Mid-July Week

On Monday (13 July), the morning was fresh at 16C but the day reached 33C eventually. My trip back from Offenburg was delayed all in all by about 25 minutes - could have been worse. 

The neighbour whose cat and rabbits I was looking after for two weeks a while ago came over for a coffee and a chat around lunch time, so that I could give her my keys. She'll be taking out my mail and watering my few house plants while I'm away.

Mid-afternoon I had my regular eye examination at the surgery just down the road from where I live. My sister wasn't well and so I went on an errand for her and delivered what she needed to her place before returning home. By then I felt I'd been walking enough for the day, especially with it being hot again, and remained home for the evening.

Tuesday and Wednesday (14/15 July) were spent working at the office in Weilimdorf. Tuesday was muggy and hot with a few useless drops of rain in the morning. 

But during the night, or rather early morning on Wednesday (1:45 am), I woke up from thunder, and then became aware of a wonderful sound: Rain! Lovely, not-too-hard, gentle but copious rain! It was softly falling on the leaves of the mulberry tree outside my bedroom window, which is usually how I can tell when it rains during the night. I was in my bed, listening to it and falling asleep again. 

Sunrise on Wednesday, as seen from my kitchen

The next day was slightly cooler with a max of 28C. Once I left work in Weilimdorf, I remained on the local train until the stop near the deer park and from there walked to Benningen. I was sweating, of course, but as I have said before, it is perfectly legitimate to sweat on a summer's day, and I enjoyed the walk.

I worked from home on Thursday (16 July) and wrapped up quite a few things in view of my upcoming holiday. After work, I was booked for a guided tour at the large construction site at my former school. This time, we were not allowed to take any pictures, because by now quite a lot of the future buildings is already partly there, and we were inside one of them, with the workmen still around.

It was very interesting, and I am convinced it is going to be so much nicer and better than what it was like when I went there. You can click here for pictures of the school as it was.

After the tour, I walked to my Mum's. My sister was already there, she had wisely decided against the tour, since she wasn't yet 100 % well. The day would have been my parents' 61st wedding anniversary if my Dad were still around, and also the 87th birthday of Mum's brother if he were still around. We had a commemorative meal together, and before my sister and I could leave, we had to wait for the rain to stop (yes, rain! again!!). A thunderstorm with high winds and relatively heavy rain held us back for a while, but when it let up a bit, we quickly made our way home. It was strange to walk under dripping trees and on wet pavement, after we'd not had any of that in many weeks!

Another thunderstorm and more, heavier rain followed on Friday (17 July), but unlike other areas in my part of Germany, we didn't have flooding, hail or falling trees hitting cars or people (one cyclist was killed by a branch crashing down on him).

For me, the day was spent quietly finishing work and then equally quietly pottering about the flat, cleaning and getting ready for the weekend with O.K., this time at my place obviously, since my sister and I will be off to Yorkshire on Monday morning. I even managed to hand in my tax stuff for 2025, and had a long overdue haircut. 

Towards the evening I thought I'd catch a rain-free window and started on a walk, but the rain soon returned, and so did I, ending up with only a quick turn around the block.

On Saturday (18 July), O.K. arrived a bit before lunch time. We first went on an errand at a nearby large supermarket and then had lunch at home. I had chopped tomatoes and added a little olive oil and spices so that we could have them as bruschetta on slices of toasted baguette. We had a large bowl of leafy romana salad with diced feta cheese along with it.

For dessert we went for ice creams in town, which was very nice, followed by espressos at our favourite coffee bar. From there, we walked to the palace grounds and had a leisurely stroll there. On we went through the deer park and down to the palace by the lake. By then, the sky looked threatening, and although it wasn't very hot, it felt oppressive as it does when a thunderstorm approaches.

We decided to turn back, but by the time we reached the outskirts of town again, it looked as if whatever had been heading our way had changed direction, and we decided on a refreshing glass of cider from the Irish pub at the outdoor seating on the market square. It was so nice to sit there after our walk, and do some people-watching. The not too hot weather brought many people; families with toddlers, couples holding hands, people with dogs or on bikes - it was busy but not crowded, and the general atmosphere was very relaxed on this Saturday early evening.

We then moved on to Kullman's Diner (where I had been only the week before with my Mum and my cousin) and enjoyed very nice burgers; mine was a vegetarian variety with a falafel patty and guacamole spread.

I felt so full afterwards that I suggested we go for a sunset walk on the fields, which was very nice. We spotted several hares, a few cats and many swallows darting about to feast on whatever flying insects they could catch.

In the very early hours of Sunday (19 July) a thunderstorm with plenty (but not overly heavy) rain passed through. It made for little sleep but of course the rain was still very welcome.

After a late-ish breakfast (in spite of us having been up early), we had a restful couple of hours before we were expected at my Mum‘s for coffee & cake at 3:00 pm. My sister and the two of us went to the cemetery together afterwards; it had been a while since my last visit to my Dad‘s and R‘s bird markers there.

We extended the walk in the late afternoon sunshine, with my sister going to her place and my husband and I to mine. A light meal with salad was quickly put on the table, followed by O.K. getting ready to leave. I went to the car with him to say good-bye for the next two weeks and then enjoyed the golden evening light on a walk until sunset.

Finally, I turned in and packed my suitcase for the annual Yorkshire holiday with my sister, starting the next day.