Sunday, April 6, 2014

Check, Check, We can Play now ...


We’ve been shopping for food etc. with the cart, resting some, all being a bit travel weary. Every day here so far has been lovely warm and sunny. You don’t get the brilliantly blue skies as in Spain but it is a wonderful Spring.

We were at a local café in Rieselfeld where there seem to be a  large population of physically challenged people, Bruce fits right in with his wheels. We had a glass of wine and a woman came to sit next to us with a beautiful, obviously older, aide dog. She wasn’t in a wheel chair, she wasn’t blind or deaf and I had trouble thinking of a way to ask her why she needed the dog. So I said, does the dog help you to reach for things? She wasn’t a short person either but I thought that might be the least offensive thing to say. Her English was good, she said no that she has Diabetes and Epilepsy and the dog can tell about half an hour early before either affliction attacts her so she can take her meds. Since her lovely dog is getting on in years she is getting a puppy this week to help take over it’s duties and the older one won’t have to work 24x7 – her words. Very friendly lady and I hope we meet her again with her dogs older and younger.

I don’t know why this neighbourhood has so many physically and mentally challenged people in it. This day we were surrounded by people out to enjoy the sun and most of them had challenges. It is flat, a park close by, good transit, not crowded, perhaps these are reasons why. Doesn’t matter, I’m just glad they have found a place to be comfortable in, as we are.

We made an appointment with City Hall to register ourselves as residents. I’m still not really clear why this needs to happen but does, so we did. I had anxiety about it due to previous experience in Heidelberg. Here in Freiburg it was easy,  and only needed a passport, they didn’t care which one, so we used the Irish ones. Anxiety going because I’d tried to get a temporary residence permit in Heidelburg and never achieved it even though providing scads of documentation, I clearly didn’t fit into one of their pigeon hole categories. So when we left Germany, two months after supposed leaving (yes, we’ve done the "let’s stay" before) the Boarder Guard said “You’re not supposed to be here” and I explained as well as I could. He winked and said ah, vacation, always delays things, go ahead. We left September of that year, 2012. Wow, just made me realize we’ve owned the flat coming up two years!

Stork in the pasture, later he flew over us, magnificent!

We needed a few household items not available in the stores downtown or our neighbourhood. Knowing they would be rather heavy we cabbed to a big box store we’d been in with our partners. Wandered and wandered, a person needs to leave a bread crumb trail to find their way in that place, so large! Think of an Ikea and almost double it. Anyway they had what we wanted so that was very good since the cab ride was quite pricey.

Our usual mode of transport - the tram, which circles our building before heading back downtown.

Bruce says you can tell a DIY (do it yourself) type of person by how many allan keys in the drawer. Well we bought towel racks that needed assembly. No workshop bench so used the dining room table, oh what fun, NOT, but they are together after a bit of blue air coming from me.

We’ve been downtown to the Munster Market a couple of times and I finally introduced myself to an English lady retailer that we often talk to. She sells olive wood products and we’ve bought a lovely salad bowl from her.

It’s raining and cloudy but we can hear the robins loving it and singing. Lexi sits at the window and runs to the other end of the apartment to see them. She sticks her head under the sheer curtains – you can’t see me!

Unpacking and laundry done, check; business and bills taken care of, check; now we can have fun and get out to other places! 

Cheers, Bx2 and Lexi Cat

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