OFF-TOPIC: This Time of the Year it should have been...

...this scenario

...or even this one which is one of the environmental crimes of the city of Munich again where the Olympic lake was dried out, fish and everything else "removed" only to be the playground for some idiots. These blockheads think it is so cool to have a World cup skiing slalom for ONE DAY in the middle of the city (but this is a completely different story) although the appropriate ground exists just 50 km south of the city towards the Alps (the pics show snow canons that produce the stuff that is needed for plastering the little Olympic mountain for this event). How irresponsible and shallow-brained is that? And the waste of energy that could have supported a whole village for one year not to talk about the damage that is done to the whole ground when the stuff melts away etc. etc.??

In winter time the lake is normally populated by all sort of waterfowl and other birds. Many come from northern regions to find food here and some open water still when everything else is frozen. But now the area is completely dead, not a single duck or goose to be seen. It is very sad. And you want to know what the greatest joke is? We currently have temperatures around 12°C and the snow is completely gone...

Btw - the photos have been made on the 12th of Dec. Four days later the snow was completely gone. This is typical for Munich city. So far to the planning skills of  a host and organizer...

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LUCKY HOUSE: another Wisteria House...

You already know my fanatic enthusiasm for Wisteria. But this house really knocks me out of my socks. Sorry - no interiors again but the exteriors.

This seems to be an old house in a residential area in Munich - near where I live - that is surrounded by rather newer homes. I don't know anything about this house - the fact is that you can hardly see it. Even in winter it is covered somehow by some evergreens - I think it's ivy - and it is enclosed with a high fence of shrubs which are that thick that you cannot even peek through them. Very mysterious - don't you think?

As you can see during the Wisteria blooming season the whole house disappears beneath a lump of blossoms and the front is totally hidden beneath a sea of green leaves. A wonderful place. Unfortunately you cannot even get a glimpse of the garden and what is growing there. So there is nothing left for me to do than staying outside, stretch myself as high as possible and shoot blind with the camera...




As you can see in the last photo the wisteria covers half of the roof already and you can see the top of the hedge which is really high - at least 2 meters! What a decoration!

What kind of people may live in there - I often wonder. They must be nice people with blossoms like these - such blossoms do not grow in gardens where you have nasty people - don't you think? So I just call it another lucky house and it will not be the last one...
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LUCKY HOUSE: dipped in lilac and violet

I know - I'm walking a fine line again because I leave the track of the interiors and walk straight away towards the exterior. And again I'll show art but not made by me but Mother Nature again. I simply could not resist to show you this wisteria which I think is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen growing in a garden and overgrowing the garage.

Now what does this tell you about the people living in that house? You could assume that they apparently rather walk than taking the car because you cannot pass the garage with a sea of blossoms such as this one. Very sympatico! Isn't it? I wished I had such a wisteria tree in front of my home. It was simply breathtaking and I hardly could make myself going away again. What a lucky house and what lucky people!

Btw - more blooms and blossoms can be found here.

"Wisteria"

LUCKY HOUSE: Mother Nature's Art

When I cycled through Munich these days on the hunt for the most beautiful blossoms and blooms I passed this house and immediately stopped, looked at this lovely cherry tree and thought: what a lucky house this must be with a tree such as this one in front of it...

Houses can have the most impressive or most beautiful interior with lots of precious art and decorative elements but nothing compares with the decorative jewels of Mother Nature. Everything becomes irrelevant with a view such as this:






I take this as an opportunity to refer you to my Blooms and Blossoms blog, which is exclusively (almost) dedicated to - who would have guessed - blooms and blossoms photography.

What's so special about this you may ask. The peculiarity about this blog is that all photos shown here have been shot since early 2006, during many walks and cycling through the cities of Munich and my hometown Freiburg and countryside only. No exotic city involved, no parks, no botanical gardens, but only very "ordinary" neighbours' gardens or fields within a range of a few miles.

I must admit that I was amazed about the beauties you could find in those sometimes tiny gardens. This was only possible by walking or cycling through the narrow streets. It is not possible to discover all this by car. So if you are living in a residential area and you think there is nothing to discover you might be surprised. Just give it a try even if it does not look promising at first sight... And this applies not only to neighbours' gardens but to nearly anything.