Snow on Silvester

Well it's snowing again, just like the weatherman said. It's really beautiful! Silvester (New Years Day) should be snowy, right?

Silvester

We were at a small gathering at Petra's house. She served us so much food and munchies, including a very fine hard gouda cheese that I could not stop nibbling, I know my expensive cheeses! I was happy to share one of the boxes of Mother's Taffy Cookies that I received in the mail for Christmas from my mom. I was happy to see the Germans experience them for their first time, and love them! They all wanted to know what they are made of. I have no idea - I think there is coconut in them?

One of the guests was a programmer for IBM and really a great conversationalist. He even tried talking to me in English quite a bit, but .......you know, sometimes you can just tell that someone won't understand you, so you answer in their language anyway, which makes for an odd sounding conversation and a silly scenario where the American talks funny German and the German talks funny English. This happens to me quite a bit. Happily, we switch to German now faster than ever before!

I love sitting back and watching my man at parties. As a teacher, everyone seems to want to talk to him about his job. And as a cabaret member, he has a knack for twisting current events into jokes that make the room roll. I have no idea what is so funny. German cultural humor is beyond me.


These are the cookies I made for Petra last week. I just had to show off.....PonyGirl's chocolate ones, and Sonya's candycanes. They were both excellent! In return we received some cookies from her that my man enjoyed.






Fire and White

The snow started last night at midnight exactly, just as the entire neighborhood erupted in fireworks. I can't believe this, even out here in the country, people go nuts. The IBM guy had a trunk load of what looked to me like professional fireworks. My man and I stood WAY, WAY back. We are kind of wimps around those things. I just kept imagining one going wrong. Later I'll have to ask the firechief how many accidents he was called to.

The paper bits were falling down all around us and thunking down onto the neighbors' roof, although they were out front too, lighting them off with their kids, champagne in hand. Champagne at midnight is the tradition here, and this morning there are champage bottles on every street corner, amidst the total mess of paper.

I wondered what Baasha thought, so I handed my man my champagne glass and trotted down the street to check on him. He was alert, but not freaking out. Good boy! I tried to hug him, but he rushed to stand in his stall doorway, clearly saying, "This is not the time for cuddling!" Then the snow began to fall, making it a really wonderful experience. I could see fireworks all over the hillsides, too, not just on our street.

You wouldn't believe how long parties go on in Germany. We were there 7 hours, until 3 am. Back in my 20s that would be normal, but these people are all older than we are, and yet here they are. Isabel went out dancing and came back, all in the time we were at this party. When we first moved here they invited us to coffee and cake, and that lasted 5 hours! That would not go over in America, we have things to do!

Eventually I curled up on the couch next to the nativity set with Leopold the terrier, taking a break from the party. He thought it was too late too, as he slept on his lambswool blanket.

A Quiet Silvester Day

My man just made a fire and I made another pot of my sister's chili recipe. My resolution is to fit into those jeans she sent me in the mail, and that healthy chili will help: )

I think Baasha must be disappointed in more white stuff. I found his bucket frozen over this morning, and when I dumped it out, a dead mouse fell out too. That's the second one. Poor things! I really need to find a good place to hang that bucket. Right now it's hanging in his stall again so it won't freeze or get mice, on the hook I normally hang his mash, but he's eating his mash in his hay trough. That is less than ideal cuz he cannot really lick up the bits that fall down through all that hay. (In the photo he's eating from the tree, where I often snap the bucket so I can clean the stall with him outside. If the weather is awful, I don't make him go out there.)

We gave him carrots at every chime of the clock today, to make up for this weather.

Both of his eyes look good today.*

We did a nice multi cache today in the neighboring town of Burscheid (a multi is a type of geocache that takes you on a tour with many stations where you must answer questions to solve for the final coordinates). It snowed on us lightly the entire time, those little tiny styrofoam ball type snowflakes. I was very hesitant to drive, but did ok going very slowly. I've decided that our region resembles south eastern Oklahoma at times, and during those times, I sing it...you know it, right?

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

(Imagine Dick Solomon singing, as I do.)

* We receivedour lab results this week from the test they did on his eye, and he has a bacteria called pseudomonas sp. The lab sent us a list of medicines that the bacteria are resistant to, and sensitive to, to guide us. That is helpful! Now we need that eye clinic doctor to advise us. My man will call him on Monday.