BIKE MAP AND CAMERA HOLDER PROJECT FINISHED
I have been riding and needing to look at a map OFTEN and taking photos as you can see from my blog entries.   I tried putting the map in my back pack, bike basket, down my shirt, then I ended up with a pretty good idea for a holder.  First I tried a plastic bag attached to my handle bars to see if I liked having my map there.  That worked pretty well so I decided to make something that would hold maps and hold my camera so they would both be handy.  I will try it out on my next ride after it stops RAINING!  It didn't cost anything as I used materials I already had for years and years, they where just waiting for the thought and idea to happen.

This was the plastic bag idea tied on with twisty ties.

New holder.

On the bike with map and camera

MORNING WALK AROUND THE LAKE
The weather prediction is for rain this afternoon so I went for a walk around the lakes this morning while it is still nice out.  Not many people out at 7am.  Saw a ton of those fish again and the usual swans and ducks.  My kitties went back to bed under their covers.  By noon it was clouded over and starting to rain.

wow, it looks like I have long legs

Morning light.  I love how swans hold up their wings like that.

Our apartments

Our fist baby goose chicks,  these are about 4 days old.
Dad looks like he is doing his morning yoga

BIKE RIDE TO WEINHEIM (AGAIN)
I rode to Weinheim last week and rode the forest trails in the Schloss park and was thinking about going to the Hermannshof garden at that time but it was getting on in the afternoon and I thought I'd see it another time.
Beware if you don't like flowers, then this entry will not be for you.  The weather today is awesome, I had to get out on the bike.  In California I would say that Summer is my favorite season.   When we moved here in October, it was Fall and I thought it was so pretty with all the colorful leaves, that Fall would be my favorite season here.  Then winter came and it was cold and cloudy for so long, even tho the snow was very pretty, Winter is not my favorite.  But now that Spring is here I think Spring is my favorite season.  I just love seeing things grow.  I was thinking about another forest ride but a friend said the tulips where blooming at the Hermannshof garden and that it should not be missed.  She was so right.  I am so glad I went.  Although I think this garden will have more blooms of different kinds as Spring continues and will be very beautiful for another trip.  I rode probably 18 miles round trip.  I found a much better route to Weinheim than last week.  Less city and more trails for bikes on this route and I didn't get lost as much.

As I went past our local lakes I saw a commotion in the water and went to investigate.  I had seen a small fish jump awhile back and it surprised me because I didn't' think there were any fish in the small lake but wow today I saw a school of maybe 20 large fish.  Some of them had to be 24 inches.

Carp maybe?

Then on with the ride.  On the way to Weinheim and back I saw several of these storks with the red legs.  They like the grass fields.  They are very skittish and it is hard to get close for a picture.  They fly away.

A Blue Heron

Hey , what can I say, even the dandelions here are big and pretty.  There are meadows/fields of dandelions.

Stork with red legs.

OK, Here are many flower photos of the garden.  I am sorry, I just love the flowers.  They are even so much more beautiful in person, I wish you could have been there to see them.

This one is called "Queen of Sheba"

This white blossoming tree was so impressive not just because of the pretty flowers but also because it is so large.

It is beautiful to stand under all the blossoms on the trees and look up at the blue sky.

These trees are so pretty, I see them all over, along with the white blooming trees.

Then of course there is LUNCH.

It really isn't very big.  I thought about going for seconds but I didn't.

On the ride home.  

The town you see along the hills in the background is Weinheim, where I was at the garden.
The crop with the yellow flowers is a popular one I see in a lot of fields.
A friend says this is probably rapeseed used for oil.

BIKE RIDE TO UNTERER DOSSENWALD PARK
The tram people are on strike again for today, tomorrow and the next day.  They want a 7% raise.  I don't have to go to town so it is OK.  Steve on the other hand had an appointment with customers near Frankfurt so luckily, there is a friend of ours who has a car who took him to the main train station early this morning.  The main lines are not affected by this strike.  So since the weather is warm, sunny and full of Spring, I rode by bike for about 6 hours.  I didn't go all that far, but I stopped to enjoy the views, take pictures, read signs, and most often to keep looking at my maps so I wouldn't get too lost.  I love seeing how fast things are growing.  You can almost see the leaves on the trees growing.  Everything is turning green and so many flowers are blooming.   I rode about 23 miles (round trip) south to another wild park.  This park has mainly dirt paths through the forest.  I saw a few people now and then but I felt like I was the only one in the forest most of the time.

The path I took, approximately, by selecting points with google maps.

On the way down I saw another one of the serve yourself flower plots.

the sign translates to:

Tulips can be cut when one recognizes the Color of flower in the bud. 

But also keep already see long blooming tulips in the vase.

You can cut the flower stems at the bottom.

Tulips growing in the vase for a few centimeters.

.45 cents a piece

I didn't know there are so many kinds of tulips

These are really unusual 

Also I saw this really hairy cow.

I don't know if he can see out.
He also has a nose ring.
That is probably why he has his tongue in his nostril!

The Unterer Dossenwald Park

The park is pretty large, with a few paved bike paths (no cars), and MANY dirt paths.

This park has enclosures for the wild pigs.   Kafertal park also has many other animals, this one just has the pigs.

People come and put food scraps in there for them.

The paths are so nice,  almost all of them look just like this, for miles and miles.  People ride horse's here too but I only saw one horse.

The one horse I saw wasn't being ridden, it was just walking with its owner.

LUNCH

It isn't as big as it looks.

On the way back I saw one of the orchards near our place that I thought was grape vines but it now has all these white flowers so I think it must be another kind of fruit.

I wonder what kind of fruit this will be.
Turns out they were apples.

SCREEN DOOR
Our apartment has a balcony so now that it is Spring, we want to leave the door open.  But there are flying insects that come in so I made a screen door.  If this works out pretty good, then I may make one for the other two balcony doors.  The material is the mesh that too-toos are made out of.  I used the springy curtain rods to hold it at the top and bottom.    The bottom rod is about 12 inches off the threshold so the kitties can go under it and get out onto the deck.  I put pennies in the hem so the bottom is weighted a bit so the bugs won't go in at the bottom.

Looking through the screen door to the balcony

Looking from the deck to the inside.

BIKE RIDE TO WEINHEIM
Spring is still with us so I just had to get on my bike again.  It was a bit cloudy but I did get to see some sun.  I rode about 20 miles today out to Weinheim to the east of Vogelstang near the hills.  The wind was with me going there and against me coming home.  Since I had the wind at my back for a good part of the way going to Weinheim, I had plenty of energy to climb some of the roads in the Schloss Wald Park.  I'll probably be sore tomorrow.  I must try to remember to bring Aleve or Tylenol on some of these rides.

This is just outside Heddesheim.

I saw this guy working on the power lines in this car thing he moved along the wire.
What a job that would be. 

Only paid Flowers bring friends.  This is one of the flower fields where you can cut the flowers yourself.  Then you put your money in the barrel.

Onward to Weinheim.  I found the Wald Park first so I rode almost every green path you see in this map.

The forest was really nice.  So many kinds of trees.  
Birches, Cedars, Magnolias, pines, nut trees,  so many!

The trees with white blossoms are Magnolias from China.

Most of the trees had signs, I couldn't read it all but it was nice to see some of the names.

This is taken at the top of a big hill that I had to walk up the last bit because it was so steep.

 A Spring in the woods.   This was in the woods with a sign that explained that this sick guy who had tuberculosis, nose bleeds and other illnesses was cured because he went in the cold water everyday for a few seconds 10-15 degree C? water.  So I guess that's why they captured this spring and made the pool, drinking fountain and small lake.

These guys had a really scary job.
The wind was blowing this tree and they where way up in it pruning the branches.

Of course this park had a BIRD Park too.

The old part of town looks like many of the German Towns. This one had many shops and restaurants.

OK, OK, I would have lost a couple of pounds on this ride if I had not ordered one of these!  But it was SO GOOD.   And the plate isn't as big as it looks in this photo.

This was a ruin on top of the next hill across from the Schloss.  I didn't go up there.  Maybe next time.

Such a beautiful blooming tree!