Into the Woods, Part II

As I said at the end of my previous post, we left Solitude palace after a short rest with sandwiches and water and went on, into a different part of the woods, towards a lake and yet another (tiny) palace where we know they serve coffee and cake.

Don't worry, I am not going to bore you to death with even more pictures of trees and leaves and paths, just this one because I found it so impressive:
 

After another hour or so of walking, we arrived at the "Bärenschlössle", "Bear Palace".  It does not really have anything to do with bears, but takes its name from "bear creek", a small river that used to flow nearby. In 1768 - 200 years before I was born - the then Duke of Wuerttemberg wanted yet another special place for his beloved hunting parties, dances and other festivities. He loved Venice and had an artificial lake created where original Venetian gondolas carried him and his guests across the water. The lake is still there, called Bärensee (bear lake), but the original building was demolished some years after his death.
In 1817, the King of Wuerttemberg had a new building erected. It was badly damaged in WWII, re-erected, and burned down completely in 1994. Since then, it has been rebuilt close to what it looked like in 1817. 
Today, it serves as a restaurant and can be rented as a location for private and corporate events.

It is very popular with walkers and cyclists who come to this part of the woods and stop here for a meal. We were lucky to find a table on the gallery, with a good view of the lake. Coffee and cake were most welcome!
 

Afterwards, we walked on, crossed the Bärensee on this dam and walked along it until our route led us across a busy road and into another bit of woodland adjacent to Stuttgart's university area.

Wildflowers along the way. The camera does not do justice to the brilliancy of their colours.

Last bit of wood - I promise!

Between the students' dorms and university buildings, the whole campus area is rather green. We spotted a heron on the roof of one of the dorms (overlooking a pond with huge carp in it), and this bird circling above. I know it was not a buzzard, but I am not sure what it really was. It was very difficult to take a decent picture, I wished Graham was there with his camera!

The campus train station was where we were headed. It had been a very good walk and the perfect route for a day like this.

Into the Woods

...was where we wanted to go last Sunday, and so we did.
It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm enough to welcome the shade under the trees.
In Ludwigsburg's immediate vicinity, there are no woods to speak of, but a few train stops away, closer to Stuttgart, is a large woodland area (called "Glemswald") where many paths offer enough space for walkers, runners and cyclists without getting in each other's way.

The font with the hare relief above is called Häslesbrunnen, "hare's font". It has been there for centuries as a welcome stop for people (and probably their horses or other animals, too) to refresh themselves with a drink of water. Until the 1950s or so, the water was deemed of drinking quality, but standards have changed and nowadays a sign says "no drinking water".
The relief was created in the 1950s by an artist about whom I didn't know anything, but was to learn a lot before the day was over.

Getting closer to the small pleasure palace "Solitude" (built for the same duke of Wuerttemberg who gave Ludwigsburg's palace the size and look it has today), the road leads past horse pastures and stables. The stable building in the back is as old as the palace, mid-18th century.

Tucked away behind a high hedge, we arrived at this handsome building. It houses a small museum for the artist who made the hare relief above the font. We had time, there was  hardly anybody about, and we were curious, so we went inside and spent a very pleasant half hour or so learning about the life and work of Fritz von Graevenitz (1892 - 1959). The building and garden once were his family's house and workshop, and the museum is still managed by the family. A short biography (in German) and pictures of the artist and his works can be found here.

We were now approaching Solitude palace. The palace itself is the central point of an ensemble of buildings. As was the fashion of the time, everything was planned perfectly symmetrical. Rows of small houses, the "Cavaliers' Houses", lead the way to the palace. These smaller houses are very well kept and privately owned, not open to the public.

We didn't feel like joining a guided tour (the only way to be allowed into the palace), but caught some glimpses nonetheless:

Through the central archway underneath the palace, one has a rather spectacular view of the Greater Stuttgart area, all the way to Ludwigsburg, where we live (provided the right weather conditions, of course).

The plaque on the ground is an official measuring point of what in the UK you would call ordnance survey. It shows the exact distance to Ludwigsburg palace.

Here is the view towards our home town:

We sat there on the grass for a while, eating our sandwiches and having a drink of water, before we set off on the next part of our walk.
One last glimpse back towards Solitude palace:

Part II will be the subject of my next post.

Read in 2015 - 18: Sense and Sensibility

None of Jane Austen's books really needs a review anymore - they are very well known all over the world, they have been reviewed and analyzed to death by countless generations of readers, literary critics, literary scientists and students. But my blog serves various purposes, one of which is a list of books I have read, just so that I can look them up again or check whether I have read something by a certain author before, for instance.

"Sense and Sensibility" was part of the many lovely gifts I received for my birthday this year. It may surprise you to learn that, although I was originally trained at Librarian School and worked at Ludwigsburg's central library for several years, until now I had never read any work by Jane Austen, in spite of knowing of her/about the books, of course.

I was therefore in for a pleasant surprise when I started reading and found that I actually enjoyed the book very much - there is elegance of language, style and wit, there are characters you can imagine rather well, and places described detailed enough to form a good picture in your mind while reading. Conversations and thoughts/feelings/emotions do have a slight tendency to go on a little long, but that is only in contrast to today's writing which is often rather fast-paced and suits the short attention span of the average person somewhat better.

There is no favourite character I have in the book; well, maybe Colonel Brandon and Mrs. Jennings, if I had to settle on a male and female one. And I would have liked to see a little more of Margaret, the youngest sister, who features only marginally. But the book was a delight to read, and I was pleased to come across terms I'd not seen before only once or twice.

The edition I was given (Oxford World's Classics) comes with additional information: There are an introduction, a "Note on the Text", a select bibliography and a chronology of Jane Austen's life and her works. The appendix contains even more information: A chapter about rank and social status (which are all-important to the story), one about Dancing and then a wealth of textual and explanatory notes.
Those explanations are not indispensable to understand the story, but they are very useful in providing some background. For instance, in the course of the book, the amount of money someone has - either as their annual income or their "total worth" - is mentioned frequently. To me, reading that "the living of Delaford was said to be worth around 200 pounds p.a." does not mean much - I have no idea how far 200 pounds would go in the early 19th century towards supporting a family in rural England. But with the explanations given in the appendix, the reader gets a pretty clear idea of what the sums mean, which were of course clear as day to Austen's contemporary readers.

Some words back in 1811 (when the story was first published) were spelled not as we spell them today. For instance, "show" was spelled "shew", "choose" was spelled "chuse", "crowd" was spelled "croud".

If you have followed the link back to my birthday post and looked at the rest of the presents on the table, maybe you have spotted the DVD there. I am really looking forward to watching it, now that I have finished the book, and will be comparing the way the characters look, talk and behave to the way I imagined them while reading.

Summer Colours

Just a very quick fashion post before I start working on the task I have set myself for today (working from home): Summer colours.
White - which is actually said to be a "non-colour" - is the most summery of all colours, even though in nature, it occurs much more in winter (at least here in central Europe, where we do get some snow and ice each year).

Of course anything goes well with white, except for maybe cream and ivory. This year, I have been wearing greens and aqua blues quite frequently, and usually team them up with white.

Two examples, one for work and one for a day off, meeting a friend.

I don't think I need to tell you which one was the work outfit and which one I was not wearing to the office.

The green skirt was bought 5 years ago at Manchester Airport while my sister and I were waiting for our flight back home. The white cardigan and the capri jeans are recent Aldi finds. The white t-shirt is from H&M, and the top I am wearing with the capri pants comes from comma. The white heels are Tamaris, the flats Esprit (so, nothing expensive there). The latter ones I've had for ages - every year when the warm season comes round I think I can't wear them another year, they really are too knackered now, but then I throw them in the washing machine and they come out nice and white again, and I wear them "just one more season"... I guess I'll keep doing that until they will fall off my feet mid-walk one day!
Do you have such favourites you'll be wearing until they drop off you in rags?

The Hottest Day

...of this year so far in my area was yesterday, with the thermometer showing 33 Celsius (just above 91 F). On a day like that, most people try to keep relatively cool by staying in climatized rooms or sit in a street side café, having chilled drinks and ice creams, or they stretch out on a lawn in the shade of a large tree and spend the afternoon by having a nap or reading - in any way, not doing anything too strenuous. Except for the first option (I don't know anyone in Germany who has air conditioning at home - it is just not something we really need here, with there being only so few really hot days every year), I could have done all of that, having taken the day off.
Instead, I started by going to the gym (early enough before it would get too warm in there). Lunch was at my Mum's, with a refreshing salad straight from the garden and some cold sparkling wine to go with it. In the afternoon, I first returned to my place for a bit and thought about what I'd like to do next.
There was a pair of shoes I had seen in town the other day which I wanted to look at again, and so I set off again. Having reached the shopping centre, I found I really wasn't at all in the mood to buy anything; maybe the rather too cold air conditioning in the building had something to do with it.
So I just went out again, and started to walk, with no precise place in mind.

A very good place to be on a hot sunny afternoon is somewhere with lots of trees - the park seemed a natural choice.

Since I did not think I was going to go on a proper walk, I had left my camera at home. Therefore, all the pictures in this post were taken with the low quality camera of my mobile phone. I hope they still give you an idea of the 3+ hours I spent walking.

A part of the palace grounds I like very much. Those roses not only look beautiful, they smell very nice, too.

I don't think I've ever shown pictures of the large aviary in the palace grounds. The upper part of it is supposed to look like a tiny piece of the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, with plants and rocks and a straw-covered building typical for that area. (It is where my sister and I spotted the love-sick stork earlier this year. The nest is still there on the roof, but empty.)

The aviary has a set of metal cage doors at the upper end but is left via a tunnel at the lower end. The tunnel is as old as the palace (early 1700s). In the late 1980s or early 1990s, I am not sure when, it was transformed into this lit-up place with orchids and rocks, plus a tiny stream running the length of it, and harp music playing softly in the back.

Leaving the aviary by the tunnel, you reach a deep valley with many shrubs and trees and winding paths through the greenery. There was hardly anybody about, I had the place nearly to myself.

Walking to the end of the palace grounds and crossing a major road via a foot bridge, the deer park that has featured several times before on my blog was the next part of my walk. Again, few people were out and about.

Every time I look at these signs, I can't help but think how very German they are.

The signs are put up at regular intervals along the road through the deer park. They forbid people to leave the path (except for a designated area near the palace, where I have spent many an afternoon sunbathing and reading) on the grounds of it being dangerous because of the large old trees. Those trees are mostly left completely untended, and after strong winds, their largest and oldest branches tend to break off. Of course I understand the City of Ludwigsburg does not want to be hold responsible for anyone being hit by a falling branch. But did the sign have to be like this, even referring to the legal paragraph? Wouldn't it have been a lot nicer to simply ask people "Please do not leave the path"? 
At both ends of the park, there are maps of the park and descriptions of the animals one is likely to see. Why not put a brief explanation there, saying that it is not allowed to leave the paths for two reasons: So that the animals can retreat safely (there are two or three signs across the park where that is stated), and to avoid injury.

I wonder if anyone is more inclined to stick to the rules when a paragraph is mentioned. Generally, the majority of people walking or jogging in the park are well behaved, and stick to the path anyway.

The last part of my walk, before starting the long way home, lead me to the third of Ludwigsburg's three palaces, Monrepos ("My Rest") by the lake.

There, I met this heron. He did not seem the least bothered by me.

I thought his left foot looks a bit strange. After I had already observed him for about 15 minutes, he limped closer, looking at me and really dragging his poor left foot behind. I felt very sorry for the beautiful bird. He may still be able to fish with the use of just one leg, but it makes wading along the banks impossible. 

The small bird you can see at the bottom of one of the pictures is a baby coot. Mummy and Daddy Coot were nearby.

Three hours and 10 minutes after I had set off, I was back home, ready for a drink of water and a rest. It had been a lovely walk, although seeing the injured heron made me a bit sad.

It's going to be another hot day today, I think, but first, I need to do the washing and cleaning. Enjoy the weekend, whatever you'll be doing!

About Cooking... and Cook Books

It was this post on Graham's blog and the comments of his readers that made me decide to write about my way of cooking, and the few cook books I own. Thanks, Graham, and thanks to all of you who commented there, for giving me an idea for a blog post!

I've said it several times on here and probably also in comments I have left on other people's blogs: I rarely cook for myself. My staple food is bread with butter and cheese, and of course chocolate. Hardly a day passes without me having at least one (usually both). I still get my hot meals, though: During an average week, I have one most delicious home-cooked lunch at my parents', and three rather good ones at our biggest customer's canteen, where it is a "must" (but one we don't mind at all) to spend our lunch break with the customer.
On days that I work from home but don't go to my parents, or those weekends when I am on my own and expect neither RJ nor anyone else visiting, I don't cook. But I do enjoy cooking and baking when I know there will be someone to appreciate it.

There are several posts on here with recipes; most of these recipes are not from any cook book but have been passed on to me by being there many times when the respective dish was prepared: For instance, I learned how to make Yorkshire Pudding from my late husband, a born and bred Yorkshire lad. As long as I can remember, my Mum has "always" made Spätzle, and it feels only natural for me to make them more or less the way I saw her making them all through my childhood and youth. My way of making pizza and tiramisu stem from my 10-year-membership with a Sicilian family.

Other posts under the label "Recipes" simply show what I have done with the ingredients I had at hand. Here, I have explained my view of making do with what's there. And occasionally, I use a recipe generously given by a fellow blogger of mine, such as Kay's miracle cookies.

Still, I do own a few cook books, and some of them I have used many times in the past, occasionally opening them even now when it comes to baking, where you need to be a lot more precise about measures, weights, times and temperatures.

They are kept here in one of my kitchen cabinets:

Have a look at them properly:

A short explanation to each book, clockwise starting in the top left corner:
1.) A general cook book that was given to me and my first husband from the local branch of our bank, when we were married in May 1990. I have never used it.
2.) My sister gave this one to me in the early 1990s. I have always loved Barbie, and this one is really fun with its 80s-layout and pictures.
3.) A treasure trove of recipes for all kinds of baking, sweet and savoury, big and small; it was a birthday present from my parents when I turned 17 and has been used very, very often.
4.) This one does not only look like something straight out of the 1950s, it IS from the 1950s. It was published in 1958 and contains an incredible number of recipes for all occasions, daily basics as well as elaborate dishes for posh meals. A lot of it seems outdated, and I seriously doubt my Mum (whose book it originally was) ever made turtle soup, but it is very interesting in its own way, and I would never give it away.
5.) Another present from my sister, this time to my late husband, who loved Indian food and often cooked the most delicious curries for us.
6.) Swabian classics. This book is a "must have" for any Swabian household, and I use it occasionally.

Do you want details? Ok, here goes:

Let's take a closer look at the Barbie book first.

It is of course aimed at children, and nothing in it is complicated. Whenever it comes to doing something with hot water or baking, it says to ask an adult for help. Believe it or not, I have actually followed a recipe from this fun book: there is one for muffins, which I find very easy to adapt to whatever I have at home.

Next is the baking book I was given when I was 17. Someone who commented on Graham's post about cook books mentioned how much food photography has changed over time. This one does not contain photos for every recipe; the full-page pictures are more a general idea of what each chapter for the different kind of baking contains.

I have baked many cakes and cookies from this book when I was younger, always taking note of my observations or changes I made, and even noted the date on which I (first) made it. It's now been many years that I have not used this book, but looking at it yesterday when I prepared the pictures for this post made me remember the much younger Librarian and how often I used to bake back then; it was a bit nostalgic, really.

Let's open the Swabian one now. It contains not only recipes, but also general information about the development of certain of our most popular traditional dishes and some history. For instance, it explains about "baking houses", which did exist everywhere: They were actually large ovens, the size of a hut, where the women of one village (or one quarter of a town) would go once a week with their prepared dough to do all their baking for the week in one go. Their own kitchens usually didn't have an oven, at least not the size they needed to feed their large families.

The recipe I use (and have published on my blog) for Hefezopf is actually the one from this book, although they turn it into a different shape from what I do.

Last but not least, here are a few sample pages from the 1958 book. No photos at all, but lovely illustrations in the style so very typical for that time:

The vast majority of recipes in this book has, I suspect, never actually been used by my Mum. But I can tell from these two pages that she has made a certain type of dough very often.

So, you've seen my cook books; all of them from the outside and some of them inside as well. There is one more recipe, though, which I have in my kitchen and will never, ever throw away. I keep it taped to the inside of one of the cabinet doors:

It is the notes Steve took by the phone when he asked his Mum to remind him how to make Yorkshire Pudding. 

By the way, there are several guest posts by my Mum with her recipes, too. Sometimes when I am not entirely sure about how to make something specific, I simply ask her, and those are the best "recipes" - tried and tested many times :-)