Spring has sprung

In the interest of blogging openness and transparency: that bee is dead. But I do promise I didn't put it there.

Well, isn't this lovely? The sun is out, the birds are singing and I keep finding myself flinging open windows and doors and enjoying the lovely fresh spring air (and shutting them all again ten minutes later when I realise how cold it is). We're still being subjected to grey days and the odd bursting raincloud round these parts, but it seems the end of winter is in sight. And as far as I'm concerned, oh how the signs of spring are welcome: winter may not have been bitterly cold all the way through, but boy was it long, grey and boring. Now we have the odd pink bud trying to make itself known on my side of town; but on the other (fancy) side, the park is a lovely carpet of purple and yellow that's just begging to be skipped through. And skip through it I would, if I was (a) over there more often and (b) wasn't hobbling around like an old lady for the second time in a matter of weeks. Me and my poor laptop are both feeling our age a bit at the moment, and that, combined with a sudden explosion of work, other interesting/terrifically dull projects, spontaneous (ish) adventure and the confusion of potentially exciting future plans has meant that I haven't tended to my blog for some time.

In between all the dull day-to-day things, however, there's been lots of lovely fun, such as a 36-hour Ryanair roundtrip to Cambridge for the utterly beautiful wedding of my very oldest friend (by which I mean I've known her since we were three; not that she's 103). The ceremony was a wonderfully happy and moving mix of British, Colombian and Sri Lankan traditions, and I got to see some lovely people who I've not seen for a very long time and spend half a day stocking up on tea bags, poking around second-hand bookshops and gorging myself on slow-cooked lamb. I also had a good wander around Cambridge, where I've not been since I was 7 or 8 rather nonchalant years old, and on which visit I proposed to a dashing Argentinian friend of my brother's. On this visit, less distracted by older men, I was able to appreciate just what a very lovely town Cambridge is. Yes, a town filled with thousands of bespectacled, be-bicycled students wearing long scarves and serious expressions having intense, clever conversations over tall coffees and intelligent cake, and indeed on that day a town rather overcast with grey clouds and drizzle, but a very lovely old town all the same.

Cambridge, during my three hour hunt for a pub that no-one had heard of, but was extremely lovely once I found it; one that has officially received the Frau Dietz stamp of approval

Downing College (I think).

I do love England.

Other March highlights so far? Well, on Sunday, B and I took the S-Bahn over to Frankfurt to watch my wonderfully-talented friends Gabby Young and Other Animals playing at the Union Halle as part of the Women of the World Festival. We made a point of missing Frida Gold, who they were supporting, because (a) none of us had ever heard of her and (b) once she started, she sounded awful. She even played a really bad cover version of Gold by Spandau Ballet. Twice. Anyhow, Gabby and her band were both musically and visually as spectacular as ever, but I only took completely rubbish photos in which you can't see anything except for the odd streak of bright red hair, so have none to share. Luckily a nice lady from HR1 was there taking photos of them and she very kindly tweeted me a link to some proper pictures the following day. Thank you nice lady from HR1, though I have no idea how you knew how to find me and am a bit frightened by that.

For those of you who expect more talk of food from this blog, well, I've recently - and I'm not sure why - been spending a lot of time cooking mediterranean lunch dishes that involve baked eggs. I have been therefore delighted to discover that I like not only frittata, but also a good hearty tian too.

My First Frittata, by Frau Dietz (involving potatoes, onion and red pepper). Quite proud.

I am looking forward to a bit more fun and games over the coming weeks, too, including a visit from two of my favourite people in the world who I am VERY EXCITED ABOUT SEEING; a nice rare steak in celebration of my birthday next week (33: yikes); and another high-speed trip to the UK to celebrate the marriage of two more of my favourite people in the world. Oh I do love a good wedding. Unfortunately, in between all the fun things going on there are going to be lots of boring, slightly stressful things as well, so me neglecting my blog is probably not about to change. I do, however, have a couple of food-related items to share over the next week or so, one of which comes with my sincere apologies to the Blogger Stammtisch crew: the tardiness of my "Food" post for this month's roundtable (five days late and counting) is approximately 30% my fault and 1,000% that of my laptop)(have I mentioned that maths isn't my strongpoint?).

In the meantime, if you're an English-speaking expat blogger in Germany then I'd recommend having a think about heading over to Expat Bloggers In Germany, where the first rumblings of planning for WEBMU 2012 (the annual expat bloggers meetup) have been occurring. I had the greatest time meeting lots of fantastic folk last year in Köln, and would highly recommend getting involved in this years antics if you aren't already.

I conclude with another lovely picture of flowers from not-my-side of town, this time without the dead bee. I hope it's lovely and sunny wherever you are, too.