Birthday Week

The rest of my birthday week saw my usual pattern of work and walks. It was sunny throughout, and warming up nicely during the day after chilly nights and mornings.

I walked one of my favourite circuits on Wednesday, taking in the golden late afternoon light. It was the time of day when one can nearly always spot herons in the fields as well as kestrels, buzzards and of course plenty of crows and doves.

Kestrel (I think)

Yes, I'm pretty sure it is one.

Three herons in a (very dry) field. Sometimes I spot eight or more together.

Neat barn and shady figure.

On the way back, I crossed the patch of allotments that offers a good view towards the town center, and although I have seen it many times now, I keep being amazed at how the ferris wheel is visible from almost anywhere. It was only the day before that I was on it myself!

Can you see the ferris wheel?

Zoomed in, you can see it better.

On Thursday, I was expected to participate in an online after-work event hosted by one of my clients. The event was to start at 7:00 pm, meaning I had to go early if I wanted to fit in a walk. It was around 4:00 pm that I came past this beautiful magnolia tree:

The weekend arrived, and O.K. with it, bearing more birthday presents for me, from himself as well as from his parents and his sister & husband. There were so many that they did not even all fit on top of my living room cabinet!

On Saturday, I had booked massages for both of us at the spa across the road, and then made us a proper breakfast with bacon and eggs on toast, Earl Grey, sparkling wine and tomato juice.

Also, I had my second ride on the giant wheel. As there were only the two of us, we had more room in the cabin to move, and could take pictures without the steel frame being in the way. There was nothing we could do about the sunshine reflecting on the cabin windows, though:

Afterwards, we took a stroll down the road to the palace grounds for a closer look:

We spent the rest of the afternoon at my parents', enjoying coffee and the sunshine on their balcony. 

For the evening, my sister joined us at my place. We had ordered food from the nearby Indian restaurant, and while the food was very good (it always is from that restaurant), the Sicilian rosé wine I had bought was bland - we could have just as well have had water. Never mind; it was still a nice post-birthday celebration for the three of us.

The Sunday was going to be another day of wall to wall sunshine, and I wore short sleeves for the first time this year. Still, it was chilly in places, and I was glad about my long-sleeved hoodie more than once.

After a leisurely late breakfast, we walked to Asperg and the castle on the hill (you've seen it a few times on my blog already). 

And again, the ferris wheel was visible - much better to the naked eye than what the camera was able to capture:

Can you spot the "rocket" in this one:

We took a different route back to Ludwigsburg and had a good view of the castle on the hill where we had just come from:

I am now 54 years and one week old. Cheers!