That was a job long overdue for sure.
Now I have a 2 year staying visa underway, I have decided now is the time to look for a car.
Decided I only wanted a Datsun/Nissan, as they seem fairly common over here and as I've had 4 Datsuns in my car life and a Mitsubishi once...I think that is all, so, Nissan it had to be.
So, I made my mind up last week to get one in early March, after I come back and the freezing weather has gone and guess what?
Yes, a friend has a friend who has a car for sale in March of next year.
And it is a Nissan
And the price is exactly what I wanted to pay...
And it is a right hand drive, with me being dyslexic, it seems OK to drive.
I had a go today and it has gears, so I'm chuffed actually.
It has Winter and Summer tyres, 4 doors and is a waggon type vehicle with a back lift up boot door..with a couple of tow bars, one for a caravan and one for trailer.
Plus the 3 back seats lay down to make a waggon, or can take one out and the remaining 2 slide across and lay down like beds.
It is grey and in good nick. I will get in in March and it is registered until May, so that will give me time to get the car changed over to my details etc.
Hoping Peter comes across next year to check it out for me too...
Did not take my camera shopping with me, so no pics of it yet.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dog is getting really big now and sleeps most of the time. she will probably have the pups the day I leave...dohhh...
I'll miss the best time with them, but never mind, as long as someone is here to look after her.
That is the most important thing as it will be the dead of winter...and possibly snowing.
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| The lovely flowers are lasting well. One bush on the far left is done, but it was out a month before the others, so it did its job! |
Imre replastered in places, the verandah this week, repaired the pillars, built in the bottom part of the end of the verandah in readiness to have glass put in to stop the wind, plus he painted it.
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| Crying here because we have to paint over the lovely stencil work...and repair the walls. |
He is working extra days while it is sunny weather and tomorrow he puts the doors back on the old pantry and I'll lock up my private stuff in there while I have house guests with the 6 year old. .
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| Look at all the stuff on the floor that was loose and easily came off as he scraped lightly... |
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| Now to attack my bedroom window...1 of 3 in the room. Each window has 6 windows in it...and are in wooden frames! So another job I ditched and am now giving to Imre to do! |
Then he'll build me some tool shelves... and next week, when the timber finally arrives from Romania, he'll build the wall for the bathroom and the kitchen guy will make me a special, antique looking, shorter bathroom door to suit the rest in the house.
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| So hard to finally have to bite the bullet and get the verandah repaired. I did appreciate the beautiful paint job on it though.. |
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| Yeah, well if you don't know, you end up with guys popping anything anywhere! The long wooden thing held the old power metres from last century. Imre filled that hole in today with bricks and rendered over it... |
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| All nearly finished now...then he'll paint it all white and I'll try and work out what colour to paint the verandah as white is too bright. |
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| Found a piece of old paint chip and thought I'd photograph it to match some paint at the paint shop...and was surprised when I looked at the pic...It looks familiar...like a pregnant map of OZ, doesn't it? |
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| Then in the middle of it all, the power man came and replaced my 2 year old electric metres with new ones. Had I have known they were digital, I would have refused...especially after "the attack of the toasters", as it is known, when we lost internet service in USA and half of Europe a few weeks ago. It was caused by hackers directing signals from the capacitor things in fridges, washing machines, toasters etc all towards particular internet websites and they all crashed. That was a test ...well, those who know what I'm talking about will know what I'm talking about! |
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| My poor old garden has lost all its leaves for winter... |
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| Long shadows in the midday sun! Yup, 12 MD...Look how low the sun is and it set just on 3.40pm today! |
Another big week and so much more to do.
Each job completed makes for 4 more.
Imre did the verandah walls, that now leads to the ceiling above and on to the outside of the house...
- then that leads up to the eaves,
- leads to the gutters,
- leads to the drain pipes,
- leads to the cementing of the path around the house they all do over here,
- leads to...painting the back and sides of the house,
- leads to repairing the front of the house, (we did not do in Sept as I went to visit family)
- leads to painting of the windows,
- leads to putting tiles on the sills,
- leads to...
That's only some of the jobs to complete on the outside!
But now I have Imre, he does it all, like a pro, while I find more jobs for him to do!
My job this week is to complete the brick paving of the path Zoltan pulled up when he dug the drain pipes in a few months ago.
I prepared the 3 beds for my "Mexican, Croatian, Polish" family for next week, did a bunch of Xmas shopping, went back to Debrecen to take back a document for my visa renewal application which I forgot, bought a car, test drove it...sort of, found a wood stove...yep.
I could not resist having a wood fired cooking stove, so instead of the nice looking upright wood heater, I'm getting an old fashioned, new, wood burning cooking stove instead...like your Grandmas' probably had!
Can't wait to cook scones in it, make fig jam on it, scald fresh cream in a big pan on top of it and invite friends over for homemade scones with fresh fig jam and scalded cream with a nice hot, strong cuppa! Ahhh...
Of course I'll have an ordinary electric hot plates and under bench oven for when the wood stove is not in use..can't get used to the idea of gas oven or hotplates yet.
But there is nothing under the sun as fun as cooking in and on a wood stove...can hardly wait.
It will have to be when I get back from OZ though, as I dare not have it done while I have guests here. Too much worry for me I'm afraid.
Anyways, all is good here...lovely sunny days, nights about 9C, days about 13-15C
PURRRRFEC !
Will say 'bye for now and talk soon,
Love to all,
M
xxxx
