November 2014 - Slow down and have a Pihen (Rest)!"

November was a strange month.

We had no visitors. There were absolutely no urgent projects.
We were in hibernation, ready and waiting for this nasty freezing cold winter to come rolling in, and we were prepared for it in every way we could be........
but nothing happenned!

Autumn rolled on and on. The leaves taking forever to fall gracefully to their resting places and the sun still shining.

Letting the chickens out at 7am is one of the highlights of my morning, (Along with my coffee press and my warm log fires) just watching the sun rise in its brilliant colours has me standing in with the chickens in my dressing gown and boots sniffing the air and watching the sky. Also walking Roly to the local shops almost daily gives us both excercise and is another great excuse to smell the clean air and appreciate the changing season.

On the 7th November over a couple of drinks, this is what I wrote on Facebook:-

Steve and I were re-capping our year. 
It has been a busy one. Starting with a lovely month in South Africa, then a broken ankle shmankle; fencing around the property and chicken pen, some lovely new hens and rooster; taking over the running of the expat club Balatonbrits; a whole new bathroom from the earth up all done by my clever husband; a spankingly gorgeous new car; 10 tens of wood delivered, chopped and cleaved; gates painted; a month hosting my parents and Canadian family; three nights in Croatia; and a garage built again from the ground up by my super duper smart spouse! So maybe we deserve a rest in winter, what you reckon?

And so we justified our slow month, basically getting ready for two events, A Quiz night I was hosting for the BB club on the 28th November and my brothers arrival at the end of the month.

But I still kept busy making about 5kgs of Borewors on the 9th November,spending the entire day preparing the mix, and then with Steve's help we sausaged the meat into casings, and bagging them into 20 meals.

.





We attended the last Balaton Brits monthly meetings on the 11th Nov its was a very lively affair, the night was horribly pea soupy very fogged up, but  30 of us had a great evening.

My chickens have also been on a very long "pihen" (Rest in Hungarian!) and we have been collecting one or two eggs a day out of the six lazy hens, but they have spent the last month fatting up and getting their winter feathers, snow white, thick and luxurious - nature is a wonderful thing!

We completed watching the TV series Breaking Bad and also Vikings as our nights were drawing in, and we were now working on Bailey Mean Time again, 2 hours ahead of local time, gives us longer mornings, and a sun setting at around 6pm our time! Figure it out for your self......

On the 22nd November we were still having highs of 18 and lows of 5 degrees, the leaves were still all the beautiful goldens and reds of autumn and falling slowly, log fires were being lit in the evenings and it all felt very very cosy and warm.

My son Alex passed his driving test, a mission he has been on for over five years on and off. Well done Alex, please please try not to kill yourself!!!!

We held the Balatonbrits quiz night on Friday 28th November. 34 people were participated, and it was a job to organise the mob, but Steve and I stayed sober, my Friend Sue noted that they were all in trouble as I was drinking coffee!
Everyone really enjoyed themselves, the goulash I had organised through the restaurant was delicious and everyone particpated with vigour in the quiz. My prizes went down well, and we collected extra club funds through the raffle. I am now on a couple of months off, as the next meeting is February 2015.

Our temperature dipped to zero on the 26th but it was back up again with the blazing sunshine, and we have yet to see it back there since.

Then my brother arrived! On a really pissy rainy evening on the 30th we collected him from Budapest, ready for his dental treatment and "Brand-new-teeth-in-two-weeks".
It was such fun having him, but that's Decembers blog........................

And this is the end of Novembers!

Shaza

October - All about A Garage!

With my family gone, and me having sufficiently recovered in not having them around, we threw ourselves into the garage in earnest.
Steve has done an amazing job, my biggest problem is that I have a very real phobia with heights, I am not able to go further then the second rung of a ladder without getting vertigo and wanting to fling myself off it, this is also projected onto anyone else, so when it came to Steve laying the roof tiles and instructing me to
"Hold the ladder!" I am not even able to watch him leaning over precariously without my legs/knees going weak, and every muscle very tensed, whilst handing him, glue, nail gun and roof tiles. He may have worked really hard, but I stressed even harder!!!
No matter how many times he told me that he knew what he was doing and was fine, I have to say it really was bloody hard work for me too.

Here are pictures in order of the build.

Rotavating and moving mounds of soil

Digging complete.

The beast testing out her new spot.

And the build begins....

One thousand screws, and 2.5litres of
wood glue later.

My excellent paint job! And the beginnings of the roof and tiles going on.

And done!

Then there had to be a roof wetting, of course! We cooked a pork goulash and rice, and the wine flowed.
It was rather chilly so the party moved indoors after eating.

The clever builder! Note even the chickens were allowed to attend.

Keeping the Hungarian wine industry in business!

So, in closing, Steve is now very happy that his baby has her own bedroom and is snug for the winter. We have a barn chock full of wood ready for our winter, there is not much left to do really. I have the right food for my chickens, plenty of warm straw and chicken treats to see them through, and Roly as always, will make sure he finds just the best spot.

All that remains is getting through what we hope will be another mild one!
Keep warm y'all!

August & September 2014 - Rain, rain Go Away!!!

AUGUST 2014

Another record seems to have been broken here in Hungary - the wettest August in a 100 years! 

It seems that the climate has indeed changed! If you remember, we arrived to the coldest winter, last year, then the hottest and driest summer last year, then the mildest winter during 2013/2014 and now the wettest August came around just when we didn't need it. The rain came in such violent outbursts that our huge culverts outside in the street could not take the volume of water rushing down the hill, these overflowed into the street making it one huge brown river!

Not to say that it rained every day in August though, I did spend two occasions with my buddies at the Marcali Thermal baths having a nice day out, sunning ourselves and having girlie talk.

Carol, Sue, Von & I.

The local baths are really amazing,there are a number of pools of varying depths and temperatures, the one we frequented which was as far away from the kids pools as we could get, is a hot and fairly shallow pool, with seating areas inside, lots of bubbles and sprays that pummel various parts of the body, and have some added minerals in the water that makes your skin feel amazingly soft and satiny. 

Two really great days out!

Steve and I also made two batches of sausages, pork bangers, and also South African borewors, in preparation for my guests!

August was mainly getting the house ready for my dearest beloved parents, who arrived on Saturday 30th August.

Steve got up early to collect them from Budapest airport, they were due in at 8.30a.m so an early start for him, 

When they had not come through by 9.30a.m. he began to worry, and called me at home. They had missed their connection in Frankfurt and had been put onto a later flight, so only arrived in Hungary at 2pm, but better late then never!!!!

SEPTEMBER 2014

Unfortunately the rain did not go away, and the first two weeks of my parents visit, we were basically house bound except for short dry spells, luckily the folks are not into suntanning, long walks, or any strenuous outdoor activities.

Our Street becomes a raging river!

We went out for a few meals, and saw the lake when the weather abated briefly.

Dear Mum & Dad at Lake Balaton.

 We had some people around for coffee and cake, but not much was done during the damn rain, which was at times torrential, on one day we 76mm (3 inches) in around 6 hours, so we all did a lot of reading, and computer games, and tutorials.

On Monday the 15th September after looking at the weather reports we decided to take a trip to Croatia, Nandi our Hungarian friend, moved into our house to look after the pooch and chickens, and the four of us packed up and headed South.

As it was basically end of tourist season, we managed to secure a gorgeous two bedroomed self-contained flat for Euro 50 per night. This was fully equipped with a balcony and absolutely stunning views of the ocean.

Stunning view from our flat in Croatia.

The weather was glorious (finally!) and the four of us spent three wonderful nights taking in the sights of Croatia and eating and drinking too much.

Croatian Sunset.

On Friday 19th September my brother Dave and His wife Margaret arrived, and it was all go! 

The Balaton Britons Summer Dance that I had been organisng for the last 3 months was on Saturday 20th September, with the help of my family we arranged the hall, made the snacks, and had a fabulous night drinking too much (again!) and dancing so that we were stiff and not able to do much  the next day.

I launched a website for this group, if you are interested have a look at:-

http://www.balatonbritons.hu/

The folks and Dave and Margaret went off to Austria for two nights,  during which time Steve and Papa worked on the damn garage, this is the progress so far.

On their return, we took them to the woods where the Germans had dug the trenches during WW2 to face the Russians, with our intrepid guide Nandi.

An interesting and sombre day.

The relatives visit ended all too soon.... 

It was just dreadful for me to have to say goodbye and I cried all day!!!

Now, its all about gearing up for winter.. what kind of winter we will have is anyones guess, luckily we have a barn full of wood, two log burners and each other, along with Roly, who is still going strong.

June & July 2014 - So Busy....

So the saga of the bathroom came to an end at the beginning of June and I was able to have a bath and/or shower, Steve did a very professional and 5 star job despite all the hurdles he faced, and he is justifiably proud of his achievement, considering that he is not a professional bathroom fitter.

Steve is very keen to begin building a garage for the Sexy Beast, as she is brand new and the baking hot sun is not doing her any good! However, we now face the prospect of getting planning permission, although he would have been happy to just build it, considering he is an engineer, and knows these complicated things like snow loading; angles etc. however, it seems Nandi spoke to his Mum who said permission to build it might be needed. The long and short of it is, that an architect now needs to get involved, that's the problem when you get bloody governments involved, so the building has come to a halt!

So Steve's baby has a snug home, albeit a temporary structure until we can sort out the damn beaurocracy!

This is our second month of running the ex-pat club Balatonbrits, I arranged for a picnic at the Lake on the 26th June, and was very pleased that 28 people made the effort, it was a glorious day (they all are!) and a really nice bunch of people had an enjoyable afternoon in the sun.

28 people arrived for a lovely afternoon by the Lake! Success! Gorgeous day, and a really nice bunch.

We decided to take a day off and take our sweet boy for a days fishing. No fish on the hook, but a great BBQ couple of ciders, glorious sunshine and two happy chappies.

We "finally" got delivery of a huge truckload of wood,  so we were not short of things to do.

Our central heating arrived!

There is a hidden third row behind these two!

Each log had to be chain sawed into 3 chunks, and then each chunk had to be moved into the wood store and cleaved into usable logs for our wood burners. What a job! In sometimes 32 degree heat, Steve and our sweet and very hard working helper Papa Lotsci laboured for 3 weeks to clear this pile up! Steve said he was close to firing him for working too hard!

He may look skinny but he works non-stop!

Getting to the end of the pile now.

Six rows deep, two metres high, and five metres long an estimated 20 cubic metres, (we have discovered that measuring wood is a black art!) we figure we have enough wood now for at least two or three winters, depending on their severity. At least we won't have to do this again next year.

The same old fella comes bearing gifts almost everyday, despite the fact that they really do have very little, they work the land extremely well, here is a sample of a daily gift.

And finally!
Our very sexy new addition to the family!

WE ARE VERY PROUD TO PRESENT

RUSTY THE ROOSTER!

He is apparantly still a young lad (7 months old) and is still unsure of the 5 hens around him, but he is a very big boy and I am sure he will be very happy in time. - Welcome Rus......

LEAK WEEK!

Work continues unabated on the bathroom..... 

Every conceivable problem you could dream up has happenned. 

Firstly new water pipes had to be laid from the start, a nifty little machine was bought in which dug a neat trench one metre deep, Steve walked down to the bank to draw money to pay for this machine (GBP70), and on doing so noticed that the fat wad of cash he had just drawn out of the bank was gone!

It was almost certainly Tibor our Gipsy helper who we learnt later stole around 150,000huf around GBP400.00, he had the means, motive and opportunity! He was fired at the end of the day and looked guilty as hell and has not been back! So much for giving people a chance.... 

Pipes were then laid for water and drainage. The plasterer took four days and did a very crap job of leveling the walls!

 Steve spent nearly two days throwing concrete onto the floor and then meticulously laying the floor tiles, he switched the water on for a pressure test, and guess what, water started (we thought) bubbling up from the floor.

I wanted to weep for him, he is working so damn hard and trying against all odds to make this bathroom better than hotel quality. The next day, he found the leak in a wall pipe thank God, which wasn't as dramatic as we thought, "someone" had put a chisel through one of the water pipes! 

This set us back two days, chiselling up a couple of floor and wall tiles, finding and fixing the damn pipe and having another go at moving on!

The walls were not level, so almost every single wall tile, Steve was having to scrape away tonnes of concrete, that we had just paid to have put on the walls, so that he could lay the wall tiles flat and straight, so the tiling took a week, when it should have been only a couple of days.

Then the taps and toilet all began to leak! Not all at once you understand, one at a time, just like water torture treatment.

Fittings, washers, "O" rings, connectors, bends, seals, taps, clips and all other plumbing terms are now forbidden in our house, as is the word plumbing, it has been the absolute bane of Steve's life this last week trying to solve the leaks, driving to the very helpful plumbing shop about 6kms away, sometimes five times in the morning.

But finally the wall tiles were in! The toilet was in! Then came the washing machine, in! And finally the bath.... this posed its own set of problems, leaks from the boiler, leaks from the taps, leaks, leaks, drips, drips urgh!!!!

On the plus side, my plaster cast came off on the 27th May! The leg was horrible and scaly, it was whiffy, my ankle stiff and weak, but my mobility is getting there....

They were fabulous at Marcali hospital.

Also of note was a wonderful evening we spent with good friends! Ian, Jayne, Carol and Jo were over from the UK, and ten of us including our local friends Yvonne & Rich and Carol & Alan had a great night at Gyula Csarda.

It was a wonderful evening with lovely people!

Last but by no means least!

Steve finally managed to move the money from the UK bank (3 weeks) and pay for his baby! We have called her "The Sexy Beast!"

Have a look at the license plate! (Mr Stephen Bailey? Mrs Sharon Bailey? Or My Sexy Beast?)

So May has been a month of ups and downs, but mostly ups, what with a new bathroom going in, a new car and a new (fixed) ankle, life ain't  'alf bad!

May! Patio done and bathroom chaos!

The heading says it all! The final brick was laid on the patio, it is not 100% completed as we would still like to scrub the bricks and coat it with a patio sealer, however, finding the right sealer seems to be a problem in Hungary, also we need the bricks to dry, and for that we need dry weather and some sunshine, speaking of the weather it has started warming up, in the early 20's, but we have had lots of well needed rain, so although the bricks are in, the final touch up will have to wait!

My ankle saga continues and it has been in a fibre glass cast for 3 weeks, with another two very frustrating weeks to go!

However, Steve on the other hand has been working as never before! We have serious bathroom chaos!

Day One! 

Day two, new water pipes laid from outside.

By day two, all the tiles had been removed, the floor ripped up and a new water pipe laid from the main water source and into the bathroom.

Day Four! Water and drainage pipes laid, its a shell!

Luckily the guys felt a little sorry for "Peg leg" and left me a semi working toilet, otherwise it was hobbling down to our outside "long drop".

Day 6, and walls have first coat of plaster on them!

So, thats about where we are, electrics and plumbing are in and the walls have their first layer of plaster. As two of the walls were not brick Csaba (plasterer) had to nail chicken mesh to them, so that it all did not leap away from the walls on the first door slam!
Steve estimates that we should have a working bathroom by this Friday, so another five days, everything is ready and waiting in lounge.

Ready to go in!

So, the house is in chaos, there is dust and dirt everywhere, we are making a complete nuisance of ourselves at friends begging showers, but it will be awesome once its done!

The dreaded "Long Drop"

In three or four days time, is either the long drop or a bucket, eeek! Luckily I am a girl from Africa....

My chickens are very happy and settled in. The rooster, Cocky is a fine fellow....

Cocky the Rooster.

He marshalls the five hens, guards them, finds food for them and they all follow him around like feathery puppies.

Happy, very free range chickens.

All the hens lay eggs in the same nest, this one is sitting on two other eggs and laying a third.

So in closing, its chaos here at Hungarian Haven, but the end is in sight! My paster will be off in 2 weeks and we will have an unbelievable bathroom!