This week the temperatures dropped quite a bit all over Europe, including Hungary, and are expected to continue for some more days before it warms up again. Our kitty Casper was sickly. Our local vet Anna came to see him, and she gave us medication for him. We had a frost overnight late in the week, but thankfully it wasn't enough to damage our fruit trees in the back part of our yard.  It wasn't a great week, but it was pretty good considering the circumstances. (and the temperatures!)

This was the temperature on Tuesday afternoon! It was the beginning of a string of chilly days with rain just popping up and then the sun coming back... over and over. It is predicted to continue for some days into the coming week as well.

This week Jer's flowers next to the driveway continued to grow, in spite of the cold weather. Her rose plant is also growing nicely.

Left, the ferns next to the driveway have grown a lot and are still growing; Center, the milkweed that has grown at the middle yard the past couple of years has sprung up... the bees will be happy!; Right, we seriously cut back the grapevines in the far back of the yard last fall and now they are sprouting nicely.

Left, our second oldest cat, Zuzu (12), who had not wanted to eat her food one morning, finally ate it at Jer's computer desk; Center, our oldest cat, Gracie (13), at Józsi's computer desk, shedding some cat hair in his coffee; Right, the newbie cat, Zoltan, who was found  badly injured last September has recovered and then some. He is a tank!

Left, the ferns that are under the driveway catio have finally started to grow; Center, we had some cold and windy days, but we had some spells of blue skies and bright sun as well. This was the sun as it was close to setting one day; Right, Jer went to the backyard to check the apple and plum trees after we had a frost and everything had survived. Yay!

Left, the nearby water tower on a sunny/cloudy day; Center, early morning view of the sun shining through the next door neighbor's yard onto the hazelnut tree behind our house; Right, our friend who has the home made ice cream shop is now also raising hens for their eggs. Since Jer decided a few months ago that she didn't have time to take care of hens anymore with so many cats (16), she was happy to have someone to buy fresh eggs from here in the village.

Left, we were never able to catch them in action for a photo, but there is a busy family of birds in the tree trunk birdhouse Józsi's dad gave us a while back; Right, today (Sunday) just before starting this update Jer snapped this photo of the sun going down at the back of our yard. She had only a few seconds to catch it so it isn't perfect (you can see her phone's reflection) but it was a beautiful sight. The sunsets will be better when it's warm enough for the catio to be open again.

This week started out with a warm day... 80 degrees! We had some warmer than normal temperatures all week, and the leaves on the trees are all out completely except for the walnut tree (its leaves are mostly out, but not quite). For the first time this year, Jer was able to dry a load of laundry outside, and we got our monthly load of cat food. (which covers only their main foods, we do buy bag foods and some tin foods for them as well)

Left, the ferns started to grow; Center, near to the fern Jer noticed this tiny little bit of bark that looked like a ghost! It's funny the kinds of things you find in your yard and flower beds; Right, the peony buds are nearing time to bloom.

Left, the rose plant that Józsi got Jer last spring for our 25th anniversary together is doing well; Center, the first lily of the valley plants bloomed; Right, this week it was warm and sunny enough for Jer to get a load of laundry dry outside for the first time this year. Woohoo!

We received our monthly delivery of the main cat foods we feed our 16 cats (this doesn't include some store bought bag and tin foods for Gracie and Zuzu). It's a lot of food when piled up, and of course one of the tabby trio had to climb on top of the stack!

Left, tabby hiding in the box the food delivery came in; Center, our Missy looking a bit "angry" while walking in the driveway catio one warm sunny morning; Right, our Minnie doing another goofy thing while having her photo taken... sticking her tongue out and licking her nose.

Left, the ferns in the garden next to the driveway really grew by the end of the week; Center, it was time to replace the messy carpet bits on the cats climber to the top of the wardrobes... the replacement was done by putting on some stout rope; Right, our oldest cat, Gracie, who showed up as a stray almost 13 years ago and gave birth to some kittens on our porch (one of whom is our Elvis). She would still like to go out and hunt but she is too frail for that, so we keep her now as an indoor only cat and she is pampered.

This was the temperature showing online and then on our porch monitor today (Sunday April 14). The one from the porch is showing a higher temperature than it actually was since the porch is enclosed and holds heat. It did reach about 85f today though, very unusual for April 14!

This week we had some varied weather, but by the end of the week it was warm and things were really blooming. On Tuesday our power was off all day due to some work on the electric lines in the village, but at least it wasn't a cold day. (Jer spent a lot of the day cleaning up various things in the yard since it was a bit dark in the house to do much) We had a couple of our kitties who weren't feeling well for a couple of days, but mostly it was a good week!

Left, one of the tabby siblings using a plush toy for a pillow next to Jer's desk; Center, the first day of the year it was warm and sunny enough to hang a few items of washing outside; Right, the strawberry plants are really starting to grow now.

Left, this week (on Tuesday) the power was down in the whole village from 8am until about 3:30pm while they were doing a lot of work on the system. These guys were working just two houses down from our house; Center, the same day the weather was weird... this was the dark cloudy view across the street; Right, at the same time this was the view towards the back of our yard... bright and sunny!

Left, Jer's peonies are really growing now so the flowers won't be far off; Center, the yellow tulips with one red tulip. (there are others of the same sort as the red one but only one managed to bloom in this first season for them); Right, you can see how tall the yellow tulips are... they are some inches higher than Jer's knee!

Left, as you can see... the sun is quickly moving across the driveway. At Christmas time, it didn't shine below the eaves on our house; Center, lots of insects back at the apple tree pollinating the flowers; Right, back catio open and it had quite a few spectators.

Left, a beautiful sunset with rosy stripe clouds; Right, the next morning was bright blue sky with cool temperatures.

Left, some of Jer's ferns are starting to grow; Center, the walnut tree's leaves are growing earlier than usual; Right, with so many birds in the yards Jer made a bird bath towards the back yard.

These are three photos of our parvo survivor Ziggy: in a box in the catio with her paws hanging out the hole; Center, napping on the couch with one of the tabby trio on her back, with her arms out; Right, Jer put the old wooden bird feeder in the catio and Ziggy was the first one to try it... with her puffy tail hanging out!

More kitty photos: Left, 11 of our 16 kitties eating lunch at the kitchen table (with the two senior cats Gracie and Zuzu in the window); Center and right, kitties enjoying some time in the back catio. (this was the first catio we built, the one on the driveway side of the house came about 5 years later)

Left, the warm weather and a bit of rain brought out the leaves on the hazelnut tree behind the house; Center, by the end of the week the blooms on both sides of the grafted apple tree were mostly gone; Right, two little desserts Józsi brought home for Jer from the little local store at the end of our street. Yum!

This week we had some cooler days, and then it warmed up very nicely by the weekend. The apple tree had flowers, and all the trees are starting to get leaves now. Our cat Elvis had a bit of a setback health wise, but he was doing much better by the weekend. Józsi got a new (to him) desk and took time to clear out his work area in the porch, Jer received another gift rose, her other tulips bloomed, and it was finally warm enough to have the back catio open for a while on Easter Sunday! It was a good week.
 

Far left, on Monday this was the sunset in the backyard and the leaves and buds were starting to appear on the apple tree; Left, a close up; Right, by the weekend the flowers were blooming; Far right, there were a lot of bees like this one taking advantage of the pollen!

Left, the logs with holes Józsi's dad made for wild bees already has some customers... there are 5 so far, near where Jer put the red dots; Center, our Elvis has his ups and downs and he had a bad spell early in the week but after a few days he got stronger and got his appetite back; Right, making up for lost time with food.

Left, on Thursday morning (which was the bi-weekly trash pick up day) this truck stopped across from our house... and this was only the front half!  The trash truck was on the street to the left of this and ended up going around their rounds and coming back about 45 minutes later, after the big truck had backed up and parked where they were going to be working; Center, Józsi brought home another surprise rose this week; Right, Jer put the rose in the Easter window in the kitchen.

This weekend Józsi decided it was time to clear out the end of our porch that is his work and tools area as it had accumulated a lot of stuff that needed to be sorted and removed. Left, after taking everything out except the shelves, it got a good cleaning; Right, after stuff was put back, including the desk that had been his computer desk in the house until this week when he bought a used one from someone in the village that is much larger and higher. He also put up a tool rack to hold tools within easy reach.

This week started off nicely, but then we had three nights in a row with temperatures in the 20s!  Most of week was sunny, but we did have a few cloudy days and some rain, and even some hail just a few hours before this update was made! Our cat Elvis had a visit by our local vet again as he took a bit of a downhill turn again, though by now he is doing a bit better.

This week our Elvis suddenly went downhill again, very weak and puny and not wanting to eat. Our local vet came by and he got an infusion and some medicines, which worked better for him than the previous week. He was puny the first day or two and spent most of his time sleeping, but was able to get out and go other places including the driveway catio on a fairly warm day.

Two photos of the details on a 19th century muzzle loader shotgun Józsi restored for someone - the wooden parts that is. The stock was very badly damaged and then someone "fixed it" with a carriage bolt through the broken handle, white epoxy in the cracks and dings, and sticky dark oily varnish that made the intricate carvings lumpy and featureless. The checkering (the diamond pattern on the grip and foregrip) was also worn down to a smooth surface everywhere (probably sanded down by the "fixer"). Józsi carefully removed the oily goo, touched up the carvings and hid the cracks and holes with a mix of clear glue and the stock's own wood powder that he collected while sanding it smooth - an old cabinet maker's trick. He also  re-cut all the checkering to perfect condition. After the metal parts were properly restored and put back on it by a gunsmith, the owner visited Józsi's office to proudly show off the old gun. On the right is the head of a walking cane Józsi's dad carved (he has been a woodcarver for many years).

Left, the fruit tree blossoms on the trees in our backyard all managed to survive; Center, an hour or so later the sun was high enough to melt the ice; Right, some beautiful pink blossoms on a fruit tree in our neighbor's backyard that is right next to the fence between her yard and ours.

This week's cat photos: Left, nothing like a tabby cat feeling safe enough to lay like this on their back next to at your computer desk!; Right, 8 of our 16 kitties waiting on the table for food one day this week (the other 8 were not far away, just not on the table).

Left, one tulip has bloomed (it's one Jer has had for a few years, while the new ones were given to her last spring); The pink tree at the fence with the neighbor. It's not very big, but it's beautiful when the blossoms come out; Right, Jer was able to get a shot of the hatchlings in the nest behind our house (it's in the ivy growing on the coal shed).

Today (Sunday) we were busy inside on our computers when the clouds suddenly burst with both rain and hail! The lights were seriously flickering and we heard a lightning strike really close by (likely hitting the water tower nearby), so we turned our computers off and waited until the storm passed before turning them back on. The clouds started breaking up and there was blue sky again.
 

This week started off with an early morning feeding of the cats and then off to the hospital in town for some blood work done (the results were good). The weather was not bad for the time of year and the cats did get to spend at least some time in the driveway catio. Our senior cat Elvis had another bad spell which required our local vet to come visit and give him an infusion. Thankfully by the next day he started to perk up. It was a pretty good week.

Left, very early Monday morning we had to leave home to get to the hospital in town for Jer to get her blood tested. As you can see, one of the tabby siblings wanted to go along! (her blood test results came back the next day and were all good); Center, the next day Jer decided to bring in the wooden Christmas tree from the table on the porch, and of course there were various cats checking it out!; Right, Davy and Casper sleeping on the couch. Davy (Jones) is quite a big cat, and luckily for the rest of the cats... he is a very sweet natured boy.

This week our Elvis had another spell of being very puny, harfing a lot and not wanting to eat, so we had to call our local vet to stop by and check him out. She gave him an infusion, because he was pretty dried out, and some shots. He did perk up by the next day, and by the weekend he was back to his "normal" self. We are thankful to have a kind and concerned vet like Anna living in our village.

This week we got another month's food delivered for our 16 kitties. Two packages, not on the same day, but at least within a few days. We are once again prepared to feed our kitty family for another month.

Left, three of our kitties sleeping near Jer's computer desk. (Casper, Zoltan, and Minnie); Right, one day Józsi checked the bird's nest in the ivy on the coal shed and found there were four eggs.

Left, patterns of the sun shining in through a side catio window into the hallway to our furnace room; Center, Jer's tulips have multiplied and are nearing the time to bloom; Right, a tree with pink blossoms in the town where Józsi works.

Left, more flowering trees in the town where Józsi works; Center, an old house about 2 blocks down our street had some very dark smoke coming out of its chimney one day; Right, one late afternoon when Jer was going to the far back of our yard to get rid of sawdust from the litter boxes she saw these vapor trails and clouds in the sky.

Left, Józsi brought home this very yummy dessert for Jer one day... it was delicious! (it was a kind of "Panna Cotta", the dark things were cherries); Right, on the corner of our block (two houses between us and these lots) there are two new houses being built. When we bought our house nearly 20 years ago this was all vacant lot with the remains of an old mud walled house.

Far left, Jer took some time this weekend to do a serious cleaning and lime scale removal to the two kitty fountains and they look almost as good as new again; Left, while out one day Józsi ran across an old kitty friend along the street - we do not know what his real name is, but he calls him "Anthony"; Right, late in the week we did have one morning with frost on the car; Far right, mix of dark clouds and sun shining on a house not far from us.

This week we had some very warm sunny days, but at the end of the week it turned colder with rain off and on. Seasonal trees and plants are getting leaves and flowers earlier than normal. Jer worked some more days repairing the walls in the kitchen, but needed to take a break from it towards the weekend. She'll get back to it this coming week. It was a fairly quiet week, but a good one.

Left, this was the view of the sun coming up to the left of the house across the street, instead of to the right of it like the past few months... yay!; Center, just another lunch for the kitties in progress, with only half of our 16 cats on the table!; Right, on Monday this was how warm it was in the enclosed porch... very warm for early March! It cooled off and was a bit rainy later in the week but it was a really nice start to the week.

Left, early in the week this was the view over the shed roofs of our next door neighbor... her various fruit trees all had pink flowers; Right, just some pretty little flowers in the yard. Nothing fancy, but it's so nice to see them.

Left, some of the neighborhood pigeons have been eating the chicken feed that Jer put under the apple tree after we got rid of our chickens a while back; Center, Scruffy (a neighborhood cat) eating cat food (he did eat the whole tin); Right, Scruffy being a good boy and cleaning himself up before leaving the porch to continue his rounds.

This week Jer made some good progress with the kitchen wall but needed to take a break from getting up on a chair for a couple of days so she took the time to sort out the small counter area in the place where the stove is. Everything was cleaned out and she brought in some red tiles from the porch to put on the wooden board that was the counter there. On the right is one of our shy black kitty sisters, Daphne. DeeDee is the only one of the three who gets out and around like the rest, her sisters Dora and Daphne both are pretty timid and skittish. (but sweet!)

Józsi took this pretty morning photo of the aeroponic tomato plant between our village and the one 1 kilometer away. It is big, the photo shows about half of it with the sun lamps on inside.

This week our friend Helga did some decorating for Easter at her ice cream shop in the village; Center, the grass in the back third of our yard had grown very long in clumps; Right, on the weekend Józsi took time to mow it. (the grass in the front and middle yards are not that long yet, but will need to be mowed sometime fairly soon as well)

This week our weather was somewhat back and forth with being sunny and then rainy, but it was warmer than normal and things are sprouting in our yard earlier than normal. Jer took some time to start working again on the walls in the kitchen since it was warm enough to have the hallway catio window open. It was a pretty good week all around for both us, and the kitties.

Left, this is how rough ALL the walls in our house were when we bought it nearly 20 years ago, and Jer has been working on smoothing them out when she had time and materials to do it. (back in the USA she did a lot of drywall finishing and this is something like doing the last smoothing layers); Center, her compound was almost out so she asked Józsi to bring home a couple of buckets; Right, starting at the corner where the bathroom door is, she made it about halfway across on day 1. (this area was very uneven, so it took several thin coats to reach this stage)

Left, Józsi did bring her home two more buckets of compound; Center and right, working on the left part of the wall. The edges are still a big rough but once everything has a smooth surface she will deal with the rough edges. There will still be a lot to do in the kitchen, but this wall was the largest and most uneven area. As you may figure, the polycarbonate sheet in the arch-counter area is there because otherwise the cats use it for a through way and that is a no-no where shelves are usually filled with cans and jars of things...

Cat pics: Casper and Ziggy on the couch; Center, Zoltan in a box in the back room, and Right, Minnie and one of the tabby siblings curled up together in a milk box on a chair at the kitchen table.

Far left, Zuzu sleeping atop the wicker set of drawers in the kitchen (while Jer was working on the wall where it usually is); Left, Józsi brought home a pink rose one afternoon!; Right, our temperatures have been so warm that lots of trees and plants have started to sprout leaves much earlier than normal; Far right, morning glory seeds from last year have sprung up... more than two months earlier than last year.

Left, Gracie sleeping in a new bed and Right, Dennis enjoying a noisy brown wrapping paper. They played with the paper for some hours before it was in too many pieces and had to be put in the bag for using to start the fire in the furnace.

Far left and left, views of the pink flowers on some of the fruit trees in our next door neighbor's middle and back yard; Right, Jer's chives are all coming up; Far right, after clearing out the space back by the garage, Jer decided to bring the various old items she has found around the middle and backyard (sometimes buried) up to the front, in the side garden next to the driveway.

This week our weather was good for the time of year, although after a dry start to the week we did have a fair amount of rain later on. On the sunny days we had some amazing sunsets and although we missed the full moon again (rain) Jer did manage to get a couple of shots of the moon the day before. One sunny and fairly warm day Jer took some time to move the pile of wood scraps in front into the carport, making a better view of the backyard. Still some work to be done, but spring is coming soon!

Left, Józsi was given a gift for both of us this week; Right, an unusual cloud formation early one morning at the start of the week.

This week our weather wasn't quite as warm as the previous week, but it was still pretty nice for this time of year. We had some sunny days and some cloudy days with rain. Seasonal plants are starting to grow, and we got a  monthly shipment of various cat foods for our 16 kitties. There were a number of interesting sights to be seen in the skies involving the sun, and also jets and geese!

Far left, Tuesday started out with a nice sunrise, the sun continues to move to the left; Left, an early and very delicate fungi growing on an old post in our backyard; Right, the snowdrop plants are about to bloom; Far right, one morning Jer was outside and caught this shot of a jet flying beneath the moon.

Left, some frost mid week but it didn't do any real damage; Center, the bulbs we were given last year that Jer planted under the catio next to the porch are coming up nicely; Right, at the end of those bulbs there are chives already coming up... in February!

Left, Juniper (one of the tabby trio siblings) watching something on the day of the big monthly cat food delivery; Center, RayRay behind all of the cat food, with Gracie on the chair; Right, Juniper seems to want to know if all this Bozita box food is for her!

Left, all of the new cat food packed away with what other cat food we had left from a gift; Center, one day Jer was out in the driveway with her phone and she looked up to see a couple of geese flying overhead; Right, another bright morning sunrise... with jet trails!

Left and center, on Friday morning Jer was outside and happened to have her phone out to take these two photos of two jet trails crossing paths in the sky. This was the first time she had seen this happen when she had a way to take photos; Right, late Friday afternoon  when Jer was going to the backyard she saw this amazing sight of many jet trails in the sky! Józsi was in town doing some shopping and he saw them as well. It was the first time we had ever seen so many trails in the sky at the same time.

Left, while Józsi was out in the village he stopped and bought a rose to bring home to Jer; Center, she put it in the kitchen window; Right, the sun continues to move higher in the sky and lower on the side of the house... and the driveway catio.

Left, Dora was sleeping in the shelf next to Jer's desk when Jer put this toy mouse in with her. She wasn't sure what to think at first!; Center, on the blanket area to the left of Jer's computer desk were Minnie (with no tail) hugging Ziggy; Right, Ziggy parked on the bottom rung of the steps that lead up to the top of the wardrobes.

This week was warmer than usual for the time of year, and we were able to get some yard work done sooner than usual. The sun continues to show itself more and more on the side of our house (and the driveway catio) and Jer finally had time to change our kitchen window over from Christmas to Valentine's Day!

Left, this was the temperature at 2pm on Monday; Center and right, the next morning Jer noticed that some of her early blooming flowers next to the driveway had started to grow.

Left, on Saturday we decided to spend some time trimming back the ivy on the side of the coal shed behind our house. (it turned from warm to cold very fast last fall so we didn't get it done); Center, Józsi working on trimming the ivy; Right, the end result and a big pile of ivy. Right now it looks a bit ragged but the ivy grows back quickly.

This week we had some cold days but towards the end of the week things warmed up and the cats had a bit of time in the driveway catio on several days. We had a couple of the usual naughty cat incidents...with 16 cats, there are bound to be a couple of cats who have some issues. We got a package with more special cat food for our special needs senior cat Elvis and a cat bed (the cat bed we chose for bonus points). By today (Sunday) we had temperatures in the 50s Fahrenheit, much warmer than normal and with more to come. All in all, it's been a pretty good week.

Left, this week started out with one last time a cat peeing in the old wicker chair in the back room. Out of 16 cats, only two have this problem but it does make extra work for Jer. Two of the old wicker chairs are in the porch awaiting next weekend's trip to the recycling place outside our village; Center, Jer brought in one of the plastic chairs from the porch and put some plastic mats down in the seat (which has open areas) and so far no one has made a mess (and if they do, it won't be a problem to clean up); Right, one morning it was quite cold overnight and Jer snapped this photo of some junk in the firepit that had been in water and it froze.

Left, this week a large box arrived; Center, special cat food for Elvis was the main content (he has a kind of malabsorption and IBD); Right, besides the cat foods was a special item we chose for bonus points... a really nice cat bed! Naturally Dennis was the first to try it out.

Left and center, Jer kept the box and cut out a door and some triangle windows on the front and back. It replaces the old box that was there in the doorway to the back rooms, and the cats seem to really like it; Right, late in the week we were given a lot of stuff of various kinds for kitties by someone we know. We are always thankful for any help when it comes to taking good care of our 16 cats.

Three of our kitties (Juniper, Davy Jones and Missy) enjoying exploring the packages and trying out some of the toys that we received.

Left and center, Ziggy and Minnie enjoying some catnip toys; Right, our oldest cat, Gracie, taking a peaceful snooze. With so many other cats she sometimes gets annoyed but mostly she has adjusted to living life inside.

This week was fairly warm for the time of year... warm enough for the driveway catio to be open for a short time several times. We didn't get to see the full moon (as so often happens) but we did get to see the night before and after it. Józsi celebrated a birthday this week and we celebrated by ordering a nice dinner from our local village restaurant, and Jer finally repairing Józsi's favorite pair of at home pants. All in all, it was a good week!

Far left, the days are starting to be long enough for the solar lights to get enough energy to to light up when it gets dark; Left, one late afternoon when Jer was taking cat box sawdust (we use wood pellet litter) out to the far back of our yard this was the amazing sunset that she saw! She had to stop and take a photo; Right and far right, pics taken at the front of our house of the "one day away from full moon" shining in the sky.

Far left, we had several warm days for January but this was the warmest one; Left, that same evening Jer saw these two jets looking like they just missed each other (but were probably not close in altitude; Right, while taking sawdust to the backyard Jer spotted a mushroom; Far right, Juniper running to the hallway window one day when Józsi was coming home from work ("Dad is home!"). He had his phone out so he took her picture.

Left, Minnie next to Jer's desk with 3 books: Charles Dickens "The Christmas Books", a small Bible; and Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes"; center and right, on a day when it wasn't windy and wasn't too cold Jer let the cats go out to the driveway catio for a while one morning.

Left, our visitor cat we call Scruffy with his tongue out one morning; Center, one morning Jer was going to cut up some boxes for burning in our furnace, but Zoltan (the rescue cat from last fall) decided that one looked perfect for a siesta; Right, Gracie, our oldest cat (and mother of Elvis) in the window. She was an outdoor cat for more than 10 years and still wants to go outside sometimes, but Jer doesn't let her go out as she isn't able to jump very well anymore.

This weekend was Józsi's birthday and tho we didn't do any big celebration, Jer took some time to repair his favorite "at home" pants. (which had been ripped at one knee some time back) As usual, there was Dennis there with her to help so she decorated him.

Józsi was also given a really tasty cake by his step mom. Soft chocolate crust, vanilla and strawberry. Yum!

This week was fairly cold, but normal for January. We had a monthly order of cat foods delivered, as well as a load of firewood. The kitties mostly took it easy... eating, sleeping, and the occasional scuffles during the day. The more adventurous kitties took the chance to try out the driveway catio for a short time a couple of times but didn't stay out for very long.

Left, this order included the regular foods for the cats, plus some of the special foods our Elvis has to have; Center, a tabby perched on top of the foods; Right, Ziggy snoozing atop the wicker cabinet across from the table.

Left, Tuesday morning Jer was in the hallway and saw our regular visitor Scruffy outside on the wooden sleeping box making it plain he wanted food!; Center, she got him some food and then off he went to whatever his rounds are in the neighborhood; Right, only one sleeping spot empty in this photo one morning when the AC/heater was pumping out lots of warm air over Józsi's desk and onto these 4 kitties. (3 kitties on the couch, and 1 in the box at the top right, to the right of the empty cat bed)

This very useful tool was given us by a friend who takes care of a lot of rescued and special needs cats. (about three times as many cats as we have, but she lives at another village at the end of a lane with farm fields around for them to roam) Thank you, Rozi!

Cat photos: Left, 6 of our 16 cats eating on the table; Center, Davy Jones in a shopping bag, with Rosie in the background behind him; Right, Casper in his favorite sleeping bed next to the Christmas tree with a plush kitty.

This week Józsi was commissioned to restore a carved old shotgun butt. First order of business will be carefully removing the ugly thick dark stain someone very generously slapped over the delicate carving. Using special solvent and a soft tooth brush it will take some careful work. The butt also has some nasty cracks and botched "repair"... it will be a long project.

Today (Sunday) we woke up to sun but cold temps and frost on the car. Once again, some of our more hardy cats wanted to go out into the driveway catio for a bit. After some sniffing, sunbathing and birdwatching, they quickly opted for their warm cozy places inside.

This week we continued to have cold temperatures, but at least our heating system was working perfectly (On Monday we had a visit from the guys who previously fixed the furnace, this time a leaky valve was replaced). We had some cloudy days, but also some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. In the main, it was a pretty quiet week.

Left, on Monday Józsi was home and while in the next village he passed this person with two horses on the main street. This is not uncommon out here in the villages; Center, the next day Jer decided to make some hash browns from scratch. She used to cook all the time, but with taking care of a house and 16 indoor cats she doesn't have that much for cooking anymore; Right, one of the tabby trio siblings, Dennis, on Jer's lap while she is trying to use her computer. He's like a big baby.

One Tuesday evening just after sunset Jer went outside for something and caught this shot of several jets flying over an unusual cloud formation. She had never seen anything like this before.

Left, on Wednesday evening this was the view of the sunset about to happen as taken from the back part of our yard; Center, Thursday morning view out our street window of the sunrise nearing its time; Right, 8:08am and it was 17.5  Fahrenheit outside, and only near 67 inside at Jer's computer desk! (it takes a bit of time for our system to heat up and Jer's computer desk is not near the radiator)

Thursday clouds at sunset. Left, across the street and to the right of us, Center, over the next door neighbor's back shed, and Right, the fiery view from the far back yard. Some people would find this uninteresting, but Jer has always been interested in the sky, the clouds, and in sunsets.

Far left, one chilly morning later in the week the pressure gauge on the furnace; Left, the wood was running low and Jer was feeling good enough to go to the woodshed and split some wood for kindling; Right, the smaller kindling on top of the stove getting dry; Far right, the bigger kindling.

This week started out again with another day off... New Years Day! Our weather was a bit cooler than the previous week but still warmer than usual in the daytime for this time of year. (It's cooling off rapidly as this update is being done, however!) We got more special cat food for our Elvis delivered, we had several very nice sunrises and sunsets, and Jer took a few days to choose areas in the center of the house (mainly kitchen and bathroom) to do some early "spring cleaning."

Left, on Tuesday a package was delivered and of course kitties were right there sniffing the box!; Center, the package contained a lot of bags of special food for our Elvis, who has some special needs now that he has gotten older; Right, Jer packed them up right away in a plastic bin.

Left, a photo taken early Wednesday morning of the Christmas tree of one of our across the street neighbors; Center, the moon as it looked that morning; Right, a view from the backyard of the sun starting to come up.

Left, the view out our bathroom window around noon that day... lots of clouds in the blue sky!; Right, view out the same window towards sunset.

Left, this week Jer took a few hours out of the day on several days to a bit of cleaning and rearranging in a few places in the house, including the WC. (water closet/toilet room) It's amazing how quickly  things can get dusty in an old house!; Center, one of Jer's characters in the game Milmo enjoying some Christmas snow action; Right, a stray cat hanging around at the police department where Józsi works. He has been feeding it.

Left, four of our 16 cats relaxing on the old couch/bed with big fluffy pillows and soft blankets on top. As you can see, they are very relaxed!; Right, Juniper seemed to be saying "turn that dang light off and let me get some sleep!"

This week our weather was warmer than normal (much like last year which was warm, at least saving us some fuel!) In the main it was a quiet week, with weather much nicer than is usual for Christmas week here in Hungary. All in all, it was a really good week for this time of year! We wish all of our family, friends and followers of this page a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Left, Zoltán, the cat we rescued in September, snoozing next to Jer's desk. As you can see, he is a big eater and has really filled out from the skinny, injured cat we took in this September!; Right, this was the temperature showing on Wednesday at 2pm! It reached 54.6 this afternoon while Jer was working on this update. Amazing weather for the end of December! (although we had similar weather last Christmas, it's not normal for this time of year here in Hungary)

This week we had warmer days than normal for the time of year, and much less rain than we've had for the past month or so which meant Jer was able to get some photos of the activities in the sky. Left, jet trails (one quite visible and one faint trail to its right); Center, the sun is  starting to move back down the side of the house... yay!; and Right, jet trails in the sky with jets going opposite directions.

This week's update is a day later than usual as we were busy on Sunday night with making a pumpkin pie from scratch (we use butternut squash) and Jer just plain forgot about the update until Christmas morning! (The first time in all the many years she has been doing this webpage!) We had some unusual back and forth weather, between warm and snow. It was time to get rid of our hens as they quit laying eggs some months ago and the 16 cats in the house were more than enough work for Jer these days. We spent a quiet Christmas Day with our kitties, and all is good.

This week we had a lot of mixed weather but it started out with some clear skies in the evening.

This week Józsi was given some Christmas gifts by a friend, the Milka bar was for Jer and the zombie looking gingerbread boys were made by his friend and his kids. We like oddball stuff!

Left, after Józsi left with the chickens, Jer removed the barrier between the front, middle, and back yards; Center, the next day (Saturday) Józsi had to go to work and we woke up to it snowing!; Right, two of our 16 kitties watching it snow after Daddy had gone to work.

This week was warmer than last week, but towards the end of the week first Józsi came home sick, and the next day Jer turned up with it. We were both pretty sick (and Jer is still not feeling well as she is typing this update) but at least it seems to be turning the corner. Needless to say this week's update will be a pretty short one. Hopefully we will be back to normal by Christmas.

Left, this week only one photo of any of our cats, and this is Zoltan, the newest member of our cat family. His badly wounded back end has healed up so well that you wouldn't know that he had a  very serious injury; Right, a photo Józsi took one day this week, driving to a nearby village to do a routine firearms inspection at a hunt.

Józsi brought home some yummy cake pastries, that are traditional Christmas desserts to this region. They are a kind of roll-up pastry called Bejgli (p:"bey-glee") and they are made with sweetened ground walnut or sweet ground poppy seed filling.

We received two shipments of cat food for our ever hungry bunch of cats, with some special gastrointestinal foods for Elvis, who has a kind of malabsorbtion syndrome.

Some photos borrowed from our mayor's Facebook page. Christmas festivities started out in the area in front of our local templom (Catholic church) with a large crowd and an appearance by Mikulás (Saint Nicholas).

In many parts of Europe, Santa visits early December and gives/leaves candy for kids who have been nice and coal for those who have been naughty.
In this part of the world, the Christmas gifts are brought by the Baby Jesus instead of Santa Claus. He is called Jézuska (often accompanied by an angel) in Hungary, Ježíšek in Czechia, Christkind in Germany, Gesù bambino in Italy.

Left, on Monday the furnace guys came and replaced the worn out gasket on our old furnace. It turned out to be some completely improper rubberized gasket - it is a miracle it lasted this long before it ruptured. It was replaced with a proper heat resistant sealing gasket and the furnace has been working just fine since then; Center, on Monday it was the turn of one of our neighbors to host a day of the annual "days of Christmas" visiting (welcoming people with snacks and cookies, and tea for the kids, mulled wine for the adults), this year it was Day 4; Right, it was on a very cold day so there were fewer people than usual.

Left, due to the cold weather and lower turnout (we didn't go as Jer was not feeling well) our neighbor had some yummy home made leftovers of treats she had made and brought some over to us (sweet poppy seed cakes and cheese wafers); Center, the next morning it had snowed and Jer went out to sweep the sidewalk; Right, it was quite cold and this was an interesting frozen shape hanging from the end of the gutter on our porch.

The week was cold and we had snow (mostly overnight) on several different days. These were shots taken by Józsi at our local train station while on his way to work one morning.

Jer took some photos of several of our neighbors' Christmas lights.

Left, one day Jer noticed that someone had come by our house pulling a sled; Center and right, one of our oldest cats, Zuzu,  was able to go to one of the several vets we use for an issue with a bad tooth. With this bag we have, she was able to have it removed without having to have anything to put her under (since anaesthesia is always a risk and the removal was quick and as painless as possible). The tooth was removed without issue. She is eating much better now!

Left, an overnight snowfall and the trash and yard waste cans had about 5-6 inches of snow on them; Center, once Józsi went to the train station and the snow stopped Jer shoveled the driveway where the car is parked; Right, out the front window you can see it warmed up enough for the snow on the street to melt; Far right, another day starting with snow and Jer went out and shoveled and/or swept the snow off in front of our property.

This week only a few photos of cats.... Far left, the neighborhood cat we call Scruffy appeared a couple of times for food and a bit of relaxation; Left, Minnie (our cat with the amputated tail) and one of the tabby siblings sharing a box with a blanket; Right, on Friday morning we woke up to find a dead shrew on the mat just outside the doorway to our main room! (freshly killed as it was not stiff) We guessed it came into the furnace room in a bucket with wood and made its way to the warmer part of the house by sneaking under the old kitchen door that opens to the hallway, and was killed by one of our cats. We don't know which one it was, but our big black cat Davy was not feeling well for a day or so and we think it may have been him (some shrews have venomous saliva and their bite can cause some light sickness in cats); Far right, one morning Jer put her handmade kitty Christmas ornaments in a bag with some fresh catnip and let the cats enjoy it.

Left, the second Sunday of Advent and Jer has her wreath up; Right, she also turned on some of the other candles on the shelves around her desk. We love Christmas at our house!

Left, a better shot of the Christmas tree than in last week's photos, with the inevitable kitty napping; Center, our Elvis continues to hang in there health-wise, although he goes back and forth with being extremely hungry all the time to being very picky from one day to the next. He isn't losing weight, at least; Right, Jer with only half of our 16 cats one evening.

This week started out great, fairly warm weather for the time of year and the furnace working again and then on Tuesday evening something went wrong and the fire had to be removed as the water was spilling out on the floor. Left, the water on the floor; Center, the gasket that finally wore out; and Right, with only our air conditioner/heater in the front room and cold weather coming our friend Luke loaned us an electric heater for the back room. At least the air conditioner in the main room is also a heater, so we and the cats could keep warm. (while the back part of the house at least wasn't cold)

On Wednesday the sun came up and showed the walnut tree with its bare branches, and a beautiful sunrise happening across the street.

On Wednesday Jer decided it was time to do the Christmas decorating in the kitchen, starting at the kitchen window area.

Left, below and right to the shelf she hung up a quilted Christmas quilt she made about 10 years ago, with hand embroidered Christmas characters; Right, the weather then changed over to cold and very rainy. When the load of coal Jozsi had ordered was delivered on Friday the yard was left a mess. (Jer had flattened it down before taking this photo) The coal got wet, but at least we have a nice load of coal now.

This week Jer also redecorated the shelves above her computer desk. They always have some Christmas decorations all year, but the big stuff like the Advent wreath and the Advent tree (that she made a few years ago) were put up, along with some other items. Yay!

Left, On Saturday it started to snow, and it accumulated a bit more than expected; Center, The house we can only see when the leaves are gone had a snowy roof; Right, on Sunday there were little icicles along the roof of the driveway catio that looked kind of like Christmas lights or decoration.

Left, ice at the end of the gutter along the porch on a cold Sunday morning, Center, the Advent tree has started to collect ornaments; Right, the first week of advent and Jer's wreath has its first lighted candle.

This week the village put in a couple of Christmas trees to be decorated for the holiday. This was the first one and another was put up to the left. (borrowed from a post in Facebook)

Left, another borrowed photo and this was of the decoration at the bus stop on the main street a couple of blocks from our house; Center and right are photos of some decorations Józsi took at the CBA grocery parking lot in the village next door.

This week started out still being warm for the time of year, but we did finally have a hard frost that got rid of the walnut tree's leaves and killed off the raspberry plants next to the driveway catio. In spite of the frost, the days were still pretty nice for the time of year. We received some gifts, Jer managed to get two good photos of the moon with her cell phone, the hidden house finally emerged in the backyard, and Józsi got some new Christmas tree lights so Jer could clean and redecorate the Christmas tree next to her desk. (it's there year round because we have nowhere to store it these days, with so many cats!) It was a good week.

Left, the moon at about 4:45 pm on Tuesday. Jer was lucky to be able to get a good shot with her cell phone this time!; Right, the leaves dropped enough this week for the back of the house around the corner to be seen from the fence to the far back part of our yard. It usually happens a lot sooner than this, but it's fun to watch for it to appear every fall.

Far left, on Wednesday morning the pink morning glories were still in bloom; Left, the next morning there was frost for Józsi to scrape off the car before leaving for the train station; Right, the morning glories got frosted for real this time; Far right, later on Jer went out and removed all the morning glories. (and made sure to let any seeds fall before taking the lot away to the garden waste bin!)

Left, that morning the leaves on the walnut tree finally began to fall; Center, by late afternoon the leaves were gone and Jer had raked up the ones near the hen house to be put in the yard waste after the next pick up; Right, at least there was enough room for the dead morning glories in this week's bin!

This week Józsi brought home some gifts that someone gave to us, including Christmas candies and also some coffee and perfume for Jer.

Left, the leaves in the far back of the yard (where Jer dumps most of the sawdust from the cat boxes) still have lovely colors, and sometimes some frost or nice big water drops on them; Right, this week Józsi took the cat shelters he built some weeks back, and helped a local animal rescue group place them at a spot in town where they have a small cat colony they manage (feed them and also trap, neuter and release them). These insulated shelters will help the cats cope with the frost for sure.

Left, the sunrise has now moved several houses to the right of where it happens in June; Center, around noon the sun barely reaches the eaves... soon it won't shine on the side of the house for some weeks before it starts to move back down; Right, the almost full moon on Saturday at about 4:15 pm.... another good shot Jer was able to get with her new cell phone's camera. (it's hard to get a good photo of the moon with a phone camera, mostly it seems to be just plain luck!)

Far left, on the weekend more frosty bits on leaves in the far back of the yard on sawdust dumping duty; Left, removing stuff from the Christmas tree so it can be cleaned and new lights put on; Right, about halfway through the process; Far right, all finished. The only strings of lights Józsi could find were 100 instead of the 50 lights we had before, so Jer just had to go with that. (We are getting used to it, and she was able to arrange garland and things on the tree that would would block the light a bit!)

This week started out with frost on Monday morning, but warmed up again after that. Our wood burning furnace had a failure with its old water tank, which meant the fire had to be quickly removed from the furnace and the wood and coals taken outside quickly... not fun!  We were lucky that the furnace repairman in our own village was able to come over within a day and replace the bad parts and refill the system with water for a very reasonable price! Józsi got to see helicopters in town while at work the same day, and Jer found a lot of tiny mushrooms in the back part of our yard while dumping sawdust from the litter boxes. We winterized the hen house and turned off the outside faucet, and moved the Lada back to the carport. Best of all was just before Jer started working on this update, she was outside putting the hens up and saw a huge rainbow in the sky just to the left of our house!

Monday morning, our first frost. It wasn't enough to kill anything off, but the coming week a hard frost is expected.

Left, on Tuesday morning Jer decided to get the floor of the hallway to the furnace room cleaned up and repainted at the bottom. Luckily she did this first thing after Józsi went to work, because the guys who were going to repair our furnace called to say they could come that same day!; Just after she finished getting the paint dry and putting the lino back, guess who showed up at the window wanting food? Yes, it was Scruffy! (a neighborhood cat) He ate the whole tin, wanted his head petted and then left to do whatever he does during the day.

This week Józsi saw American military helicopters in the small town where he works at the police department... very unusual! Three Chinook transports and a smaller escort.

The guys did a great job replacing the expansion tank and pump that had failed connected to our wood/coal burning furnace! (it heats radiators in the house via water pipes) We were very relieved to have it fixed so quickly, since cold weather is going to finally arrive before long.

The walnut tree has lost a few more leaves than this photo taken at the beginning of the week, but most of its leaves are still on as of today (Sunday). With colder weather on the way, in a week it will probably lose most of its leaves. The sunrise shining behind leaves in the yard is always a beautiful sight!

That same morning Jer went to the back to dump sawdust and found a lot of interesting mushrooms and toadstools in the far back of our yard.

Far left, with freezing temperatures in the near future and the morning glories on the porch not having many flowers anymore Jer decided to take then all off on Friday. (so she could get all the bits from the mesh where they were growing while they were still pliable); Left, the morning glories on the catio won't be hard to remove and they are still blooming so she left those alone; Right, it was the time of year people come around from the local Catholic templom to sell calendars and Christmas postcards, and the usual nice older man in a wheelchair showed up so Jer bought a Calendar and a postcard as she always does. (even though she is Protestant, it's nice to help support the locals!); Far right, the shadow of the house next door still creeping up during the day. Before Christmas it won't shine below the eaves of the roof for about 2 weeks before starting back down.

Far left, the shelf Józsi made for the kitties to reach the bathroom window needed a bit of reinforcement (some of our cats are light, and some are pretty heavy!) so Jer made and painted a piece of wood to hold it up and it's working well; Center, we had very windy days most of the week, some with rain and some without rain... but it was so windy it kept trying to take the tarp off our old Lada so Jer put some heavy stuff on both front and back to help keep the tarp from being ripped off; Right, chicken coop has been winterized... check!

Left, dark clouds but sun on Sunday afternoon. As Jer was going to the backyard to do a couple of things before putting the hens up, she looked up and saw this huge rainbow in the sky over our back neighbors' house. She didn't have her phone so had to run to the house and it had faded from the brilliant colors of a minute before, but it was still an amazing sight... especially for the later part of November!

This week started out with fairly warm temperatures but cooled off a lot by the weekend, and we had quite a bit of rain during the week! The leaves on the walnut tree are starting to drop but it still has most of its leaves.  Our power was out for a few hours on Friday afternoon/evening but that was compensated for by a nice goose dinner from our local restaurant. All in all, it was a pretty good week for early November.

Left, our newest cat (the one who had the serious damage to the place at the base of his tail, but is now healed up) and one of the tabby siblings napping to the left of Jer's computer desk; Right, the leaves are falling later than usual but the house around the corner is a bit more visible from our backyard than it was last week.

Left, a beautiful sunrise one morning (when it wasn't raining) and Right, Józsi's view of it from the train station about a mile from our village.

This week the sun dropped enough lower in the sky that it hardly shines on the side of the house (and catio), and before long it won't shine at all between our house and the next door neighbor for several months. Jer was outside and saw this pretty pattern on the side of the house made by the sun shining through morning glories; Right, the morning glories making the pattern.

Left and center, the shade in the middle of the day at this time of year; Right, our sweet boy Casper in one of his relaxing/sleeping poses.

Last but not least: Missy, our paranoid princess. She has behavioral issues, but we love her.

This week remained warmer than normal, but we had some dry sunny days and a couple of very rainy days as well. The days grow shorter and the shadow of the house across the driveway means not much time in the sun for the driveway catio even on a warm day, but at least the cats were able to spend some time outside on a few days. All in all, it was a good week.

This week started out sunny and warm and the cats enjoyed the driveway catio until it was nearing sundown.

On Wednesday it was a holiday here (All Saints Day) and it was another warm sunny day. The recent addition to our cat family, Zoltan, really enjoyed his time in the sunshine while it was shining in the side catio.

This week Jer finally had time to make at least a small dent in the pile of things to be mended. Left, these were all the socks needing mending... she was able to mend all but the two pairs one afternoon; Right, due to the warm weather and various other things that needed her attention, the pile of various kinds of pants and one apron are still awaiting their turn. At least she was able to make a bit of a dent and once the weather gets cooler she can get back to mending.

Left, one day Jer took this late afternoon shot through the back catio through the window. So nice to still see leaves on the trees this far along in the the year; Center, the very day of this update (Sunday) Jer spotted one last strawberry in one of the plant pots near the side catio. Amazing!; Right, a few minutes later she was able to catch a photo of a small plane flying very near to our house... something else that doesn't happen too often.

Left, a shot of the late afternoon sun on the back catio and the hazelnut tree behind it; Center, the sun shining only on the very top of our house as it heads toward sunset; Right, a view of the sun on nearby houses taken through one of the star holes in our front gates.

Left, once Halloween was past, Jer put up the Thanksgiving wall quilt she made some years back; Left, a 10 kilo bag of dry cat food for our 16 cats. They go through a lot of both wet and dry food every month; Right, we use wood pellet litter and recently started buying it in very large bags as we go through a lot of cat litter every month as well.

This week with Jer's help Józsi cleaned out the carport at the back and he took a lot of unwanted stuff to the recycling center on Saturday; Right, a beautiful sunset on Sunday taken from the fence to the far back part of our yard.

Left, only a short time later the sun had set and the clouds were all pink; Center, it was also time for the solar lights to come on next to the driveway catio, with some pink morning glories nearby; Right, our Casper, already asleep.

This week our temperatures continued warmer than normal and we had a spectacular sunrise one day. Our visitor cat Scruffy finally turned up for food after weeks of not having been seen, we made a shelf for the kitties to have an easier climb to the window above the bathtub to watch the birds and the yard next door, and Józsi finished up the shelter boxes for stray cats he'd been working on. Today (Sunday) the time changed and went back an hour. All in all, it was a good week!

Left, our most recent rescue cat (now named Zoltan) was taken in to the vet on September 4th and you can see the extent of his injuries on the photo taken 4 days later, on the 8th. The vet was not sure he was going to recover from them; Center, a photo taken of Zoltan's tail today (October 29) and you can see that his injuries are healed and his fur has grown back! (the vet has been given progress photos); Right, the neighborhood kitty we have fed when he showed up for some time (and who we let sleep in our hallway when it is cold, and took him to the vet when he was injured) finally showed up for food after having not been seen seen for almost 2 months. He is not skinny anymore, which we were happy to see. There is another cat who looks very much like him who has a collar that comes around as well, we think they are related but since we don't know exactly which house they come from we can't be sure. They know they can sleep on our porch or the carport and will get food if we see them in our porch.

Left, two white roses from the plant Józsi got Jer a few months back to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her coming to Hungary from the USA. In the early morning light they looked a bit like eyeballs in a surprised face!; Center, the morning glories growing outside the porch now are both purple and pink flowers; Right, Zoltan lounging in the kitchen sink for some odd reason one day. You can see he is healthy and well fed! 

Left, the driveway morning glories are looking better than ever even this late in the season; Right, one of the three tabby siblings we took in a few years ago... they all feel very safe and relaxed in our house, as you can see here!

This week continued to be mostly warmer than normal, with a couple of days midweek that even had one light frost before warming back up again! The kitties continued to enjoy catio time in mostly the driveway catio, but also several quite warm days the back catio (which is always in the shade) was also open. Jer took some time on a couple of days to do some more work on the walls in the outer hallway, and got one section smoothed out and repainted so only one area left to go.

Far left, morning glories still blooming next to the porch; Left, a late rose blooming on the plant Jer got from Józsi for our 25th anniversary last summer; Right, a casualty in the kitchen... one of the cats' plates. Someone knocks one off on the floor and it gets broken. Thankfully it doesn't happen too often, but cats will be cats; Far right, a warm sunny day early in the week and the side catio had plenty of occupants.

Left, Casper enjoying the catio near where the morning glories are growing; Center, the newest cat, Zoltan, enjoying some warm sun in the driveway catio; and Right, another sunny day with cats enjoying the same catio. The sun has moved enough now that the sun doesn't shine in the catio all day anymore, by around 3:30 it's in the shade but they enjoy it while it's warm.

On Tuesday morning this is what Jer found on her computer when she got up to prepare for feeding the cats... it had reached freezing overnight!

Far left, it was cold that morning as Józsi went off to work but there was a pretty cool cloud in the sky across the street from us between our neighbor's evergreen trees; Left, Jer's sage plant (that she had transplanted from a flower pot) had frost on it; Right, the morning glories at the top of of the catio were fine but Far right, only the ones near the bottom were damaged by the frost.

Left, one morning after Józsi had gone off to work Jer noticed the shadow of our house on the walnut tree in the backyard. We have lived in this house for over 18 years, but this was the first time she noticed this!; Center, Jer loves the sky filled with clouds of different shapes, like this one; Right, one of the black kitty sisters, Dora, in a warm cubbyhole on the shelves in the back room. We love all of our black kitties... DeeDee, Dora, Daphne and Davy Jones.

Left, on a cold morning the cats were sleeping in the house, including these four in the favorite sleeping area in our main room; Right, warm days were back and it was Davy's turn to pose near the morning glories on a warm sunny day.

The warm weather this week encouraged Jer to do some more finish work on the walls in the outer hallway. (They had been terribly rough in the first place, much of which she had repaired over the years, but there was still  damage from when the house was rewired a couple of years ago) She made some major headway on the rough side on the wall to the inside part of the house, and was able to finish and paint the wall on the outside wall where the porch and driveway catio are.

Left, another warm day where the back catio could be open and it had occupants; Right, 74 degrees at 4:42 in the afternoon!

Left, Zoltan's tail has been healed up for a week or two and now the hair is almost filled in as well. It's amazing that such a huge deep wound that he had would heal so well in about a month and a half, but it has; Right, Józsi was asked to be range officer at a commemorative police shooting championship. There were several situations the participants had to face, in his range they had to take targets out after a simulated low speed car collision.

This week our weather continued to be warmer than normal right up to Saturday night, when it became colder and also wetter. The cats enjoyed a lot of days outside in the catios (not usual for this time of year) and we got two shipments of cat food, one of canned and box food and the other of dry food. It was quite a good and warm week for the time of year.

Left, RayRay waking up when we did at the beginning of the week; Center, after Józsi went off to work and Jer was going to let the hens out this was the view in the sky across the street... jet trails and the sliver of the moon that was left; Right, just a few seconds later a swallow flew into view.

Left, the tabby siblings (Dennis, Juniper and RayRay) wanting to know what was in the two big boxes... was it cat food???; Center, as you can see... it was cat food!; Right, due to the warmer than normal temperatures for this time of year Jer is still seeing the odd strawberry in the the boxes that have some plants that grow here and there all through the warm weather.

Left, sunrise happening across the street as seen through our front window; Center, the shadow is moving along across the driveway; Right, another much warmer than normal day during the week and the cats taking advantage of it. Several days were actually hot enough that the kitties went inside to nap during the middle of the day as the catio got too hot for them!

Jet trails in the sky one sunny day... on the left is facing towards the backyard, and on the right is facing across the street.

Left, it was so warm this week that a number of days the back catio (which is not in the sun) was able to be open; Center, one very warm day when Jer had laundry hanging out, Jer noticed that a nearby chimney suddenly started to fill the  neighborhood with thick smoke. Needless to say, Jer was not too happy about it!; Right, by about 2pm the sun was already not shining much on the side of the house.

Left, on Friday afternoon just before 3pm this was the temperature... 80 degrees outside!; Center, Jer loves all the cats but DeeDee (one of the three black kitty sisters) is her favorite, especially when she sits in her various camera friendly poses; Right, another delivery of cat food, IAMS dry food and something for our special needs cat, Elvis.

Left, Juniper looking over the side of a box; Right, Jer got the kitchen window changed over from summer to fall, including a couple of pumpkin and black cat items.

Left, while shopping in the next village Józsi took this photo of some seasonal decoration the CBA parking lot; Center, it was warm enough that most of the cats were in the driveway catio; Right, Józsi brought home a large laundry basket and of course the kitties wanted to get into it... in this photo it was Ziggy taking a turn.

Far left, Józsi ran across this old Soviet era medal this week... awarded for "Excellent Worker": as it happened those days, after the high-ups pocketed the productivity premiums, this was what the little people got - a useless medal; Left, he also found Jer this cool old salt shaker; Right, while doing this update Jer took out her Halloween LED light candle for some fall mood; and far right, Józsi spent Sunday afternoon making some foam insulated shelters for feral colony cats in the nearby city of Mosonmagyaróvár.

This week our warmer temperatures than normal continued, and also the lack of rain we have had since last winter. Jer continued to experiment with her new cell phone, we had our chimney cleaned out and the kitties got to enjoy some very nice warm days in the driveway catio, and even a day in the back catio. (it's in the shade, so it's usually not warm enough to be open this late in the season) All in all it was a pretty good week.

Left, some rosy colored vapor trails and clouds on Monday evening; Right, on Tuesday it was 80 degrees Fahrenheit at almost 4:30pm!

Left, on Wednesday the chimney sweep came around and cleared out the ashes from our chimney which were less than in the past. (partly due to a less cold winter than usual, and partly due to using our air condition/heater in our main living area at the front of the house); Center, one sunny morning with morning glories and fluffy clouds; Right, some medicines for the cats' home pharmacy (Strangely enough, the ones in the picture are meant for cows - but they work on infected injuries, we used them on Zoltan's wound and they accelerated the healing process). With 16 cats with ages ranging from 1-2 years old to 12 years old, we need meds for several of them for various issues.

Left, a photo Józsi took when he was on his way to work; Center, Zoltan, the newest cat (who had the badly injured tail) in the front window as the sun was rising; Right, the same morning the sun was rising in town when Józsi arrived at his work place.

Left, with Jer's new phone she was able to catch the fading moon in some clouds one morning; Center, the next day she caught the moon above the next door neighbor's chimney; Right, she was amazed to be able to take a photo of what looks like leaves in the water bowl for the hens when in reality it was actually just the reflection of the leaves overhead in the walnut tree one early sunny morning.

Left, the porch with what walnuts Jer has been able to collect this year, which is a fraction of the normal amount. She won't have any to sell this year but at least we'll have some for our own use; Right, Jer was amazed to be able to get a good photo of a jet passing over the moon one morning.

Left, stripes of sunshine coming through the front gates one sunny morning; Center, the mid-day shadow of the neighbor's house has crept far and fast the past month. By December the sun won't shine below the eaves on the house in the daytime; Right, more dead branches brought into the wood storage for kindling this heating season.

Left, Józsi brought Jer home a surprise rose on Saturday morning; Center, 3 of our 4 black and white cats in the driveway catio one warm and sunny day; Right, this cat looks to be a white cat, but Casper is actually the cat on the right side of the middle photo! His black markings are all in the center and his right side but his left side is all white.

This week Jer was happy to get a shot of the mix of clouds and vapor trails from passing jets one morning. She also was glad to see the morning glories on the side of the driveway catio continuing to have more flowers. Next year she is going to keep the raspberry plants that usually grow here cut back (partly due to them attracting a lot of wasps) and let the morning glories rule.

Left, this was our newest rescue cat Zoltan one month ago, after Józsi heard about a badly injured cat in the village and went to find him and then took him to a vet. The vet didn't have high hopes for him as his wound was very large and pretty deep; Right, one month later the skin has healed up and most of the area already has fur growing back! Józsi has kept the vet informed and he is glad that he has been well cared for and doing well.

This week our temperatures continued to be warmer than normal. Our rescue cat Zoltan continues to heal nicely from his wound and went to the vet to be neutered this week. Jer's new phone is now working and taking much better photos than her old one, so all that is needed is a bit of practice now. All in all, it was a good week!

Left, our local vet picked up Zoltan and took him with her to where she practices for him to be neutered. The male assistant at the pet clinic in the photo with him is also named Zoltan, hence the smile; Center, One of the other cats bit DeeDee's ear and left a puncture wound. Nothing serious tho; Right, Zoltan came through the surgery just fine and recovered quickly. He also got his combined shots.

Left, the first photo Jer took with her new phone... the stained glass lamp at her computer, Center, Józsi later used it to take a close up photo of the big spider next to the porch; And right, the phone was was used along with binoculars to get a shot of the almost full moon. It will take a bit more getting used to but the new phone is much better than her old one.

Far left and left, the new phone cover we ordered for Jer's new phone; Right, the shadow of the house next door is moving right along across the driveway now; Far right, this was the temperature recorded on the screened porch one day. A bit warmer than outside, but only by a few degrees! It reached 80f here several times this week. (much warmer than normal)

Jer saw this kind of temperature (and a big higher) a number of times this week... much warmer than normal for the time of year.

Left, our Elvis needs some special food which is not always in stock in town so we ordered some to be delivered; Right, the new kid (Zoltan) making himself at home now that he doesn't have to stay in the cage.

Left, this weekend Józsi was able to finish the first layer of covering over the foam insulation on the side of our house facing our next door neighbor. There is still some finish work to do, but it's coming along well; Center, Jer cut back all of the overgrowth from the grapevines in the backyard this weekend; Right, the new phone got a great shot of amazing clouds over the morning glories on our porch one morning!

Far left, a photo of DeeDee, one of the black kitty sisters; Left, Zoltan at the end of his confinement; Right, this was how bad his injury was when we took him in almost 4 weeks ago, and Far right, this is all that is left to heal up. He's done amazingly well.

This week the rescue cat continued to heal, we had a very warm sunny week until the weekend (when it turned cold and rainy) but in the main things went smoothly all around. All in all, it was a good week!

Left, our recent rescue kitty Zoltan sleeping in a box in the driveway catio one warm day this week; Right, the huge wound he had a couple of weeks ago is much smaller now and we expect it should be completely closed over within a week or 10 days.

Far left, shadow of one of our black kitty sisters one morning when the sun had just come up; Left, not the best photo of sun in the next door neighbor's yard one morning when Jer went out to let the hens out, but all she had to take photos with was her old phone before last (somewhere around 10 years old); Right, midweek and all the hazelnuts were harvested and walnuts being picked up. By this weekend the basket was full. With the awful weather we've had this year there won't be that many walnuts but at least there are some; Far right, the morning glories growing late in the season next to the driveway catio are the dark pink variety... yay!

This week we saw several cool jet trails. Left, one morning facing front when the sun was coming up and Right, the next day facing the backyard when the sun was going down.

Left, one morning Jer spotted something really odd... a slug crawling up the round metal ring next to our driveway; Center, while out dumping sawdust (from the pellet litter from the cat boxes) one evening close to sunset, Jer snapped this shot of the sun about to set; Right, the morning glories next to the driveway are still doing great in spite of a late start and not much rain this summer.

Left, our Casper's tail hanging out the back of a box in the driveway catio one afternoon; Right, the newest addition (Zoltan, the rescue cat) and Gracie, our oldest cat and mother of our cat Elvis out enjoying the late day sun on the driveway catio on a warm day.

Left, our parvo survivor Ziggy (Stardust) loves to lay on her back next to Jer's computer; Right, our one anti-social (due to her previous owner) Missy likes to sleep atop these books out the the entry door hallway. She has a lot of issues and requires special attention and understanding, but we love her just as she is.

Left, Casper sleeping in a box atop a cabinet between Jer's computer desk and Józsi's computer desk; Center, the recent rescue cat (now named Zoltan) sleeping on top of blankets in our main room; Right, Jer's old phone (which she loved) that suddenly went wonky upon trying to update finally had to be given up as a lost cause after some days of trying to fix it with no success. Józsi got Jer a new phone on Wednesday, which has been made ready for Jer to use. It's bigger than the last one (as every new phone has been over the years) but it will be able to take much better and clearer photos so it's not a bad thing.

This week our new rescue kitty (now named Zoltán, Zoli for short) has made remarkable progress, and he tested negative for both FIV and FeLV. Although this year's terrible spring weather had meant fewer fruits on the fruit trees, and few nuts on the nut trees... at least the hazelnut tree right behind the back catio on our house has produced a lot of nuts. Józsi made some more progress on the side of the house in our next door neighbor's yard. Jer's cell phone suddenly locked up during some overnight update, and has still not been sorted out! At least she always moved her cell phone photos to her computer every week so she didn't loose more than a few photos that were taken early in the week (and she was able to retake them again, using her previous phone that Józsi fixed for her to use again).

This week our rescue cat was given the name Zoltán (Zoli for short) and he made remarkable healing progress with his badly injured tail! Left, his tail a week and a half ago, and right, his tail this weekend... filling in fast with new tissue and fur is growing back where his wound is healing.

Left, our vet Anna came by to give him tests for FIV and FeLV and he tested negative for both... yay!; Right, once we new he was no danger to the other cats we started to let him have periods of time to be out with our other cats, including the catios. (which were open all week as our weather was so warm)

Left, Jer continued to pick up the hazelnuts falling from the tree behind our house and by the weekend they had all been gathered up; Center, the spring weather this year was so extreme (well below freezing overnight temperatures for 4 days in a row back in April!) that not only our fruit trees but also our walnut tree didn't have many walnuts; Right, besides the cold weather causing fewer walnuts to grow; there is a very busy woodpecker up high in the tree.

This weekend Józsi was able to get a bit more done on the formerly bare brick side of our house that is in our next door neighbor's yard. He wasn't able to get it finished (and the windows will need to be worked on), but he's making progress and there are still some weeks left before the weather might get too cold/wet to continue work. We hope to have it done within the next couple of weeks.

The week continued to be warmer than normal, so things were still growing and staying green and the morning glories continued to grow.

This weekend we decided to remove the winterized cat box to the carport at the back, as the roaming cat Scruffy who often came to visit, eat, and sleep on our porch has not been seen for some weeks (and sadly, he was looking quite puny the last time he was here). We didn't like to move it but wanted to make a safe place for kitties to use somewhere, and wanted to close up the cat entry to our porch. Our oldest cat (Gracie) spent her first 10 years outside before starting to spend time indoors, and now is not really strong enough to do her old rounds outside anymore and we don't want to have the new cat going outside either. As you can see, it was 82f here this afternoon when Jer snapped this shot at her computer... record high temperature for this time of year.

This weekend Joey took time to repair the old and very badly done concrete "flashing" left by the previous owner. It's an old house and has had a lot of "redneck jury rigging" in its lifetime, which we are still sorting out bit by bit after 18 years! He added some corrugated plastic pieces before applying the frost resistant mortar. Not perfect but way better than the old one that was cracked, loose and letting water drip in to the furnace room.

This week our weather was very warm for early September!  (upper 80s with a few more days to come with the warmer than normal temps) On Monday Józsi read online about a badly injured cat in the village that had been laying somewhere for days, and he went to the place and picked him up. Found a vet in the vicinity where we could take it to be treated (our vet was busy at the vet's office she works at). He brought him home and we made a safe place for him to recuperate and he has been improving nicely. He will still need some tests, but he is on the mend and we have decided that if he doesn't have anything that could affect our other cats (FIV or FeLV) we will keep him for sure. If he tests positive for either of those, we will have to consider our other cats and how we can keep them safe. If that's the case, we will make sure to find him a perfect home where he is a solo kitty or gets to live with other cats that already have the same condition. For some reason, the tests sent off for our Elvis have still not been processed, but hopefully it won't be too long.

Left, when Józsi went to the place where the badly injured kitty was and put it in a carrier; Right, the kitty anaesthetized at the vet, waiting to be examined.

Left, the deep open wound on the table at the vet's office... it was starting to fester; Center, after the vet cleared out the wound... it was a huge wound and was going to take a lot of care and treatment to make it better; Right, the kitty in the closed off bathroom once it got to our house.

Left, thanks to a loan of a room kennel from a shelter in our region we were able to get the kitty a space in the back room; Center, the wound after a couple of days; Right, the wound this weekend... it is healing.

Left, the kitty resting in the kennel in the back room. Jer checked on him often during the day, to clean his litter box and see that he had enough water to last till the next meal time; Right, every morning and evening we had to take him out to sanitize his wound and give him some medicines. He didn't like it, but no one was injured in the process!

Far left, sun coming up making shadows on the house across the street; Left, sunrise as seen through plants in the garden next to the driveway; Right, a tiny snail in the side garden; Far right, a strawberry bloomed in one of the planters, which Jer picked and gave to Józsi to eat.

Far left, morning glories next to the porch one sunny morning; Left, right, and far right... the progression of mending (with a welder) a broken lawnmower handle.

Left, this was the temperature showing at Jer's computer this afternoon... on September 9th! It seems we have more hot weather to come; Center, a new coolant temperature sensor to replace the old in our car; Right, several of our kitties have been sick with certain symptoms the past few weeks that might have been giardia, so we did tests on them and it was negative for them all. They are now on metronidazole and are doing better but it will take a little time to sort it all out... such is the life with a lot of cats. (15 permanent, and likely to be 16 shortly)

This week it was bit cooler than the previous week, but we still had some sunny days that were hot enough to close most of the windows and have the air conditioner on in the main room. We got two deliveries of cat food, Jer did some major cleaning in the furnace room in preparation for having the chimney cleaned out in the near future, and she picked up more hazelnuts from the tree behind the back catio. Late in the week we had an amazingly beautiful cloud display near sunset. All in all, a good week.

This week Jer took some time to straighten up and mop the area of the furnace room where the ladder to the attic is and where the ashes are removed. It's always a big mess, and it took a number of moppings (and about 20 rinses of the mop after she was done to get the old mop clean afterwards) but at least it is now ready for inspection and cleaning out of the chimney flue sometime soon. On the right, Ziggy and one of the tabby siblings sleeping across from the air conditioner unit in our main room. It wasn't as hot this week as the previous week, but still pretty hot.

Left, DeeDee (one of the three black kitty sisters) and Right, Casper, caught in a huge yawn on the driveway catio one morning.

Left, Missy (a tabby cat we took in some years back when her owner turned her over to the animal shelter in a city near us) enjoying a catio nap one warm day; Center, the rose plant Józsi gave Jer a few months back on our 25th anniversary grew another rose this week; Right, the same rose a bit later when the sun rose enough to shine on it, and it had some dew on it.

Far left, DeeDee again, this time guarding the second box of catfood; Left, the sun continues to retreat across the driveway; Right, it was cloudy on the night of the full moon but Jer did get to see it a day or two later one morning above the neighbor's roof; Far right, Ziggy (our kitty who survived parvo as a kitten) in the back catio. Isn't she beautiful?

Left, one morning when Jer was done giving Elvis his digestive food she noticed something funny on the bag: that it was for sensible cats; Center and right, one day Józsi brought home a rose for Jer and she put it in an old vase in the kitchen on the small shelf where our modem and router are.

Left, a beautiful little old box brought home by Józsi this weekend for Jer; Center, morning glories have taken over Józsi's bike next to the porch in the last couple of weeks; Right, although a 4 nights in a row frost back in April killed off much of the fruit growing back there, the green apples on the grafted tree are doing fine. (they don't start to grow as soon as the red ones on the other half of the tree do) This is ok with Jer as she prefers the green ones to the red ones anyway.

This week continued to be very hot so not much beyond what was necessary was done outside. Jer did tidy up the porch one morning and brought in something (that had once been a bird feeder) that our formerly outdoor cat Gracie liked to take naps in. A visit from our local vet Anna (to check our Elvis), getting laundry dry outside on the hot days, and a bit more progress on Józsi's old car Ruby were some of the highlights of the week. Cooler temperatures are expected soon...yay!

Left, one morning Jer cleaned up part of the porch and removed the old bird feeder that our oldest cat Gracie always liked to nap in; Center, Jer brought it inside and temporarily put it on top of the big cabinet in the hallway leading to the furnace room, the first occupant was Missy; Right, the second occupant was one of our senior cats, Zuzu. By the weekend this had been brought into the house and to the back room where most of the other kitty stuff is.

Far left, on Monday Anna (a vet who lives in our village) stopped by to do some tests on Elvis, who is still not doing that well. She will come to to a few more tests tomorrow (Monday, August 28); Left, right, and far right... views of the early morning sun in the far back part of our yard. Summer is definitely nearing its end and fall is approaching.

Left, one hot day Jer decided to vacuum the whole house (which was very dusty and no cool days in the near future) and this was the result: the gray stuff is cat dander (fur) and the light colored stuff is sawdust/wood pellet litter. As you can see, it was mostly cat related! We love them to bits anyway; Center, even though this was a terrible year for plants and flowers, some lily plants have bloomed; Right, the shadow of the sun at mid-day continues to move... it's now started to march across the driveway. Sad in a way, but on the other hand... it's marching closer to Christmas!

Left, one morning Jer saw that the cats had been messing with one of the foam panels in the roof of the driveway catio... she closed the windows so the kitties couldn't go out and then put it back; Center, Jer's hens lay various sizes of eggs... but this week in the same day there was one tiny one (probably the one old hen from the previous group of hens that we still have) and one of the newer ones laying a huge egg!; Right, our Elvis is still hanging in there although his various issues have still not yet been resolved. Our local vet will be coming to visit again to check him and take a couple of more tests. At this point, he is mostly just hanging in there.

Left and center, this week the hazelnut tree behind the house started to drop nuts, and Jer went out to pick them up. Usually she doesn't pick them except off the ground but it seemed something is also eating them off the tree so she picked some that she could reach and looked not far from being ripe and took them to the porch; Right, one of the tabby siblings (RayRay) in a pair of Joey's jeans that were pulled of the chair in the kitchen where he left them. Cats!

This week our temperatures were pretty warm, and were very hot by the end of the week.  We got a few things done in spite of the heat, including cleaning out the cat dander from the driveway catio. We had a serious rainstorm one afternoon, got a delivery of wet cat food for our 15 kitties and had a couple of very nice sunrises and sunsets. All in all, it was a pretty good week!

Left, one morning when Jer went out to take care of the hens she took this photo of the sun shining on the old compost pile area at the back of our middle yard. Only a few of the milkweed plants that sprouted ever got flowers as they grew so late; Center, the sun coming up between our house and the one next door (where Józsi is working on finishing the outside wall); Right, a photo Jer took one morning early in the week where the morning glories are blooming next to our porch.

One day when Józsi came home from work he took some time to use his air compressor to get rid of the buildup of cat hair in the side catio. With 15 indoor cats (14 of which use the catios) the cat hair builds up during the warm season.

Left, the sun continues to move and the shadow of the neighbor's house continues to move over towards the driveway; Center, one beautiful morning and a lot of morning glories on the porch; Right, Jer also managed to snap a shot of a bee in one of the morning glory flowers while she was there.

Left, one afternoon late this week some very dark clouds appeared to the north of us; Center, looking at the house on the other side of our driveway there were no dark clouds; Right, about 20 minutes later the dark clouds had moved in on both sides.

Left, a small plane seemed in a hurry to get to where it was going before the weather turned ugly; Right, about 10 minutes later it started raining pretty hard, although not for a long period of time.

Left, the tiny snails have eaten most of the leaves on the lillies in the side garden, but a few are finally managing to bloom; Center, one morning after some rain at night Jer spotted 3 slugs in the area next to the driveway... the hunt was on!; Right, a few were taken care of at the spot but these were the ones that were picked up and disposed of shortly after the photo was taken.

This week we got a partial cat food delivery (the moist foods, no dry food). The Smilla Veterinary Diet foods were for Elvis. That afternoon Jer did some mending on the pile of Józsi's socks, 6 pairs in all. She did most of it with a cat on her lap!

This weekend Józsi had some time and access to work a bit more on the side of our house from our next door neighbor's yard. Sunday it was time for mowing our large yard and it was very hot, so this was as far as we got this week but at least it is progressing.

Our outdoor faucet went bad so it needed to be replaced. It wasn't old or anything, but things these days seem to be made to go bad after a year or two.

Left, not much time for kitty photos this week, but here is one taken of our 4 all black kitties (DeeDee, Dora, Daphne and Davy Jones) in the back catio; Center and right, some photos Jer took one evening (over the fence of our next door neighbor) of the sun setting.

This week started out very cold for the time of year, and although it has warmed up by this update it's still not back to usual temperatures. One of our oldest cats (Elvis) went to the vet this week, and then to be tested for some things. Thankfully, nothing of a truly serious nature turned up so he is now being treated for his symptoms (mostly a major change in his diet). We were invaded by wasps from the neighbor's yard and had to cut down all flowers near the driveway. Józsi had a chance to work a bit more on the side of the house in the neighbor's yard, and got one step closer to having the job done.

This week started out quite cold for the time of year! It had warmed up a bit by this weekend, but is still cooler than normal for this time of year.

Left, our Elvis went to the vet and on another day to have an ultrasound. A lot of things were ruled out and now we are in the process of making sure he has the right foods at regular intervals (smaller portions and special foods); Dennis at the catio window looking like he's trying to play the piano; Right, the visitor cat Scruffy showing up for a meal.

The lily plants in the side garden have been very late, and have been bothered badly by tiny snails but a few of them are trying to flower. The rose plant that Józsi gave Jer for the 25th anniversary of her coming to Hungary is doing nicely in the side garden next to the driveway.

Far left, Jer noticed this beetle on the goldenrod next to the driveway and took this photo so she could look up what it was. It was a Tricodes apairius, also known as a bee beetle or bee wolf; Left, time for more chicken feed; Right, due to a huge amount of wasps Jer cut down the raspberry plants next to the catio, as well as all the flowering plants next to the driveway. The wasps were coming from next door, and only a few are in our yard; Far right, elderberry berries in the carport almost ripe.

Far left, this weekend Józsi had to go to inspect some fireworks in another village; Left, the green apples are growing ok in spite of the dry weather; Right, even with the serious frost for 4 nights last spring there are a few regular apples growing (they are all at least 5 feet above the ground); Far right, the morning glories on the porch doing some strange extension.

Left, this weekend there was a ceremonial thing to do with the Catholic church and as always, a fair number of people showed up for a village; Right, while in the grocery store in the next village Józsi saw this funny package of cheesy snacks... Creepy Friends!

This week Jer celebrated her 68th birthday, at home. Józsi took the week off work to work on our house, mostly the covering of the outside wall with our next door neighbor which was not only ugly (for the neighbor) but also was not helping the damp issues in our old house. On top of that, in the wintertime we lost a lot of heat through that wall. We didn't get to finish the job completely due to rainy days by the end of the week, but will get the rest done on the next weekend. By the time of this update, not only have we had rain, but the temperatures are near record cold for the first week in August! Hopefully things will warm back up by the next update.

Left, while out in the village Józsi spotted these birds next to the road (maybe some kind of turkeys); Right, the 3 newest hens (still looking ragged after almost 10 months, we don't know what breed of chicken these are but at least they lay plenty of eggs).

Far left, the elderberries back at the carport are still green and nowhere near ripe; Left, a close up view with water droplets on the berries after some serious rain the night before; Right, more droplets on flowers; Far right, the place where Jer can see the backyard of a house like ours around the corner and up a few houses in the winter can't be seen at all now.

Far left, a morning glory and its shadow; Left, the morning glories have really grown; Right and far right... two plums Jer found on the trees in the back part of our yard. The hard frost that happened late (and it was very cold for 5 nights in a row) killed off all plums and apples that started growing early.

This week Józsi took the week off to try to get some things done at home, mainly working on the very badly covered side of our house that is in our next door neighbor's yard. What covering was on it was very badly done years ago, and it was past time to get this side of the house covered and insulated.

Left, the first layer, at the bottom; Center, Jer went over now and then to check on things and the little dog next door found her very suspicious... no doubt because she spends all day indoors with 15 cats!; Right, progress on the wall day one.

Left, a bit more progress, Right, finally all the styrofoam was put on. At the end of the week and the weekend it was rainy, so this is where we have had to stop for now, but will get it coated next week.

Left, a view at the back of the wall into our back catio. We are planning to work on the back of the house next summer; Right, the person (ex-neighbor) who slap-covered the wall with mortar left this cigarette butt in it! It was probably flicked into the mix, because it was just a round bump on the wall, but when Joey hit it with the hammer it opened up kind of like a weird fossil. Happily, this is all covered up now and will soon be covered over and painted.

This week we had a mix of weather, some hot days and some cooler days. We also had some dry days, and a few rainy days. Jer was finally feeling enough better to start the clearing out of the two back rooms (which hold a lot of stuff collected here and there over the past 15 years!). On the weekend Józsi repaired the old lawn mower, using his new welding tools. Not an exciting week, but at least it was a good week for getting some things done.

Left, we started out the week with some puffy clouds as Józsi left for work; Center, Jer spotted several kinds of bees at the milkweeds near the fence to the far back of our yard; Right, about an hour later the clouds turned to rain, as seen through the window to the driveway catio.

This week Jer felt enough better to start to clear out the middle back room, starting with the old cabinet which held at least 15+ years of stuff we picked up here and there. Left, before sorting and cleaning; Right, after cleaning and removing items she didn't want to keep any longer.

Left, the box full of items Jer didn't think we needed to keep (either because we didn't need them or because we just didn't have any room for them); Center, a morning glory blooming next to a goldenrod in bloom in the garden next to the driveway; Right, one morning Jer found two eggs that were very different in size! The large one would be from one of the 3 new hens, and the smaller one from the one remaining of our last group of hens (about 4-5 years old).

This week there are only two kitty photos... one of the tabby siblings in the back catio when the sun was preparing to set and our biggest cat, Davy Jones, who somehow got under a blanket to take a nap; Right, Józsi discovered a new place near his work where they sell cheesecakes... and he brought two different kinds home for Jer. They were delicious!

This week Jer caught a nice shot of the sun behind a morning glory on our porch; Center, just a little while later this was the view across the street and Right, this was the cloudy view at the back!

Left and Center, this Saturday Józsi brought his random surprise rose for Jer. She put it in a vase on the shelf to the right of her desk, with the Christmas stuff; Right, the shadow of the sun is still moving and the pipes in the front are some Józsi brought home from his dad's house. They will be used when we replace the old fence around the hen house.

This weekend Józsi took some time and some new tools to make repairs on our old lawnmower (the side got rusty and one of the rear wheels ripped out from the body of the mower). Far left and left, the beginning of the process; Right and far right; while he was working, some dark clouds moved in, to the left of our house (back neighbor and next door neighbor).

Far left, Józsi working on some welding; Left, second weld he ever did, not pretty, but it will hold; Right, a coat of paint and the wheel hole re-drilled; Far right, the wheel re-attached. Just after these photos were taken, it started raining hard so it was a scramble to get everything picked up and taken into the porch before it got soaked! At least the wheel on the mower was repaired before the downpour.

This week continued to be pretty hot, and Jer continued to be sick, but by the weekend the temperatures had moderated and Jer finally started to see some progress with her coughing. The morning glories have started some serious blooming, the milkweeds are attracting a lot of bees, and it was time to put the rose plant Józsi got for Jer for the 25th anniversary of her arriving in Hungary into the ground so it can grow. (it's been too hot and dry to do it until this week)

One morning just after Józsi left for work, Jer decided it was time to wash out the hen house, and she removed the vinyl piece that had come from the house, washed it and took it up to the street door. She then hosed out the hen house and their eating stuff, and got them all new wood chips for their boxes.

Far left, morning glories really starting to bloom; Left and right... photos taken from the same spot in the driveway only seconds apart... blue sky to the left, cloudy to the right; Far right, two of the tabby siblings in a box in the kitchen one morning...one relaxing and one looks likes he's screaming but actually Jer caught him in the middle of a huge yawn. Cats!

Left, it was time for Józsi to try the welder he bought some time ago, because a bracket arm broke in two under his car seat. This was the first time he ever tried welding - not very professional but not bad for a first one, it will hold; Center, another day with more morning glories; Right, the old brick from town with a lot of greenery around it.

Left, big Dennis with Elvis in the background in the driveway catio; Right, Minnie, with her usual  somewhat sad face. She is a sweetie, but scared of the other cats. (even though she is bigger than all them except for Davy!)

This week we had some very hot days, the morning glories started to bloom, box and tin foods arrived for the kitties, Józsi refinished our kitchen table, and Jer is still sick! At least she has got some cough medicine that is helping a bit but it seems this bug going around is lasting for 3-4 weeks for some people... boo!

This week several packages arrived, the first of which was a box containing the 10kg (22lbs) bag of dry cat food. Juniper was first to get on top of the box! This week Jer also spotted the first bumblebees back at the later than usual blooming milkweed near the fence to the backyard. It was great to see some bees in this dry year!

This week we had our local vet over to check on our cat Elvis, and after she left Józsi took time to take our wooden top table (with an old sewing machine base) outside to clean and sand down the old top, which had gotten to be quite scratched and stuff from the cats over the years.

Left, the table top, re-lacquered... good as new!; Right, Minnie examining Ziggy's tail one day in the driveway catio. Minnie herself has no tail since she was attacked by a dog at the castle in town before she was rescued, and in the end her tail could not be saved. We love her even with her stumpy tail.

This is what we had after adding the new food to what was left... lot of cans of wet food, and 30 boxes of wet food. (cubes, in sauce) We love our kitties!

This week began with Józsi being home sick on Monday... and that same morning the guy came around to change the water meter. (Jer was right in her timing of trimming the weeds and plants back at the water meter hole last week - and the guy reading the meter was appreciative of a clean water pit area to work in!) On Tuesday Józsi went back to work, and then Jer got sick. She's still a bit sick today as this is being written (Sunday) but is on the mend. We also had a bit of rain, with some high winds that blew more branches out of our walnut tree.

With colder than normal temperatures in the spring and not very much rain in the past months Jer had not been sure the milkweeds were going to grow and bloom this year (the local bees love them). She was glad to see about 15 of them come up a bit late, and this was the progress of the first one to have blooms (first photo was Monday, last one was this morning, Sunday). Will there be any bees to take advantage of them this year? It's hard to know but we hope so (4 nights of hard frost back in early April did a lot of damage, including killing budding red apples and plums on our trees in the far back yard... the only things to survive and grow are the green apples on the other side of the grafted apple tree, and our grapes)

Just a few kitty pix this week: Far left, Ziggy on a box in the driveway catio watching the goings on in the porch; Left, Minnie and Rosie in a big box in the back catio; Right, DeeDee in the back catio and Far right, her sister Daphne watching the next door neighbor's yard and a tabby cat (Zuzu) snoozing on the shelf below. Our kitties are living a good (and safe) life.

Left, the little sage plants Jer moved from a pot at the front of our driveway garden a couple of weeks ago (sprouted in a concrete pot from seeds blown from old sage plants) are doing well in spite of no rain (only watering every day); Center, the morning glories have grown a lot in the two weeks since some appeared growing at the bottom, and a few more have sprouted. It's been very dry so Jer has to water them (and other things) twice a day but they are doing well; Right, the heat and the dry temperatures don't affect the grapes in the far back of our house, of course (they grow deep roots, which is why they can grow so well in hot dry places like Italy)

This morning (Sunday) we took some time to trim vines and elderberry branches from the back side of the carport. They always grow way too fast and way too big, and if you don't keep up with them they easily get out of hand. Jer filled the yard waste barrel with what she could fit in now, left some behind the hen house to add when the barrel stuff gets dry and more compact, and the rest went to a pile in the far back of the yard (where they will be taken care of in the fall).

On Saturday (the day before this update) the annual village day event took place and since Jer was sick and possibly still contagious (she is still coughing a lot) we stayed home. Jer borrowed a few photos taken by our mayor, including this one of the food being prepared and on the right, signs telling what foods they are (bean goulash, fried sausage, fish soup, and a kind of spicy grated egg noodle soup).

Every year on Village Day (villages each have their own village day sometime during the summer) there are many kinds of dancing groups of all ages (from very young children to senior citizens) doing various traditional Hungarian dances. Left, adults dancing; Right, the old with the new... children doing an old time dance, being filmed by family with new fangled cell phones. (No doubt in the "old days" if a family had a way to record these events with their children/grandchildren they would have done it also!)

Teenagers doing another Hungarian dance. Jer always enjoys watching these, and was sorry to miss them this year but she didn't want to take a chance of spreading germs to other people. There will be more dancing next summer!

This week the weather was a bit hot, but not as hot as usual for the time of year. Jer took early mornings to get yard cleaning and tidying done, and afternoons to start working on the inside of the house. It was a quiet week in the main, mostly just getting work done in the house or yard, but all in all it was a pretty good week!

Left, Jer cleared out the plants near the water meter pit this week. They come around to read and replace the water meters every summer near this time (but without advance notice, one day they just ring the buzzer); Center, early in the week Jer decided it was time to get rid of what was left of the pile of ashes from last winter that were on a tarp next to the firepit (she spread them in the middle part of our yard); Right, the still wet tarp was folded and put in the carport to dry.

This week Jer started working on this year's wall repairs in our house, with a first coat over the very rough wall in the kitchen. It will take several coats and sanding, but she is used to doing this one wall at a time. (she's been working doing this on our old house for more than 10 years and is finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak); Right, sunset over the house next door. This time of year the sunsets are really beautiful; Far right, the early morning light when the sun is rising at it's furthest to the left of our house and shines in the bathroom window caught our Zuzu in the kitchen this week.

Left, the garlic plants still looking nice and not quite ready to open to seeds; Center, the side garden in the morning. Even without the peonies and earlier flowers, it still looks pretty; Right, shadows of some weeds on a concrete paver next to the firepit one morning.

Left, the old piece of lino that was inside our entry door was replaced by some new stuff and Jer took the old one out to the henhouse. It will be easier to keep clean (and to keep out winter drafts) than the old board floor; Center, Józsi came across this old fashioned waterer this week and Jer cleaned it up and put it out for the hens to have one more choice for water; Right, the milkweed plants near the back part of our yard have not only started to grow, but now have flowers. Hopefully there will be a lot of bees, like in years past.

Far left, it was late, but we finally got around to trimming a lot of the apple tree branches which were so long they were almost touching the ground!; Left, the branches broken up and put in the "yard waste" bin; Right and far right... the morning glories are staring to make some progress now. (they have to be watered every day in morning and evening by Jer, as we have still had very little rain, but they are coming along)

Left, the rose plant that Józsi got for Jer for their 25th anniversary has sprouted 3 new buds; Center, the raspberry plants next to the driveway catio are doing well, in spite of not much rain; Right, Józsi took time to clear out the front ditch, which had become very overgrown in the last month.

This week was a mix of things. The first part of the week was pretty hot, but by the weekend it had cooled down. Jer's volunteer morning glories are growing nicely as well as stuff in the side garden next to the driveway and the raspberry plants. (we haven't had much rain, but Jer waters things every day) One night there was some bright light in the sky across from us that turned out to be due to some maintenance connected to the natural gas pipeline. On Saturday Józsi had to work in the evening, one side of his job is pyrotechnics, so he had to do some inspecting of a few places that were having some fireworks. Considering that some summers we had quite hot temperatures in June, we are happy that this year the weather hasn't been too hot yet.