On Friday two of my Chinese students popped into my office with Moon cakes. Jianwen had returned home to China for the summer and bought hers straight from her home town as a present for the support she received last year. Shawni had travelled from London back to her Alma Mater to say how much… Read More Moon cakes, produce from Paris, a visit from Ami and two birthdays!
It is with the greatest sadness that I report that Pappous, Greek grandfather to James and Amalia was found by Lia, his daughter, dead in his apartment in Athens. The childrens Dad texted them the news as he dropped everything to fly out to Athens on the first flight. It is not time for recriminations… Read More Two funerals, one hospital visit and more progress on the house
I have made a pledge to keep an eye on the weather in Gradishte. It’s no good planning to be self sufficient if I have no idea of the seasons. I’m somewhat gratified to see it is still a very pleasant 21 degrees out there. I have a woefully small number of horticultural tools to… Read More The Weather, leaving friends behind, Ami and the thought of never having to get up for work again!
Last week I had the pleasure of taking my niece Sophies girlfriend Walker (many apologies for the misspelling), from NYC, around Freshers Fayre. She’ll be entering the 2nd year of her undergraduate degree in Human Resources and Business Management in September of next year. As she is here on holiday with Sophie for 3 months,… Read More New Yorker, Monkey Bizness, James’s news and THE LIST
I am trying to learn Bulgarian and it is difficult. The alphabet alone requires the skill of a Graphics graduate and my terrible handwriting makes writing Bulgarian torturous. I swing between using the roman alphabet and punishing myself with the Cyrillic alphabet. There aren’t going to be any images in this post because there hasn’t… Read More Opitvam se da ucha Bulgarski and other news
What a weekend, I feel broken, quite literally broken! On Saturday Terry called James around and he helped us get the scaffolding started at the front of the house. Terry is 5’6″ and James 6’1″ whilst I’m 5’2″; an unlikely scaffolding crew to be sure. It was a pleasure to watch Terry and James work… Read More Scaffolders mate, the tip, head holding and unexpected presents
Danielle, Terry eldest daughter and number, second eldest in the blended fan contacted me on Facebook Messenger with the words “I have very, very exciting news”. Agog didn’t come close! Terry, laid next to me said “Well what is it?” I didn’t know but 100 and 1 things flew through my mind. It is always tricky… Read More “I have very, very exciting news”, James’s return, Brutus’s departure and even more decorating
I’m very excited that I have been asked if I would like to accompany William to school this morning. I am about to make myself look a bit less like an Irish navvy working on site and more like a Grandma. I don’t want to stand out from the crowd. I remember form the kids what… Read More Taking William to school, pointing and Ami’s flat!
I have, single handedly almost entirely packed the house up, well at least 7/8’s of it. Terry the Tank has been doing everything from pointing to painting and everything in-between. He is a tour de force and I am eternally grateful for his single-mindedness and work ethos. We are now living in the back room… Read More Boxes, Varnish, Dust and sleeping on the floor
Gradishte Dream 