This is not so much a posting as an information broadcast…

My Yahoo account has crashed and Yahoo have shown themselves to be a complete bunch of bastards who are not prepared to admit their mistake and do something about it….. customer Service, MY ARSE !! they are about as useful as a one legged man in an arse kicking competition !!!

This had become my main account, having been in use for ten years, and, rather stupidly, I have not backed up things like….addresses !!

And Yes, all my personal and business addresses were in there……So, to everyone who’se been trying to contact me for both business and personal reasons, this is why you have not been getting any response from me….

I’ve set up a new account with Google, having been assured that they are a much better and far more reliable company to deal with…I guess time will tell. Anyway, my new address is: aussiebulg@gmail.com

I’ve also had the wonderful Tim, who got this site up and running for me, to alter all the contact email addresses on this site, so you can also contact me through this site again……I know a few people have tried in the last few days, but your emails are automatically being forwarded to the now, defunct Yahoo address….bugger !!!

Please contact me now, if you have been trying to. I’ve tested the gmail address with my sister and it’s certainly working……

once I’ve sorted out this unhholy mess, I will get a proper posting up…..especally as my fat bottomed girls are even more beautiful and entertaining

and busy I got……bloody hell…..I just wasn’t expecting it and when a rush of guests came from left field, I was only partially ready. I’ve had bird watchers from Scotland, the Sparrows, a really nice family from the UK, and even more Aussies. I had a really beaut couple from Queensland stay with me, Jan and Andy. 

I really enjoyed having them here and they seemed to enjoy their stay.  Their visit to me culminated in a very pleasant evening at one of the nicest restuarants in Yambol with some other friends plus Ivan and his wife.

We have mutual friends in Adele Millard and her husband, Mat.  I worked with Adele some years ago at the ABC and I’ve known her brother Nik, who’se a cameraman for the BBC, for many years  It was lovely to sit down and catch up on other aspects of life in Oz and people that I’ve not had a lot of contact with in recent times.

There are many times in this country when I rue not carrying my camera with me at all times….but sometimes I have it and I get to see some classic sights…..And ‘Men at Work’ in Bulgaria has got to be one of the great classics.  I’ve seen a number of situations that have made me laugh but for these two, I was lucky enough to get the matching pics

This was taken up in the mountains past Smoylan where one man was working like a bastard….while the rest looked on, smoked ciggies and gave lots of advice

and then, bugger me, if I didn’t look out the window the other day to see the men of Miladinovtsi doing exactly the same thing

you gotta love ‘em……..

I also found a little gem resting here quietly in Miladinovtsi.  Now, I’m not a religious person by nature, but this doesn’t mean I’m not interested in churches. I’ve wandered past the little church in Miladinovtsi many times but the doors have never been open……the other day they were, and what a wonderful vision hides behind those big doors…

It’s a truly wonderful place to visit and is beautifully maintained by Dida, the partner of the man that runs the local bar. it’s beautiful, and certainly worth a visit if you ever make it to this pleasant little village.

We’ve had Mayoral elections throughout Bulgaria and it was with great pleasure that I discovered that our encumbent Mayor and a man I consider a good friend, Dimitor Dimitroff, succeeded in getting another four year term in office. There were those who sought to manipulate the villagers and endeavour to get someone less desirable into office, but on the day, common sense prevailed and the right man was returned to the job…….

There’s probably a million things I’ve missed this month, but there’s been one occurence that has probably taken the most of my time and attention……

and here she is…

But this isn’t quite what she looked like when she came into my life…she was starved and abused and a truly pathetic sight

Her name is Gina. She’s been with me less than four weeks and her recovery has been remarkable.

up to and including her love of being in the car and her almost immediate liking to being inside the house…….

She is a most beautiful natured creature and a joy to to have around…but there’s more…

The more observant of you have probably also noticed that she’s pregnant….SHIT !!!  Yep, there’s puppies on the horizon and I suspect I’m in for a whole new experience……delivering the bloody things……. 

Rather sadly, Ivan, in a fit of pique, has taken Byal away from me. I was very sad to see him go, but also realise that with a  pregnant bitch in the house, a huge slavering, sometimes uncontrollable brute on the property (and I dont mean Ivan ) was probably not a great idea…..so he’s gone, after all these months. And I will miss him…..and so will the new friend he made here

So it’s goodbye to my old mate…..a dog I formed a great bond with. 

and hello to Gina….   

a dog I’ve paid for and who can’t be taken away from me and with whom, I am already bonding very strongly…she is just a delight and already I love her very much…fingers crossed her health is good enough to have these puppies and nothing happens to her.

I finish this month on a very, very sad note indeed. This time last year I had a Scottish couple, Jan & Harley, staying here with me while their house was being renovated. This was one couple that I admired so much.  Neither of them in great health but willing to take a chance on a new life in a strange and foreign land.  They’ve had their ups and downs here but all in all, were enjoying Bulgaria and what it had to offer them.  Sadly, Harley passed away today and it is with great sadness and a heavy heart that I say goodbye, not just to this month, but to a man that I considered a very good friend indeed….and my heart goes out to Jan, who has lost her best friend and soul mate…

Caio Harley….

It’s with great trepidation that I poke my head over the parapet, the first time for a long time. It’s been such a long time and so much has happened, that you’ll have to bear with me while I try and get the last few months in some kind of order.

It all started with the arrival of a couple of packages from the UK containing chicken incubators. Earlier this year I sold a couple a property here and they immediately started preparations to move over permanently. They intend to breed exotic species of chickens and asked if I could put a couple of incubators together and, when the eggs they intended sending arrived, put them in said incubators to see if they would hatch.  I’m, like, Jesus !!  I know nothing about chickens (except they taste great) and certainly nothing about hatching the little blighters.  I was assured that it was easy, and so began my first experience with eggs and incubators.  The eggs started arriving in batches until I had over 60 in the incubators……I’m thinking, ‘what happens if they start hatching before the couple get here..what then ?’ Again, I was assured that they wouldn’t…and luckily (for them) they didn’t. The couple duly arrived here and within days, the first hatchings commenced…..and this is the first two to hatch

little sweeties !!! 

The next few weeks saw a flurry of hatchings going on here until the grand total of thirteen made it through.  Now, I thought this was a  disaster, but have been assured, again, that for the conditions of their transport to BG… it was extremely hot weather and no amount of ‘fragile’ stickers ever guarantees that postal pixies anywhere in the world will take any notice…those numbers were OK.  So, downstairs in their own house are thirteen exotic chickens, thriving, and getting ready to move into their new big house with their owners sometime in the next few weeks. 

Add to this three extra people, two dogs plus me and Byal…so that’s four people, three dogs and thirteen chickens and, you guessed it, no fecking water !!! I did actually go to the Mayors office and say, in Bulgarian, ‘Dimitor, I have four people, three dogs, thirteen chickens and no fecking water !!!’ and I reckon the only word he didn’t understand was ‘fecking’…and being as how he’s the Kmet, I wasn’t about to explain it to him….

I did however, have a visit from the local TV station who interviewed me about the lack of water. I was well wound up by this time….Hey, it had been a month without water…no easy feat, and I had lots to say about the fact that this was the 21st century not the 19th and that people had a basic right to clean, running water…the usual stuff, but those who know me well will know how I can get wound up about things that affect me adversly……I didn’t see it, but a lot of people in Yambol did.  I’ve had people at the Bazaar, the supermarket and in a couple of restuarants make comment to me about it. So I may not be able to speak the language, but I can certainly make my feelings known when necessary 

And. wonder of wonders, the water came on the very next day !!  Surprise, surprise !!

I knew I couldn’t go through that again and spoke to Ivan about getting a ‘hydrofoil’ installed…this is a fancy word for an emergency water supply.  I now have a large tank underground in the garden and a system that kicks in automatically should the water fail…which if course it has and it really was nice to still be able to flush the dunnies and have a warm wash when wanted.

So, August continued on and this place really has been noisy, almost crowded, busy and a bit of a shamozzle……but it’s been fun.

The next thing I had to look forward to was a visit from a couple of old friends from Australia…and that will start my next entry.

For now…Caio, caio

OK, the pressure’s mounting about my lack of entries…

Yes, I am still alive

Yes, I am still in Bulgaria

Yes, I’ve been as busy as a bee

Yes, I have loads to talk about….and pics to go with it….AND

Yes, I will settle in sometime soon and rattle off a few pages just to bring everyone up to date

Patience grasshopper   

Gee, what a busy month June turned out to be. It’s certainly been a time of mixed fortunes, mixed emotions and great changes to the appearance of my amazing house…….

I guess the first stop I should make in this months entry is with Pirat.  All has not been well in the land of dogs and me.  Adorable as he is, he has the most incredible wilful streak and a battle of wills has commenced between man (woman) and beast….he wants to be boss….but so do I…….

He is going to be an incredibly powerful dog and I may not be strong enough to deal with that. He is the most delightful creature to have around when things are going his way, but if I try to discipline him, and trust me, sometimes he needs it, he has shown a somewhat nasty streak…and it’s worrying me.

He has become a great companion though, and the times I spend enjoying his company are wonderful. He joins me in the morning for toast and honey, he sits and watches me in the evenings when I’m preparing dinner and I’ve discovered that he has a love of tomatoes, cucumbers, salami, cirene cheese, eggs, yoghurt. strawberries, raspberries, chocolate and bananas, but don’t try and give him peppers or onions…..Oh no, he’ll have none of that.  This is a dog who knows exactly what he wants and what he likes.

He’s also a dog who, though he’s not supposed to be on the couch, isn’t taking NO for an answer and I often turn around and am greeted by this

     as he sneaks onto the sofa,

or this

when he’s made himself comfortable on said sofa. And yes, I do have to turn around so he can’t see me laughing, because it is very funny watching him trying to make himself tiny so he can slip onto the sofa unnoticed…….and then popping his head over to look at me, as if he’s exactly where he belongs…

But, and it’s a huge but, though he looks like butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth, I do have a deep concern about aspects of his personality. If I try and remove him from same said sofa, he snarls and snaps at me….problema ?? Maybe….time will tell……..

And then there’s my house. It’s just starting to look even better than I imagined.  The guys are working very hard in extremely hot temperatures, but work on they do, and this is the result……

Ivan has decided, as only a Bulgarian man could, that some stonework around the base of the building is a must, and though I had little say in it, when I see the results of his work, how can I argue with his ideas……it just look spectacular.

And, after seeing the stonework he’s done on my fireplace and the work he’s doing around the bottom of the house, it’s obviously one of his many talents.  He seems to have a feel for natural products like wood and stone ,and really knows how to make them work in the building work he does. He’s shown me houses he’s built in Yambol, and they have a particular look and he uses plenty of the things, like wood and stone, that can make a house special …and now he’s using those things on my house.  I’m just loving how he’s making my house look.  I’m quite set about what I want inside, but really, he’s been giving me most of the ideas for the outside, and the place is really starting to take shape and look wonderful.

And talking about the men working in hot weather, Holy, Moly it’s been almost unbearably hot.  This is my third summer here and by far the hottest.  Far too many temperatures up in the 40s……it’s starting to feel like Perth, and I don’t like that sort of heat.  I guess the only saving grace is that there seems to be little or no humidity here, which makes it slightly more bearable.

Mind you, I had a few days of reasonably hard labour in the burning sun myself …..

Ivan was heading up the side of the Manistirski to cut summer grasses for winter animal food and asked if I wanted to go with him and have a bit of a look around while he worked. Well. of course I did…never say no to an adventure, no matter how big or small.  We wound our way halfway up the mountain in his truck, he got to work with a scythe and I went for a bit of a look see around the place…….

I got back from my walk and realised that he was cutting the grass AND then pitchforking it onto the truck….so, I volunteered my services.  He said ‘No Sue’, because he seems to have some misguided notion that I’m a delicate little flower that can’t manage manual labour……I said ‘don’t be ridiculous’ grabbed the pitchfork, and after a few lessons from the old wise one (it’s not as easy as it looks to pitchfork grass onto a truck), I got to work.  Jesus, it was indeed hard going for an old girl like me, but I enjoyed it so much.  Sometimes I think a good dose of manual labour is good for both body and soul. 

It was very hot though and I did get slightly frizzled in the hot afternoon sun……but…..I enjoyed it so much that when Ivan went back the next day to do it again, this time with Angel and Chocko, I went along as ’second pitchfork’……

couldn’t ask for a better backdrop to the hard work though

and I picked a few of the flowers growing wild on the slopes

They’re beautiful and I’m assuming, wildflowers…and also assumed that it was legal to pick them.  I did ask Ivan and he looked at me like I was crazy for even asking.  He asked why it would be illegal…I told him because, perhaps like Australia, the wildflowers had been picked almost to extinction and it was now illegal to pick them.  He assured me that it was OK….so home I came, sweaty, exhausted, hair, clothes and boots full of grass seeds, but feeling very satisfied, clutching my big bunch of colourful, beautiful flowers.

Krassie and I are still working hard getting the business going.  Had a  few real estate clients, not just from the UK but from down under as well, which is great…spreading all over the planet maybe ??  There’s also been a steady trickle of folk seeking accomodation, again, not just from the northern hemisphere but the southern as well, including folks from my old home town and a young fella from New Zealand.

Unfortunately, our new website never got off the ground as we have been let down by ANOTHER expat, so any new properties we have are being added to Krassies existing site, so anyone wanting to have a wee look should go to http://www.bgyambolproperties.com/index.php or just contact me via email aussiebulg@gmail.com

I guess that pretty much covers June…….I might even succeed in getting a July entry up…while it’s still July  

And I’ve been told by some of the ladies that there’s a couple of events coming up in August that I’m invited to go to with the village. I know we’re heading into the Stara Planina for one event and Stara Zagora for the other.  Sometimes not having a good command of a new language can be quite interesting….means you get more surprises when you get bundled into a bus and popped out hours later at some place you know little about.  That’s what I’m looking forward to in August….

for now…..caio

And so, it was with great trepidation I returned to Bulgaria. 

The closer I got, the less courageous I felt about coming back.  I was lucky to be able to spend a couple of days with good friends,Kate & Bill, in London, where they showed me great hospitality and gave me great encouragement about getting back here and getting on with things….assuring me that I shouldn’t worry about the ’swine’ here that had caused me so much pain, because like swine do, they would eventually end up devouring each other.

Gary & Louisa picked me up from Sofia and a few hours later I walked back into my wonderful home….I had missed it very much and I know it may sound silly, but the first sight of it as I came into Miladinovtsi filled my heart with excitement and gladness…it was good to be home.

Ths second thing that greeted me was the sound of hell breaking loose in my backyard.  The slavering beast that Ivan had put here to protect the house, was still in residence….

and, apparently, not happy that someone was getting into the house.  Jesus, the performance made my blood run cold…and bought all the neighbours out……

And I know he looks like a great, big cuddly bear of a thing there, but he can be really fearsome……trained as a ‘bodyguard’, according to Ivan.

I tentatively stepped out onto the balcony to be ‘welcomed’ by a growling, foaming giant of a dog that appeared to be trying to pull the garage down….but more about him later….needless to say, he’s still here 

I so enjoyed the feeling of being back in the ‘big hoose’, sleeping in my own bed, waking up to the the village sounds that I’ve grown so fond of, seeing the shepherd come through every evening, the sound of the sheeps bells, enjoying the peace and quiet and almost no vehicle noise…….gee, it was quiet, but fantastic as well. 

It was so good to see Christina and Volcho again, Maria and Tanyo, and Dimitor, the Mayor and Sanka,his wife, Donna, Maria at the store, Michael at the bar…….and what a warm and loving welcome back I received from everyone…with the Mayor telling me that I had ‘mnogo dobre preatyli’ in the village ( many good friends)…and I know I do.  These are good people, who are my friends and for that I am truly thankful….it’s them that make my life in this country good.

As I had made the decision to return, I figured that meant I would be staying, at least for a while, so I got in touch with Krasimir, the man I now work with. 

 Kras saw the state I was in before I went to Australia, and I think he didn’t expect to see me back here again….and I had said to him I thought that returning was very unlikely.

But I was back and the first thing I had to ascertain was whether or not he was still interested in making a serious go of Real Estate with me……he is, and so we are underway.  If you want to contact us now about matters real estate, you can do it through this very website……or email me, aussiebulg@gmail.com

We’ve got some great houses, from the very cheapest to mid price range up to and including a couple of damned fine (and quite expensive) houses. Mind you, I say expensive, but if you’re after swimming pools and stables, I guess the price is always going to be that little bit more.

and this is the man himself, young Krassie…

He’s a lovely young bloke and has a blunt honesty that I really like….the same sort of blunt honesty that I have and prefer in my friends. He works very hard and hopefully, I can live up to his expectations. He’s also quite easy on the eye…so very pleasant to work with all round

So, to everyone who tells me that they’ll assist in any way they can to enable me to stay in this fabulous country, here’s your chance……talk about us, recommend us, whatever.  We’re keen, we’re honest and we’ll do our damndest for any customers that come.  And Hey, don’t forget, I’ve got accomodation available as well…..which brings me smoothly to the next topic for this entry…..the house !!

Ivan appeared soon after I arrived back and conversation soon turned to the roof and other bits and bobs.  As the weather was still quite cold when I returned from Oz, the first thing he did was to rectify the useless fireplace that I paid my old agents contractors vast sums of money for way back when. I now have a fireplace that not only works properly…it heats the entire kitchen/living room which is over 10 metres long, even with the draughty windows (the other thing I was ripped off over…window repairs) but it now looks truly fantastic

Ivan basically tore the whole top of the fireplace apart and rebuilt it.  He installed the missing damper (which the previous contractor told me the fire didn’t need) and did me some lovely stonework up the wall behind the fireplace. It looks gorgeous, uses about a quarter as much wood over an evening as it used to and gets the room as hot as a bastard….. what more can a woman ask for

As soon as the weather warmed slightly, the boys moved back onto the property and got to work.  Starting with smaller jobs like painting all the parapets, the metal framework that the grapes grow over and any metal fences and gates around the place, it didn’t take long for the place to start looking better.  These little jobs are always irksome and somehow usually get done last…….now it’s all been sanded down and painted, it’s just made everything in the yard and the house that much neater.

Before I could say ‘Jack Robinson’ the sound of tiles being ripped off the roof started…….and heavens, they’ve moved quickly.  Already another section of the roof is complete.  This year, Ivan has purchased proper scaffolding…..a relief to me, as I was never happy with the standard Bulgarian wooden scaffolding. He erected it around the part of the house where they were working on the roof…he then announced that he was going to render the building while the scaffolding was up, as he didn’t want to have to re-erect it in six or twelve months time when I was ready for the rendering to be done.

So……..From day one, I’ve had a picture in my head of what I thought the house would eventually look like…..suddenly,my house is starting to look like that picture.  I’ve even had times when I’ve thought that rendering it might not be such a good idea because the brick look was pretty good as well….but not now. 

Yes….it’s pink !!!  Ivan was aghast when I told him my choice of colour and I got a big Ivan ‘No Sue’ from him, but I think now that it’s starting to take shape, he’s not quite so horrified.  And I’m just thrilled to bits.  It’s just how I imagined it could be….. I can’t stop wandering outside and looking at it, imagining what it will look like when the whole house is done.

OK, I may have to sell it to settle my debt, but what a house I’ll have to sell 

Which is a segue  ’almost’ as smooth as the house one……

‘Cos, how could I possibly sell up and leave when I have this to take care of…

Ah, Yes..Ivan’s skills of persuasion have finally paid off….I’d like to introduce Pirat (Bulgarian for pirate…something to do with the eye patch) the latest addition to my life, my not so little bundle of joy.  But let me backtrack a little….. let’s return to the slavering beast in my backyard…..his names Byal (white) and can you guess what his relationship is to Pirat ?

Oh yes, I not only have the son, but his father as well.  Byal is supposed to return to Yambol, but everytime I ask Ivan when, he just says ‘tomorrow Susanka’ and we all know about tomorrow…it never comes !!  So it looks like I may have the big fella for the long run.

The little guy came to me about 8 weeks ago looking like this

and very soon, became Mr mischief..

There are no easy tasks any more…he chases the broom, wrestles the mop, his discovering my ’soft bits’ and nips them with his razor sharp little teeth and just generally creates havoc around the place…but shit, he makes me laugh.  He’s a funny little bloke and is already bringing me endless entertainment.

He and his father get on like a house on fire and play for hours every day

which is great for me because it wears the little bastard out….god, he’s got so much energy, and I’m not as young as I used to be.  Though, now that I’ve been smoke free for thirteen months, I can actually take him for….wait for it……runs.!!  Yep, I’ve been doing a wee bit of running with him and I feel great….well, felt great.  Yesterday I twisted my knee and just now can hardly walk……but I’m sure I’ll be good as new in no time.

Pirat is bringing me so much pleasure and also bringing me some things I really don’t want.  I’ve talked before about the birds nesting in my roof and walls.  Now, there’s always been a certain amount of mortality amongst the baby birds and I’ve always had to pick up the dead ones that have fallen from the nests and dispose of them.  Now Pirat is finding them and bringing them to me as little ‘gifts’…it’s God awful and when I try to take them, he eats them….yech !!!  then he wants to put his face near mine…double yech !

And Byal ??  well, after his initial fierceness towards me, he’s starting to trust me and even allows me to pat him now…..apparently, I’m the only person who gets to do that.  Even Ivan doesn’t get too close to him.  Maybe one day he’ll rip my head off. he certainly gets close enough to do that.  When I bend down to put food in his dish, he’s started giving me a huge lick on my face, which scared the bejeezus out of me the first time he did it and sees me very close to his enormous teeth and huge doggy breath, but for the moment, we’re becoming the best of friends…..and he does love a good ear scratch 

and, lets be honest here, no matter how savage a beast he his, ( and make no mistake, he is) it’s hard to take him completely seriously when he sleeps like this

Must be a Karakachan thing, cos his son assumes the same position often

and yes, he does have a funny little black and white spotted tummy..in fact,his whole body is like that.  the first time I bathed him his hair went into ringlets and under the ringlets I could see this cute little spotted body….maybe inside every Karakachan is a Dalmnation trying to get out…..

And so, I restart my life in Bulgaria in just about every way……..the people I’m surrounding myself with, the constantly changing house in which I reside, the getting of a dog…well, two actually, my new and hopefully successful career with Krassie and just about everything else that’s happening now….., I have much more to talk about but it’s late and I need my bed…much to do tomorrow.

in fact, I will just add one more thing……something I’ve wanted since coming here was a garden of heavily scented roses. …a garden where everytime I walked out of the house or pulled up out the front in the car, I would smell the beautiful heady,pefume of roses. I planted many last year and this year they are everything I want……they look stunning and the smell is just amazing….overwhelming…beautiful

On that note, I’ll say Leka Nosht – Good night

until next time

Sit back, pour yourself a huge drink, make yourself comfy…this is going to be a long one….though there will be lots of lovely pics 

No, hell hasn’t frozen over and I think I’m back to my diary properly…note I say ‘think’. I’m a mighty busy woman just now and time is agin’ me.

I guess from my later entries in 2006, there was a realisation that, due to some rather odious individuals that had insinuated themselves into my life, my Bulgarian dream had become a little tarnished.  I left here in February to return to Australia to lick my wounds and see the friends and family that, when I was so ill last year, I really never thought I was going to see again. I also had it in my mind that I would not be returning to Bulgaria….I didn’t really know quite where I was going, but Bulgaria wasn’t that high on my list.

I had the most wonderful time in Oz…I cried a lot, I laughed a lot, I consumed my own body weight in food and booze and generally regained my emotional strength, thanks to my extraordinary and wonderful family and my fabulous friends. I saw most of the people I had hoped to see, and even a few really dear old friends that had disappeared into the ether for various reasons and who I decided I wanted to see again……I guess a near death experience makes you realise how precious good people are….

I even started to miss Bulgaria and my Bulgarian friends and when one of my brothers said to me ‘Susie, you have to go back to Bulgaria…..your story there isn’t finished yet’, I knew then that I would come back, at least long enough to test the waters again. 

After spending time with good, honest folk who love me and care about me, I knew that returning to Bulgaria would mean slashing the BG Christmas list to the bone.  And this has been done.  All the unpleasant, untrustworthy, badly behaved, lying, cheating bastards have been removed and just a couple of expats, who are very precious to me, remain on the list, along with my many good Bulgarians mates…..

I’m back…. my physical and emotional healing is complete, I’ve got my Mojo back, my tenacity and strength is back….I’m not a woman to be messed with !!! 

So…..here’s a quick pictorial rundown of the last few months. 

Suffice to say, during February there was a lot of this…my precious family

and this and this

far too much of this

a generous serving of folk like this

Far, far too many of these  

No, not men in strange hats…….. BBQs !!!

Then even more of this

and this fella here talking to one of my brothers, the guy in the middle, who you may recognise from my January diary

took me to dinner here

It’s parliament house in Western Australia…I’m just not a great photographer and cut out half the writing..DUH !!   It’s good to have friends in high places…you get to have fantastic dinners in sumptuous surrounds…for nothing

and one of the main reasons for going back to Oz…..the wedding of my gorgeous nephew James to his equally gorgeous lady, Laura….you may remember this pic from what seems like eons ago…in fact it was just a year ago here in BG

Well, this was their big and very wonderful day……sadly, my pics aren’t much chop

It was a wonderful day, a beautiful wedding with the reception held in the Fremantle Martime Museum, an interesting and lovely venue…right on the water. And why would anyone settle for a boring old wedding waltz when you can Swing dance, as James and Laura do,..in fact, it’s how they met…..it was fabulous !!

Their love of each other and the joy of their lives is written all over them…..here’s to a wonderful future for both of them 

and then, just in case I hadn’t done enough socialising, there was more…more eating, more drinking and more time just appreciating the friends I’ve left behind…..

and taking in the views of my old home town and the views from my brothers balcony in Perth…..and occasionally asking myself why I’m here and not there……

Unfortunately and regardless of the fact that I was socialising from dawn ’til night every day for four weeks,I still didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to.  To everyone I missed, you’ll have to make the big journey and come see me in Bulgaria…..you should, it’s wonderful and I’ll be here to make your stay fabulous

To everyone who made my stay in Australia so wonderful, my family especially, my friends and everyone who let me invade their homes…my sisters Jillian and Marie and her husband Ari, my brothers Tony, David and Jack and their wives/partners, Enid, Virginia and Marilou, my incredible nieces and nephews, James, Elizabeth, Dan and Kerrigan. The dozens and dozens of friends, to numerous to name, who always make me realise how lucky I am….

Sometimes it’s really, really hard being away from you all….

all too soon my time was up and I had to prepare for my return here to see if I really was ready to have another crack at it…

So much has happened since I got back…The lovely Ivan is back and the work is underway on the house again….I need to tell you all about my venture into real estate and introduce you to my new work colleague, Krasimir. And then there’s the newest addition to my home…..something that makes me realise why I never had children….

With any luck, and in between being as busy as a bastard, I might get another entry up this week….

To all those folk who aren’t family and personal friends who have been asking after me, Thanks for being so constructive and encouraging…..I hope my future entries continue to entertain and amuse….

for now, dovishdane..

mercer