the north sea today
tide coming in … but no water to see. looked like a moonscape. we came there to gather algae. worked hard to get a few handfull … mixed with lots of mud (filled up our b12 reserves 
). ice cold hand & feet but lots of fun, wonderful fresh air & an afternoon to remember! & what a yummy dinner tonight
we took part in elke‘s rawfood (urkost) camp in reichenbach (near kassel). 3 days full of sun, wonderful interesting like-minded people of all ages. we enjoyed staying outdoor almost all day (due to the wasps we preferred to eat indoor), hiking in the forest, swimming in a wonderful lake, dancing, talking about natural living, gardening, living in the tropes, love. i had to leave earlier so i missed the landart group i wanted to share in. all the same i really enjoyed the days to the full & i am so happy & grateful for the people i got to know, & for the inspiration.
cockaigne ... abundant sunripened cherries ... can't think of anything more delicious!
i really enjoyed this weekend: sun, friendship, talks, inspiration …
finally … our weekend trip to london. planned for months (remember?) and somehow forgotten between all these spontaneous trips.
two and a half days in this large, exciting city. fascinating. exhausting, too. running around all day, with a bagpack filled with food, most of the time also carrying 4yr old m. the weather was great, sunny & warm . our hostel (booked online, via hostelworld.com) was … well, kind of a fleabag. but we are flexible … the kids called it ‘home’ for two days 
a flight with the london eye … j’s wish. great view but nevertheless disappointing for all the three of us.
 |
 |
 |
watching the horse guards in front of the buckingham palace … this was for horse-loving m. we were late & therefore missed the change of the guards but luckily there was a parade in front of the palace.
a visit at the dali universe … my idea & i was thrilled! we all had fun there! gonna write more about this later …
what else? walking walking walking … the embankment, big ben, westminster, st james park, piccadilly, soho, chinatown. the tube. night flight back home … watching the sundown from somewhere above the clouds …
i have just booked flights to malta this sunday! we are going there to see a house we possibly could live in for one or two years. on gozo, the second largest island of malta. … yes, this is a totally new plan, which has been coming up very spontaneously. i am so excited!
i don’t know how i should live without internet. not only that most of my work is based upon it. i also handle almost everything via web or email. organizing, research, getting information, networking. and because my friends are too far away to see them as often as i’d like to i use emails and the web to stay in contact & to share in our lifes one another.
so what was really hard during our last visit to england: we did not have internet access. i have a surfstick to connect to the net via mobile telephone system but the radio signal in our house was too low.
good luck we found a cafe/gallery in newport, the quay arts centre, with a free wi-fi hotspot. even better, they also have an old imac where my little one could play while i was answering my emails and so on. we went there every other day
i like the landscape in south england – the hilly landscape right besides the coast & the sea! 
does anybody know this? smells marvelous!
view to the mainland (portsmouth)
the beach beneath the coast path. sandown.
our really(!) small house near sandown:
the blue one at the end of the road ...
behind the house there is an idle peace of land – we called it our “nettle paradise”. stinging nettles in abundance, and also a bit of chickweed. it is only a few metres to the coast path, a few minutes to walk to the beach. every day we made a walk along the coast path, most days ending at the beach, enjoying the sun, playing with sand, water, stones, eating fresh algae … 
on the afternoons, we made excursions … played miniature golf, visited “horse country” in binstead: stables, ponies to ride, piglets & donkeys & a small museum.
besides the blacksmith' workshop ... lots of luck!
the isle of wight is small, only 27 miles maximum width. it is hilly & the streets are narrow & winding so one better does not drive too fast. this was my first time driving on the left … required a bit more concentration the first two days but then it was really easy-peasy. thanks to lisa (my navigation system) … she was a great relief! & i love the roundabouts they have there … many! always offering the chance to turn around
we are back in hamburg for some days now … actually i intended to blog our journey while we were on the way but unfortunately we did not have internet connection most of the time. so here are some impressions of our journey for you:
we started on thursday, 2nd april, with our borrowed vw-bus.
our baggage
we had to put our sleeping bags etc between the seats
first night, in margarete's house in appelhülsen
empty & no heating - it was quite cold the two days we stayed there. but with a garden full of yummy greens.
on saturday we continued our trip – started at 7am, to oostend (belgium), the ferry to ramsgate, went on to portsmouth, another ferry brought us to fishbourne on the isle of wight where we arrived at about 11pm.
to be continued …
on thursday, we are going to start our trip to england. today i finally managed to install my great new macbook pro * * … now i am ready to go, taking my office along. lots of toys and funny devices … the macbook, a surfstick to connect to the internet, charged my ipod with games for my son, radio plays and video podcasts for my daughter and some music for me. do we need anything more??? oh yes, there are some crates standing by: oranges, avocados, papayas … i don’t know where we are going to sleep there, but at least we won’t starve & won’t be bored
