A mixed bouquet, but mainly mums
Daily Archives: 07/12/2017
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Houses
Taken from the car on the way to the supermarket. The result surprised me. The sky was doing the right thing in the background.
Some houses in the town of Solothurn, Switzerland.
This house is also in Solothurn. It was renovated some years ago and recovered its old shine again.
Daily Prompt: The Gorge
Yes, we have a gorge, but we have a problem.
“Jack, we will have to find a new one.”
“You mean????”
“Yes another one gone.”
“But Fred he is the fourth this year. We must be doing something wrong”
“I don’t think it is us, it hangs together with the situation.”
“What situation.”
“We are looking for a new hermit, and hemits are not born every day. Most of them are already older than they should be and living in a gorge where a river runs through it and sunlight poking through for only half an hour in the late afternoon is not the ideal solution if you suffer from rheumatism and arthritis.”
“But the last one gave us a doctor’s certificate.”
The last one had a nervous breakdown if I remember rightly. People knocking at the door every five minutes dressed in shorts and t-shirts asking to have a photo taken with the hermit was not ideal, especially when they enter a hermitage for peace with their life to meditate and live a simple unspoilt life. He also complained that he did not get a Wifi reception for his computer or mobile telephone.”
“Perhaps we are attracting the wrong type of people. We had a good one a couple of years ago. What was his name? Elvis Smith”
“No, not Elvis. The police finally found him when they saw the newspaper article about our hermit. They had been searching for him for a year. He left the wife with four kids. The idea of a hermitage is not to hide from the wife and hermits are not supposed to be married.”
“So what do we do?”
“Advertise again I suppose.
The job of a lifetime, if you need peace, want to think about life and spend your remaining years in meditation, this is the job for you. Self contained house with all modern comforts and you own garden, complete with stream. Warm clothing will be provided as well as neighbouring church. Wifi and mobile telephone net available.”
“What warm clothing?”
“We still have the monk’s robe don’t we?.”
“I thought the months got at it.”
“Oh, then buy a new one. “Nearby restaurant to cater for lunch and dinner.”
“You can’t write that. This is a hermitage and there are families having a day out with the kids. There is even a playground there.”
“Ok, then I will add “if you feel lonely, social contact is provided for. There are also gymnastic appliances within walking distance”.”
That should do it.”
“Do you think so?”
“Of course, we do everything for our hermits.”
Good Morning
We are still sitting in the mist in our village. Yesterday it stayed all day, which does tend to lay a damp cover on your mood. The colourful days of Autumn are now gone, taking the leaves with them and we are left with damp, cold and now and again a flutter of snow. It is also the beginning of the winter sports season in Switzerland, where eveyone goes to the mountains to ski, but Switzerland is not only a land of mountains and snow. There is a large flatter plain reaching from where we live, at the foot of the Jura mountains, to the Bernese overland. We need almost two hours drive to reach the Bernese Overland, so it is not exactly at the door step. I would add I do not ski, just slip around in apartment now and again, hoping not to fall down.
Now and again we get a peep at the far away mountains if the atmospherics are OK, but even these mountains like to hide behind the clouds.
Remember my wonderful unique white amaryllis. I now only have the photos as a memory. Yesterday it tumbled and fell from its position breaking the pot that was protecting it. All the flowers broke off the stem and I am left with one strong stalk bearing one bud. I was not a happy bunny, as I really loved this amaryllis. However, undaunted I rescued what was left to rescue, although I must repot it today in something better and made my way yesterday to the store with the aim of getting a new white amaryllis. I was lucky as the supermarket still had a couple of white ones. I am not sure if they are the same variety, but they are potted in a stronger pot. I now have one red and white striped amaryllis from last year and a new white amaryllis which is ready to grow. Whilst I was in the store I also got myself a deep red amaryllis, so now I have three as well as the remains of the original white amaryllis. They do add a bit of colour to the appartment in the dull winter days, and they are very reasonable in price. Perhaps I am overdoing it a bit.
Look who I met yesterday in the mall waiting for me to take a photo. Yes, Santa was there with his assistant. They even posed for a photo. On the left of Santa you can see a telephone place called Mobile Zone. That is where I will be picking up my new iPhone X when it arrives, probably next week.
I will be having a busy Saturday this week. If the weather stays respectable, and it should, my grandson will be visiting with my son and daughter-in-law. They live in the Eastern part of Switzerland, in Schaffhausen, so I will probably not be around very much this week-end. He is now already three months old, time does go fast.
Enjoy the day, I know I will. I have a few windows I want to clean and otherwise it will be spaghetti today, but with tuna fish. My feline is always happy about that as she gets a small share of the contents of the tin.
I will leave you with Santa, who only comes once a year in Europe on St. Nicholas day, 6th December, bringing nuts and tangerines and christmas biscuits for the kids.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 