Tuesday 1st April

So no April fools jokes came by me, the radio were still talking about the spaghetti tree from years ago which I remember first time round but it's not a thing that's taken off over here....very British humour.  I was awake at six thirty, put my first load of washing in, stripped down my bed and got the duvet cover and everything else underway in a third load and but eight three loads were done and drying.  I looked towards the fire to reset it for this evening and noticed that it was still going from last night so I shuffled it around, put a small log on it and it's been going all day and just as well.  It's been damp and miserable all day, no breaks in the cloud and mist on the hillside.  The temperature has hung at around eight all day but the house has settled at about twenty or thereabouts and it's been really comfortable.

I boiled four eggs working on the assumption that I could have two for breakfast and I could use up the rest of the tuna mayo with eggs added to pad it out and it worked well.  I washing was strewn around the house, in the upstairs bathroom, on the banister and on the two airers and by four this afternoon, the fleece blankets and duvet cover were both dry enough to go back on the bed so I was making my bed up for tonight and the one airer is in the lounge finishing off.  I've moved the stool that was in the bedroom into the lounge and it's replaced the wicker chair....it was the first piece of furniture I made when the men were working here.  I'd made a table and had nothing to sit on so two hefty planks and four sturdy legs and a few large nails and I had somewhere to sit.  I've attached two bench cushions to it to that it's not so hard to sit on and secured them with elastic and the chair that was in the stairwell I manoevered up to the top landing where it originally came from.......and then I rested, taking to the sofa with the book until I had the urge to tidy the shelving unit in the bedroom so that I could find things when I came to get dressed in the mornings....things had become untidy.  I also managed to mend the closing catch on the leltric kettle which save me buying a new one....Jill of all trades today!!.

I didn't need to get any more wood in for today but I shall have to be doing that tomorrow.  I'm not sure that the air is warmer since we've had torrential rain for the last few days but it's going to be warmer that the wood store so two log carriers will be filled and brought down tomorrow.  I've felt much better today, the visit to the doctor brought me confirmation that all was in the right place and I was satisfied with the opionions that it would just take more time for me to get back to normal....whatever that might be.  As for my fuzzy head when I rose from horizontal to vertical, it's been much better but maybe I've just got slower in changing positions.  LN.....I'm going to have a much gentler day tomorrow....just got to program up my new Robo.....LN

Wednesday 2nd April

So I awoke at four forty, read for a while and decided to get my head down again around five thirty and not an ounze of sleep in me so back to my book.  It was raining again, the sky was very grey and it was again around seven degrees outside which dulled my enthusiasm to the rest of the day.  The sunshine does make most things better, not walking but raises the spirits.

Usual chores, lit the fire because I needed a little 'warmth' in the place, settled for toast for breakfast with apricot jam and then had to review the fire.  It was very difficult to get going this morning and has been slow to show any signs of being there for me.....so spent around five firelighters on it and eventually it got to delivering the reward for perseverance.  I was down to about fifteen logs in the lounge and nothing in the conservatory so that was going to be the focus of my morning.  I put on my army padded trousers since it was cold outside but they happen to be about three sizes too big for me so it didn't take long to get the bottoms very wet and under my gardening shoes.  I was extremely cautious but all went off OK.....three containers of wood brought into the conservatory, one smaller one of starter wood and when the log carrier had dried out I filled up the inside log basket and the standby and I'm good to go for the next few days.

Washing away and I settled into my book and infact have finished it so looking to buy more to read.  I was out of things to do so I decided to see if I could manage a bath, it was the getting in and out that was concerning me so around four I headed upstairs, put the emersion on to keep it topped up, put a hand towel on the bottom of the bath so that I didn't slip getting in, very liberal with the Badedas and lay there for an hour or so, topping up the water when the temperature dropped.  The hand towel was under me, the bath towel was ready for my emergence, I brought myself up with my arms. hung on to the support for the hand-basin and everything went according to plan.  Quick rub down, underwear stored in the bathroom anyway, bedroom for a fleece sweater and casual trousers.  Another milestone covered.

Downstairs and the fire had to be re-lit again, decided to have a chicken fillet sandwich instead of cooking a 'proper' meal but it was Ok and filled a gap.  Eight thirty my time, time to find a film to see me through the next two hours and then bed.  LN.....Count down on for my visitors.....need to write a 'to do' list and start ticking things off.....LN

Thursday 3rd April

Another too early start, four thirty so I read for a while and then got my head down and it was seven when the second awakening happened.  It had rained in the night again but the clouds were lifting and there was a show of sun, it was behind the clouds but it was a welcome change from mountain to mountain greyness.  I spotten cat on the terrace and it came up licking it's lips so I found some dried food and then remembered that I had some left overs in the slow cooker so that went first from the dish and then the dried pellets were left but I've noticed that they've been devoured but one that I didn't notice at the time.

We did have a shower around midmorning but then it cheered up, the sun came out but it's clouded over now and it doesn't look too promising.  I did manage to get out to the garden with the camera and take some photos of the shrubs, flowers and blossoms on the fruit trees and it's surprising how it lifts your mood when you look at the colour in the garden.  I also found a trail where I'm thinking Rosy has been grazing and I think she must have spent the winter under the lonesome pine, it's got lots of cotoneaster shrubs over the base of the tree and that gives added protection for the winter keeping the snow from the ground.  

I watched a film this afternoon, I'd spent the morning trying to find an instruction booklet in English for the robot floor cleaner that I'd bought and can't even managed to find where to download the software to set it up.  Even the instructions on the box are in every other language but Endlish and that's also gone on the back burner.  In fact, it's not been a very successful day electronically but there again, I managed the garden with out my walker so I'm looking on the bright side.  I'm not very hungry tonight so it might be a cold snack later, the fire's been going all day so I don't need anything to give me energy.  LN......Grey, grey, grey.....I want April showers not downpours......LN

Friday 4th April

Six thirty start again and it seems to have become the norm.  I turned to my book again and it's one that I started ages ago but didn' finish it and not really sure where it came from.  It's set around nineteen hundred and it's at the time where there was complete chaos in the Balcans, Greece, Macedonia and Turkey wasn't really established.  It's charting the history and antics of Christianity and the Mustlims, we have a Christian priest and a Hodja giving a different take on things and trying to keep the village on a level footing.  They are working withing two frameworks of religion from their own aspects and trying in some cases to merge the two since they live very closely together.  I've learnt some useful Turkish phrases from it and others I'll have to find out about, I know the translation of some but not others and they've changed over the years.

So today my main objective was to ask my village lady if she could give me then minutes of her time.  When they had put the woodburner pipes back they hadn't cleaned out the woodburner itself and it's an area that you can't reach except from the top opening.  I'd tried to explain it to her and her friend last time but it wasn't sinking in, they obviously knew better but when I explained it when she was here she understood.  All I wanted her to do was to remove half of the pipes so that I could remove the said half from the top of the woodburner but in true fashion she took over and she even brought her sister along and she wanted to join it too.  I'm getting around much better but the last thing I wanted was someone underfoot that I wasn't expecting, my lady was up the ladder, I was taking the pipes from her and sister wanted to play but I put my foot down with a firm hand and she sat down again.  Anyway it didn't take long and everything is back where is should be and despite it being slow, it looks like the fire is going at long last.

I'd had a late morning making up the bed for my visitors and just in case he develops a cold again, the guest room too.  I've hoovered through and washed the tiles on the top floor, collected up the woolen mats and two are washed and four more to go.  They just help to stop the echoing despite the soft furnishings.  All I've got left to do is the lounge, kitchen floor and downstairs bathroom and since all those are in use, it's not going to take long to knock them into shape.  

Ladies' sister goes back to Turkey tomorrow and I'm taking her to Djebel to catch the bus to Ankara which leaves at three thirty.  Unfortunately you can't buy tickets in advance so we need to be there at three to make sure that she's on it so I'm picking them up at two thirty since I'm told she has lots of luggage, as she came so she's going.  I need to remember to put the air pump on the driver's side front tyre....I noticed it was a little down when I went out to the garage this morning.

As for the weather, it's not been a bad day, I sat out for a time on my upstairs bedroom balcony and enjoyed the sun until I remembered how much work I had to do so I came in and got on with it.  LN.....My visitors arrive on the tenth so still plentry of time to get on with the things that I want to and I don't have to stand on ceremony.  I've not used the hoover since January and it was quite an effort but it is good to be able to move again without it hurting too much.  LN......Just a long healing process but at least I'm on the mend.......LN

Saturday 5th April

So I woke up on the sofa last night or rather this morning at one thirty so switched off the television and crawled to my bed and fortunately went to sleep immediately or so it seemed.  I slept through until seven this morning so not so bad, there was a hint of a sunrise that looked promising but those April deluges kicked in after lunch.  Cat showed it's little face and got fed, I managed two poached eggs on toast and in the absence of other meals, breakfast has become my main meal of the day.  I  sorted out the washing that I'd put on the airer overnight.  I'd managed to do five loads and washed the various rugs from the upstairs bedrooms and bathroom, they'd been open to the elements overnight but I dragged them from the kitchen into the lounge and the upstairs where more air could get to them.

I had a ping from Messenger and my friend from Fotinovo related an incident where her old car was diagnosed as being beyond economical repair when she was heading down to Greece and just this side of the border crossing there was smoke pouring from it.  They made it to the garage, a friend of a friend had a car for sale and now she is the proud owner of a 'new to her' car and whe wanted to come over and show me so I said yes.  I had nowhere to be until two thirty this afternoon and we had a very enjoyable late morning before they went off to do some shopping.  I moved the washing again and some of it I've already put away.

I started the Beast this morning, it was delivered back from the garage but I've not done anything with it since and it started first time.  I moved it away from the back wall of the garage and let it run for a while and after fifteen minutes I reversed it back into the garage and switched it off.  Everything was good.  I did notice that I have to get a new emergency road triangle, the middle of my old one is missing so that needs to be picked up from the garage then next time I'm there.  At one forty five the heavens opened yet again and that wind got up.  I managed to get the household rubbish into the Nipper to take it down to the container at the bottom of the village, I was picking up my village lady and her sister and transporting them to Djebel so that she could catch a bus back to Ankara.  As I approached the bottom square, they were  standing out on the square in the pouring rain, I had to get rid of the rubbish first so that I could get them in the car, doors were left open and the inside was very wet but eventually we were all aboard and setting sail for Djebel.  She had as much luggage going back as she had brought with her, the suitcases were all wrapped in plastic sheeting and the seats were a little damp and where the rubbish container had been shoved inside the Nipper my my village lady, all the debris from the container had ended up on the damp seat.  Sister was squashed in the back with the suitcases, we had that weather all the say to Djebel, I parked up in the bus station behind the coach, my village lady went to but the ticket, sister stood outside because the rain had stopped and I cleaned the seats off and dried off the inside of the car.  It was now  just before three and the bus didn't go until three thirty and sister wanted to get the last wave in before she left.  I filled in my time by resetting the clock in the Nipper and sorting out some of the shelves and the glove box.

We stopped off at the supermarket and I more or less managed to do my shopping on my own which is such an improvement.  The store had a row of metal trolleys and so I didn't even bother with my walker.  Shopping came to just over the hundred lev but I've topped up with most things so I shan't have to be going out again before my daughter and SIL arrive.  It seems to have settled down again and stopped raining but the temperatures are due to drop to minus values and apparently it is destined to snow on Sunday night and Monday ending up with minus three.   LN.....Let's see how it pans out.....my visitors might be borrowing a few of my warm clothes....LN

Sunday 6th April

Up by seven, I was expecting my painter chappie who was going to strim down to the lonesome pine for me to tidy up the garden.  Washing underway, the last that needs to be done before my visitors arrive and I've processed pyjamas that my daughter left here and a fleece coverall that I bought back from England...it was a sale offer that I just couldn't live without.  Those treatened temperatures appear to have arrived so the gear might be required.

My painter arrived at eight thirty with his man sized strimmer, scratched his head and we agreed on how far he should go, across the garden lining up with the pine and the land to the side of the house.  It was very wet underfoot but he managed quite well, he was here to about two hours, I asked him how much he wanted and he put the ball right back in my court.  I thought about it and overpaid him....at least the job is done.  I'd asked him to follow the wooden surrounds on the flowerbeds but where the weeds had come over from the beds onto the grass, he'd not removed it and had no intention of clearing up the grass that was cut telling me that it was good for the grass to leave it so I managed to do that when he'd left.  All that that achieves is old grass that rots on the top and leaves a mess on the surface.  I cleared most of the clover and threw it over the wall, cut back one of the wild roses and removed the old seed pods from the oleander and they followed the grass over the wall.

The rain stayed off until lunchtime, the temperature was still going down and true to Accuweather, it started to snow around four this afternoon but it didn't settle, the ground was just too wet but there is a covering on the mountains.  It's gone down to freezing so I better watch my footing tomorrow....don't want to undo the healing that's taken place.  Tomorrows task should I care to accept it is to hoover the lounge, wash or dust off the ornaments and wipe down the surfaces, clean the bathroom and kitchen and then I sit back and wait.

This morning I found an old hanging flower basket where the grass that was covering the metal had all rotted so I removed the old grass and found some brightly coloured plastic rope and I intend recovering the frame with the plastic and puttiing it back to its original use.  I just hate waste.  I also played around in the wood store and filled up another log basket ready to bring it in.....I do need someone to chop the larger wood though, it's beyond me and even though I managed it to my painter chappie, he didn't offer to do it there and then but said to ask him if I want it done.  I think I might aske one of the other local lads, they just get on with the job.  LN......Now to settle in and throw another log on the fire......LN

Monday 7th April

So this morning I woke up to completely white over and at least six inches of snow on top of the bird house, terraces covered and I was so pleased that I'd filled the log basket and the tub in the house and I had other supplies in the conservatory.  There was noway I was venturing out this morning.  It was still snowing, I put in another load of washing and made toasted cheese sandwich marvelling at the fact that my repair on the machine had worked thus saving me from having to buy another one.

I put the washing on the airer and through lack of anything else to do and nothing I wanted to do I took my book upstairs, ran the bath that I'd planned to have last night and didn't and languished for almost two hours topping up the bath with hot water when it started to cool off.  I emerged, put a towel round me and came downstairs now that most of the clothes that I wear now have made their way downstairs.  I found underwear, fleece sweater, topped up the fire again and watched the snow fall from the trees as the temperature rose outside but it only reached three degrees but enough to start the thaw.  There were a few blue clouds around but my interest was to establish myself back on the sofa with my book.....my leg was feeling uncomfortable so decided to rest it.....well atleast until twelve and now I'm back on target.  Upstairs finished, stairs finished, the hoover is in the lounge ready for the morning and from now on it's child's play.

I made it too the sofa but with that came the closing of the eyes and at least one and a half hours out of it and I'm not sure I felt better for it.  I set about a box of chocolate wafer fingers that I've not bought before from Djebel but I think they'll be on the list for the next time that I go shopping......but not sure when that will be.  I didn't check whether or not the snow tractor has been round today or not.....we don't normally have any problems but hopefully if it has dumped the snow anywhere but in front of my gates and if so...... I'm trapped.  LN.....Temperature down to one degree plus so far at eight thirty my time so not so bad as expected......Camera doesn't want to boot on the computer......tomorrow is another day so pictures to follow........LN

Tuesday 8th April

What a day.....I've spent a lot of the time trying to get my camera to link with my computer and I have the feeling that some changes have been made to my computer after an update and it's going to take a while to sort it.....aarrrggghhh.

Eventually I've managed to get only two photographs over so you'll have to be content with those for the time being, I also appear to have lost Image Resizer seven which I purchased in the UK over Christmas and now I have to look for the key in the e-mails.  The house is finished for my visitors, the snow has all vanished leaving tulips with heads pointing downwards but I'm loathed to cut them off and bring them inside....they still look good in the garden.  I've had the fire going all day and managed to bring another load of logs down and one already stacked in a lot carrier in the woodstore....nothing like being prepared.

I'm at last feeling hungry...I haven't for the last couple of days so time to think about supper but it needs to be something quick before the mood passes again.  Just a few things to do tomorrow and then relax and find loads of things I should have done....situation normal....made a list...lose it....panic....find it and then not bother.  LN......And now to try and put on the pickies.....LN

Wednesday 9th April

Late start this morning...seven thirty.....but I didn't have a lot to do and I was fairly relaxed about what I had to do.  I fired up the computer and put Radio 2 on and then set about trying out various cables to try and get the camera to the computer sorted.  I'd given up with the main computer upstairs and had settled for my laptop and with the new cable and ditching Bing, I was able to see the files from the camera on the computer....it looked like all was going well and managed to fiind Image Resizer version 7 so just needed totie the two up.  I put the radio back on and listened to the news, put the other programs back to bed....there was no reason why it wouldn't work tonight and it has.

Log baskets filled, didn't bother with breakfast since it was still early and decided to wait until I felt like eating.  Next job was to sort out the clock and outside weather station, I'd accidentally pushed a button and screwed up the settings....the year was wrong, I had moved a twenty four hour clock over two days so it was showing the wrong day and date and despite a very good manual, the buttons are on the backside and it's very difficult to programme.  I got it close enough and then left it to contact it's home radio base so that it could set the time...much easier than me fiddling and getting into a tizz.

I only had the conservatory to finish off and tried to lift a plastic bucket from the carpet and found it was stuck.  At some point it must have got extremely hot and welded itself on to the carpet so with the aid of a Stanley knife I separated the two and now just a small darn to do....but at a later date.  Since I had nothing to do now, I went back to watching Outlander.  I'd watched the first series about three years ago so I started again for the beginning and it's amazing what you forget and also what you remember.  Still got six more series to go....it could last into Autumn.

It was a really late breakfast, I had tuna mayo with buttered toast and sat outside on the bench in the sun eating it.  There's just been a thump on the stairwell window which normally signifies a bird has collided with it but no sign of one on the patio so maybe it didn't do it any harm.....it did sound loud though.  So now back to television, I never did managed to sort out the new Robo and am still waiting for an instruction booklet in English.  LN......Robo on loan needs to go home before I wear it out.......LN

Thursday 10th April

Seven thirty this morning and remembered that my daughter and SIL were coming today.  I WhatsApp to tell them to have a safe journey and I got a photograph back of the two of them telling me how early it was in the UK.....and it was...around five nd the flight left at six fifty.  I'd done everything I needed to do, I was ready for guests except that I had to go shopping to get some food in.  I wrote my list and then planned that the cash-point was the first port of call after I'd deposited the rubbish in the container in the village and driven into Djebel.

On my drive in I stopped off at the car-parts shop and opposite there was a fire engine and lots of fire men milling around.  We never did get to the bottom of what had happened but that's a story that we'll read about in the local newspaper.  We discussed tbe new Robo that I'd bought and that Kaufland had said in an email that there was no way that I could be provided with a manual in English snce one wasn't available and I asked the question as to why full details of the content of the box were perfectly described in English....and am still waiting for a reply.

I carried on to the cash-point so that I could pay for things and not leave it all to my daughter, went down to the supermarket and am still amazed at the way that Bulgarians park cars.  Two parallel lines doesn't mean a thing to them and because of the thoughtlessness I had to park away from the door leaving me a long treck with my walking frame.  I went round picking up the items I wanted, was asked if I needed help which I refused, unpacked the shopping bag that I'd filled and put it on the checkout.  I paid the bill, wnt back to the car and drove home, unpacked the shopping and then waited and eventually at just after four they arrived bringing hald of Budgens with them and doubling up on the items I'd brought.

I made barbecue pork for supper which is a dish that I used to make regularly in the UK but had to think really hard to get the sauce right.  We sat down for supper at fve thirty, everything washed away, I've lost a pair of boots to my beloved daughter and she's fallen for a cardigan that I never wear.  She'll be booking extra luggage on the way home!!  LN......Now to check out what the accounts the visitors are setting up on my TV.....LN

Friday 11th April

I was awake at five thirty, no other sounds from the house.  The fire was in and going strong so I shook it up a little, took out the ashes and threw a large log on and it kept the home fires burning until eleven this morning and then I let it go out.  I didn't have any company until nine thirty, eventually one was in the shower and my daughter was still in her PJ's with her newly acquired sweater that I swear she slept in.  I was out walking the garden when she found me accusing me turning her into an orphan....she'd tried the house and not found me, came on to the terrace and didn't see me and then I appeared from the little house garden and she came down to join me.  We walked back together to the terrace and sat down on the bench, the sun was warm but the wind was chill but it was just a pleasant morning to sit and take in the garden and the day.  I noticed cat before I went on my gad-about and put down dried food which was devoured immediatly and then it went off to do what it does for the rest of the day.

My daughter and myself sat out for about twenty minutes, felt hunger pains and went in and put eggs on to boil, ham and cheese to accompany them and mayo to finish it off.  Breakfast over we washed up together, then set about adding my old printer to the network, she printed of a killer Soduko for me and her crossword form the Daily Telegraph and we sat in the lounge working on our new found tasks.  Shopping this afternoon in Djebel for food and more provisions and we came back with ice-creams that would serve as puddings.  We made beefburgers and stuffed them with blue cheese and put them in the oven with local potato wedges manufactured in Bulgaria but I shan't buy them again.  They were still covered in the skins and these proved to be very tough when cooked,

My daughter was on fire duty today and it's a novelty for her.  She grew up with coal fires but hasn't lit one in years but she hasn't lost the knack.  I left her to it and now the house is cosy, the water is belting round the radiators and the atmospheres very relaxed.  LN       No photos tonight, my fault, just too busy in a pleasant sort of way......LN

Saturday 12th April

Apologoes to the faithful, last night turned into a really late one at a fabulous Turkish restaurant with friends and despite the lack of alcohol, it was too late to put fingers to keyboard when we arrived home.  We lit the fire and reminisced about old times and before I knew it the clock has passed the bewitching hour and I took to my virtuous couch and slept like a babe.  I toyed with the idea of writing something but it was only a passing thought...and then it went.

We had a very lazy day.  It was another dull day where the imagination is left to itself since there's nothing much to see in the garden.  I did try to set fire to the conservatory, I use a metal container when I take the ash out from the woodburner and then transfer it to a plastic container to take it outside to either put on the garden or collect it for my local friend.  I was obviously not in total thinking mode, put it on top of the other in the plastic container, went out a while later and there was a funny smell.  The 'warm' ashes had burnt through the plastic container and had welded the bottom of the plastic bucket to the carpet and there was smoke coming from it.  Quick moves, ashes outside, plastic bucket outside and water on the carpet.  I've moved the remains of the bucket away from the area, that will need a new base making for it to use it in the future and the metal container is in prime view to be used for all ash collection.  Just shows how easy it is for a simple mistake to turn things into an emergency,  

The intention was to watch a film yesterday that my daughter had recommended to me but for some reason that hadn't happened so that's been rescheduled for today.  When I tried to watch it on Netflix it wasn't available but my SIL had found it on Prime and it's available to view for forty eight hours so it's cinema time this afternoon.  We have similar tastes so titles go backwards and forwards but on Bulgarian Netflix it just wasn't available.  So popcorn out this afternoon.  The only activity in the garden yesterday looked like it was a junior woodpecker that was attempting to make a hole in the Linden tree in the garden along the short wall.  It sat for what seemed a long time weighing up the odds on success, moved into position, had a few bashes at it and then prompty flew away to find an easier task.

And now to get on with my day, the babes are sleeping still and don't appear to have adjusted from English to local time, the fire is going to welcome them back to the world but it looks like the sun might appear and give us a much better day.  .......Let's hope that it continues on both the righteous and the infadels......and now back to my book....Bird without Wings which is absolutely recommended.......

Sunday 13th April

Very active day today....washing done, guests had washing to do and my daughter has purloined a cardigan from my collection and that's had a trip in the washing machine too.  I have the feeling that it will be on the homeward journey to the UK so I'll have to steal it back when next I go to visit.  I've also lost a pair of boots all be it to a good cause, I bought them cheaply from my exceptional second hand shop and Cinders has claimed them as her own.  We settled down to a very good breakfast of boiled eggs, cheese, ham and then the hard work began.

I now have a very good supply of smaller wood and SIL has a couple of blisters on his hands.  I walked the garden with my daughter on the search for tortoise and only found one of them hiding in the bed at the bottom of the garden.  The shrubs are all coming to life, the early flowering ones are going over and the ones that appeared dead are showing first signs of coming into leaf and we settled down on the bench outside the workshop and enjoyed the sun.  We've had a glorious day weather-wise. I expected rain and dull days for the rest of their holiday but it looks like my daughter will be going home with a suntan afterall.  It's too early for me to start taking clothes off, I'm still in a fleece jumper and have the rest of 'summer' to work up to a tan.  We went into the little house, I needed to put some tools away and we started discussing the number of pots that needed putting outside to liven up the terraces later in the year and the decision was made, they are all out on the little house terraces which gives me the opportunity to clear out the weeds from them, put in new cuttings and get them ready for the outdoor life.  The remaining ones in the little house look like I've lost several of them and so they'll be cleared out and new plants added.

We were outside until around five thirty when the air started to chill, I lit the fire, made supper out of spicey sausage, chilli flakes, baked beans, a tin of tomatoes and Worcester sauce and it was a hit.  We had it with chunks of bread and finished off with cheese and biscuits, the chocolates are still on the table and remain relatively unscathed.  We all sat down tonight and watched 'Wicked Little Letters' and it was so funny but sad.  Oliver Coleman was brilliant in the role, in fact all of the actors were really good and it made me laugh.  If the weather is good it's going to be more of the same tomorrow, My family enjoy being here, I did suggest going out for the day but they decided there was no need...rest and recouperation is the order of the day.  Washing mostly dry and will be put away tomorrow, it's already been decided that it will be the pizza restaurant tomorrow night and then they leave on Tuesday.  Five days is not really enough but they have holidays booked for later in the year and both have jobs with retirement not on the agenda for a while.  LN.....We'll make the most of the next couple of days and I know that I'm going to miss them......LN

Monday 14th April

I was awake at eight this morning and the longer my daughter stays the later I seem to wake up.  I cleared out the fire, sorted out the wood and brought wood in from the woodstore to fill up for the day.  The fire was still in from last night and it didn't take too long to get the homefires burning. It was a fairly warm morning but not so good as yesterday, where my daughter had sat in the sun yesterday afternoon she had a rather pink nose and chin which only seemed to show up when we sat at the breakfast table in the shade and the standard phrase was rattled around....'it will be brown tomorrow' which hopefully it will.  

We lingered over breakfast and then went out to the garden and she brought out the loppers and set about cutting back the old flower stalks from the yukka.  They had flowered twice last year but the secateurs hadn't touched them when I tried earlier in the year but the loppers finished them off in quicksticks.  She also removed the blackberry suckers that have gone through the forsythia and the japonica in the frog garden and we moved into the little house to see what else we could achieve.  While I had a captive audience the flower pots that had been stored in the little house over winter were moved to the terraces where I could water them and remove the weeds and other rubbish ready to plant up anything new that either was moved from another pot or bought from the shops.  While they were at it I asked them to bring out the storage box with the chair cushions in it and the wooden box that I keep gardening things in.  

They both moved back inside but I kept at it and sorted out the oleander and took the old seed pods of them, cleared out the grass from some of the others and took cuttings from the fuschia which I'm attempting hydroponics on.  I've floated the cuttings in water, it worked with the rosemary so it's worth a try.  I also put a layer of wood preservative on the oak half barrel and spray painted one of the oid drums that I use as a stand for one of the flower bowls.  It's been a very productive day and at five we were putting things away and shutting up shop, we were out for a pizza being the last night of their holidays.

We drove into Djebel to the restaurant but unfortunately the electricity was out so they were not producing foot tonight so we drove to the main square and to another restaurant and had a pleasant meal, then a stop off at the supermarket for bread and eggs and goodies that we can't live without, drove home and settled down to crosswords and sudoku.  They don't leave until around two tomorrow and I know now that I'm going to miss them both.  LN.....I still have lots of gardening to do but little by little I shall be ready for summer and weather permitting, the electric lawn mower might be out if it stays dry....LN

Tuesday 15th April

So this is the second attempt at writing tonight's epistle, the first one went off into the ether when I hit a wrong key.  I'm not on the big machine, that's upstairs and I'm down and about to crawl into my bed.  I put Netflix on and have watched a few episodes of Outlander and managed to sleep through a couple of them so tomorrow I will have to backtrack to fill in the gaps.  I've watched them before about two years ago, I'm on my second run through but am still enjoying it.

My daughter and son in law have left late this afternoon.  This morning we had breakfast, sat around, she was stringing up carrots that she'd made out of orange and green paper to decorate my house.  I'll add a photo tomorrow, they're hanging up in the lounge and she has made them for her house and had decorated mirrors with chalk paints....too much time on her hands and uses her creative side to make enjoyment for others.

We managed to get the new Robot to work and it makes me sad that it can't be used to full capability since the 'app' when trying to download it comes back with the message that 'it's not available in your area'.....only half the features work from the remove control.  It's amazing that they can put full instructions on the box in English but no English manual is available.  Trades description and all that, this information should have been available at the time and yes, you can have a refund but that's not the point.....bad marketing from such a big complany.

The washing is done and drying, the bed will get stripped down tomorrow and ready for me to either move back upstairs for the summer or the next ones to arrive.  I must admit that I've been taking pain killers for the last couple of days and I'm getting around much better.  I was loath to take them, I really don't like taking tablets but I was trying to be more active with them being here and it worked.  Unfortunately they only had one sunny day where they pinked up and the rain came in eventually this afternoon and hopefully, the weather will be good tomorrow, it's forecast as such but who knows. I'm off to my bed, my neighbour over the way is back from Germany late tonight.  I'm not sure who in her family is coming back with her but I'm sure we'll catch up tomorrow at some point.  LN.....I'm off to bed, sorry about the lack of photos, I promise to try to do better.....LN

Wednesday 16th April

Back to normal but the house is quiet and I've run out of things to do.  I rubbed out the entries for the sudoku that my daughter had printed off for me while she was here and now she's back I have two new ones to attempt.  The are difficulty rating and not sure my brain is up to it but I always have a rubber to hand and if in doubt, put it on the wood burner or in the bucket for burning at the bottom of the garden.  I sat out for a while this morning, fed the cat but I'm thinking that it must have had a run in with a 'human', it was very timid this morning and didn't finish all the food that I put out.  After feeding the cat I used three of the tomatoes that I'd brought for while my daughter was here but there were no takers so I fried them this morning in oil, salt and lots of pepper and had them on toast.  I don't usually buy them this early in the year and there was lots of white stuff and not much taste in them but the pepper brought out enough flavour for me to finish them.

I walked down to the bottom of the garden unaided, had a bonfire, sat on the wall for a time then came in and got my head down infront of the television and watch a couple of episodes of Outlander or should I say....partly watched.  I switched it off and maanged to do one of the sudoku but not the new ones, they need printing off.  I've been waiting for my Avatar to come back from Germany today and I thought the flight was yesterday but I think she must have got in very late and stayed with her daughter in law at a relative's house.  I hold her keys for the winter so kept checking to see if there was any activity over there or curtains drawn back and it was all closed up until five this afternoon when I checked.  I didn't want to get in their way, I know she finds the flight and journey really tiring but there was a lot of activity round the water inlet and I think there was a problem with the inlet connector.  It's been sorted now, I went in the house and Avatar gave me a big hug, she'd obvioulsy heard that I'd fallen down on the ice and was very concerned but I said I was OK.  I also told her that I'd been using her father's walking stick and I'm sure she wants rent on it....I'll have to work it out tomorrow.  The other thing that has just dissapeared over the road is the car jack....they put a log under the car in the garage to stop the gypsies but I think the tyres have gone down and now it's stuck.  I must remember to get it back later tonight.

It's a lovely calm evening, good for drying up the grass so I might just get my mower out tomorrow and see how I fare.  Robo is still belting around doing my housework, the new one is sitting in the lounge and needs manual intervention to spur it into action so it can wait.  LN.....I'm now about to see what's left in the fridge that I might fancy tonight......probably finish off the blue cheese with bread or pate and toast.......LN

Thursday 17th April

So last night I was a little concerned that my right leg was swollen comparing it to my left so I ended up sleeping with a pillow under it in bed and this morning it was fine.  Not sure it's because I've been more adventurous of late, doing more things or because I've started taking the pain killers again....time to do a few more tests and see.

I't been a beautiful day, so much so that after a breakfast of poached egg on toast I was out there and searching out the strimmers that seem to have accumulated and trying to find one that I could load the strimmer cable and actually put to use.  I popped over firstly to see Avatar and see what she was up to and she was busy cleaning.  The house has been locked up since last October so she has lots to do but at least her daughter is over here with her so they're tackling it together.  I didn't stay long, I left her with a packet of biscuits and she said that she should be giving me a present since she was the one returning so I cheekily asked her where it was and we had a giggle about it.

I came back and loaded the big strimmer and tried it first with the cable that was in there but it was grinding and obviously not installed correctly so I sat in the sun with more cable, another plastic cover for the unit and had another go and we were launched.  I cleared the yard and the grass between the house and the front wall after I'd managed to put the shrubs back so I didn't get scratched to death.  Lots had fallen away from the wall and the honeysuckle had down a fair share of damage winding its way around things.  I gave it a quick tidy but it really needs love and attention and tomorrow and next week are still available to me.  At one thirty I'd had enough so put my tools away, checked out the little strimmer that I'd loaded at the end of last year and ...joy of joy.....I have another one working.  Only the grass mower to try but I did see one advertised in my email this morning which is a self-propelling one that also has a mulching function at quite a reasonable price so I think I might be driving to Haskovo at the weekend or I might even order it on the internet and at twenty leva delivery cost.....I might just invest.

Tools away and all locked up and this afternoon I collapsed in front of Netflix and back into Outlander.  I watched a few episodes and it's surprising how much I've forgotten of the first viewing and I finished the half packets of crackers and used up the left over cheese.  At five thirty I went to check that I'd locked everything up and htere was just a few things on the bench that needed bringing inside.  I'd also left my camera on the bench out of the sun and wanted to take a few photos to put on here tonight and the plan was going well until the battery ran out so it's now on charge and you might very well get them published later tonight.  I walked through the path between the house and the wall to check how much new growth had appeared on the recently strimmed grass by my helper and that should be alright for a couple of weeks.  It was good to be out and see the shrubs that were coming into flower, there are three lilacs and a couple of berberis with pretty yellow and orange flowers and lots of japonica kerria,,,,beautiful flowers.  I also heard lot so clacking agains the wall and sure enough, little blue is attacking Red which is a task in itself considering that he must be about thrre times smaller that Red but nothing ventured nothing gained.  She was literally running away, he tried all things and at one point even thought that she was going to get tipped over but she managed a move he wasn't expecting.  Only one photo to follw, it was at this point that the battery ran out.

Waitinf for Robo to start up, the perimeters are protected and tomorrow it's going to be cleaned and taken home...it was only on loan.  It's just spring into action, seven my time and now I think I might put the boiler on and have have a bath this evening.  LN......The batteries are getting there.......LN

Friday 18th April

Fairly early start today, I didn't look at my clocks around the place and did a few things, got dressed and put on BBC Sounds and it was still only seven thirty.  I was way ahead of myself.  I made toast for breakfast and slathered it with apricot jam, put the evidence in the kitchen to be sorted later and settled down on the sofa with my phone and book.  I realised it was Good Friday but am saving my Easter Eggs until Sunday.  My daughter and SIL bought me a packet of mini-eggs and they will be devoured in one sitting.

My helpful local came round this morning, she was on her way to cut the very spiky shrub to put more protection round the garden and allotments to stop the cows trampling everything flat.  Her mother and herself rely on the produce for summer and winter and she works really hard at it.  We went out into the garden and she is obsessed with tulips and trying to get bults and the likes from me.  I told her it's best to dig them up when they've finished flowering and started to die back and then to put them in the garden or leave them to dry out and plant them later.  She's taken a shine to the rosemary and was about to break some branches off and I told her to stop, I already had cuttings in water that had put on roots and managed to find two with substantial roots that I wrapped up in damp kitchen roll to plant when she got home.  She pulled up a root of an orange flower under the wild plum tree, broke off a couple of geraneum stalks and in the end I told her to stop.  She's very exuberant and almost child-like but stop means 'stop'...She also borrowed my loppers knowing that mine are much sharper than hers and that's the last I've seen of her today.

I sat outside in the sun for a while, moved under the balcony with cushions on the outdoor seats but didn't stay long.  The wind was keen, I wasn't exactly cold but didn't want to be so I moved inside and settled on the sofa and went back to my book until I fell asleep.  I was only out for about but it was enough, I set the fire for tonight and lit it around seven.  It seemed to take ages to light but eventually it's left the lounge feeling very comfortable, homely and warm.  I cooked a chicken fillet in breadcrumbs for supper and had it on two slices of bread with mayonnaise and that should see me through until morning.  It's almost ten my time and soon time for bed.....it's been a lovely day weatherwise.  LN.....I only wish I felt fit enough to get the mower out and cut down the grass.....another week or so and I might tackle it.....LN

Saturday 19th April

So seven thirty start, wall to wall mist and I stayed in bed for quite a while until the urge to get up and move kicked in.  The first step is always the worst, I move to the side of the bed, take stock and prepare to put my fit on the ground, stand up and see what the first step feels like.  The pain this morning was OK, still there but not too exaggerated and I made it to the loo and back again, stopping at the kitchen to get a glass of water to take back to bed with me.  I'm back on the blood pressure tablets, I measured it yesterday and it was quite high so time to watch my diet, leave off the coffee, stick to water and concentrate on healing.  I gave myself a good rub down with the cream from the doctors last night and again this morning before I got into bed, tried to snuggle down again but after ten minutes gave up and thought about my day.

I made toast for breakfast, didn't bother with the fire there was no need despite the wall to wall fog, it was still nearly twenty degrees in the house and I'd do it later.  I rubbed out a couple of sudoku that my daughter had sent me, I'd attempted them and fallen at the last hurdle....everything seemed to be going into place and then...two of the same number in the column.  I think I shall be forced out to buy more erasures at this rate.  There are also today's waiting to be printed off but I'm saving those for later.  I lay on the sofa with my leg raised on a cushion, put on Netflix and fell into Outlander and it must have been a series that I slept through a few episodes or I'd forgotten about and it was soon heading for eleven thirty and I'd done nothing.....not that there was anything to do.  I've been really careful with the wood and still have two containers in the conservatory, I could maybe do with more of the second grade starter wood from the wood store but I'm not out of it yet.

About twelve I moved into the lounge after I'd turned the television off in the winter lounge and settled down and it wasn't long before my eye lids had gone southwards and I woke up around one thirty, filled up my water and settled again in the lounge with my book this time.....staying off my leg as much as possible today.    I did manage to take out the ashes from last night, relight the fire and it's been ticking along nicely until now so time to throw another log on to last out the night.  The weather has been strange today, morning mist, dull and miserable when I went to sleep and the terraces were wet when I woke up, not too much rain but then a rainbow as the clouds started to lift and the sun was heading to it's setting point.   Just after seven my time, twenty five degrees inside and sixteen out and the wind aslo seems to have dropped, quite a pleasant evening.  LN.....Now to settle into my evening.....not hungry so might snack later....two sudoku to tackle and finally more Outlander......LN

Sunday 20th April

Seven thirty when I woke this morning and pleased to see the sun out.  It was cold but pleasant, I meandered through the morning putting washing in the machine, sorted out a catastrophe in the guest room, I'd put too many hanging items on the suspended shelf come hanging space and the weight of it had pulled it from the wall.  The clothes are back where they came from and hanging in my wardrobe, they were removed to make space for my daughter and SIL's luggage but as it happened, they only came with hand luggage.  I took the shelf to the workshop, straightened it up, removed the screws from the rawlplugs and the next time I'm in Djebel I'll get rawlplugs the same size and more large screws....two of the original were bent.

Around eleven thirty I searched the freezer for bacon and managed to find a packet and brought out bread at the same time.  I thawed the bacon in the microwave, fried it, added an egg and two slices of bread to the frying pan and breakfast was soon prepared.  The bread was more like fried bread and I've been tasting it all day...I should know better.  I hung the washing on the clothes airer and put it into the conservatory, set the fire for tonight and then went out and pottered around with the plants, took some out of pots to look at the roots and they're now sitting in white vinegar and water which is supposed to encourage the roots.....I'll wait and see.  I stocked up with another load of logs from the woodstore and brought some into the house to fill up for this evening but I've really cut down, lighting it at around four thirty has really made a difference.

I went back to the house and started another sudoku from scratch and still didn't manage to solve it, phoned my friend to wish her a happy birthday to be told that I'd got the wrong date and I blame Moonpig.  The reminder came, I ordered, it was delivered and now I have to go back into my account and change the birthday date.  In retrospect I'm sure she told me last year but I didn't do anything about it and obviously forgot.  I lay on the sofa watching TV, had just got off to sleep when my local friend came round to return the loppers that she's taken on Friday.  I also reminded her that she was going to ask one of the local lads to come round with his strimmer and do the rest of the grass, it really is getting long.  Off she went to cut more spiky branches to prtect the garden from cows, I went back to my Outlander, put the dried washing away and lit the fire.  I'm settled in for the night, no need for supper, I'm still digesting my breakfast.  LN.....Settled in for the night and it won't be too long before my head hits the pillow.....LN

Monday 21st April

Three thirty this morning toilet break but after that I fell straight back to sleep and it was seven thirty.  Not a bad morning, a little cloud about but that soon lifted and it turned out to be a very sunny day.  I finished the rest of the bacon and had a fried egg, slapping it all between two slices of bread...it wasn't frozen this morning,  Washing up done checked the portk that I'd taken out of the freezer last night and tonight it's already in the oven with a sweet and sour sauce and a Hassleback potato.....slced through and lashed with butter and that should be ready around seven fifteen.

I meandered through the next couple of hours, I ended up playing Freecell and was surprised to see my Avatar on the terrace.  It turned out that her daughter in law was heading int Djebel and wanted to know if I needed anything.  I replied that I had got everything I needed and will manage through, I might just have to have a Lidl shop before the end of the week and that'sonly for luxury items like drinking chocolate, cream cheese and but I'm still tempted to go into Haskovo to get the mower so I might combine the two outings.  Off she went and I've seen her pottering in her garden, she does Germany in the winter with her family and loves the summer here and the family visit in dribs and drabs throughout the summer and then take her back again.  

I got dressed, went into the little house and found the bench that should really sit on the terrace and brought it on to the yard and sanded it down.  I moved it to the outside sink area and gave it a good hosing down and put it in situ to dry off.  Having now a redundant bench my eyes were drawn to the little house terrace and the cranberry just down from there where it looked that no man had trod with a strimmer in hand so I found my big strimmer that seems to be palying the white man for a change and started to clear the area that the bench normally sits in and it's back in situ.  Not content with that, I've cleared from the cherry to the bench and down to the pile of tiles by the old toilet pit.  I did it slowly measuring what I was doing, no sense in taking a step backwards inthe healing process and tonight I'll have a hot bath, the boiler is on.

I also set about weeding the flag flower bed and now you can see the flowers instead of weeds, walked the garden and saw a couple of tortoise but without painted backs so I might have the christening ceremony tomorrow.  One I've notice has a chipped shell which no one had before so I'll probably have a guess at Little Purple...and find the appropriate nail varnish.  Lots of cuckoos around today, two started off on the electricity wires and ended up scrapping in the air, finding other sites and settling again far apart.  I also had a lovely surprise, I heard my cuckoo-koo who has been around for the last few years and it's never learnt its well known call.

Time to check on supper, it's aroma is heading up to the upper landing and I'm ready for it, bath, Outlander and then bed and hopefully as good a night's sleep like last night.  LN.....And now for photos of the events of the day......LN

Tuesday 22nd April

Seven thirty start but lingered in bed until it was a reasonable time to get up....I'd only got more gardening to do.  I was out at eight thirty, cheese omelette for breakfast, washing in the machine and I didn't ache too much from yesterday's efforts in the garden.  I'd had a late bath last night and rubbed lots of 'Repairil Gel' into my back and hardly a twinge.  The weather looked good and hopefully would stay that way, washing on the airer in the conservatory, I didn't want any tiny flies finding a new home so hardly put anything on the washing line any more.

I opened up the workshop and took the mower and the strimmer outside plus the electricity reel and the power supply.  One of the best decisions I made was to put the one hundred meter cable onto a hose pipe reel, it's so much easier to use and to put away.  I checked the stimmer cable thinking that it probably needed renewing but it didn't so I put it back together again but obviously wrongly.  The white plastic cover that keeps the chord in place is damaged slightly and it was not easy to get it into place.  I managed to get it working but the long grass kept catching under the chord reel and I was getting frustrated with it so I changed to the mower instead.  This worked quite well except that the clover is very fleshly and wet and the machine got clogged so I had to empty it more often.  I was not having a good morning.  In the end I mowed round the three big patches of clover and they're there for another day maybe with shears and I carried on down beyond the tile garden and had more success.

I came in for a late lunch and settled for a toasted cheese and ham sandwich and that filled up the gap nicely.  I stuck to water and finished off with a couple of mini chocolate muffins and then Netflix went on for a couple of episodes of Outlander.  They're just setting the scene for the Ameican War of Independence and Jamie is in the process of just changing sides.  Out again for the afternoon and more of the same and decided to put the tools away around five thirty....I'd had enought and it's going to be another hot bath and more of the cream.  

Lots of tortoise out and about today.  I spotted Rosie first thing and managed to top up the nail varnish on her shell, Blue showed up around early afternoon and I spotted Red when I went to empty the grass box,  this one was just taking the evening sun.  I was surprised that they are all showing signs of soil on their shells, perhaps they are still getting buried at night.  No supper for me, the sandwich is still doing what it was meant to do or maybe it was the chocolate muffins.  LN.....Boiler going on, Robo is cleaning up for me and then relax after my bath......LN

Wednesday 23rd April

Seven thirty start, put the washing away, sorted out a few boxes and managed toast for breakfast with lashing of the last of the apricot jam.  I was then planning a trip into Kardjali, I been on the internet searching for offers on lawn mowers yesterday, didn't find what I was looking for so thought a trip to Haskovo might be on the cards....look before you buy.  That all went pear shaped when I received a message from my other Guljan asking if I would like to meet her for lunch, she was only working half days on a project and would be free.  I miss my special family, I used to go to visit but with the two accidents last year and this it put payed to my activiteis but today was a new opening.  I confirmed my acceptance and realised I had time to fill in before I left for Djebel.

I sat outside on the terrace and looked at the garden and the part that was strimmed had started to grow and would soon be back to where it was if I didn't do something about it.  It was now around ten thirty and I thought I would give it an hour with the mower and the strimmer to see what I could achieve.  In fact I came in at twelve, was satisfied with may achievements, washed and dressed quickly and was only five minutes late to their house.  Father was in the garden sitting under his ne portiico, and we were soon underway heading for Momchilgrad and the restaurant that had been suggested.  We were the only diners in there, I had calamari, cheesy chips and a pizza to share, soft dirinks and the waitress recognised me from last time I went when my guests were here.  We'd missed eachother and had a super catch-up. Unfortunately I must have had an allergy to something in the calamari and the sauce that came with it and I could feel my lip starting to swell and swell it did.  I didn't manage any of the pizza but we had the remainder put into containers and I'll have it later.  

I drove her home, stopped off at the car shop and bought a new emergency tirangle for the Beast, I seem to recall that it was in a desolate state when the Beast came home and there were so many police checks taking place today int Djebel and surrounding areas and didn't want to get caught out at some stage.  We had a catch up, her husband appeared so I bid fond farewell and moved to the hardware shop next door and bought rawl plugs and screws to reattach the shelf from the guest room tomorrow.  Might also get a bit of gardening in if the weather holds.  LN.....Pizza going into the microwave.....LN

Thursday 24th April

Another beautiful day and I meandered through most of the morning.  Beans on toast for breakfast, washing done and on the airer, printed off a couple of sudoku courtesy of my daughter and sat in the sun trying to do the 'tough one' until I packed it away and thought I should do something else.  I decided the rest of the grass could wait, I'd done rather a lot yesterday and wanted a somewhat gentler day today and considered that if I let the sun and the wind blow though the garden, it would clear away some of the moisture and make the job easier.  Hopefully I'll find out tomororw if we don't have rain overnight.

I composed my shopping list, picked up the old packet from my blood pressure tablets to make sure that the chemist gave me the correct ones, gathered the book for the Robot, my garage friend had offered to look at the book to see if she could manage to download the app and she couldn't either.  The response was that 'this is not available in your region' so I was right all along.  I'm going to search for the receipt and it's going back to the supermarket, sold under the pretence that it was going to work according to the instructions on the box, printed in English no less.  While I was in the shop my student phoned his mother from Kardjali and for some reason he had no afternoon school and was asking if someone could take his football gear and boots to Kardjali.  I caught the gist of the conversation and suggested that if she gave them to me I could meet her son in Kardjali, we had hatched a plan and I met him on Lidl carpark.  We had a brief conversation, he's grown much taller since I saw him last and we left each other with a 'high five'.

I found a trolley and did my shopping filling the trolley with items that I can't get from my local supermarket.  I packed it away in the Nipper and then headed for the hardware shop and I'd intended to look for a new mower that was a self propelling one with a mulcher attachment to make my life easier.  They had one but not self propelling and it looked pretty heavy so I settled for a new strimmer....I seem to be accumulating several of them but it was a good deal and bought forty litres of garden compost for the pots that need the soil replacing and for the ones that I've yet to start off.  I drove towards home and stopped at the garage intending to have my winter tyres removed and summer ones put on by the garage was so busy that I said I would leave it until tomorrow.  There's no rush.

Home for five, shopping away, washing away, established myself on the sofa, picked at food, telvision on and Netflix and Outlander.  I've managed to get to series seven and I should soon be watching the new episodes and that could be the end of the series.  I might have to go back to the books again to see how it differs from the outpourings of the author.  No photos today, and too dark to take any now.  LN......I might just raid the fridge again, some creme caramels might be lingering....LN

Friday 25th April

So I got up and got dressed more or less right away and didn't look at the clock.  The sun was up, the sky was blue without clouds and when I looked at the clock it was only seven thirty and the day ahead of me.  I'd bought nice things in Lidl yesterday so made poached eggs on ham for breakfast and sat watching the tv while I ate it.  That's the beauty of living on your own, no one to answer to.  

I washed up and tidied the kitchen, the grass outside was calling but it wasn't shouting too loudly so I delayed it as long as I could before I felt guilty.  I went out to the workshop and took my new strimmer out to the terrace and sat on the bench and put it together.  One feature I didn't realise yesterday was that the cord is on automatic feed but since the book is in Bulgarian I'm not sure how to replace it and whether or not I have to buy a new cartridge.  I'm going to my garage shop tomorrow and I'll take the instruction book with me and the cartridge and we'll work it out together.  I've also got to get my tyres changed, I didn't manage to get round to it today.

So armed with my new strimmer and the mower, I got the electricity cable reel out, connected everything up and decided to tackle the two large patches of clover that I'd left the other day hoping it had dried out and it hadn't.  So between that and the mower with the grass catcher off I moved over to the lighter grass and managed to get down to the bottom of the little house grass and round the little bushes at the bottom before the rocky ground starts.  I found Cracked Shell resting near the bonfire oil barrel and to save me going down to the container, I started the bonfire and got rid of the rubbish.  My Avatar came over today with a container of rice and beef, toffees and a yogurt drink in memory of his mother's passing.  My supper is sorted.  

I came in to check my phone, head down, looked up and saw that there were a few spots of rain on the window so there was a bit of a rush to get the equipment into the dry but that's all it was, a few spots of rain, two flashes of lightening and claps of thunder and that was it.  It seems to have blown over and hopefully will stay away, the grass is drying nicely and I should finish it this weekend and then back to normal maintenance.  It has been hard this year but better late than never.  LN......I suppose I could hire myself out for 'maester's' wages....apparently they are the best paid workers in Bulgaria and no qualification necessary....LN

Saturday 26th April

Another early start but I stayed in bed until it was a reasonable time to get up and get on.  I mangaged to wash the bedding from when my guests were here.  I changed them last night so that I can move upstairs when I'm ready to do so.  I took the Lidl steak from the fridge to cube it to put it in the slow cooker for tonight but left a third of it, sliced it, fried it in butters and had it with a fried egg on a sandwich.  I continued with the job I'd started, put the meat into the slow cooker with half a can of beans, some chopped tomatoes and powdered chilli and that was ready by five this afternoon.


It was a pleasant if not wind gusty morning but there were some very large white billowing clouds up there which eventually took over.  I went to the workshop and took the new strimmer head apart, I needed to replace the cord but still had no idea how to do it,  The diagram in the book was generic so the holes for the cable were in a different place.  I also decided that it wasn't a day for gardening so I drove to Djebel around ten and to the garage to get my winter tyres off and the summer ones on and was surprised to see the son running the show.  His parents had gone to Momchilgrad to watch my student play football, the team was playing a team from northern Bulgaria and if it won the match they would become runners up in a national league.  The tyres were changed, I drove back towards the town and stopped at one of the smaller shops and bought the cable for the strimmer, drove home I had nothing else to do and that's exactly what I did for the rest of the day.  I found a message on my phone to say that my local SIM card was no longer working, I tried to get into the website but couldn't gain access so that means a visit to the shop on Monday, probably also a visit to the doctor for an update to my prescription and a note to take to a local physiotherapist to make sure everything it good from the accident.

The clouds came over, I settled on the sofa, tried to find something to watch, we had a few drops of rain so there was no way that I was going out to the garden and then a few claps of thunder and that settled it.  I fell asleep for an hour or so, at five had my supper, put the dishes in the sink to soak and found a creme caramel and a chocolate pudding in the fridge which topped me off nicely.  Again I took to the sofa and I've been fitfully aleep until eigjt thirty so I obviously needed catch-up from all the work that I've been doing in the garden over the last few days.  I know I've been pusihing myself and shouldn't be, it's still early days.  Nine twenty my time, so early to bed, etc and at least I'll be more comfortable in bed than curled up on the sofa.  I'll take the Kindle and continue with 'Birds without Wings which I'm just about half-way through.  In the book it's around the year 1914 where the Balkan wars are just coming to an end but there's a lot of fighting about territory and refashioning of maps.  I'm aware of some of it from when I went to the museum in Ankara but wasn't aware of the atrocities that the Muslims were subjected to in Greece, Bulgaria and the rest of the Balkans.  LN......Every day a school day......LN

Sunday 27th April

I looked out at seven this morning and saw that it was raining, dull, damp and miserable so I boiled the kettle, filled a cup with hot water and then went back to bed.  There was no way I had anything to do in the garden.  I did toy with the idea of potting up some plants in the little house using the new compost that I'd bought the other day but that was only a fleetiing thought.  I made toast for breakfast and used up the last of the boiled ham, I took the fat surround from it, put it in a dish with some cat biscuits and Cat was the obvious recipient.  I seen it around earlier but went out and called it with my usual clicking sound and it was sitting on the bench on the terrace waiting for me.  It's still very nervous and after I'd put it down on the terrace it waited for me to go into the house before it put its head down and dived in to the booty.

I went back to my sandwich and Avatar appeared on the terrace.  I invited her in and she asked if I could change a fifty note for smaller.  She wanted to give the man who was trimming back the grape vines thirty lev, I couldn't change the note so I gave her thirty and she tried to give me the fifty and I refused telling her that when I gave her the other twenty I'd take it, and not until.  My head's a little vague sometimes and I'd prefer she owed me than the other way round.  I then set about getting supper into the slow cooker and found a pack of chunked pork in the fridge so I used half of it and froze the rest for another day.  I added it to the slow cooker, put vinegar on it, added a half can of tomatoes and Worcester sauce, a sprinkle of salt and a dash of water and into the heater unit and set it to high.  After an hour or so I turned it down to medium and left it to its own devices until five this afternoon.  I cooked a jacket potato in the microwave, cut it in half and put the meat from the slow cooker over the potato and a little of the sauce.  The rest I'll probably thicken for soup tomorrow.

The rest of the day has been spent on Netflix with me reclining on the sofa.  Firstly I found a hospital series that I'm sure I've watched before but again I must have slept through some of it, certain bits I didn't recall.  When that had finished I found a film about establishing the boundaries of Greenland and confirming  that it was separated from America and apparently it was a true story and the expedition was made by Denmark to confirm sovereignty.  That finished around six thirty, no need to visit the kitchen except to wash up from a late lunch -early supper and I consider my work is done when I post today's effort.

I've checked out the weather and it's supposed to be wall to wall sunshine for the next few days and we'll see what really happens.  There's still a good deal of the main house terrace grass to complete, I've managed to go beyond the tree that was originally strimmed but I still have to get down to the bottom wall and there are lots of weeds against the whole of the low wall.  I might in fact leave it another day to dry off and go into Kardjali tomorrow to but the correct cord for the new strimmer and see if anyone can show me how to load it since the diagram in the instruction book bears no resemblence to the inside workings of the strimmer.  I might also go to the doctors surgery to see if I need to increase my blood regulating tablets...I've been on the same ones for about five years.  

I lit a fire around three this afternoon, I was cold in the house despite putting on a sweatshirt and now the house is cosy.  Robo kicked off just before seven and worked its socks off until twenty after seven and it really does save me getting out the hoover.  LN......I've lined up the next series for tonight and it's all set to go.....not to manage to stay awake until bedtime.....wish me luck......LN

Monday 28th April

Silly night last night...I was determined to watch to the end of Harlan Coben's film on Netflix and stayed up well beyond the bewitching hour falling asleep at the last hurdle.  I thought about watching it this morning before I set off for Kardjali but wrote my list instead and had an early start.  No breakfast for me, I wanted to have my blood checked and knew that no food beforehand was the normal.  I had a shower and washed my hair and was ready to leave around eight.  The list included heading to Vivacom to get my phone sorted out, it was reporting that there Sim card wasn't active but speaking to others today apparently the firm had had problems so it was probably an update and nothing to do with my phone.

The road into Kardjali was clear, I'd planned to park behind the Poly Clinic, but a manual ticket for parking  but the best laid plans of mice and men.  When I took to the Haskovo road on the way to the Clinic, we had road works all the way, it was reduced to two lanes from four and no access to the town centre with the side roads being updated at the same time. I turned off but couldn't manage to turn in to get behind the Poly Clinic to park up so carried on thinking that I could get the phone sorted first in the Square but that was being resurfaced with very limited parking and so I retraced my tyre prints back to the main road and then formulated a plan.  Everyroad was impassible, parking was rubbish so I drove back to the parking in the Bus Station and took a taxi to the Poly Clinic consting five leva but at least I arrived in decent spirits and with a blood pressure worth recording.  My appointment was for twelve thirty so decided to walk down to the phone shop and a very made-up pouty persone said that the plan that I was on was rubbish and tried to sell me another.  I said that all I wanted was a phone that worked and if she could achieve that that would be enought for today.  She finished off with the remark that my phone's battery had swollen and that it was 'very dangerous' and I should replace the phone, I thinked her for her time and left with a working phone.

Back to the doctors and went into the surgery with my shopping list.  I wanted a blood test, a document to take to the physiotherapist in Djebel, new tablets for my blood pressure but instead she suggested that I increase the dose to one in the morning after food and one at night.  She also took my blood pressure and it came out at one hundred and thirty over eighty five and we were both very pleased with that.  On the way out of the hospital I mentioned to the information desk that my doctor had mentioned a phone app to check the results of my investigations and she put it on my phone for me and even smiled while she was doing it.  I collected my prescription and found a taxi back to the the Bus Station and was on my way to Djebel forgetting that I wanted a new strimmer reel....ah well.....the rest of the morning had been successful.

Drove home, parked up, caught up on the rest of the film that I'd slept through last night and I'm still not sure who murdered who.  I made tuna mayo sandwiches and got my head down, I had an exhausting morning.  Popped over to see Avatar early evening to give her the twenty leva so that I could have fifty back from her.  Came back and lit the fire to make the house cosy for tonight, don't need supper, too many tuna sandwiches and now it's time to relax.

It's been a cold sunny day but very windy and the forecast for the rest of the week looks good....I have the rest of the grass to do.  LN.....If I take the tablets that I'm supposed to take tomorrow after breakfast, I should be rattling in time to the mower tomorrow......LN..

Tuesday 29th April

Well another pretty full on day with the garden.  I've started my new tablets today and felt much better for it, worked through two thirty this afternoon , fell asleep for an hour and had just gone out again when my friends arrived, pre-planned but they were earlier than I thought they would be.  We sat with coffee in the lounge, it was a welcome relief from cutting the grass and had had to use the mower and the little strimmer....I didn't have much success or reloading the reel for the new strimmer and had forgotten to get a new reel yesterday when I'd finished at the doctors.....silly me.

I popped over to see Avatar and gave her a few things from the fridge that I knew she would enjoy more than I would.  I'd been gifted iran, the yohurt drink and yogurt but I was loaded with it already.  I was surprised how long my guests stayed.  The work in Kardjali had turned out very much as expected, they were unable to complete it in one day, 'and we need another peice of information to complete the task'.  Typical Bulgarian practice, every 't' has to be crossed and every 'i' dotted and if it isn't there is just nothing you can.....suck it up and try again another day.  We settled for more coffee, I should have opened the biscuits or chocolates that they'd bought for me but I didn't.  I refuse to open them yet.....they chocolates will disappear too quickly,  While they're still sealed they're safe.

So off they went, I put a hat on to go outside to tidy up outside, reel coiled up, mower and strimmer in and everything locked away.  I should really have put a hat on this morning, it was really cold and windy and it looks like the wind is starting up again now the sun is in the process of disappearing for the night.  Nothing on the menu so far for tonight, I'm nibbling on bread sticks with cream cheese so that might be enough until breakfast.  LN.....May this weather continue.....I still have more work on the garden to do.......LN

Wednesday 30th April

Up with the lark this morning and beat the sun to it.  I'm not really sure why, I went to bed at eleven last night but obviously had enough sleep.  There were just a few pinkish grey clouds over the mountains but as the sun climbed and ready to peek over the mountains, the grey disappeared and morning sun reflected in the window of the little house and the day had begun.

I meandered around, found some bacon in the freezer and breakfast was produced pretty quickly after that.  I broke the end from the frozen packet, put it in hot water to thaw out quickly, added it to a warmed frying pan, added an egg and made a sandwich of it.  I photographed it and sent it off to my daughter and her response was that it looked 'lush', she added a 'love you mum' and I responded with a 'me you too'.  I really do miss her but she was on her way to school and is really fulfilled by what she does and she does make a difference which is really important in this world.  So breakfast over, there was a flurry of phone activity, messages going backwards and forward, catch-ups, I've found that the physiotherapist only turnes up on a Wednesday in Dhebel and stays until one and today I'd missed her.

I drove into town, I was running short of bread in the freezer, notice when I got in the Nipper that the front tyre might be down so first stop was the garage.  The garage owner checked out both the front tyres and they were spot on so no worries.  I drove to the hardware shop and bought a new connector for the one hundered meter cable, parked up in town, had five minutes with the garage owners wife, went to the chemist and bought some Repairil Gel, my stand-by and then down to the supermarket for a few things besides the bread.  I bought a couple of packets of cheese biscuits, some ham and I spotted some HP Barbecue Ranch flavour so added it to the basket, and would go into the slow cooker with the chunky gammon, baked beans and haricot beans for supper.  

Next job was to try to change the plug from the electric cable, the end that goes into the lawn mower and strimmer so that I could get going on the remainder.  I'd taken the damages off off but when I opened up the new one, made in Turkey and looked nothing like the one that I'd taken off.  I gave it a whirl, got no power through the cable, tried the strimmer on the cable coming from the power supply and that worked so I knew that the problem was the one hundred meter cable.  I had another go, it worked for a while and then stopped, tried again and by now the novelty was wearing aff and the day was moving on.  At four I abandoned all hope of fixing it so resorted to trying the petrol mower.  I checked the oil, renewed the fuel from the plastic container, cleaned the filter and pressed the feed to the carburettor a few times and it very nearly fired...but not quite.  I think it probably requires a new spark blug but at five everything went away, I cleared up outside and registered the day as 'lost'.

Supper was a success and I microwaved a jacket to go with it, washing up done, bath on the agenda for tonight and I've more or less plotted out tomorrow .....I might be buying a new lawn mower, self propelled with a mulcher function.....saves emptying grass over the wall but firsly have to get rid of the long stuff, the garage might be able to fix my cable and change the spark plug or at least tell me if I need to.  It's turned into a gentle night sky but that wind has picked up again and a few clouds forming.  LN......According to the weather gurus, it's going to be another lovely day tomorrow so I must make the most of it.......LN