My garden changed again

My small garden needed some more care.

After the new fence was done,

I decided to have some decking down to hide a grey concrete floor.

We worked hard to get it all done.

We made it very quick really.

but now it needed rearranging….

so I moved pots, potted new plants, and changed things around.

I am happy with this now!

You can see the left side is my “Strawberry Field”

Through an inspiration from Sartenata’s Blog,

I used some old shoes to pot plants in.

Also I made a planter from an old pallet and painted it.

Now there is parsley and mint on one side and petunias on the other.

I do love my tea cups in the garden too!

 

Here is more detail in the slideshow.

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Now I can invite you in my garden

for a peaceful and happy time!

Being British

Wednesday, 24th May was a special day for me.

After living in London, UK for 30 years,

I have finally become a British citizen.

On Wednesday

I attended the official ceremony in the Town Hall

and my British Citizenship started from this day.

 

I am very proud to be British as well as German now.

 

Come and enjoy a very British cup of tea with me!

Weekly Smile #71

It’s been a while since I posted a smile for Trent’s

Weekly Smile.

While I was cooking

I just thought that fits so well…

Even the onions smile in my house…..

 

 

and a even bigger smile….

 

 

 

 

…that made me smile !

This smile was brought to you via Trent’s weekly smile.

Dancing feet

I saw those dancing feet…..

 

 

Have a guess in what….

I had the right skirt too….

 

 

 

Yes,

in 42nd Street!

 

 

What a fantastic show!

I saw it 1988 the first time with Catherine Zeta Jones and loved it…

Now 2017 again, this time with Sheena Easton, amazing again.

Just listen to those taps…  ♥♥♥♥♥

 

 

 

 

Danny meets old friends

Danny traveled again this time to Germany

visiting old friends.

He met Petzi, a senior teddy,

He couldn’t hold back his excitement  and jumped right up to say hello.

 

 

Then they chatted for a long time.

 

In town he saw water, a plastic cow,

blue sky and beautiful snowdrops.

 

 

 

Danny found his favourite:

a ” Schwäbische Brezel”

 

 

 

Danny met also his other friend “Breuni” in Germany.

 

 

They enjoyed a good chat and cuddle next to Spring flowers.

After a week of sunshine he said good bye to Germany in rain

which gave us a beautiful picture of this snowdrop.

 

Wishing you all a wonderful and

love filled week !

 

Wheatbag for Warmth – DIY

For a simple heat source,

a Wheatbag is the best idea.

I have two and cannot live without them.

They heat up within minutes in the microwave and give warmth for a long time.

They do not get cold like hot water bottles but keep the warmth of the body.

I love to heat up the bed with them in Winter.

And here is how I made them:

Use some leftover material you like and sew up a small square

like a pillowcase.

( 20cm by 20cm or 8 inches by 8 inches).

Leave it open on one side.

Buy some Barley from the store

and fill the bag with about 1 kg Barley.

Once the Barley is in

sew the remaining side together,

and your bag is ready.

I also made some covers for mine, just like a pillowcase,

so  the bag itself stays clean.and

I can wash it from time to time.

 

 

When you need some warmth,

put the Wheatbag into the Microwave for 2 or 3 minutes

and enjoy the warmth coming from it

on your legs, on your feet, everywhere.

It can be used for aches and pains too, i.e. like stomach pains, etc

They are very versatile

and can be used cold too.

I have made some small ones (10 cm by 10 cm)

as they fit nicely into a bag into the freezer as ice packs for any injuries.

You can if you like  put a bit of lavender inside too and it keeps smelling lovely too. I do like the smell of heated barley though.

 

Enjoy the warmth!

 

 

Weekly Smile #50

As you all know I love my dancing.

we are preparing for an Exam in March,

and I am learning 3 Tap dances for that.

On our last session this week I got my second dance mistake free.

Yes, I nailed that one.

Yay

That made me smile and soooo happy!

 

…and there is always a lot to smile!

This was brought through Trent‘s blog

Hello December and The Weekly Smile #48

After a hard days work,

and a cold day,

this made me smile:

 

 

a surprise parcel from my sister.

It is full of wonderful goodies for the Advent time!

Thank you to my wonderful sister.

 

 

Brighten up the day with a smile for someone.

Show someone,  you care.

give a hug,

a kind word,

a compliment.

 

***

And as December comes

so does the snow in Cyber blogging world.

Don’t forget your cyber scarf

and wrap the blog community

in warmth and love!

 

Sending all  cyber friends

my love and 

cyber hugs!

 

Add your smile please !

This post was brought to you via Trent’s world’s weekly smile

 

 

 

The Weekly Smile #40

 

A little smile for each day

 

I received this is a little stand up book  from a fellow blogger.

I met Ute (yes same name as me,)  from Ute42 blog 2 months ago

and she gave me this present as it fitted my blog.

How right she is!

I love it.

I like to share some smiles from it with you for Trent’s weekly smile post.

Even the smallest joy can magic a smile onto your heart.

Irmgard Erath

May each day give you a new friendly smile.

Naomi May

The shortest distance between two people is a Smile.

Add your smile please !

 

 

 

 

How to enjoy a puzzle every step of the way!

I have been sent a 1000 piece puzzle by Debra to enjoy and to review.

As I love puzzling, I was very happy.

It is a brilliant way to relax,

to practice patience and

look at pictures in real detail.

This time it was ” The Brighton Belle” by Ravensburger.

A Premium Puzzle with Soft Click Technology.

 

On opening the 1000 pieces were neatly packed in a bag. It included a leaflet showing the artists biography and additional picture for reference. As I can see from the included small catalogue that it is a new addition to the collection 2016.

The Drawing by Trevor Mitchell shows the 1^st class service the Brighton Belle used to bring for 40 years. An excellent choice of the picture as it has many different colours and lines to be identified on each puzzle piece.

There is more information about “that the magic of fine rail dining in the 1930s, complete with attentive white jacketed Pullman stewards and those sumptuous surroundings” It will be recreated and the Brighton Belle will be in service again towards the end of 2016. If you like to read more please go to the Brighton Belle website. Rather interesting!

The 1000 pieces are great card quality which you can be sorted easily without the danger of breaking them or the fear of the actual picture coming off.

 

 

Through the many different objects and people on the picture one can sort really well into colours and also shapes depending how you as puzzler prefer it. I prefer sorting in shapes first then colours.

 

The great thing with a Ravensburger, once you find a piece and it fits – it really fits, it really ‘clicks ‘in.  It does have the soft click technology- not just a word- you can really feel it. You do not have to doubt if it is the right place as each piece is individually shaped. This is a big bonus and gives us puzzlers extra help especially for not such established puzzlers. The shapes are distinctive and sometimes you don’t even need to look at the picture so much. While doing piece by piece you feel and see the excellent quality.

See my progress….

My favourite moment is when I put the last piece in, I feel a sense of achievement and I can see the picture in full big glory.

I very much enjoyed doing this puzzle, it didn’t take long and even my children stopped by to put the odd piece in the right place. I can recommend this puzzle to all puzzlers out there and it would be a good start for someone who has never done 1000 pieces.

Enjoy!

You can find the review on Debra’s blog  “Not Compulsory“