A Long Way from Home

Such a lovely day today,

(yesterday),

I'm so out of practice writing posts,

it takes me ages.

I went for a bike ride.

It was a bit hot to be riding a bicycle.

But I only rode as far as Bernkastel, (7 km.).

 

 

 

I didn't stop to take a photo

until I arrived in Bernkastel,

where I noticed where this cruise ship originally was from,

(or registered?).

It's a long way from home.

River Harmony was registered in Valletta, Malta.

 

 

I like seeing the cruise ships on the river.

They are a touch of luxury against the working barges.

 

 

 

It was obvious that lots of people had the same idea of getting out on their bicycles, despite the heat.

Mike met me in Bernkastle. He had left after me, but had come on his motorbike.

We enjoyed an ice cream together under the shade of a tree before going our separate ways.

 

 

I continued taking photos.

This is a café half way up the hill to the castle.

There are lovely views across the river from there.

Leaving Bernkastel,

I stopped to take capture this lovely chapel snuggled

in the vineyards.

 

 

It's lovely cycling next to the river.

 

 

I had more photos to show,

but for some reason,

Blogger prevented me.

 

We are very fortunate to have such lovely cycle routes.

And such lovely ice cream to enjoy

before embarking on the return journey.

I was so busy enjoying the ice cream,

I forgot to take a photo.

 

 

 

Countdown

I made sure I took the camera with me

on our morning walk on Wednesday.

It's been wet and muddy here,

so the hounds have not had a run for a few days.

But we took a chance that it wasn't too muddy

and gave them a run.

I knew it would be a good opportunity

to take some pictures of the hounds running.

I set the camera to take multiple shots.

It tends to be a bit of a pot luck,

with plenty of blurriness

with unexpected focused bits .

In the afternoon,

as it started to get dark,

we took a trip into Bernkastel.

We had planned to do this before Christmas

and visit the Christmas Market.

But because of my cold,

we didn't.

It was my birthday

on Wednesday,

so it was a good reason to go out for a while.

The Christmas Market had finished,

but the market place was still decorated with Christmas lights.

We had a leisurely walk around,

looking in shops,

and taking photos.

I played about with some of the different settings on the camera.

This last photo was taken on a night setting with a longer exposure.

I deliberately moved the camera around to get a blurred effect.

I like it.

Something I'm not so pleased with is the countdown to my next birthday.

In a years time

I will be 60.

It seems such a monumental event to me,

something I will have to get used to.

I'm sure lots of people reading this will have celebrated a sixtieth birthday

and they are fine with it.

Maybe in a years time

I will have come to terms with it.

I am planning to mark the occasion by having a party.

That should help.

 

Getting back to Normal

Thank you, thank you,

for all your kind words and thoughts regarding Jewel.

It has been a very sad time for us,

and your comments have meant a lot to Mike and I.

It has been a period of readjustment

of life without Jewel.

On the afternoon that Jewel died,

Mike and I were reminiscing about her,

when the wind started to blow the open window.

I got up to close it and as I looked down at the road outside,

I could see hailstones the size of golf balls,

not falling,

but catapulting into the road below.

They were coming down with such force

that Mike and I

dashed round the house

closing all the shutters on the windows.

I later mopped up a bucketful of water

from the balcony caused by the hailstones.

We later learned from friends

that not only cars had been damaged by the hailstones,

but houses too.

A few miles along the river,

the hailstones had weighed just under one kilogram,

about 1.9 lbs.

Car windscreens had been smashed,

bodywork had been dented.

But not only that,

roofs of houses had been damaged,

and in one unfortunate village,

the hailstones had caused so mush damage to the houses

that people had to be evacuated.

Some of these houses are having to be knocked down.

Added to that was the terrible hurt caused to animals,

many being killed,

and others having to be put out of their misery by vets.

It sounds unbelievable,

but we happened to take a bike ride

out that way and passed a different village

where several roofs had been covered with plastic.

We have also seen the damage done to cars.

A windscreen smashed of a car parked in our village,

and a back window covered over with plastic on a car that we followed for a while.

Our friend who has a car workshop

has been inundated with repairing windscreens.

We have never seen the like before.

Unfortunately,

that seemed to mark the change in the weather here,

which has now become cooler.

Typically,

some friends arrived on Tuesday.

I haven't been out yet,

but today looks decidedly cooler still, and dull.

September marks a busy time on the Mosel.

It's when the main wine festivals take place.

Last weekend it was Bernkastel's festival.

It is the largest in this area.

Mike and I went along on Saturday evening

to watch the fireworks.

They mark a battle which took place

when Napolean sailed up the river and fired on the castle.

The castle of course retaliated.

So the display focuses on the castle and the riverside.

It was lovely.

I heard a group of Americans saying how good it was.

The photo was taken last year

is of the castle overlooking the river.

A beautiful setting for the fireworks.

I have had to use a photo from last year

as unfortunately,

I have broken the camera,

again!

I haven't been using the computer much lately

and it will be a few days yet before I will be using it regularly.

But then I will get round to visit you all.

So in the meantime,

thank you once again for visiting

and your kind comments, they mean a lot.

Swan Update

Before Easter I had to have some emergency dental treatment,

I had toothache!

Yesterday I went to pay the bill.

I took my camera,

as I knew that before Easter they had this lovely little display outside the door.

I had taken my camera on an earlier visit, but the batteries had given up,

so I was hoping that it was still there.

It was!

On the way to the dentist

I stopped by to see how the swans are doing.

Obligingly she was rearranging her eggs when I arrived,

and I got a photo of them.

There's three at least.

They have their own little fan club.

This last photo shows one of the holiday cruise ships

that frequent the river.

Bernkastel seems to be one of their stops.

It's a lovely way to see the river.

I don't think the swan is very impressed with it though.

Enjoy your weekend.

Swanning Around

Here are the photos I was telling you about yesterday,

even though the post is dated for today.

I took so long between starting it and posting it.

The first photo is taken just down from the swimming baths.

It just gives a different perspective of the river to the one I usually photograph.

Also the path/cycle track runs right next to the river.

A downside if you're a bit wobbly on a bicycle maybe!

This set of 5 photos shows a swan that's made it's nest

in the car park of our local town, Bernkastel.

A temporary fence has been put up between the nest and the road.

It looks quite at home don't you think.

This next photo shows you how I am spending my time on the balcony,

now that I have run out of books to read.

Crocheting.

I've just added this last photo.

All the rest I uploaded earlier today.

It takes so long, that I go off to do something else.

So they've been sitting here since this morning.

This photo was taken a short while ago when Mike and I

visited Bernkastel for an early evening stroll around the town,

and an ice cream of course.

I will have to visit the swans regularly in the hope of seeing the eggs hatch.

Maybe I should do a weekly update.

What do you think?