hot pre-trip times

- bit busy here, what with starting every day with fig-hunt - picking them before the sparrows wake up - and collecting a about 10-15g (cca quarter pound) raspberries every day...
then eating it up quickly before Alan claims them for his jam-making...
due to this incredibly lovely indian summer, other stuff still insist ripening.
I've just done the above pleasant morning tasks, waiting for Alan to get up to do the goats - he's got a bit of a sniffle, so I let him have a bit of lie-in. We have about 2 pints of milk a day from these new goats, so I made the first batch of cheese. Still got a rock-like remain from last year, smells and tastes like parmezan, and grates beautifully.
so I am in a grande mood, even though should get the place tidy, get myself decent (I mean at least on the outside) process some stuff - no need for cooking, I did a "rakott padlizsán", with cheese sauce on top, that should last till we leave for Milnrow, on Wednesday afternoon.

Also have to show how to do things to Timi's family, who's going to do most of the animals - rest will be looked after by a nice couple Jay and Kylie from Florida, of all places, who were here for a few days as hostel guests and decided to return (on Monday if all goes well) as care-taker wwoofers.
They are inexperienced in the agribusiness (ha ha) but they will be in the house and keep enthusiastic company with dogs and cats.
so in theory all is sorted. I have to work out tons of homework for the students, lessons being today and tomorrow, as they keep want to sit exams, which is stressful, not just for them...

well, I did want to chat to my kidlings this morning, but the third next best thing, an e-mail, turned out sort of blog-like, I'd better put it on, before we leave. At least this pre-composed way Szonya read it...

another thing not to talk about...
well, we had our first bust-up, us four reps voted down the
mayor's proposal for a deputy-mayor brought in from outside.
She would have no voting rights or access to finances, but
would have some role when/if the mayor resigns, apparently.
His protege is Erika, the postwoman (she was on the council before us and helped a lot lately organising village events), but she bears a lot of grudges and makes decision on not necessary what advantageous to the village.
Before I made my decision I had a chat with her - she of course said that she would work together with everyone, but she dropped some threatening type of remarks which made me uneasy.

the mayor was furious and surprised me an unpleasant way when he declared that in his first year he did more for the village than all the other lot before him. He did bring in some money with the manoeuvring of some of the local taxes, attracting some companies to register their cars here (thereby bringing their car-taxes). But I still to see how much this will be as said companies can request a good part of their monies back "doing good works" for the village. I'll be the chairman of the committee that decides on this - mayor and deputy not allowed to sit on this body.

so things are hotting up. I wanted the two table-tennis tables moved down to the culture house to start a table-tennis club for the youngsters, one of them were moved down after 6 months of begging, it turns out the other one is ruined - these are cca 3 years old tables, hardly used, dammit.

mayor will be away for a month managing his foreign assets or whatnot, Alan thinks he is organising a getaway...
exciting, init??

Oh, and we had an other cultural event - the hot-air balloon bloke at our own Festival of Light (see July) turned out to be a multi-faceted artist, this weekend we had the "Autumn greeting" in the culture house, with an exhibition of his pictures, and his style bab-gulyás, with free-flowing beer and wine, for all attendees (this later ones I preferred to the pictures, which were too kitschy for me, but the villagers were very enthusiastic about them. One was sold - I wonder who bought it? Maybe one of the German inhabitants) and there were our home-grown talent; little boy reciting poems, and a girl singing karaoke style, but quite well, and we have now another dance group - most pretty young girls in the village seem to be in it, and 2 lads, too, Erika organised them, another good thing she' is doing - for which the village should be very grateful. See, you don't have to have an official title to do good things for the community...
which reminds me - I managed to secure tickets for the pensioners, we are going to see the most famous operetta, Csárdáskirálynő, on the 23rd of October, transport more or less arranged.

pictures are a scramble of new goats, village cultural event, our newly delivered wood for the stove, a morning collection of raspberries and figs; some might be put on next time;
and one of them is not re-sized, sorry, it might take long to download.