Expat family life, German style, from the pen of Trevor Dykes in darkest Franconia!
“I find decorating a mindless, boring and utterly unsatisfying chore and sought some musical accompaniment to steer me through. An album of Classic Country and Western seemed appropriate. With the CD wagons beginning to roll, I set to the task of covering myself in paint.” Trevor enlists the help of Tammy Wynette, Charley Rich, Johnny Cash and others to help with the DIY…
“She said I’d enjoy the flea market; the cut and thrust of micro-capitalism. And, as she made it known that beer would be available to each according to their need, it sounded like a pleasant enough way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I didn’t even mind hearing we’d be operating in accordance with a cash and carry basis, with her efforts concentrating more on the former.” Trevor and the family go to the flea market…
“The year 2000. The new millennium. I and my wife marked the occasion by doing what comes naturally to people of our age. I’m sure I needn’t go into all the details. As soon as June had arrived, we abandoned our shyness, went up to the spare bedroom in the attic and indulged ourselves for the first time ever. The future was now. We surfed into the internet.” Trevor opens the door to wealth beyond his wildest dreams… from emailers in Africa.
“We recently spent an afternoon at a parent’s and kid’s event, organized for our daughter’s school class. This naturally required a venue suitable for all ages, so we went to a pub and got sloshed. To be more accurate, we went to a large beer garden about ten miles out of town.” Trevor describes a convivial afternoon in a beer garden by the Ludwigskanal.
“Two years ago, we got a new, state-subsidised composter. It was much larger than our previous one and seemed to fill up surprisingly quickly. However, in reality the composter was counter-intuitively roomier. Five minutes bashing with a spade can work wonders.” Trevor describes how his garden appears to be a magnet for unwanted lodgers.