Easter Snow

It's snowing as I write and it is Easter Friday. Specialists would say the snow is 'wet' because it sticks to things such as the branches of trees. You can see this in the photos of my front and back gardens.


I've had a 'normal' week still wearing thick winter clothes to counter the cold winds, snow and ice. No sign of Spring yet. The very cold winter has been good for my allergies.

So far few problems and I have not been to my allergy doctor. I am going to get through the period without medical help. In all the years of sitting in waiting rooms, no treatment or medicine has helped me.

Not sure about this evening - it depends on the weather!  Have a nice, warm Easter break wherever you are.

Eating Again

Yesterday was a nice day centred on eating :-)  It started with Kerstin's 'Training for Oldies' session, as each Friday morning. After training, sauna, shower, relaxing, we left for a short walk to a restaurant It advertised itself as a 'Singapore Indian' restaurant. Mmmmh...I was suspicious!

We entered what was an old 'Kneipe' (traditional pub) and a long table was set for 13 guests. The service was good, the food tasty and the prices acceptable. I noticed the menu was an interesting mixture of Indian and Chinese dishes. I still miss the kinds of food I could buy/eat when I lived in north India. I couldn't get them in this restaurant. Like others, it is designed for Berliner tastes!

Back home I rested and did a number of things before getting ready to go to Johanna's flat. I have talked about her before and how we meet up every few months for nice meals, drinks and conversation. Other 'Oldies' were present and I really enjoyed catching up on news and events since our last meeting.

After the meal, I gave Johanna a present as thanks for her hospitality. She was surprised. I gave her a CD. It was of Kathleen Ferrier singing Bach and Handel at a "historic performance" on 7/8th October 1952. Within six months she was dead.  The recording was "recreated in stereo" on 19 February 1960. I think all Kathleen Ferrier fans have a copy of this re-working.

I asked Johanna to listen to one song to see if she liked it. She put it into her CD player and I watched the faces of all present. No-one made a sound as the orchestra played the introductory notes leading to the smooth entry of her voice. Within seconds I saw expressions of surprise and pleasure on the faces of my hostess and fellow guests. I had made the right choice!

They asked me questions about her and wanted to hear more. I answered their questions and was very happy that I had made the right musical choice to end our pleasant evening.  I'm looking forward to our next meeting and exchanging news about what each has done in spring.

It's me!

What a boring evening! I watch TV about twice a week and only from 10.00 pm. I have channels which show the same rubbish from 8.00 to 10.00 pm. Either German or American series. Hello - I do not watch such idiot series! No-one is listening!!

I watched the news and tried to watch a political panel debating energy pricing and policy. I swear that I tried my best. It was worse than boring and an insult to a half educated watcher/listener so I just turned off the TV.

I switched to my computer and caught up on political postings in my area. I got a shock! One was a story about Women's Day on Friday 8 March. I spent the afternoon with two 'oldies' preparing 500 red roses with SPD advertisements.

I then joined them in handing them out to women at a crossing near my local S-Bahn station and shopping centre. I did not know that someone in the SPD had taken a photo of me. Here it is. You can see me from the back. Actually this is interesting for I have rarely seen myself from the back. I think you have also not seen yourself from the back!

It was minus 5°C but we 'oldies' got on with the job. One women I talked to came from a Vietnam background. She was delighted to get a red rose. I then noticed she had a little daughter so I gave her a red rose. Mother was so pleased she took out a mobile phone with a camera and took a photo of her daughter with a red rose.

Great that mother and daughter were so happy and I think you can see this in the photo. I/We did not know that someone from the SPD had taken a photo of the event. What a nice surprise!

The man in the red scarve handing out red roses in the other photo is Erik Göhrs. He is the SPD candidate for the German Parliament from the area where I live. We are working to get him elected.

Sylvia L

Sylvia joined my LCCI Group two weeks ago. She was a welcome member and quickly made a positive contribution. I was pleased she decided to stay and work for the examination.

I soon discovered she was a multi-talent. She is a photographer, plays around with Photoshop, has exhibitions of her work, runs a web page, has just started a blog and people buy her work. Perhaps the ultimate compliment!

She brought some of her photographs and camera/lenses to the class. A nice Nikon - Andrea please note! She gave a presentation about/of her work and how she uses the camera before giving me the photographs as postcards. Very nice present!

She has an exhibition called 3LANDECK in Großhennersdorf near Zittau. This is in Saxony where she was born. She has another one called 'ohne strom' = without current.  It is a selection of her photos about household equipment we used before a cable/electricity were added! It is in a restaurant called 'esskultur' at Dahlem Museum.

I shall be working to get her photos on show when Angelika's (below) exhibition ends. Watch this space! You can find her work by typing 'sylvia-landeck.de' into your browser. Have a look and you can even buy originals online :-)

Angelika

No, this is not the Angelika who plays viola in the orchestra whose concerts I regularly go to. This is Angelika the Artist. I met her through the AG 60+ group which is part of my local SPD organisation. She is 80 but looks much younger and is very active in many groups including hiking. Amazing!

She had a successful career as a stage and clothes designer for theatre, film and then TV. She gave a presentation of her work in a local community centre. It was so successful that it was extended and part of it moved to the centre where I go for 'oldie' and some party meetings.

She is also a hobby photographer and some of her work was presented last Monday and will be shown for a month. I was there and took my camera. I took a series of shots and showed them to her this afternoon when I returned for another meeting. She was very pleased with my work and some of my shots will now be used to promote her exhibition.

She also gives readings from her diaries which are being organised into a book. She can play with the language and sounds like a professional actor. I could listen to her reading about her life for hours! I wonder if she could have been a singer? What a model for all who hit retirement age!

Puzzle - Scanner

I've had an interesting week. Winter returned but we just put on warmer clothes and got on with daily life. I bought a book about the history of Ukraine, the new James Bond DVD, and two Kathleen Ferrier CDs.

One is a stereo re-mix of her last Bach-Handel recital. Marga bought this for me and signed the cover :-) We met up for a meal and chat in a Portuguese restaurant in Charlottenberg last Tuesday. The other CD is called 'Songs of the British Isles'. It has all the songs my music teacher, Mr Skull, introduced to me many years ago. I had to have this in my collection!

I got a surprise call from Jan in the country where he is currently on contract, a nice call from Andrea, and a welcome letter from Alan and Lynne.  I also did some teaching, went to a party meeting, to a book reading, and met my Photoshop Gang yesterday.

We created a puzzle. What do you think of it? It took all of us some time to work out the six steps to create each piece but thanks to Stefan's patience we got there in the end!

 I also got a scanner for my laptop. It came from a member of the 'oldie' group who had bought a new one. Stefan quickly loaded the driver to get the thing working and now I can scan my old non-digital photographs.

This afternoon I am going to an exhibition including work by Maude, an artist I know. Tomorrow I am joining Gerald, Jutta and Johanna in the evening for a performance of Bach's Johannespassion in the local church. I hope they put some heating on!  Have a nice weekend.

Snowing

Yes, it is snowing again. I think all of west and north Europe is being hit by snow and cold winds coming from the Artic area. It's even colder in Finland and west Russia.

Talking of Russia, I have a new student and he was born in the northern part of what Brits call Siberia. Actually it isn't - Siberia is the bit in the middle of the map but don't tell them that!


His English is very good and his German even better. He is also very sporty. He studied economics then worked as a manager for a large company in Germany. I spotted his training and skills immediately he gave a presentation.

We talked about Ukraine for he decided to drive there with some friends to see the final of some sporting event last weekend. You must love a sport to sit in a car with others for at least 17 hours!

Since our talk I have looked on the web and got information about the history of Ukraine. Now I am prepared for our meeting tomorrow. There it is even colder and with more snow than in Berlin.

Here are photos of the snow last night and the result this morning. Looking forward to Spring!

Bathroom

Last week was busy but I found time to improve my bathroom. I am sure you have all heard of a German supermarket chain called Aldi. I actually like shopping in my local store. I know exactly what I am going to see and expect before I set off for the store.


Two weeks ago they had various bathroom 'furnishings' on offer. I bought a nice silver metal double bathtowel rail. At home I realized it was to be drilled into the wall. I never do that! Back to the store to get the special attachment held by glue so you did not need to drill.

Jan and Arancha visited that weekend so I had the chance to discuss mounting it with an expert engineer. Jan scanned the information in 2 seconds and told me to just do X and then Y and it was easy. Yes, easy for a man with two degrees in engineering.

I followed his advice this week and it worked out okay. I was so pleased I returned to the store to buy a half-moon-shape towel hanger. This time I was clever enough to buy the extra glue 'thingy'.

I added it mid-week and liked it so much that I returned on Friday to buy two more. Here you can see the results of Johannes the Handyman :-)

Packaging

At last it arrived! About six weeks ago, Silke said she had found a good tripod for me online. She also said she had bought other things from the company and was happy with their products. I agreed for the price was lower than many other products we had seen.


Not being up to online ordering and paying - yes; I still only pay cash! - she said she would order and pay for it. I would pay her when I had it in my hands. So far so good!  She went online and filled out the order form. She made a mistake!

She put down my street but the wrong house number! Yes, there followed weeks of trying to find out where the thing was. Mr Mobile Postie did try to deliver it to the address she had written. It ended up in a post office somewhere. Lots of contacts and sending out the right address and yesterday I got a letter asking me to pick it up at my local post office. I think they had given up on trying to get it to my door.    

I duly joined the queue this morning, after looking at real blue sky, and was surprised to be presented with very large long box shaped package. I told the Mrs Postie Lady that it was only a tripod and not the leg of an elephant. She just smiled. She had heard it all before.

I left my bike at the post office and carried Elephant-Leg-Packet on my head. Many strange looks and smirks, and I am sure I heard a few comments such as. 'Wot's e got on is ed.. an elephant leg oder wat?' On arriving home I attacked the package with a knife. Here is the result!

 Why o' why did I have to carry an elephant leg package on my head when all it contained was a small package! Here you can see for youself. The final packet was about 20% of the total package. The rest was air and air-filled packaging. Grrrrrr......!

A Platz

I have just mentioned my Photoshop Gang yesterday afternoon. Stefan had taken some photos in and around Alexander Platz at night.

For F&B who have never been to Berlin let me give you a brief background. This area was originally a cattle market outside the town's walls. When Czar Alexander I of Russia visited Berlin it was named after him on 25 October 1805.

It was later developed and includes the largest U-Bahn in Berlin, the famous world clock and the Fernsehturm (TV Tower), which is the second tallest structure in Europe. It is a central place to meet, go shopping and has quick links to other areas.

Our task was to make the photos completely black and white or add colour. I did both and here are the results. I was surpised that I had not forgotten more about using Photoshop and was able to complete the tasks with only a little help from Stefan.

Should you visit Alexander Platz you will find none of these images/colours exist. You can find them only here on my blog!

March 2013 things

At last the sun is shining! Germany has suffered from the least sunny days for the last three months since records began about 100 years ago. Sounds strange but it is true and was widely reported. We are enjoying sunshine and blue skies this weekend. I even found myself staring into the sky this morning when on my way to the post office.

Yesterday afternoon I joined my Photoshop Gang for the first time this year. We greeted each other warmly and quickly caught up on news over coffee and a tasty cheesecake made by Maria.  Here is a photo of my wasp image which was put onto a shopping bag. Thanks for that Stefan!

March looks very similar. Next Monday I am going to the SPD central office for a meeting about the programme for the general election later this year. I shall be able to see/meet some of the leaders of the party at this event. There are other meetings in my diary in my local area and not at the centre.

I am still teaching, reading more German books, learning how to write German with Frau Fox and going to a Bach concert near where I live. I shall enjoy this with Johanna, Gerald and Jutta. We are also planning a breakfast meeting with other 'Oldies' later.

On Friday 22nd, after training, I shall go to a restaurant with Kerstin and her 'Keep Fit Oldie Gang'. Really looking forward to this for they are good fun to be with. My month ends with a Schumann and Tschaikowski concert given by the orchestra of the Kömische Oper. Angelika will of course be playing and joining me for a drink after :-)

Who has a birthday in March? Actually not many people! On the 19 March my McBook will be 5 years old followed by my Asus Eee PC next day for its fifth birthday! Okay, back to people - Günther  will celebrate being over 70 on the 22nd, Bernd will be over 40, again!, on the 28th and that is that! Have a great time each and all. I wonder if my laptops will make it to a sixth birthday?