One year in short
Wow, almost a year has passed! I really didn't think it was that long. But 2013 kind of flew by altogether, it was gone so quickly! Full of crazy weather, with heavy snow starting in January and lasting right into April (on the 9th of April the last trace of snow melted in the backyard, I remember that date because we were all so fed up with it by that time). Then we had a short onset of spring until it started raining in May and wouldn't stop until by the time of June the situation got serious and we had an emergency warning even here in Leipzig because of massive floods. A weir not far from here that hadn't been used for decades was opened before the river actually spilled over the dam (because that's how high the water was) and the worst of the flood was released into the woods. The situation was still modest here though, it was a lot worse in many other villages, towns and cities in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt. I spent three days in Halle (the town where I go to university) filling, lifting, shifting, stacking sand bags because a whole part of town was massivly threatened to be flooded by the overflowing river Saale. I can't remember my arms to ever have hurt so much in my life before but it was a good feeling to be there and the solidarity between people was overwhelming. Those who couldn't help with the sand bags provided food and drinks. I saw an old lady of at least 80 years tattering along the line of helpers with a handcart almost as old as herself, laden with sandwiches she had prepared at home and cake she had baked. Others brought water, snacks, chocolate. Going to any of the affected places by train to help, you often didn't even need a train ticket. Conducters would see you had wellies and a shovel and they knew why you were going and didn't even charge you. I am always astonished how the worst of times often brings forth the best in people. And it reassures me that not all is lost in human kind. But I really wish we could transfer this positive flow into our daily lives.
In May we also got a new family member- Carmelo brought a stray cat home. She had been roaming the rubbish skips around the restaurants in the city and one evening he just took her in his arms and brought her home. She was the smallest, skinniest little thing you could imagine but cuddly and adorable and everlasting grateful from the first moment. The girls named her Lily and she just fatefully fit into our family just as Giles did. Sleeping in the girls' beds, always being around with them, never once being afraid of or aggressive towards them, noisy or rough as they might be at times. Giles wasn't amused at first, hissed and growled at her. But realising that he didn't have to share our love (especially mine, it seems) and that he was still granted all his rights (especially the place by my side on the sofa and in bed) he softened towards her until they actually ended up sleeping on the sofa together half a year later.
Summer was short but good. I did a lot around the garden, the usual vegetable growing, more reshaping, doing some refurbishment on the summerhouse. I planted three new fruit trees, another apple, a plum and a sweet cherry on request of Elanor. It was a great year for carrots and onions, the beets were good as always, potatoes were a total fail. I wanted to dig them up in November and didn't find any! Either the cultivar (I tried a blue potato this year) was a failure or the voles had eaten them all, I'll never know. Fall came and went but it was way too warm. Late in November and even at the beginning of December many trees still had leaves, some were even still green. Christmas was nice and relaxed, I bought only a few presents and did a lot of sewing instead. Most people got hand-made presents, either sewn or coming from the larder and the kitchen.
Gwendolin had a procedure done on her ears to improve her hearing, she's having speech therapy once or twice a week. Elanor lost her first tooth and the second one a couple of weeks later. Now we're facing her enrolment this year which I guess will be quite a change in all our lives.
In May we also got a new family member- Carmelo brought a stray cat home. She had been roaming the rubbish skips around the restaurants in the city and one evening he just took her in his arms and brought her home. She was the smallest, skinniest little thing you could imagine but cuddly and adorable and everlasting grateful from the first moment. The girls named her Lily and she just fatefully fit into our family just as Giles did. Sleeping in the girls' beds, always being around with them, never once being afraid of or aggressive towards them, noisy or rough as they might be at times. Giles wasn't amused at first, hissed and growled at her. But realising that he didn't have to share our love (especially mine, it seems) and that he was still granted all his rights (especially the place by my side on the sofa and in bed) he softened towards her until they actually ended up sleeping on the sofa together half a year later.
Summer was short but good. I did a lot around the garden, the usual vegetable growing, more reshaping, doing some refurbishment on the summerhouse. I planted three new fruit trees, another apple, a plum and a sweet cherry on request of Elanor. It was a great year for carrots and onions, the beets were good as always, potatoes were a total fail. I wanted to dig them up in November and didn't find any! Either the cultivar (I tried a blue potato this year) was a failure or the voles had eaten them all, I'll never know. Fall came and went but it was way too warm. Late in November and even at the beginning of December many trees still had leaves, some were even still green. Christmas was nice and relaxed, I bought only a few presents and did a lot of sewing instead. Most people got hand-made presents, either sewn or coming from the larder and the kitchen.
Gwendolin had a procedure done on her ears to improve her hearing, she's having speech therapy once or twice a week. Elanor lost her first tooth and the second one a couple of weeks later. Now we're facing her enrolment this year which I guess will be quite a change in all our lives.