Meeting our Katzenbaby

T1 with her soon-to-be new "sister"

Ever since we lost Felix (the cat we brought with us to Germany), we have been a cat-less family.

This has been the longest that I have been without a cat since I turned 5 and got my first. We have been putting off finding a new family member for several reasons:

• it's so easy to travel spontaneously without pets!
• my in-laws don't like pets, so visiting them becomes more problematic
• we visit the US for weeks at a time, make a petsitter necessary, expensive, and worrying
• we are never certain how long we will be here, in this apartment, city, state, country
• adopting a pet as an expat family in Germany is actually quite onerous and adopting is really quite expensive.

All these combined to leave us pet-less for almost 4 years by now. And it's been too long.

When we visited Grünewoche this year, we once again visited the cat section (and were disappointed at how small it was compared to last year). But this time, I visited with the desire to actually look at and compare different cat breeds: I have never had a pedigreed pet before, always adoping from animal shelters, kitten give-aways, or feral animals on my property (as Felix).

Because this time, since no kitten is at my door, I decided to actually choose a breed and a kitten for the pet that will share my life for the next 15-20 years. We chose a Somali, which is basically a long-haired Abyssinian. The type is ruddy: to me, little Feuerflamme (tentative name) looks exactly like a cartoon-cute fox. She is absolutely charming. I did a lot of (internet) looking around and exploring, both here and in the US, and FF's dam and sire were, to me, utterly charming exemplars of the breed and type that I wanted. So we are waiting until she is old enough to take home and the children are looking at pictures of her as she grows and counting down the days.

Visiting Onkle H

The children talk constantly about visiting Onkel H when we leave them for a few days with Oma and Opa, and who can blame them? Onkel H and Tante U have a pony, with a foal. Sheep, with lots of little schäffchen. Special geese, white and mated, homing pigeons and piglets and chickens, whose eggs one can collect.

So, on our visit to Oma and Opa, we took a run over, our first. We were just amazed at how one can have a real smallholding right in the middle of a village. A charming house, that they built a few years after getting married (so some 30 years ago), with an open kitchen, high ceilings and lots and lots of glass and windows (or the exact opposite of my in-laws' house, which was built around the same time), rather on a chalet model, I guess. Very airy and comfortable. And then small outbuildings and barns and fields, all secret and hidden behind a housefront which looks like any other suburban building!

Onkel H retired (as a family doctor) over several years, and after doing some consulting to his practice (which his son and daughter-in-law have taken over as Dr and nurse), he is spending more time with his enkelkinder and animals, as well as doing some traveling and lots of biking (he is incredibly fast on his mountain bike).

Both the girls gathered eggs and petted lambs and brushed the horses and then did a bit of riding. The German thought it would be fun to put the girls on the pony together, bareback, and so they were simultaneously bucked off. (No picture- I was running toward them.) That was not fun for either of them, but especially not for T2. Above you see T2 being soothed into remounting (we didn't want her to stay afraid of riding, since she is still interested in taking lessons next year)--- afterwards, we made a daisy coronet (below)and she felt much better. T1 is actually standing on the pony after being bucked off--- I'm not certain if she just loves ponies more (it may be) or if her fall was cushioned by T2!

Walking through Soest

Soest is a charming town, not far from my in-laws'.

We took the opportunity to let the children play with Oma and Opa and just took a walk along the city wall (still extant, with a running trail) and look at the trees in bloom: enjoying the medieval remains.

We also stopped at our favorite Eisladen, the Venezia, where we had coffees. The German wondered why his cost a bit more than mine: I pointed out that his had a Schlag, or a measure of alcohol, in it. (He had thought that he was ordering a cinnamon coffee but it was actually with cinnamon Schnapps.) About 85% of the coffee and hot chocolates (and ice cream confections) had alcohol in them— the menu made me laugh,a nd think how typical of Germany that is.

Rapunzel, Thinking

T2 Rapunzel Snow White LN1 LN2

What should I do next?

What I am Reading: March 2012

This month will be quite light on reading: even though I spent quite a bit of time flying and relaxing, I spent most of that time either watching movies or reading my way through the 5 pounds of magazines I took with me (and left behind like Hansel and Gretel's trail). I had a month's worth of magazines waiting for me (Businessweek, Economist, Money, Newsweek, Time usw.), so my load wasn't much lighter (although more current) on the way back.

1. Blood (9/2011) by K.J. Wignall: (Book one of the Mercian Trilogy) Making my way through ARCs, I pulled this one. An interesting cover (in ARC form) of white with splattered blood and raised black print. The protagonist is William of Mercer, changed at 16 to what he calls" the undead", for lack of a better term. For 750 years, he has not known why or who changed him, only that it took place at the time of the burning of seven women accused of witchcraft. Only later does he realize that the "witchcraft" was almost certainly due to the actions of whatever made him what he now is. William sleeps and wakes for long periods of time, but when he wakes now: things are different. He discovers people with knowledge and foreknowledge of him and connections to those who are responsible for him. He meets a girl who seems fated to b e part of his future and strands weave William and Eloise and others together- all pointing toward his ancestral home, where a boarding school is now sited. I thought this would be gorier than it was, which explains (I think) why they changed the cover to a more decorative., ornate (and bloodless- wait, that was the UK cover, the US had bare chest and blood) one and now I am, on the one hand, sorry that I put off reading it and on the other hand, glad that I did because it means that I have less time to wait until the next installment, Alchemy, is published this year.
   
2. Ashes by Ilsa J. Blick (Sep 2011): THis is an ARC that seemed to be yet another of the zombie books that are the new (-ish) rage and it dropped to the bottom of my TBR pile. But as I was flipping through my pile, trying to decide what I wante dto read and what I didn't, this caught my interest. I have always been a lover of after the apocolypse stories. Since Nevil Schute's On the Beach (oh my heavens, was I a depressed child after that), Pat Frank's Alas, Babylon (fabulous book), King's The Stand (although the religious nonsense damaged the book), and many others. This book, rather than being silly, actually falls within the genre. There is a war. Of some kind. And massive EMPs that destroy all electronics and either kill one immediately (the middle-aged), change one (into what is a form of zombie- young people) or leave one alone (the old): based primarily on age. But there are a few who are either unaffected by what normally happened to their age groups or positively impacted (Alzheimer's patients wake up improved and active). The protagonist, teen-ager Alex, was dying from a brain tumor when it happened. But now she is well and improved, in a word where almost everyone her age is a Changed. It could happen to her as well. She is now an asset (to those who look to have the world continue), and a hated vision (to those who saw their loved ones killed by other young folk) and a reminder of what has been lost. There's a strange disconnect between the two halves of the book, important characters appear and disappear, but I enjoyed it tremendously, and am waiting the next book in what is a trilogy. I won't be certain until then whether this disconnect was required or a result of poor editing: in either case, I want to see what happens and the writing is great. The ending is one heck of a cliffhanger: the next will be Shadows, it will be out in 9/12, and I can't wait to read it.
3. Echoes of Betrayal (2012) by Elizabeth Moon: How unfair is this? When I started reading the new series by Moon (Paladin's Legacy), revisiting the world of Paksenarrion for the first time in 20 years, it was supposed to be a trilogy. Now, it seems that it will be 5 books. This is terrible (I want to know what happens)! This is great (I am enjoying every word of each book- I have read this twice since getting it)! This is terrible (two more years- at least- until I know what happens to everyone)! As you can tell, I am torn. Here I am in the third and now I need to wait another year! I don't actually want to talk about the plot- as the third in what seems to be a 5 book sequence, how could it not be a plot spoiler? Just to say, I loved it, I enjoyed the ride, I can't wait for the next.
4. Intruder (March 2012) by CJ Cherryh: Finally got the (awaited) book 13 in the Foreigner series. I enjoyed reading last year's book only a week ago so much that it makes me consider hording the next for a year (I won't, but that's because I couldn't make myself not read it). (I did order a few of her older books used in the US and brought them back with me to fill the void.) I loved that Cajeiri had a significant portion of the book's POV: I like him more than Bren, I think. Since he is an atevi who has been, almost, raised with humans, his POV is fascinating. He is almost a Third Culture Kid and I hope he remains an important protagonist as he integrates back into his own society, allowing the reader to integrate with him.
   
5. Fair Game (March 2012) by Patricia Briggs: An Alpha and Omega book. Charles is feeling the weight of his use as "deadly enforcer" in the new world with werewolves outed to the public eye. As the child of a Native American shaman and the only "born" werewolf, he is susceptible to the weight of the ghosts of the lives he has taken and he is crumbling under it. Thrown in a serial killer who appears to be targeting fae and half-fae and a look at the interactions of the federal agencies who deal with the paranormal and it's another great read.
6. The Cloud Roads (2/2011)and
7. The Serpent Sea by (12/2011) Martha Wells: The first was a freebie from Amazon and it served its purpose- hooked me in so that as soon as I finished it I ordered the sequel and read it in the airplane on the way back. It reminded me a bit of Tepper's Mavin Many-Shaped (the True Game series ), with an amnesiac Changer. It also reminded me very much of Dawn Cook's Truth series (Cook now writes as NYT best selling author Kim Harrison). Great books, I'm glad the third in the trilogy will be out within the year (because David Gerrold and GRRM have burned me greatly on series) and I greatly enjoyed them (it's super to really enjoy the book you have on the airplane). I read it rather than watch the tedious second shift movie (the remake of Footloose. Mehh.) and immediately looked (as I was standing in the immigration line) for the not-as-yet published third. I will read Wells' other books while I am waiting.
   

Dutch Baby

(will be re-posted to February 5, when I cooked it)

I am always searching for more interesting ways to cook food that is simple enough that the kids will eat it, yet interesting enough that I am not bored by it, and that is relatively fast to make. This dish, called a Dutch Baby, seemed to fit the requirements. I first saw it mentioned on Simply Recipes, called a Dutch Baby and then rummaged around the internets a bit and also found them on Smitten Kitchen, called German Pancakes. I like the second recipe (Deb Perelman's) better (fewer ingredients) so that's what you see above. Incredibly simple.

I made two of them, topped one with raspberries out of the freezer (macerated, while the pancakes, were cooking with just a little OJ and sugar), and split one Dutch Baby between the German and myself and the other (they had theirs with much more powdered sugar) between my two girls.

We were all pleased.

German Pancakes, aka Dutch Babies

(based on Smitten Kitchen's recipe above)

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 T sugar
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 cup flour
• 2/3 cup milk
• 2 T room temp butter
• some vanilla, or lemon juice, or orange juice, or cinnamon, to taste

Pre-heat oven to 200C, butter two 9 inch cake pans or pyrex pie plates. Crack eggs into bowl and mix until light yellow (using beater or stab mixer). Add remaining ingredients and continue beating. Pour into pans and bake 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 175C and bake an additional 10 minutes. Watch last 5 minutes to make certain it does not overcook.

Traditionally served with lemon slices, powdered sugar, and a ridiculous amount of melted butter (which we don't ever do).

Can macerate unsweetened fresh or frozen fruit with citrus juice and sugar, and top pancakes with it either hot or cold. Or powdered sugar. Or maple syrup. Or what tickles your fancy.

Fast, easy, and looks impressive.

Ruminations on Public and Private Health Insurance in Germany part 1

I have spent the past month being ill and in the process I have had the chance to see how the public health insurance system in Germany works. That's not unusual, because the majority of Germans (87%+) are members of the public system, which is not, as is the NHS in Britain, free, but rather based on a percentage (up to 15.5%, half paid by employers) of income and capped at an income that may be increased (approx. 63k in 2009, much as the US' social security deductions cap out over 100k).

(The Wikipedia article on German Health Insurance is quite good. The Bundesministerium for Health publishes some articles in English as well as being thoroughly descriptive in German. Here's a good article from the American view on the system.)

What is unusual is having been on private insurance for the last 4 years and then moving into public and thus being able to directly compare them in this way. To be allowed to move into the private system in Germany, one needs to make a certain amount (50,850€ in 2012) and the move is one-way: like a roach motel, you can enter but then you can never leave. That is, you can reduce your income for over a year to below the threshold, but most people in the situation where they would want to change back— getting married, having children, getting old— couldn't afford the loss.

Also, after the age of 55, as far as I know there is no path back into public, so even losing one's job in a country where age discrimination is rampant could leave one facing an increasingly unaffordable insurance bill.

However, in our case, we have had American expat(private) insurance as my husband was seconded here and therefore we were allowed to have non-German insurance. When he moved to the German firm at the end of the year, we needed to make a decision as to what insurance we would move to. Complicating the issue, 1. he had never been previously insured in Germany, so could not return to his prior public (he left Germany while in school and covered under family insurance), 2. the law in Germany did not allow non-EU nationals from countries without public plans to enter into public if they would not be ordinarily eligible.

This was such a stressor that we considered moving to the Swiss firm or the British firm, either of which would have allowed us to enter immediately into the national health schemes. The difference in cost between private and public here in Germany, for our family with a non-working spouse and two children, was such as to make our remaining here unaffordable, as well as seriously disadvantaging the children. We got as far as discussing the advantages of moving when there was an anticipated revision of the law to allow workers the one-time opportunity to enter public if they had not previously been insured in Germany and it was determined that the German's previous private cover (by his parents' insurance) did not count.

Whew.

So, in my time here in Germany, as a private patient, I have had: unscheduled emergency surgery, standard things such as mammos and colonoscopies, emergency room visits for breathing issues, pneumonia, specialists, MRIs, dermatology visits and ordinary and specialised vaccinations. My kids and husband have had the standard, with a sprinkling of allergist, dermatologists, and so on.

Before we moved to public, we talked to all of our doctors and to our dentist (whom we adore- he is the best we have had in years). They all assured us that there is no difference in treatment between public and private patients, other than private versus public room certain other clearly defined differences: Germany sets a minimum required amount of coverage, all insurances adhere to it, and differentiation is in the extras that are given.

The minimum is quite generous: if I could have paid less by taking out acupuncture and other non-scientific remedies, I certainly would have. Germany invented the quack science of homeopathy and although there is pushback against the public insurances paying for it, many insurances do.

Next part- what we chose, why, and how the execution has gone.

What I am reading: February 2012

1. I have an extra day this month, so let's see if I can read a little more! The beginning of this month started off a little more seriously, as one of the local books clubs read In the Garden of the Beasts by Erik Larson. Since the book has been sitting on my shelves for a year (since I got it at Larsen's Book Expo breakfast last year), I thought it was time to get it read so that I could actually discuss it in an organized fashion. I have quite a library of books dealing with the National Socialist period and I find myself incapable of dealing with them, so they sit there, unread. Having a group to read it for, got me to actually read what had sounded very interesting as Larsen discussed it. It was a tremendously well-researched book and I now have a list of original sources that I will buy next time I am in the US (where they are, unlike in the UK, available in English translation). I very much recommend this (lightly) novelized history of Ambassador William Dodd's time, with his wife and children, in Berlin in 1933. I am very glad that a group meeting made me read this book, though I was very disappointed in the book group. I have been spoiled by my current book group, where one does not show up if one has not read the book and is not prepared to discuss it (intelligently). This group read a book with numerous footnotes, based on fact, and half could not recall the book (if they had read it) while the others hadn't bothered to actually read the footnotes and the extremely interesting detail in them. Book: 4 stars. Book group: not worth joining. Here's the NYT review.
   
2. Thornyhold ( 1988/2011) by Mary Stewart: I remember reading this when it first came out, unlike so many others that I discovered in the library. It reminded me, just a bit, of Stewart's The Little Broomstick. Gillian (and I love and have always loved that name) comes to Thornyhold at just the right moment. A charming but slight romance, with only a bit of suspense, no real mystery.
3. The Ivy Tree (1961/2011)by Mary Stewart: One of her very best. Multiple mentions and quotes from Josephine Tey's Brat Farrar. Was this book the reason I read all of Tey's work (well worth reading, available in the public domain in Canada)? Set in Roman Wall country (and apposite, since I just saw The Eagle, based on Sutcliffe's The Eagle of the 9th), the plot had much in common with Brat Farrar: missing heir, inheritance plots, doubles. Exciting, well-written, always beautifully descriptive prose.
4. The Gabriel Hounds (1967/2011) by Mary Stewart: How strange to be reading this now, with it's patriarchal English overtones, as Christy Mansel hires drivers in "the Lebanon" and people visit from Homs. What a civilized world, to a certain extent, it was then. (Although the colonialist attitude, the use of a pejorative racial epithet when the heroine was drugged, the noblesse oblige/White Man's Burden- I saw these. I also saw the heroine recognizing these behaviors, apologizing for them, and attempting to overcome them.) Christy attempts to visit her eccentric Aunt (shades of Lady Hester Stanhope) but her Aunt is strangely changed (like Red Riding Hood's grandmother). Her cousin (a double cousin with a bit of foreshadowing of the "communication" of Stewart's later Touch not the Cat) is in Beirut and becomes involved. As usual, wonderful descriptive narration, with the palace being almost its own character.
   
5. deja dead (1998/2011) by Kathy Reichs: While still taking advantage of the German's co-worker hand-carrying my UK orders, I picked up a 10-pack of Kathy Reichs' Temperance Brennan novels. I was a late comer to enjoying these, having liked the TV show first, then reading a single Tempe novel given to me by a repatriating expat (and enjoying it) and then seeing Reichs speak here at the Literature festival. These are exactly the type of book that I would prefer to buy on an e-reader, but the cost of doing so is so much greater than my buying these 10 books, that I felt myself bound to not waste the money on buying them electronically. What a silly business model the publishers have chosen. This is the first Tempe Brennan book and a blasting introduction to the characters and places (especially Montreal) that are part of the series.
   
6. death du jour (1999/2011) by Kathy Reichs: A little slow. A cult, a dead nun up for beatification, several threads, her sister Harry, and repartee with Andrew Ryan. Worth reading just to have the relationship stuff doesn, but not as good as the rest.
   
7. fatal voyage (2001/2011)by Kathy Reichs: Secondary plot is the male clubs that our wealthy and connected belong to and how they control knowledge of what goes on in them. Primary plot references the Hell Fire club with a sub-text of cannibalism.
8. grave secrets (2002/2011)by Kathy Reichs: Secondary plot revolves around the Guatemalan "disappeared", a subject with which Kathy Reichs is intimately acquainted through her work. Tempe's relationship with Ryan continues to evolve: she starts to think that dating him may be possible.
9. bare bones (2003/2011)by Kathy Reichs: the secondary plot revolves around the illegal trade in endangered animals. I'm very sad to say that I know that it has only gotten worse since this novel was written.
10. cross bones (2006/2011)by Kathy Reichs: the first Temperance Brennan/Kathy Reichs that I read.
11. Betrayer (Foreigner #12- 2011)by C.J.Cherryh: I love Cherryh. I got confused when ordering this, as Amazon.de has put the cover blurb for 13 on this (12). and I ordered them both. Luckily, I was one behind and enjoyed reading this with the happy expectation of the next hitting my door in a week. This is a transitional book: the next will have everyone in place for the solidification of Tabini's power as the Machigi allies with the Grandmother of the East (the aiji dowager) and the world is, basically, finally unified. I'd really love to read these all again, as one big fat book: it's distressing that more than half of them are packed away in the US. I wish I could get them as one gigantic e-download without having to pay full price all over again:-(.
    

Carrot- Ginger- Miso Soup

When I made the Carrot-Ginger- Indian Spice soup, I said that I would circle back after trying a Carrot-Ginger-Miso soup that I had seen. And so I have.

I started with this recipe from Smitten Kitchen and changed it up a bit by looking at this from Chef's Blade, which was taken from the Candle Café Cookbook. And some of it (like the celery and lack of sesame) is because I just like it that way

(I actually think that celery, carrots, onions and garlic are the holy quartet, and should always be sauteed in olive oil together).

Carrot Ginger Miso Soup

olive oil

lots of Carrots (I used about 1.5 kg/3= lbs, cut in coins)

2 onions (diced)

6-8 stalks celery, diced.

3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced

lots of sliced, peeled ginger root (I used two thumbs worth)

red miso, 1/2 cup (or less to taste)

4-6 cups water

scallions to garnish

I heated the oil in a small stock pot, then sauteed the onions for 5 minutes, after which I added the garlic and sauteed. Then I added the carrots and celery and sauteed for another 10 minutes, stirring occassionally until softening up a bit. I added the ginger and salt and pepper (starting with 1 T salt/pepper) while sauteeing. Then I added the water (started with 4 cups) and covered the pot and let it simmer for 30 minutes, checking to see that the water was sufficient. If the carrots feel done at this point, pull out the stab-mixer and start pureeing. I needed to add 1 cup water while doing this. Then grab the miso (I started with 1/4 cup), mix it up with a fork in a bowl with a cup of hot water (I used the waterboiler) and add it to the soup and mix in. While tasting, I wound up adding 1/4 cup more (to make a total of 1/2 cup). Let it simmer a bit more, add salt and pepper to taste (it's probably salty enough from the miso) and serve with chopped scallions if you like.

Takes about 30 minutes total. You can use vegetable stock in addition to the water if desired (I was out). The spouse ate it all- he liked it more than I and I was eating the vegetarian chili while he was making his very happy way through this over the next several days. He votes this his favorite soup so far.

Trivial Pursuits

People who know me would rate me as a low-maintenance sort of person.

I own a lipstick (and use it occasionally), but my other make-up has all gone so far out of date as to be unusable (in fact, I discarded the majority of it a few declutters ago). I still have perfume from the 80's (truly, I still have perfume that my grandmother left me, but I only smell it every now and then).

I have been complimented on my earrings, to receive a look of shock when I happily point out the little Mickey Mouses (hypo-allergenic from Disneyworld) and often grab my daughters' medical plastic earrings. I have had my hair cut three times in the 4.5 years we have lived in Germany and had not had a manicure in the last five (my feeling- why bother when my hands are always washing something and the nails crack from use?). However, after I had a manicure in Florida, using the new, UV-cured nail polish, I liked having a manicure that didn't crack in the first day so much, that I found a place here in Berlin that did the same thing (although with a far smaller selection of colors. This was the most interesting that I could find and this manicure lasted 40 days: with it, I achieved the longest nails I have ever had. And I think that I will continue to do it: when amortized over 4 weeks, it's actually quite reasonable. And I have been enjoying having normal length nails.