Bit of a do

There was a bit of a do in the pub last night. a load of youngsters having some sort of meal and skittles. At the end they did a chant. (Hardly call it singing) No idea what it was, although as I didn't recognise them i suspect it was on the lines of "our village is better than yours"

As a result the pub stayed open longer than normal so my careful plan of coming out early so as to get the full 4 bottles of beer in got greatly overtaken.

This morning was cancelled, which was a shame as this was the last chance to get some beer in for the new years festivities for tonight.

This years was, for me, even quieter that last year, which I spent in a hotel room in Romania because everywhere was shut and the hotel had closed the bar. At least it had a mini bar whereas today I have nothing even mildly alcoholic, apart from aftershave.

Winter

Of course, it being Winter there's nothing to do in the garden so you pretty much have to keep yourself amused. Luckily, or otherwise, I have a language to learn so that keeps me out of mischief.

Today, though, I put some potting compost in a seed tray and planted my rhubarb seeds. There were 25 of them and as they're notoriously hard to grow from seeds I'll be pleased if I can put 10% in the garden come March/April.

Two years from now, with a bit of luck, I should be able to make some Rhubarb wine. Funny how mosty of the stuff I'm growing ends up as booze of one description or another!

Wot, no Bus?

Went for the bus at the usual time, about quarter to one and..., nothing. Looks like this week the buses are Saturday Service only. There goes my idea for a contribution to the Silvester celebrations. As far as I can gather, its a sort of bring your own feast. Looks like I'll have to skip it this year but next year I'lll be better prepared.

Boxing Day

Started my Christmas dinner! Had a lovely chicken dinner with real gravy. I was quite chuffed but the washing up I'll do another day.

Christmas Dinner

When I went to put some rubbish in the bin, i noticed a rabbit leg joint on the front door. Funny I didn't hear him knock. Last time I saw the leg it was still attached to the owner, hopping about in a box. I put the joint straight in the freezer as I don't have the right veggies to make a Welsh Rabbit stew. I'll get them Monday.

As I finished off the chilli yesterday I spent most of the day cooking Xmas dinner. Admittedly it was just a chicken dinner but I thoroughly enjoyed it, IO even managed to make the gravy properly this time. Potatoes, roasties, peas and chicken.

I was stuffed afterwards. I didn't go to the pub as it was Steves name-day today and he and Hobo were arranging a session last night!

Christmas day

Well, as its traditional to watch a film on Xmas day I bought one or 2 Harry Potter films to watch from iTunes. Due to my duff graphics card i had to watch them greatly reduced. The effect is the same as that you'd get by putting your tv about 10 ft away from your front door and then watch it through the letter box.

Christmas chilli for tea

Christmas Eve

Not an awful lot this evening but as i forgot to pull the chicken out yesterday I had chilli for tea.

In the pub, Hobo said he saw me on telly near the Keleti Station! I'm not sure what I was more surprised at, the fact I was on telly or I understood him without saying pardon or looking askance at Steve.

Oops Wrong Train

Today I had to catch the 8:30 train from Deli station which is the other side of town from the hotel. By half past seven I'd bathed, breakfasted and checked out and was heading towards the underground.

I spotted one enterprising driver going the wrong way up a one way street. The oncoming traffic was not amused!

I got to the station by 8:00 and a quick glance at the departure board told me the train was on platform 5. I did notice that the stickers on the door were to somewhere else but dismissed it, thinking they hadn't changed them yet. This started to worry me a bit so by the time the train pulled off I'd convinced myself I was on the wrong train.

When the conductor eventually turned up he explained that I was just in the wrong carriage! I had to move all my stuff to a carriage 2 further along. After that and with the worry of being on the wrong train lifted I dozed off. I should have realised that was the explanation of the different destinations as the last train I caught from Budapest to Szombathely had different destinations on the last 2 carriages compared with the 1st 2.

Got to Szombathely about 15 mins late which meant I missed the connection to Körmend. Having an hour to kill meant I had enough time to check out the bus station to see if there was a bus to Körmend and have a kebab while I was waiting.

A train came from Körmend. There was a bit of a palaver as the train was run to the other end of the carriages so it could go back to Körmend. 30 minuted later I was getting off the train and back in Körmend! All that was left was to check the buses to see if they were running and if not walk home.

Instead of the usual stop, I went to the bus station as I had plenty of time to look around and see if I could spot my bus. It was actually the first one I checked. I had another 20 minutes to wait. I had a quick look around to see if there were any timetables I could pick up when I spotted one of the regular drivers to Halogy. He gave me a wave before pulling off. Gosh I've been recognised outside my village!

I got on the bus and 30 minutes later I was standing inside my house turning the heating up! (I'd left it on 8C so I wouldn't come home to burst and frozen pipes.)

Photos

budapest_01
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

Today, I decide to go up the castle district as this would be the ideal setting for doing photographs in the snow. This photo I'm waiting for a gust of wind to blow snow into the light. Phot was not as impressive as being there.

Here's a shot towards Margit Sziged:

Problems with Booking

The morning was spent recovering but I did go down to reception to ask about the problem with my booking.

Last night I had a phone call in my room from reception saying that there was a problem with my booking. When I went down the bloke explained that in spite of my booking voucher I had in fact only booked 4 nights not 5! He also said that I should have waited for the confirmation from the hotel. I pointed out that the piece of paper in his hand, with 5 days on it, WAS the confirmation from the hotel as I had booked it from them directly. He said he'd look into and confirm with me later. I said "fine, tomorrow" and went back to my room.

When I went down, it turns out that there was nothing wrong with my booking but someone else with my surname had booked in too but for 4 days. Since I had already explained that when I checked in it would seem that although the receptionist spoke English, he was listening in Braille.

Midday I went back down to pick up my British foods delivery. A company has opened in Budapest to serve UK ex-pats with food and stuff from home. I spotted some bloke with a bag looking about and shouted to him and we quickly checked the bill and the stuff. I'd ordered several British beers in cans and i had no intention of taking them home! :D

(Guinness, Boddingtons and Caffreys, if you're interested)

Holiday!

I haven't blogged recently as I don't like putting stuff like "I'm off on holidays spare key under the mat, burgle as much as you like." Kinda thing.

Today was travelling day so I caught the 7am bus to Körmend and then got a ticket. I'm not sure of the pronunciation of the words to ask for a ticket,t so I'd taken the precaution of writing them down on a card so I simply should the woman selling the tickets.

Only had to wait 10 minutes before he train pulled in and then 4 hours until Budapest.

I think I slept most of the way 'cos I don't remember a conductor coming around and the ticket was in the same pristine unpunched condition as when I bought it.

Once I got out the train, at Keleti station, there where the usual taxi drivers touting for business. I hardly need a taxi when I can see the flipping hotel from where I'm standing. Plus, I know the transport system in Budapest sufficiently well that I wouldn't use a taxi anyway.

I got to the hotel to book in and told the receptionist that I didn't have a passport and he said that my ID card would be OK. As I'd never used them before I had to ask him which one was the ID one. He picked up the one and said "this one" and then his eyes came out on stalks as he said, "You LIVE in Hungary!?"

I got to my room and had a quick shower before going to Deák Tér to get a burger. There's no point in even trying Hungarian in this place as they all speak English and they simply want to get you served and out the way as fast as possible.

Afterwards went back to my hotel and crashed out. I reckon i was dehydrated as the train was boiling, the sort of temperature cats and women like ie far too hot.

In the evening went to the bar but 3 bottles later the fun had gone out of it as I worked out how much beer back home I could by for the same price. Went and got a few cans from a corner shop and returned to my room.

Monday

The weather forecasts fort he past week have all been a bit cool but this week was predicted to sub zero even in the day. When i looked out the door it was snowing. small powdery stuff, not like the big wet flakes we get in Britain but the small stuff we get when it means business!

I've managed to finish copying my CDs onto the pc. Theres a few miassing but I will doubtless find them when I'm sorting them out. Managed to put the in piles by letter before I went to Kormend so nearly do on that score. I've now cleared a way to my other front door.

Since I was going to Kormend to get some supplies in I decided that thermals would be the in thing. It was worrying as the snow rapidly built up to a thickness that would stop public transport in its tracks, about 3mm. Didn't seem to bother the Hungarians much.

I passed the Christmas market in Kormend again. I would have taken a photo but only 2 of the stalls were open. (One of them a jewellery store selling "silber". That would have been an interesting one as I don't speak German!)

Had a pizza for tea and went to the pub. Oops! I broke my key in the front door lock! I shut it carefully and then went to the pub. I explained what happened and in short order found myself back at my house with a bloke with some toolas and a couple of cylinders. After a fair amount of fiddling, he got the old cylinder out and put the new one in! Great new front door lock!

The weekend

Pretty much nothing happening this time of year. Cleaning cooking and washing up then catch up with the news on the internet.

I did go to the pub early on Sunday to grab a cup of coffee and a few cans before todddling off back home.

Today cleared most of the inside jobs but I still need to copy all my CDs onto my PC. When thats done I can put all the cds away and open up a load of room in the back bedroom.

Went to the pub early expecting another early finish but there was some sort of party going on and in the end weaved my way home at about 10. Tomorrow is gonna be cancelled I can tell.

Rearranging the Furniture

Today I decided to empty the Wardrobe in the back room. All went well until I went to pick up books and I stumbled forward and slipped...

When I came to it was snowing and I saw a light in the distance. As I walked towards it I saw that it was a gas lamp but out here in the middle of a forest. "Bugger" I thought, "I'm in Narnia. Where's the exit?"

Anyway, I moved the wardrobe although it was touch and go for a while. I was a lot heavier than I expected and I thought if this topples over on me I'll never get out from under it. I managed to drag it into my bedroom and then transfer all the stuff back into it.

The I had a fun 3 hours of rebuilding my Hi Fi system. The big problem was me not being able to remember how I'd wired it up before. This was made all the more complicated by the stand having a hidden cable channel which basically meant I had to unplug elements and remove shelves more than once as I had to add/remove wires.

Still, at the end, when I powered on it worked! Even the plumbing from the PC.

All thats left is the heart-breakingly monotonous job of copying all my CDs onto the PC and then sorting my CDs and putting them away. That'll take a few days but the reward will be I can finally access the other door outside.

Körmend

Went to Körmend today. Accidentally gave the driver a 2 Ft coin which hasn't been legal tender since I came here! Got some butter and other hard to get stuff from Tescos.

I've discovered why the drivers keep asking me to repeat myself when I ask to go to "Halogy". Its because the way I say it it sound very much like "Nádasd". I'll have to be more careful next time.

New Orchard

I got some bread at half past ridiculous in the morning, as you do as the shop runs out at about 8am!

I had breakfast and too a few photos of the garden. This was for a before and after shot but the mist did give it a ghostly look sort of "Spectral Morning".


Before

This is after I spaced out the tree positions using garden tools and string for measuring.

Well 10am came and went but at 11, just as I was starting on some work in a back room, I faintly heard a knock at the door. Sure enough there was Hobo with Steve to act as translator.

4 trees as expected but fitted them in a sort of L shaped around the 2 existing trees giving me 6 trees in a formation like the 6 dots on a die. (a single dice to those not in the know)



Eventually I'm hoping to finishing pigs on the windfalls and use chickens to help keep pests down under the trees. Plus I can make lots of cider.

I offered both a cup of coffee seeing how it was pretty cold.

Friday

I heard a knock on the door after 12pm today. there was Hobo (aka Steve's Helper). He had some cards in his hand he picked up from the mailbox. He was asking (again) if I was sure it was all right to come over at 10am tomorrow to plant some apple trees. "Fine" I says, "No problem". (He did seem a bit worse for wear tbh)

In the evening, I went to the pub and Hobo is looking a lot worse for wear tbh. I'd be very surprised if he made 10 tomorrow!

Its quite likely that no matter how many trees I ask for, I'm gonna end up with one more so best bear that in mind. I want 3 to balance what I already have but 4 can be fitted in to the pattern with no trouble.

Apple Trees, or not

Still no sign of the apple trees (fák alma) but its a very Hungarian thing to give a time and not stick to it!

Spend some time in the garden raking up leaves. I may give the area under the trees a quick whack with a strimmer/scythe tomorrow. Basically to stop slugs having a comfy place to hibernate.

Having Pumpkin Soup for tea as its gonna be very cold out tonight. -3C during the night.

Summary

Had several cancelled days due to Palinka and not much in the garden because of rainy days but in summary:

• Got some genuine Palinka from one of the villagers


• Steve came around with some grape cuttings and some berry canes


• Had a surprise cheese delivery so had cheese on toast for my mid day snack for a couple of days


• Went to pub last night and ordered some apple trees. Not sure how many!


• Steve gave me some carrots and some sausages to keep in freezer. To my untutored eye they seem to be a species of blood sausage or black pudding.

Today it rained heavily in the morning. I'd just decided to go dig some holes for the trees when I realised i didn't know how big they'd grow ie what the rootstock is. I'll just have to ask and space then accordingly.

Körmend

Went to Körmend again. Not the usual driver so I had to tell him what I wanted. He asked me something that sounded like "éges" which I assume is "one way" way. I said yes and got the usual ticket. I'll have to look into this.

Brilliantly sunny and had to take my winter top off on the way to Tesco. The weather can really catch you out as this morning my breath steamed and I had gloves on!

I got some cheap speakers for my PC and now I have Mono! <*sigh*>

I caught the bus back and again the driver asked the same question. If there is a return then it might be cheaper to get. (I say "might" as, even in the UK, its not a given.)

Got some curry powder from Tescos. This a was an easy one, for a change, as the Hungarian for "curry" is "curry"! So tomorrow chicken curry half and half!

I went to the pub about half past six (when I got there) and was immediately marched of to some bloke "Leslie" to get a litre of distilled, erm, stuff. It was dispensed from what appeared to be a 5 gallon fuel container!

We had a couple of toasts to seal the deal and I was feeling a bit dizzy by the time we went back to the pub. Not looking forward to tomorrow. A litre of a vodka equivalent for about eight quid.

Monday

Bin day today. Got up nice and early, put the bin out and went to the shop. The shopkeeper had a chat for me and as far as I can tell, its shutting in the evening til January. Possibly.

Forecast was for rain today so bearing in mind the soaking I got last week, I didn't go to Körmend. Of course the sun came out as the bus was going around the corner!

I seem to have agreed to buy some hazipalinka tonight. I'll buy it but not sure if it'll be safe to drink!

Finally uploaded the piccy of the Piccalilli.

Tax Bill

Spent all morning typing out the letter and then Google translating it. Looks like a community charge type bill. 2,200 HUF or you can appeal against this valuation for a fee of 5,000 HUF...

Its the same in the UK with on the spot speeding fines. You can go to court to challenge it but the government has specifically removed these cases from the Legal Aid scheme and also ruled you can't claim costs. So it is now cheaper just to pay up rather than prove yourself innocent.

Oh yes, pub was shut when i went there. :(

Did loads of my weekly indoor chores as per usual on the weekend

I went to the pub in the evening and on the way out I had to sign for a letter. I'll have to check it tomorrow but looks like some sort of bill.

Fridays Kormend

Went to Kormend again today. Although it was breath freezing in the morning, by the time the 12:45 bus came it was t-Shirt weather. got some bits and bobs and a chicken for the weekend.

The bus home was about 20 minutes late. Just long enough for me to wonder if it was coming at all and if I'd have to wait for the next bus which would be in another 2 hours! Still, theres always the pub to wait in.

Edward Woodward

RIP

I think entirely appropriate would be this old joke.

What do you call a man with a log on his head?
Edward.

What do you call a man with 3 logs on his head?
Edward Woodward

Piccalilli

Today I spent mostly making Piccalilli. I ended up with about 2.5L of the stuff. Should keep me going until Christmas I think!



I also had a surprise parcel of cheese with the post so I did test drive with cheese on toast.

In the evening went to the pub and gave Steve one of the jars.

Had a bit of excitement with one of the locals who went off on one. No idea what he said.

Walnut Cake

Or "Dio Torte" in Hungarian.

I got a likely looking recipe from the BBC and made two cakes, put icing on both of them and then precariously balanced the one on the other. The icing sugar is a bit of a disaster, looks like scrambled egg.

Too sweet for my taste. Not surprising as its 2/3 sugar. Yuch!

Next time, I'll see if I can find a recipe for Almond Bread (Mandelbrot) and adapt it for walnuts.

Not much today, still feeling rough with a bad stomach of all things.

Shopping

Today I decided it was high time to go to Körmend and do some shopping.

When the alarm went off this morning , almost the 1st song I heard was Dunarol by Nox. So after 4 months here thats the 1st time I heard a Hungarian song that I actually know.

The forecast was for light rain finishing about 2pm. Should have take that as a warning and not gone. The rain wasn't too bad going in but during the half hour I had to wait for a bus coming back the sky emptied, mostly straight into my shopping-bag.

I got a couple of cucumbers and caulis to have another crack at Piccalilli. Seems the only way I can enjoy cauli is by boiling it in vinegar. I got some icing sugar too so I can have a crack at making walnut cake with the walnuts i got out of the garden.

When I left the shop some woman wanted to have my cart rather than put the money in the handle herself. The coin looked kosher so I said OK and gave her the cart. Funny enough, she called the cart "kocsi" which is also a slang name for a car. It sounds like "coach-ee" which shouldn't be too surprising as "coach" is one of the few Hungarian words to make it into the English language. Kocs being the place where the 1st coach was made.

I then went to the ironmongers on the square to get some rubber gloves.

I had managed to ruin the left hand glove on the last pair with a knife. Not sure how I did it but my thumb felt all wet and when I pulled it out the water there was a long straight edged gash along the thumb. I immediately thought that this was one of those horrible cuts with a blade so sharp it doesn't hurt yet. Thankfully I wasn't squirting blood everywhere, it was just the glove.

I went into the shop and promptly forgot what 'glove' was in Hungarian. I pantomimed it until the shop assistant guessed, at which point I could tell he was panicking on how to ask me stuff if I couldn't even say glove!

I said they were "for me" and after I tried on a pair I told him "that's all". All in Hungarian so he didn't have to do any miming himself.

Waited 30 minuted in the rain but the bus that came had a sign to some polysyllabic place I'd never heard of. Still, another bus pulled in behind so this one must be... Nope, it's going somewhere else again. Hmmm, looks like a disaster brewing up. No, a third pulls up with no sign at all to where its going. Having read several similar scripts I just KNOW this one is gonna be mine (and so it proves when I get on).

Stood almost all the way as it was so packed but I was grateful to be out the rain.

Met Steve in the pub about 8:20is this morning. Had a coffee.

Didn't go to Kormend with him as I my shopping only takes about 20 mins and it would have been 3 hours to kill to the next bus.

tbh I didn't feel at all well and went to bed when i got home and woke up at 12:30. Obviously still not over the cold.

Sunday

For the past week I've been suffering with a heavy head cold so no blogging.

A few highlights. Told the woman in the shop I had a cold and she recommended drinking warm tea (or possibly milk?) The post-woman told my mailbox was the wrong way around and should be raised a bit. I was starting to think that myself but its not readily apparent.

Roll on Monday as I need to replenish the stores. Not been for 2 weeks so pretty low on stuff.

I posted a Xmas card last week. I'm hoping for an email so I can tell how long it takes to get back home.

Went to the pub at 7:45pm and they chucked us out at 8:30pm! Its hard work getting a drink around here!

Youtube Roll

While I have the excuse of being of my head on flu toxins lets try some video fun stuff:




One more and I'm off to bed:



Alright, 2:

Ill

Got a nice heavy cold to keep me busy/in bed so blog will be updated later this week.

Found one of my favourite videos without Steve Wright being annoying on it. ie he isn't on it at all


Gosh, doesn't Lemmy look young? He's the same age as my father and looks 20 years younger than I am now.

Stacia? Oh yes.

Cold

This morning was novel. I had to chip ice off the gate before i could get out!

Shopping

Went to Körmend for some stuff today. got onions potatoes and some meat for a Goulash on the weekends ('Gulyásleves' or "Cowboy Soup" as they call it here) The sky looked a bit threatening on the way to Tescos and, sure enough, it started raining on the way to the bus stop.

I had a thought on the way that I really shouldn't be buying bulky stuff from Tescos instead of the shop as any savings I make are eaten up by the bus ticket. So only rare or small items from now on. This would include beans and essentials like Guinness. Guinness, unfortunately, is colossally expensive so I really have to cut down on my once a month tipple. For the price of one 440 ml can I can buy three 500ml bottles of expensive local beer like Dreher. Put like that its a non contest really.

Got on the bus and... well I easily found a seat which after the past few weeks of struggling past kids who wont move out the way it made a bit of a change. Schools must be off again or something.

Had beans on toast for tea. I discovered what I'd bought a few weeks ago thinking it was chilli powder was in fact chilli seeds. I'll have to think about grinding them up.

Had some Guinness

Wednesday

Feeling under the weather today so no heavy work. Took my plants outside as it was pretty warm. I'm experimenting to see if I can grow beetroot and radishes indoors for winter. Would be useful I think. of course a greenhouse would be better but its a start.

I also seperated the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkin mush I scraped out over the weekend then washed and dried them on trays. I got about 3/4 of a pint of seeds. If only half germinate next year I'll have pumpkin soup every day for decades!

Tuesday

Normally, these days, I seem to get up 4am and manage to fall asleep just as the alarm goes off at 5:30. Today was different. Woke up at 3am. Not an improvement, let me tell you. Pulled a back muscle or something.

I went to the shop about 6am for the usual bread and milk. The shopkeeper threw me by giving a choice of bread; half-brown or pink. Something may have been lost in the translation but I went with half-brown. I'd taken about 40 forints worth of 5 coins and this, by coincidence, was the amount the bill was over a round 100. 240 in all so the shopkeeper got some coins now.

Pottered about all day then went to the pub.

Oh, I finished off the last of the chicken. These days a chicken does me for about 4-5 meals before there's just the bones and whatnot left. This I freeze until I have 3 carcasses and then I make chicken stock of it. If I had pigs then I'd feed the solids after straining them out of the stock and I'd be wasting nothing from the chicken which is my long-term aim..

Shop

Went to the shop in the evening for a few beers. also I was wondering, from the pub episode last night, whether I'd set the clock the wrong way.

Shop was open, the clock showed the same time as mine so that was OK.

The woman said she didn't have any 5 forint coins but I said that wasn't a problem. Normally I have hundreds of the things but must have left them at home. must remember to bring them to the shop tomorrow.

GMT+1

The clocks went back here as well. I wasn't too sure if they went back the same time or not. The real bad thing is that Hungary is so far east it should be in a different time zone to, say, Madrid. the result is that sunset at 3pm or 4pm is likely after November.

Today mopped the floor, salt scrubbed the wooden table and then set about converting the half a (huge) pumpkin into soup. I had only a couple of small onions so used a leek as a substitute.

I quartered it and put half in the freezer.

Thought I'd update the blog while its cooking.

I went up the pub and got there about 7:45. The owner was already stacking the chairs up! An unintentional dry night, not my favourite kind!

Cider

I don't think I mentioned that the apple juice was a different colour and smelled different to the 1st batch I did. The apples looked different too. This means I can get a different variety to the ones I already have by having some of the local trees. I'll need three.

Today I re-racked the cider into a new demijohn. Well, not new exactly but a different one that I'd sterilised. I strained it though some nylon netting which I've brought over with the intention of using as "cheeses" in an apple press. Got about a double fistful of pulp out of it.

Of course, siphoning does mean you get a mouthful of whatever your siphoning but at least this was Cider rather than, say, petrol! This batch tasted rather sweeter and less dry than my previous batch.

Should be ready in about a fortnight.

Oh yes, before I forget. Today was a bank holiday and anniversary of 1956. I think it was this time last year I accidentally took my parents to the middle of a riot, as you do.

Wash Day

Spent most of the day washing up as I now seem to have recovered from the cold. Went over the house with the cleaner and, at some time over the weekend, I'll need to go over it with a mop and bucket.

Shopping

Decided to go to Körmend today and restock the vegetables. This is the worst part of coming out here so late in the year instead of May, when I wanted. I now have to buy all my food until I can harvest my own next July onwards. I'm burning through about 40,000 forints a month which I certainly cannot keep up forever.

I recognised the bus driver and he obviously recognised me as he simpy said "Jó napot, Körmend?" so I didn't even have a chance to practice my Hungarian and just said "Igen, köszi". (Yes. Thanks)

Anyway, went to Lidls this week. Unfortunately, the only spuds on offer were in 25Kg bags so that was out. Got some eggs as I was low and some milk. The veg looked good so next week I may do a "pickle" run and get the ingredients for a huge piccalilli cook off.

Still felt rough when I got back home so haven't fully recovered yet.

Powercut!

It was expected today as I had a word with Steve in the pub last night. We were supposedly posted notices but I don't remember seeing anything other than the normal Lidl/Tesco adverts. I'll have to start paying them attention again rather than bunging them straight in the compost.

Oh, I didn't mention but while cooking I had most of the windows open but the house still smelled rather industrial after all the cooking.

Cold

As well as the weather being cold I seem to have caught one. I simply pottered around the house most of yesterday.

Got up late today and about 8am all the power went off. Rather unexpected that. Around about lunchtime I started getting concerned so I dug up my paraffin cooker out the garage and started assembling it and filling it up.

I lit it on the cooker to start of but since its rather tall and with the pans on top coming up to chest height I thought it an accident waiting to happen. I moved the whole edifice to the floor near the door. Lots of stone flooring in case of spills!


Disassembled.

.
Time for Coffee!

Managed to make myself a toasted bacon and cheese sandwich so not all bad :)

Shopping

Got it right today!

Bus was full again. Seems to be the school run or something. Felt a bit under the weather and had a sneezing fit when I got home.

I went to the pub, its been nearly a week so I was expecting people to forget who I was.

Nearly Shopping Day

After 3 days inactivity caused by installation of new kit on PC I decided it was high time to get some some shopping done done in Kormend.

% minutes before the bus was due I realised I didn't have my ATM cards so went on a hunt for them. Found them 10 minutes after the bus had left!

The weather has also dramatically cooled going from the low/mid 20s to hovering just over 1C in just a week! Global warming my arse.

Shopping day tomorrow.

Had a go at juicing the apples Steve gave me and put it in a demijohn. I woefully underestimated how many apples I needed and should have got 2 buket at least. If you have to much you could always just drink the juice but having too little is a disaster. I reckon theres about 2-3L of juice so should be OK

Apples

I was up fairly early and had my semi regular breakfast of porridge oats. Started the washing machine on its "endless cycle". Every other setting does something unexpected so I leave well alone.

Went outside and sprayed some more weed killer on the Knotweed. Since your supposed to leave it for a week I'm taking that as "spray every week". I expect to have cleared after the 1st frost at this rate!

Went over to Steve's at lunchtime and got a bucket full of apples and some turps/spirits for the brush. I got a bucket full as that roughly works out to about 5L of juice, more or less. So more cider in a couple of weeks times :)

Opened the windows to let the paint fumes clear and examined my handiwork. Seems the later painting is better than when I started but the paint coverage is fine so I'll touch it up tomorrow.

Ran out of washing up liquid so my blitz on the dishes came to a grinding halt

Painting... again

This morning i opened the blinds and tied up the netting and started the actual painting. Covered quite well so I may be quite pleased with the result.

When I finished I then realised I had a problem and have probably just lost a brush. I forgot to get spirits or similar to clean the brushes with! Damn! Well, i'll have to get some Monday and just have to hope for the best.

I did notice that the outside windows were in a worse state that the indoor ones. So thats another job I'll have to try and get them done this week too. The forecast doesn't look good, rain all week :(

The tin says it takes 24 hours to dry so as the bedroom stinks of solvent I'll sleep in the other bedroom tonight.

Painting

Got woken up at 8am by "helper" knocking at my door. He had one of my ID cards in his hand. Apparently it had dropped out of my pocket while I was fishing out my Hungarian phrasebook last night in the pub!

I was trying to explain that I had made some pickle but I think I gave the impression that I was after some (more) cauliflower. Will probably find out Sunday whether thats the impression I gave as I may get taken to someone selling cauli in the village..

When I'd come to, about 3 hours later, I did some preparatory work on my window sills. Sanding them down then giving them a bit of a scrub.

repotted the radishes. Hope to have a couple for winter.

Painting

Another hot day so no gardening but I did make a start on preparing the windowsills. As well as the paint peeling, it doesn't look as if its been cleaned for years so after I've sanded it I'll probably give it a wipe down or something.

Thinking about it, I should have taken a photo for a before and after comparison!

Summer again

According to the forecast it was going to be a scorcher today but as it was overcast I pottered about inside and by the time I got out it was Summer all over again!

Caught the bus to Kormend. This is the second trip of the week and mainly so I could get some paint and stuff so I can do the windowsills in the main bedroom. As the paint is peeling all over the place I though best do it now before winter well and truly settles in.

I managed to get through asking for gloss paint without using my phrase-book or dictionary. Admittedly I'd written it down but i must have said it right as the woman in the shop didn't sneak a peek. Looking at it its "high gloss" or possibly "tall gloss"

While waiting for the bus, some bloke come up to me and proceed to pull some wool or something out of a briefcase. I thought "He's either gonna sell me something or he's a nutter." (I tend to attract both for some reason)

So I stopped his spiel in mid sentence by saying, "I don't understand, I'm English"... well I didn't actually say that as I said it in Hungarian but there you go. He said "Excuse me" and off he went.

I really need to learn some Hungarian swear words.

Gardening

Had another go today, raked up the grass I cut yesterday and put it on the haystack. Cut another lawns worth before calling it a day. Heres the famous Japanese Knotweed.



Its starting to die off at the edges enough for me to work my way to the centre.

Non Bin Day Monday

Did about a half hours scything today. Not much, but I seem to be slowly catching up on the grass. Added more material to my haystack and collected some walnuts. I have some photos which I need to sort out before posting.



I went to Kormend and got some vegetables and spices. The idea is to make some piccalilli for the winter. Spent the rest of the day cooking and washing up. At least I have Guinness to look forward to when I put my feet up.

I noticed all the beans have died and the peas have started drying out/ dying off for winter. I'll probably dig them in tomorrow.

2 Projects to do before the end of the month: Measure out and dig some holes for 3 more apple trees; and open out a plot for over-winter onion sets

End of Summer

Pretty cold in the bedroom this morning so I decided to switch the heating on. That was fun. While the technology is late 20th early 21st century the language is German. I've twiddled more knobs than Cynthia Payne trying to figure it out. Eventually got it sorted and turned the thermostat up. Success!

Strimmer

Used the strimmer to day to finish off the side lawn.

At the shop I noticed they were selling some potting compost or "viragföld". only £2.30 for 20 liters so not bad. Used it to plant some radishes and beetroots. The ones I tried in the garden never even germinated so I'll see if its the seed or whether the garden needs seeing to.

Soup

Today I used some of the stock tomake up a soup. A bit of a "nail soup" mish mash. I fried some onions till they started to go brown, this was so caramelisation would add a stronger flavour. Put some potatoes and parsnip in and used a tin of corn beef for the meat. Simmer fro about an hour then added some sweetcorn and simmer for another 5 mins. It was pretty tasty.

Stock

Finished the chicken stock off today.

You're supposed to simmer it for about 4 hours but at ten O'clock last night that wasn't going to happen. So. supposing that the 2 hours simmering had pretty much sterilised the contents and the pan I put then in the fridge and cranked it on full blast Not straight away, otherwise I'd be cleaning broken glass and stock out of the fridge at midnight. Not good.

I fished the more bulky stuff out with a slotted spoon and strained the rest though muslin cloth. I then reduced it by 2/3rds and filled some ice cube bags with it and froze them. Some of the bags burst so I think it might be worth investing in some ice cube racks instead. Enough for 2 or 3 litres.

Threw the bones away. No this is where having pigs would be useful as I'd simply shred the carcasses and give them to the pigs. At the moment, all I can do isjust throw them away. Seems a waste.

Monday

Start of a new week.

I was in the shop 6:10 for my bread and milk.

Had breakfast and did some gardening.

I mixed up another batch of Roundup and gave the Knotweed another going over. Seems to be working. You have pale sickly looking Knotweed plants surrounded by total botanic devastation, like a miniature Skaros. I'm now able to get at plant further towards the centre of the clump and give them a taste of Liquid Doom! Muhahahaha.. Where was I? Ah, yes gardening.

I did about an hour with the strimmer on the side lawn so as to compare with Scything. Took about the same time but look different.

Went to Körmend to get a backpack. I thought Tescos would be likely but couldn't find anything there. Got some Guinness though, so not a total loss!

I remembered I need some stuff for my chicken stock so I stopped off at the co-op on the old square and got some bits and pieces.

Made myself a chili and made a start on the chicken stock.

Stout again

Sampled some of the stout and it was incredibly sweet. I'll take another reading to check but its undrinkable at the moment.

Stout

Today I was trying to go to Szentgotthard but as it was time to check on the state of my beer I dropped the hydrometer in the fermenter. Spot on 1000 so time to rack it off. Filled the barrel and one bottle which I give to one of the locals on Friday.

I heard that Keith Floyd died yesterday so I bought a bottle of red wine to commemorate him

Cider

Today I sampled the cider.

It was drinkable but not one of the best I've tasted. It was extremely Tannic, to the extent it was very hard to tell if it was sweet or dry. Next year I think I'll ferment the juices separately and then blend them together. I'll need more airlocks and demijons.

Not sure how strong it was but I had a filthy headache in the morning.

Kalium

Went to the shop early and got 2 loaves of bread to last the weekend. i always seem to run out Sunday. While I was there discovered some "Kalium diszulfit". Now Kalium is the Latin name which is used to give the chemical symbol for Potassium (K). So this was in fact Potassium DiSuplhite, which is an acceptable substitute for Camden tablets. Here, home brewing isn't a hobby for the slightly odd but something virtually every household indulges in.

Won't be using it so much this year, as the fruit season is well nigh finished but will be using next year when I hop to be producing a lot more Cider... or vinegar... or chucking dirty water away.

I've also found a supplier of apple trees which, while a bit more expensive than the local ones, has the advantage of being able to pick the characteristics of the fruit I want and in this case I'd like more sour ones. I'll order some for October and plant 3 near the ones I have.

Next year I also hope to have a beehive and bees to help with the pollination.

Scytyhed 2 more rows before getting ready for my weekly trip to Kormend. I've now roughly hacked out a box shape which I hope to clear this weekend. I also gave the Knotweed another squirt for luck.


As with all the best English blogs in Halogy, heres my scythe.

Was very tempted in Kormend to get a bottle of Port but decided to get a bottle of wine instead!

My 1st Cider Batch

My 1st Cider Batch
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

The bottles and demijons were delivered today. By the same chap. He seemed to be wondering what I was up to but Ihad no idea what he said!

The bottles looked either secondhand or have been stored in and old shed for a while as they were covered in dust. So I washed them all out and then sterelised the demijons.

Once I'd rinsed them out I racked off the cider. Since I was using a siphon I caught a mouthful of the stiff and its seems prety drinkable now! Defintely not apple juice now.

Cleaned out the fermatation vessal (posh word for a large bucket) and put my stout kit to work. I'll be able to mix my own poor mans black velvet in a few weeks!

Parcels

Today had a bit of a minor panic. I'm having 2 deliveries; one of shiny new gardening toys and another of beer-making stuff. Trouble is I've barely enough to cover them both so I need to get some money. Hopefully the Posta van will turn up and i can get my money before the parcels.

As it happened, the van turned up as I was getting money from the bloke in the Posta van. (same guy who gave steve the run around 'cos he couldn't be arsed to work the machine. Anyway, i had 2 cards, 1 chipped and one without so I'd argue the toss if he said they both didn't work)

The guy delivering must have been the same one last time as he clocked me getting money and came straight over. didn't bother going to the door. So I gave him the money I'd just got!

Reminds me of the rhyme
That money talks. I'll not deny, I heard it once: It said, "Good-bye."

I got some secateurs to prune the trees, a spray bottle to wash my beans and more roundup for the Japanese knotweed.

I put the Roundup to immediate use and filled my pressure spary with the soltion and gave the patch a good sraying with it. You can easily make out where the watering can went last time as it appears as 2 semi-circular bites into the patch. Using the spray I managed to cover the complete plot using half the amount of weedkiller. Should have got one when I ordered the 1st lot. More importantly IO was able to spray the underside of the leaves which, apparenlty, is more effective for Knotweed.

Oh, seeing how I got the wrong version of Vista I thought I'd get Windows 7 instead of the Ultimate version of Vista. 2GB though!

Cancelled

Today is cancelled.

Later in the afternoon Ifound I could still connect to the internet via safe mode so I logged on to get a copy of Windows so I could renistall. Jeex that was painful. Tok forever and when I got the CD ISO images I found I couldn't burn them to CD. (For the non technical, an ISO image is a digital picture of a CD.) I did find that I could extractthem so thats what I did. A painful amount of fiddling and then I was off installing Windows.

It was only then I thought it would have been a good idea to save all my settings as the new windows was going to format my disk. Too late unfortunately.

Got a nice shiny new Windows Vista but a differfent version of the one I had before. Not sure if I can install all my Dev stuff.

Crash

I managed to scythe a couple of strip around the graden. Basically clearing the nettles from the neighbours boundaried and then marked out a square. As long at its cool this week I should be able to finish it all off by the weekend.

Flipping PC crashed to buggery. I can load Safe mode but normal mode hangs before getting to the logon screen. Have to sort that out tomorrow.

This weekend its the festival of Bucsu. Not entirely sure of the spelling nor the maeaning but lots of people who have left the village come back and theres a big do in the local pub.

I got talked at by one of the local characters and no matter how many "Nem értem" I said, he still carried on talking. No idea what he was on about.

I managed to about 10:30 before I realised that I had too much and went home. (Might have been later!)

Wine

Treated myself to a bottle of wine last night so a late start today. Boiling in the morning so more indoors stuff. Amazing how much work the house can generate to be honest.

Gave the shower a birthday with the vinegar and water mixture in a spray. Works very well indeed and breaks down quite quickly.

Missed the best part of the day, as I noticed it had cooled down rapidly in the afternoon. According to the forecast should have a repeat of this tomorrow.

Just remembered that this is now the start of my 3rd month in Halogy.

Gloves

Today I was having breakfast by half past six and of course it peed down by twenty five to seven! Well I was going to Körmend anyway today.

One surprise was the post lady bringing me a parcel from Amazon. Last time I looked it was due for delivery for the 8th!

After navigating through the conversation where I had to sign, where I had to use block capitals, I opened up my new tool. A sprayer for weed-killer. I'd come to the conclusion that sloshing expensive weed-killer about using a watering can is probably not the best way of applying it and, after not finding any Hungarian sites that sold them, I used Amazon UK. (Needless to say, I found a Hungarian site the day after!)

Went to Körmend. Luckily there was a break in the rain, light drizzle instead of stair rods.

I was quite pleased with my attempt at Hungarian in the one shop. I only used my dictionary outside to look up "gloves". Inside the shop it was pretty much automatic. The shop assistant would say something and I'd reply without thinking of the English phrase 1st then translating. Admittedly I only got the gist of what she was saying and my phrasing could have been better but I got what I wanted without pointing.

Got home just before the Thunder storm broke.

Aphids

Well, i think I know what the problem with the Beans are now. What looks like greenfly and their black cousins. Not having any massed divisions of Ladybirds to sic on them I had a quick browse on google. I've sprayed them with a mild soap solution but apparently this needs to be repeated weekly. If that doesnt work, at least I'll have the cleanest beans in the village.

Scraped up all the dry grass from the from so it looks neat from a distance. The haystack is still the same size even though I put a large heap of new material in it.

As well as the usual cat doings on my plot I found a dead pigeon crawling with maggots and flies. I hastily buried it before adding my breakfast to the garden.

Its homecoming day on Saturday in the village so I'd best go to Körmend and get some supplies in.

Oh, also saw a dragonfly buzzing about the plot. Like a sort of insectile helicopter, hovering , reversing etc

Mornings or Lack of

I've always been a slow starter in the morning but over here that means I miss the best part of the day for doing the garden. So missed it again today.

On the other hand the Ironing Mountain has disappeared along with the Dish Alps. The dirty laundry twmp shrunk a bit too.

I made the apple crumble and had to test it, twice! Seeing how the apples are fairly sweet I didn't use sugar, as you would with cooking apples. I've now stocked the freezer with desserts for later on.

I've ordered some self sealing bottles. While they look old fashioned their a godsend if you make your own beverages. This particular batch will be for the cider I'm brewing :)

Apples

Missed the early cool part so caught up on some of the indoors jobs I've left.

Loaded up my bucket with apples. Theres only a few left now so I'll probably check them when I go past and eat them on the move. I'll be trying my hand at apple crumble as I can freeze that.

Bin Day!

Got up early as today is the bi-weekly bin collection day. (Note your diaries to remind me when the next one is please!) Of course, they didn't turn up til 12:30.

As the morning was nice and cool, I thrashed around the side lawn with the scythe. Unfortunately I hit a bolt on the septic tank cover. Knocked a square shaped hole out the blade! Had to have a go with the ball peen hammer and try and re-shape it. It works ok now but drags a bit. It'll get better as the blade get resharpened over time.

Peas are coming along great, ate some more off the plants. Dont think many will make it to the kitchen. Also had a fresh apple.

The beans though, are giving me trouble. The flowers are going black and falling off but there is now bean inside. Then the plant turns yellow and dies. Lost 4 so far and no idea what's wrong. I'll take a closer look tomorrow see if I can spot anything crawling on them.

scythed part of the plot nearest the house and built a miniature haystack!

The Japanese Knotweed is coming along fine too, unfortunately, although i think I killed off a single nettle so it wasn't a complete waste of money.

Saturday

Cancelled :(

Mind you, it peed down all day so there wasn't a lot gonna happen outside.

Not Weed

Today I decide to turn the Knot weed into not weed by using the roundup I bought. i compared the strengths with my british super strong stuff and its 3 times weaker. I also discovered a flaw in my previous attempt. I reckon it might have been weaker by a 5th of what what recommended! No wonder it still looks healthly.

So to get the right strength using the new bottles I needed 60 ml per litre. basically all 4 bottles into 1 watering can. I mixed the batch up, even rinsing the bottles into the can to save all that killing goodness. I'll take a look in a weeks time and see how its done. I've saved the super strength stuff in order to use in injecting it in September. Cut the canes and squirt some neat stuff down the centre.

If all this fails, I'll tip petrol over it and torch it.

Watered the plants as I reckon that every other day probably isn't good for the beans although the peas love it. Heard a pig squealing like nobody's business from one of the neighbours. As there was a tractor in the vicinity I'm guessing they were killing it with the tractor to move the carcass.

About 12:30 I decided to catch the 12:50 bus into Kormend. I was going on Saturday as the forecast was rain but then I remembered the bus times are all over the place.

Pork for stewing was 20% off so I got a couple of kilos for the freezer. Got some beer so Saturdays cancelled :)

Monsters

Did some scything today, just to make the from patch a bit neater so it looks like someones actually living here I managed to scythe a slug in half, bluch! I also spotted a Praying Mantis. They do the same good jobs as spiders but are, at least, better looking. Couldn't take a picture as it was lost in the grass by the time I got my camera out.

Had a knock on the door about 10. A COD delivery of Roundup. 1st time I've ordered stuff online here so I was quite chuffed with that.

Wednesday

Didn't do much the past few days as the garden virtually seems the same as it was when I started so its very disheartening. On the bright side I dont have to do any more digging.

I did have a call by the post-woman. After signing for the letter I found my address registration card inside. I can now stay here indefinitely! Whoo hoo!

Hiatus

I haven't kept the blog up to date as I've had the parents over for a week and then went to Budapest. I'll backfill a few posts of the more notable events.

To fill in the blank days take one word from the following list and make a sentance. Repeat until you have used all the words up.

Heat, sweat, flies, bite, early, scythe, dig, bread and beer.

The Japanese knot-weed is looking a bit pale and yellow. I may need to get hold of some more weed-killer over here for a second dose.

Cider

I harvested most of the apples before I went to Budapest but hadn't done anything else with them. The idea was to get a fruit crusher and then use a fruit press to extract the juice.

Didn't seem like that many so I got out my electric juicer and started with that. I filled the bucket with water so the apples got most of the major crap washed off them without the wild yeasts being cleaned off too. I chopped them into manageable bit with the cleaver. There were a few more apples than I thought so next year a fruit crusher will be acquired.

Got about 5-10L of juice in my fermentation vessel so I sealed the lid and put an airlock in it. Apparently the wild yeasts take a few weeks to get going. This is a bit of an experiment as ideally I should have dosed it with sulphur and used wine yeast, especially as I'm a beginner! Well, we'll see.

I'll probably get some demijohns in a week or so and rack off the juice in to them to carry on fermenting so I can free up the fermentation vessel for beer. I've also located an Austrian firm that does UK beer kits... and wine kits... and bread kits... and stills!

Long walk

Came back from Budapest today. It finally clicked about the significance of the date. Not what they were celebrating but the fact that there would almost certainly be no buses in Kormend when I got off the train.

Yup, no buses. So I just had to suck it up and walk home. Only took 4 hours, a bit of heatstroke and 3L of warmish water.

It was dark long before I got to Halogy so I changed into my white tee-shirt to give a bit of extra visiblity. Of cause the Mosquitoes had a field day. I'm all for mass spraying of the area with DDT to be honest. At least it isn't poisonous.

Main Square

Main Square
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

Today I had a lift with my parents to Szombathely. I was going to go to the immigration office to try and get the permits to stay here.

I'd spent the last few weeks collecting all the bits of paper and certificates required to get the registration card and address card. It took about an hour not least because of the large amount of paperwork that needed to be done but also there was only one card printer/laminater in the office.

Bizarrely, the staff had to fill in paper check list to show that they had completed the data entry on the computer properly. Back home the computer itself would do this sort of thing. We called it validation.

Anyway, after about an hour I got the 1st card with my address on it and the second will be posted. Again, rather oddly, you need 2 different cards which together act as an ID but are useless individually as ID although there are other uses for them.

Spent another hour wandering around the Main Square

Frog

Managed about an hours scything this morning. Cleared the front lawn and an area by the shed for a compost heap. I put the compost container together and then filled it with kitchen waste. Pretty useful as up until now I've been burying the kitchen waste in the trenches I've been digging and as I've not been digging regularly, well, let just say this is a Godsend.

Did a bit of light weeding and then adjusted the scythe. Now that I've used it a fair amount I now have the practical experience to adjust the thing so its more comfortable to use and so more efficient.

When I came home from the pub I found a frog in the kitchen! Took the best part of 20 mins before I got him in a box and took him outside. "Hop off and go eat some slugs" I told him.

Rain

Poured down today and was much cooler. Although now too wet to do any digging. So I sterilised my beer barrel and brewing equipment ready for the next lot.

Banks

Got up about 5 and put the bin out. Had breakfast then went up the shop for bread.

I did a bit of weeding and watered some new seeds I planted and by then it was already sweltering. And this was 8 O'Clock!

Seeing as not much was going to be done in the garden I thought I would phone my bank up for a certificate for the Residency Permit. They have the same sort of system as us. Liasten to some crap muzak while you wait in a queue.

While they were helpful enough, due to the language barrier I had to go back in the queue until I struck lucky and got someone who spoke good English. I eventually got a bloke switched on enough that he brought the English speaker to the phone rather than put me in the queue again. Sorted out my new address and they said they'd post a certificate by a week or two.

Odd thing while giving my address, I had to spell the name of the village. Then they said exactly the same as I did!

Me: Ho-lodge
Them: Don't understand, could you spell it?
Me spells "Ho-lodge"
Them: Ah you mean Ho-lodge!
Me (losing will to live): Meh, whatever.

Plants

Plants
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

The promised close up of the beans and peas I planted.

Had a knock on the door in the afternoon, some bloke wanting money. I thought it might be something to do with the saving scheme for mains water, or something, so after much mutual non-comprehension I gave him a 1000 ft note. (About £3.50 or a nights drinking!)

When I went out later, Steve informed me he was collecting for charity, no wonder his eyes nearly popped out when I gave him the money. It was 5 times what everyone else was giving him.

Seems the idea of using sticks for beans is unusual here. Most of the villagers grow them up the fences.

Friday

Got woken up at 8 by a knock on the door. Bit of a palaver trying to dress and run at the same time!

After breakfast went to water my plot. We haven't had rain for over a week so I'm following the local custom of watering every two days. I just hope I'm putting enough in.

One of my neighbours turned up and asked me what the plant were. I said they were beans and she pointed out in her garden she was growing beans too. I thought I recognised the flowers, they are planted up against the fence which supports it. Me, on the other hand, has used the UK method of using a bamboo structure.

She did say it was pretty but not sure if she meant "good idea" or "pretty but crazy". Gave the strawberries another soaking as they looked a bit sorry for themselves.

Did a bit of light hoeing and tried to convert the rather lumpy surface into a finer tilth.

Lunchtime I went into Kömend to get some supplies for the weekend. Got a chicken and some cheese. I must say that the Hungarians, whatever other culinary expertise they have, dont do cheese. Imagine the most tasteless cheese slice you can get in Tescos and they're all like that. Coincidently, cheese in Hungarian is "sájt" pronounced "shyte"

Körmend is like the big city compared to where I'm living but is less than a tenth the size of Caerphilly. Went to Lidls as I'm trying to visit each supermarket to see if they offer different ranges. I found they had a better range of meat than Tescos so I'll probably be coming here. They also had bacon that looked like bacon. (Over here that sort is called Angolbacon or English bacon. The normal stuff we'd call streaky bacon) I got several packs and the rest I'll put in the freezer.

On the way back I realised I didn't have any washing up gloves and while pantomiming what I wanted I learned several new words.

I'll do some close ups of the plants tomorrow as a sort of picture diary thing.

Thursday, or is it Friday?

Woke up with a thumping headache due to misjudging the strength of the bottled beer. Still, had to soldier on. Unlike everone else here I have the option staying in bed all day. Not good.

Steve had given me some Strawberry plants so I needed to plant them ASAP before they dried up. Now, I've earmarked a plot of land for all my fruit plant, off to one side of the orchard. (Sounds grand doesn't it, orchard. Only 3 trees though!)

So dug up some of the turf to one side after clearing it with the scythe. (You know, its actually easier scything than using a strimmer?) Underneath was a cornucopia of sand, builders rubble and pebbles. Not really ideal for fruit. In fact the only thing, apart from grass, that would thrive on this type of "soil" would be Japanese Knotweed and I have quite enough of that, thank you very much.

I dug another experimental hole and much the same. So I went to the plot I started, marked off a path, and then dug up a plot for the strawberries, I then dibbed a 3*3 square of holes and shoved the plants in and watered thoroughly.

I checked on my main plot and the plants are about 3" tall already :)

This took about an hour and the usual symptoms, blowing like a whale, sweat pouring off my hat brim like a monsoon and jeans wet through. I did mention it gets hot here, did I? As an example; they had the gritter out the other day, not because of snow but because the tarmac was melting! :-O

I contacted my bank re: certificated bank balance and stuff. I need a certificated statement of my savings in order to apply for residency. As I don't have a job I have to have the equivalent amount of a years earnings in savings.

Citromsav

I went to the shop for the bread and also discovered some Citric acid or "Citromsav". This is useful for both baking and brewing (as both are processes based on yeast its not really surprising.)

Breakfast was porridge with diced pear for a bit of flavour and texture contrast.

Started digging before 8am but gave it up at 9am due to the heat. Usual symptoms, sweat coming off like rain from the brim of my cap so I must be doing something right. Tomorrow may skip breakfast until after I've finished so I can start earlier.

Beans and peas are coming along nicely as is the grass.


Once I've finished the starter plot I can devote more of my precious morning "cool" time to maintenance, such as grass cutting and dealing with nettles. Nettle is easy though. The scythe loves them and they grow back weaker and weaker til they die off. I should keep some to eat, thinking about it, rather than just composting them. (Nettles are brilliant for compost as their roots bring up minerals from deep underground)

Oh Yes, yesterday Steve turned up with some Strawberries. I'm going to have to find somewhere to put them this evening so looks like I'll be digging again today!

Tuesday

Cancelled!

Oh yes, the plane from last week. It was spraying against mosquitoes. I don't think they got the hint though, I got bitten to death last night.

Pears

Market Day in Kormend again and I've missed it. This time its more of what could I need there rather than missing the bus. Still, I have to go to Kormend today anyway to get some meat supplies.

Discovered that you should put the bamboo cane supports for the beans as you sow them so as not to disturb the roots too much. So, although too hot for digging, I used up my bamboos making a frame for the beans. The peas will have to wait. Did a bit of light hoeing at the various weeds, which turned into a bit of a scything session clearing away from my initial little plot.

A first today. I picked a pear from my tree to try and it was perfectly ripe. Delicious and gave me my daily dose of wild yeasts and lacto-bacillus on the skin, the lack of which, in our too clean society, is why allergies and asthma have risen at such an alarming rate. So nice fresh pear, warmed by the Sun.

Later on I visited the Keelings and was given some of the needed paperwork for the registration card.

Had tea then showered and went to the pub. Finished the Stout so Tuesday is cancelled.

Managed to do a bit in the garden. I went up the borders with the neighbours and cut the grass. Well, I say grass but it was mostly nettles on the one side. I used the scythe and once you get the swing right, its actually faster and less tiring than using a strimmer for the same area.

In effect I have three windrows of hay. Since I don't have any animals yet, I'm not entirely sure what I can do with it. I'll leave them for the worms for now, although they'd have to be the size of Pythons to eat this lot.

I did about an hour before the sweat started pouring off the brim of my cap. Thats my timer these days! I know I've done enough when that happens.

Some beans and peas have sprouted. I'll wait a bit longer before putting up the bean poles to keep them off the ground

Today is "Falunap" or village day. Unfortunately I have no idea what its about as I pulled a muscle while sleeping and can barely walk. Shame as I was looking forward to it.

Light housework duties today.

Hopefully I can do some digging tomorrow as its forecast to be overcast. I'll also try and do some scything on the neighbours boundaries, just to show willing.

Friday

Nothing much to report today. Stiflingly hot again. The one good thing is it keeps the mosquitoes down.

Plane

plane
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

Woke up 5 minutes before I went to bed, or at least, that's what it felt like. Sounded like a convoy of lorries was roaring through the village. When I went out to have a look I saw a yellow bi-plane buzzing about.

It was either crop-spraying or Snoopy was looking for the Red Baron.

I went to the shop for bread and milk before they ran out. I decided I'd better water the garden before the sun came up as it would be a hot one today. 20 gallons later and I retired indoors.

I spotted some green shoots and at least these ones are real, unlike the ones people keep seeing in the UK economy.

It was already 28C when I went inside at 7am. Parts of Hungary are set to hit 40C!

So I did the usual indoorsy stuff, ironing, counting cracks in the ceiling, solo I-Spy...

Got up early enough but well in the 20's even at 6. I reckon I'd have to get up when its dark for it to be cool enough for digging.

I watered my plot though and I was pleased to see leaves of something growing roughly where I planted stuff. Standard seedling baby leaves, so I cant tell yet if its beans or weeds. definitely not grass though. I can do a bit of light hoeing in the evenings (quiet at the back!) to keep the weeds down.

Well last nights good idea of having a Stout night cap was on the level of Baldric's "Cunning Plan". Today was thus mostly cancelled.

I did make Goulash in the evening so not a total loss. Not sure if the neighbours would call it goulash but as each village and, indeed, each house has its own variant I think mine is in the allowable range somewhere.

I think I really ought to allow an hour a day for studying Hungarian. For one thing it'll give me something to do when its too hot/cold/wet or hungover to do anything outside. For another, I think it could be pretty darn useful here.

Körmend

Went to the shop at the usual time to get some milk and bread.

By 9 I was out in the garden doing some digging. Managed another 3 rows before calling it quits. Did some calculations on the volumes I'm shifting and its about 1 metric tonne of earth moved in every three rows. No wonder I'm knackered!

I was also a bit stiff from all the scything but the digging sorted that out.

I've worked out that another 6 or 7 rows should finish the plot (and me) off. So if I can keep up the tonne a day lark I'll finish by Wednesday.

Afterwards I went to Körmend to do some shopping. This time I rehearsed the "Which stop" question which threw me last week. I asked for the stop near the mansion or "Kastély mellet van". He didn't asked anything else and the ticket had "Kastély" on it so it worked!


Kastély

I thought it would be a good idea to go to Tescos. Well, I now know how far away it is and its about 20 minutes walk away from the bus-stop. I get dropped off at 13:20 and the next bus is 14:30 so this meant I had about 20 mins to find everything and then 20 mins to get back. Didn't find everything.

When I go to back I went to the house up the road where they sell their produce. I got more eggs and potatoes.

Its amazing how much meat there isn't in the shops. The country is basically agrarian and yet you're lucky to find pork in the shops. Since not everyone in the village have pigs or chickens they must be doing what I'm doing. Bulking up the meal with cheap carbs with eggs and cheese as the only protein source. (Also might explain why they seem to be of the same range of heights as us shortarse Welsh)

Thursday will be 40C in the shade. I think I'll be forced to stay inside and drink cold water (or beer) all day.

Managed about 2 or 3 hours scything what must be my front lawn, except its on the side of the house. And lawn s stretching it as its dandelions, clover and weed grass in equal quantities. Ok, lets try this. "Managed about 2 or 3 hours scything some green stuff."

Sorted out the passport photos so just need to print them now.

Potted about in the shed for a bit and unpacked a bit. Not much today

Rain

Not much today. it peed down and just pottered about the house. Need a load of stuff from Kőrmend so I'll be making the trip Monday.

I tried setting up the camera to take some passport photos and did well until I printed them out and realised I had my glasses on, which isn't allowed!

Went to pub and more or less have a deal with Steve re: Beehives.


Also the Vllage Day, "Falunap", is next week.

Phew!

Came back from the pub last night and thought that as the Stout was a bit on the weak side I'd have a night cap or 2. Bad move. Had a bad hangover this morning so no digging.

Got to the low 30s by ten so cancelled my trip to Kőrmend. Set to hit 34C tonight. Phew what a scorcher!

Spoke to Steve about getting a Residency Permit. Seems a bit of a palaver. Got to have passport and EU health card, check. Special tax stamp from the Post Office, um ok next trip to Kőrmend, a copy of your title deeds ( with its own bureaucratic dance) and some sort of proof of earnings... hmmm. Thats gonna be a tough one as I only have my redundancy and savings. I occasionally get paid rent but not regularly enough to show up.

As today I'm trapped inside I started doing all the phoning people tasks I've been putting off. Finished BT off and phoned up Moneycorp to arrange a regular transfer of money to my hungarian account. With luck, that might do the trick

Current State of Plot.

Current state of plot.
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

This morning it was well in the 20s when I started so I just planted 2 rows of beans and 2 rows of peas. I gave them a good watering and hopefully they'll have enough time to grow and pod. This is a riparian flood plain so the soil should be fertile. There's no chance of frost so I'm in with a chance.

Update on the homebrew last night. Tried it out but seems a bit on the weak side.

Moved the other bookshelf inside and emptied another 2 boxes

This is the dreaded Japanese Knotweed. Today I cut down some stems and carefully put them all in a bucket. A new plant can grow from just a piece of leaf so needs careful disposing of. To be honest the whole area had been strimmed twice so I'm not best pleased with the result.

The bucket I'll leave in the sun for a couple of days to dessicate them then I'll burn them on the pile of garden rubbish I got for a bonfire. Then, cut some more. Apparently this'll take 20 years whereas if I used weed-killer... it'll take 20 years!

Beer and Bread pt 2

Beer
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

Today I was up so early I heard the Church chimes. Apparently it chimes at 5am every day. Nice.

Managed to do 1 more row before the heat and flies got too much, at 8am! Theres a lot of work to be done, not least keeping the grass reasonable. Its already knee height and its lucky I did the nettle patch when I did or I'd need an elephant gun to go in.

Since the digging is limited by the heat, I though I just as well sow the seeds in the half I have got dug. Otherwise, if I wait until I've dug it all it'll be August! Its gonna rain tomorrow morning so I'll do a little sowing in the afternoon . (Peas and beans I thought. Reasonably quick growing so I'll probably get a crop off them before winter.)

Racked off the beer. Fairly tasty so I know have 5 gallons of Stout. Wonder what I'll be doing this evening?

Started off the bread process, fresh bread for this evening, yum!

Here it is!

I see the government is going to fine... erm tax... no, insure everyone's pension with a compulsory £20K. This will hit everyone who has worked and saved for their pension and only the ne'er-do-wells will be better off. We already have National Insurance which is supposed to cover this. Its now shown to be the Ponzi scheme that the people who set it up always knew it was.

Breer and Bread

Slept through the alarm. This is annoying as I cant do any work in the garden after 8am without running the risk of severe dehydration. I'll see what its like at 8pm tonight and if its cool enough, I'll do some digging instead of going to the pub.

I took my sourdough culture out of the fridge last night and gave it a quick feed. I put it in my stockpot this morning with a double measure of flour and water so it should be ready for baking bread this evening. I'm sure there was a metal mixing bowl here somewhere but cant find it.

The beer has a gravity of 1006 where its supposed to be 1000 before bottling/racking off. There's nothing I can do about it so I'll have to rack it off as is tomorrow and hope for the best. If its like the last batch I had then it'll be too sweet to drink.

Latest weather estimate is 28C by 8 O'clock! The pub it is then.

The coolest tomorrow will be 19C between 5am and 8am so I hope to be out in the garden then.

Indoor day

Woke up too late to do anything worthwhile in the garden so did some indoor chores. Even took some socks out the drawer and ironed them!

Bought a couple of cold cans from the local shop and a chicken for cooking tomorrow.

I checked on my beer and the yeast has disappeared! Not a good sign. I'll check with the hydrometer tomorrow to see if any fermentation took place at all otherwise I'll be pouring sugar solution over the garden.

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 30's.

My mobiles been on the blink recently so the alarm on it hasn't been going off. the resuolt that by the time I have breakfast, its too warm to do any serious digging. In fact, the neighbours are hgoing back indoors!

So it was indoor jobs again. I managed two lots of washing as the combination of sun and wind dried the clothes in no time..

In the afternoon I did a bit of scything on an area the size of my lawn back home. Over here it kinda got lost. Found a large area of Japanese Knotweed. I'll scythe that Wednesday and then pick up all the bits and burn them. Hopefully, if I do that ever two weeks the roots will become so weak they'll die.

My current work plan is to dig or scythe until my tee-shirt looks like I've been hosed down with water. I'm pretty sure thats a good indicator of when to stop!

Went to the shop before 7am as it seems to run out of bread by about 8.

Later on I went to the house up the road where they have a sign advertising produce they sell. The gate was locked and the yard full of Alsatians so I wasn't about to hop over the fence. I rang the bell and a girl asked me what I wanted. I replied in my halting Hungarian, "eggs and tomatoes" then she asked me if I spoke German (In german of course). I;ve noticed this a lot that Hungarians will try German 1st before English so to their ears we sound like Germans when we speak Hungarian!

Got a kilo of tomatoes, a kilo of new potatoes and a half dozen eggs for the princely sum of 613 Forints, or about 2 quid. All fresh produce out of the garden.

After something to eat I managed to dig another 3 rows. I've been slipping behind the amount I've wanted to do and thought I'd take advantage of the cooler weather and try and do another row. Another reason is that this now places me exactly halfway through the plot I marked out. Good job I dont need to do this every year.

I also exchanged emails with the lawyer I had out here acting as an address for service for me. We agreed a sum of about 2000 euros for the past 4-5 years. Nice bloke but I really didn't want that bill ticking over. Even if this experiment isn't a success at least the letters can come here.

Next week I really neeed to start looking into getting a residence permit. Although you get 90 days to apply I've used up 14 without making a start so best get it over and done with.

Bit of a dead day today what with the rain and all. I was pretty knackered too as the bites I got yesterday were itching like blazes and kept me up all night.

Found my mobile charge too. Because of the rain I was looking through the coat rack and there was a plastic bag hanging behind my coat with my charger in it.

I went to the pub, in the evening, where Steve gave me a Hungarian cookbook!

I did see a hedgehog on the way home, always a good sign. I'm not surprised given the number of slugs I see. The hedgehogs around here must be the fattest in Europe!

frog

frog
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

I took there photo the day before yesterday but I'm trying to avoid the "wall of text" effect. The picture is of a very well disguised frog. A gold plated non-prize to anyone who spots it!

It rained today so it was indoors chores day. Managed to finish all the ironing and very nearly before I was brain dead from boredom too.

It brightened up a bit later and so I moved one of the bookcases into a gap I'd measure behind the door in the guest room. I moved about 4 or 5 boxes of books out of the garage/toolshed and stacked them on the shelves. Its a bit more homely now.

Had another go at putting and edge on the Bill hook. Probably does D6 instead of D4 now. (An in joke for those who know). Also filled up my storm lamp with insect repellent fuel. Managed to spill some all over my hands but did think that striking a match with hands covered in petrol was a "Bad Idea" so rinsed them off.

Made a pole for the apple tree to support one of the branches. Come Spring its gonna get a severe pruning. Got branches crossing, pointing downwards and all sorts. I'll expect a tutting from the neighbours as they don't seem to do it the same as the British but then the Brits grow more apples so we do know a thing or two.

Did another 2 rows in the evening and my other neighbour came across to see what I was doing. Now, I've marked off a block the size of a fair sized allotment in the UK and she called it my little garden. Shows the scale of the plots here really! She also identified a cherry tree as a chery tree and not a sour cherry tree or morrello type

8 O'Clock is knocking off time so time for a frosty one.

Got up nice and early for the shop. I managed to avoid the question about bread by asking for white bread. I'm guessing the last few times I went in and she waved 2 different loaves than one was white and the other brown. Seemed to work. Also got some sugar (cukor) and tried to get some butter. I ended up with Flora which I thought may be spreadable butter over here but no, it was margarine. Still, you have to use it regularly for 20 years before you run the risk of heart attack so I should be safe for just one slice of toast!

Had a package in the post, my mobile charger!

Paid the Keelings' bill and later on went up the street to find the place that sells eggs and tomatoes. Shut, of course, so on the way back I grabbed some essentials and caught the bus to Kőrmend. Managed to get the question right but then had an option thrown back at me I didn't understand. He tried German and, bugger me, I understood! The main bus station.

A nice trip considering and took about 20 mins.

Got some mole grips, rubber gloves and insect repellent fuel for my storm lamp then went to one of the Spas for some meat. Checking the dictionary, all the meat was pork (and I now know 3 words for Pig in Hungarian. I though English was bad enough for synonyms)

Got some salami and some suspicious looking bacon. Oh, and some real butter. Spreads are "voy" but butter is "teavoy" or literally "Milk spread" as near as I can make it.

Caught the bus home and noted the 2nd stop is the Kastély stop so thats the one I need to ask for next time.

Did some ironing and then brewed some beer. (Hence the sugar this morning. I never buy the stuff if I can help.)

Stopped raining as I'm cooking tea so much too late to do some digging. I' try tomorrow morning when I get up and do a bit before breakfast.

Steve's English biker mates turned up today so I'll probably go to the pub again. (Til now been trying every other night!).

Yup, went to the pub. Nice people!

Today managed to do some digging from 8:00am til 9:30am. Another 2 trenches. Found some real horrors under ground. Things about 3" long looking like white face huggers. Yuch. Whatever they were quickly got a heavy sod of turf on them.

My next door neighbour turned up and asked what I was doing. Seemed churlish to say "Digging" so I signed sowing seeds. She asked why didn't I use a tractor, told me her age and, after I was inside and worked it out, asked if it was just me or was there family.

After I dug the 2 rows I'd promised myself I did a bit of blade sharpening on the bill-hook. Whatever edge there is on it was put there with an angle grinder so its about as sharp as a spoon. Looks like I'll be using it a lot to hack my way through huge Horseradish roots.

Judit called around 10-ish with the bill for the work already done on the house. Didn't have change so will pay that after a trip to the local co-op tomorrow. (Holnap)

In the evening I cut out a basic path to the plot I'm digging up with the scythe. Worked quite well I thought.

Went to the pub and back home by ten!

UPDATE: The horrible looking grubs are European Chafer grubs if you want to google for some pictures.

Got up with the Larks this morning as I forgot to put the bins out. Had a quick look up the street but couldn't see any bins. this put me in a quandary as I couldn't be sure if today was the right day. About 8 O'Clock the neighbours started putting out their bins so that was OK. Not like back home where the bins are always out the night before even thought the binmen don't come til nine or ten.

I was going to catch the bus into Kőrmend today but the thought of wandering around the place for three hours in this heat was a bit much.

Judit turned up with a charger for my nearly dead phone and offered to take me into town sometime in the afternoon. Hurrah!

Potched about in the tool shed with my scythes and I seem to have got the hang of sharpening them.

Went to Kőrmend and ended up getting an ironing board as well. (Long story, boring too so I'll leave it at that). Got some fresh fruit including lemons. Made a curry out of the chicken leftovers so that's 3 meals I've had out of it and as I'll make a stock out of the rest so a whole chicken is incredibley good value.

Day 2 of Digging

Day 2
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

Started digging at 8am but by 9:30 even my Jeans were soaked through with sweat. Done about 3 rows and reckon theres about 20 in total. Had a shower and changed then we had a big thunderstorm. I'm using a technique called "double digging". Basically you dig up the turf then dig another 6" below this. You turn this over into the trench you previously opened up. (the 1st trench has its stuff on a plastic sheet)

One of the trees I thought was an apple tree is, in fact, a pear tree.

Called home on Skype (what a great idea Skype is!) then went to the pub for a few beers before chucking out time... 9:35pm. Also got the bus times from Kőrmend from the other English guy here.

I was up bright and early today and went to the shop before breakfast. Had a coffee then went to get the bus times to Kőrmend.

The bus times are a little sparse on the weekend so I may be able to get to Kőrmend but not get back! I'll wait til Monday.

I took a quick inventory of the trees. What I thought was a russet style apple tree is in fact a walnut tree. Weirdly the nut grows inside a fruit that looks a bit like an apple. What a n00b I am!

• 3 apple trees
• 1 dead tree (apple?)
• 1 Xmas tree
• 1 Walnut tree

Walnut Tree

There's also several patches of Wild Horseradish here and there, so any beef dishes I do will have freshly made horseradish to accompany it.

Marked out a plot for digging and managed to get the 1st trench dug by 10:30. It was 30C in the shade so I knocked off to go do some indoor chores before I got heatstroke or something. Will try and have another stab in the evening when its cooler.

Didn't go back out in the evening but did manage some ironing. A real pain with no ironing board. I have mentioned I forgot some stuff?

Had Roast Chicken for tea. Will have sandwiches later o too.

A little wrinkle with the electric supply means I can't boil the kettle AND have the washing machine on at the same time!

Had a good idea last night of cracking open the bottle of Port. Turned out to be a very bad idea. This morning is cancelled.

Today was a bit of a non day. Just tidied up and looked for some of my missing stuff. I have come to the conclusion that its all in the big blue box. So quick list of stuff:

• Instant Coffee
• Mobile phone charger
• Spatulas
• Knives
• Mixing bowl and scales

Have to measure everything by hand and eye now :D

Went to pub to have a drink with Steve on his birthday

Today was unpacking day.

At about 9am we had a visit from the Keelings and a someone to help us with the heavy stuff. All the books are now in the tool shed.

I now have 2 fridge freezers and a small cabinet freezer. Should be useful when i fill it with pig bits next year.

Austria

Austria
Originally uploaded by A John Walters

This is arguably one of the best photos I've taken. We were travelling from Bavaria to Graz in Austria when we stopped for a rest break and this is the view from the car park. A car park I ask you!!