Stuff and Things

We have been enjoying our July. Neither of us can believe how fast time is flying, we have now been here 9 months! The German summer is treating us well. Our favorite things about the seasons include... swimming at the Sulz, grilling, and all of the amazing fresh fruits and vegetables. We recently had the best strawberries that either of us have had in our lives!

Last Sunday, we attended what turned out to be pretty much summer camp for adults. Bayer provides expats with all sort of extra-curricular activities to help introduce you to your new country and culture. Last weekend we took a tour of a falconry and took archery lessons. We met a lot of nice people from all around the world, I think there were people from ten different countries present.

I have been staying busy with commission work, and Z is more than busy at work, and loving every minute of it. We love our evenings together, cooking and having "family time"; the boys get so excited when they hear Z's footsteps coming up the stairs.

We will be away for a week on an adventure, so till then...

Newton, post swimming and in the best mood

Trying REALLY hard to hit a bulls eye

I was so excited when I saw this guy, I wanted to salute him and sing the national anthem

I was hoping this massive owl would snatch the annoying child in the first row, but no such luck.

Evening walks

Our "watchdog"

Grass, much taller than me

Small things

Random

Rain, rain and more rain. I don't even remembered the last time I watered any of my plants, in fact. I have been systematically brining them inside to try to ovoid them being consumed by mold. One lovely part of this rain though, is the cool nights. With no air conditioning, the summer nights can be brutal  here. So the nice cool evening breezes are much appreciated.

Evidently it is a 10,000 Euro fine if you get caught using round-up on your lawn.

The Euocup is in full force and it is one big deal here. We watched the German vs. Slovakia game on Sunday in an old German barns with probably half our town. They are nuts, but we had fun. We drank plenty of beer and ate plenty of sausage.

Zach went to a football game last weekend, and by football I mean American style football. He had some interesting observations, like, there were more cheerleaders than players. And that players that didn't speak German had a big "A" on their helmets standing for auslander, this was to let the ref know that they needed to speak English. He also remarked that the football itself was really "slow", but they Germans seemed REALLY  into it.

Been yelled at twice this week.

Dogs are good, we are good, it's all good.

Lately

It has been rainy here of late, really rainy. Surprisingly though... I don't mind. I would much rather have rain than a 95 degree day. Is that weird? We have been enjoying little bouts of sunlight here and there, Germany is so green and lush.

Bayer is still reorganizing, and with that comes change. We know we are going to stay where we are but even the small changes are making a little extra work (aka paper work) for us. Hopefully by the end of the summer it will be all sorted. The Germans do love their paperwork.

Zach has been busy at work and I have been busy at home. I love where we live and I love that I have two furry buddies to keep me company during the day. I gave Newton a haircut earlier this week. It was an epic undertaking.... but I think he is happy with his new doo, and I am happy that I can finally keep a closer eye on his ever so sensitive skin.

Neither of us can believe we are nearing another end to a month. Time is really flying. We have family coming to visit in July, which we are both looking forward to. It will finally be nice to completely share with someone what our life is about over here.

The Euro Cup is in full swing here, and man, these Europeans do love their soccer. Germany plays again on Sunday and we are going to head down to the local Bier Garten to see what all the fuss is about.


Oh, and my new favorite German word..... Schleim...sounds like slime- translation... boogers

Whats New

Eating: Cous Cous

Reading: "The Name of the Wind"

Seeing: GREEN

Loving: Thunder storms and beeswax candles

Watching: "Hetty Wainthrop Investigates"

Relief: Z found a medicine that is actually working for his allergies

Flowers and Things

Summer is in the air, literally. Poor Z's allergies are so bad we had to sleep in our guest bedroom last night (because the windows had been closed all day), and taking the dogs for a walk is next to impossible. I hope this doesn't last all summer... I feel like he is missing out on some AMAZINGLY gorgeous floral life. The colors and scents are to die for, at least I am getting to enjoy it.