And Time Goes On...

On the 17th of March, I went to the office with the intention of telling both my boss and my clients that from the next day onwards until further notice, I was going to work exclusively from home. This was a few days before the official recommendation to stay home (and work from there, if possible) was issued. I have not regretted my choice and still can't say I miss the office and/or my colleagues, not even the canteen, and especially not the almost daily drama with our local trains running late or being cancelled.

Last week, I left the house for a walk on my own, a walk with my sister and a quick trip to shop for groceries at my nearest Aldi, five minutes on foot from my house.

Ludwigsburg Old Cemetery - one of very few park-like places still open. The building is the mausoleum I wrote about here.

New Cemetery - more photos and description of this structure on this post.

New Cemetery

Walk with my sister (she took the picture).

Running was scheduled with my friend one evening after work, but I cancelled - it was colder than expected, and I just didn't feel ready to brave the chill, not even in my really warm running clothes.

O.K. joined me on Friday evening after work. We ordered pizza like last weekend, to keep the local gastro businesses going (and for no other reason, of course!). This time, we chose a different pizza service and were slightly disappointed. Never mind, the red wine we drank with it made up for that.

Saturday was beautiful - 17 Celsius and sunshine! We went for a run in the morning and a longish walk in the afternoon. Everybody else was out and about, too; there were not 10 seconds during which we were really on our own. Cyclists, runners, walkers, people with and without dogs and children. Of course you can't blame them; everyone was desperate to combat cabin fever, and it really WAS a gorgeous day. Also, everywhere else people usually go on weekends is closed - shopping malls, ice cream places and street cafés, the palace grounds, parks, playgrounds. It did make the walk less enjoyable, as we were constantly trying to avoid getting too close - for the other people's sake as well as for our own.

Normally you would never see the palace grounds so empty on weekends. I took this picture through the closed gate.

Sunday was completely different - somewhere between 3 and 6 Celsius, grey, windy, rainy. We still went for a walk, cut short when the rain came back and was blown unpleasantly in our faces by the wind. It made coming home to a warm flat and having coffee and cake all the better.

I tried something new: Jackfruit "goulash". Many of you will know about jackfruit (is it jackfruit or jack fruit?); for me, it was a first. Taste and texture were supposed to be meat-like, but it wasn't - and I didn't mind that, as I knew it wasn't meat, and I did not want any meat that day (I really like meat, sausages, ham, bacon etc., but I try to keep consumption of dead animals at a low level). It would have just been more realistic not to advertise it as a "meat replacement", when it clearly is not. 

Oh, and we changed the clocks to summer time on Sunday:

Neither my clock nor my cat. Meet Cookie, my Mum's friend's cat!

The sun has come back today, but it is cold; I went to the post office and a walk for my lunch break and was glad of my padded winter coat and scarf. 

By the way, it took me almost 45 minutes to post a birthday card for my sister-in-law in Ripon. Of course she is worth every single minute I spent waiting my turn! Just goes to show how things have changed; there is almost always a queue at the post office, but it moves, and I am usually in and out in under 15 minutes. Now, people have to stand apart along red ducktape strips on the floor in order to keep the recommended distance, and only when three customers leave the office, the next three are allowed in. Of the seven or eight counter spaces, only three were open.