More than a year after the disastrous floods of last summer, I managed to have my buboskemece rebuilt at the house. It took a long time to organise since Janos has gone full-time since losing his job as a truck driver 3 years ago. This was his 52nd buboskemence or tile stove this year! While he was at it, he cleaned re-optimised the tile stove and sparhet. The weather was glorious, and as a result, there was an invasion of ladybugs of all colors and sizes. I am used to being buzzed by bees, flies and mosquitoes, but this was a first. Lady bugs are my lucky animal, so given the thousands that seemed to be flying about and climbing every white surface they could find, I should be in for better times soon. I have no idea where they think they were crawling to or what they were all seeking, but maybe it was a process thing and it is all about the journey. Then the pheasants invaded with their strange calls and making passes over the garden. Brian hooked up my donated super-duper stereo system -thanks Brian Scoffield and David Trayford! I was finally able to listen to some of my old cassettes, especially the mixed tapes from friends. Later in the week, Bibi, Tamas, Dobi Tomi, Krisztina and Menta came for a visit and to help me remove a dirt pile in the back yard that had been turning rain water into my basement window. Thanks! Menta kept us entertained with her popcorn and chestnut songs. I spent the week clearing out the brush and cutting back the trees in the back. I also took up the gladioli bulbs for the winter and discovered that there were about another hundred little bulbs that grew that I can now plant next year. In the meantime, I planted some tulips and crocuses that should bloom in April. The menu for the week included fajitas, bogracs, drunken beans, mulled wine, corn bread, langos for breakfast, banana pancakes, and chili with mashed potatoes. A visit to Marikaneni and Guszti produced the best palinka I have ever had - consisting of som (dogwood berry/cornus mas) and plum. Jeroen and Lennard also paid a visit to check out the buboskemence reconstruction.