Being a member of the Cloud Appreciation Society, I collect cloud photos. I was sure there must be something Bluetiful amongst my collection. Photo taken on 22nd October 2017 above my village of Feldbrunnen in Switzerland.
Daily Archives: 01/01/2018
Share Your World – January 1, 2018
What one word describes you best?
Me and grandad on the right on the photo. Never ask you partner for a word to describe you. It proves that men do not understand women and they use too many words. I am creative, thoughtful, a happy-go-lucky sort of person, that has a sense of humour. Mr. Swiss tells me that not everyone understands my sort of humour, and I can sometimes be annoying when he is reading a newspaper or watching the news on the TV as I bother him with trivialities such as a shopping list. This question is now hanging as undecided.
What is set as the background on your computer?
On my Windows machine I have Tabby in one of her best poses.
My Apple computer has a standard photo supplied by Apple, but it appeals to me.
If you have been to a foreign country name those you have been too?
I live in a foreign country, Switzerland, but after 50 years it is no longer so foreign and I even have a Swiss passport. Originally I am English, and still have British Nationality. Otherwise: USSR (1964), Finnland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Austria, Germany, Italy, Spain, Liechtenstein and USA.
What inspired you or what did you appreciate this past week? Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination.
I appreciated at last getting my electric wheelchair. At last I can get out again with my camera. Walking was no longer as safe as it should be and balancing a camera with a stick in one hand was not ideal when taking a photo. I also did not have the stamina for longer than about 15 minutes to go far. Learning how to drive a wheelchair is more complicated than a car I discovered. When you see someone in a wheelchair you do not realise that they also have to learn how it works. Forward and backwards is no problem, but try making a three-point-turn to park it in a good place. That needs practice. Otherwise everything under control, it even has a horn to warn people and lights for right and left.
At last the Christmas is over and I now only have to push the new year away which is not such a big problem. Then life will be back to normal.
Flower of the Day: 01.01.2018 Buddleia
Another memory of summer days from my garden, known as pink delight.
Daily Prompt: The Diary
In 1959, at the age of 13, mum asked what I wanted for Christmas. I had ideas of being famous and so I wished for a five year diary. I wanted to preserve my life to be read in future times. I could see the historians studying my entries and completing the missing pages of life in the 20th centuary.
“I had a small book once, it was green: a five year diary. I remember it was somewhere on the bookshelves.”
Mr. Swiss looked a bit blank, he was reading and I was disurbing with my question. However, he is always ready to help.
“I remember something like it, but it was a bit shabby and old and probably disappeared.”
My gaze remained in the place where I last saw it and then alighted on the green thin back of a book. I pulled it out and saw the magic words, in gold, telling me it was my Five Year Diary. Mr. Swiss was surprised at my discovery. I just had not looked at it for the past 20-30 years and so it was still resting on the shelf waiting to be discovered.
On each page there is room for five different entries, each one to be marked with a year showing 19……, so you fill in the year number. I decided that this diary could no longer be used or revived as our years now begin with 20……. The date was in print at the top of the page. Of course I had made entnries in this diary fom 1st January 1959 until 12th September 1959, so I did persevere. Today we have 1st Janurary 2018 and I have still not achieved fame and success with my entries. Samuel Pepys had more success than I did and his diaries from 18th centuary London are still read today, at least they still exist.
And now it is time to discover my famous words again from my exciting life in 1959.
The first words on 1st Janury 1959 “Went to see if my records were in, but they wasn’t. Heard the next year in. The sweep came and swept the front room chimney. Went to bed.” Note the perfect use of english grammar. This was my first attempt at blogging.
As you can see life was full of excitement in January 1959. We had a chimney sweep? How Victorian can you get. I remember having chimneys but I though dad blocked them all up at some time as we were forced by the government clean air bill to switch to gas or electric fires. Mum was glad as making the fire every morning in Winter was an annoying job. First of all the remains of yesterday’s newspaper, then a layer of wood and on top coal. The coal was delivered into our bunker in the garden once a month by the coalmen. They would carry the heavy sacks on their backs and with a very clever movement the coal was tipped into the top of the bunker.
I am digressing, life in a house built in 1884 in Bethnal Green in 1959 was full of excitement. My next entry on 2nd January cleared the mystery of the record: “Record has been deleated so I bought a Lonnie Donnegan E.P. Had my hair washed but not ….. up (illegible handwriting). Went to bed.” I still do not remember which record had been deleted, but Lonnie Donnegan was always a good chice.
Yes again I disappeared to my bed in the evening. These were exciting days, never to be forgotten. And so the life of Angloswiss continues until the last entry. “Got up at twelve o’clock (midday), listened to Saturday Club on the wireless. Did piano practice. WTB.” By this time my writing skill was no longer competing with Samuel Pepys and “Went to Bed” had been abbreviated. There still remains 4 years and 3 months missing. perhaps I might continue, but today I have a computer, an iPad and iPhone so it has all become superfluous.
Good Morning
Nothing special this morning for the first day of the year. The local blackbird has not noticed the change and still waits for a peck on the food in the birdhouse. My feline Tabby was not a happy cat yesterday evening. It began around 7 in the evening with a fireworks bang from the neighbours above and continued until I eventually disappeared to bed, which was already past midnight. I compensated this morning by setting up a record of sleeping in. This firework thing at the new year began about 10 years ago and is now routine, but I do not think that animals appreciate it so much.
Yesterday evening was nothing special. The usual TV shows which were probably recorded some time in the Summer heat. Everyone dressed up and singing the same songs, so we switched channels to see a John Wayne film “Circus World” which only had a break to ring the New Year in. I do not really watch TV, so it was running in the background whilst I was reading. It was such a stupid film, although had a star cast. John Wayne was the circus chief, but a strange circus with everything you could imagine, even elefants and everyone dressed so super good. This was one of the successful spectacular films from the early sixties with a star packed cast, but I found it poor acting and very superficial. On the other hand it was innocent, with no murders, just everyone having a good heart and meaning well. After all it was made more than 50 years ago.
Yesterday was a wonderful pre-Spring day although it was the last day of December. I shot this photo from my front garden. Usually the alps are shrouded in a bit of a haze, but the view was perfect and all details could be seen which is an exception.
So what are we going to do today? I have no big plans, never do. Just my daily routine, but I have realised that I need this routine. Just sitting around looking out of the window and playing with the computer also has its disadvantages. I have an urge to take photos at the moment, especially as I can now do it easily with my wheel chair. There was nothig more annoying than hanging my cane in a tree and balancing with the camera leaning against a wall if there was one there. Otherwise it was more luck than judgement that I did not lose my balance and fall.
I can always take a few photos of the birds in front of my window, but same birds and same actions: even that gets monotonous.
I had a very pleasant surprise yesterday. Mr. Swiss was in town in the morning for a walkabout and arrived home with a wonderful New Years gift arrangement. He met a good colleague and he promptly gave this to my husband for me. I was very pleased as it is the unexpected gestures that make a perfect day. So now I am off, have a good start to the New Year and take it easy, although I will not. It would be too monotonous, I have to have some action.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 