Christmas in Wonderland

Hello people of the world,
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a not-too-messy New Year.
I had a lovely time, far too short and very stressful but it was well worth it. Philipp and I went to stay with my parents over Christmas, we only stayed one week because we wanted to be back in Germany for New Years Eve or Silvester, as the Germans call it. The most stressful thing about the entire holiday was getting there, we started off really badly with a two and a half hour delay in Baden Airport, then once we finally made it to London, we had to get a taxi all the way across town, which took an hour and surprisingly only cost us 40quid. We stayed at my friend Sarah's house, which was such a blessing, because we would have had to sleep at the airport otherwise - we can't afford Hotels!! We were only in London for a night and half a day but I have now decided that to go there is one of my New Year goals, oh and Paris.........

Excited to be on the London Underground. Photo by Philipp Linder

Merry Christmas Everyone!

With Love from Snowy England xxxxx

I'm having the morning off...

On the whole, I didn't enjoy this week at all. Too much stress for my liking. I had to go to the city pretty much everyday this week, and i still havn't managed to get my long Christmas list finished! Actually I'm sure its not half as long as some peoples but for me it is deffinately enough!! The good thing about going to the city every day, is that I always had the support of Georgie, to help me choose presents, keep me moving past the doors of the shops where I could have spent my entire budget on a piece of clothing for myself - 'No Madi, that is not what Christmas shopping is about!' and for always being up for a coffee in our favourite Café!

3 Years old

I don't remember much from when I was three years old, I have only one memory that has stayed with me for the last 23 years. It was my Birthday and my Godfather gave me a Wicker Chair, just the right size for a three year old. I loved that Chair and I used it for years and years, even when I got far too big for it, I would still bring out the chair at Christmas and sit on it when we were gathered around the Christmas Tree.
Selma turns three today, my beautiful little niece. It seems like just Yesterday when she came home from the hospital with my sister, all tiny and fragile. And now she is running around, falling over, getting back up again and always smiling. Not so small and not so fragile anymore. Happy Birthday Selma.

 

Pop goes the Weasel...

We went to Karlsruhe last weekend, because there was a family gathering at Philipps Aunty and Uncles house. I've been so excited about this for a good few weeks because we were going to eat a Goose. To me it was like the real begining of Christmas and Advent, since at home, in Stuttgart, we havn't done any decorating or anything remotely Christmassy. It was such a great meal, absolutely delicious. We ate Red Cabbage with Chestnuts, mountains of Mash Potato and Goose in a Gravy-like Sauce. It was so good that I had two rather large helpings, and then when no one else could do it, I ate the last of the Mash with a helping of Goose and Sauce to top it off. I was so full, I felt like I was going to Pop! Seriously, it was painful. However, I gave it half an hour and I was able to eat some Fruit Salad too. Yum! There was also cake, of course. I have learnt that in this family, there is always time for cake, whatever the reason, (birthdays, festivals, holiday, Sunday, whatever) cake is always very welcome. Its fantastic because there's always different types of cake, at least three different sorts, so if you're not fond of this kind of cake, you can have a piece of the other one!

The whole afternoon was so lovely, everytime I go there I'm amazed at how comfortable I feel with them and how I feel like a part of their family. And that really means a lot to me, living this far from my own family can be tough and I miss them all the time but to be accepted in Philipps family is an amazing feeling.

Lots of Hugs to everyone xxx

Winter

I always dread Winter. I'm not a person who likes to be cold, in fact, I hate it!! Now imagine having a boyfriend who loves Winter. Philipp is a real Winter person, he loves snowboarding, he loves the first snow to fall, he loves to be outside in Winter, he loves everything about it and he keeps trying to make me love it too! I'm not saying I hate Winter, I'm just not fond of it. I mean sure, I love Snow, the way it sounds when you walk over it, the crisp freshness of the air and a good snowball fight, but I hate being cold!!! I love Summer, and being warm.
However, this year I have the perfect weapon. My Duffle Coat has finally arrived, after weeks of waiting for it to arrive, then having to send it back because it looked like a sack on me, then waiting for it to arrive, again! But now its finally here and I'm ready for Winter! And since today is the first day where we've had a real snowfall, its perfect!

My Wonderful Duffle Coat! Thank you Mummy, it's the best! (Photo Taken by Georgie Moore)

However, Stuttgart has only half the amount of snow they have back home. Here is a picture my Mum sent me:

Home, Sweet Home. (Photo taken by Paule Poole)

And Winter how it used to be in the good old days! (Photo stolen from Seonaidh Reid)

Now this is how I remember Winter. And yes, that is me on the right. (Photo taken by one of the Reids)

Hugs to everyone xxx

Lately...

So I'm pretty behind in the whole posting thing, mostly because I'm lazy but also because there isn't much going on here, life has finally gone back to normal because Georgie is back from Australia and I can't tell you how great that is! Summer was fun because we had visiters from far away and the weather was hot but its all a bit boring when you're best friend is away!! So Welcome back G, I missed you!
Anyway, I thought I'd post a picture or two from recently, because to write about it all would take far too long and I'd probably get bored halfway through, plus not much has really happened!! Sorry to disappoint!

Peeking through at Autumn in the Park

An old broken bike in the park.

A house we found tucked away at the back of a Graveyard in the City.