Several weeks ago, Bill and I visited the local hardware store for some stakes for his tomato plants. While we were there, we stopped by a strawberry shaped kiosk by Hof Birkenhöhe in the parking lot, where a lady was selling berries and wines. We bought a bottle of Fraisecco, a type of bubbly strawberry wine, and a semi street raspberry wine. We put the bottles in the fridge, waiting for the right day to try them.
There’s also another farm called Paul’s Bauernhof near us that sells strawberry wines and other delicious farm fresh products. I originally thought the Fraisecco had come from that farm, but I was mistaken.
Yesterday, we decided it was time to try the strawberry wine. We did that after we’d paid another visit to the hardware store to buy another umbrella for our backyard. Prior to yesterday, we just had one umbrella in the backyard, and it wasn’t quite doing the whole job of shading our patio. I’d have to move it as the sun moved, which isn’t easy, given the 100 pound granite stone it’s connected to. Even though the stone has wheels, it’s very hard to move.
We ended up getting a rectangular umbrella, rather than a traditional one. I think I like it better, because it’s longer and covers more area lengthwise…
Yes, that’s a slide!
I love MS Holz, the local hardware store. It’s so much nicer than Lowe’s or Home Depot… or even the Toom store we used to visit when we lived in Jettingen, down in BW. We spent a little over 300 euros yesterday. It was well worth the cost for the extra shade.
It took some doing to get the umbrella and stone into the Volvo. A big, strong male store employee helped us. He was concerned about what we were going to do when we got the stone back to our house. It was not a big deal, though. I was able to help Bill carry it to the backyard through our garage. Bill set up the new umbrella, then, before breaking out the strawberry Fraisecco, he took my Mini Cooper for a very quick drive.
Getting ready to set up the new umbrella.
Unfortunately, my car doesn’t get used much at all. We bought it in 2009, and it has less than 39,000 miles on it. I don’t drive much, and when I do, I usually take the Volvo, because it’s not in the garage. I did use the car a lot more often when we were in Jettingen, but even that wasn’t often enough. It is useful to have a second car, but most of the time, we don’t need it. However, it’s long paid off, and is fun to drive… when it’s running properly, that is. Right now, it appears that it needs a repair.
Bill said, as he came back outside to the yard, “I think it’s time to blow ‘Taps’ for the Mini.”
He described what happened during his very brief drive. It shook and the service engine came on. I looked up the “symptoms” and learned that the issue is most likely a faulty spark plug or ignition coil. So now, when we get back from Lithuania, he’s going to have to take the car to the mechanic and get it fixed. And then, perhaps we’ll look into buying another car. If we get another, maybe I’ll drive the Volvo and we’ll get Bill something nice for work. One reason I don’t use the Mini very often now, is because Noyzi won’t fit in the back seat. It’s too small. When we had Zane and Arran, I could fit both of them in the back, no problem. There’s no way I can get Noyzi in the tiny back seat of the Mini Cooper.
I do like the convertible– it’s a blast to drive and easy to park. But it’s not very practical for our needs now. It also has a stick shift, and I think I’m at an age at which I don’t want to mess with a manual transmission anymore. Besides, the stereo/sound system is obsolete.
Bill opened the Fraisecco, and I was pleasantly surprised. I had expected it to be sweet and cloying, but it was refreshingly dry, tasted of super fresh strawberries, and went down easy on a hot day. It also only has 8.8% ABV, which is a good thing for my liver. I’d buy it again. In fact, I wish we’d bought another bottle yesterday.
Maybe we’ll find some more when we get back from Lithuania. We’ll see. Actually, days after we get back from Lithuania, we’ll be heading for Switzerland for another 8 nights. So it might be July before we tend to these new issues.
I have already written about this incident in my travel blog, and if you do a search, you can read the whole story of our trip to St. Marcelin-de-Cray and how Bill ate chitlins there. But I decided to make a video version of the story this morning, so here’s a link to that for the interested…
I hope to make new memories next month, when we go on our next trips…
This was pretty funny when it happened. Luckily, Bill is a good sport.
Yesterday morning, we added a new family member to our household. Our new street dog, Charlie, flew from Pristina, Kosovo to join us here in Germany. So far, he’s fitting in beautifully, and getting reacquainted with Noyzi, our sweet, gentle, relatively giant rescue dog, who is also from Kosovo.
Noyzi and Charlie are both about six years old. They were both rescued in 2018, when they were puppies, by our friend Meg, an American who has rescued many street dogs in Kosovo. When we took in Noyzi in 2020, Charlie was also supposed to find a new home in Germany. However, his home fell through, and he spent the next few years in limbo, being cared for by a foster family in Kosovo. Kosovo, like a lot of Eastern European and Balkan countries, has a pretty big problem with street dogs.
A couple of years ago, when Meg visited Noyzi at our home, she told me about Charlie. At the time, we still had Arran, our very devoted and extremely jealous beagle mix, who was having trouble adjusting to Noyzi’s presence after we’d lost Arran’s buddy, Zane, to lymphoma. I remember when Meg first told me about Charlie, and I had this feeling we were going to end up adopting him. But, at the time, Arran was still very much with us, and he would NOT have appreciated another dog coming to live with us at that time.
We lost Arran to lymphoma on St. Patrick’s Day, 2023. In the past, we’ve been quick to adopt new dogs after we’ve lost one. But it’s harder for Americans to adopt pets in Germany, thanks to shelters not trusting us to take them with us when we leave. Now, of course Bill and I would not consider abandoning any of our animals in a shelter unless there was an extremely good reason and no other feasible alternative. I would actually say never— but I’ve learned it’s best never to say never. However, not every American who lives in Germany is as dedicated to their pets as we are, so the rest of us get a bad rep.
I do want to write a quick word about this issue. Sometimes people who work with the US military or government do have to re-home their pets due to situations beyond their control. Sometimes they have to move to places where it’s impossible to bring their pets with them. And sometimes it’s simply much too expensive to move the animals. The costs can suddenly change, as can the rules for shipping pets. Shit happens. But because so many Americans have ditched pets at pet shelters in the military areas of Germany, Americans are often discriminated against when they try to adopt from German shelters. I know there are exceptions, though… especially when Americans can get a German to vouch for them. And I also know there are Germans who would vouch for Bill and me.
In any case, although we knew we wanted to adopt another dog eventually, we weren’t in a hurry. Losing Arran left a big hole in our hearts. But then last fall, Meg asked me if we would be interested in adopting Charlie, who was still waiting for a home. I asked Bill, and he quickly said yes. So the process of moving him to Germany began. I knew Noyzi wouldn’t mind it if Charlie came to live with us. He loves other dogs!
Bringing a dog to Germany from Kosovo isn’t a matter of simply putting them on a plane. They have to have a special blood test before they can come, and there’s a waiting period. Then there are the actual logistics of the move, which involve traveling through several countries by car, or flying on a plane. When we adopted Noyzi, we met Meg in Slovenia. That was quite an adventure, as she was bringing other dogs who would be adopted by Americans. You can read about that saga by clicking here.
Charlie had already taken and passed the blood test back in 2020, but because so much time had passed, he had to have another test done. And then we had to coordinate logistics for getting him here. At first, we thought we might have him by April, but that didn’t happen. The weeks went by, and I wondered when we were going to be able to meet Charlie. Not that his foster family minded, as they were very attached to Charlie. Now that he’s home with us, I can see how they got so attached. He really is adorable!
Meg finally decided to go to Kosovo this month, although her plans for how to get Charlie to Germany were kind of fluid. Would she be driving or flying? She worried about the temperatures, as it’s not safe to fly animals in very hot weather unless the airline has temperature control in the cargo hold. Lufthansa is usually pretty good about this, as are other European airlines.
Then there were our schedules to consider. Bill left this morning to go to Texas and Utah and he’ll be gone for ten days. We have plans to go on vacation at the end of August-early September. We wanted time to break in Charlie and allow the people at our Hundepension to meet him. And then there’s just the reality that dogs don’t live as long as most people do, and time was getting away from us. So Meg decided that she would fly Charlie to us yesterday, since she has plans to go home to the United States for vacation.
Meg booked an early flight from Pristina to Vienna, then onward to Frankfurt on Austrian Airlines. I remember when she sent the itinerary, and I was a little skeptical that she’d be able to make the layover, which was only 35 minutes. If she hadn’t had Charlie, yes… it would probably be possible. But he had to go through security again once they landed in Vienna. Then there was the big IT Windows screwup that affected air travel everywhere.
Charlie about to be loaded on his flight to Frankfurt from Vienna…
Fortunately, Austrian Airlines did a great job in getting Meg and Charlie on the next flight, which arrived in Frankfurt yesterday morning a few minutes early. But they didn’t get Meg’s bags on the plane, and then they had to wait for the cargo folks to get Charlie to the baggage area. That took over an hour. But finally, they showed up, and there was our sweet new rescue dog, sitting quietly in his kennel. We loaded him in the kennel in our car, drove home, and prepared to introduce him to Noyzi.
It was interesting to wait for Meg in the arrivals hall. We saw a lot of stories in action. The cutest one involved a little girl with a rainbow painted on her forehead. She held a sign that read “Hallo Papi.” When her Papi finally showed up, she ran to him and he swept her up in an embraced, then kissed her mother. It was so sweet to watch!
I also watched a dog reunite with a man who must have been her favorite person. He came into the arrivals hall, arms outstretched, and she ran to him, showered him with kisses, and then greeted everyone else in their party. Then the whole group left the airport with great joy among them. I think if you need a pickmeup, hanging out in an arrivals hall could be an interesting pastime.
Anyway, back to Charlie’s arrival home. We think he and Noyzi will co-exist nicely. Noyzi is kind of a loner, and he spends a lot of time in his “bedroom”, which is also our entertainment room. But he likes other dogs, and doesn’t seem to be the jealous type, as Arran was. Noyzi is the biggest dog we’ve ever had, while Charlie is the smallest! They look like Rocky and Bullwinkle! Charlie also has hind dew claws. We’ve never had a dog with those before, either.
He’s got dew claws on all four legs!
When we got Charlie home, I called Noyzi down from his room to go outside. We brought Charlie out to the yard, only letting him out of the kennel when Noyzi was there to meet him. They touched noses, sniffed butts, and Charlie went around to inspect his new surroundings. He was definitely a lot less nervous than Noyzi was when we brought him home in 2020! He was delighted to meet all of us, and very quickly made himself at home.
As I write this, he’s sleeping on the rug behind me. He’s learned to go up and down the stairs, marked a few things in the house, and slept in a bed with his foster dad’s shirt on it. After I finish this post, we’ll take our first walk around the neighborhood. I have a feeling he’s going to charm a lot of people, because he’s got such a sweet, sunny personality. It almost feels like Zane and Arran are both visiting us through Charlie.
Noyzi doesn’t seem bothered by Charlie. The two of them almost had a play session last night, although I think Noyzi might be dealing with a slight case of arthritis. He’s been slightly gimpy lately until his joints warm up.
Below are some of the best photos from yesterday.
So far, Charlie seems very happy to be in Germany. He’s been through some tough trials. There’s a scar on his back from when he was a tiny puppy. Two girls found him and begged Meg to save him. Meg has told me she thought someone had tried to kill Charlie when he was a puppy. Charlie somehow survived, in spite of that person’s cruel efforts to end his life. Obviously he was meant to be here.
I said this when we took in Noyzi… who by all rights should have died on the streets of Pristina. Imagine the odds that a dog from the streets of Kosovo would end up living with Americans in Germany! And yet, here they both are… living with Americans in Germany. Both of them have done what may have seemed truly impossible. I guess their story is a life lesson we can all learn.
Here’s a video of the experience so far…
A video of Charlie’s arrival to Germany from Kosovo!
I just took them on their first walk. They did fine together. Charlie will be one of the locals in no time!
Here’s a very quick post about last night’s wine stand, which was blessed with sunshine and relatively warm temperatures (for a change). Recently, we’ve been bringing Noyzi, the Kosovar wonderdog, to the wine stands. We hope to get him a little more socialized and used to crowds, noise, and people.
Noyzi has made a lot of progress since we adopted him in October 2020. When we first got Noyzi, he was afraid of most people, especially men. Now, he’s still a little nervous and skittish, but he clearly loves people and wants to interact. And he’s very gentle– not a single aggressive bone lies in his massive doggie body.
We probably would have gone to the wine stand last night, no matter what, but we did have a good reason to celebrate last night. Bill got a very nice raise yesterday. He gets them yearly, but this year, it was double the size of last year’s raise. So we definitely raised a glass or two to that.
We got to tell Noyzi’s story to a German couple who were intrigued by him. They spoke a little English, we spoke even less German, but we still managed to bond over our street dogs. It turned out the couple has one, too. I think they said theirs was from Romania.
Noyzi was pretty fidgety at the wine stand last night, but a quick walk around the Dorfplatz helped him calm down a bit. I think by the end of the summer, the wine stand will be old hat to Noyzi and he will be much better in public places. After about an hour, he was settling down enough that I thought he might even lie down, but we never quite made it to that point.
We met another guy with his big brown dog, Sam. Noyzi and Sam hit it off famously. As we were leaving, Noyzi made a point of saying goodbye to his new canine village friend. One thing that makes Noyzi good at the wine stand is that he’s relatively quiet. We seldom brought Zane and Arran to these events because they were both pretty loud and obnoxious, and they had each other to hang out with. Noyzi is a totally different kind of dog, and I think he will eventually become really good at these gatherings.
Below are a few photos from our excursion to the Dorfplatz… I also included a couple I took yesterday morning on our walk.
And here are a couple of short videos… One is of Noyzi as we were about to go to the wine stand, and the other is of our very full village brook, which is really rushing right now. I suspect that pretty soon, the heavy rain will stop, and the creek will be much shallower and slower.
Noyzi used to be afraid of leashes and Bill. Now he loves both, and enjoys excursions. He likes people and other dogs, too, even if he is a bit nervous.
The creek is FULL. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it this high.
On Friday, March 24, Bill and I made our way down to a very familiar city. We were both relieved to be on our way. The lead up to this trip had been very stressful, as our dog, Arran, was suffering from lymphoma, and we were very worried about the prospect of boarding him. He’d been physically healthy enough until the evening of March 16, when he suddenly had what appeared to be a stroke.
On the morning of the 17th, it was pretty clear that Arran was fixing to make his way to the Rainbow Bridge. We helped him on his way. While it was very sad to say goodbye to Arran, the timing of his passing was kind of fortuitous. It meant we wouldn’t be worried about him all weekend, as we were in the fall, when we visited Hotel Bareiss just after he was diagnosed with cancer.
March 24th was a rainy and chilly day. Noyzi was delighted to get to go to the Tierpension Birkenhof, though. He hadn’t been there since the fall, when we last went to see Dr. Blair. In November, we had our 20th wedding anniversary holiday, in Ribeauville, France. We took the dogs with us for that trip. For this trip, we needed to board Noyzi. I booked the Wald Hotel’s suite, and though the hotel is very dog friendly, the specific room we were staying in wasn’t, as it is carpeted. Luckily, Noyzi LOVES the hundepension. Arran used to like going there, but as he got older, he made it clear that he’d rather be with us. It was good that he didn’t have to endure a last stay there.
I got a video of Noyzi on his way to the “dog hotel”. He absolutely loves going there– as you can see! I was surprised to see that they’d done some renovation since we were last there, too. But Noyzi also likes coming home. Bill is going to go get him in an hour.
Noyzi is joyfully reunited with his beloved human friend, Natasha, at the Birkenhof.
Once the dog was dropped off, we continued our journey south. I had suggested to Bill that we should stop for lunch in the town of Besigheim, a hamlet known for its wines. It’s just north of Ludwigsburg, a city in the Stuttgart area we used to visit all the time. We had never been to Besigheim before, but I decided it would make for a nice stop when I saw someone share photos of it in a local Facebook group. We didn’t have the best weather, but I did find the municipality to be very charming indeed. Better yet, it had plenty of cheap parking, and a garage that had a public restroom, which Bill really needed. 😉
Spotted at a rest stop… I should have bought the top sign.
I managed to get some photos, and then we had lunch at a historic restaurant on the main drag called Ratsstüble Besigheim. It appeared to be a local favorite, and we did have a nice lunch there. I think the waitress was kind of curious about us. Overall, we liked the lunch, although my fish was a little burnt on one side. Bill loved his salad, though.
I don’t think they get a lot of Americans in Besigheim, although I could be mistaken. My German friend says that one of Barack Obama’s forebears was born in that town in 1729. These days, it looks like it’s mostly known for being a place to buy lovely local wines. I’d like to go back, as I noticed a nice looking hotel, a wine bar, and some inviting looking shops. They also had several restaurants that were intriguing, and an Italian Feinkost (gourmet shop).
I would have liked to have stayed in Besigheim longer, but it was getting later in the afternoon and we were worried about traffic. It turns out we were right to be worried. Getting into Stuttgart via Heilbronn and state roads was a bit of a nutroll. There was tons of construction, as usual, as well as the annoying traffic patterns one often encounters in Stuttgart. But, after taking our usual route back today, we can say with all honesty, the Autobahn isn’t a whole lot better. 😉 There is a reason they call it “STAUgart.
I’ll be that stand has good food.The source of wine…Activities coming up for Easter.Arran is still with us… Time for lunch!I had the fried fish special, Schollen.It came with a salad.Bill had a big salad.Love these pretty beer taps.Quaint inside, with fake views in the windows.Stolperstein.On the way out of Besigheim.And into “STAUgart”…Where many people have Porsches, but can’t really race them…Because they’re always stuck in traffic…
We arrived at Wald Hotel in the late afternoon, and were welcomed by a young man who half-heartedly offered to help us with our bags. I was more impressed the last time we visited the Wald Hotel, and stayed in the Junior Suite (which is a better room, in my opinion). That was in May 2019. But anyway, I got photos of the Suite, too… and I don’t think I need to book it again. It was nice enough, but I liked the Junior Suite more, and it costs less. I actually like the rainfall showers better in the newer Superior Rooms. They’re awesome, and have mood lighting. The “suites” are lovely marble, but they don’t have rainfall capacity or mood lighting. I also think the beds in the Superior rooms are more comfortable.
I see in my review of the Junior Suite (502/500) in May 2019, I mentioned a “mysterious stairway”. I think I figured out that it leads to the Suite (501), as the two can be booked to accommodate a family of up to six people. There’s also a little bedroom in the Suite complex (500) that probably gets used for kids.
Sitting areaView…Complimentary wine and chocolates.BedBathtubShowerSquare toilet… kind of 90s.Nice “kitchenette”…Minibar.Another view.NIce local Riesling. It was complimentary in the Suite.Gummi sheep instead of chocolates on the pillow.
We also got a free round of drinks in the bar because I am an Expedia gold member and booked through them. Wald Hotel used to have a really cool bartender named Angelo who worked there, but he retired not so long ago. The current bartender was very good too, although Angelo was an old pro, and it really showed. I’m sure the current barkeep will eventually become legendary in her own right.
We decided to eat dinner at the hotel’s restaurant, Finch, so we had our free round at the bar and the bartender beamed when Bill tipped her on the “free drinks”.
“Free” cocktails…Warm bread with butter and a special spread.A gift from the kitchen… sesame covered tofu. That was more BIll’s speed.I had quail with lentils and carrots for a starter…Bill had the carrot ginger soup, which I had in the bar the following night. It was good.For dinner, I had a veal Schnitzel with potato salad and cranberry sauce. I usually try not to eat veal, but it was the most appealing option for me.Bill also had veal with pearl onions, celery cream, and hazelnut.We opted for digestives instead of dessert. Bill had German whiskey…I had a snifter of Armagnac.And herbal tea was waiting for us at bedtime.
It does appear that Wald Hotel is doing things a little differently now. It used to be they offered free drinks in the minibar. Now it looks like the minibar is no longer “free”. Still, we were glad to be back. We got to bed at a reasonable hour and slept mostly well. The mattress was very firm, which we’re not used to, but that could be because I just put a foam topper on our bed.
Saturday, we made new discoveries, which I will write about in part three tomorrow.
We had good weather yesterday, so Bill and I decided to go to Wiesbaden for lunch. I had a few places in mind where I’d like to go, but they were all pretty crowded. We ended up at Scotch N’ Soda, which is an Irish pub that is popular with the American community in Wiesbaden. In retrospect, I realize there’s another Irish pub near there that we have never visited. Maybe we should have gone there… but we were destined to go to the place we knew from prior visits.
One reason we like Scotch N’ Soda, besides the fact that they have a lot of scotches, is that they don’t take a midday pause. We have a tendency to get started late on the weekends, especially on Saturdays. But as it turned out, we were well within the bounds of the lunch hours when we arrived. A lot of people were sitting outside, because it was relatively warm and sunny. We went inside, where there were several tables available.
Bill ordered us a round of beers, and I looked up and noticed a reminder of Arran… We have twice been to the distillery that makes Arran Malt whisky, and it’s a good product. We didn’t have any yesterday, but it was a reminder that our dog, Arran, will always be popping up in unexpected places.
Arran’s memory lingers.
Lots of people were watching rugby on the televisions while Bill and I enjoyed comfort food. He had cottage pie, and I had fish ‘n chips with mushy peas. I actually got the small portion (one piece of fish)– they also offer medium and large. I couldn’t finish it. In fact, we didn’t even eat dinner last night. Say what you want about British and Irish food, it does stick to the ribs!
Kilkenny and Guiness on draft…Dollars and euros on the ceiling….Impressive scotch whisky collection.Excellent fish n’ chips. This was a SMALL!Cottage pie… I didn’t try it, but Bill ate the whole thing.They have lots of bottled beer, too.I told him a dirty joke to get this smile.
Before we got to Scotch N’ Soda, we walked around Wiesbaden a bit. I noticed something I’d never seen before. There’s a really cool city model near the main drag. Four years, we’ve been living here, and we never saw it before yesterday.
This was constructed in 2010 and even has Braille translation. I’m always struck by how pretty the city of Wiesbaden is. It’s so graceful and genteel, compared to Stuttgart.
And no visit to Wiesbaden would be complete without a photo of the Evangelical Market Church in downtown Wiesbaden. It is such an imposing and beautiful structure. Every time I see it, it takes my breath away.
To see this huge, majestic church in person is an experience. It always makes me feel small and insignificant. Maybe that’s the point… to remind Christians of the vastness of God. I’m not particularly religious, but I can appreciate that sentiment.
Well, it’s our first weekend without Arran… and we do miss him. This is the first time since 2002 that we haven’t had a beagle in the family. Noyzi is a wonderful dog and we love him very much, but he’s definitely different on many levels. It’s hard to get used to not having a warm doggy body on the bed with us. Noyzi probably would oblige, but he’s really too big to share the bed, even though it’s a king.
On the other hand, there are some things about Arran I won’t miss… like the fact that he was never 100 percent housetrained. He was good about 90 percent of the time, but we had to watch him, especially at night or in the early morning. Sometimes he had a habit of relieving himself on my rugs, rather than telling us he needed to go outside.
On Friday morning, Arran actually DID alert me, even though he could barely walk, and he did his business outside. But as recently as a couple of weeks ago, I found a big wet spot in his favorite place. Noyzi, on the other hand, almost never goes potty in the house. He’s always been like that, even when we first got him. It’s a definite plus!
I don’t know if or when we’ll get another beagle. We do love them… but they can be rascals, and they require a lot of diligence to make sure they don’t get into trouble. On the other hand, they’re cute, snuggly, friendly, and hilarious. And they’re also not quite as common in Germany as they are in the southern United States. I have noticed they’re much more popular here now than they used to be, though.
I suspect our next dog could be another Eastern European or Balkan immigrant… and smaller than Noyzi is. We shall see. For now, I think we’re going to enjoy having a little more freedom. It’s time to start planning a vacation. I definitely need one, and this blog needs some fresh material. So stay tuned for that.
Breckenheim had a wine stand last night. We decided to attend, so we could salute Arran in style. Noyzi came with us, because we’re hoping to get him more used to people. We’d like to be able to take him more places. Besides, he genuinely loves people, but he’s scared of those he doesn’t know. Taking him out in the village is a good way to help him get more socialized.
We enjoyed a few glasses of local wine and talked to some of our neighbors. We told them about Arran, and how we lost him yesterday morning. I wondered if they thought we were weird for going out… We ran into our landlady– or, the wife of our landlord. I think she’s the one who legally owns our house, since her brother built it. She asked where Arran was, and we told her what happened.
It struck me as kind of strange. When we lost Zane, our landlords didn’t know until over a year later. That’s how much privacy they give us, even though we’re next door neighbors. Our former landlady probably would have known within days, even though she didn’t live next door.
Anyway, we said we’d seen her artwork at the neighborhood art show in the fall. She laughed, and said that wasn’t her artwork. It seems there’s another woman in our village with the same name. She’s much older. The landlady said she’s always having to tell people she isn’t the same person! Either way, the artwork was beautiful. Our landlady has a nice sense of style, too. She was wearing a pretty scarf. Maybe that reveals a certain artistic bent.
We also met an English speaking guy who hailed from the Nagold area and moved to Breckenheim. He said he used to work as a waiter at a nightclub in Stuttgart. One night, the deejay was very late coming in, and he was flanked by two police officers when he finally did show up. I guess the show didn’t go on that night.
It was a pretty average wine stand, but I did get a nice video of the neighborhood horses passing, as well as a few photos…
I love this about our village… horses, wine, and dogs. Who could ask for more?
It was nice to get our and enjoy the onset of spring… and now we can make some travel plans. We’re long overdue for a trip. After three years of road trips, I might even be convinced to fly on a plane and go somewhere further afield.
Before business picked up.I’m so lucky to share life with Bill.And Noyzi, our Kosovar rescue dog.But we’re still missing our sweet Arran.Noyzi was very good. He settled down a lot as the time passed.
Cheers to Arran, who is no longer suffering, and no longer has cancer or needs chemo… and doesn’t have to worry about trying to jump up on our too tall bed. I like to think of his soul finally free of his sick, but very strong body. The featured photo is the second to the last one we have of Arran. I took the last one in the vet’s office, just before we said goodbye. I don’t normally do that… but for some reason, I just felt like doing it. I’ll keep it private, because I don’t want people to remember him in that way. He was a majestic dog with a larger than life presence. We were blessed to know him.
About twenty-four hours ago, I sent Bill an email letting him know that Arran managed to jump up on our new “tall” mattress. I had just put a new mattress topper on the bed, making it taller than usual. Realizing that Arran, our sweet rescue beagle who had been battling lymphoma for the past six months, would have trouble navigating the new height, I ordered him some steps from Amazon. They haven’t arrived yet, but Arran won’t be able to use them. We lost him this morning.
Taken yesterday, as I was trying out the new lighting on our higher mattress… It hurts to lose Arran, but he had the longest life and best death of any of our dogs yet…
Last night, after I showed Bill the new lighting I got for our bedroom and my office, we had a very ordinary dinner. Arran begged for some of our burgers and fries. Then he crawled under the table and fell asleep. When he got up awhile later, he was very dazed and moved slowly, as if he’d had some kind of stroke. Arran had some “seizure like” spells in the past, that he got over quickly. We took him upstairs to bed, and he slept mostly peacefully, with a few panting episodes. Bill spent most of the night being nudged to the edge of the mattress.
This morning, Arran didn’t wake up super early, like he’s been doing since he started his chemo. When I went in to see if he was okay, he gave me a weary look. I immediately realized that the downward spiral I had been anticipating was well in progress. I told Bill I thought Arran might need his help getting off the bed. Bill coaxed him, not wanting to pick him up, because he had a large tumor on his side that was hurting him. He finally jumped off the bed and slowly went downstairs and outside, where he took a long whiz and had some diarrhea. Then he moved very slowly back into the house and turned circles for about forty-five minutes, before he finally relaxed and laid down on his dog bed.
Bill and I had the talk we’ve been dreading… First there was the pragmatic. We have to go out of town next week, and the hotel where we’re going couldn’t accommodate Arran. As of today, the reservation is non-refundable. I didn’t like the idea of boarding Arran, since he had come to hate being boarded.
Then there was the obvious. He was at least 14 years old, and he’d been enduring chemo treatments since October. You can see from my posts that he did extremely well and fought very hard. And up until the bitter end of his life, he was very much enjoying being with us. He’d even started being nicer to Noyzi. But death is part of life… and I did not want Arran to suffer any more than he had to. He had developed another tumor on his belly, and the lymph node under his jaw had gotten bigger.
And finally, we just realized that he was very, very tired… and there was nothing we could do to make him better. Anything the vet might do today would only prolong what we all knew was coming. So we called her and brought Arran in… I had to carry him into the office, although he managed to walk out of the house on his own. He didn’t protest when I put him in or took him out of the car, and he was very patient as the vet took a look at him and agreed that it was time to let him go to the Rainbow Bridge.
Still, even up to the very end, he was fighting. The vet gave him anesthetic and remarked that he was a very strong dog. It took a long time for him to get sleepy, and like his fierce predecessor Flea (RIP 2009), he took some time leaving us. He did NOT want to die. Or maybe, he just didn’t want to leave Bill, who was his very favorite person. We stayed with him until he was on his way to see Zane… Zane died in the very same room on August 31, 2019.
We thanked our wonderful vet, who really did her very best for Arran. And then I gave him a teary kiss on the top of his head and said, “Goodbye…” Somehow it seems especially fitting that our wonderful dog, Arran, named after a gorgeous island in Scotland after we lost his predecessor, MacGregor, should die on St. Patrick’s Day…
Below are some photos from our ten fantastic years together… This dog, born of humble origins, and meant to be a hunting dog in North Carolina, got to move to Germany and visited France, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Belgium. He loved every minute of being Bill’s very best friend… besides me, of course.
An amazing, wonderful, special dog... Special thanks to Beth Nielsen Chapman and Annie Roboff for writing “Godspeed”. Those are my vocals, which I recorded last fall, when we first found out about Arran’s cancer.
I think Arran has already given us a sign that he’s okay. As we were driving down the road to our house, R.E.M.’s song, “Shiny, Happy People” came on the radio. Yes, it’s kind of a sarcastic take on Utopia, but somehow, it kind of fits. If you knew Arran, you could easily understand why.
We’re going to miss him so much. There’s already a massive hole in our hearts… and our home.
Bill got home from his latest TDY at about 7:00pm on Friday night. Unfortunately, he has to leave again this afternoon for another three nights in Bayern/Bavaria. At least it’s just part of the week. I hate it when he travels without me. 😉 March seems to be the worst month for business trips.
I was kind of hoping we could go out for lunch yesterday, but Bill had some errands to run, and the weather was kind of crappy. We had sun, but it was cold and windy. Today, we have a wintry mix. March in Germany is typically like this, with totally random weather. One day, it’ll be sunny and kind of warm. Another day, it’ll rain or snow, or there will be terrible wind. Friday we had wind so scary that Noyzi didn’t want to go outside. Then there are the days when we get sun, rain, snow, wind, and hail in the same few hours.
Anyway, the upshot is, as usual, my travel blog isn’t very interesting. I promise more engaging posts are coming soon. We have to go to Stuttgart at the end of the month, and that means if Arran is still with us, he will probably be boarded. Or maybe we’ll take him and board Noyzi. I hate to put Arran in boarding now, even though I know he’ll be well taken care of. He much prefers to be with us.
Speaking of Arran, he just had another chemo treatment the other day. He’s still pretty sparky and vibrant, although the tumor on his side is about the size of a large plum or a small peach. It doesn’t seem to hinder him much, although I have caught his scratching it a few times. He still eats, sleeps, wants to take walks, and even runs around sometimes. Again… he’s done amazingly well on the chemo, and totally surpassed all of our expectations. And the chemo has been affordable, and not that difficult for him to endure.
Of course, not all dogs react the way Arran has. We never had the chance to try chemo with our late dog, Zane, but I don’t think he would have done as well. The lymphoma he had appeared to be much more aggressive, and he wasn’t as strong as Arran is. Throughout his life, he had more health problems. Arran has always been very healthy and strong, having no problems with allergies or sensitive stomach issues.
In any case, you can see by the below video that Arran is still quite full of beans…
The boys were so happy to see Bill! So was I!
Meanwhile, Bill and I have been talking about places we might visit at some point soon. Most of the places we’re thinking about would probably require a plane ride. I haven’t flown since November 2019. I discovered some interesting places in the Baltics, for instance. Yes, we could drive, but it would take a long time. On the other hand, we drove to Germany from Sweden in the summer of 2019, so it’s doable. Just got to use a ferry for some places…
Sweet Noyzi from Kosovo… he’s come such a long way, and he’s absolutely adorable…
Noyzi just came in here and put his head on my thigh, asking for a pat on the head. He just had a much needed bath, and it wasn’t easy to get him in the tub. But once I got him in, he stood there and let me wash the stink off of him. He sure has become an adorable, lovable family member. Arran is being nicer to him, too. I think it’s because he knows that pretty soon, it’ll just be him here with us until another dog comes our way.
I don’t look forward to saying goodbye to Arran, but I am ready to travel again. This week, the most interesting things that happened were that I drove to the store and bought more beer… and they had a noticeable shortage of Hefeweizen. And then, I went to the vet with Arran for his chemo, and didn’t have to wear a face mask. That was notable. In fact, I wondered if I’d ever see the day.
Arran has another treatment on Wednesday… When I brought him home the other day, he actually ran around the house like a nut after I took him off the leash. Don’t ever let people tell you that chemo for dogs is like it is for humans. It’s definitely not.
The only other notable things that happened involve the sound system in our house. I finally managed to tame the four Echo Dots I bought, so they are programmed to play in groups. And I got a new HomePod, which I put behind the TV in our bedroom. The sound is a hell of a lot better on the TV now. It will make watching movies better. I might buy another one for the other TV. It’s that much improved.
Well, that about does it for today. Hopefully next weekend, I’ll have something more interesting to write about in my travel blog. Cheerio.
Lately, I’ve been following some local Facebook wine groups, besides the one I run. Thanks to events like the Wiesbaden Wine Festival, I’ve found a few local wines that I really enjoy. When I noticed that the Barth Winery was going to be attending this weekend’s JustWine wine tasting event at the StadtHalle in Hofheim, I told Bill we should pay a visit. I enjoy tasting wines, and I already knew I liked the products by at least one of the attendees.
The JustWine event is continuing today, starting at 1:00pm, and running until 6:00pm. Yesterday, it started at 2:00pm, and ran until 9. I had wanted to go early and maybe have lunch or dinner in Hofheim. Unfortunately, we got held up waiting for an Amazon delivery. I bought Bill an Alexa Echo for his side of the bedroom. I was hoping to pair it with the one on my side, and create stereo sound. I’m still working on making that happen. 🙁 It’s not as easy as it should be.
Because we were waiting for the delivery, we didn’t leave for the wine event until it had been going on for a couple of hours. One nice thing about this event is that it was at the Chinon Center, which has a huge parking garage. That made it much easier to get the wine to the car. We bought fourteen bottles, six of which will be shipped to us. Last May, we went to an event at the Kurhaus in Wiesbaden, and Bill almost killed himself getting the wine to the car, which was parked in a distant garage. Yes… the parking was the best part of the JustWine event. The rest of it impressed me somewhat less.
The entry fee for the JustWine tasting is 8 euros. For that, you get unlimited entry until the event ends for the day. You can taste wines by vendors from France, Italy, and Germany, as well as purchase gourmet food items from the SudTyrol and Hofheim. There was also a D.J. That was a first. I’ve never seen a D.J. at a wine tasting. The music was okay– sort of techno trance instrumentals– but it was turned up kind of loud, which made it hard to hear and be heard. There were also a LOT of people there, so it was hard to actually access the booths. We ended up only going to three before we finally decided to give up and see if we could find dinner in town.
Before we ventured into Hofheim searching for food, we stopped at the Edeka in the mall so I could get some hair conditioner. The guy running the register, Herr Rocky, looked pretty much over it as he asked Bill to put his “Geschlossen” sign on his conveyor belt. It must have been break time… or maybe it was time for him to go home.
Then, after we bought my hair product, we stopped at a couple of restaurants, both of which were totally full. We didn’t make any reservations, because we weren’t expecting to go to the event as late as we did. It looked like everybody was out in Hofheim last night, which is understandable. Less than year ago, things were still pretty locked down in Germany. Since I already had indigestion, I told Bill that we should just go home.
So that’s what we did… and I was soon confronted again with Alexa, and her reluctance to pair properly in our bedroom. Bill has to go away this week, so hopefully I’ll figure out how to get the speakers doing my bidding before he comes back Friday– temporarily– until he has to go away again for another three days. On the plus side, Arran and Noyzi were overjoyed to see us. Arran, in particular, was running around with unbridled joy. He has that big tumor on his side, and it seems to hurt when we touch it. Yet he still has the ability and the will to greet us with so much enthusiasm. He amazes me every day.
I might have enjoyed the JustWine event more if we had gotten there sooner, when it was probably much less crowded. We probably would have found food, too. There was food at the event, but nowhere to really sit, or even stand, because there were so many people there. Personally, I think they should have scrapped the disc jockey and put in a few more tables.
I did at least get to buy some sparkling Rieslings from the Barth Winery and introduced myself to Axel, the guy who represented the Barth Winery and alerted me to the event in the first place. He’s very active on Facebook and speaks perfect English.
I got a kick out of Axel, because as we approached his table, he was dealing with a very petite young Asian lady who seemed to be putting him through his paces. She also seemed to be a little bit “lit”. She ended up buying a bottle of sparkling rose before she stumbled off, looking a little bit cross. Maybe it’s because she understands Armenian or Spanish, as I used words from both languages to describe her rather familiar demeanor to Bill. I know… shame on me. But she was kind of hogging Axel’s attention, and it looked like maybe he could use an assist.
Anyway, I’m not sorry we got out of the house and went to the JustWine event. It was a little too loud and crowded for my tastes, but it was definitely a unique affair. And we did pick up some wines, which I will be avoiding during Bill’s TDY. I like to temporarily get off the sauce when he’s not home.
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