Pigeon Wars

 We're not radical, but we are pretty Green. We love wildlife, we recycle everything possible, we use public transportation (or our bikes!).

But pigeons? Not my thing. Funny: on the east side or our apartment on the top floor of our building, there are only pigeons (or crows or sea gulls, depends...) On the west side, there are song birds, but they get drowned out by the guys on the other side. And, the cooing and the pooping and the nesting of these invasive creatures just gets on our nerves. We tried waving flags and colorful pieces of fabric and making snake-like noises. Not much helped. THEN - water. These guys don't like water. So we found a gun - a water gun!!

Actually, you're not supposed to harass birds of any sort, but I'm not sure who could see us or report us and these flying things always find another place to be....irritating. So, here's my hero who with nothing but a bit of water, keeps us relatively free of irritation. Thank you, dear Werner!!

Small town Sunday

 We got up slowly, had a yummy and generous Sunday breakfast, late as usual, and then I got this message from a friend: Hubs is performing with his ukulele group from 11 to 12. See you there? she wrote at 10:50.

I knew he played the ukulele, though I have to say I wasn't terribly inclined to hear a concert, but hey! we're friends! You get our support!!  It was already 11:10 and the venue was but 5 minutes away, so off we went. They are of course a bunch of amateurs who just love playing their instruments, but I did wonder what John Denver would have thought of their rendition of  "Country Roads."

And it was serendipitous since the performance was right near our plot in the Stadtgarten (the city garden) and we hadn't been able to go the day before to clean up our little rose plot because the rain had started. So we took our tools for a double do.

Turns out, it was also a "Kutterpull,"  a contest between rowing clubs, rowing a REALLY HEAVY wooden boat, 10 rowers and a coxswain in each, in the Weser. Small town entertainment, and small town fun. There were a couple of stands with Brats and beer and crepes and coffee and lots of family and friends of the ukulele choir and the rowers. 

After cleaning up our plot, we watched the first run where the red boat CREAMED the green boat, but it had got drizzly and colder and we were done. Not sure who finally earned the cup.

But glad we were there to cheer on the locals. 

Museum Visit

 Sundays are quiet here. Practically everything is closed - can't do grocery shopping, can't go to the department store, no electronic or book stores are open. When I first moved here, I thought that was dumb? silly? crazy?  I think that no more -- I am totally on the side of Keep Shops Closed on Sundays. 

Restaurants are open. Museums are open. Busses and trams and trains are still taking folks here and there and everywhere. All the parks are free to wander. Otherwise, there is little traffic. 

So. Last Sunday. Our local museum had a tour planned and we made plans to be there! There was a new exhibit; the museum director was also the curator for this exhibit, and from past experience we knew she'd be full of information and interesting observations about the art. We were not disappointed!

The artist's name is Akkela Dienstbier. (Yow. Some name! I tend to translate last names into English, and you can do that with lots and lots of names here. This one means literally "service beer" but is either someone who makes a weak beer or someone who serves beer in a pub. Neither are particularly nice terms for a person.) 

She works with mixed media - dried plants, paint, ink, paper, canvas, photos, stitching (!). They paired her works with some evocative works from their collection by the Overbeck artists whose works are the core of the museum. 

She combined some natural elements - dried flowers, dried thistles - with frame fragments. The lighting adds to the impression. 

As expected, we were impressed by the art and the tour (and tour guide!). I got a few inspirations to try on my own.

What we can't do is replicate the swing on the upper floor of the building. I tried it first, then Werner. The seat is perfect! Just a little  curved to fit your bottom just right, the ropes long enough to give you the sense of swinging like you did as a kid. It's intended to give the visitor a bit of fun and a different view of the art. And it does? It does! 

So, good bye till next time. It's always a pleasure to visit this little, lovely museum.

A Visit from Berliners, and Bärlauch

 We got back from almost four weeks in the USofA on the Friday before Easter. You folks know already about German holidays - everything is closed on  (big letter) Holidays! Good Friday is a Holiday, Easter Sunday is a Holiday, Easter Monday is a Holiday. And we had guests arriving for the weekend on Saturday. YOW. We had come home to an empty fridge and we needed everything for a weekend with four hungry people to feed and one morning to shop for everything we needed or wanted!

We'd prepared a bit. I had given my best folks at the market my food list so I could just pick it up and not worry that they'd be out of anything. So I did the market thing and Werner did the grocery store thing and we were PREPARED when Nicole and Jeremy arrived at 2PM. 

So begins the eating and talking marathon! 

Since Jeremy is an unrepentant American when it comes to food, we kinda cater to him, which is OK for all of us. Saturday, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans. We were sated and happy. 

Sunday, Easter, we planned a big breakfast and a big dinner, so no lunch. Breakfast: BISCUITS, eggs, bacon, grits, fruit. The fruit was optional, the rest of it, not. I do love a good biscuit but I don't make them more than 4-5 times a year, so I am less than proficient. But this time, I hit bingo and they were fluffy and tasty. What a treat. 

But, boy, do we need to move!  Off to Knoop's Park and a long walk. I do suppose everyone who's visited us has been there, or some part of there. It's huge and goes along the Lesum River for quite a ways, has so many walking and biking paths and lovely views from above. Really, there are almost hills here! And the weather, though cool, was sunny!

Later, we found a sunny table near the harbor for a glass of something to please each of us. By the way, I think Nicole has the sunniest smile.

The dinner was preceded by a gifted appetizer from our guests: genuine Spanish Ibèrico Ham. Melt-in-your-mouth wonderful it was. Wow. I'm afraid our dinner didn't meet that standard, but we enjoyed it anyway. 

Next morning, we had French toast with the Easter bread that Nicole baked and brought with them. So very good, yes it was. Then they toodled off the station and we took a nap!!! How wonderful having friends visit.

Bärlauch

During our park walk with Nicole and Jeremy, we gathered some Bärlauch (wild garlic) for them to take home, but we needed to go back for our own stash, So we did. But we had to wait a day or so since Werner had a wretched cold and had to sleep for 15 hours. Bless him. I wish I could do the same. Just once. Even 8 hours would be a gift.  

Here's Werner, gathering Bärlauch, observed by ducks that really wanted us to have some goodies for them, but sadly, we didn't. But we talked, the ducks and I.

 Leaving the area, we saw two girls were at a picnic table. At first I thought they were just picnicking, but then...they have stuff! So, I asked, Do you have something to sell? Yes!! WE have lemonade, water, popcorn. But maybe the popcorn isn't so good. We made it ourselves (!).  How cute. Of course, I was thirsty, so we got some lemonade, but passed on the popcorn.

We'll make pesto from the Bärlauch to freeze for later, use some for soup, for sauces, for a topping on a slice of black bread and cream cheese. It's spring.

US Trip March 2026

It started off great though I think I did my worst packing/prep ever. But, who cares! It's been a bit stressful lately, and I did the best I could.

 
We got to Frankfurt, sat patiently in the waiting area, and about 15 minutes before boarding the folks in charge abruptly announced: "This flight has been cancelled! Proceed to Concourse C to rebook!" Really, it took a minute or two to process and in the meantime, half the folks are up and running to Concourse C to get in line! Halfway there, I get a text from Lufthansa that they've rebooked us - through Newark, NJ, arriving Orlando at midnight -- the next day! Well, no, can't do that. So we stand in line, and as we find some time later, in the WRONG line (it was for the privileged passengers of which we were not) but we just stayed there and the very nice guy at the desk found us a direct flight to Tampa! OK!! So, overnight in Frankfurt in the international business/hotel/living/eating/where-are-we? area just one train stop from the airport. It very much felt like something neither here nor there. But next day, we had four seats for us two, a comfy flight to Tampa, an easy drive to Orlando and - ta da! - we are with family. Sadly, we missed Hayden's birthday, but he was still happy to get our little gifts to him. Paucity describes the number of pics I took on this trip. Sorry. Here's the very, very long and very empty way to leaving the Franfurt Airport. 

Orlando was laid back. Lee and Crissy had to work (so is life) but their schedules weren't awful. We got to walk with Hayden, Dylan was back in town from FSU and we had some lively discussions and got acquainted with a new game - Contexto. Werner doesn't really like it, and it does seem a bit random, but we've tried it now with Julia and with our house guests and it's a fun diversion. Not an everyday game, however. Oh, and an alligator in the little bay. Yow. Oh, and Hunter was there! What fun! We had breakfast together before he had to head back to PC.

The social highlight of the trip was Trivia Night at a sports bar. Lee and Crissy, Steph and Mike, Wayne and sometimes Nancy play (and Hayden is an observer!). It was such a hoot, a fun way to spend time with family, and WE WON!! YEA US!  The winner's belt looks a lot like a cheap version of a WWW belt, so tat was just perfect  LOL. Looking forward to doing again sometime.

This time, I brought my "Signature Tablecloth" with me, knowing I wouldn't have some of my favorite people ever visit in Bremen, so getting some new names on my special cloth was a real treat. Embroidering to follow. 

Off to PC and adventures with the Ginns. Home dinners with and without kids, dinners out with some kids and sometimes with other friends. Hunter playing soccer on a local team - small town pleasures! Olle's (restaurant out in the countryside) is always fun, this time with a driver to take us all there and back. What a luxury! And Firefly, such elegance. There we get to talk to the manager who loves to practice his German. Michelle had the house decorated to the rafters with all things Easter - bunnies, carrots, eggs. 

Then we took a pause in Tallahassee with a short stops along the way in St. Joe to visit a little craft fair, Apalach to test the oysters (very, very good) and put our shoes in the sand at Mexico Beach. Number 1 on the To Do list in Tally was going by the voter registration office to be sure all my ID stuff was in order so I might be/will be able to vote in November. The governor, in all his feigned ignorance, thinks I could be a danger to democracy.  I wonder if he knows which way I lean....

Otherwise, the Tallahassee visit was filled with fun and reminiscences with friends. 

Off to Atlanta and sisters (and their husbands)(and some of their kids and grandkids). We girls took a trip to an amazing garden shop a bit out of Atlanta, visited with Ginny and Barry at their place, walked the nearby park with Keith and his giant, gentle dogs (horrid, no pictures! but here are beautiful pink dogwoods in their front yard) , ate (!) fried chicken, grilled steak, etc. All in all, a wonderful visit, but we sat too much. We will try to fix that now we're home again.

The always question - When will you be back?? - still hangs in the air. Maybe fall to see Dylan do her thing with the FSU Marching Chiefs. We'll see. In the meantime, we have lots of memories to keep us entertained (but not enough pictures!!!!)

Snow!

 It's not all that unusual, of course, but it is still a treat. Soooo much nicer to have some snow when it is cold and gray than just cold and gray and no snow!

There was a light sprinkling that was fun, 

and then a few days of just cold and a bit more snow. 

Then, a storm. Really! Wind! Wind! Snow! More snow! 

For a day and a half, we were kinda snowed in, in the sense that it was really hard to get away from our neighborhood. You know already we don't have a car anymore, and driving the carshare car in the snow was not on our to-do list. 

The train tracks and the tram tracks froze so much that the fear of de-railing kept them in their little garages. So we built a snowperson.

And we took walks along the river and watched the kids sled and the dogs jump and play!

After 24 hours, the busses were up and running, but only in our area. We couldn't get into town and we missed a birthday party, but OK. We'll do a late celebration.

In the meantime, the snow has melted and the snow person has ... changed. 

Maybe that was the last snow, maybe not. Stay tuned.