Not a random post

It was going to be, then I remembered someone mentioning Newscom.com, and in the middle of posting, I found new pictures to add. Enjoy.

The feet to go with the hands

Someone on another blog said she hadn't seen a picture of the lovely, long-toed, elegant feet that are such a beautiful complement to the lovely, long-fingered elegant hands. I wish he'd trimmed his nails first, but you can still appreciate that, size 13 or not, he has attractive feet, and there are not many men you can say that about. I'd give them a massage. And possibly also a kiss or two. And maybe the odd suck...

Talk To The Hand

I love you, hand, you are the most beautiful hand I've ever seen (except for his other one).

Confused Relations

For years, some parts of my family had little or no knowledge of each other. The previous generation in the UK did not discuss one of the Canadian branches with the current generation, even though there was, I now know, some contact between them. This is how the relationships work out, and trust me, it ain't easy!

This is a photo of my paternal grandparents and their children. My dad is the little fellah sitting on his dad's knee. Grandad was Albert and Grandma was Kuni. They were German, but met in London, marrying in 1897. They both died long before I was born. (I'm the late youngest child of two youngest children).

This is Albert's brother Christian and Kuni's niece Lina. They met in London through my grandparents and married.

Christian was interned as an enemy alien in World War 1 - here he is, back row second from the left, at Knockaloe Alien Internment Camp on the Isle of Man, off the north-west coast of England. Lina was already in Germany with their daughter. The two young sons were sent home through war-torn Europe with labels round their necks. Christian was exchanged for injured British soldiers. Albert was not touched, having been in the UK for much longer and built good relations with the community. It wasn't necessarily a safeguard to have sons in the British Army, but Albert and Kuni's eldest two were fighting for King and country.

Christian and Lina produced another son, then emigrated to Canada. Lina's father and two of his other children followed, and because they had such an unusual surname, it was through their descendants that I managed to trace the family. One of Albert's other sons also went to Canada, but contact between the two families was lost. We are all now back in touch for the first time in decades. Of course, we are related on both sides - I've dubbed the relationship "double cousins".

The direct male line from my great-grandparents is extinct in Germany thanks to road accidents (the next generation in Britain will no longer bear the family name, either), but there are descendants from the female line, and Thomas, here with his wife Bettina, is one of them. His father, a retired teacher who can read the old German writing, has compiled the family tree going back to 1560.

Hartmut is Thomas's brother and now lives in the US. If it was exciting for me to meet some of my Canadian relations, imagine how I felt to make the link back to Germany. The brothers have been to visit in Canada before. The British family was the only part left out, because no-one knew where we were. I can't express how wonderful it is for me to have found them again, and the way they treated me during the reunion showed that they felt the same. What a great family.

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang

Wasn't that the title of a film? Anyway, this is more Kiss, Kiss, Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang. I wish the banging wasn't just with a gun...

Naked Sunday

More from Alberta

Geoff, pictured here with Donna, was carving a kind of meat thermometer to put in the fire pit and measure when the meat was cooked. He explained where the technique came from as he sliced off bark at intervals, and how it worked, AND A WHOLE BUNCH OF US BOUGHT IT. As one of the cousins later said, since when did wood conduct heat? But Geoff was really convincing...

The Legislature in Edmonton

The steam train that takes you round to the different periods at Fort Edmonton Park

Island Lake, Athabasca
The end view of my cousin's house at Island Lake , seen as long ago as the previous post...

A goat at West Edmonton Mall

Hi, honey, I'm home!

I got home from Canada yesterday at about 5.30pm local time after a great and punctual flight, only to have to wait several lifetimes for my luggage, then struggle to the train with it. The train didn't stop at the station where I wanted to change, even though it was meant to, and I won't describe what happened next, but suffice it to say my language got very colourful and my body got very strained from lugging around the suitcase.

Zoom's planes are darker than they look here - a sort of royal blue. They were reasonable inside - but then planes have become much more sophisticated since I last flew over 30 years ago.

West Edmonton Mall is the largest in the world and I was astonished at what there is inside - this wave pool for one. There's also a skating rink, a theme park (!), a mini-golf, petting zoo and much, much more.

Fort Edmonton was a fur trading post. It's been set out in 3 periods, the most recent being the 1920s. We got there rather too late, but it wouldn't have made much difference, because it had rained very hard that day and most of it had been shut. My cousin John and his wife Myrna and I did get to go on the merry-go-round, though. This is the station-cum-gift shop.

This is the end of the house where the reunion was, and where I stayed for two nights. It's a log "cabin" which my cousins built themselves. It's set on the shores of Island Lake about half an hour out of Athabasca.

This is a view of the house from the lake. It's unimaginably beautiful.

On the last day before I moved to stay with other relatives, my cousin Linda's daughter, Leah, took a couple us out on the raft. My couple are sticking right out in front of me.

The weather was glorious right up to the Wednesday, when the heavens opened.

They really have big mosquitos in Canada!