Monday 16 April 2012

Some More Spring Things

A week ago today, I spent a very lazy day at home on my own; it was Easter Monday and so I did not have to work.
Wasn't it over extremely quickly, the whole lovely long Easter weekend?

On Saturday, my grandmother (Mum's mum) would have been 97 years old.
She died in January 2001, and while none of my family are avid cemetery-goers, my Mum suggested we go for a nice walk across the fields (pretty much the same route I used to walk so many times when I still worked at my former job) to the small town next to ours, where the cemetery with my grandparents' tomb is, to leave some flowers for grandma (Linda, if you read this: yes, we called her Oma, of course!) on her birthday.

And so we took off, with sunshine and a light breeze. It wasn't exactly warm, but pleasant enough, and we enjoyed the walk.

Once we arrived at the small town, it did feel rather nostalgic for me - I walked there so many times, and even more nostalgic it must have been for my Mum, who used to spend a lot of time there since her early childhood; her grandma and many other relatives lived there.

We made our short visit and left the flowers at my grandma's tomb (it is not really a grave, but a compartment in a columbarium) and then walked through the oldest part of the town. That town is a lot older than the one where we live; Ludwigsburg was only founded in 1704, while Kornwestheim is, as far as I know, more than 1.200 years old, and while Ludwigsburg was carefully planned by the duke of Württemberg's court architects, Kornwestheim is a place that grew naturally, starting out as an Alemannic settlement with farms and not much else. Therefore, it is of very different character than my home town, and very picturesque.

Here are a few pictures I took; the Easter decoration on the fountain looked a bit faded on closer inspection, but still pretty enough, and I am glad they left it long enough for us to see it.
We had coffee and cake in an old-fashioned little bakery-café, stopped at a big shoe factory outlet for some browsing (none of us bought anything) and then walked back home across the field. By that time, it looked as if it was going to rain any minute, and the wind had become rather chilly.
But spring is so definitely here now (and well under way - I spotted the first lilac blossoms!), not even some cold wind and rain can stop it!

Just look at this carpet of violets (did you know they come in almost white, too?) in my neighbours' garden (that is the one next to the one with the many pretty primroses):
And the cherry blossoms are still there outside my kitchen window:

Another Fashion Post is in the making, by the way. Its topic will be "Themed Dressing".

23 comments:

  1. It's interesting when you talk of a town being new having been established in 1704. I can, of course, understand that having been born in a city which was already well established when it was granted its first Royal Charter on 1207.

    That contrasts with New Zealand where the first settlement by Europeans (it had been discovered 1n the 1640s but not settled) didn't take place until 1769. In fact no human habitation took place until about 1250.

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    1. I had no idea NZ was settled on so late, I always thought they had ancient human history as well. Of course I knew that Europeans arrived late, but I had assumed that there had been humans roaming the place for a lot longer.

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  2. Hello Meike:
    What a charming town this looks to be. The architecture is most interesting and everything appears to be very well cared for and kept up.

    We think that it was a lovely idea to take advantage of the Easter holiday time to visit the grave of your grandmother. And, such a pleasant walk to the cemetery too.

    Today we came back from the local market with large bunches of Lilac which are now scenting the Drawing Room. Definitely reminders that Spring is here but the weather is wintry!!!!

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    1. In our area, most places are well cared for and kept up nicely; this is the affluent South of Germany, the seat of companies such as Daimler and Porsche. Whenever I happen to be in other parts of Germany for work, especially in the Düsseldorf area, I notice the difference.

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  3. I've been to both of those places, but not (gasp) for thirty-nine years. I am glad that you and your mother had this day together. It sounds such a good thing to do. I love the picture of violets. We have many many kinds here in Ohio, even yellow, though that is rarer and only seen in the woods. I would love to go back someday to see this area, but I doubt I will. So I am happy that I have memories from long ago and far away.

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    1. Really, Kristi? You've been to Kornwestheim and Ludwigsburg? Well, you would find both places have changed in the past 39 years, but there is still a lot recognizable as well.

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    2. We lived in the Vaihingen near Stuttgart for nearly two years while my husband worked at the University there and we drove all around the area when we weren't going further. We lived in a tiny area out of Vaihingen called Dachswald and we were very young and the world was new.

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    3. Every now and then, I get off the train in Vaihingen, because RJ lives nearby (not in Dachswald but still close enough to Vaihingen). How nice that you took the opportunity back then to get to know the area!

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  4. My grandmother was 95 years young when she passed. I always say that their generation was lucky enough to have uncontaminated food and fresher air..

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    1. Maybe that could be true, though I wouldn't change with that generation, at least in Germany: They had 2 world-wars with very poor years after, and especially for women it was a hard time.

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    2. Hello Marco Pasha, yes, their food was more genuine; as for the fresher air, I am not so sure about that; I guess life in big towns wasn't much cleaner, with unfiltered wood and coal smoke coming from the chimneys of every house and factory. But of course, there weren't as many cars as now, and that alone must have made the air a lot cleaner, at least in smaller towns and in the country.

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  5. Fantastic stuff - but why is it so quiet? On an Easter weekend we'd have hordes of people milling about sightseeing...
    And our villages aren't even that picturesque!

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    1. Macy, it wasn't the Easter weekend, but the end of the week AFTER Easter :-) On the Easter weekend, I suppose there were a lot more people on the square in front of the church.
      But when we were there, it was Saturday around lunch time, when most people will have been either having lunch or busy doing their shopping at the big supermarkets.

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  6. What a charming village. Really enjoyed hearing about your walk with your mother.

    Have a lovely week!

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  7. A charming Spring walk. I was intrigued by the Easter decoration on the fountain, is this usual in Germany? In some ways it reminds me of the well-dressings of Derbyshire.

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    1. I guess in many German villages and towns the fountains are decorated for Easter, but I must admit I have not been travelling much at this time of the year, it is a period I mostly spend at home and with the family, depending also on the weather.

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  8. Oh your spring is SOOOO much further along than ours. (It snowed here this morning!)

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    1. It was cold enough here yesterday for snow, too, but thankfully, it turned out to be a sunny day.

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  9. What a beautiful town! I love the Easter decorations! My husband and I often walk in the cemetery near our home, it's very relaxing. Your tree looks stunning!

    You'll have to buy your mum a tea cozy!

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    1. I think my Mum much prefers her little candle-stands for the tea pot, she has several and some of them match the pot and cups very nicely. Also, she likes to have a candle lit in the evenings anyway :-)

      Until a few years ago, that tree was even more stunning; then my upstairs neighbour thought it needs cutting, and I think he overdid it a bit... he meant well, thinking it would give me more light in the kitchen and stop some of the branches from tapping against my window, but I like it that way. Still, I can pick cherries straight from my kitchen window - how cool is that!

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  10. Oh, this was a lovely post! I love that you got to see the pretty Easter decoration and we got to see it too.
    Just wondering how far away was this, was it a short walk or several hours? I am always impressed by your long walks! Your Spring is looking lovely.

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    1. Kay, it isn't very far; maybe 5 km or so. When I still used to work in that town, from my place to the company it took me just under an hour to walk there.

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