My turn

Katy has been very sick since Tuesday. Every year about this time lots of kids and staff at the school get sick and it usually makes its rounds in our house as well. I was getting better when Katy came down with a different strain of the flu than I had had. As a result I am still somewhat under the weather but it's not terribly serious. So, I have been nursing Katy all week but today was my day to be pampered. I was able to enjoy a part of my Christmas present from Howard which was to have a pedicure. It was sheer luxury. The young woman in this picture is from England and has a small business in town here where she does all kinds of great things to pamper women. Unfortunately she is having to close her doors because business has not been as brisk as she had hoped. However, today was my day for my gift certificate to be honoured and indeed it was. My feet still feel wonderful as I'm writing this...

Paths

Bike and walking paths are very important in Germany. They are everywhere and are well marked so there's no mistaking who gets to use them. In the cities there are lights just for the bikes. I will try to get a picture of one of those one day soon.

Sunday drive

Howard and I decided to go for a drive this afternoon. I was feeling somewhat better and I felt like getting out. I had told the girls at lunch that when I was a kid we often went for Sunday drives. We'd all pile in the car, make a stop at "The Dog House" on the way for ice cream and then drive through town. They thought this was very interesting... Our town was (and still is) pretty small so there wasn't much new to see from week to week, but it was part of our family tradition and I think we all enjoyed it - at least the ice cream part!

Today we took some roads less traveled and saw lots of work in progress. The orchards and vineyards are all being pruned for a new season of growth. What a lot of work. As Howard said, there's a good reason why they always look so nice and cared for.



We drove on and stopped to take a picture of this little village - Sitzenkirch. This is where I directed the choir for 6 years as BFA has its elementary school here. It's only 3 km from Kandern.

We arrived home to find the neighbour's cat, Peter, enjoying the sun and our car blanket. This is such a pesky cat. He actually let me pet him a bit today for the first time ever, and then started trying to bite and claw me so I gave up. The neighbours have 4 young children and maybe he's got good defense mechanisms for a reason! And it's probably also why he spends so much time hiding in our yard!

"Bee sting" cake

I made this cake for a farewell on Monday. It was delicious. It is actually called a "Bienenstich" and is very German. If you want the recipe it's on the Mennonite Girls Can Cook website - the link is just over there on the right! Enjoy and impress!

She's done it again

Where does she come up with this stuff? Katy whipped this picture off this morning to send off to her cousin for his birthday. I hope he doesn't see this post before Tuesday! Anyway, I think it's her best one yet. We are all amazed......

A slow sick day

I think it's a lot less complicated to have a cold here in Germany. I say that mainly because there isn't the vast choice of cold products available so choosing what to buy is not much of a decision. Vitamins are expensive here so we always bring those with us from Canada. And, a bottle of this size would be unheard of. Vicks (or "Wick" here in Germany) is a popular cold comfort brand but a tiny jar of the VapoRub can set you back almost 5 Euro ($8).
Fortunately the sun is shining today and a warm "Föhn" (Chinook) wind is blowing so that makes me feel a little better.

Another project completed

Early last year I got going on putting a recipe book together for the girls. I wanted the book to be finished for Bethany when she graduated. When it was looking like she would be staying close to home this year, I put the book aside for awhile even though I was almost finished.
I finally got it printed over the weekend and now it's finished!

Last night I presented the finished product to the girls and they were, as you can see, very pleased. This book represents hours and hours of work, but it was so worth it. At this point it has 77 recipes - family favourites as well as all those other recipes you need to have handy - and there's lots of room to add more as they start cooking on their own. I am as pleased as they are!

Katy's little pics

Katy has been painting/drawing some cool little pics lately. This one was for a birthday and it's my favourite so far.
These others are just random pictures she did for fun.

It's a wrap!

Bethany has been "in the studio" for two recording sessions. One was last night and the other this afternoon. And....she's done! Wow. That was sure easy! Now the mixing has to be finished and she will do most of it herself after some training by the main technician at the studio. Then the final details have to be worked out before the CD goes into production.

This is Rafael who is doing an internship at the JT studio this year. He is a very patient person, which I imagine most music technicians have to be. He did a great job and Bethany said she didn't feel nervous working with him at all. We are thankful for him and that he made this project possible for Bethany to do.

In the grip of winter...

You've likely been hearing on the news that Europe is experiencing one of its coldest winters in a long, long time. Fortunately Germany has lots of gas reserves so we don't have to worry about the feud that's going on between the Ukraine and Russia. We are very thankful for that. However, it has been pretty cold this winter for our part of the world (although nothing remotely near -50!) and it's been a challenge to keep the house warm. Looking today at the rivers that run through Kandern confirmed that it has indeed been a cold winter. I can't remember ever seeing an ice build-up.



Saw this watering can and liked its look...

Back to work

I work in a beautiful room at BFA - the library. And over the break it became even more beautiful to our staff as the overhead fans are now hooked up and ready for the Spring thaw. This library, although very lovely, can also become unbearably HOT in the spring, summer and fall. Until now we've had large and noisy industrial fans to blow the hot air around. They kind of helped, but the noise was a bit much. I felt like I was in a chicken barn with those things roaring - minus the chickens and the smell, of course!
But now the fans are up, the lights are bright and we are really enjoying our workspace like never before.

A beautiful outcome

We have burned several large (and small) candles over this Christmas season (both for aesthetic value and warmth!) and it amazes me how every candle burns down differently. This one has become especially beautiful, I thought.

The world is not flat

Last night Bethany and one of her high school friends were invited to perform some of their songs before a duo called "The World is Not Flat" performed for a very small group. It was all very low-key but very enjoyable.

Dreikönigstag - Three Kings Day - Epiphany

Today is "Three Kings Day". The bakeries all bake a special round bread for today and in each loaf a small "king" can be found. The one who finds the king gets to wear the crown (also included with the bread but made from paper!) for the day.
Also on this day, Sternsinger (star singers) dress up as the three wise men and go around to people's houses singing songs and collecting money for charity. The money is used to help children in need. If you donate, they will write in chalk " C+M+B" and the year on your doorway. Many people think that this stands for the names of the three wise men, Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, but it's actually "Christus Mansionem Benedicat" which means "Jesus bless this house."
Until this year, I did not know what the numbers and letters chalked above the doorways meant. We have asked many people and one thing we were told is that it is part of a census carried out by the Catholic church. When I looked up Dreikönigstag on the internet I finally discovered what this strange letter and number combination really meant. How intriguing. Just last night we happened upon a German documentary about this very event as they filmed a small group of young people going from house to house, singing and collecting money for unfortunate children. Last year over 4 million Euros were collected for this cause. We have lived in Germany for 10 years and continue to learn new things about this culture!

Skating

Today we went skating with Uli, Maria and Barbara. Actually, Uli sat and read a book, drank coffee and sometimes watched while the rest of us skated. Uli is our German tutor and Barbara is my English student.
Today was Barbara's third time on skates. She did amazingly well!
We gave her some tips on skating backwards and away she went.
Maria was a bit more cautious...

Carrot soup for lunch

I have really gotten into making cream soups and I love carrot soup! And the best thing is that my family loves it too.

Who let the dogs out.....?

There was a dog loose on the street today. This might not seem like a big deal, but here in Germany it actually is. Dogs are never alone on the street and to see one out wandering is an extremely rare sight. This one had actually spent a few minutes in our yard as well before checking out the neighbours' yards as well. It was actually kind of funny to witness this dog enjoying its temporary moments of freedom.