At bay, 75 percent, sunshine and swallows
Three beautiful things from the week just gone:
1. We appear to be winning against a recent ant invasion. The vinegar and water seems to be keeping them at bay, although the odd one still appears in the unlikeliest of places, such as in the frying pan on Monday. Thankfully, it was spotted before I put the food in but not before I turned the heat on.
2. On Wednesday, I go for lung function tests. Given that we have no pre-pregnancy baseline to go on they seem a little redundant but I know I’m lucky that the NHS cares to bother at all. The appointment doesn’t start well when I get a gushing nosebleed after deciding it might be a good idea to clear my nasal passages. After a quick clean up the tests get underway. Turns out my lung is working at about 75 percent capacity. Not bad if you consider 80 percent would still be considered within normal range, and it is just the one all on its own. We’ll see what the consultant thinks in a few weeks.
3. A week of glorious, uninterrupted sunshine. Though ‘one swallow does not a summer make’, surely three, spotted yesterday evening in the blue skies above our yarden, has got to be a good sign?
Adventures in a car: Hare Hill
A couple of weekends ago, at the first sign of sunshine in decades, we picked up our national trust cards, packed a picnic, and drove over to Hare Hill. It’s situated in Cheshire, close to Alderley Edge, aka. footballer central. I’m pleased to report there were no WAGS, orange tans or Prada rucksacks to be seen. Instead, we got to meander along quiet woodland paths overhanging with rhododendron bushes, spot some hares, eat our picnic followed by an afternoon snooze under a warm blue sky in the walled garden, and walk across grazing parkland to the lake with views to the sprawling city beyond. It was absolute heaven!
London, Southampton, Home
Three things that made my week away from home and back again:
1. A final research trip to London before I go on leave also brings time to catch up with friends and family.
2. On Wednesday, we visit the beautiful flat that will be our new home come September and share a lively and entertaining dinner with some of Florian’s colleagues, or I should say friends. For the first time I feel a little bit excited about the move to Southampton. The city still ain’t doing it for us but at least we have somewhere nice to live.
3. I travel home light on Sunday afternoon, Florian having miraculously managed to take the bulk of my belongings, including laptop, camera and suitcase, back with him the day before. We snack on tea and biscuits at four. Later, we have home-made Indian in front of the telly.
A good start, a lazy Saturday, a Sunday picnic
Three beautiful things from two very long weeks ago:
1. The week starts well with three solid days of writing. The flow gets rudely interrupted on Thursday by marking but at least I get it done before my trip to London.
2. A food-fueled lazy Saturday: breakfast of bacon, egg and brown sauce bagel in bed, late lunch of burger and french fries at Common, and Abendbrot for supper.
3. On Sunday, we drive to Hare Hill and have a picnic of pork pie, homemade pasta salads, cake and traditional lemonade in the walled garden. Afterwards, I have a long doze in the sunshine.
Adventures in a car: Combs Reservoir
Pictures from our walk in the vicinity of Combs Reservoir on Sunday. We walked this route from our box-set of walks in the Peak District. With a couple of steep inclines and lots of dodgy stiles, the walk was a little more exhausting than I’d anticipated but still doable at 7 months pregnant! Thankfully, the weather behaved itself. It was a little overcast but with regular outbreaks of sun and no horrid rain or chilly wind. We would recommend walking the route clockwise, rather than anti-clockwise as advised on the guide, as it’s perhaps nicer to start rather than end on the golf course and you can have a well-earned drink at the very pleasant-looking Beehive Inn in Combs village, which we didn’t think we deserved after walking for well less than an hour.
Last week, these three things made life beautiful:
1. On Thursday, a friend on a flying visit up north finds time before a long-drive home to come and see us.
2. Home-made baked beans, herby mushrooms, balsamic cherry tomatoes, locally sourced sausage, bacon, a baked egg, malted toast – breakfast at Fyg Deli in the northern quarter on Saturday.
3. Yesterday, we escaped to the Peak District again, this time to Combs Reservoir and surrounding area. No wind, no rain, only peace and quiet and a little bit of sunshine.
Chiemsee
A few pictures from our recent trip to Chiemsee, near Munich, to celebrate the wedding of Juliane and Rasso. They got married in the unbelievably beautiful location of the Fraueninsel (the island pictured below) with the snowy Alps providing a stunning backdrop. We booked a hotel on the mainland in Gstadt where our balcony had great views overlooking the lake and the Alps.
a small visitor to our balcony
Fraueninsel, just a short boat trip across the lake.
On board the good ship Siegfried! / the church bell tower
The island is home to a Benedictine convent. Like all good nuns, the sisters still make their own liquor.
I didn’t take too many photos of the wedding as I was, as usual, too busy eating and enjoying myself but I did manage to capture Florian and some friends playing Beethoven’s variations on Mozart’s Là ci darem (from Don Giovanni) for the happy couple. Oh and someone managed to take a snap of me too.
The island is car-free which makes for a very quiet relaxing place. The lake itself was also still and peaceful with just the odd boat floating about.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to visit the Herreninsel, the larger of the two inhabited islands in Chiemsee (pictured in the distance above). It’s home to a palace built for Bavaria’s mad king Ludwig II and modeled on the Palace of Versailles. But hopefully we’ll be back sometime soon.
We thought we were lucky with the weather on our wedding day but that honor now goes to Juliane and Rasso. Having basked in glorious sunshine on the Saturday we woke on Sunday to find the Chiemsee looking positively arctic. Still, we braved the rain and made the short crossing back to the Fraueninsel to join the happy couple and other guests for a hearty German breakfast. We then headed back to Munich and eventually the airport, ending what has been a busy but supremely enjoyable month of European adventures.
Sweet tooth, blooming, a bracing walk
While I get my backside in gear and sort out putting up some photos from Chiemsee here are three beautiful things from the last week:
1. Discovering the Co-op sells dark chocolate coated peppermint creams. And they’re Fairtrade.
2. The yarden is in bloom. The bluebells are out in force, pink buds are appearing on our rhododendron and the raspberry plants are sprouting again.
3. A wet and blustery walk on the hills above a very empty Lyme Park. Our faces are wind-chapped and we may not be able to feel our hands but we’re certainly invigorated.
A perk of the job, familiarity, Munich
Three beautiful things that made the week:
1. On Tuesday I give a talk at the Yorkshire Medical and Dental History Society on the history of family planning. It’s very enjoyable. I get a free dinner and meet lots of interesting and interested people.
2. It only takes five minutes to get my eyebrows waxed on Wednesday but I could lie there all afternoon it’s so relaxing. It’s the only beauty salon I’ve been to where I feel immediately at ease. This has all to do with the staff who genuinely seem to remember me from one visit to the next. The same goes for the hairdresser. I’ll miss this familiarity when we move back down south.
3. The weekend is taken up with a brief but wonderful visit to Munich. We catch up with friends and their two adorable children before heading off to Chiemsee for a wedding – beautiful setting, gorgeous weather, a perfect couple.
Oranges, strangers, northern sunshine
Three short, simple beautiful things from last week:
1. Picking oranges straight from the tree.
2. The warmth and friendliness of strangers.
3. A chilly but sunny Manchester helping to ease the return home.
