The last run of the year.

This morning was my last run in this year. I was out of the house just before nine and although the temperature was five below it was a magnificent morning for a run.
All the grass and bushes were powdered with a fine film of frost, which gave it a wintry and peaceful touch. There weren’t so many people about which surprised me, probably to early for many on a Sunday morning.
Christmas was a very quite and peaceful event for my wife and myself. On Christmas Eve day we put the tree up and decorated it (which is a normal procedure in Germany)
In the afternoon we went out gathering moss for our crib,see photo (this is a tradition in our family)
The evening meal was also a tradition with potato salad and Wiener Würstchen. Later in the evening we watched a program on TV a Christmas special from the mountains of Bavaria.
The program was produced in an old Bavaria mountain cabin, which was decorated in the traditional Bavarian way and it brought the Christmas feeling right into the living room.
Just to mention, Christmas Eve is the main event at Christmas in Germany, that is when the children get the presents and they are brought not with Father Christmas but with the Christkind.
Christmas day we cooked the Turkey (we were going to have a different meal this year but changed our minds at the last moment) we had roast potatoes and red cabbage to go with it.
On Boxing Day I went for a run in the morning and in the afternoon we went for a walk. The weather situation had changed during the night, a high pressure from Russia had moved westwards and the temperature had dropped below freezing.
Incidentally this cold weather is accompany us in to the New Year. We wish everybody a Happy New Year and take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The end of year

Christmas is only a few days away and the end of the year is nigh. At the beginning of the year I started my Blog The Runner not really knowing how long it would last being that writing is not one of my strong points, but I have surprised myself in that I have kept it going the whole year. I would like to mention two persons who have helped me with their regular comments, that is my brother no1broadstreet and the The Blotter they have supported me over the year and I thank them for it. I wish every one a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful and healthy New Year.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Quarter to three in the morning.

The time is quarter to three Monday morning, ridicules I know but I just can’t sleep so instead of tossing and turning in bed for the next four hours I decided to get up and start this post. I haven’t a clue if I will finish it, or fall asleep doing it, we’ll see.
The last week has flown by at a speed, which to me is a bit scary, maybe it’s because it was a busy week for me, or it is because I am now at an age when time just seems to fly? Monday was a normal day I think!!! To tell the truth I don’t know if it was or not.
Tuesday I was at work (that I do know) and I managed to finish off the project that I have been working on over the last nine months, (a good feeling.)
My knocking off time is normally 15 pm and last Tuesday was no acceptation to the rule. I had just put my bag and my laptop in the car when my boss gave me a shout from his office door if I had a minute for him, knowing my boss as I do, when he says a minute it’s normally a hour. Last month we installed a new die cutter in our company in Hungary and they are having a technical problem with the feeding unit, my boss wanted to know if I had an idea how to solve the problem. With the help of a college I showed him on our die cutter how the problem could be rectified. After that the conversation turned from problems in Hungary to our problems here. Apparently it seems that the young man that took over my job hasn’t been doing the job too well according to his colleges, on hearing this the boss blew his top and ordered a meeting for this coming Tuesday which I also have to attend.
By the time I left the company grounds it was 16 pm and it meant a 100 km drive home for me in heavy traffic. On the Cologne ring Autobahn is the traffic situation critical at this hour of the evening.
On Wednesday morning I had an appointment in Düsseldorf to have our dog trimmed (the hair is plucked out by hand) I was home for half past twelve, dinner, then off with my wife to do the weekly shopping.
Thursday morning was taken up cleaning the three houses, which is part of my janitor job that I do. In the afternoon my wife and I drove to the local town to buy a new toaster, ours had gone bust after twelve years.
On Friday afternoon I donated blood at the Red Cross. (That was a lazy day for me)
It’s now half past four in the morning and my concentration is slowly but surely going, I will close for now and finish it tomorrow, or I should say today.
Feeling a bit groggy from lack of sleep, but will have a nap after dinner, which should see me right.
On Sunday morning I went for a run (which I do nearly every Sunday) this time it was different I had no energy (loss of blood) and I decided in the future when I donate blood, (which is always on a Friday afternoon) I won’t do my run on the Sunday, give me time to recuperate, not getting any younger.
On Sunday afternoon we had our neighbours round for advent coffee and cake and afterwards a few drinks it was an enjoyable afternoon and they left around about quarter past six, which gave me enough time to go out with the dog before settling down for the evening (there was a good film on the telly.)
I have to complement the Blotter and my brother No1broad Street for their posts, especially the Blotter who is turning them out at a speed which is defiantly fantastic.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss
The photo, a winter day in the woods

Weinachtsmarkt (Hilden)

The weeks just seem to fly and the closer we get to Christmas the faster they fly or is that just my imagination? On Tuesday we went to Düsseldorf to do that bit of Christmas shopping that we only have to do these days. My wife bought herself a pair of slacks and two blouses I bought the program Tune-Up and our dog Toby became a safety collar (one with a light in it for when we go out in the dark) I bought a second hand digital video camera, a Canon MV20 an old model I know. The camera is in perfect working condition and is easy to operate, fits well in the hand, so for 149 Euros I just couldn’t say no. I had been thinking for some considerable time of buying a digital camera but not wanting to pay so much for a new one because I won’t be using it all that much; I looked around for a good second hand one.
In our local town (Hilden) the yearly Weinachtsmarket is taking place it lasts three days from Friday till Sunday evening. On Saturday evening my wife and I walked to Hilden (6 km) the reason for walking? So that I could enjoy the Glühwein (Punch) the plan was the return journey would be with the bus. It was an enjoyable evening and my wife and I were having fun, we then decided to visit the church were we got married in 44 years ago (it’s open when the market is on).
After spending a few moments of reminiscence we stepped outside and to our dismay it was pouring down. Straight away the atmosphere was gone, people were scurrying about trying to find some were to shelter, to top it off the rain was bitter cold. We stood for awhile on the church steps sheltering from the rain and then decided to make a run for the bus because the evening was over not just for us but for most of the crowd.
The photos are taken with my wife’s new camera, we had hoped to make a lot more, it’s a pity really because the evening started off so good.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Storm and snow.

As I mentioned in my last post we had been warned beforehand that we were in for a bad storm over the weekend. On Friday it hit us in the form of high winds, which did indeed cause a lot of material damage around the country. During Saturday we had sleet and the temperature had dropped considerably, the wind had died down over night and it was damp and cold just the right weather to catch a cold. On Sunday evening to our amazement it started to snow and in a matter of a few hours we had around 15 centimetres of snow. I intended to take some photos the next morning of the snowed countryside but to our surprise the temperature had risen during the night and the snow had nearly all melted.
On Tuesday I was at work and it was a day for me full of apprehensions because I had to present my project to my boss that I have been working on for the last six month (remembering that I only work two days a month). The project consists of completing maintenance handbooks for all of the company’s machines. I went about this task combining, photos and text into each handbook so that even the thickest of heads know what they are doing.
Ten past two was my appointment with my boss (not a easy chap to get on with) mostly when I present something he has always (up till now) made some radical changes. Mostly because of them I have in nine times out of ten to start from scratch again. This time was different he accepted my project without a change to it. To tell you the truth I couldn’t believe my ears when he said “ accepted” you see it has to conform with ISO 2000 and that’s were my worry’s were.

We had been invited to our neighbours 70th birthday celebration (he’s a English guy who lives across the road from us) it was to take place on Saturday in Düsseldorf in the English international library at one pm, it was a surprise party organised by his children. My wife was not all that keen on going (to many strange people for her liking) so I went by myself. I caught the bus into the city because it was the first Advent weekend and the Weihnachtsmarkt was open.
The city is then over run from Dutch people that come over with buses to visit the market, also I heard a lot of English being spoken this year as well. I was told that the British fly over for the day on cheap flights just to visit the Weihnachtsmarkt.
The birthday party wasn’t all that exciting, stayed a couple of hours had a beer or two and then caught the bus back home in time to watch the football on TV.
In the evening I had a link with my brother via Skype and like always it was a very enjoyable 75 minutes, he gave me one or two good tips regarding the computer (which he nearly always does) and the rest was a good old chin wag.
My brother no1broadstreet titled his last post “ Keeping up with the Jones’s” I myself have no intentions in keeping up with anybody, I have practised “Keeping up” that far too often in my life and have learnt a lesson through it. I have enough to do in keeping up with myself let alone with some one else.
The photo is taken from the grounds of the company were I work two days a month. There was snow there last Tuesday.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Coffee and Holland.

From the beginning of the week and every day onwards the Meteorologen have been warning us that a low-pressure front will hit us on Friday bringing an early winter start. They have forecasted high winds and heavy snow falls in the high regions and light snow showers for the rest of the land with gale force winds. Temperatures will fall during Friday night below freezing point causing dangers roads conditions and because of the high winds snow drifting is expected in open places on higher grounds. On hearing that we may be snowed in till early spring (laugh) and thankful that we have contact to the outer world via Skype!!!We decided to have a day out on Wednesday; our destination was a town in Holland called Venlo which is 80 km from were we live. Our decision to go there was because my wife had seen on the web that the coffee was half the price in Holland then it was here and also one can buy Lyle’s Golden Syrup there which I love on toast, there are also one or two odds and ends which one can buy there which you can’t buy in Germany. (Mostly English stuff)
We bought 12 lbs of coffee beans (we grind them ourselves) on that alone we saved 25 Euros we also filled the car up with Diesel which was 9 cents a litre cheaper.
The weather was good (sunny) but cold, we had our dog with us and before we went shopping we had a good walk around the town.
All in all it was a good day out and a change for us.
On Tuesday afternoon my friend came round he wanted some photos that had been taken on his 60th birthday they had red eyes and he asked me if I could change that with Photoshop, no better said then done. My wife had baked an apple cake in the morning for coffee, so all was set for a pleasant afternoon with good company and as always a good chin wag.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Night photography.

It's Saturday afternoon and one of these dull November days with a touch of drizzle now and again.This morning I took my wife to have her knee Tomographic computerised the result was not all that good, a cyst 6 centimeters long in the back of her knee and also a small crack in the outer meniscus. She now has to wait till the 1st of December for her appointment with her Orthopaedic and then we shall know what the next move will be.
On Tuesday I was at work, (every second Tuesday in the month) I enjoy the day in the company, keeping up with the working world so to say and the job I am doing is interesting and keeps my mind active.
At the moment I am kept busy with racking leaves( the janitor job) were we live there are lots of trees and every year I am busy clearing leaves away right into the middle of December.
Last night I decided to do some night photography so off I went on my bike with my camera and tripod and spent a good hour (the first time with a digital camera) with trial and error photographing a few subjects (see photos)
On Thursday we bought our dog a new harness with anew lead to go with it, you would think I was buying one for a horse the price I paid for it 62 Euros. Wow! thing are expensive now a days if I reckoned that out in German Marks that's 124 Marks. No one in their right minds would have paid 124 Marks for a lead and harness in those days and those days are not all that long gone.

Take care out there were ever you are Tschüss.

The Patio

Our patio is set lower than the garden and is,or I should say was encased all round with large wooden beams. Naturally with age they have rotted and made the patio looking very unattractive.
We had complained a few times to our landlord unfornately he never responded to to our complaints. I then decided to photograph the patio and deliver the photos personally. That did the trick, in a matter of a few weeks we had someone come round to make an estimate.
Last week the workers were here, they removed the wooden beams and replaced them with rather attractive stones (see photos). On Friday my wife and I went to the DIY store and bought a new pergola to replace the old one (it was falling apart with age). Over the weekend I have erected it having first to concrete in the fittings for the posts that support it. I then gave the whole thing a coat of weather protective varnish (another good job done) one of my favourite sayings.
A week ago I bought my wife a new digital camera. There was a special offer on at a local shop, the camera was a no name product and after reading the write up on it I thought it would be a good buy for 129 Euros. Sorry to say it wasn't, after just one day half the menu settings didn't function anymore, so back to the shop I went and got my money back. The guy asked me if I would like a replacement, my answer was "not on your Nelly" Later on in the day I went on Internet and had a look in Amazon, there I found a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W150/W170 for 163 Euros, the memory stick came extra for 19 Euros. So for 182 Euros my wife had a new camera and I must say she is thrilled to bits with it.
Two weeks ago I had a Skype link with my brother, as always very enjoyable this time we talked 90 minuets, looking forwards to our next link.
We were very pleased indeed when we heard that Obama had won the Presidential Elections it means a new change after that idiot Bush. Let's hope that the world will be a better place in the future with Obama.
Just heard from my wife that my brother's daughter has passed her driving licence, Well done and drive carefully.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The car week.

There are things one puts off and although you keep telling yourself that you will tackle the job tomorrow or maybe next week, you never seem to get round to doing it.

This was exactly what I have been practising for the last two years, the job, polishing the car!

On Monday morning after breakfast ( it was a lovely day) I decided to polish the car. The job took me just over two and a half hours , the car was looking good (see photo) and I was feeling great. I then give the inside of the car a good going over and afterwards I couldn’t understand why I had put the job off for so long.

On Wednesday afternoon we went and did our weekly shopping. Afterwards I drove to the locale garden centre. On parking my car I had a funny feeling, couldn’t put my finger on it but it was there. I found what I was looking for and on my way to the cash register I realised I had left my money in the car. On my way to the car I saw this women looking at my car and writing something on a piece of paper. I asked her if there was something wrong with my car, she said, “ The car that was parked next to you had on leaving scraped the side of your car and drove off”. Now this is in Germany is classified as hit and run and can cost you your driving licence plus a heavy fine.

At this moment the driver of the other car (a older women) appeared and started to argue with the women that was talking to me. Her remarks were, “what the hell was she doing, it was none of her business, and she wasn’t driving off just re-parking her car”.

Well to cut the story short, this old dear insisted that she was not aware that she had even touched my car and only came back to see what the fuss was about. I showed her the damage she had caused, on this her reply was “there is no damage on my car”. It was tit for tat for a while until I said “ I would call the police” and that my brother was a police inspector (only kidding) On inspecting her car we found that it was also scratched badly on the right rear wing. Anyway there were no police involved, no insurance, she would pay cash. I drove to the garage got an estimate, drove round to her house picked up my money and that was that. Most of the scratches I have got rid of with a special polishing paste and the money I have put in my wallet.

On Friday I changed my summer tyres for my winter ones because they say that we are going to have a cold spell next week and I have to go to work on Tuesday. So all in all you can call this week A CAR WEEK.

Take care out there were ever you are. TshüssJust a snap shot taken from our window

A walk on Sunday in autumn.

The start in the week was taken up with setting up the program Face-book; my wife had convinced me that it was something I should at least try instead of just knocking it. I must admit I’m not as enthusiastic as my wife but you never know it may happen (smile).

On Friday morning my brother and I linked up with Skype and had a good natter for a about a hour we both got mixed up with the time because they had put the clock forwards one hour in NZ and I didn’t know that. So here I was all set up ready and waiting and my brother was offline, had to telephone him to say I was waiting. In the afternoon we went into Düsseldorf to do some shopping my wife and I bought our self’s each a thick fleece jacket for the winter also I bought a pair of shoes. Most of the week the weather was glories and it looks like it’s going to last into the middle of this week, so we decided that Saturday would be a day in the garden getting it ready for the winter. We moved a few plants around (like always) and removed a large grass that had got too big for our garden and made a new flower bed were it had stood, also cut back a few bushes. In between I went to the garden centre all in all it took me the best part of the day and I knew at the end of the day what I had done.

This morning I was out of the house at ten past seven on my bike armed with my camera hoping to get some good photos, the mist hung over the fields but the light was not good because the sky was overcast and it didn’t clear up till the early afternoon. Around four we got ourselves ready and went for a long walk with the dog. The sun had come out and it was a lovely afternoon blue sky’s and very mild. There were lots of folks also out enjoying the fine weather.

Tonight is the film The Da Vinci Code on TV, I have read the book and I’m looking forwards to watching the film, if it’s as good as the book was then it will be an enjoyable evening.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The photos I took on our walk this afternoon.

A small thing like a kitchen sink.

Now one would think for a normal handyman (and I think I can call myself one) that changing a kitchen sink unit in a fitted kitchen wouldn’t be a big problem!

On Saturday my wife and I decided to drive to the local do it yourself super market to buy a new kitchen sink unit. We had been talking about replacing the old sink for quite some considerable time. After no luck at the first store, they had a large assortment but the one’s that came into consideration were too cheap (we was looking for one that was going to last us a few years.)

On the way home we decided to do a detour and check out another DIY. Well it didn’t take us long to find one in our price range and also my wife liked it (which is always good.)

The weather turned out to be extremely bad on Sunday, it started to rain around eight and rained all day and all night into late Monday morning. My Sunday run was in the rain, not that I mind, you can only get drenched once.

After getting back from my run I told my wife I would fit the new sink in after lunch seeing that the weather was so bad and there was no sign of it getting any better.

I started at half past one, first taking all the drainage pipes apart, then came the most tricky part, you see we have a warm water boiler (electric low pressure) under the sink and the tap has five connections and also the dishwasher is also attached to the tap (that’s what I meant by being tricky.) After mastering all that all I had to do was take the dishwasher out from underneath the worktop because the draining board side of the sink is placed over the dishwasher.

Now the problems started to develop, I could not get the dishwasher out from underneath the workingtop. No matter what I tried it wouldn’t move a millimetre. The people that had put the kitchen in for us had fitted it so tight (putting it in before the work top was fitted.) that I was unable to move it

There was no way I could get at the clamps that hold the sink in place without moving the dishwasher; I finally came to the conclusion that all my work was in vain and because there was no way in which I could remove the work top seeing that it has three sides to it and they are all fitted and glued together.

There was nothing more I could do but to put every bloody thing back together, fighting the frustration while doing so. I was sorry for my wife she had looked forwards to a new sink and I could see she was disappointed.

On the good note I hadn't destroyed any of the packaging and on Monday morning I was able to return the sink and gett my money back (110 Euros.)

What does one learns from this? check every possibility what could go wrong before tackling the job.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Indian summer.

The last week has been a very quite week nothing seems to have happed that is worth mentioning. Apart that on Wednesday afternoon I visited my friend, the three hours that I was there just flew by, the conversation was good and the topics that we discussed were interesting. It was nice to see him is own self again, seeing that he was a little bit down lately over one thing and another.

Weather wise it has been a super week a real Indian summer, blue sky’s and very little wind the temperature were around 20 degrees but late in the afternoon it became chilly, one couldn’t go out with out a pullover.

On Thursday afternoon my wife and I went for along walk with our dog. The walk took us through the near by woods the weather was perfect and what with our in between rests on the park benches to take the scenery in, our walk lasted over two hours. When we arrived home my wife was complaining that her knee was hurting her so we put a ice pack on it and it seemed to help but I’m afraid that we won’t be able to do long walks till this treatment that she is having is completed.

I’ve been running twice a week on a regular basis for over a month now, on Sundays I run ten km and in the middle of the week fifteen it’s improved my condition considerable and I hope to keep it up has long as I can.

I wrote last week in my post about my wife and this program Face-Book, well the friend she is in touch with in France seems to be a real nice person and I’m pleased for my wife. I may add I have a feeling that it could develop into a good friendship with time.

On Friday it’s a public holiday over here in Germany, it’s to celebrate the reunion of West and East Germany as a whole nation. All I can add to that is that it has cost us (the tax payer) a lot of money and we are still paying. At the start it was only for five years and it’s now we are in to the twentieth and it looks like the is no end.

The photo I took when I was having a walk round the lake near were we live.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

the begining of autumn.

Our thoughts are today with my mother and the family in New Zealand. Today the ashes of my mother will be scattered at the same place were my father’s ashes were scattered nearly six years ago, so now they will be rejoined with each other once again.

You may have seen this week my first attempt to put a video into a post? I was partly successful but then again it could have been a lot better so it’s back to the drawing boards as they say.

My brother no1broadstreet told me in our last link together that I should download You Tube and there I would find information about compressing videos. This I did and found the free share program Virtual Dub and also a program called Xvid with this combination I made my first video for the web. All I have to do now is practise the fine-tuning and I hope my next attempt will be more successful.

My wife is defiantly into computers and this program Face-book has a spell on her (smile) but she is successful in it, she has contact with a German lady in Vancouver Canada. This lady has the same interests as my wife and is around the same age. She has also a new contact with a lady in France, she is also German this makes thing interesting for my wife, not only can she correspond with them but living in different countries, there is a lot of different information to be passed on to each other. The only thing I can knock her for is that she no patience and she thinks I know everything there is to know about computers, (I have to laugh myself at that).

On Saturday afternoon we drove to the small town of Hann (5 Km from were we live) to the grave of my parents-in law were we planted new flowers for the autumn and generally tidied things up. On arriving back home we were invited to our next-door neighbours for coffee and cake, which she had made herself our other neighbours were also invited.

We have just got back from a walk with our dog and it’s just after six in the evening, one can tell that the autumn is upon us because it gets really chilly in the evenings now, the leaves have started to fall and there is a general sense of autumn in the air.

The week was uneventful nothing really interesting happened and we did not go anywhere in particular. I was at work on Tuesday and that like every thing else seems to be a routine matter, still I enjoy doing it.

Today the photo is of a beech tree and I call it autumn.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Video test.

This is my first attempt to put a video in to the post.

Last night at the Proms.

I never thought in my wildest dreams that my wife would be so enthusiastic about a laptop, ever since we bought it she has spent hours with it and her progress is amazing to say the least. I myself am pleased that my wife has found something that she enjoys doing and she admits herself it’s good for the grey cells.

Through some good friends in England my wife has discovered the program Face-Book and is absolutely fascinated with it, not only can she correspond and apply photos with it, for instance she is in touch with our godchild who is at the present moment on a working holiday in Australia and is hoping to go to New Zealand sometime next year.

We had a Skye link with my brother (no1broadstreet) on Saturday which like always we enjoyed, he was having a beer at the time because it was in the evening in NZ and we were drinking coffee. I asked my brother if he was acquainted with Face-Book and of course he was and was also registered, so now my wife as another so called friend.

On Saturday afternoon we drove into the local town (Hilden) to do a bit of shopping for my wife, she bought a pair of shoes two pairs of jeans and a coat for the autumn, which is nearly upon us. Before we went shopping we stopped off for a bite to eat we had Currywurst and Pommfritt (Curry-sausage and chips) something we rarely indulge in because it is junk food pure but when we do, then oh boy! We enjoy it.

On Saturday evening we watched on TV the last night of the Proms a direct broadcast from the Royal Albert Hall, it was fantastic, when they came to Rule Britannia, Land of hope and glory and Jerusalem I was in my element singing and claping with audience and I retired for the night feeling very British (smile).

The photo is of the river Mosel (an old shot taken last year)

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

My wife's laptop

After having a disappointing start with the first laptop for my wife last Saturday and having to wait till Tuesday evening for a replacement I can gladly say that now all systems are on go.

On arriving at the shop on Tuesday evening I was informed that the Toshiba was sold out and there were no more to be had. As you can imagine, my disappointment must have shown on my face because the sales guy offered me a replacement for the same price with exactly the same specification as the Toshiba this time it was a HP Compaq Presario A900, the normal price for the Compaq being 100 Euros more, so in the end for all the inconvenience that we had we made a good deal.

We bought two new programmes for the laptop, Kaspersky Internet Security and a Household finance programme called Quicken, which was necessary because the old Quicken would not conform to Vista. At this moment my wife is entering all the data into the programme, which is a long and tides job but she is the finance minister in our house so it’s her baby.

I have set my wife up on Skype with her own name and also she will have her own E-Mail address. I have the feeling she is enjoying the independence of having her own laptop and being able to organise it the way she wishes with out me interfering all the time.

Yesterday I donated blood for the German Red Cross it was my 126^th donation, my time is slowly coming to an end were I can donate blood; you are only allowed to donate till the age of 68.

The influx of young donors does not seem to take place in fact there is a serious shortage of young people but I think the Red Cross doesn’t do enough PR on the subject of giving blood.

At the moment I am watching the opening of the Para Olympics on TV and in between writing this post, and on such occasions all the British comes out in me supporting our team to the end, I hope we do has well as we did in the Olympics.

The week was a busy one starting with a day at work on Tuesday followed up in the evening with picking up the new laptop, Wednesday afternoon I took our dog Toby to be trimmed, on Thursday it was cleaning the houses that I am responsible for, in the afternoon my wife and I did our weekly shopping together, when you have so much to do in the week the time just seems to fly by and before you know it it’s weekend.

The photo is of my wife with her new laptop.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

What a Saturday.

Oh boy! What a weekend in more then one sense. First of all the weather was perfect, blue sky’s and temperatures around the thirty’s, which we have enjoyed because the weather situation hasn’t been to good lately, although the weather forecast for the beginning of the week is once again cool with rain showers.

Early Saturday morning (ten past seven) I drove into town to buy my wife a laptop. A local store had advertised for Saturday a super offer, a Toshiba with a 17-inch screen, Intel Pentium Dual core 2x 1,86 GHz, 3.072 MB DDR2 RAM, 250 GB Hard-disk Intel x3100 Graphic also WLAN, Webcam and Vista home premium for 550 Euros.

I was the second person to buy one, later on I heard that they had all been sold by dinnertime, there must have been twenty of them piled up when I arrived in the store.

My wife had been on about having her own laptop ever since she bought me mine for my birthday but when it came to making the decision to buy one she couldn’t bring herself to spend so much money so I had to do it for her, like my brother no1broadstreet said “ it’s only money” we can’t take anything with us when we go and so enjoy things while you can.

When I arrived home we had breakfast and then I unpacked the laptop and set up Vista loaded the batteries and waited for my neighbour to come around and set up Internet for us (he is the expert, that’s his field of work). He came around 3pm opened the laptop to install the Internet and the was NO screen, we tried everything but no go. I was so frustrated I just could not figure out why it didn’t function anymore, my neighbour reckoned it probably was the connections from the base to the screen that had come disconnected. There was only one thing to do and that was to pack every thing together and go back to the store from were I pursued it.

To cut a long story short that’s when I found out that the rest had all been sold. After explaining everything the sales guy gave me my money back (which is always a good thing) and then offered to order a new one for me, which I accepted and I should get it at the beginning of next week according to the sales guy.

I must say my wife and I were a little bit disappointed about the whole affair and it kind of spoilt our Saturday really because we had planned to go to a street festival in the evening which takes place every year in the near were we live but this time we did not go, drowned our disappointment instead in a bottle of wine sitting out side on the patio till 11.30.

My photo for this blog was going to be the new laptop but seeing there isn’t one the Toad will have to do, which was sat on the lawn yesterday morning so I snapped my camera and took a photo of it.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The new printer

This week I received my new printer (iP100 from Canon) I ordered it through the Internet, which is for us a new approach line to shopping. I compared the prices of course in the shops first then in Internet and the difference was 70 Euros. What interested me in this printer was that it is small and compact, which enables you to use it with your laptop (see photo)

The first photo that I printed was of my mother, one that my brother had taken of her in the gardens of the care home and the result was fantastic.

My wife’s Meniscus has improved through the cold compresses that we have been applying over the last week, never the less she will keep her appointment with the Orthopaedist at the beginning of next month.

Next week is a busy week with visiting doctors. On Monday afternoon I have to go and have the intraocular pressure of my eyes tested (this takes place every three months in this year) and then on Tuesday both my wife and I have a visit to the dentist for our six monthly check up.

On Wednesday a Gardner came round to make an estimate for some repairs to the patio (that needs doing badly) after complaining for months the landlord at last sent someone round to have a look and to give him a estimate on how much it will cost to have the repairs done. I got talking to this guy about lawns and explained that I had sown a new lawn this year and had the feeling that once again the lawn was losing its greenness. He suggested that I should apply more fertiliser and also he give me one or two good tips to keep the lawn in good condition. On Thursday I mowed and afterwards fertilised the lawn, now I will have to wait and see if he was right.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Olympics and to my surprise we British have done well this time, with 19 gold medallions, the only thing that disappointed me was in the light athletics, we used to be good in 1500 meters, 110 meters hurdles, 800 meters and javelin. We were always good for a medallion in 4 x 100 relay and 4 x 400 relay. It seems we have lost contact to the rest of the world in these disciplines, (such as in football).

Yesterday Saturday I was up early (ten to six, for me that is early) because I had rented a stall on a jumble sale market for the day, or I should say from seven in the morning till one in the afternoon.

The market took place in the Burgerhouse (community centre) I had for sale my camera Canon A1 with all the lenses, a Fax machine also an answering machine, a computer chess set and some old LP’s and to round it off a few odds and ends. It went very well, I sold the Canon for 85 Euros, and it broke my heart in doing so, when I think back that the A1 body alone cost me 1000 Marks. Also the fax machine went and a few LP’s and the odds and ends in all I made 115 Euros, not bad for a morning.

I wanted to take some photos of the jumble sale but for some unknown reason it wasn’t allowed??

I have just got back from my Sunday run had my shower and then a cup of coffee on the patio with my wife, which we do whenever the weather allows us to do so. Talking about weather the last week was a very windy one with the accessional rain showers.

Just found out we have not won on the Lotto, means another week of work (smile). Last week we had three right out of six which gave us our money back.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

A trip to the Rhine

This last week has been a very emotional one for my wife and myself through the death of my mother. Although deep down inside I was expecting it in some way, but when she died it seemed so sudden and unexpected.

Last week I had two Skype links to my brother, one just after our mother died and one last Saturday morning were he told me all about the funeral day.

Living so far away from the rest of the family (I hadn’t seen my family in over twenty years) marriages and funerals we have missed out on them, the only marriage I attended was the one of my older sister in England and at the time I was a teenager.

On Saturday we drove to a place called Kaiserswerth a small town situated on the Rhine, it’s not all that far away from were we live. In years gone by we used to visit it regularly and sometimes we would spend the day on the banks of the Rhine and have a picnic there.

Our dog Toby hadn’t seen the river before and we were interested to see how he would react to water. To say the least we couldn’t keep him out of the water and every time a wave came caused by the large cargo ships he kept biting at them and therefore in the process he drank a lot.

On arriving back home and after being fed he started to have convulsions and my wife got really worried thinking he might have had swallowed something while he was in the river, to her relive a short time later he was sick throwing up his food and all the Rhine water (the cause of the convulsions) that he had swallowed.

Of course we have been watching the Olympics this week and there is always a friendly rivalry between my wife and I when our two countries are competing against each other.

It has to do with who wins the most GOLD medals.

On Sunday our neighbours invited us to a BQ also they also invited their garden neighbours to the right of them (we are to the left) it was an enjoyable afternoon. It started to rain but we were lucky it lasted only for a few minutes.

My wife is having problems with her inner Meniscus on her right knee and was causing her so much pain over the weekend that we thought we might have to visit the doctors with it. We then decided to wait and applied cold compresses and it helped a lot but she has made an appointment with the doctor just to be on the safe side of things.

The photos are of Toby in the Rhine, The BQ, and a flying beast that was giving us hell.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Mum.

This morning around 6.20am the telephone ringing awakened me. The first thought that shot into my head was it’s something to do with Mum. On the phone was my brother he told me that our mother had passed away yesterday evening (our time). My brotherno1broadstreet in his latest Blog post (from yesterday) has said everything that there is to say and I don’t think there is more to add. I feel sad that Mum has left us and also there is a kind of empty feeling inside of me. I was told she passed away peacefully in her sleep and I am thankful for that. Funnily enough her Father was also 90 and he died in his sleep as well.

Death is with us every day of our lives, you can’t escape it and one should except it as part of life. When one has had a full life like my mother has had without being seriously ill then mourning is not necessary. I mourned over the death of my sister but with my Mother I am just sad at the loss.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Wuppertal.

Last night on TV news they showed pictures of the damage that had taken place through a winter storm in the north of New Zealand, flooded roads and blown down trees and damage to buildings. Now talking about freak weather situations we have had our share of them over the last week, luckily to say none of them affected us directly. The city of Dortmund is about 50 odd km from us as the sparrow fly’s, and in a matter of two hours it rained 200 litres per square meter. They showed on TV a part of the city were a small stream is situated near some houses. In a matter of no time the street and the houses were flooded and people were shown wading up to their waist’s in water. In the south a hailstorm beat the hell out of the area around Augsburg ruining the harvest there.

The whole week has been weather wise very humid with high temperatures and lots of thunderstorms causing a lot of damage were they hit, with the exception of one they all passed by us, so we can call ourselves very lucky.

Glad to hear that my brother no1broadstreet. has recovered from the flu and I hope his wife has also fully recovered by now. I’ve got a good tip for curing the flu according to my boss, Schnapps laced with ground black pepper; don’t know if it works because personally I’ve never tried it, but he swears by it and I have never seen him miss work when the flu was doing it’s rounds.

Personally my wife and I prefer our prevention flu jab which we have every year in October, it costs us nothing (the state pays for it) and it seems to work.

On Tuesday I did a trip to Wuppertal, (on the bike) which is about the same distance as Düsseldorf is from were we live but in the opposite direction. Were one is nearly on the flat all the way to Düsseldorf the ride to Wuppertal is all hill climbing and very strenuous. While I was there I made a couple of photos of the Schwebebahn.

Schwebebahn Wuppertal

On my way home I did a detour through a small village called Gruiten. In this small village church my daughter was married.

I intended to cycle along the banks of the river Düssel through into Neandertal but the weather turned bad on me and I was forced to end my trip long before I reached the end of the valley.

I was out picking Blackberry’s this afternoon on my own this time, I think we should have enough now. If we manage to make 10 glasses of jam with this lot that I have picked and the 15 that we have already made then that should see us through till this time next year.

The photos are of the Schwebahn taken in the outskirts of Wuppertal a placed called Vorwinkel. The Poppy’s I took on the way to Gruiten.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Blackberry's.

Once again the week has gone so quickly and sometimes I have the feeling it’s Monday and the next day is already Friday.

On Monday it rained all day and you could not venture from the house unless you had too (taking the dog for a walk for instance).

On Tuesday I spent the day at work and once again it rained all day. The company is an hours drive from were I live and it poured down all the way, just before I reached the company the sun came out and I thought I had left the rain behind me, no luck it started to rain again an half an hour later and lasted all day.

Wednesday was a beautiful day and I spent the morning tidying the gardens up around the three houses which I look after. In the afternoon is shopping time; we always go shopping in the middle of the week, why? I don’t know it’s our routine I suppose.

Thursday morning I cleaned the three houses (which I do every Thursday). In the afternoon I mowed the lawn and tided the garden up.

On Friday evening we had friends round for drinks. It was a lovely warm evening and we sat out side on the patio till they went home which was around half past eleven. So now you see why the week sometimes fly’s by so quickly.

The time of year has come when we go Blackberry picking to make jam. Yesterday morning after breakfast I set out on my bike to go to the spots were we know there are lots of Blackberry’s to my disappointment they had been all cut back and the ones that were left over were not ripe yet. So off I went to another spot, here I found a lot of ripe ones, I hadn’t been there ten minutes when it started to thunder and the rain set in once again.

Of course one needs protective clothing for picking Blackberry’s, something like Sir Lancelot used to ware would be the ideal clothing. I hadn’t been at the bush five minutes and I had scratched my arm and legs, my right hand was stained purple and my finger nails looked like I had been working in a coal mine. Oh! What joys one has picking Blackberry’s. My wife and I are going again this afternoon (Sunday)

We have just got back from Blackberrying in just under two hours in the scorching sun we have picked two small buckets full enough to make about 15 glasses of jam. Now my wife has set the juice extractor up outside on the patio and tomorrow with the juice that she has extracted will make the jam.

That was my week. All in all a good one.

The photos speak for themselves.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Worrying times.

It’s worrying time we are going through at the moment with my mother being transferred from her room in the rest home to the hospital care section of the home. I am far away from what’s taking place at the home and have no idea whose decision it was in the home to move my mother and give her room to another person. My question is, “ what happens if my mother regains her strength back and doesn’t need to be in the hospital care anymore?” An other person has occupied her room and her things stored away.

Talking about my brother http://no1broadstreet.blogspot.com/ he and his wife are back home safe and sound after their holiday in the US. Tomorrow (Saturday) my brother and I our going to link up on Skype which my wife and myself are looking forwards to.

Weather wise, well really it’s not worth mentioning, Monday and Tuesday was warm and sunny with strong winds, the rest of the week rain and nothing but rain. According to the weather forecast it’s going to stay that way till the middle of next week.

We managed to get out on Tuesday afternoon and go for along walk with the dog nearly two and a half hours. The walk took us through the woods to a large field were our dog could run around and enjoy himself.

That was my week nothing exciting but that’s life sometimes.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The photo is of the castle in Cochem on the river Mosel. Taken two years ago.

Wet and dismal week

It was one of those weeks, cold wet and dismal. It was nearly impossible to go out with out the risk of getting wet. Apart that I am one year older since Friday nothing really has happened worth mentioning. As once told in my previous post I was given a super birthday present from my wife, a Notebook. My wife gave it to me a few weeks before my birthday and on the day she gave me a natural sponge, my old one was dropping to pieces. I always use a sponge when I shower.

On Tuesday I was at work and in the afternoon I presented my boss with my first layouts of the job I had been working on? I knew that he would not accept every thing that I had put to paper but was pleased when only one item was not excepted, it was very reassuring to know I was on the right track so to say.

On Thursday managed to mow the neighbours lawn in the afternoon I was just finished when it started to rain again, my intentions was to mow my lawn after I had finished mowing the neighbours. Managed to get it done late Friday afternoon.

This morning (it’s Sunday) I did my usual run and to my surprise it turned out to be a super run I did the 10 km in 55 minutes, it normally takes me around 70 minutes to complete. It must have to do with the food that I have been eating this last week, no junk food, lot’s of vegetables, rice full corn bread etc.

Oh! One of my high lights of the week was the post from my brother no1broadstreet about his escapade with the toilet at his sister in-laws. My wife and I could not stop laughing; it must have been very embarrassing for him, but the way he wrote, it was funny.

There is one more thing, we went to our local garden centre last week and bought a garden statue (a kobold) we have named him Till. We had been eyeing this statue up for a long time but it was so expensive we always left with the intentions to buy it at a later date. My wife then made the plunge last week in buying it, her argument some one will buy it before we do.

The photo is of the garden kobold Till.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Heart attack.

The last week was on the whole a normal one nothing really exciting happened like the week before (Fire Scare) On Tuesday my brother linked up with me over Skype, only by chance. I had some work to finish for my job and suddenly the Skype phone rang it was a nice surprise and we had a good chin wag about America and his holiday.

On Wednesday we decided to drive to Düsseldorf/Oberkassel, which is on the other side of the Rhine. There one can walk for miles along the banks of the Rhine enjoying the view and our dog; well for him it’s freedom pure.

We hadn’t been there long when we noticed a young girl running towards us crying bitterly we estimated her age around nine or ten years. I stopped her and asked her why was she crying? (Thinking something terrible might have happed to her) between loud sobs she told us that she had lost her mobile phone and most of her spending money had gone on recharging the chip card. My wife and I decided that we would help her to look for the mobile. We spread out the three of us plus the dog and backed tracked the way the girl had come, I asked her for her number and periodically rang the number with my mobile and listened if we could hear the ringing of her phone, sorry to say we were unlucky we did not find her phone for her.

On Saturday I received e-mail from my brother-in law saying that my Mother had had a heart attack. My wife and I was of course shocked at the news and I sent a e-mail to my brother-in law arranging a link over Skype on Sunday morning (there is a ten hour difference between New Zealand and Germany) sorry to say this link didn’t take place I could not contact him. I then tried to ring him and again this failed, why I do not know, probably some technical fault.

My brother-in law sends us daily reports on the condition of my Mother via e-mail. To top it all in his e-mail yesterday he told us that my aunty Betty who lives in London had passed away the day before (she was the younger sister of my Mother) I don’t know if they have told my Mother, I think under the circumstances at the moment it would be wise not to.

The weather over last week has been mixed to say the least. Monday it was the hottest day of the year the temperature raising above the 36-centigrade mark. On Tuesday evening and into the night we had a thunderstorm due to the high temperature. The rest of the week was ok and today its very windy with showers.

The photo is of the Knee Bridge (that’s the name Kniebrücke) that crosses the Rhine to Düsseldorf/Oberkassel.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

Fire scare.

The week was a normal one little happened that one could talk about until Friday afternoon around four. I had just finished mowing the lawn when my wife asked me to come into the bedroom because she had smelt something that she could not localise it smelt like burnt oil to me. I thought it was probably a car out side that had a bust cylinder gasket or something and was burning oil, my wife closed the window and for me that was the end of the issue.

I then went outside to disperse the grass clipping in the bio tonne when the lady from next door who was outside with her two children and her Mobil in her hand ready to call the fire department asked me if I knew were the smell was coming from. At this stage the smell was very intensive but were it was actually coming from I could not say. I called my wife and together we checked all the cellars and found nothing unusual. We then went outside to see if we could localise were the smell of burning oil was coming from. In the mean time the lady from next door had called the fire department and they were on their way to us. We then actually found out were the smell was coming from it was the flat next door to our.

The fire brigade turned up in force lights flashing sirens going, in fact the full works. Neighbours turned up from no were not wishing to miss such a show. Police and ambulance turned up and it was a full-scale action, not to be forgotten for along time.

The firemen broke into the flat just as the grandparents (who were looking after the little girl while the parents were at work) came back from were they had been.

The cause of the burning fat and the heavy smoke was a frying pan left on the oven with chicken legs in it. The Grand mother had forgotten to switch of the oven when they left the flat.

So much excitement we haven’t had for along time. The main thing is no one was hurt and really little damage was done.

The photos are of the fire brigade out in full force.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

A new project.

Starting a new project is one thing, planning and financing it is the other. Separating our garden from our neighbours we had four conifer trees, which gave us a bit of privatise when we sat out on our patio. Now for some unknown reason they have died off on us in less the six months (no idea why) so we decided not to plant new trees but instead put a fence up.

Now there are all types of fences on the market, and picking the right one that fits in our budget was nerve robbing with two visits to the DIY store, also we had to consider our neighbours, luckily there we had no big problems.

The job entailed first of all taking the trees out complete with roots, transporting the fence home (on the roof rack of the car) secondly putting the fence up which meant cementing in the post supports (the fence has four section) lining up the fence accurately and then two coating of wood preservative, the job took me three days to finish. Both my neighbours and my wife are pleased with the results, and that’s the main thing.

On Thursday I visited my friend http://campdllroadblog.blogspot.com/ he was having some difficulties with setting up his Blog post and together we worked that out so I hope in the future we will see some interesting posts from him. I always enjoy my visits and we have a good chat, this time he give me one of his home made curries to take home with me, it was delicious and very hot!

Glad to hear that my brother no1broadstreet has arrived at his destination in the US safely and is enjoying his holiday. I have received a load of photos from him and I must say it looks very warm were he is. I am hoping that perhaps we can link up with each other via Skype while he is over there

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The photos are of the dieing trees and the new fence.