Tuesday 1st October

White rabbits or whatever you want to say for the start of a new month and where did September go..in and out in a flash.  Now it really feels as if winter is approaching.  I woke up at three, played games until four and back off again and went through until seven so not such a bad night.  I looked at the plant from the bathroom and it had burst into flower so I decided that it was time to give it a little sunlight so moved it down to the conservatory and it seems to like it there.  I needed bread but I was still in PJ's and didn't want to spoil the rest of my ladies' day so settled for an omelette and threw the stale bread for the animals.  

I intended getting out there and edging the flower beds but it was a struggle this morning to do anything.  The intention was there but the putting thought into action was  different matter.   At half eleven the mood changed.  I went up into the little house loft and brought down three planks which had previously been used for cement work by the men.  I'd got enough supports for the edging made by my guest earlier when he was over in the summer so all I had to do was remove the old concrete from the planks, apply the preservative and hammer them home.....and I did.  It was too hot to continue with the garden edging of the tile pile so I came in.   I was perspiring, my hair was sticky and wanted washing so I had a shower, washed my hair and started to watch the World Athletics on the PC....and promptly nodded off.  This weather saps all of the energy out of you.

More edging tomorrow but I might be needing to get more wood from Djebel....there's not much left in the little house.  I'll need to get bread tomorrow from the van so better get dressed but other than that there's not a lot on the agenda.  LN....Supper time....LN

Wednesday 2nd October

Silly night...I didn't managed to get off to sleep until two thirty this morning  but once settled  it was seven when I woke up.  I remembered that I needed bread so washed and dressed and waited for the toot of the horn.  The ladies were slow off the mark, Haciber was on her way back as I walked the hundred yards but Beyser was only just leaving her gate.  Zelinger was the only other one that was down there but it was a lovely surprise when the bread man said in English that 'the summer was gone' and I replied in Bulgarian that 'autumn was here'.

Poached eggs on ham on toast for breakfast, spent time cleaning my camera that doesn't want to auto focus but I think it's more to do with settings.  I'm not very good with manuals but I had a go and changed a few things and it seems to have improved.  Down for a bonfire and then got the tools out...I was about to plant the rest of the bulbs and decided that they were going in the vegetable garden and I sectioned it out.  I must have put in over two hundred and fifty bulbs, mainly tulips of various types so thought that by putting them into sections, I could at least sort out the different types and they will go into their final destinations next year.  I planted up hyacinth bulbs in the cleared lavender patch and put in an escalonia to try to hold back the honeysuckle...fat chance.

I came in for water, I was dripping from the forehead and needed to cool down a little,  It was thirty plus out there and really too hot to be doing what I'd set myself to do. I phoned my nail technician and I've made an appointment for tomorrow at two....I've lost one tip and I need infills.  I'll keep them going now until Christmas.  I put my toys away, left the selected wood out there and made tuna sandwiches for lunch and then fired up the computer to check the athletics....and promptly went to sleep and my sleep was disturbed by Guljan's mother at the bottom of my stairs and calling my name.  It took me a while to come round so I made coffee for us both, she'd come bearing gifts and the meat went in the freezer, the yogurt, sheep cheese and iran into the fridge.  I mentioned that I'd seen photos of her daughter's holiday on FB and we tried to connect on Messenger but it just wasn't happening.  We walked the garden and she went away with hyacinth bulbs and a busy lizzie plant that she spotted in the container on the terrace and I promised to go down to see her, taking the large glass jars that I'd had from last year so that she can made more pickles.  

No supper for me, the sandwiches are lingering....the two hundred final is on later and we stand a good chance of gaining a medal.  As I said nail refurbishment tomorrow and I'm not sure if I'm going to Pilates tomorrow night....it will mean two trips into Djebel.  LN.....Let's wait and see....LN

Thursday 3rd October

I know this is late...the World Athletics has been taking up such a lot of mine early and late evenings and last night was no exception.  Well done to Dina for getting the gold and now I'm waiting for the last of the of the seven disciplines for the heptathlon....and the Brit goes into it with a points advantage and might even beat the British record for the event so it will be another late night for me.

As for the day....lovely start to the day.  I was up before sunrise watering the garden....quite a few of the new shrubs needed attention so I gave it to them.  Everything watered, up came the sun and with the sun the temperature climbed.  I made scrambled eggs for breakfast and had washed everything and the kitchen was tidy by nine thirty,  I made a call to the UK regarding a fly cruise holiday I'd seen in the Canaries and the wheels were put in motion.  It's a pre-Christmas one and then I'll be home for Christmas and hand my presents round to the ladies on the actual day for a change....unless I find another holiday.  

I found some planks out for the tile garden and cleaned them down ready for construction tomorrow.  Brute force and ignorance removing nails, scraping off old concrete and they're ready for tomorrow and talking about nails...this time attached to my fingers...I headed into Djebel for the appointment at two o'clock....the young lady was waiting and all done with gel nail varnish in a subdued mauve-pink and my next appointment is already in the diary.

I stopped off at my student's mum's shop and my student had brought me back a fridge magnet from Miami from his work placement.  A cool very garish pineapple.....it should brighten my kitchen up.  A few items from the supermarket and home for six so I didn't feel like doubling back and going to Pilates.  It will wait for another week.  Now back to the athletics....thank goodness it's only one week. LN.....Woodworking again tomorrow but with gloves.....LN

Friday 4th October

So I stayed up last night to watch the last event in the heptathlon and missed it...I fell asleep...I realised that she'd managed to get the gold and break the British record..went to bed and then couldn't sleep.  Sod's law....it was about three when I eventually got my head down.  Well done to to the girls...two golds and a silver.  I played Soda Crush for a while but eventually, tablet down and eyes closed and off to fairy land until six thirty this morning.

It was a cloudy start to the day and rain had been predicted and they weren't wrong.  I made bacon and egg for breakfast and sat at the table near the stairs to eat it and then the heavens opened.  Very loud thunder, fork lightening and the computer had to be put to bed but after I'd checked out the easyJet prices , worked out the dates and the best offers and popped them in an email.  We had a telephone conversation, dates were agreed and I stayed on and booked them before the prices shot up even higher.  I went out in the rain and cleared the leaves from the drainage pipes under the concrete  at the bottom of the gate and also from the water butt filter....and then left it to nature.

I got the book out and I've gone back to Outlander series and didn't do a lot for the rest of the day.  Suddenly I looked up at the roof of the little house and a ginger cat was going along the ridge, by the time I'd grabbed the camera he'd moved off the roof.  I went outside with the camera and caught it on the wall after dismounting.  Not sure why it was up there....maybe o the hunt for birds bedraggled in the trees.  Chicken wings in the oven, the neighbour came round to tell me that because of the weather she was going back to Turkey early and would perhaps be back in the new year.

I've really appreciated the rain today, it's been really good for the garden and the grass has started to go green already...that was a long old drought.  LN...Kardjali tomorrow....I jve a card that I need to get in the post.  LN....Just a few of the cloud formations.....LN

Saturday 5th October

Dull old day again and so much so that I worked out why I was going into Kardjali and realised that I would get more items ticked off my mental list if I went in on Monday instead so it was put on the back burner.  It was cold so a cooked breakfast was in order so the bacon was finished and an egg fried to join it.

I ventured out to feed the old bread to the cats but they were obviously looking for better pickings and moved off quite quickly....they couldn't have been that hungry.  The one digging up my grass with interest didn't manage to get out what I fear is burrowing underneath.  I was amazed to see that this cat was wearing a pearl necklace so must belong to somebody that doesn't feed it enough or it's a roaming cat.  I went out and tidied up the terrace pots and emptied out yesterday's rain that had filled up the pot holders.  I was quite expecting a snorkel and flippers on the bougainvillea.  The rest of the garden was looking OK but as I looked at the choisya I decided to take  some cuttings from it...it's such a useful plant in the garden because it does it own thing and doesn't really need looking after.  

I settled on the sofa and watched the rugby...and well done England.  Pretty poor show from Owen Farrell though in goal scoring and I agreed with the commentator that maybe the tackle that he had could have affected his vision...just a thought.  He missed four so it's a good job that the rest of the team kept finding the Argentinian line.  I stayed where I was and read for a while but it has been a day of inactivity and I even resorted to a polo neck sweater.  I could have lit the fire but it seemed wimpish.  Somehow I missed the athletics this afternoon and am about to turn over to see this evening's instalment.  It's gong to be channel changing between that and Strictly or since I've not had a nap this afternoon....I could nod off and missed the lot of it..aghh well.

Last night's chicken wings have just been consumed and that will be enough for tonight.  Door locked, windows closed and I'm shut in for the night.  LN....Let my evening begin....LN

  

Sunday 6th October

I went to bed last night at midnight, not too much sleep in me so decided to relax with Soda Crush ...and that was the problem.  I met with success and was still playing an hour and a half later having knocked off ten games.   And that's not normal.  Settled down eventually and slept through until six thirty so not a bad night.

Coffee, back to bed until eight and somehow I got to sort out my stotinki pot and it's bagged up now for the local supermarket.  Ten leva came out of it in minimal denominations and I know that they always like change.   I went down for bread and I saw Emula at the bottom of the road waiting for a lift into town.  Apparently it was Djebel fete worse than death day today but the weather was cold so I didn't fancy walking around, buying stuff that I really didn't need and I really didn't feel very 'smiley' .  My neighbour suggested that we went and I put her down gently...and it wasn't long before the rain came down.

I'd taken a joint of lamb that one of my neighbours had given me from the freezer last night and it went into the slow cooker ready for tonight's supper.  Unfortunately the locals tend to hack their meat with not a lot of finesse at butchery, it was a very fatty joint so I browned it off and put it on a bed of onions and left it stewing all day.  Boiled eggs and soldier for breakfast and the rest of the day was filled with very little.  I had a couple of phone calls from the UK, emailed regarding a quote for insurance for my fly cruise, printed off the documents so far for the cruise and put a checklist together so that I don't miss anything....Advance Passenger Information required for the flight to the Canaries so much to do and lots of time to do it.  I seem to do better when it's working to close deadlines.

Supper consisted of a lamb sandwich and I think I'll enjoy it more when I make the rest into a shepherd's pie tomorrow.  I followed it with ice-cream. eight my time and still watching the last day of the World Athletics.  Noting on the agenda so far except a little work to do in Djebel including posting the birthday card.  LN....And now to relax.....LN

Monday 7th October

What a good night's seep....my Fitbit recorded eight hours and a few odds so it must have included the time I spent asleep in front of the computer before I actually made it to bed.  It was a cold old morning to wake up to, there was a sun trying desperately to make a name for itself but it was soon gobbled up by the clouds.  At nine I had a message from my student's sister to thank me for the help I'd given her with the preparations for her wedding.  Because she was writing in Bulgarian, I started using Google Translate and was writing it in English and copy and pasting the translation into the response.  It seemed to work and we arranged to meet either at her mother's shop or at the house.  I didn't bother with breakfast, got dressed  and copied the photos from the wedding on to a memory stick so that she would e able to transfer them onto the family machine and her laptop.  

I went to the post office first and got the card into the post.  The post office was heaving and I found out later that the money for the pensions hadn't arrived so they were waiting for the van to deliver the money.  I carried on to mother's shop and was told that the daughter had already left for home so I sat with the mother for a while and then drove on to the house.  The story goes that her new husband has left for Copenhagen to go back to work...she is living in Kardjali in her new apartment on her own, they can't find an apartment in Denmark currently at a price they can afford and everything is too big for them and she is currently going through the process of changing all her documentation to her new name.  She has a lot to do.  One thing that was good news...the wedding organiser want to buy the blackboard and easel that I'd made for the wedding.  We down loaded the wedding photos and she said that she hadn't seen much of the wedding before she joined in when the husband 'claimed' her from the house.  

My student arrived for lunch so I sat with them and had soup and boiled meat,  The father arrived but didn't eat with us and I though I might have had his share.  Student left and went back to work and mother arrived with more soup and hamburgers so I had a hamburger in a slice of bread and felt utterly stuffed afterwards.  Everybody went back to work, I chatted with sister for a while longer, robbed the garden of a few late flowering plants and headed home.  By now it had got really cold so first job was to close the windows,make a coffee and check the emails to see if there was anything from the travel insurance companies I'd contacted yesterday.

I gave in and lit the fire and it's the first of the autumn but it really feels like winter.  My body is still on summer time.  So now I should lose weight running up and down stairs and keeping the fire going , getting wood in and ash out...my daily exercise.  Bekir phoned tonight to say that the wood from the normal wood yard wan't good and I told him that I'd already received and stacked three tons when it was dry so I was ahead of the game.  He asked if I needed anything and if I did to phone and so I asked him to clean the chimney for me and to think about a new hat for the top of the chimney.  We left it that he would phone me when the weather improves especially if he's on the roof and the more I think about it I'm going to get delivered more loft insulation and put another twenty centimetres up there.  No supper...lunch is still lingering and as for tomorrow...nothing on the agenda yet...it's going to be weather dependent.  LN....Monday night

Tuesday 8th October

What a lovely surprise...just after half past seven when I woke up this morning.  Unfortunately the last half an hour or it seemed like that was in a recurring dream and I just couldn't get out of it.  We've all been there.  It was a bit of a dull old day, damp on the terraces and the temperature outside was eight degrees and nineteen on the inside, I'd burnt all of the logs that were in the log basket and only half a log remained in the log burner, I was tempted to light it again but I got dressed and put another sweater on...solved.

Toast for breakfast and I stripped the remaining lamb from the bone and got rid of the fat and bones over the wall for the animals.  I haven't checked on how much is left but I'm sure all will be gone by the morning.  So I had two objectives today...I was trying to set up a keypad for logging into the internet and I'[m not that good with written instructions that appear OK to everybody else.  I read through the instructions, reckon I know what I'm doing, read them again when I get an error message or not the message that's expected, think I'm useless, start again and bingo....done and dusted.  I put the key pad on a key ring and remembered to write down the code to the device.  It's just another safety device for internet banking.

Job done I moved on to the next.  I made gravy and put the remaining lamb into a pie dish and covered it with the gravy and left if to soak to soften the meat.  I was going to add the potato topping later and make it into a shepherds.  Next job on the list was to put the holiday insurance to bed.  I decided to try the company that I have my house and car insurance with but after three phone calls that cut off when they were transferring me to the travel department, I gave it up as a bad job.  The second company were putting the onus on me to decide how much I wanted to insure the holiday for, they weren't offering levels so I emailed them and told them that I wouldn't be taking the application further.  So back to the original company I'd tried, completed the application online, the card way accepted and a message appeared on the screen telling me to contact the company.  Fortunately we solved it between us, the confirmation email had gone to the junk folder and it confirmed that my insurance is complete.  Second item off the list.

I went out to the workshop and loaded up the log carrier just in case the temperature dropped later but I'm managing without lighting the fire.  I also brought in the ash container and emptied the ash from the ashcan.  Potatoes peeled, boiled and mashed, spread over the meat and gravy and into the oven with it.  Forty minutes later my supper was ready.  Eaten up, the dish is soaking, I've finished off with ice-cream and now I've decided that it's too late to light the fire as it will soon be time for bed.  

Not much activity again today...it's just too cold, damp and just too soon to be heading into winter.  We haven't really had autumn,,,,there are more leaves on the ground looking wet and bedraggled that russet coloured on the trees.  Funny old year for weather.  LN....It's going to be a book for bedtime...LN

Wednesday 9th October

Eight start and if I'd have wanted to get bread from the van i would have had to get my skates on.  I heard the horn, checked the bread box and there was nothing with a green tinge on it so I settled for buttered toast.  That wasn't until much later though, I was playing silly Soda Crush and managed to knock off about four games before my lives ran out.  There's a new element that gives you a games moves rush and what a waste of effort that is.  It's much better to take it slowly and calculate the moves...a bit like life really but try and spot the opportunities.

So it was nine thirty when I got out of bed, washed, dressed, washing in the machine, pegged out when the sun had broke through.  With the mist in the valley my mountains had the optical illusion of looking taller...strange phenomena.  I walked the garden and noticed that I have several mole hills and this must be due to the heavy rain...they're obviously making new tunnels and the cats have been standing guard over them.  They've been taking up the pounce stance and bounding on to the tracks but obviously they're around four inches or even more lower than the surface.  Opportunists...and it's good exercise for them.

Haciber has paid me two visits.  The first one reminded me of the magician who hides a coin underneath little upturned pots and you have to guess where it is.  The upturned a couple on the outside window sill near the outside sink, was muttering to me in Turkish the content of which I hadn't got a clue and suddenly she lifted up the correct one and she produced a bag of coated peanuts.  Apparently she'd tried to deliver them yesterday and couldn't manage to raise me so left them for me to find, which I hadn't managed to do.  I thanked her, they're on the table and I'll have them later.  Her second visit was to bring me a bag of sultanas from Turkey.  Very sweet and I'll save them for baked apples.

Despite my good night's sleep, I still managed to get in a couple of hours sleep this afternoon.  Out to get in the washing and although it went up to twenty nine degrees in the house today it was starting to go damp so on the clothes airer in the upstairs bathroom.  I'm not too bothered about about food so far tonight...I'll have a hunt later.  Tomorrow I have some preparation to do for my student's brother tomorrow afternoon.  I'm giving him his first English lesson even though he's done two years of English at school....it's at his mother's request and it's not until five tomorrow evening and then I'll go on to Pilates.    LN....Fingers crossed for another good night....LN

Thursday 10th October

I was awake by six this morning but I had a nap yesterday so it's my own fault.  Bit of a cool morning, I was up and about by seven thirty, washed, dressed and waiting for the bread van by eight.  I'd put an extra sweater on and so had my neighbours...there was quite a selection of outer garments, made quite a change from the normal Turkish cardies.  I came back with bread, eggs and a cheesy bread and that was my breakfast sorted and my lunch as it turned out.  I washed up and cleaned the kitchen and it was still only nine so I headed out, it was going to be a gardening day.  

First job w as to plant up the buddleia cuttings that I I'd taken yesterday and put into water overnight.  I finished planting up the bulbs and now only have about twelve hyacinths to get into pots suitable for bringing in the house nearer Christmas.  I had a short break and noticed that a cat has taken up nightly residence on the sofa so I decided to remove the cushions and the cover from the sofa and get it into the washing machine….outside was not going to become a drop in for the cats of the neighbourhood.  I moved on to the Frog garden and took out the last stalks of the day lilies, dug up a very invasive bunch of hypericom and put it to one side for handing over at a later date to my friends in Fotinovo.  I took up the spent calendula and deadheaded the zinnia, trimmed the potentilla and the weigela and stopped when I heard a car pull up outside and the hypericom were on there way.

We sat in the sun with coffee and I spotted a tortoise heading towards the top right corner of the garden so I grabbed the camera and we went down to have a look at it and it was a fair size.  He picked it up and it hissed and I’d never heard that before but apparently it’s quite normal,  The think was carted out of the garden, over the road and now has a paddock to play in but I bet it’s back tomorrow…they have a super highway.

This afternoon I showered and washed my hair, prepared the first lesson for my student’s brother and headed in to Djebel for around four.  We started the first lesson and it was fun…he’s nothing like his brother…this one has boundless energy and is keep to learn.  Lesson over and homework delivered and his mother and myself went off to pilates and we were the only tow there,  I’m aching but stretched out, managed to cook spicy sausage and cold potatoes with onion, served with beetroot and mayo and I’ll do until breakfast.  Car in tomorrow for winter check and winter tyres and may be a trip into Kardjali to buy the insulation for the roof,  Having said that it’s supposed to be twenty nine degrees on Saturday so I’m going to get in a last day’s swim in Greece.  Rude not to.  LN…Busy but successful day….LN

Friday 11th October

Silly night last night....I decided to stop up to watch Question Time and to be honest...what a waste of time.  As for Extinction Rebellion...what a load of scare mongers...doesn't even bend the ear to reported facts from a reliable source..... and the presenter is just as annoying as ever.  Slept well though and woke up at seven thirty and really didn't need to be anywhere until tenish.  I was amazed...I was told that there would be no rain for the next week and the terraces were all we and it had obviously rained overnight and the skies were very grey.

I didn't bother with breakfast and that was a mistake.....I went all the way through to the gas station when I filled up.  So down to the garage for my winter check over and fitting of winter tyres.  There was a bit of a rush on so I suggested that I go away and come back again so I went up to the shop and pestered his wife for an hour.  It was Friday though and market day so she didn't have much time to spare for me...lots of people from the villages buying oil for the chainsaws along with the additive.  I went back as arranged and two new tyres required, oil checked, anti-freeze allowing me to go down to minus forty but hopefully I never have to test it's advertising slogan.  I sat in the sun reading the Kindle while they were working on my car and I could have nodded off.  I was so relaxed listening to the flow of the river, a couple of chainsaws working on the opposite hillside and hearing the fall of the pines but not being able to see where they fell.  Mood over, the garage owner came over and said that my car was done and all that was left was the bill for the work.  He went of to calculate it, I settled it and he pointed out that the rims that had come off needed some attention.  The journey down the back lane to the Greek road had taken its toll and they're off to Kardjali and will be ready for the next year.

I left the garage and headed in to Kardjali and stopped off to check up on the cost of loft insulation.  Unfortunately they don't sell it by the roll and calculate the cost per square meter and I lost the will to live in that shop so moved on.  Over to the next store and that proved even more complicated and why is it that I could buy the rolls ten years ago..off the peg so to say.  Kaufland for a stroll and a few items including a pack of Mars bars and stop off at Lidl for a few more items.  Leaving Lidl I started one of the Mars but when I got to the gas station I shoved the remainder in my mouth and fortunately I new the attendant so he knew I wanted gas and to the top.  I apologised for being unable to speak so offered him one of the other Mars, told him it was English chocolate and he shoved it straight in his pocked.  My bill was only eight lev so really didn't have to stop but at least I shan't run out.

I came back via the back lane and was amazed that it was just after four thirty when I got back.  Shopping unpacked. I watered a beautiful pink lily that was in need of love and attention and set to thinking about supper.  Hamburgers out of the freezer and a potato sliced very thinly and by six I was eating my fill.  Greece tomorrow and I don't think it will be a swim day even though it's forecast as being twenty nine degrees in the afternoon.  I'll have to wait and see ...I'll take the gear but it will be an on the spot decision,  LN.... Snorkels at the ready......LN

Saturday 12th October

Another silly night...I fell asleep watching Gardner's World, eased myself from the chair and into the bedroom, still sleepy and then settled down and ...wide awake so I was reading until two this morning.  Such is life.  I woke at six thirty, a little Soda Crush, a little reading, out of bed by seven, washed and dressed, passport at the ready, euro purse located and into the Nipper by eight thirty and off to Fotinovo arriving early.

An offer of coffee was on the table but I abstained....I'd had one and a half cups before I left and didn't know when the next pit stop would occur.  The road to Greece was empty and it was so nice to get there without competition and a long waait at the border...only two cars in front of us.  We went round the market in Komitini and picked up a few items and I managed to find a purple shirt with H&M label in it for one euro and a few other purchases were made but not by me.  We carried on to Fanari, stopped for coffee but unfortunately our favourite bread and croissant shop had sold out of everything so we just settled for coffee.  A quick trip round the harbour and then on to another coffee whop where we knew there were toilets so it was one in and one out.  The temperature was climbing at this point so we set off for the beach, chairs at the ready and set up camp, a little stone collecting and then quick change and into the sea.  It was a little cold to get in but once in it was brilliant and not cold at all.  The worst part was just getting the shoulders in but once they were covered the rest was easy peasy. ad I stayed in for about thirty minutes.  

We stayed on the beach until about four and headed back to Komitini, a quick trip round Lidl, the garden centre was closed so we carried on to Ikea and I bought a Christmas present and the unfortunate part was the other item I wanted to buy could only be bought with a loyalty card and for that you needed a Greek telephone number so I'm on the look out... ;)

Home for seven thirty, supper was ham sandwiches I couldn't be bothered cooking anything and I ate it watching the Gymnastic World Championships and we managed to win the  gold medal for the pommel ....well done Max.  Strictly as just started so it's time for me to concentrate.  Sorry for the pack of pickies today...as I got to the next village I realised I'd forgotten the camera...ah well, it won't be the last time for this year...this weather is forecast to last for a while.  LN....Swimsuit and towel washed and drying .....LN

Sunday 13th October

Seven thirty start and it was a gentle beginning to the day.  Mist everywhere and the grass was damp when I went out to walk the garden so I earmarked the afternoon to get out the lawnmower and cut the grass...wrong...the best laid plans of mouse and me.  I put last night's washing away and realised that I had more in the laundry basket so took that down to the kitchen and started the machine.  Without shoes on I realised that some of Fanari beach was on the kitchen mats after I'd emptied the beach bag last night so I took them outside to shake them and my painter came into the yard.  I must have looked a little confused and he reminded me that I'd asked him if he could chop the remainder of the wood and that today was a good day for him to do it.  I manoeuvred the cars so that the Nipper outside the gate and the Beast was out of the garage so that he could get to the ones between the Beast and the wall and far enough out of the yard so he could get to work.  At this point, I forgot about breakfast and joined in the fun.

I got the tools out of the woodstore for him, wheelbarrow at the ready I started to move the logs into the yard for him so that he could chop them.  I also got the log carrier out so that he could load the log carrier with the chopped logs and I would stack them in the wood store and it worked.  We had a few really hard to chop ones and it was obvious by the old chop marks on them that the wood yard had had the same problem and decided just to ship them out.  With the old axe head and the lump hammer and me supervising they were no more and all is safely gathered in.  I'm amazed at his strength but there again I'm amazed at mine and it was around two when we'd finished after sweeping the garage and yard and collecting up the wood chips and leaves.  We'd had a brief interlude when I'd brought out Avatar's peaches that had been left in the conservatory to ripen and he managed to eat four of them leaving me the stones to plant up.....and the rest will go over the wall for whatever decides to participate.  He's very difficult to get to take payment for jobs...I offered a figure and he reduced it by a third so I upped it and gave him a note plus the rest in fifties and twenty stotinke coins from when I'd sorted out the money in the jar the other day.  Fortunately it was in a plastic bag so I put it in the bib pocket of his dungarees...and he went away happy.

Off he went to sleep for the afternoon, I came in and made a very late breakfast of bacon and eggs, lay on the sofa watching the gymnastics and promptly fell asleep to wake up to the British entrant winning the gold in the parallel bars....well done that man.  Washing in, about to be put away and nothing needed for supper...my late breakfast will suffice.  So from my list for today I have to carry forward the grass cutting and now it's on the agenda for tomorrow and what happened to my day of rest...pahhh.

I'm aching, the boiler is about to go on and I'll linger in the comfort of a bath tonight to soak away the aches and pains and accumulate others tomorrow.  LN.....And now relax.....LN
  

Monday 14th October

Dull old day again but it had the potential of turning out to be another stunner.  I crept into the lounge and looked out of the window to see which cat was at the cat hotel overnight and there were two of them...the ginger white and the black one.  I went out with the camera to take a photo and I must have just disturbed them both, the black one shot off towards the main gate through the grave garden and the ginger white shot off towards the wall stopping to look at me before it shot over.  It's not that I like cats...they like me.  Today though I've taken away the cushions form the chairs and the sofa, it's time they were put away for the winter.  The cushions have gone in the plastic garden box so available and the foam has been put away in the little house.  We'll see how the cats do tonight now that the bedding is taken away...they might still like the shelter of the balcony.

Toast for breakfast with ham and spread cheese on it and it was a slow old day for me.  My painter came round and picked up the lavender plant that I'd given him yesterday despite having taken three before and killed the lot of them.  I think his soil is just too fertile.  He didn't bother with any of the peaches today....they#re still waiting to be sent over the wall.  I did manage to wind up the curly hose and hang it up and the long ones on the garden are now sitting on the terrace.  It's so damp over night that I think the plants have enough moisture..they'll get put away tomorrow.

I got stuck into the television today and hadn't really got the energy for anything.  By twelve I was having my afternoon nap, woke up and demolished the remnants of a bar of dark nut chocolate that I'd bought in Greece and again rested on my laurels of yesterday's effort.  The agenda niggled and at four in the afternoon it got the better of me.  I started with the little house grass thinking that that would be enough but them the mood really took over and despite a lot of effort....it's now finished and looks really good and well worth the effort.

Shower time...I made the mistake of removing the grass collector and putting a piece of wood to open up the back flap while I wheeled it back to its garage under the little house terrace and got pebble dashed...grit everywhere.  Tuna salad for supper tonight so I'm off to the kitchen and then early night.  I've done eleven thousand steps today...three days over target...get in there.  LN...Slow start but agenda completed....LN

Tuesday 15th October

Early to bed and early to rise...I was up before the sun and the clouds over the mountains this morning were just beautiful.  I got back into bed after taking the first pickies, intended to catch the sunrise but it snook up on me so you'll have to do with it hiding behind the mist.  After taking the next pickie I went back to bed...Soda Crush was being generous,,,I was on a roll and I had to force myself out of bed by eight...I needed bread.  The old I'd already thrown over the wall for the cats and birds so I really needed it.  No cats in the hotel last night...they must have found somewhere else with cushions to lie on or they'd beaten me to it.

I was tidying up the garden hose when I heard the bread van so I dropped it and it's still on the terrace.  I came back and had poached eggs on toast for breakfast and was just sitting down to it when my painter came into the yard asking me what I was doing today,  He explained the he wanted to go to Momchilgrad and I understood that it was something to do with the Red Cross but at first he said that he would ask his friend but I replied that it was no trouble to take him so I arranged to pick him up at eleven from his house.   I went back to my gardening, I decided to hack through the stony ground at the bottom of the garden so that I could plant the escalonia that was sitting in a pot.  It had rooted itself from the parent plant on the long wall.  I managed to dig down about a foot removing the stones, put some rotted manure in the bottom of the hole and watered it well, planted it up and tomorrow I'll make a wooden surround for it.

So we set off for Momchilgrad and he was still in his work gear.  We parked up and he was hungry so we stopped at a cafe for a cheesy bread. moved on to a cafe and both had coffee and water.  I thought that he was going to give blood but it turned out to be a sit down lunch for about forty elderly ladies and men.  When we arrived, he introduced himself to the deputy organiser who then introduced him to the group and praising him for being the mainstay of Djebel, quite an accolade, we sat down and she approached us and said that he could eat but I definitely couldn't.  He said that we didn't want to and again she said that he could but I couldn't.  Politics egh......

It began to break up around one, we went into a leva shop and I picked up a few items and so did he, back into the car, dropped him off and I headed home leaving the Nipper outside the wall so that I could get the Beast out.  Despite the thirty degrees I was taking it for a winter check-up but having seen the food I now had it in my brain to get something to eat.  I parked up in Djebel and went to the soup kitchen and had chicken and rice before I went down to the garage...everything was fine and my bill was only five lev for brake fluid. everything else was OK.  I called in to the garage shop and had an hour with my student's mum, put the cars away and settled on the sofa, just falling asleep and Haciber appeared inviting me to a baby party on Sunday.  She moved on to the terrace and looked at the garden and said that it looked 'cok guzel', very pretty.

Woodwork day tomorrow and garden edge painting with preservative but that's after I've strimmed round the edging.  I've been promised old engine oil for free this time, I had to pay for it last year.  LN.....It could be a full on day.......LN  

Wednesday 16th October

Silly night again....I didn't get off to sleep until about two thirty and awake at six....so the agenda for today was slightly adjusted.  It took a long time for the mist to burn off so it was still damp and chilly until about eleven.  Boiled eggs for breakfast and today was an experiment.  The last twice that I'd had eggs from the bread van, I'd had very quick leaps to the toilet and I'm thinking that they're carrying a bug of sorts.  Today's eggs came from Kaufland, were boiled and served with soldiers and so far so good.  Washing in and out and I took to the rocking chair in the bedroom and had an hour or so with my book...I felt I deserved.

I eventually got dressed intending to go into Djebel to collect the old engine old and then remembered that I've got the boy for his English lesson tomorrow so I can pick it up then.  The  cats were active smelling the mole tracks and standing as if to pounce but silly thinks forgot there was about six inches of soil between them and the prey.  They headed for the burning pit to see if there were any rich pickings but yesterday's fire had cleaned it all up..nothing to be had here, move along please.  Back to the sofa and caught up on my sleep and at four I headed out to clean up the leaves that had fallen on the outside of the wall.  If we do get a downpour, the leaves block the drain and floods the lane.   It didn't stop there, I started to clear up the little garden under the wall that has had no attention since Sally stone edged it about eight years ago.  I trimmed the rose back and tied it to the railings, got the grass out and planted up a lavender that had been lingering in a pot on the terrace.  My neighbour from the garden next door brought round a bag of potatoes that she'd dug up from her garden and that should keep me going for a time.  The husband was fascinated by the adjustable wire rake that I was using for the leaves and I'll buy them one if I see one for sale.  Tools away at six and it's time to close the windows...it's getting chill and time to get down to the kitchen to find something for supper.  LN....No so late to bed tonight....LN

Thursday 17th October

So I went to bed at a reasonable time but I was awake by three...I reckon last night's supper was just too difficult to digest.  I made a tuna salad using potato, beetroot, sweetcorn, tuna and of course..mayonnaise.  I was playing silly games until five but then slept through until eight so not so bad.  It was another dull start to the day which burnt off and became another super day and I took advantage of it.  The garden hoses are tied up ready for the winter but still awaiting their winter parking place.

Breakfast of boiled eggs and toast again, kitchen tidied and it was a day of not a lot of action.   A lot of the morning was printing off documents for my student for his lesson this afternoon and trying to work my way through my computer filing system.  I'd was hoping to use lot of the stuff that I'd used for his brother about five years ago but locating it was another matter.  I had a break in that I hadn't found what I was looking for so took to cleaning shoes and putting summer shoes away...it will soon be autumn boots and it was about three weeks ago until out Indian summer arrived.

I drove into Djebel and on the way there was a piercing scream from the Nipper that I couldn't locate so I carried on to the garage.  My student's father came over and worked out the it was the heater fan, the noise stopped on the blower when it was on three of the settings and only occurred on the  one setting.  It does entail taking the dash off to get to it so it was shelved...I just didn't use setting number three.  Result though, I was handed a fifteen litre container of old engine oil so no excuses for tomorrow unless I decided to have another day off.  The boy was just about to go out to play since his mother had told him that the lesson would begin at five and that was a wrong move.  I marked his homework, we went through the next text and it was a slow old process and he was eager to be off again and out with his playmates.  Off he went and I went through his lesson with his mother and she's going to add the Bulgarian words to some words of the next.

Supermarket for a few items and home just before seven.  Fish finger sandwiches for supper and I've spoilt myself with three mini eclairs.  Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow so far but things can change......the garden is calling though...such a lot to do before the weather changes.  LN....We're being spoilt......LN

Friday 18th October

Lovely night and woke up at six with no interruptions.  I would say wasted the next two hours playing Soda Crush but is it really wasting?  Not really…I won several games and it does take a little skill knowing when to go for two or a kind or two of different ones and…..I enjoy it, so why not.

I eventually got downstairs to make coffee when my lives had ended and made it down to the bread van by eight and came back with a loaf and a cheesy bread for breakfast.  The old bread was lobbed over the wall for the animals and I sat on the bench with my cheesy bread enjoying the sun.  The wind was a little cool but not a bad start to the day.  I did manage to put the hose pipes away into the wood store and hopefully that the last of them until next year, I filled up one of the log containers ready to bring it into the porch and then took my book outside and settled again on the bench.  I was surprised by a little lizard that belted across the terrace and settled by the bucket by the bench and I reckon he’d used up all his energy in the dash. I went in to get the camera and it was still there when I got outside again and it rested in the sun for a good ten minutes.  He was so tiny.

I moved in and took up my resting pose on the sofa with my book….and yes you’ve guessed it even though I’d slept well.  I was awakened by Haciber with a chocolate and hazelnut croissant and a bottle of ayran and said that it was a present from her son…..I denied being asleep and said that I was resting my eyes but I’m not sure she believed me.  All I remember about my dream was eating a complete box of chocolates and not even offering the giver one of them…what’s that all about!!  

At the temperature dropped I went round shutting the doors and windows.  I love the fresh air but not the cold air that comes after a hot day.  It seems more of a shock to the system.  Supper went in five thirty and was ready for six thirty.  Chicken wings and jacket potato and now I can potentially finish the profiteroles/ éclairs from yesterday.  They just happened to be sitting on the desk last night and that’s probably why I was dreaming of pigging it out with the box of chocolates.

Nothing for tomorrow so far….just the way I like it.  LN….Strictly catch-up calls….LN

Saturday 19th October

Happy birthday dad....he's not physically with me but I know he hangs around the house now and then,  When things get tough it's his presence that tells me just to get on with it and keep at it....he adds the mojo.  He was a miner for fifty years and not an easy life and at the end of his 'career' he was taking on the new recruits and taking them through their induction and training.  Similar life plans but he was underground while I did the work above and sometimes in foreign countries,

So what sort of night did I have...rubbish again.  Playing on my tablet and reading from two until five but it seems to be the way things are going at the moment,  I've just got to try to get back to a sleep pattern.  I woke up again at seven, didn't need bread, scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast, kitchen all tidied and the day was mine.  Before breakfast though I was sorting through my clothes that I think I might be taking on the cruise and putting them to one side and washing what needs it.  I'm not sure what the weather is like in the Canaries...I'll have to look it up but I think I just need one warm sweater especially for getting back here on the 16th December.

I suddenly remembered that the England rugby was being televised this morning followed by the Irish match so my morning was pretty well taken up and I didn't feel at all guilty about it.  Well done to England, fantastic game and shame about the Irish and now it’s England versus New Zealand as we move through to the grand finale.  I then decided it was time that I did something so I moved the long bench from in front of the porch window, swept the leaves from under it and moved the bench from the yard into the space.  Next step was to get the old engine oil that I’d got yesterday, mix it with wood preservative and liberally douse the long bench with it.  It’s a bit suspect in places and some of the planks need replacing but it’s now wintering in the little house and will be used to hold the plants that need to winter inside.  It will save them hanging about on the floor.  The long bench for the outside sink was also removed and the leaves cleared from under it and that will undergo the same treatment but it wasn’t for today.

Good day today…I had a bonfire to get rid of the damaged flower pots and leaves and bits of rubbish from the little house.  The old glass jars will go into the container tomorrow….I pay for it so I should use it.  LN….Strictly tonight so on your marks…..LN

Sunday 20th October

Sleep of the just last night...eleven through until seven without interruptions...more of the same tonight please except that I need to wake a little earlier.  I'm picking up my painter at seven fifteen tomorrow morning to get his to the hospital for an eight o'clock appointment.  Silly old me forgot that on a Monday morning we have a seven six thirty bus and only remembered after I'd made the offer.  I'll remember for next time.

I walked the garden with my coffee and counted the mole hills...bastard beings are still burrowing and leaving there tracks or rather no tracks...bloody great hillocks.  I'm tempted to but down some bangers that we use for stray dogs but do they really deserve it...no they don't.  I didn't stay out there too long....the sun was up but it hadn't really warmed things up greatly so I came back into the fold and refilled the coffee.  I didn't bother with breakfast, I was out to lunch with my ladies for a baby party and there would be food a plenty and yu cn almost guarantee the menu...soup, chicken of sorts and cake.  I waited at the square with the other ladies for the bus and my favourite driver appeared after about ten minutes.  I love him because he's such a happy chappy and there's a big sign which says 'do not talk to the driver' and there should be another advising the driver not to talk to the passengers.  He turned round, saw me and asked me how I was and I replied and then the ladies started asking him why they hadn't asked them how they were.  Favouritism is what they were inferring.

So we all say down, the father ad mother appeared with the baby and I hadn't realised that the two were married.  I knew them individually but didn't realise they were a couple and so happy with their first born.  The chocolates came round along with the money box, the food was served and we headed back to the coach and home for two.  I made coffee, sat outside with it and then got back into the Nipper to be at R and K's in Fotinovo and then on to the restaurant to meet up with my Dutch friend and do a bit of networking.  The spider's web grows.  Cards were exchanged, back to theirs for more coffee and just as I was leaving a lorry arrived bearing topsoil which was dumped near the front wall.  R's work for tomorrow was delivered in a lorry...red lorry not a yellow lorry.  Home for seven thirty, tuna mayo and buttered toast for supper and a chocolate bar to finish it off.

As I mentioned early start tomorrow and I left the Nipper outside the wall for easy access in the morning.  I'm not sure if he is staying in or not but he said that he's taking a suitcase with him....maybe wanting a few days off work.  LN....Strictly results any time now.....LN

Monday 21st October

So last night I set the alarm knowing that I had to be up and about to pick up my painter at seven fifteen but when I woke up at five, turned off the alarm and read until six thirty.  When I went out to he car he was waiting for me so we set off for the back lane and off to Kardjali.  The fog was very heavy and my painter was panicking a little but fortunately they've put a another layer of hardcore down so it was a fairly smooth run down.  Unfortunately the lorries going down to the main road have fairly knacked the concrete access to the road so you have to be very careful not to go off the edge and sink into the ditch.

We arrived at the hospital at seven forty and waited for the kiosk to open so that he could get a ticket for the cubical that he had to visit.  I love the system here, you arrive without an  appointment, get issued with a ticket and wait for the consultant.  If you need further investigation  you get sent to the next level up and if you need to be admitted, they tell you when.  It knocks the British system into a cocked hat.  We went from the first inspection to the optician outside of the hospital and back to the hospital with the results.  Back to the cubicle and he will hear within the next few days when they organise the operation on his eyes.

Back to the Nipper and some twit had parked on a second row and it had to have about six attempts to get out of a narrow gap with a man in the front telling me the gap in front and my painter behind telling me what the gap was...and it was inches.  My painter suggested that we went into Djebel and came back that way but I'd had enough.  I took the back lane and we were home for twelve....we'd been out for about five ours.  He set off for home, I did happen to drive him there but he wanted to walk.  I took to the sofa with a coffee and caught up a couple of hours of sleep, woke up and put chicken legs in the oven for supper and then got back to working on my family chart and ended up equally frustrated as I did at the earlier part of the year.  I just can't find my 1797's many great granddad's birth record so I'll keep trying.  Phone call from my friend Pin the UK and she's out next year at a date yet to be arranged with a sub-trip to Istanbul.

Chicken was ready for six thirty, I'd  put it on a slow heat and there's one left for tomorrow night so it looks like curry for me.  I might go to Kardjali tomorrow just on a gentle shopping day...I'll see how I feel or maybe phone Bekir to see if he fancies coming with me to buy the insulation and fit it for me tomorrow....just need to know his commitments.  LN...I've eared a day's work from my painter today....LN

Tuesday 22nd October

Lazy day today and stupidly got stuck into ancestry again and gave up surrounded by papers, notes, print outs and it's sitting on the table in the stairwell.  I still can't find my great, great but I've found two names that haven't cropped up before  and they've created new mysteries.

As for the rest of the day....noticed the cat on the bench this morning and managed to get a pickie of it but when I went out to get a better shot...it shot off.  Unfortunately I forgot to get the cushions in so I'll probably ave another visitor tonight.  Beans on toast for breakfast, kitchen tidied and back on to the sofa with my book and I appear to have got stuck into it again.  I've read it before but can't remember the bit that I'm re-reading.

I had my nap and it was at that point that I decided that I'd pick up where I'd left off yesterday and since I've paid up for a yearly subscription...I have to get my money's worth.  Cold chicken for supper...I hadn't got round to currying it or doing anything else with it but it was over and done with quite quickly but having heard that one way to improve gut well being, I found a packet of dates that I'd bought earlier in the year and that became desert.  I did manage to phone Bekir this morning to find out if he has work or can fit me in to get the loft insulation and lay it for me...and I'll wait for the response.  LN....Another potentially easy day tomorrow....LN

Wednesday 23rd October

Five start but I didn't venture downstairs until six thirty...there was no rush this morning.  I played silly games until eight, heard the bread van but didn't have to go there nut it put me in the mood for breakfast.  I had half a can of beans in the fridge so on with the toast and sat at the table in the stairwell in what there was of the sun and it wasn't much.  It took until eleven before the mist was burnt off and I could get my washing out.

I decided to sort through the 'Find my Past' printouts and get them in some sort of order but then put the computer on and started all over again.  One of the mysteries was solved but the main one remains a mystery to me.  I think I shall have to get on to the help line....there are so many with more or less the same dates of birth and the 'hints' that I get are  of no use at all.  They're as confused as I am and by now the time had moved on to twelve. I carried on making notes and looking up different sets of data until my eyes crossed and the power went off and put an end to my endeavours.

I moved up to the bedroom and took up position in the sun on the rocking chair and settled in to my book until I thought it was time I did something active.  I'd looked at the mole hills so headed down the garden armed with packets of moth balls, the trowel and a pair of scissors.  I attacked them all and dropped the contents of each packed into the individual holes.  Let's see how they like that.  War has been declared and I shall know if they're still out there.... they'll be raising more hillocks.  Next job was to take the old burnt cans and jam jars in the log carrier along to the container.  I had a word with Zelinger who was tidying up her garden and brought three decent sized stones back with me from one of the stone heaps that used to be somebody's house.  I was tempted to use the log carrier to get some topsoil from where it's been dumped on the old rubbish tip near the garden that's next to my house....but decided it could wait until tomorrow morning.  I shall have to make several trips, I want to full up a couple of new tubs..I've found more daffodil bulbs in the little house.  The cat hotel is not open tonight...the cushions are away and in the chest and the washing came in before the mist came down.

No supper for me tonight.  I've been eating the daters all day and I'm not in the least bit hungry.  Nails tomorrow and student later in the afternoon and no Pilates, my heads not up to it.  LN....Gently into the evening....LN

Thursday 24th October

Six start and a good night's sleep since I avoided getting my head down yesterday.  I was much too busy trying to sort out my relatives from olden times.  I was out with the camera this morning before the sun came up....and what a stunning morning it was.  Pink blue sky, mist in the valley, crescent moon and as the sun came atop the mountain the sky changed to red.  It's a beautiful part of the world.

Down to the kitchen for coffee, tidies away the washing up from last night and did the rest of the dishes and put those away.  I settled for toast and spread cheese and by this time it was only nine o'clock...I was on a roll.  I printed off a photo of the mother and child for my bread van man and put it into a frame and will deliver in the morning.  I set about preparing for my student and managed to find the lessons that I'd used for his brother and got together the printout that I wanted for this afternoon.  I also made him his own A-Z book so that we could write all the unknown words in the book in English and Bulgarian and he had something as a reference point.  It also means that I can test him regularly to see if we need to go over them again.  

As I was leaving to go to Djebel my phone went and it was the garage to let me know that the original owner of the Clio had been spotted and approached by the garage owner to ask him what he intended to do about it and that I'd been saddled with it for the last two years since I couldn't get the MOT done on it.  It's actually sat at the garage for the last tow years and it was suggested that the owner takes the documents to KAT, have it de-registered and then the garage can negotiate with the gypsies to buy it and take it away.  I handed the documents over, went down to get my nails sorted and smartened up and then back to the garage shop and waited for my student to come home from school.  Unfortunately he came home in a pretty bad mood and eventually we went up to the apartment and started the lesson.  It was OK....I had to push him a little and I think there was more life in the budgie.  He liked the dictionary and started to fill it in...result....not to keen on the new text but we got there eventually,  I went to the shop to discuss progress with his mother and then headed home after purchasing a rather snazzy steering wheel cover...black velvet with embroidered flowers.  We decided that the car would look female but is drives like a man...beware you non-believers.

Supper of hamburgers  and fried off potatoes, fire going tonight....the temperature has dropped...it was five degrees this morning and I fancied a cosy feel in the home tonight.  LN...Nothing on for tomorrow so far.....LN

Friday 25th October

I don't learn do I....I ended up watching Question Time again and I still don't know why.  They seem to dredge up the panel and the only one that seemed to raise the standard was the American who seemed to know a lot more about the state of the country with regard to industry than the politicians who always try to put the party line on any question asked.  As for Norman Lamont I think Norman Lament might have been more appropriate.  Eventually got to bed at one thirty, played Soda Crush for a while and then went into a reasonable sleep and woke up at six.  It left me a little jaded this morning, I managed to cook two poached eggs and I was eating them at eight thirty and kitchen cleared by nine....so what to do.  I ended up settling down on the rocker in the sun but it was so warm that I moved down to the sofa in the shade and got stuck into the book.  This didn't last too long and you've guessed it.  I soon went back to sleep and woke up at eleven thirty and then burst into action.

I attacked the space between the house and the front wall and cleared the old sunflowers, the seeds had all been removed by the birds so there was no point in leaving them there.  I moved along the wall and noticed that the ground honeysuckle had completely swamped the laurel so it had to go.  It was also attacking the juniper on the other side of it  so now they both have a better chance,  It didn't stop there...I trimmed up the honeysuckle and the Japonica kerria, used the rake to remove the debris and heaved it over the wall surprising a couple of cows that were grazing near the wall.  I'd started the bonfire earlier with the house waste so kept it going with the cuttings and cleared some of the damaged pots that really make it go well.  And more 'pruning'.  The oak has been cleared at the bottom, the side shoots taken off and hopefully it will not develop into a beautiful tree.  It will probably be long after I've left the planet but it will be there for someone else to appreciate.  The wild wild plums have all been trimmed and I'll try to establish a hedge between the bonfire pit and the garden.   I moved on to the workshop terrace and cleared some of the old pots from there keeping what I needed and burning the rest, the upright cold frame has suffered and needs taking apart and put back together with decent sized side supports and that might happen tomorrow but after the rugby...my my morning is booked.

Tools away and it was seven before I came in and I'd managed to knock up my ten thousand steps today but couldn't manage to transfer the steps over to the second Fitbit...I couldn't get the second one that had gone on charge to sync and that means that the achievement won't be noticed....I'll try it again later.  Normally there's not a problem...if I change watches because the battery is low on the one that I'm wearing, the data gets transferred...this time no go.  

Kitchen bound...supper rear its ugly head so I'm heading to see what I can find...I think an omelette might be on the cards or the table.  As I mentioned...rugby in the morning and then more of the same with the garden tomorrow.  LN....Getting it ready for winter......LN

Saturday 26th October

The fresh air must have got through last night.  I nodded off in front of the computer and woke up at eleven, made my way to bed and went through until five this morning.  I didn't feel tired so I went down for coffee, back to bed and Soda Crush, emails, FB and book and it was soon seven and time to get up and get going.  Beautiful morning again and it's lasted throughout the day.  Breakfasted on scrambled and had finished and everything tidied by nine and so the rest of the day was mine.

I moved the fir tree container from the terrace into the yard...I was painting it with old engine oil and I didn't want to mark the terrace.  I was aware of the time...the rugby was starting at ten thirty my time and before that I managed to half finish the container but then I had to settle down for the match....and what a match it was.  I think we were all doubting that the English team wouldn't achieve victory but they were in it from the start and wow...did they put the doubts away and the New Zealanders got pretty feisty towards the end.  So roll on tomorrow and Wales might even be in the final with England.

So feeling elated I went back to the garden, finished the tub, moved on to the frog and oiled it for the winter and replaced it on the concrete plinth and then turned my attention to the vegetable garden.  The garden is all dug over and the rest of the bulbs that I found in the little house are planted along with the broad beans.  I did intend bringing over the old shelving unit and turn it back into winter protection for the beans but it was too heavy without using the wheelbarrow but that's a job for tomorrow.  

I've been inundated with cats today.  More kittens have been born and are now lingering around the various houses and fighting for food.  I think I shall have to adopt a couple of the females and put them on the pill.  Tools away by six, supper ready for consumption by six thirty.  I settled on a couple of boiled potatoes, a tin of tuna, mayo, beetroot and sweetcorn and now thinking about a bath before Strictly starts.  Lovely sunset,clocks go back tonight so mustn't forget to change the clocks.  I shall try to stay up as late as I can so that I don't start at four...that's a bit too early for the Welsh game.  LN.....Boiler on.....LN

Sunday 27th October

So I worked out that if I stayed awake last night until silly o'clock then I would wake up later and miss the hour delay from kicking in.  I still woke up at five, nodded off again leaving the light on and  eventually surfaced at seven.  It's been uphill all day.

Bonfire and washing sorted. Marmite on toast for breakfast and now I'm out of bread and butter and was intending to go Kardjali tomorrow but now the best laid plans of mice and me...Phone call from Bekir and tomorrow I'm picking him and Sally up at eight thirty, heading into Fortinovo to buy the insulation and that's their task for tomorrow.  It's been another beautiful day and it's almost the end of October....it's not normal.  I've taken time out today to sit and watch my hillside and listen to the birds.  I saw my first robin today and then my second and they're obviously strutting their stuff for territory.  Despite the weather they know that winter is coming.

I had so many things on my list today but they can wait.....I think some jobs seem monumentally big until you come to do them and you realise that the anticipation makes things appear much bigger.  Washing in at three and headed into Djebel to get some fresh bread...there was a feint hint on green on the last two slices so it's out for the animals.  Having nothing to nibble at I headed into Djebel and my was it busy.   four and then settled down to read

Sunday 27th October

So I worked out that if I stayed awake last night until silly o'clock then I would wake up later and miss the hour delay from kicking in.  I still woke up at five, nodded off again leaving the light on and  eventually surfaced at seven.  It's been uphill all day.

Bonfire and washing sorted. Marmite on toast for breakfast and now I'm out of bread and butter and was intending to go Kardjali tomorrow but now the best laid plans of mice and me...Phone call from Bekir and tomorrow I'm picking him and Sally up at eight thirty, heading into Fortinovo to buy the insulation and that's their task for tomorrow.  It's been another beautiful day and it's almost the end of October....it's not normal.  I've taken time out today to sit and watch my hillside and listen to the birds.  I saw my first robin today and then my second and they're obviously strutting their stuff for territory.  Despite the weather they know that winter is coming.

I had so many things on my list today but they can wait.....I think some jobs seem monumentally big until you come to do them and you realise that the anticipation makes things appear much bigger.  Washing in at three and headed into Djebel to get some fresh bread...there was a feint hint on green on the last two slices so it's out for the animals.  Having nothing to nibble at I headed into Djebel and my was it busy.   four and then settled down to read

Sunday 27th October

So I worked out that if I stayed awake last night until silly o'clock then I would wake up later and miss the hour delay from kicking in.  I still woke up at five, nodded off again leaving the light on and  eventually surfaced at seven.  It's been uphill all day.

Bonfire and washing sorted. Marmite on toast for breakfast and now I'm out of bread and only have a knob of butter.  I was intending to go Kardjali tomorrow but now the best laid plans of mice and me...Phone call from Bekir and tomorrow I'm picking him and Sally up at eight thirty, heading into Fortinovo to buy the insulation and that's their task for tomorrow.  It's been another beautiful day and it's almost the end of October....it's not normal.  I've taken time out today to sit and watch my hillside and listen to the birds.  I saw my first robin today and then my second and they're obviously strutting their stuff for territory.  Despite the weather they know that winter is coming.

I had so many things on my list today but they can wait.....I think some jobs seem monumentally big until you come to do them and you realise that the anticipation makes things appear much bigger.  Washing in at three and headed into Djebel to get some fresh bread...there was a feint hint on green on the last two slices so it's out for the animals.  Having nothing to nibble at I headed into Djebel and my was it busy.   There were lots of cars parked outside the Kmet's office in my village, I'd forgotten it was election day and Djebel was heaving.  Over to the cash point to get more money out for tomorrow for the insulation, into the supermarket for a few items and home rather slowly...I was following a police car who parked up outside the Kmet's office.  Change of shift at the polling station.  

Washing in, fire lit and now I have a cosy house.  I've just finished watching Sister Act and I'd forgotten how good the film was.  No supper....I've snacked on fruit loaf and couldn't eat another thing.  LN....Time to throw another log on...LN

Monday 28th October

Six o'clock start so not bad considering the change of time.  Down for coffee and I lingered in bed until seven  and then out with a rush, tidied round a little knowing that the men would be all over the house like a rash and I didn't want to appear a complete lazy bones.  I'd already moved the cars around so it was into the Beast by eight and over for the men and arrived there around eight twenty and they were waiting.  It was a fairly slow drive over, there was heavy mist in patches and brilliant sunshine in others but there was a lot of traffic on the road.  It's all the Turkish people heading home after their holiday in Djebel for the elections.  Apparently they get money from one of the parties towards their fuel costs....but of course that's not considered an incentive to vote for them.

Bekir was holding a carrier bag and it reminded me that I wanted my chimney cleaned and it must have been the vibes heading over to his village, his bag contained the ball of steel that gets dropped down the chimney on a rope.  We carried on to Fotinovo to the materials yard and we found the insulation, I bought six rolls and I couldn't have got another in the Beast.  Poor Sally was hanging on to the end of the back seat with his head perched between two rolls.  Homeward bound, unpacked the Beast and out with the big ladder and the rolls were hoisted up on to the guest room balcony, Sally at ground level, Bekir on the ladder and me pivoting them over the balcony rail....what a team.    As the rolls were laid, we realised that we were about three short so I contacted R of Fotinovo and  pulled in a favour.  He went to the yard, picked up another four and we had ample putting another ten centimetres on top of the existing ten.   Mr and Mrs of Fotinovo stayed around and we sat in the sun drinking coffee and they left with a few things for their garden.  The house has it's winter coat. on...

Rest of the jobs achieved...I have a new concrete surround to my water meter chamber, the both balcony lights are working and I have a small patch in the lounge wall that needs repairing where a new length of electricity cable has been inserted, the chimneys have been cleaned and my radiators have been drained and the system back to working order.  The lounge is only going to take an hour or so so Bekir will give me a call the next time he's in Djebel and I'll pick him up and then take him home.  In the Nipper by five thirty and the men were back to their village by six and I was home by six thirty.  Fire lit, another load of logs in and I have a full download of Game of Thrones to get stuck into.  That comes with a technician being allowed on my computer while I sorted the men out.   Result.

Kardjali tomorrow....I really am out of a few provisions that I really can't live without.  LN.....Monday is my tele quiz night....LN

Tuesday 29th October

Back to morning wake ups and as for watching my favourite quiz programmes last night....I went to sleep in the first one and woke up at the end of the second.  I did switch over to a programme about twins separated at birth and the effect on their lives.  I really felt sorry for the Chinese twins adopted by two families and the one mother brought them together and they share holidays....I think I could actually give up my adoptive to the other family to allow them to be together....horses for courses.

So at five this morning I was filling in time.   Down for coffee, washed up from yesterday, watch the first of the last series of Game of Thrones and was out to stop the bread van and handed over the photo of his baby from the baby party.  He was chuffed to bits.  I also tried to reset the indoor/outdoor thermometer and decided to put it to oneside and not throw it out onto the hillside.  I shall ask a friend to do it.  I was in the Nipper for nine thirty and remembered to take my documents so that I could renew the house insurance before I go on my travels.  I also remembered the eclairs that were mouldy that I'd bought on Sunday and that was my first port of call.  I took my receipt with me and handed them over to the daughter of the owner and she was so apologetic and that's not normal for Bulgaria.  I willing took my three leva, headed down to the garage shop with my insurance requirements and left the documents with her.  On to Kardjali and stopped at my Tuesday cheapy shop and found a slip on cardigan, a green leather coat that is so fashionable and a waterproof cape with hood and zipped front pocket that can live in the Beast for emergencies. ...and all this for ten leva.  Kaufland for a few items but I left the plants where they were, two pork chops for supper that now have been relegated to the freezer.  On to Lidl and picked up butter, French stick and ham so that was my lunch sorted and stopped off at the garage to fill up with gas...I really don't like running on petrol...too expensive.  I stopped off at the garage shop and my insurance has been sorted for another year at a cost of seventy four leva and that includes earthquake and other unexpected events...amazing and also burglary.

Home for two, Nipper unpacked and shopping put away and the sofa beckoned as I armed myself with a ham baguette and a coffee.  I finished the food, promptly nodded off, didn't wake until four and I was cold...despite the sun the temperature was dropping.  I lit the fire and the house is now at twenty four degrees...the insulation is kicking in.  

Not bothered about supper.....tomorrow I have the house to clean through...the men working in the roof space has left a covering of dust everywhere, the lounge curtains have to be sorted since they had to come down yesterday and I shall be using a lot of polish.  LN.....Wish me luck tomorrow.....LN

Wednesday 30th October

So last night I was engrossed in Game of Thrones and it was one thirty before I took to my virtuous couch....a little Soda Crush and asleep by two.  Unfortunately I woke at seven with the joys of spring as it heads into winter and it was a gathering of the garden burnables and the washing into the machine.  No way could I put it out though,,,there was a covering of mist that didn't want to move until around eleven thirty.  I'd put the easy 'dryables' on the clothes airer and only two items made it out to the line.  Bonfire lit and was still going strong by eleven, the cans were pulled out to go into the container and that hoover still sat in the corner and still does.  I made toast and applied ham and a poached egg and sat in the kitchen eating it and the rest of the day spread out before me...and I did very little with it.

Only having one episode of G of T's to watch I fired up the computer and watched.  I'm not sure I liked the ending but knowing Mr. Martin he could get something out of it to follow on.  This series was like watching old friends die...quite sad really.  On to the sofa with my book and it was the obvious...catching up on the lack of sleep last night and at three I picked the book up again and continued where I'd left off.  I lit the fire at four thirty and despite being slow to start mainly because I've run out of chemical firelighters and had to resort to rolled up newspaper.  It took about an hour for the first firing of the hot water to the radiators but once the fire got going everything in the garden is rosy including the fire.  At six I had the urge to get supper underway so removed the mince from the fridge, peeled a couple of onions, fried them off and made a bolognaise sauce.  I had trouble with the tab opener on the can of tomatoes and resorted to the electric can opener and it was reluctant.  I decided to try to open a second can and eventually the first gave in to the pressure to reveal its contents.  

Bolognaise made I stuffed cannelloni, put them into a dish a covered them with betchamel sauce, into the oven with them and they should be ready any time now.  Another very lazy day...off to Zlatograd tomorrow for a little bit of 'assist' and I have a belt that I want repairing so will be going to the Ethnographic quarter to the leather shop there.  LN....Hopefully the weather will be kind.....LN

Thursday 31st October

So Happy Halloween if that is your want.  Bulgarian parents don't know much about it but the children have been learning all about it at school and colouring in pictures so it should be an 'event' when this new stream finish and move on onto the next level of schooling. I've got a mini pumpkin in the conservatory but I haven't done anything with it.  My neighbours would consider it a waste of good food and it would probably frighten the cows.

Early to bed and early to rise...I woke up just before six and have kept going ever since.  No snooze for me this afternoon, I've been far too busy.  I didn't bother with breakfast and was in the Nipper for nine.  I'd wrapped up well, it was cold, raining and not a good morning at all and I took it steady on the road.  It hasn't rained for ages so I expected it to be slippery but I was OK.  I refused a coffee at the meeting place and we headed down to Zlatograd to visit the Electricity Board to solve a problem.  The local mayor said that it was the corporation's problem, the response was that it was the local mayor's and since no one wanted to take the responsibility it was passed on to the local Electricity company's so hence the visit.  We got in the queue and a pleasant looking male was dealing with enquiries efficiently and eventually it was our turn.  The man said that he spoke a little English and I said that I spoke a little Bulgarian so between us we should be able to manage. I outlined the situation in Bulgarian and he was soon tapping away on his computer and created a form with the issue fully stated, signatures were obtained and the outcome was that a phone call would be received.  Result.....it seems that there might soon be a resolution.

We drove down to the old town, stopped for a coffee and then I made my way to the leather shop clutching both my belts....the one that fits but needs replacing and the one that was replacing it.  I've been in the shop a few times so recognised the man, handed over both of the belts, explained what i wanted to happen and withing quicksticks he had his knife out, punch, hammer and new fastenings and it was done.  I asked him how much for his work and he told me nothing and I don't do 'nothing' for good efficient work so I found a five leva note in my purse and handed it over.  He told me that one lev was sufficient, the note stayed on the worktop between us while he rolled up the belts and put them in a paper bag for me and I left thanking him for his efforts.  You don't necessarily pay for time but for experience and he was very quick and did what I wanted him to do.  We stopped off at Benkovsko for a few items from the supermarket and I was invited to stay for lunch when we arrived at the finishing post.  One hour later I was on my way, got home and lit the fire and toyed with the idea of cancelling my lesson with my student today but forced myself back into the car.

I had a word with his mother in the shop and went up to find my student in the apartment and he was engrossed in a computer game on line with one of his friends.  I had to be forceful to break it up insisting that he switched the television off and said goodbye to his friend and we had a bit of the sulks and I called him grumpy which he really didn't understand.  Eventually I got him out of his mood and we had a very good lesson using a book that I've had for about ten years.  I've left it with him, explained the story to his mother so she'll do the rest.  Back home and the fire was still going so another log on and the central heating soon came into its own.  Nothing on for tomorrow until tomorrow night when I'm out with my student and her sister for supper in Kardjali.  LN...A very successful day......LN