First Working Week in 2025

Last week saw me (as well as many other people in my part of the world) returning to work after the Christmas/New Year period. I was ready to pick up normal life again after two weeks of celebrations with plenty of good food, family and friends, and our trips between my place and O.K.'s.

Monday (6 January) was my last day off work; it's a holiday in some federal states of Germany, including Baden-Wuerttemberg where I live. O.K. left after breakfast, since he had a performance with some of his fellow band members in the village next to his in the afternoon and didn't want to risk heavy traffic on the motorway.

The day was unusually warm at 14C/57F and sunny, and of course I had to walk to Benningen, didn't I! 

What lies ahead for me this year? I know what lies behind the horizon of this picture, at least!

Later in the afternoon, I changed into something nice and walked to the concert hall in town, where I met with my sister and Mum's friend R. At Christmas, Mum had given the three of us tickets to a concert by the Gershwin Piano Quartet - four men at four grand pianos, playing mostly (but not only) Gershwin. Usually, everything they perform on stage has been arranged by themselves, since there are hardly any original compositions for four pianos around.

The concert was fantastic! We had great seats and enjoyed the evening immensely. The first half was dedicated mainly to Russian composers Rachmaninov and Rimski-Korsakov, while the second half was (almost) all about Gershwin. It was truly incredible what those four men managed to do! If you want to know more about them and their music, click here for their official website (in English); under "media" you'll also find videos that give you an inkling of what we heard and saw.

I am trying to embed the 7 minute trailer from their website, also to be found on youtube, and hope that you can watch it - it's worth every second, believe me!

So, once again, Mum: Thank you for this great Christmas present!

I started work on Tuesday (7 January), working from home. Usually, when I have been off work for 2 weeks, there are close to 200 emails waiting for me. This time, there were only 55 - most other people had not been working around the holidays, either, and I was able to catch up with most of my tasks right on the first day with only a few calls in between. 

I even managed a walk to Asperg and back before sunset, returning to work for another hour or so after that.

For the first time in 2025 I went to the office on Wednesday (8 January). Thankfully, the day before, one of my colleagues had turned up the heating in my room, which had stood empty and unheated since December 18 in 2024. It was warm-ish but I was still glad of my cosy hoody, and went to get myself mugs of hot tea a few times during the afternoon.

It had begun to rain around lunch time, turning into a sleety snow over the next hours, and local trains were at their usual chaotic self for the trip back to Ludwigsburg, but I made it and was glad to be home in my warm flat at around 6:00 pm.

Thursday (9 January) was again warmish at 11C/52F, but rather windy. I worked from home, interrupting the afternoon for an hour's walk in between two appointments.

The ruins of horse stables where I walked that afternoon.

It was my sister's birthday on Friday (10 January), and after finishing work and cleaning my flat, I went to the location she had chosen for her party - a small museum of local history in a former gatehouse from the time when Ludwigsburg was much smaller and a garrison. The wall around the town served mainly to keep unwilling army recruits in and less for keeping undesirable elements out. Only very few remnants of that wall are still visible in places, but there are still six gatehoues at their original sites, and one of them was all for my sister and her guests that evening.

She had cleaned and set up the place with tables and chairs already the day before with the help from a friend, so there wasn't really all that much left to do for us apart from getting the buffet ready, which was quickly done.

Carrot cake I had ordered from our favourite café in town, as a surprise for my sister (it's one of her favourite cakes).

The empty space on the buffet table was later taken up with fresh, crusty Italian bread.

The 15 of us had a great time! It was really good to see some of our friends I had not seen in a couple of years or so (it was of course also good to see those who I have met not that long ago, but you know what I mean). There was way too much food, but my sister gave everyone who left pieces of cake and other things from the buffet to take home.

I was the third-to-last person to leave the premises and arrived home after a ten minute walk at around 1:30 am.

By lunch time on Saturday (11 January), my sister and I were back at the venue, clearing up, cleaning and putting the chairs and tables back in order. I believe it took the two of us somewhere around 1 1/2 hours. 

back to normal

We split the remainder of the buffet between us - it meant I did not need to buy anything to eat for the weekend, and I also took home two of the potted primroses my sister had put on every table.

Spring is still at least two months away, but here's a first little greeting!

The day was sunny but cold, and because I was still tired after the lovely party the evening before, I went to lie down for about an hour when I came home, and spent the rest of the day doing quiet things such as reading, playing my favourite computer game, watching TV and nibbling at the party leftovers.

Today, Sunday (12 January) was another sunny day with temperatures hovering around freezing point all day. I slept long enough to feel reasonably well rested and late morning went for a walk to the lake, to see whether it had iced over or not. It had, but the ice was still very thin. People were out in full force, walking around the lake on the very muddy paths (you don't want to see my boots!) and soaking up the afternoon sunshine.

A new mural in a passage underneath the railway

Katharinenkirche ("Catherine's Church") in the suburb of Eglosheim

The lake (Monrepos) with its thin layer of ice

I was only out for 1 hour 40 minutes, made myself a spot of late lunch (you guessed it - using up more leftovers) and spent good part of the afternoon in my yellow armchair with a book.

Due to conflicting schedules, O.K. and I have spent the weekend separately but, as usual when we can't see each other, we spoke on the phone two or three times every day.

Now a full week is ahead, with five working days instead of four, and a great highlight waiting for me on Saturday - stay tuned for more about that in one of my next posts :-)

Read in 2025 - 1: Where The Hearth Is

Where the Hearth is

Kate Humble

Along with a few others, I brought this book back from Ripon last summer, but can not remember whether I got it from The Little Ripon Bookshop or at the National Trust shop up at Fountains Abbey. Anyway, it wasn't my first read by this author; in 2020, I read "Thinking On My Feet" and deemed it one of the best books I had come across that year. Click here for the review, if you are interested.

This book is subtitled "Stories of Home", and it contains exactly that - stories of home, and what home means not only to a wide variety of people with very different backgrounds and living at very different places, but every other chapter is about an animal and how this particular species goes about finding or building its home.

Each and every chapter is interesting and offers a fascinating glimpse into people's and animal life. As usual, different people take different decisions, not always in a way I can relate to - but it certainly broadens my personal horizon to know what motivates others, even though it would never be my "thing".

Kate Humble's writing makes for pleasant and easy reading, but it is by no means superficial. In fact, there are some deep thoughts to ponder over, and ponder I did.

The length of chapters made for good pacing; I usually read only one chapter at a time, during my lunch break when working from home or in bed at night before going to sleep. It was a joy every evening coming into my bedroom and seeing the book on the bedside table - not only because its colours pick up the wallpaper behind the bed!

About two thirds of it I read still in 2024, but finished it only last night.

There's a lot more I could say about the book, its author or my own thoughts about the subject of home. Kate Humble has her own website here, and an extensive wikipedia entry as well.

End of 2024, Start of 2025

When I was little and just started to learn about days of the week and names of the months, I thought that each year would start on a Monday. And when I found out that wasn't the case, I still thought it should be that way, making things much neater, and that it would be nice if each month was exactly four weeks, each from Monday to Sunday, and so on. By now I am used to the world being nowhere as neat as I would like it to be, but it can still get me confused as to what day of the week we're actually having, especially when I'm not working. Without my diary, I'd probably be completely lost!

Last Monday (30 December), O.K. and I had a quiet, slow sort of day. We walked into town and later I went to Aldi for a few things, but mostly we were home; it was cold, overcast, foggy and slippery underfoot.

The last day of 2024, Tuesday (31 December) was cold and frosty at -4C/24F but sunny and bright. We were out during the day for about 2 hours, enjoying the sunshine and counterbalancing the cold with hot coffee and cake afterwards. A short rest, followed by preparations for the evening, followed.

Early morning view from my kitchen on the last day of 2024

Same view an hour or so later

frozen pond in the palace grounds

A little after 7:00 pm, we packed up what we had prepared and walked to my Mum's, where we spent New Year's Eve having the traditional meal for most Germans: Raclette. There were six of us, and we had plenty of food on the table, as you can see!

After the sunny day, a dense fog had begun to descend in the afternoon, and by the time we went out on the balcony to watch the fireworks across the neighbourhood, we heard much more than what we saw - only the closest displays were visible, everything else was swallowed by the fog. 

People had been burning so many fireworks all day, it was amazing they had any left by midnight. I'll never get the point of lighting them during the day, when you can hardly see them in the sunshine anyway - and it's not to "test", surely, since you can light each one only once.

Anyway, we had a cosy New Year's Eve with good food, drinks and company, and were home by 2:30 am.

Wednesday (1st of January) was sunny again, and started off at a frosty -3C/26F. OK drove us the 150 km to the village, where we were expected at his Mum's by 4:30 pm. Before that, we had enough time for an hour's walk around the village, at a mild 11C/52F - such was the difference in temperature within less than ten hours!

View from above the village

O.K.'s Mum always makes a traditional meal on New Year's Day and invites the immediate family for that. This year was the first time without O.K.'s Dad.

On Thursday (2 January), O.K. had to go back to work. We got up at 5:15 am, the same time we usually get up on a Monday when we've spent the weekend at his place. It wasn't as hard as it sounds, but I was glad when my trains were on time and I arrived home at 9:30, ready for a short rest after unpacking my overnight bag!

I spent the day doing a few household things and paperwork, but mostly reading, playing and watching TV. It rained all day, so no walk. The rain turned to snow in the course of the evening.

Friday (3 January) was beautiful, but cold. The bit of snow that had been falling during the night was still there. I did my usual weekly cleaning, went for some fresh groceries and later for a good long walk. I didn't feel cold as such, as I was wrapped up warmly, but the icy wind on the fields nipped at my face, ears and head in spite of the woolly hat I was wearing.

Sunrise on Friday

O.K. arrived at 6:30 pm, and we had pasta with my home-made Bolognese.

After breakfast on Saturday (4 January), we spent some time taking down the Christmas decorations and carrying the dismantled tree and other things back down to the cellar, where it will remain for 11 months.

It's always mixed feelings for me: I love the entire Christmas time and part of me is sad to see it go, but I also love my neat surfaces and room to move, and getting things back to normal.

It was still cold, but dry, and in the afternoon we walked into town, not for anything specific. We had excellent coffee at a relatively new place before returning home for a cosy, quiet evening.

Sunday (5 January) was similar to Wednesday weather-wise: Starting off with temperatures below freezing, and later getting as warm as 11C/52F. 

We were at my Mum's in the afternoon to help her with a few things, followed by coffee and a batch of freshly baked apple muffins, very fluffy and nice.

Afterwards, O.K. and I went for a walk in the spring-like mild weather, staying out until a little after sunset. For our evening meal, I used up much of what was still in the fridge.

Tomorrow (Tuesday, 7 January) is my first working day of 2025, and going fully back to normal. I am ready.

Christmas Week

In less than 7 1/2 hours, it's Good-bye 2024, Hello 2025. As every year, I find it hard to believe that another 12 months have passed - but when I think about all I did, places I've been to and people I've met, it does indeed feel like a full year.

What was last week like for me? Of course, Christmas was the main event.

On Monday (23 December), I took a later train back from O.K.'s than usual, because he was already off work and I intended to put in only a couple of hours or so, checking my work emails and not much else.

It was a wet, grey day, and the afternoon at my Mum's was time well spent: My sister and I decorated the Christmas tree after the three of us enjoyed Mum's home-made soup with star-shaped pasta.

My Mum's Christmas tree, as decorated by my sister and me.

Back at my place, I wrapped my Christmas presents before settling down for a quiet evening on my own. Because I had not been home on the 4th Advent Sunday, I lit the four candles on my wreath now.

Tuesday (24 December) started cloudy, but the sun put in an appearance late morning, making me want to go for a walk. My usual route to Benningen was just right, and very welcome.

Who has decorated this tree? :-)

The sun didn't last long, but it remained dry throughout.

Christmas Eve has always been the main part of Christmas for us, when we have a traditional meal, sing songs, light the tree and exchange our gifts. Since my Dad died in October 2022, this was the third Christas Eve with just the three of us: Mum, sister and myself. 

We met at Mum's at 6:00 pm and started the evening off with a glass of sparkling wine. The traditional meal of Wiener sausages and spuds salad was as delicious as ever - we don't want it any other way. We lit the real candles at the tree, stood beside it and sang a few Christmas songs.

Gifts were exchanged, and as always, I got some fabulous surprises as well as some things I had explicitly wished for. 

My Mum read us a Christmas-themed story, and then we had much fun playing a Ludwigsburg-themed quiz. Mum won, while my sister and I ended up with the same number of points.

A beautiful cosy Christmas Eve, just how we love it.

I woke up on Wednesday (25 December) to a sunny day, but didn't have time for a walk. 

View from my kitchen on Christmas morning

A phone call to Mary, my mother-in-law in Yorkshire, was scheduled, and I had to pack my little red suitcase. Around lunch time, I walked to the train station, and O.K. picked me up in Offenburg with a 15 minute delay (not O.K.'s, but my train's).

The two of us exchanged our Christmas gifts and spent the rest of the afternoon having coffee & cake, resting, watching TV and enjoying an evening meal of cheese, bread and salad.

Thursday (26 December) is traditionally the day when the village band provide the music for the family mass in church, always well attended. This year was no exception.

Nativity scene in the village church

The band getting ready for mass

O.K. then changed out of his band uniform and we drove the short distance to where his sister and her husband live, to have the equally traditional festive family lunch - for the first time without O.K.'s Dad.

The food was delicious, and because it was another beautiful sunny day, we went for a brief walk afterwards.

Salad, toast and fish terrine for starters

Potato gratin before we made short shrift of it!

Wild boar, red cabbage and potato gratin - I wish you could smell it!

The mirror-like lake just outside the village where O.K.'s sister and her husband live.

Friday (27 December) was another day of sun and blue sky. O.K. took advantage of the weather and did a few jobs around his Mum's house and garden, while I selfishly went for a walk on my own (after I had completed a few jobs at the cottage - so it wasn't all just play and no work for me), of course in agreement with O.K.

I did a round tour of the three neighbouring villages, taking a bit over 1 1/2 hours for the 9.25 km or so, and enjoyed it very much.

Mist over the hills of the Black Forest

O.K. and I packed up and left around lunch time on Saturday (28 December), arriving at my place at 2:00 pm. My Mum had invited my sister and us along with several friends for coffee and cake, followed by a festive evening meal. There were ten of us in total, plus two dogs, so you can imagine that this was a very different gathering from the one four days ago on Christmas Eve!

It was good to see everybody, and of course we enjoyed the food and drinks as much as the company.

Sunday (29 December) started out sunny, but an icy fog descended about half way through the walk O.K. and I undertook mid-morning.

We were quite happy to spend the rest of the day indoors, eating, resting, listening to music, watching TV and generally just having a quiet, relaxing day.

Last Times Week

Last week saw several things that happened for the last time this year - a week of "Last Times", at least for a while:

I went to work at the office for the last time, had lunch with my colleagues at the canteen for the last time, visited the Christmas market for the last time, took part in a video call for work for the last time, saw one of my old school friends for the last time and had an appointment with my eye doctor for the last time this year.

All of this (and more) will be picked up again in 2025, of course.

On Monday (16 December), we had a mix of sun and clouds at a high of 9C/48F - very mild for December, but not unheard of. I managed to work around a gap of two hours early afternoon, which I used for a walk that was very welcome. In the evening, I met a retired colleague and his wife for food, drinks and catching up at the Christmas market.

These pictures were taken on my way home, when a dramatic moon lit up the nightly sky and made for a rather "Gothic" look:

The view from my kitchen window that evening.

I was up early on Tuesday (17 December) in order to catch a train into Stuttgart in time for my 8:15 appointment to have my eyes checked, something I need to do four times a year. All went well, and on the way back to the train station, I briefly stopped at St. Fidelis, a church I have blogged about before; click here for more pictures from this unusual and beautiful place.

The rest of the day was spent working at the office, and the evening saw me back at the Christmas market, this time to meet an old school friend.

Wednesday (18 December) was my usual day at the office. We had our weekly meeting with the department, but turned it into a bit of a Christmas celebration, with cookies on the table and our boss giving each of us a bag of gifts:

The morning had been chilly, but during the day, the temperature rose to a spring-like 13C/55F. 

My most intense working day of the week was Thursday (19 December); so many things had to be finished or at least prepared in a way that they will be easily completed in January. No walk, no Christmas market, just working from home all day. But I managed to do all I had lined up for that day.

Another day working from home on Friday (20 December), with my last visit to the Christmas market for my lunch break, meeting up with my Mum and my sister. After the mild first half of the week, it was quite cold at a max of 3C/37F, with a nasty wind making it even colder.

Back at my flat, I worked until late afternoon and had time only for a quick superficial cleaning before I had to pack my little red suitcase and head to the train station for the trip to Offenburg.

No sleeping in for us on Saturday (21 December) - it was the day of the village band's annual concert. 

This year's motto was Ireland, and although many pieces sounded somewhat similar (based on traditional Irish folk music), there was enough variety to keep the audience interested. That particular event means a lot of work for musicians and associates (such as me) alike.

We started Saturday morning at 9:00 by setting up the stage, chairs and decorations in the village hall. At 6:00 pm, we were back at the hall; the band had one last play through, while I sat and listened and made some last-minute decisions about what to say about each piece (I was the MC).
At 7:00 pm, the hall doors opened, and people started to flock in. This year, so many came that we had to quickly set up two additional rows of chairs.

The band getting ready

My "work place" for the evening, next to the Christmas trees.

At 8:00 pm, the lights were dimmed and the band took their places on stage.
I switched my microphone on and welcomed everybody before I announced the first piece. It is a task I enjoy, from preparing to actually speaking on stage.

I spent several hours researching all the pieces and their composers, so that I was able to give the audience a bit of context. 

There is of course a fine line between saying too much (and bore the audience to tears) or not enough (and give the band no time to breathe and sort out their sheet music between one piece and the next).

Everything went swimmingly, and afterwards, we stayed on at the hall, having snacks and drinks (I won't mention the whiskey bar that we had set up just for that evening at the back of the hall; it's up to your imagination) until it was time to go home at about 1:30 am.

A few hours later on Sunday (22 December) morning we were back at the hall to tidy up and clean everything. O.K. and I then had a couple of hours of rest before getting things ready for a visit from his family.

We spent a lovely cosy afternoon and evening together, with delicious food and drink, and as usual, we cover a large variety of subjects, laughing a lot but also having serious things to talk about.

The 4th Advent Sunday was over - only two more sleeps until Christmas Eve!

I probably won't blog again until after Christmas. Therefore, here is my Christmas Wish to all of you who have been reading my posts, with our without commenting:

May your Christmas be all you wish for, filling your rooms with love, your hearts with joy and your souls with peace. 

It won't be everybody's favourite day, or easy for those of you (like O.K. and his family) who will be sorely missing a beloved family member or friend - I still find it hard to believe that it's already the 2nd Christmas without my Dad, so I know what that's like. And yet, it's Christmas...

Read in 2024 - 31: Christmas At Thorncliff Manor

Christmas at Thorncliff Manor

Sophie Barnes

I have mentioned before that I enjoy seasonal reading, mostly (but not only) at Christmas. This free ebook was my second such read this season, and made for cosy escapism during many a train ride or wait at train stations.

It is actually the 4th book in a series called "Secrets at Thorncliff Manor", set in England in the Regency era. I don't think I have ever read any other book from the series, or by this author, but if you are looking for light, romantic entertainment set in a place and age that allows you to take a break from reality, this one is a good choice (and you do not need to know the first three books in the series).

A house party for Christmas at the large and luxurious country estate of an elderly duchess  consists of a family with four as yet unmarried daughters, and a matching number of eligible gentlemen. The idea is of course that matches are made, and the hostess has a clear idea of who matches best - but will the young people connect in the way she expects them to?

On top of all that prospective romance, some of the guests know of a legendary treasure hidden somewhere within the walls of the manor, and are determined to find it. Are they going to be successful?

These are of course rhetorical questions with no need for me to answer them for you ;-)

The writing style is good, and I found so few editing errors they are hardly worth mentioning. When the young men and women start to get closer to each other, a few scenes are a bit over the top; nothing too steamy, and not even remotely vulgar, just a bit too... unrealistic, maybe. But I wasn't looking for realism when I downloaded this book, and in terms of seasonal reading, it was nice, although nowhere near as touching as my previous read, "A Christmas Journey".

The author's website is here. Nearly all of the book covers shown there make me cringe, but this Christmas-themed story was alright and unlike what I imagine all these other books to be like.

Three Years, Three Months and Three Days

Three years, three months and three days - that is the exact period of time until my 60th birthday!

I have never had a problem with getting older, or "revealing" my age to people. When I was little, there was a family in our neighbourhood where not even the children knew how old their mother actually was. This changed in later years, and my Mum especially has been to many of this lady's birthdays over the decades. But I remember how silly I found this, since my parents never made such a fuss about their age.

Turning 30 was interesting - it made me feel really good, and I couldn't help but shake my head at how all of a sudden, cosmetics companies sent me adverts for anti-age creams and wrinkles concealers, and my health insurance started sending me a different customer magazine than the one I had received until then.

At 40, I thought I had the coming years neatly mapped out in front of me, and again I had no trouble with that number. Little did I know that 1 1/2 years later, I was going to be widowed, with my life changed forever.

For my 50th birthday, I was happy to be able to rent "my" entire Irish Pub and fill it with my family, friends and neighbours. Shortly afterwards, I had to undergo major eye surgery - partly related to my age.

What am I going to do when I turn 60? What will my life look like then?

Where will I be, job-wise, living-wise, relationship-wise? Actually, I do not expect either my job nor my living arrangements to change, and especially not my relationship - as far as depends on me, O.K. is my "forever" man.

Of course nobody really knows what the future will bring. 

Much like the rest of the world, Germany is undergoing rapid and radical changes that impact our daily lives. The company I work for could cease to exist or need to lay me off before I reach retirement age (currently 67 for me). My health could suffer, making me unable to keep a full time job or go for my beloved walks and hikes. O.K. could decide he's had enough of me. Political unrest and economy crisis could lead to dangerous circumstances beyond my control. Climate conditions could create  problems in the area where I live.

The list is long and scary, but although I am realistic enough to know that all of this is possible, my general outlook is optimistic and hopeful where my personal future is concerned.

I'll stick to doing what is good for me for as long as I can. This sounds egoistical, but it makes sense - I can't be of any use to anyone, be it in my family, circle of friends or at work, when I'm not well and my life is off balanced.

Therefore, here's to turning 60 in three years, three months and three days!