Saturday 11th November

Another early start in the dark so played games and drank coffee until the morning came to life.  There wasn't a lot of it, the sun was swallowed up by the clouds and we saw very little of it until this afternoon when I slept through most of it.  It was quite strange and the Greek mountains seemed to be doing a good job of keeping the rain clouds at bay until the wind shifted round and the clouds then appeared to be pushing the clouds up from the Mediterranean.  I put a load of washing in the machine while the electricity was on cheap rate, had a shower and washed my hair, dressed for town, dried my hair, had marmite on toast for breakfast and had timed it perfectly to be ready for my friend's arrival at nine but at eight thirty she was calling my name from the terrace.  I went down the stairs and let her in, her baggage was outside by the Nipper so I put it inside for her but by now it was raining quite heavily.  I finished tying up my hair, put my body warmer and boots on and we left at nine.   She hadn't had breakfast and was expecting us to go to the Turkish restaurant again but the weather was so grim that I wanted to drop her off, get my shopping done and get back.  I parked up outside her apartment block, she took her luggage and I drove back though the town and on to Kaufland which was heaving.  I think everyone had seen the weather forecast and had the same idea as I did.

I bought potatoes, a tin of mushrooms and one of pineapple, a rose bush for me and made my way to the coffee aisle and they had Nescafe on promotion so I put twelve two hundred gram jars in my trolley.  Seemed like overkill but the company is moving to packet stuff which appears to be more dust than coffee grains and I do like the jars for other things...win - win.  For some reason I thought of Bekir and blow me down, an aisle further on there he was clutching a chunk of cheese and he was on his own.  I asked him where his friends were and he said that one had died suddenly that he was normally out and about with on a Saturday and 'pushka mush' who was a member of the gun club has problems with his knees and can't walk very far.  He apologised for not bringing my hammer back that he was fitting a new stale to, I'd forgotten about it and somehow he seemed very lonely.  I asked about his wife and he said she was out with the sheep and he mentioned that in a couple of years, he's going to give them up and I replied that the children don't really want that lifestyle...it's all money and Facebook and he agreed.  Off he went, I went to the cash desk and settled my bill but I worked it out that I'd saved over fifty leva by waiting for the offer on coffee...quite a saving.  I didn't go to Lidl, the car-parts shop was closed, which was unusual, so I drove home in torrential rain and with thunder clattering about.  

I unloaded the shopping, lit the fire which turned out to be a mistake.  I'd just got it going nicely when the electricity went off so I was offloading the contents of the woodburner into the little woodburner in the kitchen since the pump doesn't work without power and the UPS only does forty minutes.  I settled on the sofa, started reading a book about meditation and promptly fell asleep through the storm, the power came back on around four so relit the fire and so far so good.  Spicy chicken wings went into the over and are now ready for consumption so I'm going to say goodnight and get settled in front of Netflix.  LN......The forecast is ran on and off for the week so it should be a quiet one for me......LN

Sunday 12th November

Five thirty start again, just one or two hints of morning over the mountains but I had to wait until seven for the show to start.  The sun lingered on the edge but then found itself behind the clouds and didn't really show its face until round ten when i went down for a bonfire, got it going well ad sat on the wall watching an eagle ascending on the thermals.  I thought at one point it was hovering over the turkeys but they were obviously penned up and not out for their morning stroll.  It was cold on the balcony so I didn't stay out there long first thing and I made more coffee and sat on the rocker until it was time to think about getting washed and dressed ready to face the day.  I did hit one sticking point, the elastic in my PJ's wasn't so elastic so I found more in the sewing box, managed to find a safety pin and renewed said elastic so that they don't begin to fall down and I have to keep hitching them up...the job is done.

Scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast around ten, I left the washing up and logged on to the internet to try to find out the name of my oriental looking orange and yellow flowering plant that's in my lounge.  I must have had it for about eight years, found a wild one growing in North Africa but it has been a mystery to me.  I resorted to Gardeners' World, asked the question and included a photo and had the answer with the hour....thanks boys and it is listed in my Botanica A-Z...I should have started at the A section and looked properly and it would have been solved earlier.....it's  Aeschynanthus speciosus.

I had a bonfire and really did work up a head of smoke, there was quite a breeze blowing so the lid went on very early on....it's still very dry on the hillside despite the rain that we've had.  The rest of the day has been very leisurely, watch Netflix, lit the fire, had the rest of the spicy chicken wings for an early supper and read my Kindle.  I didn't have an afternoon nap so should sleep well tonight.  I've only just realised it's just after eight thirty my time, soon be time for bed.  LN.....Student tomorrow and the Beast is going for its winter checks.......LN

Monday 3th November

Eleven in bed, two awake, back to sleep until five and eventually out of bed at seven.  Obviously a disturbed night and hopefully it will be a better night tonight.  Lots of rain last night, eight degrees outside this morning and twenty one inside but the house felt really cold, I think the swift change in the weather has led to my not acclimatising quickly enough...I should be alright by January or February!!

Toast with triangle cheese spread for breakfast, the chicken bones from last night went out for the cat, I called her but there was no response but the bones have gone.  If my cat didn't then somebody else's cat did.  There are so many around it could have been any one of them.  I saw a black and white one walking at the base of the low wall this lunchtime but certainly no sign of mine....maybe it got involved with a tin of white paint.  I hadn't got my glasses on to confirm or deny.  I managed a burst of activity, I filled up the log carrier and the starter wood bucket and also another bucket with the tree felling from last week.  Burning it with good logs makes them last longer....after all it's only November.  I made a start on the terrace, the cushion box is in the little house and I emptied it to get rid of the nasties that have taken up residence and I wanted the cushions to dry out and they will now they're inside with air getting round them.  I was going to bring in the wooden box but I need a few days of sun to dry the wood out before it comes in.  

I came in and read for a while, I had my student lesson this afternoon and the upside of reading a book is that there's no preparation.  Last week we'd left it at page seventy two and I'd remembered it because my grandmother's house was the same number.  We'd discussed this and my student had to remind me where we should begin and he did. All he said was 'grandmother's door number' and he immediately turned to the page.  This weeks reminder is 'ice cream with chocolate' and yes, we're on page ninety nine.....he supplies the cryptic clue and I supply the number.  Works for us and it tethers one weeks lesson to the next.  In the shop with his mother, I mentioned that the rest of the oil container that her husband had handed me at the garage bottle was for diesel motors.  She began to explain that some of the oils could be used on either and that I must have misread it so I fetched the container from the boot.  I checked her stock in the shop and sure enough, the colour of the container was the same as the one that I had but mine was solely for diesel not for either and obviously a mistake had been made.  The car goes back tomorrow, unfortunately at a loss to them so I might suggest to see if it is possible to empty it out of the Nipper and put it in the Beast...that probably needs an oil change anyway....two birds with one stone.  

I drove home, it's cold and I reckon it could be a frost tonight although the outside temperature is reading eight degrees.  So Nipper in tomorrow again, I'll be turning the freezer off and emptying it before I go so that it can start to defrost while the contents sit in a duvet to keep cold.  It's a job that really needs doing and the contents reorganising...I know what's at the top but really not sure what's at the bottom of each drawer.  It's down to six degrees outside but twenty three in with the woodburner doing what it's supposed to do.  LN.....I've just thrown another log on and that should be it for tonight.....now to find food for me.......LN  

Tuesday 14th November

Not such a good night last night.  I went to sleep watching my series on Netflix,must have slept through a couple of episodes and I think I missed on on the plot.  One of the main characters who had a brain issue obviously had a blow out and I hardly recognised him at all.  I was intrigued how the plot was unfolding so watched one more episode in my sleepy state and went to bed, couldn't get to sleep and was playing Sudoku until about three....it happens.  I eventually woke up at seven thirty which was not bad at all for me, coffee, Sudoku, washed and dressed.  I was taking the Nipper in for another change of oil after yesterday's fiasco, in the Nipper for nine thirty and down at the garage for ten.  Her husband came to the shop for parts and said that he'd been really busy and done three tyre changes already but that there was no one there so he suggested I made my way down to the garage.  I'd had this thought that we could salvage the oil and do a swift oil change in the Beast, he wasn't too keen on the idea so I've left it up to him.  I also took from the shop a back windscreen wiper blade to have that fixed, coming back from Kardjali in the rain the other night I couldn't see anything behind me, the wiper ws doing nothing,

It was a beautiful morning, couldn't see much for the mist but it had cleared as I drove in.  The garage is in a beautiful setting with one of the tributaries to the main Kardjali river running by it and the air is so fresh down there.  I walked down to the river, it's not so pretty close up and there is a lot of builder's rubble cascading down the bank and it needs topsoil to redress the situation.  The Nipper was straight into the bay and the job completed in about thirty minutes and in that time there were about three other cars pulling up for attention.  He drove my out to the side of the garage, hadn't noticed the wiper blade so I tried to do it with the help of his father in law and eventually he came out to do it for us.  We were making a real pig's ear of it so we left it to the expert.

I drove to the shop, paid for the wiper blade, discussed what my student might like for his birthday present.  She said that what he wanted was too much money so I said that it would be his birthday come Christmas present...and she's under instructions to order it and I'll give her the money when it comes.  I drove home, the plan to take the Beast to the garage came to nothing and I settled for two tuna and mayo sandwiches followed by the rest of the white seedless grapes that I'd bought on Saturday.  The internet  went down so I checked it and it was the service provider, nothing wrong with my end and eventually it was restored enough for me to take to the sofa and try and catch up on the plot.

Today it got up to thirty two degrees in the house and seventeen outside, it dropped as the sun went down so I lit the fire and it's going really well now.  Tomorrow I will take the Beast to the garage around nine thirty and see how he's doing for customers.  I will take my Kindle if the weather is good and sit in the sun and read my book until he can fit me in...it's as good a place as any to spend an hour or so.  LN.....No supper for me, the sandwiches are still evident so I'm drinking water....and I've decided, it's bathnight.....LN

Wednesday 15th November

Not a bad night last night and a reasonable start.  The curtains were open in the bedroom and I saw the beginning of morning breaking and eventually I just had to get the camera out and take a few shots.  The house was warm, the fire had been going well last night and this house does retain the heat.  I caught the morning before the mist had started to rise and clouds were going at a fast rate of knots across the sky coming in from the south.  I went out onto the balcony with the camera and the lonesome pine was a focal point since it was static against the sky as it went from dark grey with white light to red and yellow as the sun was getting closer to rising.  I became more mottled and then the colours began to fade.  Morning had arrived so it was time to go back inside, make more coffee and get back into bed and watch the rest in comfort.

I went on to the computer and checked emails and spent another forty minutes on-line embroiled with my security provider without any outcome.  I decided to phone the company instead, got cut off after they gave me one resolution that I wasn't happy with so I phoned customer service and again gave up.  I won't name and shame but I'm seriously thinking of putting a strongly worded email with transcripts of the conversation....either they put too much emphasis on the number of calls not the number of satisfied customers.  In all I probably spent about an hour and a half of my life this morning on something that is still not resolved.  By this time breakfast was calling so I made two slices of toast and that's seen me through until now.  I didn't get the Beast in for an oil change, my equilibrium had all gone to pot after the morning I'd had so I put on Netflix.  I did get spurred into action to do a lap of the garden to satisfy the requirements of my Fitbit but that was about it for today.

I went upstairs and as I came down I noticed the sunset so had to get out there once again for a few pickies at the end of glorious day.  It's been windy but the skies have been worth taking lots of photos.  LN......The Beast is definitely in the garage tomorrow......and now supper calls.....LN

Thursday 16th November

One o'clock to bed again but straight to sleep and woke up at six this morning.  No sign of the mountains or hillside, everything was misted over and eventually it turned into fog which stayed with us for quite some time.  I washed, dressed, headed down to the kitchen and unplugged the freezer, that little beauty was getting turned out, bits on top of bits and literally, I had to get to the bottom of it.  I used the laundry basket and another large container, the laundry basket has holes so I put everything into a couple of large plastic bags first and covered it with a very large feather duvet from the chest in the guest room.  For the other solid container I didn't bother with a water proof but found another duvet from my downstairs bedroom, everything on to the kitchen table and then and then wrapped up to keep everything frozen.  By now it was getting on for eight o'clock so I brought the Beast out of the garage into the yard, reversed the Nipper up towards the porch door, opened the gates and drove the Beast out onto the grass outside the front wall.  It was going in for oil change, new filters, full winter check, wash and brush up and anything else that needed doing.  When I got down to the garage, the son suggested that I went back and waited in the shop, it was cold so he turned the Beast round and drove me back to the town.  It was going to take about an hour for the work to be done.

I sat with his mother for a while, the shop was quite busy so I decided to take a walk to the local morning breakfast spot which was very busy as usual.  I joined the queue, there were about four in front of me, they didn't have what I wanted so I settle for a filo cheese special.  I eventually got served, started to walk back to the shop and decided to call in on another friend that has another shop, there was no one serving but as I walked away, my friend appeared, she was running the coffee shop come lottery terminal and also the clothes shop next door.  Her son had bought an apartment in Plovdiv and had moved there with his wife and younger daughter leaving the older one, my birthday buddy, still in school in Djebel.  There was another friend there too and we had coffee together, had a verbal catch-up in stilted Bulgarian but we managed to fill twenty minutes or so.  I ate my banitsa, picked the cheese out of it and gave the rest to a dog on my way back to the shop.  I explained that I'd got lost, which was a joke, there are only two road in Djebel, the son had brought my car back, waited for five minutes or so and then driven back to the garage to help his father.  I noticed a jar of something orange on the counter, his mother opened the jar, took out the contents and cleaned the computer keyboard with it.  I'd not see it before, it's called Magic gel, it picks up dirt and grime and gets where other things can, you can wash it out when it's dirty and continue using it....so I had to have one.  She refused to take payment, it won't replace my hoover but I'm sure I can find a use for it.

I said fond farewells and walked down to the garage on the sunny side of the street since the air was cold. I'd paid for the work in the shop so made sure that they knew at the garage.  There were lots of cars waiting which is good...it's winter tyre time and the police get quite active.  I drove home, sorted out the freezer, put the quilts on the stair rails to air and take the dampness out of them.  They're now back where they should be, the house was up to thirty degrees this afternoon and we have stars out tonight, maybe heading for a frost. I now have space in the freezer, I threw quite a lot of 'bits' away that I'll never get round to cooking....the animals will do well tomorrow or I'll put it in the container at the lower village.  Fire lit at five and I realised that the doors were still open so it was time to shut up shop. LN.....A very restful morning with lots done....I like days like these.....LN

Friday 17th November

Firstly happy birthday to my sister who would have been ninety one today if she was still around....there was quite an age gap between us.  We weren't really friends growing up, she always reminded me that she had to look after me as if it was my fault and she was around during the war years and I was born after it.  She was the one that was very competent and a homemaker, I was the one that set off on a cruise at twenty one, went back to one of the places that we visited and worked a beach bar and eventually joined the police force..... and my life has flowed ever since....and now Bulgaria.

A very dull start to the day but eventually it cleared up but it's been cold.  The food went out for the animals and when I checked later in the day there was nothing left at all.  I salvaged a beef rib joint from yesterday that one of the locals must have given me for the meat byram, it went into the slow cooker with two beef stock cubes and later in the day I removed the ribs with the boney bits and that's ready for cat in the morning.  I didn't want to put it out tonight, something else may have demolished it.  I went down to have a bonfire and walking back I spotted what I thought was a deer a the bottom of the field.  It's white bits stuck out so I came in and got the camera and sure enough it was one of the ones that normally runs with the cows but this time, no cows.  At the same time, a woodpecker flew into the acacia, it took me a while to focus, it was playing hide and seek in the branches.  I think it was a juvenile and more intent on cleaning its feathers that watching me and eventually I managed to get one reasonable shot, I was amazed at the brightness of the red in its plumage.  It changed position and went to the plum tree and I lost it but another one came to the acacia, spotted me and shot off for quieter pastures.

I filled the log containers and set the fire for tonight, went to the terrace and brought the bougainvillea into the porch.  It has lost most of its leaves but trying hard to create new and brought in the freesia bulbs that have decided to show the first leave.  Three are up already but there's about eight or nine in the pot so a few more to go.  I've filled up eight eleven litre bottles from the water butt and put them into the little house for winter watering.  The hose pipe went on the outlet tap and the rest of the contents are now on the garden, didn't want the yard to get saturated by just letting it go.  Tomorrow I'll clean it out and get it into the little house for winter, I don't leave it out in case it freezes and splits.  The real countdown to winter has begun.  

Supper is going to be the beef, I added onions, carrots and potatoes to the slow cooker and I think it's ready when I am....the beauty of a slow cooker.  LN.....Another good day.....LN

Saturday 18th November

Very dull morning but after last night's downpour I'm not surprised.  I was watching Netflix and I suddenly realised that the wind was howling, things were blowing about and the rain was pelting it down.  I put the outside garden light on that illuminates the terrace and halfway down the garden and could hardly see out of the window....so much so that I decided it was time to go to bed to see what the morning brought.  I snuggled down, put the extra quilt over me and slept through until five, snuggled down again and it was just before seven when I was making my first cup of enlivening elixir.  It was still raining but not a lot, fortunately I'd put the lid on the water barrel so that was still empty but I never did get round to cleaning it and putting it away.  I went to make toast and I had the green stuff starting on it so the raven had a field day when I threw it on to the garden at the side of the house.  I'd notice blue tits and robins hanging around earlier but they didn't even get a look in, the larger birds were flying off with the booty.

Breakfast went on the back burner, I put the bones and the trimmings from the slow cooker out for cat, took the rest of the meat from the pot and put it into the liquidiser, gave it a few spins and back into the slow cooker it went with the contents of a can of chili beans....and that's for tonight.  The energy levels were low this morning, I  managed to set the fire for tonight, wrote a shopping list for the presents for the ladies for Christmas, thought about driving to Kardjali and buying said items and then couldn't get round to it.  Instead I settled on the sofa, found the film Nanny McPhee and the Big Band and had a most enjoyable morning.  It was English, it was harmless and thoroughly enjoyable....into the realms of beyond.  It took me a while to identify Emma Thompson,  I knew the voice but the facial features were heavily disguised.

At one I decided to head into Djebel and popped into the car shop to hand over a pair of socks to my student's mum.  She'd spotted mine the other day, they've got cat's faces on them and a couple of pompoms and mine are pink and fluffy.  She liked them and now she had a pair of her own.  I also bought AAA batteries for the speakers for my Apple old iPod, elastic bungies to attach the heavy sheeting over the Beast in the garage for when I go to England and to pay for my student's birthday present that she's ordered from the internet for me.  I stayed for a short while and then to the supermarket to get bread and now that the freezer was 'in reasonable shape' I could buy extra and freeze it.  The goody box was empty but I only spent twenty lev which is about eight pounds....chocolate biscuits, peanuts, crisps, mayo and two loaves of bread and no fish...it wasn't the day for feeding the five thousand.

I parked up and unpacked, brought in an extra log carrier of logs, it was cold now and there is also a snow warning going out.  Not sure if it's for us or not but better to be prepared that hacking through the snow to the woodstore.  Yet another afternoon on to my security company, fortunately I'd got the case number and I must remember that it's not this operator's fault, that lies with the company.  It's now two online chats and two telephone conversations and at last it's been escalated to the second line of defence and I shall be getting an email from them.  Let's see what happens next...it's only been ongoing for a year or so but raised its ugly head again about three weeks ago.   Just keep taking the money....all operators have to do is to meet the closure targets and keep the call count up....resolve the issue?...Not really necessary.  If it can be resolved, do it, if it can't, let's both park it.....  LN.....Fire lit...time to relax......LN

Sunday 19th November

Five degrees this morning outside and twenty in so not so bad. Bit of a no-brainer where I stayed....I waited for it to warm up before I ventured out for real.  I emptied the remains of the slow cooker over the wall after putting enough for Cat under the plum tree....I could have had more meals out of it but decided against it.  Just my quirky mind...if I decide it has to go, so be it.  I was hungry but I didn't know for what so I didn't have anything until much later in the day when I made tuna mayo sandwiches.  

Bed made, fire set, wood got it for tonight, kitchen tidied and I went out on to the terrace to start my tidy up out there.  The sun was out so I sat on the bench out of the wind and got a late layer of suntan on but then realised that I had work to do so pulled myself together and started to get on with it.  I opened up the little house and found the large square flat containers that I use to over winter my outside pots so that I can water them well.  One had developed a crack and subsequent hole so I found a sheet of heavy gauge polythene in the wood store and cut enough to cover the bottom and brought it up the sides so that the water was retained.....another few lev saved.  I'd noticed that the table on the terrace had a piece of wood that had fallen off, it hadn't collapsed or anything but I decided to get a few nails and make a repair.  Also noticed that a couple of the screws holding the top on from underneath had broken and decided to replace them.  Unfortunately I had to remove the half screw before I could put a new screw in, eventually I managed it bringing everything I had into the workshop into play or so it seemed...job done....it will last a few more years.

Back to the post on the terrace.....I trimmed the dead flowers from the geraniums, tobacco and the petunias but decided it was too early to bring them inside just yet. After tripping up over the hosepipe a few times, that's now coiled up and put in the wood store so that it lasts another year.  I came in about four this afternoon, it was getting a little nippy, the heat was going out of the sun in my part of the world and at five thirty, I've just set a lighter to the fire and it all seems to be going well so far. Not bothered with supper just yet, the tuna is lying a little heavy so I'll leave it until later.  LN.....Beautiful weather for this time of the year, lots of very active woodpeckers, jays, blue tits and robins and I even heard my Little Owl....all this from my garden.....LN

Monday 20th November

Well it's been a funny old day.  I woke up at six thirty, white over outside and I had an amazing sunrise.  It was minus one outside and only sixteen in but no need to light the fire, the central heating would soon be up over the mountains and then everything would be back to normal....and it was.  The house eventually climbed to twenty eight degrees and outside settled for sixteen.   Not bad for November.

I ordered a birthday card for my SIL from the internet and unfortunately they asked me if I'd rate the website after this transaction.  Fortunately they caught me on a good day, I told them that all I wanted to do was to order a card, pay for it and leave but they are always after the next sale.  I didn't want to add any more reminders, I didn't want to send another card , I didn't want the cash bonus for using the app......why can't companies be satisfied and just provide a service.  Oh and all these cookies I keep accepting...not are ever received.  I mailed my daughter to see if she had any ideas for a present and said that if the cost was high to give me time to organise a bank heist.  She thought this was funny and so did the man at my bank when I was transferring money over to my daughter's account after she'd ordered said present.  The bank clerk asked me what I'd like to use as a reference for the transfer and I told him to put 'Bank heist complete'.  Subject to internal checks it should go through without I get security services down on me like a ton of bricks.

Toast and cheese triangles for breakfast, I checked my phone and noticed that there was a message from the garage and I took it that the lesson with my student was being moved to tomorrow at two instead of three in the afternoon. Another message came through asking where I was and I suddenly realised that the first message was from Sunday, not today.  I'd had a lovely morning, the bonfire was slow to start but I'd got it going and worked up a fair head of smoke and obviously had taken on the whiff of 'eau de bonne feu'.  Now with this sudden change of plans it was a quick strip wash, the hair would have to do and I dressed to suit the tropical weather and I was at the shop for two thirty.  I met the boy on the pavement, he was just going into the supermarket for something for his lunch and I went up to the apartment around ten minutes to three to start the lesson.  We carried on reading and managed twenty pages when it was time to get him to Kardjali for his football training at half four.  By now the temperature was dropping, I'd got thin socks on and my summer shoes, a lightweight fleece and a waterproof, windproof in the car. I offered to take him in to Kardjali, watch some of the practice game and bring him home again....didn't want him hanging around waiting for a bus at seven twenty.  As the game wore on I was getting colder to the point where I couldn't feel my fingers they were so cold.  The session finished just after six, his words were that it had been a good practice game, he went to get changed and we piled into the car and headed for Djebel.  His mother was still working in the shop and his father down at the garage obviously with a late job, we had a hug on the pavement and I set off for home to get my fire lit.  The drive home was uneventful, fire going perfectly first time and to my surprise in the cupboard I found a box of chocolate drinks from last year.  Two packets into a glass, topped with hot water and I found cream in the fridge.....bliss, sheer bliss.

Think it's time to get settled in for the evening....I've started to watch 'House of Cards' again on Netflix and I do find it very funny.  No supper for me, the chocolate drink has topped me up nicely and nothing in the diary for tomorrow.  LN......I'm sure I'll find something to do......LN