….despite the unseasonably cold and blustery weather
Yesterday I saw my first robin. Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera or phone handy so I didn’t a picture. However, earlier in the day I did see and photography the following signs of spring.
In Germany they are definitely basking in the warmth of spring. Earlier today my cousin sent me photos of the family and they are actually having a meal in an outdoor cafe. The gentleman in the photo is my uncle, my father’s younger brother.
…..thanks to Cee for coming up with great questions each and every week for Share Your World
If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
My answer is pretty close to Cee’s . I love cheese and dark chocolate and then a nice red wine to go with it.
List at least five movies or books that cheer you up.
The Wizard of Oz, Forrest Gump, Life of Pi, Up, Bridget Jone’s Diary, Mama Mia
If you were a mouse in your house in the evening, what would you see your family doing?
After dinner a mouse (me) would see us sitting in the living room watching TV. After a couple of hours my husband would go to his meditation room and meditate and do yoga and then get ready for bed. I, on the other hand, would sit in front of my computer and read some emails , read a book and/or work at my art table and produce some art. This seems to be the time when I’m most productive and often stay up till 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning.
What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
Last week I saw my father off to the airport. He flew to Germany to visit his brother. When he called on the weekend I was so happy for him because I could tell that he was having a wonderful time.
On Thursday I drove to Hamilton to spend the day with my daughter and granddaughter. We did a little shopping but mostly we played in the playroom. On Friday I printed Snoopy designs onto the front of six t-shirts that the family wore to our family lunch on Saturday.
The lunch on Saturday was a lovely casual affair and because the weather was so nice we went for a long walk to the park down the street and followed the Heritage Trail. The trail meanders through the park and past numerous marinas. We ended up at a cute little playground where Winnie wandered around and tried out the various pieces of playground equipment.
…..thanks to Cee for coming up with four more questions for Share Your World
Have you ever participated in a distance walking, swimming, running, or biking event? Tell your story.
When I was in high school I remember that walking events were all the rage. The one that stands out for me was a walk that took on the shape of Canada and circumvented the city of Toronto. The walk was called Miles for Millions and I remember that it was very long (32.2 miles) and it took me about 10 to 12 hours to complete. The finish line was at city hall and there were thousands of people there. My father was one of the many anxious waiting parents and the first thing he did when he saw me was hug me and step on my foot. Ouch!
Five years ago, this month, when I introduced myself to the blogging world I started training for my first ever 5k race. Every year since I have participated in one 5k run. I’m not fast but my time improves slightly every year. I remember after my first running event I thought I was going to die, literally.
Name one thing not many people know about you.
I worked as a chamber maid for one summer in Oberaudorf, Germany during the Munich Olympics. A delegation of East German men were allowed to come to West Germany for the games and I was the official greeter at the train station. It was a pretty big news story and my photo was on the front page of the local paper.
What is your favorite flower?
My two favourite flowers are sunflowers and Gerbera daisies.
Things I want to have in my home (paintings, hot tubs, book cases, big screen tv etc)
I would like a proper art studio with great storage for papers and all my paints and pens. I’d also like a new garage or large shed so I don’t have to look at the eye sore at the back of our yard. Of course it would also be beautifully landscaped with colourful plants and an outdoor fireplace.
Optional Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful for all the help that our daughters have given us in the last three weeks. We’ve been cleaning out the basement and purging a lot of stuff that we haven’t used in years. As you know my father is moving in with us so we’re renovating the space in the basement to give him a self contained apartment. When it is all finished he will have a new bathroom, a freshly painted bed sitting room with new lighting, trim and baseboards and a small kitchen with all new cabinets, floor, sink, microwave and refrigerator. I’m also grateful that the city picked up all the garbage that we’ve been putting on the curb.
This week I’m looking forward to watching the progress that our contractor is making on the renovation. I’m also looking forward to getting together with the family for Easter. We’ve all been so sick with colds and sinus infections for the last month and we haven’t seen much of our family, especially our granddaughter. It also looks like good weather is in the forecast and I’m looking forward to putting away our winter clothes.
…..4 more shares and we’re done for 2014
What is your favorite toppings on pizza?
Everything on my husband’s homemade pizza is good but if I have to choose it would be mushrooms, caramelized onion, feta cheese and prosciutto.
I want to learn more about …
That’s tough because there are so many things that I want to know more about. One of them would be learning new art techniques and learning to use different tools and materials. As I get older I’ve also become more interested in history and would like to learn more about ancient civilizations.
What are three places you’ve enjoyed visiting?
I’ve enjoyed visiting the Netherlands and Ireland and the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. When I was a child and later as a teenager I visited Germany three times. I would love to go back and see it from an adult’s point of view.
Do you prefer eating the frosting of the cake or the cupcake first?
I’m a frosting person but I like to make sure that I have a bit of cake with my frosting. It’s all about balance.
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful for time spent with my friend L. Her life is rather chaotic at the moment and any time that we spend together outside of school is a bonus. We went to the One of a Kind Show on Friday and the week before we were at the ballet and went out for dinner.
This week I’m looking forward to going to the annual Christmas concert on Tuesday and hosting our United Way Silent Auction on Friday. I’m also looking forward to dinner Friday evening with friends.
Thank you Cee for the questions for this week’s challenge. I hope you get over your cold really quickly so that you can enjoy the upcoming holidays.
Have you ever been a participant in a parade? What did you do?
I’ve watched numerous parades in my lifetime but I can’t remember being in a parade as a child and I know that I’ve never participated in a parade as an adult.
If you were handed free opera tickets, would you go or sell them? Why?
I would go to the opera. I don’t have a lot of exposure with operas but I’d like to change that and if it’s free even better.
Why did you start your blog?
I started my blog to record some of my family memories to share with my children and friends but it quickly became a venue to plot my weight loss and an incentive to stay on track. It worked and I lost 32 pounds.
I also wrote up recipes and started taking photographs of my travels, cottage and experiences around Toronto. Over the last two years I’ve included my own personal art and art that my students produced. I’ve also dabbled in poetry and I love taking part in blogging challenges.
What is your favorite tradition? (family tradition, church tradition, whatever)
My favourite family tradition is celebrating Christmas on Christmas Eve. Being German, I’ve always opened presents on Christmas Eve and when I got married my husband embraced that tradition. It worked out well for us because we would celebrate with my family on the 24th and then go to my husband’s family on the 25th.
Even when my husband’s parents passed away we continued to celebrate on Christmas Eve and the kids loved waiting up and then hiding when Santa arrived. It was always magical when we walked into the living room after Santa left and we were made to wait and take in the lit tree and the newly arrived presents under it.
Now that the kids have all grown up some of the traditions have changed slightly and the focus is on the food, drink and good company that we all share on that special night. It has become my husband’s favourite tradition as well. 
Bonus question: What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?
I’m grateful that Germany won over Argentina in the World Cup and I’m grateful that I was able to share the day with my husband, and my daughter and her husband. Thanks to technology we were also able to communicate with our other daughter and our son in the Netherlands during and after the game.
This week I’m looking forward to spending some time at the cottage. I’ve been in the city helping my cousins deal with their very ill mother (my aunt) and I’ve been in and out of the hospital for the last six days. She’s still there but I’m only a phone call away.
For more Share Your World posts check out http://ceenphotography.com/2014/07/14/share-your-world-2014-week-28/
……my father throws another gem into the story that he’s retold at least a dozen times
Story #2 for The Daily Post’s Weekly Writing Challenge, which is to post a new story each day for one week.
“It was Love at First Sight!”
Everytime the family gets together with my 86 year old dad we are entertained with tales of my father’s childhood, war stories or how he met my mother. This Christmas was no different. In January my father will have been widowed from my mother for 20 years but as with many men, my father needed a woman in his life and he found love a second time.
Dad’s partner, G, is always present when he rallies us around for his stories but when he talks lovingly of our mother I always feel somewhat uncomfortable and can’t help but wonder what goes through her mind when Mom comes up in conversation.
This year, on Boxing Day, my middle sister, her family and I drove to the Schwa to celebrate the holiday with my father and G. Somewhere between dinner and dessert Dad started to reminisce about his life shortly after the war. The first new piece of information that I had never heard before was how my grandfather died. I knew that he had an accident on the job but I didn’t know the gruesome details.
After the war ended in Germany my father’s parents were allowed to stay in their family home which was now part of Poland. Most Germans were sent packing with whatever they could carry on their backs but Opa Winkler was asked to stay because he had a skill that was needed to rebuild the town. His job was working on the hydro lines and unfortunately the pole that he ascended one day was unstable and fell over while he was still on it. He spent three days in the hospital in a coma and eventually succumbed to his injuries.
The other part of this story that I didn’t know was that my grandmother and her two children were then forced to leave their home and were relocated in Bielefeld in West Germany. My father at the time was working on a farm and had no idea that his father had died or that his family had moved. When he did learn of their fate almost two years had passed. This new piece of the puzzle filled a void in the bigger picture. I now understand why my father left the farm, a job that he loved, and moved to Bielefeld. It was, of course to help his mother and his siblings get back on their feet. Little did he know at the time that Oma Winkler had already found a man who was more than willing to assist her.
My father continued talking about how he moved on and found a great job with an English general as a house boy or personal assistant and eventually made his way to Frankfurt where he worked in an American hotel. It was here that my mother accidentally bumped into my father, looking for her sister who worked in the same place. My father claims he felt sorry for this young girl and initially just wanted to help her out but according to him “it was love at first sight” for my mother. Here was the man who would father her children.
I wish my mother were here to tell her version of this story. I’m sure that it’s mostly true but I have a feeling that there’s another side to this tale of romance.
….. Toronto hosted a great Christmas Market at the Distillery
The Christmas Market at night. Photo courtesy of http://storage.canoe.ca/v1/dynamic_resize/sws_path/suns-prod-images/1297349897629_ORIGINAL.jpg?quality=80&size=650x
One of my fondest memories of Christmas occurred when I was 11 years old. My father had a good year in real estate and decided to take the family on a three week vacation to Germany over the Christmas holidays to reconnect with family and friends that we hadn’t seen in almost 10 years.
My mother’s side of the family lived close to Frankfurt and we were treated to an evening at the Christmas Market in Frankfurt. It was magical. I remember that it was cold and there was a light covering of snow on the ground. I was in awe of the lights, sounds and smells. The entire event was hosted outside with vendors selling their wares from small wooden stalls. The treat that I savoured the most that evening was a small pink, green, or white confection made from coconut and sugar. To this day I can still taste the wonderful sweetness of those Kokosflocken. I’ve never been able to replicate those exact candies but I have sought them out, especially this time of year. I think I’ve come close to finding them but it’s never been the same.
Yesterday, my husband and I braved the cold and grey weather and made our way to the Distillery District in Toronto where Lowe’s was hosting this years Christmas Market. It was as magical as the one I remembered as a child. There were bier gardens, mulled wine stands and vendors selling everything from old fashion European ornaments, traditional German and Dutch Christmas baking to whimsical winter hats and mittens and children’s books. Of course Santa was on hand to have pictures taken with the kids and there were guest choirs singing classic Christmas songs. And if that wasn’t enough at the far end of the market there were rides for the whole family to enjoy.
After walking around for about an hour it started to rain and it came down hard. We quickly made our way to The Mill Street Brew Pub and stood in line with a mass of people who were also trying to escape the wet weather. We managed to put our name on the waiting list to be seated and to our surprise we were paged after only waiting for about 10 minutes, if that.
K and I enjoyed a lovely lunch together in the warmth of this very popular restaurant and we watched the rain come down from the window next to our table. It rained off and on all day but it didn’t stop the crowds from wandering around the market. My friend L, was there much later and it was still crowded after 5:00. I look forward to going again next year. Maybe I’ll go in the evening so I can enjoy the lights. The only other thing that would have made it perfect would have been a light dusting of snow and a bag of pink and green kokosflocken.
One happy husband, after a warm, healthy meal.
…. by Erik Larson
After reading Devil in the White City, and several reviews for this book I wasn’t sure I was going to like Erik Larson’s new book. I found the afore mentioned book very interesting but at times it was slow and the details were cumbersome.
My husband read In the Garden of Beasts before I did and he couldn’t put it down. He read it in a day and a half. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book.
Set in Germany, after Hitler came to power, the story focuses on the American ambassador, Dodd and his daughter, Martha and how they viewed life in Berlin from 1933 to 1937. Dodd quickly realized how dangerous Hitler and his henchmen were and despite his warnings to his bosses in Washington and President Roosevelt, he was considered weak and ineffective in his role as ambassador.
Martha Dodd had a completely different opinion of the German people and the Nazis. In fact she befriended and dated numerous high ranking officials in the Nazi party and invited them to the ambassador’s home for social functions. At one point she is introduced to Hitler, himself, to be considered as a potential wife for the German leader. I was amazed at how many lovers this woman had and how accepting or perhaps naive her parents were about their daughter’s numerous affairs. She was certainly playing with fire when one considers the company she kept.
In time Martha begins to see the Nazis for who they really are and tries to disassociate herself from their company. She falls in love with Boris from the Soviet Union embassy and becomes enamoured with communism. Sounds like a good piece of fiction but is in fact non-fiction.
Larson has carefully researched this dark period of history and painstakingly documented all his resources. Writing this saga through the eyes of the Dodd family and how those in power in Washington turned a blind eye to what was really happening in Berlin gives the reader a new perspective of how Hitler ascended to power.
Compelling and informative. Rating: 4/5
Mama Cormier 
