Garden Redesigned

Posted in Blogs by angloswiss

The old front garden

This was the front garden. Not exactly an english lawn, more moss than anything else. We had a wonderful collection of daisies and weeds and clover, just perfect for a herd of cows, but we were people with a herd of cats. Now and again a toad would hop around, feeling comfortable in the damp undergrowth. We live in an apartment on the ground floor, so have a garden at the front and back with porch instead of a balcony. This suits us, but as the years go by the Mr. Swiss and Mrs. Angloswiss are not as fit as they were and we decided to have a designer front garden: not exactly but something without lawn, toads and weeds.

Yesterday the gardener arrived with his team and the work begun. I had a buddleia in a large pot and decided that would be the center piece of our new work of art. The removal of the grass was done in an hour. As most of it was moss, it was just a matter of scraping it away. Stones were laid to mark the borders and we had something like this when the workers took their lunch break.

Work in progress

The prize suspicious buddleia was already planted and was beginning to settle its roots in the new place. In the afternoon it received a dose of fresh water to ensure that it did not die with symptoms of shock. Our merry gardeners did a good job, and when they were finished they trimmed the hedges. They began at 7.30 in the morning and by 5.00 in the evening they were finished. We were happy and satisfied. Here is the final result – no more lawn,no toads and three happy felines and a happy Mr. Swiss and Mrs. Angloswiss.

The new garden

And of course Tabby showing her appreciation of the work.

Tabby with the new garden look

20May2014

Daily Prompt: The Great Expectations of a Golden Oldie

Posted in Challenges by angloswiss

Tell us about one thing (or more) that you promised yourself you’d accomplish by the end of the year. How would you feel once you do? What if you don’t?

Anemone

There were great expectations when I planted my anemones in March and they have been fulfilled. This is the first, so he was sent ahead of the others to tell them it is safe, come on and flower. As it was the first, he was in such a hurry that one of the petals got lost on the way. However, nothing is perfect, and even with one less petal, he is still doing his job.

Otherwise I do not promise myself anything as it is not so sure that by the end of the year I will remember what I promised myself. I still have great expectations of being discovered as a great writer, story teller, famous author, but there are still a few months to go until December, so why the rush? I did promise myself to blog every day, but this is easier said than done. My followers, fans, disciples and others may have suffered under withdrawal when I disappeared for a week to London to see my dad. My pages were empty, neglected, but I returned to continue my blog epos. There were circumstances, beyond my control in the blogging world, a great new look. This too had birth pains, it was no longer so great, it remained new, but together we are strong and the grid showed itself stronger than all of us.

So, where was I? Had a small interruption, as the lawn was mowed and there were a few edges that had to be ripped out by hand. I love doing that, really an outlet for pent up emotions. As said, there were no real promises so I do not have to try to accomplish anything. I discovered that it is possible to write a novel with Amazon, something called Kindle Direct Publishing. For a lazy golden oldie like me this would be the solution. My work would be published, I just have to know what to write and begin. I am thinking about it, but you will all be the first to know when it has arrived.

I decided to should do some sort of fitness training. A half hour walk during the day would be a great idea: breathing the fresh air of the countryside, climbing hills and walking untrodden paths in nature’s landscape. Unfortunately it was raining when I had this idea. I did not give up, so I decided to go to the local supermarket (by car). I wandered half an hour exercising my legs, pushing the trolley for support, and applying arm exercises picking out the goods I wanted to buy. I was really proud of myself when I returned and decided to do this at least three times a week, but I usually do, so I suppose that does not count.

Thinking of the title of this prompt, I am reminded of the book Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. There was a little boy, Pip, who was promised Great Expectations. He was under the impression the promise originated from a rich elderly lady who often invited him to her home, mainly to be a companion to her adopted daughter or whatever. However, Pip was wrong; the promise of Great Expectations came from an escaped convict that Pip once helped when he was a boy. The convict had come into money and decided to repay Pip. So you see how disappointing Great Expectations can be especially as Pip had an eye on the adoptive daughter as a sort of reward (this all happened in the last century so I suppose that sort of thing took place in those days). I must say the government of my country also have great expectations, are always making promises, but they seem to have the same problems as me, they forget what they promised.

That is why I do not really bother. There will be no disappointment at the end of the year and even if I do not win my Pulitzer or Nobel prize, it is OK. And now for something completely different: I will upload this masterpiece and afterwards clean my window blinds. I noticed they are full of sticky pollen and that cannot wait until the end of the year.

Daily Prompt: The Great Expectations of a Golden Oldie

Being honest the title is based on a remark made on one of my blogs by a supporter.
"You always turn a topic inside out and on its head" were words also applied by a visitor to one of my blogs. I think she hit the nail on the head.

Prompts are there to act on, not just tell everyone what you had for lunch or your likes and dislikes. I trust that on my blog you find something spiced with humour. Mr. Swiss, my other half, has been known to say that not everyone always understands my humour (I do not always understand his).

Blogging is for me coupled with having fun. I do what I want to and not what I have to.

Disclaimer: Not reponsible for any spelling or grammatical mistakes. I do my best, but having two langugages revolving in my brain (yes, I have one), sometimes the result is more bi- than unilingual.