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Monday, 23 December 2019

T sTands for This and That again

Hi Everybody!

Hope your weekend was good! First of all I would like to wish all friends celebrating Hanukkah  a happy and blessed week:


For Sandie's vintage/shabby chic theme at Tag Tuesday I  cobbled together 2 smallish tags. I found lots of pre-cut pieces in my Christmas box which was a great help in getting the tags and cards for friends and neighbours done on time, even though I only started at the last minute:



These are the cards I made. It's too late to send them anywhere but okay for those who live here where I can deliver by hand. My Christmas box is now empty:


On Saturday I went for my birthday breakfast with Nathalie and Nelya and we enjoyed the breakfast buffet at  Cafe Schuster here in Kaiserswerth. Lots of drinks - tea, coffee, juice - in the following pics, so they are suitable for Elizabeth's T sTands for Tuesday link party. We were able to help ourselves from a wide selection of cheeses, salads, sliced meats, salads, fruit salads, cereals, juices, bread and rolls etc:





I loved the crispy, crusty rolls, and we could fill our bread baskets as often as we wanted:


My fave was fruit salad with Quark (soft cream cheese) and Müsli, and I managed several bowls of it:


Egg dishes were served at the table, I chose scrambled eggs but forgot about taking a pic til it was almost gone:


Anyway, we sat and breakfasted for well over 2 hours, and left the cafe feeling happy and full up!

This is the birthday/Christmas cake I made, filled with lots of fruits - raisins, cranberries, candied peel, dried plums and apricots and almonds. The fruits get boiled in red wine before they go into the cake mixture:


And here with the marzipan topping:



I got these fun Spekulatius (Ginger spice) cookies from Nelya, they are huge - about 8 inches high:



The morning of my birthday started off with a beautiful sky, with the moon visible:






 In the afternoon and evening I walked through town and along the Rhine:




A cruise ship floating by on the Rhine:




All in all a beautiful day, for which I am thankful.

Have a great day, take care,
and thanks a lot for coming by!


38 comments:

  1. Hi Val, good morning! Glad you had such a good time on your birthday, and that even the weather was kind to you so you could do your walks. Love all the cards you made, you were busy. Even with a box of ready-cut bits I don't think I would have been able to make one card let alone such a collection. Need to get everything ready today, we're off to Mum's for a couple of days, she's not been very well lately. Have a lovely day! Hugs, Sarah

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  2. Liebe Valerie
    da hast du aber sehr gut gefrühstückt so lecker an deinen Geburtstag! Der Weihnchtskuchen ist ja grossartig und was für grosse Spekulatius, wie shcön sie aussehen.
    Deine Karten parade *wow* wieviel zu gebeastelt hast!!!
    Diese Arbeiten sind so wunderschön gestaltet!
    Dein Spaziergang habe ich genossen mit dem Rheinschiff!
    Ich wünsche dir ein fröhliches Weihnachtsfest
    Lieben Gruss Elke

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  3. Hi Valerie beautiful work my friend,also wishing you a Merry Xmas xx

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  4. Oh, der arme Santa! ;-) Bald muss er raus aus dem Käfig!
    Oh, irgendwie habe ich dieses Jahr gar keine Weihnachtskarte gemacht oder verschickt.
    Aber mein Bruder ist auch eher der Telefonmensch...
    So, jetzt bin ich aber wirklich hungrig! :-)
    Schön, wenn man sich so viel Zeit nehmen kann, das klingt toll.
    Und der Spaziergang macht das Essen dann auch wieder wett! Ein schöner Tag, toll, GlG, Iris

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    Replies
    1. Es war wirklich eine schöne Zeit, braucht man ab und zu!

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  5. A two hour breakfast - now that must be some kind of a record! I wonder how many cups of coffee you had during that time! I have to say it all looked very delicious.

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  6. Valerie,

    Happy Birthday from one December baby to another! ;) It sounds like you had a wonderful day celebrating. Your breakfast looked fabulous. Those gingerbread cookies look yummy! I made a batch of gingerbread cookies a few weeks ago. They turned out good. I cut mine in shapes - a woman, a man, and a house. :) Well, Christmas is practically upon us. It's going to be hard to say goodbye to all the beautiful decorations and music after December ends. Oh well, have a joyful blessed Christmas Day, my dear!

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  7. Happy holidays Valerie. I love all your cards. You created such a wonderful collection. I just finished mine yesterday also, and I turned them into New Years cards. Too late to mail is right. And it looks like you had a fantastic birthday breakfast. That is my kind of breakfast, with lots of good food and talk. And wonderful baking. Your gifted cookies are amazing. I am guess they must be made with a mold. Happy holidays to you and happy T day also. Hugs-Erika

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  8. Happy Birthday just a tad late and a Happy Hanukkah too.
    I do believe you must be the best cook -
    I know I would be perfectly contented living in your town - then I would be able to visit the Christmas Market without the rain!
    As always, wonderful pictures that I do enjoy.
    Sandy xx

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  9. Happy Birthday and yummy food! We used to go to a Sunday brunch with friends before we retired and lived in a different state-where the food choices were amazing-we ate for at least 2 hours as well.
    Love those ginger cookies, and really enjoyed all the photos too Happy T wishes and Happy Holidays-hugs Kathy

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  10. The food at the cafe looks delicious, and they've made it such a festive place to enjoy. Your cake is gorgeous! I've never seen anything like those huge cookies. Happy belated Birthday! I'm glad it was such a nice day :)

    Happy T day!

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  11. Happy Birthday again, dear. I looks like the absolute perfect day. Your cards are incredible. Mine would never have looked that good. And your tags are divine. Your Santa in a cage had me laughing. What a way to cancel Christmas. Put Santa in a cage (Ho! Ho! Ho!).

    I am in love with your breakfast buffet. On Friday, my foodie friend Sally and I went to a Chinese buffet and were there a little over two hours. I eat very slowly.

    You certainly had a lot of drink choices to choose from and I know the coffee must have flowed freely, too. So glad you enjoyed the food and drink. You are making me hungry. That bread is to die for, I'm sure.

    Lovely photos of your evening walk, too. No rain and a perfect night for walking. Looks like it was the absolute perfect birthday.

    Thanks for sharing your tags, your Christmas cards, your night photos, and your many drink choices with us for T this almost Tuesday. BTW, those ginger cookies you received are adorable and make a great blog banner, too.

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    Replies
    1. Santa only lives in his golden cage til it's time to come out for Christmas!

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  12. So pleased you enjoyed your birthday Valerie. Great photos and your Christmas cards and tags look beautiful.
    Alison xx

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  13. What a gorgeous selection of Christmas cards, Valerie! And how lovely your tag is! You are fantastic! Merry Christmas, my dear friend.

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  14. It looks like your Birthday Breakfast celebration was lovely. The food looked delicious, super photos of you all enjoying the meal, I am so pleased you had a Happy Day.
    Your cards and tag look fantastic, I a,m smiling after seeing Santa in a cage.
    Wonderful photo of your evening walk, you were lucky to have good weather.
    I really like your new banner and the ginger biscuits.
    Thank you for the beautiful animated card that popped into my email box today, It will be viewed many times in the coming days.
    Happy T day wishes Valerie and I hope you have a lovely Christmas.
    Yvonne xx

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  15. Beautiful cards and tags Valerie. Your birthday breakfast venue looks wonderful. The spice biscuits look amazing too. Lovely evening walk photos. Very merry Christmas to you Valerie.

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  16. Happy Hanukkah! Your cards and tags are just gorgeous. Your breakfast looks scrumptious and fun to share with friends without being rushed. Your birthday/fruitcake looks amazing! And I love your birthday morning photo of the sky and the moon. Alles zum Geburststag! And Happy T Day

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  17. Thanks Laurie, the cake was (is) indeed delicious!

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  18. Happy Birthday Valerie. Your Christmas tags and cards look beautiful. Your breakfast sounded delicious and a nice time with friends. That cake looks great. I love the details in those ginger bread cookies. Lovely photos of the area. I especially like the moon. Merry Christmas and Happy T-Day!

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  19. Happy Birthday wishes! Your cards look amazing and it looks like you had a wonderful time with your friends 😁. I'm loving your photos too! Wishing you a Happy Holidays and a very happy T Day too! Hugs, Jo x

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  20. A belated happy birthday to you. Your birthday breakfast buffet looks sooo very good. Lots of healthy choices and some yummy ones. I also lov crusty bread. And also quark and müsli.
    Your christmas cards are really lovely. As are your tags.
    Wishing you a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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  21. Love your cards and tags, Valerie.

    Happy birthday! It sounds and looks like you had a wonderful day. The photos are fabulous. Beautiful sunrise with moon and lovely shots of your walk through town. The ships colored lights reflected in the water are spectacular. I bet the captain planned that light show just for your birthday. ;-)

    You really know how to "stop and smell the roses."

    Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas and Happy T-day! Eileen xx

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  22. I forgot to mention those very special cookies. Awesome! I won't attempt to spell that word - lol. E

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  23. The pictures are just beautiful.
    And once again I'm wishing you, and have put your card on the blog, a Belated Happy Birthday. Hopefully, next year I'll be on time.
    Wishing you the happiest of holidays.
    Hugs

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  24. Merry Christmas to you, all your family and friends.
    Greetings from Salamanca.

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  25. Hi Valerie :) Oh your scrambled egg dish looks so amazing!!! And those cookies!!! I love the night sky photos, so beautiful! Merry Christmas!!!

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  26. It looks like you had a wonderful birthday, I did enjoy seeing all of your photographs.

    Happy Holidays.

    All the best Jan

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  27. Lovely tags..the food looks scrummy, making me feel hungry just looking at them,lol.
    Merry Christmas...x

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  28. Happy Birthday! What an amazing post! I love your Christmas cards! I love all the food! That bread! Your cake! The cream cheese fruit salad! All so good!!! I truly love all your photos! Breath taking!!! Big Hugs! Grateful for you!

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  29. OOhh Happy belated Birthday Valerie !! I´ve seen this so so yummy cake you make, it may have been delicious with all these fruits inside ! Great day of course!! Good food and good moments. It was a fabulous time. Your photographs are so beautiful, as always, thanks so much. And I wish you a very Happy New Year, enjoy !
    Big hugs, Caty

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  30. A very happy birthday! That breakfast looks wonderful and what is better than breakfast with friends. I looks terrific and I know it was happy. I love the tags and these photos, too!

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