Today's a public holiday here, so instead of a proper post, you're getting this picture of ripening woad seeds:
I really love the colours of these seeds at that stage - they stay beautiful, but the deep purple changes to something more of a brown or blackish colour as they ripen.
We are, as you might know, cyclists. Erlangen is a place where there's a lot of cycling going on, and in most cases, it's the quickest way to get from A to B within the city (just like in so, so many places). You can park right where you want to go and don't have to find a parking space, get the ticket, put it into the car, and then walk to wherever you planned to be.
Apart from that, it's healthy (at least healthier than sitting in a car), more quiet, and more sustainable. Also it's fun, especially with a nice bike that is easy to ride.
If we are going somewhere together, we're taking the tandem, if it's at all possible. We've also spent a few holidays on the bike... so it has seen a few replacements over the years, pieces that were worn out, pieces that got upgraded, pieces that broke.
The latest piece that broke? The flange on our rear wheel hub. On one trip, we heard a "ping" sound like when a spoke breaks - and yes, two spokes were loose. But not because they themselves had broken. A part of the flange had taken exception to staying with us and went its merry way somewhere into the bushes.
Fortunately, it was still possible to use the bike, though with a bit of caution. And last Friday, the replacement wheel arrived. We now have a shiny new wheel, and the Most Patient Husband of Them All also replaced the chains, and there's a new sprocket cassette, and now the whole thing is running like new again. Plus the freewheel of the new wheel is really, really quiet - in fact, you can only hear it in some instances, and the sounds of the chains running when we pedal are actually louder than the freewheel sound.
The last hub lasted about 33.000 kilometers. So now we can work on wearing the new one out...
No, this time I'm not talking about food that is paid for fairly - but fair food as in the things I eat when on a fair.
There is, obviously, a huge difference between going on a fair as a visitor and going on a fair as a vendor, though in both cases, I tend to bring my own food. Most of the time, the things offered at the food stalls are not, um, top-quality stuff in regards to ingredients and taste, and they are usually also quite high-priced.
When I go to visit the Spiel game fair at Essen, the usual stuff we're taking along is sandwiches, some fruit, and a bit of chocolate or other sweet stuff. There's a nice breakfast in the morning and the group goes to have dinner at an Italian or other place in the evening. Packing and food prep for that is easy, as it's only the sweet stuff and maybe some extra fruit to pack and bring along, the sandwich ingredients are provided at breakfast time, as is more fruit. So nothing to think of or prep in the days before.
When I'm on a fair as a vendor, it's a wholly different picture. Sometimes breakfast is provided, but that's the exception; usually it's pack your own for all the event. Which means packing food that is ready to eat, does not need to be refrigerated, is more or less sensible, easy to eat a bit of and put away again (in case customers come along while you're munching), and preferably also tasty.
Bread and smoked sausages as well as boiled eggs are among the typical things that fit these requirements. Chocolate, of course - my rule is to take one bar of chocolate per day, just in case things happen and there's no time to eat properly. Carrots, radishes, and cucumbers are good choices for getting some fresh stuff that does not wilt when you look at it oddly. But something that is not bread is also very nice to have.
One of my not-bread-meal staples for these occasions is Quarkauflauf - which is, more or less, a crust-free cheesecake with fruit in it. And today's the first time since ages that I'm prepping this. With Zwetschgen as the fruit, that lovely variety of plums that I like so much, and that I find is unrivalled in Quarkauflauf. I don't really know why I haven't made this since the last fair, but I can tell you that I am very much looking forward to this fair food, to be consumed this weekend in Hohenlohe!
In case you're in the region, come see me at my stall, the fair runs Saturday and Sunday in Blaufelden. And if you have suggestions, or a favourite food to take along on travels or events, let me know in the comments - it's always interesting to hear what other people have to keep them going on events!
Easter has passed very pleasantly, with a lot of sunshine, and good weather is always welcome here. It's still rather cool outside when the wind is blowing, but spring is truly here now. The tulips are blooming in the garden, as are the primulas, and wild bees are happily visiting all the flowers and making nests in the bee hotels. Busy all around...
...and I am busy again as well. There's post to be brought to the office, and then there's the fair to prep for. I have already started going down the lists, which include important but easily forgotten things like "charge powerbanks" and "check printouts". To make things slightly more interesting, I managed to overdo things for one of my wrists over Easter, doing gardening work. Now I have a sore arm; I don't think it's a full tenosynovitis, but certainly a warning to give the arm a bit of rest.
Which is surprisingly difficult for the dominant arm and having to do manual tasks... but currently I'm managing alright. The arm is getting warm water massage treatment (which has done the job before with similar issues), and a bit of salve to tone down inflammation, and proper car loading is not scheduled until Thursday, so there's some more time for recovery.
In case you have tendon sheath trouble, this is the warm water treatment that I can fully recommend: place the body part in question into warm water. It should be nice and warm, so not quite boil-a-lobster. Take a soft brush (or a medium-soft one, and adjust pressure accordingly) and massage the area under water with the brush. Do this daily, at least once, but more often also does not hurt (I try to go for twice or three times). That's it - simple and easy, and when some years ago I had issues with a swollen (not really inflamed, but also not really okay) tendon sheath, this finally solved it where creams and salves had no effect whatsoever.
I've made the mistake of doing a bit too much doom-scrolling in the past few days, including this morning. There's still war in the Ukraine, there's still really high Covid numbers in Germany, and there's still a lot of bullshitty stuff happening regarding energy and preservation of nature and sustainability here as well. It makes me feel sad, and helpless, and more sad, and that is not a very good thing.
The little cat, however, is determined to brighten up my day by snuggling up to me on the desk, purring loudly, and I have the Vienna trip and presentation to look forward to. There's hot tea sent by a friend (well, not in its hot brewed state, obviously, but the tea bags), and finally a little light rain outside. While sunshine is nice too, the rain is much needed and appreciated, even if it means there will be fewer bees and bumblebees around today.
I hope you have your own doom-scrolling under control, and enough nice things to brighten up your day. Maybe some links can also help? Here you go.
And now I will return to getting something resembling work done...
Today was birds-in-the-wintergarden day... it started off with a pair of black tits in the morning. When it's sunny outside, I open up at least one of the glass doors to the wintergarden, so that a) the plants get some unfiltered sunlight and b) the place does not overheat too badly. Sometimes, that means that a bird gets in and has a bit of a hard time to get out again, because it tries to fly through one of the closed doors, or one of the non-opening glass panels.
That is not a huge problem unless Madame the Cat is on the premises - then it sometimes ends with a dead bird. Today, though, all the birds got lucky.
The first of the black tits found its way out again straight away, while the second, smartly, sat down on a high rafter for a while. That was out of sight enough for Madame to lose some of her interest, and I could coax her inside (to visit her food bowl instead of looking for a feathery snack she won't eat anyways). After a while, the bird, now much calmer, went to explore the place in search of a way out, and was successful.
A few hours later, there was fluttering in the wintergarden again, and when I went in to take a look, two robins were trying to bore their way through one of the non-opening panes. Madame was outside on some important cat business at that time; I went and found the two birds to be surprisingly chilled. One was, in fact, so chilled that I could just grab it and carry it outside, where it refused to leave my hand and arm for a few minutes. I tried to transfer it to a nice place to sit on, but it hopped back onto my hand several times, and fluttered off only after it had shat on my arm. I've never had a robin on my finger before, and I can tell you that the grasp of these small, delicate bird feet is surprisingly strong, and that the leg length is astonishing.
I'd have loved to take a photo, but all the photo-taking implements were inside, and I didn't want to take the bird in there...
Some minutes later, our cat returned from her important business elsewhere. Good timing, I'd say.
It's springtime for real now, or so it feels - getting warmer, more and more flowers opening up, and I sort of feel the slight pressure to get some of the spring gardening things done, such as planting peas.
I'm also sorting through the seed stock, as there are a few packets of seeds that are probably too old to be viable anymore. Some of them I've seeded out of curiosity to see if anything will still come of it (though I'm not expecting any luck with 10 year old tomato seeds), some I've scattered in the garden (either they sprout, or get eaten by something, either way it's fine) and some are not sorted into either category yet. There were some tomato seeds that had no year with them, so I've seeded those, too.
I've also tried something new this year, seedling-wise:
I've used trays in the past, but they only worked semi-well; this way, I can have an eggshell for each variety and put them somewhere else if necessary (like out into the wintergarden once they have germinated, so they won't grow too tall and lanky for lack of light in too much warmth - which they need to get started). If you're thinking of trying it too, I found that the shells should be a minimum size to work nicely. We usually have L eggs, and the shell should really be split in the middle or above; if it's less than half the egg height, it's a little to shallow for me to feel comfortable. (I always think that it will dry out too quickly then.)
