Growing up in London fog was a way of life starting in Autumn through the Winter. You felt your way along the street by touching the walls, and was glad for a street lamp now and again, although even they had to fight their way through the thick layers. When you arrived at your destination, you took your handkerchief and gave a good blow to remove the black particles from the smog. It was a wonder that I survived through my school days but we knew nothing different.
And now I have been living in Switzerland for the past almost 60 years but here we have a clean mist. Of course it is still dense, but there is something fresh about it. There is no smog, just thick intransparent mist, but your lungs survive. It usually arrives during Autumn and arrises from the local rivers. By Winter it disappears, but we then have the clear freezing air. We would probably miss it all, if we were living at the equator in the hotter parts of the world without Autumn or Winter.
What does this cabinet hide? Mr. Swiss decided that looking at the TV was bad enough, but we did not have to look at the television when it was not being used, so he found this piece of furniture, from Italy, and decided it would be ideal. I have not looked at the television for at least a year, since Mr. Swiss is in his golden oldie home, but that does not bother me. The doors hide not only the television, but also the DVD player and I must admit I do not even know how that works. My life changed considerably since I am alone all day, and I now do what I want to. RDP Wednesday: Cabinet
Sunflowers are one of our main crops in Switzerland. Their seeds supply us with oil. One of our local farmers planted a field of them some years ago and I would often take a few photos. There must have bee hundreds of them growing.
They were everywhere and busy producing their seeds.
And when the seeds were disappearing, the sunflowers were even smiling at us as we passed.RDP Wednesday:Sunflower
Looks good doesn’t it. Yes, it is a Swiss Bank, actually our Bank, Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse? does not exist since alost two weeks. A Swiss Bank disappears – no that is rather wackyy and for us that had been watching its demise for some time, it was a cause of concern. But no problem, we Swiss invented the Banks. This particular Bank and all its branches all over Switzerland have now become part of the biggest Bank in the world. It has been taken over by the UBS which is another Bank in Switzerland, but a big one, so everything is under control (we hope). Our money is safe and all its trimmings, what could possibly go wrong. Yes in Switzerland we always do it in style.RDP Wednesday: Wacky
The only person in my family with the courage to do a Karaoke is my No.1 son on the left. Here is is with the lead singer of one of the Swiss Pop Groups. He might be autistic, but has has no problem to stand on the stage and sing now and again, although I am still waiting for his hit record.
Just a tap (or faucet for some) with plain water. Today water has become a precious and expensive, article, at least in our part of the world and so you think twice before using it. Taking a full bath has become a thing of the past. With my MS I can no longer even get into the bath and so, I take a daily shower, making sure that the water is not running continuously, but stopping in between and just using it to rinse off the soap. Living in our own apartment in a complex, once a year there is a list to show how much water has to be paid for from our administration. It was always the job of Mr. Swiss to examine it, but now he is no longer here, being in a golden oldie home, I now carry the responsibility. I did not even realise that water is measured in cubic. A very good friend of mine informed me that something is not correct with the records of our water usage. I am alone in the home with my son and our cubic usage is way above normal, the highest usage here, We have made a table of our usage over the past seven years, as this has long been so much. My husband did not realise this and me, being new in this world of usage, now carry the responsibility to examine the problem. I have contacted our water supplier and they will look into it as something must be wrong somewhere with the measure-ring system. I have now got in touch with our administration and they will instruct our water supplier to examine our statistics. Life for me as a single lady keeping everything under control has become quite complex, but I am getting there. I feel as if I am now a general manager in a small concern.
If there is anything unpredictable it is the weather. One day rain, the next day sun and temperatures that go up and down all the time. And now we have a climate change to contend with, meaning as usual, that the weather does what it wants heedless of our expectations.
But this crow arrives daily in my garden to see if there is anything to eat. I am sure it is the same crow every time. He is now becoming predictable.
Yes, I was once a winner, but only once. It was in my working days, about 5 years before retirement.We had a Christmas celebration in the company. During the year we could make suggestions for the company for improvements, or when we had bright ideas. I was full of bright ideas, so made a few suggestions. At the end of the year the suggestion were all put in a bag and at random they were pulled out of the bag. There were three prices in Switss franca and yes, I got the first prize.There I am holding the poster with the 1000 Franc note. I think it was the only time I ever won a fiirst prize anywhere. I am sure I spent the money on the household for food – typical housewife.RDP Wednesday: Winner
I grew up in a town full of museums, London. Every part of the town hd its own museum: even Bethnal Green, where I lived, had a museum full of remnants from the Victorian era, it was a external branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum and I spent many afternoons there browsing around, looking at the old style of dress at the turn of the centuary. The children’s department was the most interesting with its dolls houses and dolls.That was when I was younger some time in the fifties. We are now in the next centuary but the museum is still there somewhat modernised. However, the big museums were all situated in South Kensington in a part of London town. I think it was where I discovered my interest in history. Apart from the main department of the Victoria and Albert Museum, there was the Science museum, the Natural History museum and the Geophysical Museum. My parents would make an excursion to that part of London as a treat for me and we spent the day in the various museums. i think my dad enjoyed it most of all.
The photo is from the Natural History museum where they had a department for prehistoric animals that had been discovered over the years in England, As you can see it was a very majestic museum, with plenty of space, which it had to have for the sizes of the dinosaurs. My oldest son is standing next to the skeleton of the tail of a dinosaur and my youngest, who is now father of my two grandchildren, is at the front of the photo standing next to me. I was visiting my family in London when we made an excursion to South Kensington. The Science Museum was also attractive with the many machines you could operated, not to mention in later years when they exhibited one of the space capsules used by the Ameicans to return to earth,
I now live in a part of Switzerland where our local town of Solothurn also has a museum.
Even there the dinosaurs had left thei footprints in the nearby jura mountains, as can be seen by these two exhibits of dinosaur skulls.
Museums always fascinated and in the meanwhile I have visited many in the world.
And just one last glimpse at the British Museum in London where it has a vast collection of Egyptian mummies and also houses the Elgin Marbles, stolen from Greeks. They never forgave us Brits for that, and they are still making efforts to have them returned.RDP Wednesday: Museum
I am Ahmed Abdi, a Wordpress blogger and storyteller who searches for stories that inspire people. I love writing because it’s a reflection of how I perceive the world around me. Lost in a world of endless chaos in my childhood, Unforgettable moments of tragedy and triumphs taught me the art of storytelling where I found myself through letter writing and then turned into stories but then sadly had lost everything I wrote for years. In 2018, I decided to create a Wordpress blog site that would allow me to store and retrieve every piece. Stories from my community, city and people are what make my writing so interesting and inspiring! I’m a tea lover so a cup of tea sometimes makes my blog.
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Chronicles of an Anglo Swiss 