In Germany, including the federal state where I live, May and June are the time of year with the most public (bank) holidays. Of course, the 1st of May starts it all off. Ascension is next, always a Thursday, enabling a lot of people to take the Friday off and make a nice little break of it.
Pentecost follows, with the Monday being a day off for most. Then, there is one more Thursday, Corpus Christi. After that, it's usually a long stretch until the 3rd of October (German Unity Day), 1st of November and finally Christmas.
This year, Pentecost Monday was the 29th of May. As mentioned in this post, O.K. did not have to drive home on the Sunday evening; instead, we had another day off to look forward to, and a 4-day working week.
It was sunny and warm, allowing for a nice walk first to the small palace by the lake (Monrepos) and then on to Asperg, where we stopped for a shandy at a beer garden.
On Tuesday (May 30), I was up early and made it to my regular eye check in Stuttgart well in time. Part of my lunch break was spent at my friends' house; they were going on holiday at the end of the week, and I had offered to help care for their cats while they were away. One neighbour in the same building would do the mornings, and I would look after them in the evenings. Our lunch time meeting was a first mee & greet with the cats (they are new in the family, after dear little old Hobbes died) and instructions about how much food to give them etc.
The last day of May was Wednesday, and I worked at the office, walking home from Zuffenhausen afterwards.
It was back to working from home on Thursday, the 1st of June. Another beautiful sunny day, and I joined my sister at her allotment after work, helping a little with the watering and generally keeping her company.
It never ceases to amaze me how peaceful and quiet that little green oasis in the middle of a town of over 90,000 inhabitants can be - provided the other allotment holders are not too noisy!
On Friday (2nd of June), I took trains to Stuttgart twice: First, I spent all morning at one of my clients' in the city centre. Back home, I worked a little more before starting my usual cleaning round and packing my little red suitcase for the weekend. Shortly after 6:00 pm, I was on my way to Stuttgart main station again - this time to catch my regular Friday evening train to Offenburg. With a delay of about 15 minutes, it was still daylight by the time O.K. picked me up.
We started Saturday (June 3) by having coffee on O.K.'s balcony; it was already sunny, but not too hot yet to enjoy the morning sun. I then went to the wooden hut just outside the village where a farmer regularly sells fruit and veg during spring and summer, and got us fresh strawberries, blueberries and green asparagus.
With O.K.'s parents, his sister and her husband, we spent the afternoon and evening at their allotment, enjoying a family barbecue.
Sunday, the 4th of June, began just like Saturday had. Later, we went for a nice long walk of about 14.5 km straight from O.K.'s cottage, taking in three huts in the Black Forest: Sägereck, Barack and Handwerkerhütte.
It was sunny and warm, but very pleasant in the woods. For the sunnier bits, we were glad to be wearing hats.
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| Sägereck |
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| Barack |
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| Handwerker-Hütte |
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| Foxglove season is in full swing in the Black Forest. |
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| View across the Rhine plain to Offenburg and the Vosges mountains (France) in the background |
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| As I said, it's foxgloves season... |
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| ...but there are other wild flowers, too. |
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| Diersburg (village next to O.K.'s village) |
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| poppy seeds (Here, they are used mostly for oil... I assume.) |
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| Looking towards Ortenberg |
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| corn flowers |
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| typical mix of flowers on the fields around here this time of year |
Asperg's Syndrome.
ReplyDeleteI think I may have it.
Especially if I can stop at Asperg for a shandy !
Only Barbara Pym, a favourite novelist, could start a story on Pentecost Monday.
Farewell to Hobbes: Christopher Smart wrote a poem about a cat named Jeoffrey.
Strawberries, blueberries, asparagus and a lovely view of the Vosges Mountains.
A sweet photo of you at Handwerker-Hutte.
So glad the eye check-up went well !
*A Small Simple Stone: Looking for Barbara Pym in Oxfordshire.*
DeleteBy Cassandra Neyenesch. The Guardian online 2016.
Paula Byrne's sparkling biography *The Adventures of Miss Barbara Pym*
is out in paperback.
Thank you, yes, the eye check-up went well. My doctor is happy, and so am I; some things are irreversible, but the three operations I have had between 2018 and 2021 made a huge difference - last but not least enabling me to read more again, but never as much as you do! You seem to spend every waking moment either on the pages of a book, or looking up things about books and authors on Youtube.
DeletePS: Of course the small town of Asperg has nothing to do with Asperger's syndrome. The "perg" part is understood to be a misspelling of "Berg" = mount, and "As" is short for "Asen", the Germanic gods in Norse mythology. That is one explanation; others say the "As" stands for ash trees which may have been abundant on the mount at some stage, but there is no definite explanation.
DeleteEtymology of Asperg (perg corruption of berg) is puzzling like many place names.
DeleteMy sister lives in Charlton Kings, a village outside Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.
There is a signpost nearby past the Spirax Sarco plant, on the Cirencester Road.
One of the branches on the signpost marks Banbury Cross, Oxfordshire.
I discovered no such signpost exists; yet I can see it clearly, must have dreamt it.
Neil has signposts on his blog, Tasker too, reminding me of Dick Whittington.
Jane Gardam is a Yorkshire writer, witty as as Pym but not as mannered.
Great short story writer and a non fiction book, *The Iron Coast*.
Much of my reading is poetry, painters, architects, history, travel, politics.
A lot of books on the Middle East, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iran, Iraq, Syria.
Christine Lamb's *Farewell Kabul* is a masterpiece, tragic and hopeful.
Likewise Sandy Gall's biog of Ahmad Shah Massoud, *Afghan Napoleon*.
Taliban blew up Massoud the week before 9/11. CIA backed Taliban.
Jane Gardam? The name rings a bell, and a quick search on my blog shows that some years ago I have indeed read one of her books:
Deletehttps://librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com/2017/07/read-in-2017-24-old-filth.html
Anonymous being me, Meike.
DeleteI like the lovely skies in your hiking photos, Meike. We finally got a bit of rain yesterday and it has cooled off a bit. We can use a lot more rain as it is so dry here. Sounds like you have gotten your energy back after Covid so that's good. I didn't realize that most of your bank holidays are religious!?!
ReplyDeleteEllen, it has not rained here since that thunderstorm on June 8, and although that did freshen up things a bit, of course it was nowhere near enough to replenish what's missing on ground level.
DeleteYes, most of our bank holidays are religious holidays, but apart from the most avid church goers, hardly anyone remembers what they are about, let alone observes them.
Your photographs are always so imteresting as everywhere is so different from the UK. Do you notice this in reverse when you come to Ripon? Lovely foxgloves - my garden is full of red, pink and white ones - all self sown.
ReplyDeleteOf course I notice the difference, Pat. It is one of the reasons why we travel, isn't it, because we enjoy different places. I also love to observe how the landscape changes within England from south to north and back, when on a train from London to Leeds.
DeleteYour garden must look a picture!
I envy you still call your holidays Ascension and Pentecost. Our "Whitsuntide" is hardly heard now. Another part of our heritage swept away in the name of progress.
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then, surveys are made to find out what people here still know about those religious holidays. Hardly surprising, very few can give correct answers. Most people are just glad to have a day off.
DeleteWhat a lovely time you've had! I like the wild flowers, especially what looks to be a clump of campanula. And, of course, I'm very envious of the allotment owners!
ReplyDeleteTo come across wild flowers in the woods is always a treat!
DeleteYour remark about being envious of allotment owners puzzles me; you have a beautiful garden right around your house, no need to walk or drive to an allotment to enjoy a bit of green :-)
I was fascinated to see the poppies in the first photo and the bell-flowers (Campanula) in 17. I love both but my poppies won't be around for another couple of months although the bellflowers will be out shortly. As always your 'diary' is full of interest.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Graham. Near O.K.'s village, poppies are a lot more abundant than in my area. They sing "summer!" to me, as does the scent of cut grass.
DeleteI dropped by especially to see the wild flowers, Meike, and wasn't disappointed. What a lovely diary and great photos of stunning countryside. It's been very dry over here too - but we got some much-needed rain this week. Even so, in the south, where my son lives, there is a hosepipe ban already. The water companies pollute our rivers, can't stop leaks in supply - and still pay their shareholders. Sorry I haven't visited for a while!
ReplyDeleteHi Mike! We‘ve had some rain here in the meantime, but nowhere near enough to make up for weeks without a single drop. I guess we‘ll have to get used to this type of climate now. There has been a lot of talk about what different kinds of trees should be planted now, and how farmers can adapt.
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