The first post 2011.

Snow,snow and nothing but snow....

After a complete year of not writing I have decided to reopen my Blog again .
I shall keep my blogs short because I am not a good writer at the best of times. I shall add a photo in each Blog with a title.
Our Christmas was white this year and we celebrated it very quietly. New year we had neighbours round for the evening and we were in bed around half past two, not too bad for old folks.
Both my wife and I are in good health and that's the most importent thing.
The above photo was taken in December during which we had so much snow, in fact we had over 40 cm of the stuff, I can't remember when we had so much snow, not were we live.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss

Snow snow snow and nothing but snow.

I’m not the type of guy that moans a lot about the weather! In fact I usually take it as it comes. Now one expects snow in winter but this year it getting a bit out of hand. We that live in the area of Düsseldorf usually get a bit of snow now and again and sometimes none at all.
This year we have had so much snow. It has snowed nearly every day for the last week causing havoc for the traffic and trains and no amount of delays and cancellations of flights.
For me it means getting up every morning early (around five) and clearing the footpaths and entrance’s to the three houses that I look after as janitor.
Last night for instance (after a heavy snow fall) there were 1300 traffic accidents alone in our county of North Rhine Westfalen causing deaths and badly injuring a lot of people.
All though we have had a lot of snow, in some ways we have been very lucky because compared to the north and north east of Germany we have had a small amount of the stuff.
I have got to the stage were I can’t see snow any more and long for spring.
This morning I watched the weather forecast on TV and they said “At the beginning of next week there is a large depression approaching bringing us once again a large amount of snow on Tuesday.
I haven’t been out with my camera for some time now, what with the kitchen and the bad weather (it’s grey in grey) I hope to get out for a few hours this week if there is a break in the weather.
My running is suffering because of the bad weather the risk is too great in slipping and falling breaking something.
Just on a closing note, I have heard it costs a city like Munich daily 600,000 Euro to keep the roads clear of snow.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The photo I took when it first snowed.

Old for new.

Were does one start with the story, after such a fortnight of dammed hard work?
Well I started by taking out the old kitchen two weeks ago Saturday/Sunday and storing it in the cellar were it was to be picked up by the church that we had given it to. Who in their function pass it on to people in need?
On the Monday I started to strip the wallpaper (wood-chip) well that is a job I can tell ya!! Our first intentions were to keep the wall tiles (10x10) and add another row on top of them giving us the height that we needed between the floor cupboards and wall cupboards.
Unfortunately some of the tiles were lose and so we decided instead of adding new tiles to old ones we would retile the kitchen instead.
That meant we had to go out and buy new tiles, luckily we did not have to spend to much time looking because about a quarter of an hour after entering the store we found the ones we liked. They are 20x25 cm white/grey in colour with a light texture, they go very well with the new kitchen and we are now pleased that we decided to retile.So not only did I have to strip the walls I also had to take of all the old tiles and clean the walls from mortal. Once done I had then to lay some new electrical stripping for some new power points which caused so much dust and dirt that the whole flat was filthy after doing so which didn’t go down well with my wife.
It took me nearly two weeks to complete everything from putting in new stripping, tiling, wallpapering, laying new linoleum and painting the window frame.A week last Tuesday the new kitchen was delivered and in the next day and half was installed, the guy that installed the kitchen was a super craftsman that knew his job and we are more then pleased with the result.
Getting the flat cleaned and the putting every thing back in the kitchen took us three days and I can say we were both dead beat after doing so.
While I was doing the kitchen my wife had her kitchen spread around the flat, the coffee machine was in the bathroom, we had the garden table in the study to prepare meals on a small electric stove to cook on and also the microwave. Talk about improvising that’s not the word for it so my wife was chuffed to bits when every thing was back in its place.
After so much hard work we are both very pleased with the end result and that’s the main thing. (See photos)

We have been having extreme cold weather since the beginning of the year with a lot of snow (which we still have) this is for our area of Germany very uncommon.
Last night for instance the temperature dropped to eight below and during the day never rose above freezing.
The forecast for the next few days is more snow and strong winds.Brrrrr.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The beginning of a new year..!!

The start of a New Year!! What will it hold for us? It’s good that we can’t see too far ahead but I hope for everyone it will be a good year.
Our New years Eve was spent at home, just the two of us. We spent most of the evening chatting and reminiscing and in between watched a bit of TV.
My wife had made some sandwiches and a soup that could be warmed up later on in the evening. Our alcohol consume was moderate on the evening, two bottles of beer and one and a half bottles sparkling wine.
Midnight we went out onto the patio and watched the fireworks, ourselves we had bought five LONG sparklers, burning time for each one five minuets.
We never buy fireworks! It’s against my principals. Letting off fireworks should be left to the experts and not to every idiot who (mostly) have no responsibility when letting them off, thus causing a lot of damage and hurting a lot of people in doing so.
After we had watched the fireworks (this year we did not go outside) we watched the celebrations in Berlin on the TV.
At a quarter to one we went to bed, not bad for the older generation?
I must say we are both glad that the holidays are over and we return to normality. We took down all the Christmas decoration and the tree of course on Saturday morning tided the flat up and now we are ready for 2010.
During the night it snowed heavily again and I was up at quarter to six clearing the foot paths. They have to be cleared for seven on a Sunday, during the week it’s six (that’s the law) afterwards I went with our dog for is morning walk through the woods, he just loves the snow; I must say most dogs do.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The Photo is one I took of No 1 Wahnenmühle. That's were our street gets it's name from.

The last week in the year.

To round off a very quiet and peaceful Christmas we had a link with my brother and his wife yesterday evening. It was a very enjoyable one and a half hours of catching up on ones news and with lots of laughs on both sides.
Christmas Eve day was spent like always setting up and decorating the Christmas tree, the custom being in Germany, that the tree is set up and decorated on Christmas Eve. Also the Christmas presents are given on Christmas Eve.
Father Christmas does not bring the presents but the Christkind (the Christ child)
The main celebration in Germany is Christmas Eve and a pure family one, very quiet and solemn entirely different then the English Christmas Eve. For the foreigner one would think one is morning the death of Christ not the birth.
The words in Germany for Christmas Eve are Still and Besinnlich.
In the afternoon I went out into the woods looking for some moss for our crib. This year my wife stayed at home because of the weather conditions they were rather bad due to the large amount of snow from a few days before.
Our meal for the evening was very traditional, potato salad with Vienna sausages, which we have every year washed down with a bottle of Italian Chardonnay. Afterwards we sat back and watched a very seasonal film on TV.
Christmas day like most families, the morning was spent mainly in the kitchen cooking the Christmas dinner. After the large meal of Turkey, roast potatoes and red cabbage and a bottle of wine we had a well-deserved afternoon nap.
The weather had once again turned around on us giving us fairly warm day and with it melting most of the snow. We can’t complain at least we had some snow for Christmas this year that for our part of Germany is very rare.
Boxing day is one of those days were one seems to loll around the house wishing that the Christmas holidays would soon be over and one can get back to normality.
Once again we have managed to celebrate Christmas without any mishaps, I wonder how many families have managed that?

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The photo is one taken with my wife’s camera on my way to the shops last Monday and I have done a little processing with photoshop.

Christmas comes but once a year..!!

I have just got back from the shops, (bought the last small items that we need for Christmas) and the shops are full, what with only one and a half days to go till Christmas everyone seems to be in a hurry and I would say most of them are in a stress situation as well.
The last week saw the start of the winter here. On Wednesday and Thursday it snowed and on Friday the temperature were 14 degrees below freezing.
On Sunday it snowed all day from eight in the morning till around nine in the evening, that gave us a round about 25 cm new snow. You can imagine what the road conditions were like? During the night from Sunday till Monday morning there were 1000 accidents alone in our county.
I myself haven’t touched my car since we’ve had snow.
My wife and I will be celebrating Christmas by ourselves; all though we are alone we shall be having the traditional English Christmas dinner Turkey, Roast potatoes and Red cabbage. It’s the only time in the year that I cook and on the occasion I cook the turkey with the roast potatoes (Smile ha ha.)
Looking back over the year we think it has been a good year all in all for us. We have bought a new car and we get our new kitchen at the beginning of January, but the most important thing is, we have not lost any money due to the financial crises.
Health wise it could have been a better one for my wife, what with her fall in spring and then the problems with arthritis in her wrists, which still bother her.
Never the less we can’t complain there are lot’s of people out there that are a lot worse off then we are.
On the Blotter side of things I know have slowed down considerably, my main interest now being focused on Flickr and my photography. This doesn’t mean that I shan’t be making a blog any more, it means that in the future they won’t appear as often as before.

I wish every one a Merry Christmas and a peaceful and healthy New Year.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The photo is taken from our study window after the heavy snow fall.

Better late then never.

No I haven’t gone into Winterschlaf (hibernation) it’s just that life slows down in winter for us.
I have just got back from my evening walk with the dog and for the third time this week we are both drenched. The weather is absolutely miserable it’s raining most of the time and it’s far to mild for the time of the year.
The flu is on the march I’m glad that my wife and I have had both the normal and the swine flu jab.
We wanted to go to visit the local town Weihnachtsmarkt (Christmas bazaar) on Friday evening but once again the weather put a stop to our plans, it poured down.
We are going to (if the weather permits) go to Düsseldorf on Tuesday or Wednesday evening to the Christmas bazaar there, it’s much larger and of course there is much more to see.
My wife is suffering at the moment with arthritis in both her hands; it’s causing her much pain and handy capping her movements a lot. She has been to see the doctor but I have the feeling when you get to a certain age they don’t seem to be very interested in helping you, they put it down to old age.
My wife has been surfing in the net for forums on arthritis and has found one or two interesting articles. One of them being, you take a tablespoon full of cold pressed Sunflower oil in the morning when you get up and chew it or move it about in your mouth for ten minuets then spit it out. There should be some positive affect after about four week.Will keep you posted on the development of this curious method.
Between rain showers I have managed to get out and about with my camera looking for interesting things to take photos of. I have decided on the next nice day I shall go into Düsseldorf for the day and see what I can photograph there.
Yesterday my wife and I backed mince pies; my mate Colin brought back some mince when he visited England early on in the year. We backed 41 pies and we are going to make some more later on in the week. We have given some to both our neighbours to taste because they don’t know what mince pies are, must say there was a positive echo.
Take care out there were ever you are. Tshüss

The photo speaks for it's self.