Month: July 2006

Just before 8pm, we heard some small explosions nearby, and wondered what was happening. We discovered that a trailer of straw had caught fire on the main road about 50 yards from our drive entrance – which the first fire engine blocked.
Schönenbuch is obviously a rural community; lacking other evening entertainment, there was soon a small crowd of people watching the efforts to extinguish the blaze ( 😉 ). Once straw has caught fire, it’s obviously difficult to extinguish it. The firemen (and -women) had to pull the entire load of the trailer, spreading it along the road, and douse it with water and foam. I pitied them in their heavy jackets, masks and helmets, because the day had been hot. From experience, I can say that the uniform is warm even in winter. They were all red in the face, and drinking plenty of water in moments of rest.
Technorati: Schönenbuch, fire

While staying with Heinrich and Helen last week, we visited Reculver, a country park on the Kent coast. Dusk was beautiful, the moon was just right, and both made the perfect backdrop for the ruined church building. The camera (a Panasonic FX01) was struggling with the little remaining light, but the photos turned out reasonably, if you ignore the blotchiness.

We’ve just returned from a week in England. The seats in the rental car we picked up at the airport weren’t adjustable enough to support Mary’s back properly, and there were no other cars of the same category available, so we had to upgrade. I gulped when I heard that the only upgrade available was a Mercedes, but when I heard that it only cost an extra £8 per day, there was no question… I have now joined the ranks of the Mercedes drivers (and yes, the road does belong to me 😉 ).
We spent the first few days at Helen and Heinrich’s place near Canterbury, preparing for a camp we’re teaching at later in the summer. Due to minor misunderstandings, our visit turned out to be a surprise – they were expecting a visit, but didn’t know when! We had a good time talking, and managed to get the main points of our seminar nailed down.
From there, we headed across the country to Hereford, to visit my parents. We saw Dad for an evening before he left for the USA, and stayed at my Mum’s place, which was rapidly emptying as she was selling furniture before her imminent move.

On Saturday, while heading back East for our flight on Sunday, we dropped in to visit my aunts and uncle, who we hadn’t seen in several years. We had a great time catching up, and have resolved to visit more often! (Tony, we believe you’re not a football lout, honest…)