Off topic - whats on your mind?

On my mind right now -

• how cold it is here in the UK when the weather app shows that at our Bulgarian house it's lovely and warm still;
• Hubby having a pacemaker op on Friday;
• Wondering why he woke with a very high fever this morning;
• Looking at IKEA.bg for kitchen furniture - if the builder ever finishes the kitchen and bathroom, that is!
• Hoping I can get back to the Bulgarian house before things get too cold to make sure it's safe for winter.

weather down here on the kent coast not to bad really. 15degrees  ish , but the rain uugh never stops at the moment..  and thank god the storm last night was overrated.. its very worrying when they shut the flood gates on the sea wall .. never seen that before.

Big week for you then! hope all goes ok for your husband.

@janemulberry Ooooooo yes, it's nice and warm and sunny here...  Varna was a pleasant 25°C yesterday and 27 expected today and to think we're moving into November!  Last year we had so little rain, the weather was sunny for most of December as well.

January and February are the coldest here.

I wish your husband well with the pacemaker op!

Ian

Thanks, Ian! We're thankful that after initially being told the first available cardiology appointment was January, he managed to get in sooner (took a bit of chasing). The cardiologist took one look at his ECG which apparently got lost in the system and said he needed a pacemaker ASAP.

11°C here and cloudy, headed for a high of all of 14!  Not all that cold, but that damp, penetrating cold. Ugh! I see from my weather app it's currently 23°C and sunny in Krasen but should reach 25 today. Though I hope they get some rain too, this summer was far hotter and drier than usual there. The neighbours need rain for their gardens.

@janemulberry

cardiology hospital in Pleven is good

Thanks, Anastasija. He was here in the UK when we discovered the problem. At first it looked like there'd be a long delay in treatment so we got a recommendation for a cardiologist in Varna, the nearest city to our village house. Problem was, due to the heart problem, he wasn't well enough to fly there.

Thankfully he managed to push harder to get things done here and now had a pacemaker, and is much better. He'll be able to travel again in a month.

My husband who's still in the UK to look after his elderly Mother but he's had an ICD fitted a number of years ago so when he's able to join me here I'm hoping that the hospital which is Wythenshaw will be able to recommend a Bulgarian hospital in the Burgas area that can take on his treatment.

I think you should be able to find somewhere, Kath. Certainly in Varna there are a few to choose from privately and an even bigger choice once we can use the public system. One flight to Bg we sat with a disabled woman who divided her time between the UK and Varna and had cardiologists in both places. She was rather scathing about the comparison -- said her Bg cardiologist gave her far better care. And that was just using the public system there.

Why oh why didn't they teach girls , who are now pensioners, skills for daily living. I'm trying to put up a curtain rail with not much luck. I'm also trying to split logs for my fires again not a lot of luck.  I'm not useless but gosh since moving here I feel it sometimes.

For just about anything you want to know how to do (or do better), you'll find a helpful video on YouTube. :-)

Hugs, Kath!

As always, what Gwyn said! YouTube is a huge blessing for teaching us DIY stuff, or just about anything!

What are you using to split wood with? An axe actually isn't the best tool for this, a maul is far better. I've using smaller wood that doesn't need splitting in my wood stove at the Bg house so far, but when I had a wood burner before and split all my own wood (Australian Ironbark, very hard), the maul was the thing I used. It's similar to an axe but blunter and thicker, like this: https://www.emag.bg/bradva-za-cepene-st … DKFWKCBBM/

Stand the log up on a big round log you keep as your splitting block, get the maul right up on your shoulder so gravity does most of the work, and aim for the middle of the log as you let the maul drop. If the wood keeps falling over because it's not cut straight, something I haven't tried but have read about is to take an old car tire and fill it with logs on end and bash away! If the wood really won't split, most likely it's not properly dry. Throw it back in the woodshed for next winter and try a different log.

Best of all is to pay someone in the village to do it for you if you can afford it. Also, for a higher cost, you should be able to get the wood delivered ready split. It's probably worth the spend because your time and health has a value too!

What's the problem with the curtain rod? Is it drilling the holes for the screws, or does it keep falling down? If it's falling down then you might need a bigger plug and glue it into in the hole you drilled, so it stays in. If the walls are crumbly or soft earth plaster, I noticed in my house they hammered in big nails to hold up shelves and curtain rails rather than using screws and wall plugs like I would in the UK.

The curtain rod was a cheap buy with sticky pads to hold the hooks on. But a hook fell off taking with it some plaster from the wall I know that they are no good for heavy curtains but this is a light one.  The screws that came with it are tiny and of course are no use against plaster and bricks.

Oh, that's so frustrating, Kath! I've never managed to get sticky pads to hold anything up!

To screw things into a plastered wall you need to drill a bigger hole and then hammer a plug of either plastic or wooden dowel into the hole and screw into that. A lot of the wall plugs that come with things are useless though, pathetically flimsy.

Fingers crossed Jane it's working up to now. I know about rawl plugs and so on but I will have to get a drill sooner rather than later.

Yes, I need to buy one as well! Praktiker has some good specials on drills and also Emag are doing some big Black Friday discounts, so this could be a good time to buy one.

When is black Friday, I've no idea but I can get to Praktiker using a village bus.

It's this coming Friday, but some sites like Emag have started sales already. You can check what Praktiker has available and their prices online.

Snow!!! Well I woke about 3am this morning and the electric was off.  Now at 6ish electric still off and snow , snow ,snow. Today's going to be a challenge. Oh I'm in the Pomorie municipality by the way.

@janemulberry

Praktis sale 20% off was yesterday (and I guess for a few more days), and the place was mad chocker, innit.

I can imagine! I've been getting about ten emails a day from emag about reduced prices on things in my wish list!

Stay indoors and warm, Kath! Apparently my village had gales and torrential rain overnight.

Well the electricity' is back on now so I won't need to throw away the contents of my full freezer which I haven't touched since the electric went off. It's back on in the houses I assume because mine is, but the street lights aren't on.  I'm charging everything that needs to be charged just in case .

Phew on the electricity. It was out in my village too, according to my neighbour, but is back on now. The school lost its roof, so I'm glad our homes stayed safe. Happy kids tomorrow with no school!

Good idea to charge everything while you can! I have several battery banks and a bunch of rechargeable lights. Also a couple of small solar panels but of course when you need them most in winter there's not enough sunlight for them to do a lot.

If the freezer is full and kept closed the food should be good for 48 hours, according to this Uk gov site: https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-safety- … wer-outage I do disagree when they say to throw out fresh eggs still in the shell if the fridge contents get warm.. Eggs are fine out of the fridge for weeks!

Ok Jane tell this old Biddie , what are batteries banks and rechargable lights how much do they cost and we're do I get them from? Thank you.

I've woken up because the curtain rail with the stick on hooks has just fallen down and most of the snow has gone.

Well the electric is off again but it was on for about fifteen hours so the freezer contents should be safe, and having read about the weather reports it's been really bad here near the coast, meanwhile I'm reverting to my early teenage years living in a two up two down with no bathroom or heating , in short been there , seen  it , too poor to buy the t- shirt but was given a secondhand one. And there's always someone else less well off than you.

@kath9483

You're not on your own Kath. I'm in France, with a house I can no longer afford to renovate and no shower, or bath. My kitchen is in my living room and I have to walk through my bathroom (without a bath), to get to my back door. 🙃

Hugs, Kath. I hope you have plenty of split firewood so you can stay warm and cook.

I call them battery banks but the correct term is a power bank. I have a bunch of them both in the UK and in Bulgaria, because they're so useful. Anything from small ones like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0B7J64HSX/?th=1 which will charge a phone a couple of times or a tablet 1 and a bit times to a much bigger one with a proper power outlet. They can be charged from the wall electric or from a solar panel. I have a little 20 watt camping solar panel hanging in the bedroom window and even here in the UK most days it will put a some charge into whichever of my recyclable batteries I have plugged into it.

And I love these rechargable lights [link under review] So useful for where you want a lamp but there's no socket handy, and can be anything from a soft warm white night light to a bright work light to hang over the sink or stove, or to read or sew. On the brightest setting one only lasts about 6 hours, but on the lowest setting they'll go four or five days between recharges. My little solar panel will charge one in a few hours on a sunny UK day.

Let's see if the system will let me post the light link in a separate post! https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0813LPRCC

The problem with going on Amazon to look for the things I bought in the past is wanting to buy other stuff I don't really need to spend the money - especially when I see things like 50% off Black Friday vouchers. These sites are so well designed to tempt us to spend!

Well the electricity' is back on as is the internet so I'm sat listening to radio4. Bliss

Thankfully I'm not in the same position as you grumpyoldbird  I can afford to improve my little Bulgarian village house but finding the people to do it and not rip me off is the difficult thing.  The next thing I really need to do is the kitchen floor the sink and buy some new free standing units.  All in all I'm a lucky old biddie.

The happiest country in Europe revealed

Oh dear, poor Bulgaria. Though I can imagine trying to live there on a Bulgarian OAP is very different to trying live there on a British OAP.

And the comments on that article. Oh dear. Some people have no sense of humour!

Can I just take this moment to wish everyone a Vary Happy Christmas where ever you are and who ever your with. Happy Christmas xxx

Happy Christmas to you, too, Kath! I hope it's warm, merry, and bright for you.

So do I Jane, I'm on my own but have got the makings of a Christmas type dinner.

Oh and the same to you Jane

@janemulberry

How much do u think will be enough for hubby and I per month to live comfortably without paying rent 🤔? I asked a British person this week that organize gatherings in Burgas for expats, and he said between 1000 euros and 1500. Do u agree Jane? Do u speak generally with expats on the matter? I have no idea how much British pensions are usually either

@Merry888, I'm not really sure, to be honest. There are so many different answers i've seen to this question! I guess everyone has a different definition of "comfortable". It depends so much on people's lifestyles and expectations.

The person who quoted that 1000 - 1500 EUR figure is presumably living in Bulgaria and should have a better idea of the real cost of living than I do, as we haven't moved full-time yet. The Bulgarian minimum wage for 2024 will be 477 EUR, but that would provide only a very basic life.  I think living as a couple on 1000 EUR a month is likely to require some significant frugality. It should be possible for people who live simply, grow at least some of their own food, cook from scratch, shop in the markets and eat Bulgarian style rather that try to buy the same brands they did in their original country. But I doubt there'd be much money left over for any luxuries. On 1500 EUR a month a comfortable life would be far more possible.

A single person's new full UK state pension is currently around 1000 EUR per month, a couple both on the new full pension would get that much each. They changed the system, so people on the old pension arrangements might get less than that. For various reasons we'll get less than the full amount for our state pensions after we move, but hopefully will have at least 2000 EUR per month to live on. I don't think we'll be living too luxuriously on that, but it should be  quite doable.