One more thing for today

This was outside my kitchen window this morning...


So cute! I think she's about 4 weeks old. Her mama and a couple other cows live there, too, but they're often in the next field over. Fun to have them right out the window!

Muenster Send

I went last night to a festival here called Send. It is basically a miniature version of the State Fair, with rides, food, vendors, except that it was held in front of a huge castle here in the city and the food wasn't on sticks. John coined it the Great Muenster Get Together. The people watching was spectacular, although not too unlike what you would find in Minnesota.


Nick, John, and Martin under flattering green light:


We didn't go on the ferris wheel...


But Nick and I did go on this, the "Break Dance":


The four of us then went on one of those boat things that swings on a huge pendulum, and the Wilde Maus roller coaster, which was sketchy enough to scare us all. Once was enough on that ride.

It was a fun night, complete with bratwurst, currywurst, pommes and warm candied almonds. Mmmm. Might go back today with Josie.

German efficiency

Ever-efficient, the Germans have created packaging that, when the mustard is gone, can be used as a water glass. Evidently they've been doing this since the 60s, and people have cupboards full of them. Kind of the German equivalent to the Uptown pint glass.

Recent Days

It has been lovely here the past couple of days, although today is gray and rainy. Fortunately I was able to get out into the sunshine a bunch before the clouds rolled in again. I didn't really think the sun shone in this part of Germany, but it turns out it really does, and the fall here has been beautiful.

Went into the city with John and Josie a couple days ago. She snapped this pic of John and me, and if you look closely, you can actually see us.


And, as usual, my walks with Aengus lately have been the highlight of each day. These yellow plants are called Raps and are used to make biofuel. There are fields of them everywhere here, and even though I already have about a thousand pics of them, I can't seem to help taking more.


I took a ton of pictures on our walk yesterday. We were out for about an hour and forty-five minutes, and went along the river Werse, through some fields and a bauernhof (farm), and then back through the woods. It's the best of everything.








Oh, and I gave Aengus a bath on Sunday. Apparently not liking being clean, he decided yesterday on our walk to immerse himself belly-deep in mud. I was too stunned to take a picture of that, but this is the aftermath of his second bath in two days. That floor is normally white.


There are so many other fun things to take pictures of here. I will try to move on to something other than countryside!

Until next time...

Dinner

Went to dinner last night at Franky's and had the most amazing meal. So good that I asked the chef how to prepare it. It was schnitzel (like a pounded pork fillet) with equal parts onion and dijon mustard, but the onions and the mustard were underneath the lightest of breadings, made only of flour and egg. It was divine. No pics of the food, but here's one of a seriously satisfied Kate.


Also, twice so far today I have heard hooves on the street outside, only to look up and find people riding horses past the house. It's a strange thing to trade the sound of airplane traffic for the sound of horses. I'm not missing the airplanes...

A blog

Didn't think I would ever have a blog, but it seems to be a good way to document my adventures in Germany. I took the photo in the header at a castle called Burg Vischering, just south of Muenster, which was built in the 1200s.

This is along one of my many walking routes in Kasewinkel with Aengus:




And this is my new ride....



Everyone here rides bikes!