I have again been in Mezőberény with my dear Hungarian family Kalman. The weather is changeable with recent rain and wind, at least the many frogs in the stream alongside the house chant their delight throughout the night. I am very well looked after and if I have a problem, nothing is too much trouble to solve. It was my birthday on June 7th and I was presented with a special "gulyás", birthday cake and wine. Sadly the result necessitated a visit to the doctor because of a flare-up gout in my right foot - now I hope under control!
The garden is maturing well and the strawberry patch has been prolific and the fruit delicious. Later there will be grapes, peaches, figs, tomatoes and pears. The goat that lives next door has had kids recently and I can be seen with one of the kids above!
Other wildlife abounds:- We have been visited by a stag-beetle,a mole crickets which are now very rare if not extinct in the UK, woodpeckers,and nightingales. Sadly the storks which have arrived in the area to breed have ignored the excellent nest platform on top of the house roof.
We have downloaded some films to the PC and I enjoyed watching "Cat Ballou" with Ibi and this morning "The Grapes of Wrath" -if one can enjoy such a depressing film! I will try for something more comedic next time. Janos enjoys watching episodes of The Onedin Line in which my father plays the part of Fraser, the rival shipping line owner.
I am not sure exactly when my son Stephen will get back home to Bristol, about the same time as me I hope. What an amazing adventure he has had.
If anyone sees this please look at Steve's blog. It's a good read.
http://steviep.ontheroad.to/ It's not up-to-date yet but I hope he will catch up with it before too long. He has reached the Azores on the last leg of his transatlantic crossinf so not far to go now.
