We arose this morning to the first winter snow of the season. It was still snowing at 8, although it had probably ended by 10. yesterday, we sat and talked all morning and then went to Gussing, Austria in the afternoon. First, we drove around the outside of the town with the lake on one side and the castle on the other. the lake looked semi-frozen. We then went to Hofer, a store similar to Lidl, only it is in Austria, so has higher quality things and larger than Lidl so it has more selection. We got lots of veggies and some shelf-stable things that we needed, like rice, beans, cookies, dog food, etc. there was snow on the ground there, although there was none where we were coming from in Hungary. We came home and had another of Joy's wonderful dinners of mixed veggies with leftover chicken added over rice. The rice, which was from Italy, was suprisingly good, with very few hulls ( which are rampant in Hungarian rice). this morning, we sat and talked again, then Joy went back into the downstairs back bedroom (which we just use for storage) and got Christmas stuff out. She hasn't found much---the Rosenthal stars, the lenox christmas cookie jar and a fancy wire thing that is roughly in the shape of a tree to hang ornaments on, although we haven't yet found any ornaments to hang on it. She made us onions and beans over rice for lunch. Our conversations have been enlightening and we've found out alot about each other and what has happened in our lives since we were last in physical contact. In fact, we've shared some stuff that was going on while we were children and teenagers that we never told each other before. It's interesting that some pretty big stuff happens when you're that age that you don't tell, even your best friends. It's 3:15 and it's already getting dusky outside. We're snug here inside with fires in both stoves (living room and dining room/kitchen). the cats are snoozing and I've let the dogs in and they're busy removing the snow clods that are stuck to their legs and paws.