“Chatting on the Verandah” Part 2

7 of many things that started a discussion today….

Our morning verandah chats turn up some very interesting topics.

Eric and I are a ‘young’ retired couple living in Hungary enjoying each others company and chatting together for many hours. We are so relaxed here and really appreciate being able to take our time and not always be conscious of the time!

Taking time to talk to each other is an excellent tool to strengthen our marriage.

We’ve run out of onions!!

We eat a lot of onions and usually I have no problem keeping our kitchen well stocked. Unfortunately we had run clean out so I had to go searching in the veggie plot for any stray last years onions. I found a few and cleared the ground. On the verandah lack of onions got us talking about growing our own in a more productive way, so now we have decided to grow them in pots. Eric had seen a youtube video about growing masses of them altogether in a huge tub. This would be great for us and I would love to hang a string in our kitchen, always to hand. We talked about hanging techniques and plaiting. I even watched this video on the technique of onion plaiting!

Good News..

These last few days has seen Hungary have some bans lifted, due to the Covid19 virus. You can now go for a meal in an ‘indoor’ restaurant and some holiday attractions are opening, the summer season is nearly here. Some neighbouring country borders are opening, I guess most of the others will follow very soon. Social distancing is still compulsory. We shall never forget this pandemic, it will be in future history books.

Blowing and Haley Husky

Haley is shedding her fur. Most huskies blow their undercoat twice a year. Our time is now. we are prepared for hair everywhere, that’s part of owning a husky. If you want to read more about huskies and all you need to know before considering buying one go here: https://makinghungaryhome.wordpress.com/2020/03/30/siberian-huskies-what-you-need-to-know-before-buying-adopting-one/

Shedding her thick fur of winter

We talked a lot on the verandah about Haley today… the naughty girl! I have been nurturing a strawberry, the first this year, from our strawberry patch. I’m busy picking strawberries and thinking about the juicy one I’m going to photograph. I stop to photo it and return my camera to the table then resume my strawberry picking. Haley comes galloping up behind me and quick as a flash grabs my precious strawberry in her teeth and pulled it off! I am stunned and shouted loudly but with no effect! How could she take my strawberry, and she had the cheek to take the best one! Fortunately when she had lost interest she left it in the grass for me to retrieve and scrub well. She had not eaten it! I have never heard of a dog pinching strawberries before! This is going to be a problem.

The precious strawberry before the “theft”!

Congratulations on your birth…

Flattered…I’m not sure. Eric had family news. My son’s name is Raphael, not a common name in the UK but in the Middle East it is. Eric’s nephew’s wife has given birth to a baby boy in Lebanon and called him Raphael. I am happy they like our choice of name so much, really I am. Our Raphael is mighty chuffed, having a relative named after him. But… their surnames are the same too! I can see confusion in the future!

Mr Cummings was mentioned.

Chief Adviser to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Dominic Cummings drove 270 miles from London to his parents’ farm in late March, while most Britons were following the government’s rule to “stay home”. Seems a touch unfair to the all the people following the rules, and to top it all the police said they were not going to prosecute him, this has angered the British public, understandably. We are thankful to be living in a different country with different rules but I still worry about the UK situation, I have my family there.

What was that movie called?

Today on our verandah… both of us were feeling nostalgic. Quoting lines from children’s movies, watched years ago with our then young son….singing the songs….laughing a lot, shocked that our memories were so good. I think the new birth in the family made us start pleasantly reminiscing. The conclusion:

Our top 3 movies:

Do you remember these movies?

Antz

Shrek

Cars

Wacky Hungarian Weather

Our first flowering rose of the year

Its nearly the end of May, Eric and I had mentioned a few times that it seemed cooler than this time last year. It’s very similar at the moment to England’s April Showers – only in May! Today we have had rain, sun, wind, thunder, cloud, several times and in different orders! The English are obsessed with the weather, its a topic of easy conversation, it’s a ‘get you talking’ topic. I have to admit to looking at the weather forecast twice a day for the gardening outlook and personal purposes. I always want the sun to shine during the day and to rain at night to feed the hungry plants. Hungary is very green because of its abundance of rain. After the rains the air smells so clean and fresh, it’s always nice to sit on the verandah if its raining.

Are you a retired expat? What do you talk about with your nearest and dearest? 💞

Just a bit of fun and an insight into what these retired expats talk about whilst living in Hungary. There will be more “Verandah Conversations” very soon.