“You can ask your Groups if they know anywhere,”said Horst in early autumn 1996. We had been renting a flat in an old farmhouse, and the landlady was, well, interesting, and it felt as if we should think of somewhere else. So I asked.

When I got home there was a message from student and dear friend Jutta, telling us about a house quite close to her, that had been empty for sometime. “It’s not in a very good condition,” she said “But there is land…”

It was a warm, golden evening and while Horst chatted with the owner and looked at the crumbling plaster and hanging strips of damp wallpaper, I came round the side of the house into the garden…peaches? A peach tree, full of golden, juicy peaches, here in northern Germany? That garden, full of old fruit trees, felt like the sort of place that God might like to walk, in the cool of the evening.

We bought it, dear Reader, and many of you know and have experienced all the wonderful times we have had here ever since.

We know how lucky we are to have all this space, both inside and outside and right now we are specially enjoying all the wildlife – birds from pheasants to robins, deer which sometimes come and nibble my rosebuds, ladybirds and butterflies and most excitingly, a red squirrel.

In the UK red squirrels are rather unusual and something to celebrate

The most famous British squirrel is Squirrel Nutkin, in the book by Beatrix Potter.

Our is Squirrel ‘Winfried’ and, seeing him enjoying the sunflower seeds, Horst decided to build him his own feeding station, and I looked for squirrel food recipes online and made my first batch (see above).

The Borneos have been self-isolating for quite a few weeks now. To help them keep busy, I’m sending them puzzles and quizzes (including the children’s puzzles from the magnificent Thedinghäuser Zeitung) along with videos of our wildlife. I told them yesterday about Winfried and his new house.

This morning there was a voice message from Arthur: They have squirrels too, in the jungle. Those squirrels are eating all their fruit. So they are trying to catch them … and eat them.

Something for the next VHS Christmas Buffet maybe.

Just before you go, Laura sent me this short film of Kota Kinabalu in times of Corona. Awe-inspiring.

The Cabin Fever part

More about Beatrix Potter:

https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/short-stories/beatrix-potter

https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/beatrix-potter-gallery-and-hawkshead/features/beatrix-potter-the-lake-district-and-the-national-trust

Woodland animals:https://www.pinterest.de/pin/424182858623919096/

Prepositions quiz: http://guidetogrammar.org/grammar/quizzes/preposition_quiz1.htm