Last of summer

From the very start must admit this is not my photo but was taken by Angie this evening on the dog walk while I was slaving over the hob preparing dinner.

I did quite a bit of kitchen work today. A cucumber lemonade made of cucumber and mint from the garden, honey from my bees and lemon juice from bought lemons. Seemingly tasted so good that Angie hijacked it. Then a large jug of garden cucumber and dill with yoghurt for cold cucumber soup - our forecast for tomorrow is fantastic.

The main ingredient of this evening's meal was "Schweinelachs" literally Pork-Salmon! Always confused me. It's the "Musculus longissimus" cut of meat from slaughtered animals from the rib cage without the bones and fat. Crock Pot with potatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, honey, apple. Tasted good, the sauce perhaps a bit honey-heavy but as it is my own, it didn't worry me.

This morning, Angie and MrsMY had done a good long hack with Luna so she has done well today. When she returned from riding, Angie disappeared to pick up some things and I took the opportunity to swing my backside and kidneys on to her garden tractor which she had yesterday claimed wouldn't start and was broken. I had charged up the battery overnight even though told it was not the cause. She's very protective of her machine and doesn't like me touching it.

Of course, it started and I did an hour of mowing to shake up the kidneys again. By evening it had freed at least another 20 stones and a few medium size ones. There is though more to come. On past experience, I reckon with around 100 - and I don't count the tiny sandy bits.

Tomorrow the grandchildren in Ireland go back to school after 67 days or nearly 10 weeks of holiday. After a bit of WhatsApping, Grandson Elliot phoned to update me on the last weeks of holidays including a boat trip on Loch Erne in Northern Ireland yesterday. He also said that he has worn shorts on every single day of this summers holiday. Somehow shorts and Ireland do not usually end up in the same sentence.

NO, summer is not finished yet.

And for my record: I went to the parish council offices today to register Flash's death - the vet had given us a certificate. We have to pay dog tax which is a parish determined amount and is not "Purpose" bound and can be used for any costs, I guess even the parish council employees Christmas party. Our parish council has though invested quite a bit on erecting and maintaining dog WC's and supplies of bags. I don't ever remember a dispenser being empty.

Flash was actually "cheap". The first dog on a property which is a certain distance from any neighbours is free as it is termed a guard dog. We just missed the exact meters direct line length even though the path/road distance was much greater. So the council had freely given us a 50% discount for him. In ours as in many parishes, a second or more dogs get very expensive. So now Luna has become our official guard dog.

While at the offices, I put in my application for a German ID card. Legally all German citizens need one. Many think one always has to have it with you. This is not true. One has to be able to identify oneself to the police if they control you which they should only do if they have good cause. In 30 years I have never been asked for it and have only been stopped late one night by a police car following me as I very slightly exceeded the speed limit when entering a built-up area. Simply my Drivers Licence was sufficient (and I was simply told off about speed). There are a few professions that are required to have it during work times - building sites, prostitution ....There are however some EU countries that say one must always have an ID card - I think maybe France and Italy.

I was given the choice as to whether my fingerprints (index finger left and right) were stored on the card. I went for the whole deal including some form of Online signature and ID proof that could one day become commonplace. Costs €28.80 for 10 years and is valid as a passport within the EU. I wonder if it will get me into the UK post Brexit? My UK passport runs out in 2026 and with the horrendous UK passport office charges, I have no intention of renewing it.

One mystery I have never solved is why the Brits have such an incredible fear of ID cards? Surely any normal, mostly law-abiding, citizen has nothing to fear.?