ENGLISH in a nutshell: Germany now allows dual citizenship! Yay! Ab heute gilt das neue Staatsangehörigkeitsgesetz (StAG) für Deutschland. Das Staatsangehörigkeitsmodernisierungsgesetz (StARModG) wurde am 26. März 2024 erlassen, und es erneuert das StAG in drei wichtigen Punkten: Diese Modernisierung war dringend notwendig, vor allem für Menschen die schon lange in Deutschland leben, aber keine Deutsche […]

Für DEUSCH hier klickenIn Early March, we bought a beehive from a local bee-keeper and set it up on our little farm. Laura had been taking beekeeping classes with the local beekeeper’s club, and one of the members put up his three hives for sale because he was planning to move to a different state. […]

This is some drone footage from this morning and a previous December morning of our house, me feeding the horses and emus, and a fly-over of our property. Enjoy! Dieses Video habe ich heute Morgen und an einem früheren Dezembermorgen mit einer Drohne gefilmt. Es zeigt unser Haus, das Füttern der Pferde und Emus und […]

(Deutsch hier klicken) Once in a while, I like to take a trip back to the “old country” to visit friends and family. This year I traveled from Sept. 12 to Sept. 23. I flew into Frankfurt airport and picked up my rental car there – a brand-new BMW 220d. The car was really comfortable […]

Last Thursday, Julia participated in her first barista competition – the Thursday Night Latte Art Throwdown at Durham’s Cocoa Cinnamon, where she works as a barista. Great event – lots of creative energy in the room! Also very interesting to see some the Triangle’s masters of latte art in action. Painting with milk in coffee […]

Yesterday, July 14 at 11AM, Snoopy the goat passed away after a week of severe illness, despite our best efforts to cure her. She was born March 18, 2014 and she had lived with us since August 2014. Gestern, am 14. Juli um 11:00 Uhr starb unsere Ziege Snoopy. Vor einer Woche war sie plötzlich […]

On June 13th, Jacob graduated from Durham School of the Arts High School. Here he is … the fresh-baked graduate and the proud family! Am 13. Juni feierte Jacob seinen High School Abschluß von  der Durham School of the Arts. Hier ist der frischgebackenel Schulabgänger mit der stolzen Familie! The Durham School of the Arts […]

Saturday, we drove to Kittrel, NC, to pick up Patou. Here she is, this morning on her first day of training. She was born October 26 to a pure-bred Great Pyrenees dad and a mom who is half Great Pyr and half Akbash.  She was one of five pups for sale and with her slightly […]

Gestern habe ich wieder Quark gemacht! Hier in den Staaten is es fast unmöglich im Supermarkt quark zu finden. Zum Glück ist es aber super-einfach Quark selber zu kultivieren. Einfach Milch warm machen (30 Grad Celsius), Starterkultur hineinmischen und dann nach 24 Stunden mit einem Käsetuch die Molke abtropfen lassen. Fertig. Man kann ein paar […]

Last week we discovered mushrooms growing on a pile of horse manure out back. Laura identified the mushrooms as Coprinus comatus, or Shaggy Inky Caps, which are actually quite delicious, but have to be eaten immediately after harvested. So this morning I went out there and picked a bunch of mushrooms and fried them up […]

(Auf Deutsch hier)  Most of 2016 unfolded more or less quietly for us with some new beginnings, changed expectations and gradual growth and adjustments. Laura settled into a new job, Julia’s journey took some unforeseen twists and turns, Jacob is just growth all around :-) and I experimented a bit with changing my diet and […]

Last week, I finished the expansion and remodel of the hay storage shed. I rebuilt the floor and doubled the storage area, so we can now store two 900-pound hay bales. I can use a come-along to ratchet up the floor on the right side, so the second bale flips into place when the front […]

Stay strong, Berlin. Stay crazy.

In Germany, on certain holidays, public dancing is banned. The State of Baden-Württemberg has one of the strictest anti-dancing laws: no dancing on Sunday from 3 -11 AM plus a long list of public, religious holidays. Now the State government has decided to loosen the rules and allow public dancing on Sundays, New Year’s day, […]

Fascinating video footage of our sun. On July 19, 2012, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory’s AIA instrument captured these images of an eruption on the sun’s surface over the course of 22 hours. Faszinierende Aufnahmen einer Sonneneruption vom 19. July 2012. Über 22 Stunden hat NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory’s AIA instrument diese Aufnahmen im Ultravioletbereich des […]

Our driveway on a crisp, sunny evening in November. Unsere Einfahrt an einem sonnigen Novemberabend. Julia and Cleo getting ready to ride out. Julia und Cleo bereiten sich auf einen Ausritt vor.

(DEUTSCH) Last weekend was super busy and fun. Saturday, Laura and I went to a Bar Mitzvah – or rather a B’nai Mizvah (plural) for the twin boys of one of the professors I work for. We attended the service in the morning, and then returned for the party in the evening. Great fun! Sunday, […]

Germany wins the U20 Women’s Soccer Worldcup! Deutschland’s U20 Auswahl der Frauen hat in Kanada die Auswahl Nigeria’s knapp besiegt und damit den dritten großen internationalen Titel dieses Jahres für den deutschen Fußball ergattert! Super Leistung!    

Another Championship! Germany’s U19 Mannschaft is UEFA Champion! They defeated Portugal’s U19 team 1:0 today in Hungary in the final. Fortsetzung! Die deutsche U19 Nationalmannschaft ist Europameister! Die Jungs haben heute Portugal im Finale in Ungarn 1:0 geschlagen. Ganz tolle Leistung!