Thursday 6 October 2022

Last Week of September

The last week of September saw me returning to work, which thankfully was not very stressful, with of my clients being on holiday now. That enabled me to finish early, so I could go to hospital and see my Dad almost every day. Of course I still have to work a certain amount of hours a week as per my contract, but starting as early as 6:15 some mornings and no meetings in the afternoons meant I could leave the house much earlier than what is usually possible.

On Monday, Sept. 26, the regular meeting for my volunteer work was canceled and so I had time for a hospital visit after that first day back at work. Afterwards, my sister and I walked through the palace grounds on our way home.

Tuesday, Sept. 27, brought the usual pattern of work, going to the testing station and then to hospital. 

I was meeting a friend at the ice cream parlour afterwards; she had invited me for an end-of-season ice cream, and it was really good to see her, even though the day was actually too chilly for ice creams. My friend has been in a similar situation with both her parents some years ago, but we also talked about our recent holidays, things happening in our town and so on.

In the palace grounds, after the rain

 

Nothing different on Wednesday, Sept. 28; I spent a quiet evening at home, not even talking to O.K. who has band practice on Wednesday nights.

I went home with my Mum on Thursday, Sept. 29 after hospital. It had been a good day for my Dad.

No hospital visit for me on Friday, Sept. 30 - I was invited to a wedding! It took place at an unusual location: The Straßenbahn-Museum (tramway/streetcar museum) in Stuttgart. 

The actual ceremony was held inside an old tram, and afterwards we walked the short distance to the restaurant where a late wedding lunch was held. The ceremony had been beautiful, the food was excellent, and meeting the other guests - some of whom I've known for many years, while others I had never met before - was nice. I also enjoyed dressing up, something I have done very rarely over the past two years.



After finishing my usual cleaning round on Saturday, the 1st of October, I went to my Mum's to help her with a few things before it was time for the daily Covid test and then hospital. Afterwards, my sister joined me for a walk - it was our first real walk in a long time, and I really miss that.

Sunday, the 2nd of October, was the day (or rather, night) of the wedding party. The couple had chosen that date not only because the following day was a public holiday in Germany and people didn't have to get up early, but also because it was the groom's birthday. 

I spent a quiet morning at home before going to the test station and to hospital. Shortly after 6:00 pm, I left home again so that I could be at the party for 7:00 pm. The train into Stuttgart unexpectedly ended one stop before my actual stop, due to technical problems, which meant a longish walk in the pouring rain.

But the party was really good, held in the underground rooms of the school where the groom teaches. Those rooms are not simply for storage (or teachers' parties), but the school's cellars are part of a system of rooms and tunnels that were used as a hospital and shelter during the war. I joined a guided tour through the rooms, which was fascinating - you know how much I love such exploring behind the scenes.

While at the actual wedding on Friday there had been around 45 guests, now there were close to 80 filling the various rooms set up for the party. Plenty of food and drink was provided, and a table football was popular with the children. After the children (and about half of the guests) left, we shifted some of the chairs and tables to make room for a small dance floor.

Time flies when one is having fun - I found that to be true and was surprised to realise it was nearly 2:00 in the morning when I left the party! I helped another guest to find her way to the train station and made sure she got home alright, and was in bed at about 20 past 3.

O.K. and I spent the weekend seperately; he had to play with the band at a trade fair in Offenburg and I was at the wedding in Stuttgart. Of course we spoke on the phone every day (sometimes more than once), and he is coming here again this weekend.

Sorry for the weird arrangement of photos in this post - somehow, blogger has been acting up for me this morning.

17 comments:

  1. Sounds like your re-entry into the work week after your holiday was a fairly good one. The photos of the palace grounds shows what a difference a bit of sunshine makes as compared to an overcast period (always good to click on the photos to fully appreciate them in a larger scale). I do enjoy a variety of weathers, but in autumn, a sunny day beautifully highlights all those changing leaf colours.

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    1. Mary, I always hope that people will click on the pictures to enlarge them.
      Yes, I loved how the whole atmosphere changed as I was walking through the palace grounds and the sun came out.

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  2. Goodness, what a fun wedding! How did you make it to work on Monday?!

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    1. I didn't, because it was a public holiday! (Germany celebrates the reunion of East and West Germany every year on the 3rd of October.)

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  3. What a great idea for a wedding venue!

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  4. A 'weird' arrangement of photographs?
    No. Perfectly lovely. Harmonious.

    By the 16th Century weird was recondite in the English language; it survived in the Scottish tongue.
    Shakespeare revived it in the Scottish play - hence the Weird Witchy Sisters.
    Weird is not of this world rather like the Greys who abduct Americans.
    (John E. Mack, the Harvard psychiatrist who believed alien abduction was real.)

    Weird's archaic meaning is related to destiny, fate, even predestination.
    Tae dree your ain weird. To suffer one's own fate.
    See blog: *Pining for the West - Meanderings about recipes, books, craft & more.*
    The blog is dated 2012 and seems to have only one post. Definitely weird.

    I'm having fun with words because your post delighted me.
    The palace grounds after rainfall : every town should have a colonnade of trees.
    And every town should have electric tramcars instead of diesel-polluting buses.

    A lively wedding, when children comprise half the guests: you look quite radiant.
    Hope there is a chance of your Papa getting out of hospital.
    J.H.
    P.S. My use of harmonious reminded me of the witty title of a book.
    *We Have Been Harmonised - Life in China's Surveillance State*.
    By Kai Strittmatter, who studied sinology at the University of Munich.
    Kai received the Theodor Wolff Prize (Wolff 1868-1943 born in Berlin).

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    1. I am wrong. Pining for the West has a current post.
      Katrina, who lives in the East Coast of Scotland and yearns for the West, has just reviewed an old novel by Rose Macaulay 1881-1958.

      As well as writing witty novels Rose Macaulay was an intrepid swimmer.
      After breaking from a relationship with a married man she remained a spinster.
      She wrote two spiritual classics *Letters To A Friend* and *Last Letters To A Friend*.
      The friend was an Anglican priest.
      J.H.

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    2. The photo arrangement is weird in that I was not able to arrange the pictures all in the centre of the column, but they have gone a bit all over the place, no matter what I tried.

      Walking along the tree-lined paths in the palace ground with the change of light after the rain was wonderful, and I found the moment when the sun came through most comforting after what had been a difficult hospital visit.

      Ludwigsburg does not yet have a tram, but there are plans for 2028 or so. In the meantime, good part of the local buses are hybrid-powered.

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  5. Hi Meike, I am sorry I didn't know that your Dad is ill, I hope this is not a long term thing and he will get better again soon.
    All the same, you seem to be staying busy and contented. I am glad for you.

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    1. Thank you, Friko. My Dad is very ill and very weak. This is certainly a long term thing and it is at the moment uncertain if or when he will come home.
      I manage quite well to still see the many good things and people in my life and am grateful for them; they help to keep me sane.

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  6. That is clever of the groom to get married on his birthday. He has no excuse to forget the wedding anniversary!
    I really like that photo of you all "dolled up" for the wedding! You look like you are happy and having fun. There are very interesting places for wedding venues these days. I didn't mention it but on my lastest post, the photo of the museum in Chattanooga...if you look closely, you can see white chairs being set up, I am sure they were for a wedding!
    x

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    1. The couple was married two days before the birthday, but the party was to celebrate both the wedding and the groom's birthday. Also, I am sure their children - 10 and 8 years old - will never allow them to forget the anniversary :-D
      I did enjoy dressing up for the wedding; it happens rarely now that I have occasion to do so.

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  7. Very interesting read. You were very late home after the wedding party!

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    1. I was! Maybe it would have been somewhat earlier, had it not been for the lady I helped to get home safely.

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  8. Thinking of you and the family.

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