A rose by name and nature

The roses have bloomed! There are some spectacular examples as we stroll through the village. There were several months of expectation with buds and small bits of green popping up. But now the place is a veritable forest! The barren grey landscape that we walked for months and months is completely transformed.

This is Sabines house with the most enormous climbing rose covering the front of the house.

Its almost 3 stories high and seems to be too heavy to be clinging onto the house but somehow it is hanging in there!

I imagine this was once the front door but now a lovely garden display with very full pink roses climbing each side framing the door nicely.

Hard to capture, but this is part of more than 10 metres of rose bushes growing along the side and fence of this house. Just stunning. Something to put on smile ones face each day ;-) ....even if we are still waiting for a fully fledged summer to arrive.

Like Buda and Pest - America and Russia unite!

The other weekend Ron and I travelled to Budapest. Actually we stayed mostly on the Pest side as we were having a kids free weekend. Having lived 3 years in Budapest in the Buda hills, we know where the action happens....Pest Baby!

This was where we stayed..the 2 week old Buddha-Bar hotel. Its at the great location on the corner of Vaci Utca and the Erzsébet híd (Elizabeth bridge). A gorgeously renovated building with a "matching" building on the other side of the road. Although our side was far superior than the seedy casino opposite. We even when to the Buddha-Bar attached to the hotel which was cool if not yet well frequented.

We caught up with Stella and Christopher from Finland who had also decided on a childless weekend. Stella and I wore coordinating dresses to the wedding.....

Oh yes the reason we were there...a wedding. An American (our friend Liam, formally known as the "7th wheel") and Russian combination. They looked a sweet couple and the ceremony was in the Russian Orthodox Church.

This is when they walk around 3 times with the best man and lady behind them holding crowns above their heads. This was towards the end of the ceremony and they had been holding those crowns for a good half hour.

We did not understand anything but it was a lovely with lots of Russian chanting and excessive incense.

Finally we left the church with the newly married couple and were off on a boat ride along the Danube.

But first there were photos in the height of the afternoon heat. It was a superb day. Maybe too hot for some, but us Northeners loved every scorching minute of the weekend.

Whilst at the reception the "Floating Bus" went by. The tour started up as we were leaving Budapest. We never went on it as we were too worried about how to swim to shore with our young kids. But I managed to take a pic as it floated by the reception boat, surreal.

All in all a fantastic weekend. And we must say Budapest is looking great. They have really cleaned up the place, so can only recommend it for super city break. We hope to be back again soon. Szia!

Visitors

The Aussie Oma and Aussie Opa recently visited. This meant on-tap babysitting. Perfect when you have 3 unplanned visits to the dentist the week they are here ;-(

Our kids relished the time. They were "warmed up" with so many presents from every relative in Australia that you could have mistaken it to be Christmas at our place.

On the last afternoon there was a rush of photo taking. The evidence follows....

I draw your attention to the top left of the garden in the photo. It is a rather large zucchini plant that has about 15 flowers, so we are looking forward to 1001 things to do with zucchini in the next couple of weeks!

M and Aussie Oma above and with Aussie Opa below.

A family picture above. And with the help of neighbour Sabine we managed to get a photo of us all together...although with kids and animals you are never quite sure how it will turn out. Goldie was determined to be in the photo, even if we saw her least attractive side below.

Ami shows her style with a special hair clip from Aussie Oma!

"A" hangs out with Aussie Opa. The animation in her face is due to the fact that she is trying to scare away the monster (Papa Ron) with the mouse attachment of her kiddies computer.

COOL - we zapped him!

20th Wedding Anniversary

A local couple are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary. I don't know the couple but as their garden is decorated in all types of porcelain its easy to identify.

I happened to be walking the dog when the "set up" committee arrived en masse. In true German precision, the 20 helpers or so arrived within 1 minute of each other in cars and on bikes to decorate the garden.

Here is an attempt at more garden detail.....

A driveway of plates!

The center piece with delicate tea cups hanging from it. There were also tea cups all around the front porch. The next door neighbor even mowed his font garden in the shape of a love heart...my camera did no justice to this, so you will just have to imagine it!

Last year there was a 20th anniversary close to the local school which featured a toilet in the middle of the garden..he he! Shame I did not take a photo. But as its "Wedding Season" there might be some more photo opportunities soon.

Football Flash Mob

We decided to join a Flash Mob today. It was my first. The idea was that if 100 or more people turned up to the local supermarket (REWE), they would donate Euro 500 to the local Ambulance. The catch was that the people needed to also be wearing football shirts/jerseys.

Today the UEFA Euro cups starts, so there are German flags everywhere we look. Cars, houses and pets are wearing the local colours! So I guess that is where the football shirt idea came from. There was also a popcorn stand, a sausage sizzle and tea/coffee and cake with all proceeds to the Ambulance.

We met a few locals - dressed to impress. Love the crazy hat!

I decided to mix it up a bit with an Australian jersey and several German flower necklaces!

M let her Austrian colours show with her Vienna football team shirt. Here she is attempting to put her hair up in the German flower necklace.

Here is a part view of the 290 or so people that turned up. Needless to say the Euro 500 was handed over. Now we are watching Germany play Portugal, their first game of the cup.

Cousin Peter is visiting and received an handmade necklace from M. Here they are watching the match in their outfits!

The craft princess also created an interesting head piece for Ron. There is another 2 weeks of full on football (widow-hood)....I will be ready for the Olympics by then.

Echidna Cake Pops

Last year I completed an ESL (English as a Second Language) course. Since February this year, I have been giving a weekly lesson to 11 students from years 3 and 4.

The course is part of a program at the local junior school where children select a "theme" for 6 months. In the second half of this school year there were great subjects to choose from. They included girls soccer, journey around the world, theatre, and a boys dance group. My topic is Australian Animals.

I have been obsessed with making cake pops for a long time. That is, crumbled cake with icing mixed together to make a sticky mass. I thought to test it out on my class as a pre-Easter activity. I researched cake pops, echidnas and hunted the sweet aisle of the various supermarkets to get the best echidna accessories! All culminating in the following design. If chocolate covered hands, mouths and clothes equate to success -  it was a HUGE success!

Voila.....behold the Echidna Cake Pop.

P.S. they are anatomically correct with tongue length as a ratio to body length and backward facing hind claws!

They had so much fun that a few suggested we bake a Salt Water Crocodile cake - life size of course! This means it could be a 6m long cake. Let just say I am still thinking about it ;-)

A gentlemans agreement about bees!

Having grown up in the city I am now learning daily things about farming life and semi-rural living. Friday evening I learnt about a gentleman's agreement between the local farmers and bee keepers.

The farmers use pesticides and fertilizers to ensure the apples and cherries grow big without getting eaten by bugs, as well as keeping the grass and weeds around them to a minimum. Bees are not very fond of these chemicals when they go hunting for pollen. So the farmers have agreed to only spray their fields when the bees are happily tucked up in bed of an evening. In fact this is often best as the winds usually milder in the evenings, making the spraying more effective.

Which solves the riddle to why many evenings when I go to bed I hear the distant sound of tractors. I also feel happier buying local honey which hopefully has less chemical residue it in.

But have you ever wondered where a bee might go if he stayed out after curfew? Here is the answer....he can shack up with his bug buddies at the local Insect Hotel. Here is the Intercontinental of Estebrugger! They offer a variety of rooms and suites to meet the needs of any passing creepy crawlie in need of a rest!

Also an upmarket offering from the Sheraton group featuring local ceramics and great views from all rooms. Some local gardens have built more modest accommodation for the budget conscience bug! It certainly is a bugs life round here.