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.