Happy August to all my friends and readers
New Calendar picture with this
beautiful watercolour painting by Franka Koebsch
"Sommerwiese mit Mohnblüten"
beautiful watercolour painting by Franka Koebsch
"Sommerwiese mit Mohnblüten"
"Cranes and Deer in the Meadows"
Frank says to this picture:
"Our small, colourful year-round singers - the goldfinches. They like all kinds of seeds, but teasels and thistles are particular delicacies. In 2016 they were named 'Bird of the Year'."
"Unsere kleinen bunten Ganzjahressänger - die Distelfinken. Sie mögen Samen aller Art, aber besondere Leckerbissen sind Karden und Disteln. Im Jahr 2016 wurden sie zum 'Vogel des Jahres' gekürt.."
Read more on their website here. *
"Our small, colourful year-round singers - the goldfinches. They like all kinds of seeds, but teasels and thistles are particular delicacies. In 2016 they were named 'Bird of the Year'."
"Unsere kleinen bunten Ganzjahressänger - die Distelfinken. Sie mögen Samen aller Art, aber besondere Leckerbissen sind Karden und Disteln. Im Jahr 2016 wurden sie zum 'Vogel des Jahres' gekürt.."
Read more on their website here. *
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July was far too hot for me. I cannot stand any heat, I just seem to be functioning on a very reduced level and can only wait for the end of the season to be feeling alive again. And no, you won't hear me complain that it gets too cold in winter. I can always wear another layer of clothing. Having just written that, I noticed that I talked about that last month, as well. But it still bothers me.
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Do you know the Word "Schadenfreude". It's a German compositum of the words "Schaden" for "Harm" and "Freude" for "Joy". Wikipedia explains it like this: "... is the experience of pleasure, joy, or self-satisfaction that comes from learning of or witnessing the troubles, failures, pain, suffering, or humiliation of another." Sometimes, it can be excused if someone does something bad and is more or less "punished" through it backfiring. And then people feel Schadenfreude because they feel justice has been done. Like karma. Any other reason is not really nice but we see it all the time.
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When we moved here five years ago, my brothers and their wives gave me this rose bush. It is called Marianne and the flowers look like my favourite one: the peony. But, contrary to that one, this rose blooms at least twice a year and for ages. And it has the sweetest smell.
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The old German word for August is Ernting or Erntemond.
Ernte is the German word for harvest which explains the origin of the name.
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Happy August! We're suffering from heat & humidity here as well, but ours is liable to linger clear into November. One of my coworkers read "A Covenant of Water" and enjoyed it, though it looks rather intimidating!
ReplyDeleteI know it's bad everywhere, Stephen. And we are looking forward to a nice autumn but one never knows. One thing that is different in Europe, most people don't have a/c.
Delete"A Covenant of Water" is huge but the content is rather good and not a difficult read though with a lot of information. So, I really recommend it.
Ah, that is a pretty rose! It is also very hot here, sometimes we reach 99% or 100% humidity and most days it is over 30 degrees. We live in front of our fans (no air-conditioning in New York). Oh well, it won't last. Pretty soon it will be snowing like crazy. I am in the middle of planning next school year and semester. The summer is passing by too fast, very sad! There is still so much to do in the house and yard. And then there is summer camp, two children moving, a visit to Indiana, etc. I need another month to do all that.
ReplyDeleteI thought it interesting that the "Distelfinken" are "goldfinches" in the picture above. Our American goldfinches are completely different: all bright yellow! But the picture is pretty.
Happy August!
I just checked, Eva, there is a European Goldfinch (Stieglitz oder Distelfink) and an American version. And yes, they look completely different.
DeleteAs you know, there is no a/c in Germany or most parts of Europe, so we have to bear the heat.
With all your activities, I am not surprised that the months pass by you ever so quickly. I hope you get to see your children. Enjoy.
Yes, very different appearances. There are plenty people in the U.S. and Canada that do not have air-conditioning. Most of New England is without and poor people also don't have it. We had all children home, now Charlotte is gone. We will all (except Charlotte) travel to the Midwest to visit family next week. That will be fun.
DeleteI just remember many US Americans coming to Germany or NL and boasting that it would get a lot hotter in the States and they could take it. Then, when summer arrived, they'd be complaining that we had no a/c.
DeleteFunny!
DeleteI can't believe it's August! Where did July go?
ReplyDeleteBeats me, Lark, the older I get, the quicker the time flies.
DeleteHappy August Marianne. What a beautiful rose you have named after you. I agree it does look like a peony, also one of my favourites. We have just travelled through Germany to Innsbruck and had some really warm days. More in my newsletter to come.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisbeth. And a happy August to you, as well.
DeleteWhen you come by our house the next time, I hope, my rose is still blooming. Enjoy your stay in Austria.
Happy August! I absolutely love the idea of summer and lazy/busy days with Eleanor, but I HATE HATE HATE how hot it is. I was born in January in Minnesota. My blood is practically ice. I wear flipflops and hoodies in the winter and have not owned a winter coat in I don't know how long. It still does get cold in Omaha, but not nearly as much cold and snow as Minnesota. I miss it so much.
ReplyDeleteOh, a fellow heat hater. That's interesting, Sarah. I was born in September and love autumn. I once read that we seem to prefer the season in which we are born. And it's often true.
DeleteAnd I liked summer more when the boys would be home from school, that's something I totally can relate to. I never understood the parents who wished for school to start again so the kids wouldn't be home all day.