Archive | September 2012

Having a gas on a Wednesday afternoon

We had a little bit of excitement around here yesterday – when I went down to the basement to use the printer while Molly was napping, I smelled a distinct odour of rotten eggs. Further investigation (including me braving the spiders and centipedes to crawl under my desk and sniff the main drain stack) yielded no apparent cause, so I went back upstairs and asked my good friend Google what the recommended course of action was under the circumstances. Google said, “You idiot, call 9-1-1! And don’t touch anything electrical because slightest spark could cause your house to explode!”

Still feeling that that might be overkill (but with the smell getting stronger) I called the non-emergency fire department number and the nice lady who answered said basically the same thing, adding that I should also get Molly and wait outside. So I called 9-1-1 and explained the situation, woke Molly up and got her a banana and a sweater and we went outside to wait for the nice firemen to arrive!

©PicklesINK 2012

The truck showed up a few minutes later and the very understanding firefighters assured me that I had made the right call <—- see what I did there? and went in with their CO readers, noted that there was definitely an odour, and tested the house from top to bottom (well, I guess technically from bottom to top) and side to side.

©PicklesINK 2012

The chief stayed outside with Molly and me and filled out a report. He also asked me lots of questions about whether anyone in the house had been feeling ill or headachy today or yesterday; I had to admit that actually I had but I had also drunk fairly strong 2 gin&tonics last night so it was not entirely unexpected. He laughed and said, “Yep, that would do it!”

Molly was pretty quiet (she was not impressed when I woke her up) but did tell him that she had a fire-coat too and that Ben and daddy were going to be really sad to miss the fire truck. I made him laugh pretty hard with, “I hate to think I’ve brought you out here for nothing, but I figured if it was a gas leak and my house exploded, boy would my face be red.” He said, “Yeah, a lot of things would be red!”

Molly’s eye view ©PicklesINK 2012

They checked everything and concluded that there were no dangerous gasses so it was probably a plumbing issue, but did bring me down to the basement to show me a potential water heater venting issue that we should fix before the winter (now that’s service above and beyond!). The smell dissipated over the rest of the afternoon so the issue seems to have been temporary but the moral of the story is of course, if you smell gas, call 9-1-1 because it’s always better to be safe than sorry.

~ karyn

PS – When we went back inside, because I’m a jerk, I emailed the pictures to Ian with no explanation…heheheheh.

A tickle is worth a thousand words

Sep24

My brother suggested that I have a look at this app, Mulberry FingerPlays for iPhone, so I gave it a try and figured, naturally, that I would blog a review!

Mulberry Fingerplays Logo
Credit: Mulberry Media Interactive Inc.

Fingerplays are simple rhythmic songs or rhymes with accompanying hand actions, sometimes actions that your child imitates and sometimes actions that you perform on your child by tickling them or wiggling their fingers or toes. They are a fun way to interact with your young children and actually promote intellectual, social-emotional development, and physical development as your children learn rhyme, rhythm, cadence, melody, and actions and are encouraged to maintain eye contact and mimic your facial expressions and emotional reactions – Who knew that a simple song could do so much?

You probably already know lots of them by heart – “The Eensy Weensy Spider,” “Round and Round the Garden Like a Teddy Bear,” “This Little Piggy,” but I bet there are lots more that you will recognize but can’t for the life of you remember all the way through, like “Where is Thumbkin?” or “Five Little Pumpkins.” There were lots of times when Ben first started at nursery school and came home singing a rhyme that I recognized but couldn’t remember well enough to sing along with him, and at 2 years old he wasn’t much help!

This super-simple app by Mulberry Media Interactive is a collection of HD videos of a calm, soothing-voiced woman who looks just like your kindergarten teacher in 1983 reciting and demonstrating each fingerplay slowly enough that you can easily learn it. My children (5 1/2 and 2 1/2) also quite enjoy watching her themselves.

Screenshot from Mulberry FingerPlays iPhone app
Credit: Mulberry Media Interactive Inc.

You can tap the info icon to bring up a short description of the fingerplay followed by lyrics (but beware, I had trouble taping the tiny iPhone icon accurately with my pudgy fingers and kept restarting the video instead.

Screenshot from Mulberry FingerPlays iPhone app
Credit: Mulberry Media Interactive Inc.

The first time you open the app on a device, you view video introduction by Canadian author Paulette Bourgeois, creator of the Franklin the Turtle books, who finishes by demonstrating a really neat Franklin fingerplay. Unfortunately I can’t figure out how to make that video replay, which is too bad because it would have been very appealing to my Franklin-loving kids but was too long to learn in one viewing.

The first time you view each video it takes a few seconds to download but this only happens once for each video. There is no discernible difference in video quality between the iPhone/iPod sized screen and the iPad. The free version of the app is actually just a demo and gives you access to five videos. You can then choose to purchase 20 more videos for $0.99, which I thought was quite reasonable for the amount and quality of the content. You can also sign up for a newsletter that will let you know when new videos are added to the library; I don’t know however if these will be included in the original purchase price or if you will have to pay for them in addition.

All in all, I thought this was a really neat, simple little app and excellent value for the price. It would be an excellent resource for any parents, daycare providers, ECE specialists and students, Sunday school teachers, babysitters, grandparents, aunts, uncles…really, anyone with contact with young children and a few minutes to kill! My only complaint is the inability to replay the Franklin fingerplay video, which I would love to have included in the library.

Well done Mulberry Interactive – keep ’em coming!

~ karyn

PESTO-CHANGEO!

Sep20

My herb garden didn’t do very well, this year, unfortunately, due to a tried and true combination of procrastination, unfavourable weather, and sheer neglect. Happily, though, big bags of basil were on sale at the grocery store this week so I was still able to make a nice batch of pesto!

I don’t know if you’ve herb, but oil admit that I’m a pretty big pesto fan. In fact, it may be a bit cheesy, but I’m nut afraid to admit that when I run out, I pine for it. Store-bought, I’m afraid, leafs me a bit cold, and I can’t enjoy it with the same relish. (Was ‘relish’ too much of a stretch? It is a green condiment…)

Anyhoo…homemade pesto is super, super, super, amazingly simple, but the flip-side of that simplicity is the better your ingredients, the better the end result. That means no powdered Kraft “Parmesan” cheese product- you want the real thing and you want to grate it yourself – and your very best extra virgin olive oil. I used Acropolis Organics Extra Virgin Olive Oil, which I happened to sample in the grocery store a little while back and was totally sold on – I don’t often wax poetic about olive oil, but this one is really, really good, and I was surprised at how reasonably it was priced. It is an oil in which to dip your focaccia bread or to drizzle over your salad – Never, EVER heat it on the stove, unless you want to make me cry…

Basil Pesto

2 cups tightly packed basil leaves and stems (unless they’re really woody)

3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Toast the pine nuts lightly in a saucepan until they start to turn golden brown and smell good, then cool.

Put everything else in a food processor and process until smooth.

Add pine nuts and process until chopped and combined (I like to leave it a little crunchy).

Transfer to a freezer-safe container and press plastic wrap tightly onto the surface to keep it from discolouring, then freeze!

©PicklesINK 2012

Whenever you want to use it, dig some frozen pesto out with a fork and toss it into or spread it onto whatever you’re making (thaw it on the counter or for 10-20 sec in the microwave if you need to). Great on pizza or pasta, in omelettes (with some cheese and tomato), stuffed into a chicken breast (which is then wrapped in ham and baked in the oven), or, you know, just eat it with a spoon.

I’ll let you know how the kids like it!

~ karyn

I’m calling it a knight!

Sep19

I come from a ~~long~~ ~~short~~ well, a line, anyway, of fabulous Hallowe’en costume-makers, ie. my mom, who as well as being a fantastic doctor and a very smart lady is also an excellent seamstress. (Seriously. How can I live up to that?)

Every Hallowe’en my brothers and I would each decide what we would like to be, and mom would make it happen. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle? Sure! Here’s your giant puffy brown felt shell that fits on like a backpack! Batman and Batgirl? No problem! Have an intricately sewn bat-logo and handcrafted button-up utility belt with loops and pouches for your tools and weapons. (Worn over a leotard and tights worn over a snowsuit. I did vow that I would never make my kids wear a snowsuit under their costumes unless it was ACTUALLY SNOWING). Devil? Okay, one red pantsuit, caplet, tail, and hood with puffy horns coming up!

Hands down, her crowning achievment though was the creation of adult-sized Teletubby costumes using toddler-sized patterns for a sailing regatta costume contest (We won. And immortalized the line, “La-la wants a BEER!”).

Anyway, when it comes to Hallowe’en costumes I have big shoes to fill. This year Molly chose a princess costume at the store and Ben decided that in keeping with the theme Molly had set, he would be a brave knight. (Molly has since changed her mind and decided to be Santa, but that’s a whole other story).

Ben and I looked online for costumes but I was unhappy with the shipping charges. A trip to the dollar store looking for a sword inspired me and I decided that I could make the costume myself, so I stocked up on materials and went for it.

Brave Knight Costume

Materials needed: 1 reflective car windshield sunshade, felt (2 colours), black hockey tape, and scissors.

©PicklesINK 2012

Step 1: Fold sunshade in half width-wise and cut into approximately t-shirt shape, curving down from the shoulders and widening slightly at the bottom. NB – All of these pictures show the costume folded over – the top of the shoulders is NOT cut and it looks the same on the other side.

©PicklesINK 2012

Step 2: Cut pointed strips from waist down with small spaces between them to form “skirt” of armour. Repeat on the other side.

©PicklesINK 2012

Step 3: Edge the entire costume with black hockey tape.

©PicklesINK 2012

Step 4: Make a 2-colour design out of felt to be your brave knight’s symbol. I went for simplicity and made a shield, but other options include cross, lion, dragon, or anything ~~your brave knight can think of~~ of which your brave knight can think. (That’s for my brothers.) I edged and attached it with hockey tape as well but glue would also work.

Ta-da! ©PicklesINK 2012

Add a black belt and weapons and your brave knight is ready to do battle!

I know I hit it out of the park this time when Ben came to inspect my progress as I was half-way through the hockey tape border. His jaw dropped and eyes widened and he gasped and said, “I LOVE it!” Now he has another project for me – he said yesterday, “Mommy, now you have a big job to do – make a dragon costume for daddy.”

MO-O-O-O-OMMM…HELP??

~ karyn

Salmon = WINNING!

Sep14

Continuing with the winning salmon (or “pretty pink fish”) trend, yesterday I tried salmon and carrots en papillote.

Maple Dijon Salmon with Matchstick Carrots en Papillote

4 salmon portions (skin on or off)

1 – 1 1/2 cups julienned carrots

1 lemon, zested, juiced and cut into 1/8s

1 tbsp grainy Dijon mustard

2 tbsp maple syrup

parchment paper

Cut parchment paper into circles about 10″ in diameter (fold squares in half and cut out half-circles, then unfold). Stir together lemon zest, juice, mustard, and maple syrup and coat salmon with it.

Salmon in maple Dijon dressing
©PicklesINK 2012

Place 1 portion of salmon on fold of parchment paper circle, pile 1/4 of carrots and 2 pieces of lemon on top. Form parchment paper “package” by joining sides of parchment together and then folding the sides over tightly several times; repeat around the whole edge of the parchment paper until it is tightly sealed.

Cooked salmon in parchment
©PicklesINK 2012

Repeat to make the other 3 packets then place on a baking sheet and bake in 375°F oven for 12-15 minutes.

Ben’s dinner
©PicklesINK 2012

Ben. Ate. Every. Last. Bite.

I still don’t know what’s gotten into him, but I’m going to ride this wave while it’s here!

~ karyn

Salmon Wellington FTW!!

Sep12

I don’t know what happened last night…I’m still kind of in shock! I think I entered the Twilight Zone for a little while.

“For God’s sake, Bella, it’s just an apple.”
“I don’t care, Edward! Why do you always give me things I don’t like? You know I hate apples! They have skins! And they’re cold! Why can’t you just give me things I like?”
Photo from: http://www.fanpop.com/spots/twilight-series/images/720496/title/movie-posters-fanart

At some point last night, at the dinner table (it’s all still kind of a haze) I heard the words, “Can I have some more broccoli?” and “Can I please have some more salmon?” and if I hadn’t seen my kids’ lips moving I would have assumed that I had invited some cruciferous vegetable and Atlantic fish-loving hobo in to eat and promptly forgotten about it.

I’ve already talked about Ben’s picky eating at length. It has been a lot better since he turned 5, and he did really well in Germany, but “a lot better” is relative and means that instead of a screaming, flailing meltdown EVERY dinnertime, we just have a whining, complaining argument 9 out of 10 times. And the 10th dinner is pizza.

The biggest problem now is not so much Ben (in the end, he does eat it), but Molly, who actually loves to eat ANYTHING, but loves to imitate what her beloved big brother does even more. So almost every mealtime now goes, “Ben, eat your dinner please.” “But I don’t like this!” “Just eat it, please.” “Ohhhhhhhh…” *grudgingly eats a bite* “Molly, please eat your dinner.” “But I don’t YIKE this!” *flings it on the floor*

Ian is away for the week, which means that I can eat and feed the kids all the seafood I like (he’s not a fan). Yesterday I thought, what the heck, I feel like eating the frozen President’s Choice Salmon Wellington that’s been in the freezer for ages, and I’ll deal with the consequences when my dinner-shunning kids sit down at the table.

Photo from: http://www.presidentschoice.ca/LCLOnline/products.jsp?type=details&catIds=119&productId=12709

I had fairly low expectations of success, giving Ben’s meltdown this morning over being told that I had put macaroni and cheese in his lunch instead of his usual bagel with cream cheese.

The only thing that I can think of that made tonight different was that instead of telling Ben what was for dinner, I let him figure it out for himself when he saw it on the table:

Ben: “What’s dinner?”

Me: “Dinner is the meal that comes after lunch and before bedtime.” (HAHAHAHAHA!!! That line never gets old!!)

Ben (actually laughing this time – we’re off to a good start!): “No, what’s FOR dinner?’

Me: “What do you think it looks like?”

Ben: “I can see that it’s broccoli, but what’s the other thing? Croissants?”

Me: “That’s a good guess – it’s kind of like croissants. It’s fish stick, but instead of cereal for the breading it has croissant. It’s called Salmon Wellington.”

Ben: “Oh. Okay.”

“Oh. Okay”??? That’s when I knew something was up. I never get, “Oh, Okay.” It’s usually more like, “Ohhhhhh….but why? I don’t like that! Why do you always give me what I don’t like???” “But you like fish sticks, and you like croissants.” “But I don’t like them together!! Ohhhhh!!!!”

Maybe psychologically there’s something going on there – If I tell him what’s for dinner, and it doesn’t match the idea that he has in his head of what he wants, cue freak-out…but if I ask him to look at something unfamiliar and figure it out for himself, his brain has time to adjust to what he is seeing while trying to apply a name to it, and by the time he has figured out how to fit it into a familiar box, he has come to terms with it and maybe is even intrigued. Who knows? I don’t know if this was the key or not, but I’m definitely going to try it again.

Anyway, from there on it went swimmingly (heheheh). Ben decided to get himself a knife so he could cut his dinner up with a knife and fork like me, and Molly followed suit. Molly decided that salmon is her favourite because it’s pink (note to self: serve more pink foods). Ben STOLE a piece of salmon off Molly’s plate and ate it. Let me repeat that please, for my own benefit – he ACTUALLY FREAKING STOLE A PIECE OF SALMON OFF MOLLY’S PLATE AND ATE IT. Molly devoured her broccoli without stopping to draw breath. Ben squeezed his salmon out of the puff pastry and cut it up and ate it, then ate all his broccoli.

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG.
©PicklesINK 2012

I stared in mute shock at their empty plates and then offered them dessert. They accepted and happily ate their chocolate stars. And then came the kicker:

Molly: “Tan I pease have some more broccoyi?”

Ben: “And can I have some more salmon? But not the breading this time. I didn’t really like that. Just the fish?”

Molly: “Yeah tan I have some more salmon too?”

Me: *jaw hits the floor*

~ karyn

Toddlers and Tiaras and Toys

Sep11

This.

©PicklesINK

This really, really irritates me. More than irritates me – This really makes me mad. In case you can’t zoom in enough to see, on the left we have the “Fun to Fix Gift Set” and on the right the “Little Glamour Gift Set.”

Let’s break it down: As with most baby toys, you have two options, 1. Unisex; or 2. GIRLY GIRL WITH HEARTS AND SPARKLES.

The “Fun to Fix Gift Set” comes in bright, “unisex” primary colours and is demonstrated by a unisex model baby dressed in pale green waving the toy actively.

The “Little Glamour Gift Set” makes no pretenses about being unisex: demonstrated by a baby girl in a hairband passively smiling at her “diamond” bracelet, the toys are pink and purple with a splash of turquoise and of course a GIANT SPARKLY DIAMOND. The description at www.toysrus.ca reads, “3 glam accessories for that oh-so sweet little one! Give a little glam and – just to be practical – teethable, easy-to-grasp features. Set includes Baby’s First Purse, a Diamond Ring Rattle and two teethers where fashion style meets teething comfort!” (emphases mine). There’s no need to be “practical” of course when it comes to sweet little girls, but hey, they threw that in there as a bonus; “glam” on the other hand is clearly a necessity.

I hate the idea that someone buying a gift for a baby shower walks up to an eye level display that tells them that an appropriate toy for an infant “Aged 3-18 months” is a “diamond ring rattle” and “baby’s first purse!” It’s with only a little hyperbole that I say it’s a hop, skip and a jump, followed by a slow twirl and a flash of whitened teeth in a make-up caked face at the judges, to the pageant world of our favourite train wreck of a TLC show, Toddlers and Tiaras.

http://www.totallifecounseling.com/2012/04/toddlers-tiaras-healthy-or-harmful-are-moms-living-vicariously-through-their-daughters/

The show is considered by those who watch in amused disgust to be so ridiculous that there is even an app on the website where you can “Toddlerize” yourself:

Go for the Supreme Glitz Makeover!

Go from drab to fab with big wigs, sparkly hair-wear,

faux diamonds and more! Mix and match until you’ve

created the ultimate glam-over!

There’s that “glam” again – in this case, high-lighting the over-the-top-ness of “glamming” up your toddler to compete for “Ultimate Grand Supreme” or even better, “Living Doll,” (seriously. click on the link. it’s a real thing.) with its prize of “crowns and mon-nay,” but not so funny after all when you look back at the mainstream toy encouraging you not once but twice to give a little “glam” to your 3-18 month-old.

We have tried really, really hard not to raise a Disney Princess. Ben and Molly play together with their trains, blocks, dollhouse, Playmobil, toy kitchen, dolls, and dress-up chest filled with astronaut, pirate, doctor, chef, firefighter, and fairy costumes. But you can’t necessarily fight nature, and like it or not I have one of the girliest little girls who every reigned as Princess of Girlytown – at 2 Molly insists on choosing her own clothes and 9 times out of 10 her outfit will be monochomatic bubblegum pink. (That 10th time is when all of the pink clothes are in the laundry and I won’t let her wear PJs).

But while I’m happy for her (and Ben, but that’s a whole other post) to wear as much pink and sparkles as she likes (including pink sparkly skull and crossbones nails from the Sally Hansen Salon Effects Avril Lavigne collection. Just awesome), and I don’t think there is anything inherently damaging in sparkly dress-up and accessories in and of themselves…

©PicklesINK

…I still want to make sure she knows that looks and “glam” and diamond rattles aren’t the only important thing. And I’m happy that for the most part that we’ve “come a long way, baby”…

Photo from: http://www.smokernewsworld.com/tobacco-advertising-research-assignment/

…and moved beyond a time when girls concentrated on looking pretty and waiting passively to “make a good match” or packed their bags and went proudly (and prettily) off to university to earn an M.R.S.

But products like the “Little Glamour Gift Set” remind me that we still place a heck of a lot of emphasis on how our little girls look and dress, which teaches them that that is where their true value lies, and it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon or a sociologist to tell you that that is damaging.

So I will take this as a reminder to make sure to balance my “Aww, you look so pretty!“s with a healthy dose of, “You worked so hard on that!“s, “That was such kind sharing!,”s and “Wow, what smart problem-solving, Monkey!“s.

~ karyn

I am a Christian, so I support same-sex marriage.

Sep7

I am a Christian.

To me that means 2 things. First, it means that I believe in God. That doesn’t mean that I think there’s some old white man who looks like Santa sitting on a cloud shaking his finger at us. When I think of God, I always think back to The Secret Garden and Mrs. Sowerby’s description of “the big good thing,” something or someone that encourages goodness and gives us strength through troubled times. Second, it means that I try to live my live the way that Jesus taught, and that also boils down to 2 things (I don’t know; is there something about the number 2?): Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10: 27).

A very wise man, now gone from us, once preached a powerful sermon on the topic of the former commandment that has stuck with me. He spoke first about loving God with all your heart and soul, and said that that’s fairly self-explanatory. You let that love show in all that you do. You revel in that love, and you see God in everything and everyone around you and love them too.

He then spoke about loving God with all your mind, saying that that is the part that people often have trouble with. Using the example of evolution, he said that he had heard people talk about how believing in the concept of evolution is totally at odds with what the Bible says and is the “greatest danger the church has ever faced.” He paused for a moment and then said, essentially, that that was hogwash. If you love God with all your mind, you honour the mind that God has given you and you think with it. And if science, or society, has made new discoveries and come to new understandings about topics that the Bible, in its historical and geographical context, once described differently, you think about those concepts in relation to those new discoveries and understandings using your God-given brains, and you maybe realize that what the Bible says, outside of that historical and geographical context, doesn’t make sense. So in order to love God with all your mind, you recognize that God wants you to come to realization, that the times, they are a-changin’, and that your beliefs need to change along with them.

An extremely thoughtful and articulate young man, Matthew Vines, gave a sermon recently that has been now been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people and has been changing minds all over the world.

Watch the video here – it is an hour long, but well worth the time.

Read the transcript here, but a lot of the power is in Matthew’s presentation.

He makes a compelling argument that if you look at what the Bible has to say about homosexuality, taking into account historical and geographical context and nuances of language and translations, not only should the Bible not be seen as condemning same-sex relationships, but in fact that 1 Corinthians 7, where Paul says, “It is better to marry than to burn with passion,” should be interpreted as encouraging marriage between two people of any gender who love each other. He also points out that Jesus himself has given us a litmus test to weed out false teachers and false teachings: In Matthew 7 Jesus tells us that a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit – therefore, good teachings will have good consequences and should certainly not lead to the destruction of human dignity and tearing down of self-esteem.

Very soon, my church will be embarking on a journey that I really hope will lead to a new understanding of how to love our neighbours. We will be making a decision about whether or not to change our marriage policy, which currently prohibits marriages between same-sex couples in our church building. The people at my church who wish to keep the policy as it stands do not consider themselves homophobic. Their understanding of the Bible is that it prohibits same-sex marriage, and they feel that they can accept and welcome gay people as neighbours and church members while still being true to their belief that the Bible dictates that marriage is between a man and a woman. I disagree — strongly — but I also have to acknowledge that for many of them, even coming to that point has been a journey in a positive direction. I just hope that over the next few months, with thoughtful discussion, they will come even farther on that journey and we will become a truly accepting and welcoming community.

To me this situation epitomizes the question of “What Would Jesus Do?” If two consenting adults are in love and wish to have God be a part of their marriage, would the Jesus who told his disciples to “Let the children come unto me,” really say, “Nope, not on my watch!”? I believe that my church could be a good tree, but right now the fruit we are bearing is a little hard and underripe. I hope that in the next few months we will plant some seeds that will flourish and grow and soon come to bear plump, juicy, satisfying and life-sustaining fruit.

~ karyn

The hair-raising adventures continue

Sep6

The other day Ian and I had a conversation that went like this:

“So what colour should I dye my hair next?”

*grinning* “How about jet black?”

“Really? Goth black?”

“Sure. I haven’t seen that yet.”

“You know I’ll do it.”

“Well, do it, then.”

“I will.”

“Go ahead.”

So allow me to present this flashback to 17 year-old Goth me:

Now I just have to figure out if they make PVC corsets in size “Why yes I have had 2 children.”

~ karyn

Better late than never – Final Germany round-up!

Sep2

Here are the last few Germany bits and pieces to wrap up the trip diary:

One of the highlights of the vacation was the trip up the mountain on a cable car.

We went about 1800 m up, to the third of four stations (we couldn’t go all the way to the top as the timing meant that we would have had to ride back down on the same car without actually disembarking). Before we reached the third station we were in the clouds and the kids had a great time playing in the ethereal, misty playground (as described in Ben’s guest post).

We then rode back down and enjoyed dinner al fresco at a lovely Italian restaurant, which was interrupted at one point by the sound of cowbells as a farmer brought his herd down from the mountain for the night. (“My family’s been bringing the cows down this road every night for 3 generations and we’re not going to stop now just because this damn town is overrun with tourists!”).

On the way home we passed the brewery that had been supporting our pils habit for the 2 weeks…mmm…I still miss the beer!

Apparently there were a number of town festivals going on while we were there, which meant that for most of the trip many people were dressed in traditional Bavarian “tract.” These Bavarians certainly have the right idea when it comes to flattering clothing, especially for those of us with, let’s say, “hourglass” figures (I like to think of them as “good, strong childbearing hips.”)! I tried on a dirndl but unfortunately I just didn’t think it would translate well to home.

I also tried to convince Ian to get a pair of lederhosen but no dice. (Come on! Even Santa wears them in the off-season!)

One area where Germany is way ahead seems to be the use of sustainable energy, particularly solar power. Everywhere we looked it seemed that people had solar panels on their roofs, sometimes just a few, sometimes covering every available inch.

We also passed fields of row upon row of solar panels along the highways. Pretty cool stuff. I know we’re starting to experiment with it; in our town there are 2 towers with panels but it’s on such a small scale, comparatively. These Bavarians really seem to have it down to a science.

As a small side note, if you think back to the Kurpark post, this is the photograph that Ian was taking when he was hiding in the flowers:

Finally, the time came for us to make our exit. In Germany this is indicated by highway signs reading, “Ausfahrt,” and I remain convinced that I can’t be the only English-speaker in the world whose inner 15 year-old giggles uncontrollably at that.

~ karyn