Ricky – Page 12

Progress with the House – Windows

Stará Oleška 44 in April 2017 © Ricky Yates

It has become quite clear to me since moving into my new home in Stará Oleška, that the previous elderly owners, had alterations and improvements done to the house, as and when they could afford it. This is reflected in the variety of windows that there are.

The photograph at the beginning of this post, shows the house as it was in April 2017, a few weeks before moving in on 15^th May 2017. Please use it as a point of reference for what follows in the rest of this post.

The two windows in the upper floor of the house, directly under the apex of the roof, are quite old. They are double-glazed but have wooden frames. Once I had moved in, I noticed that the exterior paintwork of these window frames was in a very poor state. Bearing in mind that they are located in the most exposed area of the house, back in August 2017, I made getting them painted, one of my first priorities.

Fortunately, it was, and still is, possible to completely remove the windows which made painting them far easier than in situ. Here they are, laid out on a table, under cover at the back of the house, having received their second coat of gloss paint.

Surrounding window frames having been painted © Ricky Yates

Likewise, with the windows removed, painting the surrounding frames was also a much simpler task. I am pleased to report that, following my labours of August 2017, the paintwork still looks in good order, having now survived two Czech winters.

One of the last things the previous owners did, was to have the verandah on the front of the house enclosed. In order to do this, they had two pairs of high-quality double-glazed uPVC windows fitted across the front of the verandah. But they did nothing about the windows on the side of the verandah – the ones nearest the front door in the photo and their twins on the other side. These were single-glazed with wooden frames, on which condensation soon started appearing in the Autumn of 2017.

Having ascertained that Rudolf Cebiš from the village, (Ruda to his friends 😉 ), had procured and fitted the uPVC windows, I approached him about having matching ones made and fitted on both sides of the verandah and also replacing three other small windows on the far side of the house. He came and measured up and in due course, gave me a written quotation for the work.

I accepted his quotation, paid him a deposit and the manufacture of the new windows was set in train. Some weeks later, on the morning of 9^th November 2017, Ruda and one of the guys who works for him, arrived with the new uPVC double-glazed windows.

New uPVC windows ready for fitting © Ricky Yates

Here they are, laid out on the front lawn.

In next to no time, the old ones were removed…..

New uPVC windows fitted on the side of the verandah © Ricky Yates

……and the new ones fitted.

The section of the house stretching back from the front door with roofs at a fairly gentle angle, is clearly a later addition. What was the front door before this section was added, is now the door between my bedroom and the enclosed verandah. The two pairs of windows on the side of this newer addition, which you can see in the first photograph, are double-glazed and quite modern, but still have wooden, rather than uPVC frames. There is also a similar pair of windows at the rear of the house.

I was determined to get all of these painted this summer, not least because the existing exterior paintwork was beginning to go in a few places, especially on the pair at the rear of the house. However, I knew that I would need several successive days of dry weather to accomplish the task. Fortunately, such period occurred towards the end of July.

As is usual with any painting job, the most important part and also the most time consuming, was the preparation needed before I could start to paint. First of all, I cleaned the all the glass, inside and out, discovering how much more light this let in 😉 Then I rubbed back the areas where the existing paintwork was beginning to go and covered those areas with an initial coat of paint. Once that was dry, I then washed down all of the window-frames.

Windows with masking tape in place, ready for painting © Ricky Yates

I knew from past experience of painting window-frames, that the only way to ensure paint didn’t end up on the glass, was to use masking tape. Accurately masking each windowpane, inside and out, was a tedious task. Only when this was complete, could I finally start painting. Above is a photograph of one of the pairs of windows, finally ready to be painted. My apologies for the reflection of the photographer on the glass 🙂

Not only did the weather remain dry for several days, it was also very hot and sunny. Fortunately, the two pairs of windows are on the west-facing side of the house meaning that the sun didn’t shine on them directly, until the early afternoon. So I was able to work fairly comfortably each day, until it was time to stop and have a late lunch. And because it was so warm, there was no problem with leaving the windows wide open for several nights, allowing the paint to dry hard.

Freshly painted windows in the evening sunlight © Ricky Yates

Here are the freshly painted windows on the west-facing side of the house, drying in the evening sunlight.

And here is the pair of windows at the rear, north-facing side of the house, freshly painted, with the masking tape removed and the glass cleaned, once again.

With all this painting complete, with the exception of the front door, (another story), the exterior of the house is ready to face the next Czech winter. However, as a result of my labours, my neighbour Pavel, who lives in the house behind me, has given me a new name – Rembrandt 🙂

A Walk to Hinterhermsdorf

Me, above Malá Pravcická brána © Ricky Yates

Now that summer is here, I’ve been determined to get out and explore more of this beautiful area on foot. Being as close as I am to Germany, I’ve frequently looked at the map and thought that it would be fun to walk through the mountains and over the border into Germany, staying overnight, before walking back to the Czech Republic, a day or two later. So on Monday 24^th June, that is what I set out to do.

I first took the bus from Stará Oleška where I live, to the end of the 436 bus route in Vysoká Lípa. As it was nearly midday when I arrived, I treated myself to an early lunch in Restaurace Pension U Nás to give me sustenance for my walk. I also purchased a bottle of mineral water, one thing I had foolishly forgotten to pack in my rucksack, before leaving home.

Leaving Vysoká Lípa on the yellow waymarked route, immediately ahead of me was the towering Šaunštejn Castle. Very little remains of the 14^th century castle which once stood on this rocky outcrop. Below are a couple of photographs taken back in the Autumn of 2017 when I climbed to the top of it.

View from Šaunštejn Castle over Vysoká Lípa © Ricky Yates

On this occasion, I didn’t visit the top, deciding to save my energy for the walk ahead.

Now on the red waymarked route, the path climbs via a series of stone steps….

…. and wooden steps….

View from the red waymarked route © Ricky Yates

…..with splendid views….

…..to Malá Pravcická brána. This is a far smaller natural rock arch than its much more famous namesake, Pravcická brána, which is located a few kilometres further west. Alongside Malá Pravcická brána is metal ladder that leads to a viewpoint where the photograph of me at the beginning of this post, was taken.

Leaving the red waymarked route shortly afterwards, a further four kilometres of walking along a wider track, which is also a designated cycle route, brought me to the Czech-German border which at this point is formed by the Krinice (Czech) Kirnitzsch (German) river.

This is the bridge between the the two countries, taken on the German side of the border, looking back into the Czech Republic.

Krinice (Czech) Kirnitzsch (German) river © Ricky Yates

Whilst here is a view of the river, taken from the bridge, with the Czech Republic on the left and Germany on the right.

Stepping into Germany, my plan had been to take the Grüner Strich route to the village of Hinterhermsdorf, where I had previously booked to spend the night. Unfortunately, when I reached the point where this route goes off to the right, there was a notice in German, saying that it was currently blocked by fallen trees, following a recent storm. Instead the notice said, I should walk on further and take the next track on the right, a designated cycle route.

I did as instructed and realised, as I consulted my map, that further along this cycle route, a red waymarked route went off to the left, fairly directly towards Hinterhermsdorf. What I didn’t take note of at the time, was how many contour lines there were to cross! It was a steep, tiring climb on what was a very hot day, during the recent heatwave which has hit much of continental Europe.

Rock tunnel on the Tunnelweg © Ricky Yates

The stiff climb, the heat and ensuring I was on the correct path, meant I only took this one, slightly out of focus, photograph, where the path passes through a short tunnel under the rocks. I’ve since discovered that the path is called the Tunnelweg.

I did eventually reach the top from where it was a further two kilometres walk, fairly gently downhill, into Hinterhermsdorf. It was good to finally reach Gasthof zur Hoffnung, get showered and changed before sitting out on the terrace and enjoying some well-deserved liquid refreshment 🙂

Whilst I am used to feeling a bit stiff after a fairly long walk, when I woke up the following morning I could hardly move my right knee and putting weight on my right ankle was quite painful. So after gingerly making my way downstairs for an excellent breakfast, rather than going on a circular walk through the surrounding hills as I had originally envisaged, I returned to room to rest up. However, I did make good use of the day by writing and posting my previous blog post about Meissen 😉

I did eventually go for a brief hobble around the centre of the village. And in the evening, I once more hobbled, this time to the nearby Gasthaus zur Wanderstübel, as the restaurant where I was staying had Ruhetag 🙁

The following morning, with a right knee and ankle still not functioning properly, and with the continued excessive heat, I decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Instead of walking back over the border to Vysoká Lípa and getting the bus back to Stará Oleška, I decided to make my way home by public transport. First a bus from the stop right outside Gasthof zur Hoffnung, to Bad Schandau railway station. Then by train along the Elbe/Labe valley to Decín. Finally by bus from Decín to Stará Oleška.

However, I do hope to make a return visit to Hinterhermsdorf and explore the surrounding area. After my recent experience, I shall probably drive there and make it my base and also try to do so when the weather is a few degrees cooler.

Meißen

The twin spires of the Meißner Dom/Meissen Cathedral © Ricky Yates

On Sunday 16^th June, I once more officiated and preached at the monthly English-language Anglican Service of Evening Prayer in the Frauenkirche, Dresden. I was also invited by the Stiftung Frauenkirche Dresden, to attend a sommerliches Grillbuffet, the following evening, an event laid on as a ‘Thank you’, for all the volunteers and staff who help at the Frauenkirche. Deciding it would be silly to return home on Sunday evening, only to drive back to Dresden the next day, I instead stayed overnight and spent several hours on Monday 17^th June, exploring the city of Meißen.

Meißen lies about 25km north-west of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river. It didn’t take that long to drive there and, having found a suitable car park alongside the Elbe, I then set out on foot to explore the historic city centre. Unlike Dresden, it appears not to have suffered much destruction during the Second World War, presumably because of having very little industry and not being a major transport hub.

Walking along Elbstrasse, I soon reached the Markt, overlooked by the Rathaus…

….and by the Frauenkirche.

Then I headed up Burgstrasse.

A view across the rooftops of Meissen © Ricky Yates

At the end of the street, a series of stone steps took me up towards the Meißner Dom/Meissen Cathedral, to a place where there is this wonderful view across rooftops, towards the Elbe and the railway bridge that crosses the river.

Meißner Dom/Meissen Cathedral © Ricky Yates

Finally, I arrived in the Domplatz with the Meißner Dom/Meissen Cathedral towering in front of me.

Entrance to the Dom is not through the large doors at the west end but through another door part way down the south side. Adjacent to this entrance is the Allerheiligenkapelle which is specifically designated as a place of silence. I enjoyed spending time in prayer here, before going on to explore the main building.

There is a entrance fee for visiting the Dom. Arriving at the cash desk and whilst getting my wallet out of my pocket, I explained to the lady cashier in my best German 🙂 , that I was an Anglican priest and the previous evening, had conducted Anglican Evening Prayer in the Frauenkirche, Dresden. Upon hearing this, she gave me my entrance ticket free of charge! Maybe this was because of her name – Frau Engel/Mrs Angel 🙂

Below are some more photographs of the interior of the Dom.

Triptych behind the nave altar © Ricky Yates

Triptych behind the altar in the Hoher Chor © Ricky Yates

I would like to have attended this event, held the previous evening. Interestingly, it is called ‘Hymns of Praise’ in English, and featured the compositions of Antonín Dvorák from the country where I now live, and of John Rutter, from the country where I used to live.

Walking around the edge of the rocky outcrop on which the Dom is situated, there is a splendid view across the Elbe. Afterwards, I treated myself to an excellent lunch at a restaurant overlooking the Domplatz, accompanied by locally produced liquid refreshment 🙂

One place I didn’t visit was the Albrechtsburg, the castle that adjoins the Dom. As you can see, it is currently undergoing major restoration work which rather detracts from this iconic view from alongside the Elbe. A reason to make a return visit at some future date.

Meißner Dom and Albrechtsburg © Ricky Yates

A wonderful Sunday at the Frauenkirche, Dresden

As is explained here on the Frauenkirche website, the monthly English-language Anglican service of Evening Prayer for which I am responsible, is made possible because of the Meissen Agreement. This is an ecumenical agreement, made in 1988, between the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland (EKD) – the main German Protestant Church, and the Church of England. The implementation of this agreement and seeking to take it to the ultimate goal of full communion between the two Churches, is overseen by a body called the Meissen Commission.

In August last year, having ascertained that Rt Rev’d Dr Jonathan Gibbs, Suffragan Bishop of Huddersfield, is the current Anglican Co-Chair of the Meissen Commission, I wrote to him asking whether there was any space in his episcopal diary when, wearing his Meissen Commission ‘hat’, he could come to Dresden and be the preacher at the English-language Anglican service. Knowing that bishops can have very full diaries, I gave him all the dates of the 2019 services to choose from. He kindly replied a few days later, saying he would be very pleased to accept my invitation and that he would confirm a date very soon, once he had reviewed his 2019 diary commitments.

Bishop Jonathan’s reply arrived the same day as I was attending a meeting of the Predigerrunde in Dresden, to plan all the Frauenkirche evening services in the first four months of 2019. So I mentioned to Frauenkirchenpfarrer Sebastian Feydt, that I had invited Bishop Jonathan to preach at one of the English-language Anglican services in 2019 and was awaiting confirmation of a suitable date. He was most pleased & asked me to let him know when I had an agreed date. If the chosen date didn’t clash with an existing booked preacher, he would then like to invite him to preach auf Deutsch at their 11.00 service that morning.

Therefore, to cut a long story short, and to ensure that this blog post does actually get published, two months ago on Sunday 17^th March, I spent a long but most enjoyable day in Dresden with Bishop Jonathan and his wife Toni.

For the 11.00 Morning Service in German, I sat with Toni Gibbs in the congregation. The service was led by Sebastian Feydt and Bishop Jonathan preached. Toni had the complete English text of her husband’s sermon on her tablet so we both were able to easily follow what he was saying in German. Bishop Jonathan explained to me afterwards that he had first written the sermon in English, then translated it into German, before sending it to a German native speaker, to double-check his grammar and sentence construction 😉

The sermon was based on John 3. 14-21 including those well-known words in verse 16, ‘God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…’ He challenged the congregation as to how we show the love of God to every human being, including those who are different to us. He said, ‘As we approach 29th March, the date of Brexit, we as Christians need to be speaking up for a better way of living, one that demonstrates the love of God for every single human being, both in Europe and throughout the world. We need to lift up Jesus Christ, not as a tribal symbol of a Christian sub-culture, but as the Lord and Saviour of the whole of humanity.’

If you can read German, then the complete text of Bishop Jonathan’s sermon is currently available on the Frauenkirche website here. In the week following his Dresden visit, the ‘Yorkshire Post’ published an edited extract of the sermon in English, which can be found here.

Within his sermon, Bishop Jonathan gave an outline of his own life story, explaining that for six years (1992-98) he was priest of the Anglican Church in Basel, as well as priest of the Anglican Church in Freiburg-im-Breisgau. He then said, ‘As perhaps you can hear, it was in Basel that I first learned German!’

These words were picked up by Sebastian Feydt when giving the notices near the end of the service. He reminded the congregation of the Anglican service that evening, at which Bishop Jonathan would once again be preaching, this time in English, but with a Swiss-German accent. The whole congregation collapsed with laughter!

Frauenkirchenpfarrer Sebastian Feydt & Bishop Jonathan Gibbs © Ricky Yates

Following the Morning Service, Sebastian Feydt gave +Jonathan, Toni and I, a personal guided tour of the Frauenkirche. This was followed by a most enjoyable lunch in a nearby restaurant, at episcopal expense 😉 +Jonathan was also very keen to climb to the top of the Frauenkirche dome to enjoy the spectacular views across Dresden, something I had done two and a half years ago. So after lunch, that is what we did.

It is interesting to compare this photo taken by me back in August 2016……

Neumarkt, with construction work continuing © Ricky Yates

….with this one that I took on Sunday 17^th March 2019.

Neumarkt, with construction work complete © Ricky Yates

Then after a brief break, starting at 18.00, I led the English-language Anglican service of Evening Prayer at which +Jonathan preached. This service continued the theme of Versöhnung leben – Living reconciliation, which as I explained in my earlier post, has involved preaching our way through the Coventry Litany of Reconciliation. +Jonathan thus addressed the line, ‘Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee, Father, forgive.’

+Jonathan took as his main Biblical text, Matthew 25. 31-46, where Jesus describes the judgement of the nations, ‘When the Son of Man comes in his glory’. Jesus describes how people will be separated just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The ‘sheep’ on the right will be invited to, ‘inherit the kingdom prepared for you’. The reason for the invitation is that when they saw the king hungry, they fed him, when they saw him thirsty, they gave him something to drink, when he was in prison, they visited him etc.

The ‘righteous’, as they are called, are surprised by this because they never saw the king in any of the situations he describes. The punchline of the story comes in the king’s reply. ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it for the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me’. In turn, those on the king’s left receive his judgement because their failure to care for the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or those in prison.

+Jonathan went on to point out that this passage should not be used to preach a gospel of justification by works, as some people try to do. Taking note of the context of the story in the Gospel of Matthew, it is the last instructions given by Jesus to his followers, before his death on the cross. In other words, if you want to be my disciples, this is how you should live out your faith.

With +Jonathan & Toni Gibbs following the evening service © Toni Gibbs

In the days following Sunday 17^th March, I received an appreciative email of thanks from +Jonathan and was copied in on an equally appreciative email from Sebastian Feydt to +Jonathan. In his email, Sebastian Feydt expressed the hope that +Jonathan would be willing to re-visit the Frauenkirche at some future date. So I do hope to try and arrange a similar Sunday, some time in 2020.

From Winter to Spring 2019

I hope that I am not being too optimistic by writing, that I believe my second Winter living in Stará Oleška, is slowly coming to an end. There are now signs of the arrival of Spring, exemplified by these snowdrops which made their welcome appearance in my garden about a month ago. However, Spring is far from being as advanced as it is in the UK, which I’ve seen in photos posted online by friends. Likewise, it is not even as advanced as it is in Prague, which I observed when I visited the Czech capital for a medical appointment last Monday. Being situated up in the hills, nearly 300 metres above sea level, does have an impact.

The view from my front door on 3rd February 2019 © Ricky Yates

We have had plenty of snow this winter as can be seen in the title photograph of this post, last month. Here is the view looking the other way, from my front doorstep. Both photos were taken on Sunday 3^rd February when we probably had the heaviest snowfall of the winter.

There hasn’t been lying snow all the time. Usually, each time snow has fallen, after a few days it has slowly melted away, only for there to be another snowfall, a week or so later. Higher in the surrounding hills and mountains, lying snow tends to remain nearly all the time, as you can see in this photograph of Stará Oleška, taken at dusk on Saturday 19^th January.

As I’ve previously written, the main source of heating for my home is a wood-burning stove, located in the kitchen. My previous supply of logs, delivered in early December 2017, saw me through the rest of last winter, and all the way through the first half of this winter, until January this year. But by the middle of the month, I realised that a fresh supply was required.

My new supply came from a different supplier, with a larger truck, and were consequently more expensive. However, the quality of wood seems to be better with at some of it being well-seasoned and consequently able to be used straight-away.

Unfortunately, the larger and heavier truck, couldn’t be positioned so the logs could be dropped into my garden, but instead, were deposited on public ground, immediately across the driveway at the side of my garden, that gives access to the house located beyond the end of my back garden.

Here they are, following delivery.

As you can see, at the time of delivery on Tuesday 22^nd January, the weather was sunny but frosty. This meant that the ground was frozen hard making it relatively easy to wheel a wheelbarrow full of logs, through the opening in the fence, across the back lawn, to the wood shed on the far side of the garden.

This weather held for the following few days, enabling me to shift quite a number of the logs into the shed.

Remaining logs covered in snow © Ricky Yates

But then the inevitable happened…….

Since then, either because of snow, or the ground being far too soft and wet, I wasn’t able to shift any further logs, until last weekend. Fortunately, the Spring-like weather of the past week has enabled me to finally complete the task.

Logs stacked in my wood shed © Ricky Yates

Stacked into the wood shed, the logs are difficult to photograph. This is the best I could manage.

Sections of tree trunks, yet to be moved © Ricky Yates

Unfortunately, there is still more to do. Within my log delivery were these massive sections of tree trunk – twenty-three of them altogether. Each is far too heavy to shift single-handedly. I nearly killed myself just stacking them like this. They will have to be reduced in size, in situ, either by chain saw or axe, before they can be transported by wheelbarrow to the wood shed. And then I wonder whether there will be still room in the shed to fit them all in!

One task that I have managed to complete, is to drastically prune the vine that adorns the front of my house and which each year, has produced an abundance of grapes. I’ve also given the two bushes directly under the front windows, a fairly severe hair cut.

Flourishing vine in late June 2018 © Ricky Yates

But if my experience of last year is anything to go by, vigorously pruning just creates greater growth. This is how the front of the house looked in late June 2018 following a similar pruning earlier in February.

Here is another sign of Spring with which I finish this post. Last Christmas, my daughter Christa, gave me a present of some bulbs for my garden. The instructions said that they should be planted, no later than the end of December. I only got back to Stará Oleška late on 28^th December and the weather wasn’t at all conducive to doing any form of gardening until a few dry and milder days in mid-January. But I got them planted and, about ten days ago, the first green shoots started appearing. It does seem that we are moving from Winter to Spring.