Conkered

Another day turned on it's head - October in August. Cold & rainy such that I was dressed for a polar expedition for the evening dog walk and that took place at nearly 8 pm, 3 hours after having had Sunday Brunch of Bacon & Scrambled Eggs on Toast cooked outdoors on the BBQ & a camping gas grill.

Pre-Brunch coffee had started around 8 am but somehow just couldn't get sleep out of my eyes and body into 1st gear. Weather outside so depressing and putting off the weekly Covid-19 inspired shave and general Sunday full-body wellness 2-hour session in the freezing bathroom for as long as possible in the hope of a ray of sunshine through the bathroom's large roof window.

Then suddenly the phone rang ... a WhatsApp video call!  Now in 99.9% of cases, even from my closest family members I would not have answered, but I have been waiting for this eye-to-eye (even if digital) call for 44 years, 10 months and 28 days (the caller would argue I am exaggerating, and it was ONLY about 44 years, 1 month & 29 days, but has zero proof, whereas I do have).

I had no choice but as to answer, I can't afford to wait the same amount of time for the  call to be repeated. And so there followed a very, very long call, me trying to hide all I could and frantically try to put my hair in some sort of order. And I had only had 1 coffee, brain, never mind mouth, was still not engaged. But it was lovely, simply out of this world, as if it was early morning 2nd October 1976.

Finally, when we agreed to start winding down, I spent the final three quarters of an hour collecting ingredients for brunch and trying to break eggs into a bowl & whip them up while getting hints on the phone. What fun it was. Wish I could remember what if any breakfast was served that last morning over 44 years ago.

So buoyed up by the call & with a warmed belly from the BBQ and the Brunch, Luna and I set off on the walk, in a light drizzle and armed with an umbrella. I n some 20 years of having a dog in Bavaria, I have never in any one year carried an umbrella as often as I have in the last 3 summer months of 2021. I could probably count the number of times easily on 2 hands for the previous 19 years.

Stopped off at the forestry hut where last autumn I picked up a dozen conkers and kept them until spring this year and popped them into pots. They germinated and were the subject of a Blip in May. They are still alive and well. Looks like most of the conkers have been knocked down at immature stage some 3 weeks ago in the huge hail storm, and the only one I saw on the tree and which is in the photo, looks very bruised. I won't be repeating the exercise this year.