Playing the Tourist

Last night I went over to Tinniegirl and joined in with the Blogtoberfest she's hosting.
I had fun joining in with this last year.
It's a good way to get into the habit of posting everyday.
That's the idea,
a post each day
throughout the month of October.

Not that I need much encouragement at the moment
what with wine festivals every weekend
and places to visit.

I just hope I manage to download the photos I've been taking.
They don't seem to be co-operating tonight,
and we've had quite a busy day today!

However we went to a nearby popular town yesterday,
and these photos were downloaded successfully.
Perhaps you would like to join us in a walk around the town?

There's inviting shop displays,
wine, of course.

Flags,

and important buildings to see.

Window boxes,

and interesting shaped buildings.

How about a stop at a pavement cafe

for some kuchen

which one would you like?

And a cappuchino?

Ahhh that's better!

Now we can continue.

Mmmm, I like the way those vines

grow over the narrow streets.

Oohh, more shops!

It's a bit quieter here at this end of town.

Well, I don't know about you,

but I'm quite tired after all that walking around.

Happy weekend!

Pink Thoughts

I thought I would join Christina and Yiota

each Thursday in October

in posting a pink photo.

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Cancer is so devasting for anyone,

who has it,

or is affected by it.

I lost my Mum to Ovarian Cancer in 2005.

Ovarian cancer has non-specific symptoms

which are often only detected at an advanced stage when prognosis is poor.

Reflections

This morning set off sunny.
So that prompted me to take the camera with us for our first walk of the day.
The last few days have been rainy so it was lovely to get the sun back.
It was warm too.
And it stayed warm all day.

The photo below shows some grape pickers across the river.
It is a busy time in the vineyards just now.
It would be interesting to find out a bit about
the wine making in this region.



The rest of the photos
I just kept snapping away
when the fancy took me.

The light was much better than it has been.
At one point Mike spotted a deer across the river.
I did take a couple of photos but they are not very clear
so I haven't included them.
But what really struck me was how still the water was.
It was like glass.
It reflected the far hillside beautifully.


I love the way the lines of vines are reflected in the river.

And the lines of the wall

like a bridge.

A good start to the day.

That got even better,

when Mike's son arrived in the afternoon

and we enjoyed the rest of the sunshine outside on the balcony

catching up over a meal

and a glass of wine

and a beer or two for them.

A-Z Monday on a Tuesday!

N is for Naughty.

Why?

Because I'm late with this post

I should have posted yesterday,

but like last week which I also missed

the day just went by too quickly for me to post.

Also, I don't have a photo!

And you know how I like my photos.

We're currently getting ready for Mike's younger son

paying us a visit.

He arrives tomorrow for 6 days.

So we plan to show him some of the sights around here.

He'll be our first visitor here in Germany.

It should generate some new photos

which of course I'll share with you.

Wine Festivities

Despite it being October
there is a lot of activity here on the Mosel.
September and October is the busiest time for tourists.
And no wonder.
There is a wine festival every weekend!
I've already been to 4 different ones while I've been here.
I love them!
I love the atmosphere.



I love the way the narrow streets are packed with stalls, people, bands.
It's noisy, in a happy way.
It's as though the sleepy village has come to life.



The villagers work together to make their wine festival a success.

And it pays off.

As the evening wears on,

it is difficult to make your way along the street.

It's so packed with people enjoying themselves.

Now, I must go and check where the festival is on next weekend.

Hope you all had a good weekend.

Trees and Vines

It's the first of the month.
We've been here in Germany for a month now.
There's a change in the weather.
A new season?
So to mark the occasion
I thought I would
post a photo
on the first day of the month, each month.
From the same position.
To chronicle the changing seasons.
It's a thought I had wanted to do in Sweden
but never got round to doing.
Though I'm sure a lot of my photos were of the same place,
and the seasons were so very different,
extreme in fact.
I'm not expecting the weather to be as extreme here.
There is a lot of decidious woodland though
which would make a good barometer.
Then there's the vines of course.
I expect they will change colour and loose their leaves.
So it will be interesting to do in a new place.
But,
which vantage spot to choose?

The first photo is taken from the top of the house
and looks over to the woodland.
It does look lovely
especially with the colours changing.
The photo below is also taken from the house
and shows the vineyards on the far bank of the river.
It's a shame about the power lines!
I had meant to take the camera with me
when walking the hounds along the river,
but I forgot it!
Shame also that the light is not so good.
But taking a photo the same day once a month
will reflect the changes,
just the way they are.




Then the photo below
shows the garden.
You could follow my progress with it,
or lack of it!

Of course I do enjoy snapping away, so I could always do a few.

What do you think?

One of my aims when we moved,
was to spend more time on my blog.
It's a great way of keeping a pictorial diary,
but it's become much more than that with all the friends I've made here.
But we had problems with computers,
which are partially sorted now.
Except that we have to share one
as we are not wireless yet.
It also doubles as a TV sometimes in the evenings.
So time spent on the computer can be seriously rationed.
Not much time to blog!
But I'm slowly getting round to visiting you all.
It's just taking a while.
But then the best things in life do.

Pictures from today

So much to tell you,

So much to show you.

It's difficult to know where to begin.

My cold at last is on the way out,

but my head's still a bit woolly

(nothing new there then!).

As can be seen that I didn't check where these last few photos were positioning themselves!

So as most of the other photos are all on the other computer,

despite Mike trying to write them onto disc so that I could use them here.

(There is a problem with the disc writer).

I thought I would try and keep things simple

and just use photos from today.

Today, like all the others since Mike

returned from the UK

has been sunny and hot.

So for our lunchtime walk

with the Pups

we stayed very local

and took a walk around the allotments

which are a stones throw from the

house.

Everything is just so very fruitful

and rich.

We enjoyed the walk so much

that when we got back to the

house,

I collected the camera

and rewalked the route

just to get some pics.

We call them allotments

and they have the feel of allotments

back in the North East of England

where Mike originates from.

But these fruit and veg

are growing in amongst the vineyards!

These are walnuts.

We usually walk along the river and pass a number of these trees

both in the village itself

but also growing down by the river

again in more 'allotments'.

It seems a common thing here for people to pick the windfalls

up off the ground.

We've seen quite a few people now with bags

hunting on the ground underneath the trees.

The other evening some young boys with their father

were collecting something that looked like conkers.

But when we asked what they were collecting

it turned out they were chestnuts,

and they invited us to take some to try.

We're not sure what the function of the kettle is,

but it's always there.

A lovely show of Dahlias.

One of my favorite flowers.

There's also some Sunflowers here too.

They are a very popular flower here and can be seen everywhere!

On my way back to the house now.

Apples, just waiting to be picked.

I had a photo of some peaches growing on a tree.

But I took that last week so it's on the other computer

and they've all been picked now.

A view of the vineyards up the hill behind the house.

The house is on the edge of the village and as I return to it

I can't resist taking some photos of some of the window boxes

that I pass.

When we took the Pups for their teatime walk,

the camera came too.

We were still in our shorts as it was very warm.

We found a new track to walk along.

Skirting the vineyards.

These birds caught our eye,

perched above a gateway to someones house.

Then next to the house

in the vineyards,

this collared dove caught my eye.

All through the vineyards there are shrines.

I didn't get to take a proper picture of this one

as someone else was there.
I'll call back another day for one.

An almost hidden gate.

In this photo you can see the other side of the river.
The sun is still shining brightly.

We admired some fine looking horses.

I said I would take a photo for my niece.

And as it was through the fence,

Mike took one over the fence.

My sister was interested in what the horses looked like

when we chatted on the phone earlier.
She was also asking if my blog was up and running again.

So I said I would put these photos on so she could see them.

A short while after that we turned round and retraced our steps.

This village is across the river.

It nestles so prettily in the hillside

that I am always taking photos of it,

trying to capture it just right.

I haven't managed yet.

You can just see the moon peeking over this vine.

We have just come back from our nightime walk with the Pups

and the moon is on the other side of the valley

across the river.

Very bright it is.

The last photo.

A cross in the vineyards

on the slopes across the river.

So have you guessed where I am posting from?

Well the river I have refered to is the Mosel.

The country is Germany.

And I will share more with you another time,

soon.

A Quick Update

Well at last!

Hello to everyone.

And thank you all for your thoughts and comments.

Sorry to have taken so long to get back to you.

We travelled approximately 1200 miles,

crossing one of the longest bridges in Europe,

(must just check the details on that again),

and after travelling for 4 days, (we were travelling slowly),

we finally arrived at our destination.

Surprisingly without a hitch!

Once here though we had to wait a long time to get connected to the internet!

We have been very busy unpacking
and cleaning of course.
The house that we are in hasn't been lived in for well over a year at least.
Mike went back to the UK for a week
so that left me and the Pups on our own for a bit.
But that was fine too.
We just set ourselves a new routine while he was gone,
as where we are now is very different to where we came from!

I've already taken quite a few pics
but a lot of them are on the other computer.
So I either will have to get them over to this new computer
that Mike brought back with him.
Or I will have to get out and about taking some more.

Unfortunately, I have had a cold now for 4 days,
again, something that Mike brought back from the UK with him.
I haven't had a cold for a long time.
We never used to get them living in Sweden,
even travelling back and to on aeroplanes we seemed to escape them.
But this one has left me feeling lethargic.
I haven't even been out with Mike and the Pups today
so he has been discovering walks without me!
But fortunately,
my head feels a little less as though it's filled with cotton wool.
So I will have more information,
and more pics
when I next post.
Which I hope will be very soon.
I'm also very keen to see what you've all been up to.
So till then...........