More like the secret life of a poinsettia
FOTD 12th December 2020: PoinsettiaDaily Archives: 12/12/2020
FOWC with Fandango: Lionize
How to lionize a cat. Our cat Nera, that is now living her tenth life in the eternal corn chambers dealing with mice, was lionized. She had extremely long thick fur and became a housing estate for tics, and various plant seeds, as well as leaves and stalks. She never had fleas, which was a wonder. Now and again a tic would leave its housing establishment in her fur and one of us humans might tread on it leaving a large smear of cat blood on the floor.
That was then the time that a decision was made for an annual visit to the vet for a haircut. Nera was not a very co-operative cat and for safety reasons the new hairstyle was done under anaesthetic.
You can see the result in the photo The assistants at the vets office would let their imagination run wild with various hairy creations, but the favourite design was always the lion look. I think Nera quite liked it, finding her true image.
FOWC with Fandango: LionizeRDP Saturday: Write
What shall I write today? A good question. Every morning I say Good Morning and write. During the day I do what I am doing now and writing spurred on by a prompt title. I must have writing more than a thousand pieces in my 12 year blogging life. Here is a piece I wrote in 2016, in the Christmas season-
WHO PILLAGED CHRISTMAS
“Look at that”
“Look at what?”
“Everything has gone and there is a line of little men dressed in green trousers and shirts with red collars and a pointed hat carrying everything away.”
“They are the Chrismas dwarves.”
“But where are they going with those boxes, and drapped all in Christmas tree tinsel and the pots of poinsettia.”
“Christmas is over, gone until next year, they are cleaning out the remainders.”
“But the Chrismas tent is still there.”
“Yes, but look at the sign outside.”
“Oh, it says “Fireworks”.”
“Exactly, the New Year is approaching, so we can now buy our fireworks.”
“But we do not buy fireworks.”
“Of course not, it is for the others, some people like that sort of thing.”
“This is getting mysterious. Look the flower shop, they are selling Poinsettia for half price. If only I knew, I could have bought mine now. And the special ones with the sparkly bits are also cheaper.”
“That’s because Chrismas is over and no-one wants them.”
“But the poinsettia are living things.”
“Not in the New Year, no-one has a pot with a poinsettia in the living room.”
“I still have mine.”
“I know, you are constantly giving it water and taking care of it. You bother more with that plant than me.”
“Of course, you can look after yourself, that plant depends on my care. And did you see those amaryllis: exactly the same as mine, already planted in a pot and growing, but ten francs cheaper.”
“That is because they are no longer wanted and no, we are not going to buy another one. the one we have is taking up enough room on the floor in the living room and it is growing taller every day. I have to keep turning it to make sure it does not bend over and lose its balance. I think it is possessed, it might be a triffid.”
“Triffids do not exist, at least not at Christmas, they are more an Autumn thing.
Look, where have all the Christmas biscuits gone and the chocolate logs. A pillager has been at work, the supermarket has been attacked and pillaged.”
“It has not been pillaged, and where did you get that word anyhow?”
“It is the daily prompt title.”
“Ah, I see, now everything is clear. No-one eats Christmas biscuits now, they have gone, been crushed and recycled to make something else. We are now approaching a new festival.”
“It says Fasnachtschüchli, only 2 Francs 90 for a packet of 6, but Fasnacht (carnival) is not until the end of February next year, what about the New Year?”
“New Year is next week-end and there are no special bisuits, only fireworks and you cannot eat them.You have to be prepared for these celebrations. Imagine having a carnival without the goodies to go with it.”
“But I still have some Chrismas biscuits left at home, and Christmas cake.”
“You might have, but the stores must think ahead. And now they are ready for carnival. It is all in the name of public relations.”
“They are definitely not relating to me. Did you see the pile of Christmas lights as we entered the store, all removed. It looks so bare in here now. I wonder if I can buy them half price. They would look good in the appartment.”
“We do not do Christmas lights.”
“I know, but we would if we had them.”
“And now we have the carnival cookies.”
“What are you doing?”
“Just putting a paket in the trolley. I quite like them.”
“I have an idea, shall we ask the shop assistant if she has any chocolate Easter eggs, or chocolate bunnies?”
“But we are too early for Easter.”
“Oh, of course, I forgot, just wanted to be prepared.”
RDP Saturday: WriteGood Morning
Am not sure how this day will progress. We have a little sun early in the morning, but I have the feeling the clouds will soon cover it. It is cold outside, 1°C, but wrapped in my old long winter padded coat, I survived and dealt with distributing the bird food for the day.
When I was finished and sitting comfortable at my computer with my breakfast the first visitor of the day appeared and it was not a bird, but one of the local felines.
She stopped and looked up at the birds sitting in the trees. The next move, which unfortunately I did not catch on my camera, was a leap in the air as one of the birds took flight. I suppose cats will be cats.
The magpie also arrived for the morning peanut, so the world was again OK.
Yesterday afternoon it was not so OK.
It all started with a little snow mixed with rain, sleet, and then the rain decided to leave the snow to do its own thing. Within half an hour we had a winter landscape and I was glad I had no plans to go anywhere. This morning the snow had almost disappeared, with just a few patches here and there. It would be wonderful if it would stay that way, but I have a strange feeling that it will be another wet afternoon. I do not have to go anywhere but would not mind a short excursion. The covid situation is not improving in our country and everything is so uncertain. At the moment it seems to be affecting the younger generation more. We golden oldies have probably got used to living in isolation and are not such a social group of civilisation.
I have been following the Brexit endeavours of the Brits from a distance, being a now half Brit myself. It really seems to me that Bojo, the British Prime Minister, really does not know where he is going. I left England when they were just getting used to being in the EU. When trips across the channel for wine had become part of the EU routine for the Brits and everyone was happy. However it seems when the EU got serious and the Brits had to follow the rules, that they were no longer so enthusiastic. In the meanwhile wine had become part of the daily drinking habit instead of a beer and it was no longer a novelty. Over the years it seems that some were no longer so happy with the connection with Europe to the extent that there was a vote to leave the EU and the majority said yes. I was no longer living in England, and from my position living in a country, Switzerland, that seemed to be fairing OK with their EU agreements, I was not so bothered. However, today I think differently and find that Brexit is a bit of a stupid idea. I can understand some of the reasons to leave, as the Brits never felt very happy belonging to a European club, after all they were an island and not part of European daily life. However, many in the younger generation enjoyed their freedom of movement on the European mainland. And now Britain has decided, base on the rare british occasion of a referendum (we Swiss live from them), to leave, but still expect all sorts of deals to enable an easy life with Europe. Boris Johnson seems to be very surprised and cannot understand the Europeans that they are not helping with future British European life and concessions. The Brits said we want to go and now they have to face the circumstances. I was always very careful about expressing my political feelings, but sorry Boris, I find you are making a big mistake by leaving the EU without any agreement.
And now I am leaving my nice comfortable place in the kitchen at the computer to continue with my daily chores, although Mr. Swiss is emptying our waste paper bins in the apartment and letting in icy temperatures from outside when he deposits the garbage in the garden cupboard. Have a good Saturday, enjoy the week-end, and stay safe from the dreaded Mr. Covid.
Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 