In the meantime there has been the 4th Sunday of Advent, also the anniversary of Peter’s and mine 65th wedding in 1956! It was a very small wedding, only the two witnesses as guests! đ
During the last few years there have been many weddings in our family here in Australia! đ I am very proud of our family. I am already blessed with six great-grandchildren! đ Also a seventh one born only some six months ago. This beautiful little great-grandson is daughter Caroline’s step grandson, that is Matthew, her husband, has a daughter, Alex, from his first marriage, who has a lovely baby boy son now! We have been to the wedding of Alex and Josh among many other weddings within our family. Two weddings took place only after the couple had lived together already for a number of years.
On the 25 of June this year I was prescibed some furosemide tablets for there was a built up of fluid in my feet and legs.
“Furosemide works by helping your body get rid of excess salt and water. It does this by increasing the amount of urine your body makes. This helps lower your blood pressure as well as reduce swelling.” So it is a diuretic!
It is interesting to know that such drugs are available. I better remember it! đ
Dear Peter died on Saturday, the 12th of December 2020.
This year his anniversary is coming up on the 3rd Sunday of Advent!
Peter’s and my daughters were born on the following dates:
Monika, 5th of December 1958 in DĂŒsseldorf, Germany
Caroline, 9th of December 1978 in Wollongong Hospital, NSW, Australia
We often celebrate Monika’s and Caroline’s birthdays together, choosing a date close to both birthdays. This year we have chosen to come together at my place on Sunday, the 12th of December! So several family members are going to come to my place for afternoon tea/coffee and some birthday cake next Sunday! đ I am very much looking forward to this!
It is our tradition, to celebrate Christmas with all the family on Christmas Eve! So, all my family want to come this year to my place again! đ We are usually more than 16 people for this kind of get-togethers! This is including four of my great-grandchildren aged 2, 5, 7 and 9! đ I have two more great-grandchildren in Victoria. Unfortunately I have not seen these for quite a while. – – – Sadly, it is going to be the second Christmas without Peter. – – –
Secret Santa will be coming again this year. So, everyone gets only one present! However, I am sure there is going to be some very special nice food provided once more due to the combined effort of several women. I am probably going to make some potato salad again. A lot of people do like my salad! đ And of course people bring along beer, wine and maybe some liquor as well as a variety of soft drinks. đ (Mark is in the habit of drinking only Coca Cola when he knows, that he has to be driving home again.)
Our other custom at Christmas time is to make ‘Bunte Teller’ with Pfefferkuchen (gingerbread), nuts, special fruit and some sweets like for instance marzipan sweets and chocolates. đ
I hope the weather is going to be fine, so that we can stay outside a lot and make good use of the new deck and to be outside in the open a lot of the time. đ
Maybe some people are going to stay overnight again, that would mean, we could be able to cheer with plenty of nice drinks! đ
All the outside area on the three different sections of the house have been made usable recently. So there is plenty of room for people to spread out a bit. There are even two ramps for my rollator! Colourful electric lights have been installed, and there are also about half a dozen solar lights spread out over the ground as well as some new electric flash lights! đ
I hope, my son Martin will be able to come from Victoria, and that this time the borders are going to stay open. Martin told me, that he can stay only for a couple of nights, but that I am welcome to go back with him and his dog Millie to his place in Benalla. đ
I am looking forward to spend some great holidays in Benalla! đ
Our dear Master was completely taken aback today like we have rarely seen him. It all started when we told him that a little man with a big package was approaching the house. âSure thing,â he said, âan Amazon package for Dina.â When he handed the package to Dina, she said it couldnât be for her, that he should look at the addressee âand the sender!â Siri shouted. Totally amazed, he realised that this package was for him, full of authorâs copies of his first book, written in English â well, with a lot of help from his editor.
Masterchen war heute völlig verblĂŒfft, wie wir ihn selten gesehen haben. Alles begann damit, dass wir ihm sagten, dass ein kleiner Mann mit groĂem Paket sich dem Haus nĂ€hert. âKlar dochâ, meinte er, âein Amazon Paket fĂŒr Dina.â Als er dasâŠ
Couples therapist Esther Perel has helmed a therapy practice in New York City for more than 35 years.(ABC News: Edwina Storie)
Help keep family & friends informed by sharing this articleabc.net.au/news/esther-perel-on-the-erotic/11769448COPY LINKSHARE
Esther Perel is a world-renowned sex and relationship therapist who works with couples reeling from infidelity and the loss of passion. She told Conversations’ Sarah Kanowski what her parents’ experience of the Holocaust taught her about finding the erotic in everyday life.
It happened that my parents had a very good relationship. My father adored my mother. He looked up to her and my mother loved being adored. So it worked really well.
“How did you fall in love,” I asked my father, “in the middle of the concentration camp?”
My entire community in Antwerp in Belgium â about 15,000 Jews â all of them were refugees, all of them were concentration camp survivors or hidden children. And my parents, in addition to that, spent five years as illegal refugees in Belgium before they were given permission to stay.
They were the only survivors of their entire family, and many families were created at that time. But many of these families, after they were done surviving and rebuilding, looked at each other and said: “We have nothing in common.” So they were not, by definition, good relationships, but they also didn’t allow divorce because they had already experienced the utmost of loss and they were not prepared to do that once more.
And I always noticed that the houses of my friends were dark, there was no energy in the house. You felt like people were on lockout â they were surviving, but they were not living. They couldn’t allow themselves to experience joy, because when you experience joy or pleasure, you’re not vigilant, you’re not on guard, and if you’re not on guard some bad stuff may happen that you were not prepared for. So they lived in an utter state of disaster-preparedness.
And then you had the other side. People who, for me, understood the erotic as an antidote to death: how do you stay alive in the face of adversity? You know, how do you maintain a sense of aliveness?
So my parents, they were bon vivant, as we say in French. They were not just there for no reason.
They have survived, and they were going to make the best of life. And that got passed on to me.
It involved music and dancing and gathering people and just really savouring the beauties of life.
But I don’t know why they were able to do that while others were much more drawn to the bottom and unable to mourn and feeling survivor guilt and lots of other things that people experience. That is not a unique experience. I describe this in the context of the Holocaust, but I really think that this is available for any other community that has experienced massive psychic trauma like that.
And I think it’s the same for a couple. When couples complain about the listlessness of their lives. They sometimes may want more sex, but they always want better. And that better is to connect with the quality of aliveness, of pleasure, of fun, of vibrancy.
I’m not [just] talking about the act of sex. Many people have done the act of sex for centuries and felt nothing. Women are experts at that. What we’re looking for is an experience of aliveness, of vitality, of renewal, connection, mystery… allowing our mind to subvert the limits we live with in reality, to bring us into a space that is boundless, where you can be playful.
That’s the difference between sex and eroticism, is that [it is] sexuality transformed by our imagination.
That’s what makes it erotic.Posted 29 Dec 201929 Dec 2019, updated 29 Dec 2019
Today is daughter Monika’s birthday. Happy birthday, love!
Daughter Caroline’s birthday is in four days. We are going to celebrate both birthdays at my place on Saturday, the 12th of December. The 12th of December happens to be the anniversary of Peter’s death in 2020, that is one year ago . . . .
Peter’s funeral last year was on the 21st of December. This happened to be our 64th Wedding Anniversary!
I just had a look at what I published in December two years ago in 2019, and I decided to copy it all. Here it is:
Max presents a gorgeous selection of greatest hits from his last gold- and platinum-selling albums in new arrangements for the Palast Orchester. This very special concert was recorded live at Admiralspalast in Berlin-FriedrichstraĂe â a perfect setting which lives and breathes the flair and panache of Berlin during the 20s and early 30s For more information please see: http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/cat⊠For more information about the artist please see: http://www.deutschegrammophon.com/art⊠_______________ Max Raabe Eine Nacht in Berlin Recorded live at Admiralspalast in Berlin-FriedrichstraĂe Palast Orchester _______________
Mit einer besonderen Mischung aus eleganter Steifheit, Charisma und leiser Ironie begeistern sie ihr Publikum. Im Berliner Admiralspalast prĂ€sentieren Max Raabe und das Palast Orchester ihr Programm âEine Nacht in Berlinâ. Eine gelungene Mischung aus wiederentdeckten Klassikern und modernen Neukompositionen. Das Konzert wurde im Mai 2014 im Berliner Admiralspalast aufgezeichnet.Berlin ist seit vielen Jahren die Heimatstadt von Max Raabe und dem Palast Orchester. Hier begannen sie ihre Karriere, und hier wurden nicht nur die neuen, sondern auch ein GroĂteil der alten StĂŒcke ihres Konzertrepertoires erstmals aufgefĂŒhrt. Im Berliner Admiralspalast prĂ€sentieren sie nun die Höhepunkte ihres aktuellen BĂŒhnenprogramms. âEine Nacht in Berlinâ ist eine gelungene Mischung aus wiederentdeckten Klassikern und modernen Neukompositionen, vom renommierten Videoregisseur Daniel Lwowski auĂergewöhnlich bildstark und abwechslungsreich in Szene gesetzt. Auf dem Programm stehen unter anderem die Titel âFĂŒr Frauen ist das kein Problemâ, âMir kann nichts passierenâ und âDu passt auf mich aufâ, die Max Raabe in den letzten Jahren zusammen mit Annette Humpe und Christoph Israel komponiert hat. Und natĂŒrlich spielen Max Raabe und das Palast Orchester auch viele Klassiker aus den 20er und 30er Jahren, mit denen unter anderem schon die Comedian Harmonists vor fast 90 Jahren das Publikum in Berlin begeistern konnten und die im Programm des Palast Orchesters ihren festen Platz haben. Das Konzert wurde am 23. und 24. Mai 2014 im Berliner Admiralspalast fĂŒr ARTE aufgezeichnet.
When Esther was a teenager she was voraciously curious about human behaviour.
She thought sheâd become a journalist or a translator, but instead she grew up to become the worldâs most famous contemporary psychotherapist.
Esther became known around the world after the release of her podcast âWhere Should We Begin?â in which she counsels real-life couples who are on the brink of marital breakdown.
In her sessions sheâs often exploring the tension between the need for security in a relationship, and the need for some distance and a sense of adventure, to keep the spark alive.
Esther says when you choose a partner you choose a story, and by doing so, youâre often recruited for a part you never expected to play.
Further information
The State of Affairs: Rethinking Infidelity is published by Yellow Kite Books
Some December Writing Challenge/ Prompts: Today I chose Day 17 and Day 22!
Day 17 Home: Tell us about what home meant to you this year. Are you a homebody? Did you do a renovation? Move? Redecorate?
Day 22 A picture is worth a 1,000 words. Share a photo which sums up a significant event from the past year, or give us 1,000 words about a pivotal moment in 2019.
Peter took the above pictures about a month ago. TheJacaranda was in full bloom at that time of the year!
For the Writing Challenge I copy now a blog with pictures I published a month ago. These pictures show that we had some plantagen shutters installed: I think they do contribute to some improvement in our house!
Some of the pictures show how a new back fence was installed on our property, which is another improvement!
Speaking about a significant event from the past year. I would say it was the event of the marriage of Troy and Nina. It means, now all three of our grandsons have been married! Our three great-grandsons, aged 7, 5 and 3, were at the wedding and had a good time together. Our newest great-granddaughter, Baby Evie, was at the wedding too. Evie is the baby sister of 3 year old Carter. 7 year old Lucas and his 5 year old brother Alexander are cousins of Carter and Evie. The three boys love each others company very much!
This picture of afternoon tea with my friends was already taken towards the End of September.This must have been a Friday for it looks that we are about to play our game of Scrabble!
This is a favourite bin of ours in Corrimal. It is great to be able to recycle things!
In October we did get plantagen shutters installed in several rooms.
Carter with his baby sister on the day of Nina and Troyâs weddingNext to Peter are Caroline and Matthew
Part of our back fence had to be replaced because of storm damage. It took quite a long time from when the contractors took the old fence down and the new fence was finally completed.
The finishing touches of getting a new fence! Actually the work still has not been totally finished!
Peter one month ago on his morning walk
Pictures I took in the morning, also one month ago:
âPeople might not protest for overtly political or social causes, but when they canât feed themselves and their family, they will take to the streets.â ~ Marcus Samuelsson[1].
The U.S. faces a number of critical challenges but perhaps the most threatening is the breakdown of political compromise resulting in the possibility of an elected political leader attempting to impose a totalitarian governance supposedly for the âgoodâ of the nation. Though most people consider the possibility highly improbable, that also was widely believed in Chile, the German Weimar Republic, and other nations until after it had actually occurred.
The primary risk is in one political party gaining sufficient power to stack the courts with sympathetic judges, manipulate voter registration, using the courts to challenge election outcomes, and, finally, invoking âlaw-enforcementâ to use the police, National Guard, army reserve, or army to suppress politicalâŠ
I turned 10 in 1944. My father returned from the war already in 1945, namely as soon as the war had ended. We stayed at grandmotherâs place in Leipzig at the time. The time in Leipzig was for us children a good time with mum, dad and also grandmother and a cousin of ours.
However mum wanted to return to Berlin as soon as possible. So she left us just before I turned 11. She went to Berlin on her own to look after our apartment where she had only one room to herself. All the other rooms where occupied by people who had no where else to live.
April 1946 was the time when we children and dad moved to Berlin to stay with mum. By that time we had the apartment to ourselves. All the other lodgers had left. I had hopes then, April 1946 would be the start of a new family life for all of us. But this was not what was eventuating. My mother insisted that my father had to move away from Berlin. It was just not the right place for him, so she said. He moved to West Germany, and he wanted all of us to move too. But my mother refused to leave Berlin. She refused to give up the Berlin apartment. I did not like it at all that my parents separated.
The next few years I hardly ever saw my father. My father corresponded with me. However there was always tension, for my mother did not like my father to write to me. Father was seriously sick a lot of the time. For many years he was not able to get proper employment. His extended family supported him as much as possible. They had a hard time themselves, for they were refugees and living in extremely cramped conditions.
I think I still felt socially fairly content up to age 13 since everybody else had to catch up too after the war. I did not feel inferior to my friends. We were all in the same boat. Come to think of it, all this changed during my later teen years. They were not exactly happy ones. I think I missed some sort of family life. My thoughts were, I just had to put up with it until I was old enough to leave home, which only happened when I was 21! My parents never lived together again. When I was 16, mum did get a divorce from Dad. I think for a long time during my growing up years I worried about both my parents.
I remember distinctly, that I believed at the time that World War Two had been the war to end all wars. That there would never be another war, this was a strong belief in me and made me look hopefully into the future. Except then came the âCold Warâ. This, together with the nuclear threat, made me feel pretty concerned about the future. And this concern has multiplied now with increasing climate change . . .
Berlioz, my husband, published today a blog about what children worry about and especially what he experienced between the ages of 10 to 13. His blog prompted me to publish a bit about my growing up years after World War Two. Here is the link to the blog of Berlioz:
As I said in the previous post we left Mildura before sunrise and were soon on the Calder Highway heading towards Melbourne. This was on Saturday, 13th April 2013.
As the sun showed itself above the horizon we had already left Mildura well behind. Melbourne here we come!After a couple of hours this sign caught our attention.We parked our car.Looking forward to getting coffee and a piece of the famous vanilla slice.This break after two hours driving is quite welcome!We are about to go inside for our coffee and vanilla slice when we notice . . .. . . this sign next door. Anyone for a meat pie? No, thanks, not this morning. We stick with coffee and cake for now.You can really get a good feed at malleedeli.We are quite happy with our decision. The vanilla slice turns out to be just heavenly! No wonder it has become famous.Apparently truckies can get a good feed here and they can rest in the Truckies Lounge.After this nice coffee break we keep going. Melbourne is getting closer. 442 km to go.We drive through rather desolate country.We pass Mt Wycheproof.And then we reach the LIZARD ROADHOUSE. Looks good for another break.We buy cold drinks, Hamburger and Hot Chips. And we eat some of our own food as well.
And on we go. We pass Melbourne Airport in the early afternoon and soon after reach Essendon where Martin, our son, is very happy to see us. He is surprised that we made it in such good time. Yes, we had a good run. No problems whatsoever. Martin straight away offers us tea and something to eat. In the evening he is going to drive to the airport to pick up daughter Lauren whoâs on school holidays and going to stay with her Dad for one week.
Peter and I are very glad weâll be able to stay with our son and granddaughter Lauren for one week. We havenât seen Lauren for more than a year except for photos on facebook. She looks very beautiful. Soon sheâs going to be fifteen. Sheâs our youngest granddaughter. But then we also have great-grandchildren already. Two of them we are going to see during our stay in Melbourne. The plan is, that we are going to see them on the following day, a Sunday. We are very much looking forward to this. We know that Lauren is also looking forward to see her two little nieces.
P.S. In another post I mentioned already our visit to Warburton where we saw Tristan, our grandson, his wife Stephanie and their two little daughters, our great-granddaughters. Todayâs post about our trip from Mildura to Melbourne is an afterthought because I hadnât published yet the pictures from that trip and I thought it would be nice to be able to share them. I really enjoyed this trip because everything went so smoothly and the trip didnât take too long. When we travelled back home a week later from Melbourne to Dapto everything went smoothly too but that trip of course took much longer because it was a greater distance we had to cover within one day.auntyutaLife in Australia, Memories, Old Age, Uncategorized1 Comment 3 MinutesEdit”On the Calder Highway from Mildura to Melbourne in April 2013″
Today Dr. William Moomaw one of the 5 co-authors of the World Scientistsâ Warning of a Climate Emergency explains the nature of the emergency, what we MUST be doing about it and the encouragement for *diversified forest management* instead of mono cropping single species that we intend to burn. Burning wood for biomass has a bigger carbon footprint than burning an equivalent amount of coal for energy! Hereâs a link to the original paper of which Dr. Moomaw speaksâŠhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/yYCx8ikCzlk?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparenthttps://www.youtube.com/embed/2Pg4R1WKN8I?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&start=522&wmode=transparenthttps://www.youtube.com/embed/cjf_Z3A1-pI?version=3&rel=1&showsearch=0&showinfo=1&iv_load_policy=1&fs=1&hl=en&autohide=2&wmode=transparent
Last Sunday we had some lunch at Bulli Beach, where it was pretty windy and no sun. But there were quite a lot of people at the Rubyâs Cafe. Many people came in groups and had difficulty getting seats.
Between 9 and ten in the morning is usually a good time to sit outside for our morning cup of tea. We are always looking forward to this!
At the beginning of the month we travelled again to Benalla to visit our son. This time we took the train to Benalla. We arrived in Benalla on Sunday, the 4th of August. Our return journey was on Thursday, the 8th of August. We had a great time in Benalla. Twice Martin went with me to the Benalla Swimming Centre. Peter did not want to come with us even though we assured him that the water was well heated.
Every day Martin drove us to a different place. So we saw at Glenrowan a multi-million Dollar anamatronic show. It was Ned Kellyâs LAST STAND at the Glenrowan Tourist Centre.
âThis mulitimillion dollar anamatronic show IS NOT A PICTURE THEATRE it is an interactive theatre production
Through the brilliance of animation and computerised robots, you will be transferred back in time, over 100 years, to witness the events that led up to the capture of the Kelly Gang.
Starting as hostages in the Hotel, and then onto gunfights â burning buildings â a decent hanging, and finishing in our magnificent painting gallery.
The show is educational, historically correct and entertaining.
The show runs for 40 minutes every half hour (separate rooms) from 10:00am to 4.30pm daily.
The Glenrowan Tourist Centre is fully air conditioned. The theatre can seat up to 50 people at any one time.
The Kelly Gangâs last stand has become an Australian folk legend, however views are divided about how it should be remembered. . . .â
After the show in Glenrowan Martin drove with us to Wangaretta where we had an excellent lunch in the Preview Cafe.
We also had coffee and some desert!
Stopping at the Tolmie Tavern. This was probably on Tuesday when we were there. It said on the sign âWHERE NOTHING EVER HAPPENSâ, and true enough: Nothing did happen! And we had thought, weâd get some lunch there! But no, everything looked closed and deserted.
We ended up having lunch a bit further on. I think it may have taken us close to two hours before we actually did have some lunch and decent toilets! Before we arrived at that beautiful old Tatong Tavern we had a good look at the Stringybark Creek Historic Reserve:
So, at the Tatong Tavern we ended up having a splendid lunch. I asked for vegetarian and did get this beautiful meal:
Now back to Dapto in New South Wales and the beautiful trees in Lakelands Park in Morning Sunshine:
These trees are my favourite destination when I go for my walk early in the morning.
Our daughter Gabriele would have been 62 on 28 August. I found this little picture in memory of her.
AW. A lovely artwork of your precious daughter.  I know you miss her every day and you think of her. Hold on to those wonderful memories. (((HUGS))) PS⊠I love trees! They give life to our lives and add peace, beauty, joy, etc.! Canât imagine even a day without seeing trees. (And I have hugged a few and talked to a few! ) Reply
Thank you so much for your comment, dear Carolyn. Yes, all these memories are very important. And these trees are a big incentive for me to do a bit of walking. Peter usually goes for a walk too, early in the morning that is, but he goes on a faster ten minute walk. When he comes close to the trees, he may stop for a minute to talk to me. This morning we went out for a walk, even though there was no sun out, no sun at all. It turned out to be cloudy all day, and later on we did have some rain. Good steady rain. Everything looks very fresh. HUGS, Uta I copied all the above in response toDecember
Writing Challenge/ Prompts11. Describe a typical day-in-the-life. Share some photos and give details about an average day. How do you make even the mundane feel special? 12. Creature of Habit: Did you form a new habit this year? Or continue with an old one? Is it a good habit? Or one youâd like to break? More or less the early morning walks are a continuation of an old habit both for Peter and me. I reckon this habit is extremely beneficial for us!
This post is in response to the prompt for Day 9: Describe a moment of beauty that you witnessed this year. To participate or find out more information about #Manifest20 click here:
Category: #Manifest20
Here is a picture of our lovely baby Caroline with me at North Wollongong Beach.
I am 44 in this photo. I think our dog was already 13 or 14 years at the time.
I like to mention here three books I did read one year ago and that made quite an impression on me. Last year I copied some details about these books without mentioning my own opinion about any of the books. But as an introduction to the first book I wrote:
DI MORRISSEY seems to be my favourite author at the moment. The most recent book of hers that I read is: âThe Winter Seaâ.
Peter said, I should write something about what I felt about these books.
So, the first thing that came to mind is that in each book there are some main characters that I feel very comfortable with. And of course there are some other characters that I would not feel very comfortable with but even the more âbadâ characters do have a few likable features. That means the characters feel quite real to me.
In each of the three books there are some male/female relationships that are great to read about. In each book there are some rather strong female characters. But even these very strong females do like a good man a lot! Despite a number of difficulties all these females end up with simply good men â at least for a while.
âThe Winter Seaâ novel by Di Morrissey is for the most part set into an environment that I am very familiar with. It deals with a family history that encompasses nearly one hundred years and shows what happens to immigrants to Australia that come from different backgrounds, for instance Italian and Irish.
Greg Iles is a New York Times bestselling author. He wrote BLOOD MEMORY. Cat (Catherine) Ferry is a most interesting character. It shows what may happen to a person that has been abused as a child.
Well, the third book âTHE GOOD DAUGHTERâ by Karin Slaughter, is a very well written book too. There are actually wo daughters, both of them I see as main characters. To my mind both are âgoodâ daughters, even though they are totally different. Maybe one is more the good daughter of the father, the other one the good daughter of the mother. So which counts for more?
The following three links to my auntielive site show you some interesting details about the three above mentioned books:
On November 30, 2019 Robin â Patchworkmomma- wrote:
âHow would you like to manifest your dreams this coming year? Join me in a month of reflection. Throughout December I will post daily writing prompts on the #Manifest20 page accessed from my blog menu at the top of my site. The idea is to reflect about the previous year and set intentions for 2020. Itâs the start of a new decade after all! Anything is possible.
This idea is not a new one. Ten years ago I first participated in the Reverb10 project, created by Gwen Bell, and met lots of lovely people (virtually, that is). To read a little about the history, click here. The original bloggers who started the project quickly moved on to other things the following year. Several bloggers picked up where they left off, but over the years the community sort fizzled out as careers changed, babies were born, and other life events took over. Iâm suggesting continuing the December writing challenge with a new name: Manifest20. âŠ.â
âAnswer one prompt. Answer all the prompts. Answer some of the prompts. Maybe just answer the prompt in a Tweet or as an Instagram post. Or perhaps answer the prompt with a photo or graphic. Be creative, let loose.â
7. Post your favorite photo of yourself taken during the past year.
8. If money was no object, is there anything you would purchase that would help you fulfill a dream next year? What would it be and how would it change your life?
I was pretty busy over the weekend this is why I now want to catch up with Nr.7 and 8:
I start with Nr. 8. I think money is always an object, sort of. I reckon Peter and I live a fairly comfortable life in our retirement since we own our own small three bedroom cottage. We have always been very careful about staying within our means.Sometimes wethink that it would be nice to have a bit more money. But we are not the sort of people who constantly think about doing something just to have more, more, more.
There are certain basic things we would like to have in our old age that would make life a bit more comfortable for us. We would like for instance to have enough money to pay for some regular cleaning services. We are getting more and more feeble. Some cleaning and maintenance jobs are just getting too hard for us!
Now to Nr. 7:
I walked to this tree on a cool winter morning in August 2019. Peter took this picture of me. This is one of my favourite trees. I am glad I can still go on these early morning walks with the help of my walking stick. I really enjoy walking in the morning. Often it is cloudy now or even smoky from all the bushfires. So an early morning with clear air and a bit of sunshine is very special!
Now, in December, we are in the midst of summer in Australia. The last few months it was often hazy with clouds all over the sky, yet we had hardly any rain and everything dries out a lot. And this is nearly everywhere in Australia. So the bushfires all over Australia are extremely worrying this year. Some bushfires have been going already for many months and are steadily on the increase, threatening communities. The firefighters have a hard time keeping the flames away from built up areas. A few people already lost properties that could not be saved from the approaching bushfires. Some of the firefighters, poor chaps, get hardly any rest and have at times to cope with less than three hours sleep! It is always good to hear when new helpers arrive to support the struggling firefighters. A lot of the firefighters actually are volunteers. There is a rumour that some volunteers get their normal pay only by forgoing some holiday pay. I think they should get extra holiday pay! How about government payouts for the firefighting effort? I wonder whether this is being considered. . . .auntyuta Copy, Diary, Life in Australia, Old Age2 Comments 2 MinutesEdit”Manifest20 Prompts”
Choose one word which you would like to embody during 2020 as a sort of theme for the year. How would you like to see this word manifest in your life?
Who inspired you in 2019? Why? What gifts did they give you? How will you carry these forward in 2020?
What made you feel joyful in 2019? What steps can you take to create more joyful moments in the coming year?
What goals did you accomplish in 2019 that youâre proud of? How will your achievement continue to benefit you or others in the future?
What musical discovery did you make this year? Share a memory involving music or tell us what artist or song would feature on the soundtrack of your life for 2019?
What surprised you in 2019
Today I want to write about Nr. 6!
So, what surprised me in 2019?
Did it surprise me that Greta Thunberg continued to get so much media attention? She is a very determined young woman, only sixteen, but she stuck it out, did not hesitate to live by her principles. To find supporters that made it possible for her to travel for instance by boat to the Americas and back again. Well, this was quite an achievement!
Yes, in a way it did surprise me that Greta was able to get such an enormous support!
I want to keep it brief. So I only want to mention, that I find it surprising that so many people these days are able to live into their eighties or nineties. I would be surprised, if Peter and I were able to make it to the nineties! Somehow, I cannot quite imagine it. I am surprised about every year that we are still alive.
Just recently I was surprised that independent Senator Jacqui Lambie voted with the government to repeal the medevac bill. It does not seem to make sense, not at all.
Here is an interesting link to an article about the repeal bill:
Australia is at present in the grip of enormous draught as well as disastrous bushfires with soaring temperatures and extremely strong winds. The government says, this is quite normal for Australia. A lot of people here want to talk about it why there is so much climate change, but the government says there is no need to talk about it or to do something about it. Am I surprised that our government acts this way? No, not at all. The Australian voters voted the present government in. It surprised me at the time. And Iâll be still more surprised, should they be voted in again at the next election.
On November 30, 2019 Robin â Patchworkmomma- wrote:
âHow would you like to manifest your dreams this coming year? Join me in a month of reflection. Throughout December I will post daily writing prompts on the #Manifest20 page accessed from my blog menu at the top of my site. The idea is to reflect about the previous year and set intentions for 2020. Itâs the start of a new decade after all! Anything is possible.
This idea is not a new one. Ten years ago I first participated in the Reverb10 project, created by Gwen Bell, and met lots of lovely people (virtually, that is). To read a little about the history, click here. The original bloggers who started the project quickly moved on to other things the following year. Several bloggers picked up where they left off, but over the years the community sort fizzled out as careers changed, babies were born, and other life events took over. Iâm suggesting continuing the December writing challenge with a new name: Manifest20. âŠ.â
âAnswer one prompt. Answer all the prompts. Answer some of the prompts. Maybe just answer the prompt in a Tweet or as an Instagram post. Or perhaps answer the prompt with a photo or graphic. Be creative, let loose.â
Choose one word which you would like to embody during 2020 as a sort of theme for the year. How would you like to see this word manifest in your life?
Who inspired you in 2019? Why? What gifts did they give you? How will you carry these forward in 2020?
What made you feel joyful in 2019? What steps can you take to create more joyful moments in the coming year?
What goals did you accomplish in 2019 that youâre proud of? How will your achievement continue to benefit you or others in the future?
What musical discovery did you make this year? Share a memory involving music or tell us what artist or song would feature on the soundtrack of your life for 2019?
I already made an effort to answer the first four. Now to Nr. 5. What musical discovery did I make this year?
I can only say that music is very important to me. When I get up in the morning, one of the first things I do, is switch on the radio to see whether there is something good to listen to on the ABCâc classical music program. When I move around to do things, I like to have some music in the background. Good dance music I like too, for to move to some music makes moving easier! Even some Jazz or Country music makes me want to move around a bit.
I think it is great that I can find a lot of music on YouTube! At the moment Peter and I aim at listening to a Berlin Philharmonic Concert every Sunday. We have a lot of these concerts on DVD, and listening to one of them and watching the orchestra playing is a special Sunday treat for us. We hope to be able to keep these Sunday concerts going well into the next year!
4. What goals did you accomplish in 2019 that youâre proud of? How will your achievement continue to benefit you or others in the future?
I am elderly, this is why I walk with the help of a walking stick. In the morning, after a bit of stretching, I manage quite regularly to go out for a little walk. Peter, my husband, does the same. He can still walk twice as fast. So he walks ahead. He walks a bit further than I do. I usually walk to a section of some trees that I love. Near these trees I often wait for Peter and he meets me then on his return from his walk. We talk for a few moments. Then he walks on along the footpath back home, while I walk back home along a grassy area. I love to walk along the grass in the early morning sun. For me this is quite an achievement that I can still do this. Mind you, I carry my walking stick. This gives me good support so that I am not in danger of having a fall in case of some unevenness in the grass.
This picture was taken when the grass was still quite green.
The last few months we had hardly any rain and everything dries out too much. All over Australia are lots and lots of bushfires and grassfires. We had a few heatwaves and great gusts of wind. But no fires close by and hardly any smoke. But Sydney is suffering from a lot of smoke right now from bushfires in the west of Sydney.
This picture I took quite recently. It shows how dry everything is!
I like to spend some time hugging these trees.
When I walk across the grass, I can beat Peter: To walk along the footpath is longer distance. So, I wait for Peter at the other end, and he is happy to see me and stops for a moment to talk to me. Sometimes I meet some of my neighbours during my outing in the morning, and they stop and talk to me for a while.
This woman, daughter of a refugee family, born in Berlin in 1978, achieved already a lot in politics, but sadly is threatened by some far right people.
Now to Nr. 3: What made me feel joyful in 2019? I would have to say overall this is writing. To create more joyful moments in the coming year? Well, if at all possible, I want to continue writing at least a little bit on a dayly basis, and when this is not possible, then at least I intend doing a bit of reading. I also intend grabbing opportunities to communicate with as many people as possible. I know, there can be a lot of joyful moments in my life, if only I stay positive. There seems to be always something in my long life I can be grateful for.
And here is a link to a post by Patchworkmomma about a joyful holiday in Thailand:
It has been just over a year since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress in the United States. She was sworn in on January 3rd 2019. Over the last year I have been continually inspired by her courage, compassion, and integrity. If she is already this formidable at age 29, I can only imagine how much stronger she will become with more time and experience.
Her values align with my own. I think itâs refreshing to see someone in power who wants everyone to have the same opportunities. I admire how articulate and unwavering AOC is in each of the following videos, addressing issues which are important in America and beyond:
Climate Change
Campaign Finance Laws
Immigration and ICE
The fact that AOCâs campaign was a grassroots success story is another cause for celebration. In the second video she breaks down in simple terms how flawedâŠ
In my writing I want to speak to people, meaning it would be good if people felt spoken to when reading something I have written. I like it, when people respond to something that I have written.
I want to be aware that it is very important to listen to people and to respond in some way.
The following is a writing challenge from Robin aka Patchworkmomma:
December Writing Challenge/ Prompts:
Choose one word which you would like to embody during 2020 as a sort of theme for the year. How would you like to see this word manifest in your life?
My answer: I would like âwritingâ to be a great part of the rest of my life, meaning, since I am already 85, I honestly cannot expect to live all that much longer. This makes every day, that I am still alive, extra special. Accordingly, my aim is, to make really good use of every extra day! How can I make good use of the time that is still given to me? For instance, I can continue to enjoy meeting family and friends as often as possible. Also, I can try connecting with my blogger friends as often as possible. I hope, that during the month of December I may be able to somewhat succeed in all of this. I hope, doing a bit of meditating every day may help me to get ready for this challenge.
Maybe, writing and meeting family and friends could also be sort of a theme for me for the following year, 2020!
And here is another Writing Challenge:
2. Who inspired you in 2019? Why? What gifts did they give you? How will you carry these forward in 2020?
Greta Thunberg inspired me in 2019! Listening to her speeches I became more and more aware that we are in a crisis and that too many people still try to ignore how extreme climate change is going to change all our lives.
I took the above pictures this morning. Today is Sunday, the 1st of December, which is the First Sunday of Advent for 2019.
I would prefer to have an âAdventskranzâ made of fresh fir-tree branches. But I am proud that I kept this Adventskranz that we have had for many years.
Recently I reblogged something I wrote about the German customs of having an Adventskranz:
âAt this time of the year memories keep coming back about how we celebrated the Advents Sundays during the late 1930s and early 1940s. During those years we always had an âAdventskranzâ with four, thick, usually red, candles. On each Advent Sunday one more candle would be lighted. The âKranzâ was made up of fresh fir-tree branches. When we sat down with one, two, three or four candles lit, my little brother and I would be allowed to do some âkokelnâ, but of course always under supervision by Mum. âKokelnâ would mean that Mum gave us a beautiful fresh twig of the fir-tree branches to hold over a burning candle. This made a fantastic smell. Oh, how we loved this smell. I could tell, Mum loved it too. This quickly brought us into the mood to sing some Christmas songs.â
“The question comes up a lot among widowed and those who are interested in dating them â how soon after the death of a spouse is it considered appropriate to begin dating/or pursuing?
This isnât Gone With the Wind times. Scarlett knew the rules on widowed decorum because society at that time spelled it out. Mourning lasted for one year. You wore black. Attempted to look resolute and somber, smiling wanly as you sat out your âblack-shirtedâ year on the wallflower bench. It may have sucked, but everyone was clear on the time frame and waited (while perhaps discreetly lining up suitors for once the deadline had passed).
Today? Not so clear. Whereas the newly broken up or divorced are free to take the field again as soon as they like, the widowed must navigate religious, family and community rules on the subject, and they vary. Sometimes a lot. Sometimes simultaneously.
So how soon is too soon?
The best answer I ever heard was something along the lines of âtaking a date to the funeral, or hooking up in the crying room of the funeral home, is probably a faux pas, but otherwise, itâs up to you.â
And it is. Up to you.
Stereotypes say that men date sooner and remarry more quickly than women do, and there is statistical validity in this. Average time frame for widowers who remarry is about two â three years while for widows, itâs three to five years. But, having children or not, being younger or older and your general state of resiliency in the face of tragedy plays into this as well.
Younger widowed date and remarry sooner, and at higher rates, than older ones. Once a widow hits 65, the odds for remarriage fall off sharply.
Widowed with children date and remarry with ease or not depending on the age of the children, and believe it or not â adult children can be the worst to deal with when it comes to dating and remarriage with teenagers coming in an unsurprising second.
But when? At what magical point in the days, weeks or month after a spouse dies is dating permitted?
I signed up for eHarmony at just shy of six months out from my husbandâs death. eHarmony wasnât a good format fit for me, and I abandoned the effort after a few weeks and only meeting a police officer who looked like Lurch with a bad comb-over. Next I tried to cultivate a dating minded relationship with an industrial tech teacher Iâd met through my masterâs program that summer. He suddenly wanted to âjust be friendsâ when he found out I had a child. Then it was back to online with Cupid.com, which I found out after the fact is a well-known âhook up mostlyâ site. The majority of men I met through it were varying degrees of depressing in their hunt for on-call girlfriends.
It was while taking a break from dating that Rob appeared. Our relationship began online, and as friends, but when it was clear to us that this could be more, we deliberately took that step, kept moving forward and havenât looked back.
So itâs always technically an option to date. More widowed than will admit to it try to date at some point within the first year. Some people even begin dating with weeks or a few months. But there are those who wait out the so-called year deadline of propriety too, and others who buy wholeheartedly into the notion that they must âwork at their grievingâ to get it all out of their system before trying to move on in any aspect of their lives, dating included.
You can date whenever you like. In my opinion, and experience, when thinking about it begins to more of a logistical âhow will I do itâ rather than a daydream to chase away sadness, you are probably ready to look into it at the very least.
A couple of cautions:
1) Your family and friends will be at different stages of âready for you to dateâ than you are. Taking their feelings into account is good, but donât forget that they have their own lives to mind and should leave the minding of yours to you. If you werenât living your life by committee prior to your spouseâs death, donât start now. You canât please everyone, and what other people â even your kids â think about you isnât your business anyway. Generally, if you have good, supportive relationships with kids, extended family and friends, this will all work out and they will be happy and supportive. Be patient. Donât be a doormat.
2) You are dating. Your kids are not. Try to avoid a revolving door of dates where underage kids are concerned. Only introduce them to people you feel you have a future with, and when you do, expect them to behave like well-brought up humans. Disrespect shouldnât be tolerated.
If problems arise with adult children, remind them that they should spend their time and energy minding their own lives. You donât tell them how to live or who to love and they donât have the right to tell you anything either. Once you hand the keys of your dating life over to your kids, they wonât give them back, and do you really want to be that old man or woman, whose adult children talk to them as though they were small fluffy purse puppies?
3) Be honest about what you want out of dating with yourself and the people you date. If itâs just fun and sex, say so. If you are in the market for more â act like you are.
4) Which brings me to this: if you are in the habit of using your widowhood to manipulate situations and people, you arenât ready to date. And donât look so innocent. You know what I am talking about â playing the âwidow cardâ. Widowed who are truly ready to date do not use their widowhood to control the pace of a relationship or coerce their girl/boyfriends into accepting unilateral terms of engagement. Playing the widow card in the relationship arena is a no-no. Itâs manipulative and unfair, and frankly, widowed who do this are the worst kinds of assholes.
Finally, itâs okay not to date. Or even ever want to. Some widowed find contentment and even a lot of joy in being single and unattached. If the idea of dating makes you nauseous, or seems like something best put up on a shelf for the time being, thereâs nothing wrong with that.
The point is that the days of donning mourning for public displays of grieving for specific periods of time are long over. Anyone who is spouting rules and timelines at you has an ulterior agenda, and you are within your rights to question them and it.
Itâs your life and only you know whatâs best. Even if you arenât sure, meeting a guy or gal for coffee never hurt anybody, and enjoying the occasional Starbuckâs isnât a commitment to anything.”
Peter found a series of old German Christmas songs in the computer. It was very rewarding to be able to listen to all these songs while celebrating the First of Advent.
A picture from the computer of the Vienna Boyâs Choir singing German Christmas songs.
We listened to a lot of Christmas songs by different groups and artists. They all sang the German texts that we are still quite familiar with, bringing back memories to what it was like when we were children. Here some names of the songs: O Tannenbaum, O du fröhliche, Ave Maria, Kling Glöckchen kling, Leise rieselt der Schnee, and so on.
We had tea and German âOblaten Lebkuchenâ.
Then I could not help myself taking a few more pictures!
“German and Austrian Christmas customs have spread throughout the world wherever Christmas (Weihnachten) is celebrated. From the Christmas tree (Tannenbaum) to “Silent Night” (“Stille Nacht“) and on to the Advent calendar (Adventskalender), people around the globe have adopted many traditions that began in the German-speaking world.”
The Christmas songs, that I remember from my childhood, have a special meaning for me. Some songs were very joyful, others more reflective, that is âbesinnlichâ. Besinnlich meant we became deeply and seriously thoughtful while singing these songs . This kind of singing appealed to me. Advent was the only time of the year when my family would sing some songs together. And it went on for four Sunday afternoons in a row. After the fourth Sunday of Advent some serious preparations for Christmas Eve started. We children were not included in these preparations. As children we therefore became highly impatient while we were waiting for Christmas Eve â âHeiligabendâ .
“Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht,” and “O du fröhliche” were very popular songs during my childhood. (I was born in 1934.)
German
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, Alles schlÀft; einsam wacht Nur das traute hochheilige Paar. Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar, Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh! Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh!
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, Hirten erst kundgemacht Durch der Engel Halleluja, Tönt es laut von fern und nah: Christ, der Retter ist da! Christ, der Retter ist da!
Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht, Gottes Sohn, o wie lacht Lieb’ aus deinem göttlichen Mund , Da uns schlĂ€gt die rettende Stund’. Christ, in deiner Geburt! Christ, in deiner Geburt!
Words: Joseph Mohr, 1816 Music: Franz Xaver Gruber, 1818
English
Silent night, holy night All is calm all is bright ‘Round yon virgin Mother and Child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace Sleep in heavenly peace
Silent night, holy night, Shepherds quake at the sight. Glories stream from heaven afar, Heav’nly hosts sing Alleluia; Christ the Savior is born Christ the Savior is born
Silent night, holy night, Son of God, love’s pure light. Radiant beams from Thy holy face, With the dawn of redeeming grace, Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth
O du fröhliche This very popular German Christmas carol has Italian origins. In 1788 the German philosopher, theologian, and poet Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744-1803) brought the melody to Germany after a trip to Italy. Originally a Sicilian fisherman’s song, the melody was used for the Latin hymn “O Sanctissima.” Around 1816 Johannes Daniel Falk (1768-1826) wrote the German lyrics for what soon became one of the most popular German Weihnachtslieder. The English version is known as “O How Joyfully.”
O du fröhliche O You Merry (Christmastide)
MELODIE: Sizilianisches Fischerlied – Johann Gottfried von Herder (1788) TEXT: Johannes Daniel Falk (1816)
DEUTSCH Johannes Daniel Falk, 1816O du fröhliche, o du selige, Gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit! Welt ging verloren, Christ ist geboren, Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit! O du fröhliche, o du selige, Gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit! Christ ist erschienen, Uns zu versöhnen, Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit! O du fröhliche, o du selige, Gnadenbringende Weihnachtszeit! Himmlische Heere Jauchzen dir Ehre, Freue, freue dich, o Christenheit!
ENGLISH (lit. prose) See poetic version belowO you merry, o you blessed, Merciful Christmastide! The world was lost, Christ was born, Rejoice, rejoice o Christendom! O you merry, o you blessed, Merciful Christmastide! Christ appeared, To reconcile us, Rejoice, rejoice o Christendom! O you merry, o you blessed, Merciful Christmastide! Heavenly hosts, Exult your honor, Rejoice, rejoice o Christendom!
English poetic version, author unknown O How Joyfully (O du fröhliche)
O how joyfully, o how blessedly, Comes the glory of Christmastime! To a world so lost in sin, Christ the Savior, enters in: Praise Him, praise Him Christians, evermore!
O how joyfully, o how blessedly, Comes the glory of Christmastime! Jesus, born in lowly stall, With His grace redeems us all: Praise Him, praise Him Christians, evermore!
O how joyfully, o how blessedly, Comes the glory of Christmastime! Hosts of angels from on high, Sing, rejoicing, in the sky: Praise Him, praise Him Christians, evermore!
AuntyUta 