Altweiberfastnacht

After having a decent nights sleep in four days I am up and about and feeling a lot better.

Yesterday morning I had appointment with my doctor mainly for some medication for my cough, which was slowly but surly tearing my lungs apart (well that’s the feeling I had)

He told me that what I had was a virus infection, which is circulating at the moment. I only hope that my wife is spared this virus infection.

Today is Altweiberfastnacht the start of the street carnival in Germany the climax being Monday, which is called Rosenmontag when the large carnival processions go on to the streets. Cologne, Düsseldorf, Mainz being the major cities were the carnival is celebrated the most.

My plan was, before I got hit with this virus to go into Düsseldorf with my camera to take some photos of the street carnival, now I shall have to wait and see how I am feeling on the day.

I had an appointment with my optician ten days ago to have my eyes tested (my glasses are four years old) and just as I thought my eyesight had deteriorated and I have to have new glasses. I decided to keep the old frame seeing that it was an expensive one and was still in good condition. This morning I took my glasses to have them altered I was told I could pick them up again around four this afternoon. I got a phone call around two telling me that while mounting the new glasses in the old frame the nose bridge had broken meaning a delay of at least 24 hours before I get my glasses back.

The weather has once again changed; it’s gone cold with high winds and the promise of snow.

Last night we had frost and the photo I have added is of a leaf left over from last year ,because of the warm weather that we have been having there is a new bud starting to develop and the old with the new plus the frost, well it just caught my eye

Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss.

That's how things go

On Friday evening I started to have a tickle in the back of my throat, which is for me a sure sign of the beginning of a cold. Normally I don’t pick a cold up that easily but my neighbour has been battling with this bug for over a week now and the chances are 10 to 1 I’ve picked it up from him. Fever is one of the symptoms that go with this cold. I think the last time I had fever was when I had the flu and that must have been 18 years ago. The cough that I have developed from one day to the next is phenomenal. What annoyers me with a cold it saps all the strength out of you. On a closing note I have developed a sore throat, that’s all I needed.

With time on my hands, (because I’m propped up on the couch feeling absolutely awful) I looked through some old slides and I must admit some found memories came back to us (my wife was soothing me and looking at the slides as well) The one I have added this time was taken in a old ruined house, when taking it I nearly fell in to the cellar shaft because I had only a few seconds to get myself into position and was concentrating on which side I had to go. That’s it for today not feeling on top of the world.

Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss.

The weather is like a YoYo

Well this week has been a better one, no staying up all night with our dog, although once in a while in the night and in the early morning (five o’clock) he woke us up with his coughing.

On Wednesday I had an appointment with the vet, took his temperature, listened with her stethoscope to his lungs and heart which took in all three to four minuets and I was back outside again, cost 16 Euros. I would like to know what her hourly income is?

Weather wise this week we have had everything except for snow. The temperature goes up and down like a YoYo. Last night it was raining, during the night it started to freeze causing havoc on the roads this morning.

I have been messing around with Google notebook this week and of course just like me got most of it wrong. I am glad to say my brother once again helped me to sort it out. All this Internet stuff is brand new for me and I’m learning by doing so to say step by step.

Seeing that the weather today was cold but sunny my wife and I ventured into our garden to do a bit of tiding up after the gale force winds that we had over the weekend.

To close with a sad note as far as my wife is concerned, Federer lost in three straight sets to Djokovic in the semi-finales of the Australian Open.

The first photo is how the weather should be at this time of year (taken winter 2004) the second photo is how the weather is right at this moment (taken today)

Take care out there were ever you are. Tschüss

Ignoramus

There is one thing that get my back up and that’s plain laziness coupled with ignorance. Our recycling system works perfectly if you comply by the rules, by placing the different types of waste in the correct containers that are at our disposal. Before the container for plastic, tin, laminated cartons extra is empted it’s checked to see if no other types of rubbish has been included such as glass, leftovers, electrical appliances extra. If this takes place the container will be empted at a later date and we have to pay the extra costs, which are around 60 €.

We have people living in our street that are to ignorant and just plain lazy to comply with the existing rules of recycling. My wife and I have on many occasions removed waste that has been placed in the wrong container and disposed of it correctly, thus saving our neighbours and our self money. Again this week was no exception. This seems to be a problem today in our society , self-centred ignoramus.

Take care out there were ever you are Tschüss.AC

Primroses inJanuary

Saturday, the weather is absolutely horrible, it’s drizzling and the temperature is around 12 degrees. I have all my life suffered with low blood pressure (a blessing really) but this kind of weather gives me a bad head, I feel like I’m floating, sometimes I have it that bad that I can’t drive and have to take medication. Yesterday afternoon we drove to the garden centre were a orchid show was being held. My wife has 4 orchid plants herself and is always keen to learn more about them. There are some beautiful orchids it’s just the price that knocks you back, you can pay anything up to 40 Euros for one plant.

While we were there naturally we had a good look round and ended up buying primroses and large headed daisy’s (they have a proper name of course but I don’t know it) the photo is taken after I had planted them. We thought the primroses would brighten the days up for us, anyway seeing that the weather is so mild.

This week we have started to wash the sun blinds (that we have on every window) this means taking them down, socking them in luke warm water in the bath tub and hanging them up again wet so the plights stay in. Just my luck as I was hanging the last one up a fitting broke (they are made out of hard plastic) so it was off on my bike to Hilden, which is about 5 kilometres from were we live to get some new fittings. I could have gone by car of course but on a Saturday parking in Hilden is somewhat tedious.

One thing has changed for the better; our dog Toby is not coughing as much since he has been taking the stronger antibiotics. I have to see the vet on Wednesday with him again.

It is sometimes surprising just how stupid one can be. A few months ago we decided that we needed a new bath room mat it wasn’t something that had to be bought straight away so we had time to look around compare prices and so on. Then here we go the pair of us completely stupid at the time and so it turned out that we went and bought an orange/red bathroom mat what doesn’t match with any thing else that we have in the bathroom. Why we bought it we both don’t know only thing we know it was expensive 160 Euros. Now every time we go into the bathroom we get a culture shock. It has to go!!

Take care out there were ever you are Tschüss

Diet

This time of the year one of the main topics is dieting. After the Christmas period people, mostly women are looking for a good diet to lose the extra pounds that they have put on over Chtistmas.

I thought this diet might be of interest.

About a year a go my wife decided to go on a diet after reading an article in a magazine. A week later in a cookery show on TV she saw the actual diet being prepared.

The diet is quite simple the hardest part about it is you have to stick it out to the end, no faltering. My wife stuck it out for three weeks and lost exactly 10 Kilos.

Here is the receipt for the soup.

Ingredients:

1 Large onion.

A small winter cabbage.

500 gr. Tomatoes.

1 Red Paprika

3 to 4 sticks of celery.

Garlic and chilli (individual taste)

Parsley and olive oil.

Chicken stock for flavouring

Remove the skins of the tomatoes and dice. Cut the cabbage into small strips, dice the paprika and celery, put the vegetable into large pan with about 2 litres of water. Fry the onions with a table soon of olive oil and then add to the vegetables, add Garlic and chilli to your own taste, add salt and pepper also chicken stock for flavouring. Cook for about 20 minuets. When served add fresh Parsley for decoration.

The diet goes as follows. Breakfast as normal, dinner cabbage soup, and evening meal cabbage soup.

All I can say “ you have to be a strong willed to see it through” but it works!

You may have plain yoghurt later on in the evening if you are hungry.

Take care out there were ever you are Tschüss

Zwingerhusten & Snowdrops

What a week! I was up again all last night with our dog, he started coughing at half past one in the afternoon and finely stopped at six the following morning. My wife took over at half past five and I got my head down for a couple of hours.

My wife and I decided that another visit to the vet was inevitable. From my visit to the vet on Saturday the diagnoses was (Zwingerhusten) translated, kennel cough but we wasn't all that sure and wanted more tests done to clear our doubts.

Our appointment was for quarter past four this afternoon. We got to see the vet at five past five. Blood sample, X-Ray, new medicine, cost 203 Euros. The good thing is though it is the so-called kennel cough and nothing more serious. The vet told us it would take up to six weeks before he is cured.

On our way to the vet we saw the first snowdrops of the year. They are a bit early this year, no wonder it’s far to warm for the time of year. Today was 9 degrees and they are for-casting for the weekend up to 13 degrees. Yesterday we had gale force winds which has brought the warmth from the south to us.

The photo is of the snowdrops that we saw.

Take care out there were ever you are Tschüss