Yesterday was a great day. I got my usual chores done in the morning, cooked a bit of lunch, had an after dinner rest, hugging the bed and afterwards was ready to go. It was no longer heat wave weather, just a pleasant 25°C outside and a breeze. Now and again the sun appeared through the clouds.

At last I had a chance to revive my Nikon 7000 camera again. It is heavy and big and I bought a Nikon 3000 which was smaller later, as the 7000 was just too heavy to carry for me. When I progressed to a wheelchair for walks I continued using the 3000 but last week I decided to try the 7000 again. I no longer have to carry it as I sit in the chair. I tested the various lens I had and yesterday I at last had a chance to see what it could do. It was almost like trying a new camera and it was fun. The lens were also bigger and better and the automatic focus functioned wonderfully. I am not a photography expert and with a few exceptions, usually do the automatic focus. It is enough for my little shooting exercises, and I am a Nikon fan.

I aimed for the sunflower fields, although they are now showing signs of age, and only the seed heads are left, which is the purpose of them, for the oil production.

I noticed that there was some sort of event on the local River Aare. They were having the Aare Swimming. A course was organised on the river and various contestants could swim a certain route as a competition. They had even organised a tent for the purpose on the river bank and prizes were being offered for the quickest.

Here you can see the boat patrolling on the river keeping an eye on things. The bridge you can see is fairly new and replaced the older one which was no longer so safe for the traffic. It is very well constructed with the footpath on the lower level which is easy to navigate with the wheelchair. On the right bank  you can see a hotel, the Ramada, and opposite is an old apartment block where we lived for almost 20 years, so we were right in the middle of Solothurn with river view.

I was clicking away everywhere and this time took a photo of one of our busy old town streets where people like to sit outside at the street cafés or just take a walk to see and be seen. I remember when I had a mini family and we would often take a walk in the town together.

I approached the town and got a view of the so-called Westringstrasse which is the edge of town. On the left is the so-called Mutti Tower which is well known for its tribe of Swifts that nest in the tower. They have even filmed them for the TV, although you do not see them so much as they are more hidden in the tower. On the right is the so-called Bieltor which is the entrance to the town on the West side named after the town of Biel which is about half an hour road in the West direction. The houses in between are very old, and have shops on the ground floor: one of them is my hairdresser, although I think there are about 2-3 hairdressers on this street.

I took many photos, some of the old houses which are always being renovated and modernised. I love the quaint old window styles with the shutters. When I arrived home I had more than 100 photos on the camera, so it was a worthwhile journey. As the evening meal was only a pizza from the oven, I did not have to rush.

I travelled home via the river bank which leads direct to my village and I only have to wheel up the path to arrive home. There are always a few ducks around posing for photos. I have no idea what sort this is, but this year I noticed a lot of new ducks that I did not recognise.

And that’s that. If the weather stays OK, I will be out an about again this afternoon. At the moment it is looking good. Enjoy the Sunday, day of rest and all that. As a golden retired oldie, I have rest every day, but somehow Sunday still as the impression of being stressless and no rush. I have a little bit of ironing this morning, but afternoon is “me” time.

This morning is a dull morning and when I look at my buddleia I realise how dull it can get. It is still August and not really Autumn yet, although we humans tend to look ahead at things that will be. My buddleia had wonderful pink flowers throughout June and July and now they are no more. There are a few pink tips left and I should now pull myself together and begin to cut away the finished blossoms. We have had a share of hot summer days and it did not seem to want to end, but yesterday it rained. It was not torrential in our area, although in Zürich many flights at the airport were postposed, even cancelled, because of high winds and water on the runways. We just had water in the garden which was not too bad. The disadvantage was that I was home bound and had no opportunity to go anywhere. The advantage was that at last our garden got the dose of water it badly needed and so did the surrounding farms.

My hostas went to seed some time ago and I am left with the stalks containing the seeds and yellowing leaves. Some stalks of my rocket lugularia also decided to get into the photo, only bearing the seedy remainders. It really looks like that Autumn is just around the corner.

But my sweet pea are throwing up a revival with new flowers. They finished with the first arrival a month ago, but have decided to flower again, so we have a bit of colour in the garden.

Today is Saturday and I just said goodbye to No. 1 son who has again decided to make a trip to Zürich. At least in Zürich there is something going on as an international town with its expensive shops on the golden mile of the Bahnhofstrasse, although my son does not bother so much with them. He goes more to the insider places where prices are affordable, although lunch is always eaten on the Bahnhofstrasse in the MacDonalds which everyone can afford.

Mr. Swiss has a few odds and ends to get in town and I will be busy doing my usual Saturday thing which is just a tidy up with the vacuum cleaner and mop and cooking lunch. Our lunches are no longer such a big thing as golden oldies do not seem to eat as much as they used to. I am hoping that we are spared of rain this afternoon and I can go places and see things with my camera.

One bright point in my garden is my rudbeckia laciniata, the big sister of the normal black-eyed susan rudbeckia. They are the last to flower mid August and remain for a couple of weeks. Otherwise temperatures are now moderate and no longe such a stifling heat thank goodness.

I am now going to tend to my normal daily life, without computer. I suppose in the days before computer, Charles Dickens and Ernest Hemingway etc. would be sitting in their respective gardens with a note book in the hand and write down their thoughts. I do not think I would have become a writer if that was the case. I cannot even read my own handwriting sometimes.

And now I am going, so have a good day, enjoy the Saturday and all its trimmings, no stress, unless you want to. One of the pleasures of a golden oldie: do what you want to and not what you have to.