Happy Thanksgiving!

 

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving with loved ones!

Cheers!

September in Freiburg and a Visit by VIPs to me!

 There was an artisan market downtown with what the advertising said had over 50 artists exhibiting. I didn't find that many but I did buy this wall hanging which is felted. My attempt at felting years ago made me appreciate the effort it takes to craft.

It is by Atelier Nicole Basien and I enjoy it every day!

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Liked the "movement" in this statue, didn't get the artist's name. 

My sister and brother-in-law came to visit me! They live in Okotoks, Alberta which is south of Calgary. Mike and Phyl were on a bike/boat tour going north of Karlsruhe, Germany and then traveled by train up to Amsterdam to visit Mike's auntie, then here in Freiburg. They were here for three full days and it rained pretty much the entire time, darn it. We walked around downtown anyway, lunched out, and the last day bused to Bad Krozingen through mountain villages. I was happy to get an update on their adult children's lives with the biggest news that all three are having babies in December, now that will be exciting. It was a great visit! Here are some pictures.

Mike proclaimed he doesn't take selfies very often but I think he did pretty well.

A short but lovely visit... Big thanks to Phyl and Mike for the visit and the photos!

I have been working on my wall art, hence the felted piece but also have a few of my pictures printed on canvas to hang yet. Finally I am cleaning up the iCloud storage of over 2000 pictures, hmm think I should have tackled that project sooner? Yes...

Another sunset, sorry, can't stop taking them.

Cheers, Bev and Lexi Cat

Summer Living in Freiburg in August

Weekly I go to downtown Freiburg, walking around over the cobblestones can be a bit bumpy but definitely provides more character to the walk.

Freiburg town is chockablock with tourists which is good for business but can get crowded, same as everywhere. I saw many, many walking guides with their groups, some in English, most in German, natch.

Charming statuettes outside a tea shop, sitting over the bachle, the boy looks smug, girl, happy with her tea.

I would estimate that half the businesses in Rieselfeld are closed or on reduced hours for vacation this week. There are about 2 weeks left of children's break from school, so business is slow anyway. Even the weekly market in the local square was missing my veggie stand, the bread/meat one, the cheese, and the olive and baklava carts. There was one lone veggie fellow with his two cute little white dogs. I have never spent August in Freiburg, the partners usually had those dates and I was in Dijon or Paris, so while expected to some degree, I wasn't prepared for the sheer amount of closures.

Rather a poor picture of the croc in the Dreisam river, hadn't seen her for a while so "visited".

This is a cute child sized Vespa, outside a children's toy store.

The toy store, see the bear under the name? It blows bubbles at intervals onto the street.

Strange with the tongues, research showed Freiburg inhabitants made a lot of money minting silver coins around this period. Google translate: "keystone from the gate of the coin from the year 1567". It is located on the street with high end independent shops, interesting to walk down.

While downtown this week I visited two of my favourite shops. A store that is hard to describe, it's a hardware mainly but has kitchenware and electronics, here is the website https://www.luitpold-bauer.de/ This is the independent  store I treasure because with no car it isn't easy to get to big-box-stores to get hardware items. It is eclectic in nature and I like that a lot. While I was there locals came in and asked for advice which was provided with knowledge and care.

The second would be Culinara Zoller  https://www.culinara-freiburg.de/  Italian everything, but my limited connection with this store was the owners were my neighbours in Rieselfeld. Bruce and the wife (sorry, her name escapes me) used to race down the street in their wheelchairs, a moment of fun for them both, endangering anyone in their path. She passed, he  handed the store to his son and it is still there. Service given is as good as ever, I bought a high quality balsamic vinegar, read more expensive than expected, but delicious for salads not cooking and a few other bits I cannot get in a regular grocery.

My view when they are in the closest field, love seeing them, love not having to look after them as I did in childhood.

And... of course... another sunset.

My neighbours invited me to a party last week, they served  punch with fruit on top and pinchos, open faced sandwiches on a good quality baguette, yummy. There were 14 of us with many who spoke English, so that was nice for me. It was good to talk to those I rarely only see in the hallway or on the street.

All for now, Cheers, Bev and Lexi Cat

Summer Living in Freiburg

 The other day I played "tourist in your own town". Victoria, BC  used to have a similar program for residents but I went on my own. I go downtown frequently but this time I took my camera to the Munstermarkt. Timing was deliberately early in the day and a weekday to avoid the heat and tourists. Here are some pictures. https://muenstermarkt.freiburg.de/

Purple flowers in front are blooming artichokes.

 

The red building is  Historisches Kaufhaus, once owned by a group of merchants in the 17th century, vans in front owned by venders in the market.

The largest flower vendor

Living wall covering the garbage station at the back of a hotel.

This fellow is made entirely out of denim, found at a sewing shop.

Escapee from the "window"

Unusual to see, mostly we see the next picture or a version of it.

Setting on a cloudy day.

That's all for now. At the market I had a nice visit with Ellen who sells olive wood products, and a good walk around. There are not many new vendors, but maybe the newer ones sell there on the weekends. 

Thank you Crina, my friend and cleaner

Happy Father's Day!!

 

I hope you have a wonderful day you fabulous Fathers out there! Maybe a barbecue is planned? 

Crina, my friend and cleaner gave me this to share with you. She had fun making it and I viewing it.

I joined the Carl Schurz Library recently which has a rich collection of English books, videos, magazines etc. I had been a member before but decided my at home library does not need expanding for now, so I can borrow from their selection. Here is the website. 

https://www.carl-schurz-haus.de/bibliothek/uebersicht.html

They also hold events which could be interesting to attend.

Have a great day you Fathers and families!

Cheers!

Happy Mother's Day!

 

Wishing you a wonderful and pampered day! Flowers from the neighbourhood in Freiburg and a bit more...

Flowers from my patio in Sevilla.

Feria display from the hat maker.

The obligatory sunset, you know how I enjoy those from the balcony in Freiburg.

Have a Great Day Ladies!!! From the "mother" of a fur baby who has grown up.

Happy Easter and Semana Santa Parade

 

Cut out statue in Sanlúcar with flowers on the wall behind.

For the past few years I have avoided Semana Santa parades by going to Freiburg before it happened, it did not happen in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic. This week has been nail biting for the organizers due to weather, heavy rain and wind happened. Good Friday morning we had a violent thunderstorm, so it has been a challenge. Monday after a day of rain, late afternoon it eased up and the procession from the Museo went by my apartment. Here are some pictures taken from my balcony because there is no possible way I would join that crowd of people on the street. Seemed to be even more crowded this year maybe due to the weather being a threat to other processions and people wanting to see one. 

Pictures are all dark, of course, due to the 10 pm hour and my lack of photo editing.

The storms have shaken all the orange blossoms off the trees, sorry, no picture of them this year, but the smell was incredible, as I mentioned in a previous post.

Happy Easter to you and your family and friends! All the Very Best from Lexi Cat and I!

P.S. I ran into Papa Pepe on the street last week, he was walking to the bus station to go home and I was coming out of the hair salon. What an incredible coincidence! Then I also ran into Pepe, that happens more frequently but still, what a pleasure to see the two Pepe's in one day.