So... ordering and sorting stuff here is still progressing. My appointment was no issue either; it took me a little longer to walk (carefully, because of slippery streets) from the station to where I needed to be, and the same on the way back, but it was no big deal.

By late afternoon, everything had thawed much more, so the errands were also no problem. Now, however, I am looking forward to the weekend - after the last few bits that I have to do today will be dealt with. And hopefully on Monday I'll get somewhat further with the book sorting... do you know that effect when you'd need to add one single book at a specific place in the shelf, but there's no more room for it, so you need to move one of the books from there to another shelf, and it's the same thing there, and all of a sudden you realise that the one book will cause a cascade through all your bookish belongings, or at least almost all?

Yes. This. This is exactly what is happening here, so some of the non-book stuff will have to move somewhere else, or find new homes at some other place. The little cat also reminds me that I wanted to clear some more space again on my desk, because it's getting cramped here and she wishes to stretch out more.

You see... things have been clearly laid out, and I know what I have to do on Monday!

It is, for a change, quite cold around here. The last several winters, we had a little bit of snow now and then, and maybe a few days of below zero, but this year, there's actually frost and cold and snow for more than just three days in a row.

Somehow, it feels like I'm not used to that at all anymore. Fortunately I have warm things to wear when going outside, and there's several different options still working to get me from where I am to where I need to be (and that even though I was too lazy to put the winter tyres onto my bike, as it was never necessary in the last years, and now I question that decision). However, it seems like I'm not the only one who has gotten out of the habit on how to live in a winter. There was lots of snow coming down one night, with the result of buses stopping service for a few hours - greeted, obviously, by a lot of clamouring about how this is totally out of the question and inacceptable.

Eh. We were taking a walk on that evening and there were plenty of cars taking little slides on the street. Yes, I can get that not getting your transport is shitty, but I can still understand the decision taken to stop bus service during these snowfalls. (I am fully aware that it's much easier to be understanding here if you were not one of the people caught out and with no possibility to get from A to B as planned.)

However, and more generally speaking: There is no guarantee that mobility will be possible at any time and without restrictions. Things can always happen, and if the weather gets more extreme, we will all have to learn how to figure that in, much more than most people are currently used to. There's always been delayed flights due to snow and ice. (Well, for that relatively short time in our history when there were commercial flights.) There's always been issues with icy, slippery roads in the winter time, and car crashes due to this. (Again, in the slightly longer, but still overall very short time... you know.) There's also always been issues with ships sailing in wintertime, or more generally in seasons with difficult weather in the corresponding area.

Back in the Middle Ages, there were times when some places were not accessible during some times of the year. Heck, still in the 19th century that was the case for some mountain valleys. But this seems not to fit in with the modern concept and self-image of being able to do anything, anywhere, and at any time.

Our modern comforts are not a matter of course. Some of them, I'd argue, are a true luxury - such as strawberries in winter, or flights cheaper than trains - and they are not without price. We can get the impression that with modern machines, modern medicine, modern science, modern computers, everything is possible. It is not, and there's many, many people each day that get to experience this in their own life every single day.

For tonight, there's a weather warning for large parts of Germany, with prediction of snow and/or rain, so it might be quite uncomfortable tomorrow. I have an appointment to get to in the morning, so I hope it won't be too bad around here, and I won't have too much trouble to get there. (No, it can't be postponed.) Then we'll probably just stay home and won't budge for the rest of the day - we did postpone visiting a friend, because of the weather warnings.

Here I am, back from the winter break. There's a bit of chaos around me, as, of course, the "going through stuff to tidy things up" was not finished within the break... and I still have a hard time throwing stuff away. Ah well. One thing to work on during the new year!

While I was on break, there was a little interview happening for an ORF radio show (and podcast): In "Betrifft: Geschichte", school children were asked to send in their question about things in history. I happened one day to get asked if I'd be willing to answer one about protection from weather and sun.

The little piece has been aired already, and the short version is available here for a few more days. The slightly longer podcast version will be online for six months, and you can find it here. Both are, I should mention, in German! 

It's time for the winter break - I wish you all happy holidays with some time to spare to do the things you enjoy, and a good start into a happy, healthy year 2026.  May you find some peace and quiet, too, as needed! (The little cat certainly has this part down pat.)

I will be off the shop and blog until January 7. Thank you for reading here - and see you again next year! 

The last bills have been paid, there's been some sorting done here and there, we even managed to squeeze in a coffee meet-up with an errand. I'm all caught up with the orders and almost caught up with the to-do list of things to get done before the summer break. 

As usual, there's lights out there, some brighter, some not so bright, same applies to what I'd see as tasteful or not, but overall I still, well, quite like it.

I also like the smells of the season - that of mulled wine, and oranges, and roast chestnuts. It's lovely to sit down in the afternoon to have hot tea with Stollen or Plätzchen. (And, of course, the traditional christmas market Currywurst!) 

There's a lot of things that are more or less traditional in our household around this time of year, some only by the fact that we do it every year because we enjoy it. (Which is, actually, the best of all reasons to have a tradition.) One of the traditions that has been there since I can remember, though, we'll pass on this year: Having a decorated tree at my parent's place.

Usually, there was a (real) tree bought before Christmas, as is quite common in Germay; typically a quite small one so it would fit a specific place and quite often one that was a little crooked. The most important bit, though, was that it had branches that got shorter quickly enough toward the top - because we always had real candles on it. That got a bit more difficult in the last years, as trees these days are grown to be compact and bushy. You don't need spaced-apart branches with nothing above the still-strong-and-stable part where you can put the candle holder if you are using electrical candles, and that has been the norm for, oh, many years now in Germany. Actually, my parents were already rather oddly old-fashioned in this regard, and I was one of very few classmates already in elementary school who'd have a tree with real candles at home.

For me, this is one of the special "Christmas at my parent's house" things. Real candles have their own charm, and bring their own special smells, and I have always loved them. They make a lit tree much more special, too, as you don't just turn the lights on on a whim, or for a few minutes of hanging out in the room. (That is also something that can be considered a downside - usually you only enjoy the lights for a limited time, the hour or so that they burn, and then the tree is dark again.)

Since my dad has declining health, though, we decided to not have a tree this year - mostly not to add the extra work of putting away all the tree decoration and getting rid of the tree on top of my mum's workload. (The putting up and decorating, we'd be there to help, but not for the other part.) As a stand-in, we have a small wooden cutout tree with LED lights that is easy to put up and take down, has no danger of catching fire, and that my mum can carry to wherever they can see it best. So we will see, this year, if that is an agreeable solution for all of us.

A little part of me is a little sad about this decision, but I know it was a good thing to do. And if I miss it too much, or someone else in the family does, we can always change things again next year, and maybe find a solution for the putting away problem, too. Traditions are, after all, there to give us stability and something to look forward to, things we enjoy and wait for - and not extra burdens that are more trouble than fun at some point...

A few days ago, I was told about a thing called "Kneipensingen für alle" (pub singing for everyone). Because, well, lots of people like singing, but there's not always the opportunity. 

Two musicians started this in Bamberg, and the idea is that they bring their instruments, provide the texts, and then there's a wild selection of songs where everybody sings along. There's no pressure to sing very nicely (or even always hit the notes), it's just to, well, have fun singing.

This has been happening in Bamberg for a few years now, and it has spread to Erlangen (or, more precisely, the duo also does it in Erlangen now, too). Well. 

Being someone who also likes to sing, but doesn't always hit all the notes, I am intrigued... and will be checking this out. The friends who told about this event also said that there's probably going to be some Xmas-themed singing, as it's the season. I am, thus, very much looking forward to Friday evening!

This is one of these days when it's grey outside, not really freezing but very far from pleasant winter weather. The cat purrs on my arm (making it a little harder to type, but, eh, I am used to that), there's some things that I should work on but I feel more like curling up under a blanket with a nice hot cup of something, and regarding the blog post (which is also on the to-do list) - I have no idea whatsoever on what to blog.

A few more days before the winter break, a few more packages to send, and possibly one more baking session (I have found out that a lot of the Spekulatius I made have a crack and now tend to break apart, so I might take this as an excuse to make more. And coincidentally try out my new pattern blocks. Maybe.

First, though, I have to make a rough plan for a presentation planned for January, and pay the year's last invoices. All with the little cat's warm assistance, at least!