Ricky – Page 8

There is a very big hole in my bank account

As I wrote at the end of my previous post, on the afternoon Sunday 28^th February, I was driving back from Decín to my home in Stará Oleška, when the car accelerator went limp and the engine died. I was fortunately able to roll to a halt at the far end of a long lay-by, part of which is a bus stop, which at least meant I didn’t foul up the traffic on route 13 / E442.

A cri de cœur to my neighbour, Lucie, resulted in her younger brother Pavel, driving out to rescue me, accompanied by her daughter Lucka, who I help with English for an hour each week. Pavel and Lucka helped me unload my supermarket shopping and my new toaster from the boot of my car, into Pavel’s vehicle, and then drove me home.

It took me two bus journeys to return to the car the following morning. The bus that goes through Stará Oleška, doesn’t take the direct route to Decín but instead goes through the upper part of Huntírov and the village of Dobrná. So I had to take that bus all the way into Decín and then another one back out again to Ludvíkovice where the car was stranded. Fortunately, by being over 65, each bus journey only costs CZK 5 / £0.15 🙂

My blue VW Golf loaded up to be transported for repair © Ricky Yates

My Czech friend Kát’a, kindly made the necessary phone calls to arrange for a tow truck to come at 11.00 and it duly arrived on time, about ten minutes after my arrival. After some necessary paperwork, a few photos on the drivers mobile phone, and paying CZK 1400, my blue VW Golf was loaded up and we drove to the premises of Gerhard Horejsek a spol., s.r.o., the VW dealer in Decín.

That day was the beginning of an even stricter period of lockdown, trying reduce the spread of COVID-19. So whilst the service and repair centre was still working, I was met outside by the service manager, Mr Kocour, rather than in his office. Whilst I normally go to my friend Adrian Blank at Nepomuk, for the car to be serviced, my details and those of the car, were already on the Horejsek computer as I’ve twice previously got them to replace a headlight bulb when it failed.

I was just about to complete my third bus journey of the day, making my way back home, when my phone rang. It was Kát’a. Mr Kocour had rung her, rather than me, with the bad news. The cause the car breakdown was the failure of the cam belt or timing belt, which had totally wrecked the engine. It would cost in excess of CZK 50,000 to repair, roughly what the car was worth with a functioning engine. In simple terms, my car was a complete write-off 🙁

My failed cam belt with half of its teeth missing © Ricky Yates

On Thursday 4^th March, I once more took the bus into Decín, met up with Kát’a, and we walked to the VW dealers’ premises to meet Mr Kocour. He showed us the wrecked engine and presented me with the failed cam belt. He again confirmed that the car was really beyond repair.

The one small spot of good news was that one of the mechanics working there, was interested in having my car as he could use some of the parts. He would give me CZK 2000 and also take responsibility for eventually legally disposing of it. I later learned that the mechanic had a VW Golf similar to mine, which he had bought off a man who was a dog owner. He wanted the seats out of my car, as they were in excellent condition, to replace those in his car which had suffered at the hands/paws/teeth of the dog 🙂

Although, because of the lockdown, all car sales showrooms were meant to be closed, Mr Kocour said we could go and walk around to the other side of the building and look at the used vehicles that they had on display for sale. Before our visit. I’d had already had a perusal of their website, to have some idea of what might be available.

I eventually settled on another VW Golf, first registered in 2015, but with only just over 21,000 km on the clock. Mr Kocour gave me the business card of the used car sales manager, Mr Hajný, and said I should drop him an email expressing my interest.

That evening, I compiled my email in English, including asking if it would be possible to swap the wheels and winter tyres on my old car, for the wheels and summer tyres currently on the new one. I sent this off to Kát’a who, in turn, translated it into Czech and sent it on to Mr Hajný the following day.

On Monday 8^th March, Mr Hajný replied to both of us, offering me the possibility of a test drive, but first wanting scans of my ID and my driving licence. Having received them, I was then offered the opportunity of a test drive on Wednesday 10^th.

Late in the morning of Wednesday 10^th March, I arrived with Kát’a, for my test drive. Mr Hajný spoke to us from the door of the showroom, seeking to keep appropriate social-distancing. He told us that the car was ready with the key in the ignition, on the forecourt of the used car sales area. I did wonder about the risk of somebody driving off in it but apparently the area is fully covered by security cameras 😉

The test drive was more than enough to convince me that if I was going to get mobile again fairly soon, then this was my best opportunity. So on our return, I confirmed that I wanted to proceed and purchase. Then came the one item of bad news. The wheels and tyres on my old Golf were not the same size as those on the new car. So swapping them over wasn’t possible.

In anticipation of agreeing to purchase this new car, I had arranged to transfer a large part of the contents of my UK bank account, into my Czech bank account. This is money that I was either going to spend on having further major work done to my house, or going travelling, once some form of normality returns. But needing to once more be mobile again with a reliable car, it had to be done.

That afternoon, I received an invoice to be settled by bank transfer. Mr Hajný also put me in contact with an English-speaking friend who works for Kooperativa, an insurance company with whom my house and contents are already insured. As I discovered, the contact is actually the Russian wife of his sales colleague 🙂 On Thursday 11^th, by a succession of emails, she arranged insurance for the new car. Because of being an existing client of Kooperativa, I got an additional discount!

Therefore on the morning of Friday 12^th March, after eleven days without a car, I became the proud owner of the one in the photo above.

There are two footnotes to this tale.

Much to my surprise, my new VW Golf doesn’t have a handbrake. It has an automatic brake which comes on as soon as the car stops and is released as soon as my foot touches the accelerator. Whilst it works perfectly, I still find it rather strange and frequently find myself reaching for a handbrake that doesn’t exist.

On Saturday 13^th March, the day after I collected the car, I drove into Decín to go shopping at the Kaufland supermarket. Just as I was leaving the supermarket car park to drive home, there was a ping and the petrol warning light came on. Therefore on my way home, I drove into the petrol station that I frequently use, located four kilometres from my home.

I went to press the button between the two front seats to open the flap covering the petrol cap. However, unlike in my old Golf, there wasn’t a button. Nor could I see any other means of releasing the flap. Inevitably, the manual for the car in the glovebox, was in Czech. I had already asked for an English manual and Mr Hajný has promised to order one from Volkswagen HQ in Germany and provide it free of charge. But he said it would take at least ten days to arrive.

I ended up driving home and googling my problem. Fortunately, I found this video. It is American, so it inevitably tells you how to access the ‘gas cap’ 😉 But after discovering the secret, I drove back four kilometres and filled up.

It’s beginning to be a bit expensive…..

I knew that the work to connect my house to mains water was not going to be cheap as the house is set back quite some way from the road. In the end, it cost me CZK 30,500, about £1000 at current exchange rates, together with a further CZK 1000, paying František to complete the work the ‘chancers’, (thank you Sean, for your perfect terminology 😉 ), didn’t do.

I was also aware that once the house was connected to mains water, I would soon need to purchase a new washing machine. My existing machine was frequently failing to complete the set programme, in particular, stopping after one rinse. Therefore it was always impossible to go out whilst the washing machine was in use because of needing to keep it under close inspection and make manual changes.

I didn’t want to change it in advance of being connected to mains water as the discolouration of the previous water supply had left brown stains on various rubber parts. So I didn’t want to mess up a new washing machine in the same way. Therefore it was a perfect act of timing that, as soon as I tried to put a load of washing on, after I had been connected to my new mains supply on Sunday 25^th October 2020, the machine refused to even fill and commence the washing programme. I needed to buy a new washing machine.

At that time, we were in our second period of lockdown because of COVID-19, meaning that Datart, the electrical shop I would normally go to in Decín, was closed. So I went online to their website, all in Czech 😉 , and successfully ordered a new washing machine. This was available at there depot in nearby Liberec, with the promise of delivery the following Sunday, 1^st November 2020, in the afternoon.

The plumbing for a washing machine is in the same small room as my toilet. In January 2018, during the complete rebuilding of the adjacent shower room, the dividing wall between the two rooms was reconstructed. But since then, I have consistently put off redecorating the room because of the difficulties I could foresee of trying to paint behind the toilet, the hot water tank and all the exposed piping, as well as the washing machine itself.

The prospective arrival of a new washing machine gave me the necessary ‘kick up the backside’ that I needed. During the week without a functioning washing machine, I disconnected the old machine & moved it elsewhere, and then proceeded to redecorate the whole room. Fortunately, I had just enough white emulsion paint to complete the job.

The photograph above shows the space where the old washing machine once stood, with old sheets put down to protect the tiled floor during redecoration.

This photograph shows the same view with redecoration complete. You can just see the end of the toilet on the right of the photo.

New washing machine in place © Ricky Yates

And here is the new washing machine, plumbed in by me and washing its first load. The new machine is a narrower model than its predecessor which leaves a wider gap to pass through to reach the toilet. Cost CZK 12,189 / £400, plus the paint. Fortunately, the deal to buy the new washing machine included taking its predecessor away.

Whilst I was Priest-in-charge of St Clement’s Anglican Episcopal Church in Prague, the Chaplaincy flat where I lived had a landline phone, which enabled wifi for internet access. I also had a fairly simple mobile phone, proverbially known as ‘the Chaplaincy mobile’, which I took great delight in presenting to my successor at my farewell service.

Presenting the Chaplaincy Mobile Phone © Sybille Yates

With my new home in Stará Oleška not having a landline phone, but discovering I could obtain internet access by a wireless service from JAW.cz, I decided that all I would need following retirement, would be another very simple mobile phone. Like it or not, there is an expectation these days that everyone has a mobile phone, along with an email address, and ready access to the internet. I cannot log into my Czech bank account online, without a code being sent to my mobile phone. Nor can I pay for something by bank transfer, or use my debit card to purchase something online, without a code being sent to my mobile, to then be inserted online, to complete the transaction.

Chaplaincy mobile on left. My new mobile on right. Photo from April 2017 © Ricky Yates

My simple mobile phone has been fine for the past three and a half years. Unfortunately, I never discovered all the things it could do because the manual for it was only available in Czech, Slovak and German, and neither my Czech or German are good enough to understand phone manuals! But on Thursday 26^th November 2020, my mobile phone died. The screen went black and it couldn’t be revived.

Having been teased by a few friends, (who shall be nameless 😉 ), about my very simple mobile phone, I decided that this time I would buy something more advanced – a smart phone is, I believe, the correct term. Once more, with shops closed due to COVID-19, I was again forced to order online without any chance to try things out or ask questions.

Initially I thought I was in a Catch 22 situation. How could I pay for a new phone online, if I needed a code sent to my mobile phone that wasn’t functioning? I did eventually discover that it was possible on the Datart website, to order an item, but then pick it up and pay for it in person, by being part of a socially-distanced queue at their shop in Decín.

So that is what I did. A man in the T-Mobile office then successfully swapped my SIM card over allowing me to keep my old phone number and credit. And there is a manual in English for it online – all 261 pages! So far, I’ve only worked through the first fifty 🙂 Cost CZK 11,029 / £365.

Knowing that I was going to have spend Christmas 2020 in total isolation, I decided I would give myself a Christmas present. So during a short period before Christmas, between lockdown two & lockdown three, when all shops were open, I treated myself to a new CD player. My previous one died, just at the end of my time in Prague, and I had never got around to replacing it.

So over the Christmas and New Year period, I enjoyed listening to my CDs of Christmas carols. In particular, I listened several times, to my double CD of Bach’s Weihnachts Oratorium. Cost, a modest CZK 2490 / £82.

With the current pandemic, and being over 65 with a pre-existing health condition, I have become increasingly aware of my own mortality. During over thirty years of ordained ministry, I have on numerous occasions, spent time with bereaved relatives who amongst many things, were having to organise a funeral and deal with the estate of a deceased relative, with no idea of what their wishes were, because they had not made a will.

I made a will back in July 2008, under the law of England and Wales. With nearly all my assets now being in the Czech Republic, I have increasingly felt that I ought to make a fresh will that would be recognised under Czech law. Through a Facebook group of which I am a member, entitled ‘British in the Czech Republic‘, I found Jan Šleis, recently returned to the Czech Republic from working in Exeter, who is dual qualified – a Czech Advokát and a Solicitor in England & Wales.

With the help and guidance of Jan, I now have a will in Czech, together with an English translation, which deals with all of my assets. Therefore when the grim reaper does decide to visit, it will enable my two adult children to inherit my house, bank account and personal assets I have here. Jan assures me that the English translation will also allow them to get probate in England and access my one UK asset – my Sterling bank account.

Lawyers don’t come cheap 😉 , as I’m sure anyone reading this blog will know. But as I’m still awaiting the bill from the associated notary and his translator, I cannot put an accurate price on it just yet. But it is one of those things it is easy to put off doing and I’m glad to have ticked it off my ‘To do list’.

Then last month, several times when I tried to use my toaster, it threw the trip switch for half of the electrics in my kitchen. I think I caused the fault when trying to extract part of a piece of toast that had got stuck. I must have pushed part of the heating element into contact with the metal casing of the toaster, causing it to short. So just like the new mobile phone, I went onto the Datart website, found a replacement toaster and ordered it, to be collected from their shop in Decín. Cost CZK 999 / £33.

Just before the end of February, in view of the ever-rising number of COVID-19 cases putting pressure on Czech hospitals, an even more severe lockdown was announced to take effect on Monday 1^st March. Therefore, although I don’t normally go shopping on a Sunday, on the afternoon of Sunday 28^th February, I drove to the Kaufland supermarket in Decín to do a major shop, and to collect my new toaster from the Datart shop, next door to the supermarket.

The supermarket was pleasantly quiet and there was no socially-distanced queue at Datart as I was the only customer. I was halfway back to my home in Stará Oleška, with my shopping and toaster in the boot of my car, when the accelerator went limp and the engine died. I was fortunately able to roll off the main road into a lay-by which is a bus stop.

My wonderful neighbours came and rescued me, my shopping and my toaster and drove me home. But the car is another story and needs a further blogpost. But it definitely is beginning to be a bit expensive……

My house is now connected to mains water

Notice regarding the installation of mains water © Ricky Yates

When I bought my new house in Stará Oleška back in April 2017, I had to make a legal agreement with my neighbours regarding its water supply. This was pumped from an underground source in the garden of Milan and Lucie, my immediate neighbours, and supplied them, Pavel and Vlasta, (Lucie’s parents), who live behind me, and me. This water, whilst perfectly safe, did sometimes come out rather discoloured. So I took to buying bottled water for cooking and drinking and inserting a sachet of ‘Intensive white’ in the washing machine, when washing light-coloured clothing.

Under this agreement, I have paid CZK 200 a month for my water supply – CZK 100 for the electricity powering the pump and CZK 100 for the maintenance and repairs to the pump. Therefore on 30^th April each year since, I’ve given Pavel, who masterminded the funds, CZK 2400 for the following twelve months of my water supply.

One part of the agreement stated that, if the village was to at some future date, obtain a mains water supply, I would arrange to be connected to it within a year. There had been an unsuccessful attempt a couple of years before I moved to the village, to obtain funding for the installation of mains water.

Hole with blue pipes sticking out © Ricky Yates

In 2019, the Council for Obec Huntírov/ Huntírov Municipality, successfully obtained an EU grant for the installation of mains water in Stará Oleška. Therefore, early in 2020, big holes started appearing in the village with blue pipes sticking out of them.

Workmen’s hut & blue piping © Ricky Yates

Unfortunately, I wasn’t at home the day the contractors dug the hole for my connection to the new water main. I had been given a plan showing my connection as being adjacent to the boundary hedge and fence between my property and Milan and Lucie’s property.

Hole & blue pipe outside my house with sections of concrete drainage channel stacked on the grass bank © Ricky Yates

The contractors instead put it seven metres away and, in doing so, also dug up several concrete sections of a drainage channel that runs along the strip of public land in front of my front hedge.

In time, the contractors returned and filled in the hole. But they didn’t reinstate the concrete gulley nor did they remove the excess earth and rubble from the grass bank behind it.

Drainage channel & grass bank in front of my front hedge © Ricky Yates

The photograph above shows how it looked in the middle of Summer 2020.

With no one returning to put right the mess on the public land in front of my house and wanting to get the position of my water connection corrected, in early August 2020, I wrote an email to Ing. Pacovský, the engineer in charge of the project. My good friend Kát’a kindly put my English text into Czech. Just over thirty-six hours later, I got a phone call in Czech 🙂 from Ing. Pacovský’s junior, agreeing to meet me the next day, to address the problem.

At our meeting on Thursday 13^th August, the junior engineer acknowledged that my water connection had been put in the wrong place but said it couldn’t now be changed. But he agreed that the concrete gully should be reinstated and the associated mess cleared up and assured me that the contractors would return and do so. However, as it was August, the men were currently on holiday.

As I am a permanent resident in the village, I have not been required to pay anything towards the cost of mains water being installed. Those people with holiday homes wanting to be connected to the new system, have had to make a financial contribution. But every property owner, resident or non-resident alike, has had to meet the cost of the work required to connect their house to the water main in the adjacent public road.

Fast forward two months to early October. With nothing being done about reinstating the concrete gully and clearing up the associated mess, Kát’a kindly contacted the junior engineer to ask what was happening. As well as assuring her that he would get the contractors to do the work, he said that they would also be willing to do all that was necessary to connect my house to the new water main. They would come and work at the weekend and in turn, I would pay them in cash.

Not knowing anyone else who could do the work and having recently been asked by my neighbours, who was going to do it, I decided that the only way forward was to accept their offer and so contribute to what is proverbially known here as the ‘grey economy’. So it was on the morning of Saturday 17^th October, a van appeared with three workmen and their tools.

Having surveyed the route of the channel they needed to dig, I was then asked, ‘Where was my supply of blue water piping?’ I had assumed that the men would bring it with them. Fortunately, despite it being Saturday morning, the leader of the contractors was able to make contact with an employee of Huntírov Council, who a short while later, arrived in his truck,……

……with the piping,…..

……..and with my water meter. He also produced a clipboard with a list of properties and their owners where I had to sign against my name and number, confirming receipt of my water meter.

Channel going under my front hedge © Ricky Yates

The men then set about digging a quite deep channel, under my front hedge……

Water pipe having come under the front hedge © Ricky Yates

……and into my front garden on the other side.

In-filled channel across the paved area in front of the carport © Ricky Yates

My greatest concern was how much disturbance there would be to the paved area in front of my carport. As you can see, the men removed paving blocks and the stone chippings on which they were sitting, and put them under the carport. Then they dug a channel and laid the piping. They had already refilled the channel before I took this photograph.

Channel alongside my front path © Ricky Yates

Then it was onwards alongside my front path…..

Partly dug channel across the front lawn © Ricky Yates

……and across my front lawn. This was the incomplete channel when they finished work that afternoon.

On Sunday morning, the three men returned and completed digging the channel across the front lawn and up the side of my house. Fortunately, Milan had been in his garden when the workmen had arrived the previous morning. He was able to tell them the exact point where the pipe from the underground source in his garden, came under the fence into my garden, heading to my house. He also kindly said that they could take down the fence to make their task easier.

Channel at the side of the house © Ricky Yates

When the workman dug the channel, they found the pipe, exactly where Milan said it would be. It is somewhere at the bottom of the channel in the photograph above.

In-filled channel across the front lawn © Ricky Yates

Also on Sunday 18^th October, the men filled in the channel they had dug across the front lawn.

Reinstated drainage channel © Ricky Yates

The following day, during normal working hours and whilst I was in Prague for a medical appointment, the contractors finally reinstated the concrete drainage channel. I have to say that they didn’t do it very well as the reinstated sections are slightly higher than they should be, causing a puddle to form in the channel when it rains. My general impression of the workmen is that they are very good at digging things up, but not so good at putting them back afterwards 🙁

In advance of the contractors returning on Sunday 25^th October, to complete the work to connect me to the new water main, the leader of the contractors told me that they needed to purchase a ‘shaft’ at a cost of CZK 8000. I had to produce the cash and then they would obtain it from a firm in Ústí nad Labem. So I handed over the cash early in the week and a day later, the ‘shaft’ appeared under my carport, once more when I wasn’t at home.

The ‘shaft’ inserted just inside the front hedge © Ricky Yates

On Sunday 25^th October, the three men reappeared as agreed, and proceeded to dig a very large hole immediately inside my front hedge, in order to bury the ‘shaft’ in the ground. Here it is being inserted.

The ‘shaft’ inserted with its cover on top © Ricky Yates

And here it is with its cover on top.

What is it for? It houses my water meter with steps down so someone can climb down and read the meter. The handles on either side of the meter enable the water supply to be turned off if ever that is required. It needs to be so deep, along with the channel for the piping through my garden, to ensure it doesn’t freeze up in the winter. After the winter weather we’ve had in January and February this year, I’m grateful for depth at which it has been installed.

In the mid-afternoon of Sunday 25^th October, the contractors completely turned off my old water supply and then connected their newly laid piping to the existing piping that brings water right into the house. Half-an-hour later, Stará Oleška 44 was connected to mains water.

There are two postscripts to this long saga, one positive, the other, negative.

A few days after I was connected to mains water, late one afternoon, Pavel came down from his house having seen me in my back garden. He presented me with a little slip of paper, explaining that I’d only used water from the old supply for six months since I gave him CZK 2400 on 30^th April 2020. Therefore, I was due a refund and he thrust CZK 1200 into my hand. Whilst technically correct, I wasn’t expecting a refund, not least because not many weeks earlier, there had been a major failure of the old pump which needed a couple of visits from an engineer in order to fix it.

On Sunday 25^th October, when I gave the contractors the requested cash for the work they had done, there were still three outstanding things to be completed. There was excess earth that needed to be taken away from where they had dug the hole for the ‘shaft’. They still needed to make good the strip of public land between the concrete gully and my front hedge which also involved removing excess earth and rubble. And my paving blocks needed to be reinstated. They promised to return on Wednesday 28^th October, a public holiday, with a vehicle in which to take away the earth and rubble and complete the job.

Wednesday 28^th October arrived but the men didn’t appear. We chased them up and they promised to come on Sunday 22^nd November. At 09.00 that morning, they rang up with some weak excuse about a car breaking down. The reality of course was that they had been offered another job for cash which they would much prefer to go and do, rather than complete a job for which they had already been paid 🙁 The problem of using the ‘grey economy’ 😉

I have managed to use most of the excess earth elsewhere in the garden and in places where the in-filled channels have sunk over the winter. And I will work via the Council to get the mess cleared up on the strip of public land. But I decided eventually that I would ask and pay František, who constructed the new path in my back garden, to reinstate the paving blocks. He kindly did so on 2^nd January, just a week before the snow arrived, doing a brilliant job as you can see.

Happy Twelfth Birthday to my blog

I realised late yesterday, that 4^th February is the birthday of my blog. My first ever post was published here on 4^th February 2009 meaning that the blog is now twelve years old. Last night when I realised, I was immediately going to try to write and publish a birthday post as I have on several occasions in previous years. But I eventually decided that if I was going to write a coherent post, it might be better to wait until today 🙂

The blog has an amazing 435 posts. This will be post 436, the first in Year 13 of Ricky Yates – An Anglican in Bohemia & Saxony. Whilst I am very happy that the blog is now one year away from becoming a teenager, I’m also aware that more recently, there have been two big gaps between publishing posts. The first was between September 2018 and February 2019 meaning in the year 2018-19, there were only nine posts. The second was between May-November 2020, meaning that I have only published ten posts in the past year.

Over these past twelve years, the blog has undergone two major changes. The first of these was back in May 2012 when I changed the ‘WordPress theme’ I was using to improve its appearance. The second was five years later in May 2017, when my blog header was revamped as I went from being ‘An Anglican in Prague’, to being ‘An Anglican in Bohemia & Saxony‘ as I am now.

Some of my older posts are popular landing pages for new visitors. I am fairly sure that this is because these posts have a high ranking in Google and other search engines, presumably because very few other people have written about the topic. One favourite is my spur of the moment post I wrote back in October 2015, about ‘Contrasts between the Czech Republic and Poland‘. More recently, my rant about the letter I received from UK Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab and Secretary of State for Work & Pensions, Thérèse Coffey, has to date received over 1100 hits.

Another topic which I wrote about way back in 2009, was ‘Driving on the ‘right’ side of the road‘ and ‘Check this Czech car out!‘ In the nearly twelve years since I wrote about getting my right-hand drive (RHD) car successfully registered here in the Czech Republic, I have had a succession of enquiries about the topic by people who found these posts as a result of a Google search.

On each occasion, whilst offering what advice I can, I have always referred enquirers on to Adrian Blank in Nepomuk, who helped me through the whole process. In turn, Adrian has become a very good friend and he appreciates the business I have generated for him.

Although I now live further away since moving to Stará Oleška, I still go to see Adrian with Nový Carly. My summer tyres are currently stored with him, ready for the changeover in April. Interestingly, Adrian has recently discovered yet another negative consequence of Brexit. Since 1^st January 2021, a British RHD car can now only be registered here if it is less than eight years old 🙁

However, my most famous post that still remains a popular landing page and has had over 10,000 likes and shares on Facebook, is the one I wrote eight years ago in February 2013 – ‘How to be Czech in 10 easy steps‘. Put ‘How to be Czech’ into Google and that post is the first English result.

Last summer, between lockdown one and lockdown two, (since before Christmas, we’ve been in lockdown three 🙁 ), I visited my favourite Decín cafe, ‘Coffee & Books‘, to have brunch and use their wifi. This was because there was a scheduled power outage in Stará Oleška meaning I couldn’t cook or have access the internet. Having placed my order at the counter, I went to find a suitable place to sit.

I went to sit on a stool at one end of bench with a view out of the window. Further along the bench, sitting on two further stools, were two ladies, talking to each other in second-language English. As I was trying to arrange myself and get my laptop plugged in underneath the bench, one of the ladies, who I now know as Katka, spoke to me in Czech. I responded by saying in English, that it would be better if she continued speaking in English 🙂

I had presumed that the two ladies were using second language English, as neither spoke the other persons native tongue, something I have come across many times whilst living in Prague and elsewhere. But I was wrong. They were both Czech and Katka was teaching English and the other lady was her student.

I then inevitably, got asked as to what a native English speaker was doing in Decín and how was my Czech. I gave my usual explanation that my best Czech is bar-restaurant Czech but that I do feel I fully understood Czech culture. Oh Katka said, ‘You mean such as being out in ‘the nature’, being sportif and going to the chata or chalupa for the weekend. I found an article on the internet about that which I use to help teach English to my students.’

I realised that Katka was almost certainly talking about ‘How to be Czech in 10 easy steps’, so I found it on my laptop and she confirmed that it was. I then told her that she was speaking with the author and the poor lady nearly fell off her stool 🙂

Besides the shock on Katka’s face when I revealed my authorship, there was another thing that also made me smile. She told me that the blog post had also taught her two new English words. They were ‘hemline’ and ‘cleavage’ 🙂 from step three of the post.

Never when I started blogging twelve years ago, did I think that what I wrote would reach so far, would feature so high in Google, or be used as a tool for teaching English. Please raise your glass as Ricky Yates – An Anglican in Bohemia & Saxony celebrates its twelfth birthday.

More snow

Stará Oleška 44, Sunday 31st January 2021 © Ricky Yates

Further to my previous post, ‘Winter has arrived‘, winter has definitely decided to stay 😉 We have had further snowfall since I last posted and there has been lying snow now for over three weeks.

It finally stopped snowing around lunchtime yesterday (30^th). Overnight, the skies cleared and the temperature dropped to -10°C (14° Fahrenheit for my American visitors). But clear skies has meant bright sunshine all day today, creating the perfect opportunity for taking snowy photographs 🙂 Knowing from past comments, how much my previous snowy photographs have been appreciated, here are a few more.

Back garden, Friday 29th January 2021 © Ricky Yates

This was my back garden on the morning of Friday 29^th January, before I cleared the path to the woodshed to split more logs and bring them into the house. The hump in the middle of the garden…….

Logs delivered on Monday 25th January 2021 © Ricky Yates

…..is this pile of logs, the second half of my order, delivered on Monday 25^th January. I was very glad I got some of them into the woodshed and the rest covered, before the latest snowfall.

I have lost track of how many times I have scraped snow from my front path and the paved area that gives access to my carport. This was view after a considerable amount of labour on the afternoon of Saturday 29^th January, once it had finally stopped snowing.

One increasing problem has been where to put all of the excess snow. As you can see, there isn’t much more room here.

Or here.

This afternoon, I went for a walk to try and capture some of the beauty of the snow. I had to walk very carefully as the temperature only rose to -2° and it was very icy underfoot. Tonight as I write, it is back down to -6°! Here are a few photographs from my walk around the village.