Nothing special today, just some grey clouds hovering above. Yesterday was a rainy day, but no big problem. It was a light rain and did the garden good, at last giving it a soaking that it needed. Did you know that today is May Day? Of course you do, it is on the calendar. Mr. Swiss told me that the Brits were having a so-called Bank holiday this week-end inclusive Monday. They always call them bank holidays. I think it is from the old days when the banks rarely closed for a holiday and when they did it was a special day.

What I am actually saying is that this golden oldie had no idea and was surprised at the British Bank holiday for no apparent reason. Even in Switzerland we are closed down on the 1st May. I should have been busy buying groceries for the days when the stores are closed, but I was not. It was just a normal day for me until my No. 1 son informed me yesterday that today the shops would be closed. Him being autistic this disturbed his usual Saturday routine of going into town. And I had no idea. My only thought these days is whether to break out of my self imposed isolation or not. I had already got my grocery delivery online and planned week-end food. In my earlier housewife days everything would have been planned for the week-end when the stores were closed. My new way of shut-down golden oldie life has changed all this. I have enough food to exist on at home for a few weeks if necessary and so I had forgotten that we get extra holidays in between.

My birds were too busy feeding to notice that in the human world there was something completely different.

We now have a Saturday where all the stores are closed and I did not even get worried or excited about it. I really am now leading a stressless life compared to the past. Yesterday I finished my book, Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw, where the heroine eventually gets married to her vampire: the world is saved and everyone lives happily ever after. It was all centered around heaven and hell and the problems they had. It was quite an amusing book and the last in a trilogy. In the meanwhile I have discovered that another book series I like to read about The Secret Library written by Genevieve Cogman has a new arrival “The Dark Archive”. I have read them all up to now so have now uploaded this one onto my Kindle. I just love a bit of mystery mixed with fantasy, although I just read a critic of this book that it is not the best up to now.

I did mention yesterday that my orchids had arrived by DHL. They were very well packed and are now sitting outside on the table on the porch. In the background you can see the remainders of last year which look quite promising with a new new sprouts on the stalks. My Summer is now prepared.

I have also decided it is time for a new vacuum cleaner. I am a Dyson fan but the Dyson I have is no longer working so well. They have had a new model for some time. The older models only had power for 20 minutes after charging them, but the new model is OK for an hour and has a few other gimmicks, although honestly speaking who vaccums for an hour? As Mr. Swiss and I always split the costs between us for new household goods, this would be no luxury.

It looks like a stressless quiet day today, although perhaps a little dull and damp for those that were planning on an excursion somewhere on Mayday. Have a good week-end everyone, enjoy the holiday. I will even if I did not realise it would be a holiday.