Bulgaria with Noodles

War memorial in Simferopol, 2018 According to the legend, Stalin was more than a bit surprised when the USSR was invaded in 1941. For quite some time, Uncle Joe just could not believe that it really was happening. Yes, his intelligence officers tried to warn him that Hitler was going to attack and Stalin dismissed their fears. So it was not quite a case of history repeating itself when Putin's soldiers invaded the Ukraine. As readers of my blog will already know, I saw a lot of good things that have happened since the Russian takeover of the Crimea back in 2014. Way back before we were married, I also had the opportunity to see what things in the Crimea were like when the region was part of the Ukraine and under the authority of the government in Kiev. What a mess!  But whatever good Putin may have done in the past is far outweighed by the disaster that is unfolding in the streets of Kiev, Kharkov and towns and cities all over the Ukraine.   With Albert, my father-inlaw, and Y...

Tovarich Lenin is still around The big news is that it hasn't happened. The Russian military has not launched an all-out invasion of the Ukraine. Mr Putin has said that the Russian forces have already started returning to their bases, but NATO says that they haven't. Hmm. There are supposed to be 100,000 Russian military personnel on the border with Ukraine and Belorussia, so maybe it might take some time for all of them to pack up and go home. When I was in the Crimea in 2018, I definitely had the feeling that most people there felt that Putin is doing a good job. They had a lot of respect for their president and that is not something that most Brits feel about Boris Johnson. I think that Joe Biden is a decent sort of chap, but it seems that most Americans think that he is a disaster and that Donald Trump would do a much better job. In the centre of Simferopol, my dear Irena's hometown and the biggest city in the Crima, you can see these statues. A young and rather sweet-l...

The business of taking that naughty little dog for her daily walk becomes rather more serious during the winter, especially when we have minus temperatures during the day. (Any Canadians reading my blog will probably stop reading at this point, in total disgust at yet another Brit's complete wimpishness.) Unlike the Fox Terrier we used to have years ago, Zoika, Tina actually seems to like her special doggie coat. In the winter, the Bulgarian countryside somehow seems much bigger and even more devoid of people.

My brother Andrew has started doing some promotional videos, in order to promote his first crime novel, DEAD DRIFT. You can watch the whole video by going to this link  https://youtu.be/T6SuHuUQcyY

Recently I wrote to an old friend, to  suggest that he might  like to buy a country house in Bulgaria. Yes, it is a bit of a wreck, but it is such an interesting and unusual property, and it is so cheap, that I sent him the photos.  Was I being serious when I suggested that he might like to buy a dilapidated property in Bulgaria? Well, I do not really think that he would actually buy it, as he is quite a cautious person and maybe he would need to spend at least twenty thousand euros to get it in some sort of state for comfortable living. But the truth is that many people are now re-assessing their lives because of the pandemic. Many have already decided that they want a simpler, back-to-nature life in the countryside. And a rural house in Bulgaria is absurdly cheap, compared to the outrageous prices you would pay for a country house in the UK. What really makes me angry about the mass-produced Barratt and Wimpey garbage is not that they are so badly made (and yes, of cour...

Yes, it was rather disappointing that my previous video did not win a Golden Globe. There was not even one nomination for the Oscars. Well, despite popular demand, I have made another video! Move over, Stephen Spielberg. I wanted to make my friend Peter jealous, as there is never "proper" snow in the south of England.

Well, my brother Andrew says that it is not actually going to be published until the end of January. but I must scribble a few lines to congratulate him on having his first novel in print. It is rather splendid to have an author in the family. Well done, bro. In case you are wondering, it is a murder mystery tale, a sort of Inspector Barnaby in the New Forest instead of Midsomer. So what comes next? The TV serial? Or the Hollywood blockbuster?