EU --Ay Uh as they pronounce it here

First things first. Happy Birthday to the two most important guys in my life - Barry and J, son in law and son who share the same day and even better, get on together like brothers. Have a great day on the golf course or out on the tiles but be careful they aren't slippery in this wind. They will have to wait for their presents which I invested in Blip shares. This may be seen as a risky move but I put them off finding ways to speed up the inheritance by saying the shares would not produce any dividend and unlikely to have more than 1p monetary worth.

Off to Ottobeuren for the walk stopping off at the Rathaus (town hall) to hand in a pair of expensive variofocals Angie brought home from her walk on Saturday. They have been hanging on a tree for months and have a name badge taped on, so it was clear they must belong to an elderly person in a nursing home. Given all persons (except 1m refugees) are registered and documented, the clerk in Lost & Found only needed 10 seconds to confirm this and will contact the home. Whistling "dib, dib, dib, dob, dob, dob", we drove on to a 3 house hamlet with chapel where I parked.

At this point I would suggest all readers stop reading further. What follows is more than "War & Peace". Perhaps a look at the towns very good image video on Youtube will satisfy your daily thirst for Bavarian blurb. Thank you for passing by, have a nice day.
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Out we got and unusually Luna did her business within 20 metres on the side of the pavement. Picked it up in a black bag, knotted and placed up against a sign post alongside the 100km/h road, just in case the council decided to start verge cutting, and as is normal around here, would pick up on the way back. Past the first house, then the sorry looking bar/restaurant/b&b to the last house where we were about to cross the road to the track up to the golf course, when I heard a loud "Hey you". There was little doubt who was meant, the last person to walk here was about 30 years ago. "take your bag with you" said a grubby looking elderly man. Given the location I knew this wasn't a typical dog walk route with piles left all over the place, where such a reaction from fed up inhabitants would be understandable. This was someone with a grudge. I simply said " I have learnt that in Bavaria, one greets people first with a Gruess Gott or Servus and only then and in a polite tone expresses ones wishes. I would hardly take the trouble to pick up the s*** only to leave the bag lying about. Have a nice day".

We crossed the road with the torrent bouncing off our backs. Was a bit concerned Flash would freeze up when he realised where we were going, he hates the sound of golf clubs whacking balls. I was sure the course would be closed as normal for winter, from about November to March but hoped, given the weird weather, the greenkeepers would be out with a tractor starting to clear the winter debris and preparing for the 2016 season. Could then Blip a tractor on a UK Scottish invention.

However zilch - nobody or thing to be seen except for waterlogged bunkers that would make Barry cry. I suspect just like the "Made in Germany" label backfire, the Germans have invented the Combi-Sand-Water-Hazard and will market it. Soon Donald T will be searching Germany for greenkeepers and pay astronomical sums to have his Scottish courses undergo German re-engineering. (Well done Iowa, we did have our doubts but you came through).


Down at the 19th, there was a small car and I suspect the admin secretary who I could hear through the windows, talking on the phone. Photographed various bits and bobs and then the new machine workshops, peering through windows, clicking away. As we turned back home I was waiting for the police to turn up, sure the woman would have called them having seen my activities.

However got safely back to the road avoiding piles of animal droppings but not prepared to do the clean up for someone else. My friend was now presumably waiting behind the curtains as I walked by and then I saw the likely reason for his "attitude" problem. As I passed the pub, saw signs of movement, looked up and saw on the side of the house a balcony facing towards Grumpy's front door about 30m away. On the balcony was a man in T-shirt enjoying the sun who gave me a big friendly wave and I shouted up "Summer soon" and he giggled back. The man was one of the one million, housed at the councils expense in the pub and therefore at long last making very good money for the owner. I have marked Grumpy's house on the map and the pub is automatically shown.

Today the January unemployment figures issued, again at record lows. It would be nice if more of these refugees could be given a useful occupation and training in the time they are waiting for their "yes/no" verdicts which are taking ridiculously long. What can someone do out there in the middle of nowhere - eat, drink, sleep and out of shear boredom .....?

Picked up my doggy bag and drove through Ottobeuren. In the village centre had to stop to let piles of school children over the zebra crossing - halted on the other side of the road, no doubt heading out to the golf course was the county's one and only police van. Luckily they were concentrating on the larks of the children and oversaw I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. I am exempt but they would still normally have stopped me!

Only just managed my TractorTuesday duty. In the photo, the view from one of the greens towards Ottobeuren's basilica, the new machine workshop (the golf buggies parked on 1st floor, driven up over ramp), some lawn mowing equipment and John Deere small tractors taken through the reflecting glass and a pile of manure on the path leading through the middle of fairways.

If he happens to read this, Jürgen who is part of the greenkeeping staff, sent a wonderful email at New Year. It was so beautifully written that I said to Angie, she had to help write a suitable reply - "Later" and I have just remembered it now. Sorry Jürgen, I will be in contact as I also need a TÜV! Oh and Jürgen, please tell the lady I wasn't on a reconnaissance break in tour - I am an EU immigrant but due to Blip my every movement is documented. Oh and Jürgen - it must have hurt when the management bought new John Deere equipment rather than Eicher.... oder?