I realise in horror that it has been more than a month that I posted here. I meant to write several times but then there was always something that came up. There is no excuse.

There are so many news, I am sure, I am forgetting a lot: my youngest cousin is pregnant, my other cousin will be marrying again. Her partner proposed to her on the beach in Denmark at sundown, the romantic.

Mini was sailing in the Netherlands with her class. It's her last year of school. Now she could either do an apprenticeship and start working or (which is what she decided) go to a following school which would qualify her for university. Of course it will be art related. And after finishing the school she can only study subjects related to that. For example graphic design or something with commercials and many more. It will involve some internships. I will contact someone I know who worked at a museum restaurating art. Maybe she has some advice.


Only 3 months now and then we will have the new book! I am so excited!

I was always wondering why we never heard from Fitz again after Ghost Story. I thought, he would be interesting. And just think about his ability to hear dead people after the Battle of Chicago. Poor kid. He would go crazy without Harry's help.

Or the young warlock Harry met in Zoo Day. Aiden? Or something other with A.
Edit: Austin! I think it was Austin.

I don't think it will be Faith Astor, because I already casted her as Kumori, lol.

There is a date now: May 12 ,2026

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/out-law-jim-butcher/1148099903?ean=9798347030026#

In a city that’s just beginning to recover from the devastation caused by the Battle of Chicago, Harry Dresden is finally pulling himself together as well. He’s ensconced in his own personal castle, healing his various wounds, and training an eager new apprentice. The last thing he wants is any trouble. But, as history has consistently—and quite annoyingly—shown, what Harry wants is rarely what Harry gets.

It starts with a visit from Harry’s most powerful frenemy, Gentleman John Marcone, Baron of Chicago. He needs Harry to assist in the redemption of an underling who’s looking to go straight. And since Harry does kinda sorta owe Marcone for saving his life once (stupid honorable debt!), it’s not a request he can refuse. He’ll just wish he had.

Because this little favor is going to drag Harry into a fight he doesn’t want on behalf of a lowlife he doesn’t trust against an enemy more powerful and pestilent than he ever could’ve expected: an insatiable, demonic foe whom Harry himself may have created when he wiped out the vampires of the Red Court so long ago.

Before, all it wanted was blood. Now it wants the entire world ...

So after 12 months or during 12 months.
It has Marcone, and deals with an upto date unknown "demonic foe" Harry might have created by destroying the Rampires.
And the new apprentice is mentioned.

I am glad you liked them 

I am glad you are safe home and that you and your family had a good time. What you told us about the beach sounds so fun in a relaxing, cool way. I am sure there was a very pretty landscape too. Thanks for sharing that, I had not heard about the Dinosaur Coast.

I didn't know before, too. I found it on Google Maps , when I was looking for a place to visit on our way back from the Needles at the west coast. We had one day on the island. To be honest, I just knew that the island was supposed to be beautiful and that there were those cool rocks that look like needles in the west. I didn't know before that apparently there are a lot of fossils to be found. It seemed like every second village has some sort of dinosaur themed something. I guess it is because of the rock formations and what kind of rocks there are. One can see all the different layers. I really like places like that. It is similar at the Atlantic coast of France, though the rocks were a bit different there. Less chalky.
There would have been so much to visit, one can't put everything in one day. One can put a lot in one day, but this wouldn't be fun any more then. So, for both Cornwall and the Isle of Wight I just planned for one location to visit. And then let's see what else is on the way and if we still have energy for something new. I left out a lot of things I wanted to see. But there were some must see locations and we did all of those.
And as we did not manage to get tickets in time for the Harry Potter studios, we will do that maybe this year in autumn or next year in spring.
But we managed to get into Madame Tussaud's. I've been there at the age of 15 with a friend and a group of fellow teenagers. And I knew, it would be fun for my kids, too. Also there is a bunch of new stuff I wanted to see. And LOL, I think the Terminator is still the same as it was 30 years ago.

Hi, weird!

Fcrate, I love your hedgehog story and of course one would name a hedgehog Sonic, lol.
And I am sure you are a great teacher. In my opinion neither just memorisation nor understanding works on its own. The best method of teaching lies in the middle. A mixture of memorisation and understanding.This is so that all the children can learn it. Those who don't understand yet still get the knowledge through memorisation and those who understand get the knowledge programmed into their brains for later use.
There is a difference in how the kids learn these days in Germany than how my generation learned. Nowadays they are more about understanding. But they don't do memorisation any more. So you have the result that some kids memorise for themselves and some don't, because they were not told to do this. Then you have those who understand but can't remember what it was they understood. And you have those who still don't understand and don't memorise either. Those are left behind.
Neither is best on its own, but do it both and there will be less children left behind.
For example, in elementary school, they never learned their multiplication tables. The teachers told them that they should learn it but it was never tested. The teachers just assumed that's just knowledge now.
It is great that they understand how the numbers work, but Mini still doesn't know what 6 multiplied with 7 is if I asked her. Or Micro doesn't understand that if she can't remember what 7 multiplied with 9 is, she can just multiply with 10 and go from there. And that the same rules apply to higher numbers. Even though they were told why it works. I am glad that at least Micro has a good memory, so she did the memorisation technique. So she can at least multiply using the table in her brain.


Yesterday we visited the ruins of Tintagel Castle and Merlin's Cave. Very beautiful, great day. I drove the rented car. I have driven on the wrong side before , but this was almost two decades ago. So far, the car is still alive and undamaged. We only got honked at in London, but who in their right mind would drive in a city like London? Or Paris. Or any big city. We just had to because the rental agency was there.

We will return home the day after tomorrow.

LOL the beetles! Sorry for the confusion. 

There was never as much snow as in The Eternauta in the city. In July 9, 2007, we had a little snow, most of it melted as soon as it touched the grown.

fascinating. Then this was even more disturbing.
During the heat wave the cats sometimes liked food directly from the refrigerador. And they were often lying in the cool basement.
Now it has 16-18°C and we are cold, lol. Also it is raining a lot. This is also normal for summer. The sudden drastic change in temperature from one day to another. I think in a week or two the heat will return. And then at the end of August, you'll look outside and suddenly it is autumn.

My mother has cardiac insufficiency and is better now,  but not well. She says she is well, but she still has problems with her blood pressure. It changes a lot from high to low. I hope her GP will be able to get her an earlier appointment with the cardiologist. Her medication needs to be adjusted by a specialist. I think her dose of beta blockers is too high.

And now I am transforming Micro's childrens' room into a teenager's room. To say I am almost done would be exaggerated, but one can definitely see progress. Maybe the little neighbour girl would like some toys and books, too. I plan to keep the special stuff for future grandchildren, lol. Like the best books, all the Lego, and some dolls. And of course the matchbox cars. I loved my matchbox cars and my husband loved his. Now we get them back.

I also have some beetles of different colours (two of them blue), but they have always been in the living room, lol. The kids were allowed to play with them under the condition that they are returned to their place on the shelf when they are done.
There is also a scull on this shelf.

@Dina: Happy birthday to your hubby!
I hope the cake will be delicious.

We finished our leftovers yesterday.
The whole weekend felt like an orgy. I can't remember when I stuffed myself like that the last time. It was also our wedding day yesterday and my husband and I went to a sushi restaurant. After that we just rolled ourselves to the sofa and stayed there until bedtime, lol. So, today I need to do something for my body. It will be some gymnastics, maybe some biking of the weather holds and then I promised Micro to help her with her room. Almost all toys out so that she will have the space for a new bed. The old bed will go to our new neighbours.