Mixed Week

Last week was a mixed week in terms of weather as well as of activities.

On Monday (24 March), I was working from home and having quite a productive morning until I realised that once again one half of my flat was without electricity, which in turn meant that the attic flat was completely without it, and we had neither hot water nor heating. We use gas for both, but the heating system itself needs electricity to switch on.

A frantic series of phone calls followed, and repair was promised for the following day. I needed to get out after all that, and went for a walk across the old and new cemetery, through the quarter of town furthest from mine, and back.

The weather improved after a rainy morning, and the afternoon was relatively mild at 15C; still, after hours without heating, my flat felt chilly, and I spent the evening wrapped in a blanket on the settee, NOT looking forward to the next morning when I knew I would not be able to have a hot shower.

But I was still able to have coffee on the morning of Tuesday (25 March); I simply set up the machine in the living room. Also, I plugged the kettle in there and thus had hot water to pour into the sink so that I could have a wash. The family in the attic flat, with two children of 3 and 7 years, had nothing.

Around lunch time, the electrician appeared. It didn't take him long to locate and repair the fault, but he did warn us that this could happen again - well, it HAD already happened "again", four weeks after the previous outtage. Anyway, my relief was shortlived - five minutes after he'd left, the electricity was off AGAIN!!

More frantic phone calls, and finally by late afternoon, he was back, and so was one of the two brothers who co-own the house with me. His is the attic flat, and the family living there are his tenants. After a little while, everything was back in working order, but the warning was repeated, and this time the electrician showed us that it was actually now in the hands of the provider; he had done what he could.

The co-owner and I tried to ring them, but couldn't get through. On their website, we found an email address, and sent a request there. Nothing else could be done that day, and I so needed to get out of the house and walk my frustration off. About an hour and 15 minutes later, I turned back in, feeling better and glad that we did not have to face another chilly evening and a morning without hot water.

I had been back from my walk only for a few minutes when indeed someone from the provider returned our earlier request. He wanted to know a few more details, and I sent him pictures that the electrician had taken. Someone was going to be in touch about an appointment... well, it's almost a week later now, and nobody has been in touch. I suppose I have to send them a friendly reminder.

Wednesday (26 March) was totally unremarkable - perfectly fine by me! It was cold and wet, not at all walk-friendly, and so after returning from a busy day at the office, I didn't do anything but rest.

A bit of spring in my bedroom

A good day followed on Thursday (27 March), with the sun conquering the morning's grey clouds in the afternoon. At 12C/53F, it was reasonably mild, too, and so after work I simply HAD to go for my standard walk to Benningen. It really did me good, with plenty of birds to hear and see, and signs of spring everywhere.

During the day, I had observed two buzzards circling above my neighbourhood, and a third one sitting on the top of the very high pine tree in front of my study window. The sitting buzzard called out, and the circling ones replied. After a while, the bird on the tree joined them, and all three took off where I couldn't see them anymore. While buzzards are by no means unusual in my area, it is rare for them to come right into town.

Friday (28 March) was the best day of the week, weather-wise. Sunny and warm, but I worked until just after 4:00 pm and was to leave for the train station shortly after 6:00 pm; no walk for me, therefore, but I needed the couple of hours between work and travel to do my cleaning and other household things.

The long-distance train from Stuttgart to Offenburg was delayed by 20 minutes. The reason was an elderly man who felt ill on the train; an ambulance was called, and the medics and his wife had a hard time to convince him to get off the train and have himself checked over properly. Thanks to his stubbornness, everyone else had to change plans or make other arrangements, especially those who had a connection to catch. 

Not me, thankfully! I texted O.K. and he simply drove to the train station 20 minutes later, and a little after 9:00 pm, we sat down to our customary Friday evening meal of bread, cheese, wine and salad.

O.K. was busy gardening around his cottage and his Mum's house on Saturday (29 March) while I was doing the ironing. It was rather windy and not very warm, but remained dry for most of the time. When O.K. asked me to fetch him a specific garden tool from his parents' allotment, I jumped at the chance to have at least that little walk up the hill behind the village and to the edge of the woods where the allotment is. It takes ten minutes one way, so was by no means a substantial walk, but better than nothing - and frankly, I didn't mind a few quiet hours to myself, just relaxing.

This is what we see from O.K.'s living room these days!

By 4:00 pm O.K. put away the gardening things, and after coffee and cake we changed, he into his village band uniform and I into a dress. We walked to church, where the band were providing the music for the Saturday evening mass. Afterwards, it was the village band's annual assembly in the church hall next door. Since I am a so-called passive member of the band (I pay an annual fee and help with events but am not a musician), I came along.

The first part of the assembly dealt with reports and formalities; band members who had passed away during the last year (such as O.K.'s Dad) were honoured, and music was played. Snacks and drinks were provided, and we ended up chatting until around midnight before we walked home.

On Sunday (30 March), like everybody else across the EU we had to deal with one hour less sleep thanks to the useless switch to summertime. It wasn't too hard, though, since we didn't have to be up at a specific time.

The morning was chilly at only 6C/42F, but by the time we left the house it was milder at 12-13C/53-55F. It was windy and cloudy, but we still enjoyed the walk to the nearby village where O.K.'s sister and her husband live. We were invited there for coffee and cake, which was very nice of them - and the invitation included the offer to drive us back afterwards.

It took us about 1 1/2 hours to cover the 8+ km, partly through woodland and by a lake, and all of it entirely flat. Not a challenging walk, but for a change, nice to walk paths we don't know inside out.

We spotted a deer more or less here (but of course it was long gone by the time I took this picture).

Back at the cottage, we settled for our usual quiet Sunday evening. O.K. cooked pasta with fried fennel and dried tomatoes, very nice and spicy. An early bedtime followed - and not only the week, but March was (as good as) over.