Yeah, Online Again.

About time too...

Firstly, I have to apologize for being offline for such a long time-almost two weeks-but for some reason my computer decided to strike for a while and it took us two weeks to get the parts we needed to get going again. Sorry if you were inconvenienced by this.

Strangely enough there were so many instances that I wanted to write about yet couldn't and now that I can I have forgotten them. The world is moving at such a fast pace at the moment that keeping up takes most of our energy. Not having my computer there meant that news kind of came to me the old-fashioned way, via the television although that lately is another kettle of fish. Who else has lost the will to follow the drama in the US? Looking from afar one is reminded of the frog in the water story. Put a frog into a pot of boiling water and he will instantly jump out but put him into a pot of cold water and slowly heat the water to boiling point...the frog won't notice and eventually be boiled to death.

A moment ago I was able to peruse my Facebook feed for the first time in two weeks and honestly, I shouldn't have. Nothing has changed, people still put all their personal moments online while not even realizing how reckless they are being. Has everyone forgotten about that little opponent called covid? If you really feel that you have to go on holiday at least don't post a thousand pictures of it. Especially in the current times where most countries are trying their utmost to prevent a second lock-down. What's wrong with holidaying in your own country this year?

Last but not least, I realized yet again that as nice as it often is to be online ( not being able to google stuff was a bit difficult ) I have the mental acuity to deal with life in an offline way. Yes, life goes on without the internet and social media and quite frankly, I would be surprised if anyone had noticed my absence from the hallowed halls of Facebook's news feed...

Biggi

Angels Everywhere.

Comforting feelings.

" Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is to rest and let your angels wrap you in their loving wings. They've got you covered. "
Anna Taylor

" All God's angels come to us disguised. "
James Russell Lowell

" Every visible thing in this world is put in the charge of an Angel. "
Saint Augustine

" Make friends with the angels, who though invisible, are always with you. "
St. Francis de Sales

" If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give. "
George MacDonald

" The more you trust and believe in angels, the more they will pour their blessings upon you. "
Denise Linn

" For truly we are all angels temporarily hiding as humans. "
Brian Weiss

" I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free. "
Michelangelo

" Be kind to strangers, because it is the loving thing to do.
Also, you never know - they could be angels. "
Scott Curran

" To find your angels...Start trusting your inner voice and intuition."
Melanie Beckler

Biggi

A Rainy Tuesday.

A day filled with rain and kindness.

Yesterday afternoon the sky resembled the entrance to hell. Dark, dodgy and frightening. Although one does wonder if the entrance to hell isn't more of a fiery red ring of fire! Well, back to our sky and the sheer force it dislodged from above. Hail and severe rain came our way. Not what one wants to have when the roof isn't quite fixed yet but thankfully the repairs we did held up well.

The rain we've had in the last few weeks has been so vast that most of the fields have given up their attempt to soak up the water and instead just let it run off into roads and yards. This morning the rain decided to take a nap and with it I took the gap to go for a walk. Awful to see the destruction water can leave behind but I think it is better to have too much rain than not enough. Droughts aren't for the faint of heart!

Anticipating the resumption of rain, I took my raincoat along and set off. Clever move as the rain started up again in earnest half way through my walk. What else could I do but to carry on? In any case, a bit of rain isn't going to kill me and after the sweltering heat of late, the coolness of encountering raindrops was rather welcome at first.

After about twenty minutes of engaging with the rain I must have looked like a drowned rat because one of the locals turned his car around to offer me a lift. Gosh, I was so pleased that I was speechless but quickly recovered and thanked him for his offer although I declined it. Imagine the mess I'd make in his car? But he made my day and with a cheery wave I carried on the last leg of my walk buoyed along by the happy thought that there are still caring people about.

Most of the fields are laden with water.

Sadly, the hail came down rather hard on these corn fields.

The ' river ' has mostly receded back to a little stream but you can still see the imprint of earlier on.

The slugs are having a field day!!! Hundreds of them on the move.

Biggi

A Simple Salad, Still The Best.

Lunchtime favourites.

One gets quite adapt at keeping a plant-based kitchen. Most of the time there are batches of cooked beans whiling their fate away in the fridge among numerous tupperwares filled with leftover rice, noodles or tofu. In fact, a vegan fridge holds many a surprise and plenty of choices. Contrary to popular belief.

Recently I stumbled across a salad dressing recipe that when I read about it I kind of thought
' what's so special? ' but upon trying it out, I was and am hooked. Eating healthy salads, ie salads filled with all kinds of vegetables and beans still needs a touch of fat in order to activate the plant goodness within the greens and one of the best way to do that is to include walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds or flax seeds. The recipe I read about went along the lines of;

• vinegar
• handful of walnuts
• garlic
• salt and pepper etc
• water
• nutritional yeast, if on hand

As I had everything at home I tried it by blitzing it all in a small blender. My gosh, it tasted out of this world. That was the first time and often the only time one likes a new discovery, yet when I made it the following day it tasted just as divine. Even today, when I made Bob a salad with this dressing it didn't disappoint. He actually told me how nice the salad tasted. High praise indeed!

As much as I like an olive oil and vinegar dressing, for the moment it has been relegated to a standby until I grow tired of this new culinary discovery. I must say that since becoming vegan I have expanded my taste horizon and added some tasty dishes to my repertoire.

Biggi

A Deluge Of Rain.

Cozy and romantic.

Quite a pleasant change after all this heat we have been having. Not sure if the heat is gone for good or at least until next summer but at least a small respite. The rain itself as nice as it is, has also been slightly destructive. Roads are flooded, cellars too and trees uprooted to name but a few.

The real culprit isn't the rain of course, but we humans. Why do we have to take away so many of nature's flood 'stoppers'? Build, build and build some more seems to be the order of the day. Enough already. Let's use up existing spaces and restyle our gardens back into proper water blotters like they used to be.

What I find rather strange at the moment is that the whole world is trying its hardest to combat the corona enemy, yet it couldn't really be bothered with the much greater threat the climate crisis poses. All those weather disasters we've been experiencing are just a little foretaste of what will be permanently in store for us.

But back to rain, or more to the point hearing the pitter patter of rain land on the roof almost makes it inevitable to recline on a couch with book in hand. Books take us out of our current negative situation ( corona 2.0 to name but one ) and clear our minds of this debris. Even the most lurid of thrillers can make us forget everything else.

Early this morning I made a chocolate cake-vegan of course- and now it sits cunningly on our kitchen counter waiting to be whittled down each time it gets walked past. Sunday, chocolate cake and self control don't really go along well...Thank goodness we don't have a tub of vanilla ice cream in the freezer because that would make this whole cake situation historical and the two of us incapable of moving further than off the couch to get more coffee.

A lazy Sunday is just what the doctor ordered and so much more enjoyable with the aforementioned chocolate cake by our side. Long may it last...!

Biggi

Bits And Bobs Around The Village.

Splendid nature of course.

A splendid start to my morning today. A perfectly ordinary rural path yet so much more...a long walk to ponder the day ahead while glimpsing the sun's reveals.

Another sunrise surprise from the day before. Burgenland has an unique ability to transform open spaces into canvases. Undulating gentle hills.

It has been a while since I took a photo of the geese. This current batch at least has a bit of freedom but sadly will end up on someone's lunch plate. Each time I walk past them I greet while telling them to fly away! Wish they would escape the chop.

On a brighter note, these sunflowers do steal the show and create a dot of beauty in our road.

As you can see it has been raining on and off this past week thus creating many puddles along the way.

To end off, another peep at the yellow divas.

Biggi

What Did We Do Before Netflix?

We certainly had more patience...

Netflix used to be that mysterious company spoken about on the financial reports. Netflix gaining viewers, making money and becoming a new word in the dictionary. Abstract to us until we became part of their family too. And thank goodness we did as it led us within days of joining to the documentary-What The Health- and thus started us on our plant-based journey.

They have such a selection of movies, documentaries and series that one doesn't know where to start...until one does. With one foul swoop they have slashed that irritating seven days between episodes. If one chooses to, one could watch a whole series in one go. What took us ten years back in the day, could be reduced to a few weeks. Remember Dallas, back in the 80's? How where we glued to it from Tuesday to Tuesday and from the 80's till the 90's! Yes, in South Africa it was aired every Tuesday night. Dinner parties were planned around it and restaurants would close early.

Netflix and its instant gratification has most of us hooked ( try going off it and tell me how! ). Perhaps it is so popular with the younger crowd because they don't have to wait for anything. It might be more that they don't want to wait for anything. Does the online generation even know how to be patient? Can't really blame them as they have been fed and led by the online merchants, assisted by technology to have everything and anything they want with only one touch of a button. When you sit back and think about this, a cold shiver of fear is appropriate.

Seeing that Bob and I come from a time before online, gosh, before the internet was even invented, I hope that we can appreciate Netflix for what it is- a video shop- yet not lose sight of the pleasure and luxury of having to wait for a while before a treat is had.

Biggi

Odd Bits.

Quotes about this and that.

" Only the pure in heart can make a good soup. "
Ludwig von Beethoven

" Once, during Prohibition, I was forced to live for days on nothing but food and water. "
W.C. Fields

" My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four. Unless there are three other people. "
Orson Welles

" With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts. "
Eleanor Roosevelt

" There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that's your own self. "
Aldous Huxley

" Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. "
Harriet Beecher Stowe

" Every man is guilty of all the good he did not do. "
Voltaire

" Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws. "
Plato

" You can not tailor-make the situations in life but you can tailor-make the attitude to fit those situations. "
Zig Ziglar

" The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes. "
William James

Biggi

A Little Bit Of Time.

A measure of sorts.

" Time is the longest distance between two places. "
Tennessee Williams, The Glass Menagerie

" A man who dares to waste one hour of time has not discovered the value of life. "
Charles Darwin

" Being with you and not being with you is the only way I have to measure time."
Jorge Luis Borges

" Three o'clock is always too late or too early for anything you want to do. "
Jean Paul Sartre, Nausea

" Time spent with a cat is never wasted. "
Colette

" Realize deeply that the present moment is all you will ever have. "
Eckhart Tolle

" The right time is any time that one is still so lucky as to have. "
Henry James

" Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. "
Carl Sandburg

" Lost, yesterday, somewhere between sunrise and sunset, two golden hours, each set with sixty diamond minutes. No reward is offered for they are gone forever. "
Horace Mann

" It's not that we have little time, but more that we waste a good deal of it. "
Seneca

" One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time. "
G.K. Chesterton

Biggi

We Love Blueberries.

As versatile as they are tasty.

Now and again I will buy a punnet at the supermarket but as they are so expensive, I have resorted to buying the frozen variety. Less dear and much easier to use.

Reading such a lot of health literature made sure that I was aware of blueberries and their many health benefits. Yes, they are one of the superfoods and quite rightly so. Well, for me at least, frozen blueberries are just as good as the fresh punnet at the supermarket. Of course buying fresh organic berries is a whole different kettle of fish. Obviously I would prefer organic but they are too expensive. Frozen it is.

Now during these hot summer weeks I put a handful of frozen berries into Bob's breakfast smoothie along with oats, banana, flax seed, walnuts and soy milk. They make the smoothie cold and colourful. My main aim is to give Bob a lot of antioxidants to set him up for the day. Being healthy isn't just a three week stint a few times a year...it is a three meals a day deal.

Lately both of us have become addicted to having blueberry ice cream after dinner or after work. So easy...I throw frozen blueberries, a banana ( frozen or not ) and some plant milk into the blender and blitz it until everything is the consistency of frozen yoghurt. Oh my god, so divine especially on a hot afternoon. Ice cream doesn't have to be unhealthy and in this form it is a good way to eat plenty of fruit each day.

A few moments ago when Bob came home from work, hot and sweaty and tired, I made him a blueberry and pear ice cream. Just what the doctor ordered and the best part was that the pears were from our garden, homegrown and organic. Life, wonderfully simple and thus awesome...

Biggi

A Visual Monday.

The height of summer, bright with sunlight.

The stunning floral oasis alongside our main road deserves another look. A happy co-mingling of all sorts of flowers.

Just because...to look at a bunch of flowers is a wonderful refresher for the soul.

The pumpkins and their dashingly yellow flowers are gracing many a field in our village. All for pumpkin-seed oil, the green nectar.

They look so enticing...one of the fields has a sign asking those who help themselves to leave a monetary donation!

The famous tree of Eisenberg is almost thwarting everything else...whoever planted it and whoever left it to prosper in peace is a genius.

The colours are typical of Burgenland. Many old farmhouses are painted in a version of it which makes it so cheerful to stumble upon them. Wouldn't it be lovely if the whole village had this shade of yellow? The bench next to the chapel is a perfect spot to contemplate the bounty and beauty of life...

Biggi

Sunday Chronicles.

An early morning walk around the Eisenberg vineyards.

Despite another hot day on the cards, the roads and by-lanes weren't busy. Hardly a walker or cyclist astir and that is good so. There is nothing nicer than to contemplate the beauty of a burgeoning day than by meeting it in silence. That being said, on my way home, an hour or so later, I did encounter quite a few cyclists. Blimey, wearing Lycra in this heat!

Most of the Kellerstöckls seem to be let out. Riding one's bicycle must be all the rage because almost all the rented out places had a luxury car parked outside with two expensive off-road cycles strapped to the boot. Any exercise is great but why does it have to be supplemented with expensive equipment? A pair of shoes are all it takes.

Most Sundays I do the long route over the Eisenberg where there is only one other permanent walker. A nice soul, but a notorious talker. He likes to talk so much that he tags along for at least half an hour if given the chance. One advantage with this corona pandemic is that I can nod, wave and slink along without the fear of having to walk and talk for most of my walk.

Sundays come around so quickly but thankfully slow down appropriately so that we can cram a whole lot of relaxing into it. In a way I can see the church's point of getting everyone to visit each and every Sunday...one way to help people slow down the hectic pace of their lives.

A nice red poppy giving off a sense of peace and tranquility, perfectly reflecting Sunday.

Biggi

Far Off The Beaten Track.

The hitherto undiscovered jewel called Burgenland.

Bob and I were driving to fetch a brush cutter from a workshop in a village three over. On paper a mere hop but in Burgenland a sedate journey over the undulating hills that are either filled with crops or just plain as is. Not many buildings in sight apart from a few homes or Kellerstöckls dotted here and there. A real feast for the senses and not the usual overload of a busy landscape filled with sights and people.

We drove for miles and never saw a tourist. We drove for miles and only met with a few oncoming cars. We drove for miles and were grateful that everyone keeps mistaking Austria for the towns and villages at the foothills of the alps. Yes, the alps are Austria, the alps are beautiful but the alps are also overrun with tourists. Living there can't be much fun.

A bit closer to home, at the foothills of our ' alpine region ' a.k.a. The Eisenberg the odd tourist started appearing on the road, seated atop bicycles. Quite a bane trying to navigate narrow roads with a bevy of cycling beauties. Nerves, especially Bob's, did get a bit frayed and I won't repeat what he mumbled.

Bob took the alpine road home and when we were entering the Eisenberg Weinberg Kellerstöckl area, we couldn't believe our eyes. Tourists everywhere. On foot, on two wheels and in cars. Perhaps as many as ten. A lot for a Saturday morning and they naturally didn't care about us trying to drive past them.

Two older people equipped with the brand of an exerciser, Nordic sticks although they used them more to lean on, stood halfway in the road chatting to two ladies resting on a bench. Bob was at the helm and I could almost feel his foot itching to put foot. He was getting impatient because he couldn't pass them and they only turned around when they took in the impatient idling of our car. With scathing looks the tourists ( we know almost all our villagers ) stepped back onto the curb and Bob stepped onto the gas pedal.

His window was open and he managed to get his feelings vented by loudly muttering an opinion. I, of course jumped down his throat for being impatient, swearing and more importantly, not being respectful of his elders....doesn't bode well for me, being a bit older than Master Bob!

Biggi

All About Punctuation.

A bit of a laugh to end the workweek.

• Let's eat Grandma!...Let's eat, Grandma!
• A woman without her man is nothing....A woman: without her, man is nothing.
• The girl said that the teacher was naughty....The girl, said the teacher, was naughty.
• I'm giving up eating chocolates for a month....I'm giving up. Eating chocolates for a month.
• I'm sorry I love you...I'm sorry; I love you.
• I'd like to thank my parents, Tiffany and God...I'd like to thank my parents, Tiffany, and God.
• I love baking my family and my friends...I love baking, my family, and my friends.
• Tables are for eating customers only...Tables, are for eating customers only.
• Look before you throw workers below...Look before you throw. Workers below.
• Grammar is the difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.

Biggi

Vanity, Does It Every Stop?

Oh, glorious mane...

It's been a while since I visited this lady, but now and again I see her in her garden when I deliver food to her neighbour. Always glad when I see her doing well and yesterday I noticed her mowing her lawn with one of those old fashioned powerless mowers. You know, the one with the curved blades that needs to be pushed about. Nothing spectacular there until you realize that she is over eighty. Brave.

As I was masked to the hilt I quickly ran over to say hello. Easy when the mowers is quiet but still had to run a bit behind her before she noticed me. Then I stayed with mask and a two meter distance. So difficult to have a conversation with a mask when the other party is a bit hard of hearing, but with a bit of shouting it went well.

Being of the trade I straightaway noticed that her hair had been done recently. Tinted and cut. As she knows that I used to work in a Salon, I took the liberty and asked her why she had her hair done in these dangerous corona times. Her hair looked nice, but still what danger! Even I had stopped visiting her due to corona and the fear I might inadvertently pass the virus on to her.

" Oh, you've had your hair done. It looks very nice but weren't you worried about the virus? "

" I couldn't stand seeing myself in the mirror. All grey and such long hair. If it hadn't been for an appointment with the doctor, I wouldn't have gone. How could I let the doctor see me like that? "

Well, nice one. She saw how worried I was about her having taken chances and explained how extra careful her hairdresser had been. From having to wash her hands thoroughly before entering the shop to having her mask on at all times.

Do we ever stop being vain? Even I am taking a tad bit of strain with my grayish mane, a mane that last saw a touch of colour after Christmas. At least I am in good company...that dishy doctor on CNN, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, is growing his hair out and I take it that he isn't willing to take the risk of going to a hairdresser. Caution, nothing wrong with it. Bob of course will stick to his short style now that he has discovered another one of my hidden talents. Although he is getting rather cheeky and demanding a shape here and a step there...going to have to charge him soon!

Biggi

Climbing The Roof.

Ah, the weather gods are paying us back.

The last few days the weather has been trying to dampen Austria's spirit by deluge, flooded streets, mud slides, overflowing rivers and flooded cellars but as annoying as it is, Austrians are made of sterner stuff. The first few days Burgenland was akin to the promised land with sunshine and nary a rain cloud in sight but that changed last night.

The sky blackened and the rain came riding in on the back of a wild bronco. It stormed so badly that doors flew open, rain was smashed against windows and trees just about folded in two. All we cared about was that the vines would be spared and I still have to find out from Bob if they were.

Both of us were standing in our kitchen yesterday evening viewing the rain through the comfort of a window when we noticed a few tiny streams of water running down the kitchen wall. Ah yes, we panicked for a second imaging our house collapsing ( drama queens I tell you ) and after checking every room discovered another rivulet from the bathroom ceiling. Yikes, nothing for it but to go up into the attic to inspect the leaks.

Now our attic resembles a set from Steven King; dark, dusty, precarious and inhabited by spiders, martins, mice and a feral cat and to top it all off, it is only reachable by climbing a spindly ladder and somehow fitting through a tiny hole ( about a meter square ) in the wall. Yes, stuff of adventures and also stuff I tend to pull the it's a man's job card.

Bob reluctantly agreed to go up but as he opened our front door to dash outside he heard the siren. Wasn't he pleased! A fire brigade call-out naturally takes precedent and with a quick peck on my cheek he ran off, telling me to be careful going up the ladder.

Well, equipped with bowl and pluck I went up the ladder only to be met with my personal hurdle of how to get my sore knee ( two botched cartilage ops ) over the threshold of the attic. Thank goodness nobody was watching from below as it must have been a funny sight. Once there I nearly toppled back out again when the feral cat shot past me in fright. Jeez, he could be a bit more considerate seeing that we feed him.

The gaps in the roof were quickly discovered and I did a sort of MacGyver-ish job with the odd old building material laying about and said a quick prayer for the rain to stop. Fat chance, it carried on sporadically through the night. At one point I was petrified of having to wait atop the opening until Bob came home because it wasn't easy trying to wriggle out backwards onto the first wrung of our wooden ladder. Imagine not being able to bend one of your knees! I managed though and at least have worked out a quicker way to go into the attic.

Eventually Bob returned from pumping out several cellars with the fire brigade and was quite proud of me when I told him about my endeavour. After both of us had stopped panicking we sat down and worked out a plan of how to fix the leaks and will start repairs this weekend. Thankfully the sun is set to stay with us from tomorrow for a fortnight. Nothing we can't handle together...

Biggi

Magical And Perhaps Medicinal Weeds.

Dandelion and co.

Dandelions came to my awareness today by the mere deed of having listened to a podcast about its wonderful versatility. Obviously I had been aware of dandelions for ages and mostly when I have tried to free our vegetable garden of it. Shouldn't have bothered. To think of all the goodness I have ripped from the ground!

The powerful benefits that a mere dandelion has makes sense when one considers that it has the strength to even push past the cracks in a concrete slab. I had heard of drinking dandelion tea and have done so but the eating of it in salads etc never crossed my mind. Until lunch today. Upon listening to the podcast, I went outside and snipped odd bits of dandelion from the lawn. Hope I snipped the right blades...our lawn is a bit woolly and wild.

The salad, which was a combination of brown rice, black beans, tofu, rocket, chard and dandelion tasted fantastic and now, an hour later I suddenly have more energy. Apparently the little dandelion has the ability to clear energy blockages and give us back our strength. The dandelion tasted bitter but in a pleasant nutty way and I can't wait to go and dig out a root of one tomorrow as that should even taste better. Worth a try.

In our current euphoria of trying to buy many a super-food, isn't it ironic that one is growing in most of our gardens free of charge? One that most of us have spent time and dare I say chemical help ( not us ) to get rid of it. We are a bit bizarre and I would love to find out when we as a society eschewed the use of herbs and spices to treat our various ailments? The nuns of yore used them successfully for centuries and who is to say if they or conventional modern medicine was more successful.

Dandelion / Myrrh: Dandelion was prescribed in Medieval times to treat colds, boils, ulcers, dental problems, itching, jaundice and gallstones.

Biggi

All About Fruit.

A few more days.

To be honest, I don't very often go into our back garden. A case of out of sight out - of mind as it is tucked behind the barn and thus invisible from our house. Never mind, every few days I go and empty our food scraps onto our compost heap and today I ventured a bit further into our fruit garden.

Pears, apples and plums are our staple and half the trees are almost ready to be harvested. That's going to be a tad bit tricky as they are tall trees. The plums are fine and within reach though. Even this afternoon I managed to find one that was on the cusp of being ripe but tasted plummy nonetheless.

Next to it stands an old apple tree filled with apples. Nice. Quite a lot of them had decamped to the ground and when I picked up one that looked very nice, whole and worm-less, I took a bite and had my taste buds regress to childhood and the sensation of biting into a freshly picked apple. Yum. Another week or two should do the trick and save us buying apples. Hard to find good tasting apples anyway but as they are so healthy I try to eat one a day.

As you might imagine, we don't prune those trees and again mostly because of that out of mind-out of sight reason but this afternoon I took some shears and chopped a few dead branches of it. I swear I felt the tree give a sigh of relief as it shook off the dead weight. Next year in March I promise to make a success of pruning ahead of time.

Lofty ideas often float through my mind such as making batches of apple pie, plum cake and pear custard but let's be honest...stewed apple might be the height of them. Country life, the good life, our life...

Biggi

A Bit About The Movies.

Lovely way to while time away...

" Everyone told me to pass on Speed because it was a bus movie. "
Sandra Bullock

" A cinema villain essentially needs a mustache so he can twiddle with it gleefully as he cooks up his next nasty plan. "
Mel Brooks

" Always make the audience suffer as much as possible. "
Alfred Hitchcock

" Make them laugh, make them cry, and hack to laughter. What do people go to the theatre for? An emotional exercise. I am a servant of the people. I have never forgotten that. "
Mary Pickford

" Film making is a chance to live many lifetimes. "
Robert Altman

" Movies were invented for Jimmy Cagney, and he was invented for the movies. A perfect match. "
Clint Eastwood

" Nobody should come to the movies unless he believes in heroes. "
John Wayne

" I've always been optimistic. And I have a feeling that it happened because of going to all those movies with my grandmother in the '40s because there was no cynicism. "
Carol Burnett

" The movies were custard compared to politics. "
Nancy Reagan

" Movies can and do have tremendous influence in shaping young lives in the realm of entertainment towards the ideal and objectives of normal adulthood. "
Walt Disney

Biggi

Love The New Pop-Up Flower Oasis.

A visual feast indeed.

It doesn't look like much from this angle but I just wanted to set the stage. Only yesterday did I for the first time notice this amazing new ( well not so new as it must have been planted a while ago ) wild flower garden outside Deutsch Schützen.

Now let's go into detail. And what a spiffy detail it is. A magical garden has replaced a plain piece of grass at the side of the road. Conveniently planted on the curve where we have to slow down so much that we can take note of these beauties.

The pink parcel...I didn't know where to look first as it was all just so beautiful. Why aren't there more of these around the villages instead of those stiff display lots that firstly all look the same and secondly often resemble funeral decorations.

Great to see a sign which explains the importance of these wild flower oases. I would love to know if these pop-ups do make a difference to the crop planted on the fields next to them.

Who doesn't love a spot of yellow? If only you could have heard the buzzing in and around this oasis.

A happy ensemble gracing and facing the road for hopefully many of us to admire. Marvelous idea and I hope these pop-ups multiply everywhere because stumbling across one is a treat for the soul...

Biggi