balmy!!

Budapest was sparkling bright and beautiful, but
chilly. Picture shows the grande interior of the
Ethnographic Museum, which is next to the Parliament Square.
We saw a very well preserved arse-kicking machine, which they just lumped with the
woodcraft workshop, though we were told previously that it's a brush-maker.
If anyone has a better idea...
So we had a nice culture-full walk as well as a birthday-do for my sis - not allowed to say how old - and nice hanging-out with Szonya and Drew.
The cafe or open air cinema if you like, called Szimpla was great,
I think Drew made the picture, trying to catch the ambience.

sunny pictures

Alan was at his best behaviour sitting through a hungarian language
play in Pécs's Harmadik Színház (Third Theatre) which consisted entirely
of a monologue, the only release being some rag-time jazz music.
(Title Novacento, about a guy who was abandoned as a baby on
the SS Virginian oceanliner in 1900, and became a genius piano player who'd never left
his birthplace; a bit tedious at times even for a hungarian, but generaly good, with very impressive acting)

Pictures were made in Pecs "elefant" square, the lower walking street,
and me, because some people asked for pics - made the minutes before
we got the bus to Pecs.
And now we are off to Budapest for that long weekend.

Pecsdevecser pictures as promised plus wow!

we have hostelworld guests booked for tomorrow!!
Two Australian for two nights! In February!!
So it is cleaning and stuff tomorrow morning,
I hope they wont arrive too early.
I send the pictures of the wine ellar-line and
one of the cellars.

unsettling walk in chilly sunshine

Had to get out of the house, but we weren't sure of
Dark Dog showing the right fotball, so we just walked through
the Pécsdevecser pincesor, then the abandoned youthcamp site in
a wooded area outside Kiskassa.
Some beautiful trees. Lots of them barbarically chopped down.
No comment. Here are the tree and ex-tree pictures,
I put on the happier Pécsdevecser pictures next time.

bonzo trying hard to look cute

Had a pleasant Valentine Day in Pécs, including a our first meal
in the Chinese restaurant called Golden River (Aranyfolyó). Posh, but nice
(except for the soup) enourmous menu including Japanese and Thai food,
have to try some more... Seems that this import yet another excuse for
consume, made it here in big ways; I've heard the waiters talking,
the number of guests were double...

It turned out after days of wrecking my brain to solve the password problem
for the Telehouse, that the fee to the internet provider wasn't paid...
So I stuck a note up, that it's closed until the 29th - I hope by then the people
who should have sorted the finances will do so. Nora reckons that we'll have to
charge - that'll be the end of it.

chains nearly lost

yes, Bonzo Has Been Good so far today (2pm) in the yard in front
of permanent abode - probably as
he is deeply in contemplation how to leave the premises...
But he's getting on well with cats and all in all gives the
impression of a sweet little doggie...

Alan meanwhile smells like a rotting oil-well, the carburettor
is being unblocked on the little tractor, unfortunately
no smooth sailing like with the re-staring of the toyota.

All little broken/cracked windows are getting fixed - we hope,
Picasso disappeared with the frames two days ago.

So stuff is getting done! Picture shows the hoard of organic
pig-products,
salamis still in a smoking facility somewhere in Pécs.

I found these links interesting/useful today:
http://www.magicdave.com/private/browse/fascism.jpg
http://www.chrisjordan.com/current_set2.php?id=7

business as usual

While Alan is out with the goats, I tell you that yesterday was a good day,
nice old Toyota started up smoothly after a year, Alan re-charged the battery for safety’s sake.
Nora’s giant cherry tree that was worryingly climbing on our roof has been suitably restrained with the help of Csaba and Jozsi.
In the evening we went to a nice little talk in the culture house
given by friends of the mayor, they travelled around India and Nepal last year.
They made an entertaining pack of photos and videos.
It was interesting for us to see what changed in these fascinating places and what did not; and the guests and the non-too numerous audience did not mind afterwards listening to our comments about the same places 32 (yes, thirty two) years ago…
And people looked at the two photo (thin!) albums we took with us, with those yellowing old not-digital pictures… Was a bit iffy of us to crowd
on the visitors who took the trouble to give a talk, but they were nice enough and interested enough not to take it the bad way. There was tea and biscuits, too,
so all-in-all a pleasant evening…
the pictures are from kind wwoofers' collection who are by now somewhere in Bulgaria... showing Cattoo walking by herself and Siklos castle.

savonius

hope I spelt it right, here comes model 1,
a draft really,
Alan joined an engineering advise group on alternative energy,
appearently when eventually working
right, this sort of wind mill can provide 2 large hot baths a day...

The steps are beautifully cleared, again, by wwoofers, who are planning to leave tonight, but insisted to take out the goats for a last time...

nothing much...

2 glasses
of a local cuvee last night, with a meal of hungarian peasoup,
chicken paprikas with tarhonya, and chestnut puree, prepared by me,
consumed with the help of a few very nice people (wwoofers and Vic and Maggie)
slept like a stone.
Encouraged wwoofers to discover Villány, Siklós and Harkány today, settling
back to read my next French history volume and nothing much else to do today,
dishes washed, fire is crackling.
though Alan is out there, messing about in the workshop. Weather is
as gloomy as it would have been yesterday without the victorious breakthrough
of our nice mediumsized star...

foggy february

pictures were taken in the morning, much improvement since.
Been to see fantastic world music - yes, forgot to make pictures,
Budapest hungarians playing romanian, bulgarian and turkish numbers -
very very well. Wwoofers loved it, too, luckily they also like this sort of thing.
Nice day out altogether. Pictur shows the VERY heavy beet-chopper base that
will be the base for the wind mill. Quite a job drag it up there I tell you.
Also the new veg plot nearer to rainwater reserves - just in case we have an other very dry growing season.