Walking a new path with surprises

February 22, 2016February 22, 2016fitfor15in15 4 Comments

Yesterday, we ventured from our new home to a part of Wohlen we’ve never seen before. Well, we’ve seen it from a distance, but never walked through it.

The weather was crazy-amazing sunny and the path threw up plenty of surprises!

: As you leave the village of Wohlen on the road towards Bern, there’s a bridge across a small stream and gully. We crossed the bridge and walked up a steep path to the left

: A clump of houses are at the top. I’ve always wondered what else is up there

: Looking back down the hill towards the bridge and gully

: Someone has set up a sweet garden terrace

: A nicely renovated Stöckli

: Could be an art gallery or something?

: Love the yellow Wanderweg (walking path) signs

: With an amazing view over Wohlen to the Wohlensee

: Leo snapping the view from the main farmhouse. There was someone in there sanding wood, and a friendly dog on a chain

: Another home being renovated. What a view, all-day sunshine … it has it all. We’re moving in! Hahaha

: Renovations in progress

: This A-frame house is the fourth and final house on the hill

: Surrounding the houses on the other side is nothing but fields and forests

: If we walked on that path near the trees we would go to Liliane and Rene’s new house. They move there in three weeks

: A closer shot of the Alps through the trees. Magical day!

: Once we got to the top of the field, we had our bearings again and could see the main road that passes our house on the way to the next village of Uettligen

: It felt like all of Switzerland was out walking yesterday!

: We walked on another new section. The green sign means horses are allowed on the path too

: I’m always up for checking out a new path!

: Seconds later we saw the only two horses of the day. I was too in awe, watching them pass before I snapped out of it and took a photo

: We’re on Moosweg, which means Moss Path, so it was appropriate to see the lush green stuff

: Tall and proud

: We then came to a clearing of apple trees, farmland and houses

: This is in a very secluded spot of Wohlen, which may actually be Uettligen

: And surprise! Piggies! Big piggies!

: Snort

: Surprise 2

: Hidden cat!

: Surprise 3 … more piggies – little piggies going to market!

: Sunning themselves and scaring themselves. But oh so cute

: Panorama shot 1: The farmhouse with the pigs, and the amazing Alps behind

: Panorama shot 2

: Panorama shot 3, with the road going to Wohlen

: Walking towards our old house on Ballmoosweg

: A lovely rickety old house

: With an incredible view too

: We ran into our friend Hani who invited us in for a quick hello. She has an amazing view

: Perfectly framed art

: Walking from Hani’s house towards our old place. Warped panorama shot

: Past my favourite farmhouse, we saw the shepherd

: Surprise 4: He’s back again with his sheep!

: Words fail me! The shepherd has dogs, four donkeys and more sheep than previous years

: Dog at work

: Poor quality close up

: Then we arrived at our old house to collect the bicycle and Vespa

: And sob! My wildflower garden which I planted two years ago has started to flower. I’ll miss them all!

: Liliane and Rene are excited about their move soon, and not having to look after all this property (and woes from renters) anymore

: Our old view

: Leo pushed the Vespa down to our new apartment, and I pushed the bicycle, because the tyres were flat

: Down the hill, past the sculptor’s house. She has a new arch in her garden

: Home to the narcissus, crocus and iris plants … and more sheep

The shepherd and his flock have been sporadic visitors – one year they were in the field right next to our house. The sheep knew to scratch at the snow to find the grass underneath, so all I could hear was constant neck bells clanging, munching and scratching. Very cool.

Last year, there was a tiny flock nearby, but it wasn’t the same shepherd. Here’s that post from February last year – look at the difference in the weather!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Oh and I forgot this photo! Home to the narcissus and more sheep yeah, but also a well-deserved beer in the sun! Tee hee!

The new apartment photo tour

February 17, 2016February 17, 2016fitfor15in15 7 Comments

The grand reveal. Are you reading, Mum?!

While we’ve been getting used to things like hearing people walking up the stairs or coughing in neighbouring apartments, I have been love love loving the brief walk to the bus and home again! The trip to work is a grand total of 20 minutes, instead of 40 minutes. Who doesn’t love a 50% reduction in travel time?!

Even without all the luxuries, like the grass, forest and pool, from our previous “castle”, we feel very at home here. Amazingly, despite upsizing from 2.5 rooms to 5.5 rooms, we didn’t have to buy too much stuff either. We bought a higher bed to see out the bedroom window (in the Stöckli we had a low bed because of the slanted roof), a cupboard, a clothes rack and two standing lamps. Everything else (except for the hammock!) was from inside the Stöckli too. It was a veritable Tardis!

So without further ado, here’s our new apartment. Sorry about the lack-lustre photography. I’m home with tonsillitis and couldn’t be arsed making art. And speaking of art, all the art work is by Leo. Clever chap!

: A blanket and neck pillow, along with a sudoku book and pen, live in the hammock, ready at all times!

: The hammock lives in my office. I love it. Call me a swinger; see if I care!

: Desk and drawers, from where all the ditties are delivered and divided

: Candles and lights, trying to be zen

: I may take the postcard board away … unsure … I like the distraction of colours and memories so it will probably stay

: A few of my favourite things

: The little bottle of nice smellies hidden at the back is definitely one of my favourite things

: Had my first bath today, since my niece’s in Melbourne, November 2014. Delish!

: There’s a sliding door between the bathroom and toilet, hence the two wash basins. Odd, but it will be good when visitors are here. The bathroom has it’s own entrance door too, but I keep it closed and just access via the loo. This downstairs bathroom has very quickly become mine!

: The divider between the rooms. Cleaning two basins? No problem!

: The hall outside the bathroom, with the linen cupboard and entrance to my office at the end

: I call this the middle room, which is the guest room, as it’s in between our offices. We store coats and shoes in this room too, and use it daily. As soon as we come home we walk into this room and take shoes off etc

: Shoes and coats, with hats and gloves in the white boxes

: Leo’s room is long. He’s still sorting things out as he’s spent all his time getting the whole house ready and left his room til last

: A nice space for Leo to create more paintings hopefully!

: The front door, which comes at the top of the second set of spiral stairs. You have to close the front door before you can walk upstairs to the gallery level

: Looking from the front door towards the kitchen, dining room, living room and balcony

: Love the big windows in the lounge area

: Can’t wait to cook pizzas in the wooden stove

: Oh hello skylight and plants up there!

: Standing near the balcony door looking towards the kitchen

: We have the space to keep the table extended now. Our drinks cabinet is an ex CD unit.

: Looking from inside the kitchen through the peep hole to the dining room

: From one end of the kitchen

: And the other end of the kitchen

: Looking from the kitchen door down to the guest room with Leo’s office and the front door on the right

: The stairwell to the gallery level. We need to hang the painting on the floor (which looks like a slim Winston Churchill running) on the blank wall but need a special ladder to access it

: This is our kids corner – Roberto Birdo, Freda Vogel and Roger (Rogu) the Rat have been part of our family since shortly after I arrived in Switzerland

: The gallery is a nice place to sit. I am planning a cactus and succulent garden for Leo

: Looking from the gallery into the lounge. How very 80s!

: Practical storage and a skylight which goes into the kitchen. Makes it much lighter in there

: Downstairs has red stripes in the tiles, upstairs has yellow accents. I like how we matched the bath towels to the Listerine colour 😉

: The open shower and towel-warming rail. I always wanted one of those

: Our bedroom

: Strange built-in wooden bench makes for a nice display space. I’m happy to keep it clear

: Creatures bring colour

: The window to the Alps

: Greenery, music and necklaces. The CD is from the buskers I watched in London last year, where the little girl danced along with her doll

: Our very dirty balcony which needs to be jet hosed and given some TLC. How appropriate that the bus came past! The tower is attached to the rural supermarket. Conveniences!

: I want to make the end wall into a vertical garden with herbs etc

: The bottom of the fields from Oberwohlen. We used to live up the hill to the right

So there you have it! Everything, apart from the balcony, is pretty much finished. Not bad for two schmucks doing it all on their own over three weeks. I think that’s contributed to my tonsillitis though. We’ve worked hard, carrying everything up two sets of spiral stairs to the front door and another set to the gallery level. No fights were had either, I promise!*

I’m really looking forward to working on the balcony and getting it established in spring. We’ll have an outdoor table and chairs and hopefully that vertical garden wall!

We look forward to welcoming guests. Will you be coming over?

Wishing you a wonderful day.

* I lie.

The last sunrises …

February 16, 2016fitfor15in15 7 Comments

Our old home put on a magical show for us before we left. It felt like every sunrise was a winner. It felt like every day was clear and bright. I’m sure it was nature’s way of saying remember this view! remember this place! in the best way possible.

Taking in the whole view from the left …

… into the middle … (I’ll miss the white house making this scene “pop”)

… and to the right … crisp and clean

We certainly had a grand view of the Swiss Alps.

Gold! The view from the bedroom window (with the eave of the roof on the left)

Foggy but inviting

Layers

Ahhhh, those lovely last few days …

Sunrise with stars still shining

Winner, winner!

On the walk down the hill to collect the keys for the new apartment

We’ve moved into the village of Wohlen bei Bern from the outskirts. Leo went to work before our appointment to collect the new house keys, then straight to the apartment, but I stayed home and walked the walk for old time’s sake. It felt fitting to say goodbye to that walk in that way. As much as I loved it (most of the time!), I’m glad, overall, that we’re down in the thick of the “action” now. And the church bells aren’t as bad as I thought they would be, clanging every 15 minutes, all through the night!

Here is the view from our new bedroom window …

We can live with this!

Yahoo! We still can see the Alps! I think seeing those mountains is more important to me than the size of the apartment or having a garden or how nice the floors are or whatever! It’s my way of waking up happy.

The view from the bed looking south east

Closer …

With the windows open

I’m making the most of that view during winter, because I think come summertime we will only glimpse the mountains when all the leaves on those trees are back.

Photos of the apartment will be in the next post, promise.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Flowers for a friend

February 14, 2016February 23, 2016fitfor15in15 3 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone. Whether you’re a cynic of the commercialised day of overpriced flowers, or a true believer in the power of love, I wish you warmth from an inner glow.

Lovely Leo surprised me yesterday with this beautiful bunch.

Happy Valentine’s Day

I’d like to share them, with Leo’s blessing, with Freda, from livesimplysimplylive, whose husband is in hospital. Freda gave me encouragement to start blogging and is a wonderful supporter of fitfor15in15.

Without her, I wouldn’t have had the joy of cyberspace “meeting” Penny L, swissrose and other readers who have dropped by to say hello. Or joined in the fun of Kondoing. Or swooned at her red gate and garden. Or learned about so many plants and flowers. Or enjoyed the simplicity of white. Her writing is a calming force.

Everything is crossed for Barry’s safe return home, and soon.

Wishing you a wonderful day. Hug your loved ones.

Colourful visitors to warm your day

February 14, 2016fitfor15in15 2 Comments

* Still catching up on old photos and stories from earlier in the year.

Walking to the laundry in the main farmhouse on one of my beloved free Fridays (I work Mon-Thurs), two unexpected but welcome guests called me closer.

It was January 22 and we’d had what was to be, so far, the most snow all winter earlier in the week. Because I leave for and return from work in darkness, patience was needed to snap this charming couple, who were taking it easy by the pool.

Our friends stayed for a few days …

Why does the woman always get the broom?!

He did well, bringing an umbrella to avoid all that sun

Maybe they’d been for a dip?

Thanks go to the neighbours, who have two small children, for inviting them over and making us all smile. Alas, the mild weather returned, and Mr and Mrs nourished the soil after nourishing our souls … a broom and umbrella the only reminders.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

Tahdah! Back from box hell!

February 11, 2016fitfor15in15 2 Comments

Greetings readers, and apologies for being AWOL for so long. For the past two weeks, we’ve had no internet at home which made it less distracting for packing boxes and dismantling furniture and unpacking boxes and assembling furniture! Box hell was relatively brief. It feels like IKEA hell lasted longer.

Very happy to be back blogging again. But before I show any photos of the new place, I have a stockpile of January photos to show you first!

Leo’s best friend Dani and his girlfriend Claudia came to see us one last time in the Stöckli. (We went walking on New Year’s Day with them in 2015). This time, Dani had the flu so didn’t join us outdoors, and I forgot to take photos of the scrumdiddeliumptious fondue we made. But here we are on the road …

Crystal clear day for walking

Leo and Claudia in Möriswil

Icing on the logs

Homeward bound. Claudia’s toes were frozen

Blue skies, following me … Nothing but blue skies

Now that we have internet access, I’ll keep this short and write again soon.

And I’ll leave you with this cat who sits every day in the window of a travel agency near where I work.

How much is that kitty in the window, the one with the elephants as friends?

Wishing you a wonderful day.

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fitfor15in15 … and further

I once tried to get fit for 2015 in a minimum of 15 minutes a day, and now I just write about stuff

Month: February 2016

Walking a new path with surprises

The new apartment photo tour

The last sunrises …

Flowers for a friend

Colourful visitors to warm your day

Tahdah! Back from box hell!