I am not old, am I?

It is summer in Germany! Well, at least it was summer last weekend and ... on Monday! With 30 degrees Celsius it felt more like a day in August than in April. And this was very strange, because I am pretty sure it was still April. And I have to know it, Monday was my birthday! And it was great. On Saturday night I met Dave at a highway rest stop to guide him to my house. He has been there before, but this time it was the first time he went there by car. He will spend this whole week in Essen and so does Amber, his dog. The two took the Ferry from Harwich in England to Hoek of Holland in .... Holland. First we met with Senta on a neutral field. Well, the first moment didn't go very well. Both dogs were barking and got into a little fight. Mainly because Senta saw me, wanted to run to me and then Amber had the idea of defending me. But after a few minutes everything was ok and they also accept each other in my house!

As mentioned at the beginning, the weekend was unusual warm. We even took a short bath in my pool, but this really was a short one since the water is still a little bit chilly.
I took Monday off. I always take my birthday off. Dave, Amber and I went to a nice area with a forest and a lake where we went for a hike and Amber was able to swim a little bit. It was very relaxing. We also went out for dinner and actually were able to sit outside while having pizza at a very good Italian restaurant.

Unfortunately I was not able to take the whole week off. So now Dave has to find things to do by himself. I feel a little bit guilty for that, but I can't change it. The weather is still nice and very sunny, but the temperatures are back to normal again (maybe 18 C). Let's see, what else happened. Oh, Dave bought inline skates (rollerblades or whatever you call these shoes on 4 rolls). He wanted to try them yesterday and I took him to Lake Baldeney, a very popular lake for bikers, hikers and skaters. And I made him go around the whole lake! He was very brave ;o) and therefore we went out for Sushi after that. Yes, we found this great Sushi restaurant in Essen. I looked it up at the internet before and now we finally visited it. And we will come there again.

The next days will be filled with working in the back yard and cleaning up for my little birthday party next Saturday. I also want to prepare some cakes. But I have some help, which is good. As always, time goes by so quickly. Hope this kept you updated a little bit. Keep on reading!