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!