Life through the windows of Otto & Marthe

SUMMERTIME IN JANUARY!

ottok88 — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 01:52:29 +0000

Yes! the past few weeks did seem like summer. We could believe (or almost believe) that we are in Australia! And speaking of Australia, how is little Eva Elise doing? And how are the parents? We hope all is well with you.

I have been somewhat lazy since Christmas and have not been on the computer much. But that does not mean we forgot about those we write to….One of our grand-daughters said recently that she has a friend who reads our postlads md gings. But she never comments on them and I wish thst she would. i would enjoy comments from others all over this planet.

I am happy to hear from Australia. I have learned much from you,Erin. One of these days, I plan to get a book from the library on the history nof the “Land Down Under”. But, now, I will say G’bye. We went out for dinner withe friends and just now came home. And I am TIRED! Good night!

NEW YEAR’S DAY IN AUSTRALIA!

ottok88 — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 16:58:26 +0000

Yes it is 2012 in Australia and here in Chicago it is not yet noon on December 31st! You are 17 hours ahead of us! SO We all up here are hoping all of you “Down Under” will have a wonderfully happy new year!

Christmas

ottok88 — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 23:08:24 +0000

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Am I a bit late? It is probably Monday now in Australia, isn’t it? But I hope your Holiday was a happy one, especially now with Eva Elise there. And how is she doing? What do the doctors say about her condition?

Here it is Sunday, Christmas Day at 5 PM. We had our celebration last night with our kids and grandchildren. There were 20 of us here for Christmas dinner. It is always so nice to get together with the kids.

One of our granddaughters received a diamond ring from her boyfriend, So now she is the first grandchild to become engaged. There are no wedding plans yet. But they have time … She is only 27 years old. I have been hoping to become a great-grand-father but I have nothing to say about that.

Now that Christmas is over we look forward to spring and warmer weather. I am certain, however that we will have plenty of cold weather coming in the next couple of months. And perhaps a lot of snow too! We had NO SNOW for this holiday! No “WHITE CHRISTMAS” this year. So now you are getting into summer down there! I imagine you are happy about that! It will be nice for the two of you to go outdoors with your little girl.

Let us know how she is doing? We do not know much about that illness. I should check on google to find out more about it. In the meantime my wife Marthe says to tell you “JOYEUX NOEL” which is French for Joyous Christmas!

A NEW MONTH—hooray!

ottok88 — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 18:22:41 +0000

I have not forgotten any of you! It is just that for most of October I was in the hospital with pneumonia and all of November I was going to REHAB for exercise. It was a bad couple of months and I missed all of my favorite time of the year…AUTUMN! But enough of that. I am home and feeling better again and hope to stay that way.

I have been thinking a lot about the new baby in Australia. How is little Eva Elise Madeleine? and how are her parents? Aren’t little girs wonderful? It brings back some great memories of when our 5 daughters were little. It was a lot of work and sleepless nights, but the happy times we had with them was very much worth it. Enjoy your little girl.

Just a week ago we were celebrating our big American THANKSGIVING DAY with a turkey dinner and all of our family was there (at the home of our daughter #4). (We were all happy that I was home from the hospital. Does Australia celebrate any kind of Thanksgiving Holiday? Now our next big one will be Christmas Day and once again together with all of our family! It would seem so strange to us to celebrate Christmas in the summertime!

We have not had any snow yet, but they say we may have some this coming week. I always like seeing the FIRST real snowfall of the year. After that I becme eager for springtime. And then January if likely to be the coldest month of the year!

But now I will just say enjoy your summertime AND your baby. I will BLOG again, if you don’t mind!

Be Back Soon!

ottok88 — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 17:35:35 +0000

Hello world!

I’m stepping in for Gramps, er Otto, today. He’s been in the hospital for the past week with pneumonia, but he wanted to let all of his readers know that he’s doing well – getting better every day – and hopes to be back home soon. He didn’t want you worrying about the lack of posts here while he’s flirting with the nurses.

In the mean time, please enjoy this video of a baby monkey getting a bath:

BABY TIME???

ottok88 — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 18:32:26 +0000

GREETINGS TO AUSTRALIA!!! to our friends “down under”. Hello Erin and Daniel! Any news yet? Is there a new Australian citizen? Isn’t this about the time she was to make her debut? I will watch for the news!

I haven’t posted a blog for a while. I will have to say it is because I have not been feeling well and also I have been lazy with the heat we have had. But, now, the temperatures have become more normal for summer! And that makes me feel better too. It helps Marthe to perk up as well.

Is your weather showing any signs of SPRING? We do not hear much about the weather down there, unless it is very, very bad. We have had much heat, much rain, and flooding, mostly south of Chicago. We were so lucky. However, we did have one very violent thunder storm. The rain poured for about 4 hours without stopping. And the lightening was constant along with the thunder. There was much flooding in some areas We did not have any damage, maybe our gaurdian angels were looking over us. It was frightening! But we are all safe, thank God!

Now, Maybe I have “talked” enough for this time. Hope all is well with all of you. We will be waiting for NEWS! Otto and Marthe

IT IS SUMMERTIME!

ottok88 — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 22:57:25 +0000

Yes, it is summertime! But what happened to spring? We had cold, we had hot, we had snow, we had rain storms, we had wind storms, and, yes, we had a little bit of SPRING! We should have real summer by July 4th, our Independence Day! So we shall have to wait and see if Summer really arrives by then.

It will be winter in Australia! Is that a good time to have a baby? Our 5th daughter arrived during a real wintery blizzard in January! It was so bad, I couldn’t drive Marthe to the hospital! I stayed home with the other 4 daughters while an amblance took my wife. That was 45 years ago! It is sometimes quite surprising to think about the problems that we can get through, isn’t it? I often sit back now and think about the past and mostly about the happy times. It is a blessing that we can forget the trouble times. They pass too.

Today was a really perfect day! Blue, blue sky, plenty of sunshine, and not humid. Many people are saying that they would like to have this everyday all summer! But I am sure they would get tired of it after a while, don’t you think so? They would cry for rain, once a week. Or maybe get tired of the sunshine, complain that it is really too hot, or wish that it would be a little bit warmer! Never satisfied! I wonder if the Australians are like that, too? OH, Marthe is saying dinner is ready. And because I am hungry, I will stop now.

Especially for Australia!

ottok88 — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 21:56:40 +0000

HELLO DOWN UNDER! We are still alive in CHICAGO! It has been months since I blogged. It is only that as I get older, I get lazier! But I don’t want age to stop me! I haven’t forgotten you folks down there and I wonder how you are doing? How many more months (or is it now weeks?) to wait for the new little one?

I know that you are getting ready to greet WINTER again! And that probably does not make you happy, right? We just had a few days of unseasonably hot, hot, days. But last night it all changed. A big storm came along bringing colder air from the north and dropped our temperatures about 30 degrees overnight!

We celebrated my 90th birthday yesterday by taking our nieces and nephews out for a special breakfast at a nearby restaurant. YES! we treated them! Usually when we get together like that once a month we each pay for our own. It made me happy to do this and helped to make my birthday SPECIAL. And on Sunday we will take our kids and grand-children out for dinner to continue the celebration. It is a very special birthday this year and if you were here we would invite you to join us. We are going to a German restaurant. Did you ever have German food ?

Well, Erin and Daniel, (Do I remember the names correctly?) I will stop here. If you want to respond, we will be happy to hear from you. Keep us informed about the baby, okay?

One time

G’bye Winter!

ottok88 — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 21:30:55 +0000

YES, winter is on the way out! and we are really happy about that! However Chicago has established a new record for the snowiest February in their history! …and I think I have set a new record for the laziest month of my life! It has been over a month since I wrote anything here. Well maybe I have a good excuse! It is INCOME TAX time! But I have been thinking about my friend, ENNY (and her family) in Australia.

How are you doing, Enny? How is your husband? and the baby? Do you have a date as yet when to expect the little Australian to arrive? The closer you get the more exciting it is also. I wonder if you have a name picked out yet? Will it be winter down there when the baby arrives?

I remember when we had our 5th baby (and 5th girl) and I had to send Marthe to the hospital in an ambulance in the middle of a blizzard! I stayed home with the other 4 girls because it was the middle of the night and I certainly did not want to leave them alone. I hope you have beautiful weather for the birth of your first child, even if it is in mid-winter!

It is still somewhat cold here, but the prediction is for spring-like weather by next weekend! I look forward to when I can sit outside again and soak up some sunshine. To sit out there in the yard and read or just sit and have a cup of coffee with Marthe is a happy time. Of course, sitting and talking with Marthe any where, anytime is a pleasure!

Do you have a garden at your home? And by the way, what is your husband’s name if you don’t mind telling me. I don’t even know yours!

I have a daughter named Lynne and she uses her name backwards (ennyl)for part of her E-mail address. Every time I see it I think of Australia. And now, I think I have written enough. I am getting tired. So G’day to you and your family.

END of WINTER?

ottok88 — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 22:49:39 +0000

Well, not exactly the “END” of winter! But this coming week will see a rise in temperatures! Last night it got down to 9 below zero and that would be about 20 or 30 below in other parts of the world! So, no surprise that we are anxious for SPRING! Even Niko doesn’t want to go out, but if he does go out he is back in 2 minutes!

But we really should not complain about our weather, even tho we are still in mounds of snow that have not melted below less than 12 to 15 inches! That is above Niko’s head! I was checking on the weather in Australia and it certainly doesn’t sound good! Too much rain and flooding. A friend of ours E-mailed some videos of flash flooding, in Queensland I believe, and it is scarey! It shows cars being swept away and floating with the current! Things like that ought not happen! We feel so sorry for the people involved! And here we sit complaining about a little cold and snow.

But we DID have a record total amount of snow this winter and we don’t really know what else is in store for us! It might be worse than anything we have yet experienced????????? But let’s just hope for the best, and maybe pray a little bit too. eh?