Thursday 30th May

It's been a funny old day.  It was a reasonable sunrise at six this morning but the rest of the day has been dull, no sun to speak of and culminating in rain be it ever so light.  I made poached eggs on ham for breakfast, tidied the kitchen and then settled down with my book on the sofa and Utred is no more but that didn't get finished until five this afternoon.t was stop and start with the book, I summoned up the enthusiasm to go outside, I did a search and didn't find one tortoise on my patrol, opened up the workshop and the woodstore intending to get active but that didn't happen either.

I think it's got a lot to do with the weather.  Normally at this time of year I've been to the pool a few times, the grass has stopped growing so enthusiastically and everything seems much more settled.  I think that the holiday took quite a lot out of me and then finishing the grass as soon as I got back was very tiring, Zlatograd on Saturday and then doing Avatar's grass on Monday, lesson on Tuesday and shopping and ladies lunch yesterday has somehow piled on the pressure and now I just need to relax.  I've also got lots of seedlings that need to go in but I've got to clear some weeds out first, a day out in the garden in the sun is what the doctor orders, let's see how kind the gods are over the next few days.  There was lots of activity round the starling nest on the little house terrace.  I looked out this morning and noticed that the metal baking tin that covered the top of it was missing and I found it on the floor behind the compost bin.  I can only think that the wind got under it yesterday but baby bird is still there only now it can be seen from the front opening when it's either waiting for food or shooting its droppings out for the parents to take away.  I've been surprised at how many starlings have been hanging around on the roof of the little house, not sure if they're giving encouragement to the newby or not....I must check out starling behaviour on the internet.

Supper is waiting to go into the microwave, I have chicken and rice left over from yesterday so that won't take long to do, I've just started another of Bernard Cornwell's books that I found on the little Kindle so I think a bath and then an early night.  LN......A little relaxation and a few thoughts sent out to the weather gods for a few dry sunny spells.....LN

Friday 31st May

Stupidly early start....five forty five and at six I was out on the landing making coffee.  I'd got myself into one of those recurring dreams that you want to finish but can't and all I had to do was to complete the challenge and couldn't.  Eventually I thought that stripping the bed and getting the duvet cover and sheets into the washing machine would be far more productive so that's what I did. ....and it didn't stop there. I'd done four loads of washing by seven, I've given up drying it outside because of the little buglies that come inside with the clothes so it was on to the clothes airers in the guest room and the stairwell was decorated with the duvet cover and the winter blankets from the sofa.  So once I'd taken the blankets from the sofa I had to get the hoover out to pick up the bits that the blankets had kept from me and so it went on...and on.  

Toasted cheese and ham sandwiches for breakfast and I was sitting down to eat them when WhatsApp pinged and my ex-student asked if she could visit around two so I reckoned that I must have had a premonition or an advanced warning form one of the gods that I needed to do something and I'd already done it.  So since everything was going swimmingly I was able to settle into Game of Thrones book 1 until it was time to start making my bed up again and think about putting some time in outside in the garden but that didn't happen, but honestly...I did think about it.  Avatar was nowhere to be seen so she must have taken the bus into Djebel with her daughter, I'd offered but she said that she was looking forward to going on the bus, a bit like parading in public after spending the winter in Germany, a coming out party.

My student arrived on time bringing a packet of biscuits, I had gifts for her from Sicily, over the moon with the fridge magnet and loved the small present.  We sat down and looked at some of the photos that I'd taken, we walked the garden and she'd taken lots of photos but the thing that she was drawn to was the clump of 'red Hot Pokers....she'd never seen them before.  I bought them from a market garden in Haskovo a few years back but this is the first year that they've really come into their own...nine heads and one baby starting out.  They do brighten a dull corner proudly bobbing their red and yellow heads.  Off she went at three thirty, she's going to investigate a Cappadocia tour from Istanbul with flight and we'll make it on the bus from here to the airport.  She speaks Turkish fluently and English more than OK so cooking on gas so to speak.

The boiler is on, the fire is lit, the sun's gone down and that wind is cold and has been all day.  There's supposed to be a few more days of this and then it's supposed to be settling down to summer....fingers crossed.  LN.....Gardening tomorrow unless that small chance of a thunderstorm and shower actually happens......LN