Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

In central Texas, the part of this state I have called home since 1978, we don't "do" ice and snow. Drivers don't know how do drive on it. Communities have no equipment to deal with it - no blowers or salt spreaders or plows. We do have sanders, but we are limited in what we can sand - well traveled bridges and overpasses get the attention.

The dogs sheltered inside last night, as they do whenever the weather is bad. They are "outside" dogs, but it was "not a fit night out for man or beast." *

This morning we had to figure out how we would get them outside for a "break" and for some food and water (As outside dogs, they are not polite eaters. And  Scruff attacks water, getting more on him than in him.). We have concrete steps at every exit and we knew they would be iced over.

We decided to use the front door as the original handrail is still there. We tested our exit and discovered things were not as hazardous as we had imagined. Walkers bundled and puppies, confused at change in routine, figured out the drill...all headed out to play in the snow and ice.

We dared not the slick sidewalks and the hills of our walk to the park. We walked around and around in the side yard. It was reminiscent of our efforts to establish a "pack" at the pound when we picked up Scruffy. We walked around and across, together and separately.

Paddy isn't quite sure what is going on.

I tried to get her attention. She sat instead.

Scruffy at the edge of our sidewalk. He is watching some idiot driving down the street.

I tried to get his attention, but he was still watching the car as it "crunched" around a corner.

Puppies ate and drank and investigated along the edges of the yard where other animals had wandered or sheltered last night. Even in the ice, the dogs sniffed out the smells of other creatures .

We stayed out as long as we thought safe - puppies have no shoes! Then we all headed back inside.

There is nothing better than a warm breakfast (with a hot cup of coffee) on a cold winter day!

Scruffy at the sidewalk.

Aspidistra around the pecan in the side yard.

Close up of the aspidistra

Some of the plants - guess who forgot to "cover tender vegetation."

Bulbs were coming up.

Snow angel in the front yard! (Yes, yes, my posterior is cold...)

*W. C. Fields - The Fatal Glass of Beer

Foggy breath and frost covered ground, a walk at the edge of freezing.

On this frosty cold morning two excited pups, one walker, and one grump headed out to the park.

Oh how he grumbled and growled all along the way. Finally, he said he thought he was "catching a cold." And the rest made sense.

It was really a perfect winter morning. It was cold, but not too cold. The only moisture was the frost - shining like diamonds sprinkled in the grass and dusted across the fallen leaves. There was not even the whisper of a breeze to chill our bones.

Dawn was breaking as we reached the park. The pecan trees stood naked against the lightening sky.
The park was empty, but we were late and couldn't stay for a ramble. DH growled again - about the time.

I had time today - having taken the day off to help a friend with errands. But my dear grumpy Gus had to go to work and so we headed home to get him fed and watered, dressed and ready.

We also planned an adventure in a nature area new to us for the end of the week. We will all be free to wander on Friday.

Cover your ears (or cover my mouth)! Cold walks with puppies....

Oh dear heavens!

It is COLD!

Our walks have been frantic short trips down the street with the pups so all can (1) get out of the house and (2) have a little exercise.

Our breath is frosted.

Our feet (and my hands) and our faces are numb.

We are the only creatures crazy enough to venture out in the cold dark evenings and COLDER dark mornings.

The water is frozen in dog bowls (Actually, we use large galvanized tubs, but that sounds weirdly un-poetic).

The sunrise promises warmth, but does not deliver (at least not until today).

Scruffy is thrilled to go inside.
Paddy is depressed.
Scruffy loves his crate.
Paddy hates hers.
Paddy is so sad, she rejects a cookie.
Oh, the degradation.

Cookie abandoned in the floor of the crate (she left it there all night and walked out without eating it).

We have struggled to find options for Paddy when the cold wind blows, but she will not behave in the house. It is really not her fault. Hobbes leads her on a merry chase. On one occasion (when she escaped the crate) I found some of our precious objects broken on the living room floor. It was obvious that either a hurricane had blown through the house or a dog and cat had played catch. [There is a "cat" in "catch," you know.]

NOTE:

OK. I did not deliver the <expletives deleted> you might have expected and I too thought would fill this post.

I warmed up and cooled off.

UPDATE:

It is warmer today, but raining. No walk - maybe tonight.

Food - Yes, I am that person

An army marches on its stomach* and walkers do need to eat. We did not eat "out" as much as we have on previous trips. MC and LD cooked many meals for us (We were well looked after!). These breakfasts and other meals were wonderful (and I have to get that crockpot roast recipe!).

LD, MC and DH's shoulder - in the kitchen.

German food is somehow comforting and familiar to me. I grew up on Texanized German cooking as my mother learned from her first generation German mother. We ate fried meats and potatoes and noodles and dumplings and boiled veggies and pickled veggies along with our southern black-eyed peas, cornbread, and okra.

My companions were none too cooperative in letting me photograph their meals, but they often allowed me a bite! And you can see how much I enjoyed the milchkaffee - especially with the decorated foamed milk.

 

Pizza - OK, I know this is Italian food, but it is pizza with a German twist.

 

Gnocchi with a creamy tomato sauce

Fish broiled in butter! The dish was rich and the plate was beautiful!

Look at this!

It was so lovely. I could have "eaten" the plate!

Coffee on the train. There was a croissant too, but I think it may have already been eaten.

See how pretty the decoration is on top?

  

Another decorated milchkaffee - German coffee with an Irish touch.

 

Breakfast with DH in the local bakery**.  Note the milchkaffe does not have a stencil atop, but it was still pretty good.

I'd best hurry - he is almost finished with his croissant.

A cone of small rolls and my final coffee in Germany. I think I ate my pasta dish before I remembered to take a picture. DH had a hamburger.

NOTES:

* Attributed to Napoleon Bonaparte

** DH and I traveled a bit for our honeymoon 30+ years ago. It should be no surprise that we still find it difficult to pass a bakery without stopping for a croissant (always a good choice).

[I will confess that we ate at McDonalds once. And it was pretty darned good! MC says there are different standards for fast food in Germany.]

Art - mostly public - showing German humor & genius (and a little madness!)

We went to no art museums, but art was everywhere. By the end of the trip I had gathered this crazy group of images - things that "caught my eye."

Here you go:

This crazy thing in Amberg always makes me laugh. I think it is metal and glass or enamel.

Closer detail of public art in Amberg

The famous "spectacles" bridge, Amberg

 

On this side of the bridge however, it appears to create a skull

Large welded metal globe, Amberg

Tiles inside the globe, Amberg

Crazy thing at the Auto and Technik Museum Sinsheim - it appears to be some kind of windmill/whirligig

A closer look.

Wooden carving above door in Courtroom 600, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg

Statue above the entrance to the Palace of Justice

Chandelier in Courtroom 600, Palace of Justice, Nuremberg

Venus of Amberg by Lucia Torge, 2009. Public art - carved limestone,  Amberg

Reverse of Venus of Amberg

Flossenburg, sculpture by survivor

Deitrich Bonhoeffer statue, Flossenburg

Description of a "Rube Goldberg" type machine, The Imperator, Auto and Technik Museum, Sinsheim

The Imperator, Auto and Technik Museum, Sinsheim

Mirrors at the Hilton Hotel, Frankfurt Airport.

Part of Frankfurt Airport - it is a shiny Quonset hut shape and reflects the ever-changing activity below - like an inside-out Cloud Gate.

OK, I know...this one is silly, but I thought YC might like it...Yard art, Amberg

German gardens, and cats and such...

I love the small German gardens. People take such care of these small yards. And they are lovely, even when the winter wind blows cold.

Decorative grasses

Rose hips

A few vines (one variegated) trailing from a small home garden, Amberg

This huge tree was a way-marker for us on our regular walks before we found the many staired short-cut.

Frost covered trees in Amberg

A small window box in Rothenburg was still bright with color.

I saw this from a distance as we were looking for an entry to the walls in Rothenburg. Could it be "old man's beard"? It may not be the exact variety we have in Texas (clematis drummondii0, but it is definitely a relative.

A somewhat closer view of the seeds of a wild clematis in Rothenburg

I heard these birds - almost a chortle - as I walked the walls of Rothenberg

A dovecote

Moss on a railing, Rothenberg

 

I loved this rough old house seen from the walls of Rothenburg. I wondered what creature might use the hole in the masonry. Of course, I half-expected a squirrel to stick its head out, but no luck today.

Lichen and moss on a boulder (also dusted with frost) near Pottenstein.

Fern and icicles outside the Devil's Cave near Pottenstein

Closeup of fern, Pottenstein

Moss covered boulders at the exit to the Devil's Cave near Pottenstein

We hiked in a number of "natural areas" including hills around Pottenstein where I saw this poster identifying wildflowers. Sorry, wrong season.

Orchard near Pottenstein

More icicles near Pottenstein

Wild thing (wait, that's DH) exiting the Devil's Cave near Pottenstein.

Ferns and moss, Pottenstein

Moss covered stone at the Documentary Center, Nuremberg

A paddling of  ducks (and a couple of stray pigeons) greeted us the morning we went to the river in Amberg - our plan was to photograph the "spectacles."

Paddling of ducks - I recognized some mallards.

This pigeon  posed. The other moved.

 And we saw a few cats...they always seem to wander around, even in snowy weather. We saw a number of felines, but these guys posed.

MC calls this one-eyed flee bag "Lucky." This cat and another from the neighborhood regularly come visit.

This girl made friends with MC in moments at the Auto and Technik Museum, Sinshein

 Sheep graze in the orchard behind MC's house.

This one watched me for a good while. The others couldn't be bothered.

And we did see deer (2 red deer) on one drive, but they crossed the road and were gone almost before we could register that we had seen them.