Well, I'm writing again soon-ish anyway, which will have to do. So there.

Yay! I've got sunburn!! It's finally been hot enough - for the first time this summer, I might add - for me to actually get a bit crispy and English-looking after spending a couple of hours on the banks of the Isar this afternoon. Everywhere else in Europe has been having a stonking heatwave for the past month, but there's been a big fat thunderhead over Munich for all that time, with the one positive aspect being some zowie lightning strikes and much storminess.

But what have me & my prawn-coloured skin been up to recently, I hear you cry! Well:

I've not only been eating well, I've been cooking too. The highlight was a recent Sunday Roast - on a Monday. I did roast beef (oh my God is that cut of meat expensive here! I can't remember it being that much in England...) with all the trimmings and a huge sherry trifle for my Kloster friends, and I am pleased to report that they all have a much better view of English cuisine now than they did a month ago.

I've also done more tapas, and a few fish bits & pieces (just shoved in foil in the oven with a bit of lemon juice, olive oil & herbs, then served with a fresh tomato salsa), as well as Mama's puff pastry mouthfuls with cheese & ham.

There was more excellent eating at Tine & Olli's wedding, in the fabulous little castle of Blutenburg, just to the west of the centre of Munich. The mediaeval chapel was chocabloc with relatives & friends, and the priest was a bit of a comedian. Only - and it pains me to admit this - I didn't understand everything he was saying because he had such a deep Bavarian accent! The weather behaved itself (some thunderclaps during the service didn't turn into the feared downpour) and a lovely time was had by all.

Christian, Bénédicte & I went to Tollwood, the summer festival in the Olympic park, to sample some of the international culinary delights that are always on offer there. The big hit for us this year was a monster Moroccan tent, complete with bazaar shops, low couches, hot sweet mint tea & live music provided by crazy North Africans with tassles on their hats that they kept spinning like helicopter rotor blades in time with the music.

Last weekend Michaela, the boys, Christian and I headed to Biberach to take part in the joint fortieth birthday celebrations of Stefi & Tommy. They had organised a guided tour of the town for us all (there were about ten adults plus sundry kids down for the party), which was very good! Not only was the guide amusing & informative, but the town itself is pretty & historic. Then we headed to a pizzeria with an excellent playground that managed to keep the kids quiet all afternoon and evening (thank heavens for trampolines).

The next morning, in our hotel, we all met up again for a leisurely breakfast/brunch. The weather, which had been lovely & sunny for the tour and the party, had turned manky & wet, but we were lucky & had a dry period for our post-prandial perambulation through town again. There was almost as much going on in town on the Sunday as there had been on Saturday - lots of live music, stages, children performing huge dance numbers, and general enjoyment.

Did I mention I've been made redundant? Yep, Gigaset didn't have the money to extend my temporary assignment with them, and my temp agency claim I'm overqualified and they can't find me any other work. So I've had nothing to do workwise since the start of July. Until yesterday, that is: my agency decided to send me to the Technical University of Munich - to sort mail!

Well, they're paying me a salary whether I work or not during my notice period (until next Tuesday), so I suppose it's better from their point of view for me to be doing trivial shite rather than nothing at all. The gits. Still, I got to collect some nice stamps. And get my rubber-stamping eye in again; it's been a while since I had my last spate of stamping, back at the EPO in '08...

So I've been putting my suddenly lots longer spare time to good use, cooking, eating, shopping, sunbathing, oh and writing my blog!