Curry Night on the Friday (5th) was without Sarah  who was now back at Uni and with Ellis managing to keep the contents of his stomach within himself  (last week he threw up over Charlotte just as they were leaving). Jamie had been given a pay rise and he had received a bonus of £300 for getting an order for the company he works for.

The following day Sue gave me a lift to the train station to catch a train to Manchester Airport. Illogically I travelled First Class all the way there as it was considerably cheaper than going standard (work that one out!) The three trains I had to catch were on time and the seats comfortable. I arrived in plenty of time at the airport to eat the sandwiches that Sue had made for me, before passing through security as I had already checked in on-line with EasyJet.  The flight left on time and I had no one sitting next to me on the flight (great). David was true to his word and met me in Arrivals at Sofia clutching his new acquisition, Banjo at around 9pm. Banjo sat on my lap for the 3.5 hour journey to Ritya. We stopped off once so that Banjo could stretch his legs, do the necessary and for us to have a coffee and a huge sausage roll.

Banjo is a puppy that just over a month ago when they were returning from a shopping trip to Sevlievo had chased their car on a remote part of the road on their journey home. It was obvious that he was just a few weeks old and had probably been dumped there for the jackals to feed on (it is what they do there with unwanted pets). After stopping and running away a couple of times, he eventually got caught after hiding under the car. They took him home, washed and de-loused him, and over the next few days spent a fortune in vets bills on inoculations etc. (he even has a passport . He is a gorgeous dog. He is an odd dog. His front legs are shorter than his back legs as is the size if  his paws. His body is low to the ground and strangely long for his size. His head is slightly too large for his body and he has a rather a long neck. He has beautiful ears and eyes that would melt any heart. He has a great sense of fun and I am glad that it is David’ s house that he uses as an occasional toilet. He now follows me where ever I go, as I am the one that feeds him (I do the cooking), and in an evening we sit on the settee together watching a film and sharing a beer (he easily gets a little tipsy).

It is planned that on this visit that we mainly sort out the swimming pool that had dropped down at one end and gone a little skew-whiff in other parts. We have been working on it in fits and starts, due to disturbances by friends and neighbours plus some inclement weather. We have dug out footings, concreted a lot of battens and laid two very long concrete beds ready to re-tile. We have also strengthened a barn roof that he has had built, as it was also slipping in the same direction as the pool. We have a Bulgarian helping us, but he turns up at odd times (in true Bulgarian fashion).  I have been making salads at lunchtimes and cooking in the evenings. I prefer this arrangement as David does all the cleaning and washing up and having sampled David’s culinary skills I prefer not to be poisoned. We have been out a couple of times to eat in the evenings as on those occasions we didn’t stop concreting until well into the dark (it does make seeing the spirit level difficult) and we were too tired to cook and clean up afterwards.

David has an iPad, so to access the net I had to dig out his old Sony Vaio that was again broken and fix it. at least I didn’t have to replace the screen this time.

The other night there was a tremendous storm that rocked the house for hours, it was wonderful watching the countryside light up through my bedroom window.

Each morning I take Banjo for a walk and collect walnuts that have fallen off the tress down the cart track,  then I sit down outside the kitchen and share them with Banjo for breakfast. I am sure they are very good for me , but not so sure they are good for dog’s, but he does love them!

Unfortunately, Suraj and Charlotte were at a carboot sale last Sunday and Charlotte had her purse stolen. They informed security at the site and the police came and arrested a group of girls that were still stealing purses etc. at the place. It appears that proceedings are taking place against them. But not before they had attempted to empty Charlotte’s bank account, so it looks like they are part on organised bunch of thieves. I suspect they will turn out to be Eastern European. I think the Rothwells are now trying to sort out bank cards etc.

Sue informs me that she has been picking vegetables in the allotments and sharing them out among the family (particularly Nan). The tomatoes appear to have suffered with some frosts and have gone rotten, though she has managed to make green tomato chutney with some of them. The white grapes are getting a bit riper, though whether they can be harvested before the hard frosts arrive and squidge them we shall have to see. It has been such a rubbish summer that ripening anything has been a problem for gardeners.

David has gone into Dryanovo this morning to fetch more stuff to continue the pool and left me with Banjo. It is quite cloudy outside, but warm, so hopefully we should get quite a bit done today when he returns.