Wednesday 1st April

So no surprises on 1st April, I didn't read of any national April Fool newspaper articles but there again...I don't get British newspapers and don't think Bulgaria has this tradition.  I didn't wake up until seven this morning and it was a welcome change, my first job was to make my morning drink and it was four this afternoon when I had my first cup of coffee....now that's a first.  Again we had a damp start to the day and it never got any better.  There was no sittings of the mountains until late this afternoon and during that time we'd had rain but at last it was drying up.  According to the weather reports, this is supposed to be hanging around for another few days so there won't be any work for me in the garden.

I drove into Djebel at ten, parked up outside the garage shop, I needed to buy firelighters, I'd used the last one yesterday.  I settled for three packets hopping that I shan't need them as we approach the later months....but who can say.  I seem to recall that we had snow and heavy frosts that killed all the blossom on the fruit trees resulting in bad pickings for the locals.  Hopefully this year we seem like we might be avoiding it but the white blossom on the wild plum trees is well and truly out...very picturesque but I didn't have my camera with me.....next time.  I sat with my friend in the garage for a while, her husband appeared for their morning coffee and ciggie so I got on with other things I had to do.  I noticed that the flowers from her indoor garden on her desk were missing, the hyacinths I found out later she had planted at the garage.  First stop for me was coffee shop who sell a bargain pack of large bags strong enough to use as rubbish containers for the kitchen waste.  One hundred bags hang behind the kitchen door and are available as required and they were immediately put into service.  I popped in to see my flower lady but she was at college in Kardjali but I did buy a rose plant from the relative looking after the shop for my friend in the garage, her 'shop garden' needed restocking and this would do the trick.  It is a beautiful yellow rose, full of hope and fresh beginnings to cheer her up.  I delivered it to the shop, she wanted to pay for it, I bought my firelighters and then I left for the supermarket.  I needed bread and basics.

Drove home, unpacked my shopping, lit the fire, had a coffee and cheese and ham sandwiches for a late lunch and then I was asleep for a couple of hours on the sofa which will add to my overnight sleep score registered on the Fitbit.  I threw another log on the fire, turned on Netflix and continued watching 'The Mentalist' which is an enjoyable series and most episodes have and unusual twist.....I recommend it.  

Half eight my time, I had too much 'late lunch' and half a packet of biscuits so won't be needing any thing for supper.  LN.....The mountains came back late this afternoon but will probably be gone morning.....LN

Thursday 2nd April

Well since those 'experts' accessed my computer I've been trying to find my way round it ever since.  I really must do the 'how did we do document, it's not to late to tell us' so that's a job for tomorrow.

I awoke to another wet horrible morning only this time it was proper rain, the water barrel was over-flowing so my first task was to reconnect the hose pipe that feeds into the stream outside the gate and sends if off down the old rough root to the next village.  That done I opened the tap on the barrel and checked that we had water flowing and this stops the water accumulating in the yard.  A few good days and we suffer the consequences and it's still raining now.  I did make poached eggs for breakfast and put the four chicken drumsticks that I bought yesterday into the slow cooker with curry powder, an onion that I'd fried off and a container of tomato juice.  This ticked away on high for a few hours and I had two of the drumsticks, sauce and a chunk of bread for lunch.  The remainder I left on low which I shall probably have this evening or even put it in the freezer when it's cold later tonight.

The day has been about keeping the home fires burning.  I filled up one of the log carriers with large logs that I've no hope of chopping and a second one I used the logs from last year that are stacked just inside the door to the woodstore.  I also checked the the pots in the little house and watered them with the rainwater that had collected in one of the containers that had been left outside.  It's raining too much to bring them outside, I've just emptied the pot holding the bourgonvillea....it was waterlogged so is now sitting out on the terrace without it's container so that it can all drain away.  

Again I've had to fiddle with the weather station clock.  It was showing one hour slow after communicating overnight with the base station controller in Germany.  It's now showing the correct time but it took some doing, let's see what tomorrow brings.  It might be a case of taking the batteries out and starting from scratch.  LN....The curry is going in the freezer, the washing is going in the machine and I'm going in the shower.....and having a conversation with the weather god to bring us some sunshine....LN

Friday 3th April

Rain, rain, go away...and stay away.  It was damp this morning but then it really set in around ten, I'd opened up the tap on the water barrel last night and it was empty but now we have it half full again.  I was indoors for most of the morning, I got washing underway, made toast and marmalade for breakfast, tidied around and looked for things to do.  There was no possibility of working in the garden, I walked down to the wall to check see if there were any other tortoise around.  I did managed to see where the grass was pressed down where obviously something had been out and about but Rosy was still underneath the Lonesome pine having just emerged from the winter hideaway.  There's plenty to eat round and about to eat so there's no need to go far.

I made my way to the woodstore and chopped some of the larger logs into smaller pieces so that I could keep the big ones going.  The wood supply is going down but with care I should have enough to last me through until the sun finally decides that it's here to stay.  We appear to be drifting towards summer having to put up with low temperatures, cold winds and heavy rain and I'm wondering if that day will come.  I felt sorry last night for Rosy, buried in the soil, but nature is nature.  The rain eased off by the time I'd finished the wood and dragged it into the porch, the house was warm, I'd had good fires going yesterday so I wasn't going to light it until I moved back in for the night.  I started to move the flower pots from their winter storage in the little house on to the terraces.  The intention was to cut them back to encourage new shoots on the oleander and the geraniums but it started to rain around four this afternoon so I got most of them out, they'll have a good watering and if the weather is good tomorrow I'll give them haircuts, split other clumps and start off new geranium babies.  I've also got to get rid of the dead tops from the sun-daisies and see if there are any seedlings underneath.  There is always something to do but today wasn't the day for doing it.

I didn't eat the rest of the curry last night so set the slow cooker off this morning. I added half a can of baked beans and half of a very large sweet potato to the pot and by four thirty everything was ready but before I settled I lit the fire....I was in for the night on the sofa with Netflix, watched a couple of episodes of my current series, promptly slept through the third, loaded on another log and feel that I've had a good day.  The weather is supposed to be much better tomorrow and Sunday is supposed to be wall to wall sun which will be a first for a while.  LN.....Fingers crossed, I need the grass to dry up and then I can strim the final patch before the rest catches it up and I have a monumental task to complete.....LN

Saturday 4th April

It's been a funny old day.  I lit the fire, it was dull, cold and a repetition of the days of the last week.  I made toast for breakfast, didn't bother with my usual morning beverage and settled for coffee.  I didn't see anything of cat, not even hiding on the outside furniture, the pellets from yesterday had turned to a slush and I didn't bother replacing it.  I had nothing to fill the dish with except more pellets so I didn't do anything.  I went to check on Rosy and found her deep in the hole.  It was still squelching underfoot so I reckoned that there would be little gardening done to day, it was very fine rain so I went back to my fire...it was a good place to be.

I had an email from UK advising me that I hadn't posted a blog yesterday so I went to check.  I've been confused with dates lately and noticed that I'd headed yesterday's as the fourth so I edited the entry to the third and posted the update but I checked everything in sight to make sure that I'd done everything properly.  The weather station had been part of the problem, but checking this morning it had actually kept the correct time, my computer confirmed it and so did my Fitbit.  There are times when you doubt yourself but this morning, everything was OK.  I decided to listen to music this morning that's stored on my computer and when I'd tried to find 'Jacques Lousier plays Bach' on my laptop I couldn't find it.  I went up to my sewing room upstairs and found my two external drives and checked them both for the copies of the CD and couldn't find it.  I decided to check my laptop again and eventually found it so put it to play.....it's mellow and relaxing, I was surprised that I'd not found it the other day I was searching for it.

I couldn't get up to much, by now the rain was pouring down so I did put the television on and settled in for a few episodes of my latest 'watch', we did have a brief interlude early afternoon when I went out to get wood and chop some small stuff, realised that the rain had stopped and took the garden fork and the log carrier and attempted to clear the first big garden along the high wall.  The weeds were very deep rooted, they'd grown up through the ten inch deposit of manure that I'd put on the garden last autumn so took some pulling out especially the ferns.  Some of the manure came up with the root so I was shaking them to remove it but it was so wet that it was difficult to remove....and then the rain started coming down so it was down tools.  The weeds I'd managed to remove went over the low wall and the tools back into the woodstore and me into the house.  I removed my wet jumper and found another one to replace it, settled on the sofa and promptly went to sleep.

I rescued the fire when I woke up, had a huge bowl of natural yogurt and that will probably do me until tomorrow morning.  It's seven thirty my time and it's taken until now for the sun to come out, it's a very still evening, there are still rain clouds around but hopefully things will dry up but there's not much sign of that so far.  LN.....Pulling the garden round this year is going to be difficult, I think I might be trying to find a man or woman who can help......LN

Sunday 5th April

Up and about at six thirty this morning.  The first wakening was at four thirty but I got my head down and a few more zzz's in.  The terraces had dried up, there was a feint light over the mountains, the forecast was that there would be sun today but I was a little sceptical....no glimmer of the sun yet but it was early.  Eventually dawn came up, again peppered with clouds but they weren't so dense and dark, mist over the river in the valley clouded the view but by nine everything had changed.  It looked like we might be in for a dry and semi-sunny day.  I settled for yogurt for breakfast, thought it might still be very damp and wet in the beds that I wanted to dig so decided to give the heat from the sun and the brisk breeze more time before I put any effort in.

I fiddled around.  The old jeans that I put on for gardening had got a rip to the top of the leg and as I'd put them on this morning, my toes had gone through the rip, I wobbled, got my balance, freed my toes and pushed my foot down into the trouser leg.  It almost felt like and accident that could happen so I sat on the chair in the stairwell, got a needle and thread and stitched up the rip while I was wearing them and very successfully too.  It's more about eliminating the threats when you get old and that was one that was done and dusted.  It still wasn't warm enough to go out and start digging for victory so I found out two boxes of documents that I have to work through for my demise but the novelty soon wore off so I contacted the company that host my website and explained that I'd had a report of a 404 message when trying to get in for an update and I'm still having issues of time-outs when I'm posting.  A very friendly technician passed it on to the analyst who has obviously passed it on to a specialist, it seems like a server problem to me but I'm told it's in their capable hands....and I'll remind them again in the morning if I don't hear anything.

I eventually got outside with my trusty garden fork and hoe and went to work on the garden against the long wall and I can see an improvement.  It's still very wet underneath but I filled up the log carrier and it was over the wall with it.  I can see dark soil between the plants and I'll do random digging and picking tomorrow if the weather holds.  I came in for a coffee, television on, eyelids falling and had a sleep.  I was out there again at five, did more clearing, over the wall with the debris and came in at eight, the fire was a cheery sight, I'd lit it this afternoon.  There are a few stars out tonight, a good omen for tomorrow.

Now to try and find something to have for supper that's quick and easy to prepare.  LN..... I've put the boiler on already for a bath so with that thought, post the blog and settle in for the evening and back to 'The Mentalist' on Netflix.....LN.....(Sorry no pickies on this update.....system letting me down...arrrggghhh)

Try some pickies

Monday 6th April

Well it did eventually turn into a sunny day and I started my gardening around one this afternoon.  I spent the morning still trying to sort out my hosting company and my system support company with regard to the blog.  My guru from America hasn't contacted me yet so it would appear I'm in the lap of the gods.

This isn't going to be a long post, I took the strimmer out to the garden and also the fork and hoe and I used the fork and hoe much more than the strimmer.  The 'what used to be flower beds' are now weed beds and the manure has made them much stronger with much deeper roots....it's been hard work.  I've managed two and a half beds and there will be a final pass on the last remaining few weeds when the soil dries out a little.  As for the strimmer, I only did round the flower beds and the little patch where the old toilet block used to be and I breathed a sigh of relief when the strimmer cable ran out.  I hadn't realised the time but it was almost seven so despite the fact that I'd had a slow start, I'd stuck at it despite it being boring and hard work.  It's also been perfect growing weather for the weeds, rain, rain and yet more rain.

Supper is in the microwave and breakfast seems to have been a long time ago....no afternoon sleep so I should settle quite early tonight.  LN....I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the same sort of weather tomorrow.....LN

Tuesday 7th April

It was a funny old night last night, I just couldn't settle when I went to bed and I ended up going back to the sofa, putting the television on which eventually put me to sleep and I woke up at seven this morning....still on the sofa.  I went to the kitchen and made a clove and spice mixture with hot water and honey and sat sipping it doing nothing more than thinking about what I intended to do today.  The garden was daunting, it was going to be a big challenge but since there are no able men in the village that want to work even if it is for money, they have there their own work to do....it's that time of the year.

I was out in the garden for eleven, tools at the ready but aware that I'd put my last strimmer reel in the machine last night.  The machine automatically issues the cable, no need to bang the head on the ground to feed it but it's not possible to reload the reels.  It's an odd sized cable and this is why I can't reuse them.  I've tried to load one with a point one difference in the cable but it just doesn't work.  So my task today was to use the complete reel, I'll buy more tomorrow when I'd in Kardjali, the cable doesn't keep breaking and everything was OK until I finished it.  I decided to try and get one of my grass cutting machines working, I seemed to remember that last year, the power control kept cutting out and wouldn't keep the machine running.  It's a matter of pressing the start button and holding down the handle, push and it goes forward or backwards...it's as simple as that.  I think there is something wrong with the connection but it went more times than it failed today, the grass is very long, tough and wet so considering that the odds were stacked against me, I did OK.  The cable ran out around five, I collected a bottle of water from the kitchen and sat on the terrace ready for the next onslaught only this time it was me against the lawnmower so it was tools away ready for Thursday weather permitting.  

Eventually I gave up on it, came in just before seven and I've had a good first day and pleased with my results.  So now Fitbit is advising me to slowdown where before it was telling me to speed up.  They refer to the classification as Daily Readiness and gave me a low score, suggesting that I rest and have a bath and I mentioned to my daughter that I didn't realise Fitbit had a 'smell sensor'.  That's the next job when I've posted the blog.

Tomorrow I am in Kardjali helping out a friend with her residency permit and hopefully I won't be disallowed entry.  The evening sun as it's going down has just lit up the garden and the mountains and the forsythia is really standing out.  It's such a cheery shrub to have in all the flower beds, only needs cutting back nut after flowering since it flowers on last hears new growth,  It looks like I timed it just right last year.  LN....Must remember to by more reels for the strimmer tomorrow while I'd in town.....and now for supper.....LN

Wednesday 8th April

I slept really well last night and woke up at seven thirty.  I was on a mission today, my friends was about to renew her residency card and needed my assistance.  She arrived at  my house at nine thirty as agreed, I had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, the weather was sunny but the wind was cold so I changed to a fairly thick sweater and ski jacket and she arrived looking like a summer day.  I still went with mine, I could always peel layers off.

We drove into Kardjali, parked up on the nearest car-park, entered the building and were all set to see what was on the cards.  We went into the first office to be faced by a lady glued to her telephone, we stated our business, handed over the card, she moved to the computer all the time carrying on a texting session. She didn't speak to us, obviously recognised me from the last episode I'd had with Immigration and left the office holding the card.  Another lady approached, this time really customer service orientated, thought we were there to up a new card and I mentioned that it was a renewal we were wanting so she took us to another office.  While we were doing the initial approach with telephone chat girl, I'd gone out into the office and the head of Immigration's door was open so I asked after his health said that I was there to help out with my friend's renewal.  This must have set flags flying, we were immediately asked to go into the other office by a young lady who spoke perfect English.  My friend was immediately handed a form to complete and I noticed that it was different, the instructions on how to complete it were written underneath.  My friend was asked to complete it in English and Bulgarian and I joked that the English would be OK but I assured her that the Bulgarian would be much better completed by herself and she agreed and she did.  Payment was handed over, a date that she should return was given and we left the building.  I think my complaints from my encounter have been taken on board and if, someone listened.

We left and went for a coffee, we moved on to T-Max where I wanted to buy strimmer reels but they didn't have the ones that I wanted in stock.  I was temped to buy a new petrol mower and a smaller one but instead was recommended to order the reels on line from the internet and I would do that when I got home.  We left there and went to Kaufland supermarket, I only wanted coffee but my friend did more of a shop and we somehow got separated.  I went back to the car, she wasn't there so I waited outside the store sitting on one of the bollards outside and eventually she appeared.  We drove to my village, she didn't want to stop she had things to do and I tried to order the reels on line and my Bulgarian card wasn't set up for internet shopping.  The ordering screen wasn't great and probably very easy when you understand it and my transaction was declined.  I phoned my bank and unfortunately the man spoke English and advised me that my card wasn't set up for online shopping.  The system was in English but when you went into the sub-screens on the system, it changed back to Bulgarian and I became increasingly confused so I ended the call saying that I would complete the task later.  

Things are not easy here sometimes and the older I get the more things confuse me.  I haven't bothered trying to order the reels, I'll speak to my lady in Djebel and we can do it together and either get the strimmer reels delivered to the local courier shop or to my home.  By now it was heading on for three o'clock, it's been a beautiful day, I was tempted to get the dodgy mower out but I felt I hadn't got the strength or the inclination.  LN.....We've had positives such as the new form to make immigration less painful  for future immigrants and why don't bank cards just 'work' like the UK ones......LN

Thursday 9th April

Well it's been another funny old day......the sun shone this morning, it started to cloud over this afternoon and now it's started to rain.  The intention was to get out and continue with the grass but the idea of starting the machine, it stopping and me having to start it again dampened my enthusiasm for the task so I did nothing out there.  I did have a good morning though.  Last night I took a slab of mince meat out of the freezer to thaw out and decided to process it today.  It weighed about two kilos and I put it in large saucepan with a chopped onion, a couple of stock cubes, tomato paste and fried it off.  I added a little water and put some of it in the slow cooker with chilli and potatoes and that became the basis for tonight's supper, more of it went into a dish and tomorrow I'll be making it into lasagne with bechamel sauce and three lots went into the freezer and that will come out when I need a quick meal.

I cleared the kitchen, put some washing in the machine and that was another task out of the way.  I had a few emails to send, transferred the washing from the machine to the airer and was now looking around for things to do and the garden looked tempting as the weather got better and it warmed up a little.  It also suddenly occurred to me that the outside tap was still turned off so I turned the outlet in a hidey hole in the bathroom, checked it out by turning the outside tap on and I now don't have to keep coming back into the house for a drink when it's hot....it's on tap so to speak.  I set the fire ready for this evening and have just set fire to it at seven.  It's still twenty one degrees inside the house but it looks like the rain has settled in for the night, not much so far but those clouds look heavily laden.  

I've just been out and taken photos of the tulips that are flowering in the side garden, they are a beautiful colour, I've white ones coming out under the little house terrace and yellow ones in one of the gardens that I cleared out two days ago.  I've also noticed that the lily of the valley are coming up in the frog garden and more in the side garden.  The nice thing about spring flowers is that they come up regardless of the attention you give them.  They flower, die back, rest for the summer, autumn and winter only providing greenery and then the following year they surprise you....you forget what's planted where but they multiply and put on an exquisite show.

Television this afternoon, the Mentalist is on to the next series and it's transitioned well into the new story.  He got his killer last time and they're setting him up with a new puzzle to solve with come of his old team still with him.  Supper over, washing up done and now back to the sofa to concentrate.  LN.....Bulgarian Easter weekend, my ex-student suggested going down to Greece and Fanari but looking at the weather and the forecast, I think it would be a poor decision to go there.  LN....Let's see what it's like tomorrow morning....we can make the decision then....LN