Thursday 9 April 2020

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter eveyone - whether you celebrate it as a Christian feast or not. The long four-day weekend is very welcome, as I have had busy weeks with work. Here in Germany, Good Friday and Easter Monday are Bank Holidays, so no work for me or O.K.

Speaking of which: O.K.'s colleague had his coronavirus test results - and he is negative!! This means that O.K. and I can spend the weekened together. Because of public transport still being a risk that can easily be avoided, he will pick me up here tomorrow and then drive to his place with me - not be most environmental friendly way, admittedly, but this is truly an exception.

We won't be visiting anyone, or have visitors at the cottage. The original plan "before Corona" was to host the family lunch on Easter Sunday, which has always been at O.K.'s sister's in the past years; we wanted to return the favour for a change and had already planned the full meal, with leg of lamb and all the trimmings. But we can always do that some other time, can't we.

Yesterday, I went shopping, having run out of fresh fruit, salad and dairy products. For the first time since "all this" has begun, I had to wait outside my local supermarket because there were already a certain number of customers in the shop. It wasn't very long before I was allowed in, and then I only bought the essentials, of course ;-) 

Toilet paper, champagne, flour and coconut chocolate - as I said, only the essentials!
Today after work, I have been at my Mum's "Dustbin Bar" (see previous post). This time, my Dad came down the stairs, too; my parents sat on foldable chairs near the door, while my sister and I were at a good distance on the steps in front of the house. We exchanged our little Easter gifts and shared a bottle of sparkling wine between the four of us - that was our Easter family gathering.

With the warm weather and (mostly) sunshine, and the occasional neighbour walking by, it was rather pleasant; different from what we would normally do, but still nice. It was good to see both my parents "in person" (as opposed to on the screen of my mobile phone or my ipad), and they are in good spirits. 

Chocolate bunnies and home-baked bunny cookies
Now I am looking foward to spending a few days somewhere else than my own four walls. Not that I don't like being home (I honestly do!), but O.K.'s cottage is also very nice, and unlike me, he has a balcony for those nice sunny afternoons and balmy spring evenings (G&T, anyone?). Also, the area around the village is especially beautiful this time of year, with orchards in bloom and the tender green of the woods; with different paths for walks than here in my more "towny" environment.

Sunrise this morning, as seen from my kitchen window
Are you going to mark Easter in any special way?

18 comments:

  1. It's interesting your rules allow people to meet? Here you're not allowed to meet friends or make unnecessary journeys. Yet Germany seems to have CV more under control.

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    1. We are not exactly encouraged to travel, or meet anyone outside our household. But trains are running (O.K. travels by car, though) and we are allowed to meet one to one with someone not in our household. An FAQ on one of our state government's websites explicitly answers the question whether one may visit their spouses or partners with "yes".

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  2. I have not experienced any waiting in lines outside of stores here in the Detroit area but I have heard it is happening. I don't plan on going back to the store this month. Let's hope the food lasts. I might have to open the tuna and can of spam one the top shelf.

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    1. It was a first for me, but I didn't mind that much; it makes sense not to have the store brimming with people. If I had to shop only once a month, I would certainly not starve, but I'd miss fresh fruit and salads, which definitely would not last me more than a week.

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  3. How wonderful that O.K.'s friend tested negative! That is a big relief and so good to know that you two can get together this weekend for Easter. It will be nice for him to pick you up to go to his place. No one should be on those trains right now. I'm sorry you can't go ahead with all your previous family plans for Easter but still it will be nice for the two of you.

    It is good you can visit with your parents at the "Dustbin Bar"! I know it means quite a lot to both of your parents to be able to see their girls. I'm sure you and your sister enjoy it too. I have not seen my sons or grandchildren since this all started although we communicate online.

    We have no plans for Easter this year. When my grandchildren were younger we would all get together on Easter but of course we wouldn't have been able to do that this year anyway. I do hope you and O.K. have a very special holiday!

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    1. Thank you, Bonnie! I am sure you and your family will be "visiting" online, but of course that is not quite the same as sitting around the same table and seeing them close-up.
      It was nice to see my Dad downstairs, too; he'd been on the balcony last time, which made conversation difficult.

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  4. I am glad you and OK will be able to be together for this long weekend! And you can certainly host a feast for his sister and others. It will give you something special to anticipate. We are having dessert at my dd Alice's. There will be separate tables set up for each family. Alice will have tea and dessert on each table. We will speak loudly at one another! I think it will be great to see one another in person...Someday, this will pass. And if we have another such pandemic, I hope we will be better prepared and have better leaders.

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    1. Your plan sounds sensible, and I am sure you will all enjoy yourselves even though it will be hard not to hug anyone not at your table, especially your grandchildren. Hopefully, it will be warm enough to sit outside; it is supposed to be warm here all weekend, but there could be a few showers on the Sunday or Monday.

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  5. Happy you will be able to be with O.K. this weekend and will get a new perspective/view for several days--sitting on the balcony sounds great. Yay for his colleague's negative result--in more ways than one.

    Nothing special going on here for Easter. We were supposed to have a large family gathering to celebrate Easter and my youngest grandson's 1st birthday (today) at his parent's new home, but that event will--like your celebration--have to wait. Hope you have a lovely time and a safe trip.

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    1. Thank you, Mary!
      Yes, family gatherings and other things all have to be postponed these days. I hope we'll all have plenty to celebrate when all this is over - and no tragic news within our circles of family and friends.

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  6. Thinking of you dear friend and hoping your Easter weekend with O.K will be a great one. Ours will be very quiet, no family or friends - different from past years.
    Stay well and be happy.
    Mary x

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    1. Thank you, dear Mary!
      It will be a different Easter for almost everyone, I dare say.
      Yesterday's trip,to the village was weird - there were stretches when we would not see any other cars on the motorway, like they show it in car adverts!

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  7. What a very uplifting post full of good news in these trying days. I hope that you have a wonderfully happy Easter weekend.

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    1. Thank you, Graham. I guess the best thing about your Easter is knowing your son & his family are safely back home.

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  8. As Tasker Dunham suggests, here in England, lovers travelling miles to meet up with each other would not be seen as an "essential journey" during this terrible pandemic. But of course you are not in England so I hope that you enjoy a lovely, long weekend with OK. Happy Easter Meike!

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    1. Thank you, Neil, and the same to you!
      The drive down to O.K.'s was rather surreal, with so few other cars about. So most people are sensibly not visiting each other.

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  9. Glad for you that you were able to spend Easter together after all. Hope all worked out according to (new) plan. I've been spending a very isolated Easter. Perhaps not the first time in my life that I spent Easter on my own; but it did feel very odd knowing that there wasn't even the option to go to a church service (plenty of online ones to choose from, but not *quite* the same thing).

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    1. Thank you, Monica.
      It felt good being somewhere else for a change - after I'd not been away from home for what felt like a very long time when in fact it was only four weeks since my last trip to O.K.'s. Also, the long weekend was very welcome! This week, work will be rather busy again, so it was good to have a rest.

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