Last Week of January

Unlike the week before, which was almost walkless for me, last week was quite good in that respect. Also, it started off with snow and then saw a mix of sun and clouds with some rain thrown in for good measure.

On Monday (26 January), I had a smooth trip back to Ludwigsburg in the morning. My sister had sent a picture on Sunday night with the view from her house towards the street, all covered in snow, while 150 km away, we saw not a single flake.

From the train, I spotted the first snow after Bruchsal, more than half way home, and as the train was pulling into Stuttgart, the layer of snow grew thicker. I took this picture from the local train for the last part of my trip, from Stuttgart to Ludwigsburg; I have walked along that tree-lined road many times and have posted pictures of it on my blog every now and then:

Reaching my house, this is how much snow was around the front door:

The views from my kitchen and my living room:

For my lunch break I had booked a massage at the nearby day spa. I walked there cautiously; the streets and pavements in my neighbourhood were covered in snow and, where people had meant well and swept off the snow, slipperly slush. No wonder then that I spotted a man on his hands and knees, trying to get upright again after a fall, but unable to do so without help. 

I rushed over (carefully, so as not to fall as well) and helped him up, which wasn't easy - although he was rather short, reaching only my shoulder height, he was also rather rotund and heavy. It didn't help that he couldn't stop laughing - he obviously pictured himself cartoon-style like sliding, slipping and falling. 

Eventually, he was upright, still laughing and clutching my hands. I asked him three times whether he was hurting and should I call an ambulance, but he insisted that he was fine and said "Thank you for seeing me", which was a bit of an odd choice of words, but then he didn't sound a native German speaker anyway. He then walked away, carefully avoiding the slushy-slippery bits on the pavement. I watched him for a moment before I went on to my appointment at the day spa.

After work, I had about an hour left before sunset and went to the fields for a walk in the snow. At first, the sun just about managed to get through, but quite wonderfully, shortly before sunset it threw golden rays across the snow - my photos can only give a poor impression of what was truly beautiful.

Tuesday (27 January) was wet and cold with rain washing much of the snow away. It was a good day for working from home, and also a good evening to spend at the pub. This time, we did better at the quiz, coming third and leaving the pub with a bottle of sparkling wine as our prize.

My usual day at the office followed on Wednesday (28 January). It started foggy with more rain later. The local trains were in their customary chaotic state. After work, I went to my see my Mum for a chat and a snack.

View from my kitchen just before 8:00 on Wednesday morning.

Glad to be working from home on Thursday (29 January), another cold and wet day, I still managed to stretch my legs for a bit more than an hour after work, covering the not exactly picturesque round to Asperg and back to Ludwigsburg via Eglosheim.

Friday (30 January) started sunny and bright, with grey clouds moving in later but no rain or snow. I had a badly needed hair cut between finishing work and starting on the cleaning. O.K. arrived at 9:00 pm. While the butternut & parsnip soup I had prepared was heating, we had crackers and cheese.

My Dad would have been 84 years old on Saturday (31 January). As has become our habit after his death in 2022, we had a remembrance meal at my Mum's in the evening, eating what was one of his favourite dishes.

It was a beautiful day, and so after breakfast, O.K. and I had gone into town for breakfast and a look at a shoe shop we favour. We each found a pair of shoes we liked, but finding a place for breakfast took a while - our usual cafés were full to the brim, and we ended up at a bakery where my sister and I had had breakfast months ago and really enjoyed it.

We went for a walk on the now snow-less fields and also visited my Dad's bird marker at the cemetery. 

Back home, we rested for a little before going to my Mum's for the evening.

Sunday (1st of February) was cloudy but dry, with patches of blue. After breakfast, we set off for a walk to Asperg with the castle on the hill, where we had not been in a while.

About 2 1/2 hours later, we were back home for coffee & cake. A rest followed before I started to cook. It was pasta with brokkoli and mushrooms fried in olive oil and what I intended to be a creamy sauce - it was tasty enough, but the sauce nearly entirely disappeared in the pasta due to its shape (fusilli - if you don't know what they look like, click here for the wikipedia article).

O.K. had to leave after that, and I was glad when he reported from almost home 1 hour 20 minutes later - no hold-ups on the motorway, no ice or other difficult driving conditions.