A couple of lizards came by to warm their bellies on the hot tiles of our patio. For our 2 years old daughter another thrilling adventure of nature! Maybe the little dragons just smelled the meat from our smoker... - small saurians do eat meat, right?
July 25th, 2010. Whilst only about 180 kilometers away the International Formula 1 Grand Prix took place in Hockenheim, our family prefered to watch the (little less famous) soap box derby of Berghülen. Compared to the racing of the high tech bolids, we might draw the simple conclusion of the event: less crashs - more fun. The kids, especially our two-year-old, had a ball!
July 10th, 2010. With friends, our daughters and two old inflatables, we do a tour on the Blau creek, from our domicile in Gerhausen down the creek, following the untouched Altental (Old Valley) creek until Herrlingen. A distance, which takes about ten minutes by car, lasted almost four hours paddling for approximately eleven kilometers. But definitely it was worth it; we had a ball on the water, went for swimming, experienced hardly seen nature, saw swans, lots of fish, mainly trout (in German: Forellen), a familie of black coots (Blässhuhn), grey herons (Graureiher) and even a beaver. Kingfisher (Eisvogel)? Unfortunately, no...
A lazy summer's eve in Stuttgart, July 8th, 2010. I meet a friend at the beer garden on the "Karlshöhe", an old park on top of a hill in the middle of the town, 343 meters above sea level (about 100 meters higher than downtown). Extraordinary view of Stuttgart's televison tower and its southern quarters. Notice the brownish strip on the horizon, right above the woods. It's the smog of the city.
July 8th, 2010. What a beautiful warm summer day! Instead of driving the Autobahn to Stuttgart, I take the long way overland. Near the small village of Schopfloch there's a sight which used to be so typical for this area in former times, like in the 19th century. According to official sources, today again about 100.000 sheep pasture here, in the Alb-region.
Amazing: For quite some months now I am checking out nice spots in the broad expanse of our home. But so far I never noticed the lacy beauty of that old, small footbridge, that crosses the stream right in front of our front door, just maybe 80 meters away. Until today.
(Blau-creek, Blaubeuren-Gerhausen, Swabian Alb, Southern Germany)
As some of you know (and the others might have noticed yet), I/we have an obsession for a very special place on Crete, Greece - right around here. Reasons for this are mainly to be answered by the manager of this hotel - but that's another story.
So, having spent quite some life time at this beautiful place, we also got to know some of the creepy creatures of Crete. Here's a small collection of insects we were able to take pictures of.
June 13th, 2010, on our way to Erbach, Danube valley, southern Germany. Despite cloudy skies, we see a meadow of blooming corn poppy flashing in the distance. Coming closer, the sight is amazing - and I only have my cellphone with me to take this picture. So I'll have to come back again with a proper camera once the sun is shining!
June 6th, 2010. Blue sky, white clouds - what a perfect day for taking a walk near the wind power plant of Bermaringen, between Merklingen and Ulm, Swabian Alb, southern Germany.
(May 20th, 2010: Thought, I had lost these pictures. Detected them on an USB-stick today.)
April, 4th, 2010. While wandering with my oldest daughter Ronja (8) around the woods, we find this strange tree stump. It looks mysterious: Pale, wooden claws are stretching inside. Kind of ... frightening. Ronja decides there is no need to be afraid, since this must be a scarce troll's place!
