Muttentalfest party on 24th of March at the Bethaus, Muttental

On 24th of March we will do a big party, the first of this year;-). At the Bethaus, we will celebrate the famed "Muttentalfest" from 11 am until 6 pm. The whole valley will offer a load of activities for kids, adults and families alike, and all of the museums will be open.

Good food, friendly people, and, hopefully, great weather ;-) will be abundant, and most important, Volker and myself will be there*ggg*.

Come around, have a coffee and a cake and a chat!:-)

At the Bethaus smithy-a great sunny Sunday on mother´s day

 My ol´mum ;-)was doing party somewhere else and had no time to get some flowers, so I met with Kai and Marie instead, and we did a tour of the Muttental. We came to Volker´s place, and I took some photos.

 This is Volker working with Pascal, who came by to have a go at some first blacksmithing experiences.

 Together they made a steel heart for Pascal´s mother. Every mum who visited the Bethaus that day, got a glass of Prosecco and a steel heart pendant.

 ...burning heart!*ggg*

 As usual, there were a load of kids having a go at blackmithing, and those were just the passers-by!

 ...pounding Pascal!

 Looking on and tech-talking...

 Master and apprentice...

 Those are Birgit and Renate, some more members of the staff, friendly people all!

Volker´s got some beeshives, too...

We had a delicious piece of cake, a big cuppa coffee, thought about our mums and then went on our merry way. Marie had a fit of arachnophobicphobia (fearing people who fear spiders*ggg*), and we talked a pile of rubbish, basked in the sun, and simply enjoyed the day.

Life is good!

New coffee recipe I tried out

Now, I admit it. Yes, I am an addict. I am addicted to good coffee. And I tried out a new recipe I rather like, and I thought I´d share it.... I took:

2 tablespoons of dark roast, coarsely ground coffee
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cardomom
1 knifetip pimento
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon chili
1 knifetip salt
1 tablespoon cocoa meal
6 cl whiskey
1 l water

Cook the coffee about 5 min. Add the other ingredients and let rest for 5 min. Pour through a sieve. You can also use a coffee filter in the first, then without cooking and with finer coffee meal. Add the whisky. Flavor with sugar or honey and / or milk to your liking. Sláinte!

A long and beautiful Saturday

 Last Saturday was a day of meeting many people. Around lunchtime I met with Gesa, Mark, Erik and Per from "Frija Fresenia", some of my oldest (and youngest;-))friends, who now live in the North of Germany and whom I only get to see ever so frequently. I once worked together with Mark, who is a mason. Hopefully he will provide me with some pics and articles about his trade, for he is working in restoration of ancient Friesian stone houses and uses many traditional techniques of the trade. And Gesa is a very close friend of mine for about 19 years now, and this licce sister of mine;-) and I went through many ups and downs. I wish her all the best, for there are some downs in her life currently. But as they have a very great family and a big love for each other, I think they can manjage anything, and it gives me hope for my own life also.  

This is Mark, and little Erik, the berzerk;-) who missed his little girlfriend and was not a bit amused that the adults talked and talked and drank coffee and did not drive him to his little girl;-), but normally, he is quite a nice boy, well - mannered and well -bred;-)...
Little Per, however, had little interest in the situation beyond the good food provided by his mummy-yummy!;-) We talked a lot, and made mischief with the kids, and it was a great meeting we shall repeat soon.

Then it was off to Kai´s place to meet with that mad bastard;-). Of course, he had parts of him broken again. He always has something broken when we meet. This time it wasn´t the neck, but a big brute stepped on his chest when playing basketball in school - so some broken ribs and a spinal trauma this time. I might sound rude, but I wish him only the best, and hope, he will be well soon. I have to admire the way he takes it... that bastard;-) seems to feel no pain. Anybody else would lie around in bed. Kai showed me his new belt grinder... mind you, he even bought it this time!  

 This is his new dirt forge he made from an old steel box. Fire cement and a pipe tuyère setup. He broke his toes, too, when it smashed down from the table, I forgot to mention, but he did not limp any. Strange guy.

 The opening of the forge...

 And on the other side another door to push loooong steel projects through... I look forward to see a sword by him...

 Of course, the exit ;-) can be sealed with this firebrick he cut to size.

 The pipe tuyère.

 And this is his possibles pouch he stitched to keep his leather working tools in.

 Then Kai, Marie and myself went to Levin´s place (Weideland.blogspot.com). Levin is a poet and likes Irish music a lot. We did some cooking together and had a ball. Quizzical question: What kind of music mind these weirdos like best...?*ggg*








I like cooking... you can use your knives and still be socially accepted;-). Nessie did a good job on the salmon filets;-).

Oh, what might that be....;-)

Physiognomics for newbies: What does a rectangular shape of ... erm... every body feature indicate;-)....??? Kai taking photos. I know this perspective is silly;-) but I like this kind of jokes...

 Marie sampling away all the cheese;-).

 Waiting for more cheese;-).

 It was pasta with salmon, tomatoes and a whole load of cheese and fresh basil... yumyum!

 Mind you, we even had a beer!*ggg*

 ...or two...*ggg*

 ...or three...*ggg*

 Levin presenting the food.. thanks again for the invitation, bro! Have to do that more frequently...;-).

 More food, more beer*ggg*.

 This is a drumstick Kai made for Levin. Oak.

 And what for? Levin played us the bodhrán a bit.

Talking shit (in German) and playing that drum...

we have to do a session soon!

 When I finally got home, I was full of good food and I really enjoyed this day. Good people, good friends, good food, and a beer or two or three... perfect.

Soulride on Sunday with the "Mockerockers" (muck rockers:-))

On Sunday I needed sort of a bit of regeneration. Stöffi und Duffy called and invited me to do a ride with teh "Mockerockers". Stöffi is a long-time all-out racer, whom I have known since she was a licce gurrrrrl (in fact, way back in history:-), I first rode with her dad, Uwe, who was a hardcore rider and laidback guy all the way back to the stone age:-)) and Duffy´s a former skateboarder. Both are very cool people, and I like them both a lot. We met at Möhre´s place. Möhre is a physiotherapist who only but recently took up mountainbike riding and enjoys it a lot. I was surprised to see a crowd of friendly people, some of which I have been somehow acquainted to for years, as Yvonne (the one with the grey/black jacket in the pic below), whom I know from

a very different occasion. Yvonne and Stöffi having a pre - ride chat. To the right is Duffy doing business:-) NOT;-).

We started with a relaxed uphill on the road. Everyone waited for each other, and the rookies gave friendly encouragement to the beginners. It was a very great atmosphere.

Leader of the pack´s Uwe, the one with the blue jersey. He rides for ages and certainly knows how to put the pedal to the metal, but he also enjoyed a relaxed and souly ride with the rookies. Great guy! He is a very skilled blacksmith, too who works for Railion logistics/DB /Schenker. It´s funny, but he´s a tutor of Kai´s, afriend of mine whom you might know through this blog, the mad bastard*ggg*.

The pack... 

 

...all smiling and having good-natured fun...:-)  We met Möhre´s parents in the woods, doing some jogging.

We stopped for a bit of a break, had some food and foraging:-) sloe and rose hips and.... APPLES*ggg*...

Uwzilla*ggg*.

Havin´fun on this chute, which actually was a bit steeper. But with some tutoring, all managed to ride it safely and enjoying it!

Lena shredding one of  her first downhills...

We then made for a secret freeride spot and had some half an hour of fun there. Great!

Stöffi´s brother puts the hammer down...

Yvonne and Stöffi...

Lena having a try at going progressive... and they all did well!

That´s what happens when you put a bike on a skateboarder...*ggg*

Möhre...

Stöffi...

Trying it out carefully...

And here´s a vid from that spot...

Then we rode home on the road. It was a great ride so far, but should get a fitting conclusion....

We stopped at Möhre´s place, and had a delicious round of coffee. I made sort of a presentation tutorial on doing  a bunny hop, which will be available in video form soon.
It was simply a nice day, and one of the greatest weekends for years, meeting with the greatest people there are, with great riding, great weather and all. Life is good like this...