My visits seem to have now become evening visits. I am alone at home (although No. 1 son is also here) and it suits my timetable. I no longer operate from the kitchen, but have moved to the desk in the living room.

It is more comfortable and I do not have to move my computer around. I would even have room for my Apple computer on the desk.

They are really extending the building site on our estate and we now have two cranes. When the building is finished it will be a three story block with many apartments. It will be the final development on our estate. At least it might be useful for photographic material.

I spoke to Mr. Swiss on the phone and he has quite a lot of therapy stress, mostly regaining strength in his legs again and he is also eating well. He said that they have a really large choice of food. He has a view from the window over the lake of Thun, but only sees it from his room. Living now alone I do not have a lot to report.

There are even not so many birds at the moment. I have probably been feeding them too well. I must say they do seem to be growing. The blackbird is a regular visitor and the sparrows do not seem to mind. I even got a flight demonstration from one of them.

And of course the jay is also a regular visitor.

It is very cold at the moment, temperatures during the day around -2 and -3 C, but I do not need to go anywhere. My groceries are delivered. I am now planning the Christmas food as I have to keep an eye on when they are delivering, although I asked the guy and he said they are even delivering on Friday, Christmas Eve. I already have my Christmas meat and ice creams for dessert. It is only the fresh veg that I have to organise next week. It will just be myself and No. 1 son. No. 2 son will be celebrating with his wife’s family in Germany. I do not mind being alone, at least I will not have the Christmas stress of feeding the five thousand as it used to be in the past years when the kids were still kids and my parents would also be here from England. Turkey is not a traditional food in Switzerland for Christmas as in England and we usually enjoy a good piece of beef filet on Christmas Eve which is the main celebration here. I am not such a Christmas person and to be quite honest I will be glad when everything returns to normal. I quite like the Christmas music but the radio is overdoing it a little with the carols – I usually listen to the British radio stations. Their programmes are interspersed with advertisements for Christas gifts and food with their special offers. It seems Christmas has really become a money making commercial adventure.

And now to retire for the evening with the TV and put my computer to bed.