A Day at the Races

A couple of weeks ago, Karl and I spent a day at the races!

He got some tickets from a guy at work and so, on 20 October, we went to the town of Iffezheim near Baden-Baden to the horse race track. It was so much fun!!!

There were races all day...one about every 40 minutes. We figured out pretty fast how it all worked. After a race, the winners were walked through the crowd to the winners circle where they were cooled down and photos were taken and jockeys were interviewed. Then the crowd migrated to the lead ring (at least that's what it translates to from German) where the horses for the next race were walked so everyone could pick their favorites for the next race. Ten minutes before the race a bell rang and we all migrated back to the track.

We never made any bets, but we would pick our favorite for the race by picking our favorite horse name! Some of our favorites were Poseidon Adventure, Art Attack, Stay Another Day, Forces Sweetheart, World's Mission, Zinderella, and Action Impact.

Karl and I never figured out where our seats were. Mostly because we loved standing right on the track rail! Most of the races started on the other end of the track...but when the horses came speeding past us towards the finish line...what a rush!!




These horses were so powerful! They were so sleek and athletic looking and so excited to race! Before the race, when the jockeys rode them out onto the track toward the starting gates, you could see in their steps how excited they were to start the race. Sometimes one would start a mad dash to the starting gate and all the other horses got excited and started chasing after him. (It reminded Karl of a big excited dog!)




I've always had a thing for horses. I'm still smitten!

See all of our photos here!

Introducing...

So...earlier this year I discovered a neat online marketplace called Etsy. What's so fascinating about Etsy is that only handmade items are allowed to be sold there. And there are some amazing shops on Etsy!

So...I had an idea. And after many emails, a phone interview, some paperwork, and some fees, I got a new visa in my passport allowing me to open a little online business.

So...for the past month or two I've been working hard on getting my shop set up with some beautiful items (which is the big reason I've been missing in action from this blog!).

And now...I'm pleased to introduce...

baby anne quilts!



I'm having a little Grand Opening event in my shop on Thursday, November 8th: a virtual Open House! Come visit my shop anytime that day and check it out! Just click here! And send your friends to babyannequilts.etsy.com!

The Harwood Inn and Touring Company

We have had a very busy month. And that's the only excuse I can give you for not writing for so long. It has just been busy around here. I'll let you know part of the reason we were so busy in this post, but my next post in the next few days will let you know the other exciting reason I've been so busy.

We had a lot of visitors here!

At the end of September, between Setember 22-29, some friends of ours came to visit. Karl got his graphic design degree with Nate. They got back in touch with each other recently, and he and his wife, Janell, came out from St. George, Utah to visit us! We had a lot of fun with them and did so much, including spending two days in Paris! Here are a few of the highlights:

A night at the Paris Opera House! We attended a performance of "Wuthering Heights" by the Paris Opera Ballet. And sat in the most uncomfortable chairs imaginable! The back of the chair only hit the small of my back. My toes couldn't touch the floor. My knees jabbed the lady in front of me, my back was being jabbed by the person behind me, and I was rubbing shoulders with Nate and Karl. Tip: When attending a performance at the Paris Opera, don't sit in the cheap seats! But the performance was gorgeous and amazing!!

Hanging out at the top of Notre Dame! We actually got stuck up there for quite a while. Because the staircase going up the tower is so narrow, it's only one way: either people are being let up or down. They let some people up the top for a while, and then they let people down. We were up there for a quite a while as more and more people kept coming up until we ran out of room! We kept getting scrunched up tighter, while the French employee kept yelling "Andvance!! Andvance!!" Eventually we got let back down!

Karl took Nate and Janell to Burg Eltz one rainy day. They loved the castle. They hated all the rain.

We wandered the cute little German town of Gengenbach.

And we did so much more! All of our photos (click here) show a lot more of our adventures!

Just a week after Nate and Janell left us, my sister, Susan, and her husband, Andrew, came to visit. They were here October 5-13 and we had a ton of fun with them, too, including spending another two days in Paris! Here are the highlights:

We explored the Heidelberg castle.


Susan and Andrew and I had lunch in the Luxembourg Gardens of Paris while gazing on the top of the Eiffel Tower.


We explored the beautiful town of Speyer.


We visited Burg Eltz and then explored Burg Thurant.


We hung out in Baden-Baden.

I've got lots more photos of our fun times (click here).

It was so much fun, as always, to show off our amazing home to friends and family. Remember, we are always open for visitors!