I had a pleasant weekend down at the house. The weather, which promised storms, only resulted in intermittent showers. I read 5 old Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazines out in the garden and picked the last of the cherries left to me by the birds. I made hummus wraps, a stir fry, pineapple seltzer, and banana-cherry pancakes on Sunday morning when Jeroen and Lennard came over for a visit. I also listened to a bunch of cassettes, which got me thinking about my education in music...more on that later. Some of the tapes I listened to included the fantastic Irish musicians The Clancy Brothers' "Live on St. Patrick's Day;" guitar legends  Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin and Paco de Lucía's "Friday Night in San Francisco;" Jefferson Airplane's "Volunteers;" hard rock's Kevin Kinney's excellent folky album "Down Out Law," the classic Pearl Jam's http://pearljam.com/  "Ten;" college favorites 10000 Maniacs "Our Time in Eden;" my favorite on the organic goat farm Alanis Morissette "Jagged Little Pill;" and an ex-girlfriend's dad, Richard Ewald's "Amateur Night in the Studio" which sounds pretty damned professional to me.

Sunday, Dezso came over to give me a quote about plastering my re-built buboskemence. When I opened the stable door to see if I had any bags of sand left, Dezso quickly pushed me back as there was a large black snake right at the entrance I almost stepped on. It moved too quickly to spot its head. So I have no idea if it was a viper or a non-poisonous snake. We looked for it without luck. Anyone know a snake expert in Borsod County that can find, identify and remove the snake if necessary??? Jeroen and Lennard also came for a visit and I made up some pancakes with bananas and cherries from my tree. We had a big breakfast, then went for a swim in Rakaca Lake, about 2.5km there and back. Given the amount of rainfall (I have had to cut the grass four times already since March), the water level at Hungary's largest freshwater reservoir is incredibly low. After the swim we pooled resources and had a lunch of leftovers before the boys took me to the station in Edeleny, saving me a schelpp. In Miskolc I could not get a second class seat reservation on the Intercity, and had to lay out for a first class (extra 1000 huf). There is now e-ticketing and ticket purchasing possible for MAV through mobile phones. Does anyone have any experience with this in Hungary?