Thursday 21st August

It was an early morning start and dark outside with only a feint glimmer of morning.  I went to the window and looked at the sky to the sunrise remembering that you were supposed to see the procession of the planets but I only caught the ones that I'd seen before.  Evan so it was worth taking a photo so I went downstairs for the camera and out on to the balcony and I was amazed how small the moon had become....a really narrow slither.  It was difficult trying to get all three into the lens with magnification and I had several attempts so on the tilt but I hope I've done it justice.  The camera also recommended to bring the flash into use which considering the target was a good distance away, I thought it was a silly suggestion and I don't thing any of those will be on display today.  

Camera session over I started looking at reels on my phone and eventually I went to get washed and dressed at seven this morning and my day had begun.  Cat was waiting to be fed and I realised I had nothing but I remembered that last night I'd taken meat from the freezer that was either good enough to go into the slow cooker for me for tonight or for disposing of but instead, there was a pork slice that went into the air-fryer....what a spoilt cat.  The chicken breast was going to be mine but it could wait until I'd sorted out the cat, the tortoise and filled up the watering holes.  I then boiled a couple of eggs and had them with toast and then went back to finishing off preparation for my supper and added the chicken breast to the slow cooker, more curry powder, a sliced carrot and a few potatoes....and it was still only eight o'clock.

I put the washing away that I'd done last night, did emails and got rid of the rubbish, played a few games of FreeCell, realised it was too hot to go out and start the grass so spend an hour or so clearing some of the dead flower heads from the lilies, watered a few pots that looked like they needed it but mostly, all were looking good.  I then realised that Netflix was calling me and stumbled upon an Australian/ China espionage intrigue that I got sucked in to and had to finish the six episode only stopping for a cheese sandwich in the absence of crisps and goodies.  I really am trying to curb my sometimes rubbish eating habits.

Six thirty now and I have a few phone calls to make after I've posted.  The resting in the day has done my blood pressure a power of good there have been no red flags flying for the last two weeks.  It's been a good day, the wind has picked up tonight so I might be putting things back in their 'homes' in the morning.  LN.....I'm hoping I'm not checking out the morning sky tomorrow.......LN

Friday 22nd August

Six thirty start this morning and the sun was already climbing but no sighting of the moon, that thin sliver had disappeared into nothing.  I sat out on the balcony enjoying the morning, the camera was downstairs so I missed the Woodpecker attacking the lonesome pine and the Jays salvaging what they could from the Mulberry tree.  Jays are very private though, collect their catch and hide in very dense trees to eat it.  No Bee-eaters around this morning and a severe absence of tortoise....I didn't spot any from the balcony and even on my walkabout later when I was feeding Cat, not even a distant rustle of leaves or the clattering of couplings.  

I came in and made poached eggs on toast and cleared the kitchen, the slow cooker had been at it all day yesterday and needed to be scoured to clean it properly. Cat had the rest of the chicken breast that I'd had last night for supper and everything was eaten even a couple of potatoes and carrots.  It's so funny when I feed it, I put the food down and take two steps back, it moves towards the dish but doesn't eat until I take another step backwards and then it's ready to go.  I looked at the grass and it really is  getting ready for a trim but noticed that down the bottom near the wall, most of it has turned to hay so will be easy to remove with a rake.  As for me, I really haven't got the energy or inspiration to start anything....maybe my 'get up and go' will return when September arrives.  It's the month that seems to require more activity and motivation when the temperature drops.....fingers crossed I'll perk up again.  I'm thinking of getting the men in to pollard the bigger trees and the one by the well could come down, it's too close to the house and is getting very tall.  

I settled in the lounge for a while with a sudoku but realised that the two remaining that I hadn't completed had been rubbed out so many times that I would need to print them off again and so I dropped a message to my daughter to see if she would send me a few new ones over to attack.  I told her I was tired of having to buy erasers and it was her inheritance that was being used up so she sent over all of Augusts efforts.  Unfortunately they have to be sent in individual emails so I have lots to read and lots to print out.  I then made the mistake of remembering that I'd got two episodes of the series that I was watching last night until eleven to still watch and I backtracked and watched the previous and then until the end of the series.  The recommendations for the next series came up, one looked interesting so I thought I'd watch the first episode and at four I'd come to the end.  One of the actors I recognised and it took me a while to place him, it eventually came to me that he appeared in Outlander.  

I thought it was about time I did something else so walked the garden with the camera and collected a few for this evenings postings and didn't realise how late it was except that the fairy lights on the little house terrace have all come on...very pretty.  LN......I need to go shopping tomorrow and it might very well be a pool day and then a shop on my way home.....I'll see what I feel like in the morning......LN

Saturday 23rd August

Another slow start to the day.  I did see my usual planets, no moon this morning, it's slithered completely and the next time it shows up there should be a total eclipse but not sure if it will be seen here in BG....I must check it out.  I made it out to the balcony with my coffee and watched the morning come to life, it's getting to be the routine.  There wasn't much activity in the garden, in the next village the hunting dogs were barking like furry and then the other dogs in the village join in and bark in a completely different key but equally annoying.  Unfortunately, the police and the village mayors from the next village and my village don't want to do anything about it....I would but it would be totally illegal and at my age I don't want to be deported!!!

Eventually I went in for my second cup of coffee and then for some reason went into the third bedroom and started going through some of my clothes that have been there for too long.  I think it's beginning to come under the 'squirrel' banner and I should really do something about them....perhaps I could open a shop.  It's good to know that I can still get into them especially the evening things that I used to take on the cruises with me....maybe it's telling me something...get on with renewing my passport just in case an offer comes up that I can turn my nose up at.  I made it downstairs and made toast for breakfast, took out chicken legs from the freezer and it was going to be roasted vegetables, chicken and jacket potatoes tonight and the plan came to fruition except that they were over roasted vegetables, fairly caramelised but still very tasty.  Next task was to print out the Sudoku that my daughter had sent over for me to print out and once printed I settled myself on the sofa in the lounge and managed to do three of them but I should really manage myself, don't want them to run out too quickly.

I'd given up with the idea of the pool, it was Saturday, the clouds were starting to gather at the base of the mountains and by five this afternoon the clouds were very thick, it had blocked out the heat altogether and I'd made the correct decision or rather it had been made for me.  I watered some of the pots that were looking a little worse for wear but as per normal, an hour later it started to rain so my watering the plants wasn't really necessary but it won't do any harm.  I got supper underway and played FreeCell while it was cooking with Radio 2 in the background until Lisa Tarbuck came on and I just had to switch it off....absolute rubbish commentary and not very good choice of music.  

The rain didn't last long, as I said supper was overcooked but still tasty....tomorrows chicken will go into the slow cooker, it doesn't do so much damage.  Ten o'clock and I'm late posting...memo to self, must do better.  LN.....Time to check out the weather for the next few days....I really do want to go for a last swim of the season......LN

Sunday 24th August

Early start and my planets were still up there but again no sign of the moon....it's probably shining somewhere.  I sat out with my coffee but that was after I'd had another hour in bed with my phone, when I went out I was fully dressed with leggings, lightweight t-shirt just in case I wanted to work outside later and a cardigan for an extra layer until the sun had some warmth in it.  I took a Sudoku out and played around for a while but without success, realised that breakfast was on the cards.  Cat had the remains of the chicken from last night, there seemed a lot but it was demolished very quickly and looking at its eye, it seems to be looking much better from my side but not sure if it's functioning properly.  Poached eggs on toast and left all the washing up from last night and this morning and I've only just finished it.

Avatar came round to see if I wanted to see how to make one of their speciality snacks, she had the time, had come round to see if I had.  I said I would go back with her but earlier I'd seen two small pickups with cow manure on it go down towards the next village so thought that I would wait for the lorries to come back, flag it down and ask if they would deliver a load for the garden.  I told her I would wait until I'd checked with the lorry driver and I would be over after that.  We made small triangular filo filled with cheese, two types and spicy sausage, mixed with eggs and a little oil and the filling was placed on the filo and rolled up into a cigar shape.  We went to the garage to cook them where she's got a little cooker, they went into a frying pan and cooked slowly to make sure the filling was cooked.  I came home with nine of them, ate three and have some left for tonight and as I walked home one of the lorries came back and I flagged the second one down.  I explained what I wanted, he told me the price, I agreed and he said he would be delivering in about an hours time which he did.  I'd moved the Nipper already and the pickup was reversed into the drive and now I have to attack the garden and deposit elsewhere and this afternoon four trips to Avatar's garden with wheelbarrows has reduced the pile...but not by much.

I had a nap, the sun had livened everything up so I waited until four thirty and decided to tackle the beds in the side garden and run the mower over the sparse grass....the inertia has evaporated.  I removed the old leaves from the lily of the valley and from the front of the wood surrounding the bed and then attacked the garden under the terrace, mowed the grass, the electricity went off so put the mower and cable away and the tools around seven thirty and if the weather is good tomorrow, the task will continue and once the beds are cleared out, the manure can go on the beds.  That's my next few days planned out.

Supper is in the slow cooker and not sure whether or not I'm ready for it...I might just switch it off and have it for tomorrow.  I sent my daughter a photo of the pile of manure and her response was to ask what I'd eaten to produce that lot and my response was that thank goodness I'd made it outside.  LN......Thank goodness the cloud has lifted and I'm back to doing 'stuff' again.....LN

PS.....Just rescued the umbrella....it lives to fight another day.....

Monday 25th August

Six thirty start, the sun wasn't up yet but I sat on the balcony anyway.  I'd made my first cup of coffee, taken my camera out with me just in case but nothing to report, it was cold and I'd layered up last night so on the top half so put my gardening trousers on which didn't come into their own until late this afternoon.  Toast for breakfast, second cup of coffee, fed Cat last night's chicken and bits, tidied the kitchen, put a load of washing into the machine and I was looking around for things to do.  I started to look through some paperwork, checked on the procedures for renewing my passport and noticed that it didn't expire until November so I've no need to panic just yet.  

I set off for Avatar's house to return the dish that I'd brought the Bulgarian kitchen demonstration goodies back in.  I also went to collect my multi-charging socket since it's got turbo charge function on it but I forgot all about it and instead came back with tomatoes, grapes and apples.  She's on a clear up with only just over two weeks before she goes back to Germany with the family.  I've been invited and this year I might take them up on it, my other Guldjan lives close by and it would be good to see her and her husband again.  They've not been over this year.  

Around twelve I settled on the sofa with my new printed Sudoku and got absolutely nowhere with it so rubbed it out and it will be back to the drawing board Cecil, I think the inheritance will be spent on erasers.  I'm not sure but I think I went to sleep for an hour or so and it was about three thirty so I made coffee and went out with determination to attack the manure heap (I'm being polite here) and get some of it on to the garden.  I did OK, three of the little gardens have a good coverage to condition the soil, I've trimmed back one of the Hebe that was looking very ragged and put my tools away around six thirty.  I chatted to my next door garden lady and she suggested that I cover the heap with polythene, the sky was looking very sinister and the wind was getting up.  I finished that task just after seven boiled the kettle for another coffee but instead went onto my bedroom balcony with the camera when I noticed a rainbow starting.  Nothing came of it but I saw that the Bungay cord was starting to fray so took it off and improvised another fixing, the original was beyond repair.  

That shopping trip didn't happen today, the fridge is looking more like Mother Hubbard's cupboard and the freezer even more so.  It's going to be tuna mayo sandwiches for supper tonight with a side helping of chippies, I shan't starve but not exactly very healthy.  LN.....Food, relax in a hot math, Netflix and bed......LN

Tuesday 26th August

Late bath last night, I was in bed by eleven, woke up at three this morning and eventually got back to sleep but it was six thirty when I woke this morning.  It was the usual routine, coffee on the balcony and watched the sun some up.  I did take photos of the day break but the other camera has run out of battery power so the little one had to come out for this evening.

I popped over to see Avatar this morning to take a bottle of beer over to her son, I'd bought it when my granddaughter wanted it when she was over but they never got round to drinking it, same with the ouzo.  The gate was locked, Haciber told me that Avatar was still asleep but the window to her bedroom was open but I think she'd shut up shop so I walked home and went over later when she was out and about in the garden.  I made tomatoes on toast for breakfast from the ones that I'd been given yesterday and they really do have much more flavour that shop bought ones.  Next job was to clear the kitchen, I'd not bothered last night, I was too tired and wanting to get in my bath to soak the aches and pains away from manure manoeuvring.  It worked as well but at three I was taking an antihistamine tablet, for some reason my hands were itching so I washed them well and rubbed in antihistamine hand cream and that settled them and me down immediately.  

I eventually got out to my manure heap and worked on it until it was too hot to be out there, sank a few glasses of water, lay on the sofa and tried a couple of the difficult Sudoku and managed to complete one correctly.  I didn't go out again until three thirty again to decrease the size of the manure heap, had a productive afternoon and came in just before eight and am absolutely knacked.  Looks like I might need another bath to work its magic on me.  I did have a short break around five, I raided last years undelivered Christmas presents and found a packet of chocolate biscuits that were out of code and at other times I would have thrown them out.....but needs as needs must, I was in need and then back out to it.  

In the first session I managed to reach the wild plum tree from the first bed along the long wall and on the second I finished the square partitioned garden.  I'm unsure if I should be watering it once it's laid on the top of the existing, Avatar water the manure that she's put round her trees....I must remember to ask her tomorrow.  Tools away, heap covered with the polythene and swept the terrace and the steps and as I was closing up I noticed that the lonesome pine was showing up against a red sky.  I turned round and saw that the sunset was worth a photograph and it was then that I found the battery flat in my big camera and the little one didn't let me down.  More of the same tomorrow, I've moved about half of it so I guess another three days or part days according to the weather and I should finish it.  It seemed like a good idea at the time but there really is a lot of it but I won't be doing it again in a hurry.  LN....Time for my bath, the biscuits should see me through until morning....not healthy but filled a gap.....LN

Wednesday 27th August

Cold morning, I woke up at six thirty and slept well after a late bath....and after waking up in the bath, did the rest of the night in bed.  It's something I've always done and remember my mother knocking on the bathroom door at home and asking if I was asleep in there, which I never was after she woke me up banging on the door.  I sort of wedge myself between the back of the bath and the other end with stiff legs and I've never had a problem....it helps that I'm reasonably tall but wouldn't recommend it to anyone else.

I made coffee and went out onto the balcony, soon moved back inside for a woolly and cuddled the coffee for added warmth.  There wasn't a lot happening, Cat was waiting patiently for any activity that involved food that was coming in her direction so I searched the freezer for any frozen 'bits' that I could microwave and did just that.  Half of it was eaten, the rest I didn't leave for others on my side of the wall, so over the wall it went.  Tomatoes on toast was on my agenda, fried with lots of pepper and salt and I'd just finished and tidied away and sat down to a few games of Free-Cell with radio 2 playing in the background when I heard a banging from outside and saw Avatar standing there.  She had a bag in her hand and handed it over, it was watermelon cut up in chunks for the tortoise and then she handed me two slices of toasted bread with cheese in the middle.  She commented on how well I'd done with the manure so I showed her the beds that I'd completed and she was most impressed....I told her that I was intending doing more of it this evening but that went to the wall....I've done nothing but no one is going to run away with it, it will wait for me.  She said that her son and wife were coming back from the healthy break that they'd been on and I think she's prepared a list of things to do before they all go back to Germany on the fifteenth.  I'm going to miss her.

I settled down to Sudoku, it was much too hot to be shovelling and barrowing stuff round the garden so I made a list of the completed Sudoku that my daughter had emailed me, rubbed out the part completed ones ready for another day and created a quick reference to mark them off as I complete them.  I do love to be organised and they're all in date order.  I decided that I would be going into Djebel to replenish the goody box if nothing else and to catch up on my student's mum, I hadn't seen her for a while.  I put the rubbish container in the Nipper intending to drop if off at the first convenient container but it went all the way to Djebel with me....they were all full so I'd have to wait until I got to Djebel so it stayed in the car while I was chatting.  When I arrived she was watching a live stream of her son playing football, I didn't recognise him and spent half an hour looking for a number seven and she had to point him out, it wasn't good coverage and we decided that the camera was rubbish especially with no commentary.  At the finish, I got into the NIpper and first stop was definitely the rubbish container and open the car windows, second stop was the cash machine that I don't usually use but I can get out the permitted allowance where the other machine hasn't been updated properly and only manage half the amount.  It's ready for the Euro which is more than can be said for most of us

I stopped off at the supermarket and it was heaving, too many Turkish people on holiday here and they shop as a family with one basket....either preparing for a siege or expecting a famine.  I drove home and as I drove through out village, there were lots of people standing outside Remsie's house, she had died not sure if it was late last night or early this morning and I drove slowly by, recognised lot of the faces but didn't stop, there were enough people there already.  I parked up the Nipper, unloaded the car, put the shopping away, poured a glass of water and settled on the sofa.  I don't know where the rest of the evening has gone but I will soon be time for bed and hopefully a settled night now that the night-time temperature has dropped.  LN.....Hopefully, an early start on the manure tomorrow and lessening the pile.....LN

Thursday 28th August

So early to bed last night and early to rise, I was up at six thirty, coffee before the sun on the balcony, watched it come up but I had this nagging feeling that I could be putting the morning to better use so came in and got dressed .....for the garden.  I was out there at seven thirty, uncovered my heap in the yard and started shovelling.  I attacked the under terrace garden first but dug out most of the cough grass first so that the roots didn't get energised and go crazy after the application but I'll have to wait and see...I might have made a big mistake but I think not.

I've got the hang of this now....the chunks are going under the low wall under the established shrubs and then I'll pull forward some of the smaller stuff for the flower beds that I want to put in.  They were there once but were taking too much water but maybe the manure might help...they should be much healthier next year.  I use the garden fork to dislodge the clumps to find the smaller stuff which gets put into the wheelbarrow and dropped on the beds.  I shall know for next year but obviously won't be ordering as much...once bitten so to speak.  So the under terrace is completed, the little bed between the steps is done and the small garden under the little house terrace.  I managed to put some on the bed that has been taken over by the tall purple flower, the tall plant with bouncing pink flowers didn't survive neither did the tobacco or the marigolds that I put in but it was due to poor soil and lack of water so fingers crossed again for next year.  I've just been down and watered everything.

I came in at ten thirty when the sun was beginning to give out some real heat, I'd had enough anyway so I covered up the remainder and was preparing to go inside when Mincho showed his face at the gate.  He's decided that he's had enough work so is managing on his little pension so he told me and offered his services should I need help with anything.  He said to phone him and the wood is the next thing on the list so I might ask him to help out with that.....I think my days of putting away three tons of oak in one day are sadly diminishing.  Although this lates manure delivery has made me realise that I'm still pretty healthy and able....I have stamina still which is a bonus.  I heard a bird in the chimney pipes and went through the rigmarole of clearing the top of the old woodburner in the kitchen, opening the window and flyscreen and taking the tops off the hobs, opening the porch door and standing clear.  It shot out of the woodburner like a bat out of hell, but unfortunately the wind had closed the flyscreen so I went out to open it again.  It thrashed at the window and went into hiding, ended up in the shopping basket that normal sits in the boot of the Nipper but eventually it got the message and shot off to the roof of the little house.  I think I heard another and will have to see if I can get it to escape unless the same little one forgot to take photos so is doing it again for the family.

Not thought about supper so far....I might just put a chicken leg in the air-fryer and that will do for tonight.  I've been pretty good today though, breakfast was banana and yogurt with honey and that's been the sum total except for a very small bag or crisps for the salt content....and that's all I've got to say on the subject your worships.  LN....Time to think about switching off for the evening and head towards the night....everything locked up and I'm thinking how good the garden is looking......LN

This afternoon was spent on sudoku but mainly rubbing out the entries and trying again.  Tomorrow is going to be much more organised, I have a friend arriving around ten and it might be the last time at my favourite pool, shopping when we've finished and then it will be more shovelling on Saturday to get the job finished.

Friday 29th August

Usual morning routine, coffee, at six thirty on the balcony just enjoying the morning and suddenly I noticed a bobbing up and down of a crested bird as it scoured the garden for food.  I recognised it immediately as a hoopoe and because it was the first one that I'd seen this year I was keep to take a photo of it ....and eventually I managed it.  I was a long way down the garden and against the dry grass it wasn't easy to detect but I went downstairs and grabbed the camera, located it level with the komodo dragon wood sculpture, followed the line of sight, engaged the magnification and managed to get quite a clear shot of it.  It was also in an out of the shade which made it even more difficult...I was pleased with the result.  I was off swimming this morning and was expecting my companion at ten so thought I had plenty of time but as with most mornings like this, everything just rushes by and I was only just ready when she arrived.  I had made scrambled eggs on toast for breakfast so was topped up ready for an energetic day and it was lots of sun, lots of swimming, lots of good food and company and loads of macho men in original Speedos and some should have been destined for the charity shop ages ago.  

The traffic was quite heavy going into town, we both had shopping lists for Lidl on our way back but I love my favourite pool.  The three old men that run it are so gentlemanly, I've known them for around ten years now and am considered one of the regulars.  The entrance fee is still pretty good considering how prices have gone up generally and the food is basic but good and we settled for cheesy chips, Princessa which is bread with toasted ham and cheese and a salad to make us feel healthy.  It's such a big pool that it never seems that you are fighting for space and it suddenly stuck me that it's much quieter this year, now they have moved passport access to Greece, more people are off to Fanari and the Greek beaches.  I like the beach but feel just as clean and fresh after a pool.

We left the pool around six and fought with the traffic through the roadworks and I had to drive like a Bulgarian so that I wasn't eased off the road by someone heading to Greece.  A police car ahead put his warning lights on and this seemed to create more harm when drivers were trying to go round it, it gave up, turned the flashers off  and gave up.  It's a horrible roundabout anyway and especially with the roadworks being carried out.  I pulled into Lidl, had a small list in my head and looked for reduced meat for the freezer and I wasn't disappointed.  I got everything I wanted and more and the bill only came to one hundred and twenty leva which relates to around sixt pounds.  Two lots of pork steaks, chicken breasts, frozen Alaskan steaks which make fantastic fish finger sandwiches when you can't be bothered to really cook....you let the air fryer do it for you.

Back home, my friend set off for hers I saw Avatar sitting in the garden with her son and DIL so I went over and sat with them for a while.  We put the wall to rights, they'd been to a Spar hotel for four nights and had a wonderful time but complained that a thirty minute massage cost one hundred leva which they thought was quite expensive....I thought the whole holiday seemed expensive but they both work in Germany and are only over to take Avatar back for the winter.  I got dark so I came home, shopping from the car to the house in the dark and it's all put away, I don't need supper, I've eaten once today, I'm drinking soda water and burping to my hearts content, no one to tell me to shut up, nine thrity my time and almost time for bed.  LN....I had one of those days in the sun when you feel content with the world that you've built for yourself in a country that it not your own but that people make you feel that you belong......LN

Saturday 30th August

I woke up on the sofa this morning at one thirty, made it upstairs and slept well until six thirty this morning which appears to be the norm these days.  Usual routine, coffee on the balcony and watched the sun come up, there were a few sheep that appear to have slept on the other side of my low wall and have been missed by anyone by the looks of things.  Perhaps they were too tired to make it up the hill back to base so decided to hide out here until the sheep made their way down this morning and joining the flock.  The upside was that all the rubbish I'd put over the wall yesterday when I'd dug out the bed prior to laying down the manure seems to have gone thus tidying up my hillside.  I made a second cup and reminded me that yesterday I'd managed to get coffee from Lidl at half normal price so I bought two but I'm tempted to go into Lidl tomorrow to get more....it doesn't seem to deteriorate.

I got dressed, put the washing away that was dry from last night's two loads and hung the remainder on coat hangers and put them on the curtain rail in the downstairs bedroom.  I headed outside just before eight to get some of the manure spread before the sun came up but I did have to dig out lots of grass and the lily of the valley roots from the little bed in front of the terrace before I could carry on.  Unfortunately the roots had gone underneath the stone surround and that made it more difficult but I made it.  I filled up the wheelbarrow and dropped my load, went back for a second and headed back for the little bed and moved on to pastures green.  I did the forsythia bed at the foot of the lonesome pine and to the remainder of the little house terrace, cleared the weeds and covered them both and covered them well.  It came to a halt, Avatar appeared in the garden with my breakfast, she didn't stop she was on a mission, I took the cheesy bread inside, washed my hands, cut four of the buns in half and filled them with the ham that I'd bought yesterday, sat down to eat them in the lounge and by the time that breakfast was over, it was too hot to be out there shovelling so it was tools away and the heap covered up until this evening.  

I went to the loo and it was then that I heard the rattling of a bird in the soot outlet point.  Unfortunately the bathroom window tilts forward so doesn't open enough for the intruder to make an easy exit so I spent part of the afternoon encouraging it out into the lounge and then out through the conservatory.  I'd taken the fly screen off the bathroom window just incase it got the message but it didn't so I settled on the sofa, played a few games and waited for it to emerge which it eventually did.  It found its way behind the television and kept looking at the top of the door but not able to work out if it could make it so I slowly made it to the other side of the television, shook my scarf at it, it shot on to the sofa, spotted the exit route and it was off.  I must get Bekir to put some wire mesh over the chimney cover to stop them falling down.

I watched a film this afternoon, went out again intending to shovel manure but instead decided it would make more sense to clear the other two beds by the long wall and then it should be quite straightforward tomorrow.  It was hard going but done and I found a very tiny tortoise that looked dead but then moved so wasn't.  Tools away at seven thirty, I need to find something for supper and then into a bath to wash my aches away.  LN......It will be more of the same tomorrow, I need to get the heap out of the way.....LN