We went to one near our town on June 23, a Tuesday, to have a refreshing shandy and a meal. The food was excellent, mixed salad with a tasty dressing, and the falafel were special: not made of chick peas, but of hokkaido pumpkin! So fluffy and soft inside, crispy on the outside, freshly made and hot - I am definitely going to be back for more there before this summer is over.
Another after-work walk the very next day took me and an old school friend to the palace grounds. I love the late afternoon / early evening light, and the always beautiful park is even more beautiful then. There were relatively few people about.
We don't get to see storks often in this area, whereas it is hard NOT to spot storks in O.K.'s part of the country, unless you deliberately choose to ignore them. This one looked beautiful against the clear blue sky:
The following week, on the 29th of June, I was back at the palace grounds for another after-work stroll, this time with my sister, who took my picture.
The 1st of July was very hot, and it was not only the first of the month - for me, it was also the first time I was NOT working from home since March 17! On that day, I went to work at the Literature Archive in Marbach. Walking from the train station to the archive takes about 15-20 minutes, and it is not a strenuous walk, but I was uncomfortably hot by the time I arrived there just after 10:00 in the morning.
All went well; everyone walking around in the building was wearing a mask, and the meeting room was so large that the six or eight of us had plenty of distance (masks were taken off for the meeting). There was disinfectant spray provided, and we were all required to disinfect our own tables before leaving the room, and make sure the room was well aired before and after the meeting.
I felt perfectly safe there, and it was nice to actually see my clients face to face again after several months.
It will still be a while before I'll even consider going back to the other office, where I have much less space and many more meetings throughout an average day. So far, that particular client has not yet requested me to work on-site; everything has been done from home without problems. As far as I'm concerned, it can stay that way for as long as possible.
Later that day, I went running with my regular "running buddy". Well - that was our intention, but we ended up walking most of the second half of our circuit; it was simply too hot. The sunset was rather beautiful, first as seen from the street where Ludwigsburg ends and the fields begin, looking west, and then from my kitchen window, looking east:
Quite a month then, Meike. I loved the sound (and picture) of the falafel. I love it but with chickpeas it is a bit 'solid'. It was good to see some familiar and not-so-familiar sights including the wild flowers and the stork. I think the picture that your sister took is one of the best I can recall of you.
ReplyDeleteThe traditional falafel made of chickpeas is often rather dry and solid, as you say. But this one was falafel heaven!
DeleteThank you for saying that about the picture my sister took. She will be pleased to read this.
You sound to be gradually relaxing as we are over here. I have not done so yet. Wish we had storks here!
ReplyDeleteMy impression was that the relaxing seemed to be happening all at once - rather fast, and maybe a bit too soon in parts. Last night I walked through town, and there were so many "happy crowds" about, only few things indicated that things are not yet fully back to the way they were before, such as markers on the ground outside some shops to show people where to queue etc.
DeleteWhat a great photo of you (good job, sister). Looking very relaxed and happy.
ReplyDeleteThe last sunset photo reminds me of the colours in a Constable painting. Lovely.
Thank you, Mary! My sister will be pleased to read that.
DeleteI could endlessly look at sunset (and post countless pictures of them - which is what I have been doing lately!). Sometimes a sunset lights up the "opposite" side of the sky so beautifully, as it was the case that evening.
O to be in Ludwigsburg, now that July's here! Germany can look like Scotland except it goes on forever and your streets are clean. I drive in Gloucestershire where my sister lives and suddenly I'm in Oxfordshire. Paul Theroux noticed how confined everything was when he first settled in Britain. From your photographs, in all the posts, the sense of distance is thrilling. Every horizon beckons. One can take off into the endless blue. Like that lovely stork!
ReplyDeleteThat stork was like straight out of a picture book!
DeleteGermany can look like Scotland? I am intrigued - I've never been to Scotland, but every picture I have seen of it so far is rather different. And I am afraid I have to destroy your illusion about our clean streets. There is plenty of rubbish about, only I do not include that in my pictures.
German domestic architecture is very different from Scottish. There is an English male character in a novel by John Le Carre (A SMall Town in Germany) who turns against the traditional architecture of Germany as being *too fairytale* or words to that effect; I could never get enough of it; and your streets are still cleaner than ours. As for German landscape, parts of the Odenwald reminded me of Aberfoyle in central Scotland, but that may be fanciful. I spent an afternoon driving around with the chief politician in the Odenwald (in about 1976) a charming and witty man, and I never felt more at home. The French novelist Michel Tournier was, like Le Carre, a Germanist; Tournier wrote a strange and beautiful German novel, The Erl King which I have read many times, as I do the Brothers Grimm.
DeleteYou had a good month, I think. I love that first photo of you in the pretty yellow top with the dappled shadows on you. It reminded me of Gerard Manley Hopkins poem "Pied Beauty". https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44399/pied-beauty. In fact all your photos made me feel happy this morning, especially the palace grounds and the sunsets.
ReplyDeleteJune was good, and the first week of July was as well. I am so glad that our summer so far has not been the endless heat week after week with not a single drop of rain we've been having the past few summers, but there has been rain and the nights were cool enough to allow for good sleep.
DeleteI am glad that my photos made you feel happy, dear Kristi! Now I am going to have a look at the poem.
You've had some wonderful walks and relaxing times! Your pictures are lovely and there are such beautiful blue skies in many of them. I imagine it was nice to see some people on your work trip especially since they handled the distancing and all so well. But I am glad you are still able to work from home for the most part and I hope that continues for you. That is truly a beautiful picture of you on the palace grounds! Enjoy the rest of your week!
ReplyDeleteThank you, dear Bonnie!
DeleteYes, it was good to work elsewhere than my Third Room, and seeing my clients face to face, for a change. I have two more on-site days planned later this month, with two other clients, but most of my time will still be spent at home.
Lovely recap of your recent trips - glad the workplace is taking safety seriously.
ReplyDeleteThings are awful here - I'm just thankful I am retired and don't have to be anywhere other than at home!!!!
Two fab photos of you - and yes, that meal looks delicious, I love felafel but have never had it made that way! Meike, I like your new hairstyle, somewhat longer perhaps? Mine's a mess as I'm growing out my natural grey now, going for a trim tomorrow to keep it at least shaped!
Oh the pretty sunset, always a lovely end to a day.
Thanks for Bob's birthday greeting - he appreciated that.
Mary x
Funny that you say that about my hair, Mary - everybody (including myself) finds it too long! In fact, I am going to the hairdresser's today after work, and will have it cut short again, as befits summer.
DeleteI never had falafel made that way before, either, and had to try it when I saw it on the menue there.
Sunsets - I can never get enough of them!
Nice summer photos. I've never seen a stork, I don't think they come further north than Skåne (the southernmost part of Sweden), and even there they are rare nowadays. (I think I've heard of projects trying to get them back but I'm not sure how successful they've been.)
ReplyDeleteWe used to have a resident stork at the deer park when I was a kid. He was a little aggressive, or at least that was what we've been told when we were little - maybe our grandparents/parents simply wanted us to leave him in peace. In my area, we see herons far more often than storks; in O.K.'s area, it is the other way round. I remember how one day in the middle of the city (Offenburg), eight storks were flying above the market square!
DeleteYou look so pretty in both those pictures! Wow!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jennifer! *blush*
DeleteLovely pictures of your healthy COVID summer passing by... But how do we know your sister even exists? Perhaps you just made her up. If only she wasn't so shy. Of course I understand that you have to continue to respect her wishes but it would be lovely to see a picture of the two of you together.
ReplyDeleteI can not imagine she will ever agree to a current picture, but I believe I have (with her permission, of course!) in the past shown a few childhood snaps of the two of us here on my blog.
DeleteSome lovely walks, and your sunsets are glorious. It must have been scary to return to the office.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cathy!
DeleteIt wasn't scary, as there were all measures about distance, masks and disinfection in place. Also, I only was in the large meeting room with a few other people; I have no office or my own desk at this particular client's site.
Goodness me, I do agree with Graham, that photo that your sister took of you is so good! It looks like you are actually in a boat on river, and I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't have tangerine trees and marmalade skies later in the day! (Sorry, you know I had to think of that lyric!)
ReplyDeleteThe stork! Oh, how I would love to see one like that! It does look amazing against the sky like that. At work, it is hard for people to keep a distance and also, there are some people who refuse to wear a mask. If they don't want to do so, that's fine with me AS LONG AS THEY STAY HOME! Our rates for the virus in Georgia just keeps going up and up. Take care!
Thank you, Kay, I hope my sister reads your comment! By the way, I really am on a tiny boat at the palace grounds, it is in the part of the park called the Fairytale Garden. My sister and I have been visiting there since we were babies, and when it is not crowded, we love to go on the little boats that take you automatically past a series of animated fairytale scenes. It is very nostalgic for us, and we never want it to change.
DeleteIt's a lovely photo your sister took. And what a beautiful blue sky. We've had a rather rainy June and grey early July but May was that kind of weather almost all the way through. Falafels made with pumpkin sound delicious, I must see if I can find a recipe. I've seen them with beetroot, which is also very nice.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jenny!
DeleteA lot of spring and early summer was sunny and warm here, but thankfully, we had some rain in between. Also, so far most nights have cooled off well, making for much better sleep than when it does not get below 25C or so.