Ten Things of Thankful

Hello everyone! Hope you’re all fine. Lots of things to be thankful this week.

Him Indoors and I are doing well, sort of healthyish, well, aside from his bad knee and my diabetes, life seems to be back to our normal routine.

met friends N and R for our lunch – snitzel and rice! then we walked to the city centre. We haven’t seen each other for quite some time, so we tried to catch up with our latest news. It was fun.

we did some shopping and people watching. The flowers were really nice and there were sits/benches when we wanted to sit down and rest.

yesterday, I met my friend C for our Japanese soup (udon and miso). We also haven’t seen each other for quite some time, so it was really nice to see her again. Then we went for our manicure/pedicure and carried on talking while being pampered. It was a lovely day, indeed!

this month we are celebrating the birthdays of my brother, niece and nephew, as well as my friend N’s daughter – Many happy returns to all of them! Cheers!

So, what made you smile this week?

For: TTOT – 9/08/17 , Weekly Smile 88 #weeklysmile, #ThreeThingsThursday – What made me smile this week…, ALL SEASONS – SEPTEMBER IS FOR COMING TOGETHER, Tell Me Something Good #74

#Bathwater

Holiday in Hamburg, part 2

Hello everyone! Part two of our holiday in Hamburg. Him Indoors is a big fan of model railways. We bought the tickets online so we didn’t have to queue for hours to see them. Miniatur Wunderland is a model railway attraction and the largest of its kind in the world. The railway is located in the historic Speicherstadt district of the city.

St. Peter’s Cathedral stands on the site of many former cathedrals. Built by order of Pope Leo X, it has been a Protestant cathedral since the Reformation and its congregation forms part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany. The best known artworks in St Peter’s are the lion-head door handles, located in the left wing of the west portal. However, the cathedral contains many additional works of art.

The Elbphilharmonie is a concert hall in the HafenCity quarter of Hamburg, Germany, on the Grasbrook peninsula of the Elbe River. It is one of the largest and most acoustically advanced concert halls in the world. It is popularly nicknamed Elphi.

We walked along the harbour.

We had lunch at the Portuguese quarter.

So, what made you smile this week?

For: The Weekly Smile 86 #weeklysmile, #ThreeThingsThursday – What made me smile this week…, Skywatch Friay – 24 August 2017 Edition – The Eclipse Edition , TToT – 8/25/17 , ALL SEASONS – WILD LANDSCAPES AT END OF AUGUST, Jo’s Monday walk : Carding Mill Valley, Tell Me Something Good #72

#Bathwater

Holiday in Hamburg, part 1

Hello everyone! Hope you’re all fine. We’ve just got back from our five-day trip in Hamburg. Hamburg, a major port city in northern Germany, is connected to the North Sea by the Elbe River. It’s crossed by hundreds of canals, and also contains large areas of parkland. Near its core, Inner Alster lake is dotted with boats and surrounded by cafes.

Here’s the view from our room.

We walked along the Alster lake.

Here are the main train station and the theatre.

Here’s me in front of the town hall. The city’s central Jungfernstieg boulevard connects the Neustadt (new town) with the Altstadt (old town), home to landmarks like 18th-century St. Michael’s Church.

We went to see the International Maritime Museum. There’s a huge collection of model ships, art, uniforms & photographs in Hamburg’s oldest preserved warehouse.

Sunset from our room.

Last but not the least, our hamburger in Hamburg.

So, what made you smile this week?

For: TToT – 8/18/17 , Weekly Smile 85 #weeklysmile, #ThreeThingsThursday – What made me smile this week…, Nurt Thurs – Lessons from Cameras, Skywatch Friday – 17 August 2017 Edition , ALL SEASONS – GOING SOUTH (Aug 20), End of Summer Pie (Sundays In My City), Jo’s Monday walk : Simply Church Stretton, Tell Me Something Good #71

#Bathwater

Weekly Smile 84 #weeklysmile

On this day and age, I’d say thanks
To big and small things I received
Giving me light when it is dark

Being able to climb the mountain
See what’s wise and what isn’t wise
On this day and age, I’d say thanks

To have my family and health
To be able to travel, too
To big and small things I received

The sun shines, birds sing, flowers bloom
Thanking God for all His blessing
Giving me light when it is dark*

(c) ladyleemanila 2017

* Cascade, a form created by Udit Bhatia, is all about receptiveness, but in a smooth cascading way like a waterfall. The poem does not have any rhyme scheme; therefore, the layout is simple. Say the first verse has three lines. Line one of verse one becomes the last line of verse two. To follow in suit, the second line of verse one becomes the last line of verse three. The third line of verse one now becomes the last line of verse four, the last stanza of the poem. See the structure example below:

a/b/c, d/e/A, f/g/B, h/i/C

(5) Words: | AGE | SEE | DARK | WISE | CLIMB |

So, what made you smile this week?

For: Weekly Smile 84 #weeklysmile, Weekly Writing Prompt #101

Also for: Nurt Thurs – Return to Childhood, #ThreeThingsThursday – What made me smile this week…, TToT – 8/11/17

Our Austrian Trip

Hello everyone! Just got back from our Austrian holiday and we had a smashing time. We drove to Mittersill, which is around 3 hours away from Munich, passing by St. Johann, Kitzbuhel and other lovely towns and villages.

We reached the castle where we stayed for 4 nights. Here’s the view from our balcony.

Here’s my back while I enjoyed the view. What a life!

Some of the food we’ve had. Delicious!

We walked during the day. On the first day we walked to Mittersill town.

“These boots were made for walking.”

On the second day, we drove to Salzburger Land and walked up the mountains. That was hard work! But worth it!

The horses were so cute!

We reached Hinter See and stayed there to have our picnic.

“The hills are alive with the sound of music!”

So, what made you smile this week?

For: TToT – 8/04/17 , Weekly Smile 83 #weeklysmile, #ThreeThingsThursday – What made me smile this week…, Nurt Thurs – Oh the Lessons!, Skywatch Friday – 3 August 2017 Edition , ALL SEASONS – AUGUST (6) FUN, Faux Summer of Love Street Signs at de Young Museum (Sundays In My City), Jo’s Monday walk : Hovingham

#Bathwater

#ThreeThingsThursday – What made me smile this week

Hello everyone!I met my friend C in town last week. We haven’t seen each other for quite some time so it was nice to meet again. We went to our favourite Japanese restaurant and had sashimi and yakisoba plus tea. Then we went shopping and had some ice-cream. It was a good thing we were in the tea shop when the rain poured hard. We just stayed a little longer there catching up with our news.

Yesterday I went to see my friend N for lunch and she cooked chicken curry, fish with black bean sauce and rice. They were delicious! I made leche flan for our dessert. R came, too. We spent the afternoon just talking and laughing and having tea.

This morning, Him Indoors and I went swimming before we went to work. Such a good way to start the day.

It has been raining for a couple of days but today is a bit sunny. That made me smile, too.

What made you smile this week?

For: #ThreeThingsThursday – What made me smile this week…, Weekly Smile 82 #weeklysmile, TToT – 7/28/17

#Bathwater

Weekly Smile 81 #weeklysmile

Hello everyone! Hope you’re all fine. I have been busy this week, work, meeting fiends, eating out, cycling everywhere, ringing up my mother and so on. That’s my first smile – being busy! Positive stress I call it. It’s better like that than being bored. Sharing with you some of the food we’ve had.

My brother has been operated this morning on his right shoulder. My mother and his family were with him at the hospital. I hope for his full recovery soon.

I have just finished filling a big “balikbayan box” for my mother and other relatives in the Philippines. They will get it here by Friday and will be shipped to the Philippines. My mother will receive it in two months. It’s full of “goodies” – 2 and 3 liters of red and white wine, coffee, tea, oatmeal, chocolates, sweets, cans of sausages, corned beef, old clothes, etc.

On Saturday, I’m going to a “wellness” holiday with my friend in Bad Füssing thermal baths. We’ll stay the night and be back on Sunday afternoon. It’s my birthday present to my friend and I’m sure we’ll have a great time swimming, talking, being pampered, etc.

So, what made you smile this week?

For: Weekly Smile 81 #weeklysmile, #ThreeThingsThursday – What made me smile this week…, TToT – 7/21/17

#Bathwater