Yesteday they let me out on my own, although I have a feeling they did not really notice I had gone. After a fully packed day with ironing and cooking in the morning and blogging in the afternoon I decided to make the most of the evening. We now have the hot summer weather which is too hot for me. However, in my computer room I sit in front of the windows and it is the shady side of the appartment. I can open the windows, play with my computer and combine it with fresh air.

I was all set by 7.00 in the evening, when the temperatures were cooler, and with my mobile phone in my pocket and my camera hanging over my shouder I was off, not forgetting my walking stick. I did say goodbye to Mr. Swiss, he asked have you got your phone, of course. I decided to take the path to the local castle. I cross the main road and am already at the beginning of the long upwards walk.

I often wonder why they build these castles on a hill. This is not a fortified castle to protect us from the invaders from the other villages, but a nice castle once used by the French Ambassador to Switzerland as his summer residence. It eventually went into the hands of the Swiss family Von Sury d’Aspremont, one of which had the honour of serving as commandant in the Swiss Guard in the Vatican some time in the 40’s or 50’s – not sure of the exact date. In the meawhile the castle is now in the hands of the local authorties.

And so I made myself on the way uphill. I noticed the crops are now growing nicely in the fields surrounding the castle – see photo. It seems the new chicken house has now been shifted next to the path, which was handy for a photo on the way. It is a movable chicken coop on wheels, so the chickens do get a change of secenery now and again.

Sorry for the red fencing blocking the perfect view of the chickens, but it is probably there to stop them escaping and crossing the road. I think we have the happiest, most satisfied chickens in Switzerland. They have their own personal rooster and  have a large space for taking walks.

I made my way to the top of the hill where there was an empty bench waiting for me to recover. I was glad to reach the top as it is quite strenuous walking uphill, but was rewarded by some great views. Here you can see our local red train making its way to our village station, with a background of Swiss Alps. You cannot always see the alps, it depends on the weather, but yesterday was a good day.

With this view I decided to rest awhile on the bench before taking the downhill walk to home. By the way the tall white building on the right in the background is the Kanton/State hospital. I noticed that walking downhill is easier than up. I heard the village church clock telling me it was time to go home. The weather was perfect: a gentle breeze, and just the sound of birds.

And today back in the old routine, although a very quiet routine for a change. There was a ring at the door, one of the workmen wanting access to our hobby room in the cellar to remove a grid from a space next to our window, which he could not access from outside. He is a nice guy and told Mr. Swiss that we will now have peace and quiet for at least 6 weeks. They will now begin to renew the isolation and paint the facade of our building, but it will take time until they reach us. We are not sorry, as the noise and dirt emission was gradually wearing down our nerves. We have just had four days of peace and quite due to a national holiday and realised how good it used to be.  We still have the scaffolding in front of our porch, but it is not a hindrance.

Enjoy the day, make the most of it, I am now taking a walk with the vacuum cleaner and eventually will make my way to the supermarket as the cupboard is getting bare.