We really, really needed some rain and finally got some last week. Hand in hand with that came cooler temperatures; some mornings it was so cold that I switched the heating on in my bathroom for a while before I went in to shower. When it's 8C/46F in February, I use the heating, too, so I felt justified to use it now even though it is June and officially early summer.
On Monday (8 June 2026), the return trip from Offenburg to Ludwigsburg was a bit different than usual. The regular connection where I can stay put for about an hour and only have to change in Stuttgart for the last 15 minutes to Ludwigsburg wasn't running. Instead, I had to change trains twice, first in Karlsruhe and then again in Stuttgart. No big deal, and all went well. It was, however, a rather noisy journey; both times the trains were full of teenagers on school trips. Oh, the joys of puberty...!! They weren't unruly or totally daft, just talking loudly and giggling, as is any group of teenager's duty. On a Monday morning, having gotten up at 5:20 am, I would have welcomed a quieter journey, but that's just the grumpy old woman in me.
I worked from home, enjoyed a massage mid-afternoon and my customary walk to Benningen in the evening. It was warm at 27C/80F and humid with rain about to fall, but I only caught the very first drops as I was rounding the corner to my house.
The company I work for does a lot to keep energy and water consumption low, cause little waste and generally manage the building in a sustainable, environmentally friendly way. One of many things contributing to that end is that pollinator-friendly plants grow around the canteen's patio and on the flat roof. Another one is that the company pays a beekeeper to look after two bee colonies. Once a year, a small batch of "our" own honey can be bought by us for 5 euros a jar.
The beekeeper was visiting that day, and we had been invited to meet him for a talk in the canteen and then go out to look at the two hives.
It was VERY interesting - bees are such fascinating animals! - and although I had known some of what the friendly beekeeper told us, I learned many new things, too. It is amazing how much beekeepers need to know and do, all at the right time to suit the "bee year"!
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| The patio outside our canteen. I have drawn a red frame around my windows to show you where I usually am on Wednesdays. |
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| Showing us the queen |
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| Explaining which of the wooden frames in the hive serves what purpose |
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| We learned why beekeepers use smoke to calm the bees. |
After work, I walked home from Zuffenhausen, since the intermittent rain had stopped. It was windy so that the 20C/68F felt like 13C/55F, but it was a good walk nonetheless.
A thunderstorm cooled the air even more on Wednesday; it didn't get warmer than 13C/55F all day, and with the wind and some rain, I went straight to my Mum's after work without putting in any extra walking.
Thursday was the week's coldest day at 8C/46F in the morning. It was dry by the time I left the office, and so no problem to walk about half an hour to a shop where my former upstairs neighbour now works. I have not met her in almost a year, and we had arranged for me to come to the shop by the time she finished work. Driving us both back to Ludwigsburg gave us about half an hour's time to catch up. It was good to see her. She didn't know yet that O.K. and I got married last month, and she was as happy to receive the news as I was to give them :-)
Friday (12 June) was another chilly, grey, wet day. At a max of 12C/53F under a grey sky it felt more like November than June, but all the green outside and of course the long daylight hours were proof that it actually was summer.
The neighbour whose cat and two rabbits I had been looking after for two weeks came over for coffee and a chat, and she brought me a small bag of gifts - absolutely not necessary, but a very nice surprise.
Because of O.K. being on a day trip on Saturday with his year from school, we spent the weekend separately. The weather made it more attractive to stay inside once work and housework were done, and I had a quiet evening on my own.
I have mentioned a few times that my Mum knits and crochets socks, hats, scarves and other things and sells them at a pre-Christmas market in town every year. On Saturday (13 June), a small crafts & gifts "summer market" was held in the former industrial estate near the station, and my Mum had a stall in one of the buildings.
My sister and I set up the tables and chairs for her and then took turns to sit with her for a while. Later, a friend joined our Mum, and my sister and I went for ice creams - it was nice and warm again (26C/79F), although VERY windy.
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| One happy customer - a lady bought a baby blanket for her dog; they had a stall outside and used the blanket right away :-) |
Sunday (14 June) was sunny and still windy but not quite as much, and at a high of 22C/71F ideal walking weather.
For a while, I had meant to revisit my grandparents' former allotment, just waiting for a good opportunity. Now that I had all day to myself and the weather was good, I prepared a sandwich and my water flask, put on walk-friendly shoes and set off to the station.
At 1:00 pm I got off the train in Backnang and had my mobile phone direct me to the village of Steinbach (not to be mistaken with Steinheim, where my parents used to have their allotment), about 4.5 km away. It was easy to find, and once I was there, I had no trouble remembering the exact way up the hill behind the village and into woods.
Partly sad that it had changed almost beyond recognition, partly relieved that I now knew and would not feel the need to come here again, I walked to the nearest bench to eat my sandwich, enjoy the view and reminisce a little.
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| The view I had from near the bench. |
I sat there for maybe 20 minutes before I walked back down into the village and on to Backnang to catch a train home. The way back was much nicer than the way in, down in the valley along the river Murr (incidentally, the same river that goes through Steinheim, as seen in my posts about walking there, for instance here).
It had been a good walk up (not down!) memory lane (the path to the woods went quite steeply uphill for a bit), but while the area is beautiful for walking, I don't think I'll come back; chapter closed.
Oh my, you must have mixed feelings after visiting the allotment. You will always have lovely memories of it, and can return to those good memories any time you like! Remember you said on my blog that you can confirm that I can crochet? Well, I can confirm that your Mum is a fantastic knitter! Wish I could have visited her stall of knitted pieces of art. Now, I can hardly believe how lucky you are to work where you actually have a beehive on the roof and that you can purchase the honey. I hope that you do so! It is funny, your photo of the dog on the baby blanket. I once crocheted a blanket for a co-worker who wanted a baby very badly. My other co workers told me that I shouldn't, it would just emphasize that she couldn't have a baby. When I gave it to her, I told her she could use it for her dogs, if she wanted, but I somehow felt very strongly that I should give her a baby blanket. She and her husband adopted a baby and she told me later, she used that blanket! There, you see what memories you bring to me? xx
ReplyDeleteThat's lovely about the baby blanket you gave your colleague. My Mum, too, is always so very pleased when she learns that people have been using the things she made. When my neighbour and hairdresser had her second child, a daughter, I asked my Mum to make a baby blanket for the baby, and she made the softest light pink one. My neighbour used it for the baby, and now that the girl is four or five now, she uses it for her doll.
DeleteAh, Ice Creams, even though it's windy ! Like a Famous Five story by Enid Blyton.
ReplyDeleteI've had just 2 ices in '26. Choc from Haagen-Dazs. No Waitrose Coconut-Lime in years !
Cold enough to need heating ? Mine was on once in December ; we had a green winter.
Bee Keeper was a sweet surprise. I'd like to try that honey on brown toasted bread !
Your grandparents' old allotment, bittersweet experience. Thirty-six years, a lifetime !
* I now knew and would not feel the need to come here again. *
* Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears. * Wordsworth.
It's regret and finality. If you can see it as an end a beginning, there's the joy.
I found the phrase from a preface to the journals of Dorothy Day Catholic activist.
An end and a beginning. Oh, the River Murr valley, those trees in the wind ...
I want ice cream only when it's warm and sunny, but wind does not deter me. Last year, I didn't have many, because either the weather wasn't right or we didn't have time (I never buy an ice cream just on my own) or it was just before a meal etc. We mostly get ours from the Italian ice cream parlours dotted around town.
DeleteI was surprised at how little it affected me to see the old allotment so completely transformed. It appeared well cared for, not neglected; had it been visibly abandoned, I would have sought a gap in the fence and have a snoop round. It was interesting, but not surprising, how my feet found the way without my head needing to think.
I laughed out loud at your description of teenagers and their duty to be loud ! You are absolutely right , and it’s a time of life I would not want to return to Siobhan
ReplyDeleteNeither would I, Siobhan!
DeleteMy teenage years fell right into 1980s, meaning it was also my "duty" to have a different hair colour every few weeks - NOT good for my hair...
Nothing stays the same - including the allotment that was a happy, peaceful backdrop to so many lovely family memories. I think the highlight of the week must have been that young beekeeper. But if he keeps the bees who looks after the other twenty five letter in the alphabet?
ReplyDeleteThere must be a-keepers and c-keepers and all the rest of it, too, but so far I have only met the beekeeper.
DeleteIt really was fascinating. He is a busy man, fulltime beekeeper who looks after a total of about 280 hives dotted all around Baden-Württemberg; a small number is placed with companies, such as ours, but most of them are out in the countryside and are not sponsored by anyone.
You have a nice view from your office window! Sounds like you enjoyed the good walk to your grandparent's allotment and now you don't have to do it again!
ReplyDeleteI'm always amazed by beekeepers who can handle those bees and not get stung!
Hope you have a good week, Meike.
I am within a "U" of the building, looking at other offices on all sides but with the courtyard below, I like to observe the seasonal changes with the plants there.
DeleteIt was important for me to get that walk out of my system, so to speak.
The beekeeper said that he gets stung every day at least once, but he is so used to it, it doesn't matter to him. I kept my distance!!
You too have a good week, Ellen.
Beekeeping is fascinating! I love the fact that your company promotes environmental responsibility and even has a pollinator garden and bees! That's just wonderful. Will you buy some of the honey?
ReplyDeleteIt's really fascinating; he could have talked (and we could have listened) for hours, but of course everybody had to get back to work at some stage :-D
DeleteI am not sure yet whether I'll buy some of that honey; I eat very little honey and still have an almost full jar given to me as part of a birthday present LAST year. Also, the small batch of jars available for us at the company usually is sold out very quickly.
The beekeeper and honey idea is so great. Our school should do something like that. (Then again, maybe they can't because of liability in case of bee stings or allergies?)
ReplyDeleteThat dog on the blanket definitely looks like a satisfied customer!
We had a chilly, wet week too, but I was so thankful to finally get some moisture.
In our case, we all know that the hives are there, we don't usually walk over there from the canteen, and the bees usually fly away from the building, not to it. So far, I have not heard of any colleague who was stung by "our" bees.
DeleteThe rain was so welcome here, too, but actually nowhere near enough to replenish the ever-sinking groundwater level.
Visually I like the dramatic sky in the Monday photos :) - Revisiting places one only remembers from long ago can sometimes feel nostalgic, sometimes disappointing - really hard to tell in advance if one has no idea of how things may have changed...
ReplyDeleteI liked those skies, too, but was glad to make it home before the rain really arrived :-)
DeleteYes, revisiting places can be bittersweet. In this case I had been thinking about going there for a while but was waiting for the right time, and I am glad I went when I did. I felt I needed to do this for myself.
Your first few photographs have the quality of watercolour paintings - quite delightful.
ReplyDeleteLearning from experts like your bee-keeper is so rewarding. How lovely to be able to purchase your very own honey.
Thank you, Janice! I love looking at the sky, especially on my walks when my view is not hindered from buildings on all sides.
DeleteThe beekeeper was one of those people who can talk about their field of expertise without ever being boring.
We have had a lot of rain here and, like you, I even switched the central heating on for a few hours one day as it was so chilly. I am very impressed with your bee keeper who did the demonstration with bare arms and face without protective clothing!
ReplyDeleteAddy again. One day I'll check it is showing me before I click PUBLISH.
DeleteSomeone in our group asked him about protective clothing, and he said he doesn't use it; he only wears the gloves and mostly a t-shirt and khaki pants for work. He also said that he gets stung every day but he doesn't mind!
DeleteSwitching the heating on will definitely NOT be necessary here for the next two weeks or so; we're in for a heatwave with up to 38C during the day and not under 20C during the night. I am not looking forward to that.
The sky is very interesting in the first four photographs. Quite unusual in fact. I like it.
ReplyDeleteThe vegetation area at the back of your office block is also quite unusual. I am used to sterile concrete, or at most a few shrubs, outside office blocks where I live.
I like the beekeeper information. It certainly brings to life the importance of nature and to have this in a working, office, city environment is unusual although I know that there are similar projects of roof top beehives in central London.
When I started on that walk to Benningen with the sky promising rain, I kept a close eye on those clouds - optimistically, I had neither brought an umbrella nor was I wearing a hood (it was warm). I was lucky, seeing the unusual sky colour and texture and making it home just in time before the rain began in earnest.
DeleteThe office is on the outskirts of Stuttgart with orchards, fields and even woodland close by. The bees have been doing well over the few years we've been hosting the two hives outside the canteen.
The company does many more good things. For instance, we generate almost all our own electricity on the rooftop; we regularly support a soup kitchen in Stuttgart; we collect Christmas presents for children from disadvantaged families; we support an orphanage and school in Malawi; we do charity runs and so on.