Category Archives: FOWC

FOWC with Fandango: Mosquito

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Mosquito

I know it is not a good photo, but mosquitos do not usually appear during daylight. They have the habit of buzzing around in the dark hours when you can hear them and afterwards feel them. It happens here regularly at the end of July, through August, and September. The buzzing sound passes you ear and then it stops. You know it strikes, but where? And then you begin ot scratch your arm, perhaps even your face. and a small bump arrives. No worry, it is just a female mosquito collecting some nice warm blood to incubate her offspring.

Of course there is a method to deter these horror of the night.

And here it is. I am not sure how it works, but you plug it into the eclectric current and switch it on.

It might be sending a signal out to say “Death to all mosquito babies”, but it works. Since I heard my first mosquito and got attacked a month ago I plugged this in during the night and since then I have not seen or heard another mosquito, so it must work.

When Mr. Swiss moved into his golden oldie home I was organising and found at least five of these. I now have one in the bedroom and another in the living room. Mosquitos have no chance of survival at my place.

FOWC with Fandango: Mosquito

FOWC with Fandango: Personality

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At its most basic, personality is the characteristic patterns of thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that make a person unique. Ok, the words are not from me, but since living on my own without Mr. Swiss, he now being in a senior home, my unique character has changed a little.

From one day to the other you are responsible for the complete financial situation. I pay the bills and make the financial decisions and have become an accountant of sorts. I have completed my fist income tax form on my own. Of course my man at the bank was a great support and help, but I have it under control. I was now cooking for myself and my son – one advantage as I could now eat what I like and not have to take others so much into consideration. No. 1 son does not eat mushrooms, broccoli or brussel sprouts, but otherwise eats everything.

I no longer watch the TV, prefer to read a book. I do not need the TV in the background accompanying my thoughts, I listen to mainly classical radio as background music. Otherwise I am a normal person (what is normal) although life is now certainly a little different for me. After sharing life with your husband for 55 years it was certainly something completely different. I think what I miss most of all is having someone to talk to, although in the last couple of years Mr. Swiss was no longer the talkative type. Growing old changes us all. I have also probably changed, but that is the problem. You never notice your own character change, because we are all convinced (generally) that we do not change.

FOWC with Fandango: Personality

FOWC with Fandango: Ashes

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Are these the ashes from a restaurant. No, they are the ash trays from a golden oldie home. If you are lucky enough to reach the golden oldie age and have needed an ash tray most of your life, and survived, then what is the problem. If the cigarettes have not yet taken you as captive, then there is no danger I suppose. I remember my grandfather. He lived to the grand age of 90 and smoked all his life. I think he began as a school boy. Remember when cigarettes were not a dangerous past time, when it was something that the working men did with no problems, as proof of their masculinity. Grandad even rolled his own. He had never heard of a cigarette filter but just needed the paper (I think it was called Rizla) and expertly enclosed the tobacco in a neat role. He would prepare about ten cigarettes and smoke them and then would construct more afterwards. They were the ash filled days.

FOWC with Fandango: Ashes

FOWC with Fandango: Precarious

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I was on my way home,
Along the railway tracks
I was cruising in my scooter
Watching the ground for cracks

And then I hear a rumble
The train was on its way
So I stopped for a while,
I did not want to stray

The train was Venus by name
a bringer of love
I waited for it to pass
Not wanting a shove

It thundered on
It was not hilarious
I found the situation
Something quite precarious

FOWC with Fandango: Precarious

FOWC with Fandango: Sentence

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This spider had signed its own death sentence, so I thought. There it was hovering on the ceiling in my bedroom of all places, next the the lamp. I got the longest duster I had and gave it a hit, but this spider was not to be had. It is not the spiders that disturb me, they hang around and do nothing else, but the mess they make with their threads everywhere. And so I aimed and it decided to postpone the death sentence and crawled into the lamp cover out of sight but not out of my mind. I will get it eventually, but probably not today. I really have nothing against spiders as long as they live where they belong and not in my bedroom.

FOWC with Fandango: Sentence

FOWC with Fandango: Tradition

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It seems to be a tradition that birds of a feather do flock together. I was watching them this afternoon and every five minutes they flew past in an organised group, just pigeons, nothing special.

Was it the blue skies that was their inspiration. Actually it was not.

It was the neighbouring field that the farmer had harvested. There was still plenty to discover and they were enjoying a few tasty bits and pieces they found.

FOWC with Fandango: Tradition