Simply tree trunks

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Simply trees

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Farmhouse

The entrance to Villigen as viewed from Besserstein.

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View from the bus

A view of Besserstein from the bus that goes to Villigen from Brugg. From the location where I shot this, the bus first stops in Stilli and then in Villigen Post before heading off to the PSI and beyond.

If you're going to zum Hirschen (as has been the case for several visitors I've noticed on the bus), then get off at the Villigen Post stop. You'll be standing on Hauptstrasse. Walk in the direction in which the bus drives off. The hotel/restaurant Hirschen is a couple of minutes on foot (after Gasthof Schlossberg) on the right.

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The Besserstein woods in September

A view of the woods overlooking Villigen to the west. To those who were eagerly awaiting the next installment of my scintillating report: I'm sorry, I didn't manage to get it done. A result of the combination of having other things to do and getting distracted by all sorts of statistics. Such as these on the rates of marriages and divorces in Switzerland over the last 3 years. About half the marriages are between a Swiss and a non-Swiss... should lead to interesting changes in demographics. According to binational.ch, in 2003 Swiss men mainly married women from Germany, Brazil, Thailand, Italy and France. Swiss women, on the other hand, most frequently married men from Italy, Germany, Turkey, Serbia and France. Note: These numbers apparently reflect marriages that are performed in Switzerland, they don't include the couples who get married outside CH.


Source: The Swiss Federal Statistics Office

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Gedeckte Holzbrücke

A covered wooden bridge over the river Limmat in Baden, built in 1810. There were at least five forerunners to this version, before which there was a ferry. To me, there's something Far Eastern about the design, particularly the windows and their shutters. Another thing to note are the little balcony or window "gardens" on the green building. Especially the middle window on the second row from the top.

The Baden Historical Museum that I've mentioned in a couple of posts is to the right of the bridge. Here's a link to a Google map showing the bridge and surroundings. I was on the right bank looking over to the left when I took this photo. Keep in mind that there's quite a change in elevation over the region around the river and some features I would have expected to be able to see are hidden.

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Wildflower: Mountain cornflower

This will be the last of the wildflower series, at least for now. Centaurea montana (Berg-Flockenblume) is native to the mountain ranges of Europe, though now it has spread around the world.

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Wildflower: Ribwort plantain

Plantago lanceolata (Spitz-Wegerich) or something similar. Tea made from the plant is supposed to be a good cough remedy. The butterfly might be a holly blue (Celastrina argiolus).

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The white car

Any ideas as to what this car is? I certainly don't. Previous posts about other interesting cars:

27 May -- The red car (French Deux Chevaux)
07 July -- The green car (British MG A)
22 July -- The blue car (as yet unidentified)

20070812

Bäckerei-Conditorei

This old building on Hauptstrasse near Hirschen is no longer a bakery, but it is occupied. No idea what the apartments look like.

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Maize, two weeks later

When I did my first corn/maize post, one reader, Moi in Florida, asked if I would show a photo when it started budding. I waited too long, and these silked many days ago. Wikipedia on corn:
Maize

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The last of the light

Seems like a long time since we had real July weather. Yesterday the rain finally stopped, the sun shone brightly and the temperature made it into the 30s (Celsius -- about 80 F). I took this photo just as the sun was disappearing behind the Geissberg ridge. You've seen the slope in the background in other posts on this blog. The bicyclist, if you make him or her out in the lower right corner, is on Hauptstrasse.

For a photo of ripe wheat, or something related, take a trip to the overflow site.

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The watering can

A little garden nearby. For a couple of other shots from this little mixed flower and vegetable garden, check out my overflow site:
The garden with the watering can

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Maize

Yesterday evening the sky cleared up briefly after an entire week of being mostly overcast. Here's some sunshine on maize or corn plants.

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A Lilliputian window

The window, if that is what it is, is barely big enough to fit a planter!

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Red geraniums and green shutters

Red geraniums, white lace curtains and green shutters on Hauptstrasse.

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Hay

Across Hauptstrasse from us, there's a piece of land that's used as a meadow where wildflowers and grasses are allowed to grow. Yesterday, the first hay harvest was made. In the photo above, the hay is arranged in rows for ease of collection. In the photo below, the hay is gathered up. While summer Sundays are always work days for farmers, most of the rest of us get to enjoy the weekend and perhaps go biking like this person in the second photo.


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Wisteria and palm at 48

Wisteria growing up the walls and almost obscuring the windows at one of the houses on Hauptstrasse. See a wider-angle photo at the overflow site.

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Cherries!

Cherries have been ripening around the region and they're on the market now. Our local produce stand has had some, and I bought 2 kilos of them on a whim. Cherry pie recipes, anyone?

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Four horses

Another photo taken from Besserstein, the hill that rises up from Villigen. There have been some comments about the recent "aerial" shots. They were all taken from about halfway up the path that snakes up the hill. Close to the spot where the red 2CV was parked when I photographed it from our balcony in May (20070527). Here's a link to the area on Google maps (47.5234, 8.2132).

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