Settling Back In

Last week was largely about settling back into the routine of work, walks and weekend activities. The end of the week saw the start of our current heatwave. 

The week was off to a chilly start with intermittent showers, some of them quite heavy, on Monday (18 May). I worked from home and it was a relief to find only 162 emails in all my work-related inboxes (six in total); May Day as well as Ascension Day meant that many of my colleagues and customers had been away just like me. 

After work, I went to see my neighbour; Isabel and her family are on holiday right now and I offered to look after their cat and rabbits (their house is just round the corner from mine; from my kitchen window, I can see straight into their back garden). She showed me where everything was and what to do, and later I went for a walk in a quarter of town where I had not been in a while (Hartenecker Höhe).

Tuesday (19 May) was sunny and busy with appointments, one of which was my almost-weekly back & shoulders massage. It was nice to see Tongjuan again; she had been so interested from the moment I had told her about our plans, and very sweetly gave us a present for our wedding. Part of the present was a small red envelope with golden Chinese writing on it, containing exactly 19.99 euros. She explained that 1999 is a lucky number in her culture, and when a couple receives this gift, it is supposed to mean that the love between them never ends.

I went for another walk in the evening, my usual Asperg-Eglosheim round.

Work at the office on Wednesday (20 May) was good; it was nice to see my colleagues again and thank them personally for their generous wedding gift. Some other colleagues I have befriended over the years but who do not work in my department came to wish me well and left individual gifts. I must say it was lovely and quite a bit emotional.

This is how I found my desk that morning!

I had invited my department to a round of after-work drinks at the Holiday Inn's bar next door, and the ten of us enjoyed a couple of hours of chatting, laughing and clinking glasses.

On Thursday (21 May) I was working from home, meeting my Mum and my sister at the open-air bar on the disused industrial estate next to the train station. I showed you this area a few times on my blog, for instance here and here. It was the first time since the wedding that I saw my sister - first I had been away, and then she. It was nice to catch up and relax in the late afternoon sun.

Friday (22 May) was the first really warm day of the week, reaching a max of 26C/79F. I was at a work-related meeting in Stuttgart-Vaihingen all day, and once again it was very nice to receive congratulations from everybody - and a beautiful bouquet of flowers!

Back home, I made sure to get my cleaning done and usual preparations for when O.K. is staying at my place.

It was close to 30C/86F by mid-afternoon on Saturday (23 May), but in the morning it was not too hot yet to go into town for breakfast at one of our favourite cafés. A spot of shopping at the Farmer's Market followed and back home a little rest. We later went to join my sister at her allotment, where it was pleasant to sit in the shade of the big old trees and have coffee and rhubarb pie, baked by my mother-in-law with her home-grown rhubarb - delicious!

When it wasn't quite so hot anymore in the evening, O.K. and I walked to Asperg to have a shandy at a beer garden. It has changed hands this season, and we - along with many others - weren't overly happy; everything took very long, and although we weren't eating this time, we checked the menue and found it much less attractive than before. Maybe we'll go once more to see whether it was just a question of them still finding their feet, so to speak, but it's not as high-ranking on our list of places to go as it used to be.

A nice thing happened while I was queuing for our drinks: A woman maybe in her mid-40s paid me a compliment, saying that I was wearing a wonderful ("wunderschönes") dress and that she'd noticed it the moment I came through the gate, and that it suited me very well. There was nothing untoward or flirty about it, just a genuine and very nice compliment.

Sunday (23 May) was even a little hotter than the day before; I believe we had a high of 32C/90F. It was also the day my neighbours went on holiday, so I knew that my job to look after them for the next two weeks had begun.

The rabbits were ravenous and had no water left; my guess is that the three boys had been told to replenish their food and water before getting into the car but had forgotten. The cat (Neo - I have shown you a picture of him in February) wanted attention more than anything; he is not yet a year old, playful and obviously misses his people. I gave him a good cuddle and refilled his water bowl; he'd been fed in the morning before the family's departure and had not yet touched his food.

In the afternoon, O.K. and I went for a walk in the deer park, where the shade under the big old trees was very welcome. Later, the two of us and my sister were at my Mum's for a very delicious meal of green and white asparagus, boiled potatoes, savoury pancakes and herb butter, a typical combination here this time of year. It was truly lovely and a veritable Sunday feast.

Five Days in Limpach: Departure

...and the rest of that week.

O.K. and I left Limpach on Thursday (14 May 2026) after one last sumptuous and delicious breakfast. We really had enjoyed our time here, and I am certain that our third stay at this hotel wasn't the last.

Last morning picture from our patio at the hotel flat...

...and last look across our living/dining room there before leaving.

It was cold and windy, with rain and sun alternating on the drive home, which was trouble-free and took us the expected 2 1/2 hours.

Back home, some of the cards and presents we had received for our wedding.

After unpacking and loading the washing machine, we rested for a bit until it was time to pick up the food we'd ordered online at the nearby Indian restaurant. We took it to my Mum's and enjoyed a "welcome back" meal together.

Friday (15 May) was similarly cold, windy and a mix of rain and sunny spells. O.K. and I went into town for some errands and in the afternoon would have liked a nap, but it was very noisy in and around the house with people (not just children) trampling up and down the stairs, banging doors and talking/shouting/laughing loudly. Oh well, you can't avoid hearing your neighbours when you're in a semi with 7 flats altogether.

For the evening, I had booked a table for the two of us at a vegan restaurant in town. We've walked past there many times and I always wanted to try it. The food was very good, the service friendly and familiar (everyone is on first-name terms the moment they come in), and we enjoyed the evening.

Ludwigsburg market place that evening

It was still cold and windy on Saturday (16 May) at only 6C/42F in the morning, but sunny with no rain forecast. O.K. left around lunch time for home, and I pottered about a bit before I walked to Benningen late afternoon as part of my settling back in routine.

O.K. sent me this from his evening walk on Saturday...

...while I took this picture on my evening walk 150 km away from him.

My cousin and his wife were coming to visit my Mum on Sunday (17 May) on their way home (they live in Paris) after having visited his mother (my aunt) in Germany. It is always lovely to see them, and starting mid-afternoon with coffee and cake at my Mum's followed by dinner at a diner not far from my place we spent a pleasant time with them - a nice ending for my 2 weeks and 2 days off.

Poppies in a field near O.K.'s on that Sunday

Five Days in Limpach: Wednesday

Our last full day in Limpach was Wednesday (13 May 2026); we were to leave the next morning after breakfast.

It was cold but sunny, and no rain was forecast.

The usual morning picture from our patio

For a change, we chose a tour from our booklet that did not start right from our front door. Instead we drove a short distance to Markdorf, a town about 6 km from Lake Constance. 

Markdorf looked pretty enough as we were driving through, but the town itself wasn't our destination: We wanted to walk the "Gehrenberg Guckinsland" (literally "Gehrenberg view the country").

Gehrenberg is both the name of a region near Lake Constance, comprising Deggenhausertal (which was "our" area), Bermatingen, Oberteuringen and Markdorf, as well as of the wooded mountain rising behind Markdorf.

The Guckinsland hike even has its own website (in German). It is listed as a "premium hiking trail", 14.77 km long and leads up and down through the by now familiar wildflower meadows, woodland, fields and a few settlements and lone farms.

Old water reservoir above Markdorf

Wild orchid (orchis purpurea)

Wildflower meadows! I just can't get enough of them.

This marker marks the geographical centre of the region.

Its highlight is certainly Gehrenbergturm (Gehrenberg tower) which allows great views when the weather is in favour, which it was in our case. The tower is 30 m high, and we were really surprised at how much stronger the wind was up there and how much colder it was as opposed to the ground! I am not kidding - we could feel the wind rattling the phones in our hands as we were taking photos, and felt the need to pull our hoods up even for the few minutes we were on the viewing platform.

Is it just me or is there something Eiffel-towerish about the steel arches and construction?

We followed the signposts without a problem and didn't go on any detours, as far as we were aware, but O.K.'s watch still logged 15.5 km in the end. It was a very enjoyable hike with plenty to see, and we especially loved to observe groups of red kites (milvus milvus) wheeling, diving and soaring above one particular field - at some stage, I am sure there were 8 or more of them doing their acrobatics! They really are beautiful birds, wonderful to watch

This was the red kite field, although you can't see them here.

A landslide has happened here in 1911, creating a sheer drop of 50 m across a length of 200 m.

Bluebells! This is the kind we see in our part of the world, not the same (I think) as the ones that enchant the woods a bit earlier in the year in England.

This horse chestnut is for my Mum.

Back in Limpach, we followed our familiar and pleasant pattern: first the sauna with a bit of a rest, then changing for dinner and have another delicious meal. My main course that evening was fried fillet of halibut, very nice.