Darker Days

 And the days get darker. Very noticeable since we put back the clocks. See the shadows from the trees in my back garden – photo on the right. No news from the UK apart from a change in Addingham (Info via Facebook – thanks A for this on 24 Nov.) What has happened since I last wrote?

My diary is filling up. I have added a walking-cycling group for Seniors each Tuesday morning, and a camera club, for anyone interested, which meets each Wednesday at 5.00 pm.

A member called Sylke volunteered to meet me Thursday lunchtime and take some photos. She has the same kind of camera as I have. It is the new Canon DSLR that I showed on this blog (See next page – click bottom right of this page) She will teach me a few tricks and how to use its facilities.

I started teaching again at the institute yesterday. Three afternoons from next week until the end of the year. A group of three and very interesting people with different backgrounds. I can use laptops and projectors and other ‘toys’ with them. I like that.

Last Friday I went to a bowling alley with my old ‘Müggelsee Gang’. We hadn’t met since early summer when we went of a day long cycle tour on Herren Tag. We had lots to catchup on in addition to playing bowls. I won 2 of the 3 games in my group. Not bad for a semi-beginner!

You can see a photo of me there drinking a good German beer. I sent it to Jan, for where he is working at the moment, no alcohol is allowed. He thanked me for the photo, and I promised to take him out for a beer when he comes over at Christmas.

Ian and Birgit closed down in Beijing yesterday and flew to Sydney, Australia for their next adventure. Ian told me Birgit was a bit ‘weepy’ at leaving. I can well understand her. I really liked Beijing, so I would be just as weepy if I were in her shoes.  Finally, Alan and Lynne are still in Australia/New Zealand visiting family and enjoying it greatly.

Last Sunday, I went on a walk with a group. We started from Grunewald (Green-Forest) in the west of the city. We walked to the river Havel, where it is very wide and looks like a lake, just north of Wannsee. I couldn’t resist taking a few photos, to share with you here.

I used my old Nikon Coolpix 2200 digital camera. Most photographs posted on this blog were taken with that camera. Not a bad purchase. I bought it with Jan at Saturn in Alexander Platz. He recommended it. Nice one Jan – extra beer for that!