Apatura Ilia

"Lesser Purple Emperor" or as it was taken in Germany, "Kleiner Schillerfalter". I don't remember seeing one before. They apparently like poplars for food & we have loads of 30m + tall & 60-year-old ones on the edge of our field along the road.

Perhaps the quiet along the road this morning confused them. 30th Ottobeuren Triathlonwas to blame. After the swimming start at the village lakes, the bike riding part goes past our house (see extra photo) and means the road is closed for several hours. Over 600 competitors in different categories, this year including an Olympic length presumably helping people get ready for 2020.

Unlikely to be a first sign that Bavaria's successful Bio-Diversity referendum is working. The law has not yet been passed, I think by law it must be done by mid-July and will take effect in 2020.

Best news of the day was that our entrance gate at the road was fixed today having been out of action since 14th December 2017! Our electrician who did the PV & complete new fuse box wiring in our house in 2017 had taken a look at it in spring 2018 when it was warmer. The gate electrics & hydraulics are a nightmare, contained in two columns 60m from the house & adapted several times since it was installed 50 years ago. It looked as though we needed a major "clean up" or better said a completely new unit & we hadn't pressed the electrician as we didn't fancy the four-digit cost.

By chance, Angie had been talking to a handyman employed by a local hotel known nowadays as "Facility Manager". He is over retirement age & finally finishing in 14 days to go to live in Austria with his partner. He said he would take a look & came by this afternoon. He looked at the columns, exclaimed "Oh Dear" got out the simplest power checker (screwdriver with bulb) placed it on a few connections, pushed a button & Bob's your uncle, the unit worked!! Two minutes perhaps. A simple circuit breaker had reacted to a storm we had had. I was never aware that the button was a button & neither had the young electrician - probably never learnt about such ancient things as an apprentice.

Much relieved we all sat down for a beer & a long chat. One part was about his impending retirement to Austria & I remarked, shame he won't be getting the Austrian State pension which is notably much better than the German one (& also costs more during the working years). He laughed - back in 2007, he worked for 6 months in Austria paying his tax & national insurance there. When he got to retirement age recently, he got an unexpected letter from the Austrians asking him for his Bank account details so as to credit him with his €78/month Austrian pension paid 14x a year as one gets an extra month at Christmas & in the summer for holidays. He had never reckoned with this.

Some may remember me writing about my father-in-law's experience in Austria in the early 1950s where he did his apprenticeship for 3 years. Sepp now gets a regular pension from Austria, I think about €10/month. And indeed I get payments from UK state for which I never applied but was contacted by UK's DWP.

All these cases happen because of the EU! It is every citizen's right to get pension payments wherever they work & pay into the system within the EU. Does Boris tell that to anyone?

Another hot day but a bit of a cooling wind for the triathlon competitors. Son J with his partner & her child flew to southern France (near Monaco) for a week in a Gite .... luckily with own swimming pool! The first picture that appeared early afternoon was from the pool. When booking he had been worried he should have booked a Gite with heated pool! With 40°C now, I don't think he regrets not doing it.