Otis in Germany

The little guy is settling in quite nicely.  At first he was scared by the crazy long flight under a plane and then purturbed at being on a leash in the airport while we made him pee in a disposable litter box, then confused as we put him back under a large vehicle as that is where he had to ride on the bus from Frankfurt to Vilseck, and finally in a protective mode once he could get out of his kennel for a while in the hotel.  That led to boredom, as our room was tiny, but he did have the option to look out the window and catch bugs (as long as they weren't wasps).

So, the move to the new house wasn't too overwhelming for him, but he still had a period where he freaked out a little.  The loaner furniture, in particular, gave him pause.  It smelled all wrong to him and he would sit on it and just investigate for 5 minutes at a time before jumping off in disgust.

The first day we moved in, we dropped him off and then took off again to get groceries and get my car registered.  When we came back he was NOWHERE to be found.  When he finally appeared, as if by magic, he smelled of pipes, if you can imagine what that smell is like.  It was just very metallic.  We figured he somehow managed to get underneath either the bathtub or the shower, as there were tiles missing from the bases of each, and found a snug hiding place.  (There is NOT much room there, and I'm sure it was a tight fit.)  The tiles have since been replaced and all regrouted by our landlord.

Poor guy was freaked out and needed a place to hide.

So it doesn't help when we have guests.  He is not used to new people.  He is getting used to our landlord who drops by more than most, even though he tends to scurry past him into another room to peer around the corner at him.  The phone guy, the satellite guy and the movers were all disturbing.

During our delivery of Household Goods, we actually locked him in the bathroom to prevent him from sneaking out the door.  Now that the bathtub and shower hiding places were taken, he found the most secure feeling place he could find.

When we went to check on him, he seemed fairly calm.  The movers would make a noise and he would become more alert, but he seemed perfectly calm.  In the sink.

Why Autumn is so nice in Germany

This is the drive to Vilseck from Amberg.  It's even more "fall-ish" right now as more of the trees are orange and yellow...and brown.  But this is one of the rare super sunny days.  Most days are cloudy with some sun.  Or, like yesterday, SUPER foggy until about 3 pm when it all burned off.  It resulted in a drive back to Amberg that looked like it was sunny, orangey, and smoking.  Quite the combo.  However, these pics are from last weekend on the way to the Vilseck Bazaar.  I should also mention these were taken while riding passenger in the Jeep.  Out the window.  Without stopping.  So they're not superstar pictures.  They are just pretty.  

Heading into the edge of Amberg.

On the road to Vilseck!  Fields of flowers with fall trees behind them and pine trees in the back.  Gorgeous.

Heading into Schlicht - the last village you go through before  you hit  post.  Love Schlicht.  They possess my favorite bit of road.

They also have cool buildings - like this one covered in Ivy.

And old churches with onion domes.

The beginning of my favorite road section.  Lots of trees.

Under the bridge...

heading out of town...

And...here we are on the way back!  Going down the same hill in the previous picture.

down down down...

There always seems to be an elderly person walking on the right sidewalk.  It's feels so old world to me.  

Looking into Schlicht as we drive through it on our way home.

And that's why I like Autumn in Germany.  I should update with more pics now that things look even more fall like.  It's just so pretty.  Summer is very pretty on this road too.

It's just beautiful here.

The Lodge

So our place is somewhat settled into.  We've unpacked or stored 99.9% of things.  Note - there are still boxes of crap lying around.  I tried to not even show them when I could help it.  

And now, I will give you a photo tour.

Standing just inside the front door, looking right, in the direction you would walk toward the living room and kitchen.  There is our handy wood burning stove in the right of the picture. 

Standing in the foyer, looking toward the direction of the bedrooms and bathroom.  I miss linen and hall closets.

This is standing in the doorway to the bedrooms, looking toward the door to the living room/dining room/kitchen area.  The front door is on the right.  There is our cute chippendale style entryway table.  Lying on top of that is an Austrian linen/wool runner that we purchased at the Vilseck Bazaar.  It's very pretty with blue and white flowers.

Standing in the doorway to the living room area.  There is our dining room and china cabinet.  Living room to the left, kitchen door to the right.

Living room from the dining room.

Living room from the TV corner.

Dining room and door to kitchen from living room.

Kitchen

Kitchen

... more kitchen.  

Pantry - complete with handy 15 euro bookshelves (before VAT was removed) that we rebelliously did NOT anchor to the wall.  Theoretically, they could come crashing forward at any time.

On the other side of our vast foyer, we have the area with the bedrooms and bathroom.  This is the guest bedroom.  If you plan to come stay, I vow to have John's clean laundry folded and put away.  Or I at least vow to make him do it.  All of the lace curtains shown are courtesy of our landlord.  He gave them us as loaner curtains so we wouldn't have to buy them.  They are so pretty.

Hallway photo montage.

Office

Office/chiro adjustment center/scrapbooking corner.

Master bedroom.  Again with the pretty lace curtains.

And there we have it!  I did not include bathroom pictures.  I did not deem my bathroom photo worthy.  Or photo ready.  It was kinda gross.  But it's nice and large with a separate vanity area, bathtub and shower and has room for a stackable washer/dryer that sit in the corner next to the toilet.  Ah, Europe.  :)

I find myself still arranging things and rearranging things.  I'm not satisfied and am using time I could be using doing so many other things.  But if I'm not happy, I guess nitpicking the little things is worthwhile in the end.  

I hope I finish before Christmas decoration time comes or I'm screwed.

Polish Pottery Adventure

I call it an adventure, because that is what it was.  A freaking adventure.  I had no idea what I was in for.

And I look forward to doing it again.

I tried to prepare myself.  I browsed patterns online by googling "Boleslaweic Polish Pottery" but what was online was such a small percentage of what was in the stores.  And I couldn't even decide what I liked best from what I found online.  So I went into the whole experience somewhat ignorantly.

But I have learned now.  

-to take pictures of what you buy, because you will not remember what you have purchased in the first store by the time you get to the fifth store.

-to bring blankets.  The bus can get cold.  

-to bring better ear phones.  Some people don't sleep on the bus.

-to bring a list of what you are looking for, who you are purchasing for (if anyone), and what you want to buy for them in addition to yourself.

-to be more diligent when checking prices.  even within the same store, prices can vary wildly based on paint usage and pottery quality.  

I will be ready for next time.

It's all just so disorienting and overwhelming at first.  You get on a bus on post at midnight.  You pick people up in Graf at 12:30 am.  Then you head to Poland.  There is a stop at a truck stop at 3:30 am in Dresden.  You arrive at the first two shops at 5:30 am.  They are opened early especially for this tour.  (I believe the third and fourth ones are opened early as well because it was still before 8 and 9 am when shopping there.)

So you step off the bus in the cold, dark morning and start picking up things you like, and seeing how much you want to buy before the gal next to you decides she likes that same pattern.

I was very concerned about patterns at first.  Then I decided that it all pretty much matches, even when it's not the same pattern.  They use the same or similar colors and the painting is all hand done.  It just all looks cute.

Each store has a "thing."  This store is very reasonably priced but that store probably has the best quality stuff.  This store has patterns you won't find anywhere else.  That store also sells baskets.  This store has unique items (whether it be children's tea sets, paper towel holders, onion carriers, cheese dishes, etc.), that store has discounted Christmas themed items.  You select what you want, carefully listening to the women who have been on this trip before (my friend Laura being one of them as this was her FOURTH time), and pay attention to what lies in the "next store" and compare it to what you are looking for versus what is directly in front of you.  Then you check out (after waiting in line) and they wrap up the pottery and, if you buy enough (which I almost always did), they box up your things, tape up the box, and hand you a permanent marker.  You then write your name on the box and where your stop is - Vilseck or Graf.  The boxes will be sorted later when you arrive home and they ride home on the bottom of the bus.  (Hence why you forget what you purchase.  Especially for purchases made prior to 7 am.)

It.  Was crazy.

We hit up 9 stores before 11:30 am when we stopped for lunch.  We hit 5 stores thereafter.  We got back to post at 8:30 and after we unloaded the bottom of the bus, I was leaving post by 9 pm.  I had basically pulled an all-nighter.

For pottery.

For really pretty (and functional!) pottery.  :)

This bridge is something the people of Boleslaweic are proud of.  Kind of an symbol of modern times in a not so modern country.  Yes, you can tell the difference between Poland and Germany.  Germany looks much more affluent, although Poland is beautiful too.

This is where we had lunch.  Apparently it was a vacation home of Hitler in  Poland, although this is NOT it's original location.  It was moved from it's original location and it now here, as a restaurant and hotel.  It also opened early for us.  (It was supposed to open at 1, and we arrived at 11:30.)

More restaurant.

The place was taken apart, moved and reassembled.  Here is a section where you can still see the "L" of Heil and  Hitler's name.

Here some of the inside decor.

Here is an attempt to capture many hot air balloons that we saw on our way back.  Of course, this is taken from the bus.  Oh, and it's a sucky picture.  :)

And *here* is some of the things I purchased.  I did purchase some gifts, so of course, I'm not picturing those items.  Now that I have everything unpacked, I am making a list of items I would still like!

Pretty serving bowl

Ladle

wide butter dish.  love this pattern.  

funky serving plate.  I just loved it and when I got home I was mildly astonished that I paid as much as I did for it.  Like I said, at first, I wasn't checking prices too thoroughly.

Utensil holder!  Love this.  Have been needing a larger one for a while and this is bee-yoo-tiful.

HAD to have a sugar/creamer set.  They are pricey for what you get though.  And the spoon was sold separately.

My onion holder.  I throw my garlic in there too.

my large rectangle baker!  I was about to pay ~$70 for one at the shop.  It was pretty, but then I found this one that I liked equally as well for ~$30.

Tea bag holder.  They had a lot of cute "little" items.

Did I mention they have baskets?  I was shocked to learn this.  They also had stools, but I did not see the need for one.  This basket is really sturdy and ran about $10!

Pottery in action.

My loaf baker.  I think this would make meatloaf or banana bread taste even better.

Small baking dish.  This is one of those items I unpacked and had completely forgotten I had purchased!  It's SO pretty though!  It's no wonder I picked it up.

On my wish list for next time:
Gravy (or sauce) boat with dish
paper towel holder (more rare than I thought)
muffin pan
possibly a tea pot/warmer set.  If just for looks.  They are friggin cute.
(My friend Laura loves the tea pots and the sugar bowls.  I think she has three tea pots!  And she kept looking for more!  I called her a tea pothead.)
mugs?
maybe another bowl or two?  I like bowls.
Perhaps another basket. Baskets are always useful.

not sure if we'll get a full plate set.  I did pick up some cereal/ice cream bowls in the same pattern as the butter dish, as well as a clearance pattern that coordinated.  the plates would be pretty, but not all that much fancier than our everyday Pfaltzgraff set we have now and like very much.  I like the idea of just getting accent pieces.  Plus, then John won't get mad at me if he knows this is the majority of the pottery we will buy.  I did spend a bit.  But it's an investment and it's good stuff.

The more I look at it on my counter and in my cupboards, the more I love love love it.

So yeah...I may have to go back and do it again.