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

Friday 10th April

So after my discussion with my ex-student last night and the proposed visit to Fanari and Greece I decided to check out the weather to make a firm decision whether to go or not.  I checked my phone and at seven thirty this morning I had a message telling me that she might be going down to do something with her friends later and that she would let me know later when we were going to get together.  This somewhat let me off the hook, the weather was going to be fine so the day was all mine to do what I wanted to do with it.  

I made breakfast, phoned the garage to ask if they were working today and if my student's mum had spoken to her husband about checking out my old mower and she had so that was my first job this morning.  To get the mower out of the little house, clean it up and get it in the back of the little car.  This was going to be a challenge, the little one is quite high off the ground but I emptied the boot, put the back seats down and took the head-rests out, took the lid of the wooden chest that is now sitting on the terrace and put if from the boot to the terrace creating a slope.  If nothing else I am imaginative and with great effort it worked.  I unscrewed the handle half way along it since it splits into two parts while still staying attached, realised I would need the handle to manipulate the machine into the boot so screwed them bolts back up again.  Holding the handle firmly I started pushing the machine up the slope towards the boot and with a monumental push got the front wheels into the boot giving me time to move my position and heave the rest of it in.  Job done.

I drove to the garage and remembered to take the manuals that came with the machine with me, parked up and told them it was theirs to take out and the owner and son removed it and then slowly and surely the repairs commenced.  They cleaned and fixed the bit that forces petrol into the plug to fire the machine, emptied the old fuel out and filled it up with new, the oil was changed, the top lid was removed to clean everything that needed cleaning and the plug was replaced.  Eventually it fired after I remembered that there was a bar that had to be held tightly against  the handle when firing it up so that the fuel could be released.  When the bar is released from the handle the machine stops.  The garage owner gave it a field test, said that it was much better than using a strimmer for cutting the grass and much easier.  I offered payment and the agreement is that if I find it hard to get it to fire then the garage can have it.  I gave them the petrol strimmer when I realised that no way would I be able to use it many moons ago.

They put it back into the Nipper, I  drove home and getting it out was much easier than getting it in.  The weather had clouded over and I thought I'd done enough for the day and even my Fitbit said that I should be taking it easy today and a few strenuous days.  I didn't argue with it, I filled up a container with wood, chopped a couple of logs for starter wood, put the machine away in the woodstore and went back into the house and put the television on....it was almost four so it was time to put my feet up.  I made supper around six thirty, a portion of the mince, onions and tomato paste I'd left in the fridge so that went into the microwave.  I put the chippie pan on the stove and threw a handful of frozen chips into the pan, ten minutes later supper was done.  LN.....I've just got to get up the strength to get the big one to fire up, the weather has clouded over again so it might not be tomorrow....I'll keep you informed....LN

Saturday 11th April

I was awake very early this morning, checked the time on my Fitbit and decided to snuggle down again and second awakening was at seven, the usual time.  I got on with 'stuff', put the last of the washing away, the fire was still in so gave it the kiss of life with one firelighter and another log and it's been going all day.  I spotted cat so it had the rest of a packet of bacon that was coming to the end of anything that I would savour, I cooked poached eggs on toast for my breakfast and sat in the kitchen to eat them, I didn't want cat watching me in the stairwell when the bacon came to an end.  It was obviously enough, there was one small piece left but something has had it.  I tidied the kitchen and since I had nothing left to do decided to tackle another Sudoku from the ones that my daughter has sent over for me, settling on the sofa with my rubber and pencil to hand and obviously my pencil sharpener all contained in the pencil case that my daughter brought over for my last big birthday.

My peace was soon disturbed, my friend who wants everything from my garden arrived asking if we could go down to Greece tomorrow but since the weather has turned, I said that I wasn't going.  We walked the garden and she was trying to persuade me to dig up a clump of narcissus but I refused, they are still fully in flower and I told her to wait and I'm not sure that word fits in to her vocabulary at all.  We were joined by my next door neighbour and then friend disappeared, my neighbour said that she had been cutting down brambles and that something has flared up on her hand, they were very red and looked sore.  I hadn't anything for it so didn't mention it but offered her my long handled cutters so that she stayed out of the way of the thorns.

The rest of the afternoon I settled on the sofa and fell on a podcast about herbs, spices and when to take what and found it very informative and I took notes while I watched it.  I also decided to watch a film that I'd started but not finished and just enjoyed my day.  This evening I was surprised to see Emula one of the local lads at the door.  I'd mentioned to my friend that I could do with him and his strimmer and he'd come round to see when it was convenient for me and he's already made a start on it.  Half of the garden will be complete by tonight, he's got a strong machine and I can then go over it with my grass mower to tidy it up.  

I've cooked two pork chops and they're ready for when my strimmer buddy has left for the night and tomorrow he's coming back to do the rest.  What good is money if you don't use it to make your life easier.  LN.....I'm just off out to check on progress and not to check up on him......LN

Sunday 12th April

It was such a cold night last night, I was pleased that I'd got a fire going and again I've just done the same thing. It was six degrees last night, it's ten now but falling.  It started off with sunshine this morning but there wasn't much heat in it...it was sweater and cardigan weather.  I thought about getting the mower out and finishing off where my man had left off but changed my mind, he makes such short shrift of it that I'd rather pay and save the energy I've got.  Lovely surprise, I'd had a message from my software engineer in the States, the one that I'd sent the message to and he wanted to know the details.  He apologised that he hadn't replied sooner but had lots of work on which was good to know.  I replied straightway and outlined the problem and see what else he wants sending on to him when he replies.  He remembered me and was surprised that the website is still in use, it's been about sixteen years since I started it.

I made toast for breakfast with cheese triangle topping and it filled the gap.  I took the two remaining pork chops that I'd cut up the night before and placed in the slow cooker from the fridge, added a chopped onion, tomato paste, tomato juice, curry powder and half a bag of lentils.  This was going to be an experiment, I'd never done this before.  I switched the slow cooker to high and left it at that temperature until I was ready to go into Djebel with my shopping list.  I got ready for town, checked with my neighbour next door to see if there was anything she wanted while I was shopping and she said that she had everything she needed.....lucky lady.  I stopped off at the supermarket first since it's on the way in, bought some small Easter eggs and decided to pop in to my student's parent house and it was only when I parked up that I realised that her sister was visiting with the daughter.  The little one was shy at first then opened up, my student had been asked to go and help out training a new lady who had joined the office set up in another supermarket and she was due there at one o'clock.  I was ready to leave with her but her mother persuaded me to stay, the sister is very pregnant and I'd struck lucky with the six small Easter eggs, the little one had the figures enclosed in the chocolate eggs on her anorak....apparently it's a cult thing for four year olds.....how would I know.

Father made me Turkish coffee, there was cake that my student had made, father and grand-daughter went for a walk, mother made Russian salad and I chatted with the child's mother in Bulgarian.  By now the grandchild had returned and lunch was served but I refused, it hadn't been that long since my breakfast and I was fine.  I stayed until around three thirty, stopped off at the supermarket and bought lemons, potatoes, more chicken drumsticks and a few other items, drove home and made coffee. I needed to find a new series to watch on Netflix, I'd finished the old one and suddenly I noticed that the noise of a strimmer in the garden, my man had arrived and had almost finished.....another job out of the way, I only have to hand weed where the machine wouldn't go.  I paid the man and off he went, tomorrow he's doing Avatar's garden when he finishes his other job in Djebel.

Supper was OK, I put the potato in the microwave to made a jacket potato, dropped it as I was getting it out so I used a spatula to scoop it off the carpet, I put it skin down in the dish and added the topping from the slow cooker.  I left the potato skin and threw it away but there were no gritty bits so job was a good'n.  Yogurt for pudding, everything tidied and now relax.  The radiators are warm, the house is OK and it's half eight my time and it's an early night for me after a little television.  LN....I'll send the scan results from the hosting company for my website, my web master said that he's had a quick look and spotted nothing wrong but will have a more thorough look when he sees the results of the scan......LN

Monday 13th April

I was lazing around in my PJ's this morning but fortunately I had a reasonable top on over them that looked like a jogging top so my first visitor wasn't shocked by my appearance.....grey top and pink pyjama bottoms.  It was Emula, the man with the strimmer that's given my weeds a headache.  He was supposed to be working in Djebel this morning but his plans had changed, the wanted the key to Avatar's gate to gain entry to the garden to strim around the house before the family arrive in May.  I'd put it ready for him and off he went and the plan was that Haciber would pay Emula and the key would be returned.  All change, he had phoned Avatar's daughter and she had said that she wanted me to pay him so I searched my wallet and the change that he'd given me yesterday I returned to him.  I asked why I paid thirty and they paid twenty and I was very close to asking whether it was because I was English, but I didn't...

I walked the garden and found myself pulling up the weeds between the strimmed areas and throwing the debris over the wall and I cleared quite an area.  I went to the little house to find my trusty garden fork to dislodge some of the bigger plants but couldn't find it so put it to the back of my mind....I could go on the hunt later.  Instead I made a start on tidying the shelving unit in the woodstore and found several things that I'd forgotten about or just in the wrong place, threw out somethings but what I did find was a cartridge for my trusty strimmer so now I shall be cutting weeds down not having to pull them out.  That should give them a sufficient shock to slow down.  I' d only had yogurt for breakfast which had moved along the system so found another giant potato that I'd bought yesterday and microwaved it, served it with butter and some of the local white cheese .  I settled on the sofa and put the television on, I don't keep going all day now, I'm slowing down a little and feel better for it.

At five this afternoon I was still watching a new series and thoughts about lighting the fire were popping into my head but yesterday I noticed some soot round the top of the burner and I thought all day about cleaning out the pipes to the chimney.  It was now niggling me, it was getting on for six and suddenly it became a must as opposed to a thought and I started the task.  Out with the pipes, all cleaned, fire box on the woodburner cleaned, all back in place and then I lit the fire and it's going well.  Tools away, workshop and woodstore all locked up, garden fork found so another problem solved so my weeding tomorrow will be a little gentler now I have the tool to do it.

Turkey nuggets in the air-fryer tonight and should be ready in around five minutes and will be served with a dish of mayo and that will be it for today.  Was thinking about Greek supermarket shopping tomorrow or Wednesday, a phone call to my shopping buddy in the morning to check out her schedule and then an entry in the diary.  LN.....Microwave has pinged, kitchen bound and then more television or a bath before bedtime....yet to be decided....LN

Tuesday 14th April

This morning was a 'just before seven' start, the early morning clouds that seemed to kick in after a cloudy dawn dissipated and it turned into a really good day.  I made breakfast, did a load of washing  and put in on the airer in the porch and generally lazed around after that.  I put the television and carried on watch 'Bones' a series I'd started last night and wasn't really in the mood to do anything to energetic.  

I answered a couple of difficult emails and decided that I didn't want to send them yet so put them into draft, I'll read them again tomorrow and make a decision as to whether to send them or not or change a few things round.  At twelve I burst into action, I opened up the woodstore, brought out the mower and strimmer and decided to finish off what my guy with the strimmer had missed and not offered to do when I pointed it out to him.  I'd found the strimmer cartridge yesterday when I was tidying up the wood store, fitted it to the machine so it was ready to go.  I did the yard first with the old green mower but the power kept cutting out and I think that it's the contact between the power in and power out.  Eventually I found one of the really old small mowers and managed too do the yard with that but without the grass catcher in place and moved to the strimmer to do the space between the house and the front wall.

I moved the cable to the front terrace, used the little yellow machine to clear up the grass left by the big strimmer and it really did look much better.  I need to go over all of the grass cut by my strimmer friend but not all today....it will take a few days either to use the mower or the grass rake to collect it up and throw it over the wall but anyway, today wasn't the way.  I did clear the side garden and cleared the weeds from under the shrubs on the side garden and it was four thirty when I was packing my tools away.  Two tortoise were out and about, Rosy and Green and I think Green was on the hunt for Rosy.  He seems to have got coupling on his brain, I heard the clatter of shells this morning and on following the noise, Rosy was trying to get away and Green was most persistent.  Yesterday it was midway down the short wall and this time there was a lot of activity in the side garden.  Tools away by six thirty and everything locked away, I've had a good day and I should finish the first pass on the garden by the end of the week.

Tomorrow all being well and weather permitting, I'm off to Greece with my Fotinovo friend and have checked with my garage lady if there is anything that she wants me to bring back from the supermarket for her.  At first it was that she didn't want anything so I suggested a couple of items and the response was affirmative.  Hoping for good weather, we'll go down to Fanari for a coffee and if the weather is good probably do some beach walking and tackle the supermarket in the afternoon so that fresh and frozen food won't be hanging around too long.  

I've had supper already, I cooked off some chips and had them with white cheese sprinkled on them and it should do me until tomorrow morning.  Washing is put away and the boiler is on for a bath tonight.  LN.....It's been a good day with good weather and hoping that the rain stays away for the rest of the week....LN

Wednesday 15th April

Just before seven start, into the shower, hair washed and in the Nipper by nine thirty to get to the meeting point by ten.  I picked up a stray from the village and deposited him on the main road to Djebel, I was going the opposite direction and up through the mountains to my friend's house.  We settled for coffee, she was determined to drive so I let her and we took her car, the road was more or less empty down to Greece but the diversion that's been put in place is a bit of a rubbish road.  The Greeks are installing wind turbines so the road has been closed so that there are no interruptions to interfere with the installation and I suppose the holiday season hasn't really started yet.

We drove down to the restaurant near the beach in Fanari, it was almost twelve when we arrived so we found one of the restaurants overlooking the sea and made our order.  I fancied musaka but they didn't have it in the kitchen, only on the menu and I ended up ordering swordfish but didn't read the small print.....it was swordfish soup not grilled as I normally have it.  All meals came suitable for two people and we had dips, chips and an ice-cream to end out meal on and he bill was very reasonable.  We went back to the car and drove to the little beach that we normally go to, it was deserted and the weather was warm enough to shed one layer of clothing and just sit there, chat and listen to the waves.  We did a little beach combing and I found a very pretty shell that will make a beautiful broach if it's mounted correctly.

We drove back towards Bulgaria and stopped at the local supermarket and set off in different directions with trolleys.  I mainly wanted lemons and biscuits but also bought toothpaste because if was much cheaper than in Bulgaria, sweet potatoes which I love and some cherry tomatoes.  We left the supermarket and on the drive back to Bulgaria got stopped by the Border police and had to produce out documents.  They wanted to know where we lived and I told him which village I lived in and he asked if I knew the local mayor and I told him I did.  I also added that he kept sheep, didn't speak much Bulgarian only Turkish and used the mayor in the next village if there were any problems to take to the weekly meetings.  He suddenly said that he knew me and asked if I had a big jeep and I confirmed that I had.  The penny dropped and he gave me back my documents.  My friend was still using her English driving licence which was handed back with her residency documents and we were on our way.  

We arrived to her home, had coffee and took it up to the garden so that I could see the vegetables that she was growing, it was warm sitting in the sun and we watched the birds and counted how many types there were.  I drove home arriving around six thirty, unloaded my shopping and put it away, had a jacket potato for supper with butter, have just demolished a few chocolate biscuits from one of the packets that I'd bought in Greece and have now settled in front of the fire that I set to go as soon as I'd arrived.  LN....Nothing to do tomorrow only more gardening if the weather is good....and fingers crossed that it is......LN

Thursday 16th April

I've been back-footed all day today.  Last night I settled down on the sofa watching the television ready for bed but with a cardigan on for warmth and a blanket over me, woke up at three thirty, made my way to bed.  I snuggled down into a deep sleep and woke up at nine thirty, three hours later than I normally would.  I felt refreshed, ready to go, made coffee and poached eggs on toast, fed the cat on the new food from Greece and it sat on the terrace as if wanting more.  I guess it hit the spot, every morsel was eaten and the dish licked clean.  I bought canned food and biscuits and combined both but used only a quarter of the can so it's quite economical.   Off it went for more pickings around the village, I tidied the kitchen and made my way on to the terrace to sit in the sun.

I eventually got round to pulling weeds from underneath the lilac tree that's just coming into flower.  The strimmer man had done a reasonable job where he hit where the grass ended and the garden began but he didn't go behind the shrubs and to the wall....that was my job.  I was out there until approximately twelve thirty and then decided to make my way into Djebel.  I needed more white cheese from the local supermarket and to deliver the goodies that I'd bought yesterday in Greece to my student's mum.  As I parked up outside the shop one of her friends went in so I decided to go to the flower shop instead.  The last time I was out of honey the lady from the flower shop had asked a friend of a friend and two jars had been delivered but when I asked her this time, all supplies had finished.  She said that the lady in the clothing store next door has some outside her shop but she wasn't sure how good or pure it was so didn't recommend it.  She did mention that there was a tour going in May to Edirne in Turkey by mini-bus, staying one night and costing minimal cash so I put my name down for it.  I'll go with the flower-shop lady and we'll share a room for the night, fingers crossed that there are places left on the tour, I've been with her a few years back and now I actually speak more Bulgarian so should fit in OK and the flower shop lady does speak English.

I made my way back to the garage shop, the friend was still there but I know her.  I handed over the bag of goodies, she opened up the bag and immediately gave one of the packets of biscuits to the friend for her son and off she went.  My student came into the shop with a friend and it was good to see him again, they were off swimming and I found out that Djebel has its own indoor swimming pool. The water is supplied from an old thermal spa pool about three kilometers out of town and now it's piped to the new building, mixed fifty fifty with normal water and held at a temperature that's comfortable to swim in.....and I didn't even know that we had one.  It's open every day except Monday from eleven in the morning until eight at night and I shall be trying it out.  The old pool I used to go to but it was complete with frogs, I'm hoping they've used a very fine filter and a decent filtration system.  You do have to wear a bathing cap though so that's the next thing on my list.

I stopped off at the supermarket and was greeted as 'Baba Elsa' by several of the staff so that's how I'm now known.  I find it quite engaging, I think I've cemented myself into the fabric of the town.  I drove home, unpacked the shopping, made coffee, set the washing machine off and made a couple of sandwiches using brown seeded bread and white cheese for a late lunch.  The washing went on the airer, I walked the garden yet again and checked out the morning's effort and there's not that much left to do, I can go round the rest with the strimmer if the weather holds.   I lit the fire, settled on the sofa with the television on and promptly fell asleep, woke up, more coffee, threw a log on the fire and then realised that it's very late and dark outside.  I shan't need more supper so I've put the frozen chicken wings that was going to be supper into the fridge and that will be food for tomorrow with roasted vegetables.  LN....Sorry for the late update and no photos..... but it is what it is.....I promise to do better tomorrow...LN

Friday 17th April

Early to bed, early to rise but then I went back to sleep again.  Washed dressed, spicy sausage for breakfast with a fried egg and that set me up until after my morning stint.

I  didn't venture out to the workshop too early.  I remembered that I'd bought a small shovel the other day when I went in search of a handle to apply to my father's garden fork.  The shaft on the old one was very worn, the T shaped handle had come loose and I'd tried to fix it several times but without success.  I removed the handle from the shaft of the small shovel that I'd bought and noticed how the shaft had been shaped to accept the handle and I thought I could use the same approach with the garden fork.  As it happened, I found another handle attached to a shaft but then I'd have the problem of attaching the fork prongs so instead I set about shaping the existing handle of the fork and using a saw, chisel and  hammer, I managed to get the handle to fit.  I had to hammer it home and it was a tight fit and then put a screw into the shaft from the handle and it was looking good.  So good in fact that I took it for a test drive in the garden and was out there for a couple of hours weeding, digging up huge dandelions and thistles.

I came in at two for rest and recuperation intending to go out to the garden again but instead made cheese sandwiches and settled on the sofa in front of the television and continued with my present series.  I did managed to switch the television off before I went to sleep this afternoon, woke up at five and decided to light the fire but the fire had a mind of its own.  It was slow to draw and by six o'clock and several firelighters I was still no nearer to lift off so I ventured out to the woodstore and found off-cuts from ancient woodworking that were bone dry, back to the house and put some in the fireplace.  I put the warmed wood and another fire lighter to the additions from the woodstore and within two minutes I had something that resembled a fire and it's just sent it's first lot of how water around the system.  It's not cold but it's comforting and makes the house homely until the light nights appear.

I shan't be cooking supper, I think I had one to many cheese sandwiches and it almost feels like a Saturday and I've had to remind myself that it's Friday.  Hopefully the weather will continue with sunshine but the wind still has a chill to it, more gardening tomorrow and it will be out with the strimmer to go round the wooden surrounds to the flowerbeds.  I shall be removing some of the borders down the bottom of the garden, the grass has grown round the shrubs and it's better than trying to control flower beds and much easier to maintain.  LN.....I'll also be going round with the old engine oil to the existing garden surrounds to give them a smartening up......LN

Saturday 18th April

Six thirty start but that was OK for me, I went to bed earlyish for me so the waking time was in the ballpark.  I still had some of my morning jungle juice saved from yesterday so I put it in the microwave, added more lemon juice and honey and that did me for today.  It was a dull morning, no cat in evidence and this is the second day that we've had no morning sighting.  I bought three tins of cat food and another bag of biscuits and the blasted thing deserts me....sod's law.  I hope that nothing untoward has happened to it but I can't admit to missing it....

I made toast and apricot jam for breakfast but not until much later and then I settled on the sofa to eat it watching Bones on Netflix.  I was waiting for the temperature to go up a little before I got out there and started work, it was a fairly cool morning.  The sun was out but the wind carried an edge to it so I put on my waxed body warmer and hat to keep my body heat inside.  I even took my hat out with me after reading that that's where most of the heat escapes from.  More weeding down the side low wall and then I moved over to the little house gardens and got stuck in.  These hadn't really been touched and the little one in front of the old roof tiles had a good going over.  I also attacked the concrete base to the old toilet and cesspit, removed the old moss and grass from the top of it and threw it all down the cesspit.  I'm thinking of moving the tiles from the rest of the concrete and putting another layer of concrete over it, building a wall round it and use wooden supports for a roof and using up the old roof tiles.  I could put outside furniture in it and make it a garden hideaway for reading etc or just for contemplating the garden.

I didn't use anything electrical today it was all manual labour and as I set about the garden near the bottom wall I noticed Cracked Shell still very dusty from his winter hole and it really has slept in.  I've got three others out and about and they were definitely about today.  There's Rosy, Blue and Green so outstanding we have Red, Purple and Little Purple.  Red is the Big Daddy of the outfit so probably needs more rest than most.  The other chore was to take down the cover that I had over the Jeep for the winter and now that's sitting in the wood store, the rope is still in situ with the cleats attached so that I didn't have to get the ladder out and tempt fate.  Next year all I have to do is attach a new waterproof sheet or get work done to increase the size of the garage and fit a door....and I've already discussed it with Bekir.

I'd put chicken wings with sweet potato, frozen carrots and peas into the slow cooker with barbecue sauce and that was ready by five this afternoon and that was supper sorted.  I've got the fire and it's ticking over nicely, the boiler is on and I shall be resting my weary limbs in a hot soapy tub very soon after I've posted the  update.  LN....More of the same tomorrow and then early next week I'll be repairing any garden surrounds that need it and daubing on the old engine oil to keep the wood going for another year or so......LN

Sunday 19th April

Eight start and for me that was fine....Sunday was a day of rest but it didn't feel like a Sunday.  I was slow off the mark, didn't bother with breakfast until two hours later but I was putting my evening meal into the slow cooker around the same time.  I peeled one of the spicy sausages, sliced it, peeled and sliced an onion and did the same to the remainder of the sweet potato that used yesterday, added a packet of tomato puree and some chilli flakes and put everything in the slow cooker.  It needed a little something so I put in some tomato ketchup and a little more water, switched it on and forgot about it until late this afternoon.  

I had emails to answer so I sat down and rejigged a draft that I'd already composed to make it more to the point and this took sometime to do....I really wanted to think about it.  I messaged my daughter and she was just on her way to the gym and we'll speak later for a catch-up.  I was still wandering around in my PJ's at ten this morning with a coffee when I spotted the cat while I was sitting on the bench on the terrace.  I went into the house and got canned food from the fridge and topped it up with cat biscuits and I had one happy fat cat.  It dived in, head down immediately and kept looking up checking on me.  It's so timid and must have been badly treated at some point and after all this time still is wary.  I walked to the woodstore and my neighbour and her husband and Haciber came to the gate.  Her husband only arrived yesterday from Turkey and goes back tonight, it really is a flying visit.  Next visitor was from two doors down and she was carrying a large tray of fluffy pancakes,  I asked what or who they were in memory of and she replied that it was for everybody....so I left it at that.  

I got dressed and set to in the garden where I'd left off yesterday.  I came in for a coffee around two, settled on the sofa and nodded off for an hour or so but was woken by the telephone.  I thought it was my daughter calling me but it wasn't, it was my friend changing out plans for tomorrow.  Originally we were going to Immigration to finish off her documentation but a neighbour wanted assistance with getting a cat to the vet in Kardjali so we're now meeting at one thirty to get her work done.  I went back out to the garden and eventually came in around six thirty, had had a bonfire and got rid of some rotten wood and dead tree branches, I'd had a good day.  I did find a very unusual moth and looking at the photo it reminds me of Jabba the Hun staring back at me and also spotted a lizard curled up on the ground cover under the lonesome pine.  I moved one of the branches and off it shot, down into the maze of branches.

I served up supper around seven and had a chunk of bread with it and there's enough left for tomorrow.  I lit the fire before I sat down to supper, it stops the evening chill setting in, it's still early in the year.  LN....The washing up can wait, post blog, quick dip in the bath and then more of my current series....I've had a good day.....LN

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

Thursday 30th April

Another disturbed night, I was late to bed, couldn't sleep when I got there, got up and watched more television and eventually dropped off around two this morning.  I slept well until six thirty and haven't felt too good all day.  I opened the curtain that divides the lounge from the stairwell to keep the heat in and cat was sitting in the rain looking in through the window so I went to the kitchen.  I found the two drumsticks that I'd not got round to eating, stripped the meat from them and put them in the dish with some of the biscuits and it moved away from me, goodness knows why, I've never been aggressive towards it.  Maybe it's just a scaredy-cat but it did finish everything in the dish.

I checked my blood pressure using both machines since I didn't believe the first one but they more or less came up with the same results and it was high so I've decided to go back on the tablets that were prescribed for me.  There's been stress lately because of the garden but everything else is OK.  I put the hoover back together again, the filter had dried overnight, I'd left the plastic bits on the low table in front of the fire and now it's ready for the next time.  It's been a dull old day, I did manage to get out and have a bonfire around ten, dug up a few large weeds in the grass immediately down the steps from the terrace and planted up a plastic bowl with Zinnia seeds that I bought yesterday and that's sitting in the little house.  I came back inside and set the fire for tonight.  It's so much better just to set it alight when I feel like lighting it which I did around five thirty tonight.  I'd also taken what I thought was minced meat, spaghetti bolognaise type concoction from the freezer last night and that went into the slow cooker so food was cooking without any intervention.

So it looks like we're in for a few days of rain, I didn't get into Kardjali and do the things I'd wanted to do but there's no real rush to do anything.  I put time restrains on myself and there's really no need.  The house looks presentable from the road since I used the strimmer since all else failed on the front of the house where the cows don't eat the grass.  I don't think they like going down the slope into the shallow brook-run especially when the grass is wet.  Pasta went into the saucepan to go with the slow cooker contents and I found that it was pork, not minced meat. I really should label the left overs.  More logs on the fire, it's down to five degrees outside and the clouds are very low and no sign of the mountains.  It's time that I got the other side of the curtain and closed it to stop the heat from the fire going up the stairs. LN....Early to bed tonight and maybe Kardjali tomorrow if I feel up to it......LN

Just for those that are waiting for May to get started.....the button to create a new thread has been removed from the functions and I'm waiting for the developer to come back to me.  Hopefully normal service will be resumed as soon as possible....

EP