Back to school again

Hi Everybody!

Hope your week is going well.

I have been busy bringing my chaotic flat into some semblance

of order before my guest arrives tomorrow. Well, it looks better than 

it did before, and I am looking forward to a fun week with Susi.

For Art Journal Journey, Elizabeth's lovely theme of back to school, I have another hybrid page, once again using a school photo of Erika. Many people wanted to know who she was and what happened to her. She was a distant relation, descended from the sister of my great grandfather. By a strange chance, I was asked to visit a lady living in our old people's home, who wanted to talk to someone in English and/or Spanish, and I went along to see her. We got along very well, and I was asked to become her official carer, and to look after her affairs if she would at sometime not be able to do it herself. After I had retired from school I worked at the home where she was living. One day, she asked me to get down her album of photos, and showed them to me, and her family tree - imagine my surprise when I discovered that we were related! She died at the age of 93, and I had the privilege of conducting her funeral and seeing her buried in her home town, from which the family had had to flee under the Nazis. Many of her former school friends and townsfolk were there, and it was good to see 

that the circle of her life was completed in this way.

For my journal page I have used another of her sport team photos; Erika is on the right:

These photos  were taken on her 90th birthday.

At the celebration with her younger brother:

We have had a week of good weather and I have enjoyed watching the sunrise day by day:

Have a great day you all, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

New challenge at Moo Mania and More

Hi Everybody!

Today we are starting a new challenge at 

Moo Mania and More -

Alphabet

As always, projects of all formats are allowed, and you have 2 weeks to

link your creations to us.

I made a piece meant for Art Journal Journey, Back to school, as well.

I made a hybrid page over a brightly coloured background painted very quickly with acrylics:

At the farm shop they had a wonderful display of pumpkins:

The bookshop is also advertising for back to school!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Tuesday is T Day

Hi Everybody!

Today is Tea Stands for Tuesday over at Elizabeth's blog, so I

will be sharing some of my food and drink adventures later in this post,  and I would like to welcome all of the T Gang.

For Art Journal Journey, Back to school, I have another hybrid piece. The background was painted and textured, the kiddies were taken from a 'back to school' prospect here:

And I would like to remind you that our 'children' challenge at TIOT is still running for another week, so hope to see YOU there!

A lot of people asked me about Erika, and how her life went on, and I have another journal page about her scheduled for Thursday, so will tell more then.

Here are the rest of the photos taken in Duisburg on Saturday. This is the Mercator Fountain, named after Gerhard Mercator, the cartographer, who died there in 1594. Here you can find out more about him:

This was taken on the Kuhstrasse - Cow street. After passing the fountain above, you go through Kuhtor - cow gate, where I suppose the animals were driven along back in the old days. Today it's a busy market, with lots of stalls, street artists, and of course, lots of people milling about. This man was playing wonderful music on his piano::

The lady in white:

A balance act, which was very fascinating. The one underneath was holding the other one just by his shoe. I watched for 5 minutes, and they never moved or wobbled - they must have iron muscles:

And Niki de Saint Phalle's wonderful 'Lifesaver' Fountain was the main reason

for going there. It is HUGE, look at the lady in the background:

Here I have been taking my usual walks, which often end up on the Market Place, even when it's raining:

But I like it better when it's sunny:

And need I say? My drink is always cappuccino. I don't even need to speak - when they see me, they bring me a cup!

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!

Memories of school and more

Hi Everybody!

Hope you have all enjoyed the weekend.

We had cool and rainy weather here today, which was great after all the heat, and I enjoyed walking under my umbrella by rain, thunder and lightning, and drank a coffee at the market place. I sat outside under an awning, so was sitting in the rain but didn't get wet, that was fun!

For Art Journal Journey, Elizabeth's theme of 'Back to school', I have a hybrid page made using a photo of Erika when she was at grammar school in the late 1920s. This was her sport class, the teacher is on the left, and she is second from the right. They all have long plaits except for Erika, who was evidently daring enough to have a fashionable, short bob. The school was modern, and the girls were dressed in their short sport dresses. She had to leave school in the 1930s

when the anti-Semitic laws did not allow Jewish students to be taught together

with 'Aryans'.

Yesterday  I went by tram to Duisburg, a neighbouring town further down the Rhine. It has the largest river port in Europe, and I hope to go back and do a boat tour of it sometime in the near future. The town is still very much influenced from its industrial past:

 I like this square in the old town, but some parts of the town looked rather dismal and depressing: 

Love the fountain:

Then I looked around for some of the older buildings:

This is a part of the old town walls from the middle ages,  

showing a Rhine tower:

It was directly by the harbour:

I loved the old town hall, which has lots of beautiful, Art Nouveau stone carvings:

Not the most comfortable way to sit:

I will show the rest in my next post, I took lots of photos on my way through the market, where there was a lot going on.

Have a great day, take care,

and thanks a lot for coming by!