When I was making the painting of the little houses on Ehrentalstrasse in Bornheim, Germany, I began to recall all the interesting things that happened during the time that I sat on the grass, across from the houses, and sketched the scene in pencil. I was visiting Hilda Lamberz, my relative, who lived just up the street from the houses on Ehrental. It was 1991 and I had a lot of time to make sketches of places that interested me. I was sketching the street scene, and soon people began to come out of the houses to chat and see what I was sketching. One man looked at my sketch and reminded me to put his house number, 23, on his home. I did. Then another lady came out and carried a small pillow for me to sit on. She then wanted to talk a little about the war, and told me that bombs had been dropped on a house close by. Both parents were killed but a little girl survived and this lady then took the little girl in to live with her. She also pointed out to me the place where the church used to be. Only the facade was left standing, the rest of the church was completely gone, and an orchard was planted where the building once stood.  It was strange to see the entire front of the church standing…just one big wall, with doors. What seemed so strange to me was there was a lock on the door. She continued to explain that the city of Köln was so very close, bombs, often meant for that city, were dropped on Bornheim.

   Another lady walked over from the big brick building on the corner. She invited me to come visit her when I was finished sketching. I did, and she wanted to show me all the beautiful flowers that she and her husband grow and take to the market place. She went on to tell me that she and her husband grow the flowers on a little piece of land on the hillside close by. They were arranging the flowers into beautiful small bouquets and stacking them in a big open cart. It was a beautiful scene. They used a small tractor to pull the cart to town. All of this was in a large garage-like place, but one side was completely open. Nice place to work. Then she led me to a calendar on the wall and proceeded to turn each month over, because photos of her family were on each page. She told me the name of each person. It seems like the Germans always do that...every place I went, people opened big photo albums for me to look at. When I was leaving I noticed that a pair of wooden shoes was hanging on the wall. She sensed that I was curios and told me a little about them. They are made with a special wood that is very light in weight. They are usually hand made, and a padded piece of leather is nailed to the area...like the tongue in a shoe. The edge, sides and heel area is also padded with leather. I tried them on and they were quite comfortable. She told me that one must wear heavy socks also. It is true that wooden shoes are still used in the villages when people work in muddy, wet gardens. The wooden shoes can be washed or left on the doorstep.

   I was almost finished sketching when a little old lady came out of the house that was behind me. She introduced herself, Gertrude Wergelhoch, and invited me into her home for cake and tea. I love to get into the little German cottages and this one was a gem. When I entered I found that the ceilings, with big dark beams, were only a little bit above my head. It was a very small house, and the living room was also the dining room. It was one of the very first buildings built in Bornheim. This village was producing some of the very finest grapes in Germany...it was called Rebensgarten. Then a terrible blight destroyed all the grapes. This little cottage, I believe, was the main hub of the grape orchards. Gertrude told me that now it is an historical building. There are no grape orchards in the village today.

When Peg and I were visiting Hilda several years ago, we stopped in to visit with Gertrude. We looked at albums of photos, ate cake and drank tea. Gertrude was proud to show me the original sketch of the house, framed and hanging on the wall. I had given it to her. I have continued to keep in touch with Gertrude. A nice friendship.