Friday 11th November

Another cold and early start so I had beans on toast for a warming start, washed up, fed the cat, put a load of washing in and it looks like I've beaten the rain.  I decided to go into Kardjali and pick up requested items and deliver them, have an afternoon catch up and home before dark...and it all went to plan except that it took me ages to get into gear, I had a shower and watched my hair and put clothes on and took them off....it was a cold start but normally warms up and you end up trying to take layers off.

I droved into Kardjali and parked up on Kaufland car park and some how found my way into the DIY shop on the next car-park.  I looked round for offers and found nothing so went up the stairs to look at carpets and somehow found two that looked to be reasonable and the right size but I must have had my magnifying glasses on.  I bought them both, moved the car so that I could load them and with a bit of maneuvering got them into the Nipper and then decided not to bother going to Kaufland and carried on to Lidl.  I checked off the items on the list that I had, bought a few things for me, loaded the Nipper.  I stopped off at the gas station and filled up my tank and was surprised when the attendant greeted me with a cheery 'Hello darling' to which I replied 'Hello handsome' and trades description would have had issues with both statements.  It cheer me up though.  Made the delivery, chatted for awhile and headed home as the weather was drawing in along with the night but just managed to get home as the rain started.  Washing in and on the airer, fire lit, slow cooker set to on and supper will be any time now.  I added the remains of the baked beans from this morning to the slow cooker, will take what I can eat and the cat gets the rest tomorrow morning.  

If the rain stays off the pots are definitely coming in, I'm chancing my luck at the moment.   I've put the one carpet down and the second on is up in my summer bedroom but I haven't the energy to put it down tonight.  It has to go under the big chest and that's going to be heavy.  Sports day tomorrow on the television, I have nothing to go out for and everything to stay in for especially if that rain comes down and I would complain but we do need it badly.  LN.....I think supper is ready....LN

Saturday 12th November

Seven start but there wasn't much of a start about it.  It was a cold, wet, miserable morning and looked like it would stay that way and it has.  I made coffee and found bacon in the fridge so breakfast was bacon, egg and fried bread, I washed up the dishes and the slow cooker from yesterday and did a general tidy round and found some very warm clothes to put on.  I didn't light the fire though I was sorely tempted and managed to hang out until three thirty before I got the home fires burning.

I managed to put the second carpet down in my summer bedroom except that it hasn't not exactly been mine this year.  For some reason I didn't move upstairs, the weather at the beginning of the year was slow to get started and then it was all systems go, house tidying and the bedroom was earmarked for my daughter and her husband and I just stayed downstairs.  The winter sheets came off, the summer ones went on and now the winter ones are back on and I'm so grateful.  I love my fleece sheets and duvet covers. just so nice to get into and easy to wash and dry over the winter.  If I can't put them outside they go over the banister rails and dry in quicksticks.  Back to getting the carpet down....I realised the chest was far too heavy for me to lift so I emptied the contents directly above the legs and put it on the far side over the other legs and tilted the chest getting the carpet under the two legs.  I applied the same technique to the other side and task complete.....another job done.

I watched the rugby and England get beaten and now watching the Billie Jean King tennis and England have made it to the semi-finals for the first time since the eighties.  There were two singles matches and we won one of them in a resounding fashion and now the double match is being played and is really exciting.  The addition of the brass instruments playing between sets gives it a carnival atmosphere...a really lively event and not somber like Wimbledon.  Strictly tonight, supper is chicken fillet and croquette potatoes...the air-fryer is coming into its own.  Just had a lengthy messenger with an old friend...I'm thinking I might have a visit from him and his wife next summer.  LN....Kitchen calls and so does the wood burner.....LN

Sunday 13th November

Six thirty start and the morning seemed very long.  The fire has made it through the night so I resuscitated it with a medium sized log and let it go out around one this afternoon.  I was making breakfast at seven thirty, taking chicken from the freezer and already planning supper and wondering what to get up to.  Washed and dressed for outside by nine so I slowed down with a cup of coffee and waited for the sun to come up and the terraces to dry off which didn't take too long.  

Started off with a bonfire and noticed that there was one over the hillside and if he was sending a message, I didn't understand so didn't reply.  I soon put the lid on though, the cats have a habit of sorting through even though there's never much in there for them.  I noticed that the hoses were still snaking their way over the garden so now the three of them are coiled up and put to winter in the wood store and joining it was the lawnmower....I don't think there's going to be much call for that over the next few months.  Next step was to get the plants in but the novelty wore off, the weather had changed for the better.  I did put two of the cacti in, tried to pick up one of the larger ones and so I grabbed the loppers and removed a couple of acacia that had self set...they are just too vigorous and I've got enough.  

I came in at one and took orange squash out and sat on the bench enjoying the sun and watching the pied fly catcher birds flying up, catching insects and then returning to the trees.  I always thought they were territorial but there was about five of them flitting between the wild plum and the mulberry and they all seemed happy together...not interacting with each other, keeping distance between each other and going quietly about the feeding frenzy.  Break over, I attacked the leaves on the terrace yet again, cleared off the window sills and put things into a bowl and they're in the little house.  The loppers came into play again and I cut back the honeysuckle round the well and tied it back to the well, I didn't stop there, I rescued a laurel that had been held back by a twisting honeysuckle  and it's now liberated. Over the wall I heard turkeys and went to have a look and the mayor's brother appeared to be taking them for a walk over the hillside.  He was herding them like sheep, he stopped for a chat and realised that they'd carried on and last seen chasing them over the hillside towards his village.  I cleared the grass from a couple of little garden, disturbed some bulbs and they're going into a pot and will come into the porch, tools away, little house and woodstore locked up and my Fitbit informed me that I'd chalked up ten thousand steps.

I relit the fire, kitchen duties called and I made chicken breast with mushrooms and onion in a mushroom sauce.  I put pasta on to boil and it just didn't go soft for some reason so I changed the menu to croquette potatoes and I was soon eating it watching the snooker.  Strictly results tonight, nothing much on the agenda for tomorrow and if the weather is good it will be more of the same. gardening and general tidying.  LN.....I lovely active day......LN

Monday 14th November

So I posted last night, I didn't fall asleep half way through but no sign of it this morning.  Normal busy day once the sun had got up but up until that point I was filling my time with television, bonfires, washing and the usual house hold tasks.  Unfortunately I fell upon snooker on the Beeb and guess who was playing ...Ronnie your actual so that was my afternoon sorted until I realised it was getting a little dark out there so I rushed out, locked up the little house and the woodstore, managed to find the washing that I'd put out earlier and got it on to the airer.  Of course that's not going to get dried unless the fire was lit so that was the next job that had to be done.

The supper that I'd put in the slow cooker this morning was ready and to be honest, I'd used pork that had been slightly freezer burnt so I realised that I was probably cooking for the cat and as it turned out, I had.  I'd made a very tasty sweet and sour sauce and that had gone into the pot with it, I served it up and that was about as far as it got.  I had one mouthful, didn't want the rest, back into the slow cooker pot with it and the cat had it this morning and no complaints from that quarter.  I also watched the women's rugby semi-finals last night and we were really out-played.  The New Zealanders were quick, heavy bruisers and were successful, we tried hard but just hadn't got it last night.  LN....Bed by eleven....and fingers were crossed for a good night.....LN

Tuesday 15th November

Eight start so the rest of the day I was playing catch-up.  As to what  got up to, firstly as I said on the previous, I realised I'd been cooking yesterday for the cat and as I went out the garden, it emerged from the honeysuckle and followed me to the wild cherry and scoffed the lot.  I came back to the house, made toast and slathered it with dairy triangles and that was breakfast.  I cleared the kitchen put morning television on and waited for the sun to come out.  I set the fire for tonight, filled up the log basket in the house and the log carrier for the porch and remembered that I needed to fill up the water reserves for the Beast washers front and back so found the keys and opened up the bonnet.  It's very heavy so struggled but managed it, moved the Beast forward so that I could get to the back window washers and clear the leaves from underneath the Beast.  I'm surprised how many are still hanging on the tree and are green.  I've also noticed that plants that I thought had shut down for the winter and now putting up new shoots...everything is confused this year.

Climbed the stairs and started up the main computer, cleared the junk mail and decided to take out a subscription that would hide my activity online.  I'm tired of being so obvious to the advertisers on line and the amount of junk I'm getting substantiates this....fingers crossed it will be worth the fifty pence a week I've invested.  Next task was to find a text for my student and searched my folders coming up with one that contained texts that I'd used for his brother.  This one was conversational discussing why society chooses either to follow designer clothing or to shun it.  It really does sort the sheep from the goats and we had an interesting discussion about it.

We went down to the shop and my first student and his girlfriend were shop keeping, mother and father had gone to Kardjali.  We sat in the shop for an hour or so, my student asked if I liked eclairs, which I do and off he went to the supermarket and came back with three of them saying that he absolutely loves them and has at least one a day.  My phone went and it was my daughter for a catch-up, I mentioned that I was with my student and she remembers him from his visit and the laughs we had when we went up to London on the train.  I was home for eight, lit the fire, put some turkey dippers into the air-fryer along with some croquettes and I had supper at the desk on the landing and had just finished when my daughter phoned back for a much longer catch-up and we were on for an hour.  Quiz night tonight, looks like the Monday schedule has moved to Tuesday....might move back when the sport flurry has subsided.  Nothing much on the agenda for tomorrow, the starry night looks like I might have to get in the rest of the plants tomorrow and that we're in for a temperature drop.  LN......Better go throw another log on the fire......LN

Wednesday 16th November

As you can see from the pickies we had a another very miserable start but eventually the sun broke through.  It was down to three degrees last night but was up to six at eight but the wind had a raw  edge to it.  I was pretty slow off the mark and eventually made boiled eggs for breakfast with toast soldiers. got washed and dressed and waited until it had warmed up somewhat before I made my move outside.  I set the fire for tonight...it's getting dark early and temperatures are dropping.

My plan for today was to chop enough starter wood to last me well into next year and I managed it.  It was pretty slow going, a lot of the wood that I was trying to split was used for a lot of the building work on the house, had a layer of cement on it and was very dry.  The technique wasn't scientific, more brute force and ignorance and I used my little hand axe not the big one that I bought form Lidl but I remembered to count my fingers before and had the same amount at the end so did OK so to speak.  I had three large tubs of the split wood, decided that was enough and enough energy had been used up so swept up the splinters not worth burning and put them onto the garden to rot down.  Next job was to confirm that the water reservoirs in both cars had been filled up with a winter fluid not a summer one.  I'd mentioned that I'd filled them up yesterday and was questioned by my student's mum whether I'd used summer or winter and I hadn't a clue so checked today and it was winter and guaranteed down to minus sixty degrees so that should do me.  I also remembered to pot up the bulbs that I'd dug up by accident the other day and they're now in decent soil that the blasted moles have left on the surface of the grass and some compost that was laying around.  I've put them in the little house to winter and they should be flowering when I get back from the UK.

I came in at one thirty, made a coffee and somehow laid my hands on a packet of tea biscuits and they are no more.  It's amazing how quickly you can go through a packet with a cup of hot coffee and somehow I didn't manage to leave half a biscuit in the cup....easy done if you are watching the television at the same time.  I also remembered that I'd bought a bar of hazelnut chocolate yesterday and unfortunately that's gone as well.  I did manage to get my head down for an hour of so while pretending to watch television but woke up cold.  I'd left the outside door open and had opened windows this morning to get some air through the house so closed the doors and windows, lit the fire and the house soon warmed up.  Had a very interesting conversation with my grandson this afternoon on Messenger, he's looking to buy a Pajero 4x4 and was asking me about mine.  I love mine, automatic, easy to drive, comfortable and reliable.  I'd use it all the time except that the cost of diesel compared to the cost of gas brings my mean and sensible side to the fore...why would you unless it's for a journey where a 4x4 is important or when I have the family over and need a seven seater.

Almost seven my time, the fire is going, the house is warm, I watched Ronnie in the snooker this afternoon beat the Chinese opponent by six games to nil...that's my boy and forward into the quarter final.  Sorting through clothes that I want to take to the UK tomorrow, I've realised that the days are moving on and decisions have to be made.  LN....Nothing so far for supper springs to mind...maybe the biscuits and chocolate will see me through until morning.....LN

Thursday 17th November

Well I went to bed early with a chunk of Cheddar and I chocolate wafer bar but I managed to leave that for later today.  I'd pigged out on biscuits yesterday and really wasn't in the mood to cook or eat and I didn't until I raided the fridge for the cheese at eleven last night.  Slept well and woke at six to a very red wintery sky and even managed to go out and take a few photos but soon came in.  I made a cheese omelette for breakfast, ate it while I watched the Repair Shop and the Travelling Auctioneers, thought it was time to get washed and dressed ready to face the day.

I looked down the garden and noted that there was activity the other side of the wall at the bottom of the garden. I'd complained to the turkey man who happens to be the brother of my old mayor about the water flow and what a waste it was and he must have passed the message on...hence a digger, an orange van and around five men at this point.  I sauntered down the garden and had a word with the men and noticed that the water was gushing over the hillside and smiled when I saw a bucket alongside the trench.  I didn't stay long, I offered coffee or tea and they reminded me that the water was off and I mentioned that I had a ten litre bottle of the stuff for such emergencies.  They didn't need anything so I came back into the house and went out about half an hour later and this time there was a man in the hole and three watching and after an hour or so they left in the van and the digger made its way along the back wall and over the next field.  I heard lots of noise and it appears that they have capped it off on the main road near the little square.  A job well done...I don't think it was supplying any one.

So now I was in the mood for activity and the water barrel from the down pipe from the little house is cleaned out, the water put into bottles for the winter for watering the plants and the container put away for the winter.  I had a bit of a job with the tap, it was seized solid and as I turned it undid the connector between the barrel and the tap so rust remover and brute force and ignorance and finally a tap with a hammer sorted it out.  The problem if there is one can be sorted out next year.  As I emptied the watering can into the outside sink I notice a huge spider so I coaxed it into a flower pot, flower pot into a bucket, bucket to the wall, flower pot on wall and unfortunately, spider and flower pot went over to the other side. I little bit of creative thinking and with a bungy cord, I got the hook through the bottom of the pot and brought it back to my side, leaving the spider over the other side of the wall.  I don't like spiders.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trimming shrubs and bushes, moving some pots into the little house and cleaning up both Bougainvillea to bring them into the porch.  I came in at five thirty, lit the fire, not that it was cold but it might be later, spare ribs and potatoes and onion in the oven for supper and it should be ready soon.  I've had a good day, got a lot done and feel better for it.  LN...I didn't get to sorting out clothes but that will keep for another day......LN

Friday 18th November

Six start, tried to go back to sleep again but my brain was having none of it so was making coffee just before seven.  Lovely cloud this morning hanging in the sky...it started off looking like a mackerel that morphed to a shark then took on the appearance of a whale.  In the end, when the sun came up and warmed up the air, everything disappeared in a very thick fog.  I just love my mornings and evenings...never are there two the same, such variations.

The washing was in the machine by eight and out on the line for nine, bacon, egg and fried bread for breakfast and I stayed in scruff gear for most of the morning but I did wash and clean my teeth.  I was very tempted to go out and clear leaves but that mood soon went by the wayside and I ended up on the upstairs computer looking at attachments to one of my Friday emails that I hadn't got round to looking at properly.  By not it was moving on to lunch-time so I laid the fire knowing that I wouldn't be lighting it tonight I was out on the town.  The washing came in at three and I put it away, realised that the clock in the hall wasn't working so I changed the battery and for some reason the hands weren't going round and I had trouble replacing the pendulum and it became quite a challenge.  The battery came out again, I cleaned the contacts and replaced it, got it back on the wall, eventually got the pendulum to attach, straightened the large hand thinking that it might be catching on the little hand, reset the time and decided to leave it to it's own devices.  

I did spend some of the afternoon watching Ronnie get thrashed but couldn't bear to watch so I had a shower and washed my hair and felt much better for it,  I was ready to leave for Djebel at five thirty, stopped off at the supermarket and bought a box of eclairs which I gave to my hostess when I arrived at my family's house for supper.  It was good seeing them again, it's been too long.  Chicken and roasted potatoes with salad for supper followed by the eclairs and then we set off for the sister's flat in Kardjali and had the evening with her and her daughter.....almost my namesake....the letters are all there but in the wrong order.  We stayed until nine thirty, I drove back to Djebel and dropped them off in the town and was home for ten.  LN.....A very relaxing evening, good to see the little one growing up.....LN

Saturday 19th November

Another early start and I seem to be falling into a pattern....head down again and it was seven thirty second time around.  I received a message from my ex-student to let me know that she wasn't baby sitting for her niece today, it was left that she'd let me know and I'd give her a lift into Kardjali if she was needed.  So my day was all mine, I had shopping to do for me and top of the list was butter but the shopping for my friends had nothing in it that required refrigeration so I decided to do mine, come home and deliver the other later in the day or tomorrow and now it's definitely tomorrow.

First stop was Kaufland and goodness was it busy, the world and most of its friends were in there and most locals don't see to have much trolley discipline, blocking aisles and leaving children to push the trolley and it's just what's needed.  I remembered to pick up onions, swung by the plant section and they'd reduced quite large potted roses to just over a leva so I picked up five of them.  They only had pink and almost red left so I had a mixture of both and they're now sitting in a large bucket in the porch having a good drink before I do something else with them.  I bought ham, chicken reduced for quick sale, a giant tin of After Eight mints which contains two packets and not a big shopping list for me.  I moved to Lidl, eventually managed to park up and this again was heaving but by the time that I'd finished my shopping the checkouts were quite empty.  I found another outside shrub that had been reduced and apparently it has super colours come the cold weather and is related to the bamboo family but it is the 'domestic' version so shouldn't be so rampant.  I remembered butter and then set about selecting the cat food for my friends and bottled water and straight to the checkout and out in quicksticks.  I heard someone shout me and it was Bekir shopping with his village buddy, we were leaving the store at the same time.  I asked him about my roof repairs that are lingering on and said that I would like it done before I go to the UK....it probably wont be but you have to make your point.  I set off to Djebel and stopped off at my student's mum's shop and gave her one of the roses explaining that even though reduced they deserved a life and she promised to give it one.

I drove home, parked the car, emptied the shopping, plants into a container with water and chicken into the oven so that it would be ready for when I wanted it.  I settled on the sofa to find something on Netflix to watch and by now the chicken was cooked so I switched the oven off, returned to the sofa and promptly fell asleep for an hour or so and felt much better for it.  I lit the fire, it's warmed the house up ready for tonight.  I watched the end of the snooker and the Chinese guy is through to the final, am about to serve up supper and then get settled to watch Strictly tonight.  Probably make the delivery around mid-morning tomorrow, come back and sort the plants out....nothing much pressing at the moment.  LN.....A very chilled day.....LN

Sunday 20th November

Seven thirty start and it was a gentle start to the day.  The chicken bones went out for the cat but there was no sign of it.  I made my usual clicking sounds but nothing stirred, not even a mouse but that wind had been pretty violent during the night.  Pots were overturned, a carpet that I'd put on the bench outside the porch was on the terrace, we'd had some rain but not enough to wet things through.  I picked up the carpet and moved it into the little house, put the pots the right way up, laid the fire for tonight and did a general tidy round.  I'd messaged my friend asking if eleven was OK to deliver the shopping and they'd suggested one so one it was.  Until then I was going to be at a loose end, television was rubbish so I did a search on Netflix and decided to start watching Peaky Blinders from the beginning and it's amazing how much you forget.  I only watched the first episode, it would have been easy to have gotten sucked in and carried on watching it but instead, I turned the television off and watered the house plants.

I set off to make the delivery drop at around twelve thirty and stayed chatting until two thirty.  They're off to the UK next Sunday so I returned their house keys and reclaimed mine...we shall all be away at the same time.  Driving down there was a man in a 4x4 parked up on a two lane part of the road so I set off to overtake and at that point he pulled away and I really had to swing round him.  We ere heading into a sixty where there's normally a police presence so I was watching my speed following a car and he was slowly pulling towards me so I kept braking and indicated that I was pulling off to the right as was the man in front and also the idiot following me.  Approaching my left hand turn I started indication well in advance and blow me down, the idiot started to overtake me just before my turning and more defensive driving and accident avoided.  I was calm about it, I'd had my warning on the two lane main road and really wasn't surprised by his driving .....maybe he won't me so lucky next time.

I said my goodbyes to my friends, not sure when we'll meet up again and we do have Messenger to keep in touch.  I arrived home just after three, lit the fire although it wasn't cold outside or inside for that matter, attacked the second chicken leg that I'd cooked last night and demolished two crème caramels and half a packet of biscuits.  I settled on the sofa, plumbed in to Peaky Blinders and have just switched it off.  I watched Strictly last night and know who I would be getting rid of but have resisted the urge to look at any spoilers...I'll only do that if I fall asleep watching it tonight around nine.   Nothing on for tomorrow so far so maybe it's time to start getting clothes ready for my trip to the UK with only seventeen days to go.  I might even go and get the pressies for the ladies, pack them so that they are ready to deliver when I get back....the weather might be cold and snowy in January.  LN.....Options, options and more options.....LN