Hundred and first week of the pandemic

Apologies for the delay, which had two reasons: 1. I forgot; 2. I haven't been too well this week. The two are obviously connected. Both Roy and I are having a semi-permanent sneezy, coughy, runny nosey cold. If it is a cold. We haven't had any tests for Covid, simply because it is impossible to get one here. And because it comes and goes, so we keep thinking it'll go away soon. My sleeping pattern had been really weird. Sometimes I can stay up, other times I fade out by 8pm. Last night I actually slept nearly 8 hours in one go. No getting up to go to the loo in the middle of the night. Admittedly, the beginning of the week was hectic, so that might have something to do with it.

Trees along the stream in the fog

Anyway: last Thursday I decided that as the sun shone beautifully and as I was getting stir crazy, I had to get out of the house. My own moving cache, which follows the Virgin Mary pilgrim route, was within an hour's drive, so I decided to go for it. Roy, quite unexpectedly, told me that he was coming too, so that was even better. The sun shone nicely in our village, so we reckoned it should be a good day.

Strange concrete tower

Unfortunately, about 20 minutes before we got there a real pea soup, genuine English thick fog descended, so we could hardly see the front of the car. I was being optimistic, so we parked up and I got going. I was about a kilometre from the cache, so it was a pleasant pootle, although photography was absolutely pointless. Found the cache, en route back to the car I placed it in another place and just as I turned a corner, suddenly the fog started lifting. By the time I got back to the car, I could turn back and see the lovely countryside  I have been walking in for about an hour.

The sun is out over the nearby village

 

As we were away from home, we decided to do some food shopping and found that Penny Market in Szécsény was excellent. I have always had a downer on Penny, as the only one I once tried was really crap. Well, this place was really good and we did a good shop there. Got home and annoyingly, the sun shone brightly back home, I wish it did round the cache too.

A farm in the hazy distance

 

On Friday, we had a phonecall that the translation of our documents for Roy's application for citizenship has arrived and I can go and fetch them from their office. We decided to go and do that, plus a visit to the Land Registry for the copy of the deeds, on Monday, and try to combine it with actually submitting it. The weekend was spent quite quietly, mostly reading, I am still getting through Sheila Hancock's The Two of Us - My Life with John Thaw, which is stupendous. Her style, humour and the love flowing through and through the words are awe inspiring.

Watching TV online included mostly Netflix, as CBS has definitely not had any episodes of my serials for weeks now, and UK TV is restricted to Call the Midwife and Trigger Point, both of which I still enjoy tremendously. Netflix, on the other hand, has come up with some most enjoyable fare, from crime, thrillers and history, all the way to two Daniel Craig James Bond films. 

And then Monday came. It was a thoroughly exhausting day, even though we were home by 2pm. First we went to the Land Registry and I was fourth in the queue even very early in the morning. I got in after about 20 minutes, which wasn't bad, and found a most helpful and efficient staff, who found which bits I wanted copied, did so, I paid and I was out in about a quarter of an hour. I looked upon the very long queue in the vestibule, which formed by then and was grateful for having arrived when we did.

Our houses and garden from the air

You might be interested why I only wanted part of our property copied? Well, this has a bit of history as a reason. In the last hundred years, many village properties have been divided many times upon the death of a parent, between children and then their children etc. So our property that we bought in 1998 has 8 deeds. We could have had it re-sureveyed, mapped and combined into one deed, but nobody told us that then and later we didn't want to risk some trouble, as we turned the stables into a dwelling without planning permission. 

The copy of the Land Registry deed

 

So, at about £15 a copy, it would have cost £120 to have a deed for all of it. I very nearly did, but thankfully I realised that it was very likely that the office that deals with citizenship applications has no need of all 8 deeds. They probably want just one, as long as that proves that I own a property where Roy can live with my permission. Mind you, I eventually I got two, because the farmhouse, which is where we actually live has two deeds. One for the front and one for the back. Actually that is correct, as two different parts of the family lived in it in the past. 

The Land Registry building

So I got away with £30, rather than £120. After that, we motored North to fetch the translations. We managed to find somewhere to park, which was quite a feat, I walked down to the office, paid the balance, received the papers, and walked back to Roy sitting in the car waiting for me. Next stop was the petrol station, as the fuel was getting low, after which we parked up, tried to have all our papers photocopied, but the stationery shop we knew had no longer possessed a copy machine. The lady explained where there was another place with one, so we had to travel back in the direction we have just come from, but thankfully it wasn't too far. The copying only cost £2 and took about 10 minutes.

The site of the one and only photocopier in Pásztó

So we arrived at the Government Window in the Council building around 11:30 am. The place was a bit full, but we were told to get into the separate office that deals with citizenship matters. The usual lady was there, very kind and efficient, she looked through everything and finally accepted the application from us and promised to forward it to the appropriate authority for consideration. Now the only job left was to do a bit more food shopping, partly because we were hoping that for a while we can stay in, so we had to stock the fridge and freezer, as well as for the dinner party we have invited the Dutch too, so we had to have a joint for the roast.

Wednesday's lunch: stir fry with king prawns

 

Having had a good experience the previous week at the Penny Market in Szécsény, decided to visit the one in Pásztó. Big disappointment: it was as crap as I remembered the one I tried some years ago. So we just bought a few things and finished the rest in SPAR. Lunch at home was a lovely doctored pizza and then we both faded out. On Tuesday morning I felt  really unwell. Thankfully, later on the day I cheered up a bit, but I decided I would rest for the remaining days of the week, just to shake my horrible cold.

The happy chappie with his new toy

 

It cuts very well and neatly too

 

Our little battery operated chainsaw, ordered online, arrived on Tuesday, but neither of us felt well enough to open it and try it. So, that was done on Wednesday, and it turned out to be really handy. It is quite light, cuts very well, so we hope it'll do us good service. Unfortunately, playing with the new toy, out in the cold, pushed me beyond my limits, and I started feeling really groggy again. So, now, I am definitely resting indoors and doing nothing strenuous for at least a week.

Isn't he dashing?

Heino and Manet were due to arrive yesterday, but we haven't yet heard from them. I didn't want to pester them too soon after their arrival, but if I heard nothing by tomorrow, I might walk up the road and see if they are around. Normally, he sends me a few lines in an e-mail, announcing their arrival, so I am getting a bit worried what's happened? Perhaps they have no internet again, but hopefully I'll find out by tomorrow what's up.

Stuntmen doing Bond's fighting on the crane

 

Yesterday and today I had the joy of watching Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, the first two of Daniel Craig's James Bond films. The first one I vaguely remembered, although not in too much detail, but the second one was totally new, not a smidgen of any of the scenes, characters, chases etc. were in my memory at all. Not a bad thing, I think, as this way they all seem brand new and thus more enjoyable. One interesting observation: I was a lot more impressed by the choreography of the punchups and chases, than I recall I being 13 years ago. I love Daniel Craig on every level: looks, mannerisms, talent, athleticism, sex appeal and a few other attributes it would be too long to list.

Bond with tousled beauty

I must go now, as tea is ready. Taraa for now and next post hopefully on next Wednesday. I'll try not to forget about it. :)