frauke at large

Having spent the last few weeks traveling, attending conferences, working on papers and answering student emails, I have found myself enjoying a bit of a holiday over the last few days. It wasn’t really planned and actually crept up on me rather unexpectedly: my work email is refusing to grant me access!

Despite numerous attempts it has done so incessantly for the last 2 days; much to my initial despair. Resonating some of the sentiments of my last entry (here), it initially felt as though I had had to go ‘cold turkey’ after feeding an addiction that would dictate me to check my email 3-4 times a day, just in case someone had sent something of interest or I was missing out on something useful (a bit like my need to frequently check RSS news feeds). Now, after a few days of repeated attempts to ‘outwit’ the email system (i.e. trying different passwords at different time of the day – in case it’s just the server which is down or some weird time difference malarkey with China), I have achieved the inner mental state of counting myself lucky that I can finally spend a day relaxing, without feeling guilty for not having done any work or checking and answering email, and instead enjoying a day off – I’m meant to be on holiday after all, which, according to its definition means: a day of recreation, where no one has to work.

So now I am going after my new found hobby of bee keeping – I have been built a new bee hive (photos to follow shortly, once snail mail delivers my new ‘aperture‘ software) and seamlessly taking my cameo role in ‘the good life‘. This includes cultivating the vegetable patch with peas, courgettes, salad, various berry types (which make delicious smoothies), onions, beans and herbs. To broaden my culinary expertise, I tried myself at a French onion soup this lunchtime, which turned out fabulous after adding half a liter of our local ‘Riesling trocken‘ to it … to quote some famous chef somewhere, I’m sure: ‘if in doubt, add more wine’ … I also made a raspberry swiss roll and rosemary bisquits (not all at once, of course!) – turning into a bit of Delia Smith, although I’d rather like to think of myself as more of a female version of Raymond Blanc – he has Michelin stars and his own kitchen garden after all. I have also taken to reading books again, which is such bliss when sitting under a tree, in the shade, on a chaise longue.

Also spent a day in Duesseldorf, the German Mecca of consumption for all things couture. It is also the home of my favourite department store and so a trip to check out the inventory was mandatory. Am living the life of a real decadent, bourgeois type … had coffee in a cafe on the main shopping street, watching people walk by … always very interesting, and am off to the country, well, Trier, on the weekend to celebrate a friend’s 30th Birthday, before returning in the hope that someone has fixed my email access … my addiction and curiosity just can’t be suppressed much longer … must check my email!

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