The little sparrows / Die Kleinen Spatzen

When we lived in Oxford, we tried and failed to persuade our children to speak German. This included sometimes taking them to a lovely fortnightly German playgroup called ‘Die Kleinen Spatzen’.

There was even an enterprising German baker who used to turn up with a van full of rare and delicious breads and cakes. This at least encouraged our children to attend, if not speak any German!

Now it’s all the other way round. We are in Germany, but soon to return to Oxford. The children can’t stop nattering away in annoyingly fluent German. Proper Brötchen are freely-available. And the little sparrows? Here they are, nesting in the garden wall...