…..And after summer evermore succeedsBarren winter, with his wrathful nipping cold;So cares and joys abound, as seasons fleet.—Gloucester, Henry IV, Part 2, Act II, scene 4 Not quite winter, Will,…
..swanny river, the river being the Rhine at ..yep…Mainz. Evidently the collective noun for a group of Cygnus olor is a herd, a bevy or flock. A bit boring –…
..in 1817 William Turner 1775-1851 English Romantic painter, printmaker and watercolourist, known for his expressive colouring, imaginative landscapes and turbulent, often violent marine paintings. There’s a William Turner Route, a…
Got dragged along to a garden place in Bretzenheim yesterday which tends to happen when major purchases loom and someone needs to pay for it. Eyewatering prices but the budgies…
A matter of perspective, of course. The Rheingau vineyards from the vantage point of the sculpture park on the Bingen side of the Rhine. VW bus included…
Last couple of kms uphill from Mainz to 220m ASL through (early) blossoming fields of Brassica napus subsp. napus. Back in a previous life as a suit, I’d often finish…
African swine fever is a contagious and deadly viral swine disease affecting domestic and feral swine of all ages. This is feral swine country (boaring, one could say…) and ex-boars…
…what you don’t measure. The classic quality management mantra that I learned implementing (in a previous life…) QM/ISO9001 for the intercontinental network of a major logistics airline. Doesn’t apply here,…
Aka Silberreihe (Silver heron) Found here A bit skittish, so this was the best an iPhone 14 Pro can do, given the distance. But its real name is Kotuku (if…
It’s that time of year. Over 100 million migratory birds head south to warmer climes, these being – based on their V-formation – cranes or geese. Just hope that Trump…
There are 3 types of fun. Type 1 fun is enjoyable while it’s happening. Also known as, simply, fun. Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in…
That’s local dialect for “Hügel”, a hill. And topographically, Rheinhessen is right up there Someone came up with the idea of developing walks of around 11km through vineyards/woods/open fields and…
You can’t see the rest of the insect, which is, of course, its bum. In America, of course, it’s called the Assblebee…
Scratch a German and you’ll likely find a nature lover hidden inside that humourless exoskeleton. Proof of this are the nesting structures for storks they’ve set up all over the…
Other people see a pomegranate aka Punica granatum I reckon a spray can of red paint and a handful of glitter would be just the job. But let me tell…
… brown red, and the sky is grey blue, I’ve been for a walk On an autumnal …… (choose your own…)
…Orbis.Well, not quite accurate – it’s actually Urbi et Orbi (“to the city and to the world”) – and Orbis, a small town in the Palatinate with a population of…
…all come down at once. And not in dribs and drabs. Or even SINGLY… It’s the middle of bloody November!
“I’ll snuffle anyway” Sid at work. Guest photog: Ute Matschke
Our neighbour planted a Catalpa bignonioides a few decades ago. It appears to have enjoyed the location, because it grew enthusiastically. It’s a beautiful tree. For 3 days a year,…
Not to be outdone by the recent excavations at the English Stonehenge, our local builders (Karl-Heinz and Willibert Druid) quickly got into the act and slung up some pillars to…
…having discovered America. When you go for a run through the woods in Ober Olm, you’d think that there was significant duplex peripateticism at the time. How else does one…
There are either swifts or swallows. Must be swallows because they were moving quite glacialy Not very …ahem …swiftly at all…. I’ll get my hat…
Or maybe not. 2 blackbird chicks prematurely attempted flying lessons from the nest in the honeysuckle yesterday and ended up well away from the nest, mother blackbird following them and…
If you look carefully, you’ll see this (66% quartz, 34% other stuff) sandstone – sourced from a quarry in Flonheim in Rheinhessen – all over the place. Cologne cathedral Mainz…
Our neat young neighbours, Annika and Andi, turned up the other week with Thekla, the sweetest of babies. Not wishing to be outdone, the Asio otus pair nesting in their…
Part of the flood defences along the Rhine. (It’ll cost you €5 to access the viewing platform, €10 if there’s a flood)
And while we’re on the subject.. “If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would have only four years of life left. No more bees, no…
…is what you Americans (depending on which state/state of mind) reckon is good to carry openly when you go to Walmart or to your local church. Over here, it’s the…
Mainz Daily Photo 