An Autumn Week

After the rapidly dropping temperature and change of weather on Sunday, the 8th of September (as described here), we have made the complete transition from summer to autumn within a day - all of last week was chilly with some rain nearly every day, and palpably less hours of daylight than only a few weeks ago.

My trains from Offenburg to Ludwigsburg were nearly on time on Monday (09.09.2024), although I had to run across the length and width of Karlsruhe main station in order to catch my connection there. That was my early morning sport done!

After work, I walked a circuit I had not done in many months, to Asperg and back via Eglosheim, in the rain for the last quarter or so. It never got warmer than 18C/64F that day.

After a wet start, Tuesday (10.09.2024) turned out a beautiful early autumn day. I spent my lunch break by having a massage at the nearby day spa, and after work walked to the lake where I'd also not been in months. I enjoyed that two-hour walk in the late afternoon sun very much.

The carp are the length and width of my thighs - I am not kidding you!

Wednesday (11.09.2024) was mostly wet and chilly at a max of 11C/52F, making it an ideal day for the office. It was good to see my Mum after work and spend a few hours at her cosy flat, with a good view of the beautiful sunset that ended an otherwise not exactly beautiful day.

It was more than chilly on Thursday (12.09.2024) morning - only 7C/44F when I got up just after 6:00. The weather was unsettled with sun at first, then rain, and a return of the sun later on. I made use of the sun's reappearance by going for my standard after-work walk to Benningen, which was very nice.

For various reasons, O.K. and I were spending the weekend separately, and so on Friday (13.09.2024), I neither had to prepare for a weekend away nor for a house guest. That allowed me to spend the entire afternoon with my Mum, who so far this year had been to the palace grounds only once.

We met at the bus stop just outside the grounds and had a leisurely stroll from there, stopping every now and then for a little rest. My Mum is 80 now, after all, and can't walk long stretches without a break. But she did really well, and we enjoyed drinks of pumpkin secco (which we insist tastes of apricot, not of pumpkin) at one of the cafés in the park.

The large horse chestnut trees are typical for Ludwigsburg.

Roses are still in bloom.

Of course it is pumpkin season, and what is officially labeled the world's largest pumpkin exhibition is in full swing. There is a different theme every year, and for 2024 it is "Women". We didn't walk close up to each and every one of the many exhibits, but some looked rather good (I liked Marge Simpson!) while others left us indifferent.

Pumpkin secco - should be labeled apricot lemonade!

There seems to be an endless variety of pumpkins.

They really do come in all shapes, colours and sizes!

One of our favourite parts of the palace grounds is this "farmer's garden".

It's been a while since we have visited the Fairytale Garden, which takes up the entire north-eastern part of the palace grounds and is a magnet for families with children. I have been coming to this special place ever since I was a baby and have many fond memories of visits with my parents and grandparents, and later on my own with school friends. 

We were disappointed at how neglected and run-down some of it was, though. At least three or four scenes weren't working, but only one had an "out of order" sign. And this was not the last week of the season, when they'd be forgiven not to put in a great deal of effort but wait with repairs and maintenance until before the new season starts next spring.

For us season ticket holders living in town, it is easy to simply visit again (hoping that repairs have been done by then), but many tourists come from far away and pay good money to enter the park - it's not fair on them, and does not convey a good image of the grounds and of Ludwigsburg as a whole.

My Mum and I still had a nice afternoon together.

On Saturday (14.09.2024), my sister and I were invited to a friend and her husband's birthday do (one of the reasons why O.K. and I did not see each other that weekend). The gathering was at a small museum less than 10 minutes walking distance from where I live, with the large open-plan ground floor being set up with tables and chairs. We didn't know any of the other guests before, and had a very interesting afternoon and evening getting to know them a little, the conversations spanning everything from the funny to the serious and inspiring.

We also greatly enjoyed the food; after coffee and cake, in the evening a buffet of Turkish specialties was set up, and I went twice to fill my plate.

Hard to believe, I had NOTHING in my diary for Sunday (15.09.2024) - and it felt great! I spent the morning on a few household tasks, blogging, reading and playing my favourite computer game for a while.

A little before 2:00 pm, I was on my way to the station for a train to Marbach. By now, the cold morning (6C/42F) had given way to a beautiful sunny afternoon at about 16-18C/60-64F - very nice for a substantial walk.

You may remember that my Mum and I used to have a favourite walk from Marbach station to Steinheim where my parents had their allotment. I still love that walk, even though I now have to walk it alone, and enjoyed every step of it.

When I used to do this with my Mum, we only walked one way, then spent the afternoon at the allotment and rode home in the car with my Dad. Now of course I have to walk all the way there and back, but that's fine; adding a loop in the woods makes the whole circuit about 16.5 km long. I go at my own pace and usually rest for 10 minutes or so on a bench, having a sandwich and a drink of water, and then walk back to Marbach in time for a convenient train to Ludwigsburg.

Many more autumn crocus were in this orchard than what you an see here.

Partly abandoned vineyards line part of the way.

To the right is the village of Lehrhof, to the left (in the valley) a venue for seminars and courses.

Cormus domestica, also known as service tree or sorb tree (thanks, wikipedia!)

My grassy path...!

Into the woods

Forest warden's house

View from the bench where I had my sandwich

On the way back, crossing the river Murr to leave Steinheim

Orchards between Steinheim and Marbach

The leaves are only just starting to turn, and there is still plenty of green about, but all things considered, it really was a proper autumn week - I even turned the radiator on in the bathroom on Sunday morning, for the first time since spring.

Read in 2024 - 20: Our Missing Hearts

Our Missing Hearts

Celeste Ng

Borrowed as a paperback from a friend with whom I more or less regularly exchange books, this has been the best work of fiction I have read so far this year.

The story picks up on the ancient topics of blaming others for things that go wrong ("The woman you created, she gave me the fruit!"), on how much freedom we need versus how much safety and security we want, on the relationships between parents and children, on oppression disguised as it being for a good cause.

Set in a very near future (no year is given, but the reader understands that this could be more or less our present time) in the US, the story follows 12-year-old Noah Gardner, or Bird as he called himself when he was little, on the quest to find his mother who left him and his Dad three years ago.

The dystopian scenario shows a US-American society that has left a series of terrible events, collectively named The Crisis, behind, the apparent return to normality being heavily regulated by PACT, a law introduced by the government and backed by the vast majority of people to keep "American values" and their society safe. China is the enemy, seen as the main cause for The Crisis, and in its wake, anything even remotely Asian is perceived as a potential threat. 

People with Asian heritage obvious in their surnames or their faces are treated as second-class citizens, often subject to abuse ranging from the verbal to the physical.

Bird's mother is the daughter of Chinese-American parents, but so far Bird has escaped the worst abuse, protected by his father who has been raising him alone since his mother left.

One day an enigmatic letter arrives, and it can only be from his mother. It sets Bird on a journey to find her, and along the way, he discovers a secret network of heroic librarians and is reunited with a good friend.

Whether the dictatorial society is going to change for the better after the events in the last part of the book is left to the reader's imagination.

There is a lot of food for thought in this book, and sadly, the PACT-ruled society is not so unlikely - a lot sounds way too familiar in the way people think, talk and treat each other. It was my first read by Celeste Ng, but probably not my last. Her writing style truly resonates with me, it is clear, concise and poetic at the same time.

You can find out more about the author on wikipedia or her own website, and about the book and its background.

I highly recommend "Our Missing Hearts" - not just to Librarians!

Read in 2024 - 19: A Clock Stopped Dead

A Clock Stopped Dead

by J.M. Hall

In the summer of 2022, I came across the first book in this delightful series about three retired primary school teachers in Yorkshire who solve crimes mainly by discussing them over coffee and cake at the Thirsk Garden Center café.

You can find my review of that book here and the second one here.

This year, I knew about the 3rd book through a newsletter I regularly receive from The Little Ripon Bookshop, where the author has been not only to read from his latest work but also supports the shop as a customer, if I remember the newsletter correctly.

Usually, such events happen well before or after my annual stay in Ripon, but one day I hope I'll be able to make it to one.

Anyway, back to the book:

Of course I bought "A Clock Stopped Dead" at the bookshop this summer, and finished it a week or so ago.

Meeting the three main characters Liz, Pat and Thelma again was nice, and I did enjoy the book. But maybe I enjoyed it a little less than the previous two stories. This time, there is a lot of sadness not only in the actual crime(s) but there are also worries in the homelife of each of the friends.

This time, one of their former colleagues has an unsettling experience, bordering on the paranormal, at a very strange charity shop that seems to have vanished into thin air. But then, this former colleague has always been a bit odd herself... on the other hand, there is a very real death that may or may not be related.

A lot happens in the book: There is a "ghost hunt" experience where everyone wants their money back, an amateur play group are working hard to put a successful play on stage, a house that could hold important clues is for sale, and much more.

On the home front, one of the husbands has a complete change of career, one of the grown-up children moves back in, and one of the ladies has a hard time accepting her upcoming 60th birthday.

It is hard to describe, but the overall feeling I got from the story was that of a bleak and cold place. For our three, things end as well as can be expected. And of course I am going to be the next one, too; I really like the set-up and can relate to a lot of what these ladies, not much older than myself, are going through (although I am still many years away from retirement).

If any of you have read this one, I'd like to learn what you thought of it, especially compared to the first too.

First Week of September

Here in my part of Germany, the first week of September was still very warm. Apart from the light and some other signs, it felt more like summer than approaching autumn. 

All during the week, I took very few photos - there weren't that many occasions for it, or rather I wasn't inclined to take many.

In between working from home, on Monday (02.09.2024) I took a train to Stuttgart and went to my quarterly eye check-up. Everything was fine; in fact, my doctor said that the inner-eye pressure had never been so good. She encouraged me to continue the treatment we have started a while ago, with two different drops to be taken every morning, and one every night. 

For those lucky ones among you who have perfect eyesight or are otherwise unaware of such things, the pressure inside the eye is a determining factor for the optical nerve's condition. 

With my extreme shortsightedness, a hereditary condition I have been living with for as long as I can remember, especially in my left eye the optical nerve has not been "good" in decades. It needs careful monitoring, and an increase in pressue is to be avoided. I was very glad when my doctor told me that the new combination of drops is showing good results.

As almost always, I was early for my appointment and stopped at a church on the way to the surgery. I have showed you pictures of the outside of St. Fidelis before (click here for the 2018 post), but on that Monday I had enough time to venture inside.

And I am glad I did - it really is a beautiful and rather unusual church, only about 100 years old. The organ in particular struck me as something I have never seen before; it was renovated in the 1960s.

Angels outside St. Fidelis

The bright and airy inside

The organ is decorated unlike any church I have seen before.

Nearby Hoppenlau cemetery looked rather autumnal that day.

The weather was all over the place from rain in the morning to sun and clouds, at a high of 27C/80F.

On Tuesday and Wednesday (03./04.09.2024) I worked at the office. Tuesday was warmer than expected; on my way home from Zuffenhausen across the sunlit fields, I did enjoy the 2 hours of walking, but every little breeze was welcome at 28C/82F.

It rained both in the morning and evening on Wednesday, making for a combination of fresh and at the same time humid air. My sister and I met at our Mum's after work and enjoyed her home-baked Zwiebelkuchen ("onion cake" which is a specialty here, especially at this time of year; it is not a sweet cake but savoury and more like a pie).

Sunset last Wednesday

Once the early morning mist lifted on Thursday (05.09.2024), the sun warmed the day to 28C/82 F again. I worked from home and walked to Benningen afterwards, something I always enjoy.

The first autumn crocus I have spotted this season!

It was finally cooler, allowing for better sleep during the night, and still cool at 16C/60F on Friday (06.09.2024) morning. By mid-afternoon, it was warm again at 26C/79F; not an unusual range of temperature this time of year.

After work, I took the trains to Offenburg; my usual connection wasn't running but I still made it by 8:00 pm, when O.K. picked me up at the station.

We had a delicious meal of couscous and ratatouille at the cottage before joining the neighbours for a neighbourhood street party around the stone fountain on the small square in "our" part of the village.

Thankfully, this year the party didn't continue in our next door neighbour's garden until 4:00 in the morning, but ended at 1:30 - still less sleep than we'd have liked, but we did at least catch some. (This neighbour's garden goes right up to the bedroom window of O.K.'s cottage with only a wooden fence between the two properties, and when people are in the garden, it can feel as if they were sitting and talking right in our bedroom.)

We left before 10:00 on Saturday (07.09.2024) morning for the small and picturesque town of Zell am Harmersbach, where O.K. had an appointment at the optician's. I went along, reading magazines until it was time to help choose a new frame for his glasses. (And I had fun trying on some frames myself, just to make silly faces.)

It was lunch time when we finished, and we had something to eat at a café before strolling back to the car, stopping along the way to buy icecreams - very welcome at 29C/84F.

At 6:00 pm, we were expected in the vicarage garden: It was 100 years ago to the day - almost to the hour! - that the village band was founded, and the occasion was marked for the musicians and their families with a BBQ. Many were still on holiday, though, and so it was a relatively small gathering, but nice to sit and chat with the others.

Sunday was very different from the rest of the week: It rained intermittently nearly all day and was chilly at only 18C/64F. We didn't do much; even a walk we attempted late afternoon was cut short when rain set in once again.

But we met mid-afternoon at O.K.'s Mum's with his sister and her husband for coffee and delicious home-baked apple pie, which was nice.

A cosy evening with a meal of grilled cheese and salad plus watching a documentary about the Dolomites with great mountain views ended this first week of September for us.

Last Week of August

The last week of August had a definite "end of summer" feel for me, even though from Wednesday onwards the days were hot again and the nights weren't cool enough to get good sleep.

Monday (26.08.2024) was off to a sunny, but chilly start - only 10C/50F, colder than what it had been in many months. I was glad that the train was on time and I didn't have a long wait on the cold platform in Offenburg.

After work, I went to my Mum's. For her birthday, she had chosen a chest of drawers to fit better in her bedroom than the old one. My sister bought it with her from the big IKEA just outside Ludwigsburg, we shared the cost, and I offered to set it up. 

Maybe I am one of the few people who actually enjoy working through the instructions, starting by unpacking and laying everything out, then counting all the parts to make sure nothing is missing. When I turned 40 (16 1/2 years ago), I bought new bedroom furniture as a present to myself, and set it all up on my own, with the exception of the wardrobe - those parts were simply too big and heavy for me to hold them up while putting the screws in etc., so I needed an extra pair of hands there.

I really enjoyed doing that back then, and have had occasion to put the odd bit of furniture together since. Now I had a chance to get my teeth into another piece!

My Mum's bedroom is on the attic floor of her flat, and it was really, really warm up there - I was literally dripping sweat all over the instruction booklet. But apart from that, everything was fine; no parts were missing, and the instructions were clear and easy to follow.

Still, it took a long time, and shortly before 9:00 pm, I had enough and called it a day, to return on the Friday.

For most of Tuesday (27.08.2024) I worked from home, but mid-afternoon I took a train into Stuttgart to attend a work-related event. Afterwards, I walked from there to Nordbahnhof, repeating the walk I had taken here, only this time the park looked rather different with the spring flowers all gone and the golden light of a late summer early evening instead of an April day.

The day was warmer than Monday but not yet hot (26C/79F).

Wednesday (28.08.2024) was an uneventful day at the office with a wide range of temperature: 15C/59F in the morning and 30C/86F in the afternoon. I didn't feel like an after-work walk; it was too hot for comfortable walking. Also, I had enjoyed the walk on Tuesday and was fine with a walk-less day in between.

It kept getting warmer; by Thursday (29.08.2024), the thermometer showed 18C/64F in the morning and then a high of 32C/89F.

Working from home meant I was able to meet a friend for lunch;both the food and the conversation were very good. 

My Mum had her second cataract operation in the morning; everything went fine and she was back home a few hours later. 

It was too hot for a proper walk, but there was still a bit of daylight left after the main news on TV, and so I went for a stroll around the neighbourhood. It was a good time to meet cats - several were out and about, clearly having spent the hottest part of the day somewhere else. Only one talked to me, though, and allowed me to stroke her.

Friday (30.08.2024) was the hottest day of the week at 33C/91F. I would have liked to finish the chest of drawers at my Mum's in the relative coolness of the morning, but it wasn't possible due to work.

Therefore, once again I spent a sweaty few hours upstairs at my Mum's and was really glad to put the finishing touches at the chest of drawers, followed by passing the hoover round. (Before I started, I had coffee with my Mum and her friend who had come up from her ground floor flat for a chat, and to look after her after the eye operation.)

Sunset that day, as seen from my Third Room

O.K. and I spent the weekend separately; on the Saturday (31.08.2024), he was busy playing with the village band at a wedding of two band members, and I went on a trip down memory lane with two friends from Librarian School.

It was a lovely day, albeit a bit hot for all the walking that we did; especially the steep uphill bits took their toll at 30C/86F. Good job we wore sun hats, stuck to the shade as much as possible, walked no faster than what felt comfortable, and made sure to drink plenty of water.

We started with a sumptuous breakfast at 10:30 in Hirsau, where we used to go for coffee & cake many times. A short walk along the river took us into the town of Calw, where we went to Librarian School and lived at the hospital's dorm for nurses from 1986 to 1988.

Bridge across the river Nagold in Hirsau

Café in Hirsau (formerly Café Essig, now Gugelhupf)

Of course we revisited all our old places - the dorm, our school, the shops and cafés we remembered. A lot in Calw is still familiar, but the town has also changed a lot, mostly for the better. There really wasn't much there for young people back in the 1980s - we were 18 years old when we started. Now, one is spoilt for choice in terms of shops and places for going out.

Dorm in Calw; my room was on the first floor above the entrance, the third from the left here.

Calw market square

Calw

Calw

It definitely was a day for ice cream!

I went to Librarian School here in Calw-Wimberg from 1986 to 1988.

I was back home a bit before 6:00 pm after what had been a good day of time-travel and of course catching up with my friends; they both live about an hour's drive from me, and we don't get to see each other often.

Sunday was here, and the 1st of September! Another hot and sunny day, just right to stay indoors and do my taxes... Like cleaning my windows, this is one of the few jobs I postpone until the last possible moment, and then when I tackle them, I have to admit that they aren't really that horrible, and I finish quicker than expected.

It was the first time that I had to do my taxes with two employers to consider, but it was less complicated than I had feared, with most of the data already automatically transferred by my employers - all done in a couple of hours.

After a bite to eat and a little rest, I walked to my sister's and spent the rest of the afternoon in her garden, reading in the shade of the big old trees.