The sun was so bright it chopped a slice of my head off; I think this is the first ever ‘selfie’ of the two of us, in the deserted pub.
Today is Petronela’s and my 17th wedding anniversary. Why the 17th is ‘special’ I won’t bore you with except to say that in Romania we lived at number 17, we bought our present home before we knew it would be number 17 (it didn’t exist when we reserved it) and there are a few other occurences of the number too.
On our anniversaries we usually do something ‘special’ – eg, go somewhere more exotic to eat or to stay. This being a more than usually ‘special’ day we decided to do nothing ‘special’, and so it became special.
The more so because the pub we chose to visit, just for a drink, on the other side of the valley, usually crowded on a Sunday lunchtime, was deserted. We were the only people in it (other than the barman). That was pretty special.
Then, having been warned of “Arctic conditions” by the weather forecasters it turned out to be a beautiful day, one of the best of the year. We reckon mother nature turned on her magic just for us.
Grumpytyke 
December 30, 2017 at 6:02 pm
When I saw the references to “the deserted pub” I thought it was a closed, abandoned one. Glad to see it was just unusually quiet.
October 31, 2017 at 4:48 pm
Congratulations and happy anniversary to you and Petronela.
November 1, 2017 at 3:49 pm
Thank you Charlotte.
October 30, 2017 at 6:26 pm
Happy anniversary!!!!!
October 30, 2017 at 7:42 am
Happy anniversary. Yet I don’t believe in numbers for luck or similar, I’m sure that being married from Romania and living in such a beautiful place is very special. Many greetings and blessing to you both
October 30, 2017 at 8:30 am
Thank you Mohamad. Interesting that on Saturday we met another Mohamad (though I think the spelling is different); we were at the bank to arrange some complex financial things which I really didn’t understand. He made it all ‘simple’, as he did a year ago, as well as being extremely pleasant. It’s why we insisted on consulting him again though we had to wait three weeks for the appointment.
October 30, 2017 at 12:08 pm
How interesting! Glad to hear that people with the same name of mine are doing well 😉
Again, many blessings and returns for you and your wife…
October 29, 2017 at 7:26 pm
Happy Anniversary and all the merry wishes for such a special day! My “special” number is 16, so very close 🙂
As always, very beautiful pics. The “Arctic weather” may wait a little for you to finish this glorious day.
I know the feeling of putting on a “special” mood when doing something absolutely ordinary. Such as in visiting a museum for my birthday 🙂 which has become very special 🙂
Warm wishes from Romania ❤
October 30, 2017 at 5:30 am
Thank you so much Iulia. Your good wishes mean a lot.
Just one number difference eh. What can I say?
The first frost arrived this morning – hardly ‘Arctic’ but below zero nevertheless. It’s 5am; the clock was put back an hour yesterday so it will take me a while to adjust. It’s my usual time but yesterday it was 6.
Thinking frost possible I filled the bird feeders yesterday evening. I hope our feathered friends enjoy their breakfast; they’ve pretty well stripped the trees of berries in a pre-winter gorge.
😘
October 30, 2017 at 6:39 am
You are welcome!
Sorry to hear that. Frost is not already here but it is very cold. Last night there was a blizzard without snow, very very cold heavy winds. I have some feathered friends, too, some sparrows that are usually chatting in my birch trees. Of course I feed them. 😘
October 30, 2017 at 8:48 am
We have several different types, including some sparrows though they seem to prefer feeding on the ground, as do the blackbirds, thrushes, robins, magpies and pigeons. The acrobatic ones are the bluetits, coaltits and goldfinches and the jackdaws try to be to get at the bluetits’ food though they usually just make themselves look silly. Pițigoi and porombel I know; can you tell me the Romanian names for the others? Our feeders are hung in a silver birch, mestecan I think, which we see from our kitchen window.
Although it’s a little below freezing, it’s another lovely morning so a nice drive over the moor to take Petronela to school again.
October 30, 2017 at 3:40 pm
We have only sparrows, it is the middle of the city. Though I suspect there is an owl living nearby.
Gladly 🙂 So, blackbird = mierlă, thrush = sturz, robin = măcăleandru, magpie = coțofană, pidgeon = porumbel, bluetit = pițigoi albastru, coaltit = pițigoi mare sau negru (the coaltits are more common than the blue ones. There is saying in our culture, if the coaltits are to be seen, the snow and blizzards are coming). Goldfinch = sticlete – mostly common here in spring, jackdaw = stăncuță – or the crow’s cousin 🙂 Indeed birch is mesteacăn.
October 30, 2017 at 4:57 pm
That’s wonderful thank you Iulia. If I’d have tried to find the names I would not have been sure I had them right. And thank you for correcting my spelling for the lovely tree; ours is a special variety with the bark almost white and peeling off in fragile paper-like layers.
Here the blue tit and coal tit are the other way around: the blue tits are more common. We often hear an owl (or more of different kinds) but never see one.
I forgot one, poor thing, he/she is so dull in ‘typical English weather’ but when the sun comes out he sparkles with so many colours – the starling. He/she’s an amazing mimic too and they often sit on our roof mimicing other birds, particularly the blackbird. Very cheeky. Then there’s the murmurations – how can I have forgotten them? Do you have a Romanian name for this cheeky, arrogant guy?
October 30, 2017 at 5:54 pm
You are welcome. It is my pleasure as I love birds and animals.
Well, I love owls, I would like to have one, as a friend, of course, not as a pet, whom to share wisdom quotes with 😉 🙂 I sometimes lurk in the streets in the hope of seeing one.
The beautiful little starling is graur, in our country is the harbinger of Spring. Usually they are the first to arrive.
XXX
October 30, 2017 at 6:42 pm
They never leave us. A more temperate climate here. As for owls, we have one living with us. He lives on my piano and his name is Buf. No need to tell you where that comes from. I hope this link will show him to you (can’t remember whether you need to be a member to see this other ‘blog’ of mine – basically just a photo a day) ; I haven’t posted to it for some time:
https://www.blipfoto.com/entry/2096728437166180324
October 31, 2017 at 7:33 am
Thank you! I am able to see the picture and the blog 🙂 He a very handsome fella 🙂 Mine are not that handsome. One of them is the Bufni (comes from bufniță = owl) who ate too much 🙂
Have a beautiful day! Give my best to P. XXX
October 31, 2017 at 8:35 am
I think Buf ate too much too! I don’t know how this long thread looks on a computer but now it’s about 5mm wide on the iPad. 🤔 Dropped P off at school 7.45 and now in Wetherspoon. Not decided what to do today yet; no frost but grey and miserable looking. I may try to pick up on my ‘trilogy’ of short stories which I put on the back burner before the summer, in the library unless the weather improves. I’ll pass your good wishes to Petronela. XXX