There's been a trickle of water in the bathroom, but not enough to brush teeth, much less take a shower. So, down to business. The ceiling has got to go so we can find the pipes.
First get everything out of the little front hallway.
Then put up a plastic sheet, because it is going to get dusty.
It's impossible to tell when these pipes were installed, but it was sometime before they figured out decent insulation. Above the plasterboard is a 3cm thick mat of straw, held together with baling wire. Needless to say, it's old and dry and dusty. What a mess!
And, there's one - a pipe - there behind the mineral wool wadding and paper. Can you believe it? Werner thinks little critters ate off the paper, ate some of the wool and exposed good bits of pipe. I'll go with that, not having any other plausible explanation.
We're hoping that with a little warm air getting to them, they'll thaw and then we can set about putting in real insulation under the roof decking and around the pipes.
We have to pay a bit more attention to Werner's mother these days - she's getting older (she just had her 95th birthday!) and naturally she's just weaker. Everyday things are a bit more of a challenge and it helps when your son (Werner) comes now and again and takes care of changing the bed and making sure the door isn't so squeaky and organizing the kitchen and cleaning out the fridge and so on and so forth. We don't mind at all.
When Werner went to see her after we got back from our US visit, he noticed how worn her apron was. Would you like a new apron, Mutti? Yes, but I hate to ask - Sharon is always so busy!
Now, let's agree Mutti's apron needed replacement. It was / is 20+ years old. It definitely shows its age!! Frayed edges, already poorly replaced ties, just old. But I am too busy to make a new apron for Mutti? Really?
Do I have some fabric? Well, yes. Do I have time? Well, of course.
And the lady needs something bright and spiffy and - ladylike! Color and lace is what she needs.
She was tickled. And I was tickled that she was tickled. Hey, everybody's happy!!
Wow. A month since my last post. But we have been really sorta kinda busy. Or I just haven't stopped long enough to write.
It began in Orlando on January 3 and ended there on February 2. In between there were stops in St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Atlanta, Lynn Haven and Tallahassee. We saw old friends and lots and lots of family. Just like always. I like it that way.
Lee and Crissy and kids only got a nod from us before we were on our way north - though we were to return for a longer visit.
The first stop was St. Augustine - a pause on the way to Jacksonville. Werner had been there years before, and my last visit was even more years before that. It's a bit more touristy now with the "old city" converted to trendy and touristy shops and restaurants and very pedestrian friendly. But the major draw, the Castillo de San Marcos, has not changed a bit. Walking around it was a pleasure and a walk down memory lane as well. The weather could hardly have been better - cool breezes and warm sunshine. A nice omen for the rest of our trip.
I'd arranged a stop in Jacksonville to meet up with a few former high school classmates since I won't get back in April for our 50th class reunion. Everyone says it but it doesn't make it any less true - How did we get this old? Wasn't it just yesterday, the prom, the graduation? Yes (in our heads) and No (in real time). It was a special treat to see two good friends from that time - Sherry and Bonnie. Others were there as well and we had a nice evening. Werner of course is so easy - and since he's a bit exotic, people love to talk to him.
And the B&B we stayed in I will recommend to everyone: The Jenks House in Riverside, a historic neighborhood that grew out of the great fire of 1901. The Martens were wonderful hosts and breakfast with fresh-squeezed orange juice from trees in the back yard, fresh roasted (!) and ground coffee and buckwheat pancakes can hardly be described without drooling. The upper photo is a sewn fabric collage that hung over our bed. Very interesting.
Then OFF TO ATLANTA and the local Goode Sisters and families. The family hasn't grown in the last couple of years, but since we're all growing older, it seems bigger! What fun!! We missed out on Keith + Liz and kids but we'll catch them next time.
Finally we make it to Florida, Lynn Haven, the Ginn Residence. Because Hunter and Hannah were so long the focus of our trips there, it still seems it still ought to be the first stop and it is still strange that it isn't (no offense, L+C!) We got to see Hunter play soccer with his school team, mess around with Hannah's friends for a weekend sleep-over, and eat fresh oysters till we couldn't. Otherwise, it was lots of normal life - school, shopping, work, eating, cooking. All that equals wonderful.
Then a couple of days in Tallahassee with Nancy. Crazy dog! Fried shrimp! Talk, talk, talk! We are still working on solving the worlds' problems and I'm sure we'll accomplish that on our next visit.
Finally back to Orlando and time with Dylan and Hayden. There are bike rides to do, picnics to have, flower beds to weed and plants to water, more food to eat and more food to eat and votes to tally.
The political process has always been interesting to Werner (he arrived in the US just as the Bork hearings started, for those of you who remember!) and he's never got over it. I don't know exactly when I started (maybe in high school running for office in student council), but I remember putting up signs and making phone calls for McGovern, going door to door for Chiles, and donating here and there. And always reading. It's interesting to be there and see debates and reactions in real time. From now on, it will be time-delayed.
We're home again, from warm and sunny to freezing and sunny and sometimes snowy. And freezing is no exaggeration - our pipes are closed. Shut down. No water in the bathroom or shower. No washing machine. After the thaw, we'll find out what has happened and what we have to do. In the meantime, we fill the buckets from the kitchen to flush the toilet and take our showers at the fitness center after our workouts. Weird. Strange. Not so really comfortable. Really. Not.
When we are here on New Year's Eve, we get together with friends, go to a concert, have a bite to eat and then head to the center of town and watch folks send thousands of rockets sparkling and booming into the air.
A little change in the plans this year: two folks with colds, one with a twisted ankle and banged up knee, one with a bad back. Are we getting old or what?
But we already had the tickets so we went to the concert.
And it was lovely, though the general consensus was that it was a bit too serious for New Year's Eve. Ah, but the New Year is serious business. Just ask the folks selling fireworks!
We headed back to Ilsemarie+Ulli's for sustenance - and again we turned to fondue. Werner had taken all the goodies to them the day before so all we had to do was chop up veggies and bread and stir up the cheese. It was really good and really easy!
Still time left before the explosion at midnight, so Ulli brought out a game called Tirol Roulette: a wooden board, spinner and little balls of various colors whose value we had not a clue about! But we made up our own rules and enjoyed it anyway. Except for maybe me and Johanna because we had no luck at all!
But luck is brought in several ways - shiny new pennies, four-leaf clovers, chimney sweeps and -- Berliners (or jelly-filled doughnuts to you). That we had.
And midnight arrives. We watched the countdown in Berlin and then went on the street where there was plenty of fireworks of our own to watch. I think everyone who lives on the street (and a few more besides) were out watching the fireworks, yelling the devils and bad spirits back into the old year and wishing each other all the best of health and happiness for 2012.
But sexy it is not. It's old-fashioned underwear, hand made of woven fabric, specifically slips. I don't think form-fitting was part of the vocabulary when these were made.
There were several older ladies who came by our stand at the-not-successful-show and offered me their linen goodies they no longer wanted. Frau S. left her name and number so we called and made a date to pick up the linens.
It was one of my early outings after the cast was removed. The weather was cold, but not unpleasant and it was such a treat to get into town and see something other than my four walls and the back deck!
We arrived at Frau S. about tea time so of course we had to accept their offer of tea. Then came her son and family unexpectedly so we all sat around the table and talked and enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere in their small apartment. I congratulated myself a bit that finally, finally, I have mastered this difficult language enough to engage in small talk with total strangers. I still make mistakes, and people are of course gracious, but it is such a relief to be able to just have a little chat.
After a bit she brought out the linens. One doesn't reject gifts, and (in my mind) who would want to?
Some damsel with the initials "EP" (Elsa? Elke? Elfriede?) did these up for her trousseau: cotton, with cotton lace trims, all seams fully enclosed, for sure sewn on a treadle machine and each one with a hand-embroidered monogram.
I don't quite know what to do with these treasures. They are in such good shape that it would be a shame to cut them up. And I won't. On the other hand, can you sell something you were gifted?
It's not just a one day holiday here - there's Christmas Eve, First Christmas Day and Second Christmas Day. No need to rush the season.
After our Christmas Eve with Mutti and Christoph, we had a late and leisurely Christmas morning breakfast, German style. Or German style à la Wichmanns: sparkling wine, soft-boiled eggs, cured ham, home made jams.
I have to have my egg warmer, and please notice the four candles lit for Advent. Gemütlich we say in German: How cozy !
No newspaper to read. It is Christmas after all and everyone deserves a holiday, even the journalists. So no paper on the 25th or 26th. Imagine that.
Then later, our girls came over from the university - Nickolet and Fiona from Zimbabwe, and Ranisha from Nepal. It's too far and too expensive to go home for Christmas (we understand that!) so we made a little Christmas of our own.
It wasn't very traditional. They all love fish,so fish it was - fried - with veggies and potatoes and salad. And please don't forget the cake! Nickolet loves cake! This time it was apple cake with ice cream, another favorite.
We tried to get a scrabble game going, but with phone calls to home and skypeing to the US, it got too late for games. But the girls had fun taking pictures of each other around the Christmas tree!
The next day, the Second Christmas Day (after all these years, I still can't get used to that) we finally had a chance to take a walk. A little exercise was way way way past needed!!
We were invited to share dinner with Ursel and friends : roast goose. That is perhaps THE tradional Christmas dinner here. The skin was crispy and tasty, the meat moist and flavorful. Add red cabbage and potato dumplings. Y U M. Besides, there was a cat to pet!!!
We only had to contribute dessert: Key lime pie. I can certainly manage that. It's funny still that a thing we take for granted is such a wonderful treat here! We offered to leave the half we didn't eat and there wasn't even the smallest of "oh, I couldn't possibly ...." before the "well, ok....."
The only thing missing was the snow. It is sooooo warm!! Last year there were inches of snow on the ground; this year, the geraniums are still blooming in the window boxes. S T R A N G E.
But there is nothing strange or weird or off with our wishes to all of you for a wonderful and healthy and successful and happy, happy new year. We hope to see all of you soon.
Our tree is decorated, the gifts are wrapped and it is time to celebrate. Off to see the family.
Mutti said tonight, "They don't have Christmas Eve in America, do they?" WHAT?!
Of course they do, but not like here. Today is THE celebration. The church bells ring. Folks go to church services. There's a family meal. And most important for the children - the presents. Sometimes, a house visit from Santa. But more on that later.
Since Mutti has been a bit on the weak side lately, we planned our celebration for their house. We prepared all that we could at home and took it all there to put together. But not just dinner - first Claudia and Christoph served coffee and cake to Mutti, Claudia's mother and her husband and us. Lord knows, we haven't had enough cake and cookies lately.
Afterwards Claudia modeled the neck warmer she'd just finished knitting. It looks GREAT, but we wonder how warm it will be since it was knit on such large needles. She'll have to find out later because it isn't really cold right now. Really.
There was a welcome break between coffee and dinner since Christoph had to go play Santa. Lots of parents here (of very small kids) often hire a "Santa" to come deliver the presents IN PERSON. Wow. Christoph did it for years for his godson, and now occasionally for friends. He's got a great costume but honestly, Christoph is so tall and big, I'd be a bit intimidated by him if I were a 4 year old!
And you don't just ring the door bell and your hand bell (forget
dropping down a chimney if you're a real Santa!) and leave the gifts.
You have to have a conversation with the kid and talk about the naughty
and nice! So Santa gets a letter beforehand with notes.
Oh Paula, you have been very nice to your friends, but sometimes you don't really share your toys like you should. And you did really well in reading at school this year, but you still get up too early on Saturday and don't let Mama and Papa sleep in! Besides, you keep sneaking into their bed at night and don't stay in your own bed. Didn't we talk about this last year??
I think I'd be glad not to be getting switches and coal!
Dinner was tasty - pumpkin soup, lambs' leaf salad, Argentine filet, mushroom sauce, baked potatoes with Werner's famous green dressing, and to end, lemon curd pie with whipped cream. It was all delicious.
On a final note, though, never forget this is Germany. So there's beer. Christmas beer. Who'da thunk it? Seems we used to leave beer now and again for Santa when Michelle and Lee were little. Who needs milk at every stop along the present-dellivery way?
Between busy-ness and my unforgivable lazy-ness, entries on the blog have suffered. Here, an offering that might suffice.
Rima, René and Amina were here overnight for the ritual Weihnachtsmarkt visit. Since Amina's first ride on the "Snow Train" several years ago, she thinks the Christmas season is incomplete without it. OK, we can do that! (Actually, Werner and René can do that; Rima and I enjoy watching.)
The little family arrived late afternoon and after a quick tea and cookie we were on the train to the city! This year was quite different from the last - NO snow! Thankfully, also no rain. The days before had been just awful - cold and lots of rain with some snow mixed in; the right clothes for that kind of weather do not exist in my universe.
The Bremen Weihnachtsmarkt is a real draw for not only the towns all
around but the countries all around. Busloads come from The
Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, as well as lots of towns in Germany.
Since Bremen is so poor, we don't complain, except of course when it's
so full you can hardly walk around, much less get a mug of mulled wine.
But once again we were lucky and hit it at just the right time - enough folks to make it lively but not so many that we felt squeezed.
The Nativity scene was set up.
There were Bratwurst to eat, of course. Ketchup for the little kid.
Lots to look at.
And - finally - the Snow Train.
We went back home to feast on coq au vin and then drag ourselves to bed. All in all, a quite satisfying day!!
See the pigeon? He's there on the lower step. Not an ordinary pigeon, mind you, but fancy, with long feathers on his feet and a tail that other pigeons would envy.
I noticed him from the bedroom window when I got up - something out of the ordinary always catches your eye, it seems. Some years ago, a racing pigeon got disoriented and lighted on the back wall and wouldn't leave. I though this might be such a pigeon too.
Werner, go take care of it! He did. He shooed the bird away but it just waited on the roof for a bit. Seems it had a thing for the concrete pelican! Werner had to bring the pelican inside to make the pigeon leave!
All alone this morning, Werner and I. It is quiet, except of course for the joyous ringing of the church bells. It is Advent, after all! At 8AM it was rather normal but the 10AM ringing was clearly more celebratory. If it isn't as grey and rainy next week as this morning, I'll try and capture that. We're between the older Lutheran church and the newer Catholic church and sometimes we hear them both. It's a confusion of sound that is nevertheless pleasing to the ear.
After breakfast and the lighting of the second Advent candle, we headed off to
Schloß Hagen, located between here and Bremerhaven. There was a Christmas market and since I've been out so little these last weeks, it
seemed ideal for a little walk and a little look at a small town
market. Ah, but our timing was off!! They were still setting up when
we arrived. But we checked out some of the stalls and walked around the
Schloß. It's even more rustic than ours here in Schönebeck, but still
nice and certainly in its time infinitely more elegant than the
surrounding village homes.
There was a life-sized Nativity scene; next to it, bleating sheep. Boy were they bleating!
At the Scholß entrance, the door holder caught my eye. It must be pretty old, though I have no idea if it's original. But isn't it fun!? Not just a clip for the door, but a dragon to hold it fast. Or maybe dragons are in the eye of the beholder.
They had set up a carousel, first in service in 1868 with curious wooden animals figures and chariots for the little ones. It was so cold!! We wondered how many little customers they'd have. But all the Christmas markets are really set up for the children so you just have to be prepared.
After a leisurely ride back to town and a dinner of leftovers (yummy, since we'd made too much the night before of coated and fried pork filet, broccoli and potatoes) we went to see a performance of the African Choir of Jacobs University.
You'd think they'd be black, all these members of the African Choir, but not. First of all, not all the African students at Jacobs want to sing and all those who want to be a part of the choir aren't African. They're Asian and Dutch and German and American and Indian among others. But most important to us, was Nickolet was a part of the choir.
Isn't she pretty! Friends at home had sent this native costume to her.
And we were really impressed with their performance. Later I'll add a snippet, so come back.
