Monday 20th April

So I woke up at silly o'clock this morning and instead of trying to go back to sleep again I picked up the phone and that ended all thoughts of getting in a few more zzzz's.  I was originally going to meet a friend at nine thirty this morning to help her with immigration continuance but all things changed when her neighbour had a cat to get to the vets for an appointment at two.  Unfortunately the cat had other ideas, wouldn't be caught, bit the woman, it was too late for us to change our plans so we met up as arranged in the immigration office.  I'd had a very easy morning at home, sausage and egg sandwich for breakfast, washing in the machine and out on the airer, I'd had a shower and washed my hair and was dressed and ready for any action deemed necessary at the office with the officials that wanted to stand in out way.  

I arrived at the car park in time, my parking 'app' didn't want to play ball, insisted that I log in, used my normal password but not the one that was required and when I tried to log in with another app. it bombed me out so I requested a numeric passcode which didn't arrive until after I'd gone to the parking machine terminal, entered my car registration, paid my dues and was on my way to the venue.  My friend was waiting for me on the bench outside the office and I was dead on time despite the hazards along the way and we carried on to continue with the documentation exercise.  The first one we encountered when she started the quest was the one that was sitting with the previous customer and we noticed that the photography machine was sitting in the second office.  I approached the young lady, she was shoo-ing me out but I said in Bulgarian that my friend was here to have the photographs taken for her residency card, she said to wait until she'd finished and then she would deal with out request....all in English so we were on to a winner. It didn't take too long, there was more documentation to complete, the 'correct or incorrect' tick boxes that I'd had problems with but at least the questions were now in English under the Bulgarian so my kicking off was a great success for those that follow on.  Paperwork done, photographs taken, payment made and the document will be ready for collection in one month.

We stopped off for a coffee in a nearby café, back to the carpark, we had parked nose to nose so I waited for her to reverse out and I followed her exhaust pipe back to the Djebel and I did a right turn and remembered to fill up with gas, I'd run out a couple of days earlier.  I watched the clock on the pump and it suddenly hit me that the same quantity of gas used to cost me approximately twenty four lev was now costing me twenty four euro....the price has doubled.  I know the 'dispensing technicians' quite well since I always use the same outlet, mentioned this to him and he said that it was down to the war in nearby war zones.....maybe....but I think it might be since we adopted the euro....just saying.

I drove back to Djebel and stopped off at the garage shop and had a little time with my friend.  I noticed that she handed her husband a fire extinguisher, I smiled and she said that the police having a purge at the moment on vehicle checks.  This made me wonder about mine and whether it was in date or not so I went to the Nipper and checked it, the pointer was still in the green area so was still active but the label was saying the life of the unit had gone beyond its use by date so I bought a new one.  I'll get the old one refilled and a new sticker applied and use that in the jeep.

I drove home, lit the fire, heated up the remains of last night's supper in the microwave and finished off with cheese and digestive biscuits and a cup of coffee.  I didn't manage to buy the swim cap that I wanted so that I could try out our new town pool, I was the wrong side of the duel carriageway to get into the Mall without a problem so I might make the journey tomorrow.  One report was though that the water was cold so I might leave it for a while, I thought the water was piped from the hot spring and made it a thermal bath.  I now think that the boiler just wasn't working....

It was a good morning weatherwise though cold to start with, warmed up this afternoon and really hot sitting in the sun.  Later the clouds rolled in, we had a brief spell of rain that didn't amount to much and now it's grey all over and very dull.  I did hear my first cuckoo this morning but not MY cuckoo with it's distinctive middle extra notes in its call....more a 'cuck-oo-koo'.  It's been rattling around this area for quite a few years.  LN....I'll keep my ears open........and let you know....LN

Tuesday 21st April

Beautiful morning, ten to seven start to the day and generally got on with starting my day.  I made my jungle juice using mainly clove water, freshly squeezed lemon and the usual spice additives  and sat at the desk in the stairwell sipping it and watching the morning come to life.  I sorted out the large wandering Jew plant that sits under the stairs on a shelf, it desperately needed watering and turning since it was growing towards the window.  I also put a pot of rose cuttings outside to have some fresh air.  I put yesterday's washing away and put another load in the machine, made breakfast of poached eggs on toast and switched on the television to watch a couple of episodes of Bones.  It's a little gory at breakfast time but I've got a strong constitution being out here.  Cat appeared a little later than normal, I hadn't spotted it but it was snoozing on the little house terrace under one of the pot plants so I immediately went and found the dish, the remains of the chicken tinned food and put biscuits on top of it.  Cat stood on the top step down to my terrace, I put the dish down, took a step back and cat came down one step, I took another step backwards and cat dropped another step and eventually I moved to the bench and sat in the sun .  Cat had made it to the dish by now and demolished the contents in quicksticks.

I'd dressed for gardening and started off by chopping off some of the baby Yuka that have sprung up round the mother plant near the low wall.  I put two in a container for my next door neighbour and planted up a one in the front of the Frog garden and another in the garden which is nest to mine and my vegetable garden neighbour.  I also put in another variegated plant that I'd dug up in error a couple of days ago that had been sitting in water awaiting a new home....and now it's got one.  

I wheeled out my restored petrol mower into the sun to warm it up a little before I tugged on the starter chord.  I was dreading doing it but it started first time but unfortunately I wasn't holding the bar that makes it more forward tight enough and it stopped.  I left it for a while, it's a temperamental machine and changed the wheel height all round, put the grass catcher on the back and moved to the main house grass and managed to do the side garden and just beyond the shrub gardens near to the low wall but by now the clouds had come over, there was a rumble of thunder and it was threatening a downpour so I switched it off, emptied the grass catcher over the wall and put my tools away just before it started to rain. It's good to have it working again. it cuts evenly and tackles the thick grass well where a strimmer without you're consistent with it, looks as if it's been tackled by a novice hairdresser.

I found the digestive biscuits and local white cheese and sat on the sofa having a light snack and watching more of Bones in front of the fire that I'd lit.  There was a knock on the door and it was my neighbour with a packet of biscuits in her hand and I know by now that this signifies a visit so I invited her in.  She hadn't been inside the house before, so she got the full tour and was impressed after all, mine has a hint of the UK about it.  I made her coffee, she showed me photos of her family in Turkey, I kept the biscuits for me since she didn't want any and off she toddled with some Lily of the Valley plants that I dug up for her.  The temperature has dropped down to nine degrees outside but inside it's twenty one.  I'd put the boiler on for a bath this afternoon but that went by the way so I'd off to soak now before I head to bed.  It's nine o'clock now, I'm pleased that it rained so that I didn't do too much in the garden...I'm not as young as I used to be.  LN.....It just might be biscuits before bedtime lazing in the bath...and why not.  That's the beauty of living alone...and again rain stopped play on the photo front as did visitors.....LN

Wednesday 22nd April

Seven and seven minutes when I woke up this morning.  It was a dull old day when I opened the curtains and I was tempted to get back into bed but instead I put the washing away that had dried overnight, made my jungle juice adding to the glass that I'd prepared yesterday from the clove water and lemon juice and took it to the table in the stairwell.  There was a hint of sun when the clouds broke but nothing to write home about so instead of looking at the phone I went back to the kitchen and filled up the slow cooker with two spicy sausages, potatoes, onions, curry powder and tomato paste and set it to high.  I carried on being productive and put toast in the toaster, baked beans in the microwave and breakfast was ready, a cup of coffee, took the dish to the sofa, put the television on and settled in for one or two episodes of Bones.  

I didn't see Cat until approximately one this afternoon so I fed it and sat on the bench while the food was demolished.  It decided to saunter away, a full tummy requires rest, and it made it's way to the garage where the box remains from last winter....and I think it's still in use when the weather is wet and windy or it just requires to get away from the world.  I'd already lit the fire, the wind was cold and once the fire is going, it retains the heat and ticks over until I need it in the evenings.  I put a reasonable log on before I went out around two thirty this afternoon, I decided I wasn't cutting the grass it was damp and would be hard work and I wanted to find some decent compost and pot up the three ginger plants that seem to have taken.  That done, I took the log carrier and filled it with the rake, the hoe and the garden fork and headed down to the bonfire garden and I've decided to do away with the wooden garden surround, plant more shrubs and let the grass and the weeds do what they do best and mow up to and around the plants.  As I get older I find weeding taxing as well as boring,  I stuck at it for an hour or so, checked on the rest of the plants in the area and noticed that the buddleia that I thought I'd lost had got a few shoots on.  I stripped out the dead branches and put them over the wall, unfortunately taking one out that had fresh shoots so now I have three of them sitting in water and standing with my fingers crossed.

The clouds were gathering so I packed away the kit, the bonfire was still going so I made sure it was safe for the night and brought the tools back to the woodstore.  I locked everything away, brought another log into the house for the fire, switched off the slow cooker and am about to serve up when I've posted.  It was at this point that I noticed that I'd timed everything correctly.  I came in at six thirty and the heaven's opened, the sky more or less is hiding the mountains and my fire it going superbly.  LN.....Three hours of work, not checked the steps on Fitbit but I've done my quota for today.....LN

Thursday 23rd April

So I woke up to rain again this morning, I had a disturbed night waking up at five, tried sudoku, obviously fell asleep doing it and woke up at nine with the light on.  Light off, curtains drawn, I made my morning health drink and sat on the sofa sipping it.  I didn't feel too good this morning.  I think I'd done too much yesterday in the garden and knew that today wouldn't break any records on any front.  I made beans on toast for breakfast purely because I had a half can of beans left from yesterday and took that to the table in the stair well, cleared the kitchen and washed up, no sign of the cat waiting to be fed so, too wet to do much outside so settled on the sofa with Netflix for an hour or so.  I realised that I was wasting time so decided to sort out my 'House Manual' for when the children have to do things after I've gone to a higher place and that's where the fun began.

I'd already drafted out a copy and decided to type it up so began to search for the draft.  I'd been organising things, getting legal things in one place, old machine manuals and kitchen appliance booklets in another and when I came to look for the draft for the house manual I hadn't a clue where I'd put it or the documents that supported it.  I searched the downstairs bedroom room, a storage box under the low table in my winter lounge, my filing system on the top landing and even around the computer in the guest room upstairs, the ancestry documentation box just in case it had gotten mixed up and nothing..... and now I was beginning to panic....ever so slightly.  And then it came to me.....I'd put everything into one place, in a wooden storage box with 'Home, Sweet Home' written on it and found it in the formal room on the sofa.  I'd put it in there so that I didn't trip over it and do more damage.....now I could relax.

I started to type it up but it's been ages since I've presented anything in a formal format and the programs like Word have moved on considerably and today wasn't the day for persevering with it so I carried on filling up some of the details in the draft and will leave the final document for another day.  The rain cleared away, I was tempted with the grass mower but the urge to be out there doing things dissipated and I went back to the sofa and the television and again promptly fell asleep.  No supper required, the remains of the slow cooker will go out for the cat tomorrow morning and no fire required this evening, it's holding twenty degrees in the house despite it being eight degrees outside.   LN.... Not one of my memorable days so it's early to bed and hopefully a better day tomorrow....LN

Friday 24th April

Another early start when I checked my Fitbit for the time it was five thirty.  I woke up from a very real dream, a person that I used to know was being attacked with a fire bomb and it sort of un-nerved me.  I didn't stay in bed, I wanted to wake up properly so I got on with things.  I made my usual lemon with spices drink, washed up from last night, moved to the sofa and started watching reels and I find that 'Who wants to be a millionaire' very good for getting the brain box going and I managed to get to a princely sum but only in my head.  When you get old it's amazing what you come to know and how much you retain.  When the contestant is going for the safety. I've overtaken a few just lately....I amaze myself with the things I retain.

Toast and cheese triangle sandwiches for breakfast, I checked out the remaining contents of the slow cooker, was going to give it to cat but decided that it would do for me for an early lunch, or not so early as it turned out, and switched it on to high.  I knew what I was going to do today, I was going to work on the left hand side of the lawn looking from the house but and only managed half of it.  It was so damp, I brought the petrol mower, the little electric and the lates electric and it was a question of which one would perform best.  In fact none of them did, the wet grass was forcing the blade to skim off the growth and the grass catchers soon clogged up and I felt I was up to my elbows in it.  The petrol was doing OK but the blade needs sharpening or I have to order a new blade from Germany which in some ways would be the best option and as for the little yellow one, that again was filling up underneath very quickly so in the end I finished off the right hand side of the grass with the new strimmer.  Grass was flying everywhere but half done and half to go and tomorrow is another day.

My neighbour came round this afternoon and put in an order for one white and one pink lilac plant from the suckers that are coming up, she wants a berberis and anything else that is going.  She has a huge garden, has been over from Turkey for three weeks or so, planted up potatoes, beans and peppers and will be going home in a couple of weeks time.  She also gave me the news that my sheep farmers mother has died, she was a sweet old lady, bedridden but dearly loved by her family.  The other brothers live in Sweden and are flying in today.  Things happen very quickly here, they don't hang around long and then we'll have the Mevlit...a celebration of the life of....

When I took my afternoon break I had a bowl of the contents of the slow cooker with a couple of slices of bread and it filled a gap.  I then had the urge to attack the digestive biscuits and wasn't sure if I would be able to complete the grass but I managed it.  Tools away now, I came in at seven thirty and today have managed 10,000 steps according to my Fitbit and have the aches in my side from strimming most of the grass and am about to put the boiler on for a bath.  It does ease out the aches and pains.  LN.....Djebel tomorrow for petrol for the mower, white cheese, eggs, chicken drumsticks and bread for the freezer and I really must pay my home phone bill.  LN.....A woman's work is never done....or a gardeners.....LN

Saturday 25th April

Another half six start this morning and I'd stripped the bed and the quilt cover was in the machine so there was no getting my head down again. The rest of the washing went into the second load, I was feeding the cat at seven and cooking my own breakfast of poached eggs on toast at eight.  The enthusiasm and effort didn't last too long, I was still in my PJ's and sitting in the sun on the terrace at ten and eventually got dressed at eleven...so not such an early start for everything.  

I put the television on using the excuse that the grass was too wet to start with the mower and I've decided that if the weather stays like this for another day and night, I shan't be getting the mower out until tomorrow.  I walked the garden and checked out the garden before I made any other decisions, toyed with the idea of going into Kardjali to do shopping mainly for a swim cap so that if the mood took me in the week I would be prepared.  Apparently they sell them in the sports shop in the Mall but then the mood left me and I went back to the sofa and promptly fell asleep for about an hour which did me no good at all.

The quilt cover and bottom sheet were dry, I'd put the sheet on the stairs in the sun and the cover was in the conservatory pegged up on the coat stand and the shelving unit directly in the sun.  The pillow cases and the rest of the washing was on the airer and that again was dry in quicksticks....there was some heat in the sun at last.  I've normally got my first layer of suntan on but this year, it's all been pants...rain, rain and more rain.  Maybe things are looking up.  

I eventually went into Djebel at three thirty, I'd emptied the old petrol from the mower into a plastic bottle to sensibly get rid of it somewhere.  It needed new, the little that the garage had put into it to check it out was very low so I definitely needed new.  I had to go to the cash point first and I hate this one, the sun shines directly on the screen and it's difficult to know which button you're pressing but out came the designated amount so at last I had cash.  So from there I drove down to the petrol station and had five euro's worth put in the can and carried on to the supermarket and managed to park outside.  It was fairly busy as usual and I was surprised when a young lady from the next village approached me.  I knew her, she'd come to me for English lessons, only spoke Turkish despite the fact that she now lives and goes to school here and unfortunately I wasn't able to help her at the time.  I asked her in Bulgarian if she was using English but she said that she wasn't despite learning it at school but obviously not confident to try.  I didn't offer to help her this time, we would be at ground zero.  

I bought tinned meat that was on offer, half a chicken, chicken drumsticks for the freezer, potatoes, ham, eggs and a huge pot of yogurt and I indulged myself with chocolate bars.  I also picked up a five litre bottle of water and worked out that it's cheaper than the small bottles...I seem to be drinking more of it these days when I come in from the garden. I was surprised how little the bill came to, I'd only bought necessary items not indulged myself as I do when I shop in Greece and I do like my little shop.

I put the petrol away in the workshop and decided to do some maintenance on the mower, it needs a new blade or this one sharpening and I attempted to remove the old one but didn't manage to do it.  Firstly I couldn't remember which was to turn it to remove or fit the blade so I'll have to check out the internet for advice and the garage will have to sharpen in for me....they have offered.  So now everything is locked away, tomorrow is another day and by then I should have investigated how to apply and remove a mower blade.  LN......Supper and television seems like a plan.....LN

Sunday 26th April

Seven on the dot this morning and I was 'up and at 'em', and settled for tea this morning.  I didn't bother with the jungle juice, I think I've been overloading the system and not doing myself any favours despite what it said on the tin.  I spotted a tortoise down the bottom of the garden so picked up the camera to see which one it was and it was one of this years that had been already etched.  I watched it for a while and heard the familiar clatter of mating going on about ten feet from where I was standing so went to investigate and there was a 'menage a trois' going on and one of them wasn't even nail-varnished and looked as if it had just come out from it's winter resting place.  I moved on to the little house terrace and noticed that the wisteria had come back with a vengeance  and twined the long branches onto the metal against the wall and pull some dead branches out that had attacked the oak tree in my next door neighbours vegetable garden.  It's not so virulent since I attacked it but I'm aware of its spread.

I went back to the house and made poached eggs on ham for breakfast to get me going, cleared the kitchen, put the six chicken drumsticks in the slow cooker with water and stock cubes and set it to high, turned it down to medium and it ticked along until I felt hungry about four o'clock.  I only had two of them with a slice of bread.  I noticed that my daughter had been sending me emails of Sudoku, my phone kept pinging so I thanked her and then phoned her since she was 'up and about and phone active'.  

I then started sorting out my downstairs winter bedroom, clothes that normally belong in my upstairs bedroom have found their way downstairs so now the weather is getting better, I feel that I might be emigrating soon upstairs.  It also means that the downstair bedroom looks less of a dumping ground, things are easier to find and I know where things are.  I've also removed a shoe rack that was storing clothes into the conservatory and that's now got shoes on it...the purpose for which it was originally intended.  By now it was time to have five minutes to myself with a cup of coffee and one episode of Bones, I wasn't in the mood for mowing the grass but I did get the mower out, had another attempt to remove the blade after spraying it with a rust removed to loosen the bolt but without the right size tool ...it just wasn't happening so tomorrow I'll get the correct size from the market.  

The chicken went into the oven at four and two jacket potatoes went in a little later and everything is ready and sitting in the oven after it was switched off and that's my next task.  It's a lovely calm evening and should be a good day tomorrow.  I might even go into Kardjali tomorrow and investigate motor mowers and buy more strimmer cables.  LN....Time to switch off and head into my evening.....LN

Monday 27th April

Another stupidly early start and I really don't know why.  I had a restful day yesterday giving the grass another day to dry out before I began the onslaught of the other half but by now the first effort seems to be overtaken by nature....it's been an ongoing struggle.  My mission today was to go to Djebel and buy the correct size head to remove the bolt from the grass mower and buying that was the easy part.  I still wasn't sure if I was applying pressure to tighten it or to slacken it off turning right or left so I contacted the company that supplied the new blade two years ago and the response was that the bolt had a right hand thread.  Now that's probably OK to a mechanic so I resorted to You tube and watched a couple of videos, tried to loosen it this afternoon and it's just too difficult for me to do it.  The remedy is probably to take it to the garage again, they have more strength than I do.  I also asked the company to supply a new blade but there was no mention of that in the return email so I suppose I've got to order it through the website as I did last time and that's a job for tomorrow.  In fact it's probably better to make sure that the bolt can be undone otherwise it's a new machine which would probably be the best option anyway except for the fact that I like this one when it works.

I didn't stay long in Djebel this morning.  It was a sunny day, cold but sunny and the world and all of it's friends were out there, it was market day.  I did a quick tour of the market, the gypsies from Greece that have set up a stall were doing a roaring trade but I wasn't too sure of the quality of the items on display.  The oranges were cheap at one kilo for a euro but the skins were very bruised and marked so not for me and the same applied to the lemons so I moved on.  I popped into the flower shop but she was so busy that I said hi and left the shop.  Her husband was even helping her to create bouquets of flowers obviously a rushed order.  I didn't manage to go into Kardjali, it seemed too much like hard work today, everything was an effort so I settled in, watched television, walked the garden, took my photos and now to search the kitchen for supper.  LN.....Grass tomorrow using the old mower and strimmer......LN

Tuesday 28th April

Six start this morning so I'm getting there...seven is my aim.  I made coffee this morning, didn't bother with any exotic jungle juices and stayed in bed for a while, tidied up the top of the chest by my bed, washing into the machine, got dressed and made poached eggs for breakfast.  I meandered through the rest of the morning, tried to remove the bolt from the mower after leaving it in rust remover spray but it wasn't having any of it, toyed with the idea of just going into Kardjali and buying a new one but instead phoned the garage to see if they stocked WD-40 which they did.  I also checked up to see if my delivery of the birthday card and the smelly tinned candle had arrived but it had made its way to the main post office in the area so it was on its way.  I moved outside, walked the garden and was tempted to get the strimmer out but the mood soon passed and instead decided to drive into Djebel and get the WD-40 from the shop, bought two packets of Zinnia seeds from the hardware shop and a pack of another ones that I've never yet managed to grow so fingers crossed.  I popped into the plant shop to see if they had any growing medium for succulents and they didn't and the advice was just put them in normal compost.  

The baby cactus that I'd brought back from Greece next to its 'huge' mummy plant was putting out decent roots so it was time it went on to the next stage.  It had been in water long enough.  I did buy two Stephanotis plants from her, one to sit on the stairs here and they do have a wonderful perfume and the second one for my garage friend.  She was busy when I went into the shop to deliver it, the customer was behind the counter and they were obviously in the middle of something, so all I said that her indoor garden was looking empty and handed it over.  Her face lit up, smiled and said 'for me?, so I smiled back and nodded and left them to it.  On the way home I saw a pile of sand sitting outside the mayor's office and it was left over from building work and normally comes from the river so that mixed with compost would do for my Greek cactus so that was my first job when I got home.  It's sitting in a very deep clay pot, looking OK at the moment and fingers crossed it will soon get established otherwise I'll be back to Fanari for another one.  I added more compost to the ginger that appears to have taken to two new protogees.

Next job was to spray the bolt on the mower to see if this would make any difference and it has two choices, either it will or it won't and if it's the second option it will be put in the graveyard with the others.  I tried to use one of the others to cut the grass in the yard but the power kept cutting out and in the end I resorted to the strimmer and did the grass outside the front of the house just to tidy things up.  The cows eat the grass on the one side of the gate but don't seem to like the ditch on the other.  Tools away around four thirty and I decided to have a bonfire and get rid of the rubbish and ended up pulling weeds from the base of the shrubs near the bottom wall and also along the low wall.  Lots of cows out and about clearing up the debris as I threw it over the wall.

Seed planting tomorrow and if I get totally fed up with the cutting machines I shall be heading into Kardjali to buy a new mower, buying a bathing cap from the mall and I've learned that the pool stays open until nine at night, they have extended the hours.  Not for me though....mine will be morning visits and home for lunch.  LN....It's supposed to rain tomorrow so that could change all of my plans...fingers crossed that it wont.......LN

Wednesday 29th April

Firstly I want to wish my dear friend a Happy Birthday.  My first job after Grammar School was for the local council, she was the telephonist and I was responsible for handling the outward post, making the tea for the clerk and responsible for getting files from the strong room and returning them to the appropriate filing cabinet.  I also filled in as relief telephonist for breaks and lunches and at sixteen, had lots to do.  I was also enrolled at the local college for typing and shorthand, the typing stood me in good stead for my later years but as for the shorthand...those squiggles didn't register in my brain and after two years the local council and myself went out separate ways....but I still maintained my friendship with my first office buddy which has lasted over sixty years.  We still laugh about the things we got up to, boys we dated, marriages, partings and my exploits through the years, she met my children as babies and they are now fifty plus years.  My birthday card to her said 'Not many of us left' and that's a true statement.

It was a beautiful morning, my neighbour predicted rain for the afternoon and really I shouldn't have been weeding the garden, I should have gotten the strimmer out and set about the second half of the grass which sometimes I refer to as a lawn but not now.  I also decided to hoover the lounge, kitchen and bedroom, clean out the hoover and wash all the parts including the filter so that was out of action as well.  It was a hot day so at one I went in for lunch, settled on the sofa, had a post lunch nap and woke up just before three and yes, the rain had arrived, not really heavy but no chance of working out there. The hoover parts had been on the bench outside so those parts were brought in and dried, the filter I wrapped in an absorbent kitchen cloth removing most of the moisture and now it's dry enough to reassemble but it's not used daily so no rush there then.

Having said that I set about cleaning the conservatory, the window sill and the bench type seat come dumping ground running under the outside of the kitchen window.  I keep the ash collection container on the bench and it gets quite dusty but now it's spotless, until tomorrow since I've got a fire going.  I lit it around four thirty, when it's damp outside I find it cheery to have it warm and toasty inside and since I've got plenty of wood left, it costs me nothing and the house stays warm from the central heating.  I've just realised how late it is, it's dark ouside, the ouside solar lights are twinkling, the moon was up but now the clouds have come over and we're probably going to have more rain tonight so tomorrow will be a good day to go into Kardjali to pick up the 'bits' I need including the swim cap.  LN.....I might even go and try out the new indoor swimming pool tomorrow afternoon.....a different sort of exercise.....LN