This blog was intended to share my progress and my findings in knitting and other handmade projects, so I am glad to have some "back to the roots"-post for you, about Opus the Octopus.

The pattern is free and you can find it here 

I had bought some very nice coloured yarn in Estonia last winter, but it was incredibly scratchy. I knew I could not use it to make any kinds of clothes, so I searched for alternatives. Opus seemed perfect for the occasion. I am a bit sloppy when it comes to instructions, often I like them for the inspiration, but I am too lazy to actually follow them. No wonder my first Opus looked a bit sloppy, too. But a friend liked him apparently and asked me to make her one.

This time, I searched for two fitting colours of nice and soft yarn, I followed the instructions in detail and I also bought eyes for the little one. And of course, the result is much nicer. It is a lot of fun to knit something, that feels like coming "alive" more and more. You can see that the Opus with eyes looks much more liefelike. So, Nadine, you can come and pick your new flatmate up, he is waiting for you, while hanging out with his red and green friend.

Both octopuses hanging out in our living room

The dudes, hanging out

Opus looks much more alive with a real teddy-eye

The little fox - meet Lisek!

Meet Lisek, our little fox

Me and dogs...

Man's and woman's best friend, that is how we call our dogs. There is a reason for it, dogs do not (or hardly) judge us, they love us whether we suck in our job, fail the 100th time to lose weight or are socially incompetent.

From a very young age, as almost every kid, I dreamt about having a dog in my life. My parents had their reasons to not make this dream come true (Not true, I still think it would have been a pretty great idea), but when I moved out into a shared flat with two friends, we adopted Lily, a smart and pretty collie-mix, which has stayed with me after the two others had left the country. Since Lily's passing two years ago, the Schön family has been without a dog. We travelled and enjoyed some of the freedom that comes from being so independent, but life felt somehow incomplete. Everytime I saw a dog on the street, I yearned for having one of my own again. (A colleague once thought, interpreting my gaze, that I had spotted a baby, but no, it was a dog. Cute puppies touch my heart far more than babies, I guess that will never change.)

Lisek in his new home

My men on one of our trips

One of his ancestors must have been a German Shepherd, would be interesting to find out,
which other breeds were involved in making this ;)

Several factors made it easier to decide for a dog this year: we bought a van, a camping-van with bed, kitchen, bathroom, which will make traveling by plane etc. less frequent, we will rather be driving around in Europe with our second apartment, as I like to think of it. Ideal for taking a dog with you. Plus, we would feel much safer with a dog in the car, while being parked in some neck of the woods. Furthermore, I reduced my office hours this year to write my PhD, which I can do from home. My tasks at work will change next year, meaning I will be more flexible.

After some discussion, even Mr. Schön  (the reasonable part of our relationship) did not have any arguments against getting a new family member, so we decided to search for one over the internet and in shelters in our area. We did not want to adopt a puppy, but an adult dog and I wished it to be a herding dog, appreciating their clever mind and their loyalty.

Living in an apartment, with jobs and limited free time we decided that getting a border collie would be a bad idea, as they need an extra portion of attention and space. By watching a show on animal planet (yes, watching tv can be helpful!) I learned that Corgis are in fact herding dogs. (They were bred in Wales to herd cattle). And they are small and cute, so I searched for grown up Corgis online. Turns out, Corgis are incredibly rare in our part of Europe.) However, we found a cute Corgi-German Shepherd mix who was described as friendly and relaxed. Sounded good.

We met Lisek (Polish for "Little Fox", he came from a shelter in Warsaw and looks indeed a little bit like a fox) at a foster ladies' home and loved him from the first minute. He was so happy to see us, as if we had known each other for years. Mr. Schön and him hit it off right away, playing around wildly in the grass.

We adopted him mid-July and he has been adorable ever since. I am sure that he has had suffered some hardship in his life on Polish streets (or maybe even forest, as he does not seem to be too familiar with city traffic), but from his character you would never know. He loves everyone! Any dog is eagerly approached, any person is greeted when they talk to him - it is adorable. And quite touching, at times. For us, this character trait is absolutely relaxing, as we know he will never hurt anyone, even if the other dog (or person) is less friendly. His legs looks too short for his body, which makes his apperance seem so harmless, despite of his German Shepherd resemblance, no one is ever afraid of him. A lot of people smile, when we pass them on the street, as he looks funny with his short legs and his big ears. I love how he seems to make people a bit happier whenever they see him.

On one of our trips with the camper van, in Teutoburger Wald

Before getting a new dog, I read heaps of books about dog education. Lily had always had problems with separation anxiety and I wanted to be prepared to get the new dog to stay home alone. (As you can imagine, having a dog in an apartment, that cannot stay home alone without howling and barking is quite limiting.) Lisek had a hard time staying alone at first, but throughout the months we managed to get him used to be quiet when left alone. He was quite good at learning the basics, like "sit" and "down", but he did not seem to be nearly as clever as our old dog. After a few months at our home however, he has developed to much, it is pretty amazing. Although he has been relaxed in July, August and September, I have the feeling that only now, in Ocotber, he has started to feel sure about his home and his place in it, which led to much more cognitive ability somehow. He seems like a totally different dog from the one we got in the beginning. He did not use to play with toys or balls and now he cannot get enough of them. When he is off the leash he comes to me whenever I call, no matter if there are other dogs or a treat, etc. It is these small steps, that make having a dog so special. Not to mention the hours I spend outdoors, with beautiful sunsets, sun risings and pretty amazing sights and fresh air.  I will keep you posted about the adventures of little Lisek, we have plans for spring, maybe joining an agility club or even try mantrailing, as Liseks nose is superb and he likes to use it.

A true hero

For quite some time I was undecided on whether or not I should write this post, but I finally decided for it, because it is the story of a real hero, my grandmother and further generations of our family should know about it. Maybe her story can also help you appreciate the beautiful things in life. My grandmother has always be a touchstone in my life, a constant source of warmth. love and peace and probably the most inspiring and influential member of my family for me.

My grandmother was born in 1934 in a part of the East of Germany which today belongs to Poland. Due to the loss of these areas in the Second World War to Russia, her family had to flee to West Germany. I have only heard my grandmother talk about this by the end of last year when my grandfather died. I had known that he was a refugee, but that my grandma came from the area we call Schlesien was new to me. Her escape sounds like a dangerous and quite dramatic journey, where my grandmother, her two sisters and her mother found shelter in farms and in people's houses who helped them, but they eventually got split up. My grandmother does not like to talk about this time, but when I found a cute picture of her and a woman, while looking through old photos, she told me the horrible story behind it. The woman on the picture was one of the caretakers she had been given to on the journey to West Germany, a cruel, children-hating person that tortured the already traumatised kid even further. When my grandmother got sick, the woman put a cloth with boiled potatos on her chest and did not listen when the little girl complained that it was too hot. Soon, my grandma's chest was covered with hot, angry blisters. To "treat" the blisters, the woman took some needle and thread, poked through the blisters and ripped them open. I almost cried when I listened to that story and I have tears in my eyes right now- knowing the warm-hearted loving person my grandmother is today.

After the family had reunited they lived in a small flat in the time after the war. My great-grandmother apparently never got over the loss of her home and her old life, I have only known her as a very quiet old lady, not satisfied without a drink in her hand. Some tales the sisters of my grandma told, made it obvious that being depressed about the war, the poverty and having to leave behind her friends and her old life had made her a bitter person who could not give the girls the guidance and support that three teenagers might have needed. One story was unbelievable to me: Imagine the time of poverty and famine after the war. People ate what they could find on the streets and christmas present meant to have a good meal, or if it was your birthday you could call yourself lucky if you maybe got a cake. The three girls made the best of it and they had even adopted a small buddy, a Jack-Russell-terrier. Loving dogs myself I can imagine that the little fella gave them some joy in their hard lifes. Until he was gone. The neighbour had eaten him.

In the early 50s, my grandmother started to work as a housemaid for an English family. The Western sector was an English zone, which is why a lot of British soldiers and their families were positioned in the Ruhr area. Working for this family seemed to be a very happy time in my grandma's life, she often told me about taking care of the kids, their dogs and learning how to cook English meals. She makes fun of the baked beans and sausages, but I can tell that she loved to be in contact with another language and culture and kept her open-mindedness to this very day, which is quite untypical for German people her age.

She met my grandfather in the late 50s, on a tram, and felt attracted to this handsome, younger man. The young, rockabilly looking man had also fled from Schlesien and charmed her into a relationship that ended in an unplanned pregnancy in 1958. It must have been very hard for my grandma, because although she loved my grandpa, she lost her job with the English family (she only told them after a holiday trip to Italy - my grandma knows how to make the best of a situation ;-) ) and had to move in with my grandfather and his parents. His mother did not appreciate her son's choice and they had to wait until my grandfather had turned 21 (being of age in the 50s), so they could get married, as the parents did not want to give them permission. This meant that only a few days before giving birth to my mom, they became husband and wife. My grandfather's mother - a strong woman, having fled from her home with four daughters and one son all on her own - made her daughter in law's life hell. Her first comment on the birth of my mom, who apparently had one foot bound to the leg due to a mild malpositioning was "And it's a cripple, too!" (Apart from being "just" a girl)

Life got better eventually, when the little family finally had the money to move into a flat on their own. The love for pets, especially dogs, cats and horses is a trait that connects my grandma and me deeply and made them have quite a few dogs. When my aunt got married to the owner of a horse ranch just across the street from my grandparent's house, my grandma helped out in the stables and with taking care of the horses.

In the sixties, my grandma got the driver's license (in our family she is famous for her fury behind the wheel, swearing at other drivers) and she got a job, with a hairdress some "Mad Men"-characters would be proud of.

I got to know her as a loving grandmother, wonderful mother, always listening to people who needed her, always welcoming, there could never be too many guests in her house and even if you knocked on her door spontaneously today, she would welcome you in and offer you some of the most delicious food there is on the planet. She definitely is the best cook I have ever met. Her passion about people and pets, about crafting (she used to sew and knit, just like I love to do) and about enjoying life in general, even when it has not always been easy for her, are truly inspring to me and if I can say that I resemble my grandmother a little bit, and live to her example I will always be proud. I am grateful for this wonderful woman in our lives, who has raised three daughters, eight grandchildren and three great-gradchildren. May many more children to come get to know you and learn what it means to be "family".

I want to believe!

Great news: The X –Files is coming back!!!

A major X-Phile (which nerdy I know, X-Files Fans have called themselves, in order to avoid another „Trekkie“-nickname) in my teen-years the series has changed my life. Without it, I would not be in my current job, probably would not have studied media science and would not have met some people that are good friends to this day.

After I had watched „Fight the Future“ in cinemas, I was hooked. My friend Jeannie and me – of our knowing the only X-Philes in our village – met for every episode, taped it and rewatched it right after the episode had ended. We were obsessed. Everything in our lives was about the X-files, the people we met, the stories we read, even the music we listened to. Internet was a relatively new thing and as Jeannies parents first had internet access, we met at her place regularly to chat with other fans. It was a great time, exploring the vastness of the internet and meeting so many people sharing our interest. The world was our oyster and we made new friends (Yes, moms, we even met them in real life and they have become great friends and even partners. Meeting someone you only know online? Creepy and dangerous, according to my mom…) we were extemely creative, wrote and translated fan-fiction, made music-videos and even contacted a few writers we admired a lot. They had written books about series to finance their studies of media science and became true friends. Thinking about how much a piece of television can change your whole life makes me dizzy somehow…

And now Mulder and Scully will be back!!! I celebrated with starting to watch more X-Files again. Last episode was „Pusher“, a good start, but now I want more!

I wanted to tell you something about my favourite episodes. If you are a fellow phile, maybe you want to start watching again, if you are not, maybe you will be. !!SPOILER ALERT!! I try not to give away too many details, but to describe the episode I need to give some information.

First I would like to say that I am not a big „mythology“-fan, so I do not appreciate the episodes about the general alien-government-conspiracy half as much as well-made monster-of-the-week or comedy episodes.

One of the first episodes I watched is still very dear to me:

3X23 (meaning 23rd episode of season 3)
Wetwired

Now, I think I have never seen this episode on a „Best Of“-list, but it truly is for me. Maybe being a tv-nerd the topic of sublime messages delivered through television is fascinating in itself. The atmosphere of a typical conspiracy-thriller including paranoia depicted perfectly by weird camera angles and distressing noise, the appearance of all the important characters (Lone Gunmen, Scullys Mum, Skinner, The cigarette smoking man, Mr X), Mulder‘s fear for Scully… I just love it!

All Darin Morgan Episodes

Darin Morgan brought comedy into the X-Files, or let's say, he made comedy episodes a genre, The X-Files have always been a series with room for humour, but episodes like Humbug are so bizarre, the selfreflective nature of Darin Morgan's episodes are a delight!






3X22
Quagmire
A fun monster-of-the-week episode, with some adorable Mulder-Scully-talk (You know… „What are we doing here?“ „Well…“ „Oh no, Mulder, you are not telling me we are looking for…“), satirical elements, some drama (poor Scully) and some serious talk about Mulder’s quest fort he truth. I love the ending as well, whimsical…




4X08
4X09
Tunguska/Terma

When I first saw this episode I did not know who Alex Krycek was and what he had done, but I guessed that Mulder really hated him for a reason. Again, the feeling of not being able to trust anyone, the corruption, the conspiracy… goose bumps. „The cold war is not over“ as last quote from the episode sums it up pretty well. The depiction of Russia is – let’s say debatable- although most of it is meant to show rural Siberia, so I guess one should not overrate the gulag-scenes.
Scully fighting for Mulder’s safety against American conspirators in court in scenes full of suspense, her loyalty towards him truly touches my heart every time and depicts the most romantic love I could ever think of. You can tell, I advise you to watch it. The hug… Well, I am a romantic. These are the only so-called mythology episodes on the list, as I am not a big fan of those. The alien-conspiracy-story... Not my cup of tea.

4X14
Memento Mori

The fourth season was the first one I watched entirely, which might be why I like it a lot. The plot about Scully's illness deepens the Mulder-Scully-relationship and Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny are just so perfect acting out these feelings of fear and helplessness. It might be a pretty dark season, but it has it's very funny moments. Memento Mori is a Scully-based episode and I have always liked those a lot, because, let's be honest, Scully's is the more interesting character, with her doubts, her feelings of loneliness, her longing for a normal life while being fascinated by the paranormal phenomena she witnesses.

5X06
The Post-Modern Prometheus

Frankenstein. Ever since a very impressive seminar on Gothic-literature and one on mad scientists, I have been fascinated by the story of Frankenstein. Chris Carter himself took the story of the German scientist, creating a monster and turned it into a father-and-son-story, which turns into an homage to Cher, while at the same time being a satire about today's American tv culture. It sounds crude? Watch it, it is funny, witty and touching. Plus it offers one of the most used scenes on Mulder-and-Scully-shipper videos. Did I mention it is black and white? Aweseome....

5X12
Bad Blood

I read that this is Gillian Anderson’s favourite episode and I can fully understand it. I do not want to tell you too much, if you have not seen it, watch it. Maybe it should not be your first X-Files, as a lot oft he humour derives from knowing the series and characters well… Let me just tell you it imitates the strategy of film-classic Rashomon and turns it into something extremely funny. (For me it was exotic when I frst watched it as I didn't know about Magic-Finger-beds plus I wondered what the little plastic thing is that Ronny is somehow found guilty by, as we do not have it in Germany: the little white plastic piece that holds the lid from the pizza.

Summerlove

Today’s weather is perfect: blue sky with a rather warm sun. You can feel that the days are already much longer and I love that when I leave home – on a regular day – daylight is welcoming me.  Two weeks ago weh ad the first picnic with friends on the banks of the Rhine, promising great summer days to come. So I thought today would be a great day to think about what I love about summer and which activities should be on all our to do lists.

   1.       Eating great ice-cream

( A classic. During the last years it has been very hip to produce vegan / eco-friendly healthy ice cream in exotic flavours. Sesame, salted caramel, basil-strawberry…. Yummy. I am going to try all of them…)

  2.       Swimming in the lake

(This part did not play a big role in last years’s summer a seither it was not very hot or we were just too busy to go to the lake (which is a bit outside of Düsseldorf). I love it though and it is always great fun to take our bikes there, take the little inflating boat and swim around. We sometimes take our barbecue grill with us… ah. Perfect days.)

  3.       Open Air Cinema

(Definitely have to do that more often)

  4.       Spend time on our huge balcony

(It is always there. Just outside of our kitchen. In summer there is a lot of sun as it is facing south and we have plenty of space for barbecues with friends or putting a hammock there and being lazy like hell. It is on my list! Before being able to enjoy it I need to give it the usual spring make-over first, meaning I have to buy new flowers / herbs etc. and planting them in a neat way. I am looking forward to that kind of work, I just need some free time and good weather at the same moment.)

  5.       More running

(2015 has been disappointing when it comes to sports so far. I have been slightly sick on a very annoyingly regular basis. A cold here, a cough there, you name it. Inspite of my cough I will try to enjoy the good weather and go for a run tonight. Yoga is on my list as well, I need it badly.)

  6.       Weekend-trips

(When days are getting longer and longer, a weekend offers much more hours to spend if you go on a field- or city-trip. We will definitely drive out oft he city from time to time to camp somewhere or sleep in our car, enjoying a starry night. I love these kinds of adventures, they help us to escape our everyday worries)

  7.       Festival season

(Hanging out outside, unwashed, drunk and happy. Looking forward to Fusion 2015!!!)
8. Sun Screen
(I love the smell. It is pure happiness for me, which is why in winter I sometimes apply sun screen just for the light feeling of summer. Smells are closely connected to states of mind for me. One bit os smell can put me into a whole new set of mood. Longing for summer to come? Try to put a bit of sunscreen on. - I even experience this with rather unpleasant smells. Insect repellents and the smelling of dung also remind me of summer and therefore trigger happy feeling...I am weird, I know.)
9. Strawberries. Yum....

Enjoy summer, people! Spread the word, „summer is coming“! 

This word has a lot of meaning, when thinking of our trip to Estonia over New Years. It was the first time for me in an Eastern European country, apart from Hungary (visit Budapest, it’s lovely!), while Mr. Schön is an expert when it comes to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, thanks to his good old couchsurfing days. From the old days, he still has a friend living in Tallinn, whom I had met on a visit in Düsseldorf. So, when we were trying to decide where to escape this years New Years, (we always try to be somewhere else on this time of year, it is the best tradition!) Tallinn was soon on the table.

A sign inside a winestore

I had seen pictures of it's beautiful little streets, all covered in 

snow and heard of Estonia's famous countrysides. You have

to know, compared to our part in Germany, Estonia is 

basically empty. A small population in a still rather wild and 

rough environment. Well, not in Tallinn.  

Tallinn is a city with great opportunities to go shopping and 

do all sorts of leisure activity. 

When we arrived, it was bitter cold , -10° and hurray - snowy. 

My first impressions were: comfortable and cute airport, a 

funny and friendly language, reminding me of Finnish and 

Astrid Lindgren books. 

Mr. Schön in our beautiful breakfast place

Our apartment was a dream. We had found it over Airbnb and it was just perfect! I had been a bit afraid beforehand, as I had seen on the pics that the building was made of wood. We don’t have many wooden houses in Germany and me being an iceblock, I was afraid of freezing if it was not well insulated.  It was, however. The heating made it cozy and snugly, the kitchen looked adorable and the whole house is a piece of art in itself. We found out later that the owner of the house is a well-known Estonian artist. She had decorated the place, everything was colourful and creative. I loved it! It turned out that by sheer luck, our friends had moved in almost next doors, so we never had to walk far to get to their place. If you would like to visit Tallinn I can recommend Eva’s place. Check out this pretty apartment

Submarine at Seaplane Harbour Museum

Seaplane Harbour Tallinn

Liis and Tanel, who went through a lot to make our stay in Tallinn a real treat, took us on so many adventures. Their passion for the cool places in Tallinn, beautiful nature, eco shops and beautiful restaurants made our whole trip worthwhile. We went to see the Seaplane Harbour Museum, which is a relatively newly opened huge hangar, where the architecture itself would be worth a visit. There is so much more to discover, though. The world’s and Estonia’s history of seafaring is documented here and all kinds of ships are shown. My claustrophobia did not allow a long stay in the submarine – how do people work on such a thing day and night is a mystery to me – but the others enjoyed it a lot to be crammed inside...
If you visit Estonia you can go here with your kids, they will love it. The whole museum gives you an underwater feeling and there is a whole corner with games for the kids. Although... being a war-hating German I have to say that I would have wished a more critical discussion of the whole idea of war, but maybe that is just my point of view.

A special treat was the drive to a part of the History Museum, or let’s say the backyard of it, as there is a dump of  Lenin statues, decaying in the dirt. In the revolution and the fight for independence, the Estonians had apparently just taken them there and dumped. Instead of giving them space in a museum, as some countries might have done, the message is very clear. I liked the intensity of all the former images of masculine and political power rotting in the rain, highly symbolic.

Lenin in the Rain

The rain was pouring down that day, so I was a bit afraid to take my new camera out for too long (I got myself the best Christmas present ever, the Canon Eos 700d), but you can still get an idea of how it looked like. Sunshine would have not fitted the place half as well, so it was perfect in a way.

New Year’s 2014/2015 can definitely keep up with our New Year’s two years ago in the quiet Swiss Alps. Although it was far from quiet in a way. Taavi and Maali, two friends of our friends, are the proud owners of a happy-Hippies- in-the-wood kind of cabin and – a great honour for us – invited us over for their annual New Year’s party. (The picture in the top shows the cabin in the background.) 

Tanel and Mr. Schön in front of the pond we jumped into after sauna

Above mentioned pond again. You can see the little hole Tanel cut into the ice

I loved the homemade chandelier in the tree. Isn't it beautiful?

We were the only non-Eestis there and I was a bit nervous, like always when you meet a bunch of friends of friends and you don’t want to wreck it for them… Everything was perfect though. People in Estonia are especially one thing: welcoming. Teretulnud. I felt like home all the time and it was a whole new feeling for me, to be in a room full of people, not speaking their language, not understanding what they were talking about most of the time, but still feeling as being part of it. It was weird, I followed the conversations and took in all the emotions without understanding most of it. Don’t let me be misunderstood, people spoke plenty with us and their English is really good, so communication was not a problem. But even when Ded Moroz (Father Frost) listened to all kinds of Estonian poems and songs and people made jokes in their warm-hearted language I felt like a part of it. (And I am wondering whether Ded Moroz is supposed to make all kinds of sexual remarks or if this was just an interpretation of our host, Taavi… ;-)

Ded Moroz

Sauna is a big thing in Estonia, the cabin for example, doesn’t have a shower or a bath, cleaning happens in the Sauna. When I had told my colleagues of how I intend to spend New Years among Estonians in a Sauna in the middle of the forest and jumping into a whole cut into the ice of a pond… well you should have seen their faces. But that is exactly what it was like and it was fantastic.

Later, Tanel took us to a special kind of workspace, a garage a friend uses to repair old accordions. For me as a photo enthusiast it was paradise. Especially as I love black and white pictures. With all the stuff hanging, sitting, standing everywhere, colourphotos would have been much too hectic, so reducing it to just the essentials was perfect.

And Mr. Schön was also happy, because he could outlive his passion for handcraft with Leho and Tanel. They built a machine to cut any kind of shape you design in the computer out of wood or metal. Pretty cool. With a name too complicated for me to remember. Well, I took a lot of pictures, so I was not fully focused…

This one still needs a bit of repairing, I guess

A lamp in Café Josephine

Tallinns Old town, the Estonian food and the beautiful landscape were great. But it was everyone we got to know on our trip that made it so special. Loving to have guests over, we invited everyone from the Tallinn-area over for our last evening and all of them came along. We had a lot of food, drinks and later, Leho took out his accordion and played wonderful folk tunes. He sang and it reminded me of the beautiful Swedish songs I was talking about before. Estonian folk music impressed me during the whole trip, it is a tune I can totally relate to and definitely want to listen to more often from now on. (Check out this Estonian lullaby, I love it) Tanel, who is a passionate folk dancer, started dancing around with all the girls and we had a “jolly good time”, to quote something that Hanna, one of our new friends, often said.

I bet there is an old folk song about how Estonia is always in your heart, no matter where you go and this is how I feel today. I hope we will see each other again. Aitäh.

Above the roofs of Tallinn

Even the cheese packaging was beautiful

Fordi, Liis' cat. He's adorable, I feel in love immediately.

Tallinn, Old Town