My Passport Story

August 23/11.....3:26 p.m.

Today the ghost of just deceased Loriot ,the great comedian, must have hovered over the first half of my day. You would say, that achieving a new passport is not such a big deal, well... let me tell you this -
I left the house pretty early , dealing with ministerial hierarchy you have to count on strict office hours and I wanted to have some leeway, just in case. Smart choice!  Took my old passport, a foto, which I had left over from the time I had to renew my ID card and enough money. Well equipped, one would think. The office for this kind of burocracy had moved since I had been there the last time and the somehow evasive directions given by Herr Husband took me on a little sightseeing trip with not a soul on the road to ask.  O.K.  I made it and the first question, the lady behind the desk asked me was  if I really wanted a passport, because, as she explained, moving around Europe an ID card is sufficient. Probably she did not trust me to be able to venture out of Europe. I had been a good girl and kept my mouth shut.  Next, I handed  her my foto and she almost fainted with shock "oh no, it has to be a biometric one" which means that you are not allowed to smile but produce a grim look, which one has travelling nowadays anyway, with all the rules and regulations which involve travelling. So off I went to the local fotoshop and believe me there were two families with among them about 10 kids having passport fotos made and one boy with glasses either made a stupid face, or the glasses had been reflecting or he had moved and there was a part of him missing on the shot. Standing there for about 10 min. tapping my foot I decided to leave, remembering another fotoshop which I then went looking for only to discover that it had vanished from the earth. So, back to the first shop and believe me, the same bespectacled kid still was trying to get his foto taken under the cheers of the remaining crowd. In the meantime my face must have turned purple, so the sales lady asked the 2 family crowd if she could look after me in between and they answered, yes, if it does not take too long!  That had been the second time I told myself: "Landfrau,keep your mouth shut!" So I had my ugly,grim foto taken and off I went to again battle with burocracy and I had been lucky to catch them before sacred lunch hour closing time.
Now I am awaiting my new passport in about 6 weeks and for the rest of my life I will  produce a document with an absolutely ugly me - have decided that there will not be another one.

I am living with Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

August 11/11 ...12:11 p.m.


Yes, and  they  have 4 legs.  By now you might know whom I am talking about, mad Max, our guest dog. As Dr. Jekyll he is very good and nice to have around the house (well, lets be generous and forget about food stolen from the table and a hole bitten into the linnen "horse" bread bag hanging at the radiator, and gobbling up the dried bread) but put him on a leash and leave the house with him, he turns into Mr. Hyde in a jiffy. First he loses his ears, as soon as he spots another dog about half a km away he is off like a thunderbolt, no yelling or whistling is of any use. He wont do any harm , but tell that the other dog and most of all the owner! Same thing happens with people with kids. He produces a kickstart before he realizes that it is a toddler,not a dog. Up to now with have been lucky with nice parents but I could not blame them if they would be upset.


looks like an angel

  Now, why don't I  keep him on the leash? There I have a problem , since my stupid accident in the fall last year my knee is not so stable any more and he is too fast pulling me  all over the places.


So we are always happy when we are back home without incidents and then Dr. Jekyll and me are friends again.

GLASSES or - where the fuck are they?

August 3/11......2:51 p.m.

You need them or you don't. - No, friends, it is not as simple as that, at least not for this here Landfrau. Aside from the fact, that I keep losing them all over the house ( although I have my favoured spots where I put them - like on top of the guest towel stack in the guest bathroom, the staircase steps leading up to the attic room , behind the the window sill curtain in the upper floor )  certain tasks are done much better without glasses. Cleaning the house, for instance is so much more fun if  you do not have to hunt every crumb and tiny dustball. Also mowing the lawn is a good one, looks so much neater without glasses when I am finished. And believe me, that morning glance into the mirror shows an immaculate,wrinkleless Landfrau, it is a simple joy. -



stupid dog - even with glases he could not find his toy!



Although certain tasks I think I better leave them sitting on my nose, for one thing driving my car and also eating a trout. And for looking for mad Max's (labrador guest dog) lost toy, a bright blue plastic bone  about the size of a kitten I left them on and the bone nevertheless is a goner.

Rollator Kamikaze

July 4/11......6:02 p.m.

With the help of Landfrau Herr Husband managed a slapstickripe plunge sitting on his rollator. It happened as follows: Herr H. wanted to take a walk with his rollator around the block, Landfrau decided to come along. That was a mistake. Herr H. after a while said he needed a rest and sat on the rollator seat, Landfrau told him I will push you, Herr H. said, no, looks silly, Landfrau said yes, never mind. So I pushed him along the sidewalk, but suddenly the thing, and don't ask me how and why, stopped and started to turnover forward. I tried to hold onto it and sitting husband, fat chance, down he went and me ontop of him. There we were, lying on the sidewalk, Herr H. had lost his cap and glasses and kept yelling at me " are you insane, are you insane" , poor me, lying there, trying to figure out how to get off and up. In the meantime some passers-by had assembled and everyone tried to help. A lady and me managed to pick up Herr H.  who did not want to sit on the rollator anymore being pushed. Fortunately he had only hurt his butt a little and I put the cap back on his head and had a laughing fit, claiming that we never had been holding that position, me on top of husband,  in open public.
Actually I am husband's official attendant and helper, but this act did not gain me any laurels. But I think I might improve.

Cussedness of the Inanimate

June 30/11.......12:22 p.m.

It simply is always the same, when I still used to smoke and we had been in a restaurant waiting for our maincourse to be served all I had to do light a cigarette, and bingo, the meal was coming up. Watering the garden flowers for sure draws rain within the next hours and buying essentials for barbecue during a heatwave brings on below zero temperatures. Not that I am so keen on barbecue. It might have something to do with Herr Husband who never does a stich around the household and hardly is able to boil an egg suddenly considers himself a gourmet cook, who is the grillmaster galore. Burnt sausages and halfraw or overcooked steaks are not exactly something to look forward to.  So now my steaks will be pancooked and it is the turn of  Herr Husband to complain that they are overcooked or tough. Must admit that cooking steaks is not quite my piece of pie either.

IMPLANTS

June 20/11.....3:15 p.m.

The day I had been dreading had come and this morning at 8:30 p.m. I showed up at my dentist's place to be fixed with two implants. Since he had not been quite sure about the leftover bonestructure, he had to cut the gums open on top to have a look before the drilling. I had been frightened stiff - so to say  and a fast trip to the bathroom had been an absolute must. I got a couple of anesthesia shots and when my mouth felt numb enough he got to work, cutting and drilling . I did not feel a thing, surprisingly, but the noise in my head had been that of a black & decker machine. The whole procedure took less time than anticipated and now I am home cooling with a cool pack and very proud of myself that I did not have to take painkillers yet, but I had 1 antibiotica pill, thats a must. -
so, friends keep your fingers crossed that my mouth will heal fast without complications -I am greedy after a coffee, but that I can only  have tomorrow - shame!

It still can be topped (a post, not to be taken too seriously)

May 28/11.....2:34 p.m.



heavenly slumber



Yesterday we decided to cash in our X-mas present, a voucher for slumbering and feasting , given to us by our daughters . The place treating us had been the "Molzmühle" , a romantic little place at the Schwalm-Nettetal.  And mind you, we had the place all to ourselves, for the dinner, the slumbering and the breakfast this morning.  We thought that it had been great, having the restaurant to ourselves during our last trip to The Sport Schloss Velen,  and once, while flying to Vancouver B.C. we had been lucky to be the only passengers in the first class, aboard a Lufthansa - flight, but we are still missing out on having a yacht for our use only,  preferably in the Mediterranian!  - Well, once in Dubai, we had been guests aboard a private yacht for an evening cruise, but since there had been some business friends along too, that does not count.

So, come on fate or whatever, give! We deserve it!

A Sentence a Day

May 16/11.....3:25 p.m.

Day one
Arrival - welcomed  in the room by a bottle of Champagne - courtesy of Herr Husband  - nice!
Day two
A nice try to see the "Dülmener Wildpferde"  - only the hotel receptionist sent us into the middle of the town Dülmen. Where we had to go to had been the Merfelder Bruch and the compound showed a sign " open only at sun- & holidays" - tough luck but a nice drive around countryside. Almost hit a deer.
Day three
Landfrau rented a bike and Herr Husband touched freshly painted wall in the lobby.
Day four
2 hour horse carriage ride , sightseeing a lot of lush green countryside - very pleasant
Day five
Little trip by car into the town of Borken,where they also turn up the sidewalks between noon and 3 p.m. - but we found a place to serve us a nice lunch
Day six - breakfast and drive home - pity! ---
Aside from that we enjoyed the parc surrounding the castle, Herr Husband using his luggie, swimming, wellness , steambath and Landfrau treated herself  to two marvellous massages and a facial, which had been dissapointing, Herr Husband still recognized me! And we had wonderful food and drinks at Pia's bar.
and here are some pics - enjoy!

Funniest Dream!

May 6/11....10:30 a.m.

Today Landfrau is a real early bird - had to give my  physician a sample of my valuable blood and since I have to be there by latest 8:00 a.m. and considering the about 15 min. drive , which takes 45 min. in the morning - I had to get up in the middle of the night (so it seemed to me).  Now, since there is also that donation of morning pee, I am a real nut about that. Always afraid, that I would have no result, in case I had been visiting the loo during the night. So I woke up early enough this morning and had to visit the bathroom very urgently, scolding myself, because I had "bottled" my sample already about around 4 a.m.  But, surprise,surprise, what grinned at me in the bathroom? an empty container ! I really had been flabbergasted, I could have sworn, that I had finished my task during the night, but it must have been a "reality dream" - As I mentioned before, I think, I am a natural nut.

I'm still around!

April 27/11.....5:10 p.m.

I know, I know, I have been neglecting you, my dear blog. But, hanging around, not feeling so super duper on account of my persistant coughing does not make me feel imaginative to tell little tales. At least, after my final visit to a specialist, I aquired a coughing licence, i.e. I know now what I am suffering from - a stupid bronchitis - and now I have to suck powder out of a box once in the morning and once in the evening. Sounds stupid and it is stupid, somehow I always have the tendency to blow into the thing. Let's hope it helps. -

We had a leisurely easter time, the weather had been so great and we enjoyed hanging around on our sundeck , having nice food and drinks and once a while Herr Husband took a drive with  what I baptized his "cripple quad" (a bit mean, I know, but with a wink)  and to give you an impression, here is a little video.

He really turns into"speedy gonzales"!

He did it!

April 10/11......12:18  p.m.

I could not believe my eyes, Herr Husband had made efforts to fabricate a teddy (with a little help, but never mind) and here we have the result: TEDDY FREDDIE

isn't he a cutie?

Curing the Heart

April 3rd/11........3:26 p.m.

too bad,Herr H. does not want to be creative and fabricate a teddy bear!

Yesterday, saturday, daughter 2 and myself took a drive to Waldliesborn, to visit Herr Husband at his clinic- hangout - Klinik Eichholz - an about 2hrs. drive. We took my Mini, but daughter did the driving, Landfrau is not such a great driver on unknown terrain. At least my car had a ball, km 160/h it never had been driven. It did fine, although you have a bit of a go-cart feeling, but not bad alltogether. The weather had been really great, summer temperatures of 25° C and we found our patient at very good shape. He is the hit of the place, envied by many as owner of his  electric luggie. He zooms around like speedy gonzales all over the compound.  - So we had lunch together and later on coffee and cake at one of the outside terraces, very relaxing. And since the place has a big in-outdoor pool (which Herr.H. unfortunately is not allowed to use - it is rather strong sole - ) it also has a little boutique, offering bathing suits. So daugther found a real cute one at a bargain , I fould a nice one too, unfortunately bargains are not to be had in my size, too many heftier customers around! - Late afternoon we decided to drive back home, we wanted to pass by Dortmund before a real important soccer game ended just about the time we were at the spot. We had been lucky, we just made it before being caught up in the fan traffic jam.
Back home Landfrau invited daughter for a drink and a delicious salad at a nearby bistro, our first time sitting outside in the evening.
By then we both had been bushed and my bed saw me pretty early. - It had been a nice day!

No "Blinky Palermo " the 2nd

March 27th/11.....3:52 p.m.

Oh yes, Blinky Palermo! - Faithful readers might remember my post, dripping with envy, about the deal my relatives got. Now, this Landfrau here still has not given up hope to run across her own Blinky Palermo, and yesterday, bingo, thought I had discovered a tiny one. From my childhood, somehow this book of fairytales, made up of collected pictures which you got buying cigarettes of a certain brand, had survived in a miracolous way, considering our migration since the late thirties. A bit beat up, but nevertheless.  So I googled the "Märchen der Völker" and to my surprise got a lot of feedback and among others an ebay page offering said edition for about € 300 . Great -! but when I further dug into the informations I found the edition also offered by antique book sellers for about € 30. So again, there goes my Blinky Palermo,  but I do not give up hope yet.
Thought I owe you something funny to read about, after all the gloomy stuff I have been pushing out lately.

Call me Cassandra

March 14/11.....6:24 p.m.

I suppose you are familiar with that character out of the Greek mythology, the lady who used to predict bad tidings. Well, to tell you, I start feeling like her. Sliding into the year of 2011 I told Herr Husband that I had a weird feeling about the oncoming year in a way that it would not have much good in stock. Up to now, unfortunately I have been right. Herr Husband had been in hospital twice, 2nd time with a heart attack.  The day he had his shunt-OP I had the looniest car accident on the final way home at nite. A guy bumped my car from behind, approaching me while honking his horn wildly, claiming that I had been coming from the right, while I had been driving in the left lane for already at least for 500 meters. The amazing thing,no scratch whatsoever on my car, but his car pretty beat up,which I took pics of right away, they all seemed pretty old marks to me. And the craziest thing, the police which he called and who arrived pretty darn fast, came up to me without even listening to my part of the story,telling me that I had caused the accident. But on the phone had ordered the cars to be moved to the curb.Gave me a fine,which I did not pay and  handed the thing over to my lawer. I have not heard a stich since, neither has my insurance company. The guy phoned me 2 days after the accident and wanted to kow if I had paid. Told him he can talk to my lawer, thats it. The matter stinks!-
By now I am down with a pretty bad cold, started out with no voice for 2 days (could not even fight with Herr H ) and an enoying cough which keeps me waking up about 20 times during the night. Daughter No. 1 caught the same thing, fortunately we had not been in touch. For her it is even worse, since she is normally already suffering from breathing problems.  And then my nephew had a  skiing accident in Austria, with having been unconcious with bad head injuries. Fortunately he is recovering but it will take time.

And the situation in Japan is nothing to rejoice about either - These reactor breakdowns are not finished yet.
Last sunday I met a former riding friend and by telling him my stories he backed away and tod me he was getting depressions. He should have asked me what I had been getting lately.

Good for a Laugh!

March 1/11.....11:00 a.m.

Believe me, in these times, where we have not  so much to laugh about, sometimes something refreshing crosses our path! - (freely translated it says - tip or shut up)

Sunday, Sunday

February 20/11........9:20 a.m.

To put it straight, sunday is not my favoured day of the week. It might have something to do with childhood memories, somehow sunday had been such a day of boredom on one side and  obligations on the other side.  Only thing, one could stay in bed a little longer, but then it started, had to help mother to prepare breakfast, had to help do the dishes, had to go to church during my formative years and then, after a long lunchtime meal, where usually my brothers got to fight over desert who had gotten the bigger portion, had to help with the dishes again. Then, after the afternoon sunday coffee- cake time , the whole family took a long boring walk. Anyway, till my father got his first car. Then it had been long drives into the countryside, sometimes surprising my aunt, who lived about 100 kms away and usually broke out in tears when we showed up, because she hated surprise visits.  I do not blame her. So I got to know the radius of about 100 kms around my parent's home pretty well and by the time we got home from our drive , my parents were in the no talking state, because my mother, who had no driver's license, always knew better and had been giving my father instructions till he blew his top and then my mother sulked.  Well, after sandwich time in the evening, there came the worst part, the whole family assembled around the radio,  later on it had been television, to listen to resp. watch a show and my mother presented a basket of socks full of holes, belonging to my dad and brothers and mom and daughter had to mend the holes. This had been the moment when I wished I had been one of my brothers!  Mind you, dad produced holes big as potatoes and I could have broken out into a screaming fit having to mend them. 

I never repair a sock now-a-days, off into the garbage they go. This is my revenge.

Later on, when I had my own life, sundays could be very pleasant days, only bad thing had been,that the next day had to be monday. But somehow memory of those childhood sundays sticks and they do not brighten up with time.                                                                     

A Touch of Creativity

February 14/11....7:27 p.m.



little Miss Sunshine




a friend





horse of an American friend

  I just love to paint but lately Landfrau has been a bit lame in exercising her creativity. Maybe it is just that our house is too small, all walls are plastered with pictures and paintings somehow and I have taken myself out of the "selling" business. I am just too lazy to paint on comission. But once a while I am intrigued and then I get going and my room is a mess, with all the painting material scattered everywhere.  I hate cleaning up afterwards but sometimes I think the result has been worth it and before I explode in selfpraise, here are some of my latest accomplishments.

Timmendorfer Strand

February 4/11.....11:45 p.m.

Once upon a time...well this is no fairy tale, so let me begin again - a very long time ago we spent a vacation at eastertime with a crowd of riding friends at the kind of "vacation home stable" located at Timmendorfer Strand belonging to the owners of our riding club. What makes me suddenly think of this time? I watched a tv-movie and the setting had been Timmendorfer Strand. So this brought back memories and hilarious ones at such!  We really had been such a great bunch of riding buddies and we outdid ourselves in creating mischief much to the dismay of our hosts. One night we visited a local bar, a pretty funny place, from the bar you could slide into a pool if you had enough to drink and wanted to "sober up" . The mother of one of our friends spent a holiday in Florida at that time and from the bar he called her and she agreed to foot the bill. So you can imagine, we all ended up in the pool. A couple of days before easter we coloured eggs at night and since Herr Husband, having had a few drinks too much , had fallen asleep on a bench in the community room, we decided to paint his face green. The problem had been, that he had a business appointment (at that time he still had been a hard working guy) in the morning in Hamburg and he had a hard time to get the paint of his face and had been very much in panic, that he would not get it off completely -he did not!  - But in the morning, hangover or not, we showed up in time at the stables for cleaning and saddling the horses and we had those great gallopes along the beach to sober up.  One morning I got kicked in the ass by the horse next to mine , fortunately it had no shoes, but for the rest of the time I had been limping around, which however did not keep me from riding. I have been a tough cookie all my life, it helps me now-a-days.

And by the way, the tough cookie is the knight on the white horse!

Vanity contra Stinginess

February 4/11......4:15 p.m.

Here I sit, chewing my nails. - Landfrau discovered an application which enables you to have your blog printed as a book. Of course first I tried in several ways to have the preview saved, but of course they outsmart the "smarties" who want to do that. so PDF is out. Now there I am and I have two souls in my breast. The vanity-soul whispers have it printed but the stinginess-soul shouts: ARE YOU INSANE SPENDING SO MUCH MONEY FOR YOUR SCRIBBLINGS! - Hard decision - what do you think?

I knew it!

January 26/11......1:30 p.m.

I had a hunch what was in store for me when I made that dentist's appointment for inspection and cleaning and bingo, my problem tooth has to go and since I am a person of fast decisions I told my dentist lady lets do it then right away.  So out it went, but unfortunately had to leave a root part in - nasty- which had to be dug out and then I was sitting in that chair bleeding like a slaughtered pig and it would not stop. So finally the hole had to be filled up and mended with a thread and now I am sitting here and dreading the wear off of the anesthetic shots. Up to now I have half a numb face, my nose feels like a snout from a pig and my eye twitches.
I shall be running around for 3 months with a gap in my mouth, so no more smiling let alone laughing before some proper work can be done.
Sob,sob sob.....I FEEL SORRY FOR MYSELF!

Lazy Sunday...

January 23/11.....5:22 p.m.

...is forever better than GLOOMY SUNDAY.  - Herr Husband is home from hospital and is getting adjusted to his nurse (Landfrau) without uniform. Up to now the patient behaves!
Daughter No. 2 dropped in for a short visit and we had latte macchiato and tea for the patient, his favoured, Earl Grey. And Landfrau must admit that she had a sip of champagne, believe me, she deserves it.

I could have gone Places

January 13/11.......4:50 p.m.

The amount of driven kms today could have taken me away to some better places, that's for sure. Started out this morning before 9 a.m. to drive to the doctors place to pick up the papers which one needs to be admitted to hospital. Yeah, it has been time for "beloved" Krefeld again, actually Herr Husband had an appointment tomorrow for a  kidney check-up as day patient, but during the last weeks his lack of breath had been immensely increasing, so we decided to check in already today, to have his lungs and heart taken care off in advance. I loathe the clinic compound, no parking facilities and today pouring rain to boot. So I dropped off the patient at the main entrance including his bag, which he could drag on wheels and the second piece, his heavy breathing machine, I hauled from the far off parking space - and a tow away one at that - which considering my still nasty leg in it's goal keeper wrap had been no piece of cake. I found the patient pantiently waiting in a hallway, aside from having no beds available, the were no sheets etc, the delivery truck got stuck in traffic. Well, we were assured that there would be a bed for him and with that knowledge I rushed off, already about an hour late for my own doctor's appointment at the other side of the river Rhine - needed desperately some shots for my lumbago, which I had supplied myself with last weekend thinking I could clean up our messy gardens and driveway. Not so happy for additional pain in my already damaged leg!
 The whole damn drive around action took me about 5 hours and now I am home, trying to simmer down.  I hope they put Herr Husband insofar into shape again, that he can have some joy out of life. The last few weeks have not been so bright. 
This is where the fun starts with 2011!

While searching for old"Krefeld" posts I got stuck memorizing a lot about Herr Hund, which makes nicer reading matter anyway.

I love Lazy Mornings

January 9/11 ....9:20 a.m.

Above all I love sunday mornings, waking  up, peeking at the weather, listening to the radio for a while , slowly separating myself from my beloved bed  and then it starts to be unpleasant, because my scale is eying me and I know that as soon as I have stepped onto it, I am not so cheerful any more. Did garden work like a maniac yesterday, the grounds really looked poor after the snow had melted and today muscles ache where I did not know I had them. But I can not trick my scale so I will punish it by having a delicious breakfast and that first cup of nespresso is just bliss! - so is blogging about nothing.

No New Years's Resolutions

January 2/11...1:43 p.m.

......None whatsoever. After having limped into 2011 Landfrau can only hope for the better.  Right now I  start to ask myself if  my leg will ever get back to  into shape and painless again and will I ever be able to wear normal shoes  except rubber boots. Otherwise the beginning of a new year only makes me contemplate about things I will never have and do again. There is quite a list. Anyways - useless to cry over spilled milk.
Today for once there is a little bit of sunshine and some blue sky - nice day for a walk - or bike ride, which I hope is one of the things I will be able to do again in the near future. My muscles are turning into fat, slowly but surely.  Aside from hating myself I hate doctors, hospitals, graveyards and people who do not treat their dogs nicely.
So this has been my New Years's speech - I think it beats Angela Merkel's.

Happy New Year!

December 31/10

Should Old Acquaintance be forgot,   

and never thought upon;

The flames of Love extinguished,

and fully past and gone:

Is thy sweet Heart now grown so cold,

that loving Breast of thine;

That thou canst never once reflect

on Old long syne.



CHORUS:

On Old long syne my Jo,

in Old long syne,

That thou canst never once reflect,

on Old long syne.

My Heart is ravisht with delight,

when thee I think upon;

All Grief and Sorrow takes the flight,

and speedily is gone;

The bright resemblance of thy Face,

so fills this, Heart of mine;

That Force nor Fate can me displease,

for Old long syne.



CHORUS

Since thoughts of thee doth banish grief,

when from thee I am gone;

will not thy presence yield relief,

to this sad Heart of mine:

Why doth thy presence me defeat,

with excellence divine?

Especially when I reflect

on Old long syne

TO ALL MY FRIENDS!

December 24/10

TODAY IS THE DAY TO WISH YOU ALL

..and Herr Hund, who just adored X-mas and his plate under the tree is sending you  a little piece of memory!

               

Baking X-mas Cookies

December 14/10......7:05 p.m.

To begin with, I hate baking X-mas cookies and above all those work intensive ones, I think I can not stop talking about in a post around X-mas time. Fortunately I am done with for this year and I vividly remember one time, when like in those cute tv series, mom bakes cookies together with the kids, oh, how darling! Daugther no.2, about 10 at that time, invited a friend and after they started to mess around terribly they decided that they rather would like to watch tv and guest kid out of no reason bit my ass and out of reflex (that really hurt, you know) I slapped her face. Fortunately her mother had been in agreement with me. Well, that had been the end of the baking session.
 And another year we had a refugee (the time there had been the war trouble in the Balkan countries) business friend from Montenegro of Herr Husband as a guest around  X-mas time and since that guy was bored sitting around our place, Herr Husband being off to work, he trailed me about everywhere I went - except the bathroom - and he got me so confused talking me up while I had been mixing the dough, that only after the cookies sat in the oven, I noticed that I had forgotten to put in the ground almonds.
There are other stories if I dig around in my memory. Never mind, this year miracolously my Vanille Kipferl turned into flat cookies in the oven, I watched them facinated though the window. That never happened before and, thief's honour, I stuck to the recipe like a siamese twin.

Simply Enjoy!

And, by the Way...

December 8/10.....6:10 p.m.

The above header scene  you should look at with regret, it is a thing of the past. Where this peaceful country view had been, now sits the big,fat ugly new levee and we hope that it keeps its promise of keeping our feet dry.

Come on Leg!

December 7/10......7:05 p.m.

I am getting impatient! Every morning I inspect my effn leg and I think, yipee...improvement but as soon as I start walking around there it goes again, remembering that it should rather stick to the elephant look. The dilema is, that for the knee I should do a lot of walking around, to build up the muscles, but for the ankle it is rest and icepads. I have not yet found the proper way to combine both.
 At least our water leak in the kitchen,which according to our plumber had been a broken pipe, and he only could look after earliest next year, and till then, don't use the water in the kitchen, turned out to be simply a loose sealing gaiter, found out by the second plumber we called. - Climbing on ladders and/or chairs is still out, so no trimming of the X-mas tree. We have to look at the one at daughter's place. Have not baked a single cookie yet and since I can not drive a car, have not gotten one misely X-mas present. There are still two more weeks left, so no panic,or?
I am trying to think positive, the emphasis is on trying.

Not a Must before X-mas......

November 24/10......12:13 p.m.

....nor at any other time. Landfrau is talking about hitting a lamppost with the pedal of her bike and turning a summersault - achievement: sprained ligaments - right knee. Have been supplied with two crutches  by the emergency ward located in the hospital at our nextdoor little town.
Now, thinking herself a toughie Landfrau visited a small X-mas- market nearby next day(sunday) with daughter. Everything went fine, till daugther opened car and smart Landfrau put in crutches first and then tried to get into car with healthy leg first and whoom...there I was again - flat on my back next to the car and this time it had been the ankle which sat at an obviously not right angle and startet to swell up in a jiffy. So I begged daughter to take off my boot, in case it might be stuck later on , did not want my beloved Durangos to be cut open! And then we tested the emercency ward at the Helios Clinics in Krefeld , well known from Herr Husband's visits, since they have more facilities, like CT etc.  So there we sat for hours among other unfortunates and finaly X-ray showed, that nothing had been broken - fortunately. 
So this had been a hell of a weekend and now I am stuck with two crutches and a gadget called Orthese. My household and everything else is going down the drain and above all things I can not drive a car.  So it will get a bit thight for X-mas preparations and shopping, but the planned goose cooking on weekend I will not forgo - darn! Will try to manage whirling around with my rolling kitchen chair.
There  is a first time to everything!

A Cat's Point of View ?

November 15/10....6:59 p.m.

Landfrau stayed overnite at daugther' s  place to keep company of grandson, who dislikes staying all by himself , since both parents had been absent . It is also the home of mad Max, buddy from Herr Hund who now watches over us from dog's heaven and a cat named Maunz. Maunz and Herr Hund always had been fascinated by each other und this time had been the first time I had been visiting without Herr Hund. Maunz is a roamer and when  I came back from the morning walk with Max, the cat appeared coming home from his nightly adventures. So he came into the house with us, seated himself in the hallway and kept staring at me as if he tried to figure out if Herr Hund also was around, since he must have placed him belonging to me. And when I bent down to stroke his head, he raised himself on his hind legs, as if to say that without my dog I could be his friend. Up to this day he had been ignoring me. - Smart little fellow! 

Herr Hund, mad Max and Maunz

Another Kind of St. Martin's Day

November 11/10....11:21 a.m.

This really had been a scream! Now, friends, to learn something about the proper procedure, you have to trouble yourselves to look into my  p o s t  of a previous year. otherwise the following makes little sense.
The other day we had a phonecall from a cousin, whom we had not been seeing for quite some time. They live on the other side of the Rhein (rhine) so we do not run across each other so often. We decided to have a panacake feast in a restraurant in an old part of Düsseldorf, our (left) rhineside and since parking space is very rare in that district, we took my small car, so I could drop off Herr Husband,who is not able to walk distances any more. We were quite surprised that at 6 p.m. the streets were parked tight already, lots of traffic too, cars circling to find parking space, anyway, dropped Herr Husband off at the restaurant, not after a little quibble from Herr Husband's side, that it was the wrong place (it was not) and circling around to find a lot. After surrounding the block about 3 times I was lucky, could squeeze my car into a little spot and when I got out it dawned on me seeing out of the dark three guys leading a white horse without saddle and St. Martin - there had been the parade just finished and now the kids were swarming out to get their treats, and there they were dozens and dozens, all equipped with their little lanterns and singing. Pretty nice to see. I had quite a ways to walk to the restaurant, and from afar I spotted Herr H., cousin and wife, standing in front of the place. Of course, on account of the festivity in the quarter all restaurants had been  booked out for private parties and us four were in a jam. So, while walking to cousin's car, the nearest one, we passed a little place a bit off the side and I had the brilliant idea to walk in and ask if they would happen to have a table for us. It is an italien place and had opened up new fairly recently. And imagine, we were lucky and had excellent food and good wine. But we felt so sorry for the poor owner , sporadically the door opened and crowds of kids with their lanterns walked in and started singing and obviously no one had told the man that there was this custom of handing out treats. He had been so embarrassed, first he gave them money, but then he must have run out of change so he obviously wanted to sink into the ground. We then informed him about this kind of festivity and at least now he knows for the next year. He had been so grateful he filled us up with grappa and limocello after the meal for free. So I told HerrH. that I could not drive any more on accout of my alcohol level.  He drove home  (actually he hates driving my car, always claiming it is for midgets) . Being safely in the house, we reconstructed, that he had been drinking just as much as Landfrau, and he normally never drinks, except for a beer once a while. 
Ouch...and it had been my car - but his driver's licence!

Living out Grimm's Fairytales

October 30/10.....5:07 p.m.

About 4 kms from our home we have that dependance of a farm, dealing in produce like apples, pumpkins, potatoes, marmelades - well, all that kind of goodies.  They also have a special brand of apples(Berlepsch) we both, Herr Husband and myself,  like very much. So I decided to take the bike (no more dog to walk, no more horse to ride) excercise, excercise! and, on the way to the place I got lost in the little forrest I had to cross. Felt like "Hänsel und Gretel" out of Grimm's Fairytales  but did not meet the witch, fortunately.  Anyway, when I arrived at the place, the very friendly sales girl told me, that they had closed up since an hour ago and that they were about to leave. When she saw my sad face she asked if I happened to have change, then she could provide me with the wanted apples, otherwise no deal, she had already balanced the cash. Shit, I only had bills.  Then smart Landfrau remembered,that there was a gasoline station nearby and asked the girl if she could hold it for a few minutes for me to get change. So I whirled to the station , changed money and rushed back and got my apples - lucky me!  On the way home I took another turn, not through the forrest, passing the gas station and decided to give them an apple as "thank you". So I told them that I am not the bad stepmother from "Schneewittchen und die 7 Zwerge" and the apple is not poisened but a "´thanks" for changing my money. They had a good laugh, those guys!
But cycling home I did not find a frog to kiss (Der Froschkönig), who then would have turned into a prince - what a shame.

Kickin' the Habit

October 26/10.....5:45 p.m.

Landfrau should stop...

looking for dog's bowl in the morning

grabbing the leash when going out

throwing food  treats on the floor while preparing meals

looking at the clock around five p.m. and getting dressed because it's walkie time

turning around while on the bike why Herr Hund is slowpokin' around

looking for dog treat before bedtime......etc, etc

and since we had houseguest "mad Max" (daughter's dog) over the weekend, it did not help getting back to the life of an old couple with two goldfish.

This is Good Bye

October 17/10

They called me Herr Hund very often, but actually my name is Shaylor and often my folks had to spell it out for a bit ignorant people. Friends, now I am in dog's heaven and the vet lady and my family were just terrific to help me get there, ate some honey cookies till to the end and went to sleep with my head in my "Frauchen's"  lap and when I woke up, imagine, there had been old Lander the horse and he is now very eager to show me around in my new grounds. Still miss my folks but there is so much here to see and discover, I am very busy sniffing around.! Don't think I am ungrateful, I still cherrish my memories from the time when I picked my family (up to today they think they choose me ) but I had been very cunning, when they inspected us, me and my siblings, I stayed in the background and only after my flock lost interest, I showed up and presented myself and of course my family regognized right away, what a smart dog I am. So I left with them in that big car and did I ever love to travel in cars till to the end, only then I could not manage to climb in any more, so for the last trip they had been taking I could not go along anymore and had to stay with mad Max, my friend and rival and I can tell you, being not so well off anymore, he could be a pain in the neck. Imagine, he ate my medication, the rascal!
Nevertheless, he is a good dog too and I wish him still a long and happy life and should he show up one day around here I for sure will show him around.

A dog's life in a way is short, but believe me, I enjoyed every minute of it, the seaside, the snow in the mountains and my beautiful home. But most of all I enjoyed my family and I am happy that I choose them.

Another Replacement

October 14/10 ....4:01 p.m.

It should have been the isle of Jersey in September, but the die had been cast and our trip had to be cancelled. So we decided on some quite different kind of journey.  Since we had not seen our young family for a while (they live in Hessen)  Landfrau had the bright idea to look for a comfy place in Hessen where we could meet and decided on Göbel's Schlosshotel   - good choice!

It is amazing, how ignorant we are about this region of Germany which is so full of history, not only the recent one of border region to the former DDR but history dating back much,much further. We learned that the region had been an important tradesroute connecting Leipzig/Sa and Frankfurt/Main among other things and that in Bad Hersfeld every year there is the oldest German country fair , celebrated since 852  - it has religious origin. The event took place while we had been there and the grounds are set up in the middle of town and we saw so many stoned people that they would have put the Munich Oktoberfest numbers of  boozed up crowds to shame.

Now back to our castle which is breathing history and offering the comforts of today.

We had a great time and the only regret has been that our little family could only join us for one night.  The weather played along too, it deserved its name of golden October.

Now we are back home with our memories!

A Replacement

October 6/10.....4:30 p.m.

The VIDEO  replacement for the one which did not work anymore!

And what's next?

September 25/10......4:15 p.m.

It used to be my horse and my dog, then it has been my dog and my bike now what is left  is  my bike, old Herr Hund told me he only likes slowpoke walks nowadays. Next step will be my rollator - life is shit, or?

 Well lets cherish the little things, a leaf , found

yesterday which is pure indian summer, blue sky reflecting in

puddles and a delicious prune cake I baked today.

Landfrau is trying to see the brighter side of life - most of the time

anyway.

The Monkey

September 22/10......7:56 p.m.

Gee, do we ever have a great September time right now,  temperatures,which one could wish for summer and also mild nights. Great for having a leisurely glass of wine outside , looking into our little garden and missing the "wilderness". Yes, friends, every other year we have to have our gardener trimm and cut our trees and hedges and one of his helpers, they call him the monkey, is very good at cutting everything into shape again. Nevertheless Landfrau has tears in her eyes every time. Like I said, I miss the wilderness. I know by now that everything will grow back, but for me right now it looks very neat and...naked. But nothing against the monkey, he has a feeling for cutting and trimming into shape and it will look very nice next summer. But this guy gives me the willies when he is up in the trees, in no way secured. Fortunately this year again we did not have to scrape him from the ground.
So now we have two more seasons to go - thank heavens!

Another Tale from the Past

September 18/10.......9:05 a.m.

Sometimes long forgotten incidents from the past pop up in my mind, funny or not so funny. Anyway, here is a funny one I want to share.
The time of our lifes, when we lived in Vancouver B.C. my job had been to distribute goods arriving per vessel from Far East for our customers all over Canada. One of them, the real name does not matter, called himself in his correspondence"Abraham, the chicken thief"  and addressed his enveloppes to "Freddie Mills and his bowlegged cuties" . Herr Husband favoured Freddie so much that he decided to take the name as his second first name - and it sticks to him still nowadays.
One time, I can not remmember why, the chicken  thief  got steaming mad at me (the man seemed to run quite a temper) and he sent me a message, saying: Mrs. S. , you are unadultary stupid. - I could have wrung his neck,but...he had been the customer, so I ground my teeth and kept my mouth shut.
I never met the guy face to face, still up to today I wish I had.

Herr Husband and McCafé

August 25/10.....8:56 p.m.

Monday our daughter - home from their family sailing trip at the dutch seaside, came for a short visit to show us her holiday pictures. Since Landfrau had been very busy housecleaning, she asked Herr Husband to drive and pick up some pastries . We like the take-outs from McCafé they are good, fresh and fast to get. Up to now, anyway. Daughter arrived and was eager to start her slide show, but no daddy had arrived yet with the goodies. It took him quite a while, but when he arrived, fortunately with cake, he told us a story, which had us rolling over with laughter.

The girl at the counter asked him for his order and it developped the following conversation:

Husband: 3 pieces of cheesecake and 3 slices of apple pie

girl: you want to eat them here?

Husband (somewhat annoyed) : do I look as if I would devour 6 pieces of cake?

girl: (silent for a moment) then: you want a paper bag?

Husband: what the heck do you think the pieces of cake would look like, if I carried them in a paper bag? Please put them into a box.

Girl left and after quite a while returned with a stack of boxes, unfolded, took one out and started to fold. When she had set up the bottom, she went, got a pair of green rubber gloves and put in the pieces of cake, the started to fold up the sides of the box and promply tore one side.

Husband: how do you suppose I should carry a broken box?

girl: balance from the bottom

Husband: (still keeping his temper) get some tape and fix it

Off she went and it took her quite a while, before she returned with some tape to fix the damage.

Fortunatey Herr Husband had the brilliant idea with the tape, because otherwise he would  still be there watching the girl folding and tearing boxes.

But the cake had been good!

Letter to our Guestdog

August 10/10....6:42 p.m.

Dear mad Max,

I know that it is not your fault! It is not your fault that , being a Labrador-Hovawart-Collie mix, the Labrador has taken the upper hand, in looks and in behavour. You are sweet and affectionate and you can not help it that you love the water. And I do NOT love a dirty smelly dog in the car and neither does Herr Hund, who growls and dislikes it more and more when you join him in the back of the car wet like a cat.  So we are now into the business of outsmarting each other, up to now you have won every time, I must shamefacedly admit.  First time it has been the river, lucky you,  second time I decided to take a walk on a path next to a fenced off meadow. You found a hole and the river.  Third time a big,  muddy puddle had been welcome and Herr Hund and Landfrau watched in amazement, how you lowered yourself into the mixture, like a camel lowering itself in the desert. But today I thought I had outwitted you, drove with the car to a path far away from the river, dry as death valley but you found a tiny muddy hole nevertheless and managed to put all 4 feet into it. Max , you are a genius and we have 7 more days to go and I am sure you will me show so much more muddy holes and water where I would have never have guessed that it excists. But aside from that I love you....Your  foster mother

Spoiled no more

August 5/ 10.....9:35 a.m.

Am I insane, or what? Did I mention in my previous post that an eternal holiday would be boring? hey, I wanna be spoiled and I wanna be lazy! And that is a fact!