Well I have to admit that March was almost as boring as February!
Steve must say it fifty times a day "It's a really, really slow start to spring!"
On the second of March we took a drive out to Nagykanizsa a larger city to the west of us. We heard that there was a really good Sunday flea market and we were on a quest to buy a Corn crusher! How our priorities have changed living here.
We stopped off first for a rare treat!
The market was huge! We walked miles and miles, not really sure what exactly we were looking for, and of course we didn't land up buying much at all.
Two days later we spoke to the old man Papa from two doors down and, guess what, we needn't have bothered making all that effort, as he hauled this beauty from his barn attic, it is apparantly over a 100 years old.
We had a brief bit of spring in the second week of March, went swimming at the Marcali spa with the ladies which is always a fun day out.
We caught the bus to the monthly ex-pat night out so that we could both have a drink, and got home rollicking drunk, it was a wonderful night out, so nice to see the happy faces there.
Then we come to April..........
The month is now history, but it has been a truly horrible month overall.
On Tuesday the 7th April we watched our most sweet and precious four legged furry child die in our arms.
After battling twice a week with seizures, each one affecting him more and more, mentally as well as physically, we spent the worst Easter weekend of our lives trying to come to terms with the fact that this chap was suffering, and no matter how much we loved him, walked him, spoilt him, or fed him, it wasn't going to fix his ears, eyes, back leg, heart, lungs or make him young again.
So with rivers of tears, we buried our dear Roly in a sunny spot in our garden, and planted a Silver Birch as his lasting memory.
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| We miss him every single day! |
There are so many things that are just horrible about not having Roly around, we look for him everywhere. We still worry about him constantly.
All of our daily habits and activities for the last thirteen years were designed with him in our minds. So the gap this dog left in our home and and hearts is indescribable and we were both inconsolable.
Our home was just not home any more without him,
So we packed up almost on the spur of the moment, piled random rubbish into the car, and went away, leaving the chickens under good care by Papa Szunyog.
Croatia. Again!
We went to the same place as last year, but stayed in a different spot, and this one was also awesome. Right by the sea.
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| View from our apartment. |
It was exactly what we needed, to get away from the house and its little ghost. Our host at Villa Plaza Pavlo spoke excellent English and could not do enough for us.
Then two days into our stay, some crazy "spur-of-the-moment" friends Carol & Alan, decided to join us for a couple of nights. Maybe, because they have also recently lost their pooch and knew how we were suffering. Whatever their reasons, it really helped us through a horrible time, they cheered us up and stopped us dwelling on things we couldn't change. Thank you both for your company!
Some more pictures of Croatia and our stay.
As to the rest of April.....
A great ex-pat meeting on Tuesday 14th April, 38 very noisy sociable people turned up, I have been running this club for a year now, and have been enjoying it, after all both Steve and I are rather social people and I am rather bossy!
Then we had another animal drama! We stopped getting any eggs from the six hens, and I took a garden chair to the chicken pen and sat watching them for a whole morning.
What I discovered is that Rusty the psycho rooster has been breaking the eggs, eating them and and then encouraging the hens to also eat the contents and shell.
He is a stunning rooster, so I attempted to find a way to stop this bad habit by placing golf balls in the laying nests, hoping that once he realised he couldn't break them he would give up.
One morning I noticed he had rolled a golf ball right outside the laying hock, I picked it up to return it to the nest and the little savage flew at me from behind, bashing into my legs, which were luckily encased in tracksuit pants, but his savage dirty claws pierced the skin on my foot!
I went to visit Papa!
After a strong cup of coffee and my bastardised version of Hungarian, we struck a deal. He gives me one of his hens, and takes my rooster, who is about three times the size of his tiny hens.
The way he caught this rooster just shows what 'townies' Steve and I really are! We had blankets and straw brooms at the ready, but unfazed Papa caught the rooster by a wing, folded both wings back, grabbed his legs, and tucked the rooster underneath his arm facing backwards, with a good hold on those talons.
Bye bye crazy chicken! He did not realise what a good life he had, and its is so true, that you should never bite the hand that feeds you!
He made an excellent Sunday lunch for the old man and family!
And now my five white and two brown hens are very calm and the hen house is all peace and tranquility.
Steve and I built our sheep pen for the lambs due to arrive any day now..............
I organised the Balatonbrits Spring Dance for the 25th April, about 40 people attended, bringing a sumptuous array of food, the raffle was a great success and so was the evening!
We spent the last day of April in the garden, it's starting to take shape!
After losing Roly, we offered our services to the ex-pat members as dogsitters, and have been graced with Max for ten days.
He is such a sweet tempered timid old dog, so undemanding and loving, he is healing our heart and souls and we are blessed to have him for this short time.
And finally!
Now that we do not have to concern ourselves with being dog owners, we have decided to fly south in winter, just like the smart birds do!
We booked our tickets and will be spending three glorious months in South Africa from December to March, the flights were really cheap, and we figure we will save money on logs, gas, electricity etc. We are really looking forward to seeing my parents, and my many wonderful cousins, relatives and friends, spending Christmas with family, playing golf, fishing, swimming and generally enjoying blissful African sunshine, whilst it is snowing and freezing at home!
I maintain you should ALWAYS have something to look forward to, and now we have!
April 2015, is now gone, along with dear precious Roly, always in our hearts, the greatest dog we could ever have wished for, Rest In Peace.
