First Week of July

July was off to a chilly and wet start - not unusual for my part of the world. I have often found that July, although "high summer", can be colder and wetter than June, and sometimes we have the most beautiful summer weather in September. It was an unusual week for me work-wise, as I was at the office four days instead of my average one or two.

Since I had not been away for the weekend, it was easy to be at the office before 9:00 on Monday (1st of July) morning. Normally, I don't work for this company on Mondays and Fridays, but as an exception I can make it possible. We had a workshop about the sensible and legally compliant use of AI in the insurance industry. I left when the session ended around lunch time, since I had an appointment in the afternoon working from home for my other employer.

After work, I went for my standard walk to Benningen. The cooler and sometimes rainy weather with its mix of sun and clouds was not very July-like, but walk-friendly.

What's this in the middle of the high grass?

Is it a brown fox?

No - a cat, and he or she was not even remotely interested in talking to me!

Tuesday (2nd of July) was cooler at a max of 18C/64F, nearly constant rain and no sun to be seen. Again, I worked at the office during the morning and picked up my other work at home in the afternoon.

A further drop in temperature made Wednesday (3 July) more autumn-like than anything else. Grey skies, rain and somewhere around 13C/55F is not exactly summerly. I was at the office all day and went to visit my former upstairs neighbour after work. It was good to see her; we'd not had a chat in a while, only exchanged the occasional text message. Of course she wanted to know who lives in "her" old place now, and it was nice to just generally catch up. Also, she gave me a very nice meal which I had not expected, meaning I didn't need anything else at home.

My fourth day at the office was on Thursday (4 July), with the weather being very similar to the day before. But the sun reappeared late afternoon, and when I walked from the train station to my Mum's, it was so warm I would have liked to get rid of one or two layers of clothing.

I went on an errand for my Mum before we sat down to a delicious meal she had prepared for us.

Friday (5 July) was gorgeous - sunny, dry, and not too warm at 24C/75F. I didn't have time for a walk, because I followed my usual Friday routine of work in the morning, cleaning in the afternoon and travelling to O.K. in the evening.

Taking photos from a high speed train is not easy.

But I tried anyway. The sky was just too beautiful, with the two hot air balloons floating above.

All went well, and by 9:00 pm, O.K. and I were ready for our customary meal of salad, bread, cheese and wine to ring in the weekend. I had been on the train while the Germany - Spain match was on, but my sister played "live ticker" for me and kept me updated via text messages.

O.K. and I drove his Mum into town on Saturday (6 July) for an appointment. The morning had started beautifully, but big black clouds were already gathering early on, and by the time we reached town centre, it was chucking it down. We dropped O.K.'s Mum off, parked the car and then made our way between shops and covered shop fronts where we could shelter from the rain. 

When O.K.'s Mum had finished, we went to eat at a relatively new place none of us had been before, a restaurant offering "Asian Fusion" kitchen, their "fusion" mainly meaning a mix of Japanese, Chinese and Thai food. I liked my creamy but spicy coconut curry with fried vegetables very much.

Back home, we rested for a while and spent the remainder of the afternoon quietly. By 7:00 pm, I was getting so tired (from doing nothing!) that I was ready for bed. Instead, the rain finally let up a bit, and at 7:45, we were able to go for a brief walk around the village, always keeping an eye on the ever-present inky black clouds.

When we were back in the cottage, it did indeed rain more, but there was also a beautiful rainbow above "our" end of the village.

View from O.K.'s cottage

On Sunday (7 July), the village band were playing in Diersburg for the village fête. Of course I came along; it was a fine day, similar to Friday when it had been sunny and warm but not too hot.

After the band's performance, we had something to eat before returning to the village. O.K. changed out of his uniform, and we were back in the car, driving to Offenburg. Ice cream was what we wanted, and ice cream we got!

Afterwards, we walked from town centre to a part of town where we like to walk sometimes, for its beautiful houses, plenty of green and nice views from the hill. This time, we walked different roads, taking in an old church and the large, park-like cemetery.

A castle? No - the front of a water reservoir on the hill of Lindenhöhe, a part of Offenburg.

Information about Weingarten church, a place I'd not been before. The original building dates back to the year 1396, but has been added to and modernised throughout the centuries.

Back at the village, we sat with O.K.'s Mum on her patio for an Apérol Spritz before retreating to the cottage.

It's funny how going to the office feels like a big effort now. Up until some years ago, I didn't think twice about it - it was self-understood that Monday to Friday, one left the house in the morning and returned in the evening. The pandemic changed that for many people, myself included. And although I've been regularly working from home for almost 14 years now, it was never as exclusive as during those few strange years under pandemic regulations.