LandFrauenverein "An der Oste"

In the cars to travel back to our hosts’ homes for dinner  My host Amei was unable to meet us as she had a very large family commitment at her home. However we were made very welcome when we arrived at her house and had a very pleasant evening with Amei, her husband Gebhard and many of her guests.

After a very good nights sleep we had another early start! We met the coach at 7am in Hemmoor for a day out to Hamburg Hallig….The Landfrauen ladies greeted us like old friends and we set off in fine weather for our day out. It did rain momentarily at our comfort stop but soon improved. Off again on a short ferry ride towards our destination, Hamburg Hallig, a large nature reserve on reclaimed land, with numerous bird varieties. There is a restaurant with a celebrity chef where we were served a delicious buffet lunch accompanied by much chatting and laughter.

After lunch we had a little time to explore before going back to the coach for a visit to Husum an attractive town with a very interesting history part Danish and part German . Our hosts had arranged a tour guide to take us and tell us about the history between the two countries. She showed us the extremely pretty Harbour including information about the past inhabitants of the castle and after more refreshments we were back on the coach for the drive home completing a very long but extremely enjoyable day.

Day 3 Sunday, saw a more leisurely day with some lovely gardens to visit. First was Helga’s, one of our hosts, who has a lovely garden full of roses by the river. Next came a sensory garden where the owner uses herbs to make oils and potions to enrich our lives. We then travelled to another open garden that had artisan craft stalls. Finally a garden centre where the Landfrauen ladies make and sell tea/coffee and scrumptious cakes after which it was back to Amei‘s home for a BBQ. This was where eating drinking and being merry became the order for the day! Culminating in much merriment and happy laughter from us all, as can be clearly seen from the pictures.

Day 4 Monday started with a visit to The Rathaus in Hemmoor, the Town hall, for a reception from the deputy Mayor and one of the councillors. We were welcomed and he told us how pleased he was that we were visiting again and a little about how the town council works in Hemmoor.

Our hosts had arranged two mini buses to take us to Bremen for our last day,  A fascinating old town with lots to see including a beautiful Cathedral, the famous Bremen Clock with the bells and the moving tableau and the Brothers Grimm story of the Bremen Town Musicians, the Donkey, the dog, the cat and the cockerel. A lovely lunch and a good look around this lovely town and then it was back to the airport in Bremen for our flight home.

An der Tagesfahrt auf die Hamburger Hallig und anschließender Führung durch das hübsche holsteinische Städtchen Husum im letzten Jahr nahmen auch neun englische Landfrauen aus North Norfolk teil,  die uns im Juni ein Wochenende lang einen Gegenbesuch machten. Zwei Jahre zuvor waren sechs Landfrauen aus unserem Verein dort zu Gast. Inzwischen besteht dieser Austausch schon seit 2012. Privat untergebracht bei fünf Gastgeberinnen aus unserem Verein wurden die Tage für interessante Unternehmungen, z.B. offene Gärten bei Irmgard Biermann und Helga Bowitz genutzt. Außerdem wurde ihnen anschaulich  anhand der Rosentage bei Gärtnerei Sumfleth demonstriert, wie wir Landfrauen ein Kuchenbuffet gestalten. Unseren englischen Gästen machte der Besuch sichtlich Freude und sie luden herzlich zum Gegenbesuch in zwei Jahren ein, bevor sie am Montagabend wieder in den Flieger nach Stansted stiegen.