I had the cabin to myself for most of this evening. The others were still at the office. So, there I was – alone and surrounded by trees, with curtains too narrow for the windows. They have Soviet standard windows and Soviet standard curtains – just different standards!. I spent the whole time ignoring the darkness outside and pretending not to hear the noises, imagining bears, wolves – or worse!

Then the girls returned – and stood shivering on the doorstep whilst I tried desperately to unlock the front door. The more I struggled, the tighter the lock seemed to be. They were just about to climb through the window into the swimming pool when I finally got the knack. and managed to open the thing.