A Day at Home

10/20/12
It was nice to wake up, go downstairs & have coffee with Dana, Chris & Dave.  The weather is absolutely beautiful, in the high 60's with sunshine which was pouring in through the big patio windows.  Jessie got up super early to go to her cross country meet which was away, so we didn't go.  Karl, being a 15 year old, slept late.

We all pitched in & did work around the house after breakfast & coffee.  I pulled weeds & trimmed some small bushes, Chris & Dana cleaned out their single car garage, & Dave supervised.  His excuse, & rightly so, was he hadn't brought grungy clothes.  He did tons to help when we first got here anyway---all that Ikea stuff, for example.  It was a productive morning based on the huge trash bags we filled.

After a late lunch, the grownups took a long walk & came upon the Aero Club, aka, model airplanes, remote controlled.  There were even some gliders & helicopters.  People (all male, I might add) were quite serious about their planes.  There was even a club house where folks were socializing.

Before we discovered the airfield, we saw piles & piles of those sugar beets all harvested.  The fields had even been plowed.  Remember a few weeks back, how green their tops were in all the fields around here?  Now the fields are solid plowed dirt with massive piles like this:

Jessie calls all these fields their backyard, & it kind of feels like that.  It's nice having a country feel right in the middle of town.

Chris bought a new/used bike today, so now all 4 have bikes.  Note the basket---that's just standard around here, & they all hope to ride more & drive less.  It's possible here to do that.

I enjoyed a moment on the patio in between weeding to appreciate the view of the fall leaves.

We went to a beer garden for dinner tonight, & the food was delicious.  The Germans eat lots of meat, so we did too---everyone got a meat dish except Jessie who got salmon which turned out to be smoked.  She does not like it prepared that way (menus aren't easy in German), so she & I shared my very large schnitzel, & we each had a big salad.  It was plenty.  It felt like a place where the locals go, so I predict C,D,J,K will go back there.  The food was excellent.

We encountered an older man on the walking trail today with a tiny dog named Trudy, & he was so proud of her.  He told Dana that Trudy likes to be petted, so we all took a turn patting Trudy who rubbed on our legs like a cat would do.  As we walked away, I could hear him talking to Trudy in German saying something about Americans.  A nice moment with smiles all around.

When we got home, Dana made 2 pumpkin pies, & only one remained at bedtime.  That plus some Belgian chocolates constituted dessert.  It was a nice family Saturday.  Here's a picture of Chris & Karl viewing something funny on the internet in Karl's room:

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:  Savoring simple pleasures....