winter shoes, flowers and...

Herr Fitz's famous Reibekucken!

It only happens twice a year but both times it takes me at least three days to understand which way to do it. Yes we have moved from summer time to winter time so now the difference between Germany and Australia is 10hours and we are ever so close to waking up in the dark and eating lunch in the dark...sorry Germany it isn't that bad. After at least two failed winter shoe buying trips the changing of the clocks meant we bit the bullet and went to buy shoes or walk home barefoot as a penalty for wasting time again. Bless Herr Fitz and his Depression era shopping mentality he tried to convince me the Bear takes a size 35 shoe. Not even a poor grasp of the local language and a knowledge of the appalling service culture could stop me consulting with the very well dressed and bored looking shop assistant on this issue. For the record he is a 33 (and that is allowing for thick socks). Now we are the owners of a mountain of shoes that take up the hallway and will no doubt send me mad during the coming season. In the process of waterproofing our winter shoe empire I may have inadvertently given myself a very handy super power. I scotchguarded the boots but didn't think to wear a glove on the hand inside the shoe so now I have a very water resistant left hand. An especially good super power given the annual rainfall where I live and the fact that we don't have a dishwasher.

We were a very cultural family on Sunday not only was there art but theatre too. Herr Fitz took the Bear and the Monkey to see a fabulous play at the library http://www.theater-don-kidschote.de/stuecke/babilu.html and I took the Mouse on the back of the bike rugged up in all her winter gear to see some open artist studios near the harbour with some fellow Australians. It was the second play by this company the kids have seen. The first was about a pirate and we are all in love with the poster illustrations. Coincidentally the illustrator had a studio at the harbour and I got to take a look. Very inspiring, as was the tucked away printmakers workshop who was working on some robot images..I am such a sucker for robots.

(thanks to Miss and Mrs S for the Monkey's vest)

Sunday was Halloween and rather than have to explain we had nothing sweet to German 12 year olds I was forced to buy a whole tub of lollies and found a use for the kids potato stamps of jack-o-lanterns and pear (not at all Halloween but very easy to cut out) when we stuck them on the lolly bags. Luckily a group came by or I would still be explaining to the Bear.

Monday was a public holiday the two little girls I looked after last time I was here came for a visit. They were 5 then and now they are 11 and so grown up. They brought me some beautiful flowers which they had put together themselves at the florist (the only stores open on the public holiday). It was so sweet to see them playing with my kids and watching and listening to the great mix of english and german.

It is official I am on the craft team at Kindy. No, I am not doing the children's homework or pushing small children out of the way in my quest to the glue. AND it is important to put in here it wasn't me at a table full of kids though we were sitting at the kids tables. It was a craft working bee, one of 4 craft afternoons in the lead up to the Kindy Mega Christmas Market....I am tingling in anticipation all ready. So there we were, about 10 mums and 2 kindy teachers making paper lanterns...it was so much fun even though step 3 of the folding still alludes me. We jokingly said we would try it again as homework...I did and oh it was tragic...I wasn't the only conscientious one but I was the only one who couldn't get it to look even remotely three dimensional. I am remembering a paper snow flake incident from last year that involved folding, cutting and unfolding that was very disappointing for the children and amusing to many others.

On the house front our neighbours above had a blocked brain so there was a late night gurgling of pipes and much jubilation when the swooshing of water noise was heard and the pipes above were clear. What we realised an hour later was that it hadn't cleared, just simply found another exit...OUR BATH! This is one of my top 5 reasons for not wanting to be a grown up. We had to give up late that night and called in the plumber the next day.