The 70th Birthday.

The wife is well and fit again, thank goodness. It’s good so because yesterday was her 70th birthday which we celebrated very quietly just the two of us.
I got up first and took the dog out then off I went to the bakery on my bike to buy fresh rolls for breakfast. Arriving back before my wife was out of the shower set the table for breakfast out side on the patio because it was a wonderful morning.
When my wife came outside every thing was finished, fresh coffee and rolls and her birthday presents were laid out. I bought her a pair of ear-rings (she picked them herself) a modern necklace in black and white and some perfume from Jill Sanders called Soft (Jill Sanders being my wife’s favourite brand)
My friend Colin called in at around half past ten with a beautiful bunch of flowers and a birthday card also a good friend of my wife came with a basket filled with plants. Later on in the morning our next-door neighbours came round with flowers and to congratulate my wife.
In the evening we went out for dinner to a local Gasthaus were we spent a very pleasant evening. On arriving home we sat out side on the patio for an hour with a glass of wine. Both my wife and myself agreed it was a perfect day. All my wife’s Face book friends sent congratulations, which made the day for my wife.
We both, has my brother no1broadstreet puts it advanced into the 21 century this week in that we bought our self’s a new mobile each, nothing sophisticated something that is suitable for people over 65 a Sony Ericsson T303 I must say a vast improvement on our old mobiles. I bought them through Internet in doing so saved some money.
This morning I did a 10 Km run, I was a bit late in setting off because of the late night yesterday and the drinks that I had consumed during the day. The run went better than I thought it would go, naturally I felt the lack of sleep and the beer and wine did not help but I did it and that’s the main thing.
We found out last week that at the end of the year our neighbours will be moving, they have bought a house, which at the moment is being built and should be finished in September. We will be sorry to see them go, they are 30 years younger then we are but have been very good neighbours. Let’s hope our new neighbours will be just as nice?
I am sorry to hear that my brothers Blog is suffering because of the new Twitter rave I shall continue to write my Blog so long has I know someone is interested in reading it and once in a while writes a comment on them.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss
The photos speak for themselves

A strenuous week.

Talk about a strenuous week! This last week health wise was a bad one for my wife.
On Monday morning she had an appointment with her orthopaedic doctor about her knee, he X-rayed it to see if there was any bone damage, thank goodness that was not the case. What she has is a Bursal Synovitis (Schliembeutalenzüdung in German) and has to cool it to cure it.
In the Afternoon we drove into Düsseldorf to do a bit of shopping, my wife wanted a new pair of shoes and a blazer for the summer. Later on during the night the coughing started, my wife suffers with a bit of bronchitis so we did not take too much notice of it.
On Tuesday it developed into something what I would call whopping cough also she became fever that’s when we started to worry. The coughing started to get worse and more frequent and by midday she was in bed with a temperature of 38.7. Our first thoughts were, had she picked up the so called Swine flu I looked up the symptom’s in Internet and although I was certain it wasn’t the Swine flu I was uneasy
On Wednesday the coughing was worse and we could not get the temperature down.
I had an appointment with my doctor at quarter past ten with my stomach and I’m glad to say it’s nothing serious, a very small Gall bladder stone and really not worth mentioning. I was told to cut down on the cheese (which I eat a lot of) and watch the fats, butter salad creams ect.
I told the doctor that my wife was in bed with a very bad cough that had appeared out of nowhere and that she had fever, his remark was that bed was the right place and if it got any worse I should let him know.
By Friday the coughing had turned into a very bad cold with all the symptoms, I can’t remember when my wife had such a bad cold as this one.
When one is young one gets over a cold very quickly but the older one is the longer it takes to make a complete recovery and that is the case with my wife.
For me it’s hell when my wife is sick, I can’t cook, absolutely useless. I also had to do the weekly shopping, for me, well let’s put it this way I would rather do a day’s hard work then doing the shopping, again absolutely useless.
As far as photography goes with my new camera, well I have made four photos just testing it and I have made myself acquainted with the technical features I just haven’t had the time to do anything else.
Thursday is a national holiday and we are hoping for some better weather because for the last few days it rained most of the time, only in the north of Germany they have been having good weather.
I have been reading the post of the Blotter’s predicament of having to find some were new to live. Personally I have never gone through such an experience but I know someone that has gone through it twice and he told me the best way to cope with it is never look backwards just get on with your new life. Anyway I wish the Blotter all the very best for his future life.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss
The photo is the old Düsseldorf city sky line.

Canon G10

After coffee and a piece of homemade cake I sat down outside on the patio intending to write a post for my Blog. I first clicked on my brothers Blog to see if he had written a new post and his Twitter entries caught my attention. One and half hours later I had registered in Twitter and posted a comment to my brother. I must admit I don’t know really the potential that it offers but knowing my brother he will give me the gen on it when I ask him.
On Friday evening (our time) I had a Skype link with my brother the main topic was his heart attack and we were glad to hear that everything is ok with him and has usual we enjoyed the link.
I showed him my new camera (Canon G10), which I had just bought and I must say I think I have bought the right one. Of course all cameras have there plus and minuses. I was looking for a compact camera with good technical features and coming close to a SLR at a price what I could afford or I should say was prepared to pay (529 Euros).
My wife has appointment with her orthopaedic tomorrow morning, her left knee is still swollen from her fall and she is in pain with it. She should have gone to the doctor the next day after she had fallen but one is always wiser afterwards.
I have to see my doctor on Wednesday about my stomach; I’m having a bit of trouble with it at the moment the same complaint that I had after working in Russia.
I had my eyes laser scanned on Monday that cost me 80 Euros. They checked out my optic nerve and to my dismay they are not OK, which means I have to use medication in drop form for the rest of my life (what a thought) The pressure on my eyes are far to high and has to be reduced to stop me from going blind (Green Star). It’s not that dramatic because I’m in the early stage and the doctor said "there is nothing to worry about".
It’s bloody awful growing old but what the hell.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss
The photo is the first one taken with my new camera, it something that caught my eye while out with the dog.

Heart attack.

On Friday I received E-Mail from my brother No1Broadstreet telling me that he was in Hospital with a light heart attack. This information struck me dumb; I just couldn’t believe what I had read.
Now Stress is a thing that some people can live with all theirs lives and have no problems, with others it builds up inside and then can turn out to be a killer (heart attack, stroke).
I think my brother has had his share of stress over the last years with his boys and on top of that the job that he does plus shift work and now it is showing. I only hope that he takes this warning seriously and acts accordingly in the future.
I remember sixteen years ago when I had a total nerves breakdown, due to too much work and daily stress situations. When I arrived at the clinic to start my convalesces the doctor, after he had examined me told me, that unless I changed my way of life the next one would be the big one (Heart attack) he said “ Stress Kills”.
Apart from this shattering news the week has been a very quiet one, weather wise it’s been sunny and warm. On Friday afternoon (1st of May) we had some friends round for coffee and cake and a few drinks was quite enjoyable.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss
The photo was taken on Saturday morning while we were having breakfast outside on the patio. (Young wine)