I'm Still Here.

Gosh! Am I One, already?

Time passes too quickly, Isabella had her 1st Birthday this week. This entry should have been written ages ago but time and tiredness seem to get the better of me. Plus I have been helping some people with their family research, there just aren’t enough hours in the day!

I have been managing to read all my regular Journals but haven’t had time to comment on many, how do you all find the time to write so much? I get about 20 Alerts a day! Can you slow down a bit so I can catch up with myself? Lol.

My trip to Germany was a little shorter than usual but just as enjoyable, even though, as usual, the weather went off as soon as I got there and we only had a few hours of sunshine.

Where they live.

It was dry when I arrived but had rained earlier in the day, so it was very humid, which is why this mist kept creeping up and down the field behind their apartment.

As usual most days involved cake. The best was when we went to the first birthday party of the girl that Catherine looks after some mornings. Her Mum teaches English at the Schloss (Castle) which is her husband’s family home.

(Arriving at my first Birthday Party.)

Catherine, Isabella and I were all invited to the party and after nearly having a heart attack climbing the stairs to their suite of rooms , it was worth it. They have a beautiful home and the views were amazing. As was the cake, all made by Dad.

(Part of the Scloss.)

(Three, enormous cakes, they were twice as big as they look here.)

We had a wet day looking around Marburg, which was very pretty but very wet. I wasn’t feeling too good either as a legacy from Simon, a ten pound baby, decided to rear it’s ugly head. I was in need of medication but Germany doesn’t have the 'Help yourself’ type of chemists, like Boots and Superdrug and if they didn’t speak English I was certainly going to suffer. So over a coffee, Catherine and I explained to Flo that he was going to have to get me some suppositories.

Now Flo’s English is near perfect but there are some words he may not know, simply because they are not words that have entered his world. I had to explain that I didn’t want cream, I wanted the little rockets that you shove up your……….

(I photographed these horses at Hellens, Much Marcle last week, it was a plant and food Fayre.)

The laughter this caused, nearly made me have convulsions, we were crying with laughter, so much so that the waiter came over to see if everything was alright. We didn’t explain!

All too soon I had to leave my two princesses and return to home. We stopped at Biedenkopf, where Isabella was born and had lunch in the castle overlooking the hospital ,

(Ladies wot lunch. This Russian top belonged to her German Granny and is over 40 years old.)

it really was like being up in a plane!

 

I still had a couple of days before returning to school and did a bit of grave hunting in St John’s Halesowen. Sadly the large number of family I have buried there were pre 1850 and their stones can no longer be read, or have been removed to line the paths.

St John’s is a beautiful red sandstone, medieval church ,it was covered in scaffolding on this visit but the churchyard was as lovely as ever. I wandered up to a higher part I had not been in before,

 

with huge old copper beeches and alive with squirrels,

 

I have never seen so many, they were bounding all over the place, like a scene from Snow White.

Back to school and masses to do and in the afternoons Catherine has me viewing properties they might want to rent. I photograph and email them to her.

Simon and Tori came up for the weekend and came in the BMW, so Mike could have a look. The weather was good and we both had a test drive, with the top down. Mike loved it and I can se he will need reminding, IT’S MINE!

Tori and I went and organised the wedding flowers. Lovely Barbeque in the garden on the Saturday Night

Last week we went to a champagne reception in the Guildhall, Worcester, a stunning venue and a most enjoyable evening, black tie and posh frocks! We met someone whom Mike has spoken to, doing interviews during his work at BBC Hereford and Worcester and I was pleased to finally meet him as I have always had a soft spot for him. His name is John Peters and he was one of two RAF pilots shot down in the Gulf war in 1991. They were paraded on TV by their captors and I feared so much for their lives, I known when I saw poor John’s bruised and swollen face I shed many tears.

John was just as charming as I knew he would be and his wife and I chatted for ages about, who knows what, we’d both been drinking the champagne! But we must have all got on well as she wanted us to join them for dinner after the reception. I know my limits (and Mike’s) we were both in need of a taxi and bed by then.

On Wednesday of this week, I met up with Sue for my belated birthday lunch. We went to a Riverside hotel and sat in the sun watching the world and the boats go by, it was very relaxing. She bought me the most lovely Lemon Lavender, its hard to describe, so will have to photograph it later, it’s so unusual.

We also had a delightful dinner at Colin and Alan’s and I had a Hawaiian Girls Night at Caz’s beautiful new home last night. I had Sex on the Beach. Twice!!!! It’s been a very busy time.

Today I will collect a sample rose from the florist and then take it down on the train to Plymouth, which should be interesting, I’ve never done such a long train journey. Then I will be driving my new car home. If all goes to plan, Mike will ring for an Indian Meal to be delivered, probably around 10pm. ………Phew!!!!!