Cochem Germany Trip - the arrival

FINALLY after 112 days of captivity.... some of those days by choice... we have struck out to see some more of Germany.  We were really released about four weeks ago, but honestly I was wanting to see if we would blow up like the US has after Memorial Day weekend.  We (aka Germany hasn't) so we decided to head on out and stay local.  

Travel is still "weird to stay the least with travel restricted to only car/train/bus available to us.  EUCOM, AFRICOM and the US Air Force CAN travel by air, but not the Marines... I honestly chalk this up to a command that is leaving, so they are not doing anything above and beyond what they have to on their way out and welcoming a new command... how would YOU like to turn over your headquarters when they were well and truly infected with COVID?  Yeah.. probably not the BEST, but most folks were really traveling this last weekend, us included.  So - Cochem.  It's on the Mosel River... it's roughly 3.5 hours north of here.. 

And so I took the day off on Thursday as the military was already off and the workload was light (non-existent) that day...

we got up and slow rolled it out of here.  I need to learn to not say "by xx time" because that does not mean ANYTHING to folks here... I meant, we would be pulling OUT of here at that time... NOPE.  We were thinking of rolling out of here at that time and finally getting lunch at that time, but not truely rolling out of here.  THEN I forgot my passport which wasn't the end of the world as I remembered it when we went to get gas... and of course Butch was panic'd that we didn't have a lot of cash on hand for the trip... which necessitated a trip to the ATM.  I had plenty just FYI but he didn't trust that and loaded us all up with cash.  Oh, well, we were on the road eventually and got there at roughly 6:00pm checked into the hotel.  

The Hotel was the Brixiade and Triton Hotel - which is confusing as it is two hotels that at first glance are connected... not so, they are just a few doors down from each other... https://www.hotel-brixiade.de/cms/front_content.php  We were in the Triton hotel which is a bit older but had proper balconies and river views that were to die for!  

The hotel was without A/C... but honestly if it weren't for the noisey neighbors in our area it would have been perfect as the temps were quite low at night in the 60s and the river breeze was wonderful

But I digress - here is the hotel inside as it was when we first walked in:

Because you KNOW you have to go STRAIGHT to the balcony to check out your view!  And WHAT a view!!

Looking back in the room... that is really a "king" bed made of two twin beds with separate duvets.  I still like that way of working bedding - Butch can be all straight and orderly and I can sleep in a ball'o blankets!  ha!

The bath - nothing to write home about... it did the trick and for as small as that shower looks it wasn't horrible.

So - we unpacked and went to dinner at the hotel, honestly the only dinner we ate there.  It was OK, but it was a buffet... I am NOT a fan of buffets.  ever... and during times of Corona even less likely to want to be there... but everyone wore their masks when up and about...so here's hoping!!  They were diligent about traceability as well and we had an assigned seat to eat at the whole time so they would know if anyone got sick and when and if they needed to notify us.  

So - after dinner we walked the river bank for a few minutes and digested dinner.

Love, love, love the wine presses that are filled with flowers all over town

That is a castle ruin in the distance of the setting sun....

A little pink in the sky a lot of pink in the flowers from our balcony - they smelled as good as they looked!

Looking at the castle.  Note the lights in the foreground... no lights in the castle... and it's 9:30... it does stay light a long time here in the summer... 

10 pm and the sky is still blue... but the lights are on the castle - it's very pretty... 

More plants and repotting.

And I remember to take before pictures!

I always forget to take before pictures!  This time I actually had a bit of forethought!!

 

This is a ZZ plant. AKA a Zanzibar Gem and botanical name of Zamioculcas zamifolia. Thus ZZ plant. 

And one super crowded mother in law tongue who needed repotting mostly because I overwatered it this summer. Whoops!  So while I was draining the water I knew I needed to replace it’s soil. And split it out!

Here’s the after. Looks just as full, doesn’t it?  Yeah. I took out two starters and still left three stalks in the pot!  So. It’s been repotted with new soil. 

Here are the two new babies   Cute, eh?

And the ZZ has had all the root rot removed and dead stems removed and cleaned out a few dead root balls as well. 

And now we wait to see how everyone does after their transplant!  Wish them luck!

Adventures in photos. **updated**

So I ordered photos from an on line place that does quality photos. I ordered these in March. They said they were delivered in April. Hu??  It’s JUNE. Where are my photos??  I had just sent in a complaint and asked them to reprint and reship only to have them tell me the above. Hummm. Nope. Soooo I go to the post office today to get mail and there is a package slip. Ok. I go in and retrieve  the package and it’s my photos!!! What are the odds of when I FINALLY give up they show up?  So what were they of?  Well they were from Angela’s senior pictures in 2017. Yep. I’m that far behind in projects. 

Here is what they were for:

OriginL lay out. Note it’s mostly he two of them together and it was supposed to be Angela’s “side”

E.g the whole layout:

See all Liz’s senior pictures are on the right. The left should be all Angela and it’s not. 

So here is the after:

Much more “balanced” but I did tell Angela that she got top billing in the center group as she has three solo shots. Ha!  I may have to print out another one of the two of them for the middle. Or not... it looks good. I feel accomplishment tonight. 

And just now noticed one of Liz’s pictures is repeating. Hum. Going to have to print another for her so I may as well print a group one for the middle row too :)

** update. Since I noted the duplicate photo it bugged me ... so I went to my printer today and printed out two new pictures for the center collage. 

What did I change?  The lower left photo (duplicated the lower right photo in Liz’s collage). And the center picture that was just Angela solo. Now the whole middle row is the two of them and the top and bottom row are only the one child. I think it works!

COVID day 80 of "lock down"

Well on some fronts the "lock down" is easing.

As of June 3rd this was the update for Germany from my work.

-News Around the Theater:

-Germany:

•       31 May, German government is reportedly planning a 100 Euro stimulus package to  help with COVID-19

•       2 June, Gottingen city, Saxony, saw an uptick in COVID-19 cases due to private parties  over the weekend

•       1 June, police announce a decline in Corona Regulation violations over Pentecost weekend

•       2 June, Leisure sports and Gyms can resume, with specific regulations – You have to be healthy and have no signs to go to a gym, maintain proper sanitation, and practice social  distancing

•        

-Norway:

•       15 June, Norwegians will be allowed to travel to Denmark for day trips, while  keeping the borders with Sweden and Finland closed

 

-Italy:

•       2 June, the Italian President warned that COVID-19 is still a threat, after top  doctors state the virus no longer exists in Italy

•       3 June, people arriving from the EU, UK, or Schengen zone will no longer be  forced to quarantine for 14 days

 

-Spain:

•       26 May, Spanish government will lift 14 day quarantine requirement for those  entering the country after 1 July

•       3 June, the Spanish Health Minister announces the country has not had a  COVID-19 casualty in two days

This is all fine and good but the Military and/or civilian work force is STILL not released to travel beyond 100 miles of base AND can't have over night stays anywhere just yet...  We're hopeful this change will be seen this week!!!

I'm not even sure I know what to say about any of this anymore in light of the whole George Floyd death, riots and upheaval at home.  I'm telling you there is just no joy in this year.

COVID, Earthquakes in SLC, now riots.  Good heavens what else can this year bring?

I guess I shouldn't ask... I may well find out.

I have thought about commenting multiple times on the Floyd riots.  I have commented a few times and regretted it immediately as there is NOTHING I can say to change what is going on.  I don't condone the police for their treatment, I don't condone the rioters for their violence and destruction.  I get the pain, as much as a white person in the US can get it.  I don't live it, I am white, and I will never get it.  I empathize and it breaks my heart, but honestly I'll never "get it".  That makes me sad that there are some experiences in this world that we as different people from different backgrounds can never get.

I have a lot of empathy for those who are facing difficulties.  I have similar (never to equate to the same) experiences living overseas as an American who struggles with the local language and customs.  I'm looked down on and I get why folks look at me the way they do.  The thoughts that Americans have when there are foreigners in their country – you are HERE learn the language…. But now being almost 55 and struggling with the whole learning curve and brain that point blank does not want to function in English much less German most days I have a lot of empathy for those in the states struggling to learn English – it’s HARD to learn a new language when you’re older.

But I digress.  The point is, there can be empathy and there can be support but there cannot be “knowing” until you walk a mile in someone else’s shoes.  So, be kind to one another.  You don’t know what that person has struggled with. 

I want to blame ALL my woes on old age but it’s really a combo of Chemo and old age that is doing my poor wee brain in.  It’s had enough.  It can’t function to figure some things out… it tries… I swear.  I will try to think of the German word and the Italian one will come to my mouth.  I don’t get that disconnect, but hey, it is what it is.

So – life right now?  Sucks in some ways, is good in some ways.  I’m alive.  I’m at exactly 3 years to the day from when I had a horrible bleed that lead to the diagnosis of cancer.

I’m due for scans in July.  I still worry every freaking day that it’s back, that it’s spread and when I get a rattle in my chest when I cough, I worry three times as hard – have any aches and pains I really wonder what the blazes is going on in there… were there signs that I ignored when I had cancer?  Yeah, probably… will I still feel like a hypochondriac every single time I have a pain – you betcha.  I try to reign it in and NOT panic, but most days are searching pain areas and reoccurrence of cancer.  So, yeah.  Fun times.  I wonder if it will ever end – the worry.  I doubt it, but I can hope.

Repotting of the plants

My co worker is leaving to go back to the states so I’m acquiring a number of her indoor plants. Some of which she had readily admitted needed to be repotted so that is what I was doing this fine sunny Sunday morning. We would have gone for a driv ebut the ONE place I could think of that I would want to go is across the Swiss border. :( that’s not happening. Sigh. Damn COVID. So repotting and puttering in the yard it is!

I should have taken before pictures but it’s not critical. All but one looks the exact same just in a bigger pot :)

The Aloe plant is now on a pot twice (or near enough) to his original pot. He was a little unsteady and needed some soil build up around his root ball which he has now. 

The next four... well five really. All the tiny pots. These were in a single pot and needing some room to stretch their roots and their limbs. 

I started with a split of four and one spontaneously split again. We do what the plant tells is to do :). There are now five littles and they shall live on my stairwell window sill after they get a bit of fresh air after their transfer. I have three tiny potted succulents up there now that will probably be repotted as well in time. 

The one in the orange pot is the money tree. She was a bit root bound and needed a LOT more room so she was upgraded as well.

Ok moving on to the red pot. This is a poinsettia. She is now upgraded to a larger pot as well. She was brought back from the dead by R so I have my work cut out for me to NOT kill her!!  We shall see if we can force some Christ blooms out if her as well. Not sure how we can eek 12 hours of sunlight but I may have to get a bulb that will simulate it and give it a try. 

The last one is a pathos. Same deal. Root bound needed room to grow and hey, after buying some 30+ pots last summer I am the gal to make it happen ;)

Sadly these are the largest pots I have on hand and we have one more that needs repotting and splitting. Sooooo next week I’ll go to OBI (Home Depot here) and get some larger pots to split that one out as well. 

This week they settle into their pots after a good watering and then next week we feed them all and start out their new live spread around the house.  I now officially may have too many plants... but I guess this is where I will putter as I’m much less likely to go sit and putter in the back yard :)  although...

This is a pretty little gathering of plants. 

After some sun it was time to bring the newly repotted guys into the house to

Looking at the picture now I realize I need to change the order of these pots for color balance. Oh. Well. We shall get to that later

And in the kitchen the aloe should be really good in this spot, don’t you think?  And a few more succulents as well for balance. 

Annnndddd I need to find a good single stand for this guy. I think he would be great in this corner of the room 

Updates from around the house...

My tulips in the back yard really did turn out well.  I had quite a few and only two "duds" and they may still come back better next year as they ended up only being about 2" tall and didn't flower this year.  ONE of my red ones did two flowers.  Loved it!  they are all gone now, and I miss them!

Here are the tulips from the bloom fields... they are so pretty!  I stopped twice to pick up tulips while they were still blooming.  I have no idea what is blooming now... it's been a while since I have swung by to see them as I have been going to work Monday/Tuesday and Monday on alternating weeks.  Some weeks I'm just pure wore out by the time I get to head home and I do NOT want to drop in and do anything... So I don't!  I just drive home and call it a day.

Here are the blooms from the last stop.  It is always mystery colors as I get them when they are closed buds so they last a lot longer.  Loved the deep purple on this one.  I guess when I get home I'll have to order some from Kukenhoff and get them delivered to the house... or to Liz's house just in case we're not back in our house by that juncture.  I have PLANS for the house in Georgia when we return.  I'll get into those at the bottom of the screen.

I don't know how to rotate this picture now that it's loaded onto the web site... but this is the box of flowers I picked up from a garden center here in Germany.  It was a matter of demand at that point I ordered them.  They were not considered essential so were closed at the time I ordered them... then it took me 4 weeks to get them in.  Sigh... so by the time I got them I COULD have gone to the store to have picked up some on my own anyway... oh, well, saved me some money as I would have purchased a LOT more had I been in the store I'm sure.

What was in the box?  5 sets of 3 petunia plants (wave petunias)... a bag of soil and a planter... I thought I ordered the wall hooks for the planter... surprise... I didn't.

It is now sitting on the table instead and these petunias are now a bit perkier after being watered.

AND I dug out one more pot from the garden shed and put some in there... and a few more petunias now surround the big planter (you can see the last pitiful red tulip in the background).  I have NO idea what that cone flower is in the big pot.  I liked it when we first moved here, bought it and hoped it was a perennial.  It was!  Yay!  There is one lonely heather in the front pot as well with additional growth showing.  I think this winter we'll be moving these pots down to the window well to avoid freezing and cracking.  I only lost one of the smaller pots last winter to cracking, so not too shabby as the ones in Georgia that I left out that froze peeled the exterior of the pots... and add insult to injury these are drilled on the bottom so are compromised for moisture to get into the pot themself and make them expand and contract.... so they are not long for this world, but they are the 30 or so pots that I bought last year for a whopping $20 euro - well worth it for all the pots I picked up... I can afford to lose a few at that rate and not be upset.  

Tandy - the one on the left is one of the ones you bought - regretfully the other committed suicide off the 3rd floor balcony... and I probably won't replace it as I am "short" for growing... I only have one more summer then it will be a purge of planters in preparation for the winter and our inevitable departure.  the tall skinny purple flowers are from last year as well.  I cracked up because there was a weed on the right of that flower pot that Butch thought was a flower.. yeah, it was a weed.  Not even a pretty weed... he was all offended I had pulled it.  ha!  It was replaced with petunias instead.  There is a LOT of purple in my backyard now.  Not by choice as I didn't get to choose color of the petunias, but I ended up with majority of purple and a few white ones tossed in..

On to life outside of the house/yard and into work force.

I had only one mask - one left over from when I had chemo and needed them to get around, but they are white with anime mouths on them.  They were fun, but I needed something a bit more subdued and "adult" so I bought some masks from a gal here... and actually planned for Butch as well with the gray at the top of the screen... and the gray floral the back side is a plain gray as well... so there are options for him as well.

AND I bought a rug for the basement as well.  It's just to dampen the noise down there and cover the floor... and it actually "goes" with the color of the couch, so it's a win/win for that effort.

This downstairs really does need some help - no curtains hung and there is junk everywhere in there.  Sigh...

Covid day 65

Today is the end of our phased shopping.  No more red/white/blue shopping.  Thank goodness!!  No more waiting around to get things from the store while on base.

WOW... Just wow... BUT from what I can observe here in Germany it's not horrible.  They are opening.

What I'm seeing in Germany reflects in the numbers:

Military are now able to use public transportation to come and go... but masks are required and social distancing where possible.

Here is the latest from our boss.

Next USAG Stuttgart Virtual Town Hall is tomorrow, 21 May @ 1830-1915 https://www.facebook.com/events/551953782181448/  (*they have been having a number of town hall meetings....)

-Now that the Barber Shop has re-opened, relaxed grooming standards will no longer be permissible.  Please make sure your uniform and grooming standards adhere to Marine Corps policy.

 

-News Around the Theater:

-Germany:

-16 May, German border crossing between France and Switzerland began to reopen with restrictions

-18 May, Germany’s Foreign Minster states that travel for the summer would resume with restrictions

–      People can use these border crossing for family or personal reasons (Visiting spouse/partner, visiting relatives,  custody and handling matters of children, and participation in important family events)

-14 June, Germany’s worldwide warning against travel will be rescinded

-15 June, borders are allowed for tourist and shopping tours – people entering Germany from non-EU countries will be forced into a 2-week quarantine

 

-Norway:

-1 June, Amusement parks can reopen

-15 June, small events may increase to 200 people, soccer season may begin without spectators, and water parks and pools can reopen

 

-Italy:

-19 May, Italian Foreign Minister is appealing to German tourists as it plans to reopen and rescind the 14-day mandatory quarantine in mid-June

 

-Spain:

-19 May, Spanish Government agrees for request to extend State of Emergency until 7 June

 

-Georgia:

-19 May, Georgian Prime Minister stated that restrictions must remain in  place, but the country does not need the State of Emergency or Curfew at the same time

 

-Memorial Day 96 – MARFOREUR/AF will conduct the upcoming scheduled 96 from Thursday, 21 May @ 1630 – Tuesday, 26 May @ 0730.

 

-Reminder for the upcoming Memorial Day 96:

                -As per General order 1B:

                                - Travel within 100 miles staying within Germany

   - When traveling within 100 mile radius, it’s incumbent on you to know and follow different state/municipalities rules of the host nation

                                - NO overnight stay authorized

   - Public transportation authorized, but adhere to requirement for facemasks and social distancing

 

****SOCIAL DISTANCING****

 

%%%% WASH YOUR HANDS FOR AT LEAST 20 SECONDS %%%%

The USA isn't fairing as well...

COVID day 57

I missed the 4 million mark a few days ago (Sunday I believe)  now we're edging up on 4.5 million just a few short days later... how scary is that?  

The US is edging up there too at almost 1.5 million... 

Germany is still doing well - with restrictions being eased this week.  I should post what they are easing now... They now allow zoos and parks (not sure what they are allowing).  They are, however still insisting on masks in stores now.  I finally relented and bought some better fitting masks.

The good news is the Germany is still very low overall - we're lower than Russia, UK, Spain, Italy and France.  

What else?  

Germany is easing restrictions slowly.  They are opening salons and parks and zoos....  I don't remember what else.

Suffice to say that things are still VERY weird.  Masks are still required everywhere you go - e.g. stores, business.  BUT they are opening... so I guess that's a plus.