Well I got here at last although I had a journey around my garden first of all trying to find something for a photo or two. This isolation thing certainly interferes with your routine. Normally I would have a few new photos in the camera and now I am just taking photos with my mobile from home. At least improvements have been made on the mobile cameras, although I read that there should now be the introduction of a new and even better iPhone. Even that has been delayed due to coronus etc., but I can put up with that and am not ready to buy yet another new phone. I now have two as the one I mislaid appeared again, but as it is in perfect condition, I am keeping that for No. 2 son when we meet up again, coronus permitting.

Things are gradually getting into a routine, although an unwelcome routine. I read yesterday in Swiss news that store invasions are expected on Saturday due to the Easter holiday. I will not be invading and have just one more shopping safari to do and then I have everything. Mr. Swiss said something about Easter eggs, but that is the least important on my list. When the Easter holiday is at last over, all the remainders will be marked down at half price so I can wait. Easter is the worst time of the year for shopping, it always has been.

At least my tulips have begun to flower in the garden. They are the Darwin sort, which have really wonderful flowers on high stems.

I also have them in yellow. I planted them many years ago and they return bigger and better every year.

I had quite a nice surprise yesterday. Since reorganising my housewife life in view of the new invading microbes, I have been stocking up on some food items: things you can keep like rice and pasta, or frozen goods for my new freezer chest. Of course that costs more, but buying food is not waste. My bank account might be empty at the end, but my digestive system will not be. However yesterday I had an online payment to make and again looked at my current account in the post office which is the one I use for daily needs. I had not been there for at least a month and expected an all time low. However, it seems that everything was in normal proportions, and more than I expected. This does not mean that I am now a tycoon, but my new organisation is paying off. All my life I never bothered with organising stocks of food, and just bought what I needed.

I have now learned it otherwise. It is mainly due to the greed of the human race, that I realised the last to arrive are the last to be served in the store. It is not only the toilet roll famine, but food in general and I now keep an eye on the special offers and what I should have a stock of. I am planning a self made pizza on Saturday evening and have already bought the rolled out ready made pastry as I am sure if I wait until the end of the week there will be none left. I am beginning to study the sales of the supermarket provisions: something I have absolutely never bothered with. Although our country does have enough provisions to last and that is not a problem, it can become a problem when the panic buying housewives arrive early in the morning and take everything, leaving nothing for us afternoon shoppers.

It is amazing the thought process I am going through since the invasion of the hairy peas. It seems that the curve is now flattening to a degree in Switzerland that calls are being made to our government to relax the lockdown. However, they are being careful, and rightfully so, and say it is too early, another peak could arrive. On the other hand the economy is suffering and the sooner the better for business to revive.

I am glad I am not a politician in these hard times. Somehow I am getting a feeling that the European governments are in a little one sided competition to see who deals with the mess better and quicker than the others.

And now to depart to another economic problem, clearing up at home. I wish you all a good day in isolation and don’t forget to wave to the neighbours now and again over the balcony or garden wall. Have a good one, I am waving from my computer.

I found some grape hyacinths growing at the edge of my garden. No idea where they came from, perhaps something the gardener cleared out of my garden when I had the raised beds installed.

Time for a sunrise photo and a little finger exercise on the computer. Actually I have less to do now in the early morning as bird feeding is slowing down. They are still chirping and now and again attacking the platform on the bird house, but do not look very hungry or very much thinner. They are now probably busy finding worms and other protein food for the babies which will probably soon be taking flying lessons from their parents.

It seems that the Swiss are behaving in these troubled times, and not flocking out in groups in the good Spring weather we are having. Just small groups at a distance to each other, although our police were also out enjoying the Spring weather, but for other reasons. The Swiss are very serious about staying at home and rightly so. Police are patrolling constantly and if they find groups of people going against the coronavirus rules they get a nice juicy fine of one hundred Swiss francs. I even saw that if people are having a private grill party in their garden and the police hear and see it, fines will be distributed. Yesterday the police in Luzern found children with their parents having a nice relaxed grill party in their garden, but it became quite an expensive party with the fines they got. I am certainly not in favour of a police state, but in war times different laws exist, and whether we like it or not, we are battling against an unseen but not less dangerous enemy.

I must also give a big praise for the Swiss form of government. Of course we have our idiots like any other country, it is human nature, but we have a system based on political equality. It might be in parliament that this or the other party has more members, but the Swiss government is basically 7 ministers with a party organised formula. 2 of each political party and 1 of the smaller party and the ministers are divided amongst them. Whether socialist or conservative or liberal all have their say and that is Swiss democracy and at the moment it is working in this time of problems. Perhaps it is because we are a small country with a small population that it is working so well but I am satisfied.

My Caucasian forget-me-not are flowering not heeding the surrounding problems. They are perennial and arrive every year. They are quite good at spreading their seeds, and try to take over, but are a wonderful splash of blue in Spring.

I also have blanda anemone appearing everywhere. It began with a couple of plants, and now they are arriving in a few places. I never planted them, they just appeared from nowhere and I only realised last year what they were.

Another wonderful splash of colour.

Today is again a trip into the unknown to the store. I am hoping that people are remaining sensible and not raiding the shelves. This week will be particularly a delicate piece of shopping work as the stores will be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday, leaving a very long weekend, some forced isolation. Careful planning and logistic must be applied, but I have already made my detailed list: frozen fish and ham form part of it, as that is something I can already buy.

I also contacted my gardener this morning and they are coming tomorrow afternoon. My trees really need a trim and there are too many unwanted plants growing here and there at the moment. I am glad they are working as usual. The lady gardener was on the phone, who is a very nice person and she said that keeping distance from each other in a garden is not so difficult and they are working as usual.

I am now off to the normal morning work and hoping for smooth runnings today as we probably all are, My daffodils are still flowering making an effort to show that Easter is approaching soon.