Sunday 1st September

'White rabbits' or a 'pinch and a punch for the first of the month'.  I haven't used them in quite some time but they've just come to me and made me realise how long this 'diary' has been going on.  I suppose it's become a habit of mine to write it and for some it's become a habit to read it and I thank you.  Lots of things have changed since I've been here but one thing that remains is getting in the wood for winter and I've got three tons arriving in the morning so wish me luck and the strength to 'safely gather it in'.

I've had a really nice day today and I remember one particular teacher at school who said that the word 'nice' doesn't mean very much being not a very descriptive word.  That in itself gives the reader a chance to put what they wish into it.  It's not been very exciting, it's been gentle, I've sorted out shelving in the kitchen and tidied a few things up, tidied the porch putting all the shoe cleaning things back in the box marked 'Shoe Stuff'.  The gardening lotions and potions, strimmer cable reels are back in the gardening box and tools back in the tool box.  The duvet cover is washed, dried and ready to go on the super-king duvet and this is all preparation for autumn and winter....and outside I was looking at the flower pots and how some of the flowers are already over, we've had extreme heat and suddenly there's been a downturn and I think I've had my last visit to the pool for this year.  On the bright side my daughter reminded me that there are only one hundred and fifteen days to Christmas.  I also advised her that I shall be travelling with an in flight bag this year since I've got clothes in the UK but might book a bag for my return, my fifteen year old jeans need replacing so hoping Primark still sells them.

This afternoon I finished 'The Last Kingdom', fell asleep for an hour in a very uncomfortable chair, woke up and moved to the sofa and it was six when I burst into life again.  I'd used one of the spicy sausages, fried it and had it with half a can of baked beans and a fried egg for breakfast and the second one went into the slow cooker with onions, the rest of the beans and some passata and that had done its own thing and supper was ready when I was.  Supper was over for six thirty, washing up done and now I'm halfway through watching 'Schindler's List'.  I don't think that I've ever seen the film before, I've read the book but that was ages ago and can't remember much about it so it will be back to it when I've posted.  As I said, it's been a very 'nice' day.  LN......I know what I shall be doing tomorrow, I'll take photos of the lorry, the unloading, the woodstore before and after.....'Winter can come, John Snow'.....LN

Monday 2nd September

So the best laid plans of mice and men didn't come to fruition.  I was out of bed early, set up the wood store so that the heap that is stacked against the other wall wouldn't collapse when I emptied the corner where I was supposed to be starting to stack the new wood.  An old pallet was brought into play and held in place with two pieces of timber between the pallet and the back wall.  Two floor supports were added to stop it moving towards the wall and all this was done by seven thirty, preparation is everything.  I'd moved the wheelbarrow out on to the terrace and the Nipper near the well outside the wall where the old footpath used to go down to the next village so that the lorry could negotiate the gate without any effort.  I guess I thought of everything except that it wouldn't turn up.

I filled in my time for the rest of the morning.  The honeysuckle at the side of the lounge terrace was taking over and had even put branches out onto the bench and I've cut it right back and that went over the wall.  You know what it's like, once you start tidying you just continue, a little light exercise.  The cushion from the outside sofa is now in the little house for the winter, the duvet cover from it has been washed and ready to put away, I've swept the terrace and got rid of the dried leaves from behind the terrace furniture and removed the bench and that's now sitting in the yard.  I then moved to the area looking out from the stairs and washed down the window sills to remove the cobwebs, the terrace again to remove the dust and dried leaves from behind the pots and then went on to tidy the outside sink area and fill up the wooden box on wheels that I made, with the hose connectors, etc. and old washing powder containers that I use for watering when I don't want to use the hose.

I had a break this afternoon and watch the final separate film of Utred but I was really disappointed in it.  I'll have to read the final chapter of the books to see what really happened.  And so it's six thirty and still no sign of the wood, I've brought the Nipper back into the yard, I don't want any stray cow bumping into it tonight,  Chances are it will come tomorrow, if it's not here by eleven I'll go into Djebel and find out what's happening, I hate it when you make a plan and it doesn't work out as expected.  I've not got anything ready for supper tonight so I'm just about to go and raid the freezer to see if there is anything that might come to fruition quite quickly.  Despite not doing the things I expected to be doing, I've achieved quite a lot and even had a bonfire, forgetting that I'd put an old paint can in the bin and it went off with a terrific bang and that set the dogs off.  LN.....Wish me luck on my quest for food.....LN

Tuesday 3rd September

Six thirty start and I made my plan for today.  I waited until about ten and the wood hadn't arrived so I thought I would chase it down.  I drove to the shop and the man spotted me, said that it would come later but I wanted a time for it.I think the lorry driver wasn't too interested in working today. and maybe yesterday and that's why it didn't arrive.  I stopped off to see my student's mum for five minutes on my way to the wood yard, not only did I want to check to see if the lorry was there and wanted to make sure that I got the wood that I wanted not the old rubbish that I'd seen.  The owner had arrived in the yard and he asked me which wood I wanted and I pointed it out.  The lorry arrived and the driver went to the small old wood pile so I signed that I didn't want that.....I wanted the bigger stuff in the yard and he brought the lorry round.  I set off for home, three tons of the chosen wood was heading my way and I wanted to be there to receive it.

He arrived around half eleven, manoeuvred into the drive perfectly having only about ten centimeters clearance on either side, was about to drive off and asked him to wait for the money, he thought I'd already paid at the yard.  I paid him and off he went.  I changed into a thin cotton long sleeve shirt, didn't want to get eaten by mosquitos as the air got warmer and my body temperature went up with the effort.  It did look a lot, well it was three tons, and it was a matter of head down with lots of water breaks in between.  I was using the log carrier, I find it much better that a wheelbarrow to negotiate and had put a couple of logs against the step to make things easier for me.  At one point it didn't seem to be getting any less, I thought about leaving it for tomorrow but then my Dunkirk spirit took over, head down and rear end upwards and I was down to the last few loads. I did manage to successfully stop the starter wood from collapsing, I filled up the corner first and then somehow got into the swing of stacking in rows and all that's left to do now is to tidy the yard and use the reciprocating saw to go through so of the bigger ones so they'll fit.  There's also a log carrier of smaller ones that I need to put somewhere that I can get to them easily.

No supper for me, I've been snacking on biscuits and salt crackers each time I've come into the house for a break.  I'm just about to run a bath and soak for an hour or so and I might preempt an aching back by rubbing in some Deep Heat tonight.  LN.....That's one of the main items I can tick off on my winter countdown checklist.....and maybe the pool tomorrow if the weather is good, for some 'gentle' exercise.......LN

Wednesday 4th September

So I had my lovely long bath last night, read for a while and managed to put the Kindle on to the side table in the bathroom before it ended up floating in the bath with me.  I should know better but I don't....I've lost one Kindle that way and the second one I can't find a new battery for so it's obsolete.  I really do need a new one but I'll wait until I get to the UK and get it ordered and delivered there.  Up at six thirty, without any twinges so yesterday I seem to have survived injury free except for a few splinters in the hand that didn't have the glove on but I'm sure they'll work their way out or I'll get a needle and tweezers round them tomorrow.  I did a load of washing, searched for the telephone number for the swimming pool but couldn't find it on the web but decided to risk it anyway.  I had a message from a friend asking it they could visit after their car had had an oil change but that was going to mess my day up so I suggested that I picked them up and they came swimming with me which was a good bandwagon to jump on and they did.  I was at the garage at ten thirty arriving at my favourite pool at eleven and there was only one person swimming, at least it was open. We had it to ourselves until lunchtime and then only four other people arrived, the temperature had reached about thirty degrees, the water was warm once you managed to get in and it was just what the doctor ordered after yesterday's hard labour.  

We had cheesy chips and I had ham and cheese toasted thingy which went down well.  The others didn't want the toasty thingy until it arrived but I ended up eating two thirds giving one third away which was accepted gracefully.  The others wanted the shade, I move to one of the other beds in the sun and put on another layer before the winter, I don't think that I shall be regretting it when I get old, I'm old already and as my niece told me earlier this week, we've both got good genes and I smiled.  More swimming after lunch and we left around four thirty to get back to pick up the car from the garage, they were dropped off and I spotted them in the supermarket and they are coming over on Friday to view the estate.  

I've not bothered with supper, my late lunch will do me until breakfast and I did buy a bottle of Coca Cola and have drunk half of it.....one bottle per week isn't going to do that much damage.  It cleans drains well so I'm hoping it does the same for my pipework, I do eat some rubbish some days.  No photos tonight, you know the pool that I'm speaking of...same old, same old.  I did ask the owner when they intend closing for the season and his reply was that if the weather is good, they're open until the end of September, if it's not then they are closed but knowing that Kardjali sometimes get different weather than my village I took their telephone number to make sure they are open before I drive forty minutes to find out they're closed.  LN.....Up here for thinking....boots blacked and all that......LN    

Thursday 5th September

Little more winter preparation this morning.  I was awake at six fifteen, coffee and yet more coffee, it was good enough to sit out on the terrace but I knew that I'd take my book or my phone out and it would be eight before I new it and part of the morning gone.  I was making toast at seven thirty and another slice at seven thirty eight,it was almost as if I was preparing to forego all other meals of the day and in fact I did.  First job was to find the mop and bucket from the little house and it was where I'd left it the last time, I realised I was a little short on the Medix that I use as a standby for everything that needs cleaning and I put it on the list of things that need to be replaced.  As it was I still forgot to get it when I went into Djebel later this afternoon.  As it worked out though I had enough with just a little to spare.  Next job was to take the hoover apart, clean the dust collector, wash all of the plastic parts and put it in the sun to dry and bang out the filter but didn't need to wash that out.

I first tackled the kitchen and removed the four slip mats near to the units and through to the hallway and with a bowl of hot water and Medix gave them a good scrub, rinsed them off and left them in the sun to dry.  I put the hoover back together again, hoovered the kitchen tiles and the winter lounge and washed the floor over moving into the bedroom downstairs and did the same thing, I was on a roll.  The lounge was given the same treatment, I toyed with cleaning the windows but that will be done tomorrow.  I moved upstairs and did the landing, bathroom, my bedroom and other two bedrooms and this time I did wash and used the silicone scraper that I bought from the garage to leave them clean and dry...magnificent tool.  I washed the stairs down, I was now on the homeward stretch, everything put back where it should be, mop hanging up in the little house and bucket very near to it, and so to Netflix and I started to watch a series that had been recommended to me, Kaos.  Not sure that I'm enjoying it, a little too blood thirsty for me but maybe later.  

I'd had a message from my student that she was at home this afternoon if I wanted to go round to visit.  It had been a while since I'd seen her and I made it to the house around three thirty as arranged.  I'd remembered that I'd put her birthday card ready but hadn't delivered it, she was overjoyed with the card and gave her money to buy perfume, her taste is not mine.  She was so surprised by the card since cards aren't normal in Bulgaria, Facebook has replaced the function of a card and just lots of Emojis.  She went off at five to have a face treatment in Kardjali with a friend, I stayed a little longer with her sister and the rest of her family and found out that tomorrow is a holiday, making it a long weekend for most people.  I drove home arriving around six thirty, haven't bothered with supper so far but maybe later.  

Tomorrow I want to do the rest of the windows and I'm dreading the stairwell outside and inside, they're difficult to do and almost impossible to achieve perfection.  LN.....Wish me luck and promise to give it my best......LN

Friday 6th September

So I was out of bed at six fifteen and at seven I was starting to clean the windows that I hadn't managed to clean yesterday.  These were going to be the difficult ones, the stairwell windows both inside and outside and I do them so rarely that I forget the best way to complete the task.  I can do the windows nearest the balconies no problem at all but it's a heck of a long stretch to reach both corner ones on the outside and inside is a heck of a high stretch from the stairs.

I had a message to let me know that my friends would be arriving at ten so I had a deadline to work to.  I just carried on with the task in hand and it was tools away at ten, what was done was done and that was going to be enough...I wasn't standing on ceremony because someone was visiting, but this tidy up was planned as part of my winter shut down plan that was put into execution when the wood was delivered.  Certain things just need doing and getting ticked off my mental list.  They arrived, it was his first time at the house but she had seen it all before.  We sat in the lounge, I made coffee and provided water as required and showed him the photos of the house before I started the work.  We dd the tour of this house, the wood store and the little house and finally the garden and Blue and Green were spotted down at the bottom of the garden.  Off they went around eleven thirty, I finished tidying the yard from the wood delivery and dumped the dust and odd bits of tell tale sign that a chopper had been used, in or near and dumped the residue over the wall to  disintegrate with time.  I came in, decided to settle down to Netflix after my mornings efforts, and pick up and episode of Jamie Fraser and Co. but unfortunately the subscription was waiting for payment.  I don't own the subscription but decided that it was stupid me taking one out for myself when I was a party-line on this one so went down the garage to see if I could offer anything towards the subscription.

Face to face he was adamant that no way was I paying towards it but I reasoned with him saying that what was the point of running two.  It's not a huge sum of money in Bulgaria, he said that he would pay one month and then I would pay the next but I was offering him six month of subscriptions and we agreed that he would tell me when I was to pay up next time.  I left him to it, by the time I'd gone to the shop to visit his mother the subscription was paid and now I don't have to worry about it, it's up and running and I've just switched it off so that I could do this update.  

The clouds came over at one thirty as I was driving into Djebel and we had thunder, very sticky humid weather and eventually rain, but not a lot of it.  The drive home was on wet roads but it wasn't raining, I'd meant to stop and do some shopping in Djebel but I was feeling in need of a little time on the sofa but this time I didn't fall asleep.  I successfully cooked around six fish fingers in the air-fryer, slapped them between four slices of bread with mayo and I've just finished off the ice-cream so I definitely need to probably drive into Kardjali tomorrow to fill up the fridge and freezer.  Both have been neglected recently.  LN....Now back to Netflix.....a couple of episodes before bedtime.....LN

Saturday 7th September

I went to bed at eleven last night and at three I was awake and reading.  I'd had a very restful afternoon with Netflix but had eaten to much, those fish fingers were swimming for their lives...or perhaps it was the mayo.  Tonight, no supper for me, I've had another lazy day.

I was awake at seven, turned over again and it was just before nine at the second awakening.  I made coffee, there were a few clouds around but the weather was still good enough to settle down on the chair on the balcony with the Kindle but then the sun really broke through and it was on to the bench with the sun umbrella.   I opened it up very gingerly and rightly so, insects had got into the folds of the fabric and started to fall as I unfurled it.  I think they thought they were set for the winter and it was a good job that I'd done it outside and not just brought it inside, there were about ten of them.  So I was doing OK, made more coffee and settled under the umbrella once more and then the wind got up and the one half was blown over the other half, the wind dropped and it straightened itself up and stayed that way for a time.  There was another strong gust and low and behold, the same thing happened so I took it down and it's now lying on the balcony. I have got another one which is much stronger and is sitting in the conservatory and hasn't yet been unfurled and since we're into September, it's going into storage for next year.  

I made poached eggs on toast for a late breakfast, intended having a bonfire, finishing off the stairwell windows and have done absolutely nothing.  It's been quite a full on week with one thing and another so no way do I feel guilty and I'm following Outlander on Netflix and reading the book at the same time and the series really does follow the dialogue in the book.  The first time I watched it I didn't really appreciate how dark the dark sequences really were but on second viewing I almost turned it off last night.....Black Jack Randel is really a twisted character.  So I've just done a late walk of the garden, found Green and Blue topping up with grass before bedtime, the water containers still have enough water until the morning and a pear that I put out on my earlier stroll round has gone..one or two of them must have enjoyed it.  No sign of the others, I thought I heard one of them ner the wall under the grass but some of the shrubs are so dry that it could just have been the leaves rustling.  The sun's going down behind the clouds so the sunset won't be very dramatic tonight unless the wind blows them all away and proves me wrong.....it's happened before.  LNI think it's tree trimming tomorrow, the mountains to the east are disappearing and if it's not too hot, I'll be weeding the flower beds ready to put farmyard manure on them to ensure better health in the soil for next year.  On the other hand, I might settle for collecting the rest of the seeds from the pots, remove the grass and the weeds and take cuttings from the oleander, rosemary and lavender.  LN.....So many choices or I might do as little as I've done today.....LN

Sunday 8th September

Seven start this morning with a very gentle start to the day.  I chose to read inside not out on the balcony, drank two cups of coffee and then went downstairs to start my day.  I made beans on toast for breakfast, didn't want to get egg bound, tidied the kitchen but left the washing-up in the kitchen sink and it's still sitting there with this evenings dishes...tomorrow is another day.

I did a few things round the garden, I spotted Blue when I was filling up the water containers for the tortoise and I dropped the remains of an apple that I'd cored and peeled left over from my mid morning munches.  I suppose it's boredom that drives me to it.  When there's a end-point that I'm aiming for when I'm working in the garden during the day, I don't think about food, I can go without.  I did toy with the idea of getting the grass mower out to take the dead flowers and seed pods off the weeds that have taken over the grass but it was too warm to really consider it.  It's already scribbled in for tomorrow unless it gets identified as a pool day.  LN......Chicken wings and spicy potato wedges was on the menu for tonight's supper so at least Cat has something to get it started in the morning.......LN........

Monday 9th September

Well really quite a hectic day and very varied.  I had the half can of beans on toast for breakfast, decided to play music from my old CD's that I'd transferred over to the computer and realised that there had been a driver update as part of the security company that I use and so it was playing, but no sound was coming out.  I've had this once before and managed to fix it but had forgotten how to do it and it was nine thirty by the time that I'd sorted things out.  Nice when it works, frustrating when it doesn't.

It was a beautiful day and I was tempted with the pool but instead I started to tackle some of the jobs that were outstanding in the garden. I watered everything well, we are back to drought conditions, weeded some of the smaller beds but need to get out the garden fork to remove the couch grass and the spade to chop round the flower beds to cut off the roots from the 'lawn'.  I'm calling it lawn very loosely, lots of weeds and bare patches and the other method is to go over it with the grass mower which has the benefit of cutting the flowers and seed heads for the weeds and slowing down the chances of germination over the winter and next spring.  As it was I decided it was too hot to be mowing so took to the computer and did a few maintenance jobs in the shade.

Head down late this afternoon and that's the reason the update is late so apologies for that, no photos, no tortoises out and about, they've probably gone underground in the shade.  Pool tomorrow and shopping since I'm running short of essentials, it's to get the items that I can't get locally.  LN....Almost ten my time, where has the day gone?......LN