Feasting on Friday ... Frog and Toe Jams

DH and I are finally back home again after nearly two months ..

SO good to be back in our own beds and normal routine....

now if we can only get re-adjusted to our home time-zone.

 

We spent Mother's Day weekend with my mother-in-law ~

found these at a small roadside stand while driving to

my in-law's home. 

 

Just had to get them both for DMIL and DFIL!

Love the names!!

 

 

Gotta love the quirky names! 

And there were several people who walked into the place,

read the jar titles and said "Eww!!"

 

"Toe jam" in the US is a slang term for

the gunk that accumulates between the toes.

Definitely not the first thing you think of at a produce stand!!

 

In this case .. "Toe Jam" means "Tangerine, Orange, Elderberry"

~ "Frog Jam" is "Fig, raspberry, orange and ginger".

 

Do you have a quirky food specialty in your area?

Please share!!

Hope to hear from you soon ~

Holly

 

 



Caricature talents

While wandering through the Frankfurt Easter Market last weekend,

came across this artist sketching a client.

Pretty good likeness ~~

Surprised the shot came out as good as it did .. was taken on the fly.

Wish I could draw more than stick figures ....

Holly

Suspicious Kitty

Watching DH and I closely as we pass by on our morning walk ...

DH said Kitty was hoping for a mouse in our pockets ...

Holly

Bunnies ... bunnies ... who has the bunnies ?

Dh and I visited an Easter Market up in Frankfurt over the weekend.

These was a new experience for us ...

 

DH found one for his tummy  ~ I found one for our Easter Tree ~

Good day for both of us ~

Holly



Looking over Weilerbach

 

It was a nice day ~ so DH and I wandered up to the overlook to take photos.

Our home is off to the left outside the picture ...

These are the Catholic and Protestant churches.

Part of the Catholic Church building is documented back to the 1100's.

 

Is there a place in your town you enjoy spending time?

Holly



Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo

DH and I like going to the zoo ... most any zoo ...

took a day trip over to the Stuttgart Zoo the other day ..

I didn't plan well, my camera battery died almost immediately ..

oh well ... just another reason to go back

... as if I "needed" a reason to go back to a zoo....

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo .... how 'bout you, you, you?

Do you enjoy visiting the animals in a zoo?

Holly

Say what?

 DH and I saw these at the Deutsches Technical Museum in Munich recently ... 

just have to wonder who would use "Dummy" guides for these ... 

Holly

At the market

At the farmer's market the other day ... one of the vendors was selling these ...

Wished I'd gotten a bunch for the house ...

next time.

Is there a favorite item at the market you like getting for your home?

Holly

Have you ever put Christmas trees outside your windows?

I've seen lots of trees that are placed so that they can easily be seen through the windows ... but I don't recall ever seeing trees hung outside a window.   DH and I saw this recently in a nearby town ... the owner was still hanging and decorating them while we were shopping in the street below.

The branches on the side closest to the window are trimmed off and used elsewhere.

So much fun to see how other people do things ... not just Christmas, but all through the year ...  

People are people ... and we can all learn from one another.    Holly

 

Fields of Gold from last summer

At the edge of our village, one farmer was growing sunflowers ... 
and hay of course ... lots of farmers grow hay here .....

DH and I walked past this on one of our longer walks ...

These sunflowers were only about 5-feet tall 

with flowers about six-inches petal tip to petal tip ...

Golden flowers basking in the sunny rays ...

Pretty sight ... one to treasure in my memory now that winter is nearly here.

Holly

Cool hair!!

St Wendel hosted a magician's fest recently ...

lots of magicians circling the church ...

some good, some not so good ...

This gentleman and his partner were fantastic!!

Could have watched the two of them all day long ...

Holly

Pelicans are pink??

DH and I recently visited the zoo in Cologne, Germany (we often visit zoos in our travels ... makes a nice break, we can wander around looking at how other cities put together displays, see some really cool animal shows or see animals we might not otherwise see) .... 

I have seen pelicans lots of times while I was in the military ... 

but I don't think I have ever seen a pink pelican ... love the feather crest he has going down the back of his head ...

What is your favorite animal to see ... anywhere, zoo, in the wild ... your choice.  

Holly

springtime bunnies ...

A bunny in a nearby farmer's field of rapeseed (for rapeseed oil ... lots is grown in the area) .... 

What signs of springtime show up in your area?  Is there a flower patch, a flock of birds or something else that really tells you that Springtime is here?  

Holly

saw this in a local market today ...

DH and I saw this in a local grocery today while picking up produce .... surprised me to see it.  
It's made by a German brewery and apparently is quite popular here in Europe.

So glad that Homer is NOT on the packing ... that would cheapen the appearance for me.  

We didn't buy any ... 

Would you have added this to your shopping basket?
I'd love to hear what unique items you have seen in your local shops.


Holly

 

 

Moving is just not much fun ...

It has been an incredibly busy month .... but DH, DKitty and I have managed to get through most of the fuss and flurry.

All our furniture (at least all that we kept) is off and on its way to Germany, the apartment has been cleaned and turned back over to Carmela and Giovanni, DH has reported to his new job (and spent much of his "free time" looking for a new place for us to live) ... DKitty  and I will join him soon ... I have a few more days of work left before the two of us will be on our way.

Amazing how much stuff we packed up and shipped out .... gave away or sold quite a bit ... but there was still a lot.  And I am sure that when we unpack all the boxes ... we will wonder just what prompted us to keep some of the things we did.

Am making the last of the farewells, picking up a few last items to mail/take to Germany ... have shed lots of tears ... I really enjoy living in Sicily and in many ways do not want to leave ...I've made friends here and have created a home here.  Tearing up the roots has been surprisingly painful considering that DH and I both spent time in the military and did multiple moves.

Gave Carmela and Giovanni our keys, gave most of my plants to Carmela ... she loves plants and poking in the dirt ... time to head off for a new adventure.... ... now, if I can only convince the cat ...

I'll miss our kitchen and being able to look out over the plains of Catania
to the ocean and our wonderful huge terrace.

Yes ... I really did need all of these keys to get into our apartment ...

Off and on our way to a new adventure ....  Holly

 

Lady Etna is at it again!

For the 13th time this year (according to volcanologists), Etna erupted today.

Lots of smoke and ash this morning while we were running errands ...

Then this evening, a friend caught pictures of the actual eruption.

more rolls

More rolls she has shaped ... check out the purse on the right side!

Fancy rolls

Fancy rolls being hand shaped by a baker in Monterosso Almo, Ragusa province, here in Sicily.

Monterosso Almo

On the 26th, DH and I visited Monterosso Almo (in Ragusa province) to see its Living Navtivity.
Most of the town gets involved, you follow a route that leads you through the lower section of the town, past scenes of life as it was in the 1600-1800's (or so)... cobblers, laundresses, bakers, cantinas, rope-makers and a lot more... it's fun to see and experience. 
Our group was one of the first allowed through .... so we had time after completing the route.  DH and I explored a bit and climbed to the upper church where we were able to look over the Nativity areas.

thinking outside the box

Someone had a good idea to paint a normally bland and boring TV antenna and give it some character.  I would have missed this entirely if I had not climbed a staircase to check out a shop window in Taormina.