yup. they did arrive.

the bro, steve, me, randy and cole

alright, i've been asked for the update again and again...

and yup, they did arrive. finally.

at about two in the morning,

which means that we were up, watching the sunrise

hearing the birds chirp until about six in the morning.


and nope, the brother didn't manage to get himself

into any trouble at all while in amsterdam.

just goes to show again, how gullible i can be at times.

but trust me, having grown up with him as my big brother

it never ever would have surprised me

and to be honest, i was rather expecting it as well.


on monday night, i did take the boys back out

to the ihringen wine fest where isabelle, steffi and i

were out on friday night before.


was absolutely fabulous

although cole and i were having the time of our lives

basically being babysitters for two grown men

and yes, the brother being the hardest work of them all.


what i was really looking forward to was seeing steve play again.

haven't seen a gig of his since maybe a good three years,

definitely my gallery days, as he used to come by

at least once a day or once a week

have a coffee or a glass of wine

or try to persuade me that i needed to go for dinner with him.

apologies, but one steve as a musician in my life

was definitely enough.

however, i do admit, dinner was nice

and even a boy from virginia can prove to be

an interesting companion for an evening.

it must also be added, that this is the best fiddler

i have ever ever seen,

and yes, an absolutely brilliant musician.

bringing in one cover better than the next,

but with his own personal style.

and he brought the house down on monday,

and had us on the dance floor to the point again,

my aching feet.

i think the photos say it all.

at least the "take the bloody photo already" smile on my face,

and please remember, this is me on about two hours of sleep.

and another evening of ungodly hours.


but the days with the boys have been good,

and i swear, they sleep and sleep and sleep

and did i mention that they sleep?


between the heart attacks i've encountered

with the bro behind the wheel on their rental,

to me having permanent possession of those keys now,

to i don't know how many bottles of wine they've emptied,

but also the help they've been.

priceless moments with the three of them sprawled on the floor

spending an entire night of watching fussball

and working on my rings doing the prep work,

or dietz taking lenny out for all the walks

or pruning all my trees and plants on the balcony

and creating little pieces of art with those babies.

to even offering that if i get the new wardrobes that i want,

he'll paint those and the bedroom for me too.

i just wish that it wasn't such the money issue

with getting those wardrobes at the moment.

but it'll be amazing enough if he can fix the antique buffet

i have patiently waiting to come back to life downstairs.


and between chauffering them around to watch the games,

so that they can simply enjoy the buzz and the drink,

to taking them to see a bit of this and this and that

and having a good busy week with my fleurs,

and also having the freak attack of losing my provider and server,

amongst all the other crazy that the week had brought.


the boys left for augsburg on friday,

as i sent them down to jim and his irish pub,

and then down to rottweil today to see some relatives,

and this evening and tomorrow is meant to be lake constance

where i was also meant to be tonight.

the cousin had a regatta, and was doing a vip party

in his company tent tonight.

i reckon i'll go visit him sometime next month

for a quiet weekend of sailing instead.


the plan today was to get much work done,

and bring a bit of order back into the house

before the boys get back, either sunday or monday.


instead, today had me on the couch all day,

something i'm not familiar with at all these days.

and this evening, simply over at patti's.

she was having a pool party

and with a blistering day of 34 degrees

the water sounded like a fine temptation.

her and i were just fine as things were,

just floating around and having good girl conversations,

until a few of the boys decided

that it was time to make a splash and wave.

but at least we got a great game of waterball happening.

i don't think i got out of the pool until around 10 pm

sat around, had a cup of coffee, and found my way home.

tomorrow i think i'll head back over there in the afternoon as well,

take a break from the fleurs i was meant to make today.


so yup, that's been these days in a nutshell.

they're here and nope, we haven't killed each other yet.

but damn, we've been close.

that of course said, with a smile on the face.




yay, steve reckons if lenny can wear the rings, so can he.

not.