My 3 black rescue #cats: Chekhov, McCoy and Sulu. McCoy is not in the mood for pets right now, while cuddlebug Chekhov is always in the mood for pets and can't get enough. Sulu is the dignified senior patriarch. #luckyblackcat #rescuecats #startrek #Bulgaria

In the town centre in Elhovo. That's the town nearest to my village in southeast #Bulgaria.

I have lots of butterflies again. My garden in Bulgaria is a pesticide-free paradise for bees and butterflies. They especially love the buddleias. (Pictured: buddleia weyeriana. I don't know the name of the butterfly.)

Chat GPT still insists that our national currency here in Bulgaria is the leva. We have the Euro, since 1 January. Even after being corrected, ChatGPT insists that I'm wrong. It asserts and that the Euro will be adopted one day in the future, not yet. #stupidAI #noao #Bulgara

This year looks set to be a fantastic year for grapes. Just look at the masses of fruit clusters on this Muskat of Alexandria grape. (It's a fairly disease-drought-tolerant variety, and distinctive flavour) #permaculture #gardening #viniculture #Bulgaria

Sulu loves lying on this shelf on my veranda. From here, he has a great view of the garden, can watch me, can supervise the other cats and the dogs, and just chill. He's a sweet #rescuecat whom I adopted from a shelter 13 years ago and brought with me to #Bulgaria. #cats #luckyblackcat

Flowers in my garden this month - both cultivated and wildflowers. #Bulgaria #permaculture #gardening #flowers

Philadelphus in my garden. This variety (sorry, I don't know its name) performs especially well here (southeast #Bulgaria, dry alkaline clay soil) though unfortunately it doesn't have that delightful orange scent of other varieties. #permaculture #flowers #gardening

This happy dog is Ginger. He's a former stray who simply adopted me seven years ago. He turned up on my doorstep and informed me that he was my dog now. It turned out to be a perfect match - he was exactly the kind of dog I needed in my life. #dog #dogs #rescuedog #Bulgaria #adoptdontshop #pets

A corner in my #foodforest garden in #Bulgaria. Everything is lush now, full of strength for the productive season. (And I'm busy mowing the meadows, but not all at once, since I want to support bees and butterflies.)

At this time of the year, I have lmany wonderfully fragrant herbs (culinary, medicinal, practical uses) in my #permaculture #foodforest garden. Here are lemonbalm and apple mint. Rubbing the leaves releases heavenly scents. Both make great herbal infusions. All organic, without chemicls. #Bulgaria

Dog roses (rosa canina) in my #permaculture garden here in #Buglaria. Dog #roses grow wild here, and they also make great hedging plants and support #bees.

The weather has been funny here (southeast #Bulgaria), changing from sunshine to rain and back several times in 24 hours. Photo taken in my #permaculture garden between periods of rain.

😕 ChatGPT just told me that the official currency of Bulgaria (where I live) is BGN. Uh. It's the Euro now. ChatGPT kept insisting that it was right and I was wrong. 😆 Hmmm. #AI #NOAI

The first crocuses of the year in my orchard. (Photographed yesterday. Today, it’s all covered in snow.)

Today, we've had the first snow of the season. My cats decided to stay indoors, but the dog didn't mind the snow at all. (Ginger and Leni are both #rescuedogs) #Bulgaria

Last night, I dreamt that I found a kitten (not my kitten) in my home. It was a gray tabby (like in this picture), very sweet. I decided to keep it. Then I woke up, realised it was only a dream, and was so disappointed! #cats #kittens #dreams

It's raining heavily. This is my dog house on my veranda. This is not my dog. 😆 #dogs #Bulgaria #rescuedog

I just asked ChatGPT some value-neutral questions about ICE. Instead of answers, ChatGPT gushed unprompted that ICE is a peacable organisation, acting purely against illegal immigration, with full legal accountability and no racial bias... #ICE #USA #AI

@daviddlevine.bsky.social What's the reason for the placeholder account?

@daviddlevine.com What's the reason for the placeholder account?

Today, my dogs Ginger & Leni have been wonderfully well-behaved. Obedient, affectionate, sweet, always came at once when called. I wonder if they've made New Year resolutions to be Good Dogs in 2026. 😆 How long do you think these good intentions will last? #dogs #rescuedogs #newyear #pets

A friend has baked me a traditional #Bulgarian banitsa for New year Banitsa pastry comes in many regional variations with different doughs and shapes. Here in the Yambol Province, they are large and round, with pieces to break off. #Bulgaria #baking #tradition #NewYear

This week, I delivered food parcels to needy people in my village in #Bulgaria. A moving experience. ❤️ Full report here. (My blog is free to read. Ignore attempts by SubStack to demand money.) open.substack.com/pub/rayne/p/... #Christmas #Yule #gratitude #permaculture #gift #kindness #community

Goji berries in my #foodforest garden. Here in Bulgaria, goji berry shrubs thrive. Heat- cold- and drought-resilient, requiring practically no work, and producing tasty berries in late autumn, they're the perfect plant for me. #permaculture #Bulgaria

Isn't she cute? Young Leni, the #rescuedog I adopted. She fits right in with us. Everyone likes her - even the cats. 🥰

I've planted two olive trees. In the past, the climate of #Bulgaria wasn't quite suitable for olives, but the climate change brings milder winters and hotter drier summers, so olives will flourish. #permaculture #olives #foodforest

Wonderful news! I have a new puppy! Leni, a 3 1/2 month old #rescuedog. After a one-week trial visit, I've committed and adopted her. Leni loves my senior dog Ginger, the cats and me! 😍 #adoptdontshop #puppies #pets #Bulgaria Full story on my blog. open.substack.com/pub/rayne/p/...

This summer, we had extreme #drought conditions in our region in #Bulgaria, and many plants suffered. On the plus side, this showed which plants in my #biodiversity hedge have the greatest drought resilience. The surprise winners were the pyracantha! #permaculture #gardening

Another of my beautiful roses. (I don't kow the name of the variety, sorry.) #Bulgaria #roses #gardening #flowers

The buddleias in my garden are in bloom. I have several varieties in different colours, all with a lovely honey scent. On windless days, they're covered in #bees, #bumblebees, #butterflies & other #pollinators. I recommend buddleias for #permaculture, #nature, #gardening, #wildlife.

McCoy is a sweet black cat with a tiny white heart on his chest. I adopted him when he was a tiny kitten. A ruthless person had thrown 3 unwanted kittens out of a car. I fostered all three - and McCoy made it quite clear that he wanted to stay with me forever. 😍 #rescuecat #Bulgaria #cats

This lovely boy is Ginger, a former strayy who adopted me six years ago. We're a perfect match - and in our years together, he has saved me from three dangerous situations. He's a hero! #rescuedog #dogs #adoptdontshop #bulgaria #gratitude

After a quiet spell during the heatwave, my #roses are suddenly blooming again. #permaculture #bulgaria #flowergardeningg

The cosmoses have started so late flowering this year, that I thought they had not germinated at all. But they were simply waiting out the heatwave and are starting now.

Mignonette (Reseda) is one of my favourite #wildflowers. I have a few of them in my #foodforest orchard. Not many. I hope they'll spread. #Bulgaria #foodforest

In my veranda trellis, the #clematis Early Snow has interwined with the #rose New Dawn. The combination looks so lovely! Bees love it, too. (Though this clematis flowers for only three weeks per year.) i #permaculture #bulgaria

In the city centre in Yambol. (Yambol is the capital of the province where I live in southeast #Bulgaria.) the flowering tree is a lagerstroemia.

A question for the experienced fruit growers among you. What ails my apple trees? They all suddenly have leaves like that. Is it a fungus, a parasite, a mineral deficiancy, or simply a reaction to the heat and drought? #permaculture #Bulgaria #foodforest #orchard #fruitgrowing #agriculture

My roses are suddenly flowering again - perhaps because the terrible heatwave is over. (Though one rose bush didn't survive.) #Bulgaria #permaculture #flowers #roses

Our picturesquee little village church. Our village is rich in authentic traditions. Today, we had a Bulgarian Orthodox Christian ritual for sacrificing a sheep and blessing holy water for healing. (Kirilovo Village, Yambo Province, #Bulgaria)

This grapevine grows on an abandoned property near my home. Over 10 years of neglect - no irrigation, no chemicals, no pruning, nothing. It flourishes despite heavy frosts, heatwaves droughts, thrives on neglect. Ideal! I'll take cuttings for new plants. #permaculture #Bulgaria #foodforest

Chicoree flowers in my #foodforest orchard meadow. In the early morning hours, the flowers are delightful, shining like tiny blue lanterns. In the afternoon, the blossoms vanish, and only knobbly stalks remain. Pollinators enjoy chicoree. Do you have chicoree in your meadow? #permaculture #Bulgaria

My silk tree - albizia julibrissin - this year decided to wait out the summer heat before starting to flower. Here it is. Albizia julibrissin trees look exotic, but are hardy and grow well in southern Bulbaria. #permaculture #Bulgaria

The figs in my #foodforest garden are ripe. It's a late variety, just starting now. Unlike most fruit in my garden this year, the figs from this tree have survived the April frost and the August heat. I love eating fresh figs straight from the tree. #permaculture #gardening #fruit #Bulgaria

Rain! Real rain. After three and a half months of drought, our village finally has rain at last. It is very heavy rain. The roof-fed barrels and cisterns filled in an instant. The plants are saved. And no more wildfires for a while. #Gratitude! #Bulgarias #drought #climatechange

OMG - Wildfire right here! My dog Ginger alerted me just in time - and I alerted the fire brigade just in time. Thanks to Ginger, a catastrophe was averted. (For those who don't know Ginger: he's a rescue dog I adopted.) #dogs #wildfire #rescuedog #Bulgaria #gratitude

n this dry weather, bees desperately need water. If you can, put out a bowl of water. Add some stones or bits of wood for the bees to sit on, so they can drink without risk of drowning. The number of bees coming to my bowls is enormous - see video. #permaculture #bulgaria #bees

#Butterflies are everywhere in my garden now. Thousands of them, and that’s no exaggeration. I’ve created a butterfly #nature paradise here - with flowers the butterflies love (here: majoram) and no pesticides. It’s all organic in my #permaculture #foodforest garden here in #Bulgaria.

😍I have a rescue dog staying here for a one-week trial visit, so my dog Ginger (also a #rescuedog) can decide if he likes this new companion. Ginger is still undecided. But to my surprise, my #cats (also #rescuecats) like the dog and are practically stalking him. 🤣 #Bulgaria #dogs #adoptdontshop