Saturday, June 23, 2012

Strange Visitor/Eigenartiger Besuch

Yesterday the door bell rang and a strange visitor asked to come in.  You can see him here:

Gestern klingelte es an der Haustür und ein eigenartiger Besucher begehrte Einlaß:




You probably guessed it, it was Jonathan putting away the garbage can.  Maybe all his physics experiments had gone to his head.  He was trying to figure out how our digital multimeter should measure resistance and since I couldn't help him (physics was my most hated subject in school), I send him to a friend of ours to get help.  This friend is a homeschooling father and physics professor.  (It's quite helpful to have friends like him :).  Jonathan came back and knew what he wanted to know, but later he appeared with the garbage can upon his head.  Below you can see him building an electromagnet.

Wahrscheinlich haben alle schon geraten, daß das Jonathan war, der die Mülltonne wegräumen mußte. Vielleicht sind ihm all seine Physikexperimente zu Kopf gestiegen.  Er hat versucht herauszufinden, wie unser digitales Multimeter funktioniert, um Widerstand zu messen.  Da ich ihm leider nicht helfen konnte (Physik war mein meist gehaßtes Schulfach), habe ich ihn zu einem Freund von uns geschickt.  Dieser Freund ist auch "homeschooling" Vater und gleichzeitig Physikprofessor (es ist immer gut, wenn man solche Freunde hat).  Er kam später dann mit einer befriedigenden Erklärung zurück, doch erschien er kurz darauf mit der Mülltonne auf dem Kopf.  Unten kann man ihn sehen, wie er einen Elektromagneten gebaut hat.  








Today I was child free for almost 2 hours:  All children went to visit a friend (just up the hill) with a water slide except Flora, who took a nap!  That was very helpful for getting some cleaning done!  Especially since Julius vomited at three different places in the house today.  (He also smells like a skunk because he got in a fight with one.  Our neighbor told me he was going to shoot that skunk.  I guess that is a very American approach to a problem like that.  Anyway, not only does he smell like one, but our front door also.  The skunk must have sprayed the entrance way).  I also had some other friends stop by and ask if I needed any help.  It's so nice to know that people look out for us.  Have a wonderful weekend!

Heute war ich fast zwei Stunden lang ohne Kinder.  Alle meine Lieben waren bei einer Freundin (nur den Berg rauf), die eine Wasserrutsche im Garten hat, und Flora hat ihren Mittagsschlaf gehalten.  Das war ganz nützlich, um ein wenig zu putzen.  Putzen war auch besonders nötig, da Julius sich heute an drei verschiedenen Stellen übergeben hat.  (Er riecht auch nach Stinktier, da er sich mit einem angelegt hat.  Unser Nachbar hat mir gesagt, er würde das Stinktier erschießen.  Man merkt, daß ich in Amerika lebe.  Der Gestank ist leider nicht nur auf Julius, sondern auch auf unserer Haustür.  Das Stinktier muß auch dort seine Duftnote verteilt haben).  Es sind auch andere Freunde vorbeigekommen und wollten wissen, ob ich irgendwelche Hilfe brauche.  Es ist so schön zu wissen, daß alle sich um uns kümmern.  Ein schönes Wochenende wünscht allen



12 comments:

  1. How funny! The heat and physics will do it to you!

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  2. You may know this already, but tomato juice gets rid of the smell of skunk. It takes quite a lot, but works well. I hope the neighbor doesn't shoot the skunk. Too bad it can't be trapped and relocated.

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    1. Yes, some friends also recommended vinegar. The only problem is that the screen of the screen door got sprayed. How on earth do you clean that? I didn't even know that our neighbor had a gun! Right now it is illegal to shoot skunks (it's not hunting season), but I don't know if he cares. He says the skunks always attack his cats and his dog. I don't know if anybody would know how to trap a skunk in this area. I wouldn't even know whom to ask.

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  3. Oh, ich muss gestehen dass ich die Mülltonne am Anfang gar nicht gleich erkannt habe - ich hielt "das Ding" für eine Art Kunstobjekt (vielleicht eine Lampe oder so?).
    Ja, "Ich werde das Stinktier erschießen" hört man in unserer Gegend wahrhaftig nicht, oder wenn, dann ist damit kein echtes Stinktier gemeint. :))) Ach, du Arme. Ich hoffe Julius hat dann aufgehört mit Spuren-hinterlassen, und das Stinktier natürlich auch!! Ich habe gelesen, dass der Geruch wirklich unerträglich ist - möchte es gar nicht ausprobieren.
    Wünsche euch einen schönen Sonntag!

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    1. Kunstobjekt ist gut! Amerikanische Mülltonnen sehen ein wenig anders aus als europäische, man muß sich die Tonne hier auch selbst kaufen. Die unserer Nachbarn sieht schon wieder anders aus.

      Leider stinkt Julius immer noch. Ich würde ihn gerne baden, doch braucht man dafür zwei Erwachsene. Wir mußten ihn früher, als er noch kleiner war, öfter baden, weil er manchmal so dreckig war, daß er das ganze Haus dreckig machte. Da hat er sich für eine Katze gut bei benommen, doch ohne Hilfe, ginge das wohl nicht. Stinktiergeruch ist NICHT schön, in unserer Kirche haben sie neulich ein Opossum gefangen, die können auch so stinken. Jetzt riecht der Keller dort sehr unangenehm.

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  4. hello eva, what a funny day! i hope your skunk stays well hidden! americans can be so naughty that way . . i hope julius has learned a lesson too! poor julius. and poor you! so much to clean up. i understand perfectly. i have three vomiting cats! they like to eat cookies, waffles, rose leaves and wildflower leaves. the last time i was out i chose feverfew . . they don't seem to care for that. thank goodness.

    jonathan is funny! how special to have such wonderful friends. i'm sure he enjoyed his lesson :)

    i remember how blessedly quiet it would be with all the children out and the littlest one asleep. it felt so freeing. they were playing on a waterslide? that must have been a lot of fun!

    glad you are being looked after. have a lovely sunday!

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    1. We haven't seen him again, but last year he was here as well and ate our birdseed. I would love to give Julius a bath, but that requires two adults. Oh, your cats are even worse. Julius sometimes comes in the morning (he spends most of his nights outdoors in the summer) and just wolfs down his food. Then he vomits. I don't know if it's the way he eats or if it's something he ate outside during the night, but it's really annoying. He doesn't like things like cookies, the only human food he will eat is lunch meat and meat, fish, butter, cream, and roasted nuts.

      Jonathan seems to know more about the multimeter than before -- so he must have learned something.

      It was strange to have such a quiet house, especially with Peter gone. Yes, their friend's parents built a water slide out of a tarp and a sprinkler. It's a property with a slope and they like to give their child some fun things to do.

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  5. p.s. did you get to smell the linden tree in bloom?

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  6. Jonathan is not only very clever, but funny too... so which one of you has the whacky sense of humour, you or Peter!!

    Sorry to read about the skunk episode and poor Julius being sick. Have you managed to bath him or will thet smell eventually dissipate

    You are blessed to have such lovely neighbours, mind you I'm sure you would do likewise to others in need. Here's hoping your Sunday is pure peace and quiet.

    Love to you San xx

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    1. Beats me, maybe we can be both equally funny given the right situation.

      The smell is slowly dissipating, but I would love to give him a bath. You need two adults to bathe a cat, though, so I guess I have to wait a little while.

      My Sunday was very quiet, except the fact that there was a glitch during communion time in church. One of the sacristans had forgotten to put enough hosts in the chalice before consecration and there were none in the tabernacle. We had a visiting missionary saying Mass. When he wanted to distribute communion, only the first 20 or so people got some. The others had to take the wine, which most people normally don't do around here. You should have seen the funny faces when they came up for communion, but the priest just kept shaking his head!

      They also caught an opossum in church, but that is a different story.

      I haven't forgotten your request/question, but I haven't had a chance to get some real peace and quiet to answer. I will, though, I promise!

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