Fiftyfifth week of the pandemic

Busy(ish) week, although nothing too exciting happened. Last Thursday I went to shop for food on my own, as I don't want Roy to get about too much in the current dangerous third wave of the pandemic. Hungary had the highest death rate per 100,000 population anywhere in the world. Still no sign of him getting his vaccination, so I ordered him to stay put. Thankfully, he is quite happy on his computer, watching a bit of TV, having the odd nap and occasionaly out in the garden, now that the weather is getting better.

The CO-OP and the market street on the right

I was only away for about an hour and a half, during which I drove to and from Bér and Palotás, shopped at the household goods store, followed by the fruit and veg. market and finishing off at the CO-OP. As I went a lot earlier than Roy likes to go, there were more people than usually, but to compensate for that, the choice was better. I managed to get my favourite kefir and tried an unknown brand of butter, which since then turned out as good as my usual one from Lidl.

The market had more stalls, bought all the usual stuff (onions, eggs, pears, bananas, fresh sprouts, radishes, lettuce, oranges, satsumas, spring onions, tomatoes, etc., etc. The household shop ordered us some Nestles Cornflakes, (they do some food there too), plus I managed to remember to get another bottle of Mr. Muscle, as I used up the whole litre of it on the bathroom basin.

Covid19 deaths per million people

 

As the third wave is pretty frightening, we had to cancel our appointments, yet again in BP, so we still have not got the new cable box for the internet, TV and telephone in the flat, as well as I have not yet been to Zsófi, my homeopath. God knows when any of this is going to end, as this new variant is really lethal; it spreads like wild fire and attacks young people as well as children more than before. School children have been catching it, as well as young people in their 20's and 30's dying from it.

Sorrel coming through

The internet is full of speculation on why Eastern Europe is so bad. Not only Hungary, but Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czechia and Poland are very similar, although the first place belongs proudly to Hungary. I never read the Hungarian newspapers or websites, but some German commentators on the net have come up with some likely reasons. Like guest workers popping home as and when they fancy, and the lax, ignorant and negligent border controls, which should be supposedly in place, but not really, that never stop them. This way many of the variants have invaded Eastern Europe.

Oregano

Another aspect is the ill discipline, especially amongst the young people, who are also the vast majority of the asymptomatic infectious element, just simply not taking any notice of mask wearing or social distancing rules. Obivously the total lack of closure of non-essential industry, which has never happened and is not happening now, coupld with practically no safety measures on the shop floor, feed the pandemic while getting no notice in the press whatsoever. The people do not trust the government, (quite rightly), but unfortunately that also fuels the non-compliance. So, all in all, this has been a dark time, not just for those who are ill or the families of the deceased, but psychologically on many of us, who watching the infection and death figures feel that this will never end.

Violets in the grass

I have to think of what Alex said often, to cheer myself up: "This too will end!" I am sure he is right, but it is not easy to convince myself of this at the moment. One good news, however, was the arrival of our marriage certificate in the post the other day, and not only it is a lovely authorised copy, but with it we should have all the documents that Roy is likely to need to get his new ID card. We think the 3 absolutely essential ones are: 1. his passport; 2. His current ID card; 3. His current residence card. Others, that are not necessarily essential, but advisable to have in hand are: 1. His birth certificate; 2. His marriage certificate; 3. Recent copies of his and my bank statements; 4. Deeds of our properties in Hungary.I think the deeds to the flat are in BP, the deeds to the village properties should be around here somewhere.

Plump buds on the Germersdorfer cherry tree

My friends who have been already to the relevant department for the change of ID card told us, that they were very lucky and only had to show the first 3. Let us hope that by the time the third wave is abating, or even over, they will not have changed the goal posts. As changing the goal posts is a dreadful Hungarian habit, we wanted to go right at the beginning, but the third wave intervened. Let us hope it will be still straightforward and easy, as promised by both the Hungarian authorities and the British Ambassador, by the time we can go.

Lewis Hamilton with his trophy at Bahrein

One great event of this last week has been the start of the F1 Grand Prix season. They started in Bahrein this year and it was an absolutely brilliant, teetering on the edge of your chair, affair. The Red Bulls are back nearly on par with the Mercedes cars, so the big fight was between the Red Bull of Max Verstappen and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton. The last 20 laps were nerve wracking. Fearing an undercut about 30 laps from the finish, Hamilton had to go in for new tyres and then Red Bull left Verstappen out for another 10 laps, so he had much better tyres on his car at the end. Lewis battled on like the true warrior he is, and this time, for a change, luck was a bit on his side too. His tyres lasted and his skill kept Verstappen behind him right to the end. Apparently, this is the first season opener that he won for many a year. I hope that is not a bad omen, as before, every time he didn't win the first one, he won the year overall.

Book and TV-wise, things are ticking over nicely. I have finished Michael Caine and I am now onto David Niven. On Netflix I found an interesting Italian cop show, which I am still watching, called Carlo and Malik. The latter is a seriously dishy black guy, ostensibly from Nigeria, who has been paired with an older Italian cop, his boss. There's some racial tension, as well as boss/underling conflicts, plus a bit of love and sex as well, so it is quite watchable.

 

Carlo and Malik main cast

Yesterday I also had a go at my VPN help desk again, and this time got a lovely girl from the British Virgin Islands trying to help me with my errant channels. She was really lovely, and things got temporarily OK, but it is not stable, and I am now absolutely sure that I will not renew any of them when they come up for renewal. While I still have the subscription, I will try to watch a few in the middle of the night, when I am awake anyway quite often, just in case it is not only the VPN, but the Internet provider, coupled with not enough bandwidth, that is affecting it.

Roy and the mower

Yesterday we had a lovely sunny day and we decided to try to do some mowing again. This time with the ordinary lawnmower, which has a motor, so we don't actually have to push it, just direct it and walk with it. The back garden is looking great, the grass is short, the herb garden tidied up, the fruit trees full of buds and the barn reasonably tidy. Even the wild garlic is showing itself in the little forest at the top of the garden. Starting the lawn mower was a bit of a hassle, as it didn't want to fire up. We have tried to start it back in February, when we had a mild week, but it didn't take then either. Finally, after trying at least 10 to 15 times, got going. It looks as if there is no choke available, or just we can't find it.

The assistant lawnmower

This coming Thursday there is going to be a full day powercut, so we will probably go out. Assuming the weather is decent we might go geocaching, although there is nothing in less than an hour's or 75 minutes' drive from here, which is a bit tiring for Roy. There is also another cache which needs replacing, as it got nicked as well. If the weather is bad, then we stay at home, but other than my telephone we will have no internet and indoors the light is never good enough for reading, so we will have to sit out on the corridor or in the gazebo, if we want to read.

The chives, that are always the first to start in the spring

Must go now. It is getting close to tea time. I will see if I can find something in the fridge to eat. I'm not hungry yet, but I am sure something might tickle my fancy in the fridge. 😋

The Germersdorfer cherry tree

Fiftyfourth week of the pandemic

This last week was no better or worse than the week before. The only thing that was different is that our food is running out. We still have enough to eat for a while longer, but we must plan for at least a small shop in Palotás and fairly soon a bigger one, possibly in Hatvan. In the meantime I will probably have to postpone the appointment for the new TV/internet/phone box installation in town and my appointment with Zsófi, unless we can do a quick dash in and out. We'll see! This new mutation is pretty awful and as it is young people mostly who are spreading it, I can't see how it will subside soon.

Last Thursday was the 150th anniversary of the Paris Commune, and I attended a Zoom meeting from London to commemorate it. It was lovely to see and hear some of my comrades, but this time I didn't contribute. Wellred Books are republishing Marx's works on France, including the one on the Paris Commune. I might buy a copy sometime, but currently we are trying not to buy too many things by post, as they have a habit of going astray.

The strimmer

One purchase, however, I have made this week. My old orienteering friend, Laci, had been trying to convince me that using mail order from China is worth the hassle. Usually it takes a month or more to get here, but provided what ordered is not urgent, he can reccommend it. He even bought his current mobile phone this way and is totally satisfied. A Xiaomi top range phone cost him just over 25% of list price. I should think, even if it is a pirate one, it is worth risking it. So, I ordered a hair trimmer, as Roy's old one is kaput and we look like wild men and women of the woods currently. It had free delivery and cost only £7. I'll report when it arrives, if it does, that is.

Currently I am reading Michael Caine's autobiography, What's it all about?, and it is such fun! I am really enjoying it. It is close to 30 years ago that I read it last, and he has such a cheeky, irreverent style, peppered with a great deal of name dropping, that it is really like therapy for me. I read fairly slowly, but with this book I am even slower. It has to do with his name dropping, as every time he mentions anyone, I have to look them up on Google, even if I have heard of them. Somehow knowing more about them enhances the enjoyment of Caine's stories about them.

This week I also discovered a Netflix original series from 2016, which was pretty good. Especially the last two episodes, which were full of spot on social and political comments, although no solution was provided. Mind you, you can't expect that, but I enjoyed that overall. Emma Appleton is quite a find, at least for me, as I have never seen her before.

The start page of the group

Another exciting and very pleasurable event happened in relation to the "Wonderful Cserhát" FB group, which I have joined last year. Since then I made friends with its admin person, Anna Pap, and she asked me if I would like to be a moderator on the group's page. I said yes, and now am enjoying this exalted position. We have been thinking about organising a group hike, but with the lockdown at the moment that's not possible. Still, hopefully, if not sooner, but by the summer we might be able to have a go at it.

Castle Stalker in a tidal loch

In order to pass the time, I have decided to revisit my old photos and my choice this week was my trip to Scotland in 2011. I have put up three albums on FB and had a very large number of Like's. Nostalgia abounds in one's life in lockdown, but I find it very soothing. Reliving such a gorgeous trip is great, even if I don't post anything from it. 

Lismore Lighthouse near Oban

 

The main reason for going was a 6-day orienteering event, which is held every year somewhere in Scotland and it has a rest day after the first three days and on that day we took a day long boat trip to the Hebrides. The ocean, the physical environment, the wild birds and some lovely old buildings, gave me memories that I will never forget, photos or no photos.

A steward at Stirling Castle

And finally, yesterday we went geocaching, although this time the progam was as an owner of a cache, not as a cacher that is playing the game. About a month ago I submitted the idea of a new geocache about 45 minutes from home by car. I designed and wrote the cache page and it went through moderation with flying colours.

A reservoir in the distance from the top

Then I couldn't place the box, because of bad weather, and then the latest lockdown. However, the weather improved and the lockdown apparently allows trips by a small number of related people into the countryside, so off we went. Another reason for going was that one of my existing caches has disappeared and I had to replace it. It happened to be en route to the location of the new one, so this was a double hit and another task was completed.

Rocks, trees and the panorama

The missing cache has really been stolen. We couldn't even find the hole it was in. Who on earth would have wanted a little plastic box with nothing valuable in it, plus a short length of sewer pipe that was dug into the ground to house it? There are some strange people around, aren't there?

The village of Nézsa through the trees

For the placing of the new one we drove to within a mile of where I wanted to put it, Roy waited for me in the car and I walked off with geocache box, a bird box which is the hide it goes in, wire, pincers and a few other bits of tooling for fixing it to a tree and the hike was gorgeous. A single mile should take no effort, but the 170 metres of height difference was quite hard. Still, I went very slowly, enjoyed the forest, although surprisingly there was practically no bird song. In our own garden there is a concert from dawn to dusk at the moment, but not in that forest.

The ridge path

Finally I got to the top of the mountain and the views were gorgeous. Unfortunately, by the time I got there the sun went. So the photos are a bit dull and dark, but such is life. Once we got home we had a quick lunch which was a curry. It is a long time since we had a curry and that was really delicious. The freezer is still pretty well stocked, so we won't starve. Well, not yet! 😀

Veg curry, rice, dhal, mango chutney, pappadom

 

 

Second year - fiftythird week of the pandemic

This last week the daily infection figures in Hungary went above those of the UK. Over 16,000 dead so far and 5 or 6 thousand new cases per day, this is not very encouraging. We had to cancel everything in town and stay put. The ridiculous farce of the cable modem + landline + internet connection in town continues. The lady I spoke on the phone to a couple of weeks ago was very helpful. She cancelled the earlier date and I fixed one for 30th March, hoping that either the numbers go down by then, or if not, I'll cancel it again.

Lovely old tree on the ridge

Then the other day I get a notification by SMS that this week somebody will be coming with the box. By the time I managed to get hold of them to ask what the f..k is going on, it was the same day the guy was due. On the phone I had a bloke this time, very helpful but a bit dim. Finally, we agreed to stay with the 30th, let us hope I will be able to go. Roy still has no sign of a vaccination date, so if it can't be cancelled again,  I will have to go alone. Brrrrr!!

On the National Blue

The change of address for Roy had to be put off by a week, because of the lady who deals with it taking a week off, due to a family bereavement. No resources to have a replacement, so we have to wait. The weather is very cold, but mostly sunny. The wind got up this week, so windchill adds to it all. Still, the sunshine when it does shine, is most welcome to light up my room in the morning.

The Hand

One really bad news was Stephen's new cycling accident. He hit a pothole and went flying. This time he fell on his head, which thankfully was mostly saved by his helmet. He still ended up with concussion, but apparently it is only mild. How he knows that, is anybody's guess, as he did not call an ambulance, did not go to hospital, therefore had no head CT. I understand that in a pandemic it is wise to avoid hospital visits unless absolutely necessary. But, in my estimation this was such an occasion. He is still working, sitting in front of a monitor all day, which is well known to slow recovery and might cause the worsening of concussion symptoms.

Close-up detail

There is such a thing as concussion syndrome, which is pretty debilitating, and I know a girl in Canada who has had it for about 5 years now. It is probably caused by no rest after the accident, so I am sure you know where I am getting with this. Still, Stephen cannot be told anything, so I didn't. Meaghan, his brother's wife, who is a graduate nurse, had very gingerly advised him of the above, so I am now keeping my fingers crossed that he listens.

Back towards Hollókő

 

The last few days were sunny, but we were stuck indoors, but by today couldnát stay put, and we went on an outing to Hollókő, which is about an hour's drive away. There is a new geocache along a ridge about a mile and half from it, so I got Roy to drop me at Hollókő, then drive to the next village South to pick me up. The walk was only 3 miles, but it went along a glorious ridge, from which the views were lovely and which led to the cache. It was placed near a fascinating viewing platform, which was made out of dead wood found in the nearby forests, in the form of a hand.

The Ridge Walk

The cache was quite easy to find, and the platform was thankfully not too full of people. In the valley below there is a horse riding centre, which is obviously going well, as they are spreading into the hills at a great rate of knots. En route home we did a bit of shopping and Roy had quickly thrown together a veg soup, which is my favourite. Earlier on in the week he also made another apple crumble from our own apples, which was also delicious. Amazingly, our apples are still looking great, after about 5 months, so now that we are running out of bought fruit, we have something to fall back on.

Some Jonagold apples from last autumn

I have no idea what is going to be happening next week. If the infection figures are still rising or are just flattening out, we will be going nowhere.

Fiftysecond week of the pandemic

We're a day away from the exact date a year ago, when we have come down to the village to try to keep safe. Various lockdowns and quarantine periods notwithstanding, it has not been that terrible. There are millions all round the world who have it a lot worse than the two of us. We have a large house and an enormous garden. That in and of itself is a great asset, and even when we felt imprisoned by the bad weather, we still have more space and flexibility than many others the world over.

View from the back garden

The day after the vaccination last week, I had some strong muscle and joint pains, but those disappeared in a day or two, so I can count myself lucky with no serious side effects from the vaccine. The next dose is due on 8th of April, let us hope that they do not move the goal posts again. Roy's is no further, but I have just heard today, that apparently they are planning to have vaccinated all 65+ who registered for a vaccine by Easter. If they keep their promise that after that they will make registration available to those who have no health card, we might be in with a chance for Roy. Touch wood!!

My little forest at the top

In the meantime another bureaucreatic nightmare has appeared on the horizon. His ID card needs renewing in the light of Brexit. Fortunately, I started discussing this with some other expats, and it appears that there has been an agreement between a high ranking local official and the British Ambassador, which apparently resulted in a simplified, easy to go through process for this. I have heard of several people who have done it and confirmed that it was no hassle.

Bit of moss in the garden

 

We were planning to do this this week, but with the infection figures through the roof, most likely cause by one or two of the current variants, we have decided to stay put. There is a provisional date for the 24th March, when a friend and one other guy are going to that office and should conditions have eased by then, we'll join them. We'll see how it goes.

This past week was a combination of doing things outside when the weather was good, as well as being indoors doing some binge watching on Netflix, chatting to friends on Messenger, gathering information on likely documents needed for bureaucratic reasons and reading books. 

Ryan Eggold from New Amsterdam

 

Talking of books, I have finished More Fool Me from Stephen Fry and now am onto the first volume of his autobiography Moab is my Washpot. Binge watching was 2 whole series of New Amsterdam, which fascinated me. Yet another fast and furious medical drama, but this time with some progressive social content as well. As my VPN doesn't work with America any more, unfortunately I can't watch this year's series 3, which started a couple of weeks ago, so I'll have to wait until it appears on Netflix, hopefully before the end of the year or early next year.

Bea-eater nests in the loess

Outdoor activities included a bit of geocaching on Sunday, when we went to pick up 2 caches on the other side of the A21, just north of Hatvan. The first one was a multi with 4 points mostly on a hill that was supposed to be an old vineyard, but it no longer had any old vines. They have cut the lot down and started replanting with new growth with aluminium posts. The once pretty, romantic hillside covered in wineyards, now looked like the Somme and that made me sad.

Old memorial to the vineyards

 

Of the four points we found 2, one  was definitely missing and the other I couldn't find, but apparently it was there, under the tree I did find, but hidden underground, covered by a flat stone. The password, however, was easily guessed, so all was well.

The lovely old tree where I didn't find the cache

The second cache was a single location one, which took us to a row of nice wine cellars. Even though it was Sunday, the cellars were all closed, as it was too early in the year and too cold, even with the sunshine, for people to have come out and opened them up. En route we filled up with petrol, so should we have to go anywhere suddenly, we have enough fuel for the trip.

The row of vine cellars by the second cache

 

Another mutual activity this week was a bit of communal cooking. It is always fun to cook together. We started with a shot of palinka for Roy and some port for me. My dish was liver with onions and paprika and Roy's Wiener Schnietzel. I put a few photos up on FB and it got an unusually large number of Like's. I suppose they were quite photogenic, that's why.

Roy's Schnietzel

 

The weather is cold again, but at least it is sunny during the day. We are staying put for a while and are doing the docuemtn gathering on the phone or online. Once the infection figures have subsided a bit, we'll be off to town for a while.

My liver with onions and paprika

Next post sometime next week!

 

Fiftyfirst week of the pandemic

Crumble

I think I left you with the news that we were planning our first foray into BP for about 2 and half months this week. I booked a variety of appointments, we were going to check the flat out and generally do a few things. Then the third wave hit. Suddenly there were 4 to 5000 new cases daily in the capital, one of the Nógrád towns on the Slovakian border had a massive spike in infections and hospitalisations, including this time children. So we cancelled everything and decided to stay put. In fact, the one important thing, which was the arrival of the new digital TV box on Thursday, just got postponed by about a month, the rest were cancelled, plus my appointment with Zsófi, my homeopath, was also rescheduled for the end of March.

Roy and his pancake

Shopping is going to be done locally, now that we have discovered the open market and CO-OP store in Palotás, that might be totally OK. In fact, one of the discoveries last time, which I failed to tell you about was another food store, which had my favourite cornflakes in. They only had one box, but the guy promised that he'll order me some and will let me know when they arrived. So, that is only a 20 minutes' drive, so no great shakes, and the fruit and veg that we bought in the market was 100% fresh and delicious, so I am sold on the idea. Unfortunately, sooner or later we will have to go back to Tesco and Lidl for stuff that is not available anywhere else, but I think from now on the interval between visits to those two big supermarkets can be extended to 6 or even 8 weeks.

Healthy snack from the garden

We have just now run out of special fruits we bought in the market, but no bother, we are back to our own apples, of which we still have about 6 traysful. In fact, Roy rediscovered his apple crumble making skills, and we also have chopped apple on our cornflakes in the morning. We have also made some pancakes on Shrove Tuesday filled with our apples, that I forgot to include. Here they are, tribute to those lovely apple trees that we have.

János Balázs

Andra Végh

 

Last Saturday I also had a lovely online concert from the home of one of the soloists, János Balázs, the pianist. Also there was Andrea Vigh, a harpist and director of the music academy, and the whole thing lasted about 90 minutes and was full of lovely pieces of classical music. I didn't ask back for the money of my subscription ticket of both 2020 and 2021 which were completely cnacelled, so I am allowed a few of these online concerts free in return. I hope they carry on with these, as they are really delightful.

Lots of tits on a mug

Another great happy event was the arrival of another present, this time from Stephen and Hannah, in the form of a tea mug with lovely little tits on. Roy was hoping for different tits, but I was, and stil am, totally satisfied with the feathered variety.

Another significant event has delighted us this week, namely our first foray into the garden to do some tractor mowing. At the end of last autumn we ran out of energy and good weather to pick up all the fallen walnut leaves, so Roy decided that while the grass was still short, if we mowed it, we would chop up the leaves and then he could burn them. That is exactly what happened, and while we were both done in by the end of it, we felt we have really achieved something.

The resident tractor driver

I finished The Fry Chronicles and went over to More Fool Me by Stephen Fry. This is equally funny, perceptive, a bit obsessional in places, but always enjoyable. As I had a few very bad nights' sleep this week as well, and that book came in handy in the early hours of the morning. Unforgotten's 4th series is going at the moment, but unfortunately Channel 4 has fouled up as well. I am a bit sad, but with the good weather coming, watching TV will not be a prominent pastime, like it was in the winter.

Nelly's snowdrops

And finally this week's start event:

I GOT MY FIRST DOSE OF THE PFIZER VACCINE THIS MORNING!!

 

It was a couple of days ago that I got the telephone call, that I have to go to the local hospital a half an hour drive away and will get the Pfizer vaccine. I was over the moon, although there was a small amount of anxiety too, as recently I have had my sneezes and coughs back again and was worried that they might not vaccinate me if I admit to it. As it happens, I have a lot of anxiety, stress and depression, when I have to live with high levels of stress for any length of time. One of the symptoms of this is precisely like a cold or flu. It comes and goes and it has been around for quite a while, so I decided to think positive and forget about it. I was fine, the jab was almost unnoticeable and so far, (about 4 hours on)I'm fine. My arm hurts a bit, but that's all. Some friends of mine said that they had headaches or diarrhoea, but so far nothing. I hope it'll stay like that and I can relax for a short while. The next dose is in 5 weeks, and it is normally thought that one more week at least is necessary for full protection. Then, of course, comes the question of how long it lasts, but I'll think of that later, as I have enough to worry about now.

Our lunch today

Prawns and stir fry with rice

The bottle of champagne we consumed

I don't think we bought this, it must have been a gift

 

Once we were at home, we realised that today is our 51st Wedding anniversary. So we celebrated with prawn stir fry, washed down with a glorious bottle of extra dry champagne. It was delicious and now Roy is sleeping all this morning's excitements off and I am typing this blog. Let us hope that with this bit of positive news, Roy and I have entered a new news cycle, which will cheer us up and help us towards some normality. May I wish the same on to you all out there and between us we might even meet personally some imte! 💗💗💗💗