Today Baasha turned 26 so I bought him 20 pounds of carrots. Even though I chopped them up I think his jaw might be sore after eating so many so far today! He gets to do whatever he wants today (except for the part where he had to be fly sprayed). I also gave him half a loaf of this dessert bread with raisins that I do not like.
"Happy birthday Baasha!" we both met him at the gate with an orange surprise.
I spent a nice morning with him watching him eat hay by the goldfish pond and we both became covered in birch pollen. It's really bad here.
I cleaned my goldfish pond yesterday and washed the car but it's no use. In fact my camera was covered in pollen just from taking these photos. (See my goldfish under the pollen haze? Their names are der, die, das, and den - all words for "the". Dem did not survive the deep freeze.) Baasha trimmed this purple hazelnut bush for us yesterday. I hope it's big enough that he cannot damage it - I love the almost-black leaves.
As much as the pollen bothers me I have to be thankful I do not suffer allergies. If so I could not be here right now.
I accidentally left my kitchen window open and this laptop is coated, as well as my table, and everything else in my kitchen.
I cleaned this water bucket yesterday. There's no use. Poor Baasha's nostrils are yellow from breathing it, all of our lungs are full of it. I can feel it in my throat and every once in a while my eyes feel really dry - but I cannot complain.
A good rainfall might help. A really hard rainfall - I can barely remember such a thing.
Do you know we've only had 4 days with rain since February? I'm still counting. And the non-rainy days are not pleasant and cloudy, they are blue sky blazing sun and by noon it is too hot to continue working outside. The Germans who went to Spain for their Spring breaks are so pissed. They say we traded weather.
I'd like to trade 15 weather days with Seattle. I just read a report from March 2011 for Seattle. It says rain on all but 3 days! And those 3 days it says "cloudy." It rained over 6 inches in March.
I tried to do a similar weather search and finally my man found a report saying this is the dryest Spring in 20 years. We couldn't find anything about the "X many sunny days" because they just don't do weather reports like that here (by city). It rained 1 inch total in March.
Here is a depiction of the weather in this country. As you can see, we're almost at the top of the temperature scale. Look for the darkest red on this map and that is where we live. (Near Köln.) Normal people are happy about this. I'm not one of those people.
Here is the pollen chart for this country, for birch. Wait - it's not as bad as it could be? I doubt it!
On the way down the hang today I chased a snake until I caught it - I wanted to get a photo to identify it. I'd never seen this snake before and wanted to know if it is poisonous. It was so fast I almost couldn't catch it. (I had a net. I'm not afraid of snakes (it's the number of legs on insects/spiders that is horrible to me, and these guys don't have that scary aspect.))
It was actually really pretty - green with white and black patterns underneath. It played dead as soon as I put it in the net. It was about 50 cm long - half a meter. It had big eyes and a long black tongue and it seemed to be glaring at us. (Not my photo.)
It had the distinctive yellow marks like this photo from Wiki. The neighbor told us it's a Ringelnatter - what Americans call Grass or Water Snake because they eat solely amphibians. Well that means they're helpful to us! Cats are their enemies, according to Wiki. OK as long as there is no danger to Mercer, as there is with another snake inhabitant of our yard - the European Viper. That one is poisonous. Sounds like it could take on some cylons...
This is not normal - azaleas normally bloom in May! I remember last year (April 23 to be exact) I was complaining that our pasture was still dead from Winter. What a change. I would like to mow this lawn but today is Good Friday, a holiday in Germany, and we're not allowed to make noise today.
The next door neighbor's cherry tree is magnifient and will soon be "snowing" on us: )
They've invited us to their Easter Fire tomorrow. The moon is dark red at night due to no rain and after the fires it should be worse....
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20 comments:
Happy birthday to a beautiful boy!
Wish we could send you some of our rain - we've had nothing but for the past two months and it seems the weather's never going to get better - windchill is 30F right now with rain - yuck!
kate, i've been reading your blog long enough now that it's affecting my desire to see your state. i'm sorry but the weather is so extreme! (of course my husband wants to see illinois to find a geocache there *lol*)
Seriously, you can take the rain I've been getting. I don't want it! We're an inch and a half above normal rainfall for the month of April right now.
Too bad we can't just rotate the planet so the areas that need to rain can get it and we can get some desperately needed sun!
I agree with everyone else here--we have too much rain here and we will gladly take some of your extra sunshine (but not the pollen, thanks). Yesterday I was supposed to ride but it SN*WED. I was so mad. You probably heard me swearing all the way over at your house. Loud voice? Short words? Ja, that was me.
Today we had rain (of course) but now the sun is out. I'm going to move some gravel and then RIDE!!!!
Happy birthday Baasha! Hoping the pollen goes down in the near future. Glad the snake wasn't dangerous.
I do remember my old cat catching a grass snake and bringing it into the house as a trophy - not welcome!
We could do with some rain here in England too.
26! That's absolutely amazing. You are a wonderful human, and you're both so blessed to have each other. Please give him a scritch on the neck from me.
The Germans are on to something with keeping the windows closed, I think. ;)
The weather is so messed up this year. It rained so hard on me on the way home today that I had to turn the wipers on low! After you finish laughing, remember that I live in the desert, and we're supposed to get 7" of rain in a year. It rained all October, then snowed all winter, and now it's raining again!
I'm glad I'm not in Germany right now. I bet I'm allergic to beech pollen.
Happy Birthday to Baasha!
We've had plenty of rain this spring. I hope it doesn't decide to quit raining in August like it did last year, and then basically not rain at all for 90 days. Mother Nature is a cruel mistress sometimes!
Happy birthday, Baasha! Dat's a lotta carrots! Enjoy!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAASHA!! Wow Lytha- here I was thinking that handsome fellow was only in his teens! He looks wonderful! So happy that you guys had a good day together.
Beautiful pix. I feel your pain on the pollen- ours this year was horrific. I'll have to send you the pic of it on the hood of our Chevy- we had gotten half the hood waxed, and half not.... and wait till you see the shot!! LOL
Oh- we're way dry this spring too. Not good at all for the hay season. *sigh*
Happy birthday Baasha!
It's amazing that spring comes even with so little rain, isn't it?
Here's to wetter skies for those of us who need them.
Happy birthday Baasha!
Lytha, www.wetteronline.de shows the number of sunny hours per day and week/month.
In April in Cologne were 15 days with more than 6 hours sun, 12 days with more than 8, 9 days with more than 10 and 3 days with more than 12 hours of sunshine. The archive dates back to 1982.
we are coming to Germany the end of may to visit our son and family, we will be in a village called Matel. We visited a few years back and love the beauty of the country. I think every yard had an apple tree or some fruit in it. I really like the scenery pics that you post.
my daughter in law that we are visiting is from Seattle too.
aarene, i really thought about you guys today and prayed so much that you'd have a nice easter.
dom, wait til i post the next pollen pic, it's unbelievable - like toxic waste!
whp, i read that those snakes occur in your land too - i don't think they are in america, i was mistaken.
funder, 7 inches of rain per year!!?
melissa, you're right about the cruel part.
evensong, we're still working through that 20 pound bag of carrots..
mrs mom, your photo should be in an advertisement somehow - that is unbelievable!
breathe, there was no lion, only lamb: )
michael, thanks for showing me that site - we spent a long time today perusing it. it is exactly what i was looking for. hey, how did you find my blog?
ellie, will you be nearby?
Happy birthday Baasha! Spoiled boy. That bucket of carrots looks so yummy. :D
I would die if I were over there with all of the pollen. I have horrible, horrible allergies. :( I'm glad you don't suffer from them because you would be miserable.
I wish I could send you some of my rain and storms. I'm sick of it. But considering we normally have horrible droughts all summer I guess I won't complain too hard hehe. :)
I kept asking my husband what the fine powder on our windows was?? Now, I know!! I am feeling just like you, frustrated as ever. I seem to be cleaning every space and the next day, there it is, again!!!!
Didn't know that we were experiencing the driest Spring in 20 yrs!! We really need RAIN!!!
Even with no rain I'm amazed at how magnificently, blindingly green it is there. Wow! I'd take that in an instant.
We've not had any rain in over 7 months and everything is dry, dusty and brown. No green and no grass.
We've had the worst Spring for high winds in over 20 years here. Gusts between 60-75mph. It just adds to the drought, lack of humidity and dust.
Here's hoping we both get some serious rain soon.
I had no idea that Germany had poisonous snakes. Good thing you have some non-poisonous helpful snakes around, too.
Oh my! Raisin bread and a bucket 'o carrots for your handsome birthday boy? I hope he doesn't get a tummy ache, too. Or turn orange. hehe!
(I once went on a carrot diet as a teenager and my skin actually turned orange after two weeks!)
Happy Birthday to Baasha!
~Lisa
Happy Birthday to Baasha! We havent had much rain this spring either, just snow and cold weather. I would rather warm and rain anyday.
> hey, how did you find my blog?
lytha, I am interested in people from other countries, their culture, their opinions and how they view Germans and German life and so on.
It broadens my horizon, so I am reading some of their expat blogs.
You made a smart comment on another expat blog so I followed the link to your blog.
I have to admit I am a silent reader for years...thank you so far. I like your blog very much!
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