Monday 21st November

Very stormy night, winds rattling round, again plant pots over and some of the smaller branches had dropped from the trees in the yard as well as another pile of leaves that had swirled round the garage.  The really tall lemon tree was over and the soil spilt over the terrace but it would wait until my morning really began.  A load of washing went into the machine but no way was this going to be pegged out, it would have either ended up in Turkey or Greece.  One job that I'm really pleased about, I have a black sweater with a high neck but the stitching had work away so I found some black thin elastic and with a needle repaired the damage and you can't even see the joins...and now the sweater has a few more months in it.  It's because it's really comfortable to wear with a zip in the neck that you can put down if the weather really warms up.

I made bacon and egg for breakfast and sat in the stairwell eating it while checking emails and the overnight accumulations.  I washed up and cleared the kitchen, cleared the rubbish bins and thought about a bonfire but it went on my back burner.... too much wind about to risk that even though the hillside was damp from overnight rain.  The washing was put out on the airer in my upstairs bedroom, fire laid for tonight even though it probably wouldn't be needed looking at the thermometer.  Still no winter.

I then made a decision that there would be very little activity this morning so I settled down to watch a few episodes of Peaky Blinders and disciplined myself to the end of series one and then I switched it off.  I thought about a sleep but instead went out and cleared up the leaves from the garage and yard, brought a load of logs into the log basket and filled up another to leave in the porch.  It was now getting on for three so I put the computer on to catch Eggheads and tried to move over to Countdown and that's when Transponder TV decided to give up the ghost.  It's been a bit unreliable for the last couple of days and it's not so bad for me, my subscription has ended so this is  at their expense and I'm still waiting to pay for the next year.  Unfortunately or fortunately they're updating their payment systems so it will be when they ask for it but I'm hoping they sort out the reliability issues.

I gave up and went on to series two of Peaky Blinders, lit the fire and that's gently ticking along and at six put four small hamburgers into the frying pan, added chippies to the air-fryer and still there was no connection to Transponder.  I played a few games of Solitaire on the computer, thought I'd try Transponder again and lo and behold, it went straight in to the channels page...it's working again.  Quiz night tonight, no more interruptions from sport etc. so time to exercise the brain and see how many more cells I've lost.  LN...Time to put a log on the fire.....LN

Tuesday 22nd November

Six start this morning for some unknown reason...probably because I slept through my quiz night last night very comfortably on the sofa.   Ggggrrr.  Never mind, at least I had a good start on the day.  Much calmer morning, we were back to clouds to the four points of the compass but there were very few over the village all day.  I did the usual chores and made poached eggs on ham for breakfast and that did me through until I went for the cream cheese and bread sticks around one this lunchtime.  What did I get up to?  Very little today, I'm not sure if I mentioned that I've knacked my left knee trying to get something from the floor while I was sitting in a chair.  I pushed my knee to oneside to get it out of the way and I got my just desserts.  It's been painful for the last couple of day despite the Deep Heat, swollen with fluid on the knee and now with the weather being very damp and changeable. the other knee has started playing up....it's come out in sympathy.

I took to the sofa after breakfast and settled in for a few more episodes of Peaky Blinders interspersed with emails, messenger and FB.  I moved to the upstairs computer around lunchtime and went looking for a text for my student and found one already printed out with questions to ask to fill the allotted time.  Lot's of noisy planes around at lunchtime, I went onto the terrace and managed to spot them, triangular shaped and very whizz bang so I'm thinking that we have Nato gong thought the motions.  I took the camera out but nothing but blue screens...they were too fast to find and focus.

I left for Djebel at two fifteen, his mother was busy in the shop and my student had a visit to our dentist to sort out his braces on his teeth.  Apparently it took longer than anticipated, some of the fixings had come loose and had to be replaced so we didn't start the lesson until four this afternoon.  My first word was that there was to be no football, my knees weren't up to it so we were more or less straight into the lesson.  The text was a little difficult with lots of big words but fortunately I'd gone though them at home and written out the alternate words that could be used and we managed to do the questions together.  We went down to the shop, his father was there and he had also got problems with his knees so I skipped off to the chemist and bought two packets of Voltarin tablets, one for each of us and at five lev for two....well worth the investment.  

I stopped for bread and a packet of chocolate biscuits, lit the fire and it got going first time.  The two hamburgers I'd left from yesterday were warmed up and that was supper, both of them slapped between two slices of the new bread.  As for the chocolate biscuits, they will not be mentioned again.  The temperature has dropped tonight so the fire was necessary, I must find something to do tomorrow, I'm getting lethargic.  LN....Tablet taken...do your stuff.....LN

Wednesday 23rd November

Bit of a disturbed night.  I got warm between the sheets and as I tossed and turned, my poor knee was playing up and despite the slow release tablet last night..it wasn't releasing it quickly enough to stop it hurting.  I must admit though it's been much better walking on it so it should be OK by the end of the week.  Beans on toast for breakfast, the cat got the rest of the ham and looked very wet and bedraggled waiting for food.  The washing up was done, emails were top of the list and today I managed to sort out the various list of passwords that I have, some with lots of scribbles on them, programs sorted and now I feel more secure on the net.  

I haven't really been out today except to take a few photos.  It was too wet to go out and get the bonfire started initially, then it dried up and then it rained again.  It's almost been like April showers and now the stars are all out but this afternoon we had lightning flashing over the Greek mountains but no thunder sounding.  In fact it might have been, I'd settled on the sofa with the Peaky Blinders and that competes very well with thunder.  I did have issues with one security program connecting to the internet so with a little help from their help desk I deleted the application, reloaded it and now all is well.  The other thing that I challenged was advertising material from my ancestry program offering me a twenty five percent discount which I didn't really understand.  My subscription get's updated early December and would I be better or or not...so I asked a man who was able to tell me that I would save around seven pounds so for that money....hardly worth the effort so I didn't bother but why do these companies make the offers so difficult to understand.

Not in the mood for supper, I made sandwiches from Bulgarian equivalent of corned beef and brown sauce and that should see me through to tomorrow morning.  I lit the fire around five and that's really warmed the house through, it's not cold but it's when you come to sit, you just need something from a fire or a blanket.  So nothing really achieved today, the lightning is still batting around and I've got a super view from my desk on the landing.  LN.....Let's hope it doesn't stop television tonight....LN

Thursday 24th November

Seven start and again it was a cloudy perimeter around the mountains, the sky above was blue, the temperature was three degrees but as the sun came up the mist came down and it took a while for the temperature to start to climb despite the sun.  The rest of the beans became my breakfast, kitchen tidied and I collected the rest of the rubbish and headed down to the bottom of the garden. The bin was still fairly full of unburnt rubbish and as I added the new stuff and lit it, it caught fairly quickly,  There wasn't any wind so the fact that the lid had seen the best of its days wasn't too much of a problem this morning but I really need to do something about it.  As a temporary measure once it was going well, I put a couple of stout timbers on the top of the burning container and rested the lid on the top of the timbers so that no stray sparks could take to the hillside.

The sun by now was warming up so I sat out on the bench on the terrace enjoying the heat.  I could hear the turkeys on their morning stroll and in BG they're more of a New Year than Christmas special.  I went back into the house and noticed that the roses that I'd bought cheaply weren't doing so well so I found a large rubber bucket and decided that they should all be planted together.  I filled the base up with soil from under the trees near the garage, lots of leaf mold in there, added normal potting compost and planted up the four roses and watered them well.  They're staying out tonight but will obviously spend the winter in the little house and go out next spring to get established and bigger.  Next job was to start to tackle the old vegetable garden that I sectioned off.  There were established shrubs in three of them but I needed to put in the 'quick sale' shrub that I'd got from Lidl, the label does say that they are able to go down to quite a few degrees below so I cleared one of the sections.  I put more leaf mold in the bed and planted the shrub, cleared another two sections and now the area is looking good.  One last plant to go in was a pink tipped willow that had sat in a pot for a while so now everything left on the terrace will go into the little house but the weather is so good, we're still waiting for the first frost.

Tools away, little house locked and I sat for a while at the table in the stairwell and caught up on emails etc.  I'd managed to knock up six thousand steps which was a big improvement on yesterday so I thought a little binge watching might be in order.  The sofa was very accommodating, obviously I had a little sleep and when I woke up it was time to light the fire, raise the house temperature enough for a very pleasant evening.  I've had a good day today, I've got to find another way to repair the lid of the bonfire and that might be done tomorrow with wire, a few cross strands should work.  LN.....I suppose I should start to think about supper.....LN

Friday 25th November

So I had the first wake-up at six, turned over and eventually saw the light of day at seven forty five.  I made coffee and it was a very slow morning, toast at around nine and television until eleven. I did get round to cleaning my earrings that were definitely in need of some spirit and a toothbrush and my how they sparkle not what they are done.  I prepared supper and that went into the fridge until five tonight and as for the rest of the day despite the weather being good, I binge watched Peaky Blinders and don't feel guilty about it at all.  I lit the fire at five which is when my supper went into the oven to finish off and it was delicious.

I had an invitation to go to a showing in Kardjali of an art exhibition but unfortunately the drive wasn't there to get off my backside and go there.  There will be other times and I really don't like driving in the dark these days and I was going on my own and, despite knowing people there, it wasn't going to be the same as other evenings at the event.  Maybe next time.

I've just spent time on the internet regarding my subscription to my access to English television.  They are having issues updating a payment system and have asked for payment to another personal account so I got through on their support line, they answered all my questions.  The boiler is on, bath tonight and a good soak and an early night.  LN.....Promise myself to be more active together.....LN

Saturday 26th November

Late start for me, I checked the thermometer and the outside temperature was minus three.  I predicted it and sure enough, our real frost of the winter.  I should have brought in the rest of the plants but not felt on top of the world today, checked my blood pressure and had a bit of a wake-up call and back on the tablets.  That of course was after I'd scrambled a couple of eggs with extra butter added with buttered toast so tonight's supper was a slice of dry toast and coffee is off the menu.

The sun eventually showed its little face after the mist had cleared and nothing much has really been achieved today.  I spent quite a long time on to a support desk on an onscreen system and I'm sure they all go to the same school or college.  When you've written the question the response is normally that you can confirm that this is the issue you are trying to sort so you reply that it is and then you get referred to the online help and asked if you've been through the process.  My response is normally that I wouldn't have bothered using the current system if the help pages had worked...doh....I wouldn't have minded but the problem I was chasing was the same problem that I went through earlier in the week and after reloading it again, it was reporting the same errors.  Technology egh...and really good for the blood pressure.

This afternoon I spotted that the film Dr. Zhivago was on Beeb 2 so I settled in to watch it.  I tried to read the book but it was one of those that the names all seem to blend into just characters and it was difficult to establish the relationships but after the film it all made sense.  Watching it around fifty years later, it's obviously not as slick as the modern day films but beautiful scenery and what a good looking chap he was.  A very gentle character in the film and off screen I gather.  I lit the fire at four and it's going well but I had to go and get more logs in.  The routine sort of went out of the window today and enough are in to last most of tomorrow.  

Strictly tonight, football seems to have dominated the channels today so now I've decided to stick with Beeb 2 for the triathlon highlights and watching Flora Duffy from Bermuda attacking the last lap of the World Series and it looks like it's in the bag that she becomes the World Champion for the fourth time and GB Taylor-Brown pick up the second place.  Now settling in to the men's race.  LN.....And tonight it looks like it might be another frost.....LN

Sunday 27th November

Seven thirty start and it was the sun rising over a cloud base and the mountains.  It stayed a mottled morning and eventually the cloud gave way to quite a pleasant day if cold.  It was more that the wind was cold, I only put my nose out of the door a couple of times, one to throw some breadsticks out for the cat since I had nothing else for it and secondly to fill up the log carrier this afternoon so that I have plenty in for this evening.  I had dried toast again for breakfast and water since I've decided to lay off the coffee again, I think I've been chancing my luck with coffee, mayonnaise, chocolates and biscuits though not all at the same time may I add.  This probably hasn't done my blood pressure any good at all so back on the tablets as I said.

One job I have managed today was to clean the glass on the cooker both the inner and outer of the door.  I removed the two screws and had to use stainless steel cleaner on the glass and my did it look good when I'd finished.  In fact the oven really does need a spring clean so I'll wait for the season to arrive...no point in rushing it.  Next job was to source two baskets of washing and the second one was quite by accident.  I'd lost pyjamas, I put them away in the grand tidy-up for the family visit and had forgotten where I'd put them but something led me to the small chest in my upstairs bedroom and lo and behold, there they all there.  So now I had  my second load and two lots are now drying on the airer in my upstairs bedroom.  I suppose I could have pegged them out but it almost looked like rain at one point so gave up on that idea.

Not much activity this afternoon, Peaky Blinders is now complete and I've just discovered that there is to be no series seven, it will be covered by a film probably to be released early 2024.  This seems to be the plan for most of them now, the Last Kingdom is going the same way apparently.  Fire lit, two chicken legs in the oven, one for supper and the second one which is much bigger is for tomorrow.  I hope they didn't come from the same chicken otherwise it would have gone round in circles.  I've just had the smaller one and the other is finishing off and I've left enough for the cat for tomorrow.  Strictly tonight and I've just checked on the schedules and it's been brought forward because of the football and I've missed it.  Fortunately you can find out and I did this morning who was in the dance off and who left.  Why they just don't show the whole programme and be done with it beggars belief.  Second chicken leg needs to come out of the oven and washing up needs to be done.  LN...Time to throw another log on the fire.....LN

Monday 28th November

Seven thirty start. I opened up the curtains to see a very wet terrace and it was still raining.  The thermometer was showing eight degrees and it's only gone up to three point five degrees all day.  I had muesli for breakfast as part of my new regime to get on top of the blood pressure again, water to accompany it, the coffee is destined to remain in the cupboard when I learn to leave it alone and not just top up that one coffee for the day.  I threw the remains of last night's supper out to the cat.  It was hiding under the honeysuckle, I carried on with my call and out it came.  

Washing up done I got the fire going well, it was eighteen degrees in the house so not cold but it felt 'chilly' which was a word from my childhood.  It soon warmed up and first job was to move the washing that had been on the airer overnight in my upstairs bedroom.  It was going into the upstairs bathroom since it is the warmest place in the house once the fire is going.  I should really have put them in there from the 'off' but pleased to say, the transfer worked and it's now all put away.  My work was up for the morning apart from moving the television from the summer lounge to the winter lounge, taking up position in front of it and promptly went to sleep waking up at three thirty, just in time to salvage the fire.  I refueled and ate the chicken leg that I'd cooked yesterday and cat has something for tomorrow, I peeled off the skin and took the overcooked bits from it so it should be pleased with that.

Television this afternoon, waiting for them to cancel the subscription since the payment method they were using I didn't feel comfortable with but as I watched my usual winter programmes. I realised that it's a bit of a lifeline in the winter here when there's not much change of doing anything outside once the snow is cleared and the wood is in so I paid up this evening despite eternal protests.  Having said that there were lots of checks by my bank and my security provider so now I feel much better about it.  I tried to print out hard copies for my records and then the printer went berserk....went for the torch to see down the back of it and the batteries were flat in....what a day but all sorted now.  It's still raining.....but I can't do anything about that.  LN....Student tomorrow...must find a better text than last week....LN

Tuesday 29th November

Another cold, wet and miserable day and so, despite me going out this afternoon to my student, I lit the fire. I put the food out for the cat and it was still eating it about fifteen minutes later, I'd put hot water on the chicken left-overs to remove the grease and 'bits' from the pan so that it got the benefit of all the juices.  It's still sleeping under the honeysuckle at the base of the terrace but thinking of putting a box in the garage so that it's out of the cold and wind.  I used up the last of the bread and made toast for me and put some jam on it and remembered to put bread on the shopping list to get when I finished with my student'

I did a few chores like getting in more wood, filling up the log basket and bringing more into the porch.  It wasn't real rain but was that rain that gently falls and could turn into snow at any minute which it did according to my student's mum when I got the update this afternoon.  I also finished off a job that I'd put to oneside yesterday when I didn't manage to thread a needle up with cotton.  The eye on the needle was just too small and with my eyesight going down the pan I intended getting more needles from Djebel today but I persevered, managed to thread it. The curtain was for the lounge window that goes through to the stairwell and I normally put one up there to stop the air movement and I found a tab headed curtain, folded it in half and managed to stich the base of the curtain to the tab header so that it was double thickness.  I loaded it on to one of the expanding curtain rails that I have, remembered to remove anything glass from under it incase it fell down and managed to put it up and it looks OK and does the trick.  

I went up the the computer on the landing and managed to book my hotel for the night before I fly to the UK and tomorrow I'll go to Kardjali and book my bus ticket.  It's much easier going up the night before and the hotel has a courtesy bus and gets you there without any hassle.  I found a new text for my student about Chad and the lake, it wasn't too long and wasn't too long.  I didn't have lunch, got dressed for warmth and set off for Djebel at around two thirty and sat with his mother in the shop until he came home from school.  I went up to the apartment, lit the woodburner for them so that it would be warm for us and for the family when they finished work and got down to the lesson.  It worked well, the lake in Chad has shrunk down to under ten percent of it's original size and we checked it out on the computer at the end of the lesson and it showed how it had decreased over the years in ten year blocks.  I related it to the river that runs near his father's garage, in the summer it dries up but when the rains come it fills up and starts moving again,  Unfortunately Chad doesn't have any rain and other countries surrounding the lake divert it for irrigation of crops, hence no control has created this situation.  Finished the lesson, drove home stopping off at the supermarket for bread, tea biscuits, potatoes and an éclair (naughty but nice). got the fire going from the embers and had fish finger sandwiches for supper.  England and Wales football on the tv downstairs and I heard the roar and saw the replay of the first goal and managed to catch the quickly scored second goal.  

So a I mentioned, Kardjali tomorrow for the bus ticket and to pay my home phone bill and Lidl for a couple of large bottles of water in case there isn't any when I get back from the UK.  LN.....Back downstairs for the rest of the match and the fire.....LN

Wednesday 10th November

Six thirty start and it was another wet miserable day so I decided to light the fire and keep the home fires burning despite the fact that I was heading out early to make sure that I bought my ticket to get me to Sofia.  I didn't go back to bed, boiled the kettle for a cup of hot water, still off the coffee and checked out the internet on the little computer in the stairwell but nothing really to report.  Washed and dressed for town, managed to get the suitcases out and decided which one I'm taking with me...I'm moving towards action.

As I walked through the porch to open up the domain I realised that the burning rubbish bin had a bit of a whiff on so I grabbed the fire lighter and bin and headed down to the bottom of the garden to get rid of it.  It was raining slightly, I'd got my gloves on ready to go out and that was a wrong move.  As I removed the two stones holding down the lit to stop the cats getting in I realised that I would have to find some new gloves, they were really dirty.  I carried on, the damage was done, put the contents of the bin into the burning bucket and set fire to it hoping that it wouldn't set fire to the two pieces of wood that were supporting the lid.  Stones back in place, gloves in the washing machine and new gloves found.  I was into the Nipper by just after nine and parked up in the bus carpark, bought my ticket and unfortunately the buses had changed the schedule and now I'm leaving at four thirty in the afternoon not the expected one so a little later to Sofia but more time to finish off what I want to here.  Moved to Kaufland and bought the birthday present for my student for the 1st December when he becomes a teenager/  Over to Lidl and picked up a few items, went to the next electrical store next door and remembered I needed batteries for various things and then drove home.  First task was to salvage the fire, I put the shopping away, made a sandwich, took up position on the sofa, put the TV on and promptly went to sleep for an hour.  A girl needs her rest.

Curtains drawn to keep out the cold and damp, chicken drumsticks in the oven for tonight and there's not much more activity coming out of me tonight but tomorrow I'm doing my packing and if the rain ever stops I'll get the rest of the pots in, put the cold jacket on the water inlet pipes, turn off the outside sink water supply and that should fill my day. No photos again and I apologise, damp, miserable you don't want to see.  LN.....And now I'm on countdown.....LN