Barbara's hive

The first person I friended at LJ many, many moons ago, had been larilee; she also had been my first beta-reader.
Today I had to read on FB that larilee had passed away.
It saddens me to no end, that such a kind and passionate soul had to leave us. She will always have a special place in my heart.

Last week at work was ... well it was work. Many colleagues are on holidays, so I could tackle some of the things that got piled up due to more pressing problems. Next week will be the same, I guess.

I spent the last day of the year quite relaxed - had a lie in, then visited various family members to bestow tokens of luck on them, had some nice chats and coffee ... and then in the evening we had homemade pizza and a good wine, and watched Star Wars - A New Hope; we've been to see Rogue One last week, and we wanted to know how the story continues *snort*

I want to wish all of you a Happy New Year. I hope for you personally it may be a better one than 2016.

Today I went skating with a friend. Lakes freezing over and developing a sheet of ice thick enough to safely skate on it is not common occurrence anymore (thank you, global warming), and so we spontaneously decided to drive the 60 kilometers, when we heard of a lake that could be skated on.

We had a lovely time, as it wasn't too cold. I think we were skating for about one and a half hours - and I'm already looking forward to muscle soreness I'm surely going to experience tomorrow.

So this morning greeted me with the news of George Michaels passing.
Wham! was the first pop formation I was totally into as a preteen - ok, I was crushing on Andrew rather than George, but still. And I do remember George's hit single "Faith" carrying me through a surgery I had to have in my late teens. I do remember waiting before the OR, sedated, but having Faith stuck in my head  - and then waking up from the anesthesia still having the same song in my head.

So I think I know what music will be on repeat on the honeycomb today.

Anybody else having problems signing on to LJ from their mobile phones?

I do remember many occasions where it has snowed in April or even in May, but for the life of me I can't remember such a heavy snowfall at this time of the year, like it happened last Wednesday.
This last winter has been extraordinary - extraordinarily warm. Hello climate change?
And April has been much warmer as we are used to as well. So the last cold front has hit us quite unprepared.
It snowed more than it did all winter long. And the snow was wet and heavy ...

The region I live in has quite literally came to a standstill, because vehicles already equipped with summer tires totally unsuitable for winterly weather conditions were crashing into each other and blocking all major streets.
In addition to this, many tree branches were not able to withstand the heavy load anymore, and broke off, causing additional damage and chaos. Even a warning not to leave one's house has been issued due to the danger of falling branches.

This is the view I had from my balcony last Wednesday:



In the meantime Uta and Viola (this is the name of the depressions which caused all this chaos) have left the region, and today temperatures have risen again, so next to nothing of the white stuff is left down in the valley.

Today, when seeing thousands of refugees crossing the border to Austria after their ordeal in Hungary, being welcomed and cared for not only by the NGOs, but by many civilians living near the border, I'm incredibly proud to be an Austrian.

Thank you dear Austrian and German governments, for listening to your heart and opening the borders at least temporarily.

I spent yesterday's evening watching the second semifinals of this year's Eurovision Song Contest. Well, I basically had to, for I'm living in this year's host country.
I have to say, I was very impressed with how they pimped up Vienna's town hall. I've had my doubts when they announced it as the location ... but they've done a really good job with it.

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Sweden's song seems to be everybody's favourite, but it isn't really to my liking.
Cyprus nailed it for me, but I doubt my taste is representative here.

I'm looking forward to tomorrows final show. Please cross your fingers for Austria. Our song this year is a good one, but it's not winning material. But it would deserve a place among the top 10, I'd say.

Of course Larva's and my trip to London was not only noteworthy because of the Harry Potter moments. Actually, while there, I already started plotting a second trip in the - hopefully not so distant - future with focus on Drone's interests: castles and the history of the royal navy, most noteably during the age of sails. But in consideration of the teen on my side, I cut the time spent on some our program points shorter than I would have liked it to be, and did not get to explore many things that caught my interest. 

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Among the program points we did solely on Larva's request and won't be repeated with Drone were a trip on the London Eye (I think with Drone we will rather get a good view over the roof of London from St.Paul's Cathedral), a tour of the London Dungeon (which we both enjoyed immensely) and Madam Tussauds.

Many happy returns, dear karelia!

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