As expected on a Saturday, hardly anybody was about; most people in this area use that day for cleaning, shopping, washing their cars and generally getting ready for the weekend.
Here are some pictures I took along the way.
Poppenweiler is still a fair bit away from where we've set off:
Looking back towards Ludwigsburg, the small red circle marks the towers of one of the two churches facing each other across the market square. In fact, I've shown you the view from up there in this post.
Such paths are nearly irresistible for me, but this time, we walked past it and further on.
An old quarry? I am not sure, but it looks like it. How different will this be in the summer, when the trees are covered in leaves and the ground underneath is all in the shade.
The path then leads up to a good viewing point.
This now is the area where we walked back in November, seen from above (see the first link in this post):
Much effort has been put into re-naturalizing the river bed, so that it offers a natural habitat once more to the birds and other animals that usually live in such areas.
We are getting closer to Poppenweiler:
Why was this gate put there upside down, I wonder?
The last "wild" bit, with a small waterfall, before reaching the village. That will be my next post.
There were birds everywhere, with all their different songs and cries. Some buzzards kept circling overhead, but they were too far away (and sometimes power lines were in the way) to take a picture.
Oh, and of course I was wearing my new yellow jacket!
What a beautiful place to live. You are very lucky. I'm afraid I'm very much a fair weather walker. I don't mind the cold so much, because you can keep warm by moving, but the wind makes my eyes and nose run, which I find very uncomfortable. I broke my leg last May and I still have a slight limp, but I'm hoping that by the time the summer comes I will be able to walk further.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time, I am a fair weather walker, too, and I actively dislike those days when I have to leave the house because of work (and can't work from home instead) when it is cold, nasty and wet.
DeleteSorry to hear you broke your leg. I hope the warmer season will help with your limp.
Thanks for taking us on another stroll through your countryside. I think that a Poppenweiler should be small but slightly bad-tempered dog - like a miniature Rottweiler.
ReplyDeletePlease see this link for the German equivalent of "Geograph":-
http://geo-en.hlipp.de/
You could be a contributor!
You are welcome, Neil.
DeleteI've never thought of Poppenweiler as the name for a dog; in German, "poppen" has a different connoation... (it means shagging, actually)
Me, a contributor to something like Geograph? I don't think they'll want/need my amateur pics!
Wow, you caught some impressive views on that walk! And I agree about that gate... Puzzling! ;)
ReplyDeleteStrange, isn't it!
DeleteIt felt good to be out in the open and have wide open spaces to walk in and look at.
I just love your river. The birds and other waterfowl must love it too. You just must find out why that gate is upside down! Has to be a great story behind that mistake/statement, don't you think?
ReplyDeletePossibly it's just a mistake and the people who set the gate up can't be bothered to set it right :-)
DeleteYes, birds and fish and other animals have come back to the river now that it is clean again. In my childhood, it was a horrible smelly brew where hardly anything could live.
Your comment about it being different in summer made me think. It would be interesting if you did a post in the summer and photographed the same places! I do like to get out and see how the seasons change. Otherwise I don't appreciate them fully.
ReplyDeleteI like doing that, too, and have taken numerous pictures of the same place at different seasons, such as when walking with my Mum to my parents' allotment. Maybe I'll go back there in the summer to look at the old quarry (or whatever it once was).
DeleteAnother enjoyable walk through your countryside to delight us. I wonder whether the gate is upside down. It would make engineering sense to me to have the gate suspended from the strongest pole. Then, apart from anything else, if anyone tried to climb over the gate they may do less damage.
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it, Graham!
DeleteThe gate can't be anything than upside down, what with the horse "lying" on its back, can it?
If you look at the gate the other way up the horse still isn't right I don't think. I wonder if the horse was actually put in incorrectly.
DeleteYou're right, Graham - why didn't I see that? Maybe the gate was never intended to be put that way, with the long side horizontally, but originally the long side was supposed to be its vertical axis.
DeleteI wondered about that Meike but it would have to be a pretty big opening in something if the gate is the usual field gate size. All very curious.
DeleteWhat lovely memories this bring back, from hikes every weekend around Stuttgart or further afield...often near Reutlingen at a place called Sonnenfelds, I think. When I am able to do longer hikes around here, I should take my camera. We have quarries and hills, southeast of Cleveland. It's quite unlike the mostly flat area where I grew up, though that had the deep valley of meandering Rocky River.... If that gate were mine it would disturb my soul until I fixed it......Some things I can just ignore, but not that sort of error.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same, I can live with things that other people would not leave until they'd set it right, but I wouldn't let this upside-down horse rest!
DeleteNice to know my pictures brought back such good memories for you.