Sepia Saturday; Memories; The Eugster's-Bischoff's

Gertrud Martina was my godmother. She was the wife of my father's brother Erwin. They had a small holding.The summer month they spend in the Swiss alps with the cows and made excellent butter and cheese. Her parents lived with them in the same farm house, like it was custom then.

Her parents name was Bischoff, as a child I thought he was a Bishop! It is a very old pre Christian and interesting name of Greek origin. If you are interested here is the link

Gertrud Martina, preferred to work outside on the farm. We visited often and helped also with the hay making. On Sunday she cooked always a beautiful meal which we ate in the living room. In the middle of the big kitchen was a table and benches but on Sunday we ate in the living room.

She was plagued with a big goitre but later it was removed.

Two of her children, my cousins. Erwin and his sister Erna. this picture was probably taken by my mother in 1944. Erna was a beautiful girl. She had these amazing big grey eyes and dark eyelashes. The house in front was the farm house. Nobody lived in the house at the back. All the rooms were empty, in a odd way it was a bit eerie. We used to play in there and I liked it very much running up and down the wooden stairs.

I have very fond memories of those people, especially my uncle Erwin he was a very kind and nice man.

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Rainy days...

After the rain the garden looks so fresh and green. The plants have soaked up all the moisture possible. Leaves quivering to catch all the raindrops. In the sun they glitter like diamonds, luminous and shiny on leaves, flowers and branches. Everything grows double as quick. The big, red leaves of a philodendron scrambling up a tree tremble with all the moisture.

The garden is densely planted, when it rains it resembles a rain forest with a big variety of plants, in many shapes, sizes and wonderful patterns and colours.

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Rain is grace; rain is the sky condescending to the earth; without rain, there would be no life.

John Updike

The Rain

I hear leaves drinking rain;

I hear rich leaves on top

Giving the poor beneath

Drop after drop;

'Tis a sweet noise to hear

These green leaves drinking near.

William Henry Davis

Life is like this: sometimes sun, sometimes rain.~ Fijian Proverb

The Rain

All night the sound had

come back again,

and again falls

this quite, persistent rain.

Robert Creeley

All Photos from my garden, please click;

Sepia Saturday; Summer 1934

My aunt Helena called Tante Leni and Thomas her husband to be. Bathing in the river Drau, summer 1934. Helene was born 1911 and Thomas 1907. They married in 1936. They already had a daughter born 1930.

It was common in Austria to have children out of wedlock. My mother did not but both my aunts

have born children before they got married.

My great grand mother had both her daughters out of wedlock, my grand mother Franziska Aloisia and an other daughter Helena.She did not have more children. My grandmother also had some of her children out of wedlock.

1934; the taller boy Richard was the youngest child in my mother's family. He was born 1922.

He is now 88 years old and the last alive of my mothers siblings. His mother died at is birth.

The cheerful little fellow Seppel was born 1927. He is the son of my mothers older sister Viktoria

called Tante Dora.

I am not sure who took the pictures, probably my mother who was always taking photos.

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Sepia Saturday; Hunt;

The man on the right standing against the tree is my father.

He always liked to be out in nature. He worked for a few municipalities as a forester; he had to check the woods what to plant and which trees to harvest for the sawmills. He liked this job very much. He had learned a different profession because his uncle owned a shop and he was supposed to work there. He hated it and went a different way. I guess this was probably in the 1930's.

Hunting with some friends. My father is the one smiling behind the sitting man's head. It was not free just to shoot anything. One needed a licence. It was not allowed to kill a female animal. It was also regulated how many animals were to be culled. It provided much needed protein for many families through the cold winters.

At least the animals led a decent and free life in the mountains; not like the farmed cattle in those terrible feedlots like they exist today; where they are injected with hormones, antibiotics and other nasties and lead a pitiful life until they are killed.

As long as I can remember my father had his 10 days of hunting. As older he got as less he wanted to shoot the animals, mostly he came home without shooting anything. He just wanted to be in the mountains and watch the animals. He did not join his friends anymore for the hunt he wanted to be alone.

This was my godmother's husband; he had many children and they all had very fancy names.

His eldest daughter was named Shirlee, after the baby film star Shirlee Temple. Anyway at the baptism the catholic priest said, Shirlee was not a "Christian" name and she had to be renamed "Sirna". We always called her Shirlee!

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Sepia Saturday; being silly...

First the Torero and then...

...dancing the Flamenco!

I do not think such silly pictures are still taken in Spain! This must have been in the fifties.

Gosh, we didn't know each other then!

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Sepia Saturday; Are they family?

Unfortunately there is no date nor names on the back of this photograph.

I am pretty sure the old lady on the right is my grandmother. In the middle beside her is my father. I haven't got a clue who the others are. It looks like a family photo does it not?

I have tried to figure it out but it does not add up with the ages of the people, unless I am guessing the wrong ages.

My dad was born 1903.

My grandmother was born 1869.

Or could this be my great grandmother born 1841. My grandmother had four children. Could it be her holding her last baby born 1908 ?

The pretty girl standing could be her eldest daughter born 1898.

The little boy with the sailor suit could be my father, 6 years old and his younger brother 4 years old.

The picture could have been taken in summer 1909, the last baby girl on the arm of her mother was born in June 1908.

I rather think the other people might be the children from a sister or brother of my grandmother,perhaps! I probably will never find out.

Please click the picture.

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Chocolate chip c(h)ookies...

Last week Fabrizia could not attend school as she had the German Measels. She spend a couple of days with me. We decided to bake cookies, old favourites which we called Chocolate chip chookies.

Try them and have fun with your grand children.