Easter Week

Last week was still on the chilly side, it was often VERY windy and there was a bit of rain in between - in short, it felt pretty much like April, which indeed it was from Wednesday onwards.

On Monday (30 March) we had rain followed by sunshine and there was even thunder at one point, although it never got any warmer than 8C/46F. I worked from home, and at about 4:30 pm I left for my usual walk to Benningen.

Tuesday (31 March) was wet, cold and grey, but that didn't stop me from walking to Pattonville after work, and as you can see in the pictures, the sky had cleared up nicely by then. 

I'd not been there in a few months, and almost on the spot when I returned home it started to rain again, holding off long enough for me to be out for a couple of hours.

My regular day at the office followed on Wednesday (1st of April); again, it was cold and windy at first, but later the sun came out, and of course I couldn't let the opportunity of a good walk slip! I got off the train in Zuffenhausen and walked the rest from there, which was really good.

As always on the Thursday before Easter (called Gründonnerstag in German, literally meaning "Green Thursday"), my Mum made a big batch of traditional Maultaschen (click here to see what they are) and a smaller vegetarian batch. After work, my sister and I met at our Mum's, and Mum's friend R and her brother who live in the same house joined us for a delicious meal of freshly cooked Maultaschen, lettuce and spuds salad.

Good Friday is a public holiday in Germany, and I deliberately kept it entirely free of any appointments. After doing my usual cleaning in the morning, I had something to eat and a short rest before I left a little after 2:00 pm for a walk I had not done in years - 5 1/2, to be precise! My 2020 post of that walk is here, and the one before from 2012 is here.

Out of curiosity, I started the Runmeter app on my phone, and it recorded a total of about 19.2 km / 12 miles. I was out for just under 3.5 hours with a very short break at the "Kaiser", drinking from my water bottle and eating a peanut bar for sustenance. 

Water reservoir

The "Kaiser" hides in this small group of trees.

Here it is; a man-made monument made to look like a natural piece of rock, commemorating the exact place where Kaiser Wilhelm once stood at a military inspection.

My view from the bench by the Kaiser

Spring seems strangely behind at this spot, compared to the rest of my walk.

I saw several herons and falcons and heard larks for most of the walk.

It felt truly good but I was glad to be home - a longer break would have made sense, but at the time I didn't want it.

Getting to Offenburg on Saturday (4th of April) involved 3 changes instead of one, and took close to 4 hours instead of two, all because of construction works around Offenburg train station, with no trains stopping there. Instead, everybody had to get off the train and get on a bus for the last 20 km to the city, where O.K. picked me up for the last leg of my journey, the short drive to the village.

We had coffee & cake and then set to prepare tomorrow's family meal, leg of lamb and vegetables all cooked in white wine for almost 5 hours in the oven. In between getting it all ready to go in the oven and putting the finishing touches to the sauce we went for a short walk and had something to eat.

Easter Sunday saw us getting the table and everything else ready for noon, when O.K.'s mother, his sister and her husband arrived. For starters, we had sparkling wine and fillet of smoked trout with horseradish cream and a leafy salad, followed by the lamb and veg. For dessert, there was a choice of three different flavours of ice cream.

Unbelievably, not all that long afterwards we still managed to have the raspberry cream cake O.K.'s Mum had made (from the raspberries she grows in her garden) with our coffee!

We then walked to the cemetery and back, stopping for chats with some neighbours along the way. 

Eventually, our guests went home and O.K. and I did the usual cleaning and putting things back to normal - hardly surprising, we did not have anything more to eat until the next day.

At 20C/68F, it had been the warmest day in a while, and sunny throughout.

By O.K.'s Mum's house. Aren't these glorious?

Cold Spring Week

Winter made a reappearance here last week; we didn't have snow in my area, but hail, rain and strong winds with nights and mornings below freezing. There was also some sunshine. 

This cold spell started on Wednesday and is still with us for a few more days, it seems - nothing unusual about it, really; we often have frost and the occasional snow flurry as late as April. It just hits many people unexpectedly when quite unreasonably they have cast aside their winter clothes with the first warmer sun rays. Add to that the pollen in the air, and hardly surprising there is a lot of coughing and sneezing around right now.

Monday (23 March) was still mild at 12C/53F and mostly sunny. Working from home allowed me to go for my almost weekly back and shoulders massage around lunch time, and because I had a conference call scheduled from 5:00 to 6:00 pm, I made sure to take a short walk of less than an hour before that.

I went to work at the office in Weilimdorf on Tuesday (24 March) because I had signed up to help with the election of our employees' representation committee, something that would have been impossible to do working from home.

Sunrise on Tuesday

The small cherry tree in my neighbour's garden is in bloom already!

And so are the magnolia trees in my street.

Afterwards, I was home for a little while before setting off to the pub. With my sister and one other team member being away, there were only four of us, but we still came 2nd, one point short of the winning team. It was good fun and as always, we had lots to talk about and some good laughs.

As mentioned above, winter returned on Wednesday (25 March). After a chilly but sunny morning, heavy grey clouds came rolling in during the afternoon. Leaving work in Weilimdorf, I was on my way to my Mum's when for the last 200 m or so I was caught in a hail storm - pea-sized icy balls hit me (and everything else outdoors) from all sides. Was I glad to reach my Mum's!

By the time I left (after a vitamin boost from a delicious fresh salad), it was long over and I arrived at my flat without as much as a drop of rain.

Thursday (26 March) was my 3rd day in a row of working in Weilimdorf, because we had a quarterly meeting where I like to be present in person, not just on a screen.

It was cold and very windy, but sunny until the late afternoon. On my way home, I continued on the train until Freiberg, from where I walked my customary route to Benningen. That felt very good after having been cooped up at the office.

Plum tree on the outskirts of Benningen

Back in Ludwigsburg, on my way home from the station

It was working from home again on Friday (27 March). Mid-afternoon was spent doing my cleaning and washing, and at 5:30 pm, two friends came to pick me up for the long-ish drive to Böblingen, where another couple of friends live. It took us well over an hour to get there, but of course three women in a car are not short of things to talk about - especially not when they have not seen each other in a while.

In Böblingen, we had a short walk to the restaurant our friends there had chosen. It is run by Uigurs/Uyghurs and serves their typical food, something none of us were familiar with.

Market square in Böblingen

The food was nice enough, although nothing so "special" or "exotic" that it felt entirely new. I chose a dish where bits of tender chicken meat came in a dark red-brown sauce with diced red and green pepper and some peanuts added. It was very similar to what I've had sometimes at Chinese restaurants, and it was more salty and less spicy than expected.

Unfortunately, although service was friendly, it was highly inefficient and unreliable - more often than not, a young man came just peeping in by the door and leaving again with a slightly confused look on his face. Other times, he came in and brought food to other tables where the people had arrived long after us. Of the four of us at our table, one got her food about 45 minutes after the others. Another of our group had to ask three or four times before her second bottle of lemonade arrived, and then it wasn't lemonade but ice tea (she drank it anyway, not wanting to risk another long wait).

So, yes, it was great to see my friends again and catch up with each other, but I doubt I will ever visit this particular restaurant again, and certainly won't recommend it.

The drive back was much quicker, and I was home just after 11:00 pm.

On Saturday (28 March), O.K. arrived a little before lunch time. We were both hungry and decided to have something to eat in town, since we wanted to go for an errand or two anyway. We went to the Thai place in the mall, and I really enjoyed my creamy spicy Thai curry and the quick service :-D

The sunny day then turned into a rainy one, and so after the meal and our errands we went home for steaming mugs of tea and a rest.

It wasn't appealing to go for a walk, and we stayed in for the rest of the day and evening, relaxing, having something to eat and later watching a comedy on TV.

Sunday (29 March) was still cold but promised to remain dry. After our usual late breakfast, we walked across town and made use of our new season's tickets (thank you, Mum!!) for the first time this year to enter the palace grounds.

A lot of artificial decoration has been put up, most of it not at all to my taste, nor do I think it is necessary - the grounds are beautiful without them, and real flowers and blossoms are the best anyway. 

Here are some of the decorations.

See what I mean? I don't get the point of these.

This is much nicer, and every flower here is real!

This doorway was quite nice and fits the palace theme.

I understand these "flower ladies", too, although I wouldn't miss them if they weren't there.

Sleeping Beauty's bed picks up on the palace and fairytale theme, too.

One of several storks nesting on top of the volière

Forgetmenots in a sheltered spot

A unicorn... again, unnecessary, but I suppose popular with children.

Why this green lady with the pointy ears looks so serious bordering on the unhappy I don't know.

We continued across the footbridge and through the deer park.

The much smaller palace in the deer park looked particularly colourful against the cloudy backdrop.

Back home, we made ourselves comfortable with coffee and some reading before it was time to prepare our meal for the evening. We'd not had Shakshouka in a while, and the cold weather was good for sitting at the table in front of a hot pan straight from the stove, still bubbling a bit.

O.K. left at sunset, which of course now is much later because we had the switch to Summer Time during the night. I accompanied him to the car and then went for another walk of about 45 minutes to stretch my legs and use the last of the daylight - the only advantage I can see in changing the clocks.

A Week of Spring Flowers

Last week was quite typical for March here with cold mornings and nights but often sunny with blue skies during the day. There was some rain on Saturday, probably very welcome to everything that wants to grow now.

On Monday (16 March), my trip back from Offenburg was a bit different from usual in that the direct train to Stuttgart wasn't running; I had to change at Karlsruhe but it all worked out, and I was home to start work at my usual time.

During an online meeting in the afternoon with two of the people I work with closely at the Literature Archive in Marbach one of them told me that he'll retire in a year. Of course I knew that this was inevitably coming, and I am happy for him to have more time for his family and his hobbies, but I will miss him, his expertise and his calm way to approach even the most complex situation. Over the past 12 years, we have found good solutions together, meeting the sometimes contradictory requirements of IT security and data protection.

After work, I walked to Benningen. It was windy and rather chilly, but I was sensibly dressed and really enjoyed the walk.

Magnolia tree, almost in full bloom

Between Eglosheim and Freiberg

Almost in Benningen, looking back towards Freiberg

I worked again from home on Tuesday (17 March) and had a back & shoulders massage afterwards. Next I went to my Mum's; we had salad and Wiener sausages (which we both love) and of course a good chat.

Wednesday (18 March) was my usual day at the office. It was winterly cold in the morning at 2C/35F but a beautiful sunny day. 

After work, I took a train into the centre of Stuttgart and walked roughly half an hour to a restaurant where I met a few fellow data protection officers. We had a good meal and exchange about current topics. I have known some of them for many years, and we also talk about (more or less) personal matters.

I was again at the office on Thursday (19 March) because we had our annual company-wide assembly. Full of information and the opportunity to ask questions, I do not consider such meetings a waste of time.

Leaving work, for the first time this year I got off the train in Zuffenhausen and walked the rest, now that there is enough daylight left in the late afternoon.

Friday (20 March) was divided into a morning of work and an afternoon of household tasks. O.K. arrived in the evening, and we discussed what was up during the weekend.

On Saturday (21 March) morning, I gave my windows a badly needed cleaning. O.K. and I then picked up the cake I had ordered from the bakery down the road, to be served on Sunday.

Next, we walked into town, where at 1:00 pm we were expected at the jeweller's to pick up our wedding rings. They were just as we had ordered them three weeks ago and fitted perfectly. We were offered to toast the occasion with sparkling wine, and we didn't say no.

A brief rest at home followed, then we wanted to go for a walk - but it started to rain, and rain properly with no sign of letting up soon, so we stayed in until a little after 7:00 pm when we walked into town once more.

I had suggested we meet my sister at the pub, have a meal there and then go back to my place, and that's what we did. As always, it was very noisy at the pub, so once we'd had our food, we didn't last all that long.

At my place, we passed the next couple of hours talking, and my sister and I attempted to play a board game - it proved to be too complicated for us to be bothered, and so we simply made up our own rules and had fun with that.

At midnight, I popped open a bottle of sparkling wine and we toasted my birthday. Some time later, my sister left, and we called it a day, too.

Sunday (22 March) was my 58th birthday. Unlike last year, I didn't want a big celebration; although our upcoming wedding does not require much planning and organising, and I am not at all stressed by the preparations, it is a very big and important step and mentally dominating for me at the moment; and so I only wanted to have the simplest of celebrations for my birthday.

O.K. and I had a leisurely breakfast the kind I enjoy twice a year (on New Year's Day and my birthday), with fillet of smoked trout with horseradish cream and a glass of sparkling wine along with our usual Earl Grey tea and tomato juice.

Once the kitchen was in order, we went for a walk in the sun; then it was time to prepare the coffee table. My sister arrived first, followed shortly by my Mum and friend R, who brought a home-baked apple pie.

I opened my wonderful presents, and the afternoon went by quickly talking and laughing. 

There were two phonecalls for me, but most of my friends sent text messages or emails, plus I had several cards from the family in England and blogging friends.

In the evening, I ordered pizza, and then O.K. had to leave. It took him about twice as long than usual to drive home; there was a lot of traffic on the motorway and several hold-ups. On those evenings, I wait up until he lets me know he's made it home safely, and when he rang just a few minutes before 11:00 pm, I was very relieved.

Now the last week of March has started, and Easter is almost here!

Read in 2026 - 9: The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club Series, # 1

The Babbling Brook Naked Poker Club, # 1

Ann Warner

As is often the case, I found this ebook at Amazon’s Kindle shop for free; it is the 1^st in a series, and of course the idea behind the freebie is to make readers buy the rest of the series.

And also as is often the case with such offers, while I really enjoyed the book I doubt I’ll buy the following ones.

 

The setting is a retirement home where a group of residents are drawn into investigating cases of petty (and not so petty) theft in their midst.

Sounds familiar?

Maybe at first glance it does, but let me assure you that the story and the characters have nothing in common with the Thursday Murder Club books.

 

For one thing, it all happens in the US, not in the UK. Also, there are no former spies involved, and nobody dies.

 

The main character is Josephine, who could very well still live on her own but whose somewhat estranged son puts her in the home. She does not want to let anyone into her apartment and is not keen on socialising with other residents, but ends up playing poker with a group and cautiously begins to establish friendships with both residents and staff.

However, things start to disappear from people's rooms, and Josephine is clearly not the only person at the home harbouring a secret…

Eventually, with a resident who becomes her friend, a trustworthy staff member and a helpful police detective, she gets to the bottom of it all.

 

I am not going to tell you more, in case you’d like to read the book yourself.

 

It is well written with chapters switching between the characters, but you always know who’s “talking”.

Most of what’s happening is plausible, and the ending is neat enough to satisfy the average reader while also keeping enough storylines open for the series to continue.

 

The author's website gives you more information about her and her books.