I guess the time has come for me to talk to all my loyal readers and friends. The emails asking me what’s going on are coming in thick and fast so rather than try an answer you all, here’s the latest update on my life…..

One day I was here

and now I’m here

one day I was driving here

and now I’m driving here

One day I was looking out my windows at this

and now I’m looking out the windows at this

and the more observant of you may notice that this is clearly NOT Bulgaria

Most of you know that I have had some issues in BG, particularly with unpleasant people. Added to that was the long and agonising time I had with my back, and very, very cold winter and to top everything off, a few more digs from nasty, odious individuals.

So, I woke up one morning and asked myself one very, very important question: why was I putting myself through this ? There are much better places I could be with much nicer people around me……. and even my beautiful fat bottomed girls weren’t enough to make me want to stay in the country.

Of course, I do have truly wonderful friends in BG…Sue and Aisha, Gary and Louise, Jeremy and Anne and my fabulous neighbours, Christina and Volcho and other magnificent Bulgarian friends in the village, Ivan and Gospodina, Maria, lots of people, my very lovely colleague Krassie and my vet (and good friend) Maria…..the people who have stood by me and supported me. I am truly grateful to these folk and was devastated to leave them. But sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do, and I just needed some normality in my life, even for a little while.

So, here I am…back in Australia. And it’s probably the best decision I could have made for the times. My family and friends have done what family and friends do..supported me, no questions asked. I feel loved and safe again.

I have a job !!!!..I’m working for the state police. I get up in the morning and I go to work and am loving being in a normal environment, albeit just for a little while….or maybe longer. Who knows? I certainly don’t.

And Bulgaria ??? again, who knows.

The house is there being cared for by friends and is still operating as a Bed and Breakfast, so if you want a holiday in Bulgaria, there’s still room at the Inn and you’ll find some very nice folk there to take care of you.

And my girls are safe and well. One of the hardest things about leaving Bulgaria, was leaving them behind, but I still hope to be with them again, whether there or somewhere else.

I took pictures of them before I left

and have had more pictures sent to me since I left. Clearly, three weeks is a long time in Karakachan land..they have grown a huge amount

Yep, that’s my lovely Gina on the left of the picture and as you can see, the puppies (for want of a better word) are as tall as she is and they’re still only 5 months old !!
No matter where I end up Gina and one of the pups wil be coming with me. If I return to Europe, the dogs can come with me anywhere in the EU and if I decide to remain in Australia, then they’re in for a very long plane trip and a whole new life in what will be a very strange place for them…..

And me ? well, I don’t know what, where, when, how, why…I’m just keeping all my options wide open until I get some sort of perspective on my life. but for now, I’m really enjoying catching up with people and getting myself grounded.

Will I continue to update the diary ?? not really sure about that either. I’m not An Aussie in Bulgaria any more. For the moment I’m An Aussie in Australia, along with 18 million others. But maybe one day I will be back in BG.

For now, things are kinda ‘normal’, though strangley, I dont feel a sense of belonging here. I am, however, enjoying doing kinda ‘normal’ things and my friends and family are a huge part of that.

I’ve just had Stewart,an old friend from Scotland,
who now lives on the other side of Australia, over here and I got to play tourists as I showed him around and tried to remember where things are in Perth. I’m getting to go and look at and enjoy places like this again…

Just so ‘normal’…so simple, so what I used to enjoy. But still no sense of belonging here….I wonder where I do belong ?

And completely off topic….As an aside, I just have to mention something I saw while in Kings Park yesterday, where the last two pictures were taken…As we drove through, Stewart and I noticed a number of women dressed in Purple frocks and red hats. Had to ask the question, so as soon as I got close to some of them I asked….’what in the world are you all doing dressed in the same colours with large red hats ?’

and was informed that they were members of the Ladies Red Hat Club ….

This was apparently started some years ago and is a world wide phenomonan..it’s all about ladies growing old disgracefully !! http://www.annabella.net/redhat/index.html and this is the poem that started it all

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick flowers in other people’s gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph

Stew and I went for a walk around the park and when we returned to the car, this is the sight that greeted us

Clearly, while we walked, they were multiplying….250 of them to celebrate their tenth anniversary and they looked like a gang of women who were going to have a really good time Perhaps, instead of running away to strange and exotic countries, I should join something like this group.

And on that note, I shall say Dovishdane for the time being. If I think things are interesting enough here, I may update now and again, but for the moment, I think I’ve said all that needs to be said.

caio for now

mercer

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