 Lorch, the monastery
The 12th century Benedictine monastery. The traffic sign points in downriver direction. (The gate keeper house riding the wall did once serve as hospice for daring tourists.)
|  Lorch, the monastery
|  Lorch, the monastery
|  Lorch, the monastery
|  Lorch, the monastery
The Romanesque 'Marsilius' tower with its double arched windows is the signature structure of the monastery. The tower was partially destroyed during the peasant uprising of 1525. It was only recapped at the end of the 19th century. Restoration looks convincing to me. A matching North tower collapsed during the 15th century. Suspect an earthquake but no explicit cause is mentioned.
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 Lorch, the monastery
|  Lorch, the monastery
the crypt is to the left, the refectory to the right. There is also a carp pond somewhere (just water lilies and goldfish presently).
|  Lorch, the monastery
|  Lorch, the monastery
Are there some rubies missing from the mitre? The expression betrays a certain degree of bewilderment. Understandable under the circumstances. You expect a last judgment and what do you get, a first hand encounter with a gang of iconoclastic vandals. - Taylor pincushion at the left arm wrist. Crozier or incense vessel is also missing. The two broken rivets.
|  Lorch, the monastery
No, I do not know where they kept their pets during combat. (A lizard is walking the sternum. Somewhat gory.)
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 Lorch, the monastery
armored 'cap à pied'
|  Lorch, the raised tomba
Technically not a good picture but the very heart of the monastery. All available Staufic remains were collected in this tomba by order of the prior. All monks may have joint hands at certain occasions and circled the shrine. [The guarding angels at the four corners are a standard feature for this kind of receptacles.]
|  Lorch, the monastery
perimeter wall (Circumcellionic tour)
|  Lorch, the monastery
Those monks did cheat. Shame on them. Instead of using standard levitation spells like everybody else they actually had recourse to cranes with caliper hooks. The attachment pits in the individual building blocks do not lie. (The cg position of the pits will help forestall unwanted rotation.)
|  Lorch, the monastery
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 Lorch, the monastery
|  Lorch, the monastery
Superannuated, crackly oak leaves. Good for some minor 'chinoiserie'.
|  Anemones and Larkspur
Hollow Larkspur [Corydalis cava] and Wood Anemones [Anemone nemorosa]. In always changing patterns. The go-bang of the forest floor.
|  Anemona nemorasa
Wood Anemone. Name could be rendered as 'pleasant (looking)'. Modest enough (somewhat in harmony with the flower itself). The variant Latin derivation is somewhat more roundabout. Roughly: the 'animated' spirit of the forest floor. A mild zephyr making short shrift of the last piles of winter snow.
|  Chrysosplenium alternifolium
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 Chrysosplenium alternifolium
|  Chrysosplenium alternifolium
Alternate-leaf Golden Saxifrage. Order Rosales. Distantly related with Red Current and Gooseberry. The stamens like the peristyle of a 'Maison Caree'. No true petals, just pale green sepals and some bract leaf semaphoric.
|  Cornus mas at the gate of the monastery
Cornelian Cherry Dogwood. Old world shrub unlike Witchhazel with which it could be mistaken from a distance. Shrub comes with standard hermaphrodite flowers. The 'mas' tag is carpentry related. Bloodtwig Dogwood as well as Cornelian Dogwood were once appreciated for their hard wood. - The previous leaseholder of this location was honored by Mörike with a poem. Something about romping children at nightfall.
[Mörike is probably best known for his preserving jars recipes. How to pickle your cucumbers the right way. Bismarck's opinion, if any, is not reported. Not every Biedermeier period is equally well prepared for an encounter with the first world.]
|  Cornus mas
|  Cornus mas
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 Cornus mas
|  Corydalis cava
Hollow Larkspur. The use of bird names for sympetalous flowers (or flowers with fused petals, 'fuselage' type flowers for short) is nearly traditional. Dolphin words are also permitted. You may even be allowed to draft Santa stockings or protective headgear. 'Corys', the first part of the Greek tag, is distantly related with 'cranium'. The second part still survives in such memorable households lyrics as: 'alouette je te plumerai'. I am personally unable to discern a 'winged' helmet in this particular flower shape (let alone a crested lark) but I can understand the general train of thought even if it is somewhat overdone in this particular case.
Minor caveat: A corymb is a type of inflorescence which could serve as support for a smoked glass table top. Tell a chapter of bike riders to climb on appropriate footstools and you will get there. Particular helmet color is of no importance. [The term 'summit meeting' might cover both aspects of the Greek root.]
I cannot...
|  Corydalis cava
|  Corydalis cava
|  Glechoma hedera
Plenty of Ground Ivy. Gargle water for sore throats, one hallelujah too many, or is there a connection with brewing (secondary name: ale hoof). Somewhat suspicious.
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 Glechoma hedera
|  Viola odorata
Sweet violet. Same order as zuchini and pumpkins. It is tempting to detect some similarity with the staminate flowers of pumpkins. The close packed yellow stamens bundles. A tribe of very strong ants carrying away a hole pumpkins might clinch it.
|  Viola odorata
|  Lorch, fall
still there, fall batch
|  Lorch, fall
Canadian Golden Rod
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 Lorch, fall
Foreground, a contribution from the local arts and craft shop: 'soul steles'.
|  Lorch, fall
|  Lorch, fall
Either a surf board or a pivoted ironing board. Could also be a tail fin. Unidentified sand, sun & sea logo. Backdrop, Schurwald.
|  Lorch, fall
Marsilius tower, the Latin number in the scalloped part should read 1883.
|  Lorch, fall
Ora et labora. Iron gate to the herb garden with fretwork style silhouettes.
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