I will get more pictures (no rain forecast). For now, here are the sticks the children are going to carry while singing “Schtrih Schtrah Schtroh”, the traditional song on this day. My sister remembers how the sticks are decorated and she still had material at home so she made two for our granddaughter to choose from. I only had to supply the “bretzel” and the bit of boxwood (still to be attached on the top). Of course, there should be a baked bretzel but that makes the stick very heavy on top, after all it has to be big enough for an egg to fit in. I decided to make it out of cardboard and the brezel will be carried around the neck.
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pictures imperfect blog 
Lovely. Here with us today it’s Mothering Sunday, which was originally chosen as the day – the fourth Sunday in Lent – when servants could go home to visit their mothers – bearing a simnel cake. Is your day also tied to the church calendar?
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Yes, it is. It’s a tradition that is very local, basically just in the area called Kurpfalz, i.e. around Mannheim and Heidelberg. Different towns and villages have picked different dates (plus/minus a week from ours) but all related to the church calender. Ours is exactly your mother’s day, i.e. Sunday Laetare which is the 4th Sunday of lent. Our mother’s day correlates to the US American (2nd Sunday in May), established 1914. In Germany this day was established by the flower sellers’ association in 1923, and orginally named “day of flower wishes”.
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Aha! Established for commercial reasons! Same in Spain and France I think.
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Of course, just as St Valentine is in Germany called the patron saint of florists and card manufacturers.
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😉
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I lke it!
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It’s a worthwhile endeavour. And it was completed successfully.
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😊😊
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I had to look up the background on this one—what a fascinating spring tradition! I’d never heard of Schtrih Schtrah Schtroh before, but I love seeing how these old customs are still carried forward through family memories. Thanks for sharing a glimpse into a celebration that was completely new to me.
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Sometime next week I’ll have more photos (not on the phone, though) I don’t know about the quality, my camera had problems focussing (of course, my fault, I had switched it accidentally to manual focus). But we did burn winter in a complete anti-climax. 2.50m tall and it was over in less than 30 seconds!
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