Extreme Temperatures - Ekstremne temperature

And so the heat goes on.

Hello and welcome to this edition of our Blog, from Čardačani, in the north of Bosnia and Herzegovina, written by an immigrant (me), as I am neither a tourist or a citizen here.

Thanks to Susan from the US 🇺🇸 for your support ❤️

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 An Englishman in the Balkans 🇧🇦 is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a paid subscriber.

We are still experiencing seriously HOT days here. I don’t handle heat well it has to be said. The mid 20’s C is my sweet spot for a summer season, with comfortable night temperatures. We have high 30’s C during the day (soon to scratch the early 40’s) and, surprisingly quite chilly nights. Having said that we do get some breezes (albeit warm) during the day. The weather is hot enough that my camera switches off often, as it overheats.

Driving or getting about in general, is not easy with the heat, especially with a car that is not only is old but has an AC system that is quite frankly, useless.

For me that’s a huge frustration when it comes to travelling to record content, especially interviews for podcasts. I really do like to interact in real life, especially after the pandemic experience, but it feels like, for me at least, it might be back to doing things remotely again 😟.

We received a notification from our municipality yesterday that the use water is being restricted for public spaces and that citizens should no longer use water for gardens, pools, car wash etc. We have had water shortages in the past so know what we need to do.

Villages near us have already experienced periods during the day where water has been switched off.

We have containers ready with water in our toilets, and for basic dish washing and personal hygiene.

I was a soldier for over 25 years and will always remember what was drilled into me:

Prior Preparation and Planning Prevents Poor Performance.


The main video with this post ⬆️ is a quick walk around our garden at the moment.

I show you the apples, the pears, the plums, we've got different types of apples, really nice red ones and those very tarty green ones, two different types of plum.

The vegetables are under covers to try in someway to protect them from the very strong sun.

Read 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 An Englishman in the Balkans 🇧🇦 in the Substack app
Available for iOS and Android

You'll also see fruit rotting on the ground in heaps. Basically we haven't been able to go and catch all that up at the moment, because of the heat, but it doesn't matter, because they're going to rot down anyway, to make them into rakija at the end of the season.

And for those that don't know, rakija is like a local traditional brandy, for example, Šljivovica, that people out in rural areas such as this, make for themselves in the autumn of each year. ⬇️

Earlier on this year i had planned to do a video a month to show the change right through the seasons, but the best laid plans of mice and men as they say.

Leave a comment

Dolma Bez Meso

Tamara and I have been follow a lady from Siberia, for sometime now, who has an extremely interesting YouTube Channel.

Ana Goldberg’s content, is very inspiring. It gives another view on what everyday “normal” Russian people are experiencing and in Ana’s case, her journey to reunite with her husband (a US citizen).

Ana has managed to leave Russia, reunite with her husband Brian, and is in the Western Balkans at the moment. She’s documenting that journey and experiences. I really recommend checking her out. It’s super interesting.

For those that use Instagram, she has an Instagram account, and Ana is now posting exclusive content on her Patreon account.

And it was there that Tamara saw a recipe for Dolma and was immediately inspired to recreate it and so Voila!

ingredients freshly harvested from our garden
super tasty

From Krupa na Vrbasu towards Banja Luka.

Krupa is a great place to visit and it’s not far south of Banja Luka.

3 Blackhawk helicopters fly down the Vrbas Kanjon towards Banja Luka.

Krupa na Vrbasu (Krupa on the Vrbas) is a small town some 25km south of Banja Luka in the Bosanska Krajina region of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Krupa lies in a valley between the canyons of the Vrbas-river. The Krupa itself is a small river which joins the Vrbas in the canyon. Krupa spreads itself out along the Krupa, and by the main road between Jajce and Banja Luka. The town is known for the "Krupa falls", the waterfalls in the town.

The crystal clear waters race down between traditional small watermills, and by the waterfalls you can even buy freshly ground wheat, try kajmak and sample rakija.

As well as the waterfalls you can take a quick tour of the nearby monastery and hike up to the 'Greben', the old watchtowers, where you have a very scary but spectacular view over the Vrbas canyon and the town. Also a hike to the source of the Krupa is not too challenging, and always appreciated.

Leave a comment

3 Places to Eat in Banja Luka

Tamara found this video on tick Tok from Stephen Čović

Of course there are MUCH MORE than these 3!

Leave a comment

From the Archive

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 An Englishman in the Balkans 🇧🇦
The Švrakava Waterfalls.
We have often driven southbound, along the east bank of the River Vrbas, either on our way to Ljubačke Doline or taking a short cut across the mountains to Sarajevo, via Kneževo. There is a brown “place of interest sign” that I have always looked at, pointing left to the Švrakava Waterfalls…
Read more

And Finally

If you want to read back editions of the newsletter, listen to previous podcasts (we have quite an archive now), or catch other content, all this is available on the web interface, just like a regular blog.

Oh, and please share the newsletter with friends, relatives and colleagues using the button below.

Tamara and I appreciate your faithful readership, your comments, and your generosity! 

THANKS SO MUCH ❤️

0 Comments
Authors
David Pejčinović-Bailey MBE