I saw no reason or rhyme for the ribbon around this tree
It really made no sense, perhaps just done with glee
Perhaps it was a work of art, a gardeners guarantee
He tied a red ribbon around it, for everyone to see
It really looks quite silly and not so filigree
And now this rhyme is finished, there are no more words for me
Nothing more is satisfying, so I will have a cup of tea
My rhyming words are finished, I have reached the last degree
I saw the sun this afternoon
It escaped from a passing cloud
No wretchedness more in this day I thought
Although the wind was loud
The clouds sailed past, they were in a hurry
Gusts were blowing without any mercy
The sun remained stealing a space now and then
There was no controversy
I was driving home from the supermarket this afternoon on my usual route. I know the streets by memory. Driving down this particular street in the photo with the traffic lights at the end was the street where I once lived for five years, so no problem. Of course it is now Winter and a dull day. However, the traffic light is still there. There is only a 30 kmh speed limit on this road, so a place to be very careful with the gas pedal. The light was red and I was the first car (and I think the only one) in front of the traffic light. What could go possibly wrong? I just had to wait for the light to change to green.
And now the difficult part is there. From the left there is a road with traffic that stop behind the white line to allow traffic from my side street to turn left. There is now a problem. Two cars, not just one, had driven over their white waiting line and had stopped. They were almost blocking me from turning left. Are you with me? It is a bit difficult to describe this blundersome situation. Now I had green and should go, but where? Would I have enough room to turn left when one car was almost half way blocking my path from the left. For a golden oldie this was not an easy problem to solve. I decided to take the chance and did a sharp left turn hoping that luck would be with me. It was and I managed to complete my left turn and continue on the way home. Of course I shook my head as I passed the first car that was blocking my road, but to no avail. There was no driver in the car, the car was empty. I took a quick look in the second car behind the driverless car, and discovered there was a driver in it.
I still do not know what to make of this predicament. As I drove further along the road, which was now safe, I saw a police car parked on the right.
Someone blundered somewhere. Where was the missing driver and how could the queue of cars behind him drive further when he was blocking the road. I must have a look in the newspaper tomorrow.
Yesterday I went for a wander through my half of the village. I was on my own it seemed until this cat appeared. I saw him and he saw me and we both stopped in our tracks. He looked at me, no stared at me, and waited for the next move. I decided to remain still, camera poised to see what he would do next.
Keeping his eyes on me all the time, and not breaking contact, he began to approach, he seemed to have a definite target in his walk.
He turned as he got nearer. It was then that he began to avoid eye contact. I was waiting for him to retreat, but this cat was not prepared to give up.
And then he was having second thoughts. Perhaps this human in the chair with a camera in her hand was a source of rivalry. I remained still in my chair, ready to shift into top gear and escape from this urban tiger.
This was the last threatening glance he made before he turned and walked away from me. He decided that I was not edible and too big to win a fight with, but he kept his eyes on me all the time as he was leaving.
Next to Leicester Square in London, there is a small patch known as Swiss Court. It is the opposite of me. They planted a metal tree showing all the characteristics of Switzerland, showing the emblems of the 26 States of Switzerland. There used to be a modern building quite near known as “The Swiss Centre”. The name was Swiss and it even had Swissair offices to book your flights to Switzerland. In the basement there was a Swiss Restaurant, although the only Swiss food I remember was a Black Forest Cake and that was actually a German speciality. The Swiss Centre no longer exists, is now just offices, but this Swiss metal tree remains as a reminder.
And that is where my story is similar. I planted myself in Switzerland 53 years ago. Two years later I had my Swiss passport due to marriage with Mr. Swiss, but he was just an extra, I only met him after arriving in Switerland. There is no metal tree where I live, with British symbols. The only thing remaining seems to be my strange accent in Swiss German which many people cannot really define. Some think I might be originally dutch, must be a similarity somewhere. When I admit to being originally english, they all nod in approval and find “we thought it might be something like that”.
And so here I am and what remains of my British roots? I seem to be finding them again. Over the past years of married life I adapted and submitted to the Swiss life. I could always read an english book although with the years my German and Swiss German became quite fluent. Today we are two golden oldies, and Swiss but with a little bit of British remaining. A funny thing has happened. Mr. Swiss now tends to go earlier to bed, and I am left with the choice of TV channels. I never used to bother so much, but now I am a follower of the British TV. I watch the sitcoms and get involved with the serial plays. I just love watching the antique shows they have and documentaries by David Attenborough and his animal kingdoms were always a favourite.
Mr. Swiss? That is the funny part of it, because he has also got to like the British programmes. I would add his english has always been quite fluent. Of course now and again we will watch a German police series or documentaries, but slowly the BBC is moving in.
By the way, nothing to do with patriotism. I do not stand when I see the Queen on the TV and have no time for the Royal Family. I do like British politics, it is much more fun than the Swiss politics. Not every country has a Boris Johnson with his blond hair that resembles something from the electric current flying in all directions. Not forgetting the British humour, with its black side. I have the best of both worlds, I can eat Swiss food every day and watch the BBC in the evening.
When I used the word “macro” as a tag on my photo programme, I got almost 2,000 photos as a choice, but are they really macro? It all has to do with actual sizes in the correct proportions, not just enlarged photos apparently.
The trouble with macro photos is that I have far too many, not all of them as professional looking as they should be. This fly is OK with all its details, but I have seen better photos where you can almost count his almost 3-6,000 single eyes. I have a macro lens but easier said than done. I just like taking photos, and do not really want to make a life’s work of it, but I soon discovered that taken a macro photo with a macro lens is not so easy. There are no real short cuts with telling your camera to take an automatic photo. I found that it is really a do-it-yourself job setting all the stops, focus and lighting yourself.
I found that flowers and plants are easier for a macro. They keep still and do not move so much.
The sex life of an amaryllis can be quite interesting according to how close you get.
Even a side view can be inviting.
And now to extend my macro viewing to cooking the evening meal.
Being afternoon, it is quieter than in the morning. We have a small garden, with two raised beds. I had it altered a couple of years ago as I could no longer bend for the garden work. On the right you can see our sparrow club. They always gather when they are hungry as that is where I spread the food. We also have a bird house on the other side, but that is more reserved for the tits.
If you look straight ahead on the right in the tree, our jay is perched there, but too small to see in detail on the photo.
Otherwise our back garden has a table with plenty of room to eat lunch or just to sit outside. We even have an electric point for the iron, if I want to do ironing outside, or for the computer, although my Macbook does not really need electricity as it has enough reserves.
We live on an estate, mostly with bought apartments, so you can see the other blocks in the distance. I find it an advantage with a ground floor apartment as we have a garden instead of a balcony. It is in a small village, and very quiet.
Je gratte, donc je suis
In 2016, aged 48, I suffered a stroke. Now I'm coming through the other side.
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