Mine continue to be of exceptionally high quality.

Siegfried and Erika Leucht, the 161 year-olds (she’s 82, he’s 79) from across the road popped in yesterday with photos of the camelia from their garden and some goodies.

Just the nicest people who’ve led a most exciting life.

It started off like this:

They met in post-war Berlin, but couldn’t get married, because there was nowhere to live following the mass destruction of property in the bombings.

At about that time, Siegfried’s company posted him to Istanbul. So there he is, feeling pretty lonely wandering around Istanbul by himself with his girlfriend back in Germany, when he notices loads of apartments with no curtains.

Mentions it to a co-worker who says “No, it’s not that they can’t AFFORD curtains – they’re all empty.”

Formal proposal by mail.

Erika flies down on PanAm 1 and they get married in the German Consulate in 1954.

 From there, they were in Syria, Egypt, Turkey again and Slovenia (I’ve probably forgotten some)

In 1978, they bought the house across the road from ours.

John Whatley would say: Aren’t we lucky people!