And another sunny day dawns over our little village somewhere in Switzerland. At last we can sit outside and enjoy the sun. From today the Covid rules are also being relaxed in our area and you may sit inside the restaurants again, although in this weather people prefer to be outside. They are still registering the names and places of the customers on their iPads in the restaurants if contact would be necessary, but things are improving a little. Switzerland has also made progress in its vaccinations and it can been seen by the daily results.

My basil seeds are also no sprouting. I almost gave up on them. Due to the cold spell of weather that we had, they decided to stay in the warmth of the earth, but now they are growing. The first leaves are showing. I got a little worried that the cold had killed off their growing powers, but here they are. I think my next project will be to plant some parsley seeds which I like to use for garnishing veg like potatoes, peas and carrots. I already have a pot, but would like to plant some more.

My mega sized leaves of one of my hosta beds are also growing. Even my gardener remarks on how big they are. I have had them for many years and each year they seem to expand in growth. I just have to keep an eye on the marauding slugs they they do not have a chew for breakfast, dinner and tea. Surprisingly I have not seen any up to now, but I have already placed a layer of slug pellets on the ground as protection.

I am now pleased to say that my organisation of unwanted objects in the apartment is now dealt with. Yesterday I attacked my wardrobe in the hobby room and now have removed all the clothes it contained. They are neatly packed in plastic bags and will be deposited in the unwanted clothes collection. In a way it with was with regret, but I have not worn any of the many blouses since at least 10 years and really no longer need them. I will now contact a removal company this week to remove the other unwanted goods. We have chairs, a television , a settee, and a collapsible bed, not to mention various packed bags of unwanted goods. You cannot just throw them away in the rubbish collection, but they have to be disposed of in the right places: especially metal should be separated. We have a collection twice a year, but we now have so much that it would not be possible for two golden oldies to move it out onto the street.

And now to get around to the normal daily chores. I want to bake a bread this morning for the evening coldcuts. Otherwise Monday is not such a busy day, just the normal routine.

I wish everyone a good start to the week.

Seeing the clouds above I think the day is getting to a good start. Yesterday we had our first day with a promise of Summer around the corner. We are now approaching the end of May and it is really time to get the short trousers ready and t-shirts for outside without getting wet or shivering. My cupboard is organised and I know where everything is, but just looking at it does not do the job. Even the first little leaves of my basil are now showing. I planted them at the beginning of the month and usually after a week you see the first results. This time they were overtaken by the dill seeds that I planted two weeks later. I was really worried the basil seeds had been rendered unfit to grow due to the cold temperatures, but yesterday I saw the first little green leaves poking through. My patience has been rewarded. It looks like a summer of tomato salads and pizza decorated with basil leaves and cucumber salads with fish dishes accompanied with the flavour of dill. Things are looking better at last.

The neighbour’s cat Röschti also put in an appearance and eventually settled on a chair outside on the porch. I was not very happy as I had just cleaned the cushions on the chairs to remove them of cat fur.

I decided to stay at home yesterday. There were a few items I needed at the store, but Mr. Swiss decided to take an excursion in the morning along the road in his scooter to the local supermarket which is a rare occasion. My excursions are also becoming more rare. It is so comfortable to stay at home. The days of covid isolation are now dwindling and yesterday we had 910 new cases of covid in the country. Distributed amongst a population of about eight million this was quite positive in comparison with past figures. Hopefully things will continue in this direction and living a normal life again will not be so far away.

I had no special chores yesterday and spent the evening with the TV watching an episode of Star Trek, the first in the trilogy of how it all began. I had seen it before, but some films are good to watch again.

Another one of my garden plants has decided to show that it survived the Winter. It is an allium which is a relative of the onion and garlic. They have wonderful flowers. Strange to imagine that our daily vegetables can have such lovely flowers if we would let them grow. This one is by no means the common onion, but more a garden speciality. It arrives regularly every year.

I will now move on as although it is a Saturday a woman’s work is never done. I have just finished giving my orchids their weekly soak and fertiliser and will now progress to the bathroom and shower. Afterwards a daily tour with the vacuum cleaner and mop and then to the dinner preparations, although no stress. My days of sitting in a chair and knitting are no longer here, after all that is for the professional golden oldie. I am still an amateur.

I hope the sun is shining in your part of the world so enjoy the week-end.