Rain, Rain

It poured here this weekend, particularly Sunday. So our tennis and other plans got put on hold and we instead cleaned and organized the garage. Our little town does a "large item pickup" every three months, so we loaded the curb with miscellaneous pieces of wood and metal we had been hoarding for too long. We also changed out some of the big fluorescent bulbs that were dying, hung hooks and organizing brackets for all the garden tools, moved the now-adolescent chicks from the "nursery pen" to the outside transition coop, made a new nest box for the big girls out of an old mailbox, and Jeff even built me a little demilune table as a nightstand out of some scrap lumber.

Little Ditties

Wednesday was jam-packed full! We spent most of the day in the sun, working hard, for which I was rewarded with quite the sunburn on my back. Had I taken the few minutes to ask Jeff to rub in some sunscreen, I wouldn't have had to ask him repeatedly to rub in the aloe vera and place the vinegar compresses later that night! It was one of the worst burns I've had (second only to that teenage experience back in Texas in a swimsuit by the lake for about eight hours with no shade), but definitely the most painful. I had hours of burning, prickling, stabbing sensations that just shot across the skin of my upper back and made sleep impossible. Jeff was wonderful through the whole thing, though, and I survived, redder but wiser.

Since that pain didn't really hit until about seven or eight PM, we had plenty of time earlier in the day for good experiences! We cleaned out the little pump house; sorted, re-arranged, and stored all the storm windows; made plans for a "painting tent" in the shop where I can utilize the paint sprayer to my heart's content; removed the old propane wall heaters in the house; photographed and detailed items for Craigslist postings; made a little portable "playpen" for the baby chicks (who are more like adolescents now!); and mowed, trimmed, and pulled weeds around the property. Oh, and we enjoyed $1 cheeseburgers at our favorite wine bar/restaurant as a little dinner reward. What a day!

Happy chicks in the grass

Jeff got a kick out of Flash's dirt mustache; look carefully at his lower lip!

Flowering Threadlead Coreopsis in front of blossoming Hyacinth Runner Bean; pale yellow and lavender together make me happy!

Mantel Makeover! Hearth when we bought the house

Hearth now

We hope to open up the firebox and install gas logs this fall or winter, but we're happy with one day's little improvement for now!

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I am in the (admittedly privileged) position of having a few too many clothes! We have some incredible thrift stores and consignment shops in this area so I rarely pay more than a couple dollars for name brand outfits. With cost not a factor and storage not a constraint (we have three large walk-in clothes closets in the house, plus many more miscellaneous ones), what is to keep me from becoming the Imelda Marcos of the apparel world?

I'm not anywhere close to that level yet, but I want to take preventative measures. Several people at church have commented that they rarely (if ever) see me in the same outfit twice! In my defense, I do wear some core pieces many times but always try to pair or layer or accessorize differently. And I am not a shoe person (I would go barefoot if I could), so the floor of my closets are tidy and bare.

On a regular basis, I strive to pass on or consign clothes that I don't wear. But now I've come up with a new strategy. For each new item I bring into the house, I have to get rid of two. So, that means that the new article must not only replace something I already own, it must be so worth keeping that I'm willing to part with an additional item.

It's already helping my closets look a bit slimmer, just in time for spring and realtor showings!

Going Green

Now that we have a string of sunny days, we are finally getting to a few outdoor house projects. One item I have been wanting to accomplish almost since we moved in is the removal of the ivy all over the back windows.

While that sounds simple, it isn't so much over the windows as IN the windows. We have our own little greenhouse going, as the ivy climbing on the exterior brick worked its way between the two panes of glass forming our large immovable picture window. It is happily thriving in a warm moist environment, while simultaneously darkening the room and fogging the panes (due to plant transpiration at the stomata, as I've learned in my Master Gardener class ;-).

Since the window frame had been painted over, it took Jeff some time to loosen all the screws. But manage it he did, and we wrestled the large outer pane to the ground, removed the ivy, and thoroughly cleaned the many layers of glass. Let there be light!

Laundry Woes

If cooking is a bit of a challenge here in Berlin, laundry is a down-right chore! I usually don't mind the task at home with my washer and dryer just steps from the kitchen. In fact, I enjoy sitting down with a laundry basket of clean, fluffy, warm clothes straight from the dryer in need of folding.

But here, we are on the third floor. And the washing machine is in the basement. So that means I have to carry the dirty clothes down four flights of spiral stairs. The washer is a tiny front-loading European model. The regular cycle takes an hour, so if I had several loads, laundry would drag on and on. Thankfully, we are a rather clean people so I use the “quick” mode for a light wash that only takes about 40 minutes. Then it's over to the clothesline to hang, pin, and arrange everything for maximum drying and minimum wrinkles. The drying takes at least a day for most items, and more if it's cold out or the items are thick. I'm just glad we don't have manual labor jobs that produce lots of heavily soiled garments!

But whenever I get a bit “loaded down” by all the work, I think of my long-suffering sister-in-law. She has been hauling the laundry for a large family to and from the laundromat several blocks away for over a decade now. Surely I can manage to make it to the basement and back for two ;-)

Socks drying on the steam radiator in our bathroom

Cooking Quandaries

Making meals in this tiny kitchen:

is quite a bit different from food preparation in my spacious culinary dream at home in Alabama:

There is no dishwasher, the sink has one small, shallow bowl and one small built-in drainboard, the refrigerator is an under-the-counter mini variety, and the tiny stove is all electric! As far as Berlin apartment kitchens go, I think mine is fairly well-sized, so I certainly can't complain.

I have to be very efficient and streamlined here. I shop at the market every other day generally, since I have limited cabinet and fridge storage. It takes longer to prepare meals overall because I can't really multitask; there isn't enough counter space, burner space, sink space... I'm making simpler meals and using a few "convenience" items I wouldn't usually turn to. But it's a fun experience to get the full taste of living in Berlin, and that means shopping, cooking, and making do like a real metro Deutschlander.

Two skillets take up all the room on the small stove, so I have to plan dishes carefully (but the kitchen is well stocked; you probably can't tell, but the front red skillet is a Le Creuset, something I would love to have at home!)

Wednesday night dinner; Chicken and mushrooms in a cream sauce, rosemary garlic mashed potatoes, sauteed zucchini with Italian herbs, and breadsticks on the side.

Did you know...

...that almost no one in Germany uses (or owns) a clothes dryer? It didn't occur to me that the folding drying rack in our small bathroom was for anything other than delicates. But when I dried off with the clean white bath-towel the first morning, the feel immediately harkened back to my youth when my mom used to hang all the laundry on the clothesline. And then the stiff, rather scratchy sheets on the bed made sense, too (I had thought the fitted sheet felt like some sort of terrycloth, but erroneously decided it couldn't be because it was far too rough). Jeff and I agreed that the brisk towel rubdown Mr. Armstrong recommends in his autobiography for improved circulation could also provide deep exfoliation in Germany! But not only is their method more energy efficient, they feel it preserves the fabrics and prevents wear and tear. And, as one older German woman assured me, it usually only takes half a day in a warm bathroom to dry (almost no one has outdoor clotheslines either)!

The Daily Grind

As I type, the smell of roasted garlic is in the air. This is a good sign, as it means I was successful in preheating and using the oven for the first time here in our little efficiency apartment! The dials and symbols on the oven are a bit confusing, but I think it has several settings for bake, convection, broil, and additional combinations of the above. I want to make garlic bread to accompany our pasta dinner tonight, and I always try to keep some roasted garlic heads in the fridge back home, so this seemed like a good, low-risk first attempt. There's nothing like the smell of familiar foods cooking in the kitchen to make you feel at home.

Jeff and I each had our first day of “work” here. His went well with lots of introductions, hand-shaking, and settling in. He will give a technical presentation Tuesday so the lab can see his research areas and how his work will dovetail with theirs. My day started on the morning trains, like millions of commuters everywhere. I found my German class just fine and had an excellent session with students from Serbia, Norway, London, Spain, and the US. What a very international group we are here in Berlin!

Prepping for Prague and Berlin

The countdown continues! Just two more weeks before departure. We're trying to organize all the details and plan in advance for what we might need:
- I've found and ordered the most comfortable walking sandals my tootsies have ever experienced;
- Jeff is looking into iPhones so we will have international cellphone abilities;
- I've purchased a netbook so I can access Internet and email all over Europe;
- a well-traveled friend loaned us some guidebooks;
- I've made my first international bank transfer ever (at a hefty charge from the local branch, so best to avoid if possible);
- our new Capital One account has been opened and credit cards are being overnighted (FYI, Capital One is the only card we found that doesn't charge an international transaction fee);
- our plan tickets and airport pick-up are arranged (so we'll just keep praying that the volcanic ash grounding flights in Europe subsides soon);
- I viewed a documentary on the Jewish cemetery in Prague so I'll be familiar with some of the historical sites and lore;
- my German class is confirmed;
- the dog, house, car, plants, yard, etc. are all booked into the capable hands of our housesitter/petsitter extraordinaire.

I'm not sure how to pack for a two month trip. The most we've been abroad at a time has been two weeks or so. We can do laundry in the basement of our accommodations, so that's convenient. I'm trying to pack light, but it's shoes that are a problem more than clothes; they take up so much room but you really need a variety for different occasions and ensembles. Jeff has it harder because his suits, sportcoats, and shoes are far larger and bulkier than anything I have to take. This will be a fun experience in minimalist living!

Honey-do List

We were fairly productive over spring break. We didn't get to everything (some of which was no fault of our own, owing to out-of-stock items we needed to purchase, etc.). But we made a dent in a lot of the odd jobs around the house.


Da Vinci taking a break from all the raking.


Who says men can't multi-task? Jeff managed to catch a little March Madness basketball action on the laptop while working on the MBR walk-in closet.

Yard Work

I spent the better part of this morning clearing out the overgrown areas at the back of our yard and around the house. We have tons of shade along the perimeter from the large Fraser's Photinia planted around as a hedge row. They give great privacy, but between them and pine trees, it's a sunless forest back there of disintegrating pine needles, scrubby plants, and rotting broken limbs.

Someone planted rose bushes all around the yard at some point, but they never received enough sun. So instead of rambling roses, all we have is very long, very sharp vines tangled into the bushes and trees. Add several untrimmed holly bushes, and I began to know what Prince Charming felt like trying to storm Sleeping Beauty's overgrown castle. I got scratched, poked, sweaty, blistered, and bitten! I had mosquito repellent on, but I could kill three or four pests at a time on each leg. I only hope I managed to avoid the poison ivy (not being a Southern girl, I have a hard time differentiating it from any other three-leaved plant).

After all the pruning, I dragged the refuse to the front yard. I'm thankful our city has a fantastic public works department. They pick up large yard waste once a week in a bucket truck, chip it up, and then provide free mulch to residents. So, come this fall, I can go get a truck bed full of recycled limbs to properly landscape my woodland wonderland!

We went to the botanical gardens last week and I got some great ideas for shade gardens. Once I get the groundwork laid, I hope to be out planting hostas, Solomon's Seal, ferns, vinca, bleeding heart, coral bells, and a whole host of shade loving beauties.

Limbs piled up on the curb until tomorrow

Literature Layout

Today was my day to tackle the mounting pile of magazines. I try not to let it get excessively out of hand, or the task of sorting and storing individually by title and date appears too time consuming and thus doesn’t happen.

My system for magazines is storing two each back to back in clear plastic sleeve protectors bound into 3 ring binders. It works well for me, but it can be a bit of work. It all started because I bought a big box of 10 or 12 3” binders at a little junk shop for just a few bucks, so it was cheaper than buying the standard magazine holders. During our first (and only, so far) visit to IKEA, I found a flat pack of sturdy cardboard magazine holders for less than $1 a piece. They’re great for lighter weight items like newspapers, but I think a year’s worth of magazines would be too top heavy.

I built a (yet unpainted) shelf across the closet in Jeff's office, so the binders and magazine holders go up on the shelf and books go on the bookcase. Letters, articles, pamphlets, and other small items go in labeled manila folders in the desk file drawer. Sometimes I think there has to be a better way! I would love to hear how some of you organize and/or store your newspapers, magazines, booklets, etc.