Expat Life, Early Retirement, Good Conversations
One of the things that I appreciate most about being retired and living in a different country is that my husband and I are really able to talk to each other. Sounds a little silly to say but throughout our married life talking took a back seat…I mean really talking, chatting, having conversations, laughing, reminiscing, planning for our future, there was always something else that took priority. Now is our time to talk and I love it. I am sharing with you today conversations we have had on our verandah here in our adopted home – Hungary.
7 topics that sparked our conversations on the verandah
Lavender
We grew lavender in the UK but not as successfully as here. I have some lavender in our garden but nothing large scale. Roaming around the countryside at this time of year you can often see the vivid purple fields of lavender, usually open to the public to pick your own.
Our village has a new lavender field that is thriving well. The village was discussing what to do with it…how to market it, where to market it. I know there is a refining facility in the next village but what happens from there I don’t know. There was talk of a small cafe in the village selling products made from lavender. I use lavender, as a sleep aid and have made fizzing bath bombs using lavender essential oil in the past. I am very interested in following the village progress. I took a couple of pictures of the developing fields.
Nappies
It’s been a very long time since I changed a nappy! How we came to be talking about nappies is that we had been on the hunt for some muslin nappies for curing meat. Our farmer delivered a nice slab of beef to us and we are going through the stages of curing it. The meat has been salted several times, now it’s waiting for the fenugreek (Indian spice) to be added for its final stage. We needed a muslin square or nappy which fortunately we found at our local market. The stall holder kindly showed me several designs (written in Hungarian), I just smiled, we both laughed when she realised I did not understand the wording. Too hard to explain what we wanted it for!
Eric has previously lived in the USA and was not familiar with using terry nappies, he only knew Huggies disposable nappies and informed me they were more popular in America than Pampers. In the UK it was the other way round when I finally converted to disposables. My first 2 children had terry nappies, as this was what my mother had advised me to use. By baby 3 I had had enough of washing endless terry nappies, so changed to Pampers disposable… the best in my opinion.
I love to hear about how Eric grew up in Lebanon and had an interesting conversation about his childhood memories. I asked what his mother did for nappies and washing them. Once a week was wash day. The fire was lit with wood and the water was heated up. He told me the house used to fill with smoke on wash day. That water showered the whole family using a jug and bar of soap. The nappies went into a special barrel and soaked first, then bleached then boiled over a fire. Rinsed and hung on the washing line. I compared my own experiences which were very different and privileged. We had running hot water from a tap and bathed when we wanted. Washing was done automatically in a twin tub and my mother hung the nappies on the line. Wash day was always Monday. How different our mothers worked in their respective countries.
Lydia’s Goats
Goats are a hot topic on the verandah at the moment. We have discovered that we can buy different varieties of goat’s cheese quite easily here in Hungary…one of my favourites. In the UK I paid high prices for not a lot of cheese. The last lot we bought was from Tamási Market, one was smoked, one with added oregano and the last one plain, they were all delicious. If you want to know more about Tamási market I have written a post all about it here Tamási Market
Our son, Raphael loves animals and was thrilled to be able to go and see our neighbour’s goats and their newborn kids. Lydia has several goats and is also our Hungarian interpreter, she has been super valuable to us whilst we have been here. Eric and I chatted about Raphael’s increased confidence now we have lived here for some time. He had never wanted to get involved in village life before so we both agreed that integrating with Lydia’s goats was a great start! He was too shy to try his Hungarian and worried he would get it wrong, he need not have worried. I was a bit like that when we first came to Hungary but you have to “take the bull by the horns” as the saying goes and just do it! He has been back again to see Lydia and his new friends and learnt a mountain about goats.
We chatted about having 2 of our own but I don’t think it’s practical with an active husky in the house. She would relentlessly attempt to pursue them until she managed to catch one….. then who knows what would happen!
Music
Desperado – Antonio Banderas
Paul Baghdadlian – Armenian singer
We like to listen to music sometimes whilst chatting. Music that suits our mood. We had hot sunshine so selected Antonio Banderas with his flamenco style aggressive guitar playing. One of Eric’s favourite movies, the song sung in Spanish. I actually felt like I was on holiday…on my own verandah!
We also had many vocal renditions by Paul Baghdadlian as he was one of Eric’s old friends, songs sung in Armenian (Eric’s mother tongue) that I had little understanding of. It was pleasant though. Click the links above for a taster.
Mint Everywhere
This year we have found ourselves with three different sorts of mint. A gift this year was chocolate mint and it REALLY does smell like chocolate. We had discussions about mint and its uses and if we really wanted to put chocolate mint in salads?!
We came up with the following ideas:
We shall dry plenty, and we use it in greek yoghurt salad dishes.
Use fresh in everyday salads – like our Tabbouleh
Use the fresh chocolate mint in homemade ice cream.
Steep the leaves in boiling water for a mint tea.
Add to cocktails and desserts for pretty decoration.
I am sure there are many other uses of this versatile herb. Let me know if you have any other ideas 😁
Finally, we decided to make new cuttings in pots and leave them growing on the verandah as I have heard mosquitoes don’t like the smell. I will try anything to deter those pesky insects.
BBQ – “Chilling and Grilling”
It was so lovely and warm outside we decided to do our BBQ preparations on the verandah. A mammoth task as on the menu was Tabbouleh – a Middle Eastern super fresh herb and bulgur salad, with parsley being the number one ingredient. This dish took a lot of time.. preparing the salad items to exact measurements. Eric taught me exactly how to make this fabulous dish which in turn had been taught by his mother in Lebanon. Although he swore his version was better than his mothers’! I have taught my youngest daughter how to make Tabbouleh (she is in Spain) and also my friends in England. This dish is becoming truly multicultural. Most people adapt salads to their own individual tastes so it is bound to change slightly every time it’s passed on. Two other examples of how you can eat your Tabbouleh.
We talked a lot about food, Eric is an excellent chef and is always coming up with new ideas…..some great, some not so! I shall give him credit for his baked spuds! His experiment for the potatoes was an EXCELLENT idea although I am not sure how healthy it was! Between each large sliced potato was a slice of beef fat, the potato was then wrapped in foil and cooked. Once cooked it was removed from the foil and given a quick blitz on the BBQ until it was nice and golden. Mouthwateringly good – See the photo above.
Coronavirus in Hungary
We had serious discussions about the virus as we have done regularly. Thankfully the State of Emergency that existed in Hungary has been lifted as of this week. Our cases and deaths here are relatively low compared to other European countries and for that, we are eternally thankful. We have had confirmation that no member of our village community has been infected, so far, let’s hope it stays that way.
Restrictions have been lifted around timed shopping (elderly only before 12.00 pm) meaning we can shop anytime now. Face masks are still obligatory in supermarkets and on public transport. Only one person in and out of the smaller shops. Restaurants are open, outside only and social distancing is still in force. We are still keeping our eye on the borders as our English friends are waiting to come over here. It does not look too promising at the moment with some countries not allowing British Nationals to enter, Hungary being one of them. The UK is a high risk country and it may be some time before that restriction is lifted.
This virus has taught us a few lessons over the last months. The main one is for us to appreciate what we have and appreciate every day on this earth. My other thoughts and appreciation go to ALL the frontline workers all over the world, they have done a grand job in extremely difficult circumstances. Stay safe everyone.💖
Just a bit of fun and an insight into what these 2 retired expats talk about whilst living in Hungary. There will be more “Verandah Conversations” very soon.
Are you a retired expat? What do you talk about with your nearest and dearest? 💞
Making Hungary Home 