drachenbraut23 (Bianca) - and Spring finally arrived! Hooray!

Hello everyone, spring finally arrived in my part of the world, which makes me extremely happy!
As usual everyone is welcome and please feel free to do whatever you enjoy, whether it is just lurking, commenting or just having some fun.
Roni and here are the photos from my flowers which started to bloom so far :)



These ones are my faves. I found them a few years back in a garden centre, but can't remember what they are called. They do have all spring this green/yellow flower and in early summer the leaves become more and more a dark yellow and they develop deep red, tiny little ball shaped contraptions around the centre of the flower. Just absolutely stunning.



And here are the snowflakes with the first tulips *smile*

My ticker for 2013




And here are my categories for the 13 category challenge 2013

#01 Let's be creative and broaden our horizon This can be anything Non-Fiction such as Science, History, Biography or whatever fetches my interest.
#02 Why don't you like me? Books from various banned book lists eg ALA.
#03 Misfits Anything which doesn't fit a particular category
#04 Let's see if we can make it Dystopian, Post-Apocalyptic, Horror
#05 Don't break my Heart Well, some romance for chilling out is necessary as well.
#06 I think I am special! Anything long- or shortlisted for various Booker prizes, Nobel, 1001 Books etc.
#07 I love to play Children or YA literature
#08 Who is trying to sneak into my home? Mysteries and Thrillers
#09 Across Time Historical Fiction
#10 Return to the classics I am planning to reread some of my classics, but also to read some classics I haven't tried before :)
#11 Once upon a time.... Fantasy
#12 Is this the Future? Science Fiction
#13 Newfangled? What's that? Contemporary Fiction

And this is where you can find my 13 category challenge thread

January

#001 Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson - 672 pages
#002 Low Town - Daniel Polansky - 384 pages
#003 ♬ Der Wunschpunsch - Michael Ende - 240 pages
#004 The Walking Dead Vol.4 - The Heart's Desire - Robert Kirkman - 136 pages
#005 We Sinners - Hanna Pylväinen - 189 pages
#006 Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood - 436 pages
#007 Warm Bodies - Isaac Marion - 256 pages
#008 The Alchemist of Souls - Anne Lyle - 480 pages
#009 ♬ The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness - 496 pages
#010 The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood - 528 pages
#011 Domain of the Dead - Ian McKinnon - 252 pages
#012 Remains of the Dead - Ian McKinnon - 234 pages
#013 ♬ The Snow Queen - Joan D. Vinge - 469 pages
#014 The Taker - Alma Katsu - 450 pages
#015 The Reckoning - Alma Katsu - 352 pages

February

#016 ♬ The Ask and the Answer - Patrick Ness - 528 pages
#017 ♬ Monsters of Men - Patrick Ness - 624 pages
#018 Jhereg - Steven Brust - 239 pages
#019 ♬ The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern - 400 pages
#020 ♬ Genesis - Bernard Beckett - 192 pages
#021 Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs - 352 pages
#022 A Brief History of Slavery - Jeremy Black - 320 pages
#023 ♬ Dust & Decay - Jonathan Maberry - 528 pages
#024 Flesh & Bone - Jonathan Maberry - 480 pages
#025 Dead & Gone - Jonathan Maberry - 84 pages
#026 The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland--For a Little While - Catherynne M. Valente - 33 pages
#027 The Sparrow - Mary Doria Russell - 408 pages
#028 Children of God - Mary Doria Russell - 438 pages
#029 ♬ Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch - 432 pages

March

#030 ♬ A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness - 720 pages
#031 ♬ Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness - 592 pages
#032 ♬ The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson - 336 pages
#033 The Voice: An Ephemera Novella - Anne Bishop - 66 pages
#034 The Hanging Shed - Gordon Ferris - 320 pages

April

#035 ♬ Written in Red - Anne Bishop - 433 pages
#036 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - 1076 pages
#037 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald - 177 pages
#038 ♬ The Forest of Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan - 320 pages
#039 ♬ Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - 320 pages
#040 ♬ Blindness - Jose Saramago - 320 pages
#041 The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood - 324 pages
#042 Ernährung bei Lebererkrankungen - Ludwig Kramer - 136 pages
#043 Köstlich Essen für Leber und Galle - Sven-David Müller - 130 pages
#044 ♬ Fate's Edge - Illona Andrews - 372 pages
#045 ♬ Im Westen Nichts Neues - Erich Maria Remarque - 224 pages
#046 ♬ Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld - 448 pages

Abandoned
The Church of Dead Girls - Stephen Dobyns
♬ Call of the Herald - Brian Rathbone

May

#047 Escape from Camp 14 - Blaine Harden - 256 pages
#048 ♬ Behemoth - Scott Westerfeld - 496 pages
#049 Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach - 304 pages
#050 ♬ Divergent - Veronica Roth - 487 pages

Currently reading

The Ghost Map - Steven Johnson
♬ Insurgent - Veronica Roth
Berserk Vol 1 - Kentaro Miura

@ - ebook
♬ - audiobook
HB - Hardback
PB - Paperback
read already ✔

Books come into the house during March

001. @ Little Girl Lost - Brian Mc Gilloway
002. ✔ HB The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern
003. ✔ PB The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
004. ✔ PB Shadow of Night - Deborah Harkness
005. ✔ PB A Discovery of Witches - Deborah Harkness
006. ✔ PB Frankenstein - Mary Shelley - special edition for my collection
007. ✔ PB Dracula - Bram Stoker - special edition for my collection
008. ✔ PB The Forest and Hands and Teeth - Carrie Ryan
009. PB The Emperor's Soul - Brandon Sanderson
010. ✔ PB Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
011. ✔ PB The Year of the Flood - Margaret Atwood
012. PB The Ghost Map - Steven Johnson
013. PB Frost in May - Antonia White
014. ✔ HB and ♬ The Daylight War - Peter V. Brett
015. PB Dracula: The Graphic Novel
016. ✔ PB The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
017. PB Grotesque - Natsuo Kirino
018. PB Out - Natsuo Kirino
019. PB The Bone People - Keri Hulme
020. PB The Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller
021. PB Witness the Heart - Kishwari Desai
022. PB Uglies - Scott Westerfield
023. PB The Enchantress of Florence - Salman Rushdie
024. ✔ @ The Voice: An Ephemera Novella - Anne Bishop
025. ✔ ♬ Written in Red - Anne Bishop
026. HB Bridge of Dreams - Anne Bishop
027. ✔ ♬ Blindness - Jose Saramago
028. HB The Twelve Tribes of Hattie - Ayana Mathis

Come into my house during April :O

029. ✔ PB Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov - special edition for my collection
030. ✔ PB The Dead Tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan
031. ✔ PB The Dark and Hollow Places - Carrie Ryan
032. ✔ PB The Three Musketeers - Alexander Dumas - special edition for my collection
033. ✔ PB One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest - Ken Kesey - special edition for my collection
034. ✔ PB Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - special edition for my collection
035. ✔ PB Köstlich Essen für Leber und Galle - Sven David Müller
036. ✔ PB Ernährung bei Lebererkrankungen - Ludwig Kramer
037. @ Cell 8 - Anders Roslund
038. @ The Iron Butterfly - Chanda Hohn
039. @ Faelorehn - Jenna Elizabeth Johnson
040. ✔ @ and ♬ Divergent - Veronica Roth
041. ✔ @ and ♬ Leviathan - Scott Westerfeld
042. ✔ @ and ♬ Behemoth - Scott Westerfeld
043. @ Railsea - China Mieville
044. @ The Ladies of Mandrigyn - Barbara Hambly
045. ✔ @ Escape from Camp 14 - Blaine Harden
046. ♬ Herztier - Herta Müller

This is Neal's Yard in Covent Garden, London, which I adore, because it is so colourful :)

Hi Bianca - lovely new thread. Pleased to see the signs of spring - beautiful flowers.

Neal's Yard is colourful indeed:)

Hope you find a Comicon for you and Alex to visit this summer. Sounds like it would be a lot of fun.

Hej Bianca, pleased that you found spring and let us enjoy some flowers

Hey there, Bianca! *Waves and smooches*

Marvelous flowers - our tulips are out too, and I love the photo of Neal's Yard.

Bianca- Love the new Spring thread! Lovely colors. Have a good week.

Howdy Bianca!

Hello, Bainca! I am delighted Spring has arrived for you - some years it seems to take so very long to kick in!

I'm sorry that the ComicCon in SF is out of the question, but I bet you'll find a pretty exciting option in Europe. I'm sure you two will have a great time!

I notice that you are still the top Hot Review this morning - congratulations again!

Stopping by to stake out a place on your new thread, Bianca! Wow, Neal's Yard is awash with colour! Very cheerful place to hang out in, I am sure. Have a safe trip back to London.

Lovely new thread, Bianca! I LOVE the picture of Neal's Yard! What a delight for the eyes!

Neal's Yard is anything but opaque - it must never get dark there. Congratulations on your latest thread Bianca.

Happy new thread, Bianca! *tosses some glitter about*

Great new thread, Bianca! I love that pic of Neal's Yard in Covent Garden. Must add that to the tbv (to be visited) list.

Looking forward to seeing which book you finish first :)

Hi Bianca, nice to see those cheery signs of spring. We are enjoying some lovely weather right now as well. This morning I actually dug out my sandals to wear!

Beautiful spring flowers in your thread topper! One more reason to smile when I open your thread.

Bianca I just wanted to thank you for recommending The Night Circus. I finished the audio today. I really did drag it out as long as I could. It was wonderful and I did not want it to end.

Aha! Finally your flower pictures! Gorgeous!

Catching up...

I haven't purchased Rivers of London yet, Bianca. I'll look for it later this month, though.

Great review of Lolita!

Starting with this thread as it has only 24 messages, the other one must be somewhere way up on the list. I hope you're having a good time! Happy new thread and happy week!

Hi, Bianca. Nice new thread.

I suspect you have spring, because summer is finally over, here :0( It's turned cooler, in that the days are now in the low 20s - high teens (ºC)

*wave*

Howdy Bianca! Lovely new thread you have here... The picture of Neal's Yard in Covent Garden is delightful. Do you visit there often when in England?

Happy Spring, Bianca!

Bianca, thanks for sharing pics of your spring flowers with us. I love your colorful new thread. Hope you are having a good week.

Happy new thread Bianca dear. How are you feeling lately?

Hello everyone,
I arrived Tuesday night here in London and was quite busy all day yesterday with shopping and food preperations for my upcoming shifts which are starting tonight. Internet appears to be a problem again as it took me almost an hour, some swearing and sweating to get everything going this morning. To top everything - it's an incredible slow connection - I only say great. The weather isn't that great either, but as I am on night shift from tonight for four nights I am not to bothered. Although, yesterday afternoon was wonderful and I went for a long walk and spend some time in a cafe nearby.
I got quite a bit of listening and reading done over the past couple of days. As mentioned before my first book to finish this month was Escape from Camp 14 by Blaine Harden which was a heartbreaking story. I also finished listening to Behemoth by Scott Westerfeld ( I have to read the next one soon) and finished reading Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach, which was quite interesting - also I found some of her humor quite tasteless. I am almost finished listening to Divergent by Veronica Roth which I quite enjoy and I am almost finished with the GN Berserk Vol 1 by Kentaro Miura.

Thank you calm and welcome. I also hope that I will find another ComicCon to go to. I definitely will check all the options out for a summer holliday - whatever it may be :)

Hi Paul any idea what the "green" flowers are called? Usually you know quite a bit about flowers and plant life *smile*

*waves and smooches* back to Stephen

Hi Lucy yeah, it's alway such an exitment when the spring flowers start to bloom. Some of the tulip bulbs I planted last autumn started to bloom just before I left on Tuesday, such beatiful colours and shape. Yep, Neal's Yard is lovely to the eye, especially during summer.

A wonderful week to you as well Mark :)

Howdy :) Roberta *big grin*

Hi Dejah thanks and I am sure I will figure something exciting out for Alex and myself, also he was a bit dissapointed. I am sure we can take part another time at the one in San Diego.
I just remembered that you asked me about the Sookie Stackhouse GR on my old thread. No, I am not taking part as I only read the first 9 books and I still have got the 10th book on my TBR. However, I absolutely loved them when I read them a few years ago, but I was not to keen on the tv series.

Lori thank you very much. My journey was quite straight forward and very uneventful this time round, which was a relief. Even the London traffic wasn't to bad on Tuesday night. Neal's Yard is indeed a nice place to hang out, also there are lots of other wonderful places in London.

Thank you mamie yes, Neal's Yard is a wonderful place to hang out and I do love the colours.

Paul thank you. Have you been to Neal's Yard before when visiting London? Or better what are your fave places in London?

*catching the wonderful glitter* Es is tossing around. I love the glitter *smile*.

Joe definitely worth visiting whilst discovering London. Cool cafe's, unique shops and of course a great atmosphere.

Ha which book I finish first Melissa? Well, fist I finished Behemoth, followed closely by Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers and I am almost finshed with Berserk Vol 1 which is really cool, now I only have to get the second Volume.

Hooray for sandals Judy I dug mine out as well + that I have got my new hiking sandals *grin*.

Julia that's so wonderful to be able to make you smile with my spring flowers. They made me smile every morning I went into our garden. However, my friends garden started to become quite colourful as well, which I enjoyed very much yesterday.

Roberta Hooray for enjoying The Night Circus. I thought Jim Dale did just a terrific job in conveying this wonderful Circus atmosphere that I didn't want to end it either.

Roni I promised you flowers and here they are! Any idea what the "green" flowers are called? If anyone knows the name of the flowers in the top picture - PLEASE let me know!

Thank you Darryl :). Once you get to read Rivers of London I am so curious what you will think about it. Have you read any fantasy before? Well, if not I think this book could be a good introduction into the genre.

Hallo Nathalie nice to have you around again. :) I have to go and catch up with your thread and see what you have been reading wilst being away from LT.

Thank you Nina yes, spring finally arrived - a bit late and still not at full blast - but we are getting there. So, you are sliding into autumn now? What are your winter's like where you are?

Hi Jenn *wave back* *smile*

Kathy I don't visit there that often, but sometimes. I usually tend to avoid central London as it is so crowded that I usually start to feel suffocated after some time. Mostly, I spend my time in other parts of London, which are equally interesting and beautiful.

Happy spring to you as well Stasia!

Wishing you a great week as well Donna

Hey Tina are you already back from your honeymoon? Woah, have to run and check your thread out and see how your wedding went *big smile*.
Well, I am still not smoking *Hooray*. I am not feeling wonderful, but I am ok. Only 20 more days until my appointment with the Hepatologist. My main problem at present is my fatigue and that I constantly feel nauseated - which makes it quite challenging in regards to food - However, after going a whole month through all imaginable emotions - anxiety, crying, anger, depression etc - I actually have been ok for the last week and I am back to my old self - well at least mentally *grin* if not physically.

I hope you're enjoying being back in London, Bianca!

Hi Bianca! I was very behind but have finally caught up! Sorry to hear about the tooth problems you've been having. Hope they're all sorted now. Also sorry to hear about your liver problems :-( I hope the heptalogist can help - will be thinking of you.

Bianca, I'm not an expert but are your green flowers a type of Euphorbia?

Hej Bianca, danke für die Blumen, but I am not sure that I am so knowledgable about flowers. I think, Rhian is right, below a pic of Euphorbia polychroma 'Candy' - Goldwolfsmilch



Greetings from Riehen, keep going, step by step

Nice new thread, Bianca! Thanks for the spring flowers, a few are just starting to peek their pretty little heads out of the ground here in Wisconsin!

>32 drachenbraut23:: Winters here are sunny, so the day can be nice and warm if you're outdoors, but there's not much cloud cover, which means the nights are chilly.

It's very different from a London winter; if I was cold indoors, I'd pile on more layers and stay inside, there. Over here, it's better to go out if you're cold indoors. Plus I think there is more variation between daytime and night time temperatures, here. Unfortunately, I lost my cold acclimatisation by living for about 12 years in the tropics (with a break in NYC).

We can finally has spring!

Hello Bianca! I have no idea if Mother's Day is celebrated in Britain or Germany, but since it's Mother's Day here in the US, I'll wish you a happy one!

Hope your shifts are going well!

I hear you on Mary Roach's humor. I've read several of hers. I learn a lot, laugh a bit and groan even more. The last one I read was Packing for Mars. I learned a lot about space travel, but got very tired of excrement stories. But then, her next book comes out and eventually, there I am once again......

Hi Bianca! Congratulations on the "still not smoking" achievement...that is truly a wonderful accomplishment. I am sorry you are not feeling well overall though and I hope that goes away soon.

I have not yet read any Mary Roach but I keep wanting to try something of hers. I tend to like the science-y nonfiction so I may like her stuff as well.

I totally have an author crush on Mary Roach. *Dreamy sigh*

(((Bianca)))

You are a super star for not smoking!!! All those emotions are totally normal - at least I'm acknowledging I had the same issues when I quit. It WILL get better... That I can guarantee. It's going to take a while, but you will feel emotionally better!! I'm going to believe it for you, even if you don't!

Can you enjoy London at all working nights?

Bianca, I LOVE those yellowy/greeny flowers and can't find them available in the states. My Internet skills may not be that great.
I agree with Tina! Not smoking makes you a super star. Keep it up. When other things get straightened out (and I'm growing antsy to hear what the hepatologist will have to say), you will be thrilled with how much difference not smoking makes.
Did I say that I finished Midnight Riot. Loved it! Ordered and received Moon over Soho. I'm hooked.

Hi Bianca, I love the flowers at the top of your thread. Congratulations on your continuing success with not smoking. I actually have Stiff on my shelf and plan on reading it soonish. I already read Packing for Mars so I'm familiar with Roach's style.

Hi everyone :) . I hope you are all enjoying a relaxing weekend. Finished work a few days ago and unfortunately became unwell which required a short hospital stay. Feeling better now, but still not great and I am seriously fed up. However, I am not going to moan about it anymore as it's only 11 more days to my Liver appointment and hopefully things will start getting a bit better from there on. The hospital kind of spilled the beans already in regards to my diagnosis - well, it was kind of the diagnosis I expected, but I will wait until it has been confirmed by the Liver team.
As I again didn't feel brilliant I didn't manage much reading at all. I did finish listening to Divergent and I am currently listening to Insurgent. I just started yesterday to read again and quite enjoy the writing style of Steven Johnson's Ghost Map you don't find very often people who can present non-fiction in such an entertaining way.
Otherwise, the London weather is absolutely horrid and I am desperately waiting for spring to return and now I do moan. I do want summer (this was a huge shout at the weather maiden).

Hi Dejah yes it is nice back being in London, also the weather is horrid. However, I don't really have any friends in Germany so I am always quite exited to see my friends and do some chatting, exchange news etc. I think you know what I mean *smile*.

Heather thank you! In regards to my teeth - I have been incredible lucky, because everything went so smooth and untraumatic. Only 11 more days to my Liver appointment and hopefully things will start to get better from there on. Thank you for thinking about me :)

Rhian and Paul thank you soo much. That was exactly the plant I was looking for. So, when I go to the garden center next I can tell them what I am looking for. *smile* yes Paul I keep going step by step, also it appears to be quite hard at present. However, I do have some great friends who are very supportive and even stayed in hospital with me the whole time.

Laura take as many spring flowers as you can carry. So, glad to hear that spring is finally arriving at your doorstep as well.

Hello Nina woah, that means you have very mild winters during the day, but cold nights. So, if your houses are well insulated that means the chill will stay in the house, if you don't use heating. Is that the reason why you rather would go outside when you are cold inside? I don't think I ever asked, but where did you live in the tropics? Sorry, I know I am rather curious.

Heya aquascum that's a nice photo. Glad to see that you got your spring now as well. *grin*

Janet hehe thanks. Yes, it was Mothersday in Germany but not in the UK. My son phoned me and told me how much he loves and misses me, which was obviously very nice. I hope you had a nice mothers day as well :). My shifts went well, thank you! I quite enjoyed Mary Roach and I definitely will read more of her. However, some of her assumptions surprised me and I kind of got bored at times by her trying to introduce more humor in the way of discussing genitals.

Heidi yep, still not smoking and not interested at all in re-starting, really odd! I also hope that I will feel better soon as I am seriously getting fed up of feeling as I do now. However, as I said before only 11 more days until my Liver appointment and hopefully things will get better. *smile* I noticed that you do enjoy non-fiction so you may enjoy Mary Roach as well. Some of the stuff was so hilarious that I couldn't stop laughing.

LOL *dreamy sigh*? Stephen? So, you do have an author crush? May I assume that you have read already all of her books? Which of hers would you recommend then to read next?

HI Tina *hugs back* - the non-smoking isn't the issue of me feeling unwell, actually I am absolutely not interested in cigarettes anymore. The feeling unwell is due to my ongoing health problems since I had pneumonia in January. For some reason my body decided to war against me this year and I am currently battling with lots of different health issues, which make my life so miserable at times. However, I do hope that things will settle down soon.

Hi Peggy well, if you can't get this particular flower in the states, maybe I could find out if I could get seeds and then I a send them to you *smile*. Well, if the US should let seeds let pass the border. Oh, I am so delighted to hear that you enjoyed The Rivers of London soo much and I am curious to see what you will think about the next installment.
Well, I will let you know what the Hepatologists are going to say. :)

Bonnie welcome to my new thread and please make yourself comfy :) . So, you enjoyed Packing for Mars? Maybe I should check that one out as well. And thank you for the encouragement with my non-smoking approach :)

Hi Bianca - hope you are having a few good days inbetween your less healthy ones and that the weather is picking up a little. I was updating the Buxtehuder Bulle award on LT a couple of weeks ago as I had read a book that had won the Award in 1987 and thought that it was a really interesting prize and a great list of books. Have you or Alex read many of the German ones on the list? Quite a few haven't been translated to English though I'm keen to read a few that have.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buxtehude_Bull

I'm one of the lucky ones who never started smoking in my youth. I was at a boarding school for a few years and remember one of my friends going on the roof day after day to try and catch the habit. She suffered from immense coughing bouts but persevered to become a heavy smoker. At the time I just couldn't be bothered to rebel in that way.

Hej Bianca, good to have you back from the hospital. Thanks for not moaning :) but it is not easy to live with all that - going in to hospital and waiting for further diagnosis and other tests etc. I wish you all the strength and wisdom you need in these days.

Here a little 'spring card' from the Isle of Mainau from today:

and another Wolfsmilch:

Hi Bianca, just passing through to say hello and now I am stopping long enough to give you a big ((hug)). Hope you are feeling a little better.

My favorite Roach was Bonk, of course, because when you have an author crush how can you not want to read about them talking about sex for a few hundred pages? *Dreamy sigh*

I would save Spook for last, it was my least favorite, but Packing for Mars, Bonk, and Stiff were all fantastic. :)

*Hugs* I hope you feel betterer soon! :)

Hi Bianca! I'm thinking of you and hoping you are feeling better today.

It's still not warm here either....I am definitely moaning about it! I want summer!

Bianca, sorry to hear about the hospital visit. Take care of yourself!!!!!
I was surprised today to look at some little border plants (I have no idea what they are; they were table decorations at a party last year that I planted where I needed something little and low) today and find tiny yellow flowers! They're not Wolfsmilch, but the color combination is the same.

Also sorry to hear you haven't been feeling well, and admire your stiff upper lip.

I don't know about insulation, but my parents house is oriented to minimise sunlight coming in through the windows. In summer, that's OK, but it keeps the house cool in winter, too. So outside in the sunshine is warmer, somehow.

Sorry to hear that you're still under the weather. Good to know that you're not interested in smoking. (I'm afraid I'm very anti-smoking, so I try not to say too much on the subject). Best of luck with your liver appointment.

>48 paulstalder:: Paul, those are very pretty flowers. Thank you for sharing them with us.

PS: I used to live 1º north of the equator.

Sorry to hear about your hospitalization, Bianca. I hope that you're doing better.

Stopping by and hope you are feeling better, Bianca and that the tests will be able to figure out what is going on.

Sending you best wishes and hopes that you are feeling better today.

Bianca, I just wanted to stop by and wish you a good week. I hope you are feeling better soon. I think we are all counting down the days to your doctor appointment with you, and hoping you will get the help you need to be well.

Hugs for Bianca, and some glitter too!

*drive by*

Well wishes and chocolate drops comin' at you Bianca!

Bianca, I am sending more get well wishes your way. I know you are tired of being unwell. Here is a google image of the flowers I have blooming in my yard right now to brighten your day. Mine are kind of droopy because of last night's thunderstorms. It's hard to tell from the picture, but they are saucer sized and smell delicious! Do you have peonies in London or Germany?

Thinking of you Bianca.

Thinking of you, Bianca and hoping that you are doing okay! I've been doing a little gardening myself and I've got some big dahlias in my container gardening. We live in a townhouse, and while there is an elevated flower bed in the back - I really don't like bugs and gardening that much, so I stick to nice, sanitary container gardening in the front :) Petunias - " lemon slice" - bright yellow and white, dark purple, bright pink - I'm quite enamored of them! Same with the dahlias!

I really enjoyed Fever by Mary Beth Keane. What an interesting bit of historical fiction about " Typhoid Mary" and the lack of understanding of disease and epidemiology in those days. I've read a couple of other books, but I look forward to Ghost Maps which is sitting on my coffee table.

Do take care and big hugs!

>46 drachenbraut23: I hadnt realised you were ill, Bianca. Im sorry to hear that and hope things are looking up again soon.

Hello everyone, finally I start feeling better again - a big hooray! First of all a big Thank you again for all your kind words and encouragement, the flowers, the chocolate and the glitter *grin* Kerry, Paul, Judy, Stephen, Heidi, Peggy, Roni, Nina, Darryl, Lori, Morphy, Julia, Es, Kathy, Donna, Roberta, Deborah and Megan :)
I have seen my GP on Monday who explained to me that he feels that I should take a back seat for a little while. He felt that the ongoing infections and stress imposed on my body and immune system managed to run me physically completely down. He was able to sort some of my current health problems out, hence I am feeling better. Having a very high liverfunction just caused quite a few complications in the treatment of some of my other chronic illnesses. Since I had pneumonia beginning of the year some of my problems severly aggravated. I have been feeling constantly nauseous for the past two 1/2 month, which decreased my ability to eat quite a lot, then I started getting headaches and vertigo and I finally crumbled last week when I also got one of my spells of severe backpain with neuralgia and because of my liverfunction I couldn't take my meds to dampen the pain. Well, and just to make it a bit more fun I also started to get abdominal pain. You probably can imagine that I felt very sorry for myself and was at the same time completely angry at my body for misbehaving.
However, I have been a bit more active again and managed to do a little bit more reading. My friends are fab, because they visit me regular so that I don't get bored, also they seriously try to coddle me and constantly tell me that even a "little tough Bianca" sometimes has to admit that she can't be strong all the time. LOL They even threatened me that should I dare to come back to work before I had my liver appointment (only 7 more days) they would *drag me home*.
Well, usually when I am here in London I work 4/5 shifts of 13 hours each per week (sometimes even 6 shifts when we are extremely short of staff) and now I have got all this time on my hand. As my headaches and my vertigo have improved, means that I will be able to catch up on all your threads and maybe I could catch up on my reviews as well.

Reading wise: I put The Ghost Map on hold as my flatmate asked me if she could read the book first. I am still listening to Insurgent by Veronica Roth which I quite enjoy and I just started to read A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz and Goliath by Scott Westerfeld the final Installment of the Leviathan series.

Kerry thank you for the link of the Buxtehuder Hull. I have never heard of this award in my life. I was quite surprised that I actually new quite a few books on the list, either because I read them in school or because I read them in my early teens. Alex only knows the books of Michael Ende from this list with the Neverending Story being his fave.
The ones of the German speaking authors which I do know and could recommend - if they should be available in English - are Die Not der Familie Caldera by Gudrun Pausewang, Annas Geschichte by Urs M. Fiechtner and Rosalie by Maria Seidemann (hm, book doesn't seem to exist in the LT database). Otherwise, books I know are Die grüne Wolke and Tignasse. Kind der Revolution, Die Bücherdiebin, Durch einen Spiegel, in einem Dunklen Wort, and I read the Hunger Games Trilogy by Suzanne Collins. I have Sterne ohne Himmel on my wishlist and Lauren Oliver on my TBR. However, I was immensly surprised that Stephenie Meyer got on that list. Well, I did read the books a view years back and enjoyed them as a nice fluffy read - come on, it is funny to have sparkling vampires *smile*. However, I can't fathom how the book ever ended up on that list.

Paul :) The pics are beautiful. Thank you! What is the name of that Wolfsmilch? Looks like one which would enjoy a home in my garden as well.

Thank you Stephen so, I will keep Spook for last. I got myself already a copy of Bonk so that will be my next one on the list. I am not to sure about Packing for Mars as I am not that much into physics. Although, Spook sounds very interesting as well.

Peggy have you got any photos? They sound definitely very nice. My mom told me that my garden is really taking off now and that I will be very pleased when I come home. Our actual garden is a bit over an acre and I only use a small part of it for my gardening experiments. When I started my Garden four years back I tried to create a wildflower garden who will attract lots of butterflies and other insects. So far it has been working and I was especially last year surprised at the variety of butterflies we had.

Nina non-smoking definitely helps - but the best thing is that I can 1st "save" more money and 2nd I do allow myself a little more spending money on books *grin*. Although, Alex felt that I also should give him more pocket money - sorry mate, I don't think so.
OK. Now I only have to figure out what 1º north of the equator is. Give me some time, I will get back to you later with an answer. :)

Donna I love peonies. My flatmate doesn't have peonies in the garden, which eventually has to be remedied but she always buys the flowers to put them in the vase. We do have several bushes in Germany and we call them "Pfingstrose".

Deborah LOL, I had to laugh at your description of gardening. My mom does all the "sanitary" container gardening and avoids all the flower beds in the garden as she has absolutely hates bugs, but especially worms. *grin*

I have put The Ghost Map on hold until my flatmate finished it. However, I got myself Fever for my kindle which is now on my "soon" TBR. I am very curious to see your thoughts on The Ghost Map.

Hi Bianca!

I haven't been on LT much recently so I'm late in getting the news that you've been doing so poorly - I'm sorry! At least you're in London where you have more friends to visit and keep yo company and apparently reasonable employers encouraging you to take off the time you need. I hope you're feeling well enough to get lots of reading done and are enjoying your bit of quiet.

I know you're looking forward to your specialist visit coming up, and to get started with some treatment. All fingers and toes are crossed for you, Bianca, and healthy positive thoughts are wafting across the Atlantic. Take care!

Woo, I didn't realize how tough you were having it healthwise either, Bianca. What Dejah said - lots of crossed digits here, and positive thoughts being sent your way.

Nice to see you posting, Bianca. Take things easy and give your body the time it needs to get back into peak form..... reading is a good way to wile the time away between visits from friends so it sounds like you are set for your seven day stretch before your next appointment! ;-)

Great to have you back posting here, Bianca. Sometimes our body tells us to slow down and when we don't listen, it turns us down - so, don't get angry at it, listen to it and go along with it, 'befriend' it. (That's what we, especially, Suki learnt). It is good to have such friends who would drag you home :) Take your time, and use it for other things than work.

When on Mainau I didn't care about the names of the plants - I was so in awe and just taking pictures... sorry, I can't help you here

But enjoy another flower, a Schneeball:

It does sound like your body was beginning to rebel against you. Hope knowing what's going wrong helps you get on track again, and plenty of rest sounds like a very good idea.

Re the Buxtehuder Bulle: thanks for the rundown on the German titles, I'll have to look up which ones are available in English. I was surprised that Twilight was there too but it was extremely popular at the time, I read them all as well. I like the fact that the award is decided by a large jury half adult and half teenagers - can you imagine the discussions each year as they decide. Die grüne Wolke or Summerhill is on my Mt Tbr, I've read a couple by Gudrun Pausewang but not that one. And I loved the more serious Die Mitte der Welt by Andreas Steinhöfel.

Oh, Bianca! *hugs*

I had no idea you had been in the hospital! I am so far behind on LT I just check a few threads at a time.... I will have to do better at keeping up with you if you are going to insist on being hospitalized! ;)

I'm so glad your GP is working on getting to the nuts and bolts of what's going on and MAKING you take some time to rest and recuperate. We cannot have a sick Bianca. Period. Exclamation point. Lots of emphasis here!!!!!

So you just rest like the doc says and be a good patient. We all wish you good health and a very speedy recovery now that you are resting like you've been instructed. :)

We cannot have a sick Bianca. Period. Exclamation point. Lots of emphasis here!!!!!

I agree.

I'm so glad you are feeling a bit better, and hope you will continue taking care of yourself appropriately!

Oh, no, Bianca! Sorry to hear you've been through the wars, but glad to know you're on the road to recovery. We prescribe lots of resting, reading and good friends.

I like all the flowers people are sending you. I'm afraid I'm no gardener, though.

ETA: I scrounged some kangaroo paw for you, though. Shh!

Bianca, I'm sorry to hear you've been unwell. It's good you are taking it easy for a while. I hope you recover quickly.

Bianca, it sounds like you've been having a really rough time health wise. Sending best wishes that you'll see some improvement soon.

Bianca I am sending you wonderful healing thoughts. I'm glad you have some time to read.

Thinking of you today.

Finally, we get to the week of the visit to the liver man. Please get back to us as soon as you can to let us know what he says.
I should be able to take a picture of my little ground cover with yellow flowers, but so far it's been beyond me.
Meanwhile, Support! Support! from North Carolina!!

Bianca, so sorry to hear you have been so unwell lately. I'm relieved your doctor made you take some time off work and that you've noticed some improvement already.

Echoing what Peggy said, I hope the liver appt goes well this week and that there will be steps the doctors can take to get you feeling better.

Hi Bianca -

I hope you've had a restful stretch and are feeling better - and that your visit with the specialist goes well. We'll be here why you can get back to us!

I hope you've had the chance to read some wonderful books.

Hallo Bianca! I'm glad to see an update from last week, but we miss you around here. I hope you're doing okay, friend!

Happy to hear you're feeling better! Great news. :)

Hi Bianca, sorry to hear you've been unwell, hope you are starting to feel better. Hope the specialist appointment goes well.

Take care Bianca and know that I am thinking the best thoughts for you.

Bianca, I hope you are resting well and letting your body recover. Best of luck with your appointment with the liver specialist this week. I am thinking of you!

Get well soon!

Hope everything is well with you.

Bianca, wie geht's?

Just checking in, Bianca - I hope you and yours are well.

Also thinking of you, Bianca, and hoping the news from your doctor was not overwhelming.

Another friend here, wishing you well and hoping to see you pop in soon! ♥

Hi Bianca- just checking in on you. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate health-wise! Im sorry for you, even though it sounds like you are on top of things with your plans, friends and medical help.
(((hugs)))

Lather, rinse, repeat all of the above posts of concern and checking-in.

Bianca I am sending you wonderful positive thoughts. Take care my friend.

Adding my well wishes to those above....I hope you are ok.

Hi Bianca, just stopping by to catch up. I hope you're alright and everything's fine! Read you soon!

Hej Bianca, wonder where you are, I was in Greece, checking out gyros and uzo. Hope you are well.

Still quiet? Hugs sent to Bianca!

Bianca? Hope you're ok....

Hoping that your health problems aren't getting the better of you, and you're getting lots of reading done.


a bouquet of Australian flowers

Adding my voice to all the rest.

Hmmm, Bianca's ok.

Jim, was that a typo or do you have news?

*Wave!*

Thank you very much EVERYONE for your kind words, support and well wishes this is very much appreciated. I feel much better now, also my liver is still extremely cranky with me.

My bloodtests have been quite poorly over the past few weeks. Although some of them have drastically improved, others got even worse, resulting in me spending a lot of times in hospital for investigations. One of the tests which is very high is responsible for my spells of vertigo, dizzyness and some of my nausea and cause for quite a bit of concern. Food is still a challenge, but at least I didn't loose any more weight. I am sheduled to see a liver dietician soon. There are good days *smile* like today and bad days where I am unable to do much. However, I have been back at work as well, also my doctor seems to be quite fascinated by this notion and told me "You know, you don't need to work", hmpf, but I do like to work and it helps me to divert my thoughts. Apparently I am clinically much better then I should be according to my bloodtests LOL, well you only need a stuborn streak as I have, I guess.
Because of all the investigations and weekly bloodtests I have been unable to go home yet :(, but my mom is trying to come over for a weekend so that I can see Alex at least for a short time. However, despite all that I do feel much better compared to a few weeks ago. I also needed some time to come to terms (and to understand) my diagnosis and how I can integrate this into my life. Well, I have been diagnosed with one of the three autoimmune liver diseases and my one is called PBC or primary biliary cirrhosis. "Autoimmune" just means that at one point (for unknown reasons) my immune system malfunctioned and started to produce antibodies - in my case against my bile ducts which are slowly being destroyed and consequently destroy the liver. I probably had this already for quite some years without any problems until I got ill with pneumonia beginning of the year, which aggravated things and now I have to deal with an extremely cranky liver. Well her new name is "ya bastard" *big grin*. Once my naughty cranky liver is back into a more happy phase, things should look much better again.

Well, I did not get much reading done over the past few weeks, but I have been listening to a couple of audiobooks instead. One of the audiobooks I finished was The Quiet American by Graham Greene which was a very interesting book set during WWII in Singapore. I started listening to Herztier by Herta Müller which I abandoned as I couldn't concentrate that well on it, but I definitely will go back to it later. Currently I am listening to The Daylight War the last book in the trilogy by Peter V. Brett which I really enjoy.

I had also the pleasure of meeting Carsten (ctpress) for a couple of hours during his stay in London a few weeks back. Carsten was exactly as I imagined he would be and I enjoyed my time with him immensly. Although, as USUAL I got lost in Central London and we had to rely on his sat-nav on his i-phone to find our way *smile*. Sorry Carsten! However, we still went briefly into ONE book store. I am definitely not a good Central London Guide.

I am not trying to catch up with any of your threads - and I know no one expects that - but hopefully I will be able to join you all again soon in chats about reading, crafting family and other fun stuff.

Again thank you very much for all your compassion, well wishes and kind words.

So sorry to hear about your difficulties with your " ya bastard " liver, Bianca! Take care with everything and I'm glad that you've finally got the bottom of things. Oh! I am so envious that you got to meet the famous Carsten! I've not met him, but he is such a lot of fun and a charmer too - as well as very intelligent! I bet the two of you got along famously!

hugs and hope to see you soon! :)

Bianca, I'm sure you're relieved to at least have a diagnosis even if it's not what you would have wished. I am sending warm thoughts to you and stern admonishments to your liver to straighten up and start treating you right!

Oh, we are all so grateful for news. Girl, you take care of yourself, ok?

Many hugs and sparkles coming your way from across the pond.

That's certainly a tough diagnosis. Our thoughts are with you.

Pleased to hear from you again, Bianca, despite some not-so-good results. Be nice to your liver... Pray for you.

It's good to hear from you, Bianca. I'm sorry, but your description of your 'cranky liver' made me smile. I hope it de-cranks soon ;0) I hope that your post means you're feeling better, and your health is improving.

And you got lost in Central London?!! How long have you lived there, now? That sounds like an adventure worthy of me. But I'm glad you had a good meet-up.

I've seen Peter V. Brett's books in the shops, and am tempted to pick them up (from the covers), but I hadn't seen anyone else mention them. Are they good, would you say? I'd rather test the waters by borrowing one from the library first, but they haven't caught my eye there.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Another one relieved Bianca. Liver diagnosis sounds a mite scary but half the battle is normally knowing what it is and then finding a way to treat it. Glad to see that Carsten was as good a company as we all imagined he would be. Take care. xx

Oh hurrah, I'm so happy you checked in. I hope things continue to improve on the health front.

It is great to hear from you, Bianca. Sorry about the cranky liver problems. I do hope your mom and Alex get to come for a visit soon. I'll bet that will make "ya bastard" shape up! I have recently gotten to make cyber-acquaintance with Carsten. So glad you got to meet him in person. Here's hoping that your good days increase in quantity and quality.
{{Big Hugs}} to you!

Bianca is back! I hope you find lots and lots of audio books to keep you entertained. I'm glad you are still managing to work. The mind is a very powerful healer. If it tells the body we must go on, the body often listens.

Take care. Lots of hugs. I'll pop in to check on you.

Bianca - so sorry to hear about your liver problems - at least it sounds as if they are getting to the bottom of what has been causing your problems so hopefully will be able to do something about it. Glad you had a nice meet-up with Carsten to take your mind off things.

Great to see you posting Bianca. Sounds like you have been going through quite the battery of blood tests and sorry to learn that you are having some bad days still. It is scary how getting ill with a more routine illness can be the catalyst that brings an underlying condition to the forefront. The human body is quite fascinating and intricate in how works.

I can understand why you would want to be working instead of at home - distractions help me too when dealing with something. Nice that your mom and son will be making a trip to London to see you!

Good to hear at least you've got a diagnosis now, Bianca. Hopefully, that means you can get a map to bring you back to good health.

Such a relief to hear from you, Bianca! Warm wishes and hugs from San Diego.

Aw sheesh, Bianca. What a rip-off of a diagnosis to have! Im so sorry for all your troubles and hope that you can get things sorted as quickly and easily as possible to some semblance of your normal life.
You appear to me to be a positive and go-get'em type of person, and Im sure "ya bastard" liver will be able to live in peace with you yet!

It's good to see you here, Bianca, you are greatly missed. I am in total agreement with everyone that although your diagnosis sucks, it's better to know what you are dealing with. I do hope that your Mom and Alex are able to get over to see you soon as I am sure that will cheer you up more than anything. Take care of yourself.

Adding my gratitude at seeing you back and posting, Bianca! That liver diagnosis is a bastard, but my hat's off to you for getting yourself in to work. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!!! DO RIGHT!!!!! And keep us posted.
So glad that your mom and Alex are getting to come for a weekend. Hope you have a string of good days for them.
Neat that you got to meet Carsten!
Herta Muller is not for the faint of heart even when the reader is perfectly healthy and undistracted. Treat yourself to some really good reading!
And stay in touch!

Glad you know now what you are dealing with. I prescribe lots of fun reading when you are resting!

I hope your ma gets to London with Alex, you must miss him awfully.

Yes, Bianca and I did have a very good and pleasant few hours in Central London near the Strand :) Drinking coffee, chatting and searching for that elusive bookshop-street, I think it's one of those Harry Potter 9 3/4 streets with a magic password or something...well, we did eventually find a nice Children's Bookshop.

Thanks Bianca for a wonderful mini-meetup.

Good that you at least have a more clear diagnosis now. I do hope so much that the doctors can figure out what causes your liver-problems. Hope you will feel better soon, take care, Bianca.

{{{Bianca}}} So pleased to see a post from you although liver problems suck :-( Really pleased you will get to see Alex soon and that you managed a mini LT meet up with Carsten. Take care of yourself and I hope you start to feel better soon.

Bianca, I am sorry to hear 'ya bastard' of a liver is causing so many problems! Sending thoughts and well wishes over the Atlantic to you. Sounds like you have a great attitude which should be helpful in getting well!

Bianca!! Welcome back to us, my friend, we've missed you!

I'm angry at your liver of course. X( I hope you can wrestle ya bastard back into shape soon.

Oh Bianca!!! How we have missed you here!! I'm so sorry about your cranky liver. I have to admit I lol'ed when I read the name you gave her! You are such a lovely person with a positive spirit.... That means a lot in health, I think. :)

"Ya bastard" better start behaving if she knows what is good for her!

I understand about needing work as a distraction, but you must allow ya bastard a little time to get uncranky haha.

Peace, love, prayers & hugs to you, my friend. We miss you!

Hoping you feel better soon, Bianca!

We have certainly missed you Bianca so it's very good to hear from you. I'm sorry to hear about your cranky liver but I have confidence in you. You will overcome this illness and get stronger every day.

I hope you keep feeling better, Bianca, and that your weekend is lovely!

wish you a wonderful weekend

Sorry to see your diagnosis Bianca! Hope you are feeling better and hope "ya bastard" is treating you better!

Hoping to hear from you soon.

Dropping by.

Good morning Everyone and again a big Thank You! for all your kind words and well wishes.
Finally I am on the mend again and until now, well, since I have been feeling good again, I didn't realize HOW unwell I actually have been feeling for the past several month, and actually already quite some time before my health started going down the drain completely.
I am almost finished with my investigations now - the main ones are done - my bloods "normalized" to an acceptable level and hopefully (fingers crossed) I don't need to see anyone anymore until end of January.
My investigations showed that I am already further along in my liver disease then initially suspected (endstage fibrosis/beginning cirrhosis), so the damage can't be repaired, but my consultant told me last week with good nutrition - I changed to almost Vegan from mostly Vegetarian, to support my livers new requirements - exercise - well, I got really good at walking again, from around 30 min a month ago to ALL day for the past week *hooray* and I signed up with a nearby gym for some cardio and muscle training - Ha, and the most important ingredient is obviously "positive thinking" - well, again No problem here :) - are the necessary ingredients to even live happy with an already damaged liver. Although, I have to say that I kind of had a low again after finding out that I am already quite advanced. However, I know now where I am standing - Joe I got my map ;) - I know what I have to expect, what I have to look out for and that's all I need to get on with my life again. I always will have problems with fatigue and nausea now, but I have learned to listen to my body over the past couple of month and found ways to deal with it.
I am even able to read again properly for the past week or so, such a wonderful relief. I even found it difficult to listen to audiobooks at one point (due to my ongoing vertigo and nausea) and had to find other past times during that time and actually re-discovered the entertainment of listening to music, instead of a book.
I won't go backpacking this year, but friends of mine have got a small house in Suffolk by the sea and that's where I will go with Alex for some part of the summer hollidays, before finally heading home to Germany by the end of August.
I can't believe that I haven't been home since the beginning of May and soo much happened during that time.

However, I would also like to say that I am very glad for all the emotional support from so many of you wonderful people on this site *Very big smile*

I do believe that from now on my activity levels in the group will go up again and I am mightily curious what I have missed over the past few month.

Hi Deborah "ya bastard" de-cranked and is kind of behaving again. Well, only needed to be grounded for a short time and shown his place in the pecking order. LOL
Yes, it was such a delight to meet Carsten and I do hope that I will get the opportunity to meet him again, sometimes in the future.

Julia Thank you so much for your warm thoughts and stern admonishments, they must have helped so that the culprit is behaving much better.

LOL - lots of hugs and sparkles back to you as well ES :)

Morphy thank you, tough yes, but not the end of the world :)

Hi Paul thank you for your prayers - nice to my liver? no, no, no you must see that differently. My liver has to be nice to me and not the other way round. "ya bastard" got a good telling off and now he hopefully understands his place :)

*wave at*Nina yeah, liver finally de-cranked (love that term) and I am feeling soo much better.
Yes, I always get lost in Central London. I know how to find all the big places - Covent Garden, Neal's Yard, Soho etc - what always throws me and kills me time and time again are the small roads with this wonderful little shops, outside of the mainstream shops. Ahem, ?16 years *blush deeply*
I very much enjoyed the books by Peter V. Brett, although the last book ended in a kind of "mild" cliffhanger and now I do hope that the next book won't take that long to be published. They are a mix of quite dark, with some humor thrown in, a little bit along the lines of Brandon Sanderson, which I quite like as you know. I also like his writing style. I remember that you enjoyed some of the Sanderson books, so you may would enjoy this series as well.
Thank you for all the lovely flowers you have been posting for me and checking up on me on a regular basis :).

Paul thank you :) and you are soo right. Even so that a liver disease is a mite scary, but once you understand what you are dealing with and how you can keep things in check it doesn't look that bad anymore. When my consultant talked with me about liver transplant, he told me not to be scared of it but that I should see a transplant as a kind of safety net, for when things start to get horribly wrong. Well, and IMO he is damned right. Even so, that my liver is damaged already I still can get old without ever needing a transplant :).

Oh, Bianca! I'm so glad to hear from you! *Hugs* I miss you, and I'm terribly happy that things are starting to look positive for you. *Smooches*

Hello Laura thank you very much. Yes, I am getting there. My health is improving steadily.

Donna thank you! Yes, my mom came with Alex at the End of June for one day. When I went to pick them up from the train station and I saw them coming out, I burst into tears (and that's me who almost never cries) because I was so happy to see them. Alex came running up to me and almost crushed me in a bear hug, stroked my head like I am the child and not he and told me "don't cry mom". Well, we had a great day together and I was also very happy to see my mom. As I still can't home my mom is going to bring Alex next weekend for the summer hollidays. He usually stays half of the hollidays with his English family, but that means I can see him as well. I am planning to start slowly getting back to work next week, as I wasn't allowed to work for the past three weeks.
Yes, and as I said already to Deborah - it was such a pleasure to meet Carsten and I do hope that I will be able to meet him again, sometimes in the future. He was such charming and entertaining company.

The mind is a powerful healer Roberta so true. To think positive and not just to look at the negatives of a tough diagnosis can be very helpful. I have got other chronic health issues as well and have nerve compression syndrome since my early teens + that I have a partial paralysis in my left leg. What my mom taught me from an early age is that I am not allowed to look at my limitations, but at what I can do and how I can integrate certain conditions into my daily life. That's excactly what I am doing with my liver now as well and I KNOW that it will work *big smile*

Rhian thank you :). Things are getting better now and finally I will be able to get on with my life again. Yes, it was a great pleasure to meet Carsten in person.

Hi Lori yes, it is quite fascinating to see that some illnesses can bring other underlying problems to the forefront. However, in a way I am glad that it has come that way, even so that I had quite tough 7 month now. If, I wouldn't have had pneumonia I might still would be kind of plodding along and they might would not have found out until very late in the disease process, especially as I was clinically always quite well (compared to other people). However, I am glad I know now what I am dealing with and HOW I can deal with it now.
I was soo happy that my mom made the trip to see me and I very much enjoyed my time with both of them. I was very grateful to my mom, especially as the trip was very exhausting for both of them.

Hello Stephen *big smile* thank you soo much! I missed you as well, your witt, your anecdotes and your most entertaining thread. I will visit soon.
Yes, things started to get better and definitely in the right direction. My dad hasn't seen me since the beginning of May and he started to worry how I will look like when I come back home by the end of August. I think for some reason he imagines that I will look terrible ill (maybe because I lost 9kg), but I actually don't. I do look very healthy now *fat grin*. So, I told him when I come home I will look - healthy, lean, (maybe already some visible biceps) and brown (summer arrived in the UK as well). So, yes things are definitely going in the right direction now. :) :)

Hej Bianca, I am so pleased to 'hear' from you - and it looks reasonably positive. I am so glad for you.

A welcoming bunch of roses from our garden

#138 So pleased to hear you're feeling better Bianca but I'm sorry to hear they don't think the damage to your liver can be repaired. That can't have been easy to hear.

Looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday :-)

I'm glad you're feeling better and that Alex will be able to join you!

yay yay yay!!!!!!

Welcome back Bianca. You have been missed. I finished Rivers of London audio. It was very good. I loved it so much I have started book 2, Moon over Soho.

Bianca!! It's so nice to see you! Well, ya bastard needs a swift kick in the arse but your outlook sounds positive which is wonderful. We missed you!

Yipee! Great to see you back and buzzin'. You have been missed these last few weeks. I hope the book I sent you has arrived safely in Voerde. Is there anyone there to receive it?

Hi Bianca, lovely to see you back on LT. Congratulations on taking charge and setting quite a few lifestyle changes in motion. Glad we can all look forward to more Bianca sightings. Sending you some gentle (((Hugs))).

Bianca, your post about your improving health made my day. I know there are lots of changes you had to make. It's good to know what to do to feel better, isn't it? Keep up the positive attitude. I'm sure meeting with Heather, Darryl, Genny, and other LTers will do you much good. Have fun!

Hi Bianca - I have missed so much on here and didn't realise you'd been really ill. I'm so glad to read that you sound like you are on top of everything and have a great attitude. Lovely that your Mum and Alex came over for the day (from Germany?! That is true filial love!). Am thinking of you from over here and looking forward to keeping up with your reading for the next few weeks.

Yay, she's back!

Attitude is so critical :) I'm glad that things are looking better for you!

It's so good to hear that you're adjusting to your diagnosis and making some healthy changes. It makes such a difference when you can be in control of at least some of your life. Keep well Bianca:-)

Yay, welcome back Bianca, so glad to see you back.

Not great to hear that the liver disease is so far along but great to hear that you're able to manage it. Hopefully it doesn't give you too much trouble before you have to see the specialist again.

xx :)

Good morning everyone,
it's still quite early in London and it was already "hot" and I mean "hot" and sunny at 07.00 am. Yeah, that means another day outdoors for me - just love it. Although, I first have to go to the gym for my exercises. Tomorrow morning I am going to meet a personal trainer to discuss with him my health issues and my requirements for a suitable cardio and weight programme. He is supposed to be very nice and incredible good in regards to nutrition (ahem, he probably will have nice biceps as well *grin*).

#120 Hi Jo yep, finally got my map and I am working on it. So far quite successful. Yes. it is definitely a relief to know what you are dealing with, even so that it was all very scary in the beginning. However, what is, is and can't be changed, but at least I understand now what I am dealing with and especially HOW I can deal with it.

#121 thank you for your warm wishes and hugs roni :)

#122 Megan thank you! Yeah, the diagnosis really sucked and I was quite upset for some time (obviously), but as you said it is possible to still live in a kind of peace with my "ya bastard" liver for many years to come. Hey, and I know that I can do that :) *very big smile*

#123+149 Judy :) thank you soo much for your kind wishes and hugs. I was so happy when my mom came over with Alex and just absolutely enjoyed my time with them. Well, and to my surprise Alex has grown soo much over the past couple of month that he has overtaken me now. Ahem, I guess that's actually not that much of a problem as I am fairly short (1.59m). Despite a diagnosis that sucks, life goes on and as you said it is soo much easier to deal with it since understanding what is happening to me and how I MAY can influence things in a positive manner by some minor lifestyle changes.

#124 hi Peggy thank you to you as well. Yep, I enjoyed my day with Alex and my mom very much. I actually had a very full house that day as my sister Alex with her partner and my youngest sister Jana, and Alex dad came for the day as well. I made a lovely Vegan dinner and marinated salmon for my whole family and we all had a beautiful day.

#125 Lucy I have taken your advice by heart and had a fair amount of very light reading for the past few weeks. Yes, and you are so right I missed (and still miss) Alex terribly. I am usually only here for 3-5 weeks at a time and now I am already here for almost 3 month. However, I only have one more minor investigation by the end of August and then I will head home with Alex for some time and if I don't get any infections or other nasty surprises I will not see any doctor until the end of January next year *smile*.

#126 Thank you Carsten :)

#127+144 hi Heather Thanks for your well wishes :). Unfortunately, once the liver is "scarred" there is nothing they can do to get rid of the scars again. My best bet for now is to see that I can keep things as they are by maintaining a balanced diet, exercise and my positive attitude.
Yes, and tomorrow is THE DAY - I am going to meet you. Sorry, I know I sound like an excited child (ahem, maybe I am), but I am very excited to meet you *big grin*.

#128 Thank you Heidi LOL. Yes, it appears I do have an attitude. Well, at least in regards to dealing with annoying health issues. I am very pleased that things are finally going into a more settled direction and that I do know now what I am dealing with and how.

#129+147 *big grin* thank you Kathy it's nice to have someone else beside myself being really pi**ed at my liver. However, "Ya-bastard" got several kicks now and I think he understands his place now and that he has to keep quiet if he wants to stay friends with me. Whilst I was unable to read and started to re-discover music for myself I found quite a few bands which are new for me and which I really enjoy. Once I made my way over to your thread I have to post them to see if you know any of them :) They are not necessary new, but still bands I haven't been familiar with.

#130 hi Tina ah, I see you call my liver "she", whilst I made a naughty "him" of "her" LOL. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes! "Ya-bastard" de-cranked and hopefully things will stay calm for a very long time. Yes, a positive attitude can be very helpful. When you are positive you find it much easier to navigate difficult waters and actually reach your goals. I have been off work for three weeks now, as requested by my doctor. You see, I have been very good and actually DID listen to what my doctor said :).

#132+154 Bonnie thank you for your confidence in me. I am sure that did help me as well to de-crank my liver and to get on with things. Actually, all your positive, encouraging, supportive and comforting comments did help me a lot to deal with my diagnosis during this difficult time. Yes, and you are so right it is so important to be able to take charge of things in order to deal with them appropriately. Thank you!

#133+134 Thank you for the lovely weekend wishes Diana and Paul yes, I had a lovely weekend indeed. That was the first time that I managed a longer walk, which was absolutely fab. *smile*

#135 Thank you Chelle yes, this was a tough diagnosis, but "ya-bastard" started to treat me better now, after he got a few beatings and kicks.

#136 Thank you for checking on me Morphy :) I was wondering how you track your calories? As I had to start a food diary to track mine (especially my protein), I am actually using an app which is called "fitnespal". Since getting the hang of it at entering my food intake on a daily basis, I found it quite easy to use. So, I was wondering what are you using to keep track of your calories?

#143 Woah Paul they are beautiful :). My mom is going to bring me photos of my roses I planted last autumn. She said they are in full bloom now and absolutely stunning. However, if I am lucky they still will be in bloom until the time I am going back to Germany.

#145 A big yay and woop back to you Janet Yes, only (hold on) 5 more days and my mom and Alex are coming. I am going to have Alex for the weekend and then he is going to his dad. However, I will have him on my days off work as well and for a short holiday in Suffolk.

#146 Thanks Roberta glad you enjoyed Rivers of London soo much. I started Moon over Soho a few weeks back, but couldn't really concentrate. However, once I finished The Blinding Knife I probably will go back to it.

#148 LOL thank you Paul yes, I am slowly ready to start buzzin around again and I AM ENJOYING it. I missed all the nice conversations on here a lot. My mom didn't say anything in regards to a book, but I will ask her when I talk to her tonight. Thank you soo much already in advance *big smile* and now I am mightily curious what you choose for me.

#150 hello Donna thank you soo much for your comforting words *smile*. Yes, the changes I made are definitely worth it and in regards to nutrition - that wasn't that difficult - it's only a small step from mainly Vegetarian to mostly Vegan - I still have milk in my coffee, I tried nut milk and soya milk, but ...sorry....it was just vile *shudder*- and I still will have coffee latte and I am sure that I will not say NO to the odd piece of cake, fish or chicken. I am soo excited about tomorrow and I am sure I will immensly enjoy meeting Heather, Genny, Darryl and some of the other LT'ers. I do hope that the weather is going to stay as beautiful.

#151 hi cushla very nice to see you around again as well. Yes, my mom came for the DAY from Germany. They left Germany on Friday night by coach to arrive in London on Saturday morning and to go back to Germany on Saturday evenning and arrive back there on Sunday morning. That's one of the countless reasons why I worship the ground my mother is walking on. And now my mom is doing exactly the same next weekend to bring Alex over for the summer holidays. Yes, this is what is what you call the love of a mother for her child (although I am already quite a big one) :) .
I am very much looking forward to what everyone else has been reading as well over the past couple of month and I am afraid already for my ever growing TBR pile LOL.

#152 Thank you DrJim *smile* yep, I am back and possible more often now!

#153 Melissa positive attitude is everything *smile*. He, I have to check out what you have been reading lately and I prepared myself mentally already for several *book rockets* *grin*.

#155 Thank you Adrienne :) When my consultant told me last week I was quite upset to start off with and I needed a few days to grief and come to terms with it. However, I reviewed what my consultant said to me in regards to nutrition, exercise, positive attitude and the way I should look at a possible transplant and found - YES, I can deal with this - I am not going to be beaten up by it. When I heard the diagnosis liver cirrhosis in the past I always felt that is a death sentence, but actually it isn't. Well, and if things should get pear-shaped at one point ......... I will cross that bridge when I arrive there and not earlier :) and that's what I told my parents as well, who were absolutely devestated by the diagnosis.

OOOps, that late already? Ok, and now I have to run to get to do my exercises for the day, before I go for a long walk later on.

{{{Bianca}}} - that is a tough diagnosis but at least you know what you are dealing with now. Keep kicking "Ya Bastard" :)

Hope you manage to have a great summer and spend lots of quality time with Alex.

Have fun with your LT meet-up tomorrow and don't forget the photos!

I use SparkPeople.com to track my calories but I don't know how good they are at European measurements. I *think* if you log in from overseas that everything is in metric, but I'm not sure.

Whizzing through. So very glad things are looking up. Loved hearing about the time spent with Alex, and everything your mum's doing to help. The LT meet-up sounds wonderful. Hope you have / had a great time!

Glad to see you posting again Bianca. Sending you continued good wishes as you improve. Sounds like you are doing all the right things to get well!

Very happy to see you posting again, Bianca and that your lifestyle changes are easy to adapt to. Have fun at your LT meet-up!

Hello everyone :),

We still experience the most stunning summer weather in the UK and I am loving it. It is definitely helping my allround wellbeing.
Yesterday, I went for the LT meet-up in Central London and had the pleasure of meeting Darryl, Heather, Genny, Luci (elkidee) and fliss. We had a wonderful day, including a visit to the V&A, a couple of book shops and a lovely dinner at the inSpiral lounge in Camden. I tremendously enjoyed meeting everyone and we had lots of interesting conversations. Darryl and Heather were exactly as I kind of expected them to be, with Heather being indeed a lovely English Rose - *big grin* sorry Heather, but that's what I felt when I saw you with your lovely ginger hair and pale skin, plus being as kind and funny as I imagined you to be.
Darryl, Genny and Luci bought most books whereas Heather and I both were a little bit more restrained *grin*. Heather got 2 books and I bought one book.
Yes, that was a wonderful day out and I am glad that I was still here in London and that I had the opportunity to meet so many nice and wonderful people.

# 157 Thank you calm :) and don't worry I will keep kicking "ya bastard" so that he may will remain agreeable for a very long time.
I am so looking forward for Alex to come on Saturday with my mom and I am very curious how the Suffolk coast will be. It might will be a bit to quiet for my lovely teenage son, but ............. and he still has got all the activities here in London.
As mentioned above the LT meet-up was lots of fun and Genny and Darryl took plenty of photos which they are going to share with everyone.

# 158 Thanks for the link Morphy. That site looks much better then the site I am using, I like it that aside from the macros you also get all the information on Vitamins and trace elements with the food. Yes, when I logged in I got everything in metric measurement. I haven't started tracking yet as I am still trying to find my way around the site. However, you may would like to friend me there? My username is dragoness07. I know not very original and I always seem to stick to something related to dragons *big smile*

#159 Nina, thank you for whizzing by :) and that even so that you had so much on your plate with relocating your househould and still trying to settle in into your new home. Maybe, one day I will have the chance to have a LT meet-up with you *very big smile*

#160 Thank you very much Heidi :) I will come and visit you soon as well. Still making my slow rounds around the threads and there is soo much I have missed over the last few month.

#162 Lori, thank you to you as well. Slowly catching up and enjoying the fact that I am able to do so again. The LT meet-up was a wonderful and fun filled experience and I am glad that I was able to join in.

I'm not finding you in SparkPeople search. Have you set up a SparkPage yet? Until you do, I can't friend you.

Ok, and now I try to update what (little) I have been reading over the past few month.

May

#047 Escape from Camp 14 - Blaine Harden - 256 pages
#048 ♬ Behemoth - Scott Westerfeld - 496 pages
#049 Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers - Mary Roach - 304 pages
#050 ♬ Divergent - Veronica Roth - 487 pages
#051 ♬ Insurgent - Veronica Roth - 576 pages
#052 ♬ The Quiet American - Graham Greene - 209 pages

June

#053 ♬ The Daylight War - Peter V. Brett - 816 pages
#054 ♬ The Dead-tossed Waves - Carrie Ryan - 416 pages
#055 ♬ The Dark and Hollow Places - Carrie Ryan - 384 pages

July

#056 Don't Breathe a Word - Jennifer McMahon - 447 pages
#057 ♬ The Black Prism - Brent Weeks - 688 pages
#058 Delirium - Lauren Oliver - 416 pages

Pleased to hear you had a great meet-up.

That weather in London looks really hot - keep cool:)

Morphy, I thought I set one up. I think I have to re-check that. Thanks for letting me know :)

My Spark username is Nora-L. Maybe if you friend me, it would be easier.

Hello calm,
looks like we cross-posted. Don't you have the same weather down in Wales?
I am going to meet Darryl again tomorrow and show him a little of the more quiet London. I am going to take him down to Dulwich Village and Park, from there to the lovely and quiet Woodland area, Horniman Museum and then a stroll on East Dulwich Lordship Lane.

OK Morphy then I will try your username and see what's happening :)

A bit cooler here - I'm near the West Coast. So mid 20's not up into the 30's like in London.

Hej Biance, so pleased to hear about your good outing to London with all the other LTers.

Bianca, it made my day to see you posting on somebody else's thread. I hot-footed it over here, and behold! You're back!!!
I was afraid that your diagnosis was going to be serious, and I'm thrilled that you can control that bastard with diet and exercise and paying attention to yourself. I know you'll do it!!!!!
Sounds like you're making up for some bad time. Enjoy!!! Now I'm off to try to find some meet-up pictures.

The Black Prism was a favorite of mine. I'm glad you liked it. What did you think of The Daylight War? I tried to listen to it a few months back and couldn't get into it. I loved it's first book The Warded Man but couldn't get into the second book, like with this third book. I only got through the first few chapters. Is it worth the struggle to get through?
Best regards as always and happy reading/listening :)

So glad you had a good meet up with the other 75ers recently. I saw the photos on Darryl's thread and was very impressed with the shot!

I would say you keep up pretty well, reading (and specially listening), Bianca. You continue exploring fantasy, I can see. Most of the books I haven't heard of before and don't know the authors - but I look forward to read Escape from Camp 14.

I'm glad you've got your map, Bianca! Not a very easy road, unfortunately, but we know you can do it.

So glad you're having a chance to get together with Darryl and other LTers!

Bianca, I've been off the computer while sick the last two weeks, but wanted to say how good it is to see you here again, and it looks like the meet-up was great, as usual!

Thanks for the report on the meet up, Bianca. What a wonderful time that was. I'm glad you had some extra time with Darryl to perhaps show him a part of London he is not as familiar with. It sounds like he needs to be considered a part-time Londoner with all the trips there.

Have a pleasant weekend!

Brent Weeks, eh? Off to look.... Loved the pictures of the meet-up!

Loved reading about the meetup, Bianca! Hope you're having a nice weekend.

Happy Sunday, Bianca!

Good morning everyone, the heat wave we experienced in London for the past two weeks finally subsided. Yesterday and today we had a massive cool down *sob*. I had to start wearing a long sleeve t-shirt again - not fair.
However, I had a great day with Darryl on Thursday on I was glad that we had the opportunity for another meet-up.
My mom came yesterday - for the day - to London to leave Alex with me. If you guys believe it or not, Alex grew almost 1 inch since I have seen him in June, that's how much taller he is now. He was so delighted that he can "spit over my head" now *smile*. We had a lot of visitors a "barbi" most of the day and just enjoyed ourselves.

calm oh, that's quite a bit of a difference compared to the London temperatures. I have to check later what your temperatures like now, since ours cooled down quite significantly.

Thank you Paul it was a great experience to meet with other LT'ers and I very much enjoyed meeting everyone. It's really funny, when I went to their threads now I see their faces and here their voices.

Thank you Peggy yes, it is nice to feel better again and to get on with my life and it was absolutely fantastic to have the meet-ups with so many of the LT'ers.
Brent Weeks - actually I think you would enjoy the Lightbringer series. I think the books are absolutely brilliant and quite a bit of fun.

LOL Melissa why I am not surprised that the Lightbringer would something you would love? *grin*. Well, in regards to Peter V. Brett. I enjoyed all three of the books, but I found it a bit difficult to get into the third book at first, but didn't have any problems with the second book which was more less Armans story. However, the third book was pretty good ............ but ended in a cliffhanger. Yeah, you heard right c-l-i-ff-h-a-n-g-e-r. I just couldn't believe it. So, this is not going to be "A" trilogy, but something much longer. Well, the material is there to do so, but I was a bit dissapointed in the ending of this last book. Would I recommend to pursue? Yes, I still would recommend to pursue as it is IMO an interesting woven dark fantasy story.

Megan :) the meet-up with the other LT'ers was absolutely wonderful as you saw in the photos Darryl and Genny have taken. We very much enjoyed ourselves and had such wonderful day despite the heat.

Joe :) Yes, I got my sooo much needed map and - well - as you say not an easy road, but managable. However, being able to understand everything what is happening does help a lot and I have to say that my family and my friends have been incredible supportive, especially during my time of grieving and coming to terms with the diagnosis. I also found it very comforting that soo many of you guys still would stop at my thread to enquire or just to give me encouragement. THANK YOU!

Roni I am so sorry to hear that you haven't been well yourself for quite some time. I hope that I will be able to catch up with you thread soon. However, I am also glad that you are well enough again to stop by again and I am so curious what wonderful projects I missed of yours.

Donna I do wish you a pleasant weekend as well. I am currently very much enjoying my time with Alex. He is still going to stay with me to Tuesday night and than he will go to stay some time with his dad.

Cushla and Darryl Thank you for the weekend wishes. I hope your's is going to be as fab as mine.

Alex planned a movie evening tonight and we are going to watch Cloud Atlas. Well, actually I wanted to read the book first, but got told of by Alex. His argument was that it is no fun to watch any movies with me, where I read the book already as I - apparently - always moan and groan. He told me that I should approach such movies in a different manner and here it comes.
Step 1 - watch movie first
Step 2 - read book and find out (pleasantly surprised) what they missed, or not used in the movie
Step 3 - now I am allowed to moan and groan :)

I wish everyone a remaining wonderful Sunday!

Hi Bianca- I haven't popped in over here in awhile. It was nice following your adventures in London. LT Meet-Ups have become such a special occasion.
Hope you are doing well. I was underwhelmed with the film version of cloud Atlas. The book was jaw-dropping. I give the film-makers a lot of credit for the effort they put into it but it was just a difficult book to adapt.

Bianca I agree with Alex and often put off reading a book until I have seen the movie. Rarely, does a movie live up to the book. In this way, if I enjoy the movie, when I read the book and find it all the more wonderful it is a win/win.

Reading the book before watching the movie=Ugh the book was better.

Reading the book after watching the movie=Wow the book is better!!!

Have an amazing week with your son Bianca.

Hi Bianca. It was lovely to meet you on Tuesday and I had a great time chatting and looking round the V&A with you :-) And thank you for saying such nice things about me!

#164 I have The Black Prism to rad on my kindle so I'm glad you enjoyed it :-)

#182 I hope you have a lovely time with Alex. I think it's forecast to be really hot again tomorrow and for the rest of the week...

Yay for a couple great LT meetups! It's so amazing that people from all over the world can meet in person through LT!
Enjoy your summer!

Stopping in for news, and while it is 'mixed' I am glad that you are on the mend and have a good strategy for the future.

Wonderful that you will be with Alex for some time now in the summer.... that must have been very difficult.

Hope you get some good reading time on your holiday.

Hi Bianca! I hope you and Alex have a great time together.

Bianca, I saw the picture of your meetup on Darryl's thread-- looks like a fun group! Are there more pictures floating around somewhere?

And wait-- is Alex taller than you now? No way!

Hi Bianca! I am so glad Alex is back with you again! The boys do sprout up quickly. My son Preston is about 8 inches taller than me now...he towers over me! And he is only 15!

I love Alex's advice to you about seeing the movie before the book. He may be on to something!

I too saw your pics & meet up news on Darryl's thread & had to come check in!!! So glad you are back & feeling some better!

Sorry for calling "ya bastard" a she... Duh!

:)

I love your positivity... It's contagious!

Hi everyone, I had quite a few relaxing and fab days with Alex which I tremendously enjoyed, after not seeing him for such a long time. Tonight he will go to his dad and spend most of the next three weeks there.

On Sunday we watched Cloud Atlas together - and you know what? - I really enjoyed the movie, but NOW I NEED to read the book. To all of you who have read the book AND watched the movie you may can answer this: There is a scene in the movie where Cavendish tries to flee from the nursing home and shouts "Soylent Green, Soylent Green. We are human(s)" or something like that. I was completely flabberghasted by that and thought "What?" However, Alex started howling with laughter and said "this is so cool". So, he explained the reference to me which is from another movie from the 1970's. Apparently, there were several references to "Soylent Green" to be found in Cloud Atlas. My question - Is that the same in the book? My flatmate who read the book said she could not recall such references in the book.

Yesterday we went for another long walk to discover some other areas around us. Well, we came across a lovely bookstore and - ahem, well.... I got away with The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelmann a graphic novel which was on my WL for a long time and I also found The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo, but as graphic novel by David Hine and Mark Stafford with this incredible artwork.



We also went to one of those secondhand places for DVD's where Alex spend all the money he got from my mom to stock up his DVD collection. I got myself a few as well - I have got this thing about trashy movies (according to Alex and my flatmate) who were laughing at the choice of my movies *smile*. When we came home in the evening we both were utterly exhausted.

Hi Mark LT meet-ups are indeed such great occassions and so much fun. It gives the communications on here a very different flair. Aaah, YOU read the book and saw the movie so maybe you will be able to answer my query from above. I quite enjoyed the movie, but now I want more...... all the answers and details the movie didn't provide.

Roberta you are so right and I am sure that IF I would have read the book first, I probably would have been unable to enjoy the movie with Alex as much as I did. Thanks for your wishes in regards to spending time with Alex. So, far I tremendously enjoyed having him around again and I noticed even more how much I missed him and how much he has changed in the past three month. Just incredible, I kept staring at him from time to time because he changed so much in that short time and I kept thinking - this is not the child I left back in Germany three month ago.

*smile at* Heather nice things to be said where they are due. You have got The Black Prism on your kindle? Great - go for it. You will not be dissapointed as it is such a fun read. I am almost finished now with the second book and I sincerly hope it will not take that long for the third book to be published as I enjoy this series tremendously.

Chelle so nice to see you and I hope that you will enjoy your summer as well *smile*

Thank you for all your kind thoughts and wishes Lucy as you said - I am enjoying my time with Alex tremendously and I am looking forward to our quiet holiday on the Suffolk coast next month. My doctors advised me to keep things a bit more quiet this year and that's what I will do :). Finally, my reading is picking up again, my concentration span improved and I am confident that my reading will pick up again. A Big hooray for that :)

Diana Thank you :). Yes, Alex and I are having a great time together. He was quite funny yesterday evening. After dinner he looked at me and said "mom you know....you are such an incredible cook. I really think you should write your own cookbook so that more people know how to make fast, easy, healthy and such wonderful meals" Well, I just stared at him and eventually said thank you :) LOL.

Kathy nope, I don't think there are more pictures floating around. Unless you check Darryl's thread on facebook. Yes, and Alex just overtook me in height and he is sooooooooooo proud that it makes me laugh most of the time. He is pointing that out to everyone, regardless of the fact that most people aren't interested.

Heidi you son is 8 inches taller? That's incredible. Yes, once boys reach a certain age they just seem to sprout like beanstalks and don't seem to stop for some time. I am kind of curious how tall Alex will be once he stopped growing. Especially, as I am the "gnom" in my family. My mom is quite tall as well and I only reach up to her shoulder LOL.

Hello Tina so nice to see you around and thanks for your encouragement. Well, my friend thought "something" which behaves so badly MUST BE A HE. *grin* Apologies to all the guys here and I hope you don't take that personal *smile*, but "boys" are known for there naughty behaviour.

Everyone who followed my thread last year might remember the story of "Paul" the hedgehog who got rescued from certain death by my mom. As the weather was really cold for quite some time this year, Paul didn't wake up from hibernation until mid May and by beginning of June he was finally ready to be released back into the wild. After some consideration my parents decided to release him in our garden, which is quite huge. My dad made a special hedgehog home for Paul in a quiet and sheltered area. Before they let him go my mom and Alex had last cuddles. My mom gave me the photos on Saturday and there are a few which I would like to share with you. My mom also told me that Paul apparently stayed in the garden and came to visit HER twice since. It appears that he knows her voice and has come twice and my mom was even able to pick him up, without him rolling into a ball. He is still quite small, but at least he is healthy and now he has got another chance to live another few years in freedom.

Love the hedgehog pictures.

I could be wrong but I don't remember Soylent Green references in Cloud Atlas. And you are for in for quite a treat when you get to read it. I loved it.

Great photos and story of Paul, Bianca!

I'm glad that you enjoyed the movie version of Cloud Atlas. I haven't watched it, but I do have the book and would like to read it relatively soon.

Soylent Green was a popular science fiction movie, which came out in the early to mid 1970s. I haven't seen it in nearly 40 years, but I did enjoy it back then.

Hi Bianca, sounds like you and Alex are having a great time! Like you, I haven't read Cloud Atlas but very happy to learn that you enjoyed the movie. Thanks for sharing the further news of hedgehog Paul and pics! I like how Paul seems to respond to your Mom still and is staying in the area, or do hedgehogs pretty much set up home where ever you 'release' them after their hibernation?

Bianca- So nice to see you posting again. Yah! Soylent Green is a Sci-fi film from '73, starring Charlton Heston. It's actually a pretty good film but I do not think it was mentioned in the book. Maybe it was a favorite of the film-makers and they added it for that reason.
The GN of The Man Who Laughs sounds terrific.

>192 drachenbraut23:: Oh, no! Alex is growing up! I don't want my kids to get older, because they're so fascinating as they are. But I'm always amazed at how they develop - oh, well, can't have it both ways. When he was younger, my 9 year old would get embarrassed when he would catch me staring in fond wonder at him, at some new thing he was doing that he hadn't done the week before.

>193 drachenbraut23:: Yay for Paul the hedgehog, and for your mum too!

I love the hedgehog story follow-up and the pictures, Bianca. I know you must have enjoyed this time with Alex so much after having to be away so long. It's great to see you having some energy again. And thank you so much for your commentary on Moers in my thread--that was very helpful.

Oh I love the hedgehog story, how sweet! Love live Paul!

A great story about the hedgehog - give it my regards from Paul to Paul (our hedgehog hasn't come back yet)

Hi Bianca, I've been away from your thread for a long while.
Love the hedgehog pictures. I've read Cloud Atlas and also saw the movie when I was in London back in February. Loved both in different ways and would encourage you to let a little time elapse before you pick up the book so you get to fully enjoy both.
The illustrations for The Man who laughs look good.

Wishing you a lovely weekend, Bianca!

Lovely! Alex!! Hedgehog! Alex and Hedgehog!!!
It sounds as though you have been having a great time, and Alex sounds like an incredible young man. Enjoy!!!!!
(I'm still thinking about The Black Prism.)

Happy Saturday, Bianca!

I don't know who looks the most carefully intimidated Alex or the hodgeheg?

Loved your comment about seeing the faces and hearing the voices of the threads you visit who have had meet-ups with.

Have a great Sunday.

Ok, I finally have been back to work after taking the advice of my doctors to rest for some time *smile* and it was so much fun to be back. That's what I was missing, my collegues, my friends and the brain candy this type of work brings. I still get quite tired, but not as tired as I did before and now I understand much better how to deal with it. Yesterday was a lazy day, just some shopping, cooking and reading. Today, I met with a friend and her son and I took them on my fave "London jungle walk", which I also showed to Darryl. It was so much fun and my friends son enjoyed himself tremendously.

Hey, I even made some progress on my reading/listening *even bigger smile* - I am getting back into it. OK, I finished Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver. I quite enjoyed the first book Delirium, but was quite dissapointed with this second book and I will definitely pass on the next one. I am almost finished listening to The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks, the second one in the Trilogy and I am still enjoying this fantasy series immensly. There is so much humor infused in these stories that it is such delight listening to the book (well, and the narrator is Simon Vance - I don't need to add more, do I ?). I also started on the Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman and A Tale of Love and Darkness by Amos Oz and I almost completed A Planet of Viruses by Carl Zimmer, which is only a short book with 122 pages. Unfortunately, I expected a bit more from this book and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone with a science background. The book is written in kind of very simplistic essays about viruses and I am absolutely sure that Alex easily could handle the content of this book. However, I still think that it is quite entertaining. Here, one quote I particular liked :).

“The very word virus began as a contradiction. We inherited the word from the Roman Empire, where it meant, at once, the venom of a snake or the semen of a man. Creation and destruction in one word.” —Carl Zimmer

Well, and I also started to read the illustrated edition of A Monster Calls - by Patrick Ness.

Tomorrow I am back on night shift for two nights and I am also going to have my second session with my PT (personal trainer) who is devising an appropriate exercise programme, suitable for my back and liver. I don't know if I mentioned that before, but I was mightily impressed about HOW knowledgable this chap is. The only BIG fauxpas I almost did was ......... ahem, his name is OBI .......... I don't think I need to say anything else!

I hope that everyone had a fab weekend!

Yes, Paul is absolutely cute Morphy and I wished I could have been there when he was released. However, I am hoping that I might be lucky as well and meet him in our garden, once I am back in Germany.
I am very much looking forward to reading Cloud Atlas but I think I take Kerry's advice and leave a little time between the movie and book.

Thank you Darryl I am also looking forward to reading the book and I have to admit that Alex was quite right in urging me to watch the movie first, because now ..... I am even more intrigued. My flatmate is getting Soylent Green from the library for me and than I might understand why Alex was so delighted about the references :).

Lori are you planning to read Cloud Atlas as well?
In regards to hedgehogs - No, they don't stay always where you release them, but sometimes they stay in the garden (maybe, because they find out very quickly that my mom still feeds them from time to time). We have got two hedgehogs in the garden now. Spike another rescued hedgehog and Paul. My mom has been looking after hedgehogs for almost 20 years now and so far she only lost one, but that one was extremely small and just didn't feed. Sometimes they are that small, that they don't hibernate properly and you need to feed them several times a day until they reach a certain weight.

Mark thanks for the information. The GN The Man who laughs has got absolutely stunning artwork and wish I had a scanner, so that I could share some more pages here.

HI Nina yes, yes, yes, my baby is growing up *cry and bang head against wall* *don't be silly Bianca - give myself stern look*. On one side it is frightening and on the other side ... well, I am so proud of him.
And yay, you are so right a big hooray for Paul the hedgehog.
I hope you are settling in well in your new home. I will come and update myself shortly :).

Hello roni I am glad to see that you are feeling better yourself and I am grateful that I could be of help with my comments. You are very right I completely enjoyed my time with Alex and I am also looking forward going to Suffolk with him on the 13th of August. I think I mentioned that already before. My friends own a little holliday on the Suffolk coast, also they still haven't enlightened me where exactly. However, I do hope I will find out on Thursday when I meet my friend for a coffee as she has just come back from Burma.

Kathy and Paul yes, long live that wonderful and cute and cuddely and, and, and lots of other lovely adjectives, hedgehog Paul. Paul, I am sorry to hear that your hedgehog hasn't come back yet, but he may will when fall arrives.

Kerry thank you for the advice. I think that what I will do, so that I will get the full enjoyment out of the book. The artwork in The man who laughs are absolutely stunning, that's what drew me to have a closer look at this GN.

Thank you Diana I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well :)

Peggy thank you! I really hope you will be able to track down the Brent Weeks books. I promise you that you will not be dissapointed as they are such fun reads.

And a very Happy Sunday to you Darryl *big smile*

Wishing you a wonderful weekend as well Paul. *giggle* Actually, I think Alex was the one who felt more intimidated and worried. Beautiful Paul just was incredible curious and - me thinks - happy to be alive.

Bianca- I was just a bit underwhelmed with Delirium so I am glad that I took a pass on the rest of the series. I hope you enjoy A Monster Calls. It's one of my favorite books of the year.

I didn't get attracted to Delirium for some reason, and I'll leave it that way now. Like Mark, I liked A Monster Calls a lot, and hope you do, too.

I really liked Alex's take on watching a movie first, too. I'm one of those who **always** reads the book first but I think there is wisdom in his comment.

I had planned to do the group read of Gorky Park but hadn't done it yet. I also had checked the movie out of the library. This weekend I watched the movie before reading the book and ..... The Universe Did Not Crumble. Hopefully, I'll still get the book read, although now I know whodunit (unless Hollywood completely rearranged the ending).

ETA: I couldn't find a copy of The Complete Maus but did order Maus I, Maus II and Meta Maus for the gr.

I'm glad you're feeling so well!

Love the hedgehog story! So cute!

I wish we had hedgehogs in Maine. They sound adorable. I would love to have one in the backyard.

> 208 - Yes, I am planning to read Cloud Atlas soon... when, I am not sure but I can be enticed to move it up the reading pile after I finish two books that I have on the go right now.

Very interesting about hedgehogs. Where I live we have raccoons, squirrels and the occasional deer that venture through our area but no hedgehogs.... or at least none that I have noticed.

Omg.... I love the Paul pictures! He's so cute!!

I have got so far behind! So glad to hear that you are on the mend and have a manageable situation now.
Love the hedgehog photos. One of my favorite animals.
I liked Cloud Atlas, but am missing the reference you mentioned. Don't know it. :) Amazing what our kids know about things we were around for but completely missed...

I finally got The Complete Maus from the library and should be getting it started within the week. I need to get A Fine Balance by Mistry finished first. It's overdue at the library and it's a door stopper.

*catching up quickly*

Peeking in to say *hello* Bianca.

Hi Bianca, it's great to see you posting regularly again. I've finally got caught up here and hope to stay current but as you well know, it takes time to catch up with everyone after being away for a while. I hope you enjoy A Monster Calls, I loved it.

Hi there friend!

Hope to hear from you soon!

Hi Bianca. Glad to hear the happy news about Paul the hedgehog and that you have been able to go back to work :-) Hope you have a lovely time with Alex in Sussex this week!

Just leaving a quick wave and a hug!

Me too........missing you and trusting that all is well and that you and Alex had a good time last week!

Hej Bianca, came over to say hello

Dropping in to say hello and hope that all is going well, Bianca.

Hugs to you Bianca.

Hello Bianca! Hope all is well with you!

Hey Bianca... Just popping in for a quick check up on you. Hope you're doing well.

Bianca - another one missing your presence here. Hope you're ok and looking forward to hearing from you.

Hope things are going well, Bianca. Just to let you know I'll be in London next week and week after, if you want to catch up?

Just catching up. Hope you're well!

Coming in to say hello, I hope you are doing well, miss you here.

OOoo. I saw some activity on your thread and hoped that it was you. Take care, Bianca! We do miss you.

Me too! I saw your thread had been bumped and got excited. Still thinking of you Bianca, and hoping for your (healthy) return here asap. ♥

Back again and hoping it was you checking in.... We're still missing you 'round these parts.

Just stopping by to say we miss you and hope you are well.

Same here.

It looks like I'm not going to see you while we're in London. :0( Planning a couple of meet ups at the beginning of next week, if you can make it. If not, I'll keep in touch with you on LT.

Does anybody know how to get in touch with Bianca other than LT? I do wish you would. We need to hear from her.

She's been taking it easy on LT since her illness.

Nathalie (Deern) might know?

Stopping by to leave you some Canadian westcoast sunshine, or what we have left of it (which isn't much, but I am still happy to share), and to give you a big "HELLO"! Missing you around these parts.

A very happy 3-year Thingaversary to you, Bianca!

I know her last name and checked on facebook and google, but I guess others did that as well. Sadly I lost her private e-mail address. I sent her a PN (as I'm sure did many others). I hope she's recovering and just taking a break.

Happy TA to you, Bianca!!

Happy Thingaversary, Bianca, and happy start to the weekend!

I have Bianca's cell phone from when we met in London earlier this year, so I sent her a text message this afternoon. She says that she's doing well, but she's been extremely busy the past few weeks and hasn't used the computer during that time. I told her that her LT friends missed seeing her here.

Darryl you are so wonderful to relieve our worries.

Hiya Bianca!

You're welcome, Roberta! As you've probably guessed, my post should have said that I have Bianca's cell phone number, and not her cell phone!

THANK YOU, DARRYL!!!!
Bianca, we will be thrilled when you come back, but it's a fine thing to know that you're coping with the challenges of RL!

>247 luvamystery65:, 249: Agree whole heartedly.

Darryl, if you could do me a huge favour, and let her know there's a mini-meet up at Forbidden Planet on Tuesday, I'd be grateful. It's awfully short notice, though, so she may not be able to make it. :(

Thank you, Darryl!!

Wünsche Dir eine gute Zeit, Bianca!

Thanks Darryl, I've been lurking here hoping for news.

That's good news, Darryl, thanks. Glad all is well, Bianca!

Thanks Darryl for taking the initiative and letting us know how Bianca is doing.

Hej Darryl, thank you for using Bianca's celle phone and tell us her response

You're welcome, everybody! I'm also glad to hear that she's doing okay.

Sorry that I didn't see your request earlier, Nina; I'm in the middle of a very busy stretch at work. I've just sent a text message to Bianca about the meet up at Forbidden Planet on Tuesday, and I'll let you know what she says. I'll have a very long day at work, so unless she returns my message this morning I may not be able to get back to you until very late this evening.

Thank you Darryl! Bianca - we're glad to hear that you're doing well :-)

Bianca hasn't returned my text message that I sent this morning. I suspect that she won't be able to join the meet up on Tuesday, Nina.

Darryl, you're a swell (I'm just swollen).
Bianca the Doc's right, we miss you.

>256 kidzdoc:, 258: Thanks for trying, Darryl. Very much appreciated, especially when you're so busy. It's good to know that Bianca's keeping well; thanks for letting us know.

Still missing you around here Bianca. Continue to take care of yourself.

We miss you Bianca! Hope you're ok.

What Heather said!

Every time I see this thread get bumped I get excited!

Oh well, we're still thinking of you Bianca. Hope old ya bastard is being good to you.

Hoping you're keeping well, Bianca. I'm sorry I missed meeting you in London.

Hi Bianca! Thought I'd stop by your thread for the first time in months. I'm way behind, so I don't know what's going on in your life, but hopefully you're doing well! I've missed talking to everyone at LT.

In high hopes that 2014 will bring many joyful reads to you, my friend Bianca:



Celebrate the return of the light with feasts, merriment, and gratitude for all the wonders of this wide green earth.

RMD

Dear Bianca, we do miss you and think about you as Christmas approaches. I do hope you're well and content.
Take care of yourself!

miss you and wish you a blessed, quiet, peaceful Christmas

Hope you come back to us soon, Bianca. Happy Christmas, whether you are celebrating in UK or Germany. xx

May you have a book filled Christmas, Bianca. Miss you and hope that all is well

Hi Bianca,

Hi, Bianca. We haven't seen you on LT for a while. Hoping life is treating you well, and your health is improving.

Wishing you the best for the festive season, and a wonderful 2014 to follow.

Missing you, Bianca. Hoping you are well and recovering. Here's to a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!!

Merry Christmas Bianca! All the best to you and your family.

Bianca, Bianca, Bianca!
(said three times, and still no appearance)

We miss you and wish you well! Happy Holidays, friend.

Happy Holidays, Bianca!

Dropping by to wish you and your family the best of health and happiness for the New Year.



Hope to see you in the 2014 group.