The ninetyeighth week of the pandemic

We have spent the last week in blissful peace in the village, although we have still been busy with stuff. I am happy to report that by Sunday I managed to catch up with all my US TV programs and am now spending less time watching TV online. Mind you, I have discovered a few UK programs in the meantime, so those are now taking up some of my time.

This year's bunch

Call the Midwife is still going, so I watch that, plus there are some fascinating, if in some cases harrowing series on both BBC and ITV. Talking of ITV, people are up in arms for the channel playing silly buggers with Vera. It is currently the 11th series that is running, but they can't get their act together for having all 6 episodes in one go. Initially I thought it must be the disruption from the pandemic that is causing it, but now I am not sure. Episodes 1 and 2 happened last August/September, while 3 and 4 happened the last two weeks. And now, we have no idea when, if ever, we'll have 5 and 6, so it's a mess. I do hope they are not planning to cancel it, that would cause ructions the world over.

 

On the other hand, ITV came up with Trigger Point, which is exciting, if somewhat predictable. Vicky McClure and Adrian Lester are brilliant and the production company and director are the same as for Line of Duty, so good entertainment and suspense are assured. Unfortunately, they are not making the entire series available right at the beginning, like most other channels, so no binge watching, we'll have to have all the excitement in weekly instalments.

Vicky McClure and Adrian Lester in Trigger Point

Call the Midwife was dealing with cancer and a scabies outbreak, so nothing unusual happening there, and BBC offered up The Responder, with Martin Freeman in the title role, which I haven't watched yet, but as its 5 episodes are available at once, I will put aside an entire morning or afternoon to watch that later on in the week. Apparently, it is quite harrowing, so I will need to feel strong to enjoy it. I adore Martin Freeman, but I'm not always in the right mind for stressful things.

Martin Freeman in The Responder

Readingwise, I have now started re-reading all my Maureen Lipman books, which cheer me up no end. I only have 5, so I might have to stock up on a few more that she had written since I have not been buying her books, but thanks to Brexit, it is now a bit more complicated than it used to be. Customs duty, VAT and a handling charge make it absolutely not worth ordering anything from the UK. I might ask Ros and Ian, when they come next, to bring them. Obviously, if they are flying, I can't, but hopefully, they might be able to drive over in the summer of 2022.

Monday was full of busy stuff online and on the phone. I thought I sorted Heino and Manet's problem about the registration card, as yet another very helpful guy on the phone from the Headquarters of the Alien's Police Department enlightened me how to book appointments. But suddenly, they decided that they will not bother. I think it was the article Heino read in some Dutch magazine that put him right off it. In that one, there was a list, as long as my arm, about the documents some Dutch people had to produce to get a registration card. I don't blame him. Even though he has a sunny, laidback disposition with a lovely sense of humour, this was now becoming a real chore and, as he wrote to me in one of his e-mails, in a few years' time, they might by then go for a resident permit, which would be hardly more hassle and mean a lot more. They will both be pensioners by then and it is thankfully a bit simpler for pensioners to get through officialdom in Hungary.

 

Mind you, I didn't want to worry them, but should this quasi-fascist govewrnment stay in power in April, by gerrymandering the elections sufficiently enough to get yet another illegitimate 2/3rd majority, things will only get worse in the next two years. Especially for foreigners. Let's hope we manage to get rid of the Orbán maffia at the ballot box, but I am not sure that we can overcome their criminal practices. Let's hope I'm wrong!

Lovesick Lake, Ontario, Canada

I started looking at airfares to Canada in the autumn. It is not looking too promising. Just round the time we are planning to go there are already some flights almost full. I am still worried about the course of the pandemic and other health concerns for Roy and myself, so am hesitant to book this early. The prices are OK, although they have gone up since last year considerably and there is no sign of the generous Covid insurance that they were offering last year. I added it up, and with at least one piece of hold luggage between us, airfares plus insurance with all heavy surcharges for us oldies, it would come to at least £3000. We'll see.

Two Nespresso mugs

The two parcels I ordered online, (a new lot of Nespresso capsules and my vitamins, nuts, dried fruits etc.) have thankfully arrived safely. Unfortunately, the present in the Nespresso box, 2 lovely glass mugs, do not fit under the spout of the coffee machine, but no bother, we can use them for something else.

Laci 16 months ago

Another decision that had to be made is somewhat sad, but it couldn't be helped. My good friend, Laci, is celebrating his 74th birthday this weekend and invited us both. We would be spending the whole weekend in the country with him and all our friends by the Balaton. A couple of weeks ago I gladly agreed to go, but now we are both coughing and sneezing, and in the absence of a Covid test, God knows what's wrong with us. So I had to cancel, with a heavy heart, but I think this is sensible. Hopefully, we will still be alive and kicking next year, when I offered the Bunkhouse for the whole bunch to come and celebrate his 75th with us in Bér in January 2023.

Sunday breakfast

The weather is still perishing, so we have not been outside too much in the last week or so. We are not bored, as we always have various ways of occupying ourselves, but I really await the arrival of the more clement weather with great anticipation. First of all, I worry that we both are putting on too much weight. I haven't been anywhere near scales, as I dread what they would show. Food is a marvellous source of comfort in stress, but we must control our intake, if for nothing else, for the sake of our health. Having said that, we do occasionally have a blowout, which is at least soothing for mental health. A genuine English breakfast last Sunday was such an indulgence. Fried bread, fried eggs, fried bacon, fried tomatoes and mushrooms went down a treat. I didn't have any bacon, but the rest was gorgeous. We washed it down with a couple of large glasses full of pomegranate juice, yum, yum!

Bird seed shop

Must go now as it is past my breakfast time this morning. Only cornlakes with fruit, nuts and oat milk, so do not worry about me! Plans for later on this week and next week include a Zoom chat with some new online friends from somewhere around the Balaton tomorrow and next week we'll have to have a trip into Pásztó to the market, look around for a new cooker, visiting the Government Window to gain advice on Roy's citizenship application and, most importantly, buying food for both us and our wild birds on the feeders. Our food will come from SPAR, theirs from the agricultural shop, where a 40kg large sack of sunflower seed only costs about £8.

Next post hopefully on Wednesday again. 😉