First Week in 2024

The first week of a new year always feels special to me. It is usually a relatively quiet week, in spite of the inevitable return to work, and has a certain "newness" about it - new calendars are hung on the wall, a new diary (I keep my appointments in a book-type diary, apart from the work ones which are electronically) is started, and the end of that first week usually sees me taking down my Christmas decorations.

I was of course still at O.K.'s on Monday, the 1st of January. Because of our quiet New Year's Eve, we'd not been up all that long after midnight and therefore were up and about earlier than most other New Year's. Between noon and 2:00 pm, we walked to the next village and back, covering about 10 km. It was still mild at 10C/50F and partly sunny, but very windy.

This and the next two pictures are all from that same walk, but the wind made for very rapid changes in the sky.

At 5:00 pm, we crossed the road to meet with the family at O.K.'s parents'. His mother (who will be 84 in August) made her customary New Year's Day meal of Badische Schäufele with horseradish and spuds salad - always something to look forward to! (There does not seem to be an equivalent English term for it, but it's pork shoulder, cured and smoked, then cooked until very tender - it even has its own wikipedia entry in English.)

After this delicious meal, O.K. and I spent the remainder of the evening at the cottage, watching a rerun of Midsomer Murders and going to bed as early as 10:00 pm in view of the next morning's early start.

Tuesday (2nd January) was here soon enough when the alarm went off at 5:15. O.K. took me to the train station, and with my trains being on time, I was home just after 9:00 and started work immediately. It was a stormy, rainy day, but I managed a short walk of 45 minutes mid-afternoon.

There was a better chance for a walk on Wednesday (3 January), when it looked like there was going to be a longer break between showers. I started off early in the afternoon, only to land in a shower about half way along my intended route, and cut the walk short by hopping on the next train back. I still was out about twice as long as the day before, and was rewarded with not one, but TWO rainbows.

Can you see what I saw?

You can now, can't you!

By Thursday (4 January), the temperature was "down" to 8C/46F, still very windy, and again with a mix of sun and rain. In other parts of Germany, the storms and heavy rain have been causing flooding and disruptions, but fortunately not in my area.  

I met with my sister for an early lunch break spent walking, some of it again with a shower. Typically, by the time we were back at our respective homes, the sun was out again.

My first working week of 2024 was over mid-afternoon on Friday (5 January). Before starting on my cleaning round, I put away my Christmas things. Afterwards, I still had time for a bit of a rest before packing my little red suitcase and head to the train station. 

Because it still was the school holidays, my usual Friday evening connection was not available, but the alternative looked good enough. Well, it turned out not to be - I missed the connection in Vaihingen by only a few seconds!! What was supposed to be my next train was still standing at the platform when I rushed across from my delayed first train, but the doors were already closed, and just as I was near enough to press the button to open them again, the train pulled away. For a moment, I felt like throwing a tantrum, but of course it was no use, and so I merely texted O.K. to let him know I was going to be at least an hour later than planned.

And so it was; I had almost half an hour to lurk around Karlsruhe train station, and arrived in Offenburg at 9:32 instead of 8:28 pm. I am always happy to see O.K. when he picks me up there, but that night I was extra glad!

It was 10:00 by the time we sat down for supper (you guessed it - cheese, bread and wine, plus rucola salad).

Saturday, 6 January, is a holiday in my part of Germany. It was cloudy with showers, and we only managed a brief walk around the village before having a quick lunch of hot soup and bread, then a little rest, followed by coffee and cake.

Not long after 4:00, we left for the next village, where O.K. and four others from the village band were to play carols at a "barn nativity". Such nativity scenes, set up in open barns for everyone to admire, are not uncommon; some are more beautiful and elaborate than others, some go back centuries, and the one we visited was first started as a family nativity in the late 1800s.

In the early 2000s, it grew in size and became so popular that the then owner decided to transfer it to the barn next to his house. After his death, the Craftsmen's Association of the village took over, and since then, it has continually grown. New buildings were made, new figures acquired, more landscaping was added, and nowadays it is an entire village with the actual nativity scene at its heart.

The traditional village crafts and trades are represented; there is winemaking, a smithy, cattle and poultry, a bee keeper, an angler, a small market stand selling fruit and vegetables, a baker, and a house is in the process of being built, with carpenters, bricklayers and others working on it.

Click on my pictures to enlarge, or have a look at the ones on the website. 

close-up of the wine press

The smithy and bakery have "fires", and there is running water in a fountain and the fishing pond. The love of detail is amazing; there was so much to look at, and nothing placed accidentally. For instance, a fox observes a flock of geese, and in the next field, his family is waiting for him to bring home dinner!

There is even a starry sky!

The brass band members played beautifully, and everyone joined in at the last coral after an hour . Afterwards, we had mugs of mulled wine (there was also cake for those who wanted it - and all based on donations), and chatted with friends and relatives.

The five musicians

There were many visitors; I took advantage of a quiet moment to take this photo.

When we started to feel cold and hungry, O.K. drove us to another village where we had burgers before retreating to the cottage for a cosy night in.

This was a very fitting and beautiful end of the Christmas season for me.

It was considerably colder at 3C/37F on Sunday, 7 January, and windy but dry. We wrapped up well for a walk after breakfast (at noon) and were home two hours later.

Ortenberg castle, which you have seen several times on my blog.

Vineyards and the Black Forest

After a late lunch of crusty bread, made in the oven with ham, cheese and lots of other good things, we paid O.K.'s parents a quick visit before having coffee and cake.

At 5:30 pm, O.K. took me to the train station - for a change, I went home on the Sunday evening instead of Monday morning. 

There were two reasons for that change: Train strikes were forecast for the following week, and it was unclear when they were going to start (in the end, they did not begin on Monday). Plus for a while now, farmers all over Germany have been protesting about government plans for cuts in their funding, and it was going to be next to impossible to reach the station on Monday morning with the roads being blocked by tractors.

I was lucky in that my trains were on time, and in Stuttgart even managed to grab an earlier one than originally planned. By 8:30 pm, I was home, having walked from the station in sleety snow fall.

Along the road to my house, I spotted first this snowman on the bonnet of a car, followed by similar illustrations; there were a unicorn, flowers, an angel, snowflakes, fireworks and message wishing everyone a happy new year. 

I found this rather sweet, but only stopped to quickly take a photo of the first "drawing".