Tuesday 11th June

It was a little chilly on the balcony at six thirty this morning but it seeon warmed up.  I took my little Kindle out with me, I had nothing much to do today, my lunch appointment was for twelve in Djebel and then my student at three this afternoon.  I made scrambled eggs for breakfast and then set about making the bolognaise sauce to stuff the cannelloni for this evening but the sauce was made but the rest didn't happen.  It's now sitting in the fridge and it will be served up tomorrow with white sauce and it's going to be my treat for Avatar.

I popped over to see her this morning and she offered me breakfast but I'd already eaten.  I asked her if she wanted anything from Djebel since I was going in this afternoon and she apologised saying that she'd forgotten to ask me yesterday to get her some yogurt and I asked her if she wanted twenty percent fat or thirty and she said ....'percent. percent...what is that?' and we laughed about it together.  I had a shower and washed my hair and set off at eleven thirty for Djebel and had to park away from the house, the local council had closed all the roads off and I ended up at the new car-park and dirt tracked it to the other entrance to the house.  The sister was there, the younger one made me an omelette, mother appeared and then father and they were over the moon that I'd taken found a set of electric lights to pretty the garden up for their festival this weekend.  

I left at two thirty, retrieved my car and drove to the shop, we started the lesson at three fifteen and finished it early since we'd finished the book, I went down to the shop and sat talking to the mother and the older son's girlfriend, didn't get home until seven after dropping off the yogurt at Avatar's house   hence the lack of interest in cooking anything.  It's been so hot today and is still up in the top twenties at the moment....quick shower and then bed.  LN.....The day is all mine tomorrow...I'll let you know what I get up to.....LN

Wednesday 12th June

Five thirty start this morning so I made coffee and went back to bed....this was too early for me but it had been a sleepless night.  It was very hot last night and not much air movement despite having windows and connecting doors open.  I was down to only a sheet covering me. tried to concentrate on my book but unfortunately didn't manage it.  I'd raced through the Last Kingdom books with a sense of achievement as each one was finished but Game of Thrones is a different kettle of fish.  The books are so long with lots of descriptive passages and I find that I'm skipping some of them and only going for the story line.  I've got the series on a computer somewhere. maybe I'll have to look it out and see if I can get it to play on the television...worth a try.

I took to the balcony, the sun was already up and there were lots of delicate clouds in the sky but when the sun broke through, even at six thirty this morning it was  hot, hot,hot and so much so that I went inside I didn't want anymore sun on my legs.  They've been itching like fury and applying aftersun after washing them seems to work at night but I think that I need to see a pharmacist,  Vinegar works but you end up smelling like a chip shop.  Bananas, chocolate breakfast cereal and 'smetana', which is a sour cream, started me off for the day. I went out and opened up the workshop and the log store showing good intentions but that's as far as it got and I've just locked them both up without even going inside.  Not sleeping well last night had left me lethargic and I really couldn't drum up the enthusiasm to feel guilty about it.  Instead I took to the sofa with my book, went off into the land of nod, woke up with my legs itching like fury and stupidly I'd put my jeans on ready for the garden so I took them off, found a pair that had split above the knee, cut them off and that eased the itching somewhat.  I now have a new pair of shorts which I'm sporting with pride.  More sleep this afternoon and woke up at four thirty and started to prepare the cannelloni which all went belly up.  The flour was old so I couldn't make a white sauce so instead heated up the bolognaise. opened a new bag of pasta, one portion for me and another for Avatar, slapped smetana on both and walked over the road to deliver supper for her.  I came back and had mine, finished clearing the kitchen and found a letter on my computer in response to a letter I send back in April with the message from them, 'Sorry for the delay' and I think it needs a carefully penned response which I will do tomorrow.  I know doctors are supposedly overworked but two months to forward a letter that was written as an update to me in April which apparently only needed forwarding.  I have the feeling that it's not overstretched....it's thoroughly broken and needs a complete overhaul.

Nothing on the agenda for tomorrow so far and I might keep it that way.......LN.....Another day at the pool might be on the cards.....LN

Thursday 13th June

Dull start to the day and that was OK for me, I wanted to do the grass.  I had a late start for me, it was seven o'clock but that was to be expected, I didn't get to bed until one, I had a late bath, fell asleep for must have been a couple of hours but I was soon off again.  I went out with my coffee and book to the terrace but it was not very pleasant so decided to get on with the plan, tool out and prepared for action around eight thirty.  I started off clearing the area around the rubbish container, the grass had grown and dried and it had put a stop to my bonfires so now the area is more or less clear.  Unfortunately the bin is full so that another job added to my list.  

I started off with the strimmer and had unwound enough cable to clear the bottom area.  The little mower came into play to get rid of the plantain stalks but I really wasn't making much headway so the big mower came out and now I was on a roll.  I'd finished the big house grass by one, noticed that Avatar was sitting out so went and had about half an hour with her and eventually went out again to tackle the rest and one or two dust clouds were flying as I went over a few mole humps and one or two ants nests have been severely upset.  I also managed a minor repair on the grass bucket, I dug out the channels that the lugs fit in with a very narrow screwdriver, overtime they'd filled up with dust and grass cuttings.  I managed to get it all together and secured the tow halves with metal wire and tightening it with the pliers....jobs a guddun and it seems to work.

Tools away by six and popped over to Avatars to have ten minutes in the evening sun, Haciber decided to join up so we moved the chairs into the shade and she promptly fell asleep but one of those that wakes up, adds a few words to a conversation, surprises everyone and then goes back to sleep.  I put a stop to it by putting my chair back in the garage, Avatar went into the house and brought out my dish with a cheesy bread that she'd bought that morning for breakfast, I came home and I'm now having it for supper since we've just had a mini-cyclone come through, pots overturned, plastic containers all over the garden, bird table is down so I moved everything that was tall into the protection of the wall. The wind was hitting the gate with full force so I went out and put the padlock that I normally put on when I go away so make it more resistant to the force.  The furniture from my balcony is in the bedroom, cushions are in, both up and down, and the terrace umbrella is down and tied up.  It was just so sudden and looking at the jet streams overhead, I bet those passengers experienced some turbulence.  It's still blowing but not quite a gale and hopefully it will calm down before nightfall.  No need for supper now that I've had the cheesy bread, I should last until morning but I've still got room for ice-cream.  The hot water boiler is on, I had to remember to change the time on the clock, the electricity has been up and down all day so they must be working on it.  LN.....Let's hope for a quiet night......LN

Friday 14th June

I woke up at six, it wasn't a bad morning so put the chair back out and the cushions but maybe it was a little premature.  The clouds built up, I came inside I brought the cushions in from the metal chair, the table came in but I forgot to bring in the ones from the bench......wrong, the heavens opened and some you win and some you lose.  According to the news though, we've not had it so bad as 'up north', they've had hailstones the size of golfballs breaking car and house windows and damaging crops.  My bird feeding station still lies on the ground, it needs a repair so it can wait until I feel like going out into the workshop and doing a proper job on it.

As for the rest of my day, I felt really zonked this morning after working so much in the garden yesterday but at least the grass is all the same length now and it's not made up of nodding plantain seeds.  I should really go out there with a weed killer but I'm concerned that there won't be much grass left and I do have tortoise to think about.  Looks like I'll be digging them out then.  I popped over to see Avatar, she was last spotted trying to attach the plastic over her outside cooking stove in the middle of the storm and I wanted to make sure she'd not got blown away.  I was tempted to go out and help her last night but she'd given up, done the best that she could and probably wouldn't have wanted to start again.  She said that the wind and rain really worried her, her roof is an old one and it was really blowing a gale out there.

I didn't do much today, the rain came over again and we had a torrential downpour.  I was tempted to bring the Pagero out for a soaking and give it a clean but that idea soon went out of my head as soon as it had come in.  I settled on the sofa and stated to read my book and the next thing it was two thirty and I felt much better for it.  The clouds by now were sitting on the horizon over the mountains, I walked the garden and found two of the tortoise risking it and bot were drying themselves off in the sun.  I decided to feed Avatar and myself this evening, brought two chicken legs out of the freezer, peeled potatoes and skinned an onion and that would be enough.  This morning Avatar had given me pancakes that she'd made so decided to heat up some cherries, stuff the pancakes and put some cream on them and by six everything was ready so over the road I went, stood and delivered and came home to have mine.  Everything washed up, while supper was cooking I found a book of Sudoku and that kept me off the computer this afternoon.  The wind has dropped, I should stop watering my shrubs and check the weather reports first.  LN.....Freecell, book and bedtime.....LN

Saturday 15th June

Up early again, bed stripped and everything washed, it was so warm last night.  I hate it when the bed gets sticky round me so now I have a pristine bed to get into.  That was my first burst of activity, the second didn't happen until later, I settled down to read my Kindle.  Washed and dressed and went out to feed the cat with last night's chicken leftovers, ham that was past its sell by date and the remains of the spaghetti bolognaise from the other night but I see that that wasn't to its liking.  I saw Avatar sitting in her garden so I went over to wish her good morning and 'Chestit Byram', we sat in the garden and the first lot of pancakes arrived....and that was the start of many.  We took these inside and had them with honey and yogurt followed by Fanta orange and I came away with yet more pancakes....for later.

So another load of washing into the machine and on to the clothes airer to dry, it's been a beautiful day but I still prefer to dry clothes inside...too many little bugglies about.  I'd noticed a couple of the tortoise out this morning sunbathing and warming up so I did the rounds to see how many I could find and I managed to find four.  Rosie was attacking the wild plums, Blue was munching away at the remaining weeds and grass, CS was looking very sleepy under the weeds at the bottom of the garden and Green was looking very perky and going morning exercises.  As for Red and the other Blue, not even a sniff of those two.  The bird table is re-established, knocked into shape with a hammer and one of the supports that had split in the fall was secured with the help of a hammer and medium sized nail.  It's quite a heavy thing with a concrete base on it but that wind came through at a heck of a pelt, tobacco were broken off and one of my Gaia has lost one of the long spikes.  The geraniums have had a tidy up and I managed to find some more water containers for the bottom of some of the clay pots and that should help to retain the water.  

By three I'd settled upstairs on the comfy chairs, Kindle in hand and yes, you've guessed it, I had my afternoon siesta.  The washing is dry and put away, kitchen is tidy and after all the fat intake with the pancakes I shall be starving myself tonight and probably settled for yogurt and that will see me through until tomorrow.  Gardening tomorrow if the weather is like this, there are some weeds that want removing from the flower beds and I have petunias and more marigolds that need to go in.  There are a few clouds about so I won't say that summer is finally here, don't want to make rash predictions.  LN.....Bath, book and bedtime....and I'll draw the curtains tonight, six starts are getting to be the norm......LN

Sunday 16th June

Very sleepless night...I was awake at two, no sleep in me so read until five and eventually I was out until eight so in fact a very slow start to the morning.  I did my morning admin which consisted of getting rid of the junk mail...do these people or machines have nothing better to do?  I gave Princess a call, I hadn't spoken to her for a while and do miss her dulcet tones and sense of humour.  I made breakfast of yogurt, cherries and an apple that my Avatar had given me yesterday and that set me up for trying to sort out the very full bonfire bucket but I gave up and found something else to play with which included cutting off the branches from the tree that had come down, putting the wild plums and foliage over the wall for the cows.

By now it was heading towards twelve and was too hot to be outside so took to the sofa with my book and you know the rest.  I woke up around four, tidied tools away from this morning, had another attempt at trying to reattach the handle to my trusty old garden fork and this time I managed it.  I screwed in a very long bolt and filled the gap with cord which I'll cover with strong glue when I get round to it.  I also whipped the handle so it stays in the same position, inline with the prongs, and I'll give it a whirl.  Last time I went to the trouble of creating a square plug on the handle to stop it turning in the stem but the wood's that old that it wasn't possible to attempt that again...but at least it's done and will do until Lidl have a special offer on garden forks.  I carried on by watering the garden, watched the men bringing the very reluctant cows home ...it was too hot for them to move and notice Avatar walking along the road so went for a catch-up.  She was off to see her nephew and had been invited for a Byram supper but she insisted on giving me two mini=chocolate biscuit bars and wouldn't take no for an answer.  I finished off outside and locked up, we've got red sky at night so hopefully it will be good tomorrow and if so I'm off to the pool.  It's much quieter on a Monday, I can get a few items on my way back through Kardjali and I have an invite to my other student's house for supper.  LN.....I've had a good day, still need to sort out the bonfire before I can set fire to any rubbish.....it's on the list.....LN  

Monday 17th June

Seven start for me and felt much better for it.  Breakfast was toast with marmalade and despite the day being full of 'potentials' I did nothing that I can really write about.  I've had a very lazy day.  I did manage to clean a kitchen rug that I'd spilt something on.....it was already out on the terrace so I picked it up and put it over the wooden box, sprayed it with water and washing up liquid and gave it a good scrub, rinsed it off and put it on the bench to dry and now it's back in the kitchen.  I also put up a new string of solar lights from the fir tree to the bird table, not sure it's in the right place but I'll check them out tonight or tomorrow night if I didn't get the on switch on...it's one of those funny press button thingies.  The rubbish is still waiting for me for me to wheel it down to the container but I'll run it down in the Nipper tomorrow.  

By now it was approaching eleven and very, very hot and decided against the pool and I have enough food to last if I did deep enough.  I went out on to the balcony for a spot of sunbathing but I was in for one, it was much to hot so I took to my bed with a bowl of Greek style fruity yogurt with chocolate breakfast cereal on it and had it while reading my book.  The second book of Game of Thrones has ten percent left but considering the number of pages, it's going to take me until tomorrow.  I did put the book down and go to sleep but only for a short while and then back to my book for another one percent.  

I was going to my student's house this evening but decided against it.  I'd had an invitation from her mother last time I was there but was waiting for a follow up that never came.  I know they've been very busy with thirty guests over the two day holiday and didn't want to put any more work on them.  There'll be other times.  I did a photo shoot round the garden and I never realised until I was trying to get it the photo just how tall the gaia had grown this year and also the orange lilies.  Maybe it was die to the amount of rain we had and are still having to some extent, the white daisies are doing well too.  I noticed that I also have a gladiola flowering with more to come.  Pots are all watered, garden watered, I've been well watered all day and my rack of pork ribs is cooked and ready to be eaten.  LN......I've had a very pleasant meandering day......LN

Tuesday 18th June

I woke at seven this morning and noticed CS munching away at the fallen wild plums getting a start on everyone else.  I did the tour but nothing was stirring and they'd probably found better things to munch on that the dried up grass.  The solar lights that I'd put up yesterday shined brightly through the night, not sure they're in the right place but they'll do for now until the mood comes over me to put them somewhere else.  Toast for breakfast followed by yogurt and breakfast cereal, probably should have had the toast  first but no real need to stand on ceremony when you're the only one in residence.  Ms cat was hiding in the shade of the mulberry and I suddenly remembered that I had bones left over from last night so I went back to the house and fed her and they didn't last long.  The baking dish went into the outside sink and I only remembered about it tonight when I was watering the pots but it's now pristine and ready for the next time.

I spent the majority of the morning on the balcony with my book and I needed to find the small umbrella to get myself into the shade.  I rescued it from the boot of the Nipper, attached the pole to the railings of the balcony next to the bench and securing well.  I didn't want it to end up in Turkey.  I really do need to buy a new one or make a new cotton cover for it, this one was very cheap but it has one or two small tares in it,,,adequate for where it is but I should do a proper job and do some railing curtains as well.  It wasn't a job for today though, just a relaxing morning  with the third book of Game of Thrones until I had a shower and washed my hair, I had my student lesson this afternoon.  At one I suddenly realised that we'd finished the book so I needed to find something for us to fill an hour with, found PDF's of Roald Dahl books, tried to print out a few pages for today and remembered that I'd had problems with the printer after I'd put the scan program on to the machine.  The scan works perfectly but as for printing, the printer keeps asking me for the network password and today wasn't the day for messing around with it.  I'll put more effort into it tomorrow.

I put the container rubbish in the car, moved it onto the grass and Avatar was walking towards me.  I went to meet her she asked me if I was going into Djebel, I said yes and she asked me to get her money from the Bancomat.  I said I was driving down to the container and that I'd stop on the way back, I pulled up and she had her bankomat card in her hand.  She was having work done to finish off her flooring, the materials were already delivered and the man was coming tomorrow.  I drove to Djebel, parked up outside the shop, had ten minutes with his mother and then went upstairs for football and we went through a text that I'd found in my study.  It wasn't brilliant but we worked our way through it and between us managed to answer the questions.  Down to the shop for ice-cream time, I came away with ten eggs from their chickens, wnt to the bancomat and raided it for Avatar and drove home.  There are just too many visitors from Turkey around at the moment.  Home for six thirty, delivered the loot and suggested that she put it under the mattress for safety which is our little joke.  Watered the garden, Rosie was munching at the green areas of the yard but had found her night spot when I went to move her on to the grass area at the back of the house.  No supper for me tonight, it's just too warm to eat.....maybe later.  LN....Tossing the idea of swimming around in my head at the moment....all weather dependent.....LN

Wednesday 19th June

Another six start but then back to sleep again until seven.  I was thinking about the pool but that's as far as it went, I noticed one of the tortoise away from the wall in the shade so went to investigate.  It was CS and as I walked down along the short wall I heard some screeching and a few bangs and realised it was one to one tortoise signalling an attempted coupling.  I couldn't see which ones they were, they were moving more or less against the wall behind the dried weeds, more squeaks and clattering so I waited until they both emerged and it was little Blue trying it on with Red.....the biggest in my collection.  I didn't stay any longer, it was nature and since it was very hot in the garden, very early on, I went back inside my curiosity satisfied.  

I was finishing my container of yogurt and not enough to put into a bowl and sat at the table in the stairwell eating it.  Suddenly there a thump on the window and another bird had been caught out and tried to fly through it fluttering down to the bench that the outside sink sits on.  It was up on its legs, obviously a little stunned and I saw the cat walk across the grass up the steps and I was just hoping that he wouldn't spot it and it didn't.  The bird sat there a while, took off and landed  in front of the pine garden, obviously having difficulty flying and the next minute, the cat shot towards it, picked it up and ran off with it.  There was nothing I could do, told myself that this was nature and that it was all being presented to me this morning.

I popped over to see Avatar to see if she wanted anything from Djebel, her workmen were busy fitting tiles to the surrounds of the hallway to finish off the job.  She was in the kitchen and had cooked chicken, sliced tomatoes laid out for the men, she invited me to join them but it was around half eleven so too early for lunch and too late for breakfast.  She asked if I could bring her a bottle of Fanta so I added it to my list, I only wanted Coke, mayo and plain white candles and more cloves.  I'd found a reel on FB and it required the candles to be melted, cloves added and ground coffee and it's supposed to deter mosquitoes and other beasties.    I drove too Djebel, returned three egg carton, delivered sixty five leva of change to the chemist so bought the things I needed for my candles, managed to find a large umbrella for the terrace to replace the existing, bought supplies from the supermarket all on money that I'd saved up in loose change.    Avatar has just made it over the road with a five litre pack of ice-cream that she had given to her and I've got no room for it in the freezer so I filled up a container and sent her back with remainder.  She also wanted to pay for the Fanta, so I said that we'd trade ice-cream for Fanta but she was having none of it and off she went.  The cows are still making a row in the field, they don't want to go home or have lost calves along the way and are very reluctant.  No supper for me, I had a packet of crackers about an hour ago and that will manage me until the morning.  LN....The fan is at the ready....it might be needed tonight......LN

[b]Thursday 20th June[b]

So yesterday I found that I'd slept more than I should during the day so when I came to night-time no sleep in me so at eleven I was running a bath and emerged from it at twelve thirty.  I'd put the fan to whirl before I went into the bath but stupidly I'd left the little window in the bedroom open so it did no good whatsoever....doh.  I switched it off, left the window open and lights out at one thirty but I forgot to draw the curtains and that moon was bright.  At six I was awake again but this time managed to snuggle down again and it was eight for the second revival and this time I was ready to face the day.  

I gave the garden a good watering, had my second cup of coffee, packed my bag, took too long to decide what to where which is very silly, I put clothes on, my swimsuit is under my outdoor clothes, get to the pool, take off outdoor clothes, fold them up, finish swimming, hope swimsuit is dry before I put said outdoor clothes on before I drive to Lidle for a top-up shop.  I arrived at the pool around ten thirty, I'd phoned a friend to see if she wanted to join me but she wasn't feeling too good so we put it off for another day.  I went to my usual place above Kardjali and there were a few more people there than last time but still plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas to be had,  The water was cool to get into but when I'd put on a brave face on it, it was beautiful and I stayed in there for quite a long time just going backwards and forwards, on my front and then on my back just enjoying it.  Lots of swimming interspersed by reading my Kindle and at four I decided to make a move.  I'd had my last swim about half an hour earlier so had dried off more or less so just put my long shorts and top on.

The roads were so busy, lots of Turkish number plates in evidence and as I pulled into Lidl carpark, a car was just pulling out of a space on the front row and I slotted straight into it.  The rest of the carpark was jammed.   I did a very basic shop,mainly butter and the things I can't get locally, tomatoes were on offer so I got a pack for Avatar, she get's through them pretty rapidly.  Home for six, shopping put away, clothes in the washing machine and ready to run, tomato delivery made and now the evening is mine.  LN......I really enjoy a day at the pool and the exercise has got to be doing some good.....LN