Daily Archives: 18/10/2018

FOWC with Fandango: Former

Posted in FOWC by

PC150015

I am a former everything, but today as a golden oldie I am where I am and that is OK.  The photo is from the time when I was a working woman as an export clerk, which is former. All I do today is stick a stamp on a parcel. In those days I had to establish documents, perhaps get them certified by the local chamber of commerce and even examined by the bank for Letters of Credit. A land now far away.

In this photo I was doing an instant translation from German into english for some english guests we had in the company. It was our annual Christmas celebrations. I suppose I could have applied to the United Nations for a job afterwards, but that was exhausting.

I was a former cook in a place where they looked after children of working mothers. For 30-40 children and our 10 helpers I would prepare breakfast, a three course lunch at midday and and afternoon snack. Today I just look after the family’s needs.

Going back further I was a former temporary office worker in London. Every week I worked somewhere else filling in the gaps where they had no-one to do the job. I had a very good wage, but no paid holidays, I was a so-called temp.

Today former is no more. One day I will be a former member of civilisation I suppose, like we all will. Funny feeling looking back on it all and see it flashing past again.

FOWC with Fandango: Former

RDP Thursday: Blizzard

Posted in Ragtag Daily Prompt by

It's snowing

I come from a country famous for its rain
I am talking of England and not the plain in Spain
I knew what snow was, it came once every five years
It was white but did not stay long, afterwards it clears
And then I came to Switzerland, the land of William Tell crossbow
They told me there was chocolate but did not mention snow
The first Winter came and my hands began to freeze
And then came the snow, accompanied by a breeze
I thought this was something else and it would go away
The Swiss forgot to tell me that for a long while it would stay
Flakes of snow were falling down, and they were getting big
I put on my snow goggles and then began to dig
Everything was getting white, I wish I were a wizard
Then I could make it go away, this was my very first blizzard
And now after fifty years nothing has got better
And so I wear a furry hat and a very thick sweater
I wade through the snow drifts, I am now the best
They call me the abominable snowgirl, I wear a thermo vest.

RDP Thursday: Blizzard

Good Morning

Posted in Good Morning by

Back Garden

A bit of a mixture in the sky this morning: lines everywhere so it looks like the aircraft have been busy flying over. There is a nip in the air, but probably in the afternoon we will be having temperatures over 20° C again. It seems we have a record October this year with the weather and there is still no sign of rain.

Cows 17.10 (9)

I decided to go for a short wheelie in our village yesterday afternoon. I had not had a look around for some time and I found cows. There is a pasture at the end of our village and there they were, a complete herd of them. It seems that they were getting quite high spirited. Was there a bull amongst them? Although Mr. Swiss, said that cows often do strange things. Perhaps they were bored.

Cows 17.10 (7)

I noticed with delight that this group of cows had their horns. I know all cows have horns, but in Switzerland they remove the buds from the calves. One of the Swiss “cowboys” found this practice should be stopped. He collected enough signatures and next month it will be put to the vote to let the cows keep their horns. We have a direct democracy in Switzerland, so according to the result we might have horned cows again. I sincerely hope so, and Mr. Swiss and I will both be voting yes. The publicity is now heating up on the TV and they showed a qualified vet removing the horn buds. I find it brutal to remove them and it is also not proved that the calves have no pain afterwards. There are voices saying that the cows would need more room in the barn when keeping the horns and it could be dangerous, but horns belong to the cow. We do not remove finger nails from the kids when they are born in case they might scratch themselves.

I was so pleased to see that at least this local farmer had allowed his herd to keep their horns. And of course, it makes a better photo.

Estate Building 17.10 (8)

There has been a bit of building going on in our part of the village this year and the noise of the crane swinging around was an accompanying sound during the day. The cranes are now gone and by the end of the year it looks like there will be some new apartments and houses available. We live in a popular place for lawyers, doctors, and the top notch trades due to our low local tax level. In this case the rich (the others) are helping the poorer (us) to finance their life here, so keep building the luxury places. I can take photos and our taxes stay low.

Estate Building 17.10 (4)

I was also surprised to see that new houses built about 10 years ago were also already being renovated. I suppose all a matter of keeping up appearances. Our building was  completely renovated last year after only 20 years and I did not find it necessary.

Cows 17.10 (12)

The farmers are now putting the finishing touches to the fields before they close down for the Winter, although from winter is no sign at the moment. I notice another herd of cows in the background, behind the tractors. It’s good to see the cows again. Due to the heat in the summer, they were doing the night shift outside.

Autumn Tree 17.10.2018

It’s amazing what you see for strange trees in the village.

And now to move on. It is day of the bedlinen change which is a bit strenuous these days for golden oldies, but together we are strong, at least we should be. This morning I will be pottering around in the apartment and who knows what adventures await me this afternoon as I wheel on in my chair,

Have a good day or night, wherever you are.