Bulgaria with Noodles

Tina has a new feline friend, a naughty little kitten called Mashka. We have not adopted Mashka. She has adopted us. She arrived at our house in Daveri, making a lot of noise and demanding FOOD. And then some more food. At first, we were terrified that Tina would kill this little kitten, but Tina has calmed down a bit and more or less accepted Mashka. Watching Tina licking Mashka's tummy is rather cute. What else is getting closer? During their long chats on WhatsApp, Mamulichka has told Ira that the war is getting closer. As well as the attack on the bridge linking the Crimea to the mainland. there have been several other attacks. The daughter of Irena's godmother, Tatiana, is an old friend of the family and she is worried about her son and grandson being drafted into the Russian army. Warplanes fly low over the datcha almost every day. Yes, it is all getting closer.

A fter reading the next few sentences, you will probably say, “Well, this just shows that not everything in Bulgaria is perfect after all, Simon!” Things have not been quite so perfect recently because we had a power cut on Wednesday that started about nine in the morning and then the electricity did not come on again until after four in the afternoon. Then exactly the same thing happened yesterday and then again today! Fortunately, the weather has been lovely, so we did lots of work in the garden and my dear wife beat me again at badminton. At lunch time, we have been using our little gas cooker. We bought it for camping, but it certainly has come in useful for the last three days. However, my readers in the UK should not worry and they should not feel that they are missing out on these exciting experiences. I am sure that soon they will be having plenty of power cuts in the UK! Anyway, the pound has lost so much value against the dollar that soon people in the UK will not be able to ...

Yesterday, in the afternoon, I got back from the airport. I think that my brother Andrew really enjoyed his little holiday in Bulgaria. It was the first time he had been here, so it was quite unusual for him. Yes, Andy and I did some of the things that we did when Peter was here, but we also did some new things as well. It was not interesting for me to see Tsaravets, but he really had to see it.  We also went to Emen Canyon and Tryavna, so we could have the excellent Indian meal that poor Peter never had the chance to eat! Savoya Spice is only open for a few days each week. The onion bhajis were particularly good.  Andy also cooked a superb lasagne and we  scoffed that one evening with my friend Adrian.  We also had lunch at a new restaurant in Arbanassi, “The Wine Club”. It is really good and I want to take Irena there. After lunch, we went for an amazing walk with Adrian and Sisi, his doggie, along the cliffs that overlook Veliko Tarnovo. Absolutely incredible view...

Peter took some great photos of our house when he came to stay with us in July. This is a great photo of the "garden side" of the house, with the terrace and patio.  This is a great shot of the front of the house. The old wagon wheels look rather good, I must say.

Apologies for not having written any entries for my blog for absolutely ages. Well, not much has really happened. Yes, the ghastly war in Ukraine drags on and my brother Andrew is coming to Bulgaria for the first time, but otherwise not much is happening. I have just about recovered from the minor surgery I had, on a nasty little lump on my back. I went to the hospital (that is bolnitsa in Bulgarian, in case you did not know) to see Dr. Ivanov on the Tuesday and then went to the surgeon for the op. on the Thursday. None of this UK and NHS nonsense of waiting months and months for an operation. The doc only gave me a local anesthetic, so I was conscious all the time when he was doing his thing on my back. Laser surgery seems to be very good, but there is one downside, namely the horrible smell of burning flesh. Yours. I had some stitches and a dressing was applied. No showers for about three weeks. Well, I had the stitches out a couple of days ago and it is all healing up very well....

Peter Adams is one of my oldest friends. When we first came to Bulgaria from the UK, Peter came with us and did most of the driving. Peter and I were at teacher training college together, more years ago than I care to remember, and he has recently retired from teaching at Littlegarth School. Well, it was good to see him again after nearly three years. We discovered a very good Bulgarian restaurant in Elena and we also got out our old inflatable kayak, in order to do a spot of boating on the reservoir near Elena. Vincent and Mariana kindly invited us round to their house for a swim. And yes, we did have quite a few good meals in some of the restaurants in Veliko Tarnovo.

Yeah, life's a beach, baby. Cue The Sloop John B or I wish They All Could be California Girls. I have to be honest: we did in fact spend quite a lot of time on the beach.  The good news? The water is gloriously clear, perfect for snorkelling. The bad news? Nearly all of the beaches are pebbles, there are no corals and the fish were not up to much. There is one beach that is supposed to be sand (really it's just smaller pebbles) and there we had lunch at the seaside taverna. Well, just about everything in Greece is flipping expensive, once you are used to Bulgarian prices. Lunch was nearly sixty euros for the two of us (ouch!), but hey, we were on holiday. The Greek salad was good and Irena's fish was HUGE.  My calamari was pretty good. They even allowed Tina into the taverna.  Although the beach was decidedly pebbly, the water was beautifully clear and actually quite warm. Now, despite popular demand, here is yet another video. Sorry about that.