Friday 1st March

So after yesterday's day of activity there has been a complete lack of it today.  It's been a dull, very fine rain sort of day, the kind that you want to light a fire day. drink coffee and eat biscuits and the rest of the rubbish that you find in the goody bin  I did manage to cook bacon and egg for breakfast to set me up, I also fed the cat and added sausages to the rest of the curry sauce so that for when I get round to it this evening.

So welcome Baba Marta, it's the day when everyone gives out wrist bands of red and white to welcome the month of March.  When they're taken off, they're hung on the first trees in blossom and some of my plants still have them from the previous years.   I have mine ready to distribute but the weather was so miserable that I didn't fancy walking round the village with joy in my step when I didn't feel in the mood.  I'm just guessing that I had such a good day yesterday that it was a disappointment for me when I looked out of the window and saw the cloudy sky, it was too cold outside to work in the little house planting up seedlings and seeds and too damp to go and clear the beds ready for the new flowers....ah well...tomorrow is another day.  According to the weather forecast for the UK, they appear to have our snow covering the entire country.  I must check out where it really did land and how much disruption it's caused.  

Just about to serve up my supper so it's going to be short and sweet for today's post.  LN......Curried beans with sausages...not sure about it.....out for the cat if I don't like it but probably better over the wall in case the cats turns its little furry nose up at it.....LN

Saturday 2nd March

Bed at eleven last night and awake at seven ten...result.  I get good nights and bad ones but that's pretty normal as you get older so I'm told.  I did the usual chores, put the curried sausages out for the cat with the remains of some very dried local tinned corned beef that I'd forgotten about.  I did my usual call to see where it was but nothing emerged from the honeysuckle against the main terrace wall but by the time I'd got back to the house it was gone.  I'd sorted the sausages out from the rest of the sauce for the cat and that went over the wall and I didn't bother checking on that.  Poached eggs on toast for breakfast, I lit the fire because it was so damp outside and it's been going well all day.  I did open up the top and removed some soot from the way up to the chimney, didn't get the pipes out, that a job for another day and after its mini-spring-clean, I've got through some huge logs.  I washed up and tidied the kitchen, the rest of the day was all mine.

I couldn't decide what to do and at twelve I was still in my PJ's when there was a knock on the door.  Haciber was there with two parcels for me and she explained that one was for Baba Marta for her and the other was for some bodies husband in memory of his passing.  I had a bottle of water and a croissant in one and two chocolate bars and a pair of socks in the other, I thanked her and she went on her way refusing my offer to come in.  I did manage to get washed and dressed, filled up the log carrier and now I have two in the porch so settled on the sofa to watch a few episodes of the Blacklist.  I interspersed it with freecell and sudoku and had a very pleasant afternoon.

I've snacked all afternoon and so don't really feel that I need anything for supper so maybe later.  I did go out into the garden this afternoon and check on the yellow abundance of flowers adorning the garden...I call it the yellow season.  I had a real surprise when I spotted the first forsythia blossom out, it was in a sheltered spot by the low wall so might get more sun that some of the others.  I also noticed that the wild plum bush has tiny white flowers on it...I should be round the garden adorning them with Baba Marta bands.  Almost seven and time to go down and keep the fire company, the boiler is on and I shall have a lingering bath later to soak away the trials and tribulations of the day.....just joshing with you.  LN......Earmarked a few jobs for tomorrow...let's see what I managed to achieve.....LN

Sunday 3rd March

Happy birthday to my old flatmate from fifty odd years ago, we shared ups and down, laughs and tears when we had boyfriend problems and always remained friends through it all.  I stayed with her in her flat when I took my grandson out to Gibraltar and she engineered a meeting with my old boyfriend from when I was twenty two years of age...he died shortly afterwards but I'm pleased that we said goodbyes to each other.  Still fondly missed.

As for the rest of the day, cold start but not raining, a subdued sun came out with very high cloud but at least I got on with things today. Firstly it was beans on toast for breakfast with lots of coffee and the washing up is still waiting to be done. I planted up the vines that had rooted well in water. cut back some of the geraniums and put them in water to root and spray painted the two medium oil containers that hadn't over wintered well and also the fence hanging container that normally sits on the surround of the little house terrace.  The original pale green had faded and now its quite a vibrant green and should look good planted up with pink geraniums.  The sweet peas that I started off on kitchen roll and planted up once they put roots out are now all about two inches high and I'll soon need to pinch out the two first leaves so that they bush out.  That's according to the instructions on the packet...never done it before but we'll see and I hope I don't kill them.

My friend's daughter came round today, she likes to see what I'm doing on the plant front and when home with two rosemary cuttings and an orange vine newby.  She also found a pair of red boots in the little house that I'd abandoned, took a shine to them and now they've gone home with her along with two lemons that had fallen from the tree in the little house.  She also eyed up my paintwork and wants me to get her some spray paint and delivered around eight photos to my WhatsApp and expecting me to print them off for her.  I happened to mention that I'll do three of them for her but the ink for the printer is expensive.....she offered to buy it but they don't have that much disposable income....I won't let her do it.  She'd set off to cut some very spiky bush from the hillside but had see the farmer's dogs on the road so was worried so I offered to
put the ladder on the outside so that she could make a hasty retreat back to the safety of my garden.  Instead she saw my garden neighbour doing the same thing so they'd both planned their escape.  I put everything that she'd managed to acquire into a carrier, she was over the wall so I closed the gate and hung it on the first rail facing in towards the garden.  She eventually came back around four thirty to pick up her goody bag, she's not working tomorrow so I guess she'll be round again.

Fire still going well, looking at the clouds we could be back to rain tomorrow, don't need any supper, the beans are sitting heavily and I'm going to have that bath that I promised myself yesterday since it didn't happen.  LN......I think I might be starting with a sore throat, all to do with sunny days and rainy days thanks to the new month.....LN

Monday 4th March

Five start this morning....and it was pitch black outside.  When it eventually began to get light there was no view at all, mountain to mountain fog unless someone had stolen them all in the night.  It started to clear around nine, I made toast and had it buttered for breakfast and sat playing Freecell on my Kindle...it's all on the percentages now but the more I play the more difficult it is to raise the percentage level.  I've managed to stick at losing only thirty one games but that was in the days when I didn't bother looking at statistics.  Now I persevere with every game no matter how long it takes me.....I have to solve it.

I eventually got outside, opened up the little house, planted up a couple more plants and gathered the tools to start clearing the flower beds.  By now the sun had come out but I was still wearing my body warmer...there wasn't much heat in that shining ball.  I set myself the challenge to do the little bed between the terraces, there was lots of dried foliage from last year so I thought I'd give the iris that were coming through more chance of success.  I trimmed back the hypericom, gave the rosemary more space, cut back a rogue rose but it did get its own back.  Those thorns can be vicious.  I carried on along the bed underneath the little house terrace and uncovered lot of hyacinths, daffodils, crocus but removing the dead leaves of the gladioli and a very virulent plant that was given to me a few years back.  It's very pretty when it's out but very dominating so it's getting culled this year...not completely just so that everything else gets a fighting chance.  My friend came round at around twelve and brought me some fluffy pancakes to celebrate the passing of her father.  They were cold when she arrived but I've snacked on them this afternoon.  I also had some surgery to do, she got pierced by the bushes she was cutting down yesterday to put along her fences to stop the cows getting through to the garden.  It's a really sharp thorn and goes in deep, she'd got it plastered but insisted on showing it to me again, demanded a needle and sat on the stairs poking around it.  I went upstairs and found some Germoline and Sudocreme in my First Aid box so found a little jar and put both creams into it.  I ended up applying cream, covering the wounds with an antiseptic swab and holding it in place with Sellotape having nothing else to use...and off she went.  When I got stabbed with one, I went to the hospital and got a tetanus jab....I hope she has the remedy within.

I had a visit from Bekir and his son this afternoon, he'd come round to see if I wanted work done on my outside intruder light but I said that I think that it's nothing to do with the light, the metal that holds it at the right angle is not strong enough and the wind flips it round so that all the cars force it to light up or maybe it's just too sensitive.  I suggested they left it alone, he did show me how to bleed radiators since I've never done it before and was a little concerned that the thermostat that was fitted changed the procedure.  It doesn't and I gave it a try once the fire and pump was going...easy peasy.  Student tomorrow afternoon and we shall finish Charlie and the Chocolate factory and so on to the next.  I'll have to be going to the UK to search the second hand shops again.  Fire going well, going down to the warmth of the lounge and then almost time for bed.  LN....At least I've made a start on the weeds.....especially the chickweed...I hate it......LN

Tuesday 5th March

Another cold wet miserable day , good for the garden though with so much rain pouring down on it and I don't have to go and fill the bottles from the spring.  I put one of the oil canisters that I spray painted under the down pipe that normally feeds the plastic container for the summer and it's now full to the brim.  I was going to start filling the bottles this morning but after having a bath and washing my hair, I'd had enough moisture for the day.  I didn't get caught out by a couple of guys knocking at my door around eleven and virtually demanding cash towards an operation in Sofia that one of my neighbours is supposed to be undergoing.  I played dumb, he showed me a letter in Bulgarian so obviously I didn't try to read it and became very 'English' and they eventually left in a clapped out red car.  So coming out of winter I'm told that this is likely to happen, scams and yet more scams.  

Breakfast was toasted cheese sandwiches and they've been with me all day sitting very heavily.  I did managed to break the machine though, the plastic latch that holds the  two hot plates together compressing the cheese sandwich, snapped off so it became a manual operation.  It worked but I think I just might replace it if I see it on special offer.  Student this afternoon and I remembered that I'd promised to print up and frame a photo of his parents I'd taken at my birthday bash so I got on with the job.  I also braved the elements and cut a couple of branches of japonica there are lots of flowers on the bush next to the forsythia.  I mixed them with three different types of daffodils, winter flowering jasmine, caught them all together with a scrunchie and put them in an old solar jam jar, I knew his mother would like them and she did.  The book is finished and I'd forgotten to take the next one that's on the list so we tried to get the book downloaded but to no avail so we carried on playing football and then joined his mother in the shop.  Shopping on the way home for bread and a few items for the goody box and I was home for about six thirty.  And then on to the schedule, kettle on for coffee, oven on for pizza, pizza out of the freezer, emptied the ash can, set fire with kindling and lit it, pizza into oven, shopping away, curtains closed to retain the heat the fire was generating, made coffee and sat on the sofa watching the fire and listening for the pump to kick in.  Finished my first cup and went back for more, ate my pizza which was typical of all shop bought ones, absolute rubbish and I bought a twin pack....that's something not to look forward to.

I've just realised how late I am tonight with the update.  Again sorry, no photos, the weather is just not good enough to share with you.  LN.....A day of loading security packages on laptops tomorrow and starting a new project...that's if we have rain......if the sun's out....gardening......LN

Wednesday 6th March

Seven start and I had a very gentle morning.  It looked like the sun might break through but as it turned out I think it broke cover for a short time then popped back behind the clouds.  It was only six degrees outside at first light and hasn't really got up to anything like the temperatures we were having a week ago....there might be a cold on the horizon....I feel it in my bones.

Toast for breakfast, kitchen tidied, bins emptied, bed stripped and washing into the machine.  I was on a roll.  It's been a bit of a niggle....I used to have an account to run my Apple ipod, load the music CD's onto my computer and everything worked well.  I could create playlists, mix and match as I pleased and then I came out here, stopped buying CD's so I've forgotten the log in name to my account and password and despite searching....didn't manage to come up with it.  I did manage to get the music off the ipod before the battery finally gave up the ghost and stopped charging so all is not lost.  Today I fired up my really old first computer out here where they're stored, managed to bring them onto a remote hard drive, fired it up on my new laptop and I've had music this afternoon.  Now I need to buy some better speakers, that's a job for the weekend.  It took me a while to learn how to drive Media player, I eventually managed to get it to work through the complete CD.  In fact I got rather waylaid looking at the contents of the hard drive, it has lots of early photos of my childhood, holidays with my parents and also had lots of photographs from the early renovation of this house.  It was four this afternoon when I put it to bed, then decided it was time I made up my bed, the quilt cover and bottom sheet were dried over the banister from the top landing and tonight it's all ready to crawl into.  I lit the fire around five, noticed when I went into the little house for more starter wood that some of the overwintering plants were in need of water so the container under the downpipe came into its own.  I also noticed that the sweet peas have gone rocketing skywards and I shall soon need to put up supports for them.  It's too early to put them outside just in case there's a frost, they'll stay in the little house.

Nothing much happening in the village today, certainly not many people about, it's cold.  Even the farmer's son used his scramble bike to round the cows up on the field and showed them the way home.  Noisy thing that he is...it didn't take long.  No supper for me tonight, I opened a tin of tuna, mixed it with mayo and that was all that I had but it should see me through until tomorrow without I get the munchies later.  LN.....Time to get down to the fire.......LN

Thursday 7th March

Lovely starry night last night and I expected good weather this morning...as the phrase goes...live in hope and die in despair.  It was dull, we'd had some rain in the night, not a lot just enough to wet the terrace.  I woke up early and then went back to bed with coffee and carried on with playing Freecell which is now the choice of the early riser....and am now up to ninety four percent success rate and enjoying the challenge.  I settled for cereals for breakfast followed by toast and it was still only nine and the day was all mine.

First job was a bonfire and a steady walk of the garden.  I'm still not wearing my Fitbit since I think it was responsible for my outbreak of red itchy patches especially on my arms and when my hand swelled up and the wrist under the watch became very painful and stayed swollen for a couple of days, the watch came off and hasn't gone back on since.  I checked it out on the internet and it seems that body cells think the body is under attack so manufactures antibodies and hence the rash so that and the ending of taking my blood pressure tablets has left me feeling much better than I've felt for a long time.....and long may it continue.  Next job was to find some of the really old wood up the corner of the wood store and stack it where I could get to it easily.  I think that some of the wood is very old, I've been stacking the new stuff on top of the old and this year I intend to clear it all out and start again this winter.  Two log carriers filled and the log basket inside, but when I came in at two this afternoon I lit the fire and it's been going well all day.  After having the bonfire I somehow got drawn to the bed near to the walnut at the bottom of the garden.  The Jerusalem artichokes have monopolised it and covered most of the surround garden and the flower stems dry out, flop everywhere and look really unattractive.  The garden did have a wooden surround and now you can see it and I also discovered a patch of iris that I'd forgotten about,  The shrubs have gone wayward too, there spirea and forsythia in the bed so when they've flowered I shall be cutting it all back to give everything else a fighting chance.

Not much happening on the activity front this afternoon, I put Netflix on, had a nap, watched more of the Blacklist and at five put three chicken drumsticks with potatoes, onions, carrots and beetroot to roast and I've just turned off the oven and supper will be served when I've posted.  It's the first time for a while that I've cooked a proper meal...I must get back into the habit.  Tomorrow is the eight of March and it's a day of giving flowers to people that you care about and I'm off to the market in the morning and will be running round the village later.  LN.....No picturers today...too dull but I'll be taking the camera to town tomorrow....LN

Friday 8th March

So today we have International Women's Day and when I asked my friend when is Men's day in Bulgaria I was told that there wasn't one and we both laughed about it.  I was explaining that in the UK we have Mother's day and Father's day and in BG it was a throw back to the Communist times.  I suppose that it was considered that everyday was for the men, women only had the one!!  I had lots of messages today wishing me a happy 'prasnic' and sent quite a few myself.  It's a happy time, even people that normally look sad regard it as a special day and lots of smiles abound.

I headed into town today to buy flowers for my ladies and my two special families and went to my usual shop to get them.  The owner tried it in the UK but came back when it was time for the boys to go into university and they're all doing remarkably well.  She took a gamble with a flower and gift shop, it's been a great success and goes from strength to strength.  This morning I bought a jasmine for my student's mother because she likes smelly flowers and for my other student's mother bought an azalea...and for the village ladies, pompom daisies with lots of heads on so they should flower for a while.  I went back to the car and handed over the jasmine and told her that she needed to wait for the flowers to open before they would give off the familiar scent, moved the Nipper to the other side of town and handed over to my other family the azalea and was invited to stay for lunch which I did.  Father was off to the mosque since it was Friday with a visiting relative, the married sister arrived and had lunch with us and them mother arrived bringing her own lunch from work and I found out that they have a cook and feed all of the workers.  Today it was meat and cabbage thick soup, I refused to share it, I'd done well on kebabs and hamburgers with salad.  I arrived back in the village by two thirty more or less and then went on a delivery run.  At my first port of call, Zelinger's house, I saw that there was a car with a Turkish registration parked up and was met by family members.  Apparently Zelinger is in hospital in Kardjali, I didn't get the full details, handed over the plant and started to explain who I was but they knew already that I was 'her friend' and I carried on to the next.  At the next house I think she is a little deaf so I left the flowers by her little rubber slippers and then down to my next door's garden buddy and she was so pleased to receive it and there was a 'Chestit Prasnic' and a hug.  Next stop Emula's mother and finally back in the Nipper and down to the next village to my first student's home to hand over to her mother.  I asked her if her daughter, who now lives with her husband in Germany, is coming over this year but I don't think she is.  She apologised for looking sleepy, apparently she'd delivered two calves yesterday and was absolutely knacked.  Village life egh!!  Final stop was at Haciber's house and as I approached Emula's mother had obviously gone next door to say that she'd had flowers from me and I think Haciber was waiting for hers.  I got out of the car and handed the plant over...my slate was now clean.

Back home first job was to light the fire, the wind has been very cold all day, the sun did show its face but no heat in it at all.  I'm still full from lunch so will be picking tonight, I think there are a few packs of biscuits to choose from so maybe a trip to Kardjali is on the cards for tomorrow.  LN.....Mother Hubbard's cupboard is looking quite bare......LN

Saturday 9th March

Another dull miserable day and so much so that I didn't want to go into Kardjali, in fact I really didn't want to do any anything except light a fire and get settled in for the day.  I did managed to do one thing though, I've contacted a company in Germany to see if they can find me a new cutting blade for the mower.  The two old ones that I have are dangerously close to disintegrating at the slightest impact and for certain there are stoney ridges on the ridge at the bottom of the garden.  I've signed in to website, added the maake, model number and my requirements and I'll wait and see if they can come up with any of the goodies.  I checked out the website and my blade has a funny hole in the centre to attach to the mower, all the ones on the website seemed to have just a circular hole in the centre of the blade so before I order, I need some expert help.

That took me until twelve, I washed up from yesterday, fed the cat a late breakfast, got some bacon out of the freezer and made a bacon sandwiches for my breakfast.  I decided it wasn't warm enough to be outside doing 'stuff' so I settled on the sofa with the television on and had a post-breakfast siesta.  Lunch was a small packet of biscuits with yet more coffee and it was back to the Blacklist and more of Raymond Reddington.  I checked my emails and my lovely daughter had sent me a Mother's day card that she had made herself complaining bitterly about the crap postal service from England to Bulgaria, I'm still waiting for my birthday card that was posted two weeks before my birthday,,,,,,I'm now into the fifth week of waiting for it.   The new post office lady is on standby to phone me when anything arrives but more chance of snow in Africa that getting it delivered.  I printed off the attachment, was instructed how to fold it so I followed the instruction to the letter and it#s on display.  I'd forgotten that it was Mothering Sunday in the UK but had already found old cards from the Treasure Box for display and now I have them on the shelf with the new one added.  I thanked her and sent back a lovely message from a mother to a daughter that I'd come across when i was sorting out my old computer.  She messaged me back said how beautiful it was and I shed a tear when I read it and maybe she did the same.

I couldn't be bothered cooking supper tonight so I opened a small tin of local corned beef, made sandwiches and that will do me until the morning.  LN.....It's back to the warmth of a roaring fire.....Happy Mothering Sunday to all my friends in the UK..........LN

Sunday 10th March

Happy Mothering Sunday.....remembering my mother who didn't have it easy but always made us feel loved and we were cared for.  I think I've inherited her fighting spirit and a need to find adventure and see new things and no way could I let her down.  It's a pity that she didn't see what I eventually achieved out here...a house of my own that is beautiful, practical and I often feel her around me.  Maybe she has seen it...!!

Seven thirty start, washing machine on the go by eight, breakfast underway by eight thirty, washing on the airer by nine, fire cleaned out and ready for later and then the day was all mine to do what I wanted with.  I waited for outside to warm up, it was only five degrees when I got up and it took until twelve before the sun broke through and what started out as a walk round the garden turned out to be an afternoon sorting things.  The sweet pea seeds that I'd started off on kitchen paper were showing roots and the start of leaves so some of them are in individual pots and the rest in compost ready to plant out when they're pig enough.  They're going on the little house terrace where the morning and afternoon sun can catch them and hopefully they'll be for cutting to bring into the house.  I do love the smell of them.  The weigela cuttings are now in their own pots and let see how well they do before they become gifts for friends.  I've cut back the old stems from the Gaia plants,lots of new shoots coming up and the overhang has gone so that I can clear out the weeds from the surrounding bed.  I've had another go at the bed near the walnut and cleared round the spirea, forsythia and the rest of the Jerusalem artichokes have gone but again more weeded needed.  I came in at two and noticed that my daughter had called a couple of times so I phoned her back but now she wasn't answering so I left a message, went back out again and sat in the sun.  The urge to do something got me and now I've re-established the water catcher under the little roof downpipe.  I'd put a small oil barrel under but as it filled up, the rust was removed and the water was now brown so emptied it out and it will now be put to better use.  Tools away at four, logs brought into the porch ready for tonight and little house locked up.  I noticed that my daughter had had another attempts so this time phoned her back and we managed an hour on WhatsApp.

Lit the fire, made coffee, found a packet of biscuits, Blacklist on and had a late afternoon nap on the sofa.  I think that Spring' feeling is finally catching up with me. there's lots to do in the garden, the battery strimmer is on charge and will be brought into its own over the next week, weather permitting.  I know it's early but the grass appears to be growing at an alarming rate and so are the weeds around the wooden frames round the beds....time to made a list and prioritise.  LN......The boiler is on for a bath tonight and I've only just realised the time......time I was soaking.....LN

Monday 11th March

As promised to myself, I actually had my long bath last night and lingered over a very difficult Freecell made more difficult since I was half asleep.  Eventually I dried off, went to bed since it was now getting on for eleven thirty, finished the game and off to dreamland I went.  I slept through until seven thirty, not a bad morning weather-wise and I'd made my mind up to have a very lazy day and I did.  I had a few interactions with my daughter on WhatsApp, had an email in response to ordering the correct blade for my lawnmower and that is now ordered and paid for and hopefully will arrive from Germany by the weekend.  I'll feel much happier with a new blade, didn't think I could hobble around on one leg if the other one had taken my foot off at the ankle.  That might sound quite an exaggerated statement but accidents happen and I really didn't one to become one.

Normal morning for me, fire cleaned out and reset for later, enough wood in so didn't venture out, that wind was really cruel and the two little fir trees were caught up in the flow of it.  I should really be planting them out but that means digging holes down the bottom of the garden but where I was thinking of putting one of them is potentially where the tortoise may have settled for the winter, that didn't really happen. I want to put the skinny bottom right corner looking down the garden from the house and I trimmed back the rose bush yesterday to clear the planting area.  Just need to do the deed.  

The email regarding the mower blade arrived mid morning so I replied sending all the information that was available to me from the original manuals all stored in away in a file folder.  I also sent photographs of the old one and I received a response advising me which one to order and a link to the item.  This worked well but for some reason it wouldn't let me sign in to order the item from the link that they'd sent and then I had to go through the process of getting new passwords, two of them and it must have taken about fifteen minutes to get back to the ordering screen and process the payment but all finished now.  All I want now is how the part is going to be sent from Germany to Bulgaria and by which courier.  I really hope that it's coming by courier, the postal service needs much work on it to be successful, I'm still waiting for my birthday card.  In fact I've suggested to my daughter that she isn't specific as to why she's sending a card and it will do for whichever date it's nearest to....result.

Student's lesson tomorrow and I must remember to take the new book with me.  We're still on Roald Dahl and Charlie is now on a new adventure with all his grandparents going too.  I haven't read the book and I mentioned it to my daughter this morning and she hasn't either.  Eight o'clock my time, not really hungry so nothing gastronomic underway this evening.  LN.....Fire, Blacklist, Freecell and bed.......LN

Tuesday 12th March

Seven thirty start, usual morning routines and I checked me emails for the mower blade and the firm confirmed that they were going to send it out today.  I emailed back and suggested that they didn't send it by post but by courier mentioning that the postal service in Bulgaria is not so good adding that I wanted to mow my grass this year not next.  At half nine I received another email advising me that it would be sent by DHL courier service that links up with a local company, Speedy, who do deliver to the villages.  I have had excellent service from the supplier and will use them if I need anything else.

Toast for breakfast, the thunder rolled away and just left lots of rain that's played havoc in some of the local villages.  Kirkovo had been greatly hit with bridges swept away and damage to roads reported.  I suppose we're lucky here, the water drains down the hills to the main rivers that take it l away but at least I have a half filled water container in the yard.  I didn't bother lighting the fire but I did put an extra sweater on while I was sitting about.  I didn't have anything really pressing until two thirty this afternoon when I was due to go to Djebel for my student so I settled on the sofa and went to sleep for an hour or so and felt much better for it.

Into the Nipper by two thirty remembering to take the new book and one of the stems from my freesias to add to the flowers that I took her last week from my garden.  Even now they still have lots of perfume lingering about them.  I put water soaked tissue paper over the bottom of stem to keep it moist until I got there, sat with her for ten minutes or so and them went up to the apartment. We had ten minutes of indoor football and then we settled in to Charlie and the glass elevator and the book is really successful.  There were one or two jokes on character names that I immediately spotted but my student didn't so I had to explain them and eventually it got through.  We managed thirty plus pages so not so bad and we settled into the book very quickly since it was charting Charlie's next adventures with Willy Wonka.

Home for six, fire lit, radiators soon warmed through, chicken coated with cornflakes and potatoes for supper and another log on the fire to keep the home fires burning.  Ten my time, somehow the evening has slipped away from me and soon it will be time to rest my weary head.  LN.....Hoping for better weather tomorrow and to start charting my mower blade from the tracking number.....LN

Wednesday 13th March

So yesterday's photos of the rain could be posted today, it seemed to start well but then it deteriorated and we had rain, rain and yet more rain until my water barrel was overflowing.  Looks like I was a little early putting it to use, nature is doing the watering for me.  The temperature had dropped already to five degrees and I'm hoping that we don't get a frost, I've got too many daffodils out and new buds forming on the shrubs.

My day has been more about keeping the home fires burning,  I managed to get dressed around ten, played around on the computers with the various games, got a few logs in topping up the fire when necessary.  I seemed to be overcome with inertia.....I thought about going shopping working on the principle that because of the rain most other people would be staying indoors but I really couldn't raise the energy.  I want to get going but there's not a lot I can do, it's too wet to work outside, there's strimming and weeding to do but one thing I did last year has proved very beneficial.  When I shredded the smaller branches after the men had pollarded the trees, I put lots on the surface of the long bed by the high wall and it really has suppressed the weeds.  Next year I shall be doing the same thing to all the beds, the other flower beds only got a top dressing not a thick layer so now I know the benefits of doing it properly.  

Netflix for most of the afternoon.....the Blacklist is reaching its conclusion and now I want to get to the end of it.  I haven't yet managed to work out who's working for or against who, so many twists and turns and I need to start something else.  I also fell into a deep sleep this afternoon and it took me a while to come round.  Bring on the sun, bring on the jobs that need doing and let me get on with them.  There's been too little snow shifting this year, I've put weight on and I need to be taking it off with exercise. Toast and cheese sandwiches have taken the place of meals today and at nine thirty I shan't be heading to the kitchen and preparing anything else.  LN.....Let's hope I feel more energetic tomorrow.....LN

Thursday 14th March

Well it looked like a very promising morning.  I skipped through my normal chores, did a load of washing last night and put it away, toast for breakfast and had a plan for today.  I was going to empty the petrol from the mower, turn it upside down and remove the blade and give it a good clean ready for the new one to take its place but unfortunately that promising morning turned into a dull dismal day.  I did manage to get out and take a few photos mainly due to spotting the wild plum tree that's in full bloom and hopefully we shan't experience the winds we had last year that removed all the blossom before the fruit had set.  Fingers crossed we shall succeed this year.

As the weather deteriorated my urge to get out and get active became less enthusiastic so I settled on the sofa determined to find out the real villain of the Blacklist but I'm still none the wiser.  The next in line was shot leaving several questions unanswered and a letter that was supposed to be delivered on the main characters death but on the demise of his daughter, or supposedly daughter, the letter was never opened so now we're into the next series where I thought it was due to end.

At one I ventured out to fill up the log basket and get some more starter wood in but instead I ended up clearing the old wood from the corner of the wood store and putting it with the newer stuff leaving the corner empty to take the shredder, concertina ladders and fifty meter cable.  At least I can now see what wood I have left and mingle the new with the old so that this autumn I shall be buying and using the good stuff.  I even swept the floor and got rid of the rubbish and worked my way through an old bag of small stuff, filled up one of my large plastic containers and got rid of one of the old bags.  I was quite pleased with myself.

I came in and lit the fire and now it's toasty and warm inside and dull and miserable out.  It's eight degrees at the moment which is a little different from the nineteen we had last week.  Supper is made and ready for serving up.  I took a tin of local corned beef and a can of baked beans and heated them together in the saucepan, made reconstituted potato, put that on top of the mixture in a dish, covered the contents with cheese and popped it in the oven to brown off.  The proof of the pudding....I'll soon see.  Not sure about tomorrow whether I shall head into Kardjali or not, I really do need to shop.  LN.......I'll see what the weather is like and make my decision then.....they're all mine to make......LN

Friday 15th March

So at three this morning I was wide awake and not a clue as to why.  A few games of Freecell and tried again and eventually managed to get to sleep, woke up at six, too early so back to bed and slept through until seven thirty.  I've not suffered the after effects, I woke up with a spring in my step, the weather was good and I planned for a day outside and set to around eleven.  I did have beans on toast for breakfast, squeezed in an episode of Blacklist, set the fire for tonight and then to horse.

The bed that I attacked started life as a little garden, surrounded by stone. It had plants in there and a bed of iris but unfortunately one of the ground cover got out of control and it became neglected, unloved, the iris got swarmed, the stones are hidden but the task is underway.  Before that though I decided to strim round the little house terrace beds and tried out the battery strimmer when the battery looked fully charged.  Wrong....it appears to need a new battery and gave up after around five minutes.  I've put it back on charge again just to check but I think its knacked.  Next ammunition to bring into play was the electric cabled strimmer.  I checked the line buy removing the reel, I had tow pieces of line in view so I replaced the said housing, connected the strimmer and two minutes later, it coughed and the line snapped and I really wasn't in the mood to dance with that for an hour or so so I gave up on it.  It's for another day.  Hence the hedge trimmer, I managed to find the border of stone, hacked it about and uncovered the iris bed that I'd lost, there's much more to do but rain stopped play.  Unfortunately it wasn't a shower so tools away, the debris is still to be removed and lobbed over the wall and I came in around three this afternoon to find something else to do.  

Supper is going to be turkey burgers and spicy wedges and I'm heading for the kitchen when the blog is posted.  There's no sign of the mower blade, I've tried to track it on the website but no further news since when it was leaving the despatch warehouse.  I suppose I could have moved into the little house and prepared the mower for it's grand arrival but the temperature had dropped so I lit the fire and warmed the house up for the evening.  LN....Kitchen duties call, I've got work to do if I intend eating tonight...LN

Saturday 16th March

So last night's supper was big three slices of bread, mayo and what I found out were chicken burgers not turkey.  I anticipated indigestion but it never appeared.  Yes, I felt full as a little tick as my mother would say but headed for bed around eleven thirty and slept peacefully until just before seven this morning.  I should do that for supper more often.  Usual routines settling for toast for breakfast, watched an episode of my favourite because it was too early to outside, the streets weren't aired.  I don't know why but the hoover came out today.  First job was to clean it and empty the container and to remove the long hairs that get trapped round the roller.  On that note I phoned my daughter to see if she could remember the name of the machine that was supposed to chop up the hairs so that they didn't take root on the roller and she remembered it was called a shark.  The usual jokes came out, I was to remember to keep it in the bath, feed it regularly and that conversation went downhill rapidly so I closed the call.  

I was out by twelve and first job was to remove a primrose that had seeded itself between the concrete steps going up the little house and now it's re-sited in the blue bucket in the tyres near the winter flowering jasmine.  I've also taken some new babies from the metal and wood container and put some of those into the blue bucket as well.  The bougainvillea is outside and repotted and fingers crossed it will do OK.  I found some new sundaisies in the same pot and they also have found their way to the blue bucket.  I'm not sure what the new babies are, I threw some seeds into the metal and wood container, they've germinated and I've lot loads of the things but not sure what they are.  The proof of the pudding and all that....they're obviously winter hardy.  I gave the strimmer a run with the what was supposed to be a fully charged battery and it must have lasted about two minutes so I spent the next twenty trying to find a new battery for it which turned out to be a hopeless task.  So back out again and I took the bench that needs repainting out to the little house terrace and parked it near to the bed that I'm sorting out.....I knew that I should be needing it later....this job will take some time.  Hacked it hard and uncovered more iris and four blue hyacinths that probably haven't see the light of day for years.

The weather changed somewhat and threatened rain around five so I started to pack up, moved some of the green rubbish over the wall but just couldn't find the enthusiasm to complete the job, my back is aching, the boiler is on and I shall be soaking the aches away hopefully any time soon.  I was invited out for a walk tomorrow with a man who's over from Turkey and staying with his relative.  He speaks some English, no Bulgarian, he tried to explain to me that Dusinkove is separated into nine zones, told me the names and I suggested he wrote it down for posterity.  He left for Turkey fifty years ago, hence no Bulgarian, lived in Ankara before he moved to Bursa and is currently working in Momchilgrad on various things.  I declined his offer, I think he meant 'route march' not amble so I said that I will do it but that tomorrow wasn't a good day, I had too much work to get the garden sorted.  I invited them into the garden and he loved the big windows and the views, the house is just like any other from the road but impressive from the garden.  Off they went, I went back to the uncovering of the bed, eventually coming in at six thirty, the rain just didn't happen.

Not sure about supper, not really hungry tonight so a bath first and then raid the kitchen.  More of the same tomorrow if the weather is good, I want to finish the bed to see four edges of stone and not just the three that I've uncovered.  LN......Back to resourcing a new battery for the strimmer.....or sorting out the electric one with the dodgy reel....LN

Sunday 17th March

Seven start despite my late bath, falling asleep, pj's, Blacklist on Netflix and one o'clock to bed.  I meandered through until nine thirty, settled on toast for breakfast, got washed and dressed, made coffee and decided not to go to Kardjali but instead to drive the Beast into Djebel and see if I could find a wheelbarrow.  The ones that I have were used by the builders years ago, layered with concrete, have wonky wheels and should have been discarded years ago hence the search for something lightweight.  I moved the Beast into the yard, it started first time, I checked the washers and cleared the dust from the windscreen.  It's the first time it's been out since it's winter service and oil change and everything felt and sounded pretty good.  I do love driving it, it's just a pity that diesel is so expensive or I would use it all the time.....it's strictly for highdays and holidays.  I also remembered to pick up one of the shrubs that I've grown for my student's mum and as I pulled up outside the shop, they were just getting into the car so I handed the pot over, they went down to the garage and I went to the hardware shop two doors along.  The lady from the hardware shop watched me pull up, I went into the shop and asked if she had any wheelbarrows, there weren't any outside on the pavement.  We went into the store room next to the shop, they had expensive ones that were like my old ones but without the concrete coating and a smaller one, very lightweight and cheaper so I settled for that one.  It's got green handles and looks pretty cool and it's not going to be put to much use, trying to drag the rubbish from the old/new garden was really hard work yesterday and I wanted to make my life easier.
I said that I would take it, wheeled it to the Beast and put it in the back and went back to the shop to pay her.

Next stop was the cash machine but everyone had beaten me to it so moved on to the next one and it was the same story.  I thought about driving into Kardjali since I was down to my last thirty leva but instead drove home, I had plenty to keep me occupied like putting my wheelbarrow to good use.   The bed is more or less cleared and ready for digging over to get rid of some of the underground roots and runners, the debris is over the wall and I found a patch of daffs that obviously hadn't see the light of day for years but were still trying to get noticed.  I came in mid afternoon and made cheese and onion sandwiches as a 'snack', put the television on and promptly nodded off so I'll have to run the last episode again.  I went back out there and managed to fill the wheelbarrow a couple more times, raked over the ground outside the stone edging and am toying with the ides of sticking to wood and making a new surround, it's much easier for the lawnmower and strimmer to negotiate.

I came in just before seven, didn't bother lighting the fire but I'm regretting it now the temperature is dropping so I've put the boiler on and will have a bath instead.  I fried off a couple of hamburger with sliced onions and that was supper over and done with.  Latest news on the lawnmower blade is that it's been handed over to Speedy, one of BG's courier companies and it should be either here or in Djebel on Tuesday so not bad service from the German company.  LN.....The boiler is up to temperature, I'm going to luxuriate.....LN

Monday 18th March

Awake very early this morning and spent and hour playing games...it was too early to do much else.  The thought suddenly struck me that I couldn't find my driving glasses, I'd looked for them last evening and thought they'd be in the house somewhere and that lead me into a detailed search room by room and still no joy. The porch was the next area, then out to the little house, into the wood store, both cars and still not located,  I went out to the bed underneath the wall to the road thinking that they might have come off my  head when I was tying the yellow jasmine and the roses to the metal railing, I searched in the honeysuckle and lavender and not I was running out of places to look.  Next step was to walk the garden and I had this awful feeling that I might have lost them when I was lobbing the debris that I took from the garden I was sorting out and had in my brain that I might have lost them forever but no.....just beyond the bonfire against the wall, they were on top of the grass.  I'm nothing if not persistent, patient and thorough and that usually provides results.  So now I shall be able to see when I drive the Nipper later today.  

I was really unsure how to play today.  I needed money from the cash point, hadn't done any food shopping for a week or so, so the garden went on hold.  I also remembered that I needed to put security software onto my laptop and that turned out to be a job and a half but I eventually managed it, and was in the Nipper and heading into Djebel and then Kardjali.  I popped in to see my student's mum in the shop and asked if she wanted anything from Kardjali so we looked through the catalogues for Lidl and Kaufland and she settled for Smetana which is a sort of local cream and carrots since they were on offer.  I carried on to Kaufland car-park, got the carrots and noticed that they had metal electric kettles on offer for fifteen leva.  I'd tried to talk my student's mum into buying one earlier in the year but she still hadn't, she still boils water in a saucepan on the hob so I bought two....one as a spare for me and I had another spare if she didn't want it.  I also bought chicken legs that were on offer, chocolate biscuits and a huge chocolate bar....and when you're on your own it's easy, you can leave it around and no one else sneaks it away.  Over to Lidl and did a proper food shop, then back to the cash-point in Djebel and this time it had money in it.  I carried on to the shop to had over the cream, carrots and the kettle and I said that it was a gift, that there would be no Easter eggs this year...she had a kettle instead. She then asked me if she could make tea in it and I then suggested that she used it for cooking rice or pasta, why just boil water and we ended up with tears in our eyes.

I sat with her for a while in the shop then remembered that I'd got frozen food so made font farewells, local supermarket for bread and then home, unpacked the shopping and everything was away by six thirty. I'm not in the mood for cooking so will probably settle for something light and easy later, mower blade gets delivered tomorrow and then work on the garden can begin in earnest.  I still have to sort out a strimmer but I've cancelled my lesson tomorrow since I don't know what time the delivery will arrive and moved it to Wednesday.  Just after eight my time, no time for photos today but it has been wall to wall sunshine and hot.  LN.....Gardening tomorrow and promise to take pickies and just hoping that the weather is as good as it was today......LN

Tuesday 19th March

It was a silly night last night, I woke up on the sofa expecting it to be two in the morning and it was only eleven so went to bed and woke up at six so out and about quite early.  I checked emails and caught up on a few things, I had nothing to do except gardening but first things first.  I emailed the courier company, it occurred to me that they didn't have my phone number and if they had problems locating the house, I might not even get the delivery.  I had a response back from them confirming that the packet would be delivered today so everything was on target.  I got on with my breakfast and tried out the new orange and marmalade jam with ginger that I bought yesterday from Lidl and I'm so pleased that I bought two and I'll savour the second one, the first one might go very quickly.  

It was a beautiful morning and went out to take the first one of the day.  I took more of the garden, I planted up the little container that I'd moved outside yesterday with the seeds that had germinated in the metal and wood trug.  I checked up on the sweet peas that I've moved on to the wood store terrace and they seem to be doing OK and starting to climb up the winter flowering jasmine...one dies and another thrives.  I fetched the wheel barrow round and put it by the little bed between the two sets of steps and cleared the weeds from the corner of the middle bed.  This too was filled with the 'no name to date' germinated seeks, I think they are a type of dianthus but really not sure at this point....I'm guessing sweet william which should be pretty and flower for quite some time.  I went back in the house and moved more music files from 'My Book' drive on to the computer and all I was doing was putting off going out and starting work on the neglected bed.  The phone rang and it was the courier tying to find direction and between his broken English and my Bulgarian, we worked out directions and he said five minutes, would I stand by the side of the road.  He was a little longer than that but he arrived, he handed over the box, he told me that he'd worked in Cardiff for six years, that he understood English but needed more practice to speak it, and off he went.

I opened the box, the blade looked the same as the old one so that's a job for tomorrow.  I was most surprised when included in the box was a small bag of sweets....what a nice company and I'll definitely be leaving a note on its guest book.  The weather had changed from this morning, we'd had light rain but now it had stopped so I moved the wheel barrow round to the neglected garden, found the heavy duty spade and set about the job in hand and filled up the barrow with debris but unfortunately, it started raining real rain and so it was tools away and back in door.  The sofa looked like the best resting spot, the fire was already set to go and at three thirty, I lit it and it's been a cosy place to be.  Netflix went on, Raymond Reddington and the Blacklist is no more, he got hunted to the end and was.....don't want to spoil it for you....just in case you get to watch it.  Seven thirty my time, I've had a good day and should finish the neglected bed soon enough and then to remove the runners that made their way outside the bed.  I shan't be having supper, I've snacked through the afternoon so should manage until morning.  LN......Bath and hairwash in the morning, I moved the lesson with my student to tomorrow, he had the physio and I had my delivery, so we both had other fish to fry so to speak......LN

Wednesday 20th March

Another early start but I got really confused as to what time it was.  The computer had picked up its time for some reason from the VPN and the overnight time check with the weather station had put it one hour forward.  I have two mechanical clocks, the both said the same time so I took them as being gospel and adjusted the others but still checking on the internet, what time it was in BG and resetting to the Athens time zone.  Technology egh.....More of the new marmalade for breakfast, the sun was up and I hear from my friend on the internet that we've now moved into 'first day of astronomical spring'. This marks the instant when the sun crosses the celestial equator — an imaginary line in the sky.  Every day is a school day, we all should live and learn something new every day.....now whether we remember it, totally different matter.  Yet more coffee and conversation on FB as to why we were all up early. I blame my time zone others an inability to sleep.

My day was planned out for me, gardening this morning until early afternoon and then my student's lesson moved from yesterday.  As with all the best laid plans of mice and humans, it didn't work out that way.  The sun was up but that howling wind forced me to wear a hat outside.  I finished clearing the roots from the neglected bed and now it's looking better than the other beds that need weeding, the difference is though, other beds have flowers where this one had only iris uncovered by the removal of several years of rampant  cotoneaster and straying outside the bed and into the grass.  I moved all the removed roots to the bonfire, tried to get it to fire up but the overnight downpour had made this an impossible task so most of it is sitting by the burning bucket until we have some sun to dry it off.  Having cleared the area I poached day lilies from one of the beds at the bottom of the garden, a sprouting gaia from the old bonfire pit and a yucca from one of the other beds.  I left the big root in place just in case it decides to sprout, I'll give it a year to get its act together but nothing happens, it's out.

I came in at one thirty, I had to be out by two thirty so straight into the shower, washed my hair that desperately needed it, dried it and was in the Nipper and heading for Djebel arriving a little early and parking outside the shop.  The boy wasn't there, they'd had a late lesson, was unable to catch the three o'clock bus so caught one at four  arriving at the shop around four forty five,  He has a long day, he has to catch the morning bus at six thirty.  I'd made the decision that there was no lesson today, I'd got really cold in the shop, I hadn't managed to get wood in for this evening so at five I said farewells and headed home.

Fire going and wood in, supper sitting on the work surface and waiting for me to put it in the air-fryer, chicken in cornflakes and potato wedges.  I'm down to my PJ's early, about to post and then it's goodnight to me....tele time and looking on Netflix for something to watch.  Kardjali or rest day tomorrow, I haven't decided yet, I'll see how I feel.  LN.....Kitchen calls or I'll be having it for breakfast.....LN

Thursday 21st March

Eleven o'clock to bed last night and I went to sleep without any problems.  My biggest problem was waking up, I was in such a heavy dream that I can't remember anything about it but it just didn't want to let me go.   I eventually woke up and started my day, well started my imbibing for the day with my first cup of coffee but straight back to bed until the rest of my body caught up.  It was minus three degrees outside, the sun was trying to establish dominance over the cloud base and eventually the sun won but it was still quite nippy early on.  

Toast again for breakfast, washed and dressed and I'd decided to go into Kardjali to try to get either a  new strimmer or parts to get the old ones going.  I also took with me my banking information to get money transferred over to my card account from my main account and set off for Kardjali.  I'd remembered that the flowers that I'd taken to the shop for my student's mum were on their last bit of stalk so I picked forsythia, daffodils and a hyacinth that the wind had taken down and intend dropping them off on my way through.  I parked up and she came out to meet me, I went back inside with her and I asked if she could order me some more Oscar de la Renta toilet water, she has her favourite suppliers and the couriers have her address on file so it makes it much easier and you pay when the courier delivers.  We found it on one site but she was determined to get the best deal so she tried another and they have what they call 'testers' that have never gone out to store.  The first site wanted seventy five leva but the second, same sized product was thirty eight so done and dusted, and it arrives tomorrow so I left her the money to pay for it up front.  I carried on to Kardjali and stopped off at the first shop that sell strimmers but the service was atrocious so I left pretty quickly.  I tried the next one and that was really expensive and meant renewing the machine and a new battery for it which was more than I wanted to do so tried another shop for a new head for the later machine but they didn't have one so at two I'd achieved nothing so decided to drive round and park up at the bank in Kardjali which was another disaster.  Losing the will to live I tried Momchilgrad, the girl who did the last one smiled when I arrived, she knew she was in for a challenge and she took it on willingly.  Money moved over, where I want it and I was home for about four.

I'd stopped off in the little supermarket in Djebel and bought four chicken drumsticks and they're just finish off now with chopped up potatoes and onions.  I've nothing to do tomorrow expect sort out the strimmers and either use one of the little ones plugged into the electricity or get the mower going and attack the weeds that way...and all is weather permitting.  LN......Supper's ready, I'm off to the kitchen.......LN

Friday 22nd March

I checked my phone last night and noticed that I'd had a voice mail message left from my good friend in the UK.  She doesn't normally phone me, I phone her so I was a little worried as to what it could have been about.  Despite the fact that it was midnight here, I phoned her, there was no reply so I made sure that I phoned her this morning but not so early as to wake her up.  I meandered through my morning, it had been a cold night but the temperature was rising and the great ball in the sky was very welcome.  I phoned her at almost eleven my time so nine hers and she answered and she'd phoned to check how I'd got on at the hospital after my trip to the specialist.  I obviously should have let her know.  We spoke for about thirty minutes, she was off shopping today, delayed due to a washing machine failure so we wished each other a good day and got on with our individual pursuits.

I'd had breakfast so was ready to tackle loading of the strimmer heads and it's something I hate, am not good at and seem to be all fingers and thumbs when I'm doing it.  I tried the bigger one first, managed to load it and the line broke within the first five minutes.  In frustration I decided to try the smaller one and again, loaded and ready to go  until that line broke as well so at this point I gave up.  Instead I opted for the little electric grass mower, set it all up and was doing all right until bits of twigs started to fly since I was using it without a catch basket, so I found my protective head gear from the little house and must have looked as if they had landed.  The upside is it's easy to use, very light and I managed to cut most of the top half of the garden of both houses.  I did have to fiddle with the electric cable so that I could cover the garden but managed it.  The flower beds are mostly edged, the mower doesn't get as close to the wooden surrounds as the strimmer does or would if I could ,load the blasted thing.  I did get well and truly covered, the grass shoots out the back, hence the helmet but it does look so much better.  I eventually came in just before four, tools away, chocolate bar and a coffee and went to sleep on the sofa without the television to put me into neutral.

I woke up at five thirty, lit the fire since the temperature was dropping, just loaded it up again and the radiators are already hot to the touch.  I put the boiler on for a bath and once I post that's where I'll be, I have two chicken drumsticks left from last night so that will be supper.  The rest of the grass will be done tomorrow, I'll be searching the internet for strimmer loading tutorials....such a stupid design, the next one is going to be with a blade.  LN......My bath calls.......LN

Saturday 23rd March

So I was quite happy meandering through my morning.  It was going to be a beautiful day, perfect for gardening if I could only work up the enthusiasm to be out there.  I was awake by six, had breakfast at eight and was frantically searching for my little camera from then onwards.  Well it wasn't so much 'frantic' but I searched in all the usual places, desks, bags, little house, wood store and then put it to one side believing that it would turn up eventually but you know that niggling feeling and it still irritates.  Next thing that drew may attention was the pottery tortoise money box that I have so I emptied it out and it's now bagged up in denominations and destined for the local supermarket or chemist.  I've got in total around sixty five leva so that should pay for a mid week Lidl shop.  

I walked the garden, planted up some of my 'seeds with no name' that hed germinated in the metal and wood trug in the new garden, thought about getting the little mower out and doing the rest of the grass but the idea passed as soon as it had come into the brain.  Instead I lay on the sofa, found a new serial on Netflix and started to watch it and promptly fell asleep for an hour or so....well it had been an early start.  The camera was still on my brain, I went into the downstairs bedroom to put something away and for some reason I was drawn to my brown leather coat. I remembered that I'd worn it when it was really cold last week so I checked the pockets and there it was....my guides had taken me to it or my subconscious had kicked in.  Next job was to check out the timer devices I'd accumulated and at last I've managed to get one to work on the lamp in the porch so that when I go out I leave a small light on for the expected arrival time not all the time burning electricity.  

Fire lit at five and still trying to get a decent blaze out of it.  Last night's log was only charred and it had no intention of burning or so it seems, I went through enough starter wood to do it but no go and now it's hanging in there, requiring attention......the demands of rural living!!  Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow and really nothing pending for next week as it stands at the moment.  My tester bottle of perfume has arrived and my only commitment is my student on Tuesday unless he has physio on his foot as prescribed by the football trainer.  Chicken fillet sandwich for supper and served up with mayo and it will do me for tonight and George Michael playing in the background.  LN......Time to get back to the fire...if it's still going....LN

Sunday 24th March

Another silly night...I woke up at half four, played a few Freecell, tried to go back to sleep, didn't manage it so started my day early.....and the rest of the day has been like that.  A little bit of television and then I listened to my newly brought over music from' My Book' copied from my original Apple iPod....a trip down Memory Lane.  Beans on toast for breakfast and I remembered that the fire was a little reticent last night and I promised myself that I would take the pipes out and give them a good clean.  In my world, no sooner the word than the blow and at ten thirty everything was in full swing.  Pipes removed, cleaned, boiler cleaned thoroughly inside and outside, pipes replaced and fire set for lighting this afternoon when the temperature starts to drop.  It wasn't too bad this morning when I got up but the wind was whipping round the terraces and my Lonesome Pine was making whooshing sounds.

By now it was getting on for twelve thirty and the rest of the day was mine.  Breakfast had gone down so I settled for cream cheese and pretzel sticks as dippers and finished off with a chocolate mousse.  It was such a lovely day that I felt I should be doing something outside so I took the bull by the horns, fired up the grass mower and decided to use it until the petrol ran out, turn it over and then put in the new blade.  Another plan to go wrong, the fuel was old so I wheeled the machine to the little house terrace, found an empty bottle and filled it with the fuel from the machine, collected the tools from the workshop and the blade from the porch, turned the machine over and changed the blade without any problems.  Turned it back onto its wheels, adjusted the height of the machine since the grass was long in places, put new fuel in that I'd bought on Friday, wheeled it back to the main house grass and continued where I'd left off on Friday.  It was slow going but eventually I'd finished so moved to the little house grass and worked on that until I'd had enough.

I came in at four thirty, lit the fire and it's ticking along nicely with no hint of smoke from the pipes. No too bothered about supper so put the boiler on to have a bath and thought I'd just sneak the blog in but that went pear-shaped.  I'd had a strange message from my security company about my internet not being secure and under attack and not sure what they did about it.  The downside was that when I went to sign in to do the update, it wouldn't let me in advising me that the site was taking too long to respond so I entered it in the permitted websites but still no access granted so I phoned up support, Mary came on, logged into my system, checked it out and for some reason we were able to get in.  Whether it was my entering the site details we shall never know but at least it works.

Eight o'clock now, just about to run that bath and then a not so early night otherwise I'll be up and about at four again....and that's not good at my age....I need my beauty sleep.  Tomorrow I'm going to put the Nipper in the garage for an underneath inspection, I've felt juddering when I've been going round right hand corners at want him to check out the bearings....better to be safe than sorry.  LN....Boiler's up to temperature......LN

Monday 25th March

Just before seven start and slept straight though which is a bonus especially after going to bed at eleven.  Bath, a little bit of the oblong box and bed.  I'm watching a series about a detective called Monk who solves peculiar cases with a female sidekick, he is completely OCD, she's my sort of woman and it works well.  His job is to act as a consultant to the local police force, he's especially good and reading the clues and coming up with the results.  I think it's because the scripts are well written that he has all the answers.....

My morning went well,poached egg on toast for breakfast and the last half slice of toast that the egg wouldn't stretch to got slathered in orange, lemon and ginger marmalade which saved throwing it to the birds.  It's been a beautiful day but again that wind was very cold and I went out well prepared.  First job was to get a bonfire underway. the roots from the new/renovated garden were still sittin by the bonfire bucket and I had household rubbish to get them started.  Fire underway I found the strimmer head that I'd loaded and hopefully took it into the wood store to try it out later.  Today's task that I'd given myself was to finish the rest of the grass so that at least it will all grow more or less at the same speed and will either look good or in need.  I did hook the strimmer up to the electric to test it and it worked but today's job required more that a strimmer so I brought the little electric out which is more like a strimmer with wheels without a cable to break.  I use it without the grass box which does need the channel from the blade to the outside world sorting but little price to pay.

I was doing well and came in for water and a chocolate bar and sat on the terrace viewing how much more I had to do. After thirty minutes I set to again and worked until I'd finished and I'd included down by the bottom wall and the grass by the tree under the big tree against the high wall.  I put the tools away and decided to sit on the stone wall at the bottom of the garden and the mayor's brother was walking home and stopped for a few words.  He said the garden was lookin good and while I'd got someone from the noisy village next to me I asked him about the dogs.  I gather that the owner works in Germany, has several dogs and keeps pigs and bees.  Perhaps the bees and pigs are upsetting the dogs.  It seems that the lower village is fed up with them too.  I asked him about his turkeys and he said that this year the eggs came early so he only has six babies this year and they're too small to take for a walk.  Last year he had about thirty and I suppose most of those made good New Year suppers.

I didn't have any trouble getting into my website tonight.  Maybe I fixed it by changing one of the settings, it's all much more complicated that in was in the old days.  Student tomorrow, so far unless the physio wants him again, I didn't take the Nipper in to the garage so might do it in the morning now that the grass is done, I've not checked out the forecast for tomorrow.  Not too bothered about supper so far.....maybe later.  LN......Another good day just the flower bed to clear of weeds and mow what I can't manage.....LN

Tuesday 26th March

Went to bed last night at half eleven and at two I was fully awake, back to sleep at three and again at five awake so played games for a while and got out of bed to get my day started by six.  It was nought degrees this morning outside, twenty in so the house had held the temperature well.  It was a dull old day outside, only a few birds flitting around so I threw out the end of the loaf to encourage a few more but even that didn't tempt them.

Most of my work for the week is finished.  I did think about clearing out the old bonfire bed, the gaia is doing very well but there's nothing else of importance in there. I cleared out the dead flowers at the end of last year, I haven't spotted any newly sprouting zinnia so far but the chickweed is doing remarkably well.  As for the rest of the beds, the big one by the bonfire can't be touched, the tortoise haven't come out of their winter hideaways and until I spot them I'm leaving the bed to its own devices.  Last year they came out in April and first spotted by the big stones and with sand on their shells hence I know more or less where they overwinter.  Cracked shell is under the first bush in the line of five at the bottom of the garden, I watched him disappear very late last year under the tree roots.  Washing done and put on to the airer in the guest room, it was only ten thirty and I didn't have to be anywhere until three this afternoon and since it was cold and miserable I didn't venture out.  There was enough wood in for this evening.

In to the Nipper around two thirty and drove to Djebel for my student's lesson.  I sat with his mother in the shop until three thirty and headed up and in the lounge I found a great big stuffed purple bear and the story goes that the two boys had gone to Plovdiv and the older boy had won it on a game where it was suspended and you had to operate a blade to cut the string so that it fell down.  I think he was surprised when he won it and his mother even more surprised as to how big it is.  We settled down into the lesson and this book is proving more difficult that the others, I've not read it before so am as surprised as he is where the story is going and the names and plot seem very convoluted.  He seems to be enjoying it though, I'm explaining the jokes and phrases and his voice changes as he read the different characters.  We had the statutory game of football, he tries out his fancy moves and I go for the standard aim and shoot and I managed to score five goals after each other.  He saw still way ahead of me though.

Home for six thirty, the house wasn't cold but it took me ages to light the fire....it just didn't want to go.  Three logs on now, the curtain is drawn so I can't see the fire from here but it won't be long before I'm back in the lounge on the other side of the curtain.  I don't want supper, I had tuna sandwiches for lunch and I'm still pretty stuffed from them....I'm sure I can manage until breakfast.  LN.....Horrible change in the weather...roll on April......LN

Wednesday 27th March

Not a good day...the weather has not been one thing or the other.  It tempted me out mid morning but then by lunchtime it was a cold wind, the sun was hiding so I came in, cooked lunch and promptly fell asleep.  I was quite productive early on, the oleander are out on the terrace along with the abelia, the red oleander was due for a container change but it was holding so much water that I've left it on its side to drain and I'll do it tomorrow with some new compost.  I've moved some bulbs from the low wall to the new 'old neglected' garden, planted up another gaia and sunk the pots of daffs in to come up next year.  It should look good if it all takes.

Evening meal became lunch.  I took four hamburgers from the freezer but lunchtime brought about the munchies so I thawed them out, fried two of them, fried an egg and put it all between two slices of bread and I'm not sure I shall be wanting supper tonight.  I also found some frozen vishna cherries, heated those up in the microwave and had them with smetana, a local substitute for cream and that was dessert sorted.  And as I said, a full tummy deserts rest so I got my head down for an hour or so and felt much better for it.  It was six when I started this morning.  I lit the fire around four this afternoon and it's doing what it does best, heating the radiators keeping the house at a reasonable temperature.  We've had overnights of zero just lately and there was snow in Ardino town, about thirty kilometers away the other night, so it's still very unsettled.

More gardening tomorrow if the weather permits, otherwise I'm in for a day of ancestry to do a little more digging on my heritage.  I've managed to get back to around sixteen fifty bt need to do more research using the parish records.  They're difficult to read but sometimes you get answers when you leas expect it.  LN.....And now to switch off and relax.....LN

Thursday 28th March

Six thirty start and I sort of meandered through the morning.  Early breakfast of toast and marmalade, more coffee than I care to think about, set the fire but haven't managed to light it yet, the temperature in the house and outside were above normal but that wind was blowing quite strongly.  I ventured out to put the bread out for the birds, took a walk of the garden and checked for tortoise hidden in the shrubbery and lo and behold, I saw Rosy, head into the mound of honeysuckle, backside out but the pink on her shell was clearly visible but faded somewhat since she had been under the ground for the last four months. They should all be out soon meaning that I can clear the bed knowing that I'm not likely to be digging them up before time.

I found the keys for the little house and opened it up on the hunt for the bolt cutters. I remembered putting them away somewhere safe while I was in UK but as to where....a search was inevitable and eventually I found them in the wood store hidden away.  On my last walk of the garden, I'd settled on the bench on the little house terrace and realised that the last slat which should have been held in place wasn't.  The bolt had rusted through so had to be removed and replaced hence the need for the bolt cutters and now I could complete the job...and I did....well I did late this afternoon when I arrived home with the new bolts from the hardware shop.  And that's how my day went.

If I was heading into Djebel for one thing I might as well get other things sorted too.  I parked up near the hardware shop and bought the bolts having remembered to take the old one with me.  We got into a discussion as to whether to paint it or use a wood stain but since they hadn't got the colour I wanted in stock and I did need to sand the bench down first, I decided it could wait for another day.  I popped in to the car shop and my student's mum telephoned the garage to see how busy they were and was told I could take it down straightaway and they'd have a look to see if it did need new shock absorbers.  It was straight over the inspection pit, diagnosed, parts are ordered and will arrive tomorrow morning after ten, the garage will phone me and I can drive it for treatment.  I also need to have my summer tyres fitted so that the winter ones last longer and that will be done as well.  I drove back to Djebel and parked up on the main car-park, saw my friend from the flower shop and went to see what she had in stock and I came away with some Turkish tulips which are very bright yellow and a plant that she gave me which is in need of love and attention.  I was hungry about now so headed for one of the local eateries and ordered chicken leg and rice and a bottle of water and the bill came to seven leva.  I used to go there quite a lot but haven't been there for ages but I was made welcome.

Back to the car shop and we chewed over the fat for a while, then home stopping off at the little supermarket on the way out of town for a few item and to fill up the goody box, the cupboard was bare.  Not bothered with the fire so far and since it's seven, I probably shan't bother and will use a blanket instead if I get cold watching tv later.  So my tomorrow is sorted, I'll wait for the phone call, take the Nipper in and get it fixed and then head into Kardjali for more of a shop.  I'm still on the hunt for a decent strimmer, I've managed to get the little one working but it's still hit and miss and difficult to load.  LN......Coffee, sofa, tv and bed.....LN

Friday 19th March

Last night I was playing around with ancestry and decided to look for my grandmother's grave.  I put the details into the search, I wasn't sure of the church and churchyard but the grave was found and not only that, the headstone also commemorated my great grandmother as well.  I downloaded the image and attached it to the Census record from nineteen o-one...it amazes me what is held on the internet.  I have more to find now that I've started.  This was following back my mothers side of the family and now I want to see if I can find any records from my father's side.

Slept well until six this morning, I had nothing to do until ten when the car parts were supposed to arrive so I poached a couple of eggs and had those for breakfast and watched the starlings fighting over who would be nesting in the log.  I received a message at ten thirty so headed into Djebel, picked up the parts from the shop and drove the car down to the garage, left the Nipper and decided to walk back into town, it was such a beautiful day.  I sat in the shop talking to my student's mother, the shop wasn't very busy this morning so we had time to chat until the customers started coming and then I went for a walk around the town.  It was Friday, mosque day, so lots of men around, not much of a market, more to see on a Monday and I caught sight of my birthday buddy that I knew when she was four years of age when I used to go to the restaurant when I stayed in the hotel next door when I first came out here.  She's in her last year at school, her parents have moved to Plovdiv with the younger children and she lives with her grandmother who's looking after the lottery shop and the childrens' wear shop at the same time.  The girl is now seventeen and works in the shop helping out her grandmother, I asked her how her English was coming along and she replied that she knows the grammar but is not able to speak it.  At my school when I was learning French, not a word of English was spoken during the lesson and we learnt to think in French and not stop to translate.  Unfortunately the teachers here do not speak it fluently themselves so no way they can pass on the the activity.  I offered to help her if she wanted me to but left it up to her, grandma said that she would pay for it but I offered her help, nothing in it for me.  The ball is in her court.

I popped into the flower shop and have picked up the details of a company from Kardjali that does organised tours which for me is much easier that going from Sofia.  I'm gong to contact them tomorrow to check out the website tomorrow to see if anything interests me.  Back to the shop, the Nipper was out of surgery, the bill was very reasonable and I even have my summer tyres on and it did feel different when I came to drive home.  I did think about going into Kardjali but really wasn't in the mood, I put the chicken legs in the slow cooker this morning and they're now ready to have for supper.  I added stock cubes and curry powder to the pot so it should have a bit of a tang.  LN.....Might be a trip to Kardjali, I need gas and some shopping......LN

[b]Saturday 30th March[/b

Another six start and it seems to be the norm.  I did play a few games, have an early toast and marmalade amd walk the garden in search of tortoise.  Rosy was out munching away on the grass, I spotted Blue, well I think it was the nail varnish on the shell was more a shade of grey after the winter burial.  Cracked shell was nose in and splayed out absorbing the morning sun but no sign of the others so far.  Perhaps their internal alarms haven't kicked in yet or I didn't spend long enough searching for them.

I was undecided what to do to day, I really wasn't in the mood to get gardening under my belt so watered a few plants, moved a few to different positions on the house and settled for going into Djebel, asking the garage to check out the rattles that have suddenly developed and if everything was OK to drive into Kardjali and fill up with goodies, basic food stuffs and gas and petrol for the Nipper.  I was low on both and I might even go down to Greece tomorrow if the weather is good...I need a day out...I've got all week to attack the grass and weeds.  First call was the garage, the owner drove it round the yard, said he wanted to check out the work that they'd done yesterday and put it over the pit.  He invited me to join him after his initial investigation and there was nothing wobbling around underneath.  The hardest part for me was getting out of the pit....the steps were around half a meter tall, the first three were OK but I think I fell up the last one eventually arriving at the upright position.  Age does hamper.  Next was to lift it up from the ground to check out the rest of it around the engine and it appears that the shocks are OK, the hydraulics need checking out but there is nothing crucial, nothing about to give way but I think it needs doing, turning up the radio doesn't solve the problem.

I carried on to Kaufland, bought a few cheap plant containers, toilet blocks and toothpaste on offer and almost bought a piece of garden machinery but they were sold without batteries and the store didn't have them in stock....brilliant service....not.  Went to Lidl and again didn't buy a lot but the goody box is now filled to the gunnels with mixed nuts and small packets of crisps.  Fuel station on the way out of town, fifty leva of petrol and thirty leva of gas and that should give me nearly three hundred or more of travelling...now where can I go?  Home and shopping unpacked, Haciber caught me in the garden and gave me two little cakes, it's her birthday so I'll have to sort something out for her tomorrow.  Cold chicken leg in the fridge so that's supper sorted and I've got chocolate pudding should I find room for one...or two.  LN.....Tortoise hunt around ten...have to give them time to wake up....LN

Sunday 31st March

So I woke up at what I thought was six fifteen and then I suddenly had a thought that the clocks had 'sprung' forward so I checked phone and computer and my in built clock was right, or perhaps I read it somewhere.  So moved both clocks on, load of washing in and got on with daily routines and settled for boiled eggs.  I put five in the saucepan thinking I could make use of them later and I did...although it was much later.  I had a bonfire and when on the tortoise hunt and all three early risers were spotted in the same areas that they'd spent the winter and my adventurous Rosy has strayed further than the others, so far, always was a game girl.  She was the first that I 'acquired' and has remained number one in my book.

I didn't feel very energetic and it took my until twelve before I headed out clutching the workshop keys.   The first hour I used the little electric mower to go over the yard, the grass ouside the property and the grass between the house and the front wall and it didn't stop there.  I managed to get through the honeysuckle jungle to the grass outside my downstairs bedroom window and go over the grass down to the wild plum tree.  I tried to go round the beds with the mower but it really did need the strimmer so I spent the next hour trying to get one of the three that I have going.  I just don't seem to have much luck with them.  Having said that, I managed to get down to the very naked mulberry with the little mower and even dug out the old bonfire garden and that's ready for planting up.  Again I had a go at loading the strimmer and eventually I got the little yellow one to behave itself but the cord didn't advance when I bashed it down on the ground so that needs another tweak.

All done down to the mulberry and the lonesome pine and I cleared everything away and locked up, it was six thirty by now.  I'm feeling as if I've had a good day in the sun, almost that feeling after a day at the beach, but the boiler is on, I need to ease out the muscles, it is early season.  Two eggs boiled this morning were added to mayonnaise but it didn't stop there.  I added a small tin of tuna, chopped up beetroot and onion, a potato went into the microwave then it was peeled and chopped and added to the mixture....supper was ready and now it's gone followed by two creme caramels.  

More of the same tomorrow I think although I could go to the market to see what plants they have available before I get lost in gardening.  LN.....Bath and bedtime for me......LN