Sunday 21st January

Early morning start, the sky was getting lighter but there were quite a few clouds around.  It had stopped snowing late last night but there was a high wind making brilliant cloud formations as I waited for the sun to come up.  There were some really heavy clouds hanging over the mountains and it took ages for the sun to appear but when it did it's been working hard all day.  I rescored the fire from last night's embers and got it going really well, I got on with the normal chores, filled up the log basket to warm up the logs for the day and decided that I needed a bonfire so dressed in warm clothes, found some really chunky snow boots that again I'd bought from my cheapy shop several years ago and they did the job keeping my feet really cosy.  The wind was icy, the sun hadn't got much warmth in it but the inside temperature shot up as the day wore on.  Next job was to get the snow shovel out and clear the terrace and the path to the woodstore and I didn't stop there.  I cleared to the road but the sun's finished what I started and melted it to the road, only maybe a little dodgy going through the forest.

I came in and made beans on toast for breakfast to set me up for the day, did some ancestry until I lost the thread while investigating the name 'Smith' so gave it up as a bad job for the time being.  I settled down on the sofa, I'd had an early start so got my head down for an hour or so for a catch-up and suddenly noticed that the fire needed attention and at three I'd gpt neighbours knocking on the window...I had guests.  My lady that wants to keep takings bits of my houseplants had brought her sister round who comes from a place near Ankara and I think the main object of the exercise was to have a photograph taken with her and so I obliged.  It was obvious that she wanted copies of it, her sister leaves tomorrow so after they left I printed out two copies, found a couple of frames and delivered it to her mother's house when they were staying by four.  We sat in the lounge, her aunt came visiting, her brother's daughter turned up with her three year old and by now it was beginning to get hectic for me since they were all speaking Turkish.  The one daughter started to make pancakes, the table cloth was laid on the floor with the low table and I was having none of it so I said that I had to go, she insisted I brought a couple of pancakes home with me and some baclava.  As I walked home I saw the Emula had a 'new to him' car and he explained that it gave him more freedom to work where he wanted and I have to agree with him...transport here is pretty useless....two buses a week, Monday and Friday.

So I settled down with my pancakes and opened up ajar of pine-tip syrup, poured some into a metal container and dipped as I went.  The baclava I found very dry and sweet so I managed about a quarter of it and it's back on the worktop.  I shan't need supper tonight, the spare rib rack that I'd got out of the freezer will live to fight another day.  Seven thirty my time, the temperature is dropping and the moon is out, it's going to be another cold one.  Nothing to do tomorrow, another day to myself.  LN.....Logs, woodburner and maybe solve my ancestry enigma.....LN

Monday 22nd January

Well last night I woke up at one on the sofa with the Netflix playing to itself.  It was one in the morning, the fire was still in, I was tempted to put a log on but left it to its own devices.  I took myself off to bed, head down straightway and woke up at six thirty full of the joys.  I rescued the fire, checked the outside thermometer and it was showing minus six outside and eighteen degrees in so I stayed where I was warmest.  I made coffee, remembered to take my tablet, went back to bed for half an hour or so and then faced the day.  I watched the sun come up, put bread out for the birds, cooked bacon and egg with fried bread for breakfast and by eight thirty I was looking for things to do.  The terrace had dried off since I removed the snow and ice yesterday, I sat and watched the birds feeding from the stone slab but they get really spooked when there's any movement from the house and take off immediately.  The jay comes but is so difficult to photograph and no sign of the woodpeckers for a few days, probably frightened of bending their beaks.

At seven I moved upstairs on to the computer and carried on looking for records on my latest family search.  I was having trouble linking two searches and eventually I cracked it.  A couple had got married and after nine children she'd moved off to pastures new taking her children with them so they have a mention as step children and it was in this confusion that I'd missed one of the names, and it was the one person who married into the other link.  All good now though and I'm back to the early eighteen hundreds with it already....and with documentation to substantiate it.  I toyed with the idea of a bonfire but thought better of it.  It was so warm inside and so cold out, I decided to stay in.  I prepared supper, the rack of spare ribs went into the slow cooker with shredded red cabbage and I switched it off at four, my breakfast had moved down the tract so I served it up, the ribs were fine, the cabbage not so good so I drained the juice from the cooker and I'll use it as a base for soup tomorrow.  The residue will go out to the cats tomorrow morning.  Fitbit buzzed and reminded me that I'd done little activity so I put my boots on and did a circuit of the garden which equates to around three hundred steps, filled up the log container from the wood store and wheeled it to the porch so I have a log basket that is full and reserves ready for tomorrow.  I'm settling into the routine of winter.

Six thirty my time, tomorrow I'm off to Djebel to meet a friend for coffee for an hour or so, I might contact another friend to see if she wants to go into Kardjali to do some shopping and then back to Djebel for my student at three tomorrow afternoon.  The roads are clear so I should have no problem getting around and the streets should be aired by the time I have to be anywhere.  So relaxed this evening, I finished The Last Kingdom last night so I'm now looking for another series to keep me occupied but I've started watching films instead....good if you nod off during the screening.  LN.....Now to finalise arrangements for tomorrow and make sure that I'm where I should be when I'm supposed to be.......LN

Tuesday 24th January

Out of bed at six thirty this morning, another beautiful but cold night but inside had held the temperature well while I waited for the added therms arriving from over the hillside when that ball of fire rose up.  And then it came.  My day was mapped out for me but that all went to the wall when my morning coffee partner called it off, she had health problems and now I was left with a dilemma.  I wished her good health soon, I could have still gone into Kardjali and done my shop in Kaufland and Lidl but my heart wasn't in it so I decided to have a very leisurely morning, have a shower and wash my hair and write a shopping list for when I worked up the enthusiasm to head into town.

I used up the rest of the bacon and the can of beans from the fridge to make breakfast and threw an egg and fried bread into the frying pan at the last minute and ate in style.  Tis managed to keep me going until tonight when I finished off the fruit loaf slathered with butter.  As for the rest of the day, I went into Djebel for one and to my ex-students home as arranged and we had a catch-up, I'd not seen her since before I went to England.  Her mother is now in hospital for rest and recuperation, she has a slipped disc and suffers from it really badly and the doctors suggested that she was admitted for rest.  They also wanted to monitor her, an operation has been suggested but at the moment she doesn't have any interest in it.  She's there until Thursday or Friday, they're not exactly sure yet what would be the next step for her.  

I stayed chatting for an hour or so and suddenly realised that I should have been at the car shop by three and it was just after so I bid farewell, got in the Nipper and was only about twelve minutes late.  Mum was just texting me as I walked in the shop, we chatted for a couple of minutes and I carried on to the apartment and the football was already being bounced around in preparation.  He's changing rapidly, he's not a boy any more but a young man.  We eventually the lesson and we had almost got to the end of the book before I left for England.  We calculated what we thought was the end/starting point but as the story progressed we realised we somehow had missed the chapter that the next few hinged on.  We back tracked, I read the  chapter that we'd missed out loud, we got the gist of it and went back to where we were.  There was one really peculiar part of the book where the police sergeant thinks he's upper class but leaves the letter 'h' off the words that should have one and put one on all words that shouldn't.  That took some explaining away and in the end we were pretending to do it in conversation when we'd finished the book.  I wasn't too sure whether he wanted to carry on with English lessons now that we'd finished the book but the boy says that he does so we will....it also keeps up my football skills....I'm a sofa goal keeper.

Down to the shop by five and the father and son had closed up the garage early....it was really cold and no one about with cars requiring attention.  Father went up to the apartment, I sat in the shop with my elder ex-student and his mum until around six but then offered fond farewells, I was heading home via the supermarked to get potatoes.  Those on offer had obviously seen better days and many of them so I left without buying anything, I took it slowly through the forest, there's still lots of ice around.  The temperature outside had dropped to minus one so I got to work straight away and lit the fire, it had still maintained nineteen degrees while I was out but I do like to look at the wood burner.  I got into my PJ's, found the Vikings on Netflix, watched one episode and disciplined myself to do the update before I get settled for the rest of the evening.  I've had a peaceful day, only one hiccup, my English friend with the new phone called me and all I could hear was the radio in the background so I cancelled the call, left it for a minute and called her back.  She answered, apologised for the wrong call but I explained that all I heard was the radio and wanted to make sure that she wasn't lying on the floor and in trouble.  She thanked me, said that she was fine but should use her mobile more to make sure she knew how to use it.....at eighty I told her she was doing just fine.  LN.....Now to the warmth of the fire and Ragnar......LN

Wednesday 24th January

Still awake at three this morning but it was probably because I nodded off watching Vikings on Netflix and had as much sleep as I wanted.  Eventually I must have gone off because I woke at six thirty, the usual time, the fire was still in so I rescued it and put another log on.  It was fifteen degrees the other side of the curtain and eighteen woodburner side, outside it was minus seven.  The sky promised another sunny day and soon it was coming up over the mountains and the temperature in the house was climbing with it.  I got on with a few jobs, fed the birds, filled up the log basket which didn't take much doing.  I'm not burning anything during the day and letting the fire go out and relighting late afternoon.  It's surprising how much you save.....I'm down to one log carrier every two days not one and a half each day.

I was undecided what to do today and it was such a beautiful day, cold but the sun was shining so I made my mind up to go into Kardjali to get a few things.  I didn't need much, I stopped off at the car shop to see if there was anything that she wanted but there wasn't so I carried out and first stop was to pay my house phone bill.  I didn't manage to park near it and was nearer to my mobile phone shop and that came in pretty handy.  I tried to use the mobile app. for parking and when it came to send the text message I had a message to say that the Vivacom sim wasn't working.  I went into the shop, spoke to one of the very unhelpful assistants who couldn't work it out at all,  She checked the number and said that the Sim was OK, I went back to the Nipper, tried again and so gave up and drove to Kaufland carpark.  I think I worked it out, the other Sim, my English phone was trying to dial out and giving me an error message but I didn't see the option to change the Sim but on Kaufland carpark, parking was free so no issues.  There didn't seem to be many people about but there was still the normal checkout queues but eventually I got served and did manage to find potatoes but only red ones and they were on offer.  Moved on to Lidl and again not many people about, bought a couple of jasmine that were reduced and narcissus that have gone over but have pretty pots,paid and left the store and went into the electrical shop next door.  I'd been looking at dishwashers on the internet, I can't really decide whether I want one or not and haven't managed to formulate a new plan for the kitchen if I get one.....I'll wait and see what dreams come in.

Last stop was the local supermarket for bread, chocolate, rice and squash and I;m amazed how little the bill is from there.  I was home for about four, unpacked the Nipper, filled up the log carrier, made some tuna mayo sandwiches, it had been a long time since breakfast and finished off with a chocolate mousse.  I put a load of washing in the machine and that's now drying on the airer and the radiator in the bathroom and will be ready to put away in the morning.  It's going to be another cold night but looking at the long-term weather we seem to have sunny days and really cold nights for the next tweek or so.  LN..... If this is winter, long may it last......LN

25th January 2024

So I was half way through writing the blog at five thirty and for some reason I got into the programming screen, it deleted what I'd already prepared so I decided to go downstairs, move the chicken leg and potatoes from the slow cooker into a dish, make a gravy out of the juices and some chicken soup mix and I'd like to report, it was delicious.....and now to tell you what the rest of the day held.

A funny night last night, I woke up in front of the television, switched it off, made my way to bed and more or less fell straight to sleep.  Unfortunately I woke up at one thirty, off again, awake at three thirty, and back again and eventually started my day at six and I've been awake ever since.  Not sure if it was because of overheating or overeating but I've taken it slowly today,one breakfast, one supper as I've explained above and shan't be snacking.  Morning chores underway, ashes out, wood in, fire going but not really necessary as the sun was up and doing it's stuff.  There were a few clouds around that built up during the day and by mid afternoon, the outside temperature was up to twelve degrees and the ice that I'd been jabbing at on the little house terrace had most melted so no hazards currently detected around the property.  I had a bonfire, it went really well and I spent around thirty minutes digging out the metal cans and putting them to oneside to take down to the village container for the men to take away.  It wants emptying but that's a job for another day, it was much more important to sit on the wall and take stock of the countryside and I noticed that several of the turkeys had been spared slaughter over the festive season and were making themselves heard.  I made it back to the main house terrace and parked my backside on the armchair for around thirty minutes topping up the facial tan...saves money on make-up.

Had an afternoon trying to tackle technology...my Kindle Fire is refusing to connect to Hotmail and according to the internet several others are having the same problem.  I gave up in the end, I've other devices it was just a convenient way of checking it out if I was doing other things on the Kindle.  I also managed to make an order with Moonpig for birthday cards and I find it a most difficult website to negotiate.  Nothing seems easy and I'm still waiting for birthday cards from two years ago....and I hope compensation was paid accordingly to the senders. Hopefully these cards will get through.  The rest of the day has been pretty peaceful, I found a Sudoku book and have been using that instead of my Kindle and it's better because it find I don't try to beat the clock like I do with the Kindle.  It seems less stressful and I can make more notes at the sides of the columns.

It's now more or less seven my time, I've got to go down and check the fire, I've been round and closed the curtains to retain the heat and locked up shop for the night.  I'm thinking that I need a trip to the bank tomorrow to get money transferred from my deposit account to my current account before my card gets refused due to lack of money.  It really did confuse the lady last time in Momchilgrad so I'll go back to her, she might remember how to do it.  LN......The clouds have gathered so it shouldn't be so cold overnight.....LN

Friday 26th January

All in all, despite going to bed early  ended OK.....I woke up at five, minus one outside, nineteen in which wasn't bad considering that the fire was out so made coffee, snuggled down and played silly games for an hour or so until it was a sensible time to get up and get started.  Fire lit, more coffee, checked emails and got rid of junk, more games and then on to toasted ham sandwiches for breakfast.  The birds were fed, cat fed, I made bolognaise sauce for tonight's supper, washing up done and the rest of the day was all mine.  In truth I've done nothing with it.  It was a 'cudda / shudda' day, I was going to the bank in Momchilgrad but I received an email from my own bank so I'll make my way there on Monday to sort it out with my usual bank under manager.

I checked on the seedlings in the little house and the sun daisies are coming up fast and furiously....time to put another lot in ready for March time when I normally buy for my ladies.  This year I'll have plenty to give for free.  I also set about some of my filing that seems to be taking up quite a bit of space on the landing shelving and sorted out some of the old manuals and receipts for tools that I've bought.  Those are ready for the next bonfire.  I filled up the log basket, the logs that I had in the house were all too big so wanted something smaller and tomorrow I'm thinking that I shall be out there with the axe and sledge hammer to spit some of the larger ones.  I could burn some of the ones from the pollarded trees but not sure how much moisture is in them, probably better to leave them until next year.  I watched a couple of Netflix films this afternoon, too cold to be out and I needed to sit quietly and rest and fortunately I didn't nod off despite the early start.

Just about to do the pasta for tonight, the rest of the sauce I'm going to freeze, there seems enough to feed the neighbourhood but I'm not sure they'll like the fact that the mince is not beef mince....but mixed with another.  I did read the label but it was too late to do anything about it.  LN.....Kitchen calls, supper time......LN

Saturday 27th January

Brilliant night's sleep, woke up at seven, caught a hint of red against the darkness and it turned into a very enjoyable picture show.  It was minus three outside and warm enough inside and was slow off the mark to light the fire, too busy taking photos to worry about my comfort.  I love to watch the light as it changes from dark red to a very yellowy orange and then the clouds pick up on the red and then it all fades.  The lonesome pine was chief subject this morning, it's so dramatic and I looked back on an early photograph of it and it certainly has put on a lot of top growth.  The story goes that they used to use it to store the hay against it for the animal feed for the winter and that's why the lower branches were cut off.  Considering the house was empty for quite a while and the owners had moved to Turkey, the tradition was kept up by Stara Mush, the old man who used to sleep firstly in the house and then in the barn until yours truly came along and bought both of them.  

So back to this morning...every minute changing and then back to grey skies, cold winds, dark clouds.  I thought at one point that we might have more snow but it didn't happen and then this afternoon it cheered up again when I went out to chop us some of the larger logs.  So usual chores and bacon and egg for breakfast which really did set me up for the day.  I lit the fire and got quite a blaze gong but for some reason, the water seemed to be boiling in the wood burner but the pup didn't kick in for a shile. Eventually it did and it's been fine all day.  I fired up the new laptop with a view to putting anti-virus protection on it now that I've amalgamated my subscriptions and it's now multi-use and nothing to pay until 2026 which waves me worrying about missing a payment.  So first I needed small starter wood and that didn't take long to do and then I set about with the axe and the lump hammer to split some of the larger ones that seem to go dead as you put them in the wood burner.  I've now got two log carrier os sensible logs and was surprised that it didn't take too long but I only had one that went through the log in one swipe...all the others took effort.  I switched the computer off and settled down to watch Netflix.  At five I prepared a bean and corned beef base, covered it with mashed potatoes and a cheese topping and into the oven it went and was ready bu six.  Washing into the machine and that's now drying and I'll be putting it away tomorrow morning.

Lovely sky late afternoon, the sun on the eastern mountains showed them up very starkly against the backdrop and I've never seen them quite like that before.  My pointy volcano looking one looked magnificent and reminded me of a pyramid...maybe it is.  Eight my time and I'm in my PJ's for bed mainly because I washed everything else.  LN....More log chopping tomorrow and starter wood but this time I'll use the reciprocating saw for the little stuff.....LN

Sunday 28th January

I woke at five thirty. stayed in my bed until seven, half asleep, half awake and then started my day.  The fire was teetering on the brink of disaster so I coaxed it back to life. it was a cold morning, no sunrise to speak of and nothing worth taking photographs of...I've been spoilt over the last few mornings.  I made bacon sandwiches for breakfast, threw out the ham that was looking stale for the cat and it was sitting on the wall waiting for me to deliver the goods...and I didn't disappoint.  I checked later and it had all disappeared including most of the bread that I'd put out, it must have been very hungry or poor pickings elsewhere.

I stripped the bed and got the duvet 'nest' into the washing machine with the bottom sheet and a few other things that I found around.  I also moved the summer/ autumn pj's from the bathroom to the bedroom chest to make room for the winter ones.  For some reason there seem to be a lot of them around and I've washed most of them at the same time so needed a convenient place to store them and the bathroom storage drawers seemed a good place.  I somehow got into clearing and cleaning out corners that have been neglected since I've been back from the UK, watering pot plants and just being busy.  The mood soon passed.....the television went on and I carried on with the Vikings until I got fed up of it and walked the garden, checked on the washing that was drying on the banister, moved it around a bit and now it's back on the bed.  I've removed hamburgers from the freezer for tonight and a chicken leg for tomorrow which will go into the slow cooker on a bed of potatoes.  I've been asked to bring the lesson with my student forward a day so tomorrow I'll be in Djebel and may very well call in and see my student's mum who hopefully has returned from hospital.  I did have one visitor this afternoon....it was the granddaughter of Remsie and her husband who I've just learnt passed away around Christmas time.  None of the neighbours had mentioned it, which I was surprised about and she appeared with a huge tray of fluffy pancake thingies that they make forty days after the passing.  He was a man who used to do odd jobs for lots of the ladies in the village, a general handyman and he will be missed.

No photographs of the sunset either tonight, it didn't seem very dramatic. The afternoon clouded over and the temperature is dropping so time to throw another log on the fire and I'm about to put the boiler on and linger in a hot bath tonight. Showers are all very well but nothing can beat a luxurious soak.  LN...... A decision...hamburgers before or after the bath......LN

Monday 29th January

Freezing cold this morning, there was ice of the the terrace where before there was none and I'm only guessing that we had some rain last night and it froze as the temperature dropped.  There was also icy raindrops on the grass as I went out to feed the cat and I only noticed it as I was halfway there and realised that I had my slippers on.  Usually I change them in the porch before heading out....I was obviously in too much of a hurry....and so was the cat.  I'd delivered the rest of the hamburgers that I cooked last night and really don't know why I buy that particular make.  There's a flavouring that I don't really like and I should know better by now....but cat likes it.

I lit the fire this morning because it was so cold outside and there was a gale blowing but by nine the sun had broken through and I was OK in the house.  I'd got enough wood in for the day so didn't have to venture out to the wood store, at nine thirty I'd done everything I needed to do so made bacon sandwich for breakfast, washed up and the day was all mine.  I  didn't have my bath last night so put the boiler on again and was running the bath at ten and stayed in there for an hour or so while the rest of the house got up to temperature, dried off, dressed for the cold, I had my student this afternoon and was thinking of popping in to see my other student's mum to make sure that she hadn't gone into work today after spending five or so days in hospital.  I logged on to the computer and ran a VPN check and it said that I had an active 'cookie' and did I want to buy a subscription even though I've just spent money making sure that all my anti-virus is up to date.  I rang the helpline, some very american american lady was straight on to it, me being a valued customer and all that and offered to remote in to my system and check out and apparently she gets lots of calls about this problem, dialled in and it was a tick box that points people without the company VPN's to take out a subscription.  Now why didn't they tell me that before!!

Had conversations on messenger and my old student told me that her mother had gone into the shop since it's month end to tidy a few things up so I drove to the shop and she wasn't there so I carried on to the house and the mother was just leaving and instead joined us back in the house.  It's such a happy house despite illness, father was in the garden making a concrete path to the new garage that he's put up and my ex-student straight away jumped up to make coffee for me and brought out the fudge squares....that was my lunch sorted.  Mother went to the shop around two and we discussed holidays, I'm trying to persuade her to come on a cruise with me but as she says, she can't swim and said that she would be terrified all of the time.   I did mention that I would save her but that even I would be relying on the most handsome member of crew and acting really terrified.  I said fond farewells, she's coming over later in the week to transfer her mothers medical file from a CD on to a memory stick so that they can trawl the hospitals in Turkey to see if they can get better that a fifty percent success rate over there.

Student lesson and we've just started Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and even though I love the film the book has so much more detail.  He reads it to me, when he stumbles over words or it doesn't make sense, I read it with him so that we make sense of it.  There was obviously the twenty minutes of football time thrown into the mix and it just makes things easier and it doesn't seem like a chore to read English to an oldie like me.  Home for six, I stopped off and bought bread and a chocolate éclair to have with coffee while I'm waiting for supper to cook.  Today I have chicken on a bed of potatoes cooked in a little water, I've covered it with foil at the moment but will take it off towards the end of the cooking time.  LN.....It's certainly smelling good.....time I went out to the kitchen to check on it......LN

Tuesday 30th January

Early start for me, five thirty and it's seemed such a long day today.  It wasn't so cold outside, only minus two but that wind was bitter when I went out to fill up the log carriers.    Breakfast was the rest of the can of beans from the other night and I had them with well buttered toast, I'd got the fire going as soon as I got up more or less and it was good to feel the warmth on the inside as well as the outside.  I went out to fee the cat with the remains of last night's chicken, I put the crust of the loaf with it, hot water on it and the juices from the cooking dish....and checking later, everything had gone.  I didn't see the cat and it didn't respond to my usual call but it was probably nestled down somewhere warmer than where I was standing making noises to attract a cat.

I washed up and sorted out emails and the likes and got dressed on an oversized pair of combat trousers over my PJ's, added socks and another jumper as a top layer and suddenly remembered my old snow boots that were somewhere in the spare bedroom.  The beauty of them is that they are much too large for me so will go over any socks without effort and come off just as easily and now they're in the porch but the snow flurries came to nothing, not even a covering.  I did do a little culinary delight today, I'd bought a packet of chocolate pudding mix so used Google translate to work out what I was supposed to do with it and now I have six pots in the fridge and cream to put on them.  I did have to quality control one and they're not bad, I'll have to work out if it's cheaper to buy the ones from Lidl or make my own...cost analysis.  The tits were active along with a solitary robin and since there wasn't much to go at, the wind had scattered the food stashes, I crushed up some cornflakes and put some in the bird table and the rest on the stone and both proved popular for a time until the wind got up.  Another log on the fire and then, just as it was going well the power went off so I was finding the t-lights out and getting them going.  The UPS for the wood-burner kicked in so I started timing it, and if there was no chance of the power coming on again, I was going to have to remove everything from the little wood burner in the kitchen and transfer the embers.  Fortunately it came on again after about thirty minutes so no further action required.

Nine o'clock and I'm late this evening and I'll blame the powercut and the pull of Netflix.  I really hope we have some snow....it seems warmer when it's covering the ground.  LN....And now back to the fire.....LN