Happy Easter!

 

Spring gives us so much joy!

 

I know a few secret places where I find the first lovely smelling violets of the year. They were the favourite scent in Marlene Dietrich's perfume - it is called "Berlin" by Frau Tonis (you find her shop near Checkpoint Charlie). 

These little tulips flower only for two days.  

Aren't they beautiful? 

Isn't spring such a sign of hope and a new beginning? 

I will read - as every year - "The Enchanted April" by Elizabeth von Arnim, and watch the very well-made movie on a DVD too. 

Just Doodling

 

It happened by chance. I drink a Nespresso first thing in the morning. The capsules are in a sort of cube, in two layers - and between these layers is a little white cardboard. 

I took the little white card, and my Japanese fountain pen - a few dashes with the pencil and then I drew whatever stood in front of me in the tiny vase on my breakfast table at the window. 

I love to sketch! 

Well, and suddenly I saw that I had drawn quite a lot of little tiles. Here they are. 

Put on the first laptop I ever owned 😁

Coming back from Rome

 

"On my birthday I want to sit on a terrace in Rome in the sunshine and drink a cappuccino", said the Flying Dutchman after half a year of cold and rain and wind and dark clouds and a leaden sea in the Netherlands. 

The sun is shining and spring comes just around the corner - even quicker than the marathon runners who blocked a lot of streets - no way to cross the road to get to the Campo da fiori on our first of five days here though our hotel was very near. 

"Look, look!" 

And good-bye Roma! 

 

The Sunday-Quote: William James on Cheerfulness

 

"The path to cheerfulness is to sit cheerfully and to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there."

This is one of the rare cases that I found a quote in German, loved it, and looked it up in the works of William James - brother of famous author Henry James. 

Believe me or not: I love the German translation even more! 

"Um gute Laune zu kriegen, muss man sich vergnügt aufrichten, vergnügt um sich schauen und sich so verhalten, als wäre die gute Laune bereits da." 

Re-translated (and please don't be to rigorous with my grammar) it goes like this: 

"To get into a good mood, one has to to cheerfully straighten oneself, look around cheerfully and act as if cheerfulness were already there." 

(Maybe it is "straighten oneself" contra "to sit"?)

The Storks are Back!

 

Well, well, well - NOT the best photo ever taken...one can't even see their long red beaks - but I had (as often) only my cell-phone with me. The storks are back - the little Bavarian town has many of them, building their heavy nests - if possible - on the same place every year.  

People tell that they are very faithful not only to their home but to their partners too - though sadly :-) I discovered a scientific article which hummed "Needles and Pins" and diminished this soothing myth - ah, the world is such a tough place!  

And the storks become a bit lazy (shall I draw a parallel there to us Europeans - no, "Cobbler, stick to your trade!"), - many of them stayed here all winter long, deciding that the grass is not always greener on the other side - a very rare insight.  

Sometimes a herons visits, or, seldom, the oh so beautiful Chinese egret. 

Now follows an early morning photo through my window, just before the sun rises - lots of mists, and when they rise it reveals a beautiful white hoar frosted valley. 

When I tried to find a better photo of storks I found a screenshot from myself, 2016 - staring into the mists of the future after my personal tsunami. 

9 years are long time to test the limits of my resilience -  

well, till now I put up a good fight I believe. 

Sheep and Imbole

 

Twice a year we have the stunning sight of hundreds of sheep grazing in the water meadow. 

The farmers, owner of the meadows, are not as happy as the triplets: sheep squish their ground. 

I read that the Celts celebrated on the first of February  "Imbole": that means "in the belly (abdomen)" and might be   related to the lambing of sheep. 

As February mornings are still very cold it is fascinating to watch them: the sheep look as if they are literally frozen to the ground - not one is moving! For hours - no movement, not even a curl! From my window I cannot see their eyes :-) 

So I have to wait till around 10:30 a.m. - then the dog stirs them up and they hesitatingly chew a few iced blades of grass. 

The shepherd is a big disappointment - nothing romantic about him. He stuffed himself into an old car, he can hardly move because of his corpulence (to put it politely) and out of the open car window hangs a dog leash for the one who does the work for him. 

Woof!