Concert

Yes, I've been lazy this week and not posted anything. No excuse for my laziness. I just kept putting it off until tomorrow. This morning I got a call from the other end of the world asking me if I was okay because I hadn't posted for a week. How nice of them.

The week started with teaching my Monday Oldies followed on Tuesday by more Oldies. Wednesday started in Alexander Platz at the Ministry of Education canteen. I met Maria there at 11.00 am. It is always nice to see her. We went through the Spanish homework I have to hand in on Tuesday.

She's flying to Spain with her husband so that was the last  chance to meet. She helped me again with word order and pronunciation. We parted and I took an U-Bahn back to Tierpark stop and walked around the corner to a German restaurant.

It was time to meet my Fotoclub Gang for Christmas lunch. It was good to enjoy simple tasty traditional regional food again, plus a small glass of beer. We talked about themes/topics for photographs in 2016. We agreed a list of 12 starting next January.

Last Sunday I met three lovely ladies for Kaffee und Kuchen at my place. Later we went to the nearby church. Yes, it was time to enjoy Bach's Christmas Oratorium. It was a very professional performance given all but the singers are amateur. Here, you can see the programme and information.

Faces

Two faces to make you smile. The first is of......yes, you guessed right. It is Jan. It was great to see him on Monday. He looked really well given a rather hectic weekend of visits. Arancha was in a business meeting, and not in Berlin, so unfortunately I could not meet her.

I offered Jan, water, green tea or coffee. He just smiled, walked to the fridge, opened the door and said he had sound something better :-))) We caught up on important news and then it was time for me to leave for teaching. He offered to drive me there.

I accepted immediately for it meant we had more time to chat and catch up on news. He is now back home with Milady A. They are going to Spain for Christmas/New Year, so I shall see them again when they visit in 2016.

While waiting for him I created a face. Yes, I know I am a little late but I enjoyed creating Freddie the Face! I hollowed out the centre and placed a 'tea candle' in it. I could then see how it looked in an illuminated state. I could see the eyes were not right.

They were too small. Back to the knife and my 'creativity'. I made the eyes larger then noticed Freddie looked rather bland. A thick black pencil was the answer. I gave him eyebrows and a mouth, but then I noticed it looked more like a moustache!

Freddie will be the table decoration on Sunday when three nice ladies drop in for coffee and cakes in the afternoon. I'm sure Freddie will make them smile:-)  After that, we are going to a concert to hear the Christmas Oratorium by Bach Snr.

December 2015 Things

Waiting for Jan to arrive. Later I am teaching my Monday Oldies. They are so called to differentiate them from my Tuesday Oldies! After that I am going to a(n) SPD conference. Members will form 6 groups to discuss policies for the district to be pursued over the next ten years.

December has the usual meetings and activities, but so far with five parties planned! Next Sunday I'm going to the local protestant church with Johanna and Gang to enjoy a performance of Bach's Weihnachts(Christmas)oratorium.

I recently got an e-mail from Holger. He was sorting through some papers and found a couple of photos. He sent copies to me. What a surprise! They were taken in 1987 when he, Gabi, Rolf and a couple of friends did a UK tour taking in Brighton, which is where I met them. Rolf is in the photo and I think he is smoking a cigarette - as usual!



The photos were taken outside my flat. Vernon Terrace if you can remember. My flat was on the second floor and behind the three bowed windows was the living room.

It was here that I finished my academic writing, fell in love with Anne, went with her to classical music classes, had to stay in hospital with first suspected heart attack, and planned my escape from the UK. Very mixed memories. Thanks for the photos Holger!

Who has a birthday in December? Michael N. starts the month with his 51st on the 5th, Stefan of Photoshop fame will be 55 on the 7th, 'Bruv-in-Law' Geoff will celebrate his birthday in Silsden with sister Fran on the 13th. My great niece Evie will be all of 8 years old on the 18th. Julie B. will be 41 on the 20th which she shares with Thomas here in Berlin who will be 55 on that day. Neil D. will be 69 on the 28th. On that day Stefan Sch. will be 32. As usual, Ian in Australia ends the birthday list with his 56th on the 30th. A day he will no doubt celebrate with Birgit.

Happy Birthday to each and all and have a wonderful day with family and friends! 

Tablet grandson

My iMac got a grandson yesterday. Yes, strange but true. Just look at the photo and you can see the baby happily sleeping against Grandpa - Ach wie schön! The background to this story is not so nice. Get a glass of whiskey and settle down to get annoyed!

The story begins last mid-July. An elderly gentleman called 'Oldie H' had a mental breakdown. I have mentioned him a few times on this blog so regular readers will know about him. He had earlier suffered heart problems and had a number of operations.. This time he said his neighbours were all Nazis and wanted to kill him to get his flat.

Before this revelation, he went into a branch of a large chain of electrical stores near his then home. For some unknown reason he bought this Samsung tablet and a large modern 'smart phone' including contract to use the things online.

He has a laptop and apart from writing a few e-mails doesn't know how to use it. He also has a WLAN router but even after two installations from 'specialists' it doesn't work. He has more than one mobile phone but only uses them to call people. In short, he has no idea how to use his new Samsung tablet or his large new smart phone and he does not have the system at home to support them.

I recently visited him in his new flat and discovered this story. My first reaction was to take both pieces of equipment back to the store, find the salesman and then stuff both down his throat. The Samsung first and then the smart phone as dessert!!! He asked me to take the Samsung home and get it working. I  did this as you can see.

The Samsung also has a chip so it can be used as a phone. He bought this later and installed it but never used it. When I tried to activate it the thing asked me for a PUK. I talked to Oldie H this morning and brought him up-to-date. I told him he had to find the PUK and get his WLAN working. Let's see what happens.

Meanwhile, I wonder what someone would do with this salesman in a Tarrentino film. I think it would be worse than forcing both down his throat!! What do you think?

Potsdamer Platz

It snowed a lot earlier. I ventured out to buy food and things for the weekend from my local supermarker, then retreated to the warmth of my palace! Jan and Arancha are in town. They have a busy schedule and I shall probably see them on Monday before they depart.

Looking forward to that and catching up on news. Meanwhile, I recently opened a magazine and read a report about Potsdamer Platz. I then realised I had never posted information about it on my blog. It is now a major tourist attraction and a place I enjoy visiting.

As you probably know, it houses three cinema complexes with a total of 30 screens in and around the Sony Centre. One only shows films in the original language so that is where I go to watch films such as the latest James Bond film called Spectre. I found a brief history of the area. Here it is:----

Potsdamer Platz  is an important public square and traffic intersection in the centre of Berlin, Germany, lying about 1 km (1,100 yd) south of the Brandenburg Gate and the Reichstag (German Parliament Building), and close to the southeast corner of the Tiergarten park. It is named after the city of Potsdam, some 25 km (16 mi) to the south west, and marks the point where the old road from Potsdam passed through the city wall of Berlin at the Potsdam Gate. 

After developing within the space of little over a century from an intersection of rural thoroughfares into the most bustling traffic intersection in Europe,  it was totally laid waste during World War II and then left desolate during the Cold War era when the Berlin Wall bisected its former location. Since German reunification, Potsdamer Platz has been the site of major redevelopment projects.

It really is worth taking time to explore the area when you are next in Berlin. Near to my favourite cinema complex is the Philharmonie Centre where you can hear the world famous orchestra in its local hall famous for its clarity of sound.  Treat yourself to a concert, and there are lots of restaurants and bars to relax in before or after your concert --- or film! 

Snowing

Yes, it is snowing and the temperature on my balcony is 6°C. It is the first snow of the season. Perhaps the heavens decided to open to welcome the new 'Genosse-Vertreter Johannes' :-))

I woke early and found my head full of ideas to write a pamphlet to the EVM-Genossin I now represent. I decided to take this week to do it and then have it checked by Marita. When printed out I shall deliver it to each member's post box. That way they shall quickly get to know Vertreter Johannes!

I started the day with a strange urge to clean my fridge-freezer. I discovered a lot of fish in the freezer. They all went into three different cooking pots as I continued to clean the fridge. My flat stank of cooked fish as I pushed on with the cleaning.

I now have a very clean fridge-freezer and lots of fish to put on the menu this week. I wonder what to cook with the fish to make it/them interesting and edible?

Next week looks very much like last week for appointments. The big test will be on Friday. Let's see if Daniel is able to sort his diary out and get to my place at 5.00 pm, as agreed last Friday.  Daniel .... note that it is pm = evening, and not am = morning!!!

Genosse-Vertreter Johannes

Yesterday afternoon I was voted as a Vertreter (Representative) for people living in my area of the housing association of which we are members. I can hold office for 5 years. Since I moved to this part of Berlin and joined the housing association (EVM) I have complained at the lack of representation.

I always wondered why my fellow German association members voted in the elections but none of them stepped forward to represent their interests. I talked about this to a number of members and friends. They had no idea why the Lichtenberg/Karlshorst members were so passive.

In a recent discussion, one of them said I should stand for office and both shame the other mainly younger members and also start to activate them. In short: Shut up or put up! I decided to stand for office. I was partly motivated by the new construction opposite my flat and knowledge that about 300 new members would be moving in from next April.

From that number I am sure I shall find some activists who I can work with, and who can take over my office, for I am only going to stand for one term. I prepared a speech and Marita checked it for grammar. I practiced it with her a few times.

Yesterday was election day in the Town Hall of an area called Neue Kolln which is next to the district where I live. Two buses were hired to take members from my area to  and from the meeting. We arrived okay and I took my seat. I was the 6th speaker of the 31 candidates to be elected to the 13 seats.

I did not feel nervous as I walked to the front and faced the microphones. It was not very different from meeting a new English class!! I delivered my speech slowly and with emphasis as I had practiced. I noted I had the attention of all just after I started and they even laughed at my joke as I ended my speech. I got a very good round of applause as I returned to my seat.

Three other speakers referred to my contribution and said they agreed with my points. Others said it was the best speech of the meeting. After lunch we got the result of the vote. I came in at No:8 and so was elected to represent my area.  I can now call myself SPD-Genosse and EVM-Genosse-Vertreter Johannes :-)))

McDan

There was an appointment with Daniel in my diary at 4.00 pm today. In German this is 16.00 Uhr but we always agree to write out our appointments in English. I waited, and waited, and waited. He only has a 'smart phone' which I called five times between 4 and 5.00 pm. No answer.

I wanted to ask the standard question, 'Where are you', but couldn't. I couldn't understand why he didn't have his phone on and/or with an answer phone service. I even have all these services on my 'non-smart phones'!

At 5.00 pm he rang my doorbell. I asked him about his phone and he said it was at home! Do you buy a smart phone to leave it at home? I told him he was late and so there would be no lesson today. He wasn't happy about that. I asked him where the note was on which I had written the appointment for today. The answer was, 'I don't know!'

Being a nice person  :-)) I offered him some tea and McVitie Digestives. We started with the originals and then I offered him a biscuit with milk chocolate. He liked the chocolate digestive better so I gave him the rest of the packet to take home.

He then asked me why I had not up-dated my blog for a week. My answer was, ' I had nothing of interest or important to say'. He just stared at me in surprise.

We then agreed to meet next week and I wrote the appointment in my diary. He wrote it on a piece of paper and then he left. As I closed the door I looked at my diary. Guess what?  His note was still on my diary.

He had forgotten to pick it up. Here it is. I wonder if it has anything to do with being nineteen or even twenty for Marcel has a gold medal for being the worst time organiser in Berlin! Marcel - be careful for you have a new competitor for your title!

Spectre

I saw the new James Bond film called Spectre yesterday. I met Marcel and Kyrill outside the Sony Centre Kino where they only show films in the original language. Both wanted to see it in English, which is a compliment to their language skills.

I was surprised at how good the film was and that it developed themes/plots seen in the last Bond film. It starts with Bond being nice to a lady :-) before he goes off to kill some 'baddies', in the course of which things get explosive! I can really recommend that you find a cinema showing this film, settle into your seat, and just enjoy the fantasy world of Mr Bond.

I have no appointments today - hurrah! I slept a little later before starting the day by reading a few chapters  in my German book and noting new words, which were in a kind of Platt-Deutsch/Low-German spoken earlier in East Prussia. Then a bit of tidying up and checking e-mails.

I got some nice images from Ian and Birgit in Sydney. Here they are. You can see that Spring is 'Sprungening' in and around Sydney. They recently moved to a new house a long stones throw from their old one.

One photo is of the flowers in front of a neighbour's house and the other is of the entrance to The Barracks. I spent a few hours there on a conducted tour when I was in Sydney earlier this year. It was late summer then so not as colourful as now. Happy memories!

Now to wash-up and see what is for lunch apart from dry bread.

Busy Boy

I've been a busy boy today. It started with talking to Ian in Australia. Later I went for a walk and took some more photos of the building opposite my flat. The weather was surprisingly good with a blue sky and sun. It even reached 20°C on my balcony!

On my return I did the lesson plans for my Oldie courses tomorrow and Tuesday. I have never been able to enter a classroom without some kind of lesson plan, no matter how short. Interesting co-incidence that the guest in Private Passions on Radio 3 was an academic originally from north India. I listened as I wrote.

He has developed a theory about how children learn. He says they don't need a teacher or classroom. They only need each other, a task and someone like a grandmother to support them. A very interesting argument, but I am taking my lesson plan tomorrow. All of my Oldies grew up in a standard education system so have preconditioned expectations!

Later I did the ironing then started on the main task. Yes, I cooked. It was an all veggie event based on seasonal root vegetables. Included were two beetroot so I ended up cooking them separately. The rest was cooked in two pans.

One started with garlic and onions fried in olive oil. I then added aubergines and a green root veg. The others were cooked in water separately before adding to the other cooked veg and beetroots. Very tasty and I have enough left for two meals.  I even managed an afternoon snooze after the veggie lunch. How was your Sunday?

Rent a Pad

I have just talked to Ian in Sydney via Skype and so had the chance to get more information about the place he rented in summer. A few of my German readers asked for details. Perhaps they want to 'rent-a-pad' for next summer!

The building is called Auchinleck House near the town of Auchinleck, in the east of Ayrshire, in the south of Scotland. It is on the site of the older Auchinleck Castle, which was the seat of a family called Auchinleck, who also had a baron title and was first recorded in 1241.

Both remained in the family until 1504 when the only surviving daughter marred a gent called Thomas Boswell. He got the property and became the Laird of Auchinleck. This family is famous for a friendship with Dr. Johnson, as you surely know. The house you can see here was built in 1760, probably from the stones of the old castle.

Many such families had problems to maintain such properties and this was the case with the Boswell family. In 1986 the property was taken over by the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust and in 1999 it was bought by The Landmark Trust. You can find a lot of information about this Trust on their website. The function of the Trust is to preserve old buildings and let them for holidays.

Nice idea and long may they do it. Ian and Birgit found the house on the Trust's website and rented it for 10 days last summer. They invited friends with their children and enjoyed time together. You can rent this too. It sleeps 13 people, has a large kitchen and dining room for communal eating and is cheaper per day than a hotel.

Here is a photo of the hosts at the entrance to the mansion. I plan to visit England next summer so now I am thinking about having a large family gathering in such a place. Must look on the Trust website to find a suitable 'rent-a-pad' not too far away from a plentiful supply of Fish 'n Chips and Pork Pies :-))

Writing Talent

I recently posted about sister Frances' sketching/painting talent and sister Pauline's poem writing talent. Nice to report another one. It is about Holger in Bremen. He recently visited Berlin in the company of his better half, the wonderful Gabi. I posted a story and photos about their visit.

He gave me a book as a present and to mark our first meeting in many years. I recently finished reading the giant book about 'The German Genius' and so only recently opened his present. It is a book of 22 short stories by the same number of writers. They are illustrated crime stories about art. This is the common link.

The book is in German and composed of stories by local 'hobby' writers. Like Holger, they all have full time jobs and write as a hobby. They are also members of a Bremen based writers group who meet up and plan writing tasks. I can recommend the book to all my German readers. The ISBN is 978 - 3 - 95494 - 048 - 6.

Holger's story is at the end of the book on page 164. His story is called 'Der Kunstliebhaber' which I translate as 'The art lover'. It begins with a man sitting at home who will shortly die. He is surrounded by lots of valuable paintings, but they mean nothing to that which he saw years ago, could never forget and saw again only that day. The story then moves to Guernica in Spain in the spring of 1937 and unfolds.

Very nice story Holger and I hope millions of Germans buy the collective book and you all write another one. Now to read the stories of others in your writers collective. Happy reading!

Before and After

I couldn't wait to try the McVitie biscuits, so as I munched the first one I thought I should do something else in addition to chew. Yesterday I sorted out three bags of paperwork and threw most into the re-cycling bin. With no more paper to occupy my time. I looked for something else to do.

I decided to polish the silver again. Some time ago I found these pieces in the cellar and returned them to my living room. I was rather surprised at how dark they had become during their long sleep in the cellar. Stefan: Now tell me they were not sleeping!

I enjoyed seeing them return to bright shiny life as I munched the McVities with coffee. I thought about the other silver, bronze, copper objects in the cellar which I brought back from India many years ago. I need another room for these, and my paintings from India.

They don't fit into my current room designs. I need a larger place with an India Room. That is a good idea -- and now it is time for another McVitie!

McVitssssss

Unbelievable but I found some. What? McVitie's Digestive biscuits, of course! The first time ever in Berlin. The story began earlier today. I galloped to my local bus stop for the 09:38 towards Lichtenburg S-Bahn/U-Bahn/Regional station.

I wanted to go to the AWO building where we Oldie SPD members meet for our Thursday breakfast. I got there at 10.00 am, which is when the chewing and slurping normally begins. But not today. Some idiots got into the empty flat about the AWO rooms and opened all the taps. Breakfast was literally 'washed out'! I believe the police are investigating.

Denied of my Oldie Breakfast, I walked to the station and decided to look around the recently opened EDEKA supermarket there. It is a large chain in Germany and boasts a wide range of goods. I browsed the aisles and then my eyes came out like 'organ stops!!'

I stared at a range of McVitie biscuits. They stared at me and we both blinked!  The classic digestive and one with chocolate. They whispered, "Buy Me". So I did, and more than one packet.  I am going to munch them later with coffee. Now how can I get a store to sell Pork Pies from Skipton?

November 2014 Things

October was a month of mixed things. Some old and some new. It was dominated by a return to regular  teaching which ended yesterday, and helping two groups of mainly senior women to improve their English. They need it for travel/tourism next Spring and Summer.

They are great fun to be with for they have life experience on which to base communication. They seem to like it for the keep asking if friends can join. We now have two groups and they do all the homework and enjoy talking. Hope they keep talking during November :-))

I'm looking forward to getting back into my weekly routine, particularly to training and meeting Kerstin's Oldie Keep Fit Gang on a Friday morning. In addition I have my PhotoClub, on Wednesday afternoon, the SPD Senior Breakfast Gang each Thursday morning, Photoshop Gang each Friday afternoon and my Spanish Gang on Tuesday afternoon.

I've also been invited to a number of SPD meetings including a regional conference on the 10th November, and a conference about the future programme of the SPD at the end of the month. Should be interesting and that I can in some small way influence policy which has an impact on the lives of many Berliners.

Who has a birthday in November? Daniel hits all of 19 tomorrow, Jeff/Robb/Annie all celebrate their 60th birthday on the 19th November in/around Amersfoort in the Netherlands, Sarah follows on 22nd November with her 55th in London, Stephen S. hits 58 on the 28th in Berlin and ends our birthday list. Happy Birthday to each and all and have a great day with family and friends!

Sleeping Breakfast

I got an interesting E-mail from Stefan yesterday. It was about my recent blog post with photo and text about the leaves dropping from the trees in my garden. He was not too happy about me using the word 'sleeping'.

This is what he said: " Btw. the leaves are not "sleeping", as you stated euphemistically, they are actually dying and rotting (being digested by microbes), but that's the circle of life (giving back their nutrients to the environment).

In Göttingen I worked beside other things on aging of leaves. The beautiful bright Indian Spring colours derive from carotinoids and xantophylles the plant produces to protect itself from drought or other abiotic stress. I now do the same with algae: I reduce their nitrogen source and turn up light exposure in order to make them produce lipids (fat=biofuel) and they turn from spring-bright green to autumn shades of olive & sad yellow."

Now we know!  He is a highly qualified biologist/botanist/ and knows his stuff, so my leaves are not sleeping....they are moving into a natural 'not-alive' stage! 

He recently moved to a new town, flat, job and laboratory. Here is a photo of him at work and his breakfast. He calls it his 'Traditional English Breakfast'. In the canteen he gets strange looks from vegetarian colleagues. 

He also commented on my pork pie post. He included a list of other dishes he likes based on meat and pastry. Here it is:  pelmeni, tortellini, ravioli, piroshki, pirukad (estonian!), empanadas, kudu, oystrich, Maultaschen, dumplings, wan tan, spring rolls, pot stickers. 

He is a much travelled man and enjoys discovering new foods and tastes. Stefan, on behalf of my readers I would like to thank you very much for your contribution. 

Heaven

The meaning of this word has certainly changed a lot since used to describe a place opposite to hell. I can give an example as follows: Living in Berlin with no pork pies is hell! Living in Skipton near the pork pie shop opposite the church would be heaven!

How about that for changing word meaning? This superb image was sent by cousin Barbara. I think all weddings in the UK should stop including the three tier wedding cake and replace it  with this luxury version of a pork pie family.

Every time I look at it I can taste again the Skipton pie shop products. Biting into the sill warm pastry, into the succulent spiced meat and feeling the juice running down my chin. Chew, chew and enjoy the changes in taste before swallowing and getting the jaws ready for another bite.

If I lived near that pie shop I would weigh about 250 kilo by now! Thanks Barbara and I think we should go to the shop together when I visit next June. We could take a camera to record me entering a real state of Heaven ---- and with juice running off my chin!

Sleeping leaves

In my last post I told you about the onset of Autumn. I used a tree in my garden to show leaves turning to golden shades and that they were falling onto the ground --- to sleep!

I got a few nice e-mails about using this phrase/playing with English. Glad you liked it! Now you can see all of what one week can do. Here is a photo of the same tree, but without leaves. Yes, you can see them all on the ground and sleeping.

I decided to take a wider shot of the garden to show the really BIG tree. This still has a lot of leaves about to fall but you can see that its fallen leaves have already covered a large area of the garden. They are also sleeping, and if you go into the garden after 10.00pm you can hear some of them snoring lightly. I jest not :-))

This week has started well, but the hard bit starts tomorrow with lots of teaching and travel for the next three days. At least the students are now clearly making progress, but then they do work hard.

I've just returned from a Spanish lesson where all of us ended up looking very lost after trying to understand all the rules about irregular verbs. At least I am not the only one to be lost in what to us looks like lots of confusing mathematical tables! Now to do my homework.

Season change

Today the clocks went back one hour in Europe. We are now officially in Autumn/Winter time. This is NOT my favourite time of the year. I am a Spring/Summer Mensch. Months of dark, dreary, grey, wet, cold days are waiting for me.

I have already dragged bags of winter clothes out of the cellar, and put summer clothes in their place. As ever, Berliners do the same and the colour of the next six months is ..... guess what?......Yes, you are right. It is BLACK! We look like a host of shadows moving around!

I took this photo of a nice tree in my garden a week ago. Now most of the leaves are sleeping on the ground. Surprising how quickly some things change. I wanted to sleep long and late this morning, but my body clock had a different idea. Yes, it woke me at 6.45pm - new time. I tried to sleep but gave up.

I decided to just get into the day so I updated the security on my laptop, did lesson plan preparation for my Oldies on Monday and Tuesday, then my Spanish homework. I tried to understand Spanish irregular verbs and decided I had to learn them like mathematics. Problem is that I can't keep all the rules in my head. I could when I was 13!  Have a restful Sunday.

Daniel iPad

Hello, this is Daniel, and not John!

As you can see on this picture, I am holding my new iPad. The story is that I applied for a scholarship last May. I thought I wouldn't get it but I am  pleased to say that I was wrong!

I got a letter from the foundation to say that I would receive the scholarship for my new studies at a college. At the end of August, I started a course to prepare me for A-levels  in medical laboratory work.

As you read on John's blog, we went to Hamburg where I  received a certificate and scholarship details. This included money to buy a new laptop and a tablet.

Last week I bought this iPad, and I have just added it on John's W-Lan. That means I can look for English words on the internet when I come for English lessons.

John is envious and threatened to steal it. No way :-))    My next task is to find a suitable laptop by next week.  I asked him if he thought Patrizia would read this, as she did his post about dogs/pets. He said he was sure for he would show her this post tomorrow, Friday.

Artist Adam

I think it is the first time on my blog that I have posted reports about two artists after each other. My last blog was about sister Frances the artist.

This is about Adam the artist. I posted a story about him and his work some months ago. Can't be sure when so just put those words into my blog search window and you will find him.

He lives with his parents in London and studies at a university there. His hobby is creating images. When I was at school it was called pottery. His parents call his creations 'Adam's Pots'.

I think he should stop studying and become a full-time pottery artist. I know it is difficult to earn a living as a full-time artist, but he certainly has the talent.

I have selected three of his works of art to share with you. If you would like to own one of his works of art then please contact me. I shall then contact him/his parents on your behalf to start the process of you buying one of his 'pots', or even an animal.

It is interesting to discover how many people you know who have such artistic ability. Look around your own  group of friends and see how many have such talent. One of my sisters is a visual artist and the other in Cambridge is a word artist. What talent!

Artist Sister

Sister Frances is showing her artistic skill. I recently got these photos from husband Geoff, and was really surprised to see them. They show real talent. I had no idea she could produce such works of art. But then when I look into her/our past I should not have been surprised.

Our father had a natural talent as an artist and produced many sketches and drawings. After producing them he used them to light the fire in the living room next day! Even so it was clear he had a talent and I remember he talked to his children about art and drawing and encouraged us to draw and paint at school.

I remember Frances producing interesting sketches, paintings and drawings at that time. As she grew up I do not remember her producing any more, or talking about painting and drawing. Getting married and having a family became her priority.

I am really pleased that she has gone back to her artistic roots and started to paint/sketch again. Keep it up Frances and ask Geoff to send me more of your works. As my family knows, they love dogs and recently adopted another couple. Waiting for drawings of the new members of the family.

I was prompted to post these drawings/paintings to share them with Patrizia. She is in my new English class and we had an interesting discussion about pets and dogs only yesterday. Patrizia also loves dogs and she had one for 17 years. I showed her photos of dog lovers in my family from images in my blog and we had an interesting discussion.

Hope you like these images Patrizia and I look forward to talking about them with you next Wednesday. I have added Frances' painting of a bowl of flowers. This shows a real ability different from painting animals. Well done!

Kyrill cooked

I left Frohnau yesterday afternoon and headed for Spandau. From the far north of Berlin I took two S-Bahns and an U-Bahn to get to my destination. It all took another hour. Spandau is in the far north-east of the city. I have been there a number of times before and posted reports on this blog.

The reason this time was an invitation from Kyrill. He is Marcel's flatmate and they study the same subjects at the same university. I posted a photo and brief story about him when Marcel moved in and I visited for the first time.

This time it was to enjoy typical Russian cooking. I know that in my last post I said I was in a restaurant after my Frohnau walk, but I knew I had a meal waiting in Spandau so I only ordered a small appetizer. A good decision.

I picked up some red wine on arrival in Spandau and that was the right choice for the food. Kyrill had really put a lot of effort into preparing and cooking the meal. He also likes to cook and does so when he is at home in Russia. He told me about the dishes, but I can't remember except one was Ukrainian borscht. Very tasty food and as usual with conversation laced with lots of jokes and humour. Thanks Kyrill for a very special experience.

Footnote to my Berlin readers: They are looking for a new flat/rooms to move into by the end of the year at the latest. It is not easy to find a place in Berlin now as you know. If you know of a place please contact me. Thanks.

Frohnau.

I went to Frohnau with an Oldie Walking Gang yesterday. I know the leader of the group and he invited me because there were some Non-German speaking visitors and he wanted me to translate/help. I readily agreed for I had never been to Frohnau. It has a population of 17,000 making it slightly smaller than the suburb in which I live

It takes a good hour to get there by public transport from where I live. I duly arrived, met the group and we got to know each other. It was a gentle walk through forest ending in a village called Schulzendorf. There we had a tasty late lunch in the large 'Dining Room' of a restaurant.

Frohnau is a very desirable place to live. It is in the borough of Reinickendorf in the far northern part of Berlin. It was founded in 1908-10 by Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck (You don't get many names like that anymore !). He inherited the land and decided to create a new town based on the English concept of a Garden City.

It was designed by Joseph Brix and Felix Genzmer. The town centre is built around the train station, open garden/park areas and large buildings such as the Casino Tower. You will not find manyhouses there. You wander the tree lined quiet streets and look at large gardens in which sit mansions/villas, of course with rooms for a servant or two! It was incorporated into Berlin in 1920.

It is surrounded by forests and walker tracks. It also has the tallest hill in the north of Berlin. A very large tree grows at the top of this hill, as you can see in the photo. I enjoyed visiting the town and walking through the woods in ideal weather for the time of year.