Der Nebel steigt, es fällt das Laub - a German and Austrian autumn thread

[AntiqueMuppet]

A thread for anyone living in Germany or Austria, or anyone else who fancies a chat.

Previous thread here

antique I know too well how much stress a move can cause so I really feel for you. There's not alot you can do with such a small child to look after too. It's nice that you'll be able to move bits slowly though and not have to fit it all into one day.

Don't feel sorry for dh, he's just pushing the mid life crisis thing on and on as long as he possibly can! Now that a few grey hairs are starting to come he's going to have to get over it and grow old gracefully like the rest of us!

I was going to make vegetable pakora with red onion rings, aubergine slices and cauliflower as a starter but the shop didn't have the chickpea flour so he's now having vegetable biryani, potato and tomato curry and omlette with green chilli and garlic in. He's getting 2 bottles of wine from me and chocolates from the dc too so he won't have done too badly!

nutella hope your dp manages to get through your to do list!

Just had a little nap on the sofa in the sun, lovely! Both dc sitting studying in their rooms - what is going on there?! Well, better go and get my kitchen sorted as it looks like a bomb hit it, that's the next step - the dc study in their rooms quietly AFTER having tidied the kitchen for me! OK, dream over, back to work!

Hello everyone

That's stressful admylin about the car, glad you got it sorted. Happy birthday to your DH, even though it sounds as though he isn't very happy about it! Mine always takes consolation on his birthday from the fact that no matter how old he gets he's always younger than me . He always wants the same meal cooking every year too, a reproduction of his favourite meal from the Mexican restaurant local to us when we lived in the UK, with home made Banoffee Pie for desert :o

Good luck with the move Antique - packing with a toddler does sound incredibly stressful though.

We get Buß und Bett Tag too - I am thinking of implementing a deliberate mistranslation tradition and spending the day in bed (I wish) and then taking the bus somewhere :o Well not really but I always want to do that!

Ploom hope the doctor proscribed something that is helping?

DD is on the phone negotiating very grumpily with her friend about whose house they are going to play at - they both want to stay at home and have the other walk over - she's been on the phone about 20 minutes, if they don't decide soon they won't have any time before dinner! DS1 went over to his friend down the road to look at a blood stain! 5 year old boys are gory creatures! He told me his friend had invited him to see the blood stain left my a "Poor deer that ran into the fence and got dead" - not sure how that happened! Thought there are plenty of wild deer around here, they are quite a hazard on the road early in the morning and at twilight, so when they appear in the headlights or poised to run right by the road it is a mix of kind of magical and slightly alarming, as the car doesn't come off any better than the deer if you hit one apparently!

Oh meant to say hope the tortoise perks up Linzer (if a tortoise can perk?) I didn't know you could still get tortoises to keep as pets, are they hugely expensive? We have rabbits and fish - we did have guinepigs but had them before any of the kids were born, and they died off when the older 2 were toddlers. DD was 3 when the second one died and I kept it for her to see when she came home from Kindergarten, she was very solemn but quite pragmatic about it, and made it a nest of straw "to keep her warm" when we dug a little grave in the garden - she was totally OK with the idea the Guinea would turn back into soil and oddly both kids point out the "really good soil" (which is exactly the same as all the other soil) in the back garden where she is buried. Its a bit morbid but I actually think one function of pets is providing a good, gentle, introduction to the existence of death, which is after all part of life... I do keep worrying the rabbits are going to die though, they are really quite old and were both rescues which were adults when we got them- the older one came over from the UK with us, along with the longer lived of of the long deceased guinepigs...

English I didn't realise you were still allowed to keep tortoises as pets before we got ours, but apparently it's OK if they've been bred in Austria. They cost just under ?100 each (DH negotiated a discount on the three) but have since cost virtually nothing other than the ?35 vet's fee last week.

We (another Erasmus friend and I) also renamed Buß- und Bettag Bus- und Betttag when we were in Berlin. It was a little easier to manage pre-DC when you only had 1-2 days of lectures a week!

admylin Happy birthday to your DH, even if he doesn't feel much like celebrating! I'm still waiting for DH's mid-life crisis to start, but he's fully embraced the grey hairs now - didn't have much choice really. Whereas I'm starting to panic about the increasing number that are appearing.

The tortoise has gone back into hibernation mode, but it's really too early so I should probably wake it up and try to get it to eat again. DD1 doesn't actually seem overly concerned; it's lucky it's not DS's, as he's far more attached to his tortoise. Don't know about vitamins, Nutella; it was hard enough getting it to take its worming medicine! The vet suggested crushed up egg shells for protein plus one or two other things, which we'll have to try/are already trying.

The Bond film sounds great - I love seeing London in films/on TV too. I even get nostalgic watching the documentary about the tube that my brother recorded for me a while ago!

Antique Ah yes, I remember the stress of clearing out or even just attempting to tidy with a toddler around. It's not always easy even now! Sounds promising that you have two lots of prospective tenants wanting to move in, at any rate.

Had a bit of a stressful end to the morning when I was asked to take on a job I'd turned down yesterday as the agency had renegotiated the deadline. As usual, the work arrived just before I had to pick up DS - but I actually managed to get an hour's work done before and after collecting him (as he had a friend over to play) only then to be told that the client had cancelled the job. Looking on the bright side, the agency agreed to pay me for the work I'd already done - I'd only have been pottering around at home otherwise not earning anything, so I'm glad that I did decide to start on it straight away!

So much for a lie-in tomorrow... DS's friend is going to be staying overnight and is being picked up at 6.30, so I'll have to get up even earlier than usual... (I normally don't wake the DC until 6.45). Hopefully the girls will be able to sleep for a bit longer, although DS is usually desperate to wake them once he's up.

Hello, sorry I have been absent for a little while. I have been trying to keep up and noticed vegan cheese in our little supermarket as soon as it was mentioned on here!

That birthday meal sounds delicious admylin - I hope he really enjoys it! Sorry about the car too.
I also can't wait to see Bond, nutella and antique. I'm quite excited about seeing Daniel Craig adjusting his cuffs!
Good luck with the move antique. It is really hard work with little ones, but my parents did it so many times and used to choose one room to put all the boxes in so they had enough space to clean out one room at a time.
Hope you are feeling better ploom.
We had Monday off for Veterans' Day and all of next week for Thanksgiving!
I hope the tortoise is ok Linzer.
Did your dd ever decide which house to play at English?

I've had a couple of health issues lately. I have a 2.5cm lump on my thyroid which they biopsied yesterday. It was just a needle biopsy so I was able to run around after the dcs afterwards! Dh cooked dinner though as I was asleep on the sofa at tea-time! Unheard of in this noise. Hopefully I will soon find out whether it is benign or not. I also had the coil removed last week as I was a little bit fed up of the constant bleeding. Hopefully my hormones will get back to normal now!

Apologies to anyone I've missed. Hope you are all having a great evening.

Morning!

Thanks for all the sympathy - the Hausarzt gave me an inhaler yesterday which was what I thought I needed so I was pleased. And I was also right that I didnt need antibiotics but he randomly gave me a cough suppressant - havent taken them since I was confused as to what would happen to all that green phlegm if I stopped coughing. Still coughing loads this morning and was exhausted and out of breath from emptying the dishwasher just before so not quite mended yet (glad cheas postponed our shopping trip till next Thurs - no way I could have gone shopping this morning!).

jenny - hope you dont have to wait too long to find out about your thyroid lump. Did they give you any idea how long you'd have to wait? Fingers crossed for good news. Happy Thanksgiving in advance .

linzer - that seems like a good deal yesterday that they still paid you for that job even though they cancelled the job. But you still need to put on your assertive pants on sometimes and say no if you've not enough time. Wow that was an early pick up this morning - why oh why did he need to be picked up so early? Hope you have a nice St Leopold day!

english - did your dd and her wee friend make a plan in the end? How funny about your ds and the blood stain - my boys would also be fascinated with such things! We've also got deers round here - dh told me if one runs out in front of me when I'm driving, I've not to swerve to avoid it but just try to brake and if I cant stop in time I should just hit it. He said otherwise if you swerved and crashed you cant prove there had been a deer and the insurance might not pay out. Easier said than done I imagine.

Belated happy birthday to your dh admylin. Hope he enjoyed his delicious dinner. I like your dreams about the dc tidying the kitchen then studying quietly! Think you should be happy they were studying . I've also been impressed by how well behaved my boys have been this week while I've been ill - they've had way more tv and computer time than normal but there's been absolutely no fighting and I even had a nap yesterday too.

antique - we moved when dd was 9 months old and remember it wasnt easy so I feel your pain. But paying double rent for a month, even tho its costly, will help you with moving stuff.

jenny I hope you don´t have to wait too long for the results and fingers crossed it turns out to be benign. It must be a worrying time.
Does Thanksgiving involve present giving or is it just a meal? My only experience is from watching American films and the focus definitely seems to be on food.

ploom glad to hear you got your inhaler. Dh says to only take cough suppresants just before bed if you´ve got a cough that is keeping you awake at night. During the day it´s better to cough and get rid of all the phlegm.

*Linzer. I´m glad you still got paid for the work.
Our guinea pigs only lived for about 5 years, but I think 6-8 is more usual. We´ve now got 4 after dh managed to buy a pregnant one. It turned into a load of extra expense because the babies were male, so we had to buy another cage because after 4 weeks they´re ready to breed, so we had to seperate them. Now they´re a bit older we´ve got to pay for them to be castrated and then they can all go back together in an even bigger cage - so even more expense.
I do think as English says, pets are a gentle way to get children used to the idea of death. Dd was really upset, but helped dh bury them in the garden and enjoyed finding the prettiest flowers and stones to put on the graves.

I´m off to England tomorrow for the weekend to meet up with some friends which should be good fun. I´m only taking hand luggage, so won´t really be able to stock up, but will definitely leave room for a few goodies.

Thanks for asking your dh about those cough suppresants - once I get to sleep I can stay asleep so think I'll give them a miss.

Have a fab weekend in England . Remember to wear a coat with lots of pockets - they dont weigh your coat! . I came back in june with pockets full of chocolate and gravy granules . No one at security even asked about them.

jenny Hope you get the results soon and they sort you out ASAP whatever the result. Keeping things crossed (not so easy when pregnant :)) and thinking of you!

ploom imagining you with a pocket full of loose gravy granules! Sure you kept them in the packet of course.

Hupa lovely description ploom's phlegm. Thanks for that but have a great time in England. I have to have Plain choc digestives whenever I go back... Might have to ask the bros to send some for Christmas I think I bought nearly a kilo of chocolate when I visited last month....

admylin hope your DH had a nice birthday meal, even if he didn't enjoy the event of getting older. I get a bit moody on my birthday but I think I'd rather not be the centre of attention... And I'm still a youngun! how old do you have to be before you can be cantankerous instead of simply a miserable sod?

Well DP had a lovely day yesterday. The furniture all got sorted and everything that required drilling holes into the wall is done - bar one small lamp but we're not ready to put that up yet. I have wiped down all the cupboards today and vacuumed. As we speak the first load of baby stuff is in the washing machine

Glad I'm not the only one distracted by bizarre and possibly irrelevant wardrobe details antique I'd definitely see it again if I had the option... But mostly just to let the Britishness wash over me again.

Been awake since about 4am... I think I'm starting to fade but have to go out to teach in a bit.... Ho hum...

whoo hoo that your dp did all the jobs yesterday nutella . Oh its all getting close when you start washing the baby clothes - too excited for you - I've no interest in having any more of my own dc so i'm excited we're having a thread baby!! Hope you sleep better tonight.

Sorry for the discussion about phlegm but I had a job on the respiratory wards in a hospital in the UK helping people to cough so have an unhealthy interest in the colour and consistency of phlegm. My favourite job was using a suction machine to suction it out of people who were unconscious - sickeningly satisfying . Still quite often have phlegm conversations with friends who do the same job - weirdos that we are! But promise I wont discuss it on here anymore .

(oh and the gravy was out the tub but double wrapped in plastic freezer bags - lol at the thought of me spooning it out my pockets when i got home )

Afternoon all,

I'm just about surviving having the DC at home all day today, although they've already tried to kill each other several times. It's slightly better atm as the neighbour's two youngest DC are here and DD2 has gone to visit a graveyard with her friend (preparation for their test tomorrow ), so there's slightly less quarrelling. My neighbour stayed for coffee when she brought her two over and DD1 told her again that "my mummy is Linzer Torte on the Internet"! Fortunately I don't think she's very Internet savvy (she asked if it was on Facebook; I said no, an online forum in English - which will hopefully put her off!) plus I don't think I've ever said anything on here that I'd mind her reading, but I must have a word with DD1.

Jenny Fingers crossed for you that you get the results of your biopsy quickly and that there's nothing to worry about. A friend of mine had similar problems with the coil and had it out only a couple of months after paying ?300 to have it fitted, but I feel much better now that I'm not taking hormones any more.

Ploom Glad you got your inhaler and are on the mend; yuck at all that phlegm, though!
DS's friend had to be picked up so early because his mum was going to work and had to take him to her sister's so that she could take him to his speech therapy appointment - have I lost you yet?
And yes, I do need to be more assertive but it's more for other reasons that I don't like turning work down: a) I'm worried that if I turn an agency down too often, they'll ask another translator next time instead, and b) I miss out on the money.

hupa Hope you have a great trip back to the UK! Yes, I agree about pets being a good way of helping children get used to the idea of/learning to come to terms with death, although we were hoping not to have to think about it quite this early. DD1's tortoise is looking smaller by the day compared to the other two, however.

Nutella You're sounding very organised - great news that your DP got all the jobs done in the end. Sounds like it's all getting excitingly close now; I'm another one whose Familienplanung is abgeschlossen so looking forward to another thread baby!

Jenny hope you get the results soon, fingers crossed its benign.

Glad your DH got all those jobs done Nutella, and you survived yesterday Linzer

Argh just noticed it is later than I thought, Kindergarten run time! Record brief post from me, at least it stopped me waffling away!

Hurray - it was benign! Phew. Wishing you all a lovely weekend! X

That's great news Jenny!!! Congratulations :)

Anyone know why pyjamas are so expensive? I would like some for lounging around comfort but the maternity sets seem to start at 50?+ that seems like a lot! Trying to get DP to agree to pyjama shopping later today...

I'll just jump right in, shall I....

Jenny you must be over the moon, what good and reassuring news in time for the weekend.

Nutella if you want them for lounging around rather than sleeping in you might get some tracksuit bottoms and a long t-shirt instead. I don't thik I bothered with maternity sleepwear but had lots of stretchy clothing that I wore for the second half of pregnancy. One of the skirts is still good now and I wore it right up to about 8 months pregnant. If you do go shopping for pj's then hope you find something stunning! Good news re all the furniture in place now.

Linzer if you have to change your name (which is not likely) I shall look out for Marillenknodel (sorry no Umlaut), Strohrum and Tafelspitz...

Ploom hope your cough gets better soon. Has anybody noticed that their symptoms of colds have changed depending on whether you are in England or Germany? I always got very sore throats in Germany but hardly ever get them in England. Coughs seem to bother me more now. The gravy granules bit made me laugh (but I'm a snob and make my own). It is probably the taste of childhood, same as with chocolate. Cadbury never did it for me in the way Lindt or Ritter Sport does, it must be deep rooted in our childhood memories.

We are now fully unpacked in our holiday home which I have rented for 3 months. DD has started at Kita last Monday and goes every morning. By day 2 I just dropped her off and I am surprised how quickly she has settled in. On her first day at Kita we had the St Martin's Laternenumzug to which she had greatly looked forward to. I have sorted out liability insurance, health insurance and (thanks for the tip about Allianz, btw) motor insurance. We are registered at the town hall, with the tax office here and I have applied for Kindergeld which won't get paid until somebody at Newcastle pulls their finger out and sends me confirmation that we no longer claim. Christmas in future won't be the same anymore with all those bills due on 1 Dec. On another note, I have a job. Had an interview on the Tuesday after arrival and got offered the job pretty much straightaway. That means that DH can give notice and join us soon. He is coming over tomorrow anyway to use up annual leave but I am now concentrating on organising a house move and renting out our place whilst we are here. Oh and finding a permanent place here a bit closer to the new job which means another mini move.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Nutella I had some super comfy thin maternity jogging bottoms from M&S which I wore constantly just before and for months after dd's birth. Cost something like £12.

Sorry, no time to post more. Hope everyone's well .

Just had a quick catch-up with the thread. Very glad to hear that your biopsy results came back clear, Jenny.

My concert went well yesterday, Hopefully tonight's performance will go equally well or better. Someone knocked the mirror off my car though while driving past (didn't leave their details), so basically I won't have earned anything for working this weekend. I have to pick the car up in a few minutes - have to drive to the Erzgebirge tomorrow before I can go home - plan to go back to bed on Mon am after taking dd to kiga!

Nuttella do you have Kik in your part of Germany? Kik are running radio ads for ?4.99 fleece PJs atm - not maternity specific obviously but I guess you can go up a size or two if you're not worried about a bump flattering look... Maternity specific clothing of any kind is harder to find, maybe try Marks and spencer online if you want something more specific - they deliver to Germany for 4.99

We didn't manage PJ shopping. I went a bit cleaning mad and we popped out to a kinderflohmarkt at a school nearby. We were a bit late, it was winding down when we got there, but we got a little swaddle thingy that is rather like a large pocket with bits that Velcro together. It was brand new and the lady only wanted 10? for it! Very pleased with that.

I'm sure I've seen a kik English so I'll investigate that; Thank you! I want them for comfort lounging in and figured a button up style to start with might also be handy for BF and since I don't plan on being seen out & about in them it doesn't matter too much how they look

So pleased for you jenny that it was benign . Are they still going to take it out?

And glad the concert went well cheas but about your mirror. So annoying.

Hope you get some PJ's nutella. I might have a look in kik for dd - she needs some warm pj's.

Was just about to go to bed when dh appeared saying "i have something for you!" Cue very puzzled look on my face but very excitingly my ipod touch has come back to life . Not sure how and dh isnt saying but I dont care - I've missed it so much - I'm such a saddo I had tears in my eyes . I need to promise myself that I wont use it too much for surfing/checking FB/MN etc. but its just so handy for everything else. So chuffed .

Ploom Great news on your iPod! I don't use mine as much now that I have a phone that basically does all the same things, but I'd be lost if I didn't have either.

Nutella Flea markets are great; we've had some real bargains for the DC from them too. That reminds me that our local church is having a Flohmarkt this weekend so I need to get on with some decluttering - I use them more now for getting rid of stuff than buying things!

cheas Glad the concert went well but grr at the mirror incident, especially the driver not leaving any details.

Bienchen Well done on finding a job so quickly; you're sounding very organised. It's great that your DD has settled in so well at Kiga too. You must be looking forward to your DH joining you
DH made Marillenknödel (well, heated up some frozen ones) at the weekend, but I can't face them any more as I've had too many of my MIL's (thank goodness she seems to have stopped making them). I wouldn't be overly keen on them as a dessert, but as a main course...

Jenny Fantastic news; you must be so relieved.

We had a busy weekend, especially Saturday; DD2 was at a birthday party from 11 until 4 and all three of them were then invited to the neighbours' youngest DD's party in the afternoon. We joined them in the evening for a campfire (our neighbour doesn't pass up any opportunity to have a barbecue), although moved indoors after about half an hour. Oh, and we also managed to fit in a visit to the Anglican church's Christmas bazaar in Vienna. It was OK but I felt it was a bit too early to start getting into the Christmas spirit, plus I was disappointed not to find more books I wanted. Nice cake and surprisingly drinkable coffee, though.

Linzer sounds like you had a busy weekend. Is the tortoise better?

ploom great that you got your ipod back! You can wish for something else for xmas now! Has your cold cleared up? Great tip about wearing a coat with lots of pockets! Must remeber that one.

nutella on Friday I noticed ernstings-family had an offer on mix and match top/bottoms for pyjamas, might be worth a look (one in Ernst August Galerie downstairs and one on Lister Meile). They're reasonably priced too but Primark would be the cheapest place and plenty of choice, they also go up to size 20.

cheaspicks sorry about the car but glad the concert was good. Hope you can catch up on some sleep today.

bienchen sound slike everything is going smoothly, you sound very organised and calm, wish I was like that every time i moved!

jenny great news, what a scare that must have been.

english I love deer, do you see them often? Must be awful to hit one. Great that your dd sorts her social life over the phone! My dd is so frustrated at her 3 best friends, only one of them uses the phone, the other two have huge phone phobias (at age 13) and never get in touch. I hate making official calls in Germany but teenagers who can't talk on the phone is a bit strange.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Ours was OK, dh even managed to have a whole day off on Sunday. Took dd for a coffee in town on Saterday and she spent some more of her birthday money. Can I ask what you are all sending back to parents at xmas if you're not seeing them? I think I'm going to end up sending some sort of alcohol to mine as they have everything, not easy to come up with ideas for them.

The tortoise does seem a little better, thanks; I think the UV lamp is helping, as it's been coming out more since we've had it up and running.

I had a phone phobia even as a teenager; mind you, the fact that mobile phones didn't exist back then and our phone was in the hall, where everyone could overhear your conversation, didn't exactly help. I find life much easier now that almost everyone has a mobile and you can usually speak to exactly who you wanted to, although still get thrown a little by husbands or children answering the phone (young children especially - I wish that more of them would have phone phobias!).

Although we'll be back in the UK for Christmas, I've bought most of my presents so far online and have had them sent straight to my parents'. Mine don't need much either so I just buy them lots of little bits and pieces - stuff from the Body Shop for my Mum, a book from the Book People for my Dad, also got a handbag organiser recommended on one of the Christmas threads for my Mum and I'll probably get some gardening-related things for my Dad from dotcomgiftshop. I also found out about quidco on one of the Christmas threads, which is brilliant if you order a lot of things online as you get a certain percentage back if you order through them (unfortunately Amazon seems to be one of the few companies not included in the scheme). I've earned over £6 already and should get over £10 back if we book our tickets for the London Eye via the site.

Hello everyone!
jenny great news. What a relief that must be.

Linzer glad to hear the tortoise is better. I was a bit worried, esp after finding a picture on my phone: one of your tortoises suspended in mid air. No wonder it weed on the dcs, poor tortoise. You sound very busy and very organised about Christmas too. Thanks for the link to the threads, I had a quick look but nothing bought yet.

admylin - I know what you mean about finding it hard to find presents to send. I usually send English books to my brother and his family (they live in Spain) and something small (like a scarf) to my mother. Could you get some German wine delivered to them - anything produced near where you live that could be delivered in the UK?

cheas good to hear about the concert - was that the one with the tricky piece? Can't believe people did not leave their details....

nutella - how is the nesting going? I also just wore yoga trousers - somehow they felt very dressed up. So I could change from my nightie into them, and I was dressed! A long coat and I could even go out for walks in them....

ploom glad your ipod came back to life...wonder what your dh did? Your phelgm comments made me laugh - one can get excited about the strangest things.

Thanks for the thoughts on pedagogue...next step is to convince people to use something else.

Hoping for a new clean start to the week - last week was not too great: PMT, stressed husband trying to meet a deadline, and job cuts at work were not a good combination. Must talk to Frauenarzt about the PMT and start looking for another job. Oh and DDs had Thursday and Friday off school, and were grumpy about having to go to the Hort for a couple of hours. Though I have taken the afternoon off to let the Installateur in - some radiators are not working - so I am not sure that will be a great start to the week. Fingers crossed.

off to do some ironing: yolo
have a look at this - omnishambles is the perfect description for so many things.....www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2012/nov/14/gif-america-word-year-omnishambles?INTCMP=SRCH

oh no, it is going to cost around 400 euro to get them fixed ....wonder if the landlord has to pay for that. In the UK the landlord would always pay for such things, but not sure here...