I'm too tired to think of a clever title...

A couple of weeks ago I went up to the Niederwald monument above Rüdesheim. It was a nice day and the vineyards were changing colors, so I took a few photos.







A couple of days later I took these of the vineyards in front of my apartment.



The leaves are completely yellow and falling off now. It won’t be too long before the lush green beauty of the vineyards turns brown and stark as it gets cold.

A friend is leaving Germany and going back to work in the States, so we had a going away party for him last night. I made a lamb tagine (in a big Dutch oven). It was pretty good. I made a stock from the lamb bones the night before. On Saturday I browned the lamb, sweated some onions &c, and added some dried apricots and chick peas, and let is stew for a while. I also smoked some lamb and a piece of pork loin. Everyone seemed to like it. Maybe they were just being nice since it was held at my house. Here is the wreckage this morning.





Not as bad as the last one, but I only have today to clean it up as I am heading out of town again tomorrow. I think I’ve actually got most of it done already; I just need to pack my bags and am going to try to get a decent night sleep.

We stayed in Nuremburg last week, but it was cold, wet and dark by the time we were finished with work. I didn’t get to take any photos there, but I should be heading back in December sometime and will try to get some then.