April 2019 Things

I woke late, made lots of Green Tea and munched on a slice of fruit bread. A nice way to start the day. Then I noted the time on my clocks did not match the time on my radio. Time to move from Winter to Summer Time. This is being debated by the EU Parliament at the moment. Does the EU stay in one time zone or not - that is the question! I just moved all my clocks/watches one hour forward, and made more Green Tea.

I then did my German homework for Barbara. We are meeting at her place tomorrow at 1.00 pm, as usual. I wrote four pages for her to check plus work on prepositions which can be in Akkusativ or in Dativ. I still need to get this clear. What a pity I did not learn German when I first came here. My working language was English. But better late than never!

I had a very expensive day yesterday. I filled my washing machine with mixed clothes and turned the 'ON' switch on. The machine started to fill with water and then rotate. I then ignored it until I noticed a long silence. I pressed the 'ON' button again and nothing happened. I checked the switches and power supply. No problem but the machine would still not start. This is the second time the same make of machine has done this over the last few years. Here is a photo of the 'ex' - machine. Yes, it is a Whirlpool, but my new one is not!


I called my neighbour, Marita, and she said to bring the wet clothes to her. I did that and she washed them. Meanwhile I took the S-Bahn two stops to Köpenick to a large shopping centre. I went into the shop where I had bought the washing machine. I looked at the cheapest on offer and bought one. It will be delivered on Thursday afternoon. With delivery costs and re-cycling my old machine, I had to fork out €320. A rather expensive start to the weekend!

Who has a birthday in August?
Horst will be 85 on the 4th and celebrate with his son on Majorca and not in Berlin. Uli hits 72 on the 6th. His wife Petra has her birthday on the 8th. Dennis will celebrate his 64th in California with his wife and sons. This is followed by Neil Deane who will be 62 on the 13th and celebrate with his lady and friends in Essen. Waiting for him to publish another book. My great-nephew Henri hits all of 9 years on the 18th followed by my old business partner Mathias who will be 55 on the 19th. Peter in Altlandsburg will be 56 on the 22nd and sure to celebrate with Andre and friends there. Birgit F. ends the month with her 55th birthday on the 24th here in Berlin.
Happy Birthday to each and all no matter where you are.

B Day

It's Brexit Day! The UK should be leaving the EU today, but------. I am sure you have heard all about it via your TV or radio reports. This afternoon the House of Commons rejected the Government's proposals for withdrawal for the third time.

The new Brexit date is 12th April and without an agreement. It all sounds very complicated. Keep listening to/watching your radio/TV and hope you can understand the reports.

I've had a nice week with nothing special to report. My weekend is empty but the weather forecast is good so I shall probably head off somewhere on my bicycle. I listened to other programmes on BBC Radio 4 yesterday and winced as I heard these examples of 'modern' English.

Try these for more UK verbal rubbish: unpindownability / unpindownable / achingly / a way of exiting / its realer than / I will action that / overwintering / he has took over / it has a job of work to do / people are buildable. I wonder how I can build a few people on Sunday if I have nothing else to do!!     Have a nice weekend.

Bach und Fuss

I had a quiet Saturday, mainly shopping, reading and homework. I completed all the exercises in my grammar book. Tomorrow I start a new exercise book. On Sunday I had a visitor. Yes, Imre arrived for a chat and 'Kaffee und Kuchen'.

The weather was fine and even sunny early afternoon. Imre brought a large plum tart with him, so all I had to do was make the coffee. As he tucked in, he brought me up-to-date with events in his life. We even agreed on some targets for bicycle rides when the weather gets warmer.

Later, he cycled home and I walked down the road to the local Protestant Church to meet my 'Kowalke Gang' for a Bach concert. They were already seated as I arrived just before the start. This church is well known for promoting music and hosting concerts. It was full and no surprise to note that most were 'Oldies'! The performers were superb and deserved the applause.

Back home I settled down to watch a football (Fussball) match. It was for a place in the European Championship. Germany against The Netherlands. Germany won 3:2 due to a last minute goal. The German team manager had made some changes to the team. Replaced 3 players with 3 new and younger players. I thought the Netherlands team played much better, attacked more and acted as a team. The German team won due to quick runs by forward players. Some of the TV commentators shared my view. Now to get ready for the day.

Sunshine

The sun shone late morning and into the afternoon. Now it has gone and we have grey skies. Looks like it could rain as well. Earlier I had 12°C but now it is cooler. It was nice to see such a change in the weather. You can see how my garden looked in the sunshine.

I met Barbara for a German session on Monday. We started as usual with chatting about what we had been doing since our last meeting. She then corrected my homework writing before we ended with dictation.

Tuesday was very busy. It started with a meeting which included Johanna. I then met my Oldies for a language session. I had lunch in a nearby German restaurant. They offered a special dish of roast salmon. Very tasty and at a good price. I then rushed to a meeting with my SPD Oldies. Lots of talking over Kaffee und Kuchen.

From there I took an S-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse, then into a U-Bahn for one stop and a walk down Oranienburgstrasse until I reached a bar-restaurant. I went into the back room as usual to meet members of the Berlin Labour Party. I met some new members and a guest from London. It was a very full day and in contrast to today. A nice lazy one with time for me to do homework, lots of reading and relaxing. Friday is booked out and I am going to a Bach concert on Sunday. Looking forward to that!

P. Day

It is St. Patrick's Day. Best wishes to all my 'Irish family' around the world who celebrate this day. I did some reading about the person. He lived from AD 385 to 461 and is the patron saint of Ireland. This day celebrates the arrival of Christianity to Ireland. There are lots of public parades, festivals and people wear green with images of shamrocks, just like the pullover I bought in Ireland and am wearing now.

Patrick was born in Roman Britain into a wealthy family. He was kidnapped and sent to Ireland where he worked as a shepherd. He returned to England, entered the Catholic church and then returned to Ireland where he started to convert people. He became a national symbol as part of the movement for Irish independence. Celebrations are now historically linked to having another beer as part of the celebrations - then another one!

I've had a very mixed week with lots of variety and meetings. Means I must be getting back into my stride after a period with a very bad cold. Now my allergies are starting to dominate my health. It's that time of year again! Have a nice rest of St. Patrick's Day!

Weekend

I had a nice weekend, and I hope you did. The weather was not nice but I still enjoyed it. On Saturday I met Johanna for a cuppa green tea and a chat. Later I went to my local supermarket to buy things I would need on Sunday. I finished Saturday with some homework, reading and watching TV. As usual I dozed off then woke to hastily get ready for bed.

Sunday morning I woke late and got ready for a visit. Guess who? Yes, 'The Boys' had called to ask if they could visit. Of course I said, 'Yes'. Now you know why I was shopping for food on Saturday! They arrived a little later than planned and soon settled into work. Bro1 needed to complete a task from school. It was about completing forms for a period of work-training. He had a number of internet addresses to advise him. As you know they do not have internet where he lives, hence visits to my place to complete tasks.

While he did this, Bro2 got out his English book and practiced the differences between adverbs and adjectives. At first he did not understand so I gave him examples of adverbs working with verbs and adjectives working with nouns. He then understood and was able to complete the task. Shortly after I head the cry I was waiting for, 'Grandpa, I'm hungry!' No surprise there.

This time Bro1 took over cooking and I just let him. He helps his mother with cooking at home and has a feeling for it. When ready, they tucked in and finished off with a fruit salad I had made earlier. After eating they returned to homework, completed that and then cut each others hair. Bro2 learnt how to do this in an earlier work project. They then packed their bags and left with loud thanks for helping them.

This evening I am going to a film about the role of the SPD and AWO in the struggle of German women to get the vote. There is a discussion after with snacks. Should be interesting and I can learn a lot more about German history. enjoy your evening.

I.W.Day

It is International Women's Day. Congratulations to half the population of the world! I hope you are celebrating and will continue to promote women's rights in the next twelve months. I joined four SPD members yesterday near the S-Bahn station at 4.00 pm. The SPD has a tradition of celebrating Women's Day by handing out red roses to women, young or old! I really like taking part and seeing the pleasure on so many faces as they accept a rose - or two.

I recently got this postcard from Heike who lives in Brandenburg but likes to explore the globe. This time she was on a ship for a two week cruise starting at Palma de Mallorca and ending in Hamburg. She sent me a card from Santiago de Compostela. It is the capital of a district in northwestern Spain.

Its origin is the site of the shrine of St. James, which is now in the cathedral you can see on the right of the card. Many people walk there for it is the end destination of the 'Way of St. James', which has been a catholic pilgrimage route since the 9th Century. In 1985, the 'Old Town' was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. So, the next time you are in the northwest of Spain, and have nothing to do, then pack a rucksack and set off on the walk across the top of Spain until you reach Santiago! I am sure there are groups of women doing this as I write.

The other image is of a booklet sent by Alan and Lynne who live in Castleford but also like to visit family and friends in other parts of the globe. They are both very active in their local Baptist church and in a number of social groups that help people with different problems. Lynne also plays the piano at the church and gives Sunday Sermons. Her theme last Sunday was 'Listening'. An interesting topic.

On Friday 1. March they went to Allerton-Bywater church in the north of Castleford to take part in the World Day of Prayer Service prepared by Christian Women of Slovenia. Amazing! The booklet is full of information about this group of women, about Slovenia, and it formed the basis of the church service. Now this really is about building bridges across borders and links to other women - and not only on International Women's Day.

I should be in Potsdam and not writing this text. Barbara (my German teacher) organised a small group to travel there but this morning she called us to cancel. She had picked up warnings about bad weather and high winds. As happened recently, this blew down trees and branches which blocked road and rail transport. We decided to postpone the visit. Now I can have a doze after lunch! 

Local fish

I met Imre this morning. We took a tram to the U5 then jumped into an S-Bahn and got out at Strausberg Stadt. Away from Berlin at last. Imre also suffered from a bad cold and was getting over it, as I was with my cold, so we agreed to disappear into the countryside and breath some fresh air.

Regular readers will know this is one of my favourite areas. It also has a number of lakes and in summer I/we start bicycle tours there. Today the weather was cold, grey and overcast. We stayed in the centre and retired to a restaurant I like near the ferry. Very good local food with friendly service.

As usual I focused on the fish dishes. I found one based on a fish caught in the area. Imre then switched from meat to fish. The waiter arrived then told me they had just taken delivery of fish from the lake next to where we were sitting. He also said it was not on the menu and may take a little longer to cook/prepare. I decided to gamble on that. Imre stayed with the other local fish offer.

The food finally arrived and what a pleasure to see Freddy the local Fish staring at me from a plate he shared with local vegetables and potatoes. We had correct fish knives so I had no problem to take off the skin and separate the fish from the bones. Mmmmmm.....was it tasty and Imre said he should have ordered the same. I let him taste some and he came back for more! A glass of cold white wine from the south of Germany was the perfect partner for the dish.

Later, we walked around the old centre and along part of the lakeside before slowly walking back to the S-Bahn and train back to Berlin. We both felt better and knew we had made the right decision to escape from the city. Imre was in Manila with his lady over Christmas and was wearing a t-shirt showing a 'Jeepney' which he likes to travel in. Perhaps you know this type of transport from your visits there or to other countries.

Finally, a joke to end the day. I recently got this and like the combination of words and style of cartoon. Also good for language learners - look at we'd plus main verb plus if and weren't and use of will and won't. Go on ..... order some fish and then smile!