Manet's gone, MOT is done, Opera season started and making plum jam

Last Thursday we had a hectic day, as we had to take the car in to Budapest for its MOT and had to be at the garage by 11 am at the latest, if we hoped to get the car back the same day. We got up early and left in time to get there in plenty of time, even though there were horrible traffic jams on the M3. We even did a detour at one place, which was great and got us there with a few minutes to spare.

No. 72 trolleybus near City Park

fter handing over the car we all caught the trolley bus to the flat. Roy had already worked out some activities for the day when Manet suggested that we all have a rest instead. I more than happily agreed, as we had to admit that those three days of painting had exhausted all three of us. I especially needed a rest, as I had to be at the Opera House by 5:30 pm to meet Bozsa.

Roy and Manet having lunch in the Regős

Lunch was taken in the Regős, which we all enjoyed. Then we rested and I went to the Opera House. We had Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro on the prescription ticket that we bought some months before and which cost about 4  times as much as it used to before the renovations. The Opera House was closed for many years, so I have not been there for at least 8 years. They restored and renovated the building beautifully. I do not normally like eclectic buildings, but this one is an exception.

The central staircase at the Opera House

The cast was totally unknown to me. All young and some foreign. My favourites were Andrea Brassói-Jőrös, singing Rosina, the Countess of Almaviva, and Csaba Sándor, in the role of Figaro. It was very good to be back to watching operas this season, especially that with 6 events on the program, we will be coming back on average every 6 or 7 weeks right through to next spring.

Selfie with Bozsa in the Opera House

 

On Friday Manet went out on her own to discover parts of Budapest she had not yet been in and we carried on having a rest. Unfortunately, we had to go to the pharmacy for some of my missing pills, but otherwise than that, the day was uneventful. In the early evening we went for dinner in the Paprika Restaurant, one of our favourite eateries. We had a good time there as well, and we followed it up with a visit to the original ruin pub, the Szimpla. Interesting place, but it being evening, it was too full.

Manet at the Paprika on Friday night

The following morning I felt really unwell, so I couldn’t go out to escort Manet to the airport bus and make sure that she can travel free. Roy had to go and do that and we thus said good bye to our lovely visitor. I rested and got a lot better by the time Valéria came in the afternoon with our bank cards. She stayed for about an hour and a half, during which we had coffee and Vienetta, both of which went down well. We also had our first ever uninterrupted and longish chat with her. She is such a delightful person, Stephen is very lucky to have her.

The old sign at the Szimpla ruin bar

On Sunday we carried on relaxing, but I had my reading group, this time about the first half of the 2025 World Perspectives document. We had such an enjoyable discussion, that I haven’t noticed how fast our hour was up. Next time we will discuss the second half and after that we’ll return to Alan’s Bolshevism book.

Weighing the plums at the orchard

On Monday we had a busy day yet again. We knew that we had to go back to Bér, but didn’t know when? We agreed with the plum guy to ring him first, sometime between 8 am and 9 am to find out. I think I rang him around 8:20 am and he said that while he isn’t there, the gypsies are picking already and we can come straight away. We quickly packed and left soon after. The trolley bus was playing silly buggers, but eventually we left BP around 9 am.

Two rows of the hundreds of plum trees in the orchard

As we haven’t been to the plum orchard for two years, and never before from Budapest, we decided to go on a route which was interesting and fairly new to us. Took the M3, which was thankfully without jams this time and crossing the A3 went through Domony and up on the road to Balassagyarmat. We got there quite quickly and entering the orchard couldn’t see or hear anyone. I rang the owner and he told us in which part of the orchard we will find the pickers. We have never been in that area before and I was glad to see that we will get our 120 kg of plums from the big variety of plums which we had once before and which was very high in sugar.

120 kg of plums in seven hoppers in the boot

We didn’t have to take barrels, as 120 kg will fit into our plastic hoppers, of which we have at least 7 or more. We had to hang around, as the plums were still being picked, rather than already in boxes, like in the past. Finally, it was done and it fitted in the 5 smaller and 2 bigger hoppers with one extra not even needed. Roy and I decided that as we’ll only spend 4 days before we leave Bér again, we will forego the big food shopping and will rely on the freezer and the mobile shop. As it happens, later we found a COOP in Bercel, and did a small shop for bread, milk and a pizza, which came in useful later.

Destoning the plums in the kitchen

In the meantime Roy came up with the idea of having lunch in Bercel, which we did en route home, after a short pop in to the COOP there. At the restaurant Roy had beef pörkölt and dumplings with a lovely sauce, and I had my usual sztrapacska, which is dumplings with sheep’s curds and bacon bits. Both portions were enormous, so we took the leftovers home, as it’s usual around here.

Close up of our lovely plums

On arrival home we removed the plums, which was a bit hard, as even two of us cannot carry 20 kg or 25 kg of fruit, the capacity of the two larger hoppers, too easily. Still it was done and after we put everything away I suggested that I wanted to start on making jam straight away. Roy would have preferred leaving it to the following day, but I was really enthusiastic to get on with it, so even though he looked quite tired he helped me.

Plums for jam are having a bath

I started by choosing all the better plums for the jam, which was less than 20 kg, nearer  15 kg or at the most 16 kg. The rest went straight into two mash barrels to rot in the sunshine. The weather is still quite nice and warm, so it should break down fairly quickly. The first job was squeezing the stones out, which I did. The jam was made in three batches of about 3-3.3 kg. The stones, we believe, take at least 20% of the weight, so after the removal of the stones and sticking to the capacity of the scales we have, we started with the 3-3.3 kg pitted fruit, then mixed it with 1 kg of sugar, 1 and half sachets of pectin and the juice of a small or half of a big lemon. 

2 out of the 3 batches in their jars

We used our biggest pot and all this was worryingly close to the top, but we didn’t want to start using the big bogrács, as that would again raise the problem of our ability to move it about. We are very weak compared to what we were even a couple of years back, so we had to adjust. Roy was in charge of washing and drying the jam pots, and we started with the small ones. Those give you more work as they are fiddly, but it is good to have small jars, as well as a few large ones. The large ones have the danger of going off after opening, so you have to eat it quickly, but that has never been a problem with us. We managed to make two batches on Monday, before we collapsed. Those two batches made 15 small and 6 large bottles. The third batch was made on Tuesday morning, end result of which was 6 large and 1 small jars. I was also picking the odd hard plums out, which I actually ate there and then. This type of plum is a dessert variety, which is really delicious when slightly unripe. Those few that I found were gorgeous, but I was glad that there were not too many of them as I would have had tummy troubles from eating too many. 

DJ, Johan and Roy by the  barn in the back garden

I even remembered to take some photographs, so you can see how busy we were, although on Tuesday morning we hurried so much that I forgot. All the jars, 12 big ones and 15 small ones are currently in boxes, wrapped in blankets, so they cool down slowly, creating the vacuum, which will ensure that none of them go off. Over the many years we have been making jam here, we had very few going off, thanks to this method. We even once discovered some 10 year old jam at the back of some cupboard and it was completely edible, nothing wrong with it. 

Stephen Colbert

 

Other then jam making, we had two more events yesterday. One was a visit from DJ and Johan, our two new Dutchmen, who are over for a fortnight to start their renovation project on the house they recently bought from Heino and Manet. The other was in the news, but it affected me as I like watching the evening, night and late night shows in the US. DJ and Johan are a completely different kettle of fish than all our previous Dutch friends. Unlike Noud, Mieke, Joop, Margreet, Heino and Manet, these guys are working class. They spent 5 hours of drinking, story telling, discussing motor bikes, exchanging constructions ideas, etc., etc. The three of them put away about a half bottle of pálinka, Jägermeister, pizza, coffee and biscuits and a few other things and we all had a hilarious time. The other "event" was yet another example of Trump bullying a television channel to sack somebody for saying nasty things about him. I was most upset when they cancelled Stephen Colbert's Late Night Show a few weeks ago on CBS. Now it was Jimmy Kimmel's turn at ABC to get the sack. The difference between the two was, however, that while Colbert's cancellation didn't raise much echo, Kimmel's fan club is made of different people. Hundreds of thousands cancelled their subscriptions to ABC, and real big names at Disney, owner of ABC, protested along with many many other people. So he got reinstated, which is really a slap in the face of Trump, but it also shows what can be achieved when many protest and show solidarity. So, yesterday was written down as a good day: we had two new friends, with whom we had fun - and saw spontaneous action by many Americans that was successful. Win, win all round.

Jimmy Kimmel

I am really looking forward to what DJ and Johan will end up with after all their repairs, updates, extensions and other great plans that they have for the property. I also liked that they are treating the real culture shock of Hungary with a positive attitude, which is absolutely essential for survival here. Must finish now as several tasks await my attention. Hopefully, the next post will be on time again next Wednesday, after we have returned from the South.