Happy Hunting!

This tuesday I met with my friend Steffi, and we both went geocaching. Since we live like 300kms apart, we met in the middle; in a small city called Crailsheim.
We had so much fun!
The sun was shining, the birds were singing. It wasn't too warm, and we had nothing to worry about.

We found 30 caches. :D

There were two series.
One had to do with jobs and the other with fantastic creatures. You'll see what I mean in a moment. ;)

The first cache we found was called "Night-Watchman". It was hidden in a small lantern in a tree. Too cute.
Once we found it, we knew that the hiding places always had to do with the actual job. This was so creative and a lot of work!

That's the cache! :)

Unfortunately there were some lumberjacks cutting down bushes, so we couldn't pass, and drove back to find the other caches first.

We stopped in a small town. The cache was hidden behind the mailbox. As soon as we got out of the car, I started to laugh. I don't know why. I just thought the whole situation was funny.

Two girls park their car directly in front of a cow barn. Two farmers were standing next to us, talking. An old woman was sitting on a bench, staring at us. How on earth should we act as if we were secret agents on a mission? We were suspicious (you know, geocachers try to be careful, so that non-cachers don't see what they're doing , and don't destroy the cache)!
I sat down on a bench, and my friend had to do all the work, because I couldn't stop laughing. I guess she was a little bit mad at me. :D At least she found the cache.

We then did the series about the fantastic creatures. Everything was so beautiful. There was a small lake, an awesome big tree, and loads and loads of nature. ;)

Me :)

My friend returning from the cache (not on the pic).

Tree Hugger

This was a huuuge tree.

Can you see the cache? ;)

Yup, that's a cache, too.

This was called the lake of the Nymphs.

The troll's chair (and our gps devices).

Sometimes we had to search a long time, sometimes we saw where the cache was hidden (when you've found a lot of geocaches, you know how things are hdiden. Rocks that don't belong there, branches, stumps...sometimes it's too obvious - for a geocacher).

After we found every cache of that series, we drove back to the other forest. The lumberjacks were gone, and we could drive to the parking ground.

It was as beautiful as the other forest. And the caches were even better.

Cute! (Cache: Exterminator)

Cache: Ornithologist

Cache: Shoemaker

Because we only own old gps devices, we don't have maps on it (just a small arrow, pointing in the right direction). At home I planned a route, and wrote the caches in that order down...
So we didn't actually know where we had to go.

And we walked, and walked, and walked.

The sun was slowly setting, we were tired and hungry, when we reached the car. But it had been fun. A lot of fun. Luckily, there weren't many people around, so nobody "disturbed" us.

After that, we did two other caches, which were on our way back, and then went to eat something.

And you know what? I had terrible tooth aches the whole day. I couldn't bite, I couldn't chew. It hurt so much. And I was like: Nooo, I don't want to eat! :(
But as soon as I started to eat, the pain lessened...Strange, huh?

My friend brought me back to the station (I took the train - the gas is way too expensive :P), and then after a lot of cuddling and hugging, I went back home.

Steffi and me after a long and nice day.

Creative: Sewing

I read Barbara's post at The Middle Ages about clothes and styling, and thought...hey...that's the opportunity to show the clothing items you made.

First of all: I never learned how to sew. Yeah, I had a course at school, where we did some sewing, but that was ages ago.

I just do it. And I know, everybody, who knows how to sew, would throw his hands up in horror! I don't care. ;) Of course, I try to learn new things, and improve my skills...but still, it's all about the fun! :D

The ideas are all mine. I make my own patterns. They're not perfect, but I'm proud, because I made them.

Time for Becki's fashion show.

That's my first shirt. Made out of IKEA bedding. The sleeve looks weird on the pic. It's a trumpet sleeve.

 

I'll never wear that dress, I guess. I found this fabric at home, and wanted to do something with it.

That's my favourite piece. I love this dress. It fits perfectly, and it turned out exactly like I wanted it to be. I'm very proud of the neck binding.

A friend of mine had a jumper with a bunny on it. I wanted a bunny jumper, too...so I created one. May be a little bit silly, but I don't care. ;) Was my first hood, and it turned out ok-ish.

I needed a new hat, but I couldn't find one that I liked. So I sewed one.  It's a little bit too big. Also made an infinity scarf and mittens.

That's my newest piece, and it's not finished, yet (my sewing machine is reall bitchy right now, needs to get fixed). You can also see that I LOVE butterflies.

Well, I love Harry Potter. So I sewed the robe. I like it very much! :D

Meet my two bunnies!

I love rabbits, always have.
They are sooo interesting and challenging.

I had a rabbt, when I was 11 years. After he had died, I couldn't get a new pet, but after like 10 years, I decided that I want a new pet.

I bought Julie in April 2009 (eeek, she's turning 3 this year) in a DIY store. Now I know that you shouldn't do that (don't buy in pet shop, either!). But I fell in love with her from the very first second.
That's how she looked like:

A few months later, I got Lucky. He's from the animal shelter, and it was sheer luck that we got him. Name fits.
That was him on his first day in his new home:

A few things about rabbits
They are cute. They have soft fur. You want to cuddle them the whole time. You think they like being dragged around. You think they don't mind living in a small cage. Alone.

You are wrong.

Fact 1: Rabbits live in groups. They aren't alone (unlike hares). They need at least one partner. No guinea pigs. They need other rabbits.

Fact 2: Rabbits need space. They love to jump and run around. It's not enough, if you let them out a few hours a day.

Fact 3: Rabbits don't need the colourful pellets. They are unhealthy. Rabbits shouldn't eat grain. They need plenty of hay, vegetables, and branches. No vitamins. No salt blocks.

Fact 4: Rabbits aren't cheap. They need to go to the vet at least 2 times a year for immunization. Male rabbits need to be castrated. It's better to castrate female rabbits, too, because they can get uterine cancer.

Fact 5: Don't force them to do things. Don't carry them around. They are afraid! You can sit down next to them, and pet them, if they want to. They are clever. They can learn tricks. Some don't like to be touched. You can't change them. They have their own personalities!

Julie
Julie is a lop eared bunny, but she can lift her ears. Especially, when she's nervous or excited. She is named after a Take That song (I have told you that this is my favourite band :P). She weighs around 3kg.

Julie loves to cuddle. She is very stubborn and curious. Whenever she sees an open door, she rushes through it (she knows, when you open it, even if she's sleeping or miles away). She loves to jump down the stairs into the basement.
And above all...she loves to eat. :P I've never seen a rabbit eat so fast. Amazing!

Lucky
Lucky is a dwarf. He is very tiny, but he is the boss. His colour is called Japanese, although it's not perfect. It has to look like a chessboard. He weighs 1,9kg.

Lucky is very active. He can jump high (standing jump over 80cms!), and he runs fast. He loves to race around in the garden. He loves to lick his Julie the whole day.
He is afraid of sizzling noises. He doesn't like to be touched that much, but ne never bites.

He had an accident, where he hit his head. His ear was damaged, and it sometimes hangs down slightly. But he's fine otherwise.

About my rabbits
They don't have a cage (yes, they are in one no the first pictures...but that was only at the beginning, and it was open all the time). They are not locked up. They can run around in most parts of our house. It's no big deal. You need to secure cables, and things that could be destroyed by them (e.g. books, plants...). My rabbits use a litter box.
They have direct access to the garden, where they can jump around and dig.

Pictures

Nowadays, only her head fits in the bowl. xD

Can you find her?

Rebekka's Recipes

Two sweet recipes: Whereas I discovered the first one just a few weeks aog, the second one is something we do for years, and everybody loves it!

I tried to convert the ingredients into cups...but I don't know, if that's right.

Nutella Cupcakes with Peanut butter Frosting
(If you don't know Nutella, I pity you! :P It's a chocolate hazelnut spread.)
 

100g (approx 3/4 to 1 cup) flour
20g (1/8 cup) cocoa
140g (2/3 cup) sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
a pinch of salt
40g  (1/8 cup) butter
120ml (1/2 cup) milk
1 egg
120g (1/2 cup) Nutella

Preheat oven: 350° F

Mix flour, cocoa, butter, sugar, baking soda and salt.
While stirring, add milk, then the egg, and Nutella.

Fill into 12 cupcake liners, and bake for 15 - 20 minutes.


Frosting
Trust me, it tastes like Heaven!

115g (1/2 cup) butter
200g (1 cup) peanut butter
50ml (1/4 cup) milk
225g (1 cup) powdered sugar


Stir butter and peanut butter until creamy. Add powdered sugar. When it's becoming thicker, add milk. Stir for about 3 minutes.

The finished product should look like this:
 

Nutella Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting

	Birgitzer Waffeletten	(Small Waffles)
	240g (2 cups) flour
	80g (3/8 cup) sugar

	185g (3/4 cup) butter
	vanilla sugar
	1 egg
	dark chocolate
	Start with the flour. Make a small hole, put the sugar and the egg into it. Arrange butter around it.
	Knead dough. Heat waffle iron.
	I always use a heart-shaped waffle iron (that's what we have in Germany). I don't know, if it works with others...but maybe you could try!

 Form small balls. Put one ball in each little "heart". Bake them. This should be enough for about 30 waffles.

Melt dark chocolate with a little bit of milk. Cover half of the waffle with the chocolate.

Should look like that:

Birgitzer Waffeletten

 

 

 

Have fun trying them! Any questions? Ask me! :)

Getting to know me: Geocaching

I started Geocaching nearly five years ago.
A German comedian (Bernhard Hoecker) wrote a book about it. I read it, and was immediately hooked.

Geocaching is a worldwide treasure hunting game. The first cache was placed in the year 2000 in the USA.
It's difficult to explain, but very easy to do.

The most popular website is www.geocaching.com. Currently, there are over 1 million geocaches hidden.

What the heck are you talking about?
Geocaching consists of the words geography (caches are hidden outside. You have to go out in the nature!) and caching (cache is a term for computer memory. A way to store things easily).
All you need is a computer with an internet connection, and a gps device (it's similiar to a navigation system).

The so called owner places a cache somewhere, writes down the coordinates and information.
You - the finder - take these coordinates from the webpage. Copy them to your gps device, and go!

Caches are hidden. You have to search them. Sometimes it's pretty easy, sometimes it can be annoying.
Once you've found a cache, you have to sign a logbook (tell the person, who put it there that you found it). In bigger caches there are trading items. You can take what you like, but you have to leave something in return.

You place the cache exactly where you found it, go home, and tell the owner that you found the cache (and what you liked / didn't like).

That's it! =)

Where are these caches?
Everywhere. Literally.
You can find them in forests, parks, near streets, in cities, at places of interests, at memorials, in ruins (or the so called lost places), on hills, in caves, holes, tunnels, underwater, in trees - the possibilities are infinte.

Of course, there are certain rules (don't bury them, not near railroad tracks...stuff like that), but you can play with your imagination.

Types of caches
The most common one is called "Traditional". That's the one I described earlier.
Then there are Multi-Caches. They have different stages. You find clues, riddles, tasks at them, and have to find your way to the final. Like a scavenger hunt.

Mysteries are riddle caches. You have to solve different puzzles to find out the coordinates.

A cool thing are the Earthcaches. They show special greographic characteristics, things that our Mother Nature created and changed.
You don't find a box, but you have to answer some questions and take a picture of you.

Oh, and of course there are different sizes of containers from nanos (1cm) to big boxes.
And there are different difficulties from 1 to 5 (that involves diving, climbing, stuff like that).

Meeting people
Although geocaching sounds like a secret society (we try to be careful, so that Muggles - non-cacher - won't get suspicious), we like to meet others.
Where I live, we meet at least once a month. It's always fun. Most people are really nice.
And nobody cares, if you're a woman or a man, if you're white, brown, or green, if you're rich or poor, if you're pretty or ugly...
the only thing that counts is that you love geocaching.
We try to support each other, create new ideas, go out together, and just have fun!

Impressions

That's how a cache container can look like...

Scary, isn't it?

Signing the logbook on a ship!

Caching with friends

me, my friend and the geocache

solving a riddle

car wreckage

an old tennis court

that's a mini logbook

a micro cache container

me :P

my friend and I...having fun

Celebrating ten years of geocaching in my hometown

If you didn't understand what I tried to tell you...

here is a short video that explains everything.