05-VII-2026.
Overyester I posted four cats' pictures into the platoon meeting, for grandkids to see, counting on one of the twins to come up with a name for the new kitten, which is a regular company to us while popping the cherries. Instead, Anita did this, from the shot.
And not wrong at all, Vafl's (Waffle) tongue is always sticking out, it's two sizes too big.
Distilled more rakija today, came to 65 liters so far, and it's merely beginning of july. In the afternoon we didn't feel like going anywhere much, we just lazed it. Talked with Seattleians in the evening, everything more or less the same. The Zeka (Zack, but zeka=bunny) still found some work to do on the old house, wants to replace two windows - the big one upstairs, facing the magnolia, it's still leaking somewhere. And what we painted the girls' rooms orange and blue, third layer of paint still doesn't cover. And about the garbage disposal unit under the sink, we told Stanley the whole history and why it's better to remove completely than to try to fix, the drain doesn't have the proper slope and is prone to clogging as is, with that gadget it's trice more likely to clog. When he heard that, picked the phone and called the man to tell him not to waste time on that.
Monday, somewhat fresher weather, also a bit humid. We meant to take pljeske at Bob's, but I got up late, kept working within the dream and didn't dream up a way to finish that, so she only reheated the čorba made like sekelj (székely) gulaš with butkica, excellent on third day, so we arrived at Klincaid as soon as 13:00. We picked what we picked (which was actually a lot, but one bucket remained empty), declared victory over cherries (by having chopped one branch which was over the ditch, can't put up big ladder there), opened the fifth door on Joda and sat in the trunk and picked that branch off, two kilos. We brought no water, but no matter, there's a few blackberries (they bore heroically too, but lack water, and soon after one is fully ripe it withers within just a few hours). She gathered few kilos of fallen apples, early and small, with the figs from home it'll be a tutifruti.
Arrived home by 16:00, I popped the cherries, she pitted the apricots, then we both bathed and were quite ready by 19:26, when Dragana called to say „we just passed Zangrap, arriving in three minutes“, and they really did so. Extra points for sticking to once names of places. I carried nothing, no shooter (as I'm not sending them any photos until Borče delivers that one shot of 17th of march) nor the phone (because it's Dragana who calls the cab), just my lighter and the bottles (the 21.2 tutifruti while the supply lasts, and one tikveš roze). She brought along just her small tote... and then when we were about halfway there, we realized we didn't bring cigarettes along. Well then, a slight detour, 200 m down the road to the kiosk next to Bob. Bought two packs of that PS, what can [one do]. Fuckit, the cigarettes are 400 dinars already, what's twonyfive [bludgeons] over other's butt.
Along the way we spotted that in the place of the empty foundation (v. 11-XI-2018., last shot) there's an almost finished house now. First they drag it for a decade or two, then slap it up in two months.
И било је добро, и расположење и зезање. Прво смо нас двоје одржали мало дуже предавање о томе како ми у ствари печемо ракију, са посебним освртом на научни метод којим се одређује тренутак кад је врење готово и треба да се пече. Ту сам објаснио шта је то магична рука (њена, десна), чак и отпевао пар стихова из те песме („води ме сад магична рука, тамо је пут, тамо је дуга“), па је било а што немаш нешто на руском. Па има бре, послао сам вам текст, Јесењина, „свирај, хармонико“, где вам је то? Она изгледа није ни гледала у пошту свих пет недеља, ех. Ништа, следећи пут.
And it was all good, the mood and the banter. First we two held a longer lecture about what we really do to make rakija, with the special light shed on the scientific method used to determine the exact moment when the fermentation is finished and it needs to be distilled. There I explained what the magical hand really is (hers, right), even sang a few verses from the song („leads me now the magical hand, there's the way, there's the rainbow), and then it was „don't you have anything in russian“. Well there is, I sent it to both of you, the verses of Jesenjin's „play, accordion“, where's that? She, it seems, didn't check her email for all of five weeks, eh. Never mind, next time.
A minor miracle, there was nothing of politics, just a little bit which we expedited quickly and switched to something else. It was revealed that they two went, meanwhile, to Žabalj, namely Jegrička, where we mathematicians met month and a half ago, and that she just burst out of all the fiš paprikaš and that she beat in more than a bottle of wine (did I really hear two?), and poor him, didn't dare, as he drove. There I remembered how he ate a fish čorba in Vršac, and then ćevapčići right after, which she couldn't get her head around and criticized him on the spot, and waiter just said, as an aside to us, „he's screwed dead when they get home“ :). Well, let them...
We were trying to remember, the evening before, whether he had air conditioning or not, and really couldn't remember whether I saw it, and couldn't find it on the shots, I crop out anything unneeded, leaving the scene, people and just as much around as I think contributes to ambience and composition. And now we learned there was none, he installed new two weeks ago. True, it was unneeded, it was just pleasant... and even more so outside, so after supper (one butkica of a nazime [young pig, barely adult], roast exactly right so that skin is crunchy and the meat soft and juicy, and of course potatoes around, though not chopped as small as is his custom) we went out into the yard. And we felt fine outside. He's got one of those shell-like swings, seen dozens of those on those funny videos, they invariably topple when they forget abot center-of-gravity (ser: težište) being above the base, they never learn. They even brought the insert duvet so it wouldn't hurt to sit, and Dragana laid herself in it and spent there some fifteen minutes, combined wine and easy swinging. Well buy one if you like it so, put it on [yer] terrace and enjoy. Too big for the terrace, who knows whether it fit there at all.
A bottle of wine went easily, perhaps two, I wasn't really looking, it sat well with me and I felt fine. Eventually some light rain forced us back inside, and that wasn't for long, it was almost one and we didn't feel like sitting again. At the time I noticed I had to negotiate with gravity at times, so then it may be better to drink no more, it's wine, gets you later. Not that I don't remember anything, but of the ride and the cab the deails are scarce, just that I was sitting shotgun and that she passed me 200 dinars when I was paying.
Tuesday, somehow surprised ourselves by getting up early, and ran two stills of apricot. I had trouble, though, with slowness of head - sitting and checking myself whether I forgot anything, and keep coming up with all okay. Of course I did forget something, just still couldn't remember what. Eventually when rakija was oozing out well, I noticed that the water level in the condenser is low and it's already rather warm. Ah, I didn't turn on the water... no, I did, then why doesn't it flow? Because the extension to the hose, which we insert into the condenser, wasn't hooked up to the hose. Ah, that's it! I hooked it up... and then the condenser began filling too fast, so I went to the garage to turn the spigot even lower, and it was still too much and yet it was already below the setting I knew by heart. I had to work rapidly with the fangla to decant the extra water. Eventually she came when it was almost overfilling (and threatening to drip into rakija) so she took over the bailing and I went to close the tap. And then I checked the drain hose, and it was half stuck, two twigs in the exit valve. Just pulled them out and everything went normal. The readings of the alcoholometer were very confusing as the condenser cooled off, of course. I even thought the strength in the vessel went to 45% but no, it was 48% in the end, not bad. The second still went smoothly, oozed copiously, seems to be I opened the gas a tad more, and we finished it all by 11:30, two stills in three hours, likely the speed record so far. And the bottom didn't even char.
During this ruckus I had several moments similar to the state of mind in which I was when we had the fire upstairs, was in several places at once in my head and kept lining up, poring over, comparing with analogous situations which I don't even remember ever being in, except maybe in a dream... And it's quite possible that on the reality channel I wasn't firing on all thirteen cylinders. Not that I did anything stupid, it's just that I wasn't thinking fast and logical enough, or else I'd remember sooner to check both hoses. Whether it was the leftover wine in [my] head, who knows, maybe to an extent, but I remember coming quickly back to my senses when I realized that what I was just mulling over doesn't fit in reality. I had such occurrences befrore, once I mowed for two-three minutes at the old house, while being far away with my thoughts, as if daydreaming... and kept regulary mowing as if I was completely present and accounted for. A miracle, that head.
So with these 6,6 liters we're at 71,8, and it's still only seventh of july. A gooood year.
Talked with Lena in the afternoon. Tanja is blabbering at lengths now, and not quite in her own words, there's a lot that we can understand. Maybe not on first [try], but then she also corrects herself and improves pronunciation. Milan had some trouble with his accountant, allegedly they misplaced some money, from november and december into january, invoiced so, but the bank's statement shows monthly payments, so they tried to fix that. And fix it they did, it'll cost a bundle, of which the lubricant for a couple of official personae was about a tenth of that. The cost is roughly the retirement for the two of us over several years.
Buying the jaybieelles is complicating. On the buying-selling site they overcomplicated the matters, earnestly trying to be a wall between the seller and buyer, so the two can't even accidentaly do anything except through the site - so there's no telephone, address, email, nothing, they both have to be registered and the seller must pay the ušur (the flour that the miller keeps, usually one sack in ten; word may originate from 'usury'). In not one of my three browsers there's any trace that I logged in six years ago, though I think I did... okay, try again. But the confirmation email arrived the next day (!). I shit on your sound movie.
Tried to search at regular shops, and just two or three have it, but not on stock. Rather, it's you call us and we'll try to sell you something else that we actually have, if possible a little more expensive. So I asked Lena if Milan would know of a shop in their end, guess he as a guitar player may be up to date with who's kakav* and who has what, most of those shops are on Novi Beograd anyway. Sure, will pass it to him, just make a list. Couple of days later she said he's got some opinion on it, we'll have something to talk about. At first this sounded like ruffling my feathers and then... well I don't have anything to do there, just listen to what he says and, whaddafuck, he may know of something even better and easily available.
Среда, осми. Нешто као кишица. Она узела да исецка оне јабуке што смо донели прекјуче. Изађем, миришу са два метра. Онда погледа наредно буре, каже пали казан. За најновије буре у низу фали још канта воћа, могли бисмо до баште да накупимо толико. Да се не бисмо акали са лотрама, договор је да опет одсечемо понеку недостижну грану, јер ако су сад недостижне, догодине ће бити још горе, а ми баш нећемо бити млађи. Нек се грана ниже. Ал' пошто смо са казаном кренули после девет, и штогод прска киша, то ћемо можда сутра.
Wensday, eighth. Something like a rain. She took to chop the apples we brought overyester. I went out, they smell at two meters. Then she looked into the next barrel, said fire up the still. For the latest barrel in the sequence there's still some fruit missing, we could [go] to the garden to collect as much. To avoid messing with the laddres, agreed to chop a few unreachable branches, as if they're unreachable now, it will be even worse next year, and we won't be much younger then.
Ate the first fig this year. Could have done that few days ago, there are few kilos off that tree in the barrel for the papazjanija.
We're more or less done with the keto diet, not exactly through with it, I don't see any bread or pastry in near future. I did eat one pašteta with [young] cheese last night (actually pogačice), just to see that I could have coolly skip it, I'm not attracted to it. And we do have noodles in the soup for a couple of weeks already, but that's also reduced, she whisks one egg straight into the boiling soup, to replenish the reduced amount of noodles. But then, we had pancakes (crepes, not the american style biscuits). And that's also mostly eggs and milk, there's not a lot of flour in them. Anyway, everybody loves pancakes.
The kitten from Suši didn't leave over, she dug it this morning under the lilacs. Who knows what happened with it, as Suši took out two new ones, one white one black. Eh, cats. Made shots, processed them, send to grandkids.
Went to Klincaid in the afternoon to gather more fuit, we were one bucket short. We cut few more unreachable branches, she collected remaining fallen apricots as much as she could, and then on the way back we swung by Svetofor for groceeries... two largest butkice they had, because those, when properly boiled and cooled off are better than any tricks and magic they do with salami and such that they produce nowadays. Presently we're on some barbecue style sausage (not even close, sister, but can do with mustard and scrambled eggs for supper), and some pretend debrecina, which is even less similar to what its name should mean, they both rather resemble a failed imitation of safalada. Eh, wish I had the breakfast from Cafe Schwartz (v. 13-VI-1990.), I wouldn't eat anything else for supper for two months. That was proper sausage, pašteta, bread (rye, without cumin!). Okay, there's proper butter, now they sell some czechian or slovakian, but the rest is missing.
Friday, tenth. The white kitten fell into the vat with water and drowned. There wasn't much water, and this is rather early, the kittens so far didn't even approach the vat until they were three-four months old and if it was a swelter, which it presently isn't. Long did it last. The black one remains.
We hit the hundred eggs milestone again, though they are somewhat smaller now. She decided to make another batch of pickled eggs, there are jars, and for shelling them she tried the trick she heard from Dragana, to knock the eggs lightly while still hot and then immerse them in cold water. Well it is easier, but only when combined with the teaspoon trick.
Later that evening Nina came online, making pancakes... nope, that was the previous thursday... this was more the regular call, with guided tour of her backyard, which she made neat and cute, and her flowers behind the new bench are really beautiful. Along the way we saw all the kids, Linda a little longer (someone bested her in a game by superior strategy, came to be comforted). Nina has a sort of boyfriend again, four years younger than herself, two weekend kids, leftover from crazy years of youth. At least he's not so close by, all the way to Smithfield, half an hour's ride, time to think it over while driving to a date.
Saturday. Distilled the last rakija of the first batch, came to over 80 liters. Aleksa persistently plays some šklj class narodnjaci, all same, maybe that's the so-called Radio Zrenjanin owned by a ćaci company from Novi Sad. Even when they play some classics, it's „Mujo kuje kowa po mjesecu“ (Mujo shoing a horse on moon), they play the first stanza twice and then chop it off, no need for more. Or it's some instrumental piece, some fine violin embroidery a la Carevac, it lasts fourteen seconds twenty times on repeat, with an ugly hiccup squeak on the transition.
And they spread the artificial smell of freshly washed laundry, which only the smell which emanates from the pipe 30 seconds before the rakija starts dripping from the tabarka can beat. She remembers from childhood that the softener with that smell was very popular in Germany, whenever they sent them or brought some second hand clothing, it all smelled exactly like that. The smell I don't plan to return, as a favor, but the free music for the neighborhood, that's what I keep using and never replying in kind. True, there's a couple more of Bosančeros (recognized by music chosen) who may fill in when he takes a break... Well, once I get my sound equipment, I may do a couple of hours of music, to treat the neighbors, I freeloded enough.
Sunday, woke up relatively early. The visits on sGradlj.com soared above 100000 for this month some time around 10:15. First six day it beat a rhythm of more than 10000 a day. She cooked the smaller of the two butkice from Svetofor (the other one is more than two kilos), made a russian salad, so we lunched around 11:30 already. Then I napped the cat until 13:00 and we departed. The airconditioning in Joda is, of course, out, so we eased the windows just enough, and it wasn't 39 like last time, just 28, with even some clouds. There was a bit of rain, didn't bind the dust. When we arrived, Lena said they had two hours of good rain. Eh, for Belgrade there must be. Tanja was in a good mood and was really pleased to see us, and Lena and Milan used our presence to engage us as babysitters - it's their double anniversary, five years of marriage (on tenth) and seven more of relationskip before it (on eighth) - so they'll have a date. Now how to evade how Tanja trolled us last time when she didn't want to move... Look, the stroller is still in use, that we will [do, take]. They said she didn't eat yet, perfect, we'll take her to Valter for ćevapčići.
The waiter, of course, didn't hear that we ordered two čorba, well I said give her and I'll take what's left. Six spoons I got... „like a two deci beer“. The little one eats, just rings. Both pieces of somun that they dipped into the čorba she licked up, and I went to the next table where the waiters collected leftovers from previous guests, with several untouched slices on top, nicked one. Of the eight ćevapčići (there's a dish of five and of twelve on the menu) she ate five, left three for baba. And she eats freshly chopped onion, real balkan child. Thinking it over, the balkan cuisine is founded on two basic ingredients: meat and onions. Everything else is... optional add ons.
On the way back, the Pepa The Pig wih which she played while eating was not there. Go back. We backtracked all the way to the table, me as an advance scout, it's not under the table nor around it. I went in to check with our waiter, but the desk at the door is not the bar, it's a distribution desk for couriers, there Glovo, Wolt and Valter's own take stuff to deliver. I went out to spot our waiter on the terrace maybe, then saw my ladies have reached the other end of it, and waving me with Pepa. Someone found it and hung it on the flowerbox.
When we went back to the apartment, only Api kept us company, and somehow managed not to be in the way, sleeping more than buzzing around, and I did likewise. I stuck to my usual attempt to pretend to sleep so Tanja would climb over me and... it did happen so, after I slept for half an hour. Then soon Lena and Milan returned from their lunch/supper (okay, this time it makes sense to say dinner), and then I remembered I should talk with him about the speaker set, before he vanished for Api's stroll. I was already primed for a bit of hifilisticians' dispute, he may have an opinion on what I intended to buy, he may know of something better or whatever. But no, he just had doubts whether the Štajnberg card will work with linux. It'll work right there as soon as I plug it in, as it did last time, I had all of this already and lost it in the fire, buying again. Ah okay, that can be found on buying-selling. That's why I need you, I bought it so six years ago, and since then they've rebuilt the site beyond recognition, I'm not finding my way through it anymore. Okay, but that takes a week or two. Well it waited three years, can [wait] two weeks more.
In the evening, as usual, with Seattleians, about garden, making soap, stupid issues of modern culture, cars. Stanley bought a truck, four seater Dodge from 1998. Price a pittance, 1300$, says he knows that engine, if needed, but the engine seems to be nothing wrong with, and the tranny he may if needed, not a problem. Now they'll be able to go to a farm to buy chicken shit in bulk, not by bag. If there was a teleport we could send you, we have a whole mountain of it, Sierra Guano is taller than the hill. Neša's chair legs' pads were falling off, even after gluing them back... and as usual, Amazon offered to write a review of a proper programmer's chair, what with wheels and levers. Keep it coming, as long as it's free.
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* what like... discussed many times
Mentions: 13-VI-1990., 11-XI-2018., Aleksa Pajkov, Anita Jennifer Berger (Anita), Api, butkice, čorba, ćevapčići, Dragana Vitas (Dragana), fangla, Gik, Jelena Sredljević (Lena), Joda, Klincaid, Linda Sredljevich Aquilla (Linda), Mališa Borkovski (Borče), Milan Nastić, narodnjaci, Nenad Berger (Neša), Nevena Sredljević (Nina), Novi Sad, pašteta, pljeska, pogačice, rakija, sGradlj.com, Stanley Berger, Tanja Nastić, tutifruti, in serbian
5-VII-2026 - 23-VII-2026