Small Miracles

Do you remember that the kindergarten children had collected pencils and crayons and toys for "my children" in Mozambique? I told Val about that (she is the one who always delivers the parcels), and she thought it was a lovely idea that perhaps the children could get into contact and send pictures to each other.
So I asked them for a group picture which I will receive this afternoon, and I promised I`d add my share of supplies and would then send it off quickly. I always send 20 kg-parcels, because paper is heavy, and if I send smaller ones, the postage fee is not much less. It costs 85 Euros to send a package from here to South Africa ( to Val, who delivers it directly to the remote school, always taking photos of the big moment. So sweet! And so personal). No chance to reduce it, the post office guys told me. Donations? So what?!

How much is that in $$? Well, I think about 125? I use the money which I get for my teachings, and I`m not taking much, because then my neighbours could not afford it. So it takes me a while till I have enough money together for the 20 kg contents AND the postage fees.
So what I did first thing was weigh the bag which the children had brought me. Almost 4 kg.
That leaves 16 to me.
I thought, hmmm. Our local discounter is just praising his offer of cheap exercise-books! I`ll go there and buy as many as I can carry. At home I weighed them and found out there was still more room left. So I took my bike and bought a bunch more, all in all now 135, of the large kind. And I added some cakes of soap and some other little extras which I always do.
Then I weighed it again - almost 20 kg!
But oh, the postage.
I wished that someone would help me.

And you know, this is so peculiar and has happened before (see my old post "Wishful Thinking"). I say this wish, just to myself. Not that I expect someone to hear me.
But someone does!
In my letterbox I found a letter. It was from a neighbour lady back from my old home town. She and I have been corresponding, talking about our grandchildren and such, just nice chats. But I had neglected her for a while now, and when I saw her letter I thought, how nice, she is not holding grudges.
And then I opened and read it, another nice chatty letter, and almost at the end she casually wrote -
By the way, I wonder if you are still sending parcels to the children in Mozambique? I am sure you do. So I have sent the postage money for another one to your bank account.
(In fact she had done it before, so she did have my account).
Wow. That made me sit down. I would never have asked her, and in fact we had not even talked for a while. So what made her think of my wish at this moment?!!
Thank you so much, Mrs. Jetzlaff! I want to mention your name here. Without kind people like you who don`t even make a fuss about all the things they do, how could the world keep turning?

...and the Wall came tumbling down!

I love that old gospel of Joshua who "fit" the battle of Jericho:
"Joshua commanded the children to shout,and the walls came tumbling down."
And what did the children shout?
Well, in Leipzig, and in Schwerin, and in Weimar, and in Magdeburg, when finally the people had overcome their fear, they gathered on the streets, they started walking, and what they shouted was "WE ARE THE PEOPLE!"
They had no weapons, they walked peacefully, but every time they got together, week after week, on their now famous "Monday-Demonstrations", which began in September 1989, going out from the churches, there were more people joining. At first there were 10, then 70, then there were 700, and in Leipzig where it all came to a climax, finally there walked 70 000 through the streets, shouting nothing but "WE are the people"!

It could have ended like it had done in their first attempt to shake off this cruel dictatorship, back in 1954, or as it had in Hungary in 1956, or in Czechoslovakia in 1968... there was no guarantee. But there had been a song in this autumn of 1989, written by the German group "The Scorpions". It was called "The Wind of Change". You could feel it - the wind of change. The time was ripe.
Germany is celebrating today, all its 82 million people, along with our guests from all over the world. Hillary Clinton is here, Gordon Brown, Old President Bush - who was a great supporter, thank you for your help, it is unforgotten. But then - he grew up with the American Pledge of Allegiance. ".. one Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all".
These words are mighty and powerful, and they were true for Germany, too. Our country had been divided after the Terrible World War, which the Nazis had started, and the Eastern part had been ruled by the Soviet Union. While the Western Allies, most of all the Americans, have treated their occupied zones generously (your care packages, your "Raisin Bombers" over Berlin, and most of all your Marshall Plan will never be forgotten!), the Russians carried away all factories and usable machines, so the population had to start from scrap.
Soon there was a DDR regime established which behaved as horrible as any dictatorship (in their totalitarian ways not different from the Nazis). The Secret State Police - Stasi - controlled the lives of the people, children were indoctrinated, some even, whose parents were courageous and tried to escape or only spoke up, and who were either shot or imprisoned for long years, were forcefully adopted by "true socialists"...there is no end to all those horrors.
Many people who live under such circumstances, they just try to survive and adjust. Who is a born hero? I do not blame them. I blame those who spied on their friends and neighbours or who earned privileges at the expense of others. But on the whole people just tried their best to cope, as there seemed not much hope of things getting better.
But then ...was it the Polish Pope? Our neighbour Poland, having suffered most in the War, from both the Germans and the Russians, but who kept up their Christian faith, they suddenly looked up. One of their people had been elected Pope, Karol Woytila, now called John Paul II. He visited Poland, and new hope came up. Solidanosc was founded, and the people stood up against their suppressors. It cost them lives, and they did not gain their freedom yet, but this was the beginning!
Thank you, my Polish friends and neighbours! And then others followed. The Prague embassy taking up refugees, the Hungarian border opening... the wind of change started blowing.

Mr. Gorbachev, the Soviet President, he was a man whom fate had placed at the right spot in history. He loved Russia, not in a patriotic sort of way, but with his deep heart. And so when he met the German Chancellor Kohl, who felt the same way for his country, they understood each other. Gorbachev said he would not interfere. It was up to the Germans to decide if they wanted to reunite.

And then this fateful night, 20 years ago, happened.
There was a report on CNN yesterday. All the dramatic moments were shown. I still cannot see them without crying. All our German TV programs are full of these events of 20 years ago, and none of us gets tired of them.
I remember clearly how we sat in front of our TV sets that night, staring at the scenes in Berlin... thousands of East-Berlin people pressing against the Brandenburg Gate, the soldiers not knowing what to do! Had there really been an order to lift the barriers? They could not believe it. Then the West-Berliners who had heard that fateful press conference, the came from the other side. An Eastern woman was shouting at the soldiers on top of her lungs "Let us out, be human, let us finally out!" until suddenly they gave up. No shot fell.
What you can see in those late-night pictures were huggings, cryings, dancings, people climbed that hateful Wall and laughed and sang. Germany was reunited, and again one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Dear God, I thank you for this moment in history. It was marvellous, and we are still happy.

Meanwhile we have moved to a place in the former Eastern Germany, and we and our neighbours have become one people again.
This was the place where my husband was born, and he thought he would never be able to see it again. We are deeply thankful.
Love from
Angela

Bits and pieces

When you don`t hear from me for a while, it does not mean I have been sitting on a bench, dangling my legs. Quite the contrary! I even lost 1 1/2 kilos in the last week. Because that`s the secret of losing weight - running around and not getting to eat much.

And being scared of the oral surgeon helps, too, I guess. But I`ll skip that part! Too scary.

Instead, I`ll just tell you a bit of what I did in the last week, in no coherent order.

For the weekend, our Daughtie Nr. 2 came all the way from South Germany. It takes a train ride of 14 hours, changing trains twice (or she`d end up in Warshaw), spending two early morning hours on the Berlin Main Station (where she had to be rescued from a drunken guy who wanted to make friends), and arriving here with her head pillow and a suitcase full of tulip and daffodil bulbs for our garden. Sweet girlie. I am pretty sure I would NOT have done that for MY parents! She is the newly married one, but her husband, being the brilliant lawyer, was invited at two different places to hold speeches, and so she sneaked out.

I tried to upload my pictures HERE, but they appeared at the top. Oh well. The shirt is one which daughtie had also hidden in her suitcase. She thought this was an appropriate gift for me! I said I`ll wear it in my next English lesson!

The other one she took of me when we walked to the beach. It was cold, but the sun was shining, so we had a marvellous time. She had not expected it to be quite so cold up here, so she borrowed her father`s thick Polish jacket, wearing a warm hat with it and looked like a Russian soldier. Too bad the photo I took of her is still in her camera!

Then we wanted to buy her a coat in Poland, but just as we arrived at 2 o`clock p.m., all the shops closed before our eyes. On Sobota (that is Saturday, coming from Sabbath, I got told) shops only open till 14 hours, the signs said.

Instead, we walked along the beach and the promenade and had a lovely time, too. This part of Swinemünde had luckily not been destroyed in the war, and so by now the beautiful old houses were restored and look just as they did a hundred years ago. You expect women in their long gowns with wide hats strolling along the promenade! You can still buy picture postcards from those old times.

On Sunday evening she had to leave again. She is the lawyer of a French clothes firm, and they cannot get along along without her. But while she is with us, she is still our little girl. I am so thankful for this gift of our two daughters.

Then on Tuesday we left for Hamburg, because I had the date with my oral surgeon. No, let`s not mention that, no. But when I am in Hamburg, I always use the chance to see our other sweet daughter who is now being at home with Jojo and her little girl of four months. She says this is more exhausting than working as a judge!! But she is so radiant with love for her babies that I always feel happy when I am visiting. Jojo is such a charmer, even his little sister already adores him. He took off my necklace of amber and silver and showed it to Caroline, but she only had eyes for him and smiled with a wide open mouth at her big brother. Daughter Nr. 1 made me a cup of Rooibus tea with milk, and I felt like Mma Ramotswe in Botswana!

A few minutes ago Jojo called me on the phone to say he had had his first field hockey lesson yesterday, and they were now going to buy him a club because he wants to continue playing hockey. Good! When children learn to play team sports (better than tennis I think), it will teach them so much.

The thing that I also always enjoy when driving into the city on my own is the simple fact that I can still DO it! Here I have become such a country egg that at first the city surprises me with its noise and traffic and all those PEOPLE! But then I find my way and even cope with this funny one-way rule of the Sierichstraße! This is a street which is only used INTO the city center in the forenoon, and back out in the afternoon. So strictly at 12 o`clock the one-way rule turns around! It sounds hazardous, but it works!

And I am always DOING so much when I am there. I visited our friend the Prince (the one I had missed last time with the flat tyre), and I roamed the wonderful huge book store Thalia, and I went into Berlitz Language School to inquire about lesson prices, to compare with my own (humble ones). Ha! 46 Euros for 45 minutes if you are alone, and 16 Euros in small groups of 4 to 5 students! That is greedy! But now I can tell my pupils they had better learn NOW, as education is thrown at them for free (or for little money)! Later, when they will NEED a language, and so many DO if they want to be successful, it will cost them riches!

Phhh, I know I am keeping you, sorry, my dears. It is just so easy to chat with you! But now you know on the whole what I have been spending my days with (not mentioning the surgeon), and I hope you will tell me what YOU have been up to lately!

Cheers and all my good wishes to you!

Angela (having survived the surgeon)

Good will, combined with ignorance, sigh

I am always one to acknowledge good will and effort, I really am. And I also think that our young children should learn about other parts of the world and know that others don`t have it so good. Here some children are really spoiled and think that life should provide them with everything they want, and no effort is required from their side.
They should know that children elsewhere are happy when they can get an education and don`t have to work for their living at a young age.
So I willingly accepted an invitation from our local kindergarten to tell them of my project in Africa. You can read all about in in my former post "The children of Mozambique" (can`t link, but you can use the search line). My little pupil Adeline must have told the Nanny about it.

So I took all my colourful photos and books with me (Tippi in Africa, and Elephants in the kitchen) and sat in their middle and began talking in my fairytale voice. I took them on a flight on our magic carpet with me. We flew first over Southern Germany, then the Alpes, Italy, then we crossed the Mediterranian Sea and saw the first glimpse of Africa. We flew over Libya, Egypt, along the Nile, saw our first hippos, and I said, I must mention all these names, because it is a loong journey, and listen to all those beautiful names: Sudan, Ethyopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique. And THERE our carpet goes down, at the tiny village Morape. There is an ocean, too, and a beach, but it looks very different. The trees are different, the animals, look, a dugong and red starfish, and monkeys, and even elephants!
The children listened and were quite fascinated, and then I showed them pictures of the old school - some benches under a tree, and a broken blackboard - and then the newly built one, with a thatched roof, but no chairs inside and no desks. The little five-year-olds got big eyes and said, we have a nice room here and chairs and we get lunch here!
So it was a nice visit, until ... the Nanny had a thought! "Let us all collect some of your stuffed animals and other toys and send them to these children!" she said, proud of her idea. "The children in Angola will love them, and you really don`t need all of your toys."
"Umm, it is Mozambique," I said, "and what these children really need is pencils and exercise-books and chalk and crayons and stationery. If we send them toys, how shall we distribute them to 316 children? There won`t be enough by far for all! So no, keep your toys, but if you want, bring some pencils and I`ll send them to Africa."
(The postage being 85 Euros for a 20 kg parcel, so what I had much rather collect them would be money, but oh well)

Today the whole group of children, along with their Nanny, rang my doorbell. "Here is a bag full of goodies," she said proudly, "for the children in Namibia! And I also wrote them a letter. Maybe then they will write back! And look what we collected - pencils (about 30) and exercise-books (about ten), and a WHOLE lot of stuffed animals! Isn`t that great?"
"Yes, great, I said, thank you, children!"

First thing was I put the animals in my washing machine, trying to figure out which ones were still usable, oh yes, and there were also some plastic toys in there. A plastic violin, a cheese with holes (?)...all I could do was sigh. But then I read the letter which the Nanny had written (in German, of course), and I`ve GOT to share that with you.
"Dear children of the elementary school in Namibia," (really!!)
today you are getting a letter from the island Usedom. There are many lakes, woods, a big Baltic Sea and many houses, flowers, woods, streets and much more. We children go every day to a kindergarten. There we meet many children and play in a large, beautiful group room, and we also work, learn, paint, eat and drink. We eat every day bread, fruits, vegetables, and meat. What do you like to eat best? We would like to know more about you. What do you play every day? What animals do you know? Today we went on an excursion and we found acorns and chestnuts and leaves. when we came home, we were really hungry for our lunch. We had potatoes, gravy, meatballs and red beets.
We have collected some pencils and toys for you and we hope you are happy for them. Please write us back..."
This was the shortened version.

I still feel a bit sick. I mean, yes, they do mean well, certainly. But they also feel quite generous. And they have NO IDEA about life in African villages, or rather how can they, being five, but their Nanny who is TEACHING them, doesn`t.
I even had shown them a picture of the long queue of children that had lined up, each one with a bowl, when once there had been a cauldron of soup provided at school. Lucky day!!
I really cannot translate this letter to them, can I? (Not that my Portuguese is good enough, but I usually ask my friend Filomena when I write letters to the children).
Any advice for me?

Does anybody know (16801) State College, Pa.?

Sometimes I have a funny thought, or an unusual experience, or I see a beautiful flower balcony, and I think, "Oh, I must tell that to Uncle John! He`ll love it!"
Uncle John was born in 1895, so he would now be 114. He was always "old" to me, but no, he never got THAT old (he died at age 95). We met in 1961 when I was 13 and he was 67. He invited me to live with him for a year in his home town of State College, Pennsylvania.
And here my memory begins.
I had just turned 16 and was full of curiosity and a spirit of adventure! We took the ocean liner "Bremen" from Bremerhaven to New York and arrived in New York on a sunny morning in July. There Uncle John`s son and his family awaited us, and we stayed two days in New York. To me that was an overwhelming beginning. I had seen the movie West Side Story and read books about NY, but I had not expected the sounds, the heat, the many colored people, the yellow cabs, the crowds of people in the streets and the immensely tall buildings! All of it made my heart beat!
But what I was really looking forward to was the small town we were heading to. Uncle John had told be a bit about it before. The town was named after the university it hosted, Penn State University, and almost the whole town worked for it. So had Uncle John, who was a carpenter by profession, but now he was retired and had travelled around for a while. In Germany where his ancestors had come from, he met me, and learning of my great wish to see the USA, he had simply invited me. (If you look at my older post "Mr. Generous", you can learn more about him).

State College lies in the Center County of Penna., and at the time I was there, it had 16 000 inhabitants, and about 16 000 students. So it really was not a big town, which suited me just fine. Coming from the city of Hamburg (with 1.7 million inhabitants) this was just the change I was ready for.
My knowledge of America came mostly from books and films. I had seen Rio Bravo and My Friend Shane, so there must be a lot of cowboys around! I read books like My friend Flicka, and Huckleberry Finn, and Gone with the Wind... which all gave me a picturesque image of America. Of course I also knew that in places like Chicago there were gangsters like Al Capone, so a small town was probably a better place to live in!

It is funny to put myself back into my teenage self. I seem to remember so many details, but have they adjusted to my knowledge of today? Luckily, my best friend Ulla kept all the letters which I wrote her in this year, and I have them lying here beside me. Do you mind if I just quote a bit from them? They still make me laugh and shake my head and remember all the scenes. Here we go, translated,
August 23rd, 1964
My dear Ulla, we`re back home from Washington (it was fabulous, but if it hadn`t been quite so hot and we`d have had a little more time, I might have enjoyed it even more). Five letters were waiting for me!!
I must tell you more of my daily life. We are going to church every Sunday, mornings and evenings. There I have already met a lot of people. When church is out, we don`t leave for home right away but have chats in front of the church door. The people find it interesting to talk with me, want to learn a few German words and I must tell them something about Germany. Then they say, "It was nice meeting you" which I find peculiar. What if I`m a real brat and they only haven`t found out yet? How can the KNOW it was REALLY nice to meet me? But they give me friendliness in advance!
Meanwhile we were in the school I am going to go to, and the nice head teacher told me something about their school system and we both agreed that I should visit 11th grade. Now I am to choose 6 subjects out of 94 possible ones!!!! That is going to be tough!
Yesterday I saw my first racoon.
Love, Geli

Sept.1, 1964
Dear Ulla, I am sitting in front of the fan to dry my hair. Soon a girl will come here to take my photo. A few days ago I was interviewed for the school paper. I am one of two foreign students (a boy comes from Paraguay).
I learned something incredible: waterskiing! Friends of Uncle John`s have a boat and took us along to a river named Susquehanna. (The wife is German and has married an American soldier right after the war. Now they have four children). It was so much fun! At first I always got entangled in the skis and swallowed lots of water, thinking I`d never learn to stand upright on them. But with my fourth try I managed the trick and then it felt like flying! Or like gallopping over a meadow!
I have met a family here who offered me a young horse to ride (her name is, believe it or not, Flicka). They own a stud and have five children, of which four can ride horseback excellently. In Western Style, though, reins in one hand, with or without saddle, I SAW them! The fifth can only not yet ride because it is only 17 days old, but I`m sure it will have caught up in one year.
Not far from here lies a small town named Punxsutawney. Doesn`t that sound pretty? I love these Indian names. I am going to call one of my daughters so.
What would you think if us two would marry two Americans and settle near the Rocky Mountains? I don`t think I want to return to Germany.
Have you ever smelled skunk? I already three times! Uaaah!
Love, Geli
17.9. Dear Ulla, I am sitting in my school and we are learning how to spell definite and privilege.
This school cracks me up! After each lesson we have only three minutes time to find our new classroom. (As Ulla knows, in Germany we all sit in classes of about 25 to 30 students, and we all learn the same subjects, and so only the teachers switch rooms).
At first I never found the right room number and was always late. I gallopped along the hallways, ran up and down stairs, knocked down teachers while murmuring my next room number. Meanwhile I noticed, though, that the teachers don`t care much if you are late, and so you may as well take it easy. I am learning Spanish from a Cuban lady with a terrible English accent and French from an American teacher with a horrible French accent. All very funny..."

Stop me, or I will go on and on! Can you feel my excitement? My utter enjoyment? the friendliness of all the people I encountered?
This year has been etched on in my memory. Whenever I meet an American, I want to hug them and say, you have treated me with love and respect (even if it was not YOU), and I am deeply thankful for every smile and every encounter I had.
Thank you, my old friends, no matter if you have passed. In my heart you live on. And I gladly share the love you gave me with the people I am meeting now.
"It is so nice to meet you, my dears. each one of you!"
Love from Geli

Angels in the Dark

Imagine yourself driving your car down a dark road, you being all alone, on your way to pick up your husband from the train. You have planned in enough time, maybe you can even stop at some friends on the way, all is just as it should be. Maybe you even sing a little.
And then you feel that something is frightfully wrong. Your right front tyre has blown, and you must pull over to the side, get out of your car and see the damage.
Have you ever changed a wheel? What tools do you need? Yes, a "Wagenheber", a car lifter (jack something?), and hmmm, you must loosen the bolts, don`t you? It always looks so easy and quick at the formula one. But it is dark here, and no one around you can ask. Or is there?
On the other side of the road there is a restaurant, and just now a group of men are entering it!
So you speed over, and run in and ask if for a ten Euro note one of the nice men would come and change your wheel!? A young man gets up and says, I`ll try. He walks over with me, even finds all the appropriate tools and the spare wheel, and then starts the job. Only he is not very clever, he fixes the jack under the plastic frame so it gets a dent. He is not really a great help. And then suddenly an angry guy appears from the restaurant and says, "You are spoiling our whole evening! My friend is not supposed to waste his time here!" and obediently the young man drops his tool and walks away with him.
This is one of the moments when you swallow and think, " Oh God, what now? How am I going to get out of this situation? I wish someone would come and help me!" My hands were shaking and somehow I could not even think straight. It was very dark, and no one else around, and soon my husband would be arriving at the train station. He, I know, can change a wheel easily. He is my rock and my hero. But first I must get to the station. Where is the next bus stop? Can Paco wait in the car if it takes long till a bus arrives? Or can I just RUN? No, it`s still too far away.
I wish, I wish, someone would come and help me!

Well, how can I tell you what happened next? Without you thinking I am making this up?

A car pulled up beside me and a young woman got out, saying, "You are standing in my driveway, can`t you park somewhere else?" "I`d love to," I say, "but look at my wheel!" And then she looks closer and listens to my story. She says, "Wait, I`m calling my boyfriend", and soon her boyfriend arrives, in his big car, well-clad. He says, "I`m not good at changing wheels myself, but if you say your husband can do it, we`ll drive you to the train station and bring him back here." I am overwhelmed. I introduce myself, tell them my name, and the girl smiles and says, "`That`s my name, too!" So I get in their car, we wait for my husband together, they drive us back, where my hero quickly, like in the formula one, changes the wheel (He says, didn`t that guy know you have to loosen the bolts first? He would never have been able to finish this! - Oh, I am so happy I have such a clever best friend!!! What would I do without him?!).
The young couple hold their torch for him and we chat all along, and now I ask you, What were these two but real full-blooded angels?!!!
The next day we drive to their house and ring their doorbell and I give her a package of Lindt pralinés which I say is for our "last-night angels". She laughs and seems surprised but glad. I`m sure it makes her feel good to be appreciated. And I think she understands how much her help has meant to me last night.

You know me by now. You know that I am happy to lend a hand when my help is needed. It is just a natural thing for me. But I have almost forgotten how it feels to be all alone when you are in trouble and no one seems to care. And how you wish for an angel to get you out of this mess!

I had just had to share this with you. It made me feel so good!

Of Mrs.Duck and Mrs.Bottle

After the wonderful Ball to which Willow from Life at Willow Manor invited us last night I am having a slight hangover and just need some chat.
And an aspirin, perhaps, after all this Champagne!! Oh, in case you missed it, never mind, there will be another one next year! But if have the time to look at her blog with all the breath-taking pictures and the over 200 comments...you are in for some fun! Reya did a satellite post on her blog (the Golden Puppy), too, looking stunning in Clark Gable`s arms. Myself, I wore my night-blue gown with the deep neckline, wearing my double row of pearls and very high heels (Mimi`s heels were even higher. wow, Mimi!). Didn`t I have fun, dancing the night away...
But here I am back, longingly awaited by Mrs. Duck and her bashful followers.

She is always the one who knocks at our terrace door (Mandy said I must call it our patio) to ask for their beloved crumbs of black bread. The guys only profit, much to her dislike.

They are so cute. The other day a fourth boy duck tagged along, but Mrs.Duck who is fed up with her two suitors already, kept running after him, biting into his tail! He lost two feathers, but did not retreat.

With those manners you would not have got an invitation last night, lady! (Good for the more than 400 guests - at least - that there was enough wonderful food on the silver plates). But I guess living a wild and free life, you`ve got to think of yourself first. What will you be feeding on in winter anyway? Nature is closing down now. Even the hundred garden gnomes have marched off to hibernate.

This is what our flowers look like now. Still pretty and colorful, but knowing it will all be over soon. The first night frosts are near. In some ares of Germany there has been the first snow! I cannot imagine how the Southern Hemispere is now having springtime, and in Africa rain is much awaited. Here on our island, rain clouds are piling up over the sea and the storm creates beautiful mountains in the sky from them.

We are withdrawing inside at this time of year, turn on our floor heating (lovely! My feet smile every morning!) and use every opportunity to celebrate (see the above mentioned ball). My husband just had his birthday, so that was a nice event, too.

Like his grandson, he is well-liked by the ladies, no matter where he appears. With his rebuffing Clint-Eastwood attitude he mostly does not even notice it, haha. I can tell you very funny stories...but anyway, he cannot keep them from giving him presents, for whatever reasons. (We never run out of cake this way). For his birthday, he got something very special - a self-made Mrs. Bottle! The bottle was a Merlot, but the dress, the metamorphosis into a lady, that was all hand-made and touching! In case you want to make one yourself, then you need a bread roll to fasten on the bottle cork (with a toothpick), raisins for the eyes, nose and mouth, a paper wig, fastened with tape, many different-coloured napkins, glued together with, um...chewing gum?
But what was really the best were the hidden gifts for Paco. The arms were made of sausages!

Mrs.Bottle, I really like you! But with this outfit you look more like Cinderella BEFORE going to the Ball. I hope for last night someone gave you a smashing dress to fit in the luxurious crowd at Willow Manor. You need not even tell us. But do I see a wink there?

And now - the heron. He stood motionless for a long time next to our pond, waiting to see the fish. There have GOT to be some fish in there, no?!

No, Mr. Heron. But I`ll take a picture of you, as you fly up into the clouds, with the sun sparklingin the sky.

To you, my friends, I wish a very happy Fall/ or Spring Day. Enjoy it, whatever it brings. Life is full of wonders, and fun.

And just in case you meet some ducks, be sure to carry some bread crumbs in your pocket.