Turrets

Yesterday I did a post about my grandson's birthday and used some photos from last year when he and his mum visited us. I hadn't shown these photos previously, which is a shame as we had some lovely visits out and about and took (as usual), loads of photos. So here are more photos from the visit we made to Eltz Castle.

The only disappointment was that they were doing some work on the outside of the castle which spoiled it's appearance. However, it may have spoiled the initial views of the castle, but it couldn't detract from the rest of the visit.

It's a typical fairy tale castle. It's quite small. I get the impression that German people are very proud of this castle. It is privately owned and I think the family live there. We had a guided visit inside the castle, but of course I wasn't allowed to take any photos. The inside is as impressive as it is from the outside.

The reason for making the visit in the first place, was because my daughter remembered visiting the castle as a child with my parents, her brother and me. She had some fond memories of the visit and the holiday. I remember walking along the river to get to the castle and walking through hoards of butterflies. I've never seen so many altogether before or since.

It was a lovely day out. It was quite a hot day, and a paddle in the river below would have been nice, but the effort of walking down to it and then back up would have defeated the purpose of cooling off, so we gave it a miss.

It's such a lovely place to visit, I would certainly go again.

Seven Up

A very Happy Birthday to my Grandson!

Seven years old today!

I can't be with my grandson today, but I'm sure he's enjoying his special day.

The photos I've used on today's post were all taken last June when my daughter and her son visited us here in Germany. I was very proud of my daughter for making the visit as she isn't a keen air traveller. In fact she's had to overcome a fear of flying to make these visits, all the more remarkable that she makes them with her young son. And of course I was very pleased and happy to see them both, excited even. Yes I do still get excited at my age, especially if it's to do with seeing the family.

 The first two photos were taken on a local visit, but these two were taken on a day trip to Eltz Castle.
A great day out.

Maybe I will celebrate an unbirthday day with my grandson this June, or the next time I see him. It will certainly be worth celebrating whenever it is.

Peachy Morning

I enjoyed my walk with the hounds this morning.
It was like spring.

The sky had a lovely peachy hue. I was reminded of some David Hockney paintings I saw a few days ago on the TV. There was lots of colour around, despite it still being winter.

Later in the day I cycled along the river which has started to subside.

Shame that the sun had disappeared by then.

Flood Water

Just to show how much rain we've had lately, I went out with the camera on Friday just to see if I'd won. (See previous post). Yes I did! The river was indeed higher. The river is coming up through the bridge on the road that leads down to the river.

Then again for more pics on Saturday.

Well, there'll be no walking alongside the river here will there?

You can see how the trees are not only surrounded by water, but it's quite deep as well.

It looks quite pretty though.

This road sign is taped to show that the road is flooded up river.

Last year, the floods were higher. The water came right over the road at the bottom where you can see the cars. Today, the water has subsided from how it was when I took these photos at the weekend.

Saturday was Mike's birthday. There are 3 of us Capricorns in the family.
We had a quiet day,
as you can see.

A Sorting Pastime

This morning was very wet, and grey.

With all the rain we've been having lately, the river has flooded over it's banks.

In the next picture you can see the river, it's not usually visible from this point.



So it was a good day to stay inside, warm and dry.  A good day to sort through my fabrics. I've joined Clare's rose star block party. I needed to check whether I had some suitable fabric. I didn't want to have to buy any, and my main stash is still in Sweden.

I had more than I thought I had. I enjoyed sorting through my fabrics. Funnily enough when I took the photos of the fabric this afternoon, the sun was shining.
I've also signed up for Anne's swop. So I need to have a think about what to do for that. I did something similiar sometime ago making ATC's. Whilst checking the ATC's I found a post I did about postcards that I'd forgotten about. I never did frame them.



We've just taken the hounds out for their last walk. We couldn't get along the river because the river is too high. We noticed cars on the road on the opposite bank slowing down and one turning round. That must mean the river has flooded the road on the far side. I think the river will be even higher tomorrow. Mike thinks it will have gone down a bit. It's been very windy today as well.

One Big Happy Family

Happy New Year!

Countdown

I made sure I took the camera with me

on our morning walk on Wednesday.

It's been wet and muddy here,

so the hounds have not had a run for a few days.

But we took a chance that it wasn't too muddy

and gave them a run.

I knew it would be a good opportunity

to take some pictures of the hounds running.

I set the camera to take multiple shots.

It tends to be a bit of a pot luck,

with plenty of blurriness

with unexpected focused bits .

In the afternoon,

as it started to get dark,

we took a trip into Bernkastel.

We had planned to do this before Christmas

and visit the Christmas Market.

But because of my cold,

we didn't.

It was my birthday

on Wednesday,

so it was a good reason to go out for a while.

The Christmas Market had finished,

but the market place was still decorated with Christmas lights.

We had a leisurely walk around,

looking in shops,

and taking photos.

I played about with some of the different settings on the camera.

This last photo was taken on a night setting with a longer exposure.

I deliberately moved the camera around to get a blurred effect.

I like it.

Something I'm not so pleased with is the countdown to my next birthday.

In a years time

I will be 60.

It seems such a monumental event to me,

something I will have to get used to.

I'm sure lots of people reading this will have celebrated a sixtieth birthday

and they are fine with it.

Maybe in a years time

I will have come to terms with it.

I am planning to mark the occasion by having a party.

That should help.

 

Happy Christmas

Greetings to you from us and the Hounds

may you have a wonderful time over the festive season.

Wading Through Treacle

I've been back almost a week,

and I've had a cold

most of that time.

Which is really strange for me

as I haven't had a cold in years.

I haven't been outside the house for almost a week,

in an effort to stay out of the wet blustery weather we've been having.

Poor Mike has been walking the hounds on his own.

I think I got it from travelling on

planes, buses and trains,

while I was away.

Hopefully it will be gone soon,

but today,

I've felt as though I'm wading through treacle.

Being full of cold,

I haven't felt like taking any photos.

So here are the last few from my UK visit.

The day before I left to come back to Germany,

I met my daughter in Newcastle

and we went down to the quayside.

Unfortunately,

in an effort to be a bit smarter,

I wore my boots instead of my usual trainers.

By the time we got down to the river

I was footsore.

It wasn't so much like wading through treacle,

more like stepping on marbles.

But we continued over the bridge to The Baltic.

Where we visited the Turner Prize exhibition.

Although I enjoyed the visit,

I can't say I understand modern art.

But it was nice to spend more time with my daughter.

I wrote this yesterday

but didn't get round to posting it-

blame it on the cold.

We had snow overnight.

Book Love

My Grandson loves books.

Last week we went to choose some books for his Christmas present.

We did the same last year.

He will be seven in January

and is progressing from the picture books to the smaller books

with less pictures and more writing.

In fact when he visited us a couple of months ago

it was the smaller books he brought with him.

So he's been reading them for a while.

He likes mysteries

and you can see him here reading the first book in

Enid Blyton's the Secret Seven Series.

Today he will be the narator in his school play.

What an honour!

I'm just sorry that I'm not there to see him.

While I was over in the north east staying with a friend

she invited me to her great niece's first birthday party.

I chose a book as a present.

I forgot to take a photo of it before I wrapped it up.

The book is called

'The Pig's Knicker's'

and was illustrated by my blog friend

Vanessa.

It's a colourful book

with lovely illustrations.

You can see it here.

I love books,

don't you?