After the Sunday afternoon walk of two Sundays ago, last Sunday O.K. and I went for a hike in the Black Forest, which isn't really black this time of year, as you'll see. (All pictures taken by O.K.)
The route itself wasn't all that long, so it could still be called a walk, but we were up and down rather steep hills and slopes a few times. And we don't really slow down for these, so it is as nearly as much exercise as when we go running :-)
Don't worry, though - we do stop and enjoy our surroundings. It was particularly beautiful last Sunday, when we hardly saw anyone else and the only sound in the woods was birdsong and the babble of little beck along the path.
Do you know this plant? In German, it is called Sauerklee ("sour clover"); wikipedia tells me its botanical name is Oxalis acetosella. We used to eat this when we were children and playing or walking in the woods, and you know I had to give it a try here! More than anything, I was surprised to see it out so early in the year, as I always associated it with early summer, not the beginning of April.
A group of deer were greeting us when we came out of the woods on the other side. They are bred and raised there for the purpose of selling their meat, and I wonder whether their wild cousins ever come to their enclosure to "talk" to them through the fence.
A meal at a small rustic restaurant where we'd been once before gave us enough sustenance to walk back to the car, this time on a different path.
A swing seat in the middle of the woods - with nobody around but us! What a lovely surprise!
The light kept changing and it really was like that when we were on our way back to the car. Doesn't it look like an advert for "Holidays in the Black Forest"?
A spontaneous suggestion of O.K.'s was to get up to the top of a hill called Brandenkopf, 942 m high, and climb the tower there for its views. It was much cooler up there, but we didn't stay long - I had to take the train home later that same evening.
The viewing tower was built in 1929 and adds another 32 m to the height of the hill. It replaces several wooden structures that were there before the current tower but were deemed unsafe after some years. This one is really sturdy, and has sliding windows in the room at the top. You can open them to take better photos without reflection of the pane, or simply to feel the wind that seems to be blowing here always (which is, of course, why there are two wind mills up here to generate electricity). (The English wikipedia article about Brandenkopf and the tower is here.)
Another wonderful weekend, and I am already looking forward to the next one!
Edith Nesbit, the author of this sweet little book, has been a firm favourite of mine since I was about 11 or 12.
My godmother had been clearing out her children's book shelves and gave me "The Enchanted Castle", a book I have read and re-read several times (in its German translation) and am most likely going to read again later this year, this time in English.
Until some years ago, I only knew Nesbit's children's books, and the first adult novel I read by her wasn't at all what I had hoped for. I was disappointed, as you can read in this review from 2013. Last week, I gave her adult books another try, and "The Incredible Honeymoon" was delightful from start to finish.
There are 10 years between the publication dates of "The Incomplete Amorist" (1906) and "Honeymoon" (1916) - maybe she was still developing her style for adults, or there are other reasons for the one being so much better than the other.
Young man meets young woman - the old formula works well here. The circumstances are as unusual as are the characters, and when the two of them agree on a mock marriage in order to get the woman away from a situation she does not want to bear any longer, they embark on their "incredible honeymoon", travelling (mainly) the south of England.
A stranger soon seems to be of some danger to them, but is he really? And is the call to help her sick aunt the beginning of the end of their wonderful adventure? How will the mock marriage really play out?
You can probably guess at how most of what I have mentioned here plays out, but the story does not lose any of its charm. I liked the characters, I liked the places and travelling described, and I liked Edith Nesbit's trademark style, witty but never vulgar.
If you are interested to learn a bit more about the author, who lived from 1858 to 1924, you can read the last paragraph here.
I promise this will be one of the last times you'll hear anything about my birthday until next year!!
The Sunday after my birthday party, O.K. and I went for a run. I had arranged for us to go to my gym for the necessary shower afterwards, as I was still without heating and hot water. Back home, freshly showered and really hungry, we had lunch, and later went out again - this time, not for a run, but for a walk. The weather was just too good for staying indoors!
(The boiler was off for 1 1/2 weeks. I had my last half-hot shower on the 16th of March, and only on the 27th the new boiler was finally installed so that I had my first hot shower in my own four walls again on the morning of the 28th. We haven't seen the bill yet...)
All of the following pictures were taken by O.K.
You can see how featureless the fields near my home town generally are. But they are wide open spaces and popular with dog walkers, cyclists, runners and walkers.
I'd not been all the way to the nursery in a long time but found little changed since my last visit. I find the rows and rows of similar plants fascinating, somehow.
My birthday was nearly a fortnight ago, and the party more than a week, but I am still catching up with posting about that wonder- and eventful week! We have finally arrived at Saturday afternoon; my previous post ended with us getting things ready for the party on Saturday, the 25th of March.
People were so kind and generous with flowers, cards and gifts - I want to share it all with you who were not able to be there.
The first flowers to arrive early in the week was this bouquet from my mother-in-law in Yorkshire:
By the time Saturday night rolled round and the party began, the sideboard in my living room was overflowing with presents, and there were many more flowers.
The painting I am holding here is the very same you can see here on Yorkshire Pudding's blog - it arrived in time, and of course I will keep my promise and post a picture of it later with Fred Fox adorning one of the walls of my flat in a matching frame. In the photo, I am explaining the painting's origin to my guests.
See the book propped up against the wall? This was another great present - a collection of photographs taken from space by Dr. Alexander Gerst, who has been mentioned on my blog before, for instance here. Thank you, sis!
Now for some more flowers:
A yellow orchid in a square grey plant pot - what could be more suitable for my living room? Thank you, Mum & Dad! (Note the little white fox...)
The Sunday after the party, my living room was back to normal - except for the gifts, cards and flowers that were still there:
Last week, yet another parcel from England found its way to my doorstep. One of my sisters-in-law sent me this Bettys gift bag! Bettys is a traditional Yorkshire company who, in their own words, started like this: "Bettys was founded by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss baker and confectioner
who came to England in search of opportunities to develop his craft
skills. He opened his first Café Tea Rooms in Harrogate in 1919 and named it 'Bettys'. The reason why remains a mystery to this day."
I have walked past Bettys in Harrogate many times, but have never been inside - there is always a queue, and frankly, I don't see the point in queuing for a cup of coffee and a piece of cake when I can have perfectly good coffee and cake elsewhere in town, for probably half the price. All the more do I appreciate this gift bag - no queuing!! I am planning on hosting a Bettys afternoon with O.K. and my sister some time soon, even though the season right now does not really lend itself to hot chocolate.
The catching up is nearly complete now - there is one more post waiting to be written with photos of the walk we took on the Sunday after the party.
