Bulgaria with Noodles

I have read rather a lot of nonsense recently on Facebook, about people coming to Bulgaria who are being advised to stay away from all British expats, as they are all a bunch of crooks and scammers. What a load of garbage! Yes, of course there are some bad apples, I am sure, and I was once told that the man who sold us our apartment in Veliko Tarnovo was wanted by the Police in the UK and was mentioned on Crimestoppers . Then there was that appalling story about a Brit who was posing as a Christian aid worker and abusing children in Bulgaria. But does that mean that the majority of Brits in this country are criminals, on the run from the long arm of the law in the UK? I do not believe it for a minute.     

The garden is not looking too good at the moment. In the middle of the day, temperatures are around 35 C and there does not seem to be any prospect of significant rain.  Yes, we did gather about four kilos of cherries from the trees at the very far corner of the garden and they were yummy.  As for the artichokes, Keith and Lorraine did not eat them after all. By the time we came back from Greece, there was a big flower and the bees were very happy. The tomatoes are coming along were, despite the heat. Yes, some of the leaves on the tomato plants are looking decidedly shrivelled, but the actual fruit (well, yes, tomatoes really are a fruit) are looking pretty good.  As for the lawn, there is more bad new. The tractor mower, my pride and joy, is hors de combat yet again. As there has been so little rain, the soil has dried out and so an old tree root was more exposed than usual. One of the blades on the mower seems to have been damaged and so Garden Max are going to give me quite a heft

Yes, we went to Greece, yet again, for our summer hols. Driving from Veliko Tarnovo to Thassos took eight hours, with the Shipka pass the most difficult bit. The sea crossing only took about forty-five minutes.  The Pegasus Hotel was okay, more or less. Our room was fairly small and did not have much of a view, but the pool was nice. Being in Thassos Town, aka Limenias, meant that it was easy to have a wander along the quayside and through the "souk".