A photo from my garden in August. The golden rod suddenly appeared and I let it grow, Just have to be careful that it does not begin to appear all over the garden.
Daily Archives: 01/12/2017
Daily Prompt: A sparkling Christmas
We ar heading for that time again, you know when everything is full of sparkle, even the supermarket, yes, it is christmas again, but when did it begin and when will it stop? Officially it is at the end of December, but as December approaches we do not want to be late and miss something, so the sparkle of the decorations appears already in November, although the construction of the Chrismas tent begins already in October, we do not want to be late now do we.
Of course for a complete Christmas planning to make sure nothing is forgotten, it is advisable to begin to make your list for christmas prensents some time in August, just to be sure. On the other hand it can be expensive, so perhaps let us leave it until Black Friday, the Friday after thanksgiving in the States. You will definitely find a bargain, perhaps half price. There is a stampede where you are in competition with the others, but if you queue up during the night you will be one of the first in the store when it opens on Friday morning: oh the joys of Christmas.
“What are we having for the Chrismas dinner this year?”
“I have no idea, what do you want?”
“Something good of course.”
It is so easy as a housewife to fulfil the wishes of the family. “Something good” means nothing at all, but do not disappoint. Why is it that year for year everything has to be good. It has to be unforgettable, and perfect. And don’t forget the decorations. A silver star or two or three, garlands of artificial holly and the centre piece, the Christmas tree. Of course the tree must be a work of art, better than last year’s. You dive into the cellar and find the box with the delicate glass balls. It is then that you notice the box is half empty because there were glass balls that did not survive last year. Another item for the list. The christmas lights are also ready, but again, half of them are not working and when you endeavour to buy replacements, you notice that the store no longer sells that special brand and you have to buy new lights. The tree itself is plastic. Plastic trees are environment friendly of course, and can be recycled.
“I would like a real tree again this year, they have the smell of Christmas” and so you make yet another excursion to the supermarket for a new genuine tree with real needles that will eventually shed and cover the carpet.
Do not forget to wrap the gifts in Chrismas paper: of course not. You spend many “happy” hours making boutique worthy paper arrangements, only to find that that the golden binding and paper is discarded in a crumpled heap on the floor. At the end of the Christmas evening you gather it all together and throw it into the garbage can. Perhaps that is the moment when you ask about the true meaning of Christmas. No, do not ask, just do it because everyone else does it.
And as you fall asleep in the armchair next to a wilting Christmas tree, with your feet buried in the wrappings of Christmas, you are glad that it is all over, although not quite. If you really do it properly, your home says only goodbye to the sparkles of the Christmas season on 6th January.
You know what, I am glad when it is over.
Good Morning
Now the weather gods are overdoing it. Yesterday there was the first snow fall, it spent a while here and had gone after an hour. This morning when I raised the blinds I almost needed my snow glasses. Everything was covered in the stuff, it must have been snowing almost all night. Not only that, but it is cold. Temperatures are below freezing, 0°C, and so it ist not melting. Mr. Swiss noticed that one of our blinds is frozen to the outside ledge, which means permanently closed at the moment. We will be patient and wait until it thaws out on its own. It is the window where I have my plants, so important that they have light. Mr. Swiss discovered that we can open the slits in the blinds.
I read the local news on my iPad this morning and saw that there had already been an accident on the nearbye motorway involving many cars. It is early in the morning, freezing temperatures and ice, and drivers perhaps not being as careful as they should be. We are so glad that we can plan our time this morning, as Mr. Swiss said he definitely does not want to drive at the moment.
We will be going to the store this morning, but in a couple of hours, and we are hoping that be then it might be a little better. At least I might be able to take some interesting photos of the snowly landscape on the way.
My white amaryllis has now opened completely. It is smaller that the colourful ones, but I find the flower a better quality: not just plain petals but filled.
It’s times like this when I wonder why I moved to Switzerland and in the bargain, married a Swiss, to live in a country under permanent snow and ice in Winter. I have now dug out my winter boots so I am hoping to be prepared for everything.
There was a guy driving around with a snow plough fixed onto the front of his car this morning cleaning the paths in our area.
And now I am on my way with my cleaning programme in the apartment, nothing spectacular to say today, I am still recovering from the snow and ice shock outside. The shopping list is made and we will battle our way through the snow covered roads to be able to have enough provisions at home to survive. I do not think that anyone will be going anywhere this week-end, unless the sun decides to appear and we have a snow and ice melt.
Even our cat’s bowl of water was frozen solid this moring.
Enjoy the day and beware of the ice and snow.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 