Still Learning

In Obersalzburg, there is now a Documentation Center built on the site of Hitler's southern command headquarters. It tells the background story of the events leading up to the war, and the war itself. There are 16 kilometers of bunkers underneath. We saw just a portion.

I think the purpose of the center is to speak to future generations and say "Never again". I realized I don't know much about the background or the individuals involved. Its never too late to learn.

To overcome the language barrier, each museum had audioguides so you could hear the commentary in your own language. Nice.

Schneeballen

One of the entertaining things we did was to scope out the bakeries in each place. In Rothenburg, we ran across schneeballen. It is made of leftover strips of piecrust rolled loosely into a ball, baked and then covered with powdered sugar, or a frosting shell. I liked the other pastries better.

We did a lot of walking, as well as buses, subways, and the train once. I always felt safe, and the system was fairly easy to figure out. The air was full of German. Italian, French and English words.

It is good to sleep in my own bed and feel the wind . I look forward to the batik sale at the quilt shop and checking in at the clinic to see what is going on. Hello Monday.

We're Home

It is good to be home. We had a wonderful time and all the travels went well. This is one of my favorite pictures. It is "Mad Ludwig's"castle near Fussen. The bus takes you as far as a high bridge above the castle, and then its a ten minute walk to the castle. All the sites we saw have interesting stories. I need to read more about European history to grasp more of the context.

The food was good and hotels very clean and charming. I will post again as I get myself organized.

Purple Harvest

Bountiful harvest, beautiful grapes. This year we got a machine that stems and crushes the grapes. A different machine presses out the juice. I think we will freeze the juice and deal with it later.

The lighter grapes are seedless grapes just for eating. I froze some so we can snack on them icy, very refreshing.

The embroidery is the most recent sample I made for the shop. The pattern is one of the new ones we sell. I'm hoping for some that are more art and not so much sentiment.

The time is coming when I should be packed and ready to go. I'm torn between cleaning the house or working at the shop on Saturday. Everyone is gone to the Hill City Quilt Show, and

Tera is alone to mind the shop. Just about anything is more fun that cleaning, since the "clean" doesn't last.

I will try to blog while I am gone so you know what we are up to. I may not be able to add pictures until we get back. Thinking of you all, always.

Birds

Sunday morning on the farm. We were watching t.v. when Lance saw a bird fly past the window. It was a young Great Horned Owl. I find it amusing that it looks like a cat perched on the garden shed.

The patchwork is my latest project for the quilt shop. I didn't have the 16" pillow to put inside, so you'll just have to imagine it puffy.

One more week and then we leave for 16 days in Germany. We will see Berlin, Munich, Saltzburg, Rothenberg and Fussen. I have started walking to get ready for sightseeing on foot. I should have started sooner (one of my bad habits). I am taking my camera, and will share more when we return.

This week's harvest included potatoes and the first round of grapes. Lance spent two days washing, stemming, crushing and pressing out the juice. He got five gallons of juice from seven vines. it seems everything he grows produces an abundant crop.