Thursday 28 October 2021

October Mist

Almost there - catching up with blog posts, I mean. We have now arrived at the weekend before last, with today's post covering Saturday, October 16.
Unlike most weekends at O.K.'s, I arrived around lunch time on the Saturday and not Friday night. 
It was a day of grey skies and low hanging clouds, but dry, and so we had a quick midday snack and then set off for a walk directly from the cottage.

Somehow I have always liked the next village, Diersburg; it is not particularly picturesque but rather a mix of old and new and in-between buildings. The village itself is spread out in patches along a valley narrowing towards its end, with steep slopes of vineyards and meadows rising to the Black Forest. 
There is also a ruined castle, where we'd been some years ago, and I had read in the weekly local paper that it had seen some cleaning up and restoring recently.

We walked up the hill behind O.K.'s village, through the communal woods and out on the other side. Normally, you can see all the way to France and the Vosges mountains from here, but not today:


The autumn colours were still beautiful, even without the sun lighting them up:

Overlooking Diersburg:

Descending towards the mist-covered valley through the vineyards:

Approaching the castle ruins:

It really looks much cleaner and in better shape than last time I was here. You can see the pictures from that visit in 2018 here, if you're interested.
After exploring the ruins, we walked on to the end of the valley, up the steep slope and along the opposite side of the valley from where we'd come from:


Eventually, just as we were on the road back to O.K.'s village, the sky seemed to brighten just a little bit. Here is looking back towards Diersburg:


I actually enjoyed this misty walk; the colours and sounds were so soft, the atmosphere so still and quiet.

O.K. made stuffed mushrooms in the oven for our dinner, with a creamy sauce, matched very nicely with well-chilled white wine.

Yes, I know I am spoiled! :-)

11 comments:

  1. You are, indeed, spoiled! But you deserve it. :) Stuffed mushrooms sound wonderful. It's funny, I was just thinking of making stuffed mushrooms the other day. I have a recipe for them that involves stuffing them with crabmeat, cheese, and breadcrumbs and then baked with plenty of butter. YUM.

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    1. Ours is with feta cheese and, if it is at hand and we want it, bacon or ham. It is a wonderful dish for an autumn evening!

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  2. What a lovely day! OK sounds like a good cook!

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    1. He is, and an accomplished baker; he also knows how to handle a grill. When we go hiking, he makes sure we have sumptuous sandwiches and other good things, too.

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  3. I wass just thinking that - do you hire him out for special occasios - I rather fancy stuffed mushrooms..

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    1. That's a good idea, Pat - I shall suggest it to him this weekend, see what he says :-)

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  4. Magical: a misty valley, rising to the Black Forest; a vineyard; lovely gabled houses with attic windows; even a ruined castle. Nobody much about.
    Views all the way to France, and the hazy Vosges Mountains. Distance.

    What do you call it when a writer's experience becomes your own?
    Those clever Germans must have a word for it !
    The day we went to Diersburg.
    Danke schon.
    Jack

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    1. Bitte, gerne!
      Not sure whether there is a word for a writer's experience becoming your own. I know from my own reading that sometimes I am positively wrapped up in a story, in the atmosphere of a place well described, and the characters become real, 3-dimensional people to me.

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  5. Don't you love a man that cooks! Your dinner sounds wonderful. I love the mist covered views on your walk. The mist gives an almost magical feel to the day. I would love to explore an ancient castle. What a wonderful weekend!

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    1. I am always very well fed and watered (or should I say wined) at O.K.'s, and aspire to do the same for the two of us when we are spending the weekend at my place.
      Misty or foggy mornings I have found fascinating since childhood, when the walk to school felt almost adventurous.

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  6. That would have been a fairly special day in my book. Stuffed mushrooms has just gone on my menu for next week!

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