A new year, remembering days gone past....

Some weeks ago my ex (finally) gave me some cartridges of slides. He prefered slides over paper film but we rarily got to see them... such a hassle to set up a projector and screen! (P.S. I assume you all heard that Kodacrome film is no longer being made and/or developed? Go google it....). Anyway, since the older madel slide scanner he gave me wouldn't work on my comp, I went and bought a newer one and finally started scanning the slides.

The quality is not as good as vieweing them on a screen, but at least I have managed to digitalize some of them finally. Among them are some awesomely cute pictures of my kids!

I think this is one of my new favs... me with my daughter, Regina, on Christmas 1977...

and my son, Carsten....

and Regina practicing to become a good mommy...

 

It's almost hard to believe that they both now each have two children of their own!

Last night I attended an Irish Dance performance with my friend Kornelia, one of my dancers and now good friend. The two of us went on the Greek Island Cruise last May together and had a great time! We then went to her home, which is only a 3 minute drive from mine, to talk and watch fireworks (which are legal for private use only on New Years). So I got off to a very nice start in the New Year!

Welcome 2011! May you bring joy and HAPPY surprises!

Dorrie

JS New Years

Remember the New Year's entries I used to make on JS? Well, I got nostalgic this morning and copied the ones from 2006/2007 into the journalspace-revival homepage. If you haven't checked it out yet, do so now!

Journalspace New Year's Party

And for 2010/2011 I wish all of you....

Dorrie aka Westy

Christmas 2010 Part II

Christmas days continued..... this time at my apartment. I managed to get the fire going in the fireplace all by my lonesome!

I cooked a festive meal which I think they all enjoyed...

Shiana (3) looks happy...

and Priyasha (almost 2) liked her present (a doll house)..

and on Sunday I had all my girls around me!

At any rate, I had lovely days with my family this year! And yes, I really do feel blessed!

Dorrie

Christmas 2010 Part I

Having two sets of grandkids, and enjoying separate visits with both, I'll make my Christmas entries at least a two parter. So here's part I:

Christmas Eve / Christmas day
Christmas Eve my son-to-be-new-son-in-law, Sven, picked me up so I wouldn't have to drive in the very snowy and icy roads. We have had more snow this year then EVER and yes, we had a WHITE CHRISTMAS!

Sven's parents were also visiting. Following German tradition, presents were opened Christmas Eve, after attending a children's church service, and then we had the huge Christmas dinner, lovingly prepared by my daughter. Here are some pictures to enjoy...

Emely sees the presents under the tree for the first time...

Once again the kids got spoiled rotten! lol

and around midnight it snowed some more (that's Sven's mom)....

and this is what the balcony looked like the next morning...

After breakfast on Christmas day Regina drove me back home and in the afternoon son Carsten came to my place with family for dinner (and report Part II later).

I hope all of you had as great a Christmas as mine was!!

Dorrie

Tamara spends the night

It was fun having Tamara spend the night. I think she enjoyed it, too.

This was her comfy place for the night....

And I let her try on a dress of mine.... that I wore in 1959, as flower girl at a wedding...

and me in 1959...

And with the tree decorations, she made her own nativity set...

Dorrie

and still more winter!

This has been the crazies winter I have ever experience here in Germany. We have NEVER, in the 40 years I've lived here, that my area has had so much snow and for so long. So many accidents, too. Trucks are getting stuck, in some parts they have closed the Autobahn to all truck traffic. Of course that means no deliveries of stuff, including gas to the stations. Air traffic is also slowed... de-icing fluid is running out of stock, as are snow shovels at the stores.

Normally we get maybe one or two days of wet, mushy, dirty snow, then weeks of nothing. But last season we got lots and now this season is outdoing it already.

But I must admit, IT'S BEAUTIFUL!

The drive to my village....

a Catholic church I walk past every day...(this was taken at 07:00 am)

Out shopping mall...

Our Christmas market...(with the snow shoveled away, not melted)

I set up my Christmas tree today... it's not decorated yet, though. And I have a surprise over-night guest. My oldest granddaughter, Tamara, has been wanting to spend the night with me and so my daughter suggested tonight. OK, no problem with me! She's now sound asleep in the big guest bed....and tomorrow we'll decorate the tree.

It's now my bed time...

Dorrie

more winter!!

the weather has been so crazy... it's really unbelievable. For the past weeks we've been having snowy/icy conditions. Last night after doing some more English exams, I drove home in pouring rain...which melted most of the snow. Today, it continued raining... and I mean RAINING! Tonight, on my way to dance class.... I left the house in pouring rain. Half way there it started turning to snow flakes.


Dance class last 1.5 hours. My car had disappeared under inches of snow!! I brushed it off and VERY slowly drove home. Luckily everyone (except one idiot... there is always one), also drove slowly.... and I made it safe and sound. It's a winter wonderland outside.... beautiful!! No idea if I'll be able to drive to work tomorrow, though.

In all my years in Germany, I have never experienced such a winter. Usually the snow days are short and few... or just ugly mushy (except in higher elevations, of course). But last season we had lots of snow ... and this year, too.

This picture I took the other day....

 I think the snow is much more then this, just within the past two hours!

This is our State theater, newly renovated.....

The lot the theater is built on there once existed a palace of one of Queen Victoria's granddaughters. Unfortunately the palace got destroyed in WWII.

Anyway, that's another look into Westy's World!

Dorrie