On running out of medicine

(From 13th January) This morning I used the last of one of the three remaining eye drops. Oops. (A second bottle wasn’t actually empty, but didn’t gloop much when shaken. It’s difficult to tell how many days worth of drops are left in an opaque 5ml bottle. Double oops.) I’m in a very small seaside […]

On working with men (and trying to understand them)

Iย need some help with a problem that’s going round and round in my head. I’d be grateful for insights…. *** Over the last few days I spent several hours working with a retired electrician who’s a friend of DB’s. We planned, installed and wired up the new lighting in DB’s aquarium. We went shopping for […]

On coming home

I flew home* on Saturday. I landed, and was presented with two of my favourite things: Chocolate (which they handed out on the plane as we got off) and Snow (which you can barely see in my blurry photo). Isn’t that awesome? It was even more awesome the next day. Tthere was enough to make […]

On scrambled eggs and ice cream for breakfast

I woke up with a sore throat and a blocked nose this morning. The most logical thing to do (in my mind) was eat ice cream for breakfast… …so I did. DB doesn’t approve, but he doesn’t have to eat any, so it’s not his problem. Besides, I’m English, and it seems we ‘always’ eat […]

On searching for sunglasses

I bought two pairs of sunglasses in England last time I was there. For Autumn in Germany they were fine. However. They’re no match for the Spanish/Canaries sun. Especially when my pupil right is artificially kept wide open (far wider than if I’m trying to see something in the dark) by the eye drops. The […]

On Advent decorations – part 3

<- part 2 ….Then I moved in with DB. DB is German. DB’s parents are German. All of them were born and live in [former] East Germany. There is a lot of tradition involved in aย  German Christmas, and a whole lot more in an East German one. I’m not sure why, or even if […]

On letting balloons free

I set this balloon free ๐Ÿ™‚ I was one of 8000 balloon free-set-ers ๐Ÿ˜‰ The Berlin Wall is history – for the second time in 25 years ๐Ÿ™‚ More tomorrow when I’m not so asleep

On molecules and foreigners in the workshop

Earlier this week: My soon-be-ex-colleague is sitting at a table with 2 or 3 others drinking beer. I’m at my work bank, making prettifull molecules* for a couple of people who have just graduated/completed their PhDs. An Indian customer comes in with a box of glassware to be repaired. He officially ‘belongs’ to a different […]

On Kindergarten Windows

I love how creative kids are. I love the different interpretations of a task, โ€œdraw a butterfly, colour it in and cut it outโ€. All the butterflies are different and that’s fantastic. I think it’s brilliant when the stuff the kids make gets put up on the walls or the windows. Today the train I […]

On Perfect days

(Anyone who read my earlier posts – or spoke to me during May – knows I was invited to spend a week “messing about on a river” (and connecting lakes). This post should have been posted directly after getting back (mid June) but somehow wasn’t. I’m going to post it now anyway) ________________________________________________________________________________ Some days […]

On partying like a German

Warning: This post contains predjudice and unfair descriptions ๐Ÿ˜‰ When in Germany, party like a German ๐Ÿ™‚ The stereotype/predjudice is that the Germans are a very serious people. I’m not sure that that’s true, they’re just incredibly orderly. Even getting drunk and dancing on tables has to be done in an orderly fashion. Where I […]

On ‘coincidences’ (and Berlin)

On Thursday I decided to go to Berlin. Naja, ish. While it is true that I decided to go, it wasn’t entirely my decision. I was invited to a meeting. The sort that it would be silly not to go to. Some of you know why, some don’t. It’s not entirely relevant. The only relevant […]