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