Freitag, November 30, 2007

DONE!

November 30/07 5:44 p.m.

Chained myself to the oven and started the task of baking my first, most workintensive, timerobbing assortment of X-mas cookies. While working, every year the same stories come to my mind. When we lived - in our younger years - in Vancouver B.C., the first Christmas away from home I had to bake cookies, young housewife's honour!
My efforts ended up with cookies, which even the bears in the Stanley Park refused to eat, And there had been honey as one of the ingredients, mind you! I think that must have traumatisized me for lifetime, only thinking of cookie baking makes me brake out in a rush!-
Oh yes, and then there had been that year, when we had a refugee friend from former Jugoslavia staying with us, he had fled the country and no place to go at the time. So, Srecko, if he was not on the phone with his girlfriend, trailed me like a puppy. Man of the house at that time did not yet have the wonderful position of a retiree, so S. had been pretty bored and , as I said, had been at my heels all the time. Decided to keep me company while I had been "cookieing", I got distracted and forgot to put the pulverizised almonds into the dough. Tried later on to mix the stuff into the frosting, had not been the real mcoy, though.
Have some more stories up my sleeve, but never mind.
Well friends, by now I have improved and my cookies are a must with the family, so there I am, every year again.
And for the interested ones I will let you have the recipe tomorrow, to lazy now to pick it up downstairs. And myself, I will reward now with a "schnaps" (shot), only smelling that sweet cookie - stuff makes me, ugh..

Donnerstag, November 29, 2007

Ten Things I hate!

November 29/07 6:59 p.m.

1. baking cookies
2.baking cookies
3.baking cookies
4.baking cookies
5.baking cookies
6.baking cookies
7.baking cookies
8.baking cookies
9.even thinking of baking cookies for X-mas
10.baking cookies tomorrow

And that will be the first batch only.

Mittwoch, November 28, 2007

Flat on the Face

November 28/07 6:06 p.m.

Thats what man of the house did today, falling flat on the face. He has a habit of doing that sporadically and I keep telling him that people, who never ever leave the house, loose the ability to walk. He has a lip now resembeling a botox- treatment and claims loose front teeth. We will see how it looks tomorrow morning. Eating is out for the moment, not such a bad thing for a day or two,unvoluntary dieting. - But quite serious, this man one day will supply me with a heart - kasper!

Dienstag, November 27, 2007

Suburban X-mas Shopping

November 27/07 6:07 p.m.

Mind you, first time since we live in this region, I tried out our neighbour town Krefeld. -Without doubt, parking is easier (more places) and cheaper, the stores are much closer together and one or the other item one might even get at a more reasonable price, but....call me a snob, I just like the ambience of downtown Düsseldorf, nothing beats that for me. And my feet are fuming nevertheless, but considering I would have gotten all those presents, I bought today, in Düsseldorf, I would be without feet!

And next time I will cover my hair with a scarf, so I will fit in with all the Turkish women, milling around in Krefeld, always 3 paces dragging behind their men.

Catch me a Rat!

November 27/07 9:08

That's what I am going to do now! No of course not, have to kick my heels to get my day going, no treats ahead and you can listen to this singing lady , if you want to!

Sonntag, November 25, 2007

Sid Hausman

November 26/07 9:58 a.m.

My horseback riding friend from New Mexico, the multi talent, listen to one of his songs:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrBjR3qcV6Y&feature=bf_prev&list=FLxl4JBEFcjgw&index=15
Aside from beeing a genial musician, he is also an author of children books, with terrific drawings and a CD with music to go with the book. Kids love it, my grandson did when he was small. Books can be ordered at AMAZON.
And you can look at Sid's website on my blogroll!

So, friends, still looking for X-mas presents, here you can be lucky, and Sid...
do I make your ears ring?
http://jeridobrowski.smugmug.com/gallery/2921168_2R9Bg/5/145280366_RtMFa#145280366_RtMFa-L-LB ..and a nice pic of the guy!

Samstag, November 24, 2007

VOILA! - Here it is!



November 24/07 4:28 p.m.




Untouched and clean as a virgin, the new car. - New owner behaved very badly towards old car, did not even give it a goodbye pat, just like in a divorce, walking out of court and not turning back. - Me, I always have to shed a hidden tear when I have to part with an old car, in the process of "living" together, old car has turned into a person. Now - every fool is different!

Freitag, November 23, 2007

And the Winner is...

November 23/07 8:50 a.m.

....DEBITEL - on my personal "shit list" .
Started out with that Debitel (my cell phoneprovider)put in a "present" which consists of a software,that you can put an "Adventskalender"* online and send it to 10 recipients. Now Landfrau (gee, I love to play around with such gadgets,you might have noticed) slaved over that piece last weekend. First,after downloading all 24 pics, it did not work, would not transfer. Then, miracle, suddenly, bingo! - So, shipped calender off, checked it, everything fine. Next day sister-in-law phoned that she only could see a void page. Checked, did not work, only for me, big deal! Chased out a mail,apologizing to my friends,not my fault etc.etc. and mind you ,a day later,whole carboodle worked again. So, another mail to the,by now I suppose, pretty anoyed friends. - Very embarassing!
So, only hope, the miracle calender finally works on the 1st of December!

*...for my Overseas' friends, an "Adventscalender" is a present you give to friends, family (or yourself) You open one door every day till X-mas. Mostly they are filled with chocolate, but there is no limit to your fantasy, like - diamonds are a girls best friend! So my calender is virtual,which limits it to pictures.

Mittwoch, November 21, 2007

Neighbourhood Competition

November 21/07 7:40 p.m.

Since it is getting dark outside pretty early around this time of the year, Herr Hund and Landfrau have to roam around in the dark during our nite walk. So I have noticed X-mas lights beeing put up already at quite a few houses. One party started and one after the other are following up, and I also noticed, that every up-follower makes an effort to outdo his predecessor,very funny! Reminds me strongly of that crazy story(everyone knows what I am talking about, I am sure) where the whole neighbourhood goes haywire outdoing each other and in the end the complete elelctricity system of the village brakes down.
Could not help it, I also got infected and put up our modest decoration, so now it's all set and only has to be plugged in, and promply I fell into that X-mas panic, which grabs me every year. It is so ridiculous, since there is no reason for stress, but here I am, a natural nut.
Promise to be normal again after December 24th, till then you have to cope with a Landfrau traumatisized by X-mas!

Dienstag, November 20, 2007

Day of a Housewife

November 20/07 7:12 p.m.

Fixed breakfast
Took the dog on a bike tour
Did some garden work
Cleaned(neighbours') leaves off the driveway
Fixed lunch
Got the ladder out of the basement
Took ladder into the living room,climbed up and took drapes of
Put drapes in the washer then dryer
Climbed onto the ladder and hug up drapes
Put the ladder into the basement
Had a coffee
Took a walk with the dog.

Boring?..............I THINK SO TOO!!!!!!

Freitag, November 16, 2007

Wild Mike Beck!

November 16/07 8:48 a.m.

Yes, fans of "wild" Mike Beck, I know I deprived you of the downloads, but have decided not to publish any downloads anymore,it is such a grey zone with the downloading and I do not want to be in a jam! But you can have a look at the website and then decide for yourselves. I love "John Steinbeck drank in here"!

Dienstag, November 13, 2007

Unreliable Chime and a small Quiz!

November 13/07 5:12 p.m.

In memory of companion's sailor days we have a" Glasenclock" at the wall of our living room. Now, this device really aggravates me. First of all,if you close it properly, it refuses to run,simply stops after half an hour or so. You do not snap the latch, it runs without problems.Had it at a watch repairman's place, he claimed there was nothing wrong with it, had it running for several days, everything was fine. And then, the second trick it plays is to chime and chime no end at the 8 bells , like giving a bonus, but not always, mind you, I think there must be the soul of a long dead sailor hidden in this clock, who enjoys fooling around with us. -
And now I am going to fool around a bit with you my friends and you office dwellers can stop twiddeling your thumbs and get going. Here is the QUIZ:

How often does the clock chime within 24 hours?
(without it fouling around, of course - and it runs on the simple system!)

Sonntag, November 11, 2007

I saw a Rainbow

November 11/07 4:14 p.m.

...and it has been simply beautiful ,only faded away too fast. Made me think of that great song of "Mike Scott and the Waterboys" about the whole of the moon and some other kind of rainbow.
So, enjoy your weekend song!





YouTube - Waterboys • The Whole of the Moon • 1985 Concert: ""

Sunshine...


November 11/07 9:50 a.m.


....on a grey day of November. Our newest family member! - But - this won't be a baby blog, a pleasant exception, my friends!

Samstag, November 10, 2007

In the Eye of the Hurricane

November 10/07 12:20 p.m.

That's what it felt like for Landfrau, biking in the windshade of the dike*this morning with Herr Hund. But that changed dramatically when we reached the top of the levy.Wind almost blew us away, like the" Flying Robert" from Shockheaded Peter. The pilars of the new bridge (still call it new bridge, it is 5 years old by now) lokked like a rocket launching station against the grey and white flying clouds. Saw a wild goose ,which must have lost connection to its crowd,and a seagull, yes, we have them here at the riverside! - No one around except an other lady with a labrador dog, which decided to beat up Herr Hund, who in turn became ferocious towards a little "mops" just to get even (in my opinion not a sign of heroism of Herr Hund!) later on. Herr Hund took no damage, thanks to his "plenty of" fur, which he happily sheds around the house at the moment. Change into winter outfit!
Man of the house, who hardly ever leaves the cave, does not know what he is missing!

* P.S. - Now there I have a problem with dyke and dike, same goes for flee and fly. Well, nobody is perfect! (call me:nobody - little joke on the side!)

Freitag, November 09, 2007

Important November 9th!

November 9/07 2:20 p.m.

Two events mark this day: 1st - the Pogrom Nacht , which had been the shameful beginning of the Holocaust
and
2nd - the fall of the Berliner Mauer ,which hopefully has been a step into the right direction.

And I do not think those two lines need further comment .

Donnerstag, November 08, 2007

Old and funny

November 8/07 8:29 a.m.

We have seen a play last nite where a guy goes on for about 2 1/2 hours about the aches,pains and traumatics of old age. Very funny, but on the other hand nothing one knows already and for the younger ones, will know one day. -
We drove downtown in pouring rain and till we had reached the theater, man of my life complained about the rain,the traffic, the distance you had to walk from the park deck to the theater and the money we had already spent, before the show started. And then we had very expensive seats where you only saw half of the stage. The manager came and gave us better seats without us even complaining. So, this had been an outing of couch potatoes!

Dienstag, November 06, 2007

November, November




November 6/07 5:46 p.m.

Beautiful autumn is taking its leave. Wind starts to blow, colours start to fade away and my friends, the wild geese, are preparing to fly further south. -
Had the leftovers today of our "tame" goose, the sunday feast had been a real treat, worth the slavery. If only there would be little helpers to clean up the kitchen later on. Preparations are fun but the "afterwork" I hate! And now Christmas starts to lurk in that corner not so far away......But we will manage, like every year before. -

And above a cute "Thank you" note, I love the "gilded frame"!! It is so ugly,that it is attractive again. But our grandson would say "it goes with your place" .

Samstag, November 03, 2007

The good Mother

November 3/07 3:40 p.m.

Each and every year,after we have had the family goose feast, I tell my beloved folks, that this has been the last goose I have cooked and every year, there I am again, full into greasy slavery. It's St.Martin’s tomorrow, here in our village anyway ( its always a case of getting the "music" (bands) for the parade) , so St. Martin keeps parading on and on, the biggest parade of course beeing in downtown Düsseldorf at November 10th.That parade has enough music, though. And if you want to hear what it sounds like, listen to the musci clip! - But getting back to here, the goose will be cooked today (is in the oven) and we eat tomorrow,like every year with potato dumplings, red cabbage, glazed chestnuts, applesauce and lots of gravy. Nice, rich , fattening food. Man of the house says he does not care for once! Not that it helps much if he cares the rest of the year. Lacking excercise, I always say.
Just right now some of the wild geese have been passing across our roof again, they are the lucky ones, not ending up in the frying pan! I have been seeing our poor candidate since spring at the farmer's place, fortunately you never know which one ends up in your oven.
So, friends, and this is the last goose I have cooked (till next year, haha)!

Are you a Fan of those Girls?

DIXIE CHICKS ::: DEATH FROM ABOVE Link!

November 3/07 9:59 a.m.

O.k.then ,here is a nice little weekend playground!