Coffee trip....

Carnival in Düsseldorf

The price of coffee on the world market has risen in the last 2 months to an unbelievable high this has of course put the price up in the shops. We live about 80 KM from the Dutch border and surprisingly there is the coffee around one third cheaper as here in Germany. So yesterday morning I drove to a Dutch town called Venlo and bought 20lb of coffee beans. Taking into consideration the cost of petrol that I used for the journey all in all we saved on the day 32 Euros.
Talking about the price of petrol! It's getting to the stage were one starts to think about using the car, the alternative being the bike or just plain walking to and from the shops.
A fortnight ago I had the annual inspection of the project were I am the janitor (three houses and surrounding gardens) My intentions was to retire at the end of this year from the job but that was also my intention last year but they asked me if I would stay on till the end of this year. Now they have again asked me to stay till the end of 2012 and I have agreed. As long as I am fit enough to do the job with out any problems I thought why not it's better then not doing nothing.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss.

The third run.....

Taken last week in our garden

Last year in October I had a big problem with my sciatic nerve it was so bad that I could hardly walk. I thought I could cure it myself but after more then a week and no sign of the pain letting up I was forced to visit the doctor. After the medical treatment ( a pain killer shot in my backside) I decided to take a longer break in running. I have been running long distances for over thirty years and my experience told me a longer break would be very sensible.
This month I started to run again, the first run was over a distance of about 4 km. The second was 5 km and yesterday I ran 10 km with out a stop. I was very surprised how quickly my endurance had returned.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss

It's a con.......

Old tree stumps covered wth moss...


Last year in November my laptop crashed on me which meant I had to reinstall from scratch. During the new installment I downloaded new updates and new drivers. Looking for them I discovered a download program called U4 Download .de. Now I always look for free-wear when downloading and this program was advertised as free-were. My BIG mistake was that I agreed to accept a password from them and put a cross on their terms of agreement. I did not realise for one moment that I had signed a contract for two years for a sum of 96€ a year. The big punch came in February with a warning that I had not paid my bill for 2011 and if I did not pay with in 5 days they would put the proceeding in the hands of their lawyers. The warning was sent as a E-mail with a link to their side, on clicking the link the page came up the only difference being this time at the top right hand corner there was a large warning saying this program was not free. I am not the only one who has been swindled! On my research in the Net their are thousands that have fallen for this trick.
Take care out there were ever you are Tschüss

A normal week...

Here was under water a few weeks ago ( Rhine floods)


This week really nothing has happen worth mentioning . On Tuesday I was at work, ( in the company were I used to work full time) The company is situated 100 km from were I live and when I arrived at 7 in the morning the temperature was 8 below and never went above 6 below during the day. On Wednesday afternoon we took our dog Toby to see a Homoeopath about his eyes,he has trouble with them (Conjunctivitis) ever since last May. We have naturally consulted the vet were he received treatment but there are no sign of the problem getting any better. The problem started after we had used a anti Tick preparation and we think it has affected his eyes. This is the theory of the Homoeopath she thinks that he has been poisoned in some way and that the poison is still in his body.
On Friday the weather turned right around on us, from temperature around zero it went up to 12 degrees in two days accompanied with strong winds.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss.

A cold but a glorious day.

A large cargo barge on the Rhine


Last week I planned a day out to do some photography. I hadn't been out with the camera since my wife Shingles attack. On Friday morning after breakfast I set out on my bike to cover a round course of around 32 KM. The ride was to a small town on the other side of river Rhine called Zons which meant I had to cross over on the ferry. The day was cloudless but very cold around zero and a east wind was blowing giving one the feeling it was colder then it really was. I took around 120 photos on the day,not all being up to standard but I always take more shots of one subject with different settings.I arrived home around three in the afternoon cold but but very satisfied with the day.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss.

Dull cold and wet....

The Fence.


First of all my wife is feeling a lot better since her attack of shingles which I must add was a very severe one, because of the fact that we were rather late in consulting the doctor. She is very tired and has some pain now and again but glad to say not that severe.
The snow has all gone (thank goodness) but now we have dull drizzly cold days the type of weather for colds and flu, we haven't seen the sun in over four days and I must say it's getting very depressing.
Because of my wife's illness and now this awful weather I haven't been out with my camera which is, for me most annoying. Not being able to do any photography means I am not active in Flicker which I must add I enjoy tremendously. I have made many good friends over the last year in different parts the world through being in Flicker.

Take care out there were ever you are; Tschüss.

It started with an itch....

The mornings are frosty



It all started with an itch! My wife started to complain about itching, we put it down to a allergie of some kind connected to food. Then last week on Sunday my wife after having a shower showed me her left leg and pointed out two to three small blisters that had appeared over night We could not make head or tail of what they could be. Later on during the day she started to have lots of pains in leg and in her groin.
On Monday she decided to go to the doctor and he sent her straight away to a skin specialist who on taking one look at her leg diagnosed Shingles. We were quite taken back because we never thought in one moment that Shingles would break out on the legs.
By Wednesday it had covered most of her left leg and was working it's way up her back, she was in terrible pain and at one stage I thought we might have to take her to the hospital. Lucky enough on Thursday morning the rash was a lot better. Over the last few days she has not been feeling all that good and is resting a lot. This kind of virus knocks the hell out of one.

Take care of yourself were ever you are Tschüss.