Sixty-first week of the pandemic

Seriously busy week, with two lots of geocaching: one at the beginning, the other one on the end. In fact, the first one was on the day I posted the last blog post, the second one yesterday. Last week Roy and I went round one of the Northern-most part of the County of Nógrád. We were so close to Slovakia that my telephone switched to a Slovak network. Initially we went to Ipolytarnóc, which is a World Heritage site, due to millions of years old petrified pine tree trunk they found there. Unfortunately, as Roy has not been vaccinated and has no Immunity Certificate, we couldn't go into the museum, but we had a lovely walk along a pretty valley and study route all the way to the geocache.

A couple of "Racka" sheep in Ipolytarnóc

The second location was a small, but wild ravine, which thankfully, this time was totally dry. You could see the marks that the ancient Pannon Sea left in the sides of the ravine, being deeply incised by the waves. The cache was straight up one of the sides, which was rather hard, but the whole experience was dramatic and quite exciting.

Roy at the bottom of the ravine

Thursday, Friday and Saturday was spent trying to recover from the physical exertions of the trip out, mostly on the computer, doing paperwork, organising stuff etc. Prior to that, on Monday my blood test results came by e-mail. It looked good, except in three bits where my levels were above the recommended numbers. Currently I am waiting for the private clinic deciding whether they will carry on with the yearly card, which gives discounts on many consultations, but they seem to be dragging their feet. Sooner or later I will need to show those results to someone, so it is either back to the state sector, (not recommended) or pay over the odds, hoping that the card will appear one day. 

Roy leading the way

I am a bit disappointed in this  clinic, as I have had very high opinions of it until now. Medically, I still cannot fault them, but business practices that keep potential customers waiting while their health deteriorates, is not exactly on the clever side. The main reason why I didn't chuck them is that delightful lady doctor I have written about last week. We really hit it off, and that is worth any money. I think I will ring her today, to see if she could help me over the phone about the blood test results and take it from there. (PS.: I rang her and she rang back, settled my worries about my bloodtest, in fact, she said that she would be very pleased if a 30 year old had one like mine. She also said that the clinic is only waiting for one more OK and then the cards will come out. Well, I'll believe it when I see it. Even if that OK arrives soon, then somebody will have to write it, then the IT bods will have to post it, etc., etc. It will not be soon, but at least I can be confident that: a) it will happen; b) the bloodtest is no cause for worry.😊)

Sandstone walls in the ravine

Our next lot of Nespresso capsules have come again. We drink one cup a day or less, so we are not hooked on it, but it is such a treat at 10am in the morning to get a really good cup of coffee and have a cake or biscuit with it. I can't have caffeine and I hated all decaf until I came across Nespresso. Very nice to enjoy the taste of coffee again.

My Brother printer (I hope)

Another thing that I am waiting for is a new printer. Finally I couldn't bear it any more and rang a shop in  Pásztó and he ordered me one. Needless to say that when we called on him yesterday, it still had not arrived. I did tell him that we will not be going to Pásztó for a while, but he wasn't bothered. I suspect he knows that it will be weeks before it comes anyway.

Tractor (mine), mower (Roy's)

On Sunday we did a lot of mowing out of a sudden impulse. The weather was great, we were stuck at home and Roy is getting itchy feet nowadays for activity. So he decided to do some and I insisted on doing the tractor work, while he got on with the petrol mower. We were too knackered to do the strimming, so he did that on Monday. The garden really looks a million dollars, although it will grow again like weeds (they grow too), because the forecast is for rain for the rest of the week. Mind you, a few days ago the forecast was for rain today, and there has not been a single drop. It will come, I'm sure, just a bit later.

Lewis, Mr. no. 44, wins again

Sunday was also very enjoyable for I watched the Spanish Grand Prix, which was yet another victory for Lewis. He is forever getting better, even though he is now closer to 40 than 30. Incredible guy, I love him ever so much. He also got his hundredth pole position this weekend and is only 3 away from 100 career victories as well. There are many rumours about him retiring at the end of the year. I do hope they are not true, as I will be heartbroken. Still, I am sure I can find somebody to transfer my affections too, as there are plenty of lovely, talented and fearless youngsters comingup.

My bike by the gate

 

Another interesting aspect of this week was the reappearence of my old bike. It is at least 20 years old, although there is not 20 years of use in it, as I am not an avid biker, by any means. I thought that I could start going on little bike rides as a form of exercise, just in and around the village and see how it goes. You can't forget how to ride a bike, but with arthritis and a variety of disabilities, I think I will have to take it very gradually.

The luxury hotel in Parádsasvár

 

And then yesterday I decided to go geocaching and Roy decided to accompany me. He was my driver and it was a very long and exhausting day, but I loved every minute of it. We left before 8am, which was a good idea, as this way we could squeeze quite a lot into our day. If I want to be honest, we managed that so well, that we probably overdone it a bit. Both of us were very tired and bit tetchy when we got home, but I don't mind, it was still a great day.

Glorious views in the Mátra

 

The caches were all in the Mátra Mountains, which are about and hour and quarter away. We started with a nice walk in a village called Parádsasvár. The cache was in a big tree, near a wooded path. We saw some lovely buildings and nice, friendly people. The second cache was my own moving cache, which needed to be checked out. In the mountains, the markings are not always correct and in some areas are missing altogether. I did find it in the right place and took it on by a kilometre, as required.

Spring in the forest

The next one was a memorial to a pilot who lost his life in an aircrash 46 years ago, which was very touching. Then we moved on to a very interesting bit of the forest where I went looking for a lookout place in a forest. I did find the cache, but the view was long gone. The trees and the undergrowth had grown up, so the view was not be seen. However, en route back to the car I spotted another place where the trees were so far down that I could see a very long number of miles away into the mountain, its valleys and villages beyond. It was very nice, even though the air was misty, so the very long shots were a bit hazy.

The lookout tower in Galyatető

Finally, we went to a village on a high top where there was a lookout tower. I was too knackered to climb to the top of it, but having found the 5th cache of the day, I was very happy indeed. We then motored to Pásztó to do some food shopping, fill up with petrol and try to pick up the printer, which unfortunately has not arrived. I also went to the organic shop and got some oat milk for me.

Final stop was Palotás, where we visited a hardware shop and a builder's centre. Roy needed bits and pieces for his DIY, we got some of it, and not others. Thankfully, he did buy enough gear for starting on his DIY mania, which has been lying dormant all through winter. He is a happy go lucky but when he gets the bug, he is restless. He finished my fly screen today and rearranged a corner of the kitchen which got a bit chaotic. He then had a sleep after lunch, which was one of our favourites: a hot salad of curly pasta, feta cheese, cocktail tomatoes, lemon juice, olive oil and fresh basil. Yum, yum!!

The big com aerial on Kékestető

This Friday AND Saturday I am supposed to go hiking/geocaching. I have a feeling that at least one of them won't happen, partly due to the forecast rain, partly because I am done in physically for a few days, that I need to get over yesterday. Still, we'll see what happens and regardless of any of this, I should post again around midweek.