My Two Homes

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I have, through my late husband, family in Yorkshire and consider Ripon my second home. (Although over the last 1 1/2 years, O.K.'s place has become my "other" second home - after all, I spend more weekends there than at home!)
 
Every year, I come here for a holiday, and for several years now, my sister has come with me. We have been renting the same cottage a few times already and feel very much at home in it. It is very different from my flat in Germany, as is obvious when you look at the first two pictures of this post:

This year, as I mentioned in my previous post, there is new wallpaper on the wall behind my bed at the cottage, and I have a brand new bathroom. Apart from that, the cottage and Ripon are reassuringly familiar and just the way we like it.

I can now show you also the pictures I have been taking with my camera, as this year, I have brought the camera's cable, and it was no problem connecting it to O.K.'s MacBook.

So here are some more pictures, all taken on Monday, our first day in Ripon this year:

For pictures of the ground floor (sitting/dining room, kitchen, my sister's room), you can click here; it has hardly changed since 2014.

It also still looks more or less the same outside. View from our front door:

Side of the building. The bigger window is my sister's room, the tiny one is in the sitting room. My room is upstairs.

Our front door. The window to the left of the door is of the sitting room; above that, my room. The window directly above the door belongs to a different part of the building, not rented by us.

For our walk on Monday evening, I took my camera along and took the following pictures.

Ripon Workhouse Museum:

Almshouses near Leper Chapel:

Leper Chapel:
(Click here for an older post of mine with more information and pictures of the inside.)

On the other side of the road is another chapel, but it looks as if this one is only accessible through the garden of the cottages next to it, and we did not go there.

Walk along the river Skell, with views of Ripon Cahtedral:

Good night!

First Day in Ripon

After a 9-hour-trip (almost to the minute), my sister and I arrived at "our" cottage in Ripon last night. Everything went super-smoothly - pre- and after-flight procedures as well as the flight itself, the first leg of our train journey from Manchester airport - and then we were stuck in Leeds for 1 1/2 hours thanks to a strike acted out by Northern Rail.
On a Sunday evening, there aren't that many alternatives; buses and trains are few and far between. Of course we knew this before, but we had not known about the strike, and there was nothing to indicate it when I had booked our train tickets and looked up times earlier this week.

Anyway; we used the enforced break to have sandwiches and something to drink, and in Harrogate, my sister-in-law kindly picked us up and took us the last few miles to Ripon.

Our cottage is as lovely as ever, and my en-suite upstairs even has a brand new shower room; everything in it is shiny and very modern. The wall at the head end of my bed sports a new, pretty wallpaper, which you will get to see as soon as I can transfer pictures from my camera to the computer.

Right now, I am using O.K.'s MacBook which luckily I was able to borrow again, like last year. The photos I am showing you in this post are from my sister's mobile.

Ripon Cathedral this afternoon:

Inside the cathedral. "Beati Pacifici" means "blessed are the peaceful".

View of the cathedral from the bank of the river Skell:

After yesterday's exhausting day of travelling, we enjoyed a realxing, quiet day which included visiting my mother-in-law, doing some food shopping at the first Aldi supermarket I have ever been to outside Germany, a quick lunch of sandwiches and afterwards tea and coffee in the early afternoon sun on the bench in front of the cottage, a round through some of our favourite shops in Ripon plus visiting the cathedral, and finally, a walk along the river.

More tomorrow!

June is Over

June was a proper summer month here. We had mostly sunshine, and quite a few days above 30 Celsius (high 80s to 90s F). Typically, people were moaning and complaining about the heat, and as soon as it cooled down last weekend, they were doing the same about the rain and chill.
Yesterday, the sun came back; we're in for another hot week, and I can already hear the fresh complaints - the weather just can't get it right for some of us, can it ;-)

Admittedly, I did not sleep all that well during the hottest nights. Hardly anybody here (nobody I know personally) has A/C in their homes, and a lot of offices and shops are not so equipped, either. But, hey, it is summer, and the cold weather returns soon enough, so let's make the most of it while we can!

Here is a typical outfit I wore to the office last month. As a woman, of course I can adapt my clothes better to warm weather than the men can; they are required to wear long trousers, shirts and (mostly) ties which I imagine can get a little uncomfortable above a certain temperature.

See my handbag? It was a birthday gift from my sister-in-law in Yorkshire. The dress is old; I've had it for 7 years or so. But the shoes are new and good enough for the office while at the same time allowing my feet to breathe on hot days at our A/C-less office.

Most evenings during the week, when I am home on my own, I want something to eat that is quick and easy to make, filling but not leaving me feeling so "stuffed" I can't sleep. Salads are the answer; I simply toss in what I've got, make a little vinaigrette, and have a good meal ready within 10 minutes.

 
Here is one I've made last week, with a green and yellow pepper, radishes, spring onions, and a handful of soft dried tomatoes. Adding bits of cheese makes it complete, and just a few chopped peppermint leaves (grown on my window sill) add that extra freshness.

Last but not least, June offered some fantastic skies. I could have taken pictures nearly every morning and evening, but here are two that show the views from my living room and kitchen window respectively on the evening of the 28th. Later that night, it rained, if I remember correctly. It was very welcome, as the entire month was very dry.

 
That was only June - now it is July, and the fields look as if they are ready to be harvested already, about 2 weeks earlier than most years.

On Sunday, my sister and I are starting our annual Yorkshire holiday. Like last year, O.K. kindly lends me his MacBook again. Therefore, you can expect some "live blogging" :-)

Read in 2017 - 24: Old Filth

"Old Filth" by Jane Gardam has received a lot of praise since its publication in 2004, and rightly so. If you have not read it, I can highly recommend it.

Do not be put off by the title (like I was, at least a little). It really makes for a reading experience you want to continue when the book ends. Good job then that there are two more involving the same characters! My sister has read them all and tells me all three tell the story from the perspective of a different character. This sounds like an unusual but interesting concept, and I am definitely going to read the other two.

Old Filth is the nickname of Sir Edwar Feathers, a former judge and QC who rose to international fame practicing law in the Far East. The nickname Filth stands for "Failed in London, Tried Hong Kong" and has nothing to do with any filthy habits of his (there aren't any).

The story of his life runs parallel to the decline of the British Empire from its glory days through WWII to the present day. 
As you know from my blog, the topic of self-perception versus how others pereceive us is one I find utterly fascinating. And in this book, it crops up all the time. People who used to know him in his active days say to each other that he still looks great in his old age because "he's never had really anything happening to him". Little do they know of how his childhood and youth was spent, of the small and big dramas that took place during those decisive years.

I won't tell you much more about the story because I want you to read it for yourselves, if you have the time and inclination. It is very well written and edited (makes a refreshing change from some of the free ebooks I have been reading lately!), and I am looking forward to reading the other two books. 

This was my first read by Jane Gardam. Wikipedia tells me that she will be 90 years old next year, was born in Yorkshire and has three children. She wrote children's books (some of which I'd really like to read), short stories and novels, plus one non-fiction book. Definitely an author very worthy of anyone's time and attention.

An Unexpected Treat

Last Friday, I was on a work-related trip to Ulm. Depending on what train you take, you can reach Ulm within 1 1/2 hours. All was well on the way in, and the small conference I attended there was interesting.

On such occasions, it is hard to tell when we really finish, and at what time I can be back at the train station for the ride home. Therefore, I always buy a ticket that allows me to board whatever train I happen to catch.

That Friday, I arrived at the station with 3 minutes to spare before the next train was going to depart for Stuttgart. So, without further ado (i.e. without checking anything else about this particular route), I hopped on that train, leaned back and took my kindle out to read.

The loudspeaker crackled, and I expected to hear the usual bored voice make the usual announcements. Instead, a friendly man's voice, speaking in a natural and lively manner (without the artificially assumed cheerfulness you often hear on trains and planes), informed us passengers about today's trip. I thought, now, that's unusual, but nice, and turned back to my reading.

The train started to move, and there were more such friendly announcements with every stop coming up - and there were many! As it turned out, of all trains going to Stuttgart that afternoon and evening, I had chosen the slowest, stopping at almost every small town and village between the two cities. 

And then, the train driver informed us in his by now familiar friendly manner of our next stop - a break of 28 minutes, as is apparently always scheduled for this particular route, in a small town called Süssen.
When I first heard that we were in for a 28-minute-stop, I though "oh great...", but then the train driver added: "And, by the way, there is a real good ice cream parlour near platform 1, if you are looking for a way to spend the next half hour. I always go there myself when I am on this route."

This sounded like a much better idea to me than sitting in the parked train, especially as it was such a beautiful summer's day. So I got off, just as the driver stepped off the front and made his way along the platform. I waited for him and told him that I was going to check out his recommendation, and we went to platform 1 together.

A table in the half-shade was quickly found and ice creams ordered, and we started talking. The driver told me he was only having three more weeks of work here and then leaving for good to make his childhood dream come true: Move to Switzerland, living in the mountains and driving the famous Glacier Express. 

He told me that he really liked his job, but was very unhappy with the way the German Bahn (Railway) was being managed. It is a topic often discussed in our national media; from what used to be a very reliable and efficient system, the Bahn has turned into what appears like a bunch of greedy managers, making money on the back of notoriously overworked staff. Late and cancelled trains, lack of information, high ticket prices, dirty trains with toilets and A/C out of order etc. are everyday occurrences, and the company have to pay refunds to fed up passengers all the time. A lot of people only travel by train because they have no choice, and "my" train driver told me that things were going to get worse within the next five years. "You'll see," he said.
We talked about the railway in other countries, and it turned out he knows the North York Moors Railway and the National Railway Museum in York. 

That way, we spent a pleasant 25 minutes, enjoyed delicious ice creams, and when it was time to get back on the train, he paid for my ice cream, too! I really did not expect that, and there was not even the slightest hint of anything untoward in his manner, just saying thank you for a friendly encounter and spending his break in pleasant company.

Taken in Ulm with my mobile phone on the way back to the station

I said good-bye and went back to my former seat, wishing him all the best for his future. 

Isn't it sad that those who enjoy their job and are good at it are driven away by mismanagement and wrong decisions? But isn't it nice that people like that still exist, and in spite of how terrible the world looks whenever we switch on the news, there are still such nice surprises happening to us (if we let or make them happen)?

This whole experience reminded me of an older post of mine; back in 2011, I wrote this about a similar situation - also in connection with a train trip.

Meadows, Trees and Churches: Part II

After our picnic in the meadow close to the wood's edge, it was only a short way to the next village. It was of the relaxed quietness you sometimes find on a Sunday afternoon - it was Thursday, but a holiday. We met one man and his dog, with the dog being rather curious about us, and passed by a house where swallows had built nests under the eaves. They were flitting in and out, and I took pictures, but they came out blurred and so I left them out.

Another village or small town I had never set foot in before, Schornbach, was down in the valley after a relatively long stretch of road. It had some very pretty old houses, like this one:

The church was built in 1471 and is unusual in that the upper part of its bell tower is of wood. Again, we would have liked to have a look inside, but again, it was locked.

Schornbach was not our goal, and we walked on, down into the valley and towards Schorndorf.

Schorndorf (Dorf means village) has made the transition from village to town already as far back as 1250, when the then Earl of Württemberg acquired the place and had it built up with walls. But it had already been a settlement a thousand years before that, when the Romans occupied this part of the world and civilians lived there in the 2nd and 3rd century of our time.

Nowadays, with around 40.000 inhabitants, Schorndorf is a thriving town with a picturesque centre. I had never visited before, but my sister did, and she showed me around before we sat down for refreshing drinks at a street café.

 Old town centre - no cars allowed in this part, what a relief!

The sturdy castle was built in 1538 and withstood any threat that came its way, including a fire in 1634. Nowadays, it houses offices and the civil court.

Building of the church (you can see it in the first picture of the old town centre) began in 1477. And guess what - this one was open! My sister wanted to show me something special, and after a general look round, we arrived in a small side chapel with this unusual ceiling:

It is Jesus' family tree, starting with Jesse, out of whose body grows the root of the tree, then grows on and on, via David all the way to Mary with baby Jesus. The figures all carry bands with their names on them.
The Tree of Jesse is taken directly from the bible and appears not only in sculptures and on pictures in (mostly) medieval churches, but also in a few songs, one of them an old Christmas song still very popular in Germany, but I dare say most of those singing the words do not really think about what they may mean; they sound just beautifully old-fashioned and festive. Well, now you know!
You can find out more here on wikipedia.

By the way, the most famous person from Schorndorf is Gottlieb Daimler, the man who invented the car (it wasn't quite so simple, but you get the general idea). His birth place is now a museum.