Between Years

In German, the period between Christmas and New Year is called "between the years". It fits, I think; the old year is not yet over, but as good as, and the new year has not yet begun. For many, it is a time off work, when they visit friends and family or take to the mountains for skiing or simply relax, start on the books they got for Christmas and maybe go for walks they don't have time for otherwise.

On Monday (Christmas Day), I got up early-ish and once more lit all four candles on my Advent wreath while unwrapping the presents that had been sent to me from the UK. I then walked to the train station where there were much less people about than usual when I am on my way to O.K.'s.

All three trains were on time, and O.K. and I arrived at the village at 2:30 pm. It was mild at about 10 or 11C, partly sunny and windy, and we took advantage of the dry weather by going for a walk before having coffee and cake at the cottage. Afterwards, we exchanged our Christmas presents (one of which was the book I reviewed here).

It was still almost an hour before sunset!

Later, I rang my mother-in-law in Ripon to wish her Merry Christmas, and we had our customary hour of chatting about this and that. Mary will be 90 in March, and although she has many health issues, with the help of carers, a nurse and her daughter (who lives only a 5 minute drive away) she still lives in her own home. Mentally, she is fully there, and interested in a variety of topics.

Boxing Day in Germany is simply the "2nd Christmas Day". As usual, for us it meant a morning at the village church; the traditional family mass is accompanied by the village band, and when O.K. plays, I attend.

O.K.'s sister and her husband hosted our equally traditional festive family meal afterwards. They always serve an excellent, sumptuous meal of a starter, main course and dessert, with sparkling wine to begin with and a wine matching the main course.

Back home in the evening, O.K. and I watched "Love, Actually" on TV - can you believe I had never watched it before? Of course I knew about the film but somehow had never gotten round to it until now. I remembered what Alan Rickman had written about it in his diaries which I have reviewed here.

Wednesday, 27 December, was again sunny and mild, allowing for a stroll in town, running an errand or two, and later a walk around the village before coffee and cake at the cottage, followed by a brief visit with O.K.'s parents.

O.K. drove us back to Ludwigsburg on Thursday, 28 December. We were expected at my Mum's for a gathering with friends and family at 2:00 pm; our late friend R's brother and partner had come from Berlin, and two other friends as well as Mum's friend who lives downstairs in the same house joined my Mum, my sister, myself and O.K. Nine around the table does not sound all that much, and in past times there were more of us at various festive occasions, but it was very nice and of course my Mum served an excellent meal, too.

Us "young people" (we're all in our 50s) went to the cemetery before it got too dark so that we could visit R's and my Dad's graves.

On Friday, 29 December, O.K. and I had a late breakfast (it was actually noon) after a lazy morning and then walked across town to the palace grounds. 

As it got dark, we popped in for a glass of prosecco at our favourite winebar, and at 7:00 pm, we arrived at the Italian restaurant near where I live and where we had been lucky to grab a table for two and enjoyed a pizza each.

Saturday, 30 December, saw me hosting a family meal for a change. There were just the four of us (Mum, sister, O.K. and I), and I made game goulash, roast vegetables (spuds, carrots and parsnips) and Yorkshire Pudding after a salad of baby spinach leaves with an assortment of chopped nuts and spring onions. Dessert was meant to be ice cream, but my Mum brought a Christmas cake (very  chocolaty!), and so we had that. 

I don't have a dining room; we eat in the kitchen.

Who said something against individual YPs instead of one big one?

It was all much better than it looks here, even if I say so myself.

Of course, there was sparkling wine to start off the evening, and red wine (a Syrah) that I had also used to make the goulash.

Early afternoon, O.K. and I had been out for a walk on the fields.

O.K drove us back to the village on New Year's Eve. It was raining for much of the drive, and rained again later, but kept off long enough for the neighbours to have their fireworks. We watched quietly from inside the cottage - a nasty cold wind had come up, and we just didn't feel like going out.

The last sunrise of 2023, as seen from my kitchen.

We had spent much of the afternoon in the warm kitchen, preparing boar in a thick dark gravy (based on red wine, surprise surprise!) with onions and carrots. O.K. served a linguine-type of noodles with it, and it was truly delicious.

At midnight, of course we clinked glasses with sparkling wine before starting to exchange messages with friends and family.

In the course of the evening, we listened to music, watched some silly stuff on youtube, and talked. It was a cosy, quiet New Year's Eve - just what we wanted.

- - -

What a lot of food and drink! But it was all good, and all in good measure - I can honestly say that I did not wake up with a headache once, and although I never left the table hungry, I can also say that I did not eat to the point of feeling unwell. We tried to intersperse all that eating and drinking with walks, and it was simply good not having to be up at a certain time every morning.

And now it's over for another year, and the first half of the first working week of 2024 is already behind me.