After having arrived home, we looked around if all was well. It was. The only worrying thing we spotted was a weird white layer on top of a couple of the cefre barrels. Later on the week I managed to talk to Pali and he confirmed that we should not worry, that happens sometimes, but does no harm to the cefre. We also managed to catch Tomi to change the tyres to winter ones, and that also went off very well.
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| Alex's questionnaire |
On Friday I had some goes at finishing Alex's paperwork and got stuck. Eventually, we both realised that he gave me the wrong password to get into the gmail account of the business, but finally all was well, and I am trying to keep up with it as and when I can. There was also an end of season kayaking trip out, during which someone took a photo of him, which is his profile picture on FB. He looks so happy in it, I could cry. Let's hope that his life sorts itself in 2024 and he can stay this happy forever.
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| The happiest I've seen him in a good while |
The credit cards had to be paid, and I had all manner of hassles online with both. The world is falling apart, or at least it looks like it is, when Barclays' website has hiccups. Eventually it was all well, I paid both and thankfully that's that for another month.
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| Lili is a beauty, isn't she? |
Lili came over to tidy up in the Bunkhouse, get rid of the cobwebs and make the beds. Apparently she was having about 35 people at her event, which she was looking forward to. I find that people with rather strange, esoteric views about the world are very amenable and nice to talk to. I do not share their outlook, but I almost always like them as people.
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| The lovely rosebud I gave her |
We had to do some gardening work, as the roses are getting very dangly, so some pruning was called for. I don't think I will have too many more roses after the end of October, but I managed to give a really beautiful deep red rosebud, just opening up, to Lili. She looked touched. We also had to bring the cacti in, along with the succulent, that we were given by Hulk.
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| A gorgeous yellow rose in the yard |
The weekend was nice and sunny, although there was some wind and the occasional angry looking cloud. Lili's guests were lovely, friendly and hardly visible at all. One or two sat outside with their laptop, as the WiFi has difficulties getting through the 2ft thick walls. They stayed for an extra night and left on Monday.
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| A strange variegated deep pink rose |
We were also leaving on Monday, as we had a crazy busy Tuesday in Budapest, so we had to do a lot of cooking in advance and still arrive, just as it was getting dark, on Monday afternoon. The previous weekend the clocks went back and I had lots of fun with some reluctant timepieces that wouldn't cooperate. The final bugger was the weather station/clock in the BP flat, which nearly drove me insane. We did manage it, but only after Googleing the Users Manual online. Good job I found the product code on it somewhere, otherwise even that would have been hopeless.
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| A view in the front on a rainy day |
And then Tuesday, which was Halloween, arrived and we started with a long shopping list for a few things we still needed, plus bits and bobs around the house. We were on the home straight, when I started feeling very ill. Chest pains, difficulty breathing, heart arrythmia, so the usual stuff. Admittedly, it was unseasonably warm and high humidity, plus a warm front, so it was not unusual for me to feel like this. Thankfully, I was with Roy, who helped a great deal, we made it home together, and after a good two hours' complete rest, I started returning to the land of the living.
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| Tibi, Klári and Roy putting the curry away |
The reason why all this was a bit worrying, was not only the thought of something really nasty coming, but we had a heavy social program for the rest of the day. We were expecting Klári and Tibi for lunch and I have already cancelled one meeting with them in September, when I was still infectious after my Covid in Scotland, and I definitely didn't want to do that again.
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| We were glad that the curry went down well |
Well, I am pleased to say that the lunch, chat and generally catching up with those two went really well. They liked Roy's curry and my Somlói galuska. We didn't drink too much, as Klári is pretty much teetotal and after my funny turn I was trying to be careful. One good news I was very happy about: both of them are due to retire in 2024, so we might just see them more often. Klári is still working in Ireland, and that was the main reason behind the rare meetings.
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Roy, the poor thing, after a lot of effort plus the fright I gave him, went to have a nap while the guests were still here, and didn't wake up until a lot later. He looked quite smooth after his nap, so it was well worth it. I started getting ready for going out later to a combined Birthday/Halloween party at Zsófi's. I couldn't think of any special costume to go in, until Roy suggested looking at zipped up moth proof boxes in hidden places. Out came an amazing top, covered in glitter and definitely looking like a butterfly. So, I went as a butterfly.
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| The buterfly with her mask on |
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| Zsófi, Hanna, Mark and Marci at the party |
This morning I sorted Roy's family history club membership. That may not sound to you as something of an achievement, but believe me, it was. Hungarian websites, especially those that are written and maintained by volunteers, are archaic, rigid and most of the time unfathomable. It costs 5000ft for a year to be a member of the Hungarian Family History and Research Club, which is usually payable after they send you an e-mail in January to ask you. However, there is a restricting condition of this membership, which, again for some unfathomable reason, they don't advertise sufficiently for all the membership to become aware of, namely that you are restricted to 365 logons, after which you have to pay again. That's what happened to Roy the other day, so I had to sort it for him. It took several e-mails and a phone call to the treasurer, to find out how to do it, which part of the website and also, what is going to happen in January? I have not yet got an answer to the last question, but thankfully, I managed to pay the money online and Roy is now a happy bunny that his MACSE has returned.
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| The birthday girl is having fun |
The rest of today is going to be taken up by planning and typing up my cache list for our trip at the end of next week to Szekszárd, finishing Alex's paperwork and getting ready for tonight's Fáklya branch meeting. Next post, hopefully, on Wednesday, a couple of days before our trip. This weekend, however, is going to be spent with Laci and Márti in Csobánka, which we are both looking forward to.
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| Hanna wearing her amaying costume and headrest |
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