Jam making, old friends, drunken locals in the pub and two gorgeous sunny days out geocaching and replacing lost boxes

This has been quite a busy week, again. As we were very tired from the nearly three weeks with the family, the first few days back in the village we stayed in, but it doesn't mean that we were not active. The plum picking was still going on, and I am happy to report that the third barrel is full too. I rang the plum man, and he suggested that I ring mid-September. We will probably buy 120 kilos, 100 for the fourth barrel and 20 for making jam.

A dozen little jars of plum jam

Talking of jam, we have made some jam this last week too. You may recall Roy's idea about putting the unripe fruit in a paper bag, in our case a big cardboard box and paper, and an apple, which will make it ripen up. It did, so I picked out the best looking ones, about 3 kg of it, and we made jam out of those. It finally gave us 12 small jars and a tiny one. We have already opened one and it really tastes great. The rest went into the mash and finished the third barrel.

A strange yoga pose

I am still doing my yoga daily, but  cancelled it today, as planned, due to the non-offer price being too high from the second month onwards. I can still do it until 3rd September, when my month is up. I think I can carry on after that, based of what I learnt this time and what I remember from a long ago, when I used to attend yoga classes. Interestingly, one of my English friends, who now lives in the Carribbean, wrote to ask about the app. He wants to try it. He is better off than we are, so if he likes it, I'm sure it'll do him a lot of good.

And her son David

Zsuzsa, my long lost friend

 

Another interesting story of last week was that some old friends have come out of the woodwork, and I am looking forward to seeing them sometime. Zsuzsa Schabedly whom we came to know after we ran into her and her then husband on a road in Hungary approximately 40 years ago. We both stopped for a rest on the side of the road. Roy and I were in a car, they were on a motorbike. When it turned out that we all live in Brighton, we definitely decided to exchange names and addresses. She has moved to Hungary about 15 years ago and her son, David joined her. It will be fascinating to hear their story since we last saw them both, but they are away for a fortnight, so we'll talk when they get back.

Suranne Jones in the Hostage

I watched some Netflix this last week too, as I found something that was quite enjoyable to watch. It was called Hostage, and Suranne Jones was pretty brilliant, as she always is. I have last seen her in either Scott and Bailey or possibly in Vigil. She is now a producer too, and both the story and its execution was riveting. That was on a day when I felt really shaky, my arthritis torturing me, so I watched all five episodes in one go, and that gave my some physical rest. Mind you, just sitting or even lying is not necessarily the best for your joint health, moving is also essential.

The spring where the first sick cache was

In order to overcome feeling stir crazy towards the end of the week, we both decided that some activity away from home and preferably in nature was called for. As Roy is not very good on hiking, but doesn't mind to hang around in the car while I am geocaching, I started thinking of where to go. The solution was very obvious, as I had 3 "sick" geocaches: one had the path leading to it dug up, so people can't get to it, one was nicked, the hide, a bird box, and the actual cache box were both taken, and the third one had the misfortune of the tree the bird box was on breaking and falling down. Thankfully, the trunk did not crash on the bird box and the friend who fetched it in when she was there geocaching brought it home and that was why Roy and I went out to Budakeszi a week or so ago to fetch it.

The new hide for the cache under the tree stump

On Sunday we went to Buják where the one that I was fairly sure that it got nicked should have been, to see what the situation was. I did take a new cache box and it was definitely the case, as it wasn't there. I went to find another hiding place, and I think I found one quite safe. Unless, of course, animals dig it up, but more about later. There was an old, dried up tree stump that I thought might do the trick. I dug a little hole for the box by a lovely bit tree trunk, put the box in it an put the stump on top of all of it as a hide. It is the perfect solution, but keep your fingers crossed for me that it won't get dug up.

 

 The valley under the spring

 

We were about a quarter of the way home in the car, when we stopped for a drink at a pub we knew was there in one of the villages en route, but have never stopped to visit. Getting out of the car I was looking for my string bag as I don't like leaving anything of value in the car, but we could find it. The penny dropped quite quickly, that I have put it down in the forest, and obviously didn't pick it up. Roy was definitely driving like he never does, although the road within the forest was so full of potholes that he had to slow down there. I was right, it was there, nothing missing, although it was not exactly where I put it down. I reckon this was already a small animal, that was curious, but only dragged it a few meters.

The old retired copper in the pub

After all this excitement we returned to the pub, which was a really rough spit and sawdust type of old place with a good few drunkards out on the terrace. I offered to drive home from there, which amazingly Roy accepted, so he put two pints away to my two glasses of soda water. The fun started when we started chatting to the locals round the table where we were sitting. We found an old retired copper, who knew our ex-policeman friend in Bér from the old days. there was one loudmouth, (there is always one), who was giving us advice about pálinka stills and many other things and the remaining three on the other side of the table were not 3, but 33 sheets to the wind, so they didn't make much sense. 

The drunk section of the locals

Roy loves these encounters, as he really wants to mix with the locals, but unfortunately, as Bér no longer has a pub, he doesn't get the chance too often. As I was there to translate, we got into a really good chinwag with those who were still compos mentis.  By this time it was well past our lunchtime, so eventually we had to stand up and walk off, but Roy really enjoyed himself in that pub, no matter how  tatty it was.

Interesting shaped tree

 

Monday was another rest day, notwithstanding Roy's fidgety nature, picking up plums, digging out weeds, mending the back patio, where the internal leak in the library comes from. He discovered a totally rotten bottom part of a post out there, underneath which was plenty of chance for rain coming in through the hole and along the space between the upstairs floor and the downstairs ceiling. This, of course, means that we should have gone to the hardware shop/builders' merchant, to purchase further stuff, but we'll have to do it later. This visit is also necessitated by the slow but sure approach of the time of Manet's visit, when the two or three of us will be painting. Thank goodness the paint is fine. It is only 5 years old, but we need brushes, a bottle of brush cleaner, plastic wood as a filler and a few other stuff.

The devastated hiking path after felling

On Tuesday, we had another outing, obviously to do with the other one or two "sick" caches, a need for food shopping, as the fridge was getting empty, as well as a builders' merchants or DIY shop. We did have a fantastic time yesterday, but needless to say, not all things planned worked out. We started with a moving cache, not a frequent event in Nógrád, which was a bit of a hassle, but finally I found it. Then, we went to the place where the box and the hide was rescued by my friend, but we had to find a new tree to put it on. We also had to place the moving cache somewhere, and that place seemed perfect. We did both, I took some photos and then we left on a long leg to the next cache which I had to find.

Roy on the bench waiting for me 

This was put out about 6 months ago and took me back to a place I haven't been for over 15 years. It is a rocky outcrop of impressive stature, but thankfully not very far from a village. Roy stayed in the car and I walked up. The last hundred yards was pretty hard, making me realise how much older I am and how much strength I have lost in the last 15 years. I still did it, with the help of my trusty hiking poles, I got to the top. There a breath taking panorama waited. Seriously photogenic, I loved it. I soon got back to Roy, who was waiting patiently, but I spotted that there was a blackberry bush at the edge of the car park, and had to pick a few. They were tiny, but lovely and sweet.

 from the Witches' Rock

Next stop was Lidl, where we managed to spend £120 for 10 days' food. Such is life, and we can't complain, as there are millions in the world who are worse off than we are. At home for lunch I had the left over curry with rice, chutney, dhal and poppadoms. Roy had his Bavarian sausages, which reminded him of chipolatas of old, with some left over salsa and tortilla chips. 

Salgó Castle with maximum zoom

After that I cut Roy's hair, which somehow ended up extremely short. I think it was my stupidity, as I usually do it on setting 9, except at the back of his neck, where it is 6. I bet I forgot to set it back to 9 when I finished the whole thing. Still, he does say that it is comfortable and will quickly grow, so he will not look like a freshly enlisted squaddie at his age for too long. 

The views towards Slovakia

And finally I have to let you know that I have managed to get as far as the 120th bird on my Merlin bird recognition software life list. It's called Dunlin, which is a wader. I have never heard of it, but now I have 120. Things are going slowly, but they are always welcome, whenever they come. In September we will go away for a few days, so hopefully I will find some different birds in different parts of the country.

A hundred year old oak

Next post next Wednesday, as usual, and I think we will still be here in Bér. 

The Southern top of the Witches' Rock

 

 

 

The Water Board, Callum's 16th birthday, the departure of Stephen and the kids, my meltdown, the broken trees and the ongoing Chair Yoga

To follow up from last week's post, I am happy to report that I had an absolutely no hassle and lovely time at the Water Board. A very helpful, bright and efficient young lady helped me register for the online service platform of the Water Board, after which I could upload the photo I have taken of the water meter. Since then I had an e-mail from the Board that they have forwarded the photo to the billing department and I will hear within a couple of weeks from them. Let us hope that they can do their sums and I will either get the money back or have it credited against further usage.

Obviously not modelled by me, but it looks like mine

En route back from the Water Board, we went to Decathlon and I bought myself some more Lycra shorts, which cost between £6.50 and £9. The next stop was at the laptop guy who managed to sort of fix how to get it to come on, showing me the trick. However, since then I realised that I can just leave it on all the time, and that would take away the risk of it not starting when I want to use it again. This may not last forever, but currently it is OK.

Like my laptop, but with colourful screen saver

Final visit was to One, the service provider of our landline, internet and cable TV. The remote controlling  the digi box has started being intermittently dodgy. A helpful and cheerful young man appeared with a new remote in about 30 seconds, so that was a stress free time too. 

My lovely collage of Callum

Also on Thursday we had the very happy event of Callum's 16th birthday. He even rang me on Messenger and I had a lovely chat with him about his present - a laptop - his trip to Costa Rica, which he enjoyed tremendously, and about a few trivial things. He is such a gorgeous young man, I love him dearly. I suggested we might make this chatting lark regular, but I don't know if that'll happen. I hope it will.

Not quite like mine,  but similar

I am carrying on with my Chair Yoga exercises, which I enjoy very much. They are getting a little bit harder every day, but they really help to get my joints a bit more supple. I hope I would have learnt many tricks in this month, as I am not planning to renew my subscription, as it will go up to £35 a month, which I think is too much. I am sure I will remember most of them and can carry on doing it gradually by myself.

The brilliant little footballer (Xander)

 

The equally brilliant climber (Elian)

As we have not seen Stephen or the boys since Monday, I kept in touch with them via Messenger. Stephen complained that the kids were too tired by now and as they would not go to sleep due to all the excitement of their program, they ended up missing a day of football for Xander and climbing for Elian, by not being able to get out of bed in the morning. Speaking as the person who paid £200 for that footie camp, I wasn't very happy. 

Xander and Elian by the Balaton

At least the visit to the Fradi stadium to watch them beat the opposing team 3:0 in the Champions' League, was really great and worth missing a day of footie and climbing for. They took Valéria and her brother with them and had a fantastic night out. They were especially lucky going last week, as last night Fradi lost to an azeri team 3:1. It looks quite unlikely now that they will make the main table in the Champions' League.

The Ferencváros fan base

Friday was a complete bedlam. Stephen's messages about when his flight is going were totally contradictory and confusing.Finally he settled on leaving the flat by taxi at 6:30pm, so I at least could plan a bit of our day around that. The complication was that one of Roy's internet family history friends was driving up from Romania that day and wanted to see us both for an hour or so. We had to move the times we agreed with him several times, after Stephen kept changing the schedule. Eventually, only Roy was able to go and see them, as I had to stay behind letting them back in and, to be honest, I was not in the mood anyway. I was also really looking forward to a bit of predictable scheduling and peace and quiet, but it did not arrive until after they disappeared over the horizon in the taxi taking them to the airport.

Muggins baking 5 years ago

The bad news, however, that having kept all my stress under control for nearly 3 weeks, and thus having become hyper sensitive to the children's coldness and bad or non-existent manners, I had a terrible meltdown in the form of a crying fit. I couldn't stop crying for about an hour, which was a relief, but it was also most upsetting for my heart and pulse rate. I kept feeling really bad overnight as well, so it was not a good time. However, I survived it, and that's the main thing. FB came up with a photo album from 2020 where I was baking biscuits and looking very happy. That cheered me up no end. Plus, there was a post, also on FB, that really shook me up and out of my misery by making me laugh uncontrollably. I have copied it here, so that you can all have a good laugh too: 

"It’s a rainy Tuesday morning. I’m running on two sips of coffee and blind optimism, trying to look alive for a very important Zoom meeting with my new manager (who, mind you, still thinks I’m a responsible adult).

Enter: Mr. Pickles. My cat. My furry, four-legged chaos goblin with the grace of a potato and the attitude of a middle-aged man denied a pub lunch.

I should’ve known something was off when he didn’t immediately attack my ankles as I walked past. No, Mr. Pickles was sitting very still. Too still. Plotting. You know that look cats get like they’re contemplating either dinner or arson? That was the vibe.

Anyway, I log into Zoom. Camera on. Hair pretending to behave. I start nodding like I understand what anyone’s saying.

That’s when it happened. Out of nowhere, Mr. Pickles launches onto my desk like he’s doing a surprise audition for Cirque du Soleil. He lands directly on the keyboard — full belly flop — and somehow manages to:

1. Turn off my camera,

2. Change my Zoom name to “PicklesTheBoss,”

3. AND raise a virtual hand.

The meeting goes dead silent.

Then my manager says, “Looks like... Mr. Pickles has a question?”

I panic. I try to grab him, but the furry menace thinks we’re playing tag and sprints across the room with my USB mic cable dragging behind him like a techno tail.

Now I’m chasing him, the camera turns back ON, and everyone gets a lovely view of me, in socks and shame, crawling under the coffee table yelling, “Give me the mic, you tiny terrorist!”

Eventually, I return to the screen, hair in disarray, dignity in shambles. My manager is crying from laughter. Someone has already updated the meeting notes to read: “Action item: Promote Mr. Pickles. Strong leadership presence.”

The Aftermath? Mr. Pickles now has a cardboard desk next to mine. He sits at it during meetings like he’s my furry little supervisor. Sometimes, I swear he judges my reports. So if anyone needs career advice, I recommend finding a cat with a talent for keyboard shortcuts and a thirst for power." 

 

The worst break

As Stephen managed to turn up with the car at the appropriate time on Friday, I volunteered to take it out to its normal parking space. Thus, first thing on Saturday morning, after a disturbed night with not much sleep, we quite happily departed to Bér, where a quiet and ordered life awaited.  Or dear, the first thing I spotted were the several plum trees that had large branches, and in one case, even the trunk snap under the weight of the crop, as well as the easy to crack wood caused by the drought.

Plums are gathered, slowly, but surely

This was most upsetting, but thankfully, we managed to harvest practically all the plums on the trees, even though not all of them were fully ripe. This will have a detrimental effect on the quantity of pálinka from the cefre, but as we will have to buy at least a 100 to 150 kilos of plums to fill all four barrels anyway, the high sugar level in the bought-in plums should counterbalance the low sugar in some of our plums.

My nicely ordered photo albums online

On Sunday I set about finishing one of my slow and boring projects, which I, thankfully, managed. It took me several days in fits and starts, but now I can declare that most, if not all, my photographs of the last two years are in chronological order in appropriate albums on my laptop and also saved in One Drive. The reason why I got lumbered with this job, was the result of my last two years having had quite a few crises and  stressful times, when none of this photograph sorting business had the necessary attention paid to it. We started with Alex's problems in 2023, then came the falling apart of Fáklya the following spring, as well as added stress over my health and a few other hassles. Never mind, now it's all sorted, so that's the main thing.

The clothes repairers across the road

On Monday I also had a task, which thankfully got itself sorted. When in BP I took another pair of trousers to the repairer's, that woman said they would be done by Monday. At that time I thought we would still be in BP on Monday, but since then the plums made us hurry up, so we weren't. However, I had a bright idea and it worked. I rang Anna from the block in BP, and she was only too happy to go and fetch the trousers and even advance me the 3000 forints it cost for the repair.

We are half way up filling the third barrel

And then yesterday we had a primarily gardening day, when we sawed off all the broken branches, then picked all the plums from them, some straight into the cefre, some into a box, hoping that they will ripen up. While out in the garden, I also pruned and dead-headed my roses, so they now look a bit more tidy.

 

And to finish off this post I leave you with another happy note. You may recall that in the spring and early summer I was very busy with using my Merlin Bird Recognition software to record bird song. About 6 or7 weeks ago I got stuck on 117 birds, as there were no more species that I haven't already recorded. Alex told me, when I complained about this, that as the seasons change, so will the birds too. 

 

Well, in the last two days I managed to record 2 more: one that was somewhere in the garden, the other one had to be flying over, so I didn't actually see either, but my trusty telephone, with the help of that brilliant software, recorded them. That was another lovely moment giving me happiness and satisfaction, so this post will end on this uplifting note and the next post is due, as usual, next Wednesday, if I am still alive then.

More plums, discussion group, Stephen and kids back from Balaton, taxi to footie camp for Xander, trip to Budakeszi, water bill and laptop bust again

Thursday's trip to Bér was quite an experience, and this time, in a positive sense. Normally, trying to get down to the village very early is not fun, and especially since they mucked about with the timetables, even less fun than ever. However, this time it was perfect. We decided to walk to Blaha, as your own walking is certain in terms of time, while public transport is unreliable. It took us only 10 minutes to walk to Blaha, the Metro came in a few minutes and we caught the coach to Bér with plenty of time to spare. We were indoors in Bér by 8am.

Some lovely plump plums

As soon as we arrived we started on picking up plums, trying to do most of our tasks in the cool morning air. There was quite a load of the blue plums again, but we managed all of those by 10am, so we had a little rest and carried on picking up the tiny ones, which were done by midday. As the plan was not to stay the night, like the previous times, having finished by midday made it possible to get home on the 3:55pm bus. After lunch Roy had a nap and I did some more work on my laptop. The trip home was fine and we were indoors soon after 6pm.

A new view of our back garden

My discussion group got postponed to Monday, due to some commitment by Levi, which was most welcome by me too, as I was dog tired from plum picking and travelling. In all these busy days, I am rather proud, that I managed to keep up with the Chair Yoga. Unfortunately, sometimes it gets so hectic and consequently I get so tired, that some days were missed, but I love it and am keen to keep it up, even though there are the odd gaps as I get on with it. Today, it will be the 7th day's program, so I am not so much behind. I found out, that the system does not let you do two days in one day to catch up, so I normally just repeat it, as just 7 minutes are not enough for me.

Xander taking it easy on the settee

On Saturday Stephen and the kids got back from the Balaton, where, I gather, they had a lovely time. They certainly had beautiful weather and while I had no detailed report, I only had to look at them to see that they were very happy down there. Stephen deposited the kids and tore off, complete with the car, to the Mercure Hotel in time to get a parking space. He said that their parking offer only lasts until it fills up, so it was urgent.

Elian and Xander in the playground

 

Roy and I were left with the children, who on this Saturday afternoon were an absolute joy to have. I don't know whether it was the after effects of a lovely time they had at the Balaton, or just they were in a good mood, but they were calm, didn't bother each other, doing their own thing happily and then agreed to go to the playground to kick a ball about in the high heat, followed by the pub for a drink and finally to MacDonald's for a burger. Interestingly, Xander had chicken nuggets, which is the first time I have ever seen him refuse a burger. Elian was still struggling with trying to bite through a 3-storey burger, but he finished it.

Elian, Roy and Xander in the pub

In the evening I was supposed to go and see Stephen at his gig in the Mixát, but felt so exhausted that I didn't bother. Shame, as I haven't seen him in person doing a gig, other than those 20 minutes last week, for years. Still that Saturday afternoon was so relaxing with the boys being happy, both Roy and I were very happy too.

Elian struggling with his hamburger

 

Sunday was a different kettle of fish. Due to the forecast of 38 degrees Celsius, Stephen decided not to take the boys to the Sziget. Also, his ticket, apparently, did not give the kids access to back stage, so his original plan of taking them to the Festival became impractical. As it happens, they were quite happy at home. However, in the middle of the day, in the real desert heat, Stephen had to drag Xander off to Decathlon to buy him indoor football shoes, as he forgot to buy or bring them from home. The rest of the day was OK, hiding from the heat indoors.

The Sziget crowd

On Monday I took Xander to Football Camp in a taxi, followed by a return journey on public transport. When I got home I was told that when Stephen turned up to take Elian to climbing, he had a go at Dad why we didn't give Elian his anti-histamine the night before and why we let him sleep in the box room? I think he was lucky that I wasn't there, because he would have had a mouthful of abuse from me. I usually put up with being abused myself, but explode when I see him abusing somebody else. I honestly can't wait for this visit being over, and I am positive that I do not want to go through this ever again.

Pope Leo XIV

Roy has worked out that the only solution is that we let him have the flat, but all the time he is around, we'll stay in Bér. I suppose he is right, although with the dynamic being so volatile within the three of them, I would really worry about what would be damaged in our absence. Still, I can't see any other alternative either, as just simply telling them not to bother coming is not an option. Still, another year is a long time yet, so I will have to forget worrying about that until it actually happens, or not even then.

Corbyn and Sultana

The postponed discussion group was brilliant on Monday evening. We discussed three articles from marxist.com: "Why did the Pope take the name of Leo?", and another two on the topic of Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana's new left party. The one by Alan Woods was a very interesting piece, as it was not so much analysing the when, how and why of this party, but the attitude the RCP should take to it. The other one, which appeared in the Communist, the paper of the RCP, was more of an agitational piece with a lot less concrete content. We all agreed on all that was in the articles and also with what was missing. Next time we are back to the History of Bolshevism.

Bird boxes

Yesterday, not having the car, we went to Budakeszi by public transport to pick up one of our bird boxes, that Mariann, a fellow cacher rescued last week. She went caching in Nógrád and tried to find it, but finally it turned out that the tree, that it was fixed to, fell down. Thankfully, it survived the fall, but wasn't safe where it was and so she brought it home. The trip to Budakeszi was faster than expected. We did the trolley bus, tram and coach trip there and back in two hours, including a 10 minutes stay at Mariann's.

The new shape Duster

We will only see the family now on Friday, just before they are going home, as Roy insisted that Stephen brings the car back, so that he can take it to its parking area in the 14th district straight away. In the meantime I am keeping in contact with Stephen to find out how they are doing. Apparently, the kids are getting a bit tired, which is not surprising, as Stephen always puts a program together for them that would exhaust an Olympic athlete, never mind two kids. 

Buda Juniors promotional photo

Still, they are having a ball, the footie camp is superb, which I happy to hear, as having paid £200 for it myself, so it should be. Elian had a good session on Monday with the climbing coach, but not having climbed for over a month, he ended up with very sore muscles. Last night they all went to the Fradi match in the Champions' League, and by all accounts had an excellent evening out with the three of them, plus Valéria with her brother joining them too. 

Budapest Water Board logo

And thus I have arrived at today, which is the usual Wednesday of writing the blog post, but I am doing it in the early hours of the day, as the rest of it is full of stuff. First of all I have to visit the headquarters of the Water Board, as I have just recently discovered that they have been grossly overcharging us, based on estimated usage, for the last, wait for it!!!, 6 years. God knows why I have never noted the fact that nobody was coming  to read the meter, and/or why I never checked the bills against the meter reading? Roy read the meter and it says 146 cubic meters, while the current bill stated that the starting reading at the beginning of the current charging period was 170 and the final one at 265. I phoned the billing firm, as they subcontract everything nowadays, and a really nice and helpful lady said that according to her records the meter was read on 26th June 2025. Well, that is fraud. Nobody was here, that is for sure, as we were in Bér that day, and Éva, who sometimes lets meter readers in for us, told me when I rang her to check, that she was also nowhere near our flat on that day either. Well, this is what you get, when you pass these sub-contracts to mates, especially crooked ones, like this one, obviously. I am not looking forward to this morning, as officialdom, especially when faced with provable fraud, is usually hostile, and is likely to find all sorts of excuses, like the meter has gone wrong, or I fiddled with it, etc., etc., rather than promise to investigate. I managed to cancel my direct debit yesterday, so at least the current bill of 42.000 forints will not be paid. Think of me while fighting crooked officialdom in Hungary, I will need every bit of support I can have. 

In the meantime my laptop went bust again, so on top of the above, I will now have to take it back to the repairers, and this time ask him to do what he did to it 2 weeks ago, slowly, so I can watch and write it down. He took about 10 seconds fixing it last time, and I wish I took notes then. Another gadget in the flat that is quietly, but surely, going bust is our remote control for the cable box on the TV. That is yet another  trip today, while Roy, the lucky bugger, is going for a curry with his expat mates for lunch. Still, to be quite honest, I do not mind that, as in these bloody offices he is more of a hindrance than help.

And finally, just to demonstrate, that this week is a bugger: on Monday I took another pair of trousers in to the repair lady across the road from the flat for repair. She wasn't there, and another woman, not nearly as nice as the previous one, took the garment, and offered an unsuitable method of repairing it. I told her that I will only leave it if she repairs it exactly the same as the other lady did last time. That was so superbly done that you really have to look for the repair, it is that invisible. She took one more look, agreed miserably and quoted a price 50% more that the previous lady. I was pretty close to saying, no Thank you!, but relented, thinking that even 3000 forints is cheap, and left it. It should be done by next Monday, by which time we will probably be in Bér, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Next post next Wednesday, provided I have survived the rest of this week with all its challenges. 💓💓