June Is Half Over!

...and the first half of 2025 will be over in another two weeks, as hard it is to believe. What have I been up to in the seven days until the 15th?

Monday (9 June) was a public holiday in Germany (Pentecost Monday). It meant that O.K. and I had another day together, unlike our regular weekends when he drives home on Sunday night or I leave by train early Monday morning.

It was warm-ish at 23C/73F and very windy, but remained sunny all day. In the afternoon, we went for a walk on the fields, taking in the cemetery on our way to my Mum's, where we, including my sister, met for coffee and cake. 

Afterwards, we walked some more, this time with my sister. Before O.K. headed home that evening, we ate the Tabouleh I had made, accompanied by a leafy salad with crumbly feta cheese.

The weather was pretty much the same on Tuesday (10 June). I worked from home, and after a productive day walked to Pattonville, where I had not been in a while. Usually, I enjoy that walk, but somehow I felt tired sooner than normal and decided to return home maybe half an hour earlier than what I regularly do for this circuit.

On a recently mowed field close to the busy road between Ludwigsburg and Pattonville, I spotted a heron (not an unusual sight) standing in the grass, waiting for a mouse or other small rodent to appear. Not far from the heron sat a large hare, a bit twitchy every time the heron moved, but totally unfazed by the cars rushing by on the road. I was very much hoping the hare would not start running towards the road, attempting to cross it; that would almost certainly have resulted in its death. But fortunately, the hare eventually moved away from the road and further into the field. Phew!

No change weather-wise on Wednesday (11 June). I was back to my normal self again and after having worked all day at the office, got off the train in Zuffenhausen and walked home across the fields from there, which did me good.

Thursday (12 June) was warmer at a high of 28C/82F. Another productive day working from home was followed by my standard walk to Benningen, always a good idea.

It was hot on Friday (13 June) at 30C/86F, the sun shining from an almost cloudless sky. O.K. and I were invited to a Pinseria (if you don't know what pinsa is - not the same as pizza! - you can easily find out about it online) in Offenburg, which meant I finished work earlier than usual in order to arrive on time. I made it, and we had a pleasant evening with friends and very nice food.

Saturday (14 June) was the hottest day of that week, the thermometer reaching 32C/almost 90F. We spent the morning doing the odd job in and around the house, having a good rest in the afternoon, and later enjoying a small family BBQ in front of O.K.'s Mum's house, where by then there was enough shade to sit comfortably. 

Next to me is O.K.'s Mum, but I have not asked her permission to be shown here.

Thunderstorms and heavy rainfall were forecast for Sunday (15 June), and they duly appeared - not just once, but several times during the day, and from late afternoon onwards, it rained almost non stop. The rain was important, as it had not been raining all week, but it made the air so humid that even just a short walk mid-afternoon was enough to send me back to the settee for a rest.

We ended the week and our weekend together with a delicious meal of fried green asparagus (probably the last one for this year), grilled pieces of lamb and a salad of tomatoes and mozzarella (not a full Caprese, since we didn't have any basil). For some escapism, we watched a cheesy made-for-TV film, the kind where you know exactly what's going to happen, and to O.K.'s amusement I even predicted some of the lines the characters were going to say, sometimes down to the exact words. Every now and then, I love watching something like that - just not too often, or my brain will turn to mush.