The change from a mainly wet June to a hot July has brought forth a proliferation of insect life. My pool is acting as an effective trap so apart from lots of flies and a few wasps, two Colorado beetles have ended up doing breast stroke in the pool. These beetles are a pest, destroying potato crops, so both were quickly dispatched in a plastic bottle with a squirt of insecticide. Shield bugs come in many varieties and I have rescued some spectacular looking examples from the pool, mostly small ones with metallic colours which vary from green to brown as the light falls on them from different angles. The one pictured here though is larger and by far the most strikingly coloured to date. I have also removed some large orange bodied flies with ferocious looking mouth parts and the most amazing huge eyes which make up 75-80% of their head. Apart from the sheer size of these eyes, they are also beautifully coloured being dark blue-green with red and orange marbling. (Note to self: must find macro lens adaptor to get a good photo).
Sun continues to shine. Most days the shade temperature is 31C and most days also produce a thunderstorm in the late afternoon or evening. However, these are not always accompanied by rain and pass within 30-40 minutes anyway. I don't know if the thunderstorms are a result of just the heat or a combination of the heat and the local terrain as they usually roll in from the Tarnava Mare river valley to the north. They then work their way down one or more of the smaller valleys such as the Laslea river valley in which Roandola is situated.
Tomorrow (Friday) I am going to collect my Dacia Logan MCV from Odorheiu Secuiesc. The city is served by a branch line which leaves the main railway line a few kilometres east of Sighisoara. This branch crosses the road five or six times and although it looks disused, I know it is still open as I had seen a train on my way back from my first visit to Odorheiu in May. However, when I tried to find train times on the CFR (national railway) website, it kept telling me the branch line and station didn't exist! Other websites only covered the major routes so I phoned my English speaking friend Adi in Laslea and went to see him after he finished work. He got the same result as me from the CFR website, so he tried to phone Sighisoara station only to get a recorded message telling him of a problem with the phone. Next he rang Medias station and found that the reason we could find nothing about trains to Odorheiu on the CFR website was because the trains on that line are operated by a separate, privately owned company. Adi was told that the train starts from Medias and stops at every station and halt including Danes which is my nearest station at only 10kms from Roandola. Just to be sure we went to Danes station and the booking clerk confirmed the train runs daily, leaves Danes at 11:48am and arrives in Odorheiu Secuiesc at 1:35pm but I would have to buy my ticket on the train because it is privately owned and not operated by CFR. This morning I spoke to the sales director, Attila the Hun(garian), who told me to ring him when I get to Odorheiu station and he will pick me up. The cash to pay for the car was collected from the bank in Sighisoara this morning, so I am all prepared for my own left hand drive car which will make driving here so much easier, especially for overtaking!
On Monday I shall be flying to the UK to spend a few days, including my birthday, with family plus a visit to Grove, hopefully to meet up with some of you who have been following my blog. See you!
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