We have often run into the Baris at various local festivals and events, such as the Gömör Gyömülcs Fesztival and the Tornabarakony Village Day. However, probably because we are not meat eaters, we have until now never gone to visit their farm. As I wrote in the previous blog, Kata had a brainwave as to what to do with our 8 wheelbarrows full of Jerusalem artichokes and the Baris gladly accepted in the name of their mangalica pigs. We drove over to the unfortunately named Büdöskútpuszta yesterday to drop off four sacks of artichokes. Local legend has it that the town was named Stinky Well Plain after the unpleasant odour emanating from a Soviet airplane fuel (kerosene) storage. We have driven by the turnoff to the village, between Szendrő and Szendrőlád, several times a week for years. The train also makes a stop there, but as we proceeded down the road, we discovered the train station is quite a distance away from the actual village. There are 27 houses in Büdöskútpuszta, occupied by 27 people. We did not have an exact address, but Mrs. Bari told us to just look for the chapel in their front yard. When we drove in Mrs. Bari came out to great us with an axe in her hand. I think she was chopping wood to keep the üst going. She had pick cracklings cooking outside, and pig crackling scones coming fresh out of the oven inside. Andras joined us soon after and showed us the view over his farm stretching across several types of landscape: pasture, brush, acacia woods and forest. Down below we saw Friesian cows, traditional grey cattle, and the pigs were somewhere out of sight in the acacia woods. The larder was full of different kinds of sausage, and the smoker was full of ribs. We enjoyed talking with them, and will certainly go back to chat. Andras also offered to show me some good mushrooming spots in the area. But we had to get to Attila's tire service in Szendrő before noon.

Kata had done a 180˚ spin coming home one morning from Jósvafő and almost hit the guardrail. I wanted her to get the winter tires on. We normally go to Attila Dénes in Szögliget for car repairs, but sometimes go to Attila in Szendrő for tire issues. He has a beautiful and complex outdoor stove built onto the side of his house that incorporates a grill, oven, stovetop and smoker. We also discovered that he sells eggs on the side. We left the car there and walked into town to return our bottles and do a little shopping. I found a safari/photographer vest in the window of the used clothing store in the main square. I had one years ago, but I have no idea what happened to it. It is a bit big, but full of pockets that I convinced myself would be extremely useful when I am working in the garden or mushrooming. Kata bought some tracing paper for her silk painting. She has just started painting again, and already has a gorgeous dragon fly and a seahorse almost complete. She will be selling these pictures for Christmas gifts if anyone is interested. If we had had time, we would have stopped into the American House and the Csáky Manor (built by Antal Szkalnitzky (May 6, 1836 - June 9, 1878), the same architect as the one who did Budapests' Oktogon, but those museums will have to wait for next time.