A Birthday Party

This week, I have been posting almost every day - there is so much catching up to do before the month is over!

The 12th of August is my Mum's birthday. Yes, "Glorious Twelfth" has a different meaning in my family! Of course, a big birthday party was not feasible, but we still wanted to make the day special for her.

My parents' friend Rita lives on the ground floor in the same house, and her garden is at the back of the house, facing east, meaning it is in the shade all afternoon - perfect on a hot day such as the 12th was.

Six of us gathered there in the evening. My sister and Rita had organised everything and made the garden pretty with garlands and lights, putting chairs and tables out so that we could sit with enough distance from each other. Rita grilled meat and sausages (also some vegetarian ones for those who wanted them), there were various salads and bread, and of course cold drinks with or without alcohol.

My contributions were a well-chilled peach punch and a bowl of watermelon salad. I can't believe I have not posted the recipe on my blog before - it has been a favourite summer dish of ours for a few years now. The ingredients are watermelon, feta cheese, roasted pine nuts and chopped mint leaves, marinated with lime juice, olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. So refreshing!

Rita's cats kept us entertained, especially Keks, who managed to get hold of a large green dragonfly. Velvet, who is an old lady now, only came out for a drink and then a rest by the pond.

The day was special for me in another way, too: Usually, I go running once a week with a friend who lives close by, and once on the weekend with O.K. It has been too hot for running in the evening recently, and so my friend and I agreed to try an early morning run. On that Wednesday, I got up at 5:40 in the morning, had a sip of water, brushed my teeth, put my running things on and left the house at 5:55 in order to meet my friend at 6:00 outside her house.

It was a truly enjoyable experience and a pleasant run, perfect at that time of day! I really should do this more often - if only I didn't like my sleep so much...

A Sunday Barbeque

Sunday, the 9th of August, was forecast to be even slightly hotter than the Saturday had been. We opted against running or hiking and went for a gentle walk around the village instead, in the morning before it became too hot.

There was a slight breeze, and it was actually a really pleasant walk, in spite of the heat making itself felt already. After about an hour, we were back at the cottage and thinking about lunch.

O.K.'s cottage is on the other side of a narrow cul-de-sac road from his parents' house, with a courtyard/driveway in front of their house and a strip of garden along the side. At that time of the day, it was still in the shade, and so we brought out the grill from the shed and had a barbeque for lunch.

Because of the wasps, we only grilled our food out there, but ate it in the kitchen, carrying our plates the few paces from the cottage's front door to the grill and back. It was much cooler inside, and no wasps! The grilled vegetables, sausage and rustic bread made for a delicious Sunday lunch.

We spent part of the afternoon resting, refreshing ourselves at the fountain a few times in between, and later had a cold evening meal on the balcony. By that time, the heat had become bearable, and we sat there long after sunset, admiring the beautiful starry sky. Even the Milky Way is visible from there - no chance of that in town, where I live.

Having decided to take the Monday morning commuter train instead of heading home on the Sunday evening made it all so much more relaxed and pleasant. All went well on the Monday morning, too, and I arrived home with 20 minutes to spare before my first conference call of the day.

Hiking on a Very Hot Day

Saturday, the 8th of August, was a very hot day (again) with the thermometer rising to about 35 C (95 F) during the day. Not exactly hiking weather - unless you know where to go.

We started relatively early and chose a circuit that would take us almost exclusively through the woods. The circuit is called Gertelbach-Rundweg and is relatively short at just under 10 km. Its first part is an almost constant climb, often rather steep, alongside a little stream that splashes and tumbles down over and between boulders and rocks. The sound and sight of the water alone made for a much fresher, cooler feel. See for yourself:

View from Wiedenfelsen towards a hotel popular for weddings:

There was a wedding party on the large rock, the bride teetering on her high heels in her gown, the photographer struggling for a good camera position.

It was almost precisely 12:00 - lunchtime! - when we reached the Hertah羹tte ("Herta's Hut"). At that moment, we were on our own, and decided to have our packed lunch in the shade of the open-faced hut, enjoying the beautiful view:

About half way through us munching away on our sandwiches and other good things, a family arrived. We said hello when they entered the hut, but only one of the women said hello back - the others behaved as if we were not there. Such impoliteness is annoying, but what can you do other than shrug it off - it is not worth it getting angry, especially not on such a fine day. We left soon afterwards.

One or two km from the hut is a beer garden and restaurant, Kohlbergwiese, in the middle of the woods. We stopped there for a shandy, and although the drink itself was a very welcome refreshment, the many wasps were not. More than once I jumped up from my seat and ran a few paces away, since they just would not leave me alone, whizzing around my ears and eyes and hair instead of concentrating on finding food and drink at someone else's table.

We managed not to get stung and walked on:

It was about 2:00 pm by the time we reached the parking lot that marks the beginning and end of the circuit.

Before we drove home, we took our shoes and socks off and played in the stream for a while - that was so much fun! It reminded me of when I was a child; my sister and I often went hiking with our parents, and whenever there would be a beck or stream along the way, we would stop and play there, building dams or just paddling about in the cold water.

We were seeing friends at a beer garden in town the same evening, but it was still early afternoon, and we decided to try and find a way to a castle (Burg Windeck) we'd seen on a hill on our way. The signs were clearly pointing us in a certain direction, but at one point, there were no signs anymore, and we ended up driving a road that was going uphill but obviously not the right hill. No matter, it was still a beautiful spot for a view across the Rhine valley:

Back home, we had enough time for coffee and cake and then a rest before it was time to freshen up and change into different clothes. We cycled the roughly 9 km into town to the beer garden where we were to meet with friends. I had feared the wasps would bug us there, too, but it wasn't too bad - probably because they were truly spoiled for choice there! And after sunset, they were gone anyway.

We spent a nice evening before riding our bikes home in the dark. Arriving at the cottage, we saw that some of the neighbours had brought garden chairs and drinks out and gathered around the fountain at the side of the village road; we joined them for one last drink before finally calling it a day.

A Gift and An Advert

It was my Mum's birthday on Wednesday. The weather was pretty much the same as it has been for a while now; very hot with daytime temperatures well over 30 Celsius and not really cooling off at night, making it hard to sleep and not easy to concentrate on work the next day.

However, this post is neither about the weather nor about the small but lovely birthday celebration we had - it is about one of the gifts I gave my Mum.

She had long been talking about wanting a new mousemat / mouse pad, and I knew just where to have one made specifically for her:

Good friends of mine in Yorkshire have recently started their own business, Illustrated Solutions LTD, printing whatever motive you choose on a vast range of products such as t-shirts, mugs, key rings, bags, coasters and - in my case - mousemats. They can do sublimation and 3D prints, and will print for you even if it is just one single item. Of course, they will happily print any number of items; for instance, if you run a small business and want to give your team and your best customers mugs for their tea and coffee breaks with your company logo, Nigel and Fiona are the ones to turn to.

Same is true for whatever other event or occasion you want to mark with a special memory, say a wedding or a big birthday party; you could create coasters for your guests as a take-home gift, or what about giving the members of your book or poetry club t-shirts with your club's name? The ideas are endless! If you are not sure about what to do, you can browse their designs or get in touch with them - two very nice and creative people will help you get your idea off the ground.

Have I mentioned face masks yet? All of us need them now, nobody enjoys wearing them - but you can make it more pleasant by having your own personalised mask, or give one as a small but very useful gift. Business owners can equip their staff with masks showing the logo, something I would definitely do if I were running a shop or caf矇.

From the time I asked my friends about the possibility of having a mousemat printed for my Mum until I had the finished product in my hands took only a few days - and most of that was shipping time (they are in the Barnsley area whereas I live, as you know, in south Germany). They really offer quick and friendly service, quality products and neat packaging, all at very reasonable prices.

Here is the mousemat I gave my Mum. The picture is one you have seen a few times on my blog, the view from the area where my parents used to have their allotment, and where my Mum and I have walked often.

Find them here on Facebook and see pictures of their many products.