California - It´s The Little, Local People

Last week I read another sad news. A shop I never knew even existed (make some advertising?), the California in Braunschweig´s Quarter Magni, has to close. After 30 years.

Is it the same in your place? Local, small shops closing, one after the other and huge chains come instead, the locals, well, their bad luck.

Since years I was looking for good quality jeans and so I went.
I told the lady that my Brother suffers the same. People come into his shop, have their eyes mesured (amongst other he´s an Optometrist), march out and order online at a big chain.

She did a great job, I now have 4 quality jeans!

It was half price and I even got a pair of men´s jeans - for very small men, that is.
Mostly she only had "skinny jeans" left and who wants those?!

They will have to be shortened to my size, let´s see if Ingo gets out his sewing machine (he said so!) or if I have to go somewhere else.

And here´s another thing! She had offered the service for adjusting trousers: €6.
Chains (I had it done 2 years ago): €10. Crazy, no?

She advised me to wash the jeans before cutting/sewing and that, no!
These days people don´t go to job interviews with such stupid dress pants anymore, a good fitting jeans is OK!

When you feel stupid in your clothes, I think, you act a tad more stupid, too, right, me at least...

It´s a shame.
I have to get that old to learn there are jeans-shops where people actually really help you!
She brought me trousers, gave her opinion...

Meanwhile the people who take over for some other business were already making notes. So sad.
The lady had the business for 17 years (hmmm, magic number, huh, just like me!) and it takes her 1 hour one way to get there, so she said, "awww, well, it´s enough anyways".
At least no regrets too big.
Her friend is a goldsmith (like my Brother) and she told the same stories from her my Brother tells me, too.
A shame.

I always try to buy local.
(In case of my Brother, though, it would be lying. I never may pay, nor is Ingo allowed to. We get it all for free, "darn", proud little Brother! The only glasses I have that were paid for was screen-glasses my then-boss payed!).

Well, clothes sure is another thing. I hardly buy any.
I have heaps of Perth- and Braunschweig-stuff and that´s about it.

If money grew on the balcony I´d have more to share, but sadly it somehow does not happen....

Lion of the day (bought local):

Spekulatius, or, as you call it, Speculaas. In a neat tinned box, too.
OK, I wanted the box. But the cookies are yummy, not too sweet, I had one already!

To the locals!

What Do YOU Want?

Let´s visit Uncle Joe in King Street in beautiful Perth, shall we?
Well, his signs, at least!

What can Joe do for you today?

It´s your choice, really:

Your decision!
Or, is it?

I sadly didn´t take either, seems to be a great place...

Lion of the day even though this is not Braunschweig:

Taking part in Tom´s "Signs 2".

T Is For Tea :-)

For a change I used food that was not expired.
Just a bit Basmati-rice, cooked and then fried with canned mushrooms, an egg, Harrissa, fresh parsley and chive and another edible flower, all from the balcony.

I had some "not so nice news" for a lady and as she is really nice I added a little note (I sadly got an apartment inherited, I wish my Mum would still be here instead. After oh sooo many years I raised the rent a bit, as I lost work and as I have to pay more for the apartment, too):

Despite it wasn´t nice she even helped me in reminding me to sign the letter personally!

Here are two more 60-90-second sketches.

This highly pregnant woman was so fun and easy to capture, much easier than the skinny ones!
Can you explain?

You could see it was already exhausting for her after a while, but guess she was really proud of having a Baby soon :-)

As it´s really getting cold: Tea-time! Since flu is still around tumeric , curcuma, three roots is a good choice to prevent the next, don´t you think?

Yes, expensive and I didn´t buy that for every day use, but look:

It helps others, too:

And reckon this counts as a Lion of the day, too :-)

This is for Elizabeth and Bleubeard´s "T Stands For Tuesday".

Don´t Poop (Here)

Today I´d like to take you to the small town I grew up in, Seesen.
Just 8 km away Wilhelm Busch (you find some of his short stories translated to English here, too), a humorist, poet, illustrator, and painter lived there and wrote down the stories of Max and Moritz (amongst a lot of other works!).

Yep, me. In my old hometown (number plates have GS for Goslar there, as the town is too small to have it´s own) and me with BS for Braunschweig stops all the time to get out and take pics.
Oh, those darn people from "outside", huh?!
Sadly no one there I knew to meet (apart from family!) - I´m gone too long.

Well, but I stopped the car, right?!

As in Braunschweig it´s actually not allowed, so the artists don´t put their names on it...

Are you still living in the place you grew up in?
Do you still have friends from your childhood-days? If so, how is it like?

Taking part again in Sami´s COLOURFULWORLD Monday Murals.

Time Warp

Wow, we were both superfit!

Ages ago.

See the Mielebär was always with us (nearly, don´t tell him, we went out without him, too).

No idea if this is still around here - trust.
Pick some sunflowers and pay.
Do you have this?

I´m still not better :-(

No Lion of the day as this is Rhüden, where I visited Ingo every second weekend (and he me in Braunschweig the other).
How stupid we were, 13 years this weekend-relationship.

The pics... oh, we were so fit. I feel like a 90-year-old. We even didn´t make it to the city, to the market :-(
I do know, things could be worse.
But it´s always a back and forth, more back for me the last two years, it is frustrating.

Weather is shit#y, too.
Long weekend and being sick, hallelujah.

Yes, 4:03 am :-(

Enough of that, bet soon I´ll be up and running again, right!
Just like back then!

Oh, I Tried

I thought I´m fit again, but... nada.
Tried to do not too much, but every muscle hurts again and I´m TIRED.

Lion of the day:

I wanna do some sports again, go out, enjoy!
How come "we" (or I) never appreciate the good times unless the bad ones come...

Ingo thinks it wasn´t the flu, even some other virus, oh, yikes....

Let´s Reflect

I hope you didn´t expect some lecture due to the title.
Guess most still "recover" from Halloween-parties?

Here today it´s just about reflections :-)
This oldie is the building in question:

We have some creepy stuff here, too, though...

Brrr, waaay too early. When does Spring start again?

Or this one, uhh, what is that for??

Maybe art deco misplaced?

Hope you all had a funny-scary Halloween, we´re old people in a country - or part of - where it´s not a hit, so... a public holiday, no more, but Ingo has today off, too, so: Long weekend ;-)

Let´s end with another beauty, shall we?

Lion of the day also says:

Yes, from the good ole Braunschweig Lions American Football team again :-)

Men, yips, real men - we watched a docu and a squirrel was shown. Ingo (and I) went "awwww" :-)