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Spring Tidbits

Ready for the woods!
My neighbor asked me if I had someone to clean my windows.  I wondered if that was a hint.  I cleaned them in 2 rooms and then went for a bike ride.  It was a good morning.
A German friend, Evie, who married an American and then lived in the US for seven years was telling another German friend, Steph, if she’d heard of “German Chocolate Cake.”  “What?!”  Steph looked bewildered.  Evie explained: “It is a chocolate sponge cake.  You know how American cakes always have an icing on them?  Well this icing is a mixture of pecans and coconut.”  Stephanie looked disgusted.  I guess it would be like telling a Frenchman about “French Toast.”
Zooming! He was so excited about it that he rode it in the rain.
Henry got a new bike.  We were fortunate to buy it second hand from a Kindergarten friend who noticed that his was rather small.  So now 3 of the four of us are zooming around on German bikes.  His is complete now: not only reflectors and a kick stand, but fenders, a bell, and a rear rack.  He’s only had minor falls so far.

Off they go into the woods.  Henry is holding the teacher's hand.

Note the nice chain guard and rack! Very important here.
Elisabeth will be taking a field trip to the airport on Monday.  It is a good thing this comes before our intensive summer travel in July and August.  I think she’ll be about sick of the airport by then.  Or maybe she’ll be even more interested in it, having had a “behind the scenes” view.
Last week Henry spent four mornings in the woods.  The Kindergarten closed up for the week and everyone had “Wald Woche” together.  The first 2 days it rained all day and was about 40 degrees.  But they were troupers (I give the teachers the most credit!) and at least it kept the mosquitos away until the third day.  Henry never told us much about it, but his boots usually came back filled with leaves and on the second day he had a nice big scratch on his face.  He never would let me get a picture of his dirty face each day, so you’ll have to imagine it.








Great grass for Leapfrog!
We have been riding our bikes to a “Frei Evangelische” church the last few weeks.  We ride through the woods, and if we miss a week, there is still so much change in the woods that I sometimes don’t recognize it.  We came when the leaves were on the trees, but soon falling, and then bare.  Now they are back in full force and getting thicker still.  I love the weather here and I love experiencing four distinct seasons!  We had a yard full of dandelions but now their season is done, and we have wonderful grass you can play in barefoot without fear of ants.  One of these days we will need to put some screens on our windows, but that day hasn’t come yet.



The view out our bedroom window--unobstructed
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John and Laurel Stevens said…
Just reading in Mark Bittman's tome _How to Cook Everything Vegetarian_. German Chocolate Cake comes from the inventor, Samuel German, "who in 1852 invented a sweetened baking bar for the Baker's Chocolate Company. It is sweeter than bittersweet chocolate. (And yes, the famous cake comes from this brand of chocolate, not the country.)" So now I know.
3:56 AM
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