I saw it thru the grapevine

Our grape vine is growing. Yesterday, from the inside of the shed, the leaves were such a beautiful colour against the blue sky.
This is from the other side.
It turns out that my volunteer "pumpkins" were actually sunflowers! I'm still a pretty novice gardener, however, I have to say in my defense that when the plants are small, they do look quite similar!

"I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers..."

A few years ago I came upon this quote by Monet. I was putting together a bulletin board for the library and this was one quote that I really liked. Last year we visited Monet's garden and saw the bridge over the lily pond. It was so beautiful and peaceful. His garden was lush and full of every imaginable flower. He obviously loved flowers and was obviously inspired by them...

Only the Swiss

We see this kind of thing all the time in Switzerland. When they have some sort of road construction to do - especially work on a bridge - they will build a full roof over the area where they have to work. I find this simply amazing. Weather isn't the issue in our part of Europe like it is in other parts of the world and yet the Swiss take the time to prepare the work area extremely well before they begin a project so nothing hampers the progress.

Palm nights

Tonight was another fairly lively night in the dorm...


After supper there was time for a few games of beach volleyball...


There is a group of students visiting right now from a school in Romania that BFA has made a connection with. They were at the dorm for supper.
Then it was time to get serious and hit the books to prepare for the first round of finals starting tomorrow!

There are always lots of phone calls for the girls every evening. Usually the girls sit in the "phone booth" for their calls and not on the back of a couch!
And the studying continues...
Our special friend, Bethany, was subbing with us tonight. It's always a bonus when she wanders up to the dorm the same evening we are there.

The end of the road - almost...

Bethany has almost completed her time as an aupair. I cannot believe how quickly the year has gone. I took a few shots of the neighbourhood today when I went to pick her up with her first suitcase.
You will notice that there are several barriers on this street. This is a very simple way of slowing down the traffic. It's pretty tough to drive quickly down a street like this, especially when there are also bikes galore, children and pedestrians, besides other vehicles. Did I also mention the speed bumps?
The family she has been working for this year lives in a very lovely and quiet residential area - lots of trees and old homes.
This is my favourite...old home, that is...
This is where she lived this year.
The dreaded "Meierweg". Her little charge often complains that this walking path to the house is sooooo long!

Heat wave

When it gets hot here it gets very hazy. Today is another very warm day. Predicted highs were from 28 - 35 degrees in the Black Forest and we definitely made it to the top end of the range. The German kids are on Pfingstferien - Pentecost holidays - for the next 2 weeks so the pool is a zoo! If you want a serious German cultural experience, visit a pool on a hot day. I've never seen anything like it!

Die Rosen

The roses are in full, full bloom. In fact as I discovered today, they are almost past their prime already! When did that happen? And after today's 34 degree blistering heat, I can imagine that many of them may now be completely at their end.

Director portraits

At our staff banquet last week we were given the job of drawing a portrait of our director. I do not draw but once I saw what some of the others were doing, I decided that maybe I do draw after all. The first one is mine...the rest belong to other staff...some more talented than others.