Mid-December Week

Would you like an update on my Mum's handbag story? See the end of this post if you don't know what I'm talking about. 

As I said in that post, I'd posted on our neighbourhood platform and wrote to the police. While I had much positive feedback on the platform, there was no answer from the police. My Mum wrote a letter to our local paper, and instead of publishing her letter, they turned it into a proper article, ending with the offer to help the finder get in touch with my Mum.

And guess what - the young woman read the article and sent my Mum an email! She didn't expect any reward; she says it was the natural thing for her to do and she is just happy that my Mum got her bag back with everything still in it. My Mum sent her a beautiful card and a book for the little girl. 

Finally, the police replied; because they had arranged for the finder to bring the bag to the station, they had not taken her contact details on the phone and couldn't help me. I wrote back, telling them that everything was sorted now.

O.K. took this picture on Monday (15.12.) afternoon, with the village hidden under dense fog.

Last week Monday (15 December) was still sunny and relatively mild for the time of year. I worked from home and afterwards met my book-swapping friend (the one who shares her Thursday Murder Club books with me, among others) at the Christmas market.

We enjoyed a hot drink and good chat, but she was coughing and felt rather exhausted, having come straight from the office, and so we didn't stay long.

She emailed me the next afternoon telling me she had tested positive for COVID that morning and hoped she had not infected me. Of course I self-tested (although I felt - and still am - really fine) but was negative.

It got colder on Tuesday (16 December), but was still mostly sunny. Again I worked from home, and again I met up with friends afterwards, this time in Stuttgart, but not to visit the Christmas market there (which I am not keen on). Instead, my sister and a mutual friend we had not seen in a long time met for a meal at a restaurant, and had a good time catching up and eating good food.

Wednesday (17 December) was not only my last day at the office for this year, but also my last day this year working for my main employer. 

Our regular weekly department meeting was extended to include our sister department (we're Legal, they are Compliance), and apart from the first twenty minutes or so where important topics relating to our work were discussed, we turned it into a mini Christmas celebration.

There were cookies and tangerines on the table (I had made a dozen of dark chocolate chip scones, others brought traditional Christmas cookies and sweets), and our Head of Compliance had a festively decorated bag of home-made cookies for each of us. I read to them an admittedly very sentimental Christmas story I had written, and we ended the meeting wishing each other a Merry Christmas, a relaxing break and a good start into the new year.

I made sure to leave no unanswered emails or pressing tasks unfinished, and left at around half five. It always feels strange to me, saying to my colleagues "see you next year" and knowing I won't be back until January.

Unexpectedly, my boss had found that I was still due one day off this year, when I had been certain that I had taken them all - but I didn't complain, and so it happened that Thursday (18 December) was a day off for this employer (but I still did a few things for my secondary employer).

It meant I was able to have a massage in the morning (another "last time for this year" thing, with me and the very nice Chinese lady who is my favourite masseur exchanging Christmas gifts) and coffee with my Mum in the afternoon.

Sunset over the fields just after leaving my Mum's.

From there, I walked to my sister's, and together we went to the Christmas market one last time. We also had some fun looking at what went for festive clothes in one of our town's well stocked fashion stores, without buying anything.

A miniature Christmas train for small children has been installed on a square in town centre, for the first time this year.

Me waiting to get our hot drinks.

Friday (19 December) saw me doing my usual work in the morning and equally usual cleaning round in the afternoon before taking the evening train from Stuttgart to Offenburg. All went well with my trip, although Stuttgart Main Station was as chaotic as always on a Friday evening, with many last-minute changes of platforms, announcements of delays and cancellations and of course a constant stream of people dragging their luggage around in search of the information they needed to get to where they wanted to be.

O.K. and I had to get up early-ish on Saturday (20 December) in order to be at the village hall by 9:00 am. With other members of the village band and some other helping hands, we set up over 300 chairs and decorated the hall festively for the annual concert to be held that evening.

It took us about three hours; then O.K. and I went home, had a snack and then a good rest - I think I slept for almost an hour in the early afternoon.

By 5:45 pm, we were back at the hall, now dressed for the concert. The musicians went through the evening's music one last time, while I listened and scribbled some additional notes on the cards I had prepared for my MCing.

Getting ready

The after-show bar set up in one corner of the hall was decorated with "Walk of Fame"-type stars for every director the village band had during the past decades.

A little before 7:00, the doors were opened and the first people came in. The hall filled up quickly, and I chatted to a few visitors, among them O.K.'s sister and her husband.

My work place for the evening :-)

At 8:00 pm, the lights were dimmed and the musicians came on stage. That moment when there comes a hush over the audience, and when I then take the microphone and welcome everybody (after the head of the band has spoken, of course), is very special - a precise point in time marking the beginning of something many people have been working on for months.

This year, the concert marked the end of an era for the band: Their director of 30 years is leaving, and the new one was introduced. The music spanned those 30 years; from Jacques Offenbach's ouverture to "Orpheus" which they had played at their very first concert together in 1996 to a piece called "Nostalgia", played for the first time at this, their very last, concert; they played a Mary Poppins medley (my favourite!) as well as a Bon Jovi (I could easily live without that) and a Simon & Garfunkel one (nice) plus some more traditional pieces for brass band, and a Christmas carol with the crowd singing along at the end.

Memories were shared, and the moment when the "old" director said his good-bye was very emotional, for him as well as for the musicians. 

In short, it was a real success, and there were standing ovations at the end.

With all those additional speeches and honourings, the concert lasted until 22:45 pm, and it was 11:00 pm by the time O.K. was able to join me in the hall where we could finally clink glasses and have a much needed snack.

As usual, about half of the guests and musicians didn't stay on, while the other half took the chance to chat and have another drink. O.K. and I left the hall at around 1:30 am, and it was lights off for us at the cottage by 2:00 am.

The next morning (Sunday, 21 December) at 10:00 we were back at the hall. With many there to help, it took us just a bit over an hour to take down the decorations, put things back to normal, clean the hall's kitchen and sweep the floor.

I was given this beautiful bouquet at the end of the concert, but we only took a photo the next day.

It was cold and grey with a dense fog, and we were glad to have an easy hot lunch because O.K.'s Mum had given us home-made butternut squash soup. An afternoon nap followed, and in the early evening we went to deliver a birthday card to someone in the village, combining it with a little walk which gave us the chance to look at people's Christmas lights and decorations.

Our evening meal was delicious fresh pasta with pesto and rucola salad, and later we watched a cheesy romantic film, the kind where you know from the first scene exactly who's going to end up together - we love this kind of easy entertainment and escapism every now and then.

Thus the Fourth Advent Sunday ended. Happy, but tired!

Because I had not been home for the weekend, I lit the four candles on my Advent wreath on Monday evening.