Lucky clover ....

You may have heard that finding a four leafed clover is the harbinger of good luck ? How about a five leafed clover - just what I picked recently in Munich, on a bank of the River Isar - so I've been waiting for a miracle ......! It's already happened in a minor way - miracles do come in varying degrees, and mine have been with finances. No, not a lottery win - I don't indulge, but in tiny benefits - "every little helps" is the Tesco motto, and my miracles couldn't be much "littler".....Think I have already mentioned the free television licence ? Much to my surprise, having acknowledged that I've attained the ripe old (?) age of seventy five, the powers that be have refunded me the princely sum of eighty pounds, in two cheques - I had contacted two different personnel at the Pensions Dept., ( ooops - don't spend it aaaall at once... ), illegally taken from my bank account as no one had noticed my birth date. Maybe if I keep calling them, the funds will carry on arriving - hope springs eternal..... My state pension was not allocated to me until one year after I qualified at sixty years - I had to tell them I was still alive - and hoooow..! Beaurocracy - uuuugh... Now I have a free bus pass nationally - whatever neeeext.....Oh yes. Having sorted out my teeth successfully, I thought it time to have a sight test, and had allocated two to three hundred pounds for new spectacles, the going rate. Much to my astonishment the optician declared that my eyes are in very good conditon - so I don't need new specs ! Pheeew - so the clover leaf IS wooorking.....an honest optician......
The other discovery in Munich was - the fooood - Boy - do they enjoy the local specialities , and such laaarge portions , not surprisingly, it's all sooo delicious! Anna L mentioned, whilst in Vienna recently, enjoying white asparagus with Hollandaise sauce - now I know the experience -ooooooooh - scrumptious, I indulged several times ...... what with that, the vast potato dumplings, sauerkraut, sweet beers and all the other specialities of Bavaria I'm lucky to be able to fit in to any of my clothes ...... That was another unexpected aspect of Bavarian culture - the regional costumes are worn by so many. Lederhosen, suede waistcoated, half socked, large booted, Tyrolean hatted men whizzing about on bikes with fascinating, individually styled beards and moustachios, elderly matrons on three wheelers, and voluptuous ladies (I didn't see any skinny ones) serving in the beer houses , dirndl clad, masses of blonde hair piled high with frizzy topknots - it felt as though I was in the middle of a "White Horse Inn" musical environment - but it's reeeeal - and I loooved it. Today is a Bank Holiday here, and true to type - it's really cold, dreary, pouring with rain and blowing a gale outside - so I'm taking in another showing of ....."The Sound of Music" ....!! Such pathos and innocence. Aah well, all's right with the world on such a day - if only....... k..p b.......g