Tag Archives: RDP Wednesday

RDP Wednesday: Breathtaking

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Back Garden

Breathtaking can mean a lot. I have been living in the country of alps and fantastic scenery for the past 50 years. Today I am not bringing breathtaking views from the tops of mountains, or even impressive scenery as the Rheinfall in Schaffhausen.  I have been to the top of the Eiffel Tower, have seen all the sites of London, being my home town. I was even once in Marrakesh in Morocco.

Now I am a golden oldie, no longer able to travel far due to my MS, but here I am sitting on the porch in my small back garden. The sun is shining, it is a beautiful day and I have all I need to take my breath away. There is a blue sky decorated with clouds and I am surrounded by all that nature has to offer. OK, and I have my computer with me and could take the photo with my iPhone for a direct upload (even more breathtaking).

When you spend the first 20 years of your life in a town where the smell of damp concrete fills the air after a rainstorm, or you lungs are clogged with the tar from the smog of the fifties, you are thankful for every daisy that flowers, and even the smell of the cows from the neighbouring field is a scent that you can enjoy. What more do you need?

RDP Wednesday: Breathtaking

RDP Wednesday: Splash

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Water 23.02 (2)

I live in a splashy area with a river running through it. The river Aar is not such a splashy event and behaves usually. It is the side streams that seem to arrive when not expected and are mainly splashy if it rains. This one has a few stones on the way, hence the bubbles and froth, but afterwards arrives in the cemetery where it behaves, and like all other streams in the area it finally disappears into the river.

Rheinfall 06.08 (17)

Of course none of this compares to the Rheinfall in Schaffhausen. My son lives in a village near Schaffhausen so I took the opportunity to pay a visit. This is not a splash, but a roar. I am always reminded of the film “Niagara” with Marilyn Monroe and Joseph Cotton, although the Rheinfall is not so exciting and as far as I know no-one has been killed there yet.

RDP Wednesday: Splash

RDP Wednesday: Grateful

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River Aar 07-05-2019

A photo taken on my way home yesterday: something to be grateful for, although I am not the nostalgic type. I do not really do grateful, just say thank you and when I do I mean it.

Today I was in the supermarket. They have a special sort of meat slice in their own mustard sauce and it is really good, but since a couple of weeks you can now only get it in plastic packing. You really do not know how many slices of meat are in the plastic and one of the staff told me that they are not selling it open over the counter at the moment as they need more room for the various meats that people want to grill. Today it has only rained once, and it began some time during the night. I really do not think that it is weather for buying marinated meat to cook on an open fire outside in the garden. However, today there was a young lady serving who greeted me by my name. Everyone knows me in the supermarket. And so I said it was a shame that the meat in the mustard sauce was no longer being sold over the counter. She told me that is no problem, she will have a look if they have some sauce. She then cut three slices of meat for me and mixed it with the sauce. At last one of the family’s favourites was again available for me thanks to a shop assistant. It is the little things in life that give you a grateful feeling.

And so now back to normal life, where we are all fighting for our rights. Never thank a politician, they just want to be re-elected.

And just one thing, yes, I am Grateful (with a capital “G”) to get out of bed in the morning, even if it does get increasingly more difficult.

RDP Wednesday: Grateful

RDP Wednesday: Mentor

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Mentor

Do I have a mentor? I think I captured them all on this photo: my camera, my computer and my Mr. Swiss in the background. We are all together outside on the porch. A mentor is apparently an experienced and trusted advisor.

My camera delivers the pictures to inspire me to write My computer feeds me with the information I need and Mr. Swiss? He is always there, my support and advisor, although that works both ways. We are opposites in taste and culture but we harmonise and inspire each other

I am surrounded by nature outside, the sun is shining. Even if it were Winter and snowing I would get my inspiration from my surroundings. Another positive influence  are the changing seasons.

I just returned from a wheelie in my chair. The cobwebs imbedded in my thoughts have now been blown away by fresh air and fresh sights. My mentor surrounds me: I observe and digest.

Horse Chestnut 30.04 (2)

RDP Wednesday: Mentor

RDP Wednesday: Book

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Kindle

This is my book(s) (known as Kindle), well just part of it. It does not smell like a book, does not feel like a book and is not heavy like  book. It is light weight, electronic and does what I tell it to do. I can upload my book from somewhere in the cyber bookworld and within a few seconds I have the full version (sometimes 3-400 pages) at my fingertips to read. It contains approximately 500 books at the moment, but always increasing and the languages are all there, according to whether you understand and can read them. Mr. Swiss also has such a Kindle, the advantage being that his and my Kindle books are available on all our electronic apparatus. This means whilst he reads a book on his Kindle that appeals to me, I can also read it on his iPad.

I like to take my book(s) with me wherever I go and upload a new one when I am finished with the book in progress. This is possible thanks to 3g, 4g or whatever you have on your Kindle as an electronic connection, even when I am not at home..

A book is not longer a book, but has become a comfortable connection laying in my hands. And so Mr. Swiss and I are  in our armchairs in the evening, both holding our Kindles in our hands and are comfortable with them, unless we are watching the TV or are busy with our respective computers.

It is an online cyber life we lead. Who needs a library, do they still exist?

RDP Wednesday: Book

RDP Wednesday: Busy

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Shopping

Busy seems to be my new occupation. I used to work, a job, I got paid for. One day I was retired and no longer had to work. I soon discovered that this was a false idea. The family still had to be fed and so the daily work continued, perhaps with a difference. I was not getting paid for it, it was a duty of love.

And so this has been life for the past 10 years. We are getting older, no longer as fit as we were.

And the holidays, the part of life that the working population enjoy: an escape from the daily organisation of work and private life. It is all humbug. Unless you are wealthy, have servants to share the daily chores, you have to do it yourself.

This week is the Easter week, all based on the scriptures of course, but that does not make it easier. I wrote a plan, a master work of logistic, with the daily itinerary of shopping and it worked. Admitted when I arrived home from the shopping orgy I was worn out, but it works. Today is Wednesday and I have all the shopping until next Tuesday lunchtime. Tomorrow is what we call “green Thursday” the day before Good Friday, although I have not yet discovered what is good about it.

This green Thursday is the worst day of all. It is the last chance to make sure you will not starve until next week because the shops are closed. You can, of course, go shopping on Saturday, but that borders on buying suicide: the shops are full of people, the parking spaces all occupied and the shelves empty themselves and you are left with the goods that no-one wanted, the remainders.

And so I have survived without the Saturday participation of this event. We will be living from meat that keeps fresh, something smoked like ham. There will be a reserve of frozen bread and vegetables will either be in a can or something that lives fresh for a week.

It is all a matter of planning and logistics.

RDP Wednesday: Busy

RDP Wednesday: Perspicacious

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Today Mr. Swiss praised me and said one thing about me is that I always think ahead and find a solution. I was quite pleased, although when you are housewife, cook, logistic expert, children’s psychiatrist, and sometimes husband advisor, you learn that it is all up to you to find the way. So let us begin at the beginning.

Garage

This is our garage in the basement. Everyone has their own space for the car according to if you bought one or not. We bought two spaces. We only have one car, but it makes it easier to park the car. I do not have to be careful of the car parked next to mine, because we have two spaces next to each other between two of the pillars are only occupied by our (now my) car. I also have room for my walker in necessary, and sometimes Mr. Swiss parks his wheelchair there.

It is a well organised garage, and like all well organised places, it has to be cleaned twice a year. This means for a day it must be empty so that the cleaners can remove he oil and other stains from the floor with a hose and water. After the hosing in the morning it is left to dry during the day. Obviously you have to find another place for your car during this time. This will be happening tomorrow. I was not really keen on rising at 7.00 a.m. to remove my car from the garage, so I decided to already park it on one of the visitors parking places next to the garage today.

Feldbrunnen

The blue car in the photo is just leaving our garage. You drive up a ramp and you are on the road to wherever you want to go. Next to this exit/entrance is a vast area with black gravel. It is generally for workers to use to park their trucks. This area can be used for parking your car when the garage is being cleaned, if you find a space, but it generally works. Next to our garage are visitor’s parking spaces: nicely marked and organised.

Today when I returned from my shopping trip I grabbed a visitor’s  parking place for my car which will now remain there until tomorrow evening. That is my solution. The visitor’s spaces are naturally very popular for parking when the garage is out of action, first come first served. And now I have my space. That was when Mr. Swiss realised how lucky he is to have me with my planning talents.

I did have a problem today, because I drove into the garage automatically and then realise I actually wanted to leave my car outside. I again left the garage and parked on the space I intended. Now I had a problem. I had a car full of three bags of shopping and my walker was in the garage. I only had my stick for support so decided to risk it. As I was precariously walking down the path to the garage door a car arrived to enter the garage. This was ideal because now the large garage door opened and I could easily walk into the garage, grab my walker and leave again. I loaded up the three shopping bags on my walker and arrived at the entrance to our block. I had already phoned Mr. Swiss on the way to open the door for me. Yes I know, I am a genius, and logistic wonder. An example of a perspicacious person (whatever it means – never heard of the word before). However if the german word “scharfsinnig” had been used, I would have known immediately what it meant.

Pat

Being perspicacious

RDP Wednesday: Perspicacious