To Everyone everywhere!

December 31/07 3:03 p.m.

Last day of this ol' 2007 - Let's look ahead into a

Happy New Year! (LINK...touch it!)

My Tom-Tom speaks Turkish!

December 26/07 6:59 p.m.

Festivities over, lots of food still messing up the fridge, I can not help it, always stock up on too much to eat. We will dig into it in the days to come. -
Got a navigation device for my car for X-mas, played around with it very late December 24th, after coming home from the very nice X-mas party at daughter 's place, and bingo, set the thing to the turkish display. Told man of my life, now I would have to learn the turkish language, he kept himself from blowing his top on account of X-mas. He always gets aggravated about things like that very fast, must be a blood pressure matter. Found the reset button after a while, had been a bit slow on account of the X-mas drinks! -
Now we are getting ready for the young family including baby showing up for New Years's - baby's first journey!

X-mas Greetings!

December 23/07 10:48 p.m.

Landfrau and Herr Hund are wishing everyone a

Wonderful Christmastime

with my favoured X-mas-song!

Great Kid!

December 23/07 9:08 a.m.

Now, before we all become too christmassy, here is something,which brings you back to "normal" life, forget about dancing elfs!

http://www.ffk-wilkinson.com/

That Feeling of Christmas

December 20/07 7:43 p.m.

Beautiful, is'nt it? A breathtaking sight in the morning, everything looks like powdered with sugar, the air is so nice and crisp and at nite the scene is lit by the almost full moon . Would not change places with people going south these days.

Have started my food shopping today, the markets are still not crowded only my egg lady, who has her own hens, did not have a single egg left. Told me, to come back tomorrow morning. This way I can be sure that they are mega fresh. -

And, some other thing, friends who are missing my previous post with the dancing elfs, sorry, had the hunch that the link was somehow disturbing my blog. So I took it out.

Who ever is interested, can have the link per E-mail. o.k.?

Are there no Hyacinths in Houston?

December 19 /07 2:30 p.m.

So, dear friend, now you can see what they look like in "full blossom"! -

That's just on the side.

Yesterday we did our annual shopping for X-mas sweets at the most famous confiserie

downtown.It's real nice, if you do not have lots of errands to do and can watch the crowds milling about in a haste.Has been my first trip to X-masly decorated downtown this season! Looked at the giant X-mas tree in a mall, beautifully done up,which gives a light and sound show every hour. A lady standing behind me said to her companion that she had been really touched. When I cast a sneak look at her, she had tears in her eyes. Thats what I call X-mas spirit! We then always have a nice steak lunch at the Block House and after lunch I parked man of my life for an espresso at "the" Italian (as we always call him) in the mall and went scarf hunting in a department store nearby,where I had to cash in a € 10 voucher (never turn a free gift down!).Found just the right thing, sitting on a deco dummy,long and black ,the self knitted look, had it taken off, turned out, it had been the last one in the whole store. Now that I call real good luck and it is like a Christmas present I gave to myself, even if that present still cost me a pretty penny. But never mind, I deserve it! Gee Whizz!

Landfrau laughs again in the morning!

http://video.google.de/videoplay?docid=-1040822561042531433&total=101&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=8

December 20/07 8:45 a.m.

So fitting for this time of the year! - So, friends, look closely before working and remember...only 5 days till X-mas!

The Snow Queen

December 16/07 3:14 p.m.

The snow queen is a very charming fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen, right for this time of the year and it came into my mind last nite at our daughter's outside- party. Well, they had put up baldachins and had fires going, "Glühwein" had been served and (brrr) cold beer and grilled deer sausages, very delicious. Nevertheless...our weekend guest, Montana boy, who lives in Texas now had been kind of shivering, a good training for his trip to Norway today. -
Had been warmer for our lunch trip to Schloss Dyck , a water castle (manor house) surrounded by moats, an old piece, founded in the year 1094 and has been in the possession of the family of Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck since 1455. Had been partly destroyed over the centuries and the last damage had been a 1945 war bombing. Now a foundation is looking after the property and it has been beautifully restored and houses since this year a very nice gourmet restaurant named Blaikie.

Today is a great winter day and Landfrau and Herr Hund enjoyed a "nippy" bike tour through the fields around the village. Now its relaxing inside with nice X-mas songs and cake, sounds tempting? You bet!

Mysterious Postcard

December 12/07 70:02 p.m.

Landfrau really had fun today. Had to get rid of papers and bottles at the local containers. Right next to the paper container there is a mailbox. And there had been that postcard on the ground, with an - undevaluated!, US-stamp. Adressed to someone in the city. Probably fell out of the paper- garbage of someone. Anyway, I picked up the card, read it, of course (came from Florida) and put it into the mailbox. Now I really would like to eavesdrop at some peoples place when they get their discarded card and have to pay fine on account of improper stamp. Hi,hi, some surprise! -
My punishment followed up right away, my favoured glasses fell apart when tried to clean them. Rushed to the optician shortly before closing time and got them repaired and cleaned for free right away. This again I call "good luck"!

Gee, what a Birthday!

December 9/07 00:32 a.m.

No, not mine, my dear friends, would not appreciate it twice in a year, even if it had been such an adequate event. It is seldom, that Landfrau (the soziophobic nut) enjoys an outing. But, chapeau...this birthday celebration realy had been great, might have had something to do also with the table I had been seated at and the nice ,attrative gal whom I already had fun with at a previous encounter. Anyway ...was great it did not rain on me in the end, waiting for man of my life getting the (new) car. -
Had been allowed to drive it today, drives smooth, but nothing beats my "speedy gonzales" mini!

P.S. and today has been yesterday

Can you top that?

December 6/07 pretty late

You think X-mas might be exciting? Well, take my "Nikolaus" day. First of all man of the house wanted to throw my present into the garbage, I had put this big carton onto his chair at the table, unwrapped on accont of the size, only with a bow, must have looked unappealing! - Second, had a sobbing granddaughter at the phone, who got something completely wrong I said, third, after talking tonite with daughter 2.0(always in a rush) and telling her that I just laughed my head off about the DVD "Little Miss Sunshine" , that came as a surprise present from granddaughter (very sweet!!!), told me that now she could keep her copy and that better not get a DVD player for myself before X-mas because she already owns one and does not need two. - Also had a little row with my brother about family matters and now I am winding up my "Nikolaus" day with a big glass of red wine. Cheers!!!
P.S. wish lists are not so great if everyone picks the same gift.

NIKOLAUS TAG!

sida1 LINK!!



December 6/07 8:29 a.m.



So, have you all been good? Has St. Niclas put some goodies into your boot? He did in mine, thanks, Nikolaus!

And for all of you, who have not been so lucky ,here a charming little story, just touch the above link (courtesy http://www.charmingquark.de/) and let yourself be carried into a nice pre-Christmas mood!

...and last year Nikolaus had been very bad!!

Solitary walk this Morning

December 4/07 3:42 p.m.

No, not quite, Herr Hund and myself had been roaming the riverside of the rising Rhein (Rhine) and, very cute, met a solitary pair of wild geese, they must have decided against migration, wise guys!

This is this year!

December 3/07 8:53 a.m.

Deco - galore!

Nice to be inside

December 2/07 2:18 p.m.

Not only no snow,but gusty wind and rain, the "Flying Robert" syndrom! - Beeing out in weather like that, the world consists only of dog owners. Now the Landfrau-Herr Hund team is home, Herr Hund smells, Landfrau smells good.

Advent Sunday

YouTube - The Pogues and Kirsty MacColl - Fairytale of New York

December 2/07 8:43 a.m.

The countdown starts, Christmas is around the corner. And above is my favoured Christmas song , too bad Kirsty MacColl had to die so young, what a voice. (Bible belt residents should refrain from opening the link and should rather look at the nice picture of a nicely decorated table from a previous year, no snow here today).

Tempted?

December 1/07 8:45 a.m.
Promises must be kept, now here is the recipe:
(and, I do not seem to be a gifted photographer of foodstuff,this is the best I could do)-

500 gramms flower (fine)
160 gr. finely ground almonds
250 gr. honey
125 gr. sugar
125 gr.butter
each 5 gramms powdered cloves,cinnamon,ingwer,cardamon
ground lemon peel (1/2 lemon)

5 gramms Kaliumcarbonat
5gramms Ammoniumhydrogencarbonat
(to be dissolved eather in rosewater or rum(for the alcoholics ;0) !)
very strong smell,but dont worry, wont taste it later on.Has to be put through a haresief and added to the doughmixture - important!!)

mix flower,almonds and spices and the smelly stuff
bring to a boil (important) honey and sugar ,let cool off
add
mix dough till it can be rolled out (in case too crumbly,add a bit more honey)
form cookies (with former)
bake 10 to 12 minutes in preheated oven medium heat

still hot, put on icing ,mixed with lemon juice and water to taste

....and do not taste right away,let sit for a day or two

Like me, they get better by age.

And now..good luck! (if you still want to try it)
Oh yes, and store in a cookie-jar at a cool place.

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..

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!!!!!!

Memorial Day

November 18/07

A beautiful place of silence; Kloster Arnsburg.

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"!

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!)

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!

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!)

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 .

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!

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" .

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!

Morning Glory!

October 31/07 12:52 p.m.

Marvellous atmosphere this morning on the levy! Have been out with the bike and Herr Hund, the sun trying to fight through the mist, the meadows glowing frosted white and the barges on the river gliding in the haze. And then about a hundred or more wild geese rose from an adjoining harvested cornfield, where they had been feeding on the leftovers and flew across us towards the river so low, you had the feeling you could touch them. What a sight!
Moments like this make me happy not to be a city dweller.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

October 31/07 10:40 a.m.

Beware of witches! - And if you like them a little more daring..look here!

BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF

BuiLD YouR WiLD SeLF Link

October 29/07 8:06 a.m.
Good morning - Gee, it's nice to be nuts in the morning! - And now- lots to do!!!

Those beautiful Colours of Autumn

October 28/07 3:35 p.m.

Autumn would be my favoured season if...yes, if there would not be winter lurking in the background. We had been driving to Hungen (near Giessen/Hessen) to have a look and cuddle our new family member and we ejoyed that drive on the Interstate,bordered by woods in changing colours. And since Herr Hund had been along, the two of us took an early morning walk in the forrest, did not meet a soul.

Had a great meal with the young family last nite at the "Klostermühle" Restaurant, the little ladie's first time out among a crowd and she behaved very well. Ate by herself with a spoon! eh, little joke!! But she really is such a big kid already, has to grow about one meter, more or less, than she will be Landfrau's size. And that's no joke!

Yesterday

October 25/07 10:23 a.m.

Having a kind of computer klitsch, so this is a try! -

Had been downtown yesterday, mainly to buy little clothing for our XXL - baby, had to get the 2-4 months size already. Well, we shall inspect her this weekend, she and her mom will be home from the hospital then, if all goes well. We will stay at the hotel Alte Klostermühle in Lich (where the good beer comes from, Lich i.e.) do not want to burden the little family! - It's a 2 1/2 hours drive from our place here.
While downtown took the opportunity to buy some festive clothes,needed in December, the outfit I wanted to wear, does not meet the approval of man of the house. Anyway, bought this black stuff now and think look like a priest,nun or what have you. I simply hate black! Well, comes in handy for funerals - and this is BLACK HUMOR!

Winter is coming

Der Winter kommt LINK!

October 25/07 8:40 a.m.

Friends, there is nothing like a good laugh in the morning, that guy made my day!!!

For Cat Lovers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmwqpHsMExg

This is just too cute to deprive you of it - enjoy!

It's a Girl!

October 22/07 8:52 a.m.

Since 6:30 a.m. this morning we are proud greatgrand parents.! Baby is beautiful (says grandma) and weighs...4620 gramms and is 60 cm long! - Little mother is fine!
More will be in this blog in the future, you bet.

A little Progress

October 2107 4:45 p.m.

So finally our little "mother to be" has moved to the hospital, had been in the delivery room, but has been transferred back to her room, our great-grandchild obviously does not want to be labeled a "Sunday-child"! - The family wraps itself in patience! - As long as Mummy to be and baby are well it's fine.

Have a nice Weekend!

October 20/07 9:43 p.m.

...and enjoy this music, a change to the country scene! -
Tried to install a game for grandson on the computer, no luck and no luck with the arrival of the new family member either - yet!

In the Waitingroom

October 19/07 7:37 p.m.

That's where the family is hanging around, waiting for a new member to be added. - Should have arrived actually October 16, but seems to be too fond of the present accomodation. So,we have to be patient!
Have been at daughter No. 2's house today,Landfrau took a cake still warm out of the oven, daugther , Landfrau and the "dog-pack" went for a nice walk around the area, which is mostly farms, family homes and fields and by the time we came home, cake had cooled out. Tasted yummy!
For the weekend grandson will be our houseguest, so there will be action, keeps us young (eh, did I say young? quite pretentious!).
And our farmer, where I order our "every year again" St. Martin' goose, has put the sign out today, so pretty soon I will be into greasy cooking, ugh!

But till then we hope to have welcomed our new family- member! And no, daughters are not the Mum to be!

Food for Brain and Tummy

October 16/07 7:45 p.m.

See above Painting? As of tomorrow morning it will be mine, because Landfrau will break into the Museum Kunstpalast during this nite and just take it away. There are enough paintings left in the exhibition "Bonjour,Russland" for others to look at. Above one I really fell in love with! -

Had been such a great day again yesterday,we are having the summer right now, we have not had, but it will be finished as of tomorrow, I am afraid. So the nice day had been the reason to zoom downtown to do something for our education and tummy had to be fed too, so we had lunch at the riverbanks at the CANOO again, it is such a nice ambience,having good food and taking in the City skyline.

And today should be a great day for the family,but more about that in due time!!

Check out my Slide Show!

neat, isn't it?

There is lots to see and listen to!

MySpace.com - Laurie Wood - Encampment, Wyoming - Amerikanisch / Akustisch - www.myspace.com/woodwesternmusic

Friends, here is your weekend - fun! Enjoy!

I've been so right!

October 13/07 7:34 p.m.

A very delightful Golden October it has been in Luxembourg. And a relaxing little holiday with lots of superb food on top. Landfrau did a certain amount of excercising, like swimming, walking with "Herr Hund" and steambath and sauna. Also treated myself to a very nice massage. And we had some brainfood too, went to Vianden to visit the medieval castle, it has been worth it. Had to park the dog at the entrance, no dogs allowed on the premises, I do not think the medieval knights had been so fancy about that.

The visit had been worth it, you have a tremendous view from up there and the insides has been well restored or is on the verge of beeing done. Aside from that, I must say that Luxembourg is a countryside with lots of forrest, hills, meadows and cows,cows,cows. Anyway, the region we had been at. We did not visit Lux.town this time.

Sure will miss those walks uphill towards the forrest in the morning,always made me think of "Avalon", seeing the outline of the Bourscheid castle rise out of the mist, covering the valley.

One thing for sure, we will be back!

I'll Be Back!

Back of today - Oct.13/07 - stay put!

Circling Bags

October 4/07 7:15 p.m.


Landfrau will be on vacation - don't you dare to say:again! I deserve it, have been working very hard. And the weather is supposed to be great, INDIAN SUMMER in Luxembourg.

No Hole in the Head - October 3rd.

October 3/07 10:00 a.m.

...and,dear friends out there, do not think I am neglecting this very important date for our United German Country! And for the rest of the civilized world.

Königsallee

Königsallee

October 3/07 9:30 a.m.

It should be mentioned, it is nice, to have an attractive city with such a "famous" road close by. Helps to walk around there once a while and to shop, Landfrau treated herself to "TOD'S" last week and walks now on cloud seven. Have to feel fancy once a while, usually I'm a coutry bumkin or is it pumpkin ? (Would fit me better :) :) ! )

Messengers of Winter

September 28/07 6:30 p.m.

Bushed from garden work. Actually I prefer to prepare garden in spring to closing it down in fall. Have been seeing the "migrants" again while walking the riverside with "Herr Hund". - And they fly across our roof every morning, making a lot of noise. Still - always find those big flying birds facinating.
The little video will give you an impression,enjoy!

REGARDS FROM MY REGION

September 26/07 2:30 p.m.

Fun? those Videos.....??

Wellness at Wellneuss

September 25/07 6:05 p.m.

Who does not dare, does not win - an old German proverb. Weatherforcast for today had been rather measely, but daughter no.2. and Landfrau took a chance to try out the wellness in- and outdoor area in the vicinity. We still had tickets ,which had been a birthday present for Landfrau and companion, who kept finding excuses not to go. So daughter and myself took a chance, and boy, had it been worth it! We arrived pretty early and there were very few people around. Sun had been shining from a blue sky and we just could not make up our minds which of the many facilities to use. Decided to treat ourselves to a coffee-ceremony, where you do not drink the coffee, but get a little dish with a mixture of ground coffee and what have you,to smear yourself with. Having done that, we had a real laugh, reminded us of the joke of the poor black guy,who lost his finger in a working accident. Now his boss rushed him to hospital but the only finger to be put on had been white. It all healed well and after a while the black guy was riding in a bus, holding on to a strap with his hand and there was this little old lady asking him : Well, chimney sweeper, having a lunch break? -

After the stuff had been rinsed off, we both were left with a skin like silk, smelling of..three guesses -coffee!
And then we had a very delicious lunch in a restaurant with an open fire place, very nice. You can walk about every place in your bathrobe and all the wellness facilities you run around naked. Very convinient, you do not have to wiggle in and out of a wet bathing suit all the time.
And when we left, it started to rain - sometimes one has to be lucky.

Busy Weekend

September 23/07 8:50 p.m.

...and a nice one too. And we had the summer we have not been having up to now. Daughter No.1 came friday late afternoon from Frankfurt, we picked her up at the station and took her right away to a nice floating restaurant at the riverside, the CANOO, the place is fixed up as an outside lounge and you have a great view of the Düsseldorf skyline, the Television tower and the river, certainly. We decided to have some appetizers along with our drinks, which resulted in no one wanting my prepared food at home. Fridge is still well stocked. Well, never mind. -
Next day we enjoyed our sundeck, a friend dropped in who had not seen our daughter for about 20 years, he was quite surprised.
Then at nite we were joined by daughter No.2 who lives pretty close and mom and dad took the "kids" for dinner to the Molzmühle, an old mill hotel- restaurant (had been writing about in a former post - http://www.molzmuehle.de) . Was funny, just the 4 of us, like in old times. We had good food and laughed a lot and in the end daddy walked out with his napkin tucked into the belt of his trousers, this way proudly producing an apron. He has a habit of doing that, this time we noticed in time, before adding the napkin to our collection.We had a nightcap
at second daughter's house ,where our son-in-law had been babysitter.
Today at noontime we took Fankfurt daughter to the station and she is home now safe and sound. Had been a nice time with great weather!

Fran Lebowitz Quotes

Landfrau and very "first love"!

Fran Lebowitz Quotes:

"Romantic love is mental illness. But it's a pleasurable one. It's a drug. It distorts reality, and that's the point of it. It would be impossible to fall in love with someone that you really saw.

Fran Lebowitz "

September 20/07 5:24 p.m.

He is so right, this Fran Lebowitz.

In my early teens I fell madly in love with Winnetou ,would not have worked out if we had really met, besides that he did not excist. What has been left over, however, is this faible for "dark boys", they still make old Landfrau swoon. And might have something to do with my long lost" very first love".

Puttin on - no, not the Ritz - the Sacher

September 17/07 7:30 p.m.

Yes, my friends, that's what Landfrau has been doing, but I did not dance! When we were in Vienna during our last voyage, we sat in a cafe on the outside terrasse, feasting on...three guesses...Sachertorte of course. So we watched the crowd pass by and next to us at a table a lady had been writing postcards. Watching her Landfrau had a hot flash, had promised older daughter a card explicit from Vienna. Now, Sunday and sitting in a corner of Vienna where no open kiosks could be spotted and upnosed waiter was not very helpful, I decided to try out the Hotel Sacher around the corner, usually hotels have postcards at their reception desk. So I marched in passing the high hatted guard, pretending I was a guest. Must look eligible, it worked, but got a shock inside, very plush place with not such profanity like a postcard rack and no people around, just service personal. So I decided to grab a hotel prospect, very fancy ,and strolled out again by the high hat. Think this time he kind of eyed me a bit suspiciously. Found an open kiosk later on and returning to our river cruise, discovered that they had a wide selection of cards at their desk.

But I had been into the Ritz, NO ..Sacher!

Magic in the Park

The castle, painted 10 years ago

http://www.wdr.de/themen/kultur/1/magic_illumina_2004/_img/vertonte_fotogalerie/20041001/galerie_flash.html

September 14/07 6:04 p.m.

Now that you have had a look at the above link, (unfortunately only German version) you can imagine how enchanting the real presentation has been. What is a bit of a drawback is the immense crowd, always having the same idea to spend the same kind of evening as oneself. But we joined that same crowd later on, after our walk, to have a glass of wine and a snack at the terrasse overlooking the park and pretending it was not chilly whatsoever.

Incidently, at the castle we had the wedding reception of our younger daugther 10 years ago.

Some more Pics!

Hundertwasser Haus
Danube
Belvedere, Vienna
Markethall, Budapest
Bratislava (in rain)

The (not blue) Danube or "have you ever seen such rain, man"!

not allowed yet!
Passau
Sun still shining!
Happy in Vienna
Spectacular view!

September 9/07 2:48 p.m.

Honestly, folks, it had been raining so badly that we were kicked off the boat on our way back at Vienna and had to take a 3 1/2 hrs. bus- drive to Passau, our embarking and disembarking harbour in the end. Locks had been closed on account of high water level. And it all started out quite promising. We had fair weather, not cold and no rain the day of our arrival at Passau(Bavaria) and a nice leasurely boarding the next (Saturday) morning. We arrived in Vienna on Sunday and had a city sightseeing tour in the afternoon, the usual tourist attractions, of which Vienna offers plenty. Late afternoon I gave the nordic walking instructions a try, to see if I would join a work out. - Next morning we ventured out on our own by taxi, had a very nice and funny driver, who gave us some inside infos on top of the little tour while driving and then were just as lucky with our fiaker driver (horse drawn coach) . Of course, if the weather plays along, things are so much more pleasant. - Now, don't ask me to give you a tour too, I am not so gifted at reciting history, I let my snapshots talk for themselves! And then we went inside the St.Stephen’s Cathedral , spectacular! and up with a crummy little elevator which took you outside into a kind of caged in walk (gave me the creeps and a funny feeling in the pit of my stomach -ugh, damn high!), but the view over Vienna and sourrounding aereas had been marvellous! Also you could have a peek at the big bell, the Pummerin.

And at late afternoon I battled hip gold, tried nordic walking and decided it would in the long run be not my thing, I think walking without sticks suits me better (never know when I would need them anyway, in the years to come) .

And from then on the weather pixie got its mean streak and we had pouring rain in Budapest, Bratislava, ashore, on deck , on the river, till the not blue Danube decided to overflow and that put an end to our river cruise.

But we had fun inside, like during the long wellness nite,which only us two and another couple had booked, so we had the complete wellness area to ourselves, including the massage people, where man of my life managed to collapse with his relax bed and rip on top of that the socket of a lamp out of the wall. Too much good food, I think. But he survived his downfall, only to wipe a glass of the neighbouring table and a bottle of wine (which I fortunately managed to catch) with his - pardon me - ass the next nite.

The left- over mischiefs I will not mention. So, we have not been bored.

I frequented the trimm bike, which had been set in front of a window looking out on an aisle and felt like a monkey in a cage, people stopping to look at me through the glass.

Well, as I said, the rest had been rain.

Train ride back home had been very nice, the train quite empty and daughter No. 2 picked us up at the station, along with Herr Hund, who screamed like a pig beeing slaughtered,when he spied us. Now life is back to normal, only our bags are still missing, hope the service works as well as on the way to the cruise, then we should have them by Tuesday.

See you later,Alligator!

........ open as of today September 9/07!

Zwinger Dresden

August 27/07 7:05 p.m.

The Zwinger in Dresden is shown in this little video, I'm very proud of, taken in October last year, during our Dresden visit. Now, some spots, like smells, trigger memories with

Landfrau and Dresden is a place where I spent memorable time during my childhood. My mother had been the joungest of 8 children (spoiled by them all) and most of them, and most of all our favorite aunt, lived in Dresden. So in summertime we kids got often shipped off for a stay with the relatives. The spoiling was transferred to us, my brother and myself and I have great memories of family get-togethers. They all had been quite plain people, but full of fun and laughter and, some of my uncles beeing hardcore communists -old school - hated Hitler no end. Of course they always made sure that we kids were out of earshot, when they had their discussions, but we had our ears on the table, so to say. What it transferred, they had been talking about, dawned on me only much later. - Of course excursions to the old part of Dresden and, most of all the Zwinger, were a must. I went back the first time after the terrible bombings when I was a teenager and we were living in the golden west already, which for us had not been so golden whatsoever,especially in the beginning in 1946. I simply hated it here, would rather have stayed in Eastern Germany with all my friends, becoming a little pioneer!

Now the grown pioneer has to circle her luggage again, one scarf and a pair of flip flops have been the result of the day, rather meager. So....3 more days till River cruise,
weather still playing along, in a way!

Because it's Sunday!

August 26/07 2:48 p.m.

Crowd out there, I am spoiling you! Just discovered, a new song of one of my favoureds, those WONDERFUL Calexico-guys. (sorry,cancelled)
Zut alors, Landfrau is just too sluggish to start collecting stuff to pack for the trip. And by the way, weather in Vienna and Budapest slowly but surely changing for the worse, autum a'coming!

MyVideo - jennifer Rush- The Power of Love von Eisengel

MyVideo - jennifer Rush- The Power of Love von Eisengel

August 26/07 9:15 a.m.

About time for a lady again, here it is your weekend love song!-
So, good listening! - Folks -

and...HOPEFULLY!! only 4 days till river cruise,do you think we are going to make it this time? Start to "circle" my valise today.

Almost a Year!

August 25/07 2:41 p.m.

...it has been,that I had to send my oldie-horse into horse heaven. Still miss him and therfore it's nice to have the world wide web participate in his memory! So, friends, go ahead enjoy the little video of my faithful friend of 20 years!

A new Device!

August 24/07 11:50 p.m.

Hey, just discovered a new device, can upload videos now. Of course Landfrau has to try it out right away, so here we go!

Must say, takes quite a while, but a new gadget is fun, let's see if it is worth it. - Everything new is fun, don't you agree, folks?

And, by the way, while waiting, had such a nice evening tonite out on our little deck, fire burning in the little kiva stove, a glass of red wine,music from my favoured radio station, a great book and the ol' moon as lantern at the sky. At times like this I really could envy myself, ha!

The Migrants are back

August 22/07 7:15 p.m.

Did see the first wild geese today, a flock of about 20. They have been circling the area around the riverside, maybe not so sure,if they should turn south or north. - For me their appearance is always the first sign of winter to come, not so nice, if you look back at our rather moderate summer. It has been raining cats and dogs for the last two days, and considering.. we have not even had our summer vaccation yet!-
8 more days till river cruise!

So nice around here! LINK!! open in extra window

August 19/07 2:49 p.m.

Now, had such a nice post, and..down the drain,gone before I could publish it. So, have to activate my brainstorming once more.

Went for a jazz brunch (had been more liquid than brunch on account of good breakfast). Was a great atmosphere and the band gave their best. What amazes me is, that we never meet anyone we know at such occasions. Now we are going to enjoy our own garden ,some cake and latte macchiato,not too bad either!

Can't get enough!

August 18/07 8:02 p.m.

Have been busy doing"serious" things at the compi, just have to relax, these Simpson pages are really a scream, so I created another ME!

- And herewith you also meet "Herr Hund"!