It starts again: seeding tomatoes and feeling like a Queen over the first little green pearls. Sinking deep into the lounge chair and watching the first flowers blooming. Sticking the nose into the first homegrown herbs while making dinner plans. Hello garden, we are ready (after the next forecasted little snow & rain phase).

If hands are tied, you stick them in the soil in your garden. If you cannot meet people, meet your plants! No chance to plan anything since COVID, planting is very satisfying. It gives you a little bit of the missing freedom back. The freedom to plant and and be creative in your garden as you wish. Our garden was already in 2020 our safe haven and it looks like again in 2021.

Nothing beats the feeling of freedom when you are on the road.

Bon voyage! One week ago we left towards the north of Germany where friends & family live and Covid numbers are low. We neither had a plan nor expectations. And those are sometimes the best days! We had a fabulous time.

Every kilometer the country gets flatter and flatter. I love the northern part of Germany. It still feels like a second home.

Carrot cake. Tiny houses. Coffee & crepe to go. Worpswede strolls (a new favorite next to Pauline: pistachio ice-cream). BBQ. Home made burgers. Walking in the rain. Alpaka on tour. Sleeping in. Thai Massage. Sunshine. Lazy time in the garden. Spring flowers.

Riding a bike. On the road again. (Online) wine & beer tasting. Chillin on the day bed with a beautiful garden view (squirrels included). Cake pops. Niece time. Sister time. Swamp walks (pretty scary in the dark). Egg hunt. Best Pistachio ice-cream ever. Practicing English vocabulary with uncle Scott. Shopping (meet & collect!!!). North Sea. Crabs & Jever. Sunshine! Chilling in the beach chair. Lighthouse. Wind turbines.

Doggie time.

Girl’s night: Autokino in our camper van. Popcorn included. Charlie also. Fun nights!

Enjoying vacation, sunshine & Alpakas.

Scenic Picknick. Spring. Sunset.

Thanks for having us! We enjoyed a lot. Looking forward to seeing you very soon again!

Another beautiful day. Another day road trip. Today’s goal: driving between the River Weser and River Elbe. First stop „old county“ next to Hamburg. Apple trees everywhere. They will bloom in about 4 weeks. I can just imagine how beautiful this will look.

Passing through „The Kingdom“.

Driving along dunes.

…and wind turbines.

Beach stop.

Another beach stop.

I could stay here forever.

PS: we love you Bulli!

Sleeping in. Finishing up the cake pop production with the girls. Breakfast. Packing and off we go. On the way to Dorum at the Nordsee.

Weather: amazing. Fish: fresh & amazing. Beer: cold & amazing. Kids: happy.

I love the German Nordsee. Nothing beats a fresh fish role & a Jever beer.

Nap time followed by sunbathing at the sea. Listening to the seagulls. Heavenly.

Lucky us, the sea water was high.

T-Shirt weather and little sunburn in our faces. Falling into bed tired and happily. Lungs filled with fresh air for a good night sleep. Dreams included.

PS: the north is so beautiful.

Again spoilt with amazing dinner: tonight home made paella.

Oldenburg. World press photo 2020, a contest existing since 1955. This year presented in the beautiful castle in Oldenburg.

The world press photo foundation supporting the condition to make journalism and storytelling possible, including the freedom of expression, freedom of inquiry, and freedom of the press.

The need for images and stories we can trust has never been greater. Stories that matter! 150 stories today.

Beautiful photos but also presenting difficult stories. All stories are accurate and they all matter!

This year 4282 photographers from 125 countries entered 73996 photographs to the contest. These visual photos are judged in terms of their accurate, fair, and compelling insights about our world.

Impressive photos and stories. Thanks, journalists, making those stories visible!

Hope this wasn’t the only exhibition to visit this year. Fingers crossed.

It’s actually (and in theory) quite simple.

Sounds good to me and like a plan. I would add #4: drink lots of Guiness. Nailed it! Working on it. The thought has crossed my mind. I’m in!

But need to postpone the plan a little. We continue dreaming of traveling back to Ireland (or Scotland or Italy or France or USA or anywhere).

For now: ready for a vacation in Germany. Let’s see what we can make possible. No plans. No expectations. Just the wish to forget about work and Covid for a week. Lol.

…and hello lockdown extension no.3 (?).

The joys yet to come!

Ice cold drinks in buzzing beer gardens. Dance floor drop-it-lows. A Sunday roast you didn’t cook. Rummy with friends. The smell of popcorn in the cinema. Jeans and a nice top. Bright lipstick. Manicure. Fake tan. Pedicure. Staying up past 10pm. This is your captain speaking, please prepare for take-off. Favorite dresses. Toes stepping into sand. Spontaneous after-work drinks. Your office BFF. Renting books out of the library. Swiping into the gym. Coffee shop catch-ups. Long-forgotten handbags and even longer forgotten heels. Barbecues that stretch on for hours. Road trips. Service station snacks. Waking up in a hotel bed. Getting lost in cities not yet explored. Wedding speeches. Birthday bashes. Just dropping in for a quick cup of coffee. Hugs. Even longer hugs. Never to be taken for granted again! Doing something without thinking about it.

There’s something scarier than Covid. Lol.

We have so so much to look forward to – hang on in there.

Before that: Working (hard) on the camping bus. The challenge: installing a Chinese diesel night heater. Something you can do in 6 hours (according to YouTube ). Our heater, though, must be a little more complicated. Lol.

Ambitious goals for yesterday: finishing up!

And we made it: Diesel heater installed, connected and on the way to the gas station figured out how to prime it and pump diesel. 15min later: on the road for a „ Camper van dinner“ in the Black Forest.

Of course I had a risk mitigation strategy prepared: sleeping bags (tested & verified by Charlie). And 2 fire extinguisher. Lol (you may remember the self-installed battery almost on fire not so long ago…).

Great weather but still freezing temperatures in the night.

And a dinner for 3: a four-course-camper-van-dinner in a vineyard. Covid friendly. The only request: come in something drivable including a table and be on time. Here we go! We made it!

That’s kind of my COVID lockdown.

Thanks for coming up with amazing creative ideas!!! It’s awesome! Great food. Great wine. Great night. Great company.

And the diesel heater worked (sleeping bags still wrapped & fire extinguisher not needed)! We had constant 22C degrees in our private restaurant (outdoor 2C degrees). Well done, hubby! Ready for the next (winter) trip.

Juhu. Hairdresser open. Flower shops open. Book stores (will be) open. Curfew gone (for now). Camping in automobile allowed again. Meeting up to 5 persons from max 2 households. Everything else remains as it is… locked down and extended.

I love the sound of those words: yes, we are open, come in! It’s a start… waiting for more to open up again!

The event of the week: my holly hairdresser appointment (my afternoon in the (work) calendar has been blocked since 2 weeks). Coffee to go, mask, little treat. Check, check, check. 60-minute waiting time but hey, who cares after almost 3 months waiting!

Still spring (kind of low temperatures). Still sunshine. Still blue sky. Why not getting a swing of home office lunch breaks… (sometimes the only simple way to survive rather rough work days) after sausage BBQ (it’s great. Hubby gets a new grill and that gets me lunches & dinners. Win-win!).

Meanwhile in Great Britain: everyone booking summer holidays due to end-of-lockdown-plans. Jealous!!!

Prognosis of vaccine. Not much hope for early vaccination (yet). I like how positively it’s been written, though.

Do we not all have a bit „Tripophobia“?

Challenge accepted: Pimp up my home office. Change is good. After so many months working from home… I needed a different environment. New inspiration. A bit of color. A bit of moving furniture around. Fresh flowers. Feeling “like a boss” in my single office. Hubby is in the neighbor office.

And for the rest of the week working on a plan how and where to escape for the weekend…

Spring arrived and it feels soooo good! The sun is out. Temperatures are up. People are out. Dogs are barking. Seeing (or hearing) neighbors again. Everything and everyone is waking up again! Life feels alive again. I love it.

BBQs are on and it smells wonderful & familiar. So good that hubby purchased a(nother) gas grill. Now working on the outdoor kitchen.

新年快乐! Xīnnián niu kuàilè! Happy (belated) Chinese „niu“ Year!

The year of the ox has begun. The ox is considered powerful and calm – exactly what we need this year to survive the pandemic & other challenges.

The rat had the lead in 2020… it’s known as beast and a carrier of diseases (oh great, I was born in the year of the rat…just saying). Well, that couldn’t be more true for the past year. Bye bye rat, hello ox!

In the beginning of the year of the ox, Chinese hairdressers are not making good business: the Chinese superstition makes them believe that every cut of hair makes them loose their luck (they just got at the beginning of the new year) immediately.

Meanwhile in Germany: queuing for hair cuts & appointments:

7 more times waking up… and it‘s my turn!!! Yes! Cannot wait! It’s the little things making happy these days.

Covid numbers are kind of low. Getting excited about next weeks decision on what will be allowed next. Or is the 3rd wave on its way (hope not)?

Don’t we all prefer a PANDAmic?