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Author Archives: angloswiss
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Back of Things
The back of a garbage truck in the local town.
In the town of Solothurn. Switzerland, in a back street looking on the back of the town walls.
A back view of the gravestones in the local cemetery.
Daily Prompt: Mighty, The Path of the Planets
After my midday golden oldie sleep, I awoke to a bright sun. Luckily I had my stripey curtains closed and was on the east side of the appartment, otherwise it would have been quite an impact. Mr. Swiss mentioned there was a strong shining sun and I had to take the opportunity for a few photos. As I was taking the photos with my mobile phone camera, there was no danger of looking direct into the sun, I was now on the west side of the appartment. I actually did not know what I was taking a shot of, the sun was so bright, but I pressed the button in hope. This morning it was quite misty, but when it clears up during the day it usually can get quite sunny.
This reminded me of a visit we made some time ago to our local house mountain, the Weissenstein with its 1,400 metres above sea level: not exactly one of the big Swiss ones, but high enough. There is a road leading to the top, which you can walk or go by car, but also a lift for the lazy ones like us. In the distance on the photo you can see the lift station on the left arriving at the top of the mountain. This is the other side, looking towards various meadows and the further six chains of the Jura mountains. The yellow sphere in the middle represents the sun and there are all sorts of strange signs engraved on the support pole.
It is the beginnning of the planet path all the planets of the solar system from Mercury to Pluto (although it is still debateable that it is a planet) are spaced out along a long path with their models on the way, in scale. Of course we remained on the sunny side as walking is not exactly my speciality and the complete walk would take many hours to complete. They have nice comfortable benches for the hikers to take a rest. Just opposite, not in the picture, is the mountain restaurant, which was more my sort of thing.
In our younger days Mr. Swiss and I would have prepared a rucksack with various Swiss picnic delights (a cervelat – Swiss sausage – and fresh rolls) and made our way with the others on the planet path, dragging two reluctant sons with us, although they also enjoyed it basically, they just did not want to admit it.
And now we sit in the lowlands and enjoy the mighty sun from a comfortable distance. It is a very clear sky and temperatures are cold, but bearable.
This is a view looking towards the farm land on the other side of the Weissenstein.
Good Morning
Looking out at the world this morning, I discovered it was one of those misty mornings, our typical Autumn weather. We blame it on the river that runs through it. Everything taking its usual course, it means that we will have a bright a sunny day, although probably cold. We were used to an early morning noise from our builder colleagues. They have now left us for other victims, and we are left with the painters.
We are now noticing the difference. We have been allotted three painters for 13 appartments to give the finishing Picasso touches on both sides, so it will be anther month until it is finished. It is rarely you actually see or hear a painter as their brushes do not make so much noise and most of the time they are probably watching the paint dry. However yesterday I managed to corner the man in charge, and soon his two colleagues arrived. They were painting the appartments on the two floors above us and now it will be our turn today. We will again be incarcerated in plastic and there will be no free passage outside. I have warned our cat not to leave her paw marks on the new painted surfaces. I am not sure if she knew what I was talking about, she likes to mark things.
We just want our private life back.
No. 2 son called yesterday by phone and so there was a long conversation catching up on the development of baby Alexander. We are well supplied with photos and videos and it is wonderful to see him growing. I will not be posting baby photos as the family have decided against a social site baby. There are some babies in Facebook that seem to grow up online day by day. My only attachment to Facebook is when I have something to say which is not very often, my last rant being about the new exclusive iPhone. And of course my crosspostings from WordPress, but on a separate site and not on the public site, although everyone sees them in any case.
Further to the mysterious growth on my basil plant (see the last two good morning posts with illustrations) we have come to the conclusion that it is probably a common bindweed, convulvulus) which is looking for a place to live. Eventually it will return to the happy hunting grounds together with my basil which cannot withstand the cold Swiss winter temperatures.
No. 1 son arrived home safely from his Rolling Stones concert in the early hours of the mrning. As he went with a local coach company, he had no trouble with catching last trains and I heard him enter at 1.00 a.m. in the early morning hours. I borrowed his ticket for a photo before he went yesterday. This was only a standing place and the concert was in the largest football stadium in Zürich. At the price of CHF 164.35, I would say the Stones must be living a good life. I am also a fan, but my fanship remains within borders at this price.
And now there are beds to be covered with fresh linen (already done half) and other daily housewife chores to complete. I am not on a tour of the supermarket this morning, so have time to listen to the vacuum cleaner and the conversations of the painters as our home becomes pale green – yes that is the chosen colour – go figure.
I leave you with a view from the top floor of the parking space at the local supermarket, looking over the village of Bellach with the Bucheggberg hills in the background – yes, another free geography lesson from my place. Be good, keep the keyboard clean on your computers, and beware of the trojans and other such attackers.
Photo Challenge: Layered
If you live surrounded by builders for half a year, then you can be glad if you are not layered between the sheets of steel scaffolding.
Flower of the Day: 20.09.2017 Hibiscus
A hibiscus from my garden taken mid July. Now they are gone until next year again.
Daily Prompt: A Crumby Meeting
“So gather around sparrows I need your full attention, and stop drinking that water. We have more important things to do.”
“But Mr. Crow we all like a good drop of water at a meeting. We get so thirsty chirping all the time.”
“In that case I would ask the sparrows to refrain from over chirping and listen to what I have to say, as the appointed chief crow.
Last year it was noticed that as soon as the human cast out the daily crumbs the sparrows were stuffing themselves, before we crows had a chance to collect a beak full.”
“Of couse, you crows have bigger beaks that we do, and we have to be the first to make sure we do not starve.”
“If I remember rightly, you are the sparrow that fell off his perce on the branch of a tree because you were overweight, after eating so many bread crumbs.”
“That is exactly what we sparrows mean. If the crows arrive first, we sparrows have no chance. They stuff their beaks full with so much bread that we sparrows only get the crummy rests.”
“Listen you cheeky sparrow. We crows were here before you even thought of coating yourself with an eggshell. Our dynasty has been living here for many years in our colony, and we have a right to first pickings when the human distributes the bread pieces in the morning. This Winter we crows expect more respect from the junior members of the bird life here.
There will be snow and ice and we all want to survive. The sparrows will wait, perched on a branch whilst we crows will have the first choice.”
“But that’s not fair, the crows take at least 3-4 pieces of bread at once and we are only left with the crumbs.”
“That is the way the bread crumbles sparrow. We have to maintain our species here, we have a reputation to keep. We crows are built for bigger things and we cannot have the sparrows falling out of their nests due to overweight.”
And so the crows and sparrows left the meeting in a flurry of feathers and pecks. In the meanwhile the human was preparing her strategy for the next Winter. She felt so sorry for those poor little sparrows when the crows were helping themselves to the largest pieces of bread. She decided the next Winter she would made two piles for the birds. One would be the bread cubes and the other the crumbs. That way all the birds would be satisfied. And then the starlings arrived, but that is another problem to be solved.
