Strasbourg Cathedral

While we were in Germany we drove over to Strasbourg, France. I had been there before with my daughter about 12-13 years ago. At the time she was taking french in school and wanted to go to France if we went to Germany. Hubby was floored by the Strasbourg Cathedral and I must admit it is a sight to be seen. From the information I found off the web it was constructed from 1176-1479 and was the world's tallest building from 1647-1874. It also remained the tallest church in the world until 1880.

I thought this was a cool picture seeing the tower off in the distance, plus we were happy to see it. Thank you GPS!!!!



Some side views of the cathedral. This cathedral was started out in the Romanesque style, but in 1225 the Gothic style was added by a team from Chartres. This church also has an astronomical clock which has different figures from childhood to manhood to death. They also have another level with the apostles and Jesus. Not only does this clock tell time, it shows solar time, the month, year, sign of the zodiac, and the phase of the moon and several planets. We did not see any of this as it starts at 12:30 to view it. However, it was still fascinating. Just think-- something that old still works!!!!

Gorgeous stained glass window

Yours truly

No voice no service

I lost my voice and then the next day our internet service was down. Boy, talking about a rough time!!!!!! It was like....withdrawal symptoms!!!! I mentioned the last time about sage tea for sore throats, however I did not make any that night. Barbara whose blog is Ramblings from an English Garden said that sage tea is very good for sore throats and even explained how long to steep it. I'll be keeping that advice for the next time, and since it is pollen time around here it may come sooner than I want. The one thing that I did do that afternoon was apple cider vinegar and cayenne pepper with a little bit of water. You gargle with this mixture and believe it or not it really did work. I was able to get out a few words that evening, more the next day, and now I'm back to normal. Though I think a few people will be groaning right now!!!! I got this recipe off of earthclinic.com. They have sooooo much on there if you like taking a more natural approach, and also loads of information.
Our little creek is now a trickle, but more rain is coming. So, for now here are a few pictures that I took. Mind you, this is the first time I have seen water there in over 13 years!!!!
The fern fronds are peeking there heads out too!
Here is our 4 foot waterfall drop

Hubby and dog heading back for the house as it was starting to rain again.

Rain, rain, rain

We have had quite a bit of rain here for the past few days, but we can't complain as we really, really need it. Our lakes have been down for quite a while, the lowest point came last year. Although we really don't need the storms that go with it; the weather man said today to be prepared. I took some pictures this afternoon at the back of the property. I have never seen water in the creek bottom, but there sure was a lot today and probably more tomorrow!!! So I'll share those pictures with you on my next post, but first I need some of this-----

Chicken Noodle Soup
It seems that there is some sort of sore throat, coughing up a storm going around, and of course you know who got it!
So, I am loading up on the c's and the elderberry syrup mixed with my water. I also read that sage tea is good for sore throats. I'll have to give that a try.

What about this one?

Remember that country and western song that came out a few years ago about tractors? I wonder what they would think about these?!!!!


Kinda cute, huh?! LOL

Mtn. view

The past few days have just flown by! Our neighbors had family come down from Wisconsin and it is always so nice to see them!!! So, these days have been filled with visiting although today was kind of a sad visiting day. My 92 year old great uncle is still in the hospital. My parents, hubby, and I visited him several weekends ago when he first went in and unfortunately he is still in there. So my parents and I went back up to the mountains of North Carolina to visit again. He is still frail, but hanging on. For being 92 years old (which his birthday was about 3 weeks ago) he still looks pretty good. I wonder how many of us will make it to 92?
I wanted to take some pictures on the way there since it is such a gorgeous drive, but I forgot my camera!!! Anyway, I did have my trusty cell phone camera, and I must say it took a pretty good picture. So, I'll leave you with a spring view of the mountains......

Whew!

I think this says it all! Papers everywhere, mind not functioning, what a day!

Income Taxes

Morning dew

We have had a steady rain here for the past 3-4 days, and this morning there was a fog that came in too. Check out the spider webs out in the woods that showed up with the morning dew; it looks like someone dumped clouds all over the ground.

Another thing to check out is Donna's blog at http://anenchantedcottage.blogspot.com/
She is having a really beautiful give away!

Veggies like these

The temperature here is cooling off again. We had temps in the high 70's to low 80's for almost the past week. So some of the trees are trying to bud out along with my blueberry bushes. I hope that we do not get a freeze, but they are saying that it will only get into the 40's at night.
When it is warm it makes you want to get out there and plant to your hearts content, however, it is always best to wait on the majority of things. I did plant some potatoes, lettuce, and spinach for now.
I would love to have some of the market places here as they do in Europe. I'm sure there are some around, but I guess it is just the atmosphere that makes it feel so different. They also arrange things to look like a picture and feast for the eyes and tummy!!!

Here, take a look.....
Strasbourg, France (Hubby checking out the produce)


A little stand by Lake Constance (this lake borders Germany, Switzerland, and Austria)

The market place in Bremen, Germany

Gardening fever

On Monday my mom and I went to our local outlet nursery that we go to when the gardening bug hits us. Needless to say that I came home with a few items!


Primroses that I have already planted. I know that they may not be the greatest for our weather here (they like it cool), but they are sooooo pretty!

Daylight

I don't know about you, but daylight savings time when it first comes around is not my cup of tea. Getting up and moving those first few days is a hard thing to do. I drag myself around the house or since today has been a day of beautiful weather I go outside and watch hubby clean out the pond. Definitely a lazy day.
So I'll leave you with a few pictures of the Heidelberg castle. A town and castle definitely worth seeing.

Windows & Doors

While we were over in Germany and France I took pictures of windows and doors. Some are from the castles and some from villages, but they are all really cool!







This is one for the men's room!

I think that it is fascinating all the work that went into them. Just think? This was without all the modern tools of today!!!

Snowy two ways

What a crazy past weekend! We started with rain, and then ended with snow!!!! I had planned on working on my blog, but when you have snow! What can I say? Of course, we did not get as much as the places around us. In one spot they received 7 inches! Wow! So here is snow one way.....





So what else is snowy? Why this....our new dog! Not a puppy, an older dog that we adopted from the Pet Finders/humane society, but hey, they need lovin' too!