Shades of campanula
Daily Archives: 02/11/2018
Which Way Challenge: November 1, 2018
The Road to the Castle, Feldbrunen, Switzerland
The lift shaft in the supermarket, looking down
Descending to cross the road in Autumn, Solothurn, Switzerland
Pull Up a Seat Photo Challenge: Week 9
The moved the summer chairs and tables and now have the wooden seats with warm cushions and fur. The restaurant is on the river bank and you see the reflection of the other side in the windows of our cathedral and Jura mountains in the background.
A Photo A Week Challenge: Bridges
I live in the town of Solothurn in Switzerland with a river running through it, the River Aare. Of course it has bridges to enable people to get from one side to the other, and here are a couple in our town.
This is the Rötibruck, the newest of them all. I remember it being built about 30 years ago. The old bridge was still standing and this was built parallel to it. What I like about this bridge is the walkway below although at the top there is a road and sidewalk.
We also have the Kreuzackerbruck which is reserved for pedestrians and bicycles. Very rarely a tourist new to Solothurn might take his car on the bridge with the result that he appears in the daily local newspaper the next day.
And then there is the Wengibruck in the front which actually only has busses allowed on it and again bicycles. Parallel to this bridge is the railway bridge for our connection from the French speaking part of Switzerland in the West, towns like Geneva and Lausanne, to to Zürich and further in the East. These are the three main bridges that we have.
Daily Inkling: Timely Information
Write some of the instruction manual for a time machine.
Our door kept jamming, we could not open it and so we called the repair man. It was a different guy because it seemed that our regular man had disappeared and no-one knew where he was. I must say the new man did look a bit strange and he was wearing a mask.
The first thing he did was to cover the windows because he said that if there was a draught it would make the work less effective. After five minutes he was finished and left closing the door behind him. He left me an instruction leaflet for the door before he went and a sort of remote control. He said all doors were now fitted with remotes and I should begin with pressing button one if I had problems.
And so I did.
There was a woosh and the door opened and I was standing in front of a guy with a gun in his hand and cowboy hat. It was the t–shirt that bothered me with the words “Billy The Kid”, so I tried button 2.
I was knitting with a lot of other ladies and as the heads rolled from the guillotine everyone began to cheer and clap.
Button 3 was OK but it was cold in that cave and I really do not like earth tremors from the feet of dinosaurs.
Button 4 was my sort of thing as I always liked fancy dress parties. It was the guy walking around with the head under his arm that put me off a bit, especially as I discovered it was not a costume.
I discovered the remote had a battery, and removed it and I was back at home.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door and the repair guy was back, and apologised. He said he had left the wrong remote and he gave me another one. And now I am in Athens in an arena with a fork in my hand and a lion licking his lips opposite and there was only one button.
Something is wrong here somehow.
FOWC with Fandango: Dry
It didn’t rain down and it didn’t rain up, and the lawn decided to dry
There was something wrong with the summer weather so I looked up to the sky
The sun was beating down on us from April through to September
Grass roots were drying, such a summer I could not remember
The gardener arrived and examined the cause, found we had cockchafer bugs
They were eating the grass from the other side as well, could not be killed with drugs
And so we decided to spray the lawn with water throughout day and night
But there was no winning against bugs and sun, and the bugs have an enormous bite
We decided on a radical cure, and the lawn was taken away
Replaced by two walls on a higher level. and they are here to stay
Governments deny we have a climate change and their lawns are green and fine
Perhaps they have special grass, and not the same as mine
At last it has now begun to rain, day and night all throughout the week
I now have a pond in the middle of my garden, but this is just a freak
There is no climate change they said, but the slugs are now getting bigger
I wish we could have dry weather again, it is really not to snigger
RDP Friday: Friday
Today is Friday, it could be a big deal
But this morning I fell down and it was not such a big thrill
I was at home, and done the the week-end shopping
So I did not have to go places, I was just dropping
The problem with falling is I cannot rise again
I also smashed a glass bowl, the splinters gave me pain
There was blood on the floor and also on my arm
And so I grabbed my telephone and raised a hospital alarm
The ambulance arrived with fanfare and Martin’s horn
All the village heard it and my skin was also torn
But all is well that ends well, the ambulance men arrived
I was glad to find my feet again and know I had survived
Just another Friday with week-end shopping done
an accident and excitement and now I feel quite numb
Good Morning
Autumn has arrived. I was on the hill at the local castle yesterday and this was the glorious view I had from the top. It shows the road up to the castle lined with the Autumn trees, You are only allowed to drive on the road with special permission, but as we live in the local village we have the necessary permission.
Actually I was on another quest. Yesterday was All Souls Day, like day of the Dead etc. in some other countries. We do not have a celebration, but the church has various special services. I decided to take a walk through the cemetery, as it seems it is the day when most people visit the graves of departed. When I arrived there were a few cars parked outside the gates, which is not something you usually find and as I took the path to the burial chapel I saw quite a collection of people.
They were holding a mini service outside and even had a small brass band playing appropriate music which was the tune “Abide with Me”. It sounded quite good and reminded me of the English football cup final which they always play before the match begins. I suppose this was basically a Roman Catholic event, as our Kanton is Roman Catholic. You find the Swiss Reform Church more in the areas around Zürich, which we would be. Basically I was Church of England.
This was the band. I did not want to be too conspicuous and annoy the believers, so had to take my shots with the Zoom lens in the background.
After the priest spoke a few words to the gathering, through a microphone, everyone joined in with the Lord’s Prayer and the two guys dressed in white distributed bread from a tray to those attending, another part of a catholic ceremony I believe. Sorry but I was just an observer. Afterwards everyone went home, the car park was quite full.
I noticed that the graves were also well decorated. This is a view of the part of the ceremony for cremations. Just a plain stone in the ground with names and dates, but every stone seemed to have a grave candle lit and there were many Autumn flower arrangements.
As I walked home I saw a flock of birds flying around. I think they are crows so I tried for a few photos. I had always wanted to get something like this, but I am not such an expert. They looking like miniature planes flying. I do not think they were going anywhere special, just flying for the fun of it.
I also noticed one of the last apple trees with fruit. The leaves had left the tree already, but there were still a few apples remaining, and they really looked good.
And now I must go. My son has a different shift today, working only in the afternoon which does not give me so much time for shopping and now Mr. Swiss tells me joyfully he can go to the dentist this morning, when we go shopping for the week-end. This will not work, but he is convinced it will and I am not a happy bunny. So now to shower and get ready and stress around to be able to get the week-end shopping and cook a dinner to make sure everyone is happy.
Hope you do not have so much stress as I have at the moment, but have a good day or week-end, I am off to the shower.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 