Thursday 24 October 2013

500 - 100 - 10

What's this about, a post with just numbers for a headline?
The explanation is very easy: This is my blog post # 500; I have 100 readers (I know, it says "102", but I am one of them [I still think it should not be possible for members of this platform to follow their own blogs], and the most recent one was not there yet when I first decided to write this post), and I have been living in this flat for 10 years now. A triple jubilee, if you like! 

It does not seem that long ago since I wrote post # 400, but if you look at its date, that was ten months ago.

Looking back at how my blog developed from its first post in March 2009, it has come a long way.
Back then, I used my blog as a means of sorting out a lot of what was going on in my head just then. It was, if you like, a creative vent, much needed after a particularly troubled time in my life. Little did I know at the beginning of that year that, by the end of it, I would find my circumstances completely changed, and an entirely new chapter of my life was to begin, that of being a widow.

A post of mine that, for a long time, ranked highest in my blog's statistics for the most popular posts, is this one. Re-reading it now makes me realize how much has changed in my small portion of blogland since then; many of the blogs mentioned in that post do not exist anymore, while many others have been added to my reading list.

Here you can read a bit more about what makes me continue to blog, even though sometimes I post less frequently than I would like to, and am almost continuosly lagging behind with book reviews of about three books.

On my blog, you can find a lot of what really makes "me" and my life. If you do not know me personally, you can get a pretty good idea of me through my blog, although it will never convey the complete picture (which, maybe, nobody ever gets from another person anyway). If you do know me personally, I think you will recognize "me" quite well in my posts.

There are a few topics I hardly ever touch here, such as politics and religion, but that does not mean that I do not think about these or do not have a personal opinion.
To some, my blog may seem superficial to the point of shallowness (see the tab "Fashion for the shallow-minded"); I do not apologize for that or try to justify myself. Just like Frances said the other day, our blogs are our own personal platforms for our own personal rants (or, in my case, for our own personal shallowness). 

Enough about the first two numbers in today's headline; now to the ten-year-anniversary in my flat:
It was in early 2003 that Steve and I started looking for a place of our own. I'd had enough of living in rented flats, and I knew if I wanted to buy, I had to do it now - or else I would not be able to pay the mortgage in full until retirement. In March 2003, we found an advert in the paper and decided to look at the flat. It was the first one we ever looked at, and we both liked it instantly. For me, it was more the general look and feel of the house, plus of course the invaluably perfect geographic situation for us (neither of us ever learned how to drive); Steve, on the other hand, had done a lot of house renovations when he was younger, and could tell that the plumbing, electricity set-up etc. were all in very good order.
Still, I thought, you can't just go and get the first flat you look at, and so we went to look at a few others. None of those quite struck it with us the same way, though, and in the end, we rang the owner and made the contract. 
In October 2003, we moved in, and I have not looked back ever since. Ironically, I pay the same amount of money as a mortgage to my own place now than when I used to rent - with the difference that this is, one day, really going to be MY place (right now, it still largely belongs to the bank), and that I can do as I please and do not have to deal with landlords and landladies anymore.

Pictures of my flat can be found throughout my blog, and of course you are all familiar with the view from my kitchen window :-)


To celebrate the 10-year-anniversary here, I invited everyone who lives in this house and the next (two semi-detached houses with three flats each) on Saturday afternoon last week for a cup of coffee (or tea) and a brezel (a regional specialty). I expected somewhere around 10-12 people, and so I bought 15 brezeln, and set everything up in the kitchen.


To me, the main goal of this neighbourly gathering was that people would realize that there were others living in the same house - that they were not on their own, and that sometimes a bit of consideration towards the others (in terms of making or avoiding noise) would be a good idea. Also, in the house next door, tenants had recently changed, and I thought this a good chance to meet them.

Well... my invitation was for 3.00 pm, which usually is a convenient time on a Saturday for almost anyone. 3.00 came... and went. At 3.30, one of the neighbours rang the doorbell. He apologized for his wife not being there (she had to work) and his (grown-up) children being busy otherwise. I asked him about the tenants (they are his tenants), and he thought they didn't know of the invitation. He went back to fetch them, which took a while, because the young woman had to put on make-up first and do her hair.
The tenants downstairs of my flat were clearly not at home; all was quiet there, and the elderly couple living above me are still in Turkey, where they spend at least half of each year, it being their home country.
So... we ended up a tiny group of four adults and one 3-week-old baby, with 15 brezeln to share - and nobody wanted one!!!

We still had a nice chat and coffee together, and all know a bit more about each other now. The young couple with the baby asked whether I hear the baby when he cries; I said I do hear him, but it is never loud enough to wake me up, and he does not cry very long or very often. I did tell them that, when the husband smokes on their balcony, the smoke gets right into my bedroom when I have the window open (which is nearly always the case), and they were quite surprised to learn that. It was all very amiable, and they both said that, if they ever did anything that would bother me, I was to tell them instantly, for they certainly do not mean to be a nuisance. So, at least on this small scale, my goal was achieved.

It turned out that the wife of my next-door neighbour, the one who had to work on that Saturday, had taken off the invitation that I had sello-taped to the entrance door of the house next door, so that everyone living in that house could see it. She clearly did not think that it was meant for everyone - although, if I had meant to invite that one family only, I certainly would have put the inviation in their letter box and not stuck it to the door, wouldn't I!

The couple downstairs returned some time after 6.00. By then, I had put four brezeln in a bag which I hung at their door handle, with a note, saying that I was sorry they had not been there this afternoon and here are the brezeln that were meant for you.
When they found the bag, they briefly came upstairs to thank me. Somehow they had failed to check their letter box on Friday - I had put their invitation in on the Thursday. 

Another two hours later, the wife of my next-door neighbour came home from work; she rang to apologize for having had to work, congratulated me on the 10-year-anniversary and gave me a single red rose - I found that very sweet of her. I gave her another bag with brezeln for her and her family.

Still, I ate brezeln - toasted, of course, since they are not nice otherwise if they are more than half a day old - all weekend. I doubt I want another brezel anytime soon. And I shall organize my 20-year-anniversary a bit different, I think.

27 comments:

  1. Those are quite a few anniversaries and milestones!! It looks like we started blogging around the same time. I can't believe it's been four years already!! And 10 years in your apartment - how nice!! Time sure flies, doesn't it? We've been in Savannah for over 7 years already and it seems just like yesterday that we moved...

    I'm glad you got to connect with all your neighbors even thought they sort of trickled by your place. I'd sure love to take one of those Brezeln off your hands...

    xoxo Silke

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  2. I forgot to say -- Congratulations on all of those milestones!! :)

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    1. Thank you, Silke! You could have had a whole bag full of Brezeln, had you been near my place that Saturday afternoon :-)

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  3. I'm glad you stayed with it, Meike. Here's to the next 10/10/500!

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    1. Raising my glass to that, Frances! Thank you!

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  4. I commented earlier this morning and it seems to have disappeared......

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    1. Must have been a bug on blogger, then, Kristi; I did not see any new comment of yours earlier today.

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    2. Then let me congratulate you on all the important anniversaries in your life! And how lovely those brezeln look. We have them whenever in Germany. You just don't ever find the same delicious kind here. It's a good thing to celebrate and you had lots of reasons!

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    3. Thank you, Kristi! Yes, even though I have now had enough Brezeln to last me for a while, I think I'd really miss them if I were to live in a country where you do not get them at every corner :-)

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  5. Meike,

    I do not comment as often as I used to but I still enjoy following your blog. Congratulations on all those milestones! I think the Brezeln look delicious.

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    1. Thank you, Softie! It is good to know that you enjoy my blog, never mind commenting or not :-)

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  6. Congratulations on your 500, 100, and 10!

    These days, i find if i don't call people and ask them to come, they don't always get the invitation, or tell me if they can come.

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    1. Thank you!
      Well, it was a bit unlucky in that the invitation for the one house was taken off the door before everyone could see it, and the other one wasn't found in the mail box until it was too late, but anyway, I think they all appreciated the thought.

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  7. Meike, you are funny and what's best is you can laugh at situations.
    I once tried to organize a choral group to go around singing at Christmas time. I was SO enthusiastic!
    I got one taker.
    I'm still a fan of a Charles Dickens Christmas though, my spirit has not waned, ha ha.
    I think its so sweet you left the (giant pretzels?) on the doorknobs. Lucky neighbors to have someone as considerate as you,
    xx
    Julie

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    1. Glad I can make you laugh, too, Julie!
      Have you and the one taker gone around singing then?
      Those brezeln are the normal size that you get at every bakery here in south Germany. They are delicious when they are freshly baked, soft inside and crisp when you first bite into them. The tiny, hard-baked ones that are sold at supermarkets are quite different.

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  8. Congratulations on 10 years and your other milestones! If I had been around I certainly would have went to your party, I'm sure it was fun!

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    1. It would have been more fun with more people there, Mary!

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  9. I've spent a while going through the posts you mentioned and that started to puzzle me. I seem to have known you for years but in fact I seem to have been following for only a relatively short while and long after the first 2010 post you linked to. Of course your name was familiar long before I followed because you followed my brother's blog (Scriptor Senex for those who don't know) long before I followed yours. Anyway I do follow and enjoy your blog and our dialogues very much. Perhaps you have inherently unsociable neighbours.

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    1. Thank you, Graham; you know I enjoy your blog and our dialogues very much, too. You are probably the only person who really went and looked up the old posts I have linked to in this post! A quick comparison with the first half year or so of my blog with what it evolved to is quite interesting, I think, from a "personal development" point of view.

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  10. Disappointing and annoying. Sorry it didn't work out better. I'm pleased you mentioned my blog. Thank you. And I am a 'reader' of yours though not in a formal way. I don't 'follow' any blogs. I just keep this giant blog list and visit them when I can. I haven't been around much this summer, and I apologize. I think it is 'grammy brain' - I am so preoccupied with these two babies coming in the new year that honestly sometimes I just sit and stare. :<) I so enjoy your blog.

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    1. Dear Nan, I know that you are always very busy, and when I see how much you read on top of everything, I really wonder how you find the time for blogging at all - therefore, your kind comment here is all the more appreciated, thank you!

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  11. Happy Triple Juliblee, Meike! Of course, you know I love your blog and I really enjoy the views you show us from inside and outside of your flat. I am pleased that you have more followers, and I think you should count yourself, after all, blogger knows best! (HA HA)
    Those pretzels (sorry, Brezeln) look really good....do you put butter (Butter) on them? I asked Richard how to spell butter in German and he said it is the same as English, but it needs to be capitalized.
    Wish I could have come to your party, I would have helped you eat Brezeln with Butter, NO PROBLEM!

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    1. Thank you, dear Kay!
      Yes, I eat my Brezeln with Butter, always. But some people (those who are diet-conscious) prefer them without. And Richard is right, it is exactly the same word.

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  12. Congratulations on your anniversaries, Meike. I'm impressed with your initiative to invite your neighbours for a celebration, even if the turnout was a little meager. But you seem to have handled that well, too! Living in a rented flat myself, people have come and gone in several of the other flats in my entrance during the five years I've lived here. I never really got to know any of them.

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    1. Thank you, Monica!
      I do not want to get too chummy with any of my neighbours, but I want at least to know who lives there, and to make sure they know I live there, too. In the six flats that make up the two semis, only two are rented out, the rest are occupied by their respective owners, which means we are (mostly) here to stay and better get used to each other :-)

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  13. Very satisfying numbers, those. I went back and read your earlier post and through it discovered Julie Whitmore's blog. I think I read the original post but I obviously didn't click on the link before. I like her work very much though and have joined her blog. Smiled ruefully at your account of the poorly attended party, but it sounds as if you recovered the situation well and now you will be able to chat with your neighbours when you meet them around. Good luck for the next ten years!

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    1. Knowing that my blog helped you to find another blog you want to follow makes me glad, Jenny!
      Yes, that celebration was quite different from how it was intended, but I made the best of it, and hope that things will work out better in 2023 :-)

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