Not really dahlia time yet, but if you have a store, you find them everywhere I suppose.
Daily Archives: 26/04/2017
Photo Challenge: Wanderlust
Going places and seeing things is not something I can do very well today. Being a golden oldie with walking difficuilties, I can manage a walk with the camera where I live, or perhaps a drive out somewhere different.
However, last year my No. 2 son got married. His wife is from the Mosel area of Germany, where everyone seems to have their own vineyard. I stayed for a week and it is a fascinating area. Vineyards are on every slope and The River Mosel runs through it all.
Colour Your World: White
Daily Prompt: Where are the roots?
And another week began for the medicine students, studying the science of genetic origins. It was a first year class and tbey had a lot to learn. Professor Planck greeted the class.
“Good morning ladies and gentlemen. Today we are continuing on the invesitagtions of the origins of life. We all want to know where we come from? Yes Drago?”
“Mum and dad said it was better when we didn’t know and they were not very happy about sending a sample of my blood to the DNA laboratories last week.”
“No problem, Drago, the results of the DNA tests from the complete class have already been received and in today’s lesson we will take a closer look.”
“Sir, my parents also found that a blood examination is not necessary. They said we are all equals, and it really should not be important to examine our blood.”
“Yes, Jabba, I know, but it is all in the name of science. You cannot ignore the facts and you will all learn something from the results.”
And so Professor Planck discussed with the class members, one by one, the results of their blood examinations. There were some surprises when Joan discovered that her origins were somewhere in Kazakhstan, but she blamed it on grandfather Ivan that arrived in their country some time in the middle ages. It was obvious that Chan had traces of Asian origins and so the class were given the results of the DNA tests. It was a source of laughter, especially when Tracy discovered that he ancestory could be traced back to the times of Attila the Hun crossing the alps and she even had the Mongolian spot to prove it, but as it was in a place that was usually covered with clothing, she did not show it.
And so one by one the members of the class were released for the day, all excited about discovering more about themselves. Only Drago and Jabby were left. Professor Planck told them to wait.
“Is something wrong sir?” the two boys asked.”
“No not really boys, just a few anomalies I would like to clarify.
Drago your origins are somewhere in Eastern Europe I believe.”
“Yes sir, we originate from a very old established family, in the Carpathian Mountains. We can trace our roots back to the days of the wolves.”
“Yes Drago, that is the strange result of your blood examination. the DNA test results showed a mixture of various blood groups, actually all existing known blood groups and a trace of animal blood, notably wolflike. Could this be the case.”
“It is possible. It is probably explained by the fact that on full moon nights my teeth grow somewhat longer, and we all like our meat cooked rare in the family, actually raw to be exactl. Dad often howls at the moon and mum and dad go for walks in the woods during the night. By the way dad also works in the medicinal branch.”
“Oh is he a doctor?”
“Not exactly, he does the night shift at the local blood bank which might explain the blood mixtures. I like to sample them now and again, especially if they are fresh. Can I go now Sir?”
“Yes and look after yourself, you are looking so pale today.”
“No problem, that is normal when I am exposed to so much daylight.”
“And now to you Jabba? We found some traces of chrorophyll in your blood, to the extent that it had a slightly green tinge to the colour.”
“No problem Sir, it runs in the family. You would have to go back to the Ediacaran period of the earth development where our origins were established. The first in our family were Jabberwocks and had no bones. Over the years, due to mixed marriages with humans we became less brillig and were no longer bothered by the jubjub bird which became extinct due to the frumerous bandersnatch.”
“Sorry Jabba, but I cannot quite get the gist of this. Jabberwocks did not exist, they were a fictitious character invented by the writer Lewis Carroll.”
“Some things are not always as they seem. Great grandfather Lewis was one of the last Jabberwocks that originated in the mimsy borogroves. Unfortuantely they no longer exist as they built a motorway over them. Can I now go sir? My parents get anxious if I arrive home late, especially if I do not have my vorpal sword with me. The police confisticated it yesterday evening as they classified it as a lethal weapon.”
“Oh, I see, yes, yes you may go Jabba, but do not hop everywhere, walk normally.”
“Of course sir, it is difficult when you have webbed feet.”
That evening Professor Planck did not sleep so well. It was a full moon night and he was sure he saw Drago hovering outside his bedroom window. In the morning there were strange footprints in the garden as if something with webbed feet had walked through the earth.
Good Morning
Mum had a saying, she had many: it never rains, it just pours. OK, it was not a mum original but one of her favourites. We are now having typical mum weather. For some time we were celebrating real Spring weather with warm temperatures and everything in the garden growing and flowering. Despite the building of the scaffolding around our living quarters, we still saw the sun poking through. I even wore my short home trousers and t-shirts outside.
Then the polar frost hit us, not quite but almost. The sun was still shining, we had clear blue skies, but temperatures, especially at night, dropped below freezing point. The plants in the garden survived, although decided to stop flowering for a while. We were all waiting for things to get better, and perhaps a little rain. We had not seen rain for at least a month. I had even begun to water the garden myself.
Yesterday the rain came. It began in the night, nothing dramatic, and yesterday afternoon it only rained once, the complete afternoon. I was not sorry. I sat at home, looking out the window, with no guilty complex about staying inside and not going places. The weather stress had disappeared, it was raining. It was a grey/gray wet world. Even the WP one word daily prompt was “Gray” or was it “Grey”. I discovered both words – a sort of trans atlantic difference of opinion.
And today it is not raining, it is pouring mum. Yes the pitter patter of rain drops is the accompanying background music. Even the scaffolding building team have not turned up this week. Perhaps they do not like working in the rain, although last week they worked through a freak snow shower which only lasted half an hour before the sun came out again. Not that I miss the workers, it is nice and quiet on the building site. My only problem is that photos for my camera are now scarce. The scaffolding on the West Side is now half complete, covering only the ground and first floor and there is a floor to go. They are probably saving the best for last.
However life goes on. We had our new curtains fixed at the beginning of the week, but we all forgot Tabby, our cat. She has a cat flap in the kitchen window, and we arranged that over the cat flap the curtain stripes would be made shorter to allow her a free entrance and exit, but we all forgot, the curtain guy and us. We called them yesterday and today they will arrive to shorten the four stripes hanging over Tabby’s special entrance. Actually we never draw the curtains stripes in the kitchen during the day. The window is always free and often open: cooking tends to produce grease and smells. We only really draw the curtain stripes at night. Summer is approaching and Tabby likes to sleep outside and come and go as she pleases during the night. Anyhow no problem, it will be fixed today, but we do not know when. Yes, another chance for me to go shopping with the car on my own. I do not mind, although Mr. Swiss gets a little cabin fever in the morning at home. He compensates in the afternoon with a trip to town now and again.
I must now go as when I go shopping I like to go early – I have things to buy, shop assitants to talk to, perhaps meet some other golden oldies and above all spend a few minutes taking photos of the latest flower and plant arrivals in the store As a goodbye photo here is my rosemary from the garden. I have never known it to flower so much as this year. I know in other countries it is almost an invader, but in Switzerland we can be glad for such plants to survive the Winter frost and this plant is now approaching 6 years in its bed.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 