A lazy(ish) week (for once)

You may recall that at the end of my last post the weather was so cold that we still had to have the central heating on. Well, yesterday in town it was 30 degrees Celsius at half past 3 in the afternoon. So, whatever makes the weather this crazy, I am happy hiding from it indoors.

One of my glorious deep red roses

We spent far too much time in town this winter (again), so with the arrival of the good weather we now spend more time in the village. The roses are really lovely, the herb garden prolific and generally it is nice to be here. The downside, although, is that there are less photos as basically not much had been happening in the last 10 days.

And a pretty yellow one

My health had also taken a turn for the worse, with two of my chronic conditions teaming up to attack all at once. The worst were my digestion and arthritis. The symptoms were also mixed in with something like a cold, which made me low and sleep badly. But enough of whingeing, we still had some good time in the peace and quiet of the countryside. The deep red roses dominate this year, the paler colours do not want to get going much. Some of the herbs have quickly gone to seed, I'll have to go and collect them when ripe.

Big red tea rose after rain

I was also preparing for some future caching trips, by working out routes and writing down the particulars of the caches to be found. Judith from Debrecen rang me some weeks ago suggesting that as she can't come when she originally wanted in July (due to me being in France and/or Italy by then), she might visit us in June. We agreed that she would come on Friday 14th, so I worked hard on the cache list. I also knew that she had a trip to Transylvania planned, so I was surprised she didn't get in touch to confirm arrival time etc. So I rang her 2 days ago, only to find that she COMPLETELY forgot the whole thing. Ahhhhhh!! Afterwards we quickly sorted it, so she IS arriving on Friday and plans to stay 6days/5 nights.

The Danube bend with all the caches I am still to get

In the meantime I also spoke with Márti and Laci and there is another trip to Csobánka in the diary for the last weekend of June. I would love to go hiking with them in the Pilis, starting at the top and finishing in Esztergom, but I haven't had confirmation yet.

Laci and Márti, an absolutely lovely couple, and our good friends

While this was going on, I must admit I was really angry that while we were on our last caching trip the weather was disgusting, now that we are at home, it started really feeling like summer: sparkling sunshine, high heat with average humidity. I bet you that when we are going to the middle of the Balaton cache in about 2 weeks and a bit by sailing boat, it'll be back to stormy winds and pouring rain.

Screen shot of my phone about an hour ago

We were also having a bit of annoyance, out of which we made a decision. You may recall we let Anna from the Mill house some of her surplus guests in the Bunkhouse and we have even gone so far as giving her the keys, so the guests could come even when we are not at home. Well, on our return this time we found many badly closed shutters, some flapping in the wind, the used linen still there after a week, not being told that nobody is coming this weekend and even the bin not emptied. Decision: No more guests when we are not here! I am doing this to help her, if she cannot make sure that the place is safe, secure and well cared for, then no access unless we are here.

My lunch the other day: Greek salad with a twist

The star event of the week was undoubtedly last night's concert, which I have awarded the "Most enjoyable concert of the year so far!"epithet. David Grimal of Les Dissonances was playing with the Anima Musicae orchestra, doing Beethoven's 7th Symphony and violin concerto. The infectious enthusiasm of David Grimal and that of the entire orchestra was irresistible.

The gorgeous David Grimal

This concert was so enjoyable on so many levels. First of all, because of David Grimal, whom I fell in love with on the classical music channel MEZZO. His creation, Les Dissonances appeals to me as a concept. He made a small speech at the end of the concert how he thinks that the real future of classical music playing is by orchestras like Les Dissonances and Anima Musicae. I agree!! The intimate surroundings, the closeness of the musicians, the lack of a dictatorial conductor, the enthusiasm, democratic method of working and the high quality of musicians, who feel appreciated and give their all.

Anima Musicae: the chamber music setup

The other revelation for me was the concert hall itself. I have never been to the Budapest Music Centre before. It is situated near the Corvinus University near the Danube and been created out of a XIXth century apartment block, imaginatively and beautifully renovated. Roy's favourite idea of unplastered old brick ruled supreme. The hall itself is where the courtyard of the old building was and you could guess where the old doors and windows were.  They also left many of the carved stone supports of the old corridors which are no longerthere. I loved it!

BMC hall

And of course, one of the contributions to my pleasure was seeing Bozsa after quite a hiatus. We fixed up a weekend with her and Árpi too, it'll be either the first or second weekend in August. Unfortunately, I slept very badly last night, because I didn't eat much before the concert, and then worried about reflux, so that eventually my empty stomach kept me awake. You can't win, can you?

My best friend in the world: Bozsa

Next week will be quite interesting, as I have a fight on my hands with the builders in town who are renovating the third floor corridors and dumped all the hardcore right in front of our flat, not only making it hard to get to our front door, but also blocking the light from our windows. Outrageous, I call this, and have already been talking to the house agent.

Yellow rosebud in the courtyard

We also need to finalise  the arrangements for the moving of the mattresses and then a week today 10 to 15 youngsters arrive to stay in the Bunkhouse for an orienteering training camp. Life is always busy, except when it isn't.  There are occasions when that is the case, but very few and far between!