The Weather

Can you believe this?  Even though I am sitting in the middle of it, I can hardly believe it.  We're uner the influence of a strong high (almost like being on drugs, really!!), the weather is expected to hold over the long holiday weekend and everybody is delirious that summer has finally arrived!

And, look how we compare (at the moment, I would hasten to add!) to all you southern beauties.  Not bad, not bad!  Don't forget to translate the Celsius to Fahrenheit.

Weekend plans include a craft show, and an outing on the bikes. We're tempted to break out the bathing suits but we don't want to go overboard.

W O N D E R F U L.

Hexenschuß

I know, you don't speak German. 

But you do know some German.  There are words that have good, direct translations, of course - Kindergarten comes to mind.  Or Hand (hand in English).  Or Finger (you can figure out that one).

But Hexenschuß? (Sounds like a good name for a rock band.)  Hexe=witch.  Schuß=shot. Shot of the witch? Witch's shot?  How about Nasty Mean Poke from Witch's Broomstick in Your Back Where it Really Hurts?  I'm choosing the latter.

If you hit the "translate" button, up comes "lumbago."  Really?  I thought that word went out with the first Great Depression!  But what it is, is a "little" muscle pull in the lower back that feels like someone (the witch) shot you and it leaves you limping and hanging out with heating pads and ibuprofen for several days.

That's me.  But not from lifting something heavy, just a wrong move while watering. Geeze.

But we were heading out to visit Amina for the weekend, so after a short session with the heating pad, Werner packed up and I sat in the shotgun seat, with the hot water bottle.

Of course, we were warmly greeting and got immediate "medication." That helped.

Then there was "school."  Opa had to do a dictation.  He was not perfect!  But a perfect chance for Amina to play teacher.

And then we proceeded to eat:  liver and onions.  What, me, liver?  Yes, I did.  And, all childhood prejudices aside, it was delicious.  I will certainly have it again.

Saturday we hung out with Amina while mom and dad worked.  That's never hard.  Watch a bit of TV.  Eat breakfast.  Go to the a mall and find a gym outfit for winter.  Buy a toy.  Go to the park.  Head home and put a little doll house together with Mama from shoe boxes for the new doll.  Eat.

Oh, yes, eat.  This time it was steaks, ribs, salad.  No danger of protein deprivation when we visit René.

Sunday after breakfast (I did the heart-shaped egg for Amina who was suitably unimpressed, though I thought it turned out great!), we did a round at the Schwarzberg Tierpark (The Black Hills Animal Park).


There were really hills !  What a surprise, here in our Flatland!  No terribly exotic animals, but local species interesting to look at, some to pet, lots to feed.

We left them there to head home, me with the hot water bottle strategically placed.  The "lumbago" will be better soon, but I think I won't be going to the gym this week ...... but the sauna might do me good.
 

Olive Oil Upcycle

I "discovered" olive oil sometime before my first visit to Greece (circa 1984) though olive oil had been nourishing the world well before then (insert smiley!).  Before then, I'd thought it too olivey.  Really.

At first I only liked "pure" olive oil, which is of course in the lexicon of olive words, the least pure.  "Pure" is the last-left-over-from-all-the-other-squeezings oil.  So, not at all pure.

Real PURE olive oil is of course extra virgin - the very first pressing.  And now I love it! I use for everything that requires oil - sauté, dressings,  whatever!  But Spanish, Greek, French, Italian and oils of all olive-growing regions have a taste of their own, a following, and naturally a price.  And olive oil can get pricey. Oo la la!

When we visited Freddy in Volterra, Italy, so many years ago, we brought back a bottle of oil from the neighboring farm. What a joy that was, having met the people who picked the olives and pressed the oil.  We still have the bottle here in this picture - I can't seem to part with it!  And don't you have to smile with Freddy and Werner? 

We don't have the luxury anymore of getting oil from a farm next door, but our olive guy at the market has a pretty good oil from Greece.  In a big container.  Five liters.  That lasts us about 5 months.  Or less.

Last night we emptied another can, and I thought, man, I can't just put that in the recycle bin.  I have to UP cycle it!

So I will.  What do you think?  A planter?  A vase? It's too short to hold the wooden spoons and stuff in the kitchen, and way too nice for the garden tools.  I'm open to suggestions.

Visit from Hawaiians

Cousin Tom Strickland from Hawaii arrived last Tuesday with his traveling buddy Linda.  They had already toured Scotland, Wales and London.  Tom's spent some time in Germany and this is not Linda's first trip to Europe, but someone exchanged the Red Carpet Welcome to How About Some Wind, Rain and Cold!  I've said it before - this is the summer that wasn't.  And it doesn't seem to be getting any better.

But you have to go out anyway!

We walked the harbor here in Vegesack and posed by the whale tail.

We went to the Watt.  Needless to say, it wasn't beach weather and the beach chairs were all locked up.

Still, there were groups checking out the wildlife in the Wadden Sea, but no walking to the lighthouse on that day.  Besides the chill, the wind was blowing at Beaufort 8-9, or about 50 mph - gale force!

Then to Bremerhaven and a walk about the harbor there.  Since Tom is a naval engineer, that sort of thing is just his thing!

Of course, they had to visit Roland and the Town Musicians.

And on their last night (sort of) here, we dressed up and went to dinner at the Haven Haus.

The food was great, and the company has been delightful!

Saturday morning they left for Copenhagen but will return for one night to break up the drive from there to Utrecht.  Besides, Tom has to return the heating pad!  (Don't know what he'll do in Utrecht without it!)

The Parade to the Fair

Every year, for over 200 years now, traders and entertainers have gathered in Vegesack, our little corner of Bremen, for a fall market.  That in itself is amazing to me, a not-quite 20-year resident of Vegesack.  That's even older than our house, and that is pretty old by my standards.

The fair has evolved into more of a fun fair than a trading fair, just like the Oktoberfest in Munich and all the other less well-known outdoor festivals around Germany.  Here it began as a cattle selling fair. Just last weekend was the Heirratsmarkt Bruchhausen-Vilsen (the Bruchausen-Vilsen Marriage Market) a fair that was known in former times for introducing young women to potential husbands (or vice versa!), mostly farmers.  I think they still do this in Iowa.  Or Montana. Or someplace like that.

But this weekend, the  203rd Vegesack Fall Market (Vegesacker Herbstmarkt) opened with a parade, as usual. I love it!  It is so small-town and friendly and intimate and just a lot of fun.

It starts with the Honorary Grand Marshals in their top hats and tails.

They're followed by the Chimney Sweeps in their traditional costumes, handing out lucky pennies.  What's funny is, it isn't a euro penny but a brand new "old" Pfennig.  Lucky me, I got a Pfennig.

What's a parade without horses with riders in dragon hats?

Or the local Werder Bremen fans?  (We're the 12th man - so says the sign.)

Or kids on unicycles?

Or an Eiffel Tower made of wheat stalks?  Really, don't you have one of those in your parades??

And then of course there's the odd one out.

Naturally, there's a marching band or two.  Here the bands are not sponsored by schools but by clubs, so the membership ranges from kids to retirees, men and women.  Not the Marching Chiefs of FSU, but fun just the same.

Wine Delivery

We get wine directly from the vintner, or at least a lot of the wine we drink.  As I've said in an earlier post, and it is - compared to the US prices - unbelievably reasonable.

The family name is Wambsgans, and they've been doing this for 600 years.  That's a while.  And from time to time, the older folks retire and the newer ones take over.  That happened recently, and Oliver, the son, has made some changes.  There's a website!! And you can send an email! 

And they've changed the labels.  Radical

Here's the old one - three little wine spirits holding baskets of grapes.  OK, but doesn't really catch your eye, does it

The new one still has the wine spirits, but now they play among the vines.  I like it.

New generation.  And the wine is still wonderful.