Dear John


Dear John,

It is always good to receive an e-mail from you, old friend, and it is even better to get one in these sad pandemic days. We are here in our country house in the Bulgarian countryside and in some ways that is lovely, but really we are more or less stranded here as prisoners. Like everyone else, we are wondering when life is going to return to something like "normal".


Well, I have put rather a lot of woodash on my new veggie beds. Maybe I will not be putting on any more! I know that tomatoes like alkaline soils, but perhaps one can overdo things.

I was very sad to read about your sister. Do you normally go out to see her a couple of times each year? 

I cannot believe two thousand quid for a British Airways ticket. That is outrageous. Perhaps you should do a Michael Palin in reverse. Get a cheapie flight to New York and then take the train across America. I would love to do that. I mean, if it is going to be a twenty-hour journey anyway, then you might as well take a bit longer and then you could actually enjoy the journey itself, as it would be costing you so much money! It would be splendid to spend a couple of days in NYC and then get a train from Grand Central Station, across the Mississippi, the Rockies and the Sierras.

One of the great advantages of living in Bulgaria is that we hardly ever see any British TV programmes or newspapers. This means that we have mercifully been spared the tsunami of so-called "news" about Meghan Markle and the House of Windsor. What a lot of nonsense! I just do not understand why the TV news, magazines and newspapers all seem to think that the "problems" of a few privileged individuals are so important. What about the horrific war in Yemen, the military takeover in Myanmar, Climate Change, Black lives Matter and the appalling prospect of Trump as President again in 2024?

I am sending you a few photos of a nice walk we had at Palitsi dam, a few kilometres from us. It is not quite as interesting as the river near our house in Kalotina, but I am reliably informed that there are lots of FISH.

We were hoping that Spring was at last on its way, but we were mistaken. It is snowing and tomorrow night it will be minus ten C. Gasp!

Best wishes from a chilly Bulgaria,

Simon


Comments

  1. Unknown21 March 2021 at 09:16

    Hello! I miss the TES forum and your input!! Is it possible to email you with some questions about Bucharest??

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown23 March 2021 at 23:29

    staffroom. boards.net is where you can go if you are missing the TES forums.

    ReplyDelete

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