Alger Autumn

Sitting at my computer, looking out my window. (Artfully processed in GIMP, an open source alternative to Photoshop.)

Julia's Apartment in Sarajevo

Saturday it's a hike with Zana and this other guy that speaks some English.
Sunday it's Visegrad with Mersiha and her cousin will drive - hooray! And
Peter will go - then Peter and I will go to Gorazde for the day on Monday.
Tuesday I have dinner with Amir - there's a veg restaurant somewhere. Then
Wed I get ready to go to Belgrade for the weekend, then Monday and Tues
nights before I leave I'll stay in Zagreb, as I mentioned.  Whew.

Oh - tonight it's dinner with Hatidiza's mom and sister and afterwards I'll
meet 'Irvan' - Almir's counsin that stayed in our place.

Julia Reports on Milna

Well, considering all, Brizak’s End looks pretty good. For the most part, the place is clean – or clean enough. The plants are overgrown, so I’ll cut some of them. The lavender has a few blooms on it and it is HUGE – and wow – it cannot begin to compare to our lavender – it is soooo fragrant!

The bathroom is a bit gross. I can’t find any cleanser in town – So I’ll make do and scrub it down. The mattress covers need washing, so I’ll do that, and a few other things. Just a few cob webs here and there.

Immediately ran into Ivo and Ljiljana – Ivo unlocked the gate right away – saved me looking all over for the combination even though I had written it down.

Slavko picked me up and helped me with the luggage up the steps. Told me about his girlfriend. He's making his balcony into another room just in case things go well! Ran into Zore’s mother in town – she recognized me first. Things look pretty much the same at first glance. But it’s busier than I thought it would be – lots of boats in the harbor and cars on the riva. Slavko said it was really busy this summer and he thinks it will continue that way. Ivo and Ljiljana’s cousins from Argentina were just arriving for the first time, too, just after I arrived. They always have distant relatives visiting! Oh – and the place next door actually looks and feels okay – not so close as we were worried about. Of course there is no one there now. There’s a courtyard in front and big stone wall, but there’s no gate on it yet. They kept the original stone stairs. It’s two floors and is higher than our place.

PAhurds Say "Hi!"

FLASHY, FLASHY: Byron's new "cop magnet."












Hard work at home:



lots and lots of renovation, including newly stained wood floors. (All that old carpet GONE.) Looking good.

Julia Says: Bosnia

Time is passing quickly. The difference between this trip and others is the amount of moving I’ve been doing – a couple nights here, a few nights there…I’m too old for this stuff! It’s been interesting, though.

I’ve been wanting a hand-made rug from Bosnia for a long time – and finally made a purchase when I visited a non-profit and saw the women (mostly from around Srebrenica) weaving and we had coffee, etc. – you cannot go anywhere and not have kafa with whoever your visiting! There are local elections throughout Bosnia on Sunday, so there are lots of posters and I’ve seen a couple political rallys, etc.

Succor Creek, Oregon

Back from a week camping solo in the rhyolite canyon at Succor Creek in Eastern Oregon. Timed it perfectly between a rockhound group the weekend previous and the opening of hunting season, the following week. Lots of hiking, rock collecting, and sitting in the sun. Found geodes, agates, petrified wood, and more. Stark, gorgeous country. (Wow, I had forgotten all that wonderful, wonderful open space in Eastern Washington and Eastern Oregon.)