Saturday 20th February 2021

Never thought I'd be so excited about a toilet but my composting loo has been in for a month and a half and I love it! It's the Nature's Head one which is completely self contained and, I believe, was originally designed for boats, to provide a stable loo even in rough seas. Good to know I'll be safe if ever I come staggering home roaring drunk!

It's designed to separate pee and poop as that helps prevent any smell, and it has a small extractor fan running all the time to help remove moisture from the poopy bit. I can say 100% that there's been zero odour so far.

The pee is diverted into a separate bottle at the front, so the first week was spent getting the perfect sitting position to ensure this happens. I must admit the seat is very solid and wasn't too comfy at first. A bit like when you first ride a bike and then can't sit on the saddle the next day, but I've got used to that now. With the infrared heating panel in the bathroom ticking over all the time it's utter bliss in there, even on the coldest days.

That's enough poopy talk (though if anyone out there is considering going down this route and wants to know more, do feel free to ask away).

My little car got pulled over by the police the other day. That hadn't happened for ages until recently, but this makes twice in the space of about a month. It used to be quite a common occurrence but I believe they're only supposed to do it now if they have genuine grounds.

I pulled over and wound down my window while the officer approached. As expected he asked to see my documents - driving license, vehicle registration card and ID card. I handed them over and watched as he studied first the license then my new post Brexit ID card and then back again. I began to worry that something about them didn't tally, at which point he asked where I lived. I told him Mezhdeni and then he asked me which house. That's getting a bit personal I thought, but compliantly told him where it was. How long have you lived in Bulgaria he enquired. I told him it was about 8 years to which he said that I couldn't have been in Mezhdeni that long. This is true, I said, and told him about my previous place in Gostilitsa. Long story short it turns out he also has a house in that area and knows the family who used to own my house. Small world, right?

The reason he pulled me over was because my front fog lights were on. They've been like this for a couple of years ever since the off switch stopped working properly. I did take it to a mechanic but he said not to worry, nobody would be bothered if they were on, but my luck seemingly ran short with this policeman who rightly said it was illegal to have them on unnecessarily. Whether it was the house connection or he was just in a great mood I don't know, but he let me go without a fine.

Not wanting to risk a repeat of this I took the car over to a friend's house the next day where we simply took the fog light bulbs out. Problem solved!

Another little issue got sorted last night too. A month or so ago I noticed that several of my milk cartons in the pantry had been nibbled:

Clearly the culprit wasn't actually interested in the milk but was just having a whale of a time chomping on the card. I transferred the remaining cartons to an enclosed plastic tub and set a few traps around.

I could actually see the route he'd been taking as there were tiny little footprints in the dust in various places. It looked like his entry point was via the false ceiling in the kitchen again. I have SO got to crack on with pulling that down and sealing all around it, but it's going to be a disgusting job because I know I'll just get showered in dirt and rat poop.

Well the traps did nothing though I knew he was still around as one day an apple which had accidentally rolled under the table in the kitchen got half eaten by tiny teeth.

Last night his luck ran out though. I'd snoozed off on the sofa and woke up after 11pm. Just before heading up to bed I washed up and went to the pantry to get some biscuits to refill the tin (I'm not fully conscious in the morning until after that first cup of tea accompanied by three morning coffee biscuits). As I entered the pantry a little grey figure leapt down from the top shelf and hid behind some bottles. Straight away I went to grab a cat and as luck would have it Molly and Poppy were on the patio and came straight in.

Poppy scented the rat immediately and located it behind a cupboard. Using the torch I could see it was pressed against the wall there, but a little jab with a broom handle sent it out and straight into Poppy's jaws. Result!

Today I've given the pantry a good clean out and tried to get as many boxes off the floor as possible so the cats can have easy access all around. Until I get everywhere sealed anyway.

I've been doing some bits of DIY, and excitingly the craft room upstairs is now plastered (patched), painted and has a curtain track and curtains! It looks very nice but will be even better once the kitchen dresser is moved downstairs from there and everything's arranged properly.

I've also made myself a bookcase for the dining room downstairs. I ordered some wooden crates off a Bulgarian website and then varnished them and screwed them together.

I love it! And it's fantastic to actually have all my books out again - some of them have been in boxes for a few years.

In full on internet spending spree mode I also bought lots of lovely new wool which all came the other day.

Snowy winter days are often crochet days for , and this year I'm making jazzy covers for the big cushions. So far I've done these two:

And now I'm working on a hedgehog and autumn leaves one.

The hedgehog will be surrounded by a forest floor mat of reds, greens, oranges, yellows and browns. Probably not going to have time to sort that kitchen ceiling...