across the fence

another picture load from my parents' place in arcalia , brought to you by the color red and the limitations of my camera in capturing it.

the apple crop of this year...i conveniently wasn't there for the picking.

and one of my favourite color pairings. the grapes were good too.

i know it's broken, but look how pretty! my father refused to pick these before, saying he's leaving them to 'develop' - here's to development!

ok, here's where i complain about my camera: those bushes are visibly purplish, and the flowers are more standard red. here they look like pretty much the same shade, which they distinctly aren't in real life

hah see? the colors look better from a distance. also - standard view of the house in the fall, i guess.

linda, the neighbours' dog, had a road-crossing accident and is still limping. (why do i feel compelled to add that her name comes from spanish, in all probability, as opposed to from some american series?)

and we are going for a walk! in the arcalia park right next to my parents' property. this park was the site of residence of a hungarian grof, and then it somehow became possession of my former university; they're supposed to be using it for research/retreats but it's not very obvious what ever is going on there. there is a gate (pretty much always open) but we can also get in through our fence.

this is always a theme of out nature outings: my father insists to pick mushrooms and my mother insists she won't cook them because she's scared of poisoning. then he brings them home and possibly cooks them (it takes him 5 hours more than it would take her), then he and i eat, then she waits to see if we're ok and only then she eats.

more of my weak attempts to capture the red!

and me in the red coat worn not out of matchy purposes, but dire necessity (daytime isn't bad, but after dark it gets damn cold)

this is what's left of the japanese garden in the park, where my mum and dad came to have a picnic on their first out-of-town date, some 34 years ago. i get to hear this story pretty often, believe me, but this is the first time the 3 of us made it to this garden-space together.

my mum, demonstrating the virtues of layering. (also, me to her: "you're as small as a tree hollow!" mean, i know)

most calendar-appropriate photo i managed on this walk

this is the main building of the whole arcalia park complex, the former owner-of-the-land's residence with obvious recent renovation. i had to be supported to climb a stump to take this photo from somewhere upper, to include all the crazy russian-type cupolas. then we had to sort-of run, because we were trespassing and a dog had started barking...?!?! i mean i doubt anyone would much object some people just walking up and down these alleys, but whatever

this is apparently the grave of the former owner's son, who drowned while swimming in the river with the village children

and the fir tree alley, shaky photo but i like it

and a clearer one to include the birdhouse plus more red