diets are boring

this we've been told was one of the several grand meals my darling brother made for his family over the holidays and we are truly impressed. i seem to remember a time when dear conny found boiling an egg a challenge, but then that must be some time ago, right? we had a bit of a grin on our faces though when we heard that at least one fancy duck-with-all-the-trimmings-meal was replaced by bangers and mash as the duck was still sitting in the freezer when conny started cooking. but - hey - it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. 

this also reminds me of my own egg sceleton in the closet. in the good old days of parties and fun we would frequently come home in the wee hours and beg/bag through the window some fresh broetchen from the bakery around the corner where the shift started at 4am, and have a boiled egg to go with them. or so. "i found several little bricks of coal in a pot this morning" my flatmate merten would tell me. "couldn't really figure out what you meant to do with them, but i took the pot off the heat, just in case." oh, the eggs. yes, thanks, merten. thank you...

and, just to close this story on a positive note, to let you know that christine and i were some of the first guests to try out one of the new restaurants across the street from my college, cucina assellina, and we actually had a great time in a place that seems a little flashy for my taste, but does good food, and - ahem - great wine. never mind the coal.... 

rike and ruby

new year's resolutions

here are ours, in order of priority:

• keep up with the blog again (thank you for those friends and family to complain about the sluggish maintenance - it's great to know it's not just me looking at it!)
• lose all that fluff around the hips that i seem to manage to put on every year
• get back on the bike again. since we picked up swimming last summer i have not had the energy to go straight from the pool onto the road. let's see...
• and god knows all those little bits and bobs that are too personal to state here, but they are a plenty
• but, as chilli the cat proves on the pic above, not to lose a taste for the good things in life, either. have your cake and eat it!

Happy 2013!

with several bottles of great champagne from mr. lawrence it was actually not difficult to see the old year out and a bright and bolshy 2013 in. although we had a lovely invitation to a party we were all too lazy and just watched the fireworks on bbc and made plans for the year to come. and of course on new years day our famous/infamous party, with 24 adults and 14 children this time. great, great cassoulet from deac, fish soup and a creme caramel to kill for from rike. 2013 - here we come!!!

(rike and friends during the party, hiding in the basement, i think...)

allright then: god save the queen

it was right down as predicted: rain in the morning, rain later in the afternoon, but just to prove she has the heavens on her side the ghastly weather cleared up a little bit and we remained mainly dry, and warm, because the crowds were so densely packed.

after a long breakfast we decided to try our luck and use the happy fact that my workplace is right on the river and that our nice security staff usually let us in - and they did. we tried several places, the waterfront bar, the viewing platform on the 7th floor, somerset house, but in the end decided that while we were here it would be best to mingle with the crowds and have that hands-on feeling.

and we were not to be disappointed. it was the most spectacular line of ships and boats that we will see on the thames in our lifetime, and the friendly cheers left, right and centre really did it and we cheered as loud as everybody else. and even when rike spoke of 'her queen' and the husband proclaimed that it was after all worthwhile living in a monarchy and even when we all joined in on 'god save the queen' i didn't mind. only when deac put two large union jacks onto my determinedly german car i started wondering where this all would end...

this is your captain speaking

clearly one of the most spectacular moments in life. do by all means look at the videos but believe me i flew this bumble bee significantly more steadily than rike's clips suggest. must have been down to the photographer having fun in the backseat. for more pics click on the picasa album top right. and a big kiss for rike, for bravery as well as taking pics!!!

hidden hitch

make it to guildford tonight if you can and if you want to know more about alfred hitchcock and where my dear husband deac rossell, together with kevin last and william godfree, will shed some light unto the cult director's lesser known works.

says the yvonne arnaud theatre, where the event takes place: "by revisiting his life, this educational presentation trawls the hitchcock canon for the missing and little seen items as well as uncompleted projects both on the big screen and television. ... using slides, film and live music, hidden hitchcock: the missing films provides a very different picture of the maestro, charting his life from turn of the century leytonstone until his death in 1980."