Monday 9 December 2019

T sTands for This and That

Hi Everybody!
It's still pitch dark outside as I write this, and I can hear the wind rattling in the trees. After a couple of dry and crisp winter days last week we had some days of incessant rain, so wasn't able to walk quite as much as on the dry ones. I did manage good 15000 steps on the wet days, and I think under those wet and miserable conditions it should count double, but my step counter doesn't agree. So all in all I had just 99 kilometers last week, that's 11 less than the week before. We've been promised lots of wind, cold, and rain this week, too. Anyway, we have to take the weather as it comes and make the best of it!

There is still a week to go at Tag Tuesday with Joan's theme of White Christmas, and I have a digital tag using elements from Serif and me. Hope to see YOU joining in, too:



This rather messy  A3 journal page was one started almost a year back using left over paint. The words were stenciled and the numbers added with a black Edding. I am linking to Art Journal Journey, words and numbers:




This evening we also begin our T Stands for Tuesday party hosted by Elizabeth, so here a warm welcome to the lovely  ladies of the T Gang who stop by. This photo was taken at a cafe / bakery here in our little town. They do a buffet breakfast every day, but if I go there I just drink a coffee:


My coffee is almost gone here, just the milk foam still in the cup:


And this was at a bakery in town:


I am sharing the rest of the photos taken last week when I walked through Königs Allee and Hofgarten.

The Lion of Düsseldorf is very present in this huge bronze statue on the bridge over the canal:




I love the Henry Moor sculpture in Hofgarten:



There was also a Christmas market between the Kö and the park. This huge Tomte gnome wanted to be touched, and reacted with bobbing around:


Lots of trees:


The old carousels are beautiful:


The ice-skating rink:



The last of the beautifully decorated shops:




And a huge dog keeping watch:


On Friday in our little town the brass band played Christmas carols during market time. I think they were very brave to play in the heavy rain:


And somebody has wrapped a blanket round the naked child statue:


That's all for today.

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

51 comments:

  1. Brilliant post and love all the beautiful photos...my journey for the day...xx

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  2. Oh, ich sollte mich auch wieder aufraffen, aber ich huste mich dumm und dämlich...
    Mein Tracker meckert jetzt dauernd, dass ich aufstehen soll....

    Weisse Weihnachten.. sooo lange her. Das letzte Mal als meine Mutter starb. Vielleicht mag ich es deswegen nicht mehr.

    Hm. Ich kenne 666 nur als Teufel? Naja, der will ja auch mal feiern :-) Finde ich gut!

    Sieht sehr lecker aus. Aber leider muss ich mich immer fragen: Hat das jemand unter Kontrolle? Bei unserem REWE ist eine Salatbar ganz am Eingang. Guckt keiner hin. Da kann man doch mal was "dazugeben", KO-Tropfen, oder aus Spaß was wovon man Durchfall bekommt... Ich traue solchen Stationen nicht mehr... traurig, oder?

    Vor Jahren hat Ingo einem Betrunkenen aufgeholfen auf dem Weihnachtsmart. Ersthelfer kamen und riefen, er soll sich sehr, sehr gründlich SOFORT die Hände waschen, der Mann ist ansteckend krank. Seitdem habe ich immer Einweghandschuhe dabei.

    Ohhh, der Löwe, so schön! :-) Hallo, Henry!
    Und der Gnom! Toll!!
    Die Bäume sind schon geschmückt?! Ist ja ein Ding!
    Schönes Karrusell! Eisbahn haben wir hier auch, aber ich bin... zu alt ;-)
    Tolle Shops!
    Ohhh, hier bekommt der Ringer manchmal Socken im Winter.
    Einen schönen Tag dir, ist ja schon hell, wenn auch bewölkt... GlG, Iris

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    1. Vorsicht, gepaart mit Vernunft, ist sicherlich angebracht, aber ich will mein Spaß am Leben nicht durch Ängste verderben lassen. Und das Büffet im Restaurant ist immer überwacht....

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    2. Dann ist alles OK, bei unserem REWE hat da niemand ein Auge drauf und da laufen Leute rum... ist halt nur ein REWE.

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  3. Good morning Val! Time for a cuppa and a shufti at blogs, the kids have gone to school, the littl'un is in Kita and I have time for a little rest before I get on with the chores. Love the new tag, so pretty, and the journal page is fun, I recognise all of the dates you have hidden there, clever! Glad you enjoyed your trip to the Kö and Christmas Market, it looks like it's still early in the day. Good idea to go when not so many people are around, then you can see things! Have a lovely week, hope you are feeling better today. Hugs, Sarah

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  4. A beautiful walk around the city. I really like such photos. Have a nice day:)

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  5. Hi Valerie great post ,love your tag and journal page and the gnome is so cute,hole you have a lovely day my friend xx

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  6. I love the tag of the winter village and also the messy but not really messy number page. And it is nice to see photos with no snow. (smile). The holiday store windows are very cool and festive. And happy early T day. Hope you have a good start to the new week. Hugs-Erika

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  7. Your walking prowess is impressive, Valerie. Maybe we all need to drink more coffee! (Actually I probably drink too much of it now).

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  8. Walking in the rain should count triple! The tag is adorable and looks like it belongs on a gift. I like the 666 on the numbers page. How can you go into a bakery and not have a pastry? You have stronger willpower than I do. 😺 I enjoyed browsing the store windows. As Erika said, nice to see pictures with no snow. The blanket wrapped around the statue made me laugh. Happy T Day!

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    1. Triple sounds good to me, it would be well deserved. You need to have willpower here, there are so many bakeries and they all sell such delicious things....sigh!

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  9. Great photos and art Valerie! I love the festive table decoration in the cafe.
    Happy new week,
    Alison xx

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  10. Another great visit to your blog Valerie! I love your gorgeous digital tag and your amazing journal page. You are very artistic and have a great eye for detail. Your photos are brilliant, I feel I am on that journey with you. Wow to that lion!! Enormous!! RE your comment on my blog YES PLEASE! But I hope my style will fit in ok with all that talent!!

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  11. Your words paint a picture for me of your weather :) We're also getting rain.

    I love all your public art, the statues and the interactive displays. And that merry-go-round! I'd have been delighted by the brass band :) The windows are gorgeous. It must be an inviting and interesting environment for walking.

    Happy T Day!

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  12. waue love this ;O) love you painted art - wonderful christmas in town also

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  13. Beautiful tag and page today. What a lovely walk through the town too. The coffee looks good, the baking goods would tempt me.

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  14. I love your tag, it's beautiful.

    I think you are so good with your walks, it's such a good thing to do...
    Wonderful photographs, and although I prefer a cup of tea … the coffee looks good:)

    Enjoy your week.

    All the best Jan

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  15. A super post Valerie, I think the snowy tag looks lovely, a magical winters scene.
    The background looks super on your Numbers page, you know I like messy. The black numbers really pop from the page, I am thrilled you are linking to AJJ its a super inspiration for the theme.
    All the photos from your walks , you must be happy with the number of steps you did this past week. I would join you in that bakery if I could, the counter looks full of delicious food.
    Happy T day wishes for tomorrow.
    Yvonne xx

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  16. Hi Valerie, I always enjoy your posts-awesome art, and love all the photos you share with us. you live in a very unique area with all the quaint shops and scenery
    Happy T hugs kathy

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  17. What a beautiful winter tag. Love the colors and style.

    I can't get over all your steps. Bravo! Not easy in the cold and rainy weather! Lovely pictures of the happenings around town. :)

    Have a fantastic day!
    ~Jess

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  18. You make your world seem so magical. Your art is magical too.

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  19. delightful holiday scene on your tag. Fantastic photos out and about town during the holidays. Love that gnome! Happy T day!

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  20. this dog monument looks so stunning:)

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  21. Love the Christmas tag and all the photos from around your area. I specially like the mannequins in the shop windows.

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  22. Great that you still did so many steps despite of the weather 😁. Your winter scene tag looks amazing and I love your words and numbers page too. So nice to see the markets being set up and the Christmas decorations on the cafe tables look so pretty too! Wishing you a very happy T Day! Hugs, Jo x

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  23. Lovely hybrid tag. The messy one is not quite my taste. People commented how much they liked the 666. I see that number as satanic, so I definitely do not like it.
    I am so impressed with your steps. Blimey! You must walk all day every day. And I agree, steps in the rain and wind count double if not triple!
    Your coffee shops and bakery are so nice. Your bakery compared with the one in my village.... Although I must say that the cakes and biscuits as well as the bread are yummy in our bakery even if the decor is a bit old fashioned.
    I love the festive shop windows. Thanks for taking me window shopping. I can afford to window shop at Dior!
    Have a lovely T-Day,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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    1. The numbers are all ones which are personal to me - the year of my birth, my age, this year and my weight - 66,6 kilos! I'm sorry if you connect things with the devil!

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  24. What a cute little gnome. I want to hug him! And after all those steps, you deserve that bakery. I am blown away by your walks!

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  25. This is so beautiful wintertag and such a great journal page!!!
    Hugs!

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  26. I like your artwork. I'm still hoping to make a white tag for the challenge. (I was inspired to make a few but they were mostly red.) Be thankful you're getting rain and not snow (unless you're a fan of the white stuff). Your weather always sounds similar to mine, even though we're nowhere near each other. Good for you to go walking despite the rain. (I wouldn't have gone out, although I don't really have rain gear to wear, either.) I always enjoy seeing your out and about photos. It is beautiful where you live. I love the lion statue. And that tree with the Fall leaves below it is gorgeous. I love carousels. It's nice seeing all of the Christmas decorations in the shop windows, and the trees themselves. (I'm assuming those get planted after being used as an indoor Christmas tree, which is a great idea.) Happy T-Day!

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    1. Thanks Anne. I am not a snow fan. Here we get lots of rain along the Rhine so everybody needs rain clothes and rubber boots!

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  27. Just stopping by to let you know I’m back online. Both my internet AND my phone were down. I walked to my foodie friend Sally’s to use her phone to call the phone company and Sharon who graciously left the message you saw at T time.

    I complained to the phone company that my internet often goes down on Mondays. I bet Sharon is getting tired of hearing from me on Monday afternoons. I asked the repair person what the problem was and he said “a line down the block had broken,” and after he repaired it, he came here and reset my phone AND internet lines. This was the greatest early Christmas gift I could have received. Yes, I’m doing a happy dance.

    I can’t possibly catch up with you at the moment, but I am simply grateful that you chose to visit and spend T time with me today. Thank you for that. And I'm also even MORE grateful to see your incredible journal entry at Art Journal Journey. I'll share coffee with you as you walk the town and visit the sculptures and beautiful city shops.

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    1. I never saw the message as Sharon posted after me, but I thought your internet was to blame again....

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  29. Me encanta pasear contigo Valerie!! Me gusta el nomo👏👏👏

    Gracias por el tag navideño muy bonito !!

    BESOS

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  30. Lovely artwork and photos.
    sorry, I am late, but I did get my laptop back! Happy Day.

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  31. Lovely artwork today Valerie, and I love your photographs - such an intereting place to live! Wet weather steps definitely count double, that's the law lol. I also did a lot of mine on the beach in wellies last week and they also count double! Take care, Sue xx

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    1. Oh yes, walking in wellies is a special art, and then on the beach it's even more difficult!

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  32. Lovely tag and journal page, and great photos.
    Hugs Wendy

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  33. Your tag has such a lovely winter scene!! Very nice!

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  34. A delightful Tag, so christmassy..love the christmassy photos too...x

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  35. another sweet christmas tag! loving your journal pages also. and how nice to hear a brass band. i am sure it was wonderful regardless of the weather. xo

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  36. I agree you should get extra credit for steps in the rain. Here's a tip for your step count on rainy days: I do a variation of the dead bug walking exercise every morning. Flat on my back on the floor, walking with alternate straight arms and legs. If I don't log my 30 to 40 minutes of calisthenics, Fitbit gives me credit for using an elliptical machine - lol.

    Charming tag for Tag Tuesday. I love the look of white Christmas, lighted windows in dark winter evenings and kids playing in the snow. I'm just glad I don't have to feel all that cold any more. It gets more difficult as one ages.

    Great page for Numbers and Letters. One of my 2020 resolutions is to create backgrounds willy-nilly and then fill or cover them when inspiration or a new challenge strikes!

    Love your photos as always. I giggled at the Tomte gnome's sign.

    Happy T-day! Eileen xx

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    1. I have a crosstrainer (Nordic walker) at home, which I do use sometimes, but I don't like staying home all day. I NEED to go out, staying home is punishment for me!

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