noadvertising | Recent Entries

Or not. Most important mantra should be instant freezing of population number. That won´t happen, look at the population explosion in many countries! Renewable energies simply won´t do the trick! I for myself closed the door behind our youngests then went upstairs and took a book to read, a real one, not an e-book. Saves energy when used during daylight. Not so much if you have to turn the lights on. No mobile, no tablet, no PC, no lamps until it´s getting dark outside. And that was my contribution to World Earth Day. Sorry, but only few of us older people spend hours on a mobile or a PC or in front of a TV. Okay, let´s leave the TV out. We also do not ride around in our cars. Maybe we have once upon a time, but that time is long gone. We have downsized with age yet get told that we are to downsize even more. Get knotted!
Honestly, hubby as well as I were done after our youngest had left for their respective homes, even though we had lots of fun together. The two get along very well, a thing that cannot be said about number three, who rubs his siblings the wrong way. Husband mine has still high hopes that number three won´t be able to come for a visit this weekend- they still haven´t finished the demolition work on Dil´s inherited stables, the ones last year´s flood has undermined so that they had to go. Well, we will see...
BTW, tonight´s dream was extremely strange: hubby and I had to spend the night in front of our bedroom door, together with the boys, on mattresses. The younger boy did not behave and wreaked havoc, and hubby went off to get some peace. I found him on our marital bed, dead drunk and sleeping. On the sidewall of the bedroom there were more beds filled with tourists I did not dare to wake up. Next thing I knew was that I had a suitcase and was entering the bus that parked in front of our house- and left hubby with the boys... There was another, even more idiotic dream I had during night, which has faded away. I often dream the same things twice with only slight alterations so chances are good that I will be able to relive-dream the situation. The only thing I remember is that like in the first dream I handed the boys over to husband and made away. Apparently getting constantly harassed by grandchildren makes me bolt, though in dreams only...

...to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love...
It was not a good way to start Easter Monday with the news of the Pope's death. Roman-Catholic church is going through a difficult time since quite a while, and the pope did what he could do, or was allowed to do, to steer us towards more modern times. We definitely have had worse Holy Fathers. Only the timing of his death was a bit unfortunate!
I felt somewhat melancholic and did not accompany hubby and my youngest offspring to a visit to family number one. Besides, I had to peel one and a half kilo asparagus, not to mention the potatoes for the side dish. The Easter ham needed warming up in a vegetable broth then got put under the grill in the oven. I climbed onto the exercise bike and tried to steel my body (haha, that was a good one), and lunch was ready when the rest of the family came back home. In the afternoon I did a tour along the garden. Daffodils, grape hyacinths and the few tulips I have planted have withered. Magnolias and cherry blossom tree lost practically all their blossoms during the foehn storms we had a few days ago- the ground is pink, littered with petals gone too early, it looks like a veritable battlefield. Yet the dominant colour here is green, only interrupted by a few patches of daisies and forget-me-nots. Each dandelion which dares to sprout gets immediately plucked by hubby. Our apple tree is in sparse flower, so few apples for the maggots this year. No lice yet, which means no ants. No wonder that the beasts have plenty of time for a visit inside!
I continued with crocheting- two thirds of the shawl are done now. The colours are atrocious, I should have gone with the first combination of colours. Well, too late now! Hubby has cooked shawarma for dinner. Not for me, of course, because no meals after five. Tomorrow it's hubby again who will do the cooking- Dutch croquettes with beef. Beef hubby has fried in the afternoon- our house has been turned into a non-stop cook-shop. No wonder that neither number four nor number five did go back to their respective homes as envisaged! Maybe tomorrow evening we will be free again- until number three and family will turn everything upside down again!

T'was a nice, warm day with lots of sunshine. Idiot neighbour number one woke me at 5:30, I climbed my stepstool and watched him going along the vegetable beds, clunking his shovel against the frames. Nice sound I must say! I was ready to wring the fool's neck but went back to bed instead and slept until eight, when vice mayor finally let her grandchildren loose to let them search for Easter eggs. Honestly, I missed not having Elsa with us- for about half an hour, just as long as Charlotte and Constanze were jubilating at each new found. Then I was glad that we had a quiet Easter until lunch at son's, which turned out busy, as always. We had liver in bread dough and filled tomatoes, beef and lamb with Parmesan potatoes, dumplings, green and white asparagus and green beans with bacon plus baklava and strawberry tarte with coffee. After lunch everybody sat down and rested- too much to eat! We went into the garden then and I got lectured about deer invading the vegetable beds and ticks all around in the grass. I still wonder how sis and I survived our youth in our grandma's garden with all the vermin looming in the grass and on the trees- Cassian and Flavius had to wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers plus wellies and both got sprayed with insect repellant to fend off the ticks...
We came back home at six, and first thing I did was ignore sis's call. She wrote that she'd try again around eight. No, family life is not easy for me, because there's too much of family sometimes!
Daughter mine will finally be able to visit sis in her flat now- her school nemesis (the one who bought the flat above sis's) will play ice hockey in Graz next season. Those two meeting in the house might have ended in another duel of shouts. They managed to do so in school for eight years straight. Not exactly a romantic relationship!
I was resting then and realised that now the best time of the year is upon me- the time of the ribbitting frogs- just heard the first one outside in neighbour's huge pond. Those little buggers can be quite loud, yet I think the sound somewhat calming, just like the sound of the church bells tolling for the resurrection service, around midnight, when I was in bed already...

Son number four got picked up at the trainstation yesterday evening. As usual, he was hungry and warmed his Italian noodles in the microwave. Seconds later I heard his cry of outrage- the lemons I had cut off my lemon trees were covered with ants, lots of them. We threw them into a bowl with hot water, to drown the beasts. Darn, I never thought ants to be active durinng night. First thing this morning was buying new ant traps- and warning hubby to never ever throw these away before he was allowed to. Then I carefully cleaned the area between sink and cupboard, even sprayed it with instant death for insects. The beasts must be immune, each time I had a look I found new ones. Hopefully the new ant traps will work!
I cooked the lemon rice son loves, added roasted chicken mostly for hubby. Son would eat rice without it, the whole pot if possible. Then son and I drove to Aldi, while hubby mowed the lawn so that the boys would be able to run along. Alas, we will have Easter dinner at number two tomorrow. DiL2 decided to take Cassian to the Orthodox resurrection service- at eleven in the evening. None of the two will be up before noon next day, number two fears. So it's him alone to do the roasting of the meat and take care of Flavius- with a plaster hand at that. Of course we will do the side dishes at our house, and the baklava is already safely hidden in the fridge in the basement to hinder ants from having fun with the cake.
Today will be early bedtime for me, all that ruckus we had this morning made me leave the bed at six thirty in the morning. The neighbours at the backside of the house are getting a new roof for the garage, those in front of the house a new balcony. The one to the left started planing the boards for the garden wall. The vice-mayors husband started digging up the vegetable bed at six!!!. Idiot neighbour was appalled- no matter what he did, the others were louder. Must have been a downer for him. Now I wonder how he is planning his revenge!

Gone are the days when I was able to choose the TV programme and the time for going to bed. Now I will bring my drinking glass to the kitchen at nine fortyfive then race upstairs, brush my teeth and do my evening ablution before I enter the bedroom to take my pills and sink onto the bed, hubby already on my heels- best way to not let me sleep. Yet I am glad that he is back- never seen a man who loves vacuuming and mopping as much as he does. And he does a great breakfast, if he feels like it. But he does not give a sh.. on Roman-Catholic tradition and had bacon for breakfast. Must be the residual aversion towards bigotry, stemming from the time he had to live with his mother, a rabid member of Jehovah´s Witnesses. During breakfast hubby talked about his trip and the awful landing at Salzburg airport. I was just reading the newspapers and found out that we had wind speeds of 110 km/h. No wnder that the window panes of the house were rattling nonstop and that landing a plane was not so easy! Today the weather was a bit wet and quite cool- we never made it over nine degrees. Foehn and headache are gone, but I had to light a fire in the wood burner. Yet the weather was great for bringing the palm- and lemon trees out. Those are still on the terrace, sheltered from wind and rain, but will go to the garden wall tomorrow, when sun will be back. Son will come in the evening, so I dusted his room and put fresh bedding on. Did not do so yesterday, was a bit disappointed that he postponed his visit for a day. Housework for Easter is done now, so tomorrow will be a day of rest. At least I will not leave the house for shopping- on top of my car is a slide Cassian and Flavius will get for Easter. A bit unpractical to drive along this way!

In English it's Dativ kills Genitiv, which happens quite often in German. Darn People tend to confuse those cases, even though it's very easy, or have you ever heard of the word wemwegen? That will help you get the right case. I am even correcting my progeny when they post on Whatsapp, because I hate them maiming our native language, even though I think they do it on purpose, because they think my way of correcting them is funny. Well, one has to have principles...
I did another moth raid- found some when vacuuming number four´s room. Those beast have to be very clever- there are two moth traps in the room, with not a single moth caught inside. The carpet is now out, airing in the carport. I am so mad at those darn beasts!
I prepared lunch for hubby. His plane was to arrive a quarter to two in the afternoon. Had a bit of delay and landed at two thirty. Hubby was glad about being back home (weather in Amsterdam had been quite cold). Yet there was a problem he was not able to solve, because the bank had closed already. So tomorrow´s first way will be going there and ask who had withdrawn money from his account. When waiting for the plane in Amsterdam someone had taken 1000 euro from his account. Not a transfer but a cash withdrawal at the bank counter. Absolutely not funny!
Today was the third day with foehn, and it was worse than ever. Only one window per storey could be opened, or doors would bang when not properly closed, and loose things inside got sent flying. My consumption of headache pills has skyrocketed, I am glad that daughter mine left me some of hers- at least I won´t get a stomachache when taking them. In the evening foehn should get superseded by a short cold spell- from 26 (today) to twelve tomorrow, before early summer will be back.
Do you want to know what husband´s first action was after having lunch? Yes, he wrote a shopping list for tomorrow. I have to say that I have not missed this. But hubby loves it, needs it. When the list got longer and longer I left for the studio. Another thing I loved during those short grass widow days- I did never feel remorse when going upstairs to read, to turn my PC on, to do whatever I wanted- without annoying husband mine. Now we are back to usual...

Yesterday I found the cast list for the new HP series on FB. So glad that I am old and wise and in no need to follow this show, because Severus Snape- is black from now on. The one character who is described as white. Not that any actor will be able to meet the requirements after the perfect portrayal done by Rickman, but here comes the aspect of racism, too. And believe me, those who will watch the show will get a lot of it! A black character played by a dark-skinned actor who gets bullied by white classmates will inevitably lead to political indoctrination, young folk will fall in love with the poor, harrassed Snape and pardon his atrocious behaviour. Or not. I certainly won´t watch this farce!
Today was housework day- I put on fresh bedding and put the old one into the washing machine, descaled both shower cabinets, did vacuum and wipe the ground floor, did a ´wet´ dusting of the book shelves and some more- but no cooking. Will have to resume doing lunch tomorrow, because hubby will be back in the early afternoon, and son number four will come in the evening. Who won´t come for Easter is family number three, the problematic one- Elsa fell ill, and the parents want her to recuperate, before she will tear our house down the weekend after Easter. I had a hard time to not shout out in rapture, but one family less means also means less stress for me, and aunt Lil will definitely come for Easter then. She usually never skips festive meals! So tomorrow I will do meatballs and coconut rice for lunch in the hope that there will be enough leftovers for son. One never knows- could be that hubby has been on a no-lunch diet when away. I definitely was, save for yesterday´s spaghetti!

Daughter and I both got up late and had a breakfast with salmon, smoked trout and other delicacies. Not as good as breakfast at former George Hotel in London, but still. Is it really that long that we were there twice a year with a friend of ours? Afterwards we did grocery shopping at a nearby supermarket which is ´only´four kilometres away and had a cup of icecream in the restaurant. Something you can´t do with hubby. he only lives from coffee and cake and icecream when on holidays. I found it quite relaxing, to sit and watch people shopping from above...
Afterwards we had spa time then lunch cooking. While I cut the Guanciale and grated Parmesan and Pecorino daughter had put the last HP Blu ray disc into the player. She loves to torture me. Not that I won´t love the film, quite the opposite- perfect actors, wonderful soundtrack. but it´s dark, very dark. The books I did not like much, especially not in German. It´s children´s books, no matter how dark those will be in the end. But I value the author´s steadfastness when she was confronted with the exaggerated wokeness of some people, who turned out more ignorant than the author herself. After lunch daughter and I watched Galaxy Quest- hilarious! I wish there´d be more days we could do such movie watching!
Daughter left in the late afternoon, taking the last strudel with her in exchange for headache pills, because hers are better than mine.
Today I will do it- go to sleep early. Ten is early. Only that I did so twice and stayed up until one in the morning watching TV. No wonder that sleeping in is so very tempting!

I did practically nothing all day long. Daughter cancelled lunch, because she still had a meal to consume at her home. I did not cook for me alone but had canned tuna. Then I made the strudel for afternoon coffee. Neighbour rang the doorbell to tell me that he intended to enlarge the garden wall- he wants to install a pool and needs some privacy. Fine with me, it's his wall. Besides, conversation with him is always funny! Then came sister's attack- fortunately my voice is still hoarse enough from coughing, so she refrained from coming for a visit. Bad enough that she called hubby in Amsterdam. Our conversation lasted for almost an hour...
For a while I sat on the terrace in the strangely coloured light of the sun- it was warm, but there was Saharan dust again, lots of it!
When daughter arrived, we did a lot of talking and watched a film. At ten we both were knackered and decided to go to bed. No wonder, we both were up till one in the morning- yes, I was tired the evening before. But TV programme was very tempting last night, and I decided to not give in to tiredness but give TV programme a try instead. Hail to the TV set in the studio!

...today. I did some work in the conservatory, mostly sorting the plants that will have to go out this week, so that the extended family will have room enough to celebrate Easter. Then we had lunch, and shortly afterwards hubby drove my car to the airport, which in hindsight was a bad idea- he managed to get a 50 euro ticket, because they recently changed the 50km/h to a 30 one and he drove 52. We had coffee and cake at Wolfgang's, then daughter put her things (wine, a comfy jump suit and a pot with mint) into my car and took the bus to her flat while I went home. I was not home long, I went to a neighbour and had lots of fun. Just came back home and am tired now. Felt like in the old days, when hubby was doing evening concerts and I was able to get out of the house more often...

Profile

noadvertising

April 2025

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

Syndicate

Style Credit

Base style: Bases by malionette
Theme: Sunset Thoughts by krja

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags

We´re all mad here

Welcome to the asylum

Recent Entries

Happy Earth Day!

He taught us...

Happy Easter!

The return of the ants

Back to usual

Der Dativ ist dem Genitiv sein Tod...

No way!

It gets better each day

Nothing

No big posting