Fields of delight

The simple joys of living in Germany....

being able to walk through flower fields, keep looking for what you find best,

cut a few blooms and take them home.

While a few friends of mine living in Stuttgart told me of such fields, strangely I had never seen them around where we live. These are small patches of land with blooms(sunflowers, dahlia, gladiola) a small hut(nobody is in there. I guess it's for the garden tools) and a sign telling you how much the flowers cost and where to drop in the money. That's all. Not a soul around.Since you have to cut the flowers yourself, knives in a small basket are placed below the sign. I love how things work on trust.

(The  sunflower blooms at home)

Over the weekend, we were in Bühl to spend time with a cousin of my maternal grandmother (he left India 52 years ago to join priesthood in Switzerland). On our way back to Lohr, we passed through countless number of such fields. We had to stop by one and experience it for ourselves. The kids and I were both thrilled.

July(on Facebook and Instagram)

July has been a nice month(apart from the madness of schools closing and never ending activities).

There have been a lot of new faces and friends on the facebook page.

To you all, a warm Hallo, Grüß Gott and Willkommen to With Love from Lohr.

It makes me glad to have you here and interact with your comments and thoughts.

The past month has been a blend of warm sunshine, rain clouds, lots of walks, surprise sunflower fields, a solo trip to Würzburg and one with the family to Bamberg. With the arrival of summer saw the onset of a string of festivals in Lohr. At home, we celebrated Ms A's birthday with her friends, I gave a good wipe to the kitchen in and out and my garden, it's bursting with colours just like the above collage..:-)

Lavender, from the plant to a pouch.

Today, I decided to cut the dried stalks of lavender from the garden. I wanted to make a little bag of the dry flowers.

Ms A came to my rescue. She had just the pouch which she had made in her art class. A pretty pouch with purple polka dots, PERFECT!!!

We trimmed the stalks together and dropped the flowers in.

Once done, I added a personal touch. 

I drew some purple lavender flowers and LOVED how it looked.

There are some more flowers blooming. I hope they are enough to make a second pouch.

For now, this one hangs just above my bed with the heady scent of lavender wafting through the room.

67th Lohrer Festwoche.

When you speak about beer festivals, the first thought that pops to anybody's mind is the Octoberfest which is the world's largest beer fest that takes place in Munich every year. What you may not know is that other german cities and smaller towns too have their fair share of a beer fest.

On Friday, Lohr am Main witnessed the opening parade of the week long beer festival. Sharing pictures of the parade and events that followed.

It began with the gun salute by the men above dressed in the traditional german leather hoses. The guns are quite loud to make your heart go thumping.

Once they were done, the parade with 2 brass bands followed by the mayor and the town council members arrived. With them was the beer wagon with the huge barrel pulled forth by horses that were dressed up(and who did not look pleased).

As the bands played on and traditional franconian dances were performed, people crowded around the barrel for their free share of beer.

After the formal performance, everybody headed in a parade towards the huge tent that was put up by the river Main.

(No parade is complete without snow white and the seven dwarves)

(aerial view of the white beer tent with the fun rides for the young ones)

Once inside, the fun begins. You can drown yourself in beer, pretzels with cheese or grilled chicken. For the ones not wanting to get tipsy there is the Radler to enjoy, a mixture of soda pop or lemonade and beer.

As you drink and eat, you have various bands performing and providing entertainment to the crowd. The fun lasts for nine days.