Willkommen! Bienvenue! Welcome!

Yes, we are here quite early this morning but we have much cooking to do for today. It is back to the usual menu but along with the New Year's Eve menu, well, our guests just about cleaned us out. The pots are simmering on the stove and the hams are baking in the oven. Since it was rather late last night when the festivities ended our sweet Lady Marean Bear and her Kitty stayed the night upstairs in the little apartment. I am looking forward to them coming down for breakfast and we can discuss last night all over again. I have prepared Belgian waffles, an egg omlet, bacon, good German sausage and toast for their pleasure. And of course, freshly squeezed orange juice and fresh coffee for them. I have a bowl of milk and a dish of kitty food for the ready, too. So, until later, I will go stir the pots and have a cup of coffee.

Last night there were no left-overs but I sent for left-overs from several other Cafes and the animals all had a hot meal before going to sleep. Can't forget the animals!

 January 14

Today should be International Day at Mervi's Fireside Cafe but due to my food delivery not making it here in time, we will have the usual menu today. Sorry about that. We will once again have International Day next Monday.

Festivities surrounding the up coming fashion show and luncheon are in full swing. Mervi has met with several of the top designers and they are planning for all the latest Spring Fashions. Something for everyone, too. Not only for skinny, rail thin models, also for the regular sized women and the "Junior Plenty" sized, too. There will also be a short segment on THE WELL DRESSED POLAR BEAR! None other than our waiter. . . the tall, white, fuzzy one with the cute ears to model our latest polar bear fashions! Progress is also being made in the planning of our Valentine's Day Party, too. There will be an additional surprise guest to charm the ladies. None other than our Doc Schuele to play his trumpet. PERHAPS . . . we could persuade him to take a swing around the dance floor, too. I can't promise but we will try very had to convince him to participate in the dancing.

Business has been brisk at the Cafe and while there has not been many left-overs for the animals, Mervi and I have seen to it that there is always plenty of hot, nourishing food placed outside at night! We can't forget our friends who are not so fortunate as our babies whom we love at home. Well, it's off to the kitchen to check on the baking hams and to stir the pots for lunch. Until this afternoon or later this evening . . .

 January 24

Today has been a great day! Early this morning I got a call from the Lady Maraen Bear to please send a car for her and her Kitty. Happily our tall white fuzzy waiter with the cute ears volunteered to drive over and pick her and Kitty up. While he was gone, I scooted her rocker up close to the stove and put her favorite throw near so it would "warm up" and she could put it over her legs when she got here. They were both half frozen when they got here and I had a big cup of hot tea for her and some hot chocolate with mini-marshmellows for our tall, handsome waiter with the cute ears. I even warmed a bit of cream for Kitty.

When Lady Maraen Bear was settled into her rocker, I placed the warm blanket over her little old legs and she purred almost like Kitty. She said lately the cold has made her legs stiff in the mornings so I suggested on nights and days that we know it will be especially cold, perhaps she and Kitty would like to stay the night up in the apartment over the kitchen. She was thrilled with the suggestion and said she would love to do that! Of course, our waiter was jumping up and down with joy at the thought of our dearest friend staying here and he also suggested that perhaps he should also stay in case she needs anything at night. I said "Great!" I know he loves the precious lady and wants to tend to her every need. So . . . now she is rocking and dozing by the stove.

Lunch today was very busy. Seems everyone wanted some hot soup and fresh homemade bread. And since Luisa is on vacation right now, she was handing out sips of her favorite drink to warm the guests as they came in from the cold. We even got a call from Zoo Berlin's bear office for some split pea soup and homemade bread to go. Seems Thomas, Ronny and Marcus all wanted something hot for lunch. Ronny had his sandwiches from home but they were cold and when someone mentioned hot soup, well, he even volunteered to come pick the order up. He came rolling up in a white van that had Zoo Berlin written on the side and some of the guests begin to get excited. They thought perhaps it was Knut coming for lunch but unfortunately we had to tell them otherwise. They were dissapointed but actually, there were two ladies who became all giggly and sputtered "OH MY, it's Ronny!" They got into a pushing match to see which one would get to the door first to greet him. I think he has a couple of ladies who are sweet on him. WoW! It took our waiter to calm them down and place one on each side of the door. Well, it's time to go back into the kitchen and check on the extra pot of split pea soup that I put on for supper. Until later . .

 January 26

Dinner tonight has been busy. Our tall, white fuzzy waiter with the cute ears decided this evening to wait tables in his roller skates. It was going quite well until Retta came running thru the dining with a soup tureen of split pea soup. WoW! They crashed head on just about in the middle of the dining room. Now Retta crashed to the floor as did our Waiter except the soup was all over the Waiter and the soup tureen was sitting on top of Retta's beautifully curled hair. She looked like a "milk maiden" with brown curls sticking out from under the rim of the bowl but it did look like she had large curved ears from the handles of the tureen on each side of her head.

At that point Mervi, who just happened in the front door at that time, hit the soup on the floor with her new suede pumps, soaking the new pumps and slidding along on her bum with her coat over her head. She could not see where she was headed and wound up in the lap of none other than Dr. B, who had stopped in for a bite to eat as he was flung out of his chair and bounced along on his very large bum and they both crashed into the fireplace. When Mervi pulled down her coat and saw who's lap she was sitting in, she couldn't stop laughing. Of course, having absolutely no sense of humor at all, Dr. B arose to his feet and stormed out of Mervi's Fireside Cafe mumbling "I'll never come back to this place! That damn wild herd is here, too!"

We ran over with wet towels carefully wiping green split pea soup off our Waiter, Retta and Mervi. The kitchen staff helped mop up the soup off the floor and dust off several diners who only had splashes of soup on them. Carefully checking everyone for injuries (actually only their pride was hurt) we sent them to the kitchen to finish cleaning up. Doro II, thank goodness was there, and helped deliver more tureens of soup to our guests along with fresh loaves of hot homemade bread. She stepped in and helped me finish serving the remainder of the guests and also take the left-overs out to the animals in the forest! The Waiter, Retta and Mervi were too wet to go out into the cold back yard, so they sat around the stove in bathrobes while I washed their clothes and dried them. So goes another night at Mervi's Fireside Cafe. Now if I could just get green out of white fur.