Wednesday 1st February

Another horrible night.  I've been having strange emails from my old internet security company and now it keeps telling me that my account is going to be closed if I don't pay but my subscription has elapsed anyway and I've deleted it from the system.  I've tried to block them but a message is returned saying that I can't block it because it is originating from a home company.  Now this worried me so I phoned my current subscription company and half one this morning and was on the computer for a couple of hours while they checked out my system and confirmed that the breach guard product that I use has not been breached and everything is as it should be.  Eventually I got to bed just before four o'clock, slept well until eight and have had nothing that's threatened me today.  

I lit the fire this morning but in the end there was no need to.  It was minus three outside when I started the day, this went up to plus nine and inside it was fourteen this morning and went up to twenty nine degrees in the stairwell so the fire was left to its own devices, it went out and I re-lit it at five tonight.  It was about ten when I made my toast and jam for breakfast, I decided that I would have a long leisurely bath and was in the tub for about two hours, topping the water up when it went cool.  I made my way to the kitchen and found some mince in the freezer, fried it off with onions, boiled and mashed potatoes and the shepherd's pie should be ready any time soon.  I skipped lunch, I nibbled on cheese and I'm really looking forward to supper.  I did manage to put a load of washing in the machine and that's drying as we speak in the bathroom on the airer so I've not been completely useless all day.

I've just been on to my present security subscription but this time on the phone.  I was offered a secure VPN for my mobile with the instructions to just download it to the phone and when I tried, connection was denied.  I checked on the countries that were supported and Bulgaria wasn't on the list so I've asked them why.  I explained that we are in Europe and should be included.....I'm just having a hissy fit.  They will get back to me....maybe one day.

So now the fire's going the house is up to temperature again, I've just turned the oven off, my supper is ready so I'm going to post this and settle down for the evening.  LN.....And now into my busy birthday month.....LN

Thursday 2nd February

Much better night, slept through until seven despite falling asleep on the sofa and crawling into bed around midnight.  It was a fairly cloudless sky overhead but there were long lines of very dark grey ones behind and peeping over the mountains.  Accordingly the sunrise was short-lived, reddened the lingering clouds and then when it came up it hid itself away.  It came out fairly quickly though, the clouds dissipated and it turned into a very pleasant and warm day for February.

Poached eggs on toast for breakfast, I finished watching a short series that I'd started on Netflix and eventually settled on ancestry for a while filling in some of the gaps in the chart that I'm constructing.  I'm back now to just before eighteen hundreds, running out of census covered years but into the parish record period where things are documented quite well, at least the ones that have been transcribed are have survived.  I went downstairs to find a ruler, decided to fill up the log basket for this evening, noticed that the rubbish bin inside the porch had a couple of bags in it so I did a bit of a recki.  I found another two to join them and went down to the bottom of the garden and had a burn up and again got distracted and ended up clearing one of the beds of Jerusalem artichokes and tossing them over the wall for the cows.  I sat on the wall for a while enjoying the view, normally in February I'm wrapped up well and struggling though snow to get the the bottom of the garden.  The outside temperature must have been around eight degrees and when I'd finished in the garden I sat on the terrace on the old bench.  Black cat was in the garden so I went to have a word with her and it was only when I'd come back in the house that I saw her limp to the other side of the garden.  

Nothing for supper so far, fire going again and it's time to switch off and relax.  I might head into Kardjali tomorrow, there are a few items on my shopping list.  LN.....A walk round the shops will do me good and exercise my Fitbit.......LN

Friday 3rd February

Seven thirty start this morning, not a bad morning but not as good as yesterday.  I lit the fire and went back to bed until the house was aired, it was a little nippy overnight but didn't take long to warm the place through. I was out of bed by eight thirty, decided that I'd make more coffee and swear at the breakfast television for a while but there was not really much to swear about.  The presenters were put in their place by one of the guests when they were told that they had a reputation for approaching interviewees with a 'gotcha' approach and I thought how concise that was and spectacularly accurate.  I hope they got the message.  I looked at the clock and it was just on nine my time and I remembered that it was Princess's birthday so I quickly phoned her, she'd just got out of bed (seven her time) and croaked her way through the next five minutes.  She had a throat and chest infection, was still going to school and taking in cakes, that's my girl, infect everyone!!  Breakfast was toast with spread cheese, the cat was out and about sitting on the terrace looking longing at me and all that I had was bread so I crumbled up a stock cube but it wasn't convinced.  It cat sat behind the Nipper, I put the food down, it tried some of it but then left it for anyone else that wanted it and I think it's still sitting there now.

I toyed with the idea of going into town but didn't get round to having a shower until eleven thirty, I washed my hair, got dressed and then dried my hair and by then the urge to 'go shop' had gone so I resorted to setting up my new Windows 11 laptop and got thoroughly lost in the whole process.  Nothing seems simple, passwords for this and that and passwords doubling up and difficult to set up between all machines, I stuck with it and think that I battened down most of it.  I think I=m going to have to resort to the old machine in the third bedroom to work on the excel version of the ancestry that I'm doing and I'm thinking about moving it on to this desk on the landing so that I can check any details that are missing with the ancestry programme.  I old one is not on the internet by choice but it can be to get stuff printed off.

At five thirty I found belly pork slices in the freezer, thawed them out in the microwave, put them into the oven to par-cook, chopped up and onion and mixed it with Worcestershire sauce and tomato sauce and spread the mixture over the belly pork slices.  To go with it frozen chips went into the air-fryer and everything was good to go around six thirty,  Supper was delicious, nothing left for the cat though, it was almost licked clean.  I watched the end of Tipping Point and the Chase, cleared the kitchen and washed up and now I'm into shut down mode myself. LN.....Blog and bed and tomorrow, computer moving......LN

Saturday 4th February

Birthday greetings this morning to my mother ...no longer with me in body but definitely in spirit a lot of the time.  I've had some lovely memories of the good times and the memorable times that I put her through....I wasn't easy, I had dreams and so did she but times were different for me.  Some of my achievements weren't dreams, it was making decisions which prompted me to other decisions and fortunately, most of them turned out OK.  I get my work ethic from my father, he was underground in the mines for around fifty years, helped his mother in the Fish and Chip shop and even worked for a butcher part-time on Saturdays so that he could put meat on the table.

As for my morning.....I woke up at six thirty, decided that I wouldn't light the fire but as the day wore on I did and it's been going all day.  I made toast for breakfast, started to watch a mew mini-series on Netflix and it was a beautiful morning when the sun finally came out that I switched of the TV and went to fill the log carriers.  I got so engrossed that I ended up working outside until three this afternoon.  There were a few logs in the store room that were just too big to go on the fire so needed splitting so I used my big ax, the chuck hammer and a wedge and I cleared quite a lot of them.  After restacking the fourth row of logs on top of the third row which is where some of the big ones came from, I swept the wood store, reorganised some of the ladders etc., oiled the step leading at the entry door and found some wood stain which is more like a paint and spruced up the door and surround.  I'm not sure it is the right time of the year to be doing such maintenance but it's done and I'll check it out in the morning.  I also swept up the leaves from under the Beast and the rest of the garage, loaded them into a log carrier and into the compost bin with them.....another job done.

I came in and urged the fire to keep going, felt sudden hunger pains come over me so made chippies in the air-fryer, thawed out a chicken fillet with breadcrumbs and that went in the air-fryer too.  I also managed to find some choc ices in the freezer for dessert and by now I was ready to settled down on the sofa and find something else to watch.  I flicked round Netflix and saw that there were more episodes of Outlander that I'd never got round to watching so I got stuck into that and remembered how I'd enjoyed the earlier episodes.  At dix thirty I remembered that I wanted to watch the England Scotland rugby, I've watched a little of it and then thought better of it and came up to write my blog.  So I didn't go shopping, goody box is looking really empty and I'm thinking the freezer could do with a few more items but I'm saving it until Monday, I have a phone bill to pay.  LN.....Time to check up on the rugby.......LN

Sunday 5th February

Another early start and I was surprised to see that we had a few snow flakes being tossed around in the gale-force winds that were around.  I made coffee and went back to bed after lighting the fire, it was the warmest place until the fire took hold.  I eventually got going at around eight, the outside temperature was minus one as reported in by the weather station. inside, the other side of my curtain was fifteen degrees but with the fire it soon went up to eighteen which is really adequate.  As the temperature went up inside, it went down outside and is currently sitting at minus four degrees....we're heading for a cold night.

I made bacon, egg and fried bread for breakfast around nine thirty and haven't taken the camera out all day.  The snow finished before it got really started, there's a distinct lack of snow in Europe and no real predictions for droppings of the white stuff in the long term forecasts.  I washed up from breakfast and today has been about keeping the home fire burning, I swept through being too lazy to get the hoover out, finished watching the end of the last published series of Outlander and then set about creating the ancestry chart on paper but this time trying to get the family links where new families are incorporated by marriage.  I've now got it stretched over two sheets of A3 and am writing it up before I start doing it on the computer to get the spacing right.  If families only have a few children, the chart's not so big, some of the families I'm working with had between seven and twelve children.  I went without lunch, breakfast took a while to digest and I'm not feeling very hungry now so will forego what I don't really need.  My eyes were getting crossed this afternoon so put the pencil down and watched the France-Italy rugby and it was two teams playing leapfrog with the scoring with France just managing to steal it in the last few minutes.  Good game.

I had my nap which unfortunately was longer than I intended, in fact I don't think it was intended at all but obviously needed.  It's nine my time so food is definitely off the agenda, a big log has just gone on the fire and hopefully it should go through to the morning keeping the house temperature up.  LN.....Not making plans for tomorrow, it depends what the weather does overnight.......LN

Monday 6th February

Another reasonable night, I didn't light the fire straightaway but when I went outside to put out some left-overs for the birds, I made a decision that I wouldn't be going into Kardjali.  It was cold out there, minus four degrees, wind was blowing a gale so I came in and lit the fire.  I'd had trouble last night finding logs small enough to get everything burning brightly, the logs all seemed too big so today's job was to find more small ones and chop the really large ones into two and maybe three logs.  I put this task off until I thought it might warm up but it never did.  It did get to minus two outside but that was it.  I made breakfast but using up the last of the bacon and almost the last of the bread, it didn't fill the gap so I ended up having cheddar cheese with the crust of the bread to fortify me for the chopping.

I wheeled out logs that I'd already wheeled in to use in the house....split the ones from the house and put them back into the log carrier, then found some of the smaller ones from the log store.  A couple just wouldn't split, the heavy chopper just bounced off them so they are back in the porch for burning.  Job done I remembered that I' d some wild bird seed from last year in the little house so I brought it in to the porch, found a under-pot water holder, filled it up and put it out on the terrace.  I'd see a robin this morning and it jogged my memory.  It was slow going today, it will be on the bird news tonight and I should get more takers in the morning.  

Sleep this afternoon, not much action to be had outside, but I did put the plastic covering back under the elastic that's holding it in place.  The wind was getting underneath it and I didn't want it removing it.  My fingers were numb when I came in from chopping the logs, the weather report for the day was snow, between three and ten centimeters and what have we had so far...nothing and looking at the clouds, they don't stay around long enough.

Fire going well and the house is comfortable, Monday night is quiz night for me so I shall be hoping that I stay awake.  I've had my afternoon nap so that might be enough to see me through until bedtime.  Not much of a sunset, there were too many clouds hanging over the mountains to the west leaving too little a gap for the sun to show it's face.  LN....Student tomorrow...must find a decent text......LN

Tuesday 7th February

Another disturbed night but eventually I settled down again and out of bed this morning at six thirty. I lit the fire, it was minus five outside and the inside needed warming up a little until the sun came out, what little there was of it.  The birds were dipping in and out of the dish of food that I'd left, the robin didn't seem to fancy much of it but the sparrows obviously found something worth hanging around for.  For some unknown reason, I've started having those itchy red patches on my arms again so I must have eaten something that's not agreeing with me.  I think I've now got to start keeping a food diary and probably should have started it long ago and it would be good to identify and cut out whatever it is that's causing it.  I used to put it down to the tablets that I was taking for blood pressure but since I've not taken any tablets since I've been back from the UK, they're obviously not to blame.  Back to the drawing board we go.

Cereals and hot milk for breakfast since the last of the bread went last night. I plumbed back into Netflix and picked up on a series that I'd started and not finished and watched three episodes before I switched it off and went up to have a bath.  I put the heater on for the boiler to keep it topped up and emerged from the tub around twelve, dressed and moved to the computer on the landing and found a text for my student, printed it off and I was all set for later in the day.  That done and ready to go I watched another episode of Netflix and set off for Djebel at two thirty heading for the car-parts shop.  It was so good to see his mother again, we cheer each other up and spend lots of time laughing with each other and almost have face-ache moments.  Student arrived back from the dentist, he'd had his 'train tracks' adjusted, he headed up to the apartment and I followed about fifteen minutes later.  We worked through a text about Africa, colonial rule and who the main countries involved were, how many languages were in use and the four main language groups and what the main imports were.  Some of the names of the new countries even I didn't know and how many coups there had been until the country was more or less stabilised.  I suppose I take him out of his usual learning zone and as I told him, each day is a school day even when you get to may age.  Of course we had to have the game of football and he said that I'm getting better which is good to know.

Back to the shop for five, his father had closed the garage early there was no one out and about, it was much too cold.  Again snow was predicted but it just didn't happen and as I used to tell my daughter, it's too cold for snow.  I stopped off and bought bread, spicy sausages and a few sweet treats for the goody box, supper was spicy sausage with onions both cooked until brown and the onions caramalised, a little tomato sauce was added and some Worcestershire and half a can of baked beans to top it off.  I put it all in a bowl and had it with the crusty end of the new loaf.  I finished it off with a éclair and a cup of coffee, fire going well and now about to settle in to the evening.  I've had a good day, it was good to get out again and see people and I do enjoy my student,  LN ....just checked and it's minus five.....time to throw another log on......LN

Wednesday 8th February

Six thirty start, got the fire going from last night's embers, minus seven outside so it was a good reason to stay inside.  I went back to bed with a coffee, forgot all about it so it was into the microwave with it and had it about an hour later. Put a load of washing in the machine at cheap rate electric knowing that with the fire going all day, it would dry on the airer in the bathroom and now it's ready to put away.  Settled on the sofa and put Netflix on for a couple of episodes, I thought about going to Kardjali but the late shop last night had taken away the necessity so I stayed by the fire.  Breakfast called and I fried off half of one of the spicy sausages, added an egg to the pan and put everything between two slices of bread with a little brown sauce...had to be done.  I then had a fit of pique, stripped the bed down and washed the quilt cover and under sheet with a couple of pairs of socks that had found themselves at the bottom of the bed.  The socks went with the others on the airer and the quilt and sheet went on the upper landing balcony rail, the washing is all dry and is back on the bed ready for tonight.  The secret is, I made the quilt cover out of two fleece blankets, the bottom sheet is another one so they're almost dry as soon as they come out of the machine and ready to go on in quicksticks.  I also managed to get the hoover out and do all through downstairs including the porch...not much danger of anyone calling this weather but it does look so much better.

I little nap this afternoon, Transponder TV is not working so obviously they are having technical problems or have been closed down...who can say.  The website is also unavailable so I'll give it until tomorrow and then start making waves.  I'll really miss it if it's no longer working and so will lots of other people....it's a link with home and something to shout at when the presenters start going for it with the 'experts'....they have them in every field.  So five thirty my time and it's been a good day.  I did try to start the ancestry chart in the new version of Excel and got totally lost, I'm out of practice and haven't got the same patience as I used to have.  I'll put the simplified chart together first and then add the children...just so many of them.

Not sure about supper tonight, I've still got sausage and beans so I might concoct the same as last night but add beetroot to the mix.  As for the bird seeds....I saw a couple of jays on the dish this morning and a magpie, a few blue tits around and a very little bird with red tail feathers that I've got to investigate.  The Robin put in an appearance but nothing stays around too long when it's this cold.  The ginger cat perched itself on the stone next to the dish, ever hopeful so I sent it packing.  LN....Another cold one predicted so plenty of logs at the ready as every girl guide should be.....LN

Thursday 9th February

So another silly night.  I went to bed at eleven, no Transponder TV and finished my series on Netflix so headed as I thought to 'Dreamsville'.......wrong.  I slept through until one thirty, wide awake despite my warm bed and clean covers so settled down on the sofa banking up the woodburner to keep me company.  I found a Netflix four part series, watched them well into the night and at the end of it wasn't sure how to react.  It was a court room drama where the defendant was doing his own summing up at the end of his trial for murder and the final scene was where the jury gives its decision based on the evidence and firstly it found him guilty and his reaction and then found him not guilty and came the second reaction.......and I still don't know.  So off to bed at five thirty this morning, slept through until nine so not much missed over night from my usual sleep pattern just elongated into the morning.  

It was a beautiful sunny morning, minus four out but eighteen in the stairwell without a fire so I didn't bother to light one.  I made beans and sausage on toast for a late breakfast, wandered upstairs and got washed and dressed and then started up the computer and carried on with finding a few more links on the ancestry chart I'm working on.  This took me through to about two in the afternoon, I made coffee and opened a packet of biscuits, looked at the woodburner and decided to take the pipes out and give them a clean.  The wood is exceptionally dry when it burns and it proved it in the caliber of soot that came out.  So up on the ladder, removed pipes, got the brushes from the wood store and cleaned them out, took the lids from the top of the burner and gave the inside a good going over especially the nooks and crannies.  Everything back in place, lit the fire and it's burning very gently, the house is warm, curtains are all drawn to keep out the minus five outside where it should be.

I got settled again and made more coffee and more biscuits and found a David Tennant BBC series on Netflix and have just finished watching it.  I found it quite exaggerated at times, really ot believable but in the absence of Transponder it had to do.   Still no news of the service, fingers crossed it returns but I'm not holding out much hope.  Not bothered with supper, nine thirty my time and hopefully I should make it through the night without having to search for things to do in the wee small hours of the morning.  LN.....Definitely Kardjali tomorrow, phone bill to pay, a few items on my shopping list and I need to go to the office supplies shop....need some very fine nib pens......LN

Friday 10th February

A very peaceful night, woke up at seven, minus ten outside and was relying on the sun to warm up the house.  I was heading into Kardjali so didn't bother lighting the fire and I did feel sorry for the birds, it was a cold one for them.  One or two came to visit the dish on the stone but didn't stay long so I went out and checked it and as I thought, the seeds were frozen to the dish so it's a wonder their beaks weren't bent over.  I topped it up and they were soon back again, didn't see many of the bigger ones but they'd obviously found better pickings.

I made an omelette out of a half of the spicy sausage that was in the fridge and sat in the stairwell eating it.  I noticed black cat by the forsythia in the frog garden, it was at aguess lining up any of the birds using it for shelter but they were quicker than the cat and everyone seemed to go unscathed.  There was still no Transponder tv and I wondered or not it was to do with the list of sites that I wanted to be made available for me.  I've got so many different little programmes running from my security company that I'd forgotten how to enter the companies so I called them up to see if they could help out.  They were brilliant, they did a virus check for me, cleared out some of the things that I was unclear about cleaning, got the system running at one hundred percent and eventually confirmed that it wasn't me or my internet provider that was blocking access to Transponder, you just can't raise the dead so to speak so I shall have to go about it another way.  So just checked up on FB and apparently they have had their servers knocked out sited in the Ukraine...what a bugger.....

Eventually set off for Kardjali after I'd finished with my security company and my bank and that was two items from the list, it was getting shorter and I hadn't left the house.  I stopped off at the carshop and had a few words with my student's mum, took her a present of stainless steel cleaner to use on the woodburner glass.  I'd mentioned to her that I use it, had suggested she got some but thought I'd get it for her instead.  I carried on to Kardjali, paid my phone bill, strike off list, went to the office supplies shop and  strike more things from the list, checked out the cheapy clothes shop and managed to resist the offers, nack in the Nipper and off to Kaufland.  I topped up on fresh meat for the freezer and bought a few more items and then carried on to Lidl carpark.  I didn't go directly there, I went to the printer store next door and found four new cartridges for my Brother printer.  I'd tested it yesterday and all the colours were very feint so hence the replenishment.  The into Lidl, steaks were on offer and I couldn't resist, a few more basics like bacon and butter and crisps, drove to the gas station and topped up for nineteen leva and got home for six.  Unpacked, managed to get everything in the freezer that needed to go there, haven't cooked supper yet and that might go on the back burner...not really hungry.  

Tomorrow is a day for enlarging the photographs that Guldjan's mother gave me before Christmas, printing them out that's after I sorted my printer and see what frames I have going spare.  If not I'll be heading into Djebel and the Leva shops to see what they've got.  LN.....Netflix calls.....I need to find something to keep me going until bedtime.....LN

Saturday 11th February

Out of bed by seven, the weather station time had reset itself while contacting the base station, where ever that is, so I spent around ten minutes readjusting it to real time.  I noted that the outside temperature was minus ten degrees, the inside was fifteen so not too bad, I went round opening the curtains, the sun was up and you have to take advantage of nature and its benefits.  The outside temperature didn't get any higher that minus one for most of the day but the inside one shot up to twenty eight degrees....big windows have benefits.  I didn't need to light the fire until five this evening and it's going really well.

I cooked the rest of the steak for breakfast and it was as tough as old boots.  At least I gave it a good chewing for the cat that was the beneficiary around ten this morning.  I went out into the garden and gave my clicking sound and eventually it appeared from its hiding place, I put it down in the container with a slice of bread, the meat all went and the bread remains.  My culinary pursuits didn't stop there, I sliced up another pack of young calf beef and put it in the slow cooker with onions and mushrooms and a stock cube and left it to its own devices for the rest of the day.  As for the rest of my day....I had a bonfire to get rid of the rubbish, cleaned out and laid the fire for tonight and got in two loads of logs and the day was open to opportunities but I did very little with it.  I just couldn't get motivated with the ancestry so decided to finish watching my series and at four added peas and carrots to the slow cooker and boiled about five potatoes, some for tonight and some to be fried for breakfast.  I served supper around six thirty, washed up and tidied the kitchen and I have enough left in the slow cooker for tomorrow night.  

The lack of Transponder means that I can't follow the rugby and it's really upset my schedule and I've now fallen on another series from the 'drama' section of Netflix, episode one looks good but I've now switched the tv off....I shall be ending up with square eyes.  LN...Must do something constructive tomorrow...maybe chop more starter wood.....LN

Sunday 12th February

So I switched off the tv last night and was on the landing on the computer checking things on the ancestry chart that I've been doing.  There's a little glitch n the system and it threw up and anomily where it puts in a rogue box ready to add another parter but there's no one to add but the empty box remains.  I konw it's difficult to remove people and what I should have done was to remove the link to the rest of the chart and unfortunately I didn't think it through....at midnight last night I was still adding in the rest of the family deleted in error but one good thing...the ghost box is no longer there...result.

I finished with the computer at mindnight and decided to watch just one episode of Taboo and that went on until two this morning and now I understand why,  The main character is played by Thomas Hardy and it suddenly hit me that he reminded me of someone in Peaky Blinders and I was correct...he played the Solomon character...he's such a good actor.  Straight to bed and straight to sleep until eight thirty this morning and unfortuanately the sun was out but hiding behind the clouds so the temperature when up but not as high as it should have been.  I made breakfast, washed up, washed me, dressed and finished watching Taboo.  By now the sun had come from underneath the clouds so I put on an extra sweater, hat and gloves and after yesterday's poor effort with my Fitbit and the number of steps that I;d achieved, decided to make more effort.  I walked the garden, cleared out some of the old flower stalks from the Jerusalem artichokes, made my way to the wood store and cleared a path to the door leading to the garden.  I purposely block it while I'm away, it's a solitary corner of the garden and where I keep lawnmowers, big garden machinery and ladders.  So I accessed the small terrace, found the brush and took one of the log carriers outside and swept up the oak leaves from next doors vegetable garden, loaded them upand tipped them over the wall.  That achieved I found some wood, the big and the small choppers and filled up two containers and should have enought for half way through to next month.  I swept uo, tools away, back in the house and slow cooker on ready for supper, had a little sleep, jacket potato in the micowave and supper was served around six.  Kitchen tidied and washing up done and now the evening is mine.

The boiler is on for a bath tonight and then I'll be carrying on where I left off with ancestry.  I do miss Transponder....maybe it's time to start looking for another provider...it can't be the only one but I don't want to end up with two.  LN.....The bath calls......LN

Monday 13th February

So fifty years today at three fifteen a.m. I'd just given birth to my 9lb 7oz boy.  I was not very with it just after the event and was waiting for the doctor to repair the damage, it had been along labour and I was tired.....but he was beautiful and well worth the effort.  Card sent by courtesy of Moon Pig, cash from B.O.M., What's app text message first thing and I'm hoping that all got delivered....it means a lot to me.

And now for the rest of my day.  The sun was up so no need to light the fire this morning, that bath that I'd promised last night didn't happen so I was going to linger and soak after I'd finished the morning chores, breakfast of bacon, sausage and egg and supper of pork, black beans went into the slow cooker and that's ready and awaits my serving it up.  Fire laid and ashes sorted and it's going now, it's not that cold outside so far but looks like it might drop quickly, the sky is cloudless and everything feels crisp.  I eventually made the bath at ten thirty and stayed soaking until just after twelve, I'd switched the boiler on so that I could keep the bath topped up and it worked.  I wrapped the bath towel round me and moved from my bathroom to upstairs bedroom and sat on the chest in the sun enjoying the warmth.  It's certainly a benefit having large windows just as long as you have curtains to draw when the sun goes down.  At one I was set for the day in warm clothing and fired up the computer on the landing ready to knock down some ancestry brick walls.  Pre and just post eighteen hundreds I'm having to go into Irish records and there are lot of people with the same surnames and even first names and lots of movement betwen Ireland and the rest of the world, England and the USA.  Every effort has to be made too ensure that you have the right person, parents and grandparents.  By four thirty I'd had enough, went down to make coffee and never came back to it, Netflix went on and I ended up watching Vanity Fair, a period piece that I'm sure I've seen before but I enjoyed it.  

Lovely sunset tonight, just on the minus, so far, so good.  No quiz night tonight courtesy of Internet tv, it's still down and looks like being so for quite some time.  Supper calls and time to switch off the computer and get back to the fire, student tomorrow so must find something interesting to work through together.  LN....And make it fun.....LN

Tuesday 14th February

One disadvantage of living out here...the Valentine day cards don't arrive on time.  In fact I've not had one since I've been here and I like to blame the postal service...   I suppose I shall be digging out my birthday cards from previous years to make a show of it but I have managed to arrange a birthday evening meal with a few friends.  As I get older celebrating it becomes important...there might not be many left.

Seven thirty start, the sun wasn't quite up but it had the makings of a beautiful day and it didn't disappoint.  The inside temperature this monring was fourteen degrees so not too bad and the outside minus six and it could only get better.  The sun came out, the temperature started to go up inside and out and by eleven it was twenty six inside, time for a shower and wash my hair ready for my student's session later today.  Before that though I managed to make poached eggs and ham on toast and dutifully filled up my tummy to face the day.  I decided that I'd give hair conditioner a miss thinking that it might be the reason my skin gets so itchy.  By not using it I would see if it made a difference...time will tell. I'd already got a text I could use for my student.  I'd printed one out, hadn't read it properly and after ready it there was such a funny twist to it that I decided to use it.  

I set off in the Nipper at two thirty, beautiful weather and I enjoyed the ride, I hadn't been out since Friday when I went shoppings.  There were no parking spaces outside the shop so I carried on to the main carpark, parked up and walked back to the shop and guess what....all the parking places were free but not to worry, a little exercise for my Fitbit.  I satdown and had a chat with his mother untll it was three fifteen, went up to the apartment and we started the lesson at three thirty.  He enjoyed the text, we answered the questions that went with it and he really is a bright boy.  There were a set of statements and they had to put in order as to when they appeared in the text and he knocked them off in quicksticks.  There were a few new words in the text,  not many but he remembered them and what they were in Bulgarian.  His brother's girlfrined was down from Sofia, working from 'home' and on line and she sat with us at the end of the lesson and explained the story to her in English and she was very impressed.  She speaks English quite well, Turkish is her first language and Bulgarian second.  Opportunities to learn languages here are good and I suppose the internet helps considerably.

So back down to the shop for five fifteen and I was in the Nipper by five thirty heading home,  The temperature was dropping and I needed to get my fire lit so that it was comfortuable downstairs but it was still eighteen degrees in the house this evening when I got home so not bad at all.  Not sure if I want supper or not so far, I did stop off at the little supermartked for bread and saw that they had eclairs on sale so bought one of those and had it with a cup of coffee just after I'd set the fire to go and drawn the curtains.  Eight thirty my time and time to investigate other ways to watch British television over the internet, not sure if the other company is going to come up with the goods any time soon.  LN.....I've got withdrawal symptoms......LN

Wednesday 15th February

So I was awake early this morning, made coffee and played Sudoku until it was a reasonable time to surface.  I did manage to get out to take pickies but then went back to bed...and no reason not to.  I hadn't got a plan for today which was just as well,  I had a great conversation through Messenger with my flat mate from Gibraltar going back to 1970, a slow catch-up and an invitation to go visit later in the year.  She always sends me birthday greetings on the wrong date despite several attempts by me to advise her to the contrary but as she says.....I should be grateful that she remembered...and I am.  My next catch-up was with my good friend Angela wishing me an early birthday.  Knowing the situation here with the post she sent me a photograph of the amarislis that I got her for a Christmas present, it's on its second flowering and told me that the photograph was instead of a card.....and this prompted my next move.

I bought a new printer but have had to revert to my old Brother one, I got new cartridges for it last week and so that was a job that needed doing.  It needed a full clean since I've only been printing black ink with it and my attempt at a colour ancestry chart didn't work.  I also was given some old photographs by Guljan's mum before I left for the UK...they needed resizing, printing and putting in frames and one out of three isn't bad.  Tomorrow I'll go into town, buy some more frames, install the pictures, buy my cake for the neighbours and get it ready for delivering on Friday.  

By now it was almost three when I'd sorted everything out and the morning had just gone into the ether.  It was now time to lay the fire for tonight, I had enough wood in for the next two days or so since I'm not lighting it until around five in the evening.  Minus six when I got up, twenty eight degrees inside this afternoon and it's still eighteen in and two degrees out.  I made breakfast this morning early using up the ham and having it on buttered toast.  I took one bite, thought it tasted a little suspect so it went out for the cat who came back over the wall when I called her with my clicking sound.  She's still a wild thing and very nervous byt definitely better than what she was.

A little relaxation with cream cheese and bread sticks while watching some rubbish on Netflix.  I was close to getting my head down for a few zzz's but managed to stay awake and should survive the evening.  The little Kindle is now fully charged and in the absense of TV I shall be resorting now to reading and probably re-reading some of my favourites including Bernard Cornwell's books.  Seven my time...still not interested in proper food after the rubbish I've had today so will manage until tomorrow.  LN.....Djebel at some stage tomorrow and then delivering framed old photos.......LN

Thursday 16th February

So last night I didn't light the fire until around six, I'd let it go out while I was working on the computer on the landing and when I got downstairs it was cool, not cold so I set about relighting it.  The thing didn't want to light, the log that I'd put on didn't want to burn, I put more starter wood underneath it and it didn't want to catch so all in all a lot of effort for no return.  I settled under a blanket but it was hard looking at a no-spark woodburner so I took myself off to bed really quite early for me, settled down around ten thirty and slept like a babe until six thirty this morning.  Fitbit liked it....I got good sleep scores for last night.

Another fristy frosty start and the sun was up around seven this morning and burnt the frost off eventually.  I threw bread out for the birds, it was a few days old and time it went, cleaned out the frying pan and set about making a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast,  I put some washing in, that's dried inside, it was too much effort to peg it out and I've just moved it to the bathroom to finish off now that the fire's going.  I wrote a shopping list, I decided to buy the cake for the ladies in the village today so that I can deliver mid morning without having to go into Djebel to get it, new batteries for the bathroom scales, I got on them last night and didn't weigh a thing, wasn't sure if it was the battery or the weighscales so I went for the cheaper option so on the list it went,  I also needed to get some more picture frames and plastic carrier bags for the kitchen rubbish, and remembered that they sell them in the coffee shop in Djebel...where else.  

Before I set off I had a catch-up call to one of my dear friends to ask her about a program she uses to write up her ancestry charts.  She gave me the names of a few that I'd read about so nothing is concrete yet...I need to do some more digging.  She said that she'd been thinkiing about coming out here for a break and she'd be most welcome, I can vacate the downstairs bedroom, there's a toilet and shower room downstairs so she wouldn't have to negotiate the stairs unless she wanted to.  She has slight mobility problems which wouldn't be so bad here....I'm sure I'll be able to cope.  I also got on to the computer and sourced a couple of holidays that I'm interested in, the one that I missed out on last year because of Covid and them canelling is on,,,Lisbon, Seville, Tangier and other Moroccan cities ending up in Marrakesh.  The price is OK so I'm going ahead with it in October.  The next one I looked at is going to Tunisia in May or June, single room at only fifty lev more than the double rate and flight is from Plovdiv.  I've decided that life is what you make it and i've got to broaden my horizons....the spirit is willing and the flesh is not weak yet.

So off to Djebel, I couldn't park where I wanted to, the road was blocked by a huge crane and a lorry so I parked outside the lev shop near the mosque.  They didn't have the
picture frames that I wanted, I walked to the cashpoint and took my money, bought the cake from my favourite cake shop and walked back to the car.  I did buy picture frames but not the size that I need so I might head into Kardjali tomorrow morning. I remembered the batteries and the scales work, the cake is in the fridge thawing out for tomorrow and I did have to cut a slice out of it for quality control purposes.  The upside is that I shan't be cooking supper tonight...no space for it.  I was about to take a photo of the sunset when suddenly I heard the cows galloping across the land looking south and I noticed that they were being chased by a very small deer so I swifty focussed the camera and managed to get the photo.  I've seen this once before on the village road but I really don't understand the behaviour...I'll hve to ask the farmer next time I see him.

As I said fire lit and going well, scales now that I've reset them to kilograms are working fine and indicating that I have to lose weight...nothing new there then.  Time to move down to the television to see if I can find something decent on Netflix and switch off the computer.  I've done a little more digging on my ancestry search and managed to get back to around seventeen eighty with one family and into parish records which I love looking at especially Marriage Banns.....lots of information there.  LN.....Down to the fire and the comfort of the sofa.......LN

Friday 17th February

So onward and upwards into the new year.....let's see what this new birthday year brings.  I've had a really good day.  The cake that I test drove last night was carved up and delivered around the village this morning and the photographs that I'd resized were delivered to Gulcan's mum in the next village and that entailed sitting down with them for a catch up.  I drove back to my village and the ladies were waiting on the bench for the lunch delivery so I waited with them, gave out the rest of the cake and then carried on to one of the houses where the daughter made me coffee, I drank the coffee while they ate the cake.  I was home for about two so quite a long morning, I planted snowdrops that I'd been given earler and found out some pots and planted up two honeysuckle that I'd rooted in water and also three winter flowering jasmine that have been promised out already.  I checked out the ditch outside of my wall and noticed that quite a bit of debris had gathered from the last downpour we'd had so I got the rake and was clearing it out when Zelinger and one of the other ladies appeared with presents for me.  Zelinger had brought me a pair of pyjamas and a pair of men's socks and she tried to convince me that they were for ladies but I said that it was written that they were definitely for men but she was having none of it even though it was written in English on the packaging.

Off they went and at three I decided that I would drive into Djebel and buy the other cake so that it would be thawed out in time for after the meal.  I dropped it off at the car shop where it would sit until it was time to go to the restaurant.  No point in carrying it home to bring it out again,  The rest of the cake from yesterday I took to my other Gulcan's mother working in her little shop so that they could have it when they got home.  I'd invited them for the meal but they had other fish to fry so to speak and couldn't make it.....we can do it another time.  I went home, got changed and was in the car for six fifteen, the table was booked for six thirty and the family were waiting in the shop, I parked outside and we walked to the restaurant together.  They'd bought me prresents as well as flowers so they stayed in the car and I opened them when I got home and messaged them to say thank you.  In the bag was a special card from my young student telling me that I'm the best English teacher ever.....I'm probably his only one outside of school but he's very special too and a fabulous thirteen year old football coach.

Home for ten thirty and it's been a wonderful birthday, nice company, relaxed even though we were speaking half English/ half Bulgarian.  Shopping tomorrow in Kardjali for some more picture frames.....I somehow acquired more photos to sort out....word gets around.  LN....No fire going so time to go to bed......LN.  

Saturday 18th February

Another full on day with messages and what beautiful weather we're having.  Another great sunrise, I noticed that the tits were looking for food in the dish on the terrace so I went out to fill it up in my PJ's and the sun was fibbing to me...it was ccccold out there so I didn't stay long.  I meandered through the morning, washed and dressed for nine and today I was taking my neighbour into Kardjali, heading for the shop that sells picture frames.  I didn't bother with breakfast, too much food last night and cake in general, I was going to have an easy day on the intake.  I drove down to her house in the lower square and waited outside.  I'd got it wrong...I thought we were dropping stuff off at her apartment instead we were picking it up from the apartment and bringing it back to her mother's house.  We stopped off at Djebel, there'd been an incident in my village that I'd heard about yesterday for the flower shop lady in Djebel and I didn't connect the two.  The lady that I was taking to Kardjali was involved but asked me if I knew the lady that had the flower shop and I said that I did, whe said that she wanted to see her.  I stopped in Djebel, we went to the shop but unfortunately my friend wasn't there so that's for another day.

We carried on to Kardjali, went to the frame shop and I bought several, my friend also picked up a few items that she needed for home.  We went to the apartment at the other end of town, managed to park up near and I was surprised how big it was with quite a large terrace outside.  She'd got leeks planted up in a bucket which she cleaned off and put into a carrier to take with her, we stopped for a coffee and stood out on the terrace in the sun drinking it.  Eventually she finished what she had to do, we packed the Nipper up and carried on to Kaufland where I had a mini shop but she had an extensive one, she had transport to carry it back to the village.  I did manage to find some very cheap tiny daffodils just coming into flower so I had two for me and bought another two for my student's mum and would deliver them when we were driving back through Djebel which I did.

I drove down to her mother's house and dropped her off with the shopping, she gave me a bag of leeks and tomorrow I shall make leek and potato soup and I bought blue cheese to go in it......delicious and I've not done that since I've been here but it was a firm favourite in the UK.  Shopping unpacked and put away, I cooked a pork schnitzel for a late lunch with some chippies so now I don't have to cook this evening.....I've finished for the night.  Fire going and the house warmed up, I'm still looking for that something on Netflix that I can get my teeth into so maybe it's time to start looking in earnest.  LN......It's been a relaxing day and hopefully the weather will be good enought for gardening tomorrow.....LN

Sunday 19th February

It seems to have been a very long day.  I was quite early to bed, didn't manage to get off straight away, did a few Sudoku and eventually nodded off waking just before seven.  I made coffee,sat at the table in the stairwell admiring my daffodils,  they are just so sweet.  I've got the same ones in the garden but they're not ready to bloom yet and these will follow them into the garden for next year.  I contemplated my day, the weather looked promising so I found a good load of washing and thought I'd try out the new Sensitive Persil that I'd bought yesterday to see if it will stop the itchy skin that I seem to be developing and stop me scratching holes in myself.  Worth a try at least.  Before that though it was breakfast time so I reheated one of the schnitzels that I'd cooked last night and not managed to eat and had it with baked beans on toast.  Washing up done, washing in, more coffee made and back to my perch in the sun until the washing had finished, made it to the first floor, washed and dressed and by that time the washing was ready to peg out.  I toyed wth the idea of onlyputting the heavy stuff out and the rest would go on the airer but instead it all went on the line and was out there until four this afternoon.

Log baskets and log carriers filled up and fire laid ready for this evening and now I was twiddling my thumbs as to what to do next.  I put Netflix on and started to watch a film and immediately I knew the main character and was having trouble placing him and then it dawned on me he was out of Game of Thrones.  I couldn't get it out of my mind while I was watching it so flicked around until I found something to fall asleep to but that didn'w work for long, Haciber was at the door with a packet of coffee for me.  By now it was getting on for four so I collected the washing from the line, took it upstairs, sorted out the drawers where I keep most of it in the bathroom, hung up the rest and settled in to ancestry chasing and brought down a few more brick walls.

Fire lit, curtains drawn, I'm now in for the evening, thinking about supper but not really hungry so it will probably be a sandwich and maybe a toasted one.  Lovely sunset tonight, it started off gentle and then it got more intense which probably means that there's more dust in the atmosphere or the weather is changing.  LN......It might be a bath night since I now have no Transponder TV to waste my time with.....LN

Monday 20th February

A riduclously early start and coulnn't settle again so made coffee and went back to bed with the Kindle and Sudoku.  I soon came round to seven o'clock, more coffee and moved into the lounge and to the table in the stairwell and started looking through the numerous prinouts of ancestry and found the one that I was looking for covering all of the main connections, through marriage, without the numerous children hanging on.  I just need to photograph it and send it over explaining that if they want children from specific families, I can sent that on too.  I made breakfast of fried mushrooms on toast, more coffee, played around with wrist bllod pressure monitor and eventually got it to work.  Everything is good, I haven't taken any tablets since I've been back and everything in the garden is rosy so far and said with my fingers crossed,  difficult to type so better uncross them.

Washed, dressed, prepared the fire for tonight and filled up the log basket.  Moved on to the upstairs computer and started to fill in a few date gaps on the chart and that proved more difficult than it looked at first glance.  There are some names that are easy to find and others that there are so many of them that you have to go through several listings to find the right one.  I tired of that so went downstairs and phoned one of my besties that I knew would have sent me a birthday card but to date it hasn't arrived.  I explained that I'd issued a warrant complaining to the post office about lost cards, three to date, well it will be when my son's card doesn't arrive tomorrow.....and it won't ..oh me of little faith.  I opened up some wisteria seed pods that I'd put in to soak, the seeds are now sitting in a split bottle with damp kitchen paper below and above...I'm told this is the best way to get them to germinate.  I've got four of them in the bottle and fingers crossed, it might work.

Felt pretty sleepy this afternoon after my early start so settled on the sofa around two and started to watch a new six parter on Netflix.  I think I slept through one episode but caught up with the thread and fnished it by five.  I could have done so much today but there's the rest of the week to fit it all in.  Fire going at six and the house is toasty, I've taken chicken sings out of the freezer but I guess they'll be cooked tomorow, I'm not really hungry so far, maybe something else later.  Student tomorrow so I better start looking out for another interesting text..it's all go here.  LN.....It will be another evening of Netflix...bring back Transponder...I'm missing my quiz nights....LN

Tuesday 21st February

Silly five start so quick trip to the bathroom and back to bed waking up at seven thirty....much more sensible.  The sun was up, a few clouds in the sky and I spent the next ten minutes over a coffee and the weather station.  The blasted thing had reset itself to standard Germain time after it had been in contact with the receiver and now I had to reset it to one hour difference which is always a bind.  The five buttons are on the back. the display on the front and I always seem to forget which is the one to identify which one does which and which sequence they go in.  Eventually I managed it enough for today....I will play around with it when I'm in the mood to set the time zone to one hour on from the time in Germany.  

I had a shower and washed my hair, I had my student this afternoon.  I let my hair dry naturally, I only use shampoo these days and no conditioner, I'm trying to identify the culprit for the red blotches.  Another load of washing done today using the sensitive wash liquid and so far so good.  I used it last time and the skin has been much better and less itchy.  Washing pegged out and what a beautiful day it was and I came in and made poached egg on ham on toast for a late breakfast which saw me through until this evening.  I tidied the kitchen and then set about trying to find a text for my lesson this afternoon and eventually ended up finding an old one, much more difficult that usual but I knew we cold manage it.  I arrived at the shop at three, the boy was still at school but playing football and he was dripping with perspiration when he arrived.  He went up to the apartment before me, washed or showered and put some smelly stuff on, almost too much but I sat well away so that I wasn't overcome with the fumes.

As I said the text was hard with difficult words in it but we managed it and turned it into a game.  There were some really long words in it and we managed to find the equivalent Bulgarian words in a round about way and used pictures to describe what other words meant.  We had good question and answer sheets and managed to get nine out of eleven questions right between us.....not bad and the prize was one chocolate bar for him and an eclair for me to have when I got home.  I was in the car for six and heading home only stopping at the supermarket for bread and a few other items.  Fire lit and house warmed through but with the temperature going up to twenty eight inside today it didn't take much to raise it to a comfortable level.  So supper of chicken wings and bread and I am late with the update, the film 'The Scent of a Woman' was presented on Netflix and I started and finished it all in one session...and why wouldn't you.  Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow so far, the day is mine all mine and depending on the weather, it could take place outside if the weather is fine.  LN.....Greece is calling me.....I feel the sand between my toes already......LN

Wednesday 22nd February

So the search is on now...the post office have to answer questions, three birthday cards have gone AWOL, two refunds from Moonpig probably on the way and I don't know why they accept orders that they aren't able to fulfill.  My daughter follows it up now with an email version and I print it out,,,,thank goodness I can still order and get mine delvered,  One today to my ex was delivered yesterday with chocolates and he gave me my birthday card when I left after Christmas...nothing like being early for the event.

Another silly night...I woke up at four and just didn't bother going back to sleep,  I messed around on the Kindle, managed to get the weather station clock sorted and hopefully I've got the right time zone sorted so that it will show me the correct time tomorrow mornng after it's gone to its radio base overnight.  Curtains open to welcome the day, sun was shining, birds were distributing the bowl of seeds onto the terrace, the chicken bones went out for the black cat yet despite my clicking for it it never appeared but the bones did.  I had toast for breakfast with Marmite since I wasn't really in the mood to cook, the old bread went out for any one that wanted it and several large hooded corws appeared along with magpies ad the starlings are back and one is actually eyeing up the log on the wall as a nest.  It was used last year and maybe the same two are back.

I have more flowers out in the conservatory and I checked out the little house where I store the pots over winter and they are looking good.  February this year has been like spring, I thought about moving one of the benches outside to the terrace and then I remembered that we had snow and minus five temperatures in March only a few years ago so maybe a little premature....I'll hang in there.  Cheese and onion sandwich for lunch and I settled in to a Netflix this afternoon and caught up on my sleep.  Logs in and fire lit for five, house toasty and warm and there's a pork chop in the oven and I've already made the barbecue sauce to put on the top of it when I turn it over.  I was going to do roasted veg but that went by the way as well.....it will be chippies in the air-fryer or a jacket in the microwave.....decisions, decisions.

On the whole a very relaxing day...I almost bought a new phone from the internet to replace the one that I have for my English phone.  It was good in its day but needs to go, the screen is very small and so is the font.  I'll have a look at the add tomorrow and make a decision, my daughter can bring it out for me when then come over in April.  LN.....My chop needs turning and I have to decide what to have with it......LN

Thursday 23rd February

Where is this month going?  I suppose I have the landmark birthdays starting with the third, fourth, thirteenth, mine and the yesterday and only a few more days to go.  It's been a bit of a let down as winter but brilliant as spring and I hope it suddenly doesn't disappear as March approaches.  It would be a shame, I'm just getting used to it.  Fried mushrooms, egg and hot dog sausage for breakfast but the sausage was not to my liking so went out to the black cat along with the bones from last night's pork and the chicken stock and bones from the night before.  Black cat wasn't about so I made my clicking noise and it was slow but eventually appeared from over the wall, I think it's made a home for itself over there where it's protected between my wall and the hedge on the neighbouring property.

I hadn't very much to do today, I walked the garden, sat on the wall listening to the cow bells as they grazed the hillside and decided that despite my omen yesterday of spring disappearing fast as it came, I opened up the little house and moved one of the benches onto the terrace in front of the stairwell windows.  I took a cushion outside with me, my glasses and little Kindle and found one of the Last Kingdom books that I have and started to read it.  I was hoping to dip into it to follow the series that I'm watching on Netflix but couldn't find the book sequence so will have to do it on line and list it.  I'm really not sure how close the series follows the books.  The sun was very hot, I'd found out one of the collapsible folding chairs from the little house, opened it up and settled down comfortably.  I went in to put sunscreen on my face, no point in ending up looking like a tomato at the end of the day,  I also made coffee and grabbed a packet of plain biscuits, that was lunch and not sure if I want any supper.  The wind got up a little so I came in at around four o'clock, watched an episode of Last Kingdom, paused it and tidied up outside putting the chair away, leaving the bench out.  I also filled up one of the log carriers and brought it into the conservatory, came in and lit the fire that I'd set earlier in the day.

Seven my time, the house is comfortably warm, it's been another restful day but I must get round to doing stuff tomorrow.  It's very easy to fall into the pattern of doing nothing so nothing gained and not really my style.  I need to start some seeds off, I've got lots flowering in the little house, the winter has been kind to them but I need lots more underway.  LN.....Tomorrow might be just the day for tobacco seeds and sun daisies......LN

Friday 24th February

Another early start and I must admit it left me jaded all day.  I made breakfast of bacon and egg sandwich, cleared the kitchen, set the fire, reset the clock after it had sync'd again with its base station, did a load of washing and pegged it out.....and all that by nine thirty this morning.  Mornings move on in my house.  I then switch on and switched off by watching another couple of episodes of The Last Kingdom...bring back Transponder.....and the series is becoming obsessive.  

The sun eventually broke through after a dull start, I walked the garden and that's when I noticed the crocuses hiding in the border under the little house terrace.  Not only did I clear round them but I carried on with the rest of the little garden and found the daffs that are doing well and lots more pushing their heads through.  The forsythia are getting close to breaking out and putting patches of yellow throughout the garden...it really does brighten the beds up. I checked the flowers in the little house and watered a few of them that needed it.  I've got new tobacco plants starting and the old ones are flowering.....self sets are great.  I know I said that I was going to get more seeds in today...it didn't happen, I just couldn't get up the enthusiasm to get new ones going but I did noticed that the three winter flowering jasmine that potted up a week or so ago are really getting established and putting on new leaves.

The washing came in around three this afternoon and I lit the fire early to warm up the bathroom to air the clothes.  I felt cold today, I've been spoilt over the last week or so and ended up putting my heavy knitted cardigan on, just taken it off now but it was really necessary.  I put supper in around six, fancied chicken wings and roasted veg and that's what I'm having.  I was a little disappointed with the parsnips that I bought, they were expensive, very woody when I came to cut them up for roasting and let's see if they're still the same after they've been in the oven.  Food ready and I've just put the boiler on for a good soak in the bath tonight, otherwise I'll only be watching Netflix again.....I'll take the little Kindle with me making sure that it doesn't end up floating like the last one.  LN......I think I'll continue with clearing the flower beds if the weather is good tomorrow.....it doesn't happen by itself....LN

Saturday 25th February

Not such a bad start this morning, six twenty considering I went to bed at one after loosing myself in The Last Kingdom.  I remembered to switch the boiler off at around ten, there was no way I was having a bath at that time of night, it's been done before but I have been known to wake up in a cold bath and then feel cold getting into bed.  Not such a good day, it was cloudy when I opened the curtains, it burnt off and the sun managed to come out eventually, enough for me to go and play outside.

Before that though I had my normal routine, fire set, logs into the log basket, filled up the log carrier as a back up and then made toast that sat heavily for most of the morning.  I did venture outside earlier and feel the black cat that appeared on my calling from over the wall giving me a plaintive meow....as if 'what time do you call this?'  The chicken bones and roasted vegetables didn't last long and not much was left for other visitors.  I went back inside and cleared the kitchen and washed up the baking tins from last night, made a coffee and sat down to another episode of my Netflix.....it's just so compulsive although it's the third time I've watched the series. The last time was during my Covid episode when I binge watched it, sleeping through a lot of it but took my mind off my high temperature and sore throat.

Eventually I made it outside putting on a fleece hat and my oversized leather jerkin to keep out the cold wind that had suddenly struck up and it's blowing a gale out there at the moment.  It all started when I decided to clear the garden under the terrace, clear away the dead leaves and uncover the bulbs that were shooting through.  I'd made a start on it yesterday but finished the job today and also cleared the little under terrace bed of leaves and old flower pots.  It didn't stop there!!  I'd looked at the wooden garden surrounds and several of them needed replacing so instead decided to patch where I could.  I made some more supports from timber that was available, found a few short planks that would do the job and set about replacements.   I grabbed the heavy bolster hammer from the woodstore, the saw, nails and ordinary hammer from the workshop, replaced three sections and tomorrow if the mood takes me I'll start with the old engine oil and cover them well.  It stops the bugs and immediate rotting and well worth doing.  So old leaves and rubbish from the gardens, I'd cleared the lavender bed under the main terrace, were lobbed over the wall and the cows soon found them and most of it is no more.  

I came in at around three thirty, the sun was still out but that wind had really developed into something that you want to get out of, lit the fire, closed the door, put on the tv and promptly went to sleep for an hour or so.  On waking I remembered that I'd put most of the tools away but the garden rake, shears and log carrier were still waiting to go back to their respective homes so out I went, did the deeds and locked up outside, came in and locked up inside.  My day was done.  I came upstairs to write my blog and suddenly got very involved in hints and tips from ancestry and spent over and hour checking out the validity of most of them.....got half way through the blog and realised I'd forgotten the fire so have been giving it the kiss of life and now it's going to be find when I take up my evening viewing,  Supper is only a chunk of cheese and a few Petit-Beurre biscuits that I've just found in the kitchen, I eyed up a packet of crisps and put them back and have just gone and retrieved them.  LN.....My diet can start tomorrow.....LN

Sunday 26th February

I was awakened this morning by the sound of the wind, grey skies from the one mountain range to the other and not a glimmer of anything resembling the sun.  It was only eleven degrees outside so that was my first job, lighting the fire and feeding it would be my task for the day.  I heard the cat outside give a pitiful call so I found out the sausages that I'd not really liked, two left, one for the cat and the other for me made into an omelette.  I took the one out to the cat, a few clicking noises and it didn't come out from where it had secreted itself so the food is still in the porch. I did try another couple of times but still no joy, it really is horrible out there.

I washed and dressed, realised that I would be inside for the day not outside, the renovations to the garden surrounds would not be painted today.  We had the first of many rain showers that didn't last long, it appears that we've got March weather for the wind and April showers mixed into one....June and July came at the beginning of this month and goodness knows what will follow it.  This year is so topsy-turvy.  The washing up from this morning is still sitting in the kitchen waiting to be done, I turned on the computer and spent a couple of hours chasing people and updating the chart and have now got back too the mid seventeen hundreds with one family.  It all started since I was trying to track several families from one generation moved to America and I'm trying to identify which families went.  There were around ten children born to the same parents so I've got lots to work through, I know where they were buried but not found the dates that they left and the ships they left on so I might just have to conclude that they were the families.

I cleared out the pots of daffodils that were on the windowsills and noticed that there was just one flower still to make its appearance.  I cut the others off, and brought the pot back into the house, its one change at showing off, out shone already but its neighbours so I though it should have its opportunity.  I topped it up with water and it should be out by Tuesday.  Around five the television went on and the sofa was as good a place as any to catch up with lost sleep from last night.  I shall probably have to watch one or two of the episodes again to catch up with the plot and I've just remembered that a further series of The Blacklist is about to, or has already started so that's going to be the next on my agenda.  So I've yet to decide on supper for tonight, it's almost seven my time, it's still blowing a gale outside, I've managed to batten down the hatches and everything that was about to fly away has gone, all I can hear is the whoosh of the wind....and the internet shows an orange warning for wind and snow later in the week.  Perhaps January and February weather will appear just before February disappears later this week.  LN.....Computer off and kitchen oven on...time to get creative in the kitchen.....LN

Monday 27th February

So the Last Kingdom is finished...I hear that there is a plan to wrap up the rest of the books with one final film...not quite the same but needs to be done.  It's funny watching it for the third time, it's amazing what you miss first time round and the third time is another eye opener.  I must check back though....when a man lost an eye for an immoral act inflicted on one of his daughters.  When the boy becomes a man and re-enters the plot, I felt the wrong eye was covered.  May be that's something to keep for the next time I watch it and watch it I'm sure I will.

Six thirty start this morning, the rain had stopped and the wind had dropped slightly and had changed direction.  It was no longer coming from Greece but heading back that way.  I used up the last of the bacon and made a sandwich, cleaned up the kitchen from yesterday and by nine thirty I was looking for things to do.  I lit the fire, it was still cold and miserable outside and I'm not using an awful lot of wood so one good blast and then when the sun came out I let the fire go out and it stayed that way until five this afternoon.

I cleaned out the porch, took the rug up and put it on the line, the doormats went out to the terrace and the mop came inside to wash the floor over when I'd swept it.  The window sill was cleaned off, everything put back after the rug had had a good beating and it looks much better for the effort.  I took the secateurs outside and took some branches from the Japonica.....the pink buds that have sat on the plant for a couple of weeks have started to open and now they're sitting in the lounge with a couple of daffs that are ready to open.  The garden is coming to life.  The forsythia at the bottom of the garden has one flower open already and the one under the lonesome pine is about to burst into bloom.  I have about eight forsythias around the garden so just waiting for the onslaught.  I put the garden gatherings into water, went into the woodstore and filled up one of the log carriers to make sure that there's enough in for the night, went into the little house and dug the box of seeds out to sort through them.  I found sweet peas seeds from two years ago, so thought I'd check my 'gardening bible' and it looks like they should have been planted much earlier but they're in and they have my usual two choices...either they will or they won't amount to anything.  I've planted them up in empty toilet tubes buried into compost and let's see.  I had a bonfire to get rid of the rubbish, I waited until the wind had dropped and left it when the fire had burnt down....safety first.

The initial plan to go to Kardjali today came to nothing, I was only going in to get my new bank card but since this has another month to go, there's no rush.  I had a message from my other old student yesterday. the family were unable to join us for my birthday bash so hopefully we are going out tomorrow night for supper at the same restaurant.  I enjoyed the last meal there and the service was impeccable....so let's give her an even better tip this time.   Other student tomorrow and more football practice for me....and from there to the other family and then on to the restaurant...saves driving in and out and in and out again.  Good day today, I've started to get things done and coming out of winter along with the spring flowering shrubs.  LN......Now which one would I be?......LN

Tuesday 28th February

Another month bites the dust already, mad March awaits us tomorrow.  This month is ending on a very wet note....almost down to vest and pants in the middle of the month and now it's long johns, sweater and a cardigan just to make sure along with a ski hat.  Wall to wall rain from two onwards and it's still chucking it down now.

I woke up at six this morning, drank a large glass of warm water from the kettle, got my little head down again and the second rising was at nine and I felt much better for it.  Unfortunately I had a reaction to my late night meal and I was beginning to show the signs of a botox-ed bottom lip so took an 'allergia' capsule and hoped that it would go down before it was time for my lesson with my student.  Fortunately it did.  I lingered in the bath for a couple of hours, washed my hair and emerged at around twelve with nothing to do except dry my hair, get ready, prepare a text for my student and be on my proverbial bike by two thirty and I achieved all the objectives I'd set for myself.

I arrived just before three and unbeknown to be my student was already upstairs.  He normally rushes into the shop, declares that he needs thirty minutes in the toilet and I go up to get on with the lesson.  Talking to his mother I didn't realise what time it was and it was almost four, she told me that he was upstairs so picked up my bag and he met me at the door with football in hand....soon to be laced on his foot and away we went.  Five minutes play time and then we settled down to sixty minutes of text about London red buses, the history and the regulations and how they continue to be recognised round the world.  We worked through the questions together, I left him with some homework, we had another fifteen minutes for football and he reckons I'm getting better.  He also told me that he has a match tomorrow at the stadium and if it isn't raining I'll phone his mother and we'll go up to watch him play.  It's his school against another from the region but I shall be wrapping up warm...that air has got distinctly colder.

I left just before six, went down to the local supermarket for cake and éclairs to take round to my ex-student's parents house...I'd been invited for supper.  I always have a special time there, they are lovely people, we all speak a mixture of Bulgarian, English and Turkish and with the television in the background on one of the Turkish serials, my student and myself get on with our evening and the parents get on with theirs.  We settled on the cake and éclairs for afters and at ten I realised how late it was so made font farewells and into the Nipper for the drive home.  Nothing on the road except for a few frogs that I tried to avoid but not sure if I did or not and lots of really big puddles.  LN......I hear this weather is in for all next week.....welcome March.....LN