I enjoy cat ownership because of the insane things they do.  I have a bag of bulk dog treats, you know like small milk bones, on the counter in a plastic bag.  Now if I put these treats into the cats’ bowl, they wouldn’t just be insulted they’d be angry.  However because they seem like contraband by being in a bag on the kitchen counter, Iris sneaks up there to eat a piece whenever the mood hits.

My body’s decided eliciting sharp pangs of pain from various areas would be fun somehow.  First of all you may recall I injured my knee ligament almost two years ago and it’s acted up now and then ever since.  Now I have stabbing pains in my ear drum so at night I sleep with a frozen gel pack and pillow on the bum knee, and put my right cheek on a heating pad. 

If this is aging, I don’t really like it.  I had a free liver scan at Okanagan Clinical Trials, just to see how things were going, and it turns out it’s still okay.  Hard to believe after everything I’ve put that organ through, though the nice testing person said I have to keep things under control or I’m going to develop a fatty liver.  I immediately returned to my daily supplement of milk thistle as God knows, anything further may be quite difficult.

Here are two interesting German customs I think about since my trip.  One is after 25 or 30 years the cemetery is like, okay, OUT! I’d asked where my great uncle’s grave was, and they said oh that’s been dug out long ago.  I said what to they do with the leftover bones, and learned they’re thrown into some sort of a ‘bone yard.’  I said to Heilke, better to just be ash then, right?  So much easier to mulch into the ground.

The other fascinating habit is the airing out of the homes.  You open a door and a strong wind whistles past your ears fanning your hair out behind you and it’s bloody cold out so you say, what in the name of God in Heaven are you doing, and they reply, “Airing.”  Lueften in German.

I should probably have my mental health examined by a professional due to my 2-hour decision to spend thousands of dollars on new French doors.  One of them seems to have lost its seal as water vapor will form between the two panes, so I thought may as well have someone come and give me a quote on new doors.

When the man arrived, I said to him just so you know I’m in no hurry and so won’t be deciding on anything today.  He smiled at me in a kindly, salesperson-like way, and began to talk about the integrity of their doors, and soon his hypnotic flute was making me sway back and forth as I rose from my basket.  When he left, he shook my hand and thanked me for my order, and I felt dizzy and weakened from the hypnosis.

But suffice it to say, I’m getting new doors and I’m not going to worry about it because then I shouldn’t have invited the door and window person in. How many times have you heard me say I’m just going to the SPCA or on-line to look at cats or dogs, that’s all.  Certainly not bringing home an animal today, and how many pets have impulsively been  brought home?  I believe this is what’s called being a push-over.

Mom and I got into a scuffle but that’s been resolved, so that’s all to the good.  Gord resigned his position as caregiver, and Luke quit his job too, so now Luke returns to the role of gramma’s caregiver.  Interesting times ahead.

Imagine my surprise when both Lufthansa Airlines as well as the Deutsche Bahn didn’t run on time.  Years ago a person could set their watch by the trains, but no longer.  My flight to Vancouver was delayed by 40 minutes which made me a bit nervous as I had a tight turnaround in Frankfurt to get the train to Stuttgart.  I needn’t have worried, as the train was also delayed, so all was well.

On my return the train was stuck in one of the stations longer than expected so it was running late, and I thought oh no, but should’ve known.  As I ran to the gate for my Lufthansa flight home, I learned the flight was delayed by two and a half hours.  I chatted with people and we’re all pretty much like beaten mules, just shrugging, and taking the punishment.

But I’m happy to report all the time between the actual travel was excellent.  I stayed with mom’s cousin Doris, who is 92 and I’m very pleased to tell you we polished off two 26-ers of vodka in the two weeks I was there.  I told the relatives vodka and orange juice is called a screwdriver, and the translation for that tool is a schraubenzier, so we would say would you like a schraubenzier and enjoy our joke.

Speaking of adorable things my cousin Heilke drove me around to the very cute towns nearby.  Southern German is beautiful and in the fall driving through the deciduous forests was magical, sometimes spotting a castle perched high atop a hill. It had rained quite a bit so the farmer’s fields were the most vivid shade of green.

My gramma was a fantastic cook and I grew up eating Schwabisch food, and so I adored all of the things I got to eat there.  Spaetzle are a hand-made pasta which I ate on a couple of occasions smothered in dark gravy.  I got to eat my mom’s cousin Hannelore’s sauerbraten and also her Zwiebel kuchen.  Heilke’s best friend Monica invited us for coffee, as did my Schiller relatives, and we were presented with the most wonderful tortes.

I think my favourite part of the trip was having coffee in the morning with Doris.  As an homage to that memorable time, I’m going to return to the old Melita coffee filter method my gramma used and which I substituted with the French press.  We simply can’t get the kind of bread you can get in Germany.  Doris and I would eat this ambrosia untoasted, slathered in fresh butter and topped with jam, sipping our marvelous brew and enjoying each other’s company.

Have I mentioned how large my stomach is on the photos?  I was disappointed in my hair as well, but decided to ignore the negatives and focus on the positive.  For instance, I was almost able to cope with my carry-on but caved and bought two sweaters at a second-hand store, and I also managed to get two and a half kilos of chocolate into my suitcase.

As it turned out, at the Ritter Sport Factory store one can get a whole bag of assorted chocolates cheaper than by buying them individually so I thought why not?  Though I must say the times I had to heave that bag into the overhead compartment and act like it was the prescribed weight was no picnic.  All in all, a wonderful trip.