love these houses

These houses are on the street facing our house. They are so big and grand and beautiful. The other night the light was just right and contrasts of the colours of the trees was perfect.

well worth the effort

On Saturday afternoon Katy and Kara helped three of the girls from their small group get ready for the grade 8 banquet. They had a fun few hours together and the results were marvelous!

strawberry picking

Thursday was a holiday (Corpus Christi) and the day chosen for a good friend of Katy's (and a piano student of mine) to celebrate her birthday. I helped with the driving since there was such a gang of friends. First we went for coffee and then we all stopped at the strawberry patch to pick some berries. This "Selbstpflücken" is a really big deal here in southern Germany at this time of year.

And the berries are definitely ready and delicious!




The birthday girl, Amanda, is on the bottom left.

the peony puzzle

My peony bush has a problem. It has 10 buds. That's it. Seeing it in this condition reminds of a Spring several years ago - our first one in this house to be exact. I went out to admire my lovely peony bush one day and was dumbfounded to see that someone, SOMEONE had come into our yard and had cut all the buds from the bush! I was livid. What nerve. Welcome to the neighbourhood!

It was several days later that I discovered what had happened. Katy and her friend had been upstairs in the shed making concoctions one day and had decided that a few (which became most) of the buds from the peony bush would provide just the right amount of bulk to whatever it was they were making! In spite of myself, I had to laugh. But I did make it very plain that they would never trim the bush in the Spring again! However, this does not solve my puzzle with my bush this year. Whatever is wrong? It does seem that the ants are slowly and steadily taking over the yard and I wonder if they are nibbling at the roots of the peony bush. Pesky, pesky bugs!

packaging issues

Bethany came home from the store the other day with 4 little pots of whipping cream. Three pots were the same size....

...and one was smaller. And I was amazed again at the rate in which this country changes its wrapping and packaging on their products. It boggles the mind.
Same amount inside - different size outside. Why do they do this I wonder?

another wonderful visit

The second lovely and surprise visit of last weekend was from our dear friend, Meghan. She too came to Kandern from the States (California!) for the weekend. It was so wonderful to see her and catch up a bit. She is actually a really good friend of our other weekend visitor, Bethany, and they even roomed together while they lived in Kandern. They did not plan to meet up here but that is just what happened to work out! How cool is that?