Category: Uncategorized
Whatever It Is…
Pretty Coins
They’re Not Dead
Iconic Images
Funny?
Interlude
Dorothy!
The Secrets Of Europe
Nobody knows whether it was a (mild) earthquake or a cat – one morning our favorite teapot was broken. We found a replacement, carried it home, made some tea in it and discovered that it was one of those pots: Beautiful to look at in its round and sturdy teapot-ness and dripping at the spout. Not good!
On the other hand, we were planning to go on a trip to Germany anyway and I knew that in Germany I would find something called a “Tropfenfänger” or drip-catcher in plain English. Available in any store over there, I told the other half of the household, no problem at all. It’s just one of those little secrets of Europe only the natives know about, I said.
So the Tropfenfänger went on the list of things to bring back home, right besides Rouladennadeln (for keeping beef-olives in shape during cooking) and 80 x 80 cm pillowcases (the largest pillowcases in the USA measure 62 x 62 cm) and other essentials and off we went: Los Angeles, Paris, Hannover, no problem. Getting the stuff on the shopping list too was a breeze… with one exception: Tropfenfänger seemed to have ended up on the list of “extinct creatures”.
Like the Dodo. Oh dear. Doomed to a life with a dripping teapot?
No, the story does have a happy ending: I told my story of woe at the family table and everybody was just as astonished as I was that something we all remembered from our youth had simply disappeared. Until my sister-in-law stood up and left the room, to reappear a short while later with three of the elusive thingies still in their original packaging. She vaguely remembered that they ended up on a storage shelf after clearing out some kitchen… anyway, who cares? I triumphantly carried them home and believe me – that was the end of any dripping from the teapot.
Care to take a look at this magnificent piece of German efficiency?
Not the latest in sleek design, but VERY effective.