A Mixed Bag...

...was pretty much what October was - see my previous post. November has begun a little less worrisome, still very busy, still rather mild for the season, still way too dry.

Let me just give you a rough outline of what have been (and still are) the worries mentioned last time I wrote on here. Some of you already knew that my Dad was very ill and had to be taken to hospital.
Without wanting to bore you with much detail (and at the same time respecting my family's privacy), in short, his condition was life-threatening and he was at the ICU at first. Once he was more stable, he was transferred to other wards (he spent the first two weeks in four different rooms). After 3 weeks in total, last Wednesday my Dad was transferred to a geriatric rehabilitation clinic about 40 minutes by car from where we live.
He is making progress and we are cautiously optimistic where regaining his physical strength is concerned. We are realistic enough to understand that quite probably, life for my parents (and therefore, for us) will not be the same again after he returns home, but as long as a certain level of almost normal day-to-day life will be possible, we'll be glad.

Last week was a short working week for me, as Thursday (Nov. 1st) was a holiday and I took the Friday off. O.K. did the same, and so we spent a nice, long weekend together at my place. 

Since the weather has turned a little cooler, making something in the oven was a good idea. I made Quiche on Saturday and a mix of grilled vegetables on Sunday.

The recipe I use when I make quiche is here; I posted it six years ago.

We went for a walk on Sunday and came across this field of grown-out asparagus:

The last set of pictures I took on my way to hospital one day, walking through the palace grounds (Ludwigsburg's main hospital is right next to the park) and stopping very briefly to have a look at the old gardeners' shed and greenhouse, which is partly still in use and partly deliberately left to look the way it once was, with old gardening tools about.

I enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere; there were no other people about, and the autumn afternoon light was just beautiful.

Tonight, together with a friend and colleague I am going to an 80s party! We've been at this venue and this type of party two or three years ago and had great fun. Now we hope for a repeat - after all, they will be playing the music of my teenage years, and I'll be on the dance floor as much as I can, enjoying the party without the awkwardness I felt as a teenger. Back then, I so wanted to be cool - now I just KNOW I am :-)

Tomorrow morning I'll be on the train to O.K.'s. I am very much looking forward to that, too (not so much the train ride, though; time tables have changed again and there is no connection at the moment with just one change; I need to hop from one train to the other twice now).