Daily Archives: 12/12/2016

Flower of the Day: 12.12.2016 Poinsettia

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Ponsettia
I know we are litrerally being surrounded by Poinsettia at the moment here, but when I saw this one today in the local store, I just had to take a photo. It was the biggest one I have seen yet, but probably there will be more to come.

We used to have a small herbarium in a town nearbye, featuring wonderful butterflies and small insects. Unfortunately it was victim of a fire, but was rebuilt in another town. There were poinsettias growing everywhere,  as they had the right amount of vapour in the air and the temperatures were controlled. In German they are known as “Weihnachtsstern” Christmas Star, which I find a very appropriate name for them.

Tomorrow I will return to a triffid, mandrake or perhaps one of those Body snatching pods, they were quite the fashion some time ago. Poinsettias are quite harmless, they do not bite or devour humans, just make sure your cat ignores it. They do not like cats.

Flower of the Day: 12.12.2016 Poinsettia

CHRISTMAS WRITING PROMPT #8: FAVOURITE CHRISTMAS FILM

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What is your favourite Christmas Film and why?

Christmas 2013

Every year a new Christmas film turns up on the TV. They all seem to follow the same pattern. They begin with a sadness. Someone loses their house, perhaps their family, through financial circumstances usually. There is a grumpy relative that likes to spoil everything for everyone, but it is all in glorius technicolour and the ending is a happy one. The miserables become happy, lost fortunes are found again and split familes are reunited.  The long lost son or daughter or whatever returns to the fold. Another sequence of Christmas kitsch leavs us holding a handkerchief to wipe the tears from our eyes, if we have not changed channels in between to watch a football match or a show with some singing and dancing.

And now you ask a golden oldie to choose? I have seen them all. I quite enjoyed The Nighmare Before Christmas, something completely different, and appealed to my strange sense of humour. However, the Christmas film winner of all time for me is “It’s a Wonderful Life” from 1946 with Jimmie Stewart. It is one of those good old time black and white films that pulls on the genuine heart strings. It is kitsch, but good old fashioned kitsch and I love it. As my dad would say, “they don’t make films like that any more”.

What is your favourite Christmas Film and why?

Share Your World – 2016 Week 50

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What is your favorite smell? What memory does it remind you of?

Veal

I just realised that at the age of 70 and cooking meals for the family for the past 50 years, I do not have favourite smells. I like to smell a meat dish with veg filling the appartment with its scent. If I bake a cake, love the smell. I even like the smell of garlic and onions, I am not fussy. And a spaghetti sauce or a pizza does it for me as well. Perhaps what I do not like is if I am cooking and get a telephone, or there is a ring at the door and I forget to turn down the heat. Burnt smells are never good, no matter what it is. Favourite perfume – I have many because  I always bought a selection of miniatures at the airport duty free when I flew to London. I quite liked Tresor by  Lancôme. Now dad has passed away I no longer have a reason to fly anywhere.

What type of pet do you have or want to have?

I had three felines. Two have now gone to the eternal corn chambers on the mouse hunt and Tabby has remained. She is now an eldery lady with her 14 years but is still fit. Her adventures you can see at The Cat Chronicles. We no longer want any animals as we are now golden oldies and it would not be fair. However, our neighbour had a very interesting cat. She has now moved away, but that would be my dream cat: introducing the Sphinx.

DSC_3169

Are you usually late, early, or right on time? 

I like to be early, because otherwise I get very nervous. Mr. Swiss likes to be exactly on time and so problems arise. There is a train to catch or a plane, and I like to beat the railway station with at least 10 minutes to spare. I feel more relaxed when I know that I am already at the right place ahead of time. Mr. Swiss always tells me we have plenty of time, and so he likes to go just in time. Somehow we have never missed a train or plane which is a wonder as far as I am concerned, but I am usually near to my 19th nervous breakdown when we get there. Once I am ready and waiting, I have no problems.

For recharging, would you rather meditate, swim, walk, listen to music, write, read, yoga, qigong other?

MS is an illness with many faces and no two cases are the same. I am perhaps lucky that it might be a milder form and only now discovered, although I have probably had it for 30-40 years, but always diagnosed as something else. I do not have pain as such, just aches, but most golden oldies have aches somewhere in the body, nothing spectacular. My problem is a tiredness where just a ten minute rest works wonders. I still do my own housework, like to go for walks (not longer than 30 minutes), go shopping, I write and I read. I did Tai Chi for a couple of years, which was quite good, but I prefer now to do what I want to do and not attend set afternoons for  Tai Chi visits. I am quite happy the way things are now.

Optional Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up? 

Last week I had a very nice evening out with my family to celebrate my 70th birthday with a good meal in a restaurant. This week I have no plans for anything anywhere. Seems that this Christmas thing is in two weeks, but no problem. Just taking it easy with no stress.

Share Your World – 2016 Week 50

Daily Prompt: Escape

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Teddy Bears

They arrived some time in the middle of the night. They had fled and had no time to take anything with them. They were unwanted, and had no place to go. They used to be so loved, so popular. Christmas was the best time of the year. Then they were love, adopted by families with children that took care of them. They had won a place in the hearts of those that were longing for them.

Now they were no longer needed, they were in the way. A new power had taken over their kingdom. It was a conqueror that decided would make a better world for all. It would take over, foce new laws on the teddy bear community, but these new laws were horrible laws. Laws with no heart or feeling. The teddy bears were in the way. They were taking up valuable space that the new invaders wanted. These invaders had no feelings for teddy bears. Teddy bears were unnecessary, they were in the way. Why should teddy bears take up space, they were not perfect and were superfluous. Who needs teddy bears? Suddenly some teddy bears disappeared  mysteriously without warning. Teddy bear tears were shed by those remaining members of the group.

The new invaders were removing them one by one. The teddy bears were in the way, they could not think for themselves, the new conquerers could think. They were computers, armed with mechanical thoughts. They had their own methods of replacing the teddy bear, luring the children with their games and puzzles.  The teddy bears had no defence, they had no-one to help them. Even those that said they would help them against he opressors were not telling the truth. Their only interest was to move in and take over the space left by the teddy bears. It was becoming a war of the strongest, computer against computer. First of all the teddy bears were under attack from their own people  and now from another country pretending to want to help, but there was no longer help. Computers did not have feelings, only weapons.

Teddy bears were a kind race, all they wanted was to be loved. Chrismas was approaching and they decided there was only one way and that was to flee: to leave behind their secure and happy life and find somewhere where they would again be loved and accepted. They packed their little hearts that they had kept for the Chrismas presents for the children and in the darkness of night they began to march. Their feet grew weary, some were even lost on the way, they did not know which way to go, until one of them saw the lights of the town. They marched towards the lights with hope in their teddy bear hearts.

The town people were astonished. How can anyone not want a teddy bear for Christmas. The teddy bears were not given to eat or to drink, because they did not live on food and drink. they lived on love, the love of the children. The children saw the weary teddy bears when they arrived. They hugged them, kept them warm and took them into their hearts. The Teddy Bears  had found a new home. The town that knew no oppression from other countries, or even their own people, could not understand why no-one wanted a teddy bear.

There were so many teddy bears, but room was found for all. Those that were not adopted were placed in a teddy bear adoption centre. It was decided that after Christmas they would be given to the children that were in hospitals and homes and children without any family of their own, children that had also been forced to flee from their own country. The teddy bears were now happy, they had found a new place to stay, no more war and no more love hunger.

Is there a moral to this story? Perhaps it is not a story, who knows.

Daily Prompt: Escape

Good Morning

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70th Birthday 09.12 (2)

What about a photo of me to begin the dreary Monday. My No. 1 son is sitting on the left and photo was taken at my 70th birthday meal in a restaurant. This is now history, happened last week, so I am now moving onto Christmas.

Today will be the day when I place my order for the Christmas meat at the supermarket. Not that there will be no meat left in two weeks, but it is better to have it all organised in advance, you never know. We have discovered that portions are no longer ordered in kilos, but in grammes. We are now only three for the big meal on Chrismas Eve and 2-300 grames per eater are enough. We do not do vegetarian or vegan, although have some veg on the side of course. I discovered the mini potaoes some time ago which you do not have to peel. Just chop them in half and fry them in butter with some rosemary, or a herb of your choice. I find them ideal. I fry everything in butter, although today the word “fry” seems to have disappeared and been substituted by “sear” which they apply in the cooking programmes on the TV.

It is a frosty day today, and the grass already has a white layer. Yesterday we even saw the sun again in the afternoon. I did not go for my normal Sunday afternoon walk, as it was just a little too cold, but spent it taking macro photos of the various bouquets I collected for my birthday.

Saw a good film over the week-end on TV. It was a film adaptation of a John Le Carré book Our Kind of Traitor from this year. I love those spy stories, and have put the book on my to be read list. John Le Carré is particularly interesting to read for me. He served in the british secret service and was for a while in Bern, Switzerland, and many of his books feature Bern as a locality, which I know very well, living only 40 km from the town.

And now I should be on my way with my other hobbies, such as hoovering, mopping and afterwards shopping – not without having a shower in between and dressing in normal street clothes of course. Shopping in my nightdress would not be ideal, especially in the cold temperatures that we have at the moment.

Have a nice day/night, see you around.