The majority of lockdown rules should finally be lifted (or stay lifted), I find my diary slowly filling with social events, gatherings and weekends away – 15 months’ worth of get-togethers jostling to fill the summer. I’m excited by this – to go to places, and see people and wear dresses and tread the busy, buzzy path of my old life again.

But I also feel a bit tense about it all. I’ve grown used to a quieter life, with endless hours to do little. There’s a calmness about having empty days, and a nervousness that comes with throwing yourself back into the social whirl.

I think we all deserve additional days off. To enjoy doing things we couldn’t do for a full year: Eating ice-cream. Aperol Spritz in a bar. Italy. A glass of wine in France. And a cheese board. A swim in the sea. Booking an airline ticket. Looking forward to go somewhere. Packing bags for a beach summer vacation. Going to a restaurant. Crossing borders without having to think about.

There are plans again. And dreams. And wishes. It’s ok that most of it has to wait a little longer and hubby & my social life is starting a little delayed (time to get used to socializing again).

Shops open. Restaurants open. Cinema open. Incidence low super low. Wohoooooo.

I was shopping.

I was eating out.

I was at the cinema.

Oh it feels great. Feeling alive again. Feeling free again.

Germany is re-opening after almost 7 months lockdown.

Enjoy that ice-cream! And that glass of extra wine on the outdoor patio in the favorite bar. Enjoy the company of family & friends! Summer 2021 is going to be awesome!

I’m pouring myself a glass of something cold, popping on that sun hat and get ready for a dose of sunshine. Summer continues here…

Oh, and yoga practice will start again next week. Wohooooooo.

Our mini is spacious: it fits a wheelchair, a pair of crutches, a handbag and 2 adults (a stretched leg included).

Hubby leaving the house for the first time after 5 weeks. On the way to the hospital. He’s been patient & we were excited & ready for the „body check“.

A negative Covid test, a bunch of x-ray photos, a very informative doc talk and 4 hours in hospital later… we are very happy about the patients progress: cast is gone. Most of the injuries looking good and are ready to be treated for the next level (adding slowly weight & movement). Crutches needed a little longer.

The biggest challenge for me: getting the wheelchair disassembled to fit it back in the car. Took me a while but figured it out. Yeah!

On the way home we spontaneously stopped for burger & beer in our favorite Canadian burger place. OMG, that’s our first „dining-in-restaurant-visit“ since November last year!

It felt odd. And great. And delicious. We were the only guests in the bar. It was a feast!

Cheers to current progress & continues healing!

As we entered the second year of the pandemic (seems like a life time ago), we’re all waiting for vaccines to bring us closer again. More high fives, more hugs, more treasured shared memories for children and their families and all of us.

41.699.809 people +1 (me!!!) got vaccined with a first shot in Germany so far!

Other (European) countries are far ahead of vaccine progress and the registering process has been made simple and customer friendly. American & Chinese colleagues and friends (same age) got their shot(s) already months ago. Just in Germany it takes a little longer… we all have been patiently waiting for the approval of the vaccine, later for the production and then for the appointment. And now here we go, getting there.

Today I got my first covid vaccine. Step 1 (out of 2) done.

You don’t realize the need for hugs until you can actually do it 🙂 and do much more (the virus doesn’t like summer. Good for us).

Soon coming up: Travel. Seeing Irish family again (well, that might have to wait a little longer due to Covid variants). Hugging granddad. Being back in the office & meeting colleagues again. Eating out in restaurants. Going to the shops again. No more curfew. Parties. More then +1.

Oh I cannot wait for hosting a party again with all friends & family. Actually we have a lot to celebrate…!

Let’s vaccine the world. And maybe a business trip to China will happen at some point, too…

Summer arrived. Uff, it’s hot!

30 something degrees C (missing life with A/C… just a little…). Unfortunately our sleeping room fan fell of the ceiling last night (luckily not hitting us). Poor hubby sitting this out at home (under the roof). At least the night views are gorgeous.

The Thai massage this morning felt like being in Thailand. Yeah!

Garden time.

Time for dresses. Shorts. Sleepless nights. Lemon water. Ice-cream for pup & preparing meals with fresh herbs from our garden.

Patient making progress:

Doing physio homework: Practicing steps.

Stitches are out. Only one bandage left. Showers are allowed again (and must feel so refreshing, perfect timing). He survived 4 weeks with nurse Anny so far. Yeah & time for more Aperol (for me) tonight! PS: I’m a real pro now giving thrombosis injection.

I love summer. Keep cool!

A little handful of pure joy!

More ready soon…

And so I happily accepted a new job: nurse Anny. The patient: my husband. That guy who had a motorcycle accident 4 weeks ago – you remember?

We have been living pretty much on the second floor since he’s been back (2 steps to the bathroom & 5 steps to the bedroom – perfect for those who cannot walk). For all others (me!!!) it’s like preparing for the next Shanghai vertical marathon: running up & down the stairs with food, post (believe it or not he is still able to place Amazon orders), drinks & visitors… All day. Every day. Great exercise, though. Daily power naps after lunch required (how can I get back to work on Monday?).

It’s been interesting 2 weeks since he’s back home – never a dull moment!

Sleepless nights (I’m a wreck – how are mummies with new Borns doing this?). Lots of pain (killers. Unfortunately not always killing the pain as needed. The first 5 days were tough…). Learning how to carefully touch „zombie blue“ hands w/o hurting him. Loads of laughter (about my no good nursing skills. There’s a reason why I chose to become an engineer. Lol). Physio therapist kicking ass (“time to get moving” – dinners have been changed to ground floor which means hard work for hubby. Luckily the therapist is a huge fan of Ireland!).

Country showers & shaving (gosh, can you imagine how hard it is to shave someone else? Using his shaver means all those lady protection things are missing… same for cutting someone else’s nails… pretty scary (for him)). Serving hot chocolates (at 5am for the soul, milk consumption on a daily high). Cooking comfort food, healthy food & Irish dishes. In between: kisses & hugs.

A new experience: wheel chairs and learning that taking medicine on time is essential (otherwise dying of pain). Daily thrombosis injections („I think you paralyzed my leg now“ – hubby’s comment if the content did land on the floor instead of inside him. Oh and we changed to only stomach now… Lol). Wound and bandage check & change. Both – injections and bandage change – the biggest challenge for me (who never wanted to be a nurse).

I guess I can consider myself an expert by now convincing (I mean by finding) social workers, physio therapist, docs to visit us at home, wheel chair (and various other things) organizer, collecting prescriptions & meds, calling hospitals for next appointments, how to apply for rehab… project management skills definitely helping here. It’s been a full-time job (I’m ready for a beach vacation…)!

We are good & enjoying having each other again. All you need is a little creativity, confidence, positive thoughts & patience. I guess I will continue practicing nurse skills for a little longer (which I’m very happy doing it). We are back, we kind of found our new routine.

To the world out there: enjoy the open beer garden(s)! We have our own kind of alc free beer garden feeling. Cheers!

Finally, the outdoor & garden season is open. Temperatures are up. The sun is showing her most beautiful face. A couple of clouds making the sky picturesque. Time for hanging out in the garden. Gardening is wonderful. And so relaxing. And so much fun (and definitely a less risky hobby. Lol).

Captivating smells from the lilac in the garden. Soon the lavender and the roses will be blooming, too. Oh, I can’t wait for it.

Our garden. Not only an oasis for the bees.

Enjoying first lettuce & radishes from the garden.

And the hops are growing.

After gardening it’s chill out time – the best time.

PS: hubby on board. Once he walked 2 floors down he needs a long siesta.

Pampering hubby. Learning how to cook some of his favorite Irish dishes (he usually cooks for me): Soda bread.

Up until the early 1950s, many less affluent households wouldn’t have had an oven, so breads would have been cooked on a flat-iron griddle over an open fire.

Today’s soda bread (recipe dates back hundreds of years) has been made in a heavy frying pan on a stove top.

Hubby’s comment: best soda bread ever (maybe just to encourage me to make banana pancakes a few days later). My foodie is back home 🙂 (and most importantly, he got his appetite back. That’s a great sign).

Soooo good!

Good food helps speeding up the recovery (trying to follow grandads advice: don’t feed him too much, he will notice every single additional gram when he needs to learn walking again).

It’s the season. Wild & beautiful. Red. Poppy field paradises. Bees love them, too. Bright scarlet color. Poppy – the flower of sleep (opium). The national flower of the Albanians in Albania, Kosovo and elsewhere. The state flower of California.

Today is the day. A perfect day. My birthday. And the greatest birthday gift ever: hubby was brought back home from hospital.

We had other plans (a nice weekend in the alps…). Well, plans are made for changing. And this one had very good reasons to be changed.

My dinner date tonight:

Cappuccino, Espresso & dinner… all of it is just so much better with you!

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!”

Celebrating everything today: life & being alive. A birthday. Love. A very first kiss. Having each other again. Today, tomorrow & every day! Cheers!

I’m so glad to have him back!

And now chilling and enjoying life!