Went for a walk along the river yesterday and had my zoom lens on the camera which is only really good for the objects in the far distance. However, I always have my phone with me, so took this shot with the phone camera which is OK as an alternative.

Today looks a sunny day, but I have no big plans. Just a shopping tour this morning and sorting out stuff for organising our porch for the big makeover next week. We are to clear everything away from the outside and are still trying to figure how to move a wooden table 90 cm x 1 meter something into the cellar. Mr. Swiss has back problems and I am not able to lift stuff. I even have problems lifting myself out of bed in the morning. We will have to get outside help and the job must be done by the end of the week.

Next week the building company arrives and put our appartment block in a cocoon with scaffolding. The job will be finished in October, meaning that I will be cut off from possibilities of sitting outside. Indoors is not fun in the summer. We have to cover the windows to stop the hot sun beating through the glass and as the blinds are also being removed until October, that will not be an easy job. I have a thing about being indoors during the summer, I do not like it. Probably originates from my growing up days in East London where we only had concrete to look at and the only chance of a comfortable place outside was the small back yard. We were street kids, making the most of what we had. When I was a kid it was in the fifties and London was still full of the bombed housing remains, so at least we had an adventure playground.

We have also now heard that all our hedges will be removed at the sides of our garden. That does not bother me so much, although might bother the birds, but they do not have anything to say in the matter – neither do we. The hedges are privet which is nothing spectacular. My problem is why. I assume that the men want to carry the scaffolding from the side to the front of our building, meaning they will be trampling over my flower beds which I am not happy about. We have been told that a gardener has been commissioned to put everything back as it was when the work is finished, but you cannot replace hostas and other plants that have been growing in the ground for the past 10 years or more. They have established their right to grow and treading on them in the growing season is the best way to destroy them.

Yes I am annoyed, and there is nothing I can do about it. I have decided to write a daily report on the work for myself – who knows, by the time October arrives when it finishes, I might have enough for a best seller. I do not think the workers will be happy to see a lady constantly taken photos of what they are doing.

So I am off. I did not sleep very well yesterday, if at all, neither did Mr. Swiss. We just do not need this reduction of our quality of life at our age.

One bright moment, our local Japanese Cherry tree is now blossoming.