Ameise1 (Barbara)'s first try (Part 11)

Welcome to my 11th thread.

In Zürich the public trasportation is fantastic. We have trams and buses but also trains. All are running on time like a Swiss clock and very frequently.
Since 15 years companies can use trams' outside design for advertising. Two weeks ago I saw this 'library' tram.

January

# 1 Die Feuer von Murano by Giuseppe Furno ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 stars)
# 2 The Case Of The Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall (4 stars)
# 3 Necessary as Blood by Deborah Crombie (4 1/2 stars)
# 4 The Paris Vendetta by Steve Berry (3 stars)
# 5 Nelson Mandela by Biography Series Member Giveaway (4 stars)
# 6 Beneath The Bleeding by Val McDermid ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 1/2 stars)

February

# 7 Even Money by Dick Francis (4 stars)
# 8 The Spy Game by Georgina Harding (4 1/2 stars)
# 9 Dark Vineyard by Martin Walker (4 stars)
#10 L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 1/2 stars)
#11 Table For One byDaniel Kelley Member Giveaway (4 1/2 stars)
#12 The Private Patient by PD James ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 stars)

March

#13 Continuance by Marta Tandori Member Giveaway (3 stars)
#14 The Lost Diaries Of Adrian Mole, 1999 2001 by Sue Townsend (3 1/2 stars)
#15 Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear (4 stars)
#16 Digital Fortress by Dan Brown ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (3 1/2 stars)
#17 Blindman's Bluff by Faye Kellerman (4 1/2 stars)
#18 The Infinities by John Banville (4 stars)
#19 Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris (4 stars)

April

#20 Pitch Black by Alex Gray ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 1/2 stars)
#21 In The Kitchen by Monica Ali (2 1/2 stars)
#22 First Family by David Baldacci (4 stars)
#23 No Lovelier Death (DI Joe Faraday) by Graham Hurley ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 stars)
#24 The Associate by John Grisham (3 1/2 stars)
#25 Fear The Worst by Linwood Barclay (4 1/2)
#26 The Ritual by Darren Kirby Member Giveaway (2 stars)
#27 False Impression by Jeffrey Archer Audiobook (4 stars)
#28 NO HARD FEELINGS (A Kate Stanton Mystery) by Marta Tandori Member Giveaway (4 stars)

May

#29 White Jazz by James Ellroy ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 stars)
#30 Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (4 stars)
#31 Family Album by Penelope Lively (4 stars)
#32 Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (4 stars)
#33 The Poison Pen by Marjorie Owen Early Review (4 stars)
#34 Diver Down (Mercy Watts Mysteries) by A.W. Hartoin Member Giveaway (4 1/2 stars)
#35 The Templar's Quest by C.M. Palov ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 stars)

June

#36 One morning like a bird by Andrew Miller (5 stars)
#37 The Aunt Paradox by Chris Dolley Early Review (3 1/2 stars)
#38 The Fire by Katherine Neville (5 stars)
#39 The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 stars)
#40 The Veteran by Frederick Forsyth ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 1/2 stars)

July

#41 Deception Point by Dan Brown ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (3 stars)
#42 Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (4 stars)
#43 Vanished by Joseph Finder (4 stars)
#44 Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories by Nancy Christie (4 1/2 stars)
#45 Open Season by C. J. Box ROOT - 2014 Read Our Own Tomes Group (3 1/2 stars)
#46 Second Honeymoon by James Patterson (3 1/2 stars)

August

#47 Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare Stories) by William Shakespeare (4 stars)
#48 The Goldfinch by Donna Tratt (4 1/2 stars)
#49 Vulture au Vin by Lisa King Early Review (3 stars)

September

#50 The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta Member Giveaway (4 1/2 stars)
#51 The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse (4 1/2 stars)
#52 The Fifth Floor by Michael Harvey (4 stars)

October

#53 The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (4 stars)
#54 The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (4 1/2 stars)
#55 The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters (3 1/2 stars) Audiobook
#56 Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann (4 stars)
#57 Voice of an Angel by Becky Lower Early Review (1 star)
#58 The Night Season by Chelsea Cain (4 stars)

November

#59 The Empty Family by Colm Tóibín (4 stars)
#60 The Skull Beneath the Skin by P. D. James (4 stars) Audiobook

Take It or Leave It Challenge

challenges

January

7.: Read a book you received as a present (in-laws/Christmas 2013)
Die Feuer von Murano (2014-01-04)
8.: Read a book that has a glossary
The Case Of The Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall (2014-01-07)
11.: Read a book that has two of something in the title
Necessary as Blood by Deborah Crombie (2014-01-14)

February

3.: Read a book of short stories
Table For One by Daniel Kelley (2014-02-24)
5.: Read a book that is part of a series
L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy (2014-02-23)
9.: Read a book with a polar vortex related word in Chapter
The Spy Game by Georgina Harding
20.: Read a book with an object on the cover that starts with a letter in rolling alphabetical order (note)
Even Money by Dick Francis (2014-02-02)

March

1.: Read a book with a red-lettered title
The Lost Diaries Of Adrian Mole, 1999 2001 by Sue Townsend (2014-03-03)
3.:Read a book with a word in the title that starts with a vowel
Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear (2014-03-07)
9.: Read a book whose title's initial letter spells out DAYLIGHT, on a rolling basis
Digital Fortress by Dan Brown (2014-03-09)

May

1. Read a book which mentions a tree on any page with double numbers
White Jazz by James Ellroy (2014-05-06)
2./2.: Read a book with at least two words in the title containing an embedded word of at least three letters
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane (2014-05-18)
The Templar's Quest by C.M. Palov (2014-05-30)
6./6.: Read a book with a title that looks like it has been designed in some kind of handwriting
The Poison Pen by Marjorie Owen (2014-05-24)
Diver Down (Mercy Watts Mysteries) by A.W. Hartoin (2014-05-25)
9. Read a book that is trade paperback-sized
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (2014-05-09)
10.: Read a book that is divided into chapters, with each chapter having it's own name
Family Album by Penelope Lively (2014-05-13)

June

1.: Read a book whose author’s first and last name end in the same letter
The Fire by Katherine Neville (2014-06-20)
9.: Read a book that doesn't have a person on the cover
The Veteran by Frederick Forsyth (2014-06-29)
12.: Read a book with a body part on the cover
The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen (2014-06-22)
17.: Read a book which has a "don" word on any page with the number 57
One morning like a bird by Andrew Miller (2014-06-07)
18.: Read a book that you can only read/find online or in E-book form
The Aunt Paradox by Chris Dolley (2014-06-09)

July
4.: Start a series and continue if you want
Vanished by Joseph finder (2014-07-18)
18.: Read a book of short stories
Traveling Left of Center and Other Stories by Nancy Christie (2014-07-20)
19./19.: Read a book whose author is from a country that competed in the 2014 World Cup
Deception Point by Dan Brown (2014-07-06)
Library of the Dead by Glenn Cooper (2014-07-14)

August
3.: Read a book with an animal in the title, which does not refer to an actual animal in the text
Vulture au Vin by Lisa King (2014-08-31)
6.: Read a book whose title contains an element (Gold)
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (2014-08-24)
22.: Read a book by an author who has no 9 in his birth year
Antony and Cleopatra (Shakespeare Stories) by William Shakespeare (2014-08-01)

September
2.: Read a book by a living author who is younger than you
The Winter Ghosts by Kate Mosse (2014-09-13)
5.: Read a book you didn't buy
The Fifth Floor by Michael Harvey (2014-09-15)
17.: Read a book which has a 'season' in its title
The Winter Boy by Sally Wiener Grotta (2014-09-10)

October
1a / 1b: Read a book with a species of bird named in the narrative a-(kingfisher/p 395) / b-(hawks/p 157)
a - The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver (2014-10-06)
b - Let The Great World Spin by Colum McCann (2014-10-15)
5.: Read a book with an S and a T in the title that you've never read before
The Glass Room by Simon Mawer (2014-10-11)
14: Read a book that is dark
The Devil's Feather by Minette Walters (2014-10-13) Audiobook
15: "And Every One Was An Henery": Read a book where either a character or the author is named Henry
The Night Season by Chelsea Cain (one of the main character's name is Henry) 2014-10-19
16: In honor of my dear friend Don, who just passed, read a book that has something to do with music.
Voice of an Angel by Becky Lower (one of the main character is a singer/songwriter) 2014-10-16

November
4.: Read a book by an author whose publication career spanned at least 15 years
The Empty Family by Colm Tóibín 2014-11-02
5.: Read a book with an embedded word in the title
The Skull Beneath the Skin by P. D. James 2014-11-04

currently reading



currently listening
Z

Happy New Thread, Barb! I hope you are loving Let the Great World Spin. I was crazy about that book. I had mixed feelings about the Empty Family though.

Thanks a lot Mark. I stortly will have finished The Glass Room the next reading will be Let The Great World Spin. I'm looking forward to it after your recommendation.

Being first here some beer from Switzerland which is called 'Vollmondbier' (full moon beer' because the brewing takes place in the full moon nights.

>3 Ameise1: Barb, congrats on another new thread! And nice job on the TIOLI challenge.

Mark, I am thinking you should have been drinking Vollmonbier when you were watching the Blood Moon last week! It rose in the morning? Details, details.

>8 Berly: Hi Kim, thanks for stopping by. Yes, I try to do my best for the TIOLI.

Ha, good idea with Mark and the Vollmondbier.

book 54



This was a fantastic reading. Although the author claims it is a fiction but this house does really exist. The real history of this house which is called Villa Tugendhat (in the story it's called Villa Landauer) is strongly related to Mawer's story. A young married couple, he is Jewish and she is German, commissioned to build this villa which was based on the plan of a German architect. This took place in 1929. In this house there took place a lot of artistic events. The young couple wasn't able to live a very long time in this house due to the WWII. They emigrated to the USA. During the war this house became a scientific labour and after the war it was a children's physiotherapy center who were fallen ill with the polio. In the late 60s it was turned into a museum.
The story is written with a lot of love for all the characters and the time before and during the war as well the time of the Iron Curtain.

>8 Berly: Yes, the Blood Moon was setting in the southwest sky. It was about 5:30am, a little early to be drinking a beer, plus I was leaving for work, in less than an hour. LOL.
The Vollmonbier, does sound good though.

>10 Ameise1: Good review of the Glass Room. I have this on shelf.

>11 msf59: Mark, it's said that it is a very tasty beer. I don't drink beer so I can't say if it's true.

I can strongly recommend The Glass Room. I hope you'll like it too.

Hello Barbara, thank you very much for visiting my thread and leaving such a beautiful picture and thank you for the compliment on the scarf. My sister was incredible happy today when I gave it to her. :)

>10 Ameise1: interesting review of The Glass Room. I also have this one somewhere on my TBR pile.

A lovely weekend to you as well!

>13 drachenbraut23: Bianca, welcome on my thread. You're welcome for the pic I love sending a weekend greeting.
You scarf is indeed gorgeous. Are you a knitting bee? I'm sure you sister loves it.

I hope you'll like The Glass Room as much as I did.

Hi Barbara, great new thread my dear and I love the Tram photo, when we got home today your postcard had arrived, thank you for thinking of us and sending it, what a friend you are my dear.

>15 johnsimpson: John, you're welcome and it took only two days. When I first saw this tram it was night so I couldn't take a photo. Today when I was waiting for my bus I finally had the chance to take the pic. I really love the design and it's really clever made. Between each door there are a special kind of books like novels, crimes, fantasy etc.. one can easely read the title of those books.

I hope you and Karen have a relaxed weekend. Hugs xx

Happy New Thread, Barbara! I love the library bus up top!

>14 Ameise1: Hello Barbara I love that term "knitting bee". Yes, you may could say that. I started knitting around the age of 4 1/2 because I had two wonderful grandmothers who were patient enough to teach me :). However, I have been quite ill for over a year (it's all kind of under control for now) and didn't read, knit or was able to pursue any of my other hobbies where you need to concentrate. This was just one of my little projects of getting back into the swing. Just started today a jumper with some interesting cable patterns :). The same applies to my reading :), I am slowly getting back into it, also I still tend to listen more to audiobooks.

>17 scaifea: Thanks a lot, Amber. Four years ago I was listening to an author in a tram. Every last weekend in October we have aspecial event in Zürich which is called 'Zürich liest' (Zürich is reading). There, different authors are reading at very special places. I should look up this year program to make some decisions where I'll go.

>18 drachenbraut23: Bianca, I used to knit a lot when I was younger especially for my own kids but also socks, scarfs and wristlets. But they were never so artistic ones as you are doing. I hope you will post photos of your products.

I restarted reading a lot about four years ago. Before it was a mission impossible with children and working full time.

>19 Ameise1: Cool! What a great idea!

>21 scaifea: Isn't it. :-)

Happy New Thread, Barb!

I love the topper!

Happy Weekend, Barbara! I love that "library" tram up top. Congratulations on the spiffy new thread.

>23 connie53: & >24 jnwelch: Thanks a lot Connie and Joe. I love this tram too. :-)

book 55 Audiobook



First I was a little bit confused because this story was starting in Africa some years earlier when a young lady got abused by an evil one. Therefore she was looking for him to take revenge. She was following his track of murderous violence because he always was killing prostitutes in the same way. When she was back in England she didn't report her abuse directly but was working in one way or the other one with a detective. Finally the rapist found her but because there was also a sideline of evile activities in the extended family nobody is really concerned what had happened with the rapist who was found dead in the sea.

Happy new thread, Barbara and great review of The Glass Room. I will be keeping an eye out for a copy of that one!

>27 lkernagh: Thanks a lot, Lori. The Glass Room is a fantastic story and it describes the life around WWII very good.

Hi Barbara - just catching up - looks like you've got some great reading going these days. The Glass Room sounds fascinating.

>29 SuziQoregon: Waves to you, Juli. Indeed, I love my reading. :-)

This afternoon we went to buy my new skis. It will be a 'Christmas' present but we bought it today, so I'm ready for the ski season :-)

This is my new ski but it will have another binding.

I love the fact that you can buy skis in Switzerland like we buy ice skates in the Netherlands!

>32 connie53: Connie, I have to admit that I'm not such an ice skating freak. I only went ice skating with the kids.
I love skiing. I started when I was 2 1/2 years old and won't stop for the next ... years.

It probably will be ski season before long in Switzerland. Around here, we do have "Ski Mountain" over in Gatlinburg. There are times that there is "real snow" on it because of its elevation, but most of the time, it''s the fake stuff.

>34 thornton37814: Lori, also here im Switzerland they start with 'fake' snow when it's cold enough. That's only because of money, money, money. When it starts snowing (probably in the mountains the next two weeks) this first snow is only good for the underground of a slope. So they put on this first snow the fake one to make sure that everybody can go skiing in the beginning of December. We wait until there is enough real snow.

Winter can come. I drove our car to the garagist who is Marina's godfather. He fixed the winter tyres and did an oil change. So by now everything is ready for the first snow. :-)

book 56



This was a very interesting reading. It starts with two Irish boys who will later go to New York. The main setting takes place in different parts of NY with there residents of different social backgrounds. What me struck most was how the author linked all those different characters to a whole. First they are each introduced in someone else 'biography' but with every new chapter each protagonist gets his own view of the events.
It was a fast-paced reading and I loved it until the very last page.

Howdy Barbara! I see you reading a Virgil Flowers novel. I really like that character but the last novel I read was too much the plot of one of the Lucas Davenport novel and really it was a very disgusting subject matter. I don't mind dark and gritty but Sanford should be careful not to repeat his stories. Just my opinion. ;-)

The McCann novel sounds good. I will add it to the wishlist.

Have a lovely week Barbara.

>38 luvamystery65: Roberta, I haven't read a Lucas Davenport for ages. The earlier one I loved so I'll give this one another try. I guess you will like the McCann it was a fantastic reading.

I wish you a lovely week, too.

Hi Barb! Hope the week is going well. I am glad you loved Let The Great World Spin. Happy Face!

>40 msf59: Waves to you Mark, I loved the reading very much. I guess you must have sent the bad weather over to us ;-)

book 57



I was really disappointed from this book. I had expected something completely different when I read the introduction of this book but it is merely about sex, lust and desire. The plot itself which was introduced on LT but also on amazon could have been written within ten pages.

>42 Ameise1: - It would appear you are not alone in being disappointed with that one. I am always saddened when a dud shows up on a thread.... it makes me hope that a really good book didn't hit the 'discard' pile with the publishers in exchange for the dud.

>43 lkernagh: Lori, I only finished the reading because it was a Early Reviewer and posted the note also on amazon. I guess when the introduction which I read had been correct I never would have ordered it.

Have a lovely weekend Barbara!

Hi Barbara, have a lovely weekend my dear.

>45 luvamystery65: Thanks a lot Roberta, wishing you the same.

>46 johnsimpson: Good morning John, I hope you have a lvely one, too.

On Thursday morning there was a bad waking up. I couldn't move my left arm and ot hurt terribly. When I finslly got up I took an iboprophen 800 and hoped it would get better. During the day the pain didn't lessen and I had no strength in the arm. In the afternoon I went to the ER. They were very friendly. A doctor (60+) welcomed me to the club of the oldies. He asserted that I have a brisa inflammation in my left shoulder and there also tendinitis and told me that's just normal wear and tear when getting old. Ha! However, I must take more of the ibuprophen and move the shoulder that it won't get stiff. Yestetday, I went to the gym and they helped me to move my shoulder. When it won't get bettet until Monday/Tuesday than I have to see my doctor for a cortisone shot.

Yesterday morning I went to the hospita for my hand and got some more cortisone shots.

Well, soon I could be called a Walking Cortisone Bomb ;-).

>48 Ameise1: Barbara that's terrible. I hope you are able to control this with ibuprophen and exercise. :-(

>49 luvamystery65: Thanks Roberta, I do my best and keep my fingers crossed that it will heal soon.

Happy Saturday, Barb! Sorry to hear about the shoulder discomfort. Any better?

>51 msf59: Thanks Mark, unfortunately not much. Still thinking positive :-)

Oh, dang. I'm sorry about your shoulder/arm! Hoping it limbers up quickly.

>53 scaifea: Thanks Amber, I can need every support. I've to go back to work on Monday. I need an improvement until than.

Hi Barbara! I've just caught up on all of your threads this year, and am sorry to hear about your shoulder/hand issues! Here's hoping they'll be all sorted by the time Monday rolls around.

I hope that you're feeling better today, Barbara, and that you take it easy this weekend.

>55 LauraBrook: Thanks a lot Laura. I just was over at your thread. My quote in those situation is always The bad penny always turns up again.

>56 kidzdoc: Darryl, on todays agenda was/is: grocery on the market in the morning (Thomas had to carry everything home - myself only the flowers - ha), then some LT, now I just finished to delouse Marina's hair (she has wonderful long curly thick hair and therefore it 'only' took 2 1/2 hours - and my shoulder hurts terrible) and in two hours we will be at my in-laws place for dinner.
I hope I can do some reading now.

Happy Weekend, Barbara! Hope you have a good dinner with your in-laws.

>59 jnwelch: Joe, thanks so much. At my in-laws place everybody has to take a card with someones name on it and for this person one is organizing his Christmas gift. (do the secret Santa)

Thank you, Barbara for your good week-end wishes. And also for the review of The Glass Room. It has been on my TBR shelf for quite a while.

The light rail trains here in Baltimore sometimes have advertising painted on them (when they are not covered with graffiti) but nothing as pleasant to view as your train.

Hello Barbara,

dankeschön für den schönen Wochenend Gruss :) Wünsche Dir auch ein schönes Wochenende.

Sorry, to hear about your shoulder problem. However, I absolute hate it when doctors come with this argument of it's just tear and wear. You are still in pain and it's not just about painkillers, but receiving the right exercises. I don't know what the Health system is like in Switzerland, but I would try to get some good sessions of Physio in, which you then can carry on doing at home. As you said yourself you don't want to become a walking cortisone bomb (which in turn can cause osteoporosis).

Well, don't always believe what's written on the blurb. I had a few years back a similiar experience with a book. However, I still have such a huge TBR pile that I am not bothered anymore.

>61 catarina1: Thanks a lot, Catarina. We have indeed lovely trams etc.

>62 drachenbraut23: Bianca, tausend Dank. We do have a great health system. When I have to see my doctor than I'll ask for the physio. In the meantime at my gym they are very helpful. It"s a medical gym with a physio. I go regulary there since years because I had broken five vertebrae in the end of 2007. Anyway when I went there yesterday they took a lot of time to choose the best machines for my shoulder issues and they will accompany me during this time.

Joining the posters above in hoping that your shoulder is on the mend and that ibuprophen and exercise helps.

>58 Ameise1: - Thomas had to carry everything home - myself only the flowers Flowers are very important so good to see Thomas took care of the other items. ;-)

Still out front in the Rookie posting stakes, Barbara, whilst most of the rest of us are struggling man and womanfully to keep up!

Have a lovely weekend. xx

>64 lkernagh: Thanks a lot, Lori. This morning I could get up much easier. Indeed, the meds and exercises help very much.
Ha, I love flowers and every week I buy a seasonal bunch on the markrt. I love the autumn ones very much.

>65 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, I love chatting around the world. So no wonder why I keep my threads busy.
I hope you'll get some calmer time soon.

Hi Barbara, hope the shoulder is feeling a bit better my dear and that the Ibuprofen is helping to relieve the pain. I wish you a very good Sunday my dear.

>67 johnsimpson: Thanks John, I feel better than two days ago even though it still hurts.

Happy Sunday, Barb! I hope you are curled up with a good book.

>69 msf59: Mark, indeed I am. I hope to finish The Night Season by Chelsea Cain. So far it gripped me. :-). I hope you have some great reading too.

book 58



This was an easygoing fast-paced reading. The plot was fascinating due to how the murders have been done. There were several stories linked to each other and everything started in the past but unfortunately with a lot of misapprehensions and ignorance. It was looking like time was running out and only at the very end it was clear how all links were related.
It was very gripping and I liked it.

Hi Barb, just peeping in and saying hi!

>33 Ameise1: I never learned how to ice skate OR ski. We had a snow vacation in Austria twice but we went cross-country skiing both times(And I'm not good at that either).

>72 connie53: Hi Connie, a Dutch who isn't good in ice skating ;-)? Never mind there are a lot of Swiss who have no clue in skiing :-).

I hope you have a lovely week.

>73 Ameise1: Yes, I know, it's unbelievable ;-).

I'm not good at any sport, just good at watching all kinds of sports! Hihihihi.

Have a lovely week too. We just started our autumn break and tomorrow I'm going to the wedding of two of our book club members. So that is a fabulous start.

Enjoy it! I hope you have a splendid time!

Barb, I'm asking for you to be healthy and whole again. Thank you for your lovely words of encouragement. :-)

>76 AuntieClio: Hi Stephanie, you made my early morning brighter. Thanks so much for stopping by. My shoulder shows some improvement and I was able to work yesterday the full day (o.k. with some 'doping') and for the hand I have to be patient (something I don't have for myownself). Everything needs time to cure, sigh.

I wish you a lovely day.

Hi Barbara. I'm glad you liked Let the Great World Spin. I'm a fan of his work and I loved that one.

>78 EBT1002: Good morning Ellen, nice to have you here :-).
Indeed, it was a fantastic reading when I'll find another McCann in the local library I'll give this author another go.

Good morning Barbara, hope your shoulder is feeling better my dear. Have a really good day, love and hugs to all at Heckendorn manor.

>80 johnsimpson: Thanks a lot John, we are all fine and my shoulder is getting better. Winter is definitely round the corner. Today it's snowing down to 600m (we are close to 500m). It was a very stormy night and the temperatures dropped remarkably. I'm glad that our heating is working fine. Ha!

Happy mid-week, Barb! Hope the week is going well.

>82 msf59: Thanks, Mark. It is but winter is coming very quickly.

Catching up on the threads after a little hiatus. Glad to see the shoulder is improving. Had a horrific rainstorm today here in Boston. I shudder to think what 5 inches of rain would translate into as snow!! Stay warm!

>84 michigantrumpet: Hi Marianne, nice to see you. I guess winter must be round the corner at your place, too. In the mountains especially that part where we go skiing there is already a lot of snow. It's always a mess when the first load of snow is coming to big cities especially when people and car holder aren't prepared for it.

Glad your shoulder is better...now, for hand. Chronic pain is very wearing....I wish you freedom from pain.

>86 Whisper1: Thanks a lot, Linda. I can't complain, everything is much better. I don't have pain in the hand but those little papules under the skin are very persistent and won't go away. Therefore I need the cortisone shots.

>87 msf59: Thanks Mark, the same to you too.

Happy Friday!!

>89 michigantrumpet: Thanks a lot, Marianne - the same to you too. I just finished work and will soon leaving for going home. Yepieeee!!!

:-) Have a great weekend, Barbara.

Good to hear your shoulder is getting better. Have a great weekend!

>91 jnwelch: You too, Joe. It looks like you're pretty busy in DC.

>92 SuziQoregon: Waves, Juli. Thanks a lot, my shoulder is doing MUCH better due to all the exercises at the medical gym. They are all so helpful there.

This weekend we join Zürich liest (Zürich is reading). This is always a fantastic event. Authors are reading from their books at spectacular places not only libraries and book shops but also in trams, museums, parks, cellars, railway stations, cafés and some in their own living room. Some events had to be booked upfront others one just has to try for free places. We are looking forward to a fabulous weekend.

Wishing you a fantastic weekend, Barbara!

>95 scaifea: Thanks very much, Amber, will do so :-D

This morning, Thomas and I went for a special reading/performance at the Café Odeon in the historic centre of Zürich. This event was a homage to Urs Widmer, a fabulous narrator and author who died last spring. It was projected that he himself would read his texts. Shortly before he died he asked his best friend if he could take over his part which he did. In this performance were also playing and singing two waiters (actors) who earlier have played together with Urs Widmer. It was a gorgeous event (a fantastic breakfast included) with a lot of laughing but also some tears because everybody reminded of Urs Widmer and knew that only the memories of him will last. He is truely missed.

____

I have never attending a reading/performance like the one in your post above, Barbara! Sounds fantastic and what a lovely tribute.

>98 lkernagh: Lori, I guess it was one of the best/intersting/entertaining breakfast I ever had.

Hello Barbara,
that performance sounds like it was fabulous. I never heard of Urs Widmer, but what a wonderful tribute.
I have been to a couple of reading performances and the last one was a couple of years back, at a fish restaurant where a friend of ours read some of the work of Charles Bukowski which was accompanied by guitar music. Was a fantasic venue and evening.
I am glad to hear that your shoulder is doing better. Being a chronic pain patient since my early teenage years I understand how grating pain can be at times.

Wünsche Dir einen wundervollen Sonntag :)

Hi Barb, That performance sounds perfect! We don't have that kind of things here (as far as I know anyway)

I hope your week will be just as perfect!

>100 drachenbraut23: Hello Bianca, aren't those fantastic events? Yours sounds fabulous too. If you find time I can Widmer's book strongly recommend.
Ich hoffe, dass du auch einen tollen Sonntag hattest, immerhin dauert er eine Stunde länger als üblich ;')

>101 connie53: Hi Connie, it was indeed a fantastic event. Sorry to hear that you don't have them in the Netherlands.
I hope too that the upcoming week will be a good one. Well, tomorrow after work I go to the hairdresser :-) and afterwards to the gym. On Wednesday I have an appointment with the beautician :-). On Thursday morning we have 'parents day'. They can visit the lessons. It's always very stressful.

But you will be looking great after a visit to the hairdresser and the beautician! So no stress! ;-)

:-) Sure I will enjoy every second.

Oh that performance sounds wonderful!

>105 SuziQoregon: Thanks Juli, it was fabulous.

One of my favorite things about this group (and there are many wonderful things) is that I get to see photos of other countries! I've traveled throughout the United States, but have not been to Europe. I hope this becomes a reality in the next few years. Many thanks for sharing your lovely photos.

What a lovely event you went to this weekend - both the reading and the venue. Cafe Odeon looks like a wonderful place. I too love to see the photos. But, oh, no, it's only October and you have snow already. We'll get it here in Baltimore but hopefully not until Jan. Feb is usually the worst month for snow fall amounts here.

Chiming in to add my ooohs and aaahs to the mix - the performance (and the breakfast!) sounds wonderful!

Love the photos of Café Odeon! Sounds like a lovely time. Have a good week, Barb!

>97 Ameise1: What fun! I love the pictures, too. Went to the Boston Book Festival on Saturday. Looks like several of us were involved in thought provoking book related activities!

>107 Whisper1: Linda, thumb up - I like all the photos which are posted on LT too. It's so fantastic how it is looking at other places.

>108 catarina1: Catarina, Café Odeon was and is a very famous place. Such a lot of authors, artists and politicians from all over the world were regulary there to debate within the last 100 years.
For the snow you have to know that this isn't something unusual. 70% of Switzerland are mountains (some over 4000 meters) and therefore winter is always coming very quickly.

>109 scaifea: Amber, it was indeed a fabulous event. Today at school I had to tell my colleagues everything. :-)

>110 msf59: Mark, in the earlier time Café Odeon was the double size it is now. I love this place because it's so cosy. It's still a place where you can drink a wonderful cup of coffee and read the paper or a book. It was and still is a kind of a literary café.

>111 michigantrumpet: Marianne, it must have been the weekend of the books and readings. What kind of events have you attended?

Just passing by, reading up and saying Hi!

How was your first day, Barb?

>114 connie53: Waves to you Connie, it's my second week which started today, so I've already the feeling my autumn break must be years ago ;-)

I guess I caught a virus, I'm loosing my voice and that's for a teacher the absolutely worst case. Furthermore we'll have a big concert with our pupils in the end of November in a church in Zürich. They will sing twelve wonderful songs accompanied by a professional classic orchestra. We still are training all those songs (and I'm loosing my voice :-((). Can you imagine how I will sing the Ave Maria tomorrow with the kids? Me neither - sigh.

>115 Ameise1: Barbara, so sorry to hear that you are loosing your voice. Nope, I can't envision the Ave Maria without a voice. However, I am a great fan of herbal stuff and I found especially, with colds (chest, voice, runny nose etc) that sage and honey tea and vegetable broth with grated ginger work quite often wonders. The sage tea appears to be especially good when you have a sore throat and loose your voice.
I wish you good luck and hope you will feel better soon :)

>116 drachenbraut23: Thanks a lot Bianca. You have to know my second name is 'herbal witch'. I always try to cure with a lot of different herbals. At the moment I drink tea from thym, elderberry flowers and buckhorn plantain with honey. Then I started a syrop of onions and candied suger this needs until tomorrow morning to be ready to use.

I appreciate any other ideas anytime. We can learn a lot from each other.

That sounds brilliant :) Whilst I was still living full time in England and had enough space I used to make my own hand crafted soaps, creams and other body care items on top of my meddling in other herbal stuff. However, nowadays I don't have the space anymore :(, but I still enjoy experimenting with herbal remedies to a certain extent. Zwiebel Sirup ist gut, obwohl ich wenn möglich Honig anstelle von Zucker benutze. I also enjoy fresh foods and tend to make my own. Whilst in London I only need to look after myself so when I make soups, stews or some other food items I tend to freeze them, so that I have freshly made items for the days I don't have time to cook. I am also interested in "Raw Foods", juicing, smoothies and generally preserving. I made quite an interesting selection of jams over the summer and managed to make some "Brombeer sirup" :). If you enjoy stuff like this as well, I am sure we can exchange a lot :) I always love to exchange ideas and recipes.

Bianca, that sounds gorgeous. May I ask you if you don't live full time in England anymore or did I misunderstood something?
We only cook with fresh food at our home. It takes time but is much better. We have twice a week a market where we can buy fantastic products.

Yes, you may ask! I moved to London in 1996 and moved back to Germany in 2008, my son has got dyscalculia which couldn't be supported in England, but in Germany, hence the move to Germany. However, my employer didn't want me to leave and offered me an annual hour contract so that I would be able to commute. As I couldn't find any suitable work in Germany I took the offer and since then I commute. I am usually between 4-8 weeks in London and roughly the same time in Germany. When I am in London I am lodging with a nice lady and when I am in Germany I live with my parents, who also look after my son when I am in London.

Fresh food tastes so much better anyway, but I am always amazed that so many people just by convinient food, because they think it is too difficult to cook healthy. Rubbish - much easier, cheaper and if you have a freezer - fantastic.

Bianca, thanks a lot for your explanations.

Indeed, I can't understand people who think that fresh food is complicated. Cooking means also to use ones fantasy and try to combine different kind of food and smells.

I'm enjoying the herbal discussion here, ladies! I'll add that apple cider vinegar works great on sore throats and coughs, too; add a couple of tablespoons-full to a mug of hot water, stir in some honey and drink. Tastes like hot apple cider!

Hi Barbara, I hope that you can still talk my dear, hope you have a good day and thanks for the lovely comment about the photo on my thread. Love and hugs to you.

The breakfast reading sounds so marvelous! And happy skiing. We have snow in the forecast for Saturday, but I don't feel ready emotionally for it. I do, however, have my snow tires on and the car inspected and all that. I don't downhill ski anymore, but I cross-country a lot, conditions permitting!

(Sticks fingers in ears) na na na na na na na!

I can't hear you?

Did someone say *snow*? I'm not ready for winter yet!

>122 scaifea: Amber, thanks a lot for chimming into the herbal discussion. I'll keep your one in my mind. When, next to a cold, I get fever I drink tea of fresh ginger, lime and honey. That tea helps very much.

As I can see we'll go through the winter without much to worry.

>123 johnsimpson: John, I'm very happy that I'm able to chat here without speaking. I've a voice which is close to a crow. Well, we have some in our garden, I guess I should start a conversation with them they probably would understand me. To be serious I'm happy that my work day is over I really can't say much at the moment.

>124 sibylline: Lucy, I'm still a huge fan of downhill skiing and this season I'll get more opportunities to do so. The cross-country has to wait some years more.
Our car is ready for winter, too.

>125 michigantrumpet: Marianne, today we had a typical autumn day. Here in Zürich it was foggy the whole day and in the mountains it was sunny. Even with snow there it was warmer than in the fog-sea down here.

I guess now is not the time to say that here in the UK we are having the mildest autumn in years (thanks climate change). It's expected to hit 21C at Halloween, today was 19C. Bright blue skies.

Not so useful for skiing though!

>128 lunacat: You guys are probably very nice people to earn something like summer in autumn. I guess we made something wrong over here ;-)

Yikes - sorry about losing your voice. Hope you're feeling much better soon!

Me too, Juli. A teacher without voice is terrible. Well, the pupils have been very quiet today, otherwise they wouldn't have understood me. :-)

>126 Ameise1: I'm a great believer in the power of fresh ginger, too. When I was pregnant, I had terrible 'morning' sickness, which n fact lasted all day, every day, until someone told me to try ginger, which helped with the nausea immensely. It also helps my motion sickness on long car rides.

>132 scaifea: Amber, fresh ginger is a good thing for several issues. I didn't know that for the mtion sickness. I'll keep it in my mind not for me but my daughters they usually have it when driving in the mountains with all those curves.

Luckily I never suffered 'morning' sickness but I could sleep standing that was quite amazing.

Hello Barbara. I appear to have missed your birthday; I hope it was wonderful!

Sorry to hear about the voice loss. I hope it gets better soon. I have another presentation tomorrow and I have to admit that part of me has been thinking I might lose my voice with this darn cold. Ha. Probably not.

>134 EBT1002: Thanks Ellen, it was a lovely day.

With the help of my own mixed herbal tea my voice is returning. I keep my fingers crossed that your presentation will go well. I know feeling sick and make a presentation isn't much fun.

>135 Ameise1: Yeah, I'm still on the fence about whether I will be able to go through with it. I would hate to bail on my two co-presenters but coughing and sneezing my way through would be pretty unpleasant for folks, too.

Drink a lot of tea and take an early night sleep. Sometimes that will help. Get well soon.

Thanks Barbara for all your wonderful and kind visits! I hope your throat is feeling better now. :)

Val is HERE! Heya lady, great to have you back. Slowly I get my voice back, so no singing like a star but it's definitely getting better.

Barbara long overdue as I am for a return visit; it is therefore doubly remiss of me to plug the British Author Challenge in doing so. Hope you'll be as generous with your time over there as you have been in so many places this year. xx

http://www.librarything.com/topic/182355

>140 PaulCranswick: Hi Paul, it's nice to have you here. I starred the British Author challenge and will give it a try when possible.

Hi Barbara, checking back in. I didn't go to the Meran Liest this year as they don't offer any interesting events except for the public reading in the piazza, but I am reading in public all the time anyway :)
No readings in nice cafes as in Zürich.

Sorry about the shoulder, I hope you find a physiotheray or Gymnastik that works.

>142 Deern: Nathalie, my shoulder feels ok due to the medical gym and voice is more or less back to normal.

The Reading Zürich is a fantastic event. There should be more places like this.

It is my turn to wish YOU a wonderful weekend. : )

Oh Kim, what a beautiful photo. Thanks so much. Wishing you a wonderful weekend too.

Trying to get caught up again. I hope you are recovering Barb.

And I just wanted to chime in on the fresh food discussion. For me, it's sometimes too expensive to only buy food which might last only three or four days (as fresh fruits and vegetables do in my refrigerator). It's also difficult to get to the grocery store more than once a week. Plus, I have no desire to spend a lot of time chopping and prepping to cook.

Farmer's markets are usually only open one day of the week, and they can be crowded. They are inconvenient to get to, and I don't do well in crowds, Again, cost can be an issue as well.

Having said that, I don't eat out a lot and have all but given up the very occasional fast food meal. I eat a lot of chicken thrown into a pot with a jar of simmer sauce, and cook rice in my rice cooker.

Not all of us have the inclination to make a loving production out of our meals. If I could, I would eat a lot of sushi and ceviches.

^Happy Weekend, Barb! Hope you have a nice one planned, that involves plenty of reading.

^ I like the Halloween cartoon up there.

Hi Stephanie, it's nice to see you. I feel much better, my voice is back but I guess a cough is on the way.

I guess for the food it depends where you are living. Where I live we have next to the market a lot of grocery shops within walking distance. Fresh vegetables and fruits are cheaper than convenience food. I agree that cooking with freash food takes its time. We eat out very seldom because eating in a restaurant here in Switzerland is very expensive.

>148 msf59: Mark, I have to do some work for school but I really hope to do a lot of reading. Thanks for the lovely photo.

This morning I finally put our door decoration on.

Good morning! I hope your weekend is also going well!

Hello Jim, I very happy to see you on my thread. Another two hours work (preparation for school) and than hopefully a lot of reading. :-)

Have a lovely weekend, Barbara! How is the weather in Zürich?

Happy Weekend, Barbara!

>154 kidzdoc: Thanks Darryl, the weather here is typical for autumn - in the morning thick fog, damp and cool and around midday the fog clears up and it's sunny.

>155 scaifea: Thanks Amber, hopefully it will be a quiet one :-)

Sorry to learn that your caught something that impacted your voice. I tend to go for the herbal/homemade soup and rest approach to any illnesses - I love drinking ginger, lemon and honey tea when I have a sore throat or the sniffles - but if I have a full blown cold I tend to live on NeoCitron, the only over the counter drug product I will take. I hope you are back to full health soon!

>144 Ameise1: - That is such a great cartoon! Where we live we don't get trick or treaters. The house party we attended last night was fun as we all took turns handing out candy to the kids that showed up at their door.... I loved the Dad that was dressed up as a fairy as he took a troup of six kids around!

>151 Ameise1: - Love the door decoration!

Hi Lori, we don't celebrate Halloween. I got this cartoon from my elder daughter. It is so funny that I had to post it here.

To have a cold is my weak part of my health. I catch it regulary and therefore I'm used to it also I don't like it. When I treat it early than I'm able to cure it with all the herbal things but sometimes it can go worse and than the chemical medicine has to do the work.

Thanks for the compliment of our decoration. I love to have the house in and outside decorated during winter. When spring is coming back we have a lot of flowers around the house.

Good morning Barbara, hope you are well my dear and that you have good rid of your cold.

Good morning John, I feel indeed much better and hope that I won't get a set-back.

We have a fantastic sunny autumn day. I have to do some work on the computer before I can start reading.

>144 Ameise1: absolutely love that cartoon Barbara. I couldn't stop laughing as it is so true. There are soo many food intolerances nowadays or parents who just want "organic". Very fitting.

Well, the weather in London is awful today, after another 19 degree yesterday today it's cold and raining. However, I still have to do some work on the computer as well and probably will do some knitting later.

Wish you a great day Barbara!

>161 drachenbraut23: Ha, isn't? Well, luckely nobody in our family has food intolerance.

Bianca, the forecast for the upcoming week is more like raining and cold but it isn't any surprise because we get the British weather always a few days later.

>162 Ameise1: As long as the weather doesn't decide to turn around and come from Zurich!

I live in the east of England and the coldest weather we get is either when it sweeps down the east coast from the Arctic and hits East Anglia from the north or - even worse - when we get rare weather from the east and Siberian winds and freezing temperatures sweep across and hit us head on. The area about 5 minutes away from here is the highest point in East Anglia, and if you follow a straight line east from there, you hit no higher elevation until you get to the Ural Mountains, so not much fun when the wind decides to howl straight through from there.

We get much milder weather when it comes from the west as usual, as the weather sweeps up and across from Cornwall or Wales. By the time it gets to the east here, it's lost a lot of it's force. In fact, Suffolk (my county) has the same average annual rainfall as Jerusalem!

Very interesting, Jenny. So, I keep my fingers crossed that there won't be too much east weather for you and you still can enjoy autumn.

book 59



This was my second Tóibín's reading and I liked it very much. This is a book full of short stories. What all the main characters have in common is that they have a special family background, childhood or adolescence and also some of them are gay. The scenery where the stories are taking place are Ireland or Spain (mostly Barcelona). In any case, there is a lot of love for each protagonist and his story. It's written very carefully and as a reader I got soon the impression to be familiar with all of them.

>165 Ameise1: Added to my wish list Barbara.

I hope your cold and throat are better soon. I'll second Amber the apple cider vinegar. It helps maintain ph balance which works against viruses and bacteria since they are acidic.

>166 luvamystery65: Hi Roberta, it was really an enjoyable reading.

Thanks for the hint I'll keep it in my mind.

I hope you have a lovely Sunday especially with one hour more.

Hope you have restful weekend so you can kick that cold to the curb!

>144 Ameise1: made me laugh right out loud. I send positive energy in the hope you can get rid of the cold quickly.

>168 jolerie: Good morning Val, I have my breakfast and in half an hour I'm on the way to school. I feel much better this morning.

>169 Whisper1: Hello Linda, isn't it gorgeous?

This morning we had our first rehearsal with 240 pupils from the first grade up to the sixth grade. It wasn't too bad even though I'm glad that we have another three weeks to learn everything by heart. In the end together with a professional classic orchestra it will be fantastic.

_

Oh, how sweet!

Thanks Linda, we had a lot of fun.

Oh what fun!!

Juli, it was amazing how much they already have learned.

book 60 Audiobook



This was a very pleasant listening because it wasn't a reading by one person, it was like a theatre with different actors. Secondly, the plot itself was very gripping and diverting there was no second of boredom. Thirdly, the whole story takes place on a small island and is therefore manageable. Fourthly, even though I had the feeling who was the evil one it let me guess a very long time with all the turns and twists.

Hi Barbara, I wasn't very fond of Colm Toibin's Broooklyn, but it looks as if I would like The Empty Family a whole lot better. But to be honest, if I had a choice, I would choose the P.D. James' book!
Btw, thank you for brightening my thread every now and then. I really appreciate your colourful visits.

>177 Trifolia: Hello Monica, it's nice to have you here. Thanks a lot for this fantastic photo. Autumn colours are my favourite ones.

I have to admit that I adore P.D. James'books very much. Well, to be honest I love British mysteries/crimes at all.

You're very welcome. I'm glad you like them.

I have Children of Men on my shelf. Should probably dust it off at some point and give it whirl. :)

>179 jolerie: Val, I haven't read that one but I was never disappointed of her books.

I love the pictures of all the kids, Barb! It will be a fantastic happening, I'm sure!

>181 connie53: Thanks a lot, Connie. I surely will report. Until than we are learning all those songs very intensive.

Hi Barbara, I just took a look at your library (as promised on my thread) and it really reads like my wishlist. I checked out the books that we should borrow from one another and it's obvious we have a lot of similarities in our reading-tastes. I also noticed you loved New York by Edward Rutherfurd. I have read both London and Sarum by the same author, both I found excellent. And oh, all those detectives, yummy!

Monica, London is one which I would like to read too. I have to find a copy of it. Indeed, I love detectives very much.

>171 Ameise1: Oh, look at all those cuties! And they seem to be paying attention and being very well behaved, too. Also, I have to say that that gym is gorgeous!!

Hello Barbara,

aw the pics look great and as Amber says the kids look indeed very well behaved. Are you on any of those pics as well?

Happy mid-week, Barb! I hope it is going well. Smiles...

>185 scaifea: Thanks Amber. Well it was a gorgeous rehearsal and they were more or less attentive but until the concert we have to practise this better, too.
In Switzerland we do have fantastic gyms at schools and this one is only a primary school gym.

>186 drachenbraut23: Bianca, I was the one who took the photos. So no pic of myownself. The lady with the chequered shirt is my team colleague we teach our class together and also in the first photo the man with the dark red shirt is our headmaster.

>187 msf59: Hi Mark, it's nice to have you here. So far so good - it's a rainy day, today. :-)

# 184 - My only fear about Edward Rutherfurd's books is that he may (have) become formulaic, because apart from these three books, he also wrote about Paris, the New Forrest and Russia and I'm afraid, there might be patterns. But I may be mistaken of course.

And oh my, those children look very well-behaved. It comes along with being Swiss, I guess?

>190 Trifolia: Monica, thanks for the update.

Well, for the kids behaviour I should add that luckily you can see only a blink of a moment in the photo. My class behaved today far away from good. I have a card system (like football). They start the day with a green card and when they don't behave the colours change to yellow and red (each pupil has got his own card set). Well, today there weren't many green ones left.

>190 Trifolia: They are a little formulaic but still quite enjoyable. I have New York to read but I've read London, Sarum and The Forest and enjoyed them - the only problem is I really enjoy early history but get a little bored from the 17th century onwards so I'm not sure I've ever finished one of his. The first two thirds are always good fun though!

>192 lunacat: Jenny, I loved New York, could't put it aside.

# 191 - Children, they can be devils and angels and their moods can change faster than the weather. I admire teachers who have to cope with that all day...

# 192 - Well, that's a relief, Jenny. Thanks for the reassurance. But aren't you curious to find out what happened to the families, later on?

>194 Trifolia: Truly spoken!

>194 Trifolia: Not really, once I've faded from a book I don't tend to wonder what happens. After all, not many books end with 'they lived happily ever after' so you don't know what might have happened anyway!

My mum has worked with littlies her whole life - nanny, then child minder, now nursery nurse, and I don't know how she does it. I'm great with babies but I can't deal with lots of kids charging around all over the place. I managed to do riding instructing because it was a limited activity and there wasn't much room for flexibility but then I only had to deal with them for an hour at a time. I used to be round the children a lot as they came into our home when my mum was childminding but I could escape to my room so it was bearable, and I really loved a lot of the kids she had.

My cousin is now a primary school teacher, with 3-4 year olds and some of the stories she can tell are pretty intense. Mostly figuring around appalling behaviour, kids with social issues because of terrible home lives, and no potty training. She used to teach 5-6 year olds and even some of they weren't reliably potty trained. Nightmare.

OMG, what you're telling about your cousin's experinces is a nightmare. I'm glad that I don't have to deal with such things. There are some kids when they come to school (6 years old) they have no clue how to dress but there I'm very strict, I don't help and they have to do it on their own therefore they miss playing time or other fun stuff. Well, they learn it very quickly because they would like to play, too.

I loved Rutherfurd's Sarum and really want to re-read it because it's been years. I've also got London on my shelf.

>198 SuziQoregon: Hi Juli, as I can see there are a lot of Rutherfurd's lover. It looks like that I should read another one in 2015. I would like to read London. Perhaps I should wish it as a Christmas present ;-)

Today, it was very special. The whole school was hollowing out turnips and trimmed them. In the evening we had a big parade through the villiage which ended on the main square with music, singing and of cause sweet cider, bred and chocolate.
Unfortunately my pupils weren't able to hold their turnips quiet and therefore only one photo can be posted.

I have Sarum on the wishlist but I think I may get to London first.

>200 Ameise1: Looks magical

>201 luvamystery65: Thanks, Roberta. :-)

>201 luvamystery65:, Roberta they are both a good read and I have also read Russka and have all his others on my TBR pile.

Hi Barbara, hope all is well at Heckendorn manor my dear, love and hugs to you and Thomas and the girls of course.

>200 Ameise1: Wow, they are gorgeous.

>204 johnsimpson: Thanks a lot, John, we are all fine. I hope Karen hasn't to wait too long for her new appointment. Hugs xx

>205 lunacat: Jenny, it was a lovely event without wind so the candles inside the turnips weren't blow out too often.

>200 Ameise1: That is so cool Barbara! How big are those turnips??

>208 jolerie: Val, the size is very different. I would say the size of a handball.

>200 Ameise1: Fabulous!

Only one photo, but boy is it a knockout! Beautiful!

>210 kidzdoc: Thanks, Darryl, we enjoyed it.

>211 scaifea: Amber, even though some parents came for assistance for the hollowing the pupils made the most part on their own.

Todays challenge at the 'forest' school was how can one find out which kind of conifer it is when only seeing and feeling the bark. This was a very funny activity and the pupils were very good. Furthermore we were looking for fox and brock holes. There are a lot of them in the wood.
The weather was terrific and with the lovely autumn colour the wood was just magical.

__

# 200 - What a wonderful photo.
# 213 - I wish we had learned similar things when I was in school. Lovely pictures!

>214 Trifolia: Thanks so much, Monica. I go every Friday in the wood with my class and we enjoy it very much.
I had the luck to have a grandfather who went weekly with me in the wood when I was a kid. I learned such a lot of things from him.

How lovely. I love the woods but I know far too little about them. Of course, I'm usually on horseback so there isn't much time for a lot of investigation. And when I was younger, I was mostly up the trees or falling out of them, not trying to work out which trees were which.

# 216 - Well, I'd stay away from the conifers if you intend to go climbing again. They tend to prick :-)

>216 lunacat: Ha, my words. I loved climbing the trees and my pupils are pretty good doing it as well.
I was always interested in the plants/trees too.
Horse riding I haven't done very often. The last time (25 years back) was a long track in the Andes. It was a gorgeous tour but I remember too well how my bum felt. :-)

>217 Trifolia: LOL

Lovely photos of the woods

Happy Weekend, Barb! Hope you have lots of R & R on the agenda. I am very glad you will be joining us for AACII. It should be another fun year.

I love the idea of 'forest' school! So educational and what a great way for the pupils to be outdoors enjoying the fresh air while they are learning. I am a very hands on learner - give me abstract theory and I tend to fall asleep. Boring. Give me something I can touch and possibly manipulate and I am your captive audience. ;-)

Wishing you a lovely weekend dear Barbara and I thought to return your colourful visits to my threads with a picture of the lovely (but fairly toxic) laburnam tree. We had several in our garden when I was small and their bright yellow smile of sunshine often greeted my day as I left for school.

>200 Ameise1: >213 Ameise1: beautiful photos Barbara. May I assume that the Lantern festival was for Saint Martin?

I wish you a lovely weekend Barbara. BTW. Now I am suffering from Laryngitis and lost my voice yesterday. I have to say a very interesting experience.

>220 SuziQoregon: Thanks a lot, Juli. It was a gorgeous morning.

>221 msf59: Mark, thanks a lot. I'll try to keep up with the challenge.

>222 lkernagh: Lori, my words and therefore I teach as much as possible in the practical way so the pupils are more able to memorise it.

>223 PaulCranswick: Paul, thanks so much for your visit and the wonderful photo.

>224 drachenbraut23: Bianca, thanks a lot. No, this Lantern festival isn't for Saint Martin. It is more related to the Celtic mythology which brings the light for the dead and therefore it's always shortly after All Hallow.

Ah, thank you for the explanation Barbara. The reason why I asked was that you used turnips. Is there a name for this celebration?

Bianca it's called 'Räbeliechtli' and it is celebrated at a lot of parts in the German speaking part of Switzerland. Some villages have parades not only with the children and there 'Räbe' but also with huge carriage which are decorated amazingly.

Thank you for that information Barbara! I will check that out. I wonder if they may celebrate this in some parts of Germany as well.

Wishing you a fantastic weekend, Barbara!

>230 Trifolia: Oh, what a gorgeous photo, so colourful. Thanks so much Monica.

I love the picture of the lighted pumpkins! It's so lovely.

>232 connie53: Thanks a lot, Connie.

You always send such lovely images throughout the threads.

From my house to yours, Happy Fall:

Wow, Linda, how beautiful it is. Thanks so much.

Hi Barbara, hope you have a lovely weekend my dear.

I'm not sure that I've visited your thread before, but forests and horses are definitely two of my favorite things!

I had to look up brocks as I hadn't heard that term before. None of their badger relatives live in my area, but I do have lots of foxes, although they have moved their den since I acquired a dog last fall.

>236 johnsimpson: John, thanks a lpt. Due to the lovely weather I enjoy my weekend very much. I hope you feel much better. So sorry that Karen caught the second cold in a row, poor girl. xx

>237 streamsong: Welcome on my thread. Nice to see another forest lover. We have foxes close to our house too and we are living in a city. We can put the clock for our 'personal' fox because he is barking always at the same time in the night.

Don't get me started on foxes ;) Trouble is, we removed their natural predators (wolves/bears etc) so now they have no control measures. And they are such indiscriminate killers - they don't kill just to eat, they often kill far more than they need and leave the remains. I fully support that every animal has a place in the ecosystem but I also recognise that we need to be able to dispose of a certain number each year to keep the balance as we messed it up in the first place.

It's the same as deer - we're getting overrun around here now. I regularly see them eating the crops, and not running away when they see you, whereas they should be a much rarer occurrence. Again, no natural predator to keep populations under control.

I do smile when I see a lovely, healthy fox in it's prime though. They are stunning.

>239 lunacat: Jenny, around here foxes haven't to kill animals because they get more than enough food from all the compost heap in all the gardens.

Happy weekend, Barbara!

>241 scaifea: Thanks, Amber. I hope you can enjoy a relaxed Sunday after your busy week.

Hope you have a great weekend, Barbara. I'll return the favor of lovely photos, too:

>243 jnwelch: Joe, that's so BEAUTIFUL. Thanks so much. We had a wonderful Saturday with blue sky.

Hi Barbara! I hope your weekend is being relaxing and fun!

>246 EBT1002: so cute, thanks a lot Ellen. Yesterday was a beautiful day. Today I should start with the preparation of our adventskalender.

Chiming in on foxes, we had two in the woods behind our home. They were majestic to watch. However, I got concerned when there didn't seem to be an element of fear regarding how close they came to our house. One in particular would simply sit and watch me when I was in the yard. I'm glad that for whatever reason, they left.

I was concerned about our dog.

>248 Whisper1: Linda, we have cats and it was never a problem between cats and foxes. They sit just face to face and starr each other. Isn't that amazingly?

Happy Sunday, Barb! Enjoy the day!

Hi Barbara, have a lovely Sunday my dear.

>250 msf59: Waving to Mark. Thanks alot the same to you too.

>251 johnsimpson: John, thanks so much. I just finished to find all stories, photos, comics etc. which we need for our digital adventskalender. Now, I start reading :-)

Happy reading and a happy start to the next week, Barbara!

Happy Week, Barb!

My week will be a quiet one. Just the usual daily things, but no extra appointments.

I hope yours will be good too.

>253 Trifolia: >254 connie53: Monica & Connie, thanks a lot. Tomorrow morning we'll have another rehearsal for our concert. Wednesday afternoon I have another appointment at the hospital due to my hand issues. After that I go book shopping for the family adventskalender.

Book shopping sounds great. I might do that on Wednesday too.

Ha! Great to know you will do the same, Connie.

Nice to know we are doing the same thing. I will be thinking of you whilst looking for my new books

>258 connie53: Connie, I will post it when I've bought them. I've to buy 12 books.

12 !!!!!! I am thinking about 2 myself!

>260 connie53: Connie, I started this tradition more than 30 years ago. Each Sunday in Advent Thomas got a book. Than it had been four books. When Isabelle was born she got four books too (8 books) and after Marina was born another four books. So there are now 12 books.

Love your tradition of books for Advent

>262 SuziQoregon: My family too, Juli and the bookseller will be piling up the newest books for me because he already knows what everybodies favourite genre is so that I can sit down comfy and choose. Ha.

I have had some sort of the same tradition with my children.

We have a childrens book-week in October and I used to get my kids a book in that week, but when they were no longer children they were disappointed. So I moved the tradition to the grown-up book-week in March. But some how we ended that tradition a few years ago.

Connie, you could restart this tradition.

Yes I could. I just moved the tradition to their birthdays, buying them books then.
Jeroen attempts to read them, but never finishes a book, not even on vacation.
Eveline reads whenever she can, but she has a full time job, a house and a boy-friend and a very, very, very busy social live (I get tired reading or listening to what they have been doing in the weekends) and manages to read a book every two months. I guess they have growing TBR piles too ;-))

Well, in this case I can fully understand why you don't buy them books anymore.

Yes, I just give them other things like some nice bath foam from Rituals or some things they have put on their wish-list. I'm lucky they make those lists!

I had a successful book shopping afternoon for 'The Sundays in Advent' books for my family.

For Thomas:
Peter Gabriel by Daryl Easlea
Scheitert Europa? by Joschka Fischer
Elisabeth de Meuron von Tscharner by Karoline Arn
Nicht schwindelfrei by Jürg Schubiger

For Isabelle

Bruno chef de Police by Martin Walker
Grand Cru by Martin Walker
Die Nacht des Zorns by Fred Vargas
Menschensöhne by Arnaldur Indridason

For Marina
Blind Walk by Patricia Schröder
Grimm by Christoph Marzi
Mark Twain - Gesammelte Werke Mark Twain
Le théorème des Katherine by John Green

As x-mas books for my nieces
Die Tote am Watt by Gisa Pauly
Ich bin nicht farbig by Shary Reeves

After the book shopping I went to the hospital and got some more cortisone shots in my hand.

Lovely fall pictures Barbara! Brings back wonderful memories for me of growing up on the west coast of Canada. Leaves changing colour and falling... Where we live now, if we are lucky, we get a week of fall and then winter just barges in..haha!

I hope those shots do their job, Barbara!

And..... no books for yourself?

>270 jolerie: Thanks a lot, Val. So sorry to heat thst you have such a short autumn. It's my favourite season and I'm happy that we do have it for a long time.

>271 connie53: No books for me, Connie. It's always my Advent present for my family. Books are so expensive here in Switzerland.

In the Netherlands they are expensive too. € 19,00 to € 25,00 for each new book. That's a lot of money.

A PB is here the same 15 to 25 Euros and HC starts at 25 Euro but normaly they cost around 35 Euros.

I love the exercise of identifying trees from their bark!

>275 sibylline: Thanks a lot, Lucy. We have a lot of fun doing it and sometimes it's the only way to identify a tree due to their height.

>274 Ameise1: That's even more expensive than in the Netherlands, Barbara.

>274 Ameise1: Wow! 15 - 25 Euros for a paperback seems horribly expensive.

>277 connie53: >278 SandDune: Connie & Rhian, that's the reason why I don't buy many books for myself. Luckily we have an absolutely gorgeous library. I pay 54 Euros for one year and can borrow as many media as I like.

>278 SandDune: Same in Germany - PB up to 25 Euros and HB 20 Euro and more.

>279 Ameise1: First of all. I wish you a wonderful weekend Barbara :) ! Second - you have to pay 54 Euro for the library? They are free in England and in the small town in Germany where I live it cost 8 Euro a year and I can use the libraries in several of the surrounding towns as well.

I do know why I love England - books are affordable, libraries are free and tons of second hand book stores. I rarely by any new books.

>280 drachenbraut23: Bianca, there are university libraries for free too. I think 54 € is ok in comparison to book prices and the librians there make a great job. So it seems it's fair that they are well paid too. All the costs must be payed by somebody. Kids up to 16 don't have to pay and students or persons in needs have to pay 18 €.

Happy Friday, Barb! Hope you have a nice weekend planned!

Wishing you an early happy weekend!
Thank you for your thoughtfulness on my thread all the time and the beautiful pictures I alway look forward to getting from you!

Our local library has free membership for borrowing materials that is because it is built into provincial legislation governing the public libraries in BC. Things got a little tense a few years back when there were large funding cuts and libraries were struggling to figure out how to manage on a restricted budget and still continue to offer patrons access to a current selection of materials. A number of people thought it was a good time to consider an annual membership fee for adults (kids would continue to have free access) but the library system couldn't do anything because of legislation, so I can appreciate how an annual membership fee has its benefits for a library system.

Happy weekend, Barbara!

>282 msf59: Thanks, Mark, I started with a wonderful shopping on the market with a following cappucino in a street café. The weather this morning is sunny but it will turn to a rainy day later.

>283 jolerie: Oh, Val, thanks so much for this fairy picture. I love it.

>284 lkernagh: Thanks Lori for your insight and statement. I will respond on my new thread.

Please join me on my new thread.