Berlin Memories For My Daddy

"Look this up for me, Kay"...that is what my Daddy will call and say.  What I am asked to look up is usually pertaining to a recipe he is making or a food that he planning to can or freeze.  (He usually knows the answer, but he likes to verify it sometimes!)  I have talked of his memories from Germany before He was stationed in Germany, just after World War II ended and he has never forgotten his experiences there. He said that the German civilians would come into the army camp and clean and sweep until everything was spic and span.  This week he told me that they also came in and played a song called "Ein , Zwei, Zufa!" and the men really enjoyed it and he has never forgotten it.  He asked me to find it and I have done the best that I could so I have a couple of versions on here. The first one was filmed in Germany but the second one looks as if it was filmed in the USA, right down to the fake yodeling at the beginning! But I loved the oompah of the tuba!  I see why my Dad remembered this, it is very catchy...I have been singing it all day!  (It looks as if it is really a drinking song, and I am afraid that most of everything I found on Youtube involved a lot of  drunken noise!)  The Germans that played for the American soldiers did not not play for money but for cigarettes.  "Didn't you give them any money for the music?", I asked him.   His reply was, "No, they didn't want money, they wanted the cigarettes. They could sell the cigarettes for $10.00 a piece!"  He said that a pack of cigarettes sold for $150.00.   If I am not mistaken, the American GI's would have gotten cigarettes for free as part of their ration. 

Recently on the news, I saw the story about the German who still had lard as part of a package sent to Germany just after the war.  He decided to open it and try it.  After all these years, it is still edible. I don't know anyone who eats lard now.  I know my Grandmother, my Dad's mother, did use lard in her cooking.  It is so unhealthy I know but guess what, she lived to be 96!

 My Dad says that he really enjoyed sailing on Lake Wannsee in Berlin.   I have found a few photos of the lake and posted them here.  Hopefully, he will enjoy this post and the memories they bring back.  There must have been very few moments of fun while he was there.  Maybe that is why these  remembrances are so fond for him.  Oh, and by the way, when my Dad calls and asks me to do something for him, you know I will, he's the best!  LOVE YOU DADDY! (If I knew how to say it in German, I would!)

My Thanks To Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens was born two hundred years ago this past Monday.  There was a ceremony to honor him at Westminister Abbey.  You can read about it on the BBC website or any of the British newspapers.  Most of everything that I read was quite nice and respectful except for an article in The Guardian which was titled "Enough of the Charles Dickens hero worship".  You may read it here:   http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/06/charles-dickens-hero-worship-bicentenary   Well, there ain't no pleasing you, darling.    It is true that Charles Dickens wrote for money.   He knew what it was to be poor  and once you have known poverty, you never forget it.  It is true that he married again but so what, he seemed very happy so I say good for him.   Of course there are wonderful writers from England that we can also honor, but it wasn't the anniversary of their births, was it?  Besides, how on earth can anyone NOT like Charles Dickens?  He only created characters that seem as real to me as people that I have known all my life.  My favorites are "A Christmas Carol" and "David Copperfield".    It pleased me greatly to read that "David Copperfield" was his personal favorite of all the books that he wrote.

Charles Dickens began his writing career as a journalist.  I personally can always tell a journalist's writings simply because they are such good writers!  Even if they go on to write novels, they never lose that mantra which was written by Rudyard Kipling but which all good journalists follow:
"I keep six serving men,
they taught me all I knew,
their names are what and where and when
and how and why and who".

Many of his novels were written in serialized form and I have read that crowds of people would wait at the docks in NYC and Boston for the next installments to come in by ship from England.  These books were meant to be read aloud.  On Feb. 9, 1858, Charles Dickens gave a reading from "A Christmas Carol" at St. Martin-In-The Fields Church hall to raise money for the then struggling Great Ormond Street Hospital in London.  Not only was this a great success and raised a good deal of money but it also brought much needed attention to the hospital so they were able to buy more property and the hospital was doubled in size.

"Without his commitment, there may not have been a Great Ormond Street Hospital, filled with descendants of those first patients".   

That is a quote from the Historic Hospital Admission Project.  My husband spent a lot of time in that same hospital in early 1960's as a young boy and his mother has always credited the hospital and his doctors with saving his young life.  So, I am very grateful that Charles Dickens helped to save Great Ormond Street Hospital and thereby, all the children who have benefited from that wonderful place, my husband being one of them.  Thank you, Charles Dickens, for writing books that act as mirrors upon mankind and thereby help to make us better people and for saving the hospital that saved my husband.  

I would like to think that Charles Dickens would appreciate Chas and Dave.  He seemed to enjoy good times.
    

Arabia Mountain/Super Weather!

 SUPER WEATHER! Rain was forecast for the Atlanta area for this weekend. That was not a surprise. What was the surprise was this: they got it wrong. It was BEAUTIFUL and I do mean beautiful! I had to buy some new walking shoes but when we came out of the shop and saw the sky, we knew we had to go and climb a mountain. Arabia Mountain it is...let's go!

 I asked Richard to take a photo of these clouds, just in case they were gone by the time we got to the mountain.  This is what the sky looked like from the parking lot of the shopping center. "Look at that sky!"  Poor Richard, I must have said that a dozen times...don't you feel sorry for him?  But look at it!

 This plant is Diamorpha Smallii and it is as bright red as you can imagine. (People ask "What is the red stuff?)  I wanted to wait and show you these red photos on Valentine's Day as they remind me of bright red hearts, but I just couldn't wait to post them.  Consider this an early present, and it won't make you gain weight!

 That's Richard's shadow in his nice hat that makes people think that he is from Australia!

 We sat on one of the rock ledges and had our coffee.  This was our view to the right  and the sun was warm on our faces.  So much so, we had to move over a bit and get into some shade, in February!

                                   And this was our view right in front of us.  By this time, the clouds were moving
                                    by very quickly indeed.

 Now can you see why I had to buy some new walking shoes?  Richard caught me treading carefully!

 I wish I could post the videos that Richard has taken of these waterfalls. Sometimes, after we have gone after a heavy rain, they have been quite full...other times, just a gentle splashing, but at all times, a very lovely sight and sound.

 I was very excited to spot the moon after we came down the other side of the mountain.  The sun is going down now and we are just getting the last slanting rays of the sun.  It's still warm and the air is lovely with the smell of pine...

 We decided to walk back up the trail to the mountain, just a bit, we wanted to be in the sun as long as possible.  This photo above?  That area with the pebbly rock was underwater for one of our visits, but just the once, and we wondered what made it do that?  We have had heavier rain since, but the water has not pooled up there...it is a mystery.

 Now, the sun is going down and can you see my ghostly self looking up? What is up there?

Moonlight through the pines again!  What is this, Georgia or something? Yes, and it must be near Atlanta too, do you see the airplane?

Dances With The Daffodils

Wonderful to see my Dad and to see his daffodils in bloom.   My Dad is retired now, but he worked for years in road construction and as they were digging up the earth for paving, he saw these bulbs and he didn't even know what they were but he carefully wrapped them up and saved them.  Lo and behold, some of the prettiest daffodils that I have ever seen.  I think they rival the ones in England, and I don't say that lightly, since I think those are so beautiful.  Did you have to memorize the first stanza  of the poem "Daffodils" by William Wordsworth?  I did, but I also memorized the last part just because I liked it so much...

For oft, when on my couch I lie,
in vacant or in pensive mood,
they flash upon that inward eye,
which is the bliss of solitude.
And then, my heart with pleasure fills,
and dances with the daffodils.

They really were dancing since they were fluttering in the breeze so much that it was hard to take a photo of them! 

Daddy had a wonderful meal prepared for us.  Fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, green beans, cornbread and butterbeans from his own garden!  Afterwards, we sat outside on his front porch and rocked in his rocking chairs just looking out at a beautiful day with the temperature about 70 degrees!

Now, I meant to say in my last post that one of the few movies that my Dad has ever enjoyed is the movie, "O, Brother Where Art Thou".     I really meant to put this in my last post about him, so here it is!  That is not George Clooney singing of course, it is Dan Tyminski, and he is a solo artist but you might recognize his voice from Union Station with Alison Krauss.  Oh, and the actress who plays George Clooney's wife is Holly Hunter.  Holly is from Conyers, Georgia!  She gradutated from high school the year after I did and of course, she was in all the high school plays.   Someone from Conyers has won an Academy Award!  I used to do airline tickets for her sweet mother when she used to fly up to NYC to see Holly perform in her plays there.  Holly Hunter is in California now, of course, but she is a Georgia girl too!
  
Let's see...William Wordsworth, My Dad, Southern food, O Brother Where Art Thou, Dan Tyminski, Alison Krauss, and Holly Hunter... can I cram anything else into this post? Oh yeah, how about have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

Award Yesterday/Magazine Today!

If you live in Britain and can find a shop that sells the magazine "Inside Crochet"  (the March issue)  you will find an article written about Sue and her Sunshine International Blankets of Love. There are photos of some of the "Sibolettes" and I am happy to say that I am one of them! Can you see me? (I am posing with one of my favorite flowers, snow in summer, and it was taken on the Eastbourne seafront in 2010.)

 I have written of my love of making things with my hands before and how much I love making just a few squares and sending them to England for Sue to crochet into a blanket which she either takes to nursing homes or in this latest case, will be on display in Jersey and then auctioned off for Mencap.  Recently, I showed a photo on my blog of the square that I did for the Landscape Blanket challenge.  You were supposed to crochet or knit what you saw in your own back yard, or something nearby.  You know I had to make a square representing Stone Mountain!  If you go to Sue's blog, www.sunshineinternationalblanketsoflove you will be able to see the finished blanket and hopefully, you will recognize Stone Mountain!  (I also did the greenish square in the bottom left corner, it is supposed to remind you of cedar and pine, which IS in my backyard!)  Also, please take a look at the pink blanket which is on Ebay and is doing very well and the money  raised will go towards Breast cancer research...

Also, please notice the beautiful blanket which at the bottom of the article.  It is the Cathedral blanket, the color of the stone and the stained glass colors...it is so beautiful.  If you go to Sue's blog, you can see ALL the blankets that have been made!  All of the women who have made these squares should be considered fibre (or fiber!) artists.

In this same issue, the crocheter who got the top votes for a crochet blog is Lucy at Attic 24.  She has such a lovely blog and is such a fantastic talent at crochet!  Lucy is a true fibre artist in my opinion! Her blog is www.attic24.typepad.com




Okay,  I got my Liebster award yesterday, I am in a magazine in England today, maybe I will win the lottery tomorrow!  Here's hoping!

The Liebster Blog Award/Groundhog Day!

Wonder of wonders, there are people who like to read my blog!  Tracey from breathingenglishair.blogspot.com has sent me the Liebster Blog award!   Wow Tracey, thank you!   This award is to call attention to those blogs that you truly enjoy and that might not be too familar to others since it is for those blogs with 200 or fewer followers.  "Liebster" is German for "dearest" or "beloved".   (We will have to hear from one of the bloggers  I will list to see if we have the German translated correctly!)

The Rules are as follows:
1) Show your thanks to the blogger who nominated you for the award by linking back to them.
2) List your five choices for the award by linking to them and leave a comment on their blog to let them know.
3) Post the award on your blog.
4) Feel the love and support from your fellow bloggers.
5) Enjoy spreading the love!

Without further ado, here are my choices for THE LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD:.....DRUM ROLL PLEASE.....................................................................................:

Meike from  www.librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com

Rachel from www.mozartsgirl.blogspot.com

Martha from www.plowingthroughlife.blogspot.com

Jane from www.janesjewels.blogspot.com

Sara from www.saraandherblog.blogspot.com

All of these bloggers are intelligent, witty, sensitive and they all happen to be beautiful too!  Check out their blogs and see if you don't agree with me.  Thanks again, Tracey, you are a sweetheart to think of me and my blog!

Now, since today is Groundhog day, I am surprised that no one has mentioned anything about one of the funniest movies that I hope everyone has seen...it is, of course, "Groundhog Day". ( If you are reading this from another country, Groundhog Day is for real! If the groundhog sees his shadow, it means there will be six more weeks of winter weather. I think he saw it today!)  If you haven't seen the movie, , please do so and get ready to laugh.  We might all have the "same old, same old" day but we if we have the right attitude about it, we can make each day a joy...

Talking With My Dad

My Dad lives out in the country and he rents some land a short distance from his property so that he has some room for his cows.  He calls this the "pecan orchard" and since he rents this land, he is able to pick and sell the pecans.  Happily, he also gives some of them to me! (Remember my post on my gluten free brownies and the pecans that I shelled?  This is where they came from!)   Aren't pecan trees beautiful?

 One of my Dad's friends made him this "Beware of the Bull" sign.  I thought it was funny and just had to take a photo of it.  You really do have to watch out for bulls, you know, they scare me...

This is Daddy in his Australian hat that my sister got him for his birthday.  He prefers to wear baseball caps but let's face it, this is better protection from the sun! And it looks so good on him! G'day Mate!

I just talked to my Dad tonight on the phone and he told me that he is just a few days away from his sauerkraut being six weeks in the crock.  What? Didn't I mention that he grew 32 cabbages this past year and after giving most of them away, he decided to make sauerkraut out of the few cabbages he had left?  He is excited to be able to make the sauerkraut recipe that Meks from www.librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com  gave me but with his own sauerkraut! This jogged some memories of Germany for him... 

Daddy was drafted into the army and was sent to Germany in 1945, just after the war ended.   He said that mostly he guarded bomb sites.  There was so much destruction and devastation.  "Those people had nothing, I tell you, NOTHING."  One of the things that really made an impression on him:  He witnessed about thirty people, men and women, standing out in a field in a perfectly straight row.   As he watched he realized they were holding sticks, and they were turning the earth over in order to plant.  When he describes this, you can still hear the wonder and amazement in his voice.  "They were doing this with STICKS,  just sticks, into that hard ground..."

He said that there was so little food that men would come to the army camp and beg for work, any kind of work, just for the smallest amount of money or even just for food.  When the children would ask for chocolate, he said hardly any of them would refuse.   I know my Daddy didn't refuse them...

I love to talk with my Dad and ask him questions about what he has seen and what he THINKS about all that he has witnessed in his life.

And what will he be doing tomorrow, you ask? He's driving to Demorest to meet a man who will sell him some blueberry bushes. How many? Oh, just 20 blueberry bushes, that's all. "Go big or go home", that saying reminds me of my Dad!