Silent Sunday

I Do.

It was two years and two days ago, when we stood there, Herr Welle and me.

The only thing I was not happy with that day was that
I had forgotten to tell the caterer not to place
any hideous figure on top of the wedding cake.
So I guess the day was pretty much perfect.

One could think that we would have had some sort of celebration on Tuesday.
Instead, we ate lasagna. Home. Separately.

No, it wasn't because we didn't feel like celebrating. But Herr Welle had a long day in the office and I was babysitting Fräulein's friend that afternoon. In the evening, we quickly made some dinner and took Fräulein to bed.

Lately, it has taken veeeryyy long for Fräulein to fall asleep. So, Herr Welle had his dinner first, then he continued as Fräulein's company and it was my turn to eat.

By the time I had eaten, it was 11pm. And both Fräulein and Herr Welle were asleep.

I love this photo.
Unfortunately Herr Welle had his eyes closed
(and a sack over his head),
so we weren't able to use it as our official wedding photo.

Tomorrow we will get visitors from Finland, so hopefully Herr Welle and I can sneak out during the weekend to celebrate the anniversary properly.
Yes, I do want to celebrate.


*****
Tiistaina oli kaksivuotishääpäivämme. Juhliminen jäi olemattomaksi, sillä ilta kului Fräuleinin nukkumaanlaittopuuhissa. 
Mutta huomenna saamme Suomi-vieraita, joten toivottavasti pääsemme juhlistamaan päivää jälkikäteen.

Mixed Feelings

A couple of months ago, there was a big debate in the Finnish media about children's daycare. Apparently, there were parents who took their kids to daycare even when they were on vacation themselves.

I can totally understand the anger this has raised. Why to have children, if you don't like spending time with them?

But now I have started to think, if I am going to do something similar.

I have found a wonderful Tagesmutter (childminder) for Fräulein. We are planning to take Fräulein to this Tagesmutter two mornings and one afternoon per week, ten to fifteen hours per week in total.

The main reason for this is that, we would like Fräulein to learn German, and the younger she starts the easier it should be. I would also like her to learn how to interact with other kids.

Fräulein playing with a friend after the Finnish music group last autumn.

But I must admit, I have also more selfish reasons. Herr Welle works long hours and travels a lot. On weekdays, I cannot really count on him taking care of Fräulein, so that I could have some time for myself. I would really appreciate a few hours to run any errands, have appointments, or just simply enjoy a cup of coffee in peace.

So, am I actually as bad as the parents, who take their kids to daycare on holidays?

I have tried to reason this and have come to the conclusion that I'm not. But even when I feel relieved and happy about this new arrangement, I cannot help feeling a bit ashamed in taking my daughter to daycare, although my "job" is to be a Hausfrau...

We just had the first 'orientation day' today. I'll keep you posted.

******
Joku aika sitten Suomessa kohuttiin perheistä, jotka vievät lapsensa päiväkotiin oman lomasa aikana. Mielestäni se on väärin, mutta nyt minua on alkanut mietityttämään, olenko tekemässä jotain samanlaista. 
Olen nimittäin löytänyt tytölle Tagesmutterin (perhepäivähoitajan), jonka luo Fräuleinin on tarkoitus mennä muutamaksi tunniksi kolmena päivänä viikossa. Tärkeimpiä syitä ovat, että tyttö oppisi saksaa ja kommunikoimaan toisten lasten kanssa. Mutta voin kyllä tunnustaa, että yhtenä etuna on, että näin saan itse arkisin vähän "vapaa-aikaa".
Tänään oli ensimmäinen "sopeutumispäivä". Palaan aiheeseen myöhemmin.

Hausfrau's Lonely Lunch

Herr Welle has been traveling on business since Wednesday. And right now he is enjoying Tallinn with his friends.

So, this means that I've been home alone with Fräulein for a few days.

I must admit that I'm quite lazy when it comes to shopping for groceries. We usually go shopping on Saturday and buy food for several days. During the work week, I might pop into a store with Fräulein if we happen to be close by, or Herr Welle does some shopping on his way from work (our local Rewe is open until 10pm...).

But this week I haven't passed by a grocery store and our fridge has become quite empty. But like a good Hausfrau, I always have some ingredients there for a quick lunch (hey, don't laugh!).

I'm a bit embarrassed to show you this, as so many blogs are full of great recipes for wonderful dishes. But, anyway, here is what I made for lunch today.

The spring onions had definitely seen their best days,
but I was lucky to save some fresh parts.

Frying the onions and some ham.

Adding some eggs, cheese, milk and black pepper.

Better than frozen Flammkuchen!
An unrelated question: why don't they sell ice tea in Finland?

*****
Herr Welle on ollut reissussa keskiviikosta asti, joten jääkaappimme alkaa olla aika tyhjä. Onneksi sain vielä taiottua sieltä lounasaineet.
Mutta miksi Suomesta ei saa jääteetä? Ainakaan isoissa pulloissa.

A Coffee Complaint

I need my cup of coffee (or four) every morning.
I actually think that the German coffee tastes better than Finnish coffee.

But in those mornings, when I need to open a new coffee package, I wonder, why don't some good practices spread from one one civilized country to another*.

The Finnish coffee package:

A new vacuum package

You just pull the two sides apart...

...and you are done. 

Afterwards, you can close the package with the tape attached.

The German coffee package:

A new vacuum package

Pull off the top part.

Cut off the corners.

Try your best not to spread the coffee all over the place
when cutting open the package.

Move the coffee to a jar,
as it is impossible to close the package.

See what I mean?

*) Disclaimer: no one has encouraged me to write this post,  even if my background may suggest so... ;)


******
Yksi isoimmista asioista, mitä kaipaan Suomesta, on helposti avattavat kahvipaketit!
Vaikka tämä voi jonkun mielestä olla vähän epäilyttävä aihe, voin vakuuttaa, ettei tätä kirjoitusta ole sponsoroitu ;)

Two Blogging Steps Forward

Yes, I finally did it: Frau Welle is now on Facebook!

As so many bloggers who I follow have recently found their way to Facebook, I thought it was about the time for me to do that as well.

You can find my page *here* or by clicking the 'fb' symbol on the left, under 'Follow Frau Welle'.

Please, 'like' me in Facebook, and you'll get the updates of my new blog posts!

Fräulein tends to get a bit frustrated,
when her new 'friends', the Teletubbies, do not accept her hairpin...

And the other step? As you might have noticed from my last blog post, I will write a short summary of my posts in Finnish from now on. Although I am sure that all my Finnish followers are able to read English, I thought I would make it a bit easier for them to just briefly check what I'm writing about.

Maybe some day I'll be able to add a German summary as well...

*****
Frau Wellellä on nyt oma Facebook-sivu - löydät sen klikkaamalla tästä tai tämän sivun vasemmassa laidassa olevaa fb-symbolia. "Tykkäämällä" sivusta saat kätevästi tiedot uusista blogikirjoituksistani.
Ja kuten tästäkin käy ilmi, aion jatkossa kirjoittaa tällaisen pienen tiivistelmän suomeksi jutun loppuun. Eli tervetuloa lueskelemaan!

Quiz Time

What two things Fräulein has in common with the winner of yesterday's Formula 1 race?

Please, leave your answers as comments. You'll be surprised how great the prizes are! ;)

Photo from here

******
Eli mitä yhteistä Fräuleinilla on eilisen formulavoittajan kanssa? 
Yksi asia tulee varmasti suomalaisille helposti mieleen, mutta keksitkö toisen?
Jätä vastauksesi kommentteihin. Luvassa mahtavat palkinnot - tai sitten ei...

Silent Sunday

Playground Review Part 2 - Wiesbaden Mitte

Now that the days are longer, it seems to be a good time for my second review of playgrounds in Wiesbaden. As you can see from the pictures, I've been gathering the material for a couple of months...

This time I'll take a look at the playgrounds downtown. Like in Part 1, I'll consider the playgrounds from the perspective of a one-year-old child and give them up to five cookies based on the equipments and surroundings.

KOCHBRUNNENPLATZ   

The playground at Kochbrunnenplatz is very conveniently located, but also very crowded. Thus it is not the best playground for small children.

Sunday afternoon rush

The equipment of the playground:

- Roundabout
- Sandpit
- Spring rider
- There has also been a swing, but last time we visited this playground, it was taken out for some reason.

- Junglegym with slide for older children

KLEINER KURPARK (Frankfurter Straße)    

A nice and cozy playground for small children.

- Jungle gym made of robes (a bit too demanding for a one-year-old)

- Sandpit
- Swing suitable also for small children

- Roundabout

BLUMENWIESE (Parkstraße, Kurpark)   

This playground is also cozy and quiet, but the equipments are not the best for a small child.

- Jungle gym, which is very demanding, with
- Slide, which has a very high drop at the end of it

- Slide, which is so wide that small children cannot reach the handles

- Sand
- Two swings
- Spring rider

BÜDINGENSTRAßE   

If this playground would have either a baby swing or a roundabout in addition to the current equipment, we would definitely visit it more often.

- Swings

- Jungle gym
- Spring riders

- Two slides

ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL   

- Baby swing, this was actually the first playground in Wiesbaden, where we found one!
(Since then, I have found one from the Fasanerie as well.)

- I'm not sure what to call these things shown in the picture below, but they were nice for a small child anyway

- Jungle gym made of robes

- A lot of benches, which Fräulein loves

- Roundabout; if only this had been suitable for small children, this playground would have received five cookies from us!