Sunday 21st August

Another busy day and also night.  The thunder thundered and the lightning flashed and one of the upstairs door banged to so I went upstairs to investigate what was happening.  I went into my upstairs bedroom that's allocated to my daughter and her husband, the little window was wide open and the fan was creating quite a breeze as the wind got up with the storm.  Both were stretched out so I thought I didn't disturb them and as I got back to the middle of the landing, the bathroom door opened and my daughter-in-law was just exiting and I'm not sure who frightened each other more and so much so that we ended up hugging and off we went to our respective bedrooms.  I played sudoku until I got very sleepy and slept through until seven thirty and woke to a very dull morning, it wasn't raining but everything was very wet.  I sorted the cushions from the outside furniture, collected the washing that had been left out, rinsed it and gave it another spin and put it on the airer to dry inside the house.

We breakfasted well, got in the Beast and headed to Ustra, an old Byzantine fort from the tenth century.  We parked up, were told by a cyclist coming down that it was about a two kilometer hike and in retrospect I think he meant that the distance to the lodge was about that...he never mentioned that it was a very stony trek to the fort itself and when we got there the views were amazing.  There was a little pushing and shoving from the men of the outfit to get granny up to the top but well worth it.  The downward descent was almost as harrowing and some of it was done on my bottom but we reached ground zero safely.  Back to the Beast and returned home and around five there was a deputation from the ladies of the village bringing gifts and the family were all paraded and I thank the ladies from the bottom of my heart.  It's good for my family to see that I live in a village where not only am I accepted but am part of the community.

Everyone showered before we went out to eat at the pizza restaurant.  The waitress was frightened to speak English when we arrived but soon started to practice her English and was doing very well.  Back home all stuffed to the gills.  I've put the cushions away all ready just in case it rains tonight, the washing that's waiting will go on the airer instead of the line and now I'm off to bed.  We have lots of photos from today but it's going to take time to get them off phones and the booze was flowing well tonight and being chauffeur....I was OK...no booze for me thank you.  Tomorrow we're off to Plovdiv...my sun and his family are leaving but in the afternoon we shall be looking at the old town and leaving them at the airport around seven for the plane.  LN.....Pictures I promise tomorrow......LN

Tuesday 23rd August

What a busy day yesterday and sorry there was no update.  I was up bright and early, usual trek round the garden looking for tortoise and joined by the grand-children armed with cherry tomatoes and melon, back in the house for a family breakfast and eventually everyone was packed up, son, wife and grandchildren and heading off towards Plovdiv.  Their plane wasn't until ten at night but we were hoping to get to the Old Town in Plovdiv.  We didn't get off as quickly as planned, I took my son over to see Avatar and she was so pleased to meet him, my daughter met her about five years ago so will catch up with her before she leaves on Saturday evening but this time from Sofia.

We must have eventually got away by one thirty and was passing Plovdiv airport around four.  I'd suggested to the boys that one drove and the other navigated and there was no enthusiasm for the driving so I said I would do it.  I've got this aversions to Plovdiv, don't know the roads, ring roads etc but said to number one son that he had to give me direct instruction to the Old Town and we were very fortunate to find a free parking spot in the centre.  We found the underground excavations and the mosque in the centre, my DIL Googled restaurants and found a Turkish one near to the where the car was parked, dinner was good and the only draw back was that they didn't take cards and fortunately I had enough cash to cover it until my son went to the cash point in the Airport.  We left the airport around eight o'clock and left them to it, we drove home and by the time we arrived were all knacked and ready for bed.  It was a long day.

Today as been leisurely, I was walking the garden , putting out the cushions on the terrace, setting me up with What's App, feeding tortoise and we eventually set off for Kardjali around eleven.  We did the shoe shop but it hadn't got the ones that my daughter wanted. the chemist for Repairil Gel for my SIL.s bad back, coffee break, cheapy clothes shop and hardware shop to see if I could get a new plug for the kitchen sink.  I'd made a silicon seal this morning and it sort of worked but wanted to get a new one if possible.  We did but it didn't fit but does now after modification with a Stanley knife.  We decided to have supper in the Pizza restaurant in town, all too lazy to cook and eventually drove home via the supermarket in Djebel.  

We're now in the middle of a thunderstorm so I shall be wrapping this up soon.  It's been forecast rain and thunderstorms for the next few days.  LN.....Now lets see if I can find some photos from the last few days......LN

Wednesday 24th August

This morning was a day for sorting out the rest of the bed linen and two wash loads done, pegged out before breakfast.  That too was a less chaotic affair catering for three instead of seven.  I had a bonfire to clear the debris, the clouds were gathering and it's been that was all day.  Around eleven the first rain drops appeared and the three of us ran out and brought in the almost dry washing, on to the clothes airer and doors upstairs and now everything is put away.  

As for the rest of the day, we have done very little except try to reconnect my wifi printer and get it to print.  We cleaned it several times, it's the one that went back to the shop since it was only printing green and not the other colours, supposedly fixed yet is still doing the same thing.  The plan was to print off a difficult sudoku, each have a copy to see how we would do and in the end I created a template, the numbers that we had from my daughter's phone were copied over and we copied one for each of us from the Brother printer.  Lots of crisps were eaten this afternoon while watching films, the threatened thunder didn't appear until this evening and the flashes have appeared in the sky with very little noise to accompany them.  We cooked pork chops with spicy sauce that we'd bought the other day for supper, chippies in the air-fryer and mashed potatoes with baked beans was an option but the crisps had put me out of kilter and I really didn't do the food justice.

We went back to a little more TV, I was nodding off and I decided that I might as well take the kindle into the bathroom with me and settle down in the bath to catch up on my beauty sleep as per normal which I did but I did remember to put the kindle on the side table. I went back downstairs and have started watching from episode three a series that I've already watched and fortunately it must have been a while ago, I've forgotten most of it.  The rest of the house have taken to their bed, I'm about to go downstairs and take to mine, out for supper tomorrow if it can be arranged.   LN.....And the thunder continues......LN

Thursday 26th August

Woke up this morning to grim weather.  You could hardly see the hillsides, the rain did stay away for time and we managed to get a couple of loads from the machine on to the line and it came in just before the rain came down this afternoon.  Breakfast was the usual bean feast, ham, eggs, toast and yogurt and Mrs Cat benefitted, the ham was on the cusp and despite the limp she managed to make her way over towards me but shot off when I approached her.  I also took to weeding the old vegetable bed and only one section of it for the job to be completed and I felt quite pleased with myself.

This afternoon we had another sudoku challenge but this time it wasn't against each other.  I used the kindle, my daughter used her phone as did her husband and the challenge came when we progressed from intermediate to hard as you like against the clock.  The more I looked at some of them the more difficult it got until I decided I'd had enough.  We quit at around five, I showered and washed my hair and we took it in turns and were all squeaky clean for going out for supper with the garage owner and family including my old and new student.  We met them at the restaurant at seven, my older student was sitting with his friends outside and they were all wrapped in grey fleece blankets provided by the restaurant to stave off the cold and damp. He joined us as we went inside and his parents and the younger student appeared and we pushed two tables together and settled down with the menus.

We ordered lots of food, cheesy chips and salad and Turkish kebabs, beer for the lads and soft drinks for the rest of us.  The conversation round the table was interesting, as for my twelve year old student he kept up with the conversation well, he's a joy to teach.  Food over I settled the bill, there was opposition from the family but since I'd invited them, no way were they paying.  We stopped off at the supermarket and bought fresh bread for breakfast and a few more goodies and again, I'm late with the update but at least I managed to do it.  Kardjali tomorrow and a final run round the shops to see if there are a few things that my daughter finds impossible to return to the UK without. Tomorrow we have another supper date and the diet will start for me after my daughter has left and they are under strict instructions that everything in the 'goody box' has to be devoured.  LN......Time I went to bed......LN

Friday 26th August

It's been another busy old day.  Cleared up the terraces and put everything back in its place.  The wind had moved a few things and I needed to open the umbrellas to dry them off.  I put one of the cushions out on the bench and that was fine until it started raining again soon afterwards so it all had to go back into the box.  The weather picked up again, we managed breakfast without any problems, tried target practice with a few of the tomatoes that had gone slightly over just as my neighbour stopped me at the gate and gave me more.  I started up the Nipper to go into Kardjali and it was making a funny noise, didn't sound right so I investigated under the bonnet and could see nothing odd.  The tail end of the exhaust pipe was rattling against the back cill so I made the decision that we would go into Kardjali with the Beast and we stopped off at the garage and asked for a few hints or tips as to what it could be.  It was a pretty vague request and their advice was to drive it into the garage and I wasn't happy with doing that so I phoned the garage after Kardjali and arranged for the car to be picked up and delivered to them.  Worth forty lev of anyone's money.

So in Kardjali my daughter bought a few things and we stopped off at a cake shop and enjoyed very rich fruit and cream cakes with coffee, Lidl for a few things and I complained about my printer in the electrical shop and was told to take it back and they would look at it.  I mentioned that I'd spent another two hours trying to get it to work and thought it should be returned to the manufacturers yet again.  Home and the Nipper was picked up at three thirty and delivered to the garage, we watched Countdown until the television started to play up and not lock on to the programme and then got ready, we were out for supper tonight at a new restaurant.  We arrived at the friend's house at just after six, a quick view of the house and over to the restaurant by seven and had a fabulous meal and the bill was picked up for us despite my offer to go halves.  I dropped the friends off, drove to Momchilgrad to put some fuel in for tomorrow for the trip to the airport and got home by ten thirty.  My daughter is still packing trying to get a quart into a pint pot but has time until tomorrow to bin things or just leave them here for the next time.    Now it's time for me to get my head down, I'm feeling jaded today and I'm going to miss them both when they go, the house will be so empty.  LN......Come back soon my loverlies......LN

Saturday27th August

The alarm brought me into the world at seven thirty and it was all go and action stations for the whole crew.  The bed was stripped, washing went in and two loads pegged out before we left. Eggs boiled for breakfast and served with ham, cheese and sliced tomato, very continental, dishes washed and put away, Gemski's bag packed, unpacked and finally packed and the dress I'd given her was folded and put to the bottom of the bag not rolled and making a nuisance of itself.  We went round the village, found the ladies and handed out the goody bags, make a special effort with Avatar and she was very close to tears, I told her that I was coming back and that made her cry even more.

Into the Beast just before eleven and we decided to take the Haskovo route but it's the first and last time for me, I much prefer going over the mountain route, not so much traffic and not so boring.  Once we got on the A! it's two lane, lorries and cars and idiots of every nationality that really do speed with very little thought for anyone else.  I didn't push the Beast too much, one toilet break and to  shake out my shoulders and we managed to park up at the airport in Sofia at around three thirty.  I didn't stay long, they wanted me to get back in the daylight, flashed the parking ticket at the machine and it said that I could leave without payment.  I drove to the checkpoint, asked the man to help me since the scanner is on the opposite side from the drivers, told him there was nothing to pay and he said that it was four lev.  I said that the machine indicated that there was nothing to pay but I obviously wasn.t quick enough getting to the car-park barrier.  So drove through a no-entry, managed to find the payment machine, paid the four lev, drove back to the barrier but by this time my help-mate was inside the cubicle.  I held up the ticket and from inside he upped the barrier and I escaped...I think he took pity on me.

Everything was fine with the journey back until I got to Plovdiv and got totally lost again because of the road works.  Eventually stumbled on a place I recognised, followed my nose and entered Ascenovgrad from a different road but found my way to the centre of town and I was back on the open road. I didn't stop off at my favourite restaurant along the route, just kept going and arrived home just before eight so not bad going.  I've had a shower and into my PJ's and it won't be long before my little head hits the pillow.  The goody box had been raided already and I've got bacon snacks for supper and on my second glass of fizzy water.  As expected the house seems deserted, it's been all systems go for the last three weeks and tomorrow if the weather is good I'm off to the pool.  LN.....Now to What's App the family.....LN

Sunday 28th August

So Sunday is the day of rest and it has been.  Back to the normal toast for breakfast, walked the garden in my dressing gown and was in it until about twelve.  I was in the house around ten thirty and I heard a strange knocking, realised it was close to the building but not on a door of the house so went to investigate and there was a young man there who spoke perfect English.  He said that he had heard that there was an English lady living in the village and he'd come to investigate. I was rather surprised by this and curious so I opened the gate and let him in and we sat on the terrace.  He wanted to know why I was here, how long I had been here and how did I get on with the language because everyone speaks Turkish here.  I answered most of his questions and he had to answer mine as well.  He was born in Sweden when his family moved there from Bulgaria when the troubles began.  Some of his uncles went to Turkey, his grandfather has a house in the next village and he was over visiting and doesn't speak any Bulgarian at all.  He loved my house, the garden and we managed to find Blue, my tortoise and he was intrigued that I considered it to be a pet.  He stayed for about thirty minutes, I wished him well and off he went.  I popped over to my Avatar not long after he'd left and she had clocked him already.  They certainly don't miss much here.

I came back and fixed the gate, the top bolt had become loose and last time I mended it by stuffing cocktail sticks into the hole.  This time I put in part of a dowel, replaced the bolt and it seems to have held.  I really should empty the hole, put new wood in but hey...it's fixed.  I had intended going to the pool today but instead started moving stuff to the place where it lived not existed for the last three weeks.  I didn't managed to make my bed up upstairs but maybe later and my nomadic lifestyle, downstairs for the winter and upstairs for the summer could begin.  I ws pretty lazy this year, we had such a bad start with weather that I never made the move and then the children were coming so I just didn't bother.  Now I can.

The goody box has been well and truly hit this afternoon and cashew nuts gone, jelly babies gone, chocolates gone but not the peanut ones.  That would have meant getting up and I was installed in front of the TV with Netflix.  I had a programme running but slept through most of it and feel much better for it.  Yesterday's four hour driving had taken its toll and after a good night's sleep tonight, I shall be fine.  I did have an update on the Nipper, the exhaust section will be delivered and fitted tomorrow so should be ready to pick up after lunch.  I'll phone them around lunchtime and probably catch the Monday one o'clock bus or drive the Beast in and get them to check out the squeaky brakes.  So no supper required tonight, I might manage another packet of crisps later/  I also spotted a few cans and a bottle of beer in the little house today and several bottles of fizzy water and pop.....I'll take some over to Avatar's, they drink the fizzy orange and lemonade, I just prefer the water.  Very hot this afternoon but gusty wind leaving the umbrella jammed between the window and the balcony but soon removed and back to normal.  LN.....Back to Netflix and Kleo.......LN

Monday 29th August

So up really early this morning but there's been very little activity for the rest of the day.  I watered the pots on the terrace to keep them going, collected the rubbish and had a bonfire and while it was burning with the lid on the bucket I went on a tortoise hunt.  I found Blue first, started to walk back towards the top of the garden and heard funny squeaking noises coming from the bed near the walnut tree so went to investigate.  Green god was really attacking Rosy and se was valiantly fighting him off, there was lots of biting going on so I went back to the house to get the camera but by the time I got back, the fun was over, Rosy was in the recovery position and Green god was making his escape back along the short wall.  I do know that if the males successfully 'lock in, it can take a long while for the mating to be successful but I don't think she gave him the opportunity.  Good girl, I have enough tortoise in my garden.

I went back to the house and decided to clear out the rest of the bottles of fizzy and beer from the workshop and took them over to Avatar's house.  I thought the bottle of beer would do for the workmen with it being so hot and the fizzy I know she would drink.  She was over with the other women when I went into her garden but came back, I sat down and waited for her and then there was some confusion that she wanted a long stick and eventually I found out it was to shake the walnuts off the tree, I thought it was early but she's preparing to leave for Germany.  I mentioned that I had cans of beer that was left from my visitors and she announced that her son was coming unexpectedly from Germany tomorrow so at least there'll be an outlet for them.  Next minute she was up the ladder and picking white grapes from the vine in the yard, she said that the ladder wasn't very stable so maybe I've got to go over with mine.  As I was leaving with my grapes, my painter was walking towards me and stopped for a chat, he said that if I needed anything to let him know but he had lots of work on his house, inside and out and that was now his occupation.

The rest of the afternoon I've been watching Netflix and doing very little else.  I did pass on a snippet to my daughter that I picked up from Loose Women that mayonnaise will remove the sticky patch from the skin left by the HRT patches.  She sent me back a Bob Square Pants meme with a thank you note....Almost eight my time and I've been picking from the goody box all day so no supper for me.  I didn't phone about the Nipper....didn't want to rush them.  I have a lesson with my student tomorrow so probably go up in the Beast, leave it at the garage and come back in the Nipper......I'll see how the land lies.  LN......Bath tonight, sudoku and kindle......LN

Tuesday 30th August

So nearly another month gone and what a busy one it's been.  Children and grandchildren been and gone and it's almost as if it didn't happen, it was just too quick, conversations that should have happened didn't, no time to just 'be'.....we did a lot but I'm still processing the few days that we had the house full.  

Seven start this morning, stripped my downstairs bed, washed the bedding and have made it up for tonight.  I'm still not sure whether or not I've got more visitors this week or the beginning of next so I've not moved upstairs which I intended doing.  Some of the clothes have made it upstairs and the bathroom is back to normal so getting there.  I made a cheese and ham omelette for breakfast, the news on the Nipper is that the plug and injectors have been replaced but they're still waiting for the exhaust part to arrive and I cancelled my lesson with my student.  Instead I took to the sofa and watched the end of the series I started watching yesterday and then slept for a couple of hours.  

Avatar has been busy.  Her son arrived from Germany yesterday so I have an outlet for the beer that was left and I took them over tonight.  My present from him was a Union Jack flag but I couldn't thank him, he's taken off for four days to a spa resort with the family and poor mother is left with a bathroom half finished, the boiler isn't working so she has no hot water and the electrics in the living area don't work so she's no lights or television.  Undeterred she finished mowing the grass tonight after I left, she looks really tired but determined to finish everything before she goes to Germany on the seventh.  I've just finished supper and cooked it in my new air fryer....chicken bread crumbed fillet and chippies and I was trying out the machine unsupervised and without glasses I couldn't tell which was the temperature control or the timer so out came the manual and success......it tasted good.  

Grass tomorrow if the weather is OK.....I've got so many mole hills that I should get a mini-roller to go over them to flatten them out, there are a few really bare patches and others where the weeds have really taken off but the mower should sort them out.  LN......It's all go in my neck of the woods......LN

Wednesday 31st August

Funny old day weatherwise.  It was a descent start to the day, I had bun loaf for breakfast as I must have missed the van this morning, Avatar's sought me out, she'd taken up the Zinnias from her garden in preparation for her departure to Germany for the winter and offered me the seed heads.  I followed her over the road, she was up to her eyes in work since her son and family have gone off to the spa leaving her to prepare the house for departure.  She looked absolutely knacked.  When the other ladies saw me in the garden they came over and took up positions on the outside chairs, Avatar got more from the garage and suddenly there was an upheaval and they two of them made their way into the house to see what the workmen had been up to.  Beyser added her two stotinki's worth asking why the toilet was under the window and not up the corner and couldn't understand that a shower cubicle was going in at a later date so Avatar gave up.  I noticed that there was completed load of washing in the machine in the bathroom so I suggested that we empty it since she had another load waiting, I took it outside and began pegging it out, she brought the rest and we worked together and the other ladies went on their way.  We sat down for ten minutes or so, I grabbed my bucket with the seed heads and came home and worked up to starting with the mowing machine with very little enthusiasm,

Eventually I went out and the machine was picking up more dust than cutting grass and three quarters down the big house grass I'd had enough and needed a drink.  This stretched to eating a packet of crisps and some biscuits, Netflix went on as the clouds rolled over, the sky went dark and the thunder and lightning started so I just carried on watching more episodes.  Eventually I went out again, the mower was parked up under the walnut tree but the primer on the machine just wouldn't prime the fuel.  It must have done around seven years service and I remembered I had a new one filed with the manual so I found it in the filing system and replace the old one that had no whoomph left in it.  By this time the will to carry on had dissipated completely so I put the machine away, had a visit from my neighbours over the field delivering a bag of pears from their garden.  I offered to pay, they told me it was a gift and that all the village ladies had had some.  The wife admired my garden and invited me over to see hers since she loves flowers too.

Beast back in the garage, update on Nipper repairs, apparently the part was order, was expected but has gone AWOL between its departure and arrival and it's under investigation.....and further update expected tomorrow.  I've told the garage that there's no rush, I've got plenty of food in and I might as well catch the bus in on Friday morning.....it's market day.  After a quick phone call to my daughter I now know how to remove the tray from the air cooker for cleaning....it was just a matter of finding the switch and pressing it....old dog and new tricks.  LN......Grass awaits for tomorrow.......LN