Mar 16, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Growing strawberries & prepping beds

Welcome to Friday! It’s been a busy week around here, both work-related and home-related. Stefan is taking a few days off so we can enjoy the awesome springlike weather we’ve been having and get a few projects done around here that need doing. And yesterday we spent a few hours getting our beds in the courtyard ready to go…once we have some seedlings to put in the ground or after we know... read more

Mar 9, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Get your garden started

Happy Friday everyone! The sun is shining here and it’s a beautiful Friday…but I don’t know whether or not I’ll be spending much time in the garden today because (a) it’s been quite chilly the last couple days and (b) I slipped while coming down the stairs last night and am rather banged up. It’s pretty much just my upper thighs that are looking like someone used them... read more

Mar 8, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

Attacking the kitchen drawers

In keeping with my attack on the kitchen, I recently realized that also our silverware drawers in the kitchen are fairly organized, there is still a bit of chaos in there. So when we purchased the plastic tubs for the spice storage, I also grabbed a few random small trays for the various kitchen accessories we have that have been floating around in the drawer. And as I got started on the project, I... read more

Mar 5, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

So you want to move to Germany… Public Transport

Imagine this if you can… You move to a new country and some of the first things you buy are a washing machine and a kitchen (a topic I will later get into), but not a car. And you don’t move your car over with you either. But you’ve grown up in a place where it was always necessary to have a car and people rarely walk or bicycle anywhere, because it would just take forever since most... read more

Mar 2, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Itching to get started

It’s probably no secret by now that I am really starting to get a bit stir crazy about starting some seeds and getting our garden going. But there’s still some ground work that has to be done first. We need to boost up the soil in our beds in the courtyard and get them ready for planting. And we have to assess what is happening in our garden behind the barn so that I can get some things in the... read more

Mar 1, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

Well isn’t that peachy

When I first read that the topic for You Capture this week was peaches, I was a bit stumped. The peaches on our trees won’t be coming around for months and I don’t even recall seeing any in our local market lately. Mangos for $6 each and pineapples for $8 — yes. But not peaches. At any rate, I almost decided to just blow this off, and then I came across this quote: Life is a bag of... read more

Feb 24, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Growing Stevia

Back in 2007, we started our first adventure into growing stevia. We had heard about this naturally sweet plant and just had to try it out. We’re avid iced tea drinkers, and we like it sweet. So we end up going through a whole lot of sugar in a month. Although the iced tea still ends up being a bit healthier than a bunch of sodas, it still ends up being a bunch of empty calories we consume, not to... read more

Feb 20, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

So you want to move to Germany… Visas & Permits

Over the last few years, I have gotten more and more emails from people who want to move to Germany or other places in Europe but would appreciate a bit of advice before they take the leap. From singles to entire families, there are a wide range of folks who want to  experience the culture, take some language classes, and take an adventure into an unknown world. Some may be considering participating in a... read more

Feb 17, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

{Garden Life} Jump start on spring

The world around us has finally begun to thaw and I no longer need to wear long underwear, two shirts, a sweater and two pairs of socks when I’m inside our house. Seriously, it was COLD around here for the last few weeks — and I am so, so glad that it’s staying above freezing now. That doesn’t actually mean that our rain barrels have thawed yet from their solid ice status, but at... read more

Feb 15, 2012 Posted by Tiffany

Debunking Myths about Germany: Trachten

I’ll bet that one of the first thing that comes to a foreigners mind when they think of Germany is people wearing funny outfits and Lederhosen. After living here for over 10 years, I can assure you that most people across Germany never wear those sorts of clothing…but when you visit Bavaria, especially lower Bavaria and Munich, you are almost certain to see a few people on the street in... read more