm amazed at how fit I am at my time of life.  Got out and dried off and changed to a sunbed on the other side of the pool without umbrellas and full sun, back to my book, checked the time and it was four thirty so time to think about Lidl and the student book, a little shopping and home.  In Djebel I stopped to buy cheese for Avatar, unloaded and put my shopping away and then popped over to deliver the said lump of cheese and she reminded me that half the quantity from the morning van was the same price...shop locally...pah!!

Towel and swim gear in the washing machine  and into PJ's and that's now sitting in the guest room and should be ready for Friday...weather permitting.  I feel so good after a day at the pool and I've stopped all tablets now.  My blood pressure seems to have settled down now that I'm more active and no blotches to worry about which only adds to the stress.  So tomorrow student in the morning and my usual Tuesday tomorrow afternoon.....and as I've said maybe swimming or the grass my grab my attention...I'll see how I feel.  LN......Now back to Andy Murray for a visual, I'm only hearing the commentary and roars from the TV downstairs.......LN

Thursday 30th June

Tennis seems to have taken over and I watched Andy Murry in his pursuit last night and then the final of the Great Sewing B which was much more interesting,  I used to always watch the second week, never the first and I think I should have stuck to that.

First awakening was at four thirty and then on the hour until I made it out of the nest by six thirty and with not much to do until my first student of the day at ten I sort of meandered through the morning.  I gave the pots a good watering, it promised to be a very hot day and it didn't disappoint but I couldn't head for a pool, I had self imposed work to do.  I settled for a ham and cheese toasted sandwich for breakfast which I sort of had on the run, put the main TV on to catch the headlines since my little one is in for repair and went in the shower at nine, hair washed and dried off on the upstairs balcony, finishing my hair off with the dryer and managed to prepare something for the morning's lesson.  The young lady arrived with phone in hand and we started the process of getting her to speak Bulgarian.  The Turkish program that she's using is very good but also very American so some of the grammar is suspect and the phrasing.  It was twelve before I called a halt to it and gave her some homework so that she can start writing and constructing simple sentences from the verbs that we covered and she can use the book that I bought yesterday to help her.  We'll see next week how she got on.

Changed my t-shirt and was in the Nipper for two thirty heading for my second session with my young man.  I'd printed off a couple of texts that were fairly easy from the BBC website and quite nice stories with test questions already prepared.  We finished at five, I went down to the shop and he went with money from me to buy three ice-creams to cool us down a little.  He related the story that we'd just gone through to his mother, I'd done through it with her while he was buying the ice-creams and they both matched more or less.  So much so that I came away with ten eggs from their chickens and that should see me through next week.  

Home for six thirty, supper was tuna mayo with sweet potato, beetroot and hard boiled eggs and the sweet potato certainly added something different to it.  Washing up can wait, only the grass to sort tomorrow so I'll be starting that early if the grass isn't too damp in the morning.  LN.....All go in my neck of the woods.......LN