A shed

Not a big deal - just an old shed in a farmer's field. But, I liked the colours and of course, the shed.

Golden November

I'm not sure what they call November here in Germany when the weather is still so lovely, but I'm happy to continue to call it "golden". We are enjoying this amazing fall and so many of the leaves are still on the trees. It is so beautiful.
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We haven't forgotten

You've seen these pictures before, but I thought I would
post them again today on

November 11.

The bunker where John McCrae was posted when he wrote the now famous poem.

The statue of "Canada" at Vimy Ridge, mourning for the thousands lost in the war.

The enormous Tyne Cot cemetery and memorial to the missing - the Commonwealth's largest.

The Canadian cemetery at Juno Beach.

Having visited these WWI and II sites this summer makes Remembrance Day much more meaningful. The price that was paid by our nation was enormous.
Reading the names of the boys written on these headstones
and in many cases the things that their families chose
to have inscribed there was powerful and heartbreaking.
I know I will never forget.

Cool Police

This is pretty much the coolest police sign we have ever seen. It is at the police station in the town in Switzerland where Bethany works. We have seen it many times and today I finally got a picture.

This one you won't believe...

This is the brand of toilet paper we buy. Like most German products, the packaging has been changed since we arrived here. The brand name was more striking on the original wrapping, but the name has remained the same. After 10 years we still have to chuckle about it.

The result

The pancake breakfast yesterday raised over 800 Euro for the school in Romania. We were all thrilled to hear this announcement in church this morning!

A full day

First on the agenda this morning was the pancake breakfast at the school, sponsored by the Student's Union who were raising money for a school in Romania.
The kitchen was a hoppin' place.


The finished product. We had flavour choices of plain, chocolate chip, blueberry or banana.
Some happy pancakers! And there were likely some very happy organizers because this breakfast was a hot item!
Then, on to the dress swap. Two RAs had found churches this summer who were willing to donate and ship banquet dresses to BFA. The Christmas banquet is almost upon us and it's a pretty big event. If you are a girl, you need (NEED!) a special dress.
So the dresses were organized by size...
...change rooms were created...
...goodies provided...
...last minute instructions given...

And the throngs of young women waiting patiently were let in and let loose - 20 at a time.
It was pretty much at this point that I stopped taking pictures. It was fairly frantic in that room but Katy managed to find a pretty nice dress. With a few alterations, it will be perfect. It was a huge blessing to find something so easily and so FREE! A BIG thank you to the RAs for organizing this amazing gift for our girls, and of course to those amazing churches who made it all happen.
Tonight there was a free concert in a Jesuit church in Basel given by an International Jesuit Youth Orchestra. Here's a bit about the concept of the Paraguayan portion of it:

Sonidos de la Tierra was founded in 2002 by internationally recognized master musician, composer, and orchestral conductor, Luis Szaran.

Szaran envisioned providing kids in underserved and poorly resourced communities with the opportunities to learn how to play musical instruments and, on a more philosophical level, rescue traditional Paraguayan culture and improve the sustainability of local communities by teaching kids skills that can pave the way to higher education and a professional career.

Since its founding, Sonidos de la Tierra (“Sounds of the Earth”) has offered training in the musical arts to more than 8,000 kids in 120 communities in Paraguay through workshops, their “conservatory on wheels,” and the establishment of music schools.
There were young people from Paraguay, India, Tansania, Italy, Germany and Switzerland in the orchestra tonight. The music was fantastic, but the lighting wasn't so my pictures did not turn out at all. Too bad. The "concert" started with a one hour mass, with the music all from the "Guaraní". It was haunting and beautiful. After that we were treated to pieces from India, Nepal, Africa, Austria, Wales, the U.S, Paraguay and Bolivia. We had one regret during and after the concert: our girls had not come along with us. Next time...

They're coming down

Gas prices have come down. Only a few short months ago, gas in Switzerland was over 2 Francs (about $2 Cdn) a litre, but today this was the price. It felt like a bargain to get gas at this price! What a deal. Also in this picture you can see Switzerland's tallest building (I think it still is, that is) and also the tram lines. Basel has a fantastic transportation system, which Bethany is enjoying greatly.

I couldn't wait...

I took this picture this morning and was going to post it tomorrow, but I couldn't wait. I really, really like this picture. The water in the creek rushing down toward Kandern is so clean right now so the background was perfect.

One year

One year ago today I started my blog. Thank you to ALL of you who have signed in, left comments or talked to me personally! It has been a very fun and encouraging project. I've enjoyed looking at Germany from the eyes of someone who has never been here and sharing my family's life with you along the way. And, I've enjoyed taking pictures and discovering that that is something I really like to do! Thanks for a great year!

Eggspecially for your information

Did you know that eggs come in 10s here in Germany? Coming from Brazil this wasn't a big deal to us because we'd had 10 years to get used to eggs by the 10s while living there. In Brazil they are called a "dezena" of eggs (a 10 of eggs) - in Germany its a "dutzend".
Any way you count them, a full carton of eggs still doesn't fit in the fridge. And I don't know why the eggs are always stamped. This much remains a mystery...

Trick or treat?

Here is another borrowed picture. Thanks, Sandee! My girls and two other friends (also sisters) dressed up last night and went looking for some free handouts at a few BFA homes. This picture was taken at our director's house. I guess the girls were having a hard time playing their parts for the picture without cracking a smile. Everyone enjoyed the moment, and there were even some treats to bring home. The Halloween thing isn't huge in Germany, and even though we have had a few German kids come to our door in the past, this "trick or treating" thing certainly isn't catching on.