Kirchweih Dult

On the third Sunday in October is Kirchweih, a church consecration festival in Bavaria. A traditional meal is goose. This year I found a sweet goose at the bakery which didn't just look cute but also tasted delicious.

I have often talked about the Auer Dult (or Dult for short) -- here and here and here and here. It's a traditional open air market which takes place on Munich's Mariahilfplatz three times a year. The last market of the year is the Kirchweihdult.

It's always fun to check out the different booths selling the most interesting goods. Here you could buy all kinds of baskets.

Lots of colorful, handmade mugs.

It was a fairytale fall day with a clear blue sky and fluffy clouds.

Those wooden boars are adorable.

A booth selling food items like sauces and the like.

Isn't that bowl just wonderful? All those fish swimming round and round!

More cups.

The Mariahilf Church is the center of the square.

Another booth selling tableware.

The Kartoffelhütte (Potato Hut) sold potato dishes. It looked charming!

Colorful balloons.

Delicious bread.

I love fall with all the colorful leaves.

There are a few vendors selling old stuff like this poster which certainly reminded me of the ones I got to see during biological lessons at school.

I hope you had fun again strolling with me over the fairground.

F is for Fast Squirrel

It's about time to participate in Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday again. I missed the letters from A to E, so for me the alphabet starts with F now -- quite creative, isn't it?

Last week I watched some really fast squirrels on Munich's Waldfriedhof (Woodland Cemetery). It's challenging to take a photo of them. In fact, most photos end up looking like this one:

What did I say? Fast quirrel indeed -- I bet it's called Speedy. With some patience I managed to get a decent shot after all.

Isn't Speedy just cute?

Halloween Treats

Last week I received some wonderful Halloween treats in the mail -- I couldn't have been happier! The cute card below was made by Peggy from Peggy's Mixed-Up Art.

I had won Halloween art supplies in Peggy's kits giveaway to celebrate fall. Isn't the bat is gorgeous? It now has a place of honor on my Halloween tree.

Of course, this friendly pumpkin also has a prominent place on my Halloween tree.

I have never seen such cute stickers and fancy Halloween papers around here. Thanks so much, Peggy -- I love all and everything!

My next heartfelt thanks goes Joyce from Octoberfarm. I have been following her blog for quite some time now. She shares not only wonderful photos of the interesting places she visits but also of the delicious meals she cooks. Moreover, she has the cutest dog ever -- Teddy. During the Practial Magic blog event, she offered a special prize to win -- a Book of Shadows. Back then I wrote in reply to her interesting post about the original Practical Magic spellbook:

Hi Jaz,

You have outdone yourself with this magical post! :) It was so neat that we were allowed to take a peek into your spellbook. You are really an inspiration!

Thanks also for the chance to win such a beautiful Book of Shadows. It's a real treasure!

Oh yes, it sure is!

It doesn't just look great -- it feels great when you touch those letters.

A spider protects the book...

... and a cat watches over it.

Joyce also included this lovely witch hat tag which now hangs on my Halloween tree. It smells heavenly -- it reminds me of Christmas. Thanks so much Joyce -- the book has a place of honor in my living room and will be filled with special pictures, spells, and memories.

Do you remember the One World One Heart blog event from the beginning of this year? In my OWOH follow up post, I wrote:

"Last but not least I won a surprise prize by Cara from Cara Makes. Cara still works on putting something together based on three of my favorite things -- the Old West, the color teal, and mystery books. Doesn't that sound just cool? Looking at Cara's Etsy store, I know that I am in for yet another treat."

Yup, that's right -- it was certainly a treat worth being waited for! Cara drew this awesome cover for my very own mystery book.

Inside you find this even more mysterious letter.

A secret pocket revealed a turquoise treasure.

Moreover, Cara included this great wooden postcard of the Alamo. Oh, that brought back great memories of the day I visited the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas.

Thanks so much, Cara -- I love how much creativity and imagination you put into this very special gift.

Fiery Sunset

Earlier in October, the sky seemed to be on fire one evening. I never saw such forms and colors before. I think it's perfect for Beverly's Pink Saturday.

What a sight that was!

Brewery and bakery in Aying

On October 10th, the brewery in Aying opened its doors to the public once again. The last time I visited that place was in 2008 and you can read all about that here. Back then I wrote: "I guess I took photos of every single beer bottle in the huge room." Yup, the same happened this time -- it's such an interesting place.

Steampunk?

So many beer bottles waiting their turn to be filled with beer.

Inside, it was warm and humid. Outside, it was sunny but cool.

On the pennant you see the logo of Ayinger brewery.

The bottles travel at high speed.

It's very loud. This time I thought of recording a short clip, so that you get a better impression.

Outside the window you see the colorful fall leaves.

One last photo of the bottles before leaving this part of the brewery.

In another building there was this wall full of tin signs of different beer brands.

I like the contrast of the past and present -- the family photo from 1906 in the background and the modern technology coordinating the brewing processes in the foreground.

So shiny!

Near the brewery, a new bakery was build. It had also opened its doors that Sunday.

That's how yummy bread is made!

The best thing was that you could taste and buy lots of the products.

Here's a closeup of one bread variety -- so delicious!

I feel your presence everywhere

Digital Whisper shared the photo of a fall leaf for its challenge this week. Somehow, that made me think of lost love. I came up with this digital collage:

From All Corners

My friend Tracy from South Dakota had a great idea. Together with some other friends she created a photography blog called From All Corners: "A group of gals from all corners of the world sharing their photos on a chosen topic." Now that sums up what this blog is all about. I am honored to have been invited to be part of the fun. The first prompt was FRESH:

Then came TRAIL:

The most recent one is OCTOBER:

I am already looking forward to seeing with which photos the other girls come up!

Countdown to Halloween

It's October -- the countdown to Halloween has begun! In September, I saw a couple of ceramic pumpkins at a garden center a bit outside Munich. That was a first reminder that Halloween isn't all that far away.