Sunday 21st July

It's been a most peculiar day.  I was up and about early, did the usual, watered the garden and the pots, filled up the watering holes, started a load of washing and couldn't understand why the garden hose kept losing its power and then I worked it out...doh....so I waited for the washing machine to finish.  Sometimes it takes a while for the penny to drop.  I boiled a couple of eggs for breakfast and had them with toast soldiers, washed up, tidied the kitchen, it was too hot to sit outside so I took to the sofa in the lounge with my book and according to my Fitbit I was asleep for about fifty minutes so making up for my early start sooner rather than later.

I've had a very lazy day, it was another day when I could have done lots of things but I've still got this really deep cough that's now more annoying than painful and I'm not sure that the new tablet suit me.  These are viral antibiotics according to the doctor but I'm more used to the old fashioned ones, I have to take six of these beauties a day.  The book came out again this afternoon for an hour or so and then I tried to find something on Netflix ending up with three gentle films that I've seen before. but a long time ago.  At four though it was a bit of a rush on, the wind picked up like crazy, doors were banging so I went round and shut doors and windows, rescued cushions before they ended up on the hillside and brought in some of the outside rubbish containers.  It was pretty short lived though but very fierce while it lasted and I'm pleased that I had some of the very large trees pollarded last year.

I've just finished the last of the chicken in cornflakes for supper served with duchess potatoes, all frozen, into the air-fryer and ready in quicksticks.  It's clouded over again now and everything feels very sticky and I'll be in a cool bath later.  I thought at one point that we would have some rain and was willing it to happen but those clouds rolled away and we now have a new lot.....it's been too hot for too long.  LN....Almost nine my time, where has the day gone and might even be a pool day tomorrow......LN

Monday 22nd July

So another early start, it was a cloudy old morning, I'd brought some of the cushions in but rain didn't seem imminent so had left the bench cushions out.  I was out in the garden at nine realising that I hadn't watered the pots last night and the main reason to be out was to fill up the watering stations for the tortoise.  There was still water in them so I emptied out the old, swooshed them round and added the new but didn't see shell nor heard clatter of any of the gang and it wasn't until I checked between the house and the wall that I came across Rosy finding something to eat so I went back down the garden, came back with a few pears that had fallen from the tree on the long wall, found a knife in the conservatory and chopped it up into long slithers that I thought it would be easier for her to get her beak into....and I was right.  I went back to get more to put down in case the others wanted to join in and when I went back she'd finished the lot.  I'd also added some greenery that I'd found and that had gone as well and she started to walk off so I just laid the others down where she'd been eating so that they were available if others wanted to join in the fun.  

I made coffee and decided that it was time that I set about the course of viral antibiotics, I'd printed off the patient leaflet and it was going on about likely allergic reactions, swollen lips and face and hives and I remembered the last lot so had put it off but this cough just doesn't seem to be lifting.  I've just taken the last dose for today, I've got a couple of blotches so will see what tomorrow brings but so far no swelling of the lips or throat.  Two visits to the doctors and I seem to have acquired lot of tablets, hopefully this last lot will move the need to cough and get rid of the rubbish......I'm feeling a little like a 'let's test it on the English first'...my doctor is very progressive.

I settled on the sofa, didn't bother with breakfast, tried to get stuck into my book but for some reason the Kindle had taken me back to the book title page and when I went to 'furthest page read' it came back with two alternatives recognising that I'd read it before on my other Kindle and giving me page numbers to go to.....and my journey through the book is in percentages so I ended up scanning the pages as I went through until I recognised bits that I hadn't read.  Eventually I continued and heard a strange noise outside, looked out and it was...throwing it down with rain, the first for a few weeks and I almost did a rain dance.  It lasted for around half an hour, the clouds rolled away and it dried up and you'd have thought it had never happened.  We've had a sunny afternoon but now the clouds have come in again, the wind is howling outside and the odd rattle of thunder so fingers crossed we'll have more rain later.

Cushions and little table from the balcony are in tonight, the table seems to have been scooted across the balcony by the wind so better inside for the night.  Dark clouds over to the west, blue and pink ones over the mountains that I see from my desk so let's see who wins tonight.  LN.....Nothing so far for tomorrow, not sure about a lesson...too hot for playing football.....LN

Tuesday 23rd July

Six start again, it had rained overnight but not too much and thankfully I'd brought in the cushion last night from the balcony furniture...so out they went this morning but I left the bench to dry out in the sun.  I set up camp on the chair, took the table out with me, made coffee and was established with my book at seven.  The sun didn't have much fire about it this morning, there was too much haze over after the rain and as it rose, more missed came with it until the hillside was clouded with fog which eventually burnt off.  I eventually went out and did the watering stations forgetting that it had rained overnight so cleaned them out and refilled.  I've had sightings of three of the beasties today, Green was under the wild plum tree in the Grave garden, Rosy ws on elevated ground by the well under the honeysuckle sleeping peacefully and the last one to be seen was Cracked Shell better known as CS.  This was much later in the day, I happened to look over the balcony and saw one on its back, legs aKimbo trying hard to overturn itself and having no success.I scooted down the stairs, out to where I'd seen it thinking that he's probably succeeded by now but it hadn't.  I'd taken a stick with me, put it under its shell and flipped it over, gave it a wild plum that it ignored and off it went back into the shrubbery.  Not a clue how it had happened unless almost resident cat had taken a swipe at it....and I'll never know.

I came in and made beans on toast for breakfast and sat at the table in stairwell to eat it.  I'd already taken the new tablet and reread the likely side effects and I worked out I'd got a few of them.  I had a shower and washed my hair and wrapped in towels went back to the balcony with my book, the wind had got up, the umbrella had turned turtle, clutching my towel I tried to sort it but this became an impossibility.  I went into the house, got dressed, returned and sorted the umbrella and by this time the clouds had rolled over and I settled on the bench so didn't need the shade any more.  The rest of the day has been a bit of a blur.  I came inside and contacted the garage to cancel today's lesson, wnt back upstairs, settled on the bed with my book and woke up at two, took my afternoon tablets, back to the bed and woke up at five.  It's been a very lazy day and guessing by the amount of sleep I've had it could be a disturbed night.

No plants to water, it's looking like nature might be doing it for me, the wind has brought down pears and enough plums, the rain has brought out fresh grass and plants for the tortoise so nothing for me to do tomorrow....unless I go and complain to the doctor and ask for a simple antibiotic instead of this revolutionary stuff that she keeps giving me.  LN.....Soon be time for bed.....no supper required.....beans have seen me through all day.....LN

Wednesday 24th July

So despite me sleeping a lot of the day away yesterday I still managed to get to sleep around eleven last night and woke at six so I must have needed it.  These last tablets were really toxic to me and by this morning I had very red lumps and bumps so made my mind up to not take any more and head off to see the doctor.  I was at the surgery by nine thirty, my lovely receptionist was surprised to see me back after a couple of days so I showed her my arm and she pointed straightway down to the surgery at the end of the corridor.  I didn't way much only that I'd taken only two days of the tablets, showed her my arms and she said that she didn't know what to do...that I was impossible to treat.  I smiled, she smiled and then sent me to the specialist on the next floor which cost me one lev...cheap at half the price.  She looked at it and has given me a prescription for antihistamine, one tablet at night, a spray for the arms and more vitamin C tablets.  I shall be rattling.

Went to Kaufland and had a meander and spent more money on solar lights for the garden and plastic containers at two leva each for the fridge....real bargain.  Topped up with Shampoo and conditioner for the next few months, ham from the reduced section, tuna and tinned fruit.  I carried on to Lidl and only bought a few things from there and then Djebel to get my prescription and then home Jame, and settled down once I'd put the shopping away and demolished two ham sandwiches to watch Titanic on Netflix.  I popped over to see Avatar and deliver the tomatoes and peppers that she'd asked me to get for her, she was buying them from one of the neighbours but the price went up and the value went down.  It's a very calm night, a few low hanging clouds and it might rain, difficult to tell at the moment so the cushions really need to come in.  LN......Bath, tablet and bed.  The lumps have gone down somewhat so should be back to normal tomorrow.....LN

Thursday 25th July

Seven start this morning and slept OK.  I'd taken the first of the new tablets that is supposed to sort out my immune system and this in turn will sort out my red lumps and bumps.  I also went through all of the tablets received over the last three weeks and have decided that I am down to two...one at night and one in the morning and the rest remain with the patient leaflets in English, mainly as a warning not to be tempted to be trying them again.  It's been an expensive few weeks.

It had rained overnight, the cushions were in but I'd forgotten about the plastic table so I brought it in, wiped it down and settled myself on the bedroom chair.  It started to dry up around ten, the sky getting lighter but it's remained light cloud for most of the day until now.  It's almost seven, the clouds are thunderous, the wind has increased so I'm all shut up for the night and we've had the first rumbles of thunder.

As for the rest of my day. I had fried tomatoes on toast for breakfast, wandered over to give Avatar her change from yesterday and apparently she came over this morning but I didn't hear her.  She'd got cheesy bread from the mobile and had prepared breakfast for both of s so I sat down and had another breakfast at twelve so ad for anything to eat tonight, I doubt it.  I came home around half twelve, settled on the sofa and found a film, started to watch it and slept through most of it.  I could hear the music in the background but as for the story line, it hadn't kept me from going to sleep so fat chance of me waking up for the rest of it.  I meandered around for a while with no great intention, found another film and really enjoyed it,,,,I'd seen it before but can;t remember when.  

Now the rain and thunder have really settled in so the computer is going off.  Not sure if I'm up to anything tomorrow so far, pools are out of the question, maybe shopping to Djebel but not really short of anything.  LN....Seven and time to shut up shop, really raining heavily now, making up for the last three weeks or so.....LN  Posting without pictures...they will follow...

Friday 26th July

It was a five thirty start, A very dull morning, I couldn't see the mountains or even the bottom of the garden and it took until around nine before the sun broke though the clouds and started to burn the mist away.  I made my first cup of coffee and settled back on the bed to read my book, I tried yesterday to download the last in the Outlander series to te Kindle and the response was that they couldn't ship it down to me because of my location.  Nuff said and I wasn't in the mood to challenge or find a way round it so accepted the decision, I have lots more books that I read a long time ago so settled for the first in the series of Hieronymus Bosch, an American detective. I read the first few pages, made more coffee, took my tablet which is supposed to boost my immune system and then went back to my book for another hour or so.  

I've had a very lazy day and feel much better for it.  That last bout of tablets and the viral flu had affected me more than I thought it had but it's surprising taking tablets that actually do you good and not harm, change your perspective.  I'm down to two, one morning and one night and I might be throwing a vitamin tablet in the mix next week, it's back to being under my control.  I made tomatoes on toast again for breakfast and I'll be having to buy more.  I only bought around seven so tomorrow I might very well drive into Djebel and do a top up shop, the main reason is that I'm out of ice-cream and have been for a few days.  I did buy some large tins of apricots and peaches that I could open and have them with cream but not quite the same.  As for the rest of the day, I've read, watched a couple of films on Netflix, accepted a 'mevlit' gift from Haciber's daughter, done one load of washing and found my embroidery out that I must have started twenty years ago.  I also managed to find the embroidery threads and there's a very good shop in Kardjali that has embroidery threads so I can try to match some of the colours that I've used up.

It turned into a beautiful day so this afternoon I went out to clean out the watering stations and top them up with fresh water.  I spotted two of the tortoise this morning but haven't seen many about this afternoon and they're all tucked up for the night by now. The wind has brought down lots of pears and more wild plums so there's fruit for them around the garden and the grass has started to grow again so at least they can graze.  Not sure about supper, I might just put a chicken breast in the air-fryer and have it as a sandwich if the mood takes me later or leave it until morning...decisions, decisions.  LN......Time to think about shutting up shop for the night.....LN

Saturday 27th July

So it was a stupidly early start this morning. I was up before the sun.  It was a gentle start to the day, the moon was hanging over the lonesome pine, there wasn't much activity in the garden, not even a glimmer of any of the tortoise,  I made coffee, sat on the bedroom chair just enjoying the morning and and watching it come to life and listening to the dogs barking, cows doing what they do and watched the sheep come over the hillside to start the hunt for food.  I hadn't got much of a plan today, I put the washing away from yesterday. went out to the garden and checked the watering holes and topped up where necessary, reattached the connector to the hose since it had shot off yesterday, went back to the chair in the bedroom and read my Bosch book.  I made more coffee, fired up the little laptop on the desk in the stairwell. checked emails and the like and suddenly thought about the last book in the Outlander series, unless she decides to add another one to it.  I tried to order it from Amazon a couple of days ago and was informed that it couldn't deliver the said book to my area so I thought I'd give Amazon in the UK a go.  Yes it was in stock, yes they could deliver it so I placed the order and the sale went through.  Unfortunately it didn't appear on the device so I now went into the order and requested it be delivered to a specific Kindle and low and behold, it was delivered....I'd managed it.  My history with Kindles isn't good, the first ended up in the bath, I put it in the little woodburner while I went to the UK for Christmas and was eventually cremated after I forgot all about it and had to light the little wood burner when the electricity went down.  I heard the bank, wasn't sure what it was and then the penny dropped.  The next one I think I couldn't get a new battery for it since it was an old model and not quite sure when the current one came into being but I did register in in 2017 and I've been told that i can have an upgrade.  The series now has half of book seven, book eight and now book nine unserialised...looks like I'm in it for the long haul.

Washed and dressed by ten thirty and set off for Djebel to have a quick catch-up with my student's mum and give her a health update and with my flower lady to ask her how her holiday went.  I parked up on the main car park, spotted my general handyman who now works for the local authority sitting outside one of the supermarkets.  I asked if he wanted a lift back to his village, he said yes but said that I wouldn't be at the bottom supermarket for half an hour or so.  We agreed that was fine and we were back in the village not long after that....I didn't have a lot to buy.  On the way back we discussed the problem with the hunting dogs that are becoming a nuisance both in his village and in mine when he exercises them and 'trains' them by showing them a wild boar and he's going to speak to the local town clerk's office on Monday.  I've said that it's OK if he mentions my name if he wants more information, I've spoken to the son in English who was more than willing to share the 'plans' for training the dogs with me.

This afternoon I made up for the very early start and slept the afternoon away, at five I put in enough chicken wings that I'd bought from Djebel for Avatar and myself so I took hers over to her house complete with spicy wedges at just after six.  I came back and had mine, cleared the kitchen and washed up and back to my book until eight when the light was going.  Sunday tomorrow, a day of rest but I seem to have been having quite a few of them lately but feel much better for it.  LN......I very pleasant day and quite a lot achieved.......LN

Sunday 28th July

I woke up at two this morning in a blind panic.  I was in a dream, had got to sing a song at a concert, didn't know the words or song, and had no one to accompany me and it was so real.  I'd not had much for supper and had it early, had had lots of pineapple juice that night and whether that interacted with my night-time tablet I really didn't know and at two in the morning I didn't have a lot of time to think about it.  I went to the loo, drank a glass of water, back to bed and fortunately didn't go back into the same dream, up at five, back to sleep until seven and then there's not been a lot of activity out of me all day.

It's been another scorcher and up to thirty two degrees but thankfully I've had the breeze running though the house so it's been OK.  I only made toast for breakfast and have been picking all day on white cheese, chocolate biscuits and tonight I have enough chicken wings from last night so supper all ready when I am.  I've spend the day reading in the lounge on the sofa, stretched out.  I had a two hour sleep according to my Fitbit that is proving to be absolutely useless and destined for the bin.  I've had no response to my last email to them in response to an email to me so like lots of other people, my complaints are falling on deaf ears. Within ten minutes of a full charge you can see it counting down, it records my step count, sleep duration, heart rate but there is no display at all so absolutely useless as a watch.  I have to change it for a different make but haven't bothered to investigate so far.  I know there are lots on the market but I've had Fitbits for around eight years, always found their customer service good but since Google took over, they're not getting very good press coverage.  Since Google sends me an email every day telling me that my Fitbit needs recharging, if they flagged the numbers the dial out on and the frequency they would soon identify useless Fitbits, the battery is supposed to last for approximately four days.  Maybe that's my analytical and problem solving brain coming to the fore.

I've just watered the garden, deadheaded the flowers and pulled out a few weeds and should really be thinking about taking the heads off the flowering weeds in the grass.  This would entail going over it with the mower at full height but three hours in this temperature wouldn't really do me much good and as for the grass, there's not really much of it.  While I was out there I noticed how many of my trees have produced pears this year.  I should really be out gathering and doing something with them like use the juicer that I bought around eight years ago and it hasn't been out of the box....one of these things that seemed like a good idea at the time.  Maybe this is it's year to show its worth.   Lots of wild plums too but making jam this year in this heat, I've left them all for the tortoise.  LN......Shower and relax and probably the pool tomorrow, apparently the sun is going to be showing its little face for the next two weeks or so......LN