Desert Snow

I've had a very busy week and looking forward to joining in a short 'oldie' walk to the north-west of Berlin tomorrow. On Sunday, I have guests for afternoon tea and supper. No doubt with a couple of glasses of red, or white wine, for I know my guests well!

This morning I went to Kerstin's 'Training for Oldie' Gang. She introduced some new exercises. I realised I had a problem with standing on one leg and balanc!  Later I went to Stefan's Photoshop Gang. Again, something new. It was not easy to do the tasks, but somehow we got there. 

We had to add things to a background, then 'rub-out' images. After, we added others so that we could present images appearing, and building up a complete picture. You can see this by clicking below.

Biesenhorster Sand - 2

Back to our adventures yesterday. In May 1945, the Soviet Army took over most of Karlshorst. Local families were told to leave their homes and Soviet officers moved in. My flat was on the border of the Soviet area and also occupied by an officer. They stayed in the houses until 1953, then moved to a new military base with barracks and houses south of Karlshorst in the next district.

Even so, they remained in the military area in the east of Karlshorst, centred on the military training buildings and training grounds with railway connection in Beisenhorster Sand. The Officers Mess/Villa where the document was signed to end the war became a museum. The soviet military left the area in 1994, but the museum remains to this day and is well worth a visit the next time you are in Berlin!

The other buildings are now being converted into family flats for purchase - not for rent! The sandy area behind them is where Silke and I took our photographs. You can see a large machine in my last post. It will be joined by others this summer as the land is cleared to make way for more private houses and a wide road/highway/autobahn where the old railway tracks were.

There is some controversy about this plan for the fauna, flora and animals in the Biesenhorster Sand iare now unique in Berlin. Environmentalists want to protect it and are opposed to the planned development. Perhaps the photos we took yesterday were images of part of Berlin that we shall never see again.



We stumbled across an interesting railway ruin in the very east of the area. You can see that it was previously used to service and check the undercarriage of trains. It is a 'Rangierbahnhof' = marshalling yard/railway shunting yard, dating from 1953. It was built early in the soviet occupation period and as you can see from the photos, it had seen better times!

 Part of the buildings was a room - perhaps a rest room for workers then - now covered with graffiti, as are all the remaining buildings. This room had a chair, clothes mattresses and a collection of dolls. One of which was a lion with a union jack on its chest. Strange indeed!

We came up with the solution that the room was used by a tramp, but we could not explain why he(she perhaps) collected dolls/puppets. Part of an interesting afternoon discovering the history and mysteries of the Biesenhorster Sand.

Biesenhorster Sand - 1

Interesting name! It is an area on the eastern perimeter of the suburb where I live called Karlshorst. This in turn is in the south-east of Berlin and created after 1880. Housing and other developments took place in the centre or west of the district. The east was 'Biesendorfer Sand'.

It was created in the last ice age = 10,000 years before Karlshorst! (Thanks for the correction, Silke :-)  It was a large sand area with 10 meter dunes in some places, the kind you can see in many coastal areas. Not the best ground for constructing buildings. But it happened.

As family houses and villas were built in the west, originally near the racecourse to the south, buildings to construct airships were built in the east in 1909. The first airship was the Siemens-Schackert-Luftschiff SSL 1. Construction stopped in 1920 as part of the agreement which ended World War-1.

An airport was then built in the east. Sand was dug out of a nearby area called Beisdorf, creating a very large hole. This filled with rain water and is now called Biesdorf Lake.  The sand was taken to 'fill-in' parts of the Biesendorfer Sand area and thereby create a flat area suitable for aircraft landing and take-off. The old buildings were then used to service aircraft for the new Friedrichsfelde Airport. Although empty now, they have a preservation order on them because of their architectural value.

 In 1933, a certain party and leader came to political power - you know who! Shortly after, plans were made to build more flats in the west of Karlshorst, one of which I live in, and to build a Wehrmacht Pioneer/Officer  Training Centre in the east. This was dutifully done including an 'Officers Quarter/Mess' to the south of the training ground.

It looks like a large villa and became internationally famous when in the evening of 8 May 1945, the agreement was signed there which ended WW-2.  As this training area was being built, so was a railway line just to the east with goods station, water pumps and storage facilities.

That was where Silke and I went yesterday to look around and take some photos. In my case to learn more about using my camera. Here are some photos.

Rubbing Out

I didn't sleep well last night. The weather has suddenly changed and I think my allergies may be waking up! Sore eyes turning to red 'Dracula' ones hidden by dark glasses. All of that is soon to come.  Even so, I went to my 'oldie' training gang led by Kerstin. I really enjoy being in this group. I felt better after training, then left for Stefan's Photoshop Gang.

Nice atmosphere, as always, friendly and interesting conversation. Stefan had prepared some hidden images. We had to learn to use the 'rubber' tool to find the images, then move to another to uncover more images, and so it built up to a complete picture. Rather like watching how an animation film is put together. Stefan had prepared the final result then added it to my stick so I could share with you. Thanks, Stefan!

Busy Boy

I've been a busy boy today!  I was about leave the flat this morning when my mobile (called a Handy in German!) rang. It was the 'Oldie-Centre'. I was told that all but one had called to say they would not be in the lesson because of ice on the pavements and roads. Yes, it was very icy here this morning. So I unpacked my teaching bag, made a cup of coffee and wondered what I could do instead.

I decided to go shopping to buy some light-bulbs. Down to my last reserve. While in the shopping centre I saw a toilet seat reasonably priced. I bought it on impulse. The fastenings on the old seat keep coming lose and one keeps falling off, plus I use bleach for cleaning and this has marked all the metal fittings. Time for a new one.

Next to the toilet is a radiator. This has lost bits of paint eaten away from bleach in the cleaning water that splashes onto it. Here you can see the Before and After pics of my handy-work. The After pics look much better!

Having done that I corrected some homework from students I am teaching for an exam at the start of March. That done, I tidied up, ironed, washed up and took the rubbish down to the waste bins. Being nosy, I looked in the white glass container and was amazed.

One of my neighbours had thrown away a glass bowl and drinking glasses, of which two were broken. I decided to rescue them. Can use for a party in the garden, or give them to a family with kids who are always breaking glasses.

What a busy boy I was today, and I think I must be the only person on the planet to have told a story, on a blog today, about changing a toilet seat! Someone has to be first :-)

Not Happy

I am not happy with the result of my work this afternoon in my Photoshop lesson. I thought it was good  for I was busy with composition and constructing the total image. Now at home, and reducing for this blog, I see many things I don't like.

The mono-tone colour I don't like. I can also see mistakes I made in cutting and removing old backgrounds. Mmmmh....not happy at all, but here it is for you to judge for yourself. Perhaps I am becoming too critical and seeing things I couldn't see when I started. I shall add a green parrot to this post to brighten it up! All together."Pretty Polly, Pretty Polly!!"


I have a very busy week in front of me. Tomorrow is the eltabb AGM. I am giving the auditor's report and been asked to chair the meeting to elect a new Board. I said,'Yes'.  I was one of the co-founders 17 years ago, so I feel honoured to be asked to chair the meeting tomorrow.

I have a new business man as student next week. A short intensive course to help him with specific language problems. Two others have asked for help. In a recent post, I told you I had agreed to do volunteer teaching to seniors with limited income who live in a home. I had my first session last Wednesday.

Very interesting. One is partially deaf, so that was a new challenge!  I am giving them a four week course to see if it is possible to take them into a longer course. Age, learning ability, and memory retention play an important role. Even so, I was very impressed with their interest and wish to learn another language. Yes, a busy week with all these things in addition to my usual routine.

Camera things

Finally, here is a shot of Silke sitting in my kitchen post-Borscht eating. On the table you can see a range of camera things she brought with her so I could learn more. Dr. Mabuse is also there, but resting on the table after eating so much Borscht!

I took this shot with her Wide Lens on my camera and was so surprised by the result that I quickly rushed around the flat snapping each room. The results of which you can see in my last post. Thanks Silke for a really interesting afternoon and for your Borscht. Delicious! There is another photo of Dr. Mabuse warming up the soup so you can see again how hard he worked :-)

My next post will be after the Photoshop Gang meeting on Friday. Last week we heard that Stefan's contract had been renewed - we all sighed a BIG sigh of relief at the news. At least we can continue to learn more until July.

More Wide Lens

Having taken Wide Lens shots in the flat, I wanted to go outside, but with a temperature of minus 12°C, I decided my balcony was as far as I was prepared to go.

I took two shots of my 'back garden'. View from left to right and you can see the full view. It looks better in summer - as some of you will know!

I then changed back to my standard lens, changed the viewing window, then galloped off to my living room window.

I tested the change by taking a couple of shots of flowers/plants. I was surprised by the clarity of detail in the shots. So, all of you can learn with me and change the shooting choices you have on your camera.

Wide Lens

Silke brought a lot of lenses with her for our 'learn the camera' session yesterday. After Dr. Mabuse had fed us, and himself, he washed up the dishes. Like having a servant in the house!

While he did that, Silke showed me all the lenses, and other things she had brought. I was amazed and we talked about 'the how and the why' of each camera part. We read from my instruction book, turned things on and off, and tried more things. Then was the big test.

I removed the lens on my camera and added her Wide Lens. A wonderful thing which cost almost what my camera package of three things cost! I took some photos of my flat and was amazed at what I saw through the lens and the result.

With my lens I cannot take such a wide perspective. It was a new experience for me, just like eating Borscht. I know Fran and Barbara like to look at the inside of my flat, so here are the results of this Wide Lens tested in my small four walls- and just for you !

Borscht

Yesterday I ate Borscht for the first time. I don't know why it has taken so long to enjoy this kind of soup. Borscht has about 12 different ways of spelling depending on the language, with it's origin in Ukraine/Russia.

Traditionally its main ingrediant is beetroot, to which is added different things, depending on availability, season, and if you are rich enough to add meat! It is usually eaten hot, but it can be eaten cold. It has also infiltrated the Chinese diet, which I was pleased about, although I wasn't offered any when I was in Beijing.

I met Silke for a 'learn the camera' session yesterday and she had cooked some Borscht, with meat in the good old German version of the dish. She brought Dr. Mabuse and he helped to warm up the soup and serve it. He also ate some and found it delicious - as I did.
  
So, Marcel, what do think of Dr. Mabuse? Have you eaten Borscht in Hungary? Post your answer to my Comment box! I look forward to reading it.

Mehr Kunst

And even more 'art'! Went to Kerstin's 'Oldie Keep-Fit Gang' this morning. Lot's of talk about the weather as we started stretching and moving. In case you don't know, it is very cold here! Then I took the S and U-Bahn to the 'Oldie-Zentrum' for my Photoshop Gang led by Stefan.

Some of the gang were missing. We are a group that fuses well together and when one, or more is missing, then I notice it. Even so, a pleasant time with lots of interesting chat before we hit the computers. Stefan had prepared a number of things for us to work with.

I decided on an extreme background with figures to practice cutting out images. Here is the result. I like it for it reminds me of the sunset over Berlin taken by Silke, which I added to my last post. This piece of 'Kunst' is for sale at the ridiculously low price of €250,000. I wonder if I could get one of the 'Big Bonus Bankers' to buy it?

February things

January was a strange mixed month for me. I wonder what February will bring.  It is starting with freezing temperatures.

It's okay for you in Australia and New Zealand with up to  40°C to worry about keeping cool, but here there are temperatures in eastern Europe of -37°C and this weekend in Berlin we have been told to expect up to - 18°C. Brrrrh....stay in and put the heating higher! I have even taken my warm ski jacket out of the cellar to wear even though there is no snow.

February will include the normal things but the future of my Photoshop Gang is not certain. Cuts in public spending are looming. I'll know better after this Friday's session. A problem about membership of my old fitness club and a payment demand will run through this month. I now have a lawyer on this so we'll see what happens.

I have to renew my passport this month, so I am organising all the necessary paperwork. I am reviewing the range of my insurance policies. I am sure I do not need so many and am taking advice about making changes. I have also registered with an 'Ehrenamtliche Arbeit' (voluntary work) office in the north east of the city.  It was my German teachers idea :-)

So far I have been contacted by an organisation running projects for seniors, children and youths. They want me to teach a group of seniors English and help a couple of students from poor homes. They need help with English for their school leaving examination, but their parents can't pay for private teachers. I am meeting them Wednesday of next week. Watch this space for more details!

I went to the docs again this morning for a check about my blood pressure. It is still running a little too high so he told me to take two tablets a day instead of one. I have to see him in two weeks for more checks. When I got home from the Doc's, I had a visitor. It was Stefan. He is part of the Jan, Peter etc gang who went to school together, still meet up and keep in touch. Really nice to see him and catch up with his news. Thanks for the visit, Stefan!

Who has a birthday this month? As I write these words, Sven is celebrating his 36th with his wife and children in Berlin, my oldest and best friend Alan will celebrate his 69th on the 3rd - have a great day Alan and Lynne! Jens will be 42 on the 5th, my 'Boss' at the institute will be 64 on the 18th,  Eleonora hits 53 on the 22nd followed by Adrian in London who will be 52 on the 25th. The month closes with Frau Reimer celebrating her 86th with a family party in Rostock, Ralf enjoying his 47th in Berlin and Peter celebrating his 32nd with family in Australia. What a nice international bunch!  Have a wonderful day each and all!!


I shall now add my 'new' monthly report picture plus another. It was taken by Silke yesterday as we returned to Berlin. We wanted to take the sunset then saw the frozen water in one corner of a field. Ideal for reflection. Here is the result - and that is how 'my' city looked like yesterday evening.

Werneuchen Kunst

It was freezing at Werneuchen. Temperature of  -8°C, but with blue sky and bright sun. I only took my leather gloves. I forgot to take my warm skiing gloves. A BIG mistake!

We got to the family property with a bungalow for Silke's parents, one caravan for her brother, and another caravan for Silke. Nice - and all set in a garden. There were also lots of bicycles. After getting the gas heating in the caravan to work, we had some welcome hot tea before mounting the bicycles and heading for the airport, with cameras in our rucksacks - of course!

Silke showed me this huge lens she had recently bought and only used a few times. She wanted to practice with it and compare to the other (two !) lenses she has :-)  I just looked and listened with opening mouth! As we cycled to the airport I noticed that I was losing feeling in my fingers. My toes were also numb, but I didn't need them to operate my camera!

Silka had warm skiing gloves so was relatively okay. When we got to our goal, I could not feel anything in my fingers and operate my camera. I gave it to Silka and asked her to take photos while I learned by watching what she did for each shot. It worked and I learned more, but it would have been better if I had not got frozen fingers and been able to do it myself!

Here are some of the photos she took. I have not cut, or played around with them in any way. I have only reduced them so the servers for my blog could handle the size and upload them. I think the quality of the image speaks for itself. She is able to see the finished product before she presses the button.

As you can see others have been to the deserted hangers and other buildings, including sprayers. Some of their work I found good, interesting and even humerous. I usually find most images to be infantile or plain rubbish.  I particularly like the shot of me leaning on the chairs. Look at the shadows and lines in relation to me and the chairs. Nice work, Silka!

Werneuchen

I went to Werneuchen with Silke today. I really enjoyed it. I haven't been there for years and so it was good to sit in her car and see old sights and new constructions.

Where is Werneuchen I think I can hear your ask? It is part of the district of Barnim which in turn is part of Land Brandenburg. It is a town of 8,000 inhabitants to the north-east of Berlin.

It first appears in written records in 1247, and people lived from agriculture/farming. A railway line reached it in 1878 and so linked it closer to Berlin and towns further east towards the (now) Polish border.

In 1937, an airport/Flughafen was built and the military arrived. Two large hangers were built, which you can see in my photos, in addition to other buildings to keep an airport functioning. It was used to train fighter pilots and to service their aircraft.

In 1945, it was taken over by the Soviet Military. They subsequently expanded it for use by bomber aircraft. And so it functioned until the Soviet forces left in 1993. It fell into disuse and decay except for one part which is still used for sport/hobby planes/pilots.

Silke and her family own a piece of land near to this airport and she wanted to show it to me. We also wanted to use it to take photos. So here are some photos for this first part of my adventures in Werneuchen today.

Moon and Dwarves

I've had a strange week. It included getting a demand for two years membership payment from my ex-fitness centre. The matter is now on the desk of my new lawyer. Let's see what she makes of it!

It also included a call from an Ehrenamt (Volunteer) Office in Marzahn. This is a district on the north  east of Berlin. It was where I lived when I first arrived in Berlin, where  I met Jan and Andrea and where I worked for many years at an adult education centre. They had got my name from one of my ex-students, and asked me if I would teach two lessons a week at a Home for Seniors in the south of the district. I went to their office to see who and what they were and decided to take on the project.

I also started to help a Russian engineer with pronunciation problems. This is not new for me and I rather like the work. This engineer is very hard working and it was interesting to see how much progress he had made in one week.

I went to my Oldie-Keep-Fit Gang this morning. We learnt/learned some new exercises to do with balance. It took me some time to get the hang of it, but trainer Kerstin quickly came over to help me.
I then went to my Photoshop Gang. Not sure how long this will continue because of 'savings'! Yes, we always save at the wrong of the social structure - don't we?


There, I decided to visit Rome with garden gnomes Fred and Bill. They quickly attracted the attention of some butterflies - as you can see here. I then went on a quick trip to the sahara desert to see the moon. I planted some flowers in the sand and watched some more butterflies flying behind the moon. A very interesting excusion! Creative aren't I?

Books

I bought a new book today. It is called, 'Rocky Passages: Surviving 40 years of life with music' It was written by Neil Deane. I have known him for years. First time was just after I co-founded eltabb and he joined. Later he helped me to get a flat where he and other Cornelson workers lived. Happy times!

He worked for Cornelsen Verlag then. He now lectures at the University of Duisburg-Essen. Lives with a very nice lady who gave me a job teaching at a Hochschule many years ago. The travelling was too long so I reluctantly gave it up. Happy memories!

Now he has produced a book about his passion. Yes, music from the 1970's and the Beatles. He comes from Liverpool and the book is about the last 40 years of his life through his musical tastes. Mozart and Beethoven are not in the book:-)


Earlier I bought another book. By Christopher Hitchens and called 'Hitch-22: A memoir'. He died recently and although some years older than Neil, he covers much the same period. A delight to read in terms of content and style. He plays with the English language like an angler catching and landing a trout. Superb!

Rational and liberal thinkers will miss his voice in this loud world of religious ignorance and killing. Step forward the next Christopher Hitchens - and quickly!

Butterfly

Today I went to my Photoshop Gang led by Stefen. It was very nice to see all again and looking so well! Stefan quickly told me what I had missed last week - due to having flu if you remember.

They worked on cutting out a butterfly and adding it to a background of the famous Charles Bridge in Prague. The centre of this city is very attractive. If you have not been there, then add it to your list of places to visit.

Latest Update: 9 February 2012. I talked to a number of readers of this blog about the problem of seeing the butterfly actually fly. If you remember, I had removed it because of reports from the blog server that it was not working and needed a new add-on. So now I have uploaded the original 'work of art' and shall leave it here. Perhaps the problem has something to do with my computers and their programmes. Why did I have the problem and not other readers of my blog?

New Toy

I have a new toy. It is a piece of equipment to measure blood pressure. I bought it this evening after coming home from my meeting with Silke.

This morning I went to my Dr's,  as arranged. The place was full. Mainly ill 'Oldies'! I had an appointment, but even so I had to wait 20 minutes before I got to the Doc. He checked my equipment to measure blood pressure and my records, then checked on his equipment and said something was not right. He watched me measure my blood pressure and noted that my equipment was not accurately recording the higher level. He recommended that I bought another one. Cost = €58.58. I grimmaced!

I later went to my local chemists. They said they could order it and I should come back later in the afternoon. I did - after my meeting with Silke. And so I became the proud owner of this machine after handing over the correct amount of 'Dosh'. I have to see the Doc in two weeks so I have that time to play around with it and learn how to use it. Just like a new toy:-)

Silke Baby Asus

Silke fell in love with my 'Baby Asus' this afternoon! Both of us have had 'die Grippe' and as we began to feel better, agreed to meet up for another camera session.

We met at a local Citizen's Centre. We met there before Christmas and I posted details on my blog. We started with lunch. Very nice 'deftiges Essen' which means substantial food which puts something on your ribs! All our co-eaters were my age or more:-)

Silke and I then went to a meeting room to talk about and experiment with cameras/computer photo programmes. I had also brought my 'Baby Asus' (Silke's request) and my Arcor Laptop in addition to two cameras. A very interesting session and we went onto the internet via an open WLAN from a nearby neighbour. Thanks, unknown neighbour!

At the end I took a few photos of Silke, one of which I really like. It shows her in a very human pose with the machine - almost as if it were human. It is my favourite of the ones I took and Silke gave her permission to share with you. Thanks Silke. 

More Me

I missed my Photoshop course last Friday. If you remember I am under Dr's orders at the moment. It was strange not to be there. I called Stefan and he said they were going to repeat things we had done the week before. Okay, nothing new but I would still have liked to be there.

I can't present any new image(s), so here are a couple from my Christmas 'eating and drinking' round. I played around with light and lots of other things. You should also play with your photo-programmes and see what you can do with the original image. I enjoyed it and shall play around again.

Last Friday evening, I went to meet some of my very nice Oldies. Johanna was the host and there I met Werner who I hadn't seen for some time. Werner is very active in all kinds of things. I first met him years ago when he joined my Wednesday 'Happy Gang', which he now leads. It was great to catch up with each others news.

Yesterday evening when I got home, I found a message from Jan on my AB = answering machine. He called to tell me he had to leave next day to help in a construction project outside Europe. I didn't  call back for I thought it more important that he and his lovely A had some privacy.

I decided to send him an e-mai today, then suddenly at lunchtime the phone rang. It was him. He was about to board the plane and wanted to contact me again. This time with success. I was so pleased to hear his voice, and to think that he would make a final effort to talk to me before boarding the plane. Have a safe flight and take care of yourself, Jan.

Just after I put the phone down, it rang again. It was Ian and Birgit from Australia. They had read on my blog that I was ill and wanted to hear how I was now. It was great to hear from them and chat over their Skype phone. What a nice day I have had!



Tomorrow I plan to return to normal life although I have a check-up with my doctor on Wednesday morning. It is about my high blood pressure. Next day I have an appointment with my Allergie doctor. Yes, it is that time of year again. Stand by for a runny nose, red and burning eyes and wearing sunglasses when there is no sun :-(            Have a positive week all!