Morning

Done. The underage deluge is over. Cocoa drunk, muffins eaten, snacks devoured.

Guests beat a retreat ladden with candy and a craft.

Well done!

Did they like their tidbits and doodahs?

Absolutely! We made little necklaces from soapstone, which meant busy kids and a giveaway.

But the absolute best bit: one round of hand-washing and later emptying the dishwasher and I'm done! The weather gods had mercy with me, so all crumbs and spills are outside!

Good, good.

Necklaces from soapstone sounds like fun.

Did they have to make the holes in the beads themselves?

I had to duck, someone was about to take a picture of me as I was looking out the window.

Tourists.

Tourists....

He was really taking a picture of my house.

But, you know.

I forgot, in which part of Germany did you live?

We didn't use beads, but lumps of stone, that could be sculpted with sandpaper, from coarse to fine. Then a leather cord as hanger. And they came with holes.

Do you get many tourists?

Ah they came with holes, I see.

I was thinking they might have turned holeless pebbles of soapstone into beads, but I suppose making the holes would have been too much work.

@Cerberus the Black Forest. And yes, we get our share. Not as many as when I was a kid, but enough to be aware of the usual touristy questions and being prepared to answer them. The small towns around are fuller, here in our village tourists are rare.

Ah OK.

I've never been to the Black Forest.

But we get a colourful bunch - Hesse enthusiasts, medieaval church architecture friends, hikers.

Which means an unusual high percentage from Japan ;-)

And day tourists from the greater Stuttgart area, mostly "silver agers", often coming for the hot springs .

Haha.

Everyone gets an unusual percentage of Japanese tourists.

Or, as we call them, click-Japanese (because they click their camera's ceaselessly).

It sounds better in Dutch, Klikjapanners.

That would work in German too ;-)

Klickjapaner?

Yup.

Great.

Speaking of tourists: we might be passing Amsterdam in a week or so. Thanks to Tall's warning we'll avoid the French ferry ports. Ijmuiden is one possible alternative.

Hi @Jolenealaska!

@Stephie Ha! I always warn :) The sauce I have in mind would be mostly for me.

Cool!

What are your plans?

Family vacation?

Travelling back from England to Germany?

P.S. IJ is one letter in Dutch Scrabble.

@Cerberus both directions. Summer vacation on the other side of the Channel.

Japanese tourists in Alaska are a hoot once they're out of highly populated areas. The sheer vastness discombobulates them.

Like being stranded on the moon.

12 hottest peppers, 2016

You first

All yours....

(I'll stick with the yogurt.)

So when is Ms Tooth-monster going to stay with you, @Jolenealaska?

Tooth-Monster is here. Ms Tooth-Monster will stay with me this Thursday through Sunday.

Then she's gone and her little dog too.

I'll miss her. The little dog? Not so much.

He is cute though. The demonstrations he goes through when his food bowl is empty are YouTube ready.

Awwww...

If I get bored (unlikely while he is still here, I've got a lot to do) I'll take a video of him being cute.

@Stephie Great!

So you will put your car onto the ferry?

@Cerberus that's the idea. Then travel around a bit.

Cool.