Troedelmarkt

Today I visited our village's yearly Troedelmarkt (flea market). The locals bring their junk out to the street and try to get money for it. It's mostly kid stuff and antiques. Stuff that appeals to my age is not represented well. But it's fun to chat with the over-eager sellers and try to find that perfect little thing that would make a good gift for my family or my man's family.

Today I found various and sundry little items - I bid on a couple of "Breyer" horse models (the German type) but alas, they couldn't break a 50 and by the time I finally got back there with small bills, that Fjord set had sold. Dangit! They are anatomically correct here, mares having teats and there are no geldings in German Breyer models.

I was very confused when I saw someone selling our local newspaper, the Bergisch Morgenpost, a copy from 2011, with President Obama on the cover, quoting the book of Psalms. I wonder why they are selling that, and I should have asked how much, but I was bewildered at that moment.

I was trying to decide how to break my diet with all of the stands emitting tempting aromas of bratwurst, crepes, waffeln, bretzeln, bratfisch, and coffee. (I'm off coffee lately and I've decided the smell is better than the taste. At least, outside of Seattle.)

I was just about to decide for a hot bretzel when I saw THE item of the day. A large, new-looking cat tree, in beige (which hopefully blends in in our living room because I hate pet accessories in my home).  They wanted 10 bucks for the thing, including a little caddy full of cat accessories. I assumed their cat had died, I was ready to be sad but they said their cat just didn't like the tree (nor the accessories?). I didn't know how I would get the thing to my car, but they said to just pull up as close as I could and they'd help me. For 10 bucks! The guy carried it right to my car, I lay down the back seats, and told him "Meine Katze freut sich!"

When I got home my man had been working on preparing class tests and I called him out of his office to help me carry an item. He was curious how I got it to my car, heehee. He was very impressed. I'd been shopping for them lately and I was hesitant to pay 60-80 Euros for one. Perfect! We're totally thrilled with it, and I've already hung the accessories all over it, little catnip toys and such. One of the items was a diamond studded, belled black patent leather cat collar. We both were amused at the thought of our cat wearing such a thing. "I wear no man's collar!" says Mercer.

 I carried the old cat tree outside and decided the donkey might like it as a toy. She's already rubbed on it. I guess I have to figure out how to get rid of it.

Better, though, there was a slicker brush in that kit and it's perfect for taking out Bellis' Winter coat. She is getting nearer and nearer to a Summer coat, and the little bits that I can see (her rump, her shoulders, her face) are gorgeous! I cannot believe it, she's got some sort of agouti pattern like a Somali cat, or other wild animal. It really encourages me to groom her, so I've been doing that a lot lately.

My camera appears to have bitten the dust. This is a 18 month old Canon Powershot that was under 200$, but still, I'm surprised; my last Powershot lasted like 8 years. I told my man, while he tried to get the thing to come on, "I won't be blogging anymore then--no camera." He said, "Good, you'll have a lot more time!" "For what?" "For....pulling weeds in the garden?!" *laugh*

Today was really rough, this morning, at least, because it was blue sky puffy cloud brilliant sunshine and warm. Yesterday rained all day long, I couldn't mow my lawn. It is so frustrating that I am not allowed to mow my lawn on a Sunday!!! I know, it doesn't happen that often, that it's pouring on Saturday and sunny on Sunday, when I'm desperate to mow my lawn, but it's so freaking irritating that this is law. I complained all morning to the point where my man decided to cheer me up by helping me pull weeds out of various garden areas around here. After that I felt much better but I hope I have a cold tomorrow so I can call in sick and mow my lawn. It's annoying to have unlimited sick days and never get sick.

I was able to trim Bellis' hooves tonight! Just a little, she's not very good at picking up her feet, and she's not that good about holding them up, but I can see that I can do this, with practice and a lot of positive reinforcement. This is really encouraging, I'd felt such despair watching her fight the farrier, but I think that I can at least do some of her trims myself. Especially if my man can hold her lead rope.

She's my best yard waste disposal, I love it. Feeding her roses and lettuce that went to seed, it's so fun, it makes it better for her while she waits for Baasha to eat his mash while they're separated.

Tonight I wished the camera was working because they were grooming each other so ecstatically - he was biting her crest and she was biting his shoulder, with a lot of power behind it from both of them. Baasha needed an animal to nibble on for so long, this makes me so happy!

The terrier lady said he's been lying flat out in the field, looking dead and scaring her. I told her he finally feels protected enough to lie like that.

I guess none of this actually happened, no pics: (