Britta's Letters from her life divided between city-life in German's capital Berlin and life in a Bavarian village

Monday 6 January 2014

Beautiful Monday


You can order the CD "Wild Goosechase Expedition" by Spottiswoode & His Enemies here: (17 titles, very different and worth each of them!)
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/spott7 or https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/wild-goosechase-expedition/id421044813
Dear You,
can you imagine that I DO LOVE MONDAYS?
People stare at me and wonder - but for me, Monday is like a clean sheet, a promise, a little new start every week. Of course I love the big start - New Year's Day - as well. Love Filofaxes to be filled with projects and plans, new lists, crisp new address books - in short: I love 'new' beginnings (but am faithful to old ones, too).
                 And I do love surprises: we had so many even in December and January:
- First on my birthday two days before New Year, when around noon the bell of our flat was ringing. Imagine:  for a tiny second I thought: Who is this beautiful tall young man standing in front of me? It was our son! He had come all the way from Munich to see me - and our lovely daughter-in-love came too (she had been one day in Hildesheim to see her parents), and so I got the biggest birthday surprise + present of my life!
- Second on New Year's Eve: we greeted it in Berlin from a roof-terrace in Prenzlauer Berg - the Fernsehturm was surrounded and illuminated by a gorgeous firework, and we were among a lot of friends of many nationalities, singing and celebrating and eating a dinner that a famous American Macrobiotic cook had prepared with other friends - utterly delicious.
- And then, two days ago, I met Jonathan Spottiswoode again, whom I first had come to know on the evening in London before we entered the narrow-boat - together with Matti (the friend and musician I showed you some posts before) and Angie Stricker (a beautiful singer) he sang in "Gelegenheiten", a little bar in Berlin, housed in a former butcher's shop.
Jonathan has a passionate, wild & tender husky great voice, very sexy, and the lyrics of his songs are stunning, giving us insights by putting something we all might have experienced too into a new perspective, focussing it, and you think "Yes, exactly". Beautiful lines about love of the seemingly ordinary, passion, acceptance, courage, willpower - strong and stirring.
Back to the bar 'Gelegenheiten' in Neukölln (Berlin): come to think of it this is the third remodelled butcher's shop I saw in a row: they opened a little café in one b.s in our street, we ate a gourmand French dinner in another b.s. in Prenzlauer Berg - and now this bar - it seems to be highest fashion to remodell and integrate the old painted tiles and stucco into a new destination - all dating from the beginning of 1900.
               So: What a great start with so lovely music and people this year! 
And today - Monday! - we celebrate our Wedding Anniversary!
After that I'm looking forward to a bit more routine and everyday life. But - although most of us have made resolutions for the umpteenths time - you know me a bit by now: presumably that time of 'routine' will not last very long...

My best wishes to you! And remember:
"Take another look at me: We all are beautiful! And we're all gonna make a difference. Beautiful Monday!" 

Britta  

22 comments:

  1. Happy birthday, Brigitta..and anniversary and, of course, New Year! I too welcome Mondays --especially since retirement-- and this New Year's Day I kept thinking it was a Monday instead of Wednesday the 1st. Maybe it's the feeling of beginning, amplified by hope.

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    1. Dear Geo.,
      thank you! I once read about people who see numbers in colours - I don't, but give week-days such an atmospheric touch. As you say: this Wednesday was a Monday!

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  2. Ah, wonderful reasons to celebrate and wonderful ways of doing so! I am like you about Mondays and new day timers - something about the blank page, the unwritten and the possibilities. Best wishes for a 2014 that lives up to its fabulous start!

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    1. Dear Pondside,
      thank you! Your lovely posts often give me the feeling we have quite a lot in common. Best wishes to you, too!

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    2. Well, if I am back your way I will definitely let you know.

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    3. I'm looking forward to that! Denmark and Berlin: quite near.

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    1. Thank you, Tom! I love my birthday (and am old enough to forget to count the years).

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  4. So many celebrations Brigitta following in the wake of Christmas and the New Year. My son celebrated his birthday on the 29th December whilst he was still with us, so that was lovely.
    Belated happy birthday to you, and congratulations on your wedding anniversary.
    Now it is time to start filling in your Filofax and make new plans for 2014.

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    1. Dear Rosemary, thank you! So it is a very special day for you too.
      As to Filofax (mine in beautiful soft pink, of course: I'm always tempted to buy a new one... but... Strange: after a few month the vigour to fill each page dwindles a bit - a sign of coming summer, maybe... I definitely experience waves of planning, each year.

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  5. A belated happy birthday, and a joyous New Year to you and yours!

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    1. Thank you, dear Susan! The best wishes to you and yours too! I read about snow and ice in Central Park - how are you? Will the London concert tour lure you to London?

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    2. It's bitter cold here, but we are warm inside, at least. Alas, it will be summer before we have a trip anywhere. No plans as yet, but I'm hopeful some will come.

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    3. Susan, I saw a few very frosty pictures... shiver...

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  6. Britta...the sweetest of gifts...your lovely children to surprise you with a birthday visit! All of your celebrations seem to have been splendid and now you are rejoicing that it is Monday. What a wonderful view of life! Hoping you enjoy all the Mondays and days to follow throughout 2014! Smiles...Susan

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    1. Dear Susan, thank you! You are so right: this gift of being there (we hadn't seen each other for a few months, because both are working hard on their Law doctorate) was the best present! And in my Filofax you'll find: "Visit Munich soon." My best wishes to you!

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  7. Happy belated birthday *and* anniversary, Britta! The integrating of the old tiles dating to 1900 reminds me of a post you aired a while back about a dresser that had been in your basement and was given a new lease on life. It's like the micro-version of that idea, a way to celebrate something similar in our own more compressed cycles in life.

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  8. Dear Suze, thank you! I hadn't seen the similarities, but am impressed by your observation: that's the enriching effect of having very clever blogsphere friends.

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  9. Happy Anniversary, Britta!!
    Oh your children sound really great!! You must be a happy mother! Love the word, "daughter-in-love". It is lovely!!
    I don't like Mondays very much. Strangely, I love Thursdays. On Thursdays, I always feel happy looking forward to weekends.

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  10. Dear Sapphire,
    thank you! The wonderful word "daughter-in-love" I got from Susan , and I asked her permission, because I really like to use it. Thursday has in interesting position in the chronology of the week - I think I remember that Rudolph Steiner's Waldorf people used it as the ideal day for conferences. But I understand your looking forward to the weekend!

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  11. It sounds like you got the very best birthday gift of all. Our children and grandchildren may not believe us, but it's true: the very best present they can ever give us is their presence. I love that term daughter-in-love. I never heard it before, but it's so fitting. That's exactly how I feel about our two DILs and one SIL.

    A belated Happy Anniversary to you. Filled with good food, music, friends, and love. Doesn't get much better than that.

    (Um, do you have any actual butcher shops left? HA!)

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  12. Dear Susan,
    Thank you! I totally agree with "presence as present"! As to the snatched term "daughter-in-love" all credit goes to Susan of the blog "Southern Fascinations" (see above and on my blog list). I never heard it before - but utterly love it.
    As to butcher shops left: yes, there are - though not so many and those mostly specialized - 'normal' offers are more in the many supermarkets, with counters and sale-persons who cut and advise (sometimes). But one road further: there is a little restaurant to rent - could become a book store or whatever you plan :-) Low rent, nice location.

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