Wednesday at Fountains

Wednesday (24.07.2024) was probably the warmest day of our two weeks in Ripon. At a high of 24C, with a mix of sun and clouds and a pleasant breeze, it was a summer‘s day directly out of a picture book.

We chose that day for a walk to Fountains Abbey, as we do every year at least once during our stay here.

From our cottage to the large area that combines Studley Royal (deer park and water garden) and Fountains Abbey (the actual abbey ruins as well as Fountains Hall, Fountains Mill and a few other buildings) run by the National Trust, it takes about an hour at a leisurely pace.

St. Mary‘s, the beautiful church in the deer park, was closed for lack of volunteers.

Entrance to St Mary‘s

View from the church towards Ripon, all the way to the cathedral

another door to the church, rather narrow…

…and a much wider one.

The visitor centre has a shop we very much like and nearly always leave with some purchase or other; this time, I found a book I wanted. Next door is a restaurant where we sat at an outdoors table for lunch.

From there, we made our way to Fountains Hall, where we found the four rooms open to the public furnished differently from previous years, and new guide sheets with information about the hall itself and each room.

The gardens between the hall and the river are particularly beautiful this time of year, and the summer house (built in 1911) has always been a firm favourite of ours.

Next was the mill, with an exhibition of sketches and paintings by Peter M. Hicks. I liked some of the preparatory sketches more than the finished paintings.

The grass and wild flowers around the mill have grown very high.

On to the ruins, as impressive as always. With the wet spring and summer the area has been having, the plants on the walls are more abundant than usual. It looks beautiful but is of course not ideal for the already crumbling structures.

stairway to heaven

looking back towards the abbey

and forward to Studley Royal water garden

Before we left the estate, we stopped at the tea room at Studley Lake for cold drinks and a brownie. 

Studley Lake with the tea room to the right

Back at the cottage, it was still warm and nice enough for us to sit on the bench outside. In the garden, a set of swings had been set up since our 2023 visit, and our landlady got the swing seat out of the shed for us.

First Full Day (23.07.2024)

Tuesday was our first full day in Ripon. After the long journey, we both slept soundly in our familiar rooms, but not overly long.

The day was beautiful, sunny and relatively warm for North Yorkshire at 22C.

First things first: A trip to Aldi, which is about 15 minutes on foot from the cottage. My sister-in-law had put together a small hamper with local goodies for us, including a bag of muesli, and there were a few complimentary tea bags, instant coffee and sugar in the kitchen, but we had no milk for the muesli, no fresh fruit, no bread and nothing for any type of meal.

After having stocked up on basics, we enjoyed our first breakfast here.

We then walked the short distance to my mother-in-law‘s cottage and spent a pleasant hour sitting with her in her garden, chatting and catching up. Mary turned 90 in March and has her age-related health issues, but apart from her not hearing very well, conversation flows easily. She still takes an interest in current goings-on and has not lost her sense of humour.

Mary does not live far from the bottom of the hill with Ripon Cathedral on top.

For a late lunch, we went to our favourite eating out place in Ripon, Oliver‘s Pantry. They were busy but we still found a table in the sunny back yard. The food was as delicious and the service as friendly as always.

We then made our way back to the cottage at a leisurely pace, browsing three or four shops along the way. Coffee (me) and tea (my sister) on the bench in front of the cottage came next, and then a chat with our landlady who was just setting off for a walk.

view from the bench

A little later, we too went for a walk before I retreated to the kitchen and prepared a big bowl of salad, which we ate watching an episode of Midsomer Murders.

Ripon Road Trip

The week between the end of my last post and the start of this week will have to wait a while before I‘ll get round to writing my usual report. For now, until Monday the  5th of August, my sister and I are in Ripon, our home away from home.

I shut the door to my flat from the outside at about 10 to 8:00 on Monday morning and walked the short distance to Ludwigsburg train station, where I met my sister for the 8:05 train into Stuttgart.

There, we had almost an hour‘s time before the TGV to Paris was due. We planned it that way because German trains in general and our local trains in particular are notoriously unreliable, and we certainly had no intention of missing the TGV or arriving out of breath at the last minute.

We made use of the extra time by getting sandwiches from one of the many kiosk stalls at the station.

The TGV was on time, and it was odd to ride on exactly the same route as when I travel to O.K.‘s, until at Appenweier we took the detour to Strasbourg and then on to Paris, where we arrived at about 12:45.

Again, we had allowed ourselves plenty of room for a possible delay, much more than what is actually needed for the short walk from Gare de l‘Est to Gare du Nord (10 minutes), now made much easier by a newly built escalator (in time for the Olympics) where before there was only a long, steep stone stairway where one had to drag up all the luggage.

Border control and check-in for the Eurostar were easy and quick, and we had time for a cola before boarding the train that then carried us through the wide open French countryside, through the Euro tunnel, and directly into London St. Pancras.

Crossing the road to Kings Cross station is super easy, no steps involved. We got ourselves another set of sandwiches for the rest of the journey, and then spent the remainder of the time out in the sun on Kings Cross Square, people-watching (and of course there are plenty to watch there!) until the platform for the LNER Azuma train to Harrogate was announced.

St, Pancras

Kings Cross

We found our booked seats, stowed away our suitcases and waited for departure… which was delayed by about 15 minutes, because the train driver was delayed and so a replacement had to be found. Eventually, we set off, reaching Harrogate only about 10 minutes later than scheduled, at 8:40 pm.

My sister-in-law met us outside, and after big hugs all around, drove us to Ripon and ‚our‘ cottage, where we arrived at 9:00 pm - still in daylight!

It had been a long journey, but there had not been any problems or serious hold-ups. From the trains through France and England, we enjoyed watching the countryside pass by and observing the changes from south to north.

We found our cottage as welcoming as always, with beautiful fresh flowers from our hosts‘ garden. For us, it is the perfect home base for our Yorkshire Holiday.

a garden bouquet in the living/dining room

flowers in the kitchen

my room

Summer Weekend

This is the continuation of my previous post, which ended with Thursday, 11 July.

Friday (12 July) started off warm and sunny, but clouds were drawing in during the morning, and just after lunch time, it rained with a sprinkle of small hailstones.

With my usual pattern of work in the morning, household matters in the afternoon and getting ready for O.K. spending the weekend at my place, I wasn't paying too much attention at the weather. But in the course of the afternoon, it became darker and darker, the wind picked up, and all of a sudden my town found itself in the middle of a hailstorm - and what a storm it was! Not so much for the wind, but for the size of the hailstones; they were as large as cherries, I kid you not!

Hailstone on a saucer, as collected from my kitchen window.

The hail fell for a several minutes (I can't really say how long, but it felt pretty long for such an event). I had to shut some of the windows in spite of really wanting fresh air in my rooms. It was incredibly loud, with the hailstones clanging on the metal windowsills and against the glass. My Mum was scared that the hail would smash her attic windows in, but thankfully, nothing worse than a really messy balcony happened at her place, with torn leaves covering every surface.

My sister's car, parked on the street in front of her house, suffered hail damage as did almost all other cars parked outdoors in Ludwigsburg that afternoon. At the nearby garden center, 1,000 glass panes of their vast greenhouses were smashed to bits. Crops on the fields, vineyards and orchards suffered, and some gardens here looked very sorry for a few days with flowerheads crushed to the ground and shredded leaves.

But as far as I'm aware, nobody around here suffered physical harm - I was just glad to be inside and not on an after-work walk! O.K. was not yet on his way to me, otherwise his car would now be covered in dents, too.

He arrived at my place at around 8:30 pm, in time to spot part of a very luminous rainbow from my kitchen window:

We had a summerly meal of tabouleh, falafel and a dry white.

Saturday (13 July) was much cooler at 22C/71F, mostly sunny with a few clouds, and completely dry (which has become a rarity this summer). 

We had a late breakfast/early lunch in town at "Bubbles", our favourite café these days, watching the world go by on their way to and from the market. 

A stroll through town centre and a few shops followed, until I felt the need for caffeine early afternoon. We stopped for an espresso and then made our way through the palace grounds and the deer park to near the ruined castle above Hoheneck, where tents, tables and benches had been set up between stalls of three local wineries and a food counter.

Ludwigsburg palace grounds - always worth a visit!

That small local event had been our aim, and we had a meal there before walking on towards the ruins and down the hill into Hoheneck itself. From afar, we could hear live music, and found that there was another small local fête on the other side of the river. We crossed the river via the footbridge and had a look around, listening to the music (good musicians at the instruments but not very good singers) for a little until we felt they weren't going to get any better.

drystone wall in the vineyards

castle ruins above Hoheneck

River Neckar, as seen from the footbridge between Ludwigsburg and Neckarweihingen.

We made our way back up the hill, once more through the palace grounds and into town at a leisurely pace, stopping on the market square at the outdoors area of "my" Irish pub for a pint of cider - very refreshing after the long uphill walk through town.

North front and oldest part of Ludwigsburg's Residential Palace

Click to enlarge, and spot the ferris wheel.

It was 9:30 pm by the time we arrived back at my place - a wonderful day spent almost entirely outdoors, something I love doing in the summer.

Another rain-free day was Sunday (14 July), the day of the European Championship Final (Fußball/football/soccer). It was warm again at 27C/80F, and after breakfast, we went for a walk on the fields, visiting my Dad's and friend R's bird markers at the cemetery on the way to my Mum's, where we had coffee and cake.

Later, O.K. and I had a snack before he packed his things and started on the long drive home just after 8:00 pm. I walked to my sister's to watch the final game together - of course we were rooting for England. The game started at 9:00 pm German time.

Sunset around 9:30, as seen from my sister's.

When I walked home after the game, I was wondering where all the Spanish people and supporters of the Spanish team were - no auto corso on the main roads, just a handful of cars honking as they drove into town.

Another week gone, and just one more to go before our Yorkshire Holiday!

Summer Week

Last week was warm to hot, and there were thunderstorms with heavy rainfall and even a hailstorm that caused a lot of damage in my neighbourhood. 

On Monday (July 8), I arrived home from Offenburg about half an hour before my first call of the day. The day was beautiful and not too hot at a max of 26C/79F. During my lunch break, I popped over to a friend's to deliver her birthday present and card and for a brief chat; it was a working day for both of us so we kept it short. After work, I went on my standard Benningen walk and enjoyed that very much. 

Coming back into Ludwigsburg on the local train, we were pulling in at the station but came to a halt just before reaching the proper spot at the platform. The doors didn't open, and people outside who wanted to get on the train looked as confused as we did on the train.

After a few minutes, the very nervous sounding voice of the driver announced that we'd just had an accident with a person on the track. He gasped for air and was clearly very upset. A female voice took over from him, sounding a little calmer. She confirmed that there had been an accident and we could not leave the train until the police and rescue team were here. She apologised and asked us all to please remain calm, go back to our seats and wait, which is what we all did.

It didn't take long for the various teams to arrive (police, firemen, paramedics). They herded the people waiting outside off the platform and started to walk the length of the train, looking carefully underneath it right outside the window where I was sitting. Thankfully, we couldn't actually see anything, just them doing their job.

All in all, we waited for about half an hour - not much, but it started to feel long. Fortunately, I didn't need the toilet (there aren't any on the local trains), wasn't overly thirsty or hungry and had enough power on my mobile to exchange text messages with my Mum and my sister. Also, the train wasn't crowded, there were no crying children, noisy folks or blaring music from people's phones.

A police officer boarded the train and asked us all to get off, but not by the regular doors; instead, we were to get off at the driver's door, where another officer assisted those who needed assistance to climb down the steps (much higher of course than the regular doors for passengers). We were all asked whether we had seen or heard anything unusual just prior to the unexpected halt, but nobody had - we'd all been either chatting, faffing with our phones, looking out of the window or reading.

Once we were allowed down the stairs from the platform, another officer didn't let us leave the station immediately. Along the passage, we could see a person being transported to one of the waiting ambulance, upright on a stretcher, oxygen mask over their face. Only when they were safely in the ambulance and driving off were we allowed to leave. 

I was home a bit later than planned, but alright - and I was really hoping that whoever it was who'd had that accident would be alright, too. 

To this day I don't know what happened; was it a suicide attempt, an accident or had someone pushed the person? Strangely enough, neither our local paper nor the online platforms where the police publish the events they've been dealing with mentioned the incident.

Tuesday (9 July) was the hottest day of the week at 32C/90F. It was too hot for a pleasant walk and so I remained home after work.

It was my regular day at the office on Wednesday (10 July), cooler and with  thunderstorms and heavy rainfall in the afternoon and evening. I visited my Mum after work and got soaked on the way home in spite of my rain coat. However, it was just water, and I changed into my PJs as soon as I got home anyway.

My Mum had cataract surgery the next morning (Thursday, 11 July), with my sister driving her to and from hospital. All went well, and she was back home after a few hours. 

After a rainy morning, the sun reappered in the afternoon, and at 25C/77F, it was not too hot for a walk. I knew my Mum had everything she needed and mainly needed to rest, so I went for a walk on my own, taking in part of the palace grounds, the park-like cemetery and a part of town where I'd not been in a while.

In order to not make this post even longer than it already is, I'll cut off here and will tell you about Friday, Saturday and Sunday tomorrow.

First Week of July

July was off to a chilly and wet start - not unusual for my part of the world. I have often found that July, although "high summer", can be colder and wetter than June, and sometimes we have the most beautiful summer weather in September. It was an unusual week for me work-wise, as I was at the office four days instead of my average one or two.

Since I had not been away for the weekend, it was easy to be at the office before 9:00 on Monday (1st of July) morning. Normally, I don't work for this company on Mondays and Fridays, but as an exception I can make it possible. We had a workshop about the sensible and legally compliant use of AI in the insurance industry. I left when the session ended around lunch time, since I had an appointment in the afternoon working from home for my other employer.

After work, I went for my standard walk to Benningen. The cooler and sometimes rainy weather with its mix of sun and clouds was not very July-like, but walk-friendly.

What's this in the middle of the high grass?

Is it a brown fox?

No - a cat, and he or she was not even remotely interested in talking to me!

Tuesday (2nd of July) was cooler at a max of 18C/64F, nearly constant rain and no sun to be seen. Again, I worked at the office during the morning and picked up my other work at home in the afternoon.

A further drop in temperature made Wednesday (3 July) more autumn-like than anything else. Grey skies, rain and somewhere around 13C/55F is not exactly summerly. I was at the office all day and went to visit my former upstairs neighbour after work. It was good to see her; we'd not had a chat in a while, only exchanged the occasional text message. Of course she wanted to know who lives in "her" old place now, and it was nice to just generally catch up. Also, she gave me a very nice meal which I had not expected, meaning I didn't need anything else at home.

My fourth day at the office was on Thursday (4 July), with the weather being very similar to the day before. But the sun reappeared late afternoon, and when I walked from the train station to my Mum's, it was so warm I would have liked to get rid of one or two layers of clothing.

I went on an errand for my Mum before we sat down to a delicious meal she had prepared for us.

Friday (5 July) was gorgeous - sunny, dry, and not too warm at 24C/75F. I didn't have time for a walk, because I followed my usual Friday routine of work in the morning, cleaning in the afternoon and travelling to O.K. in the evening.

Taking photos from a high speed train is not easy.

But I tried anyway. The sky was just too beautiful, with the two hot air balloons floating above.

All went well, and by 9:00 pm, O.K. and I were ready for our customary meal of salad, bread, cheese and wine to ring in the weekend. I had been on the train while the Germany - Spain match was on, but my sister played "live ticker" for me and kept me updated via text messages.

O.K. and I drove his Mum into town on Saturday (6 July) for an appointment. The morning had started beautifully, but big black clouds were already gathering early on, and by the time we reached town centre, it was chucking it down. We dropped O.K.'s Mum off, parked the car and then made our way between shops and covered shop fronts where we could shelter from the rain. 

When O.K.'s Mum had finished, we went to eat at a relatively new place none of us had been before, a restaurant offering "Asian Fusion" kitchen, their "fusion" mainly meaning a mix of Japanese, Chinese and Thai food. I liked my creamy but spicy coconut curry with fried vegetables very much.

Back home, we rested for a while and spent the remainder of the afternoon quietly. By 7:00 pm, I was getting so tired (from doing nothing!) that I was ready for bed. Instead, the rain finally let up a bit, and at 7:45, we were able to go for a brief walk around the village, always keeping an eye on the ever-present inky black clouds.

When we were back in the cottage, it did indeed rain more, but there was also a beautiful rainbow above "our" end of the village.

View from O.K.'s cottage

On Sunday (7 July), the village band were playing in Diersburg for the village fête. Of course I came along; it was a fine day, similar to Friday when it had been sunny and warm but not too hot.

After the band's performance, we had something to eat before returning to the village. O.K. changed out of his uniform, and we were back in the car, driving to Offenburg. Ice cream was what we wanted, and ice cream we got!

Afterwards, we walked from town centre to a part of town where we like to walk sometimes, for its beautiful houses, plenty of green and nice views from the hill. This time, we walked different roads, taking in an old church and the large, park-like cemetery.

A castle? No - the front of a water reservoir on the hill of Lindenhöhe, a part of Offenburg.

Information about Weingarten church, a place I'd not been before. The original building dates back to the year 1396, but has been added to and modernised throughout the centuries.

Back at the village, we sat with O.K.'s Mum on her patio for an Apérol Spritz before retreating to the cottage.

It's funny how going to the office feels like a big effort now. Up until some years ago, I didn't think twice about it - it was self-understood that Monday to Friday, one left the house in the morning and returned in the evening. The pandemic changed that for many people, myself included. And although I've been regularly working from home for almost 14 years now, it was never as exclusive as during those few strange years under pandemic regulations.

Last Week of June

The last week of June was warm to hot until the Sunday, when a rather drastic drop in temperature and some rain rang in a chilly, wet spell that lastet for most of the first week of July.

On Monday (24 June), unlike most Mondays I travelled to the office in Weilimdorf mid-to-late morning. A company-wide summer event was taking place, complete with a sort of mini trade show where most departments (including mine) had a stall where they presented themselves and their work. 

It was good to meet some colleagues face to face I had so far only ever spoken to in online meetings or on the phone, because they are based at our Cologne branch.

At 5:30, we were all gathering in the canteen for speeches from our top level management. Once the (brief) speeches were over, the four top managers donned aprons and took their positions on the patio at the grills and counters - like at last year's summer event, they fried, grilled and served our food. 

A variety of dishes were on offer, and nobody remained hungry.

Eventually the grills were turned off, and two of our four top managers switched roles once again: They were now back in the canteen, on stage as part of the company band, playing rock and pop covers everyone knew. We were (nearly) all singing and clapping along; it was fun and they played well, especially considering that they aren't a regular band and only meet for rehearsals two or three times before the event.

Beforehand, we had been informed that at 9:00 pm, the canteen staff would throw us all out, since they had to clear up and rearrange chairs and tables for a conference the next morning.

I left at about 8:30 pm when I knew I was going to have a convenient train connection.

Tuesday (25 June) was sunny and warm at 28C/82F with not a drop of rain. I worked from home and went for an hour's walk with my friend before my first meeting of the day. I had not seen her in weeks - she had been away on work trips to Las Vegas and Vienna, returned from the Vienna trip with Covid, and it took her a good while before testing negative. 

My lunch break was spent having a massage at the nearby day spa, something I try to fit in once a week for my neck/shoulder problem, originally caused by scoliosis but of course not made any better by sitting at desks and working on computers all the time.

After work, I went for a walk on the fields for just under two hours, enjoying the warmth and early evening sun. I spotted a hare and saw many birds and butterflies, but as usual was way too slow getting my mobile phone out to take pictures of them. The fields and meadows didn't run or fly away, though!

I was back at the office on Wednesday (26 June). The day started sunny again, but a late afternoon thunderstorm meant no walk other than the few minutes from my house to the station in Ludwigsburg, from the station to the office in Weilimdorf, and back.

Thursday (27 June) was also off to a sunny start, but with clouds drawing in towards the evening. It was warmer than before at 30C/86F, and more thunderstorms were forecast. We were lucky in that they came down in other places, not in Ludwigsburg.

At 7:00 pm, I met my sister near the station, and we walked into town together, meeting our Mum at the bus stop near town hall. We had tickets for an open air theater in the walled garden of a former brewery bang in the middle of town, a popular venue for events.

A small group of only six actors performed "Nathan der Weise" by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, a play widely known in Germany and (at least it used to be) part of the curriculum at school. At its heart is an ancient tale of three rings, symbolising the three main religions Judaism, Islam and Christianity. The tale's (and thus the play's) morale is that no matter what religion or ethnic/cultural background, all humans are essentially equal and should be treated accordingly. A timeless truth, particularly poignant in today's heated atmosphere of aggression and intolerance.

The performance was unusual in that Nathan (the main character) was a woman, and it had a modern twist, which we liked very much. There were sprinkles of humour as well, but the message was serious and offered plenty of food for thought. You can find out more about the original play on Wikipedia (in English).

I worked again from home on Friday (28 June). O.K. and I spent the weekend apart, as he had appointments without me, and so I had time to attend a work shop for interested citizens hosted by our town's administration. 

The work shop dealt with questions about the future of our town, how we want to live, what is possible, what needs doing, under different aspects such as economy and tourism, living and education, environment and climate, building and mobility. It was very interesting, and it is good that as a citizen, one has the chance to participate in the preparation of important decisions that will affect our lives in the years to come.

Saturday (29 June) was the hottest day of the year so far. At 33C/91F, it was extremely humid, and a walk or other outdoor activities were not advisable. I spent the day quietly behind drawn blinds, doing the odd little job around the flat, reading, playing my favourite computer game, and resting. 

In the evening, I slowly walked to my sister's. We watched the Germany-Denmark match together; it had to be interrupted because of a thunderstorm, and it all took very long before the final whistle, and the result of 2:0 was confirmed. Still, it was an entertaining evening. Walking home a bit after 11:00 pm, it was dark but still warm and muggy at 28C/82F.

With all windows open, I tried to get some sleep... but maybe a couple of hours later, a strong wind rose, creating a lot of noise outdoors and causing things to flap about indoors. I got up, reluctantly shut some of the windows, made sure everything was alright and went back to bed. It wasn't a night for good sleep, though - too warm and noisy.

My sister had invited two friends, my Mum and me on Sunday (30 June) to a BBQ at her allotment. However, the temperature had dropped considerably over night, and it was raining almost all day. Therefore, we met at her flat instead and had a pleasant afternoon and early evening with all the food and drink we'd prepared for the BBQ, and of course enjoyed the company.

I walked my Mum home and arrived at my place at around 8:00 pm. With the cooler air, I was looking forward to sleeping much better than the previous night.