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June 18: A ceremonial swapping of the tools

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The Kärcher is being replaced by the computer tomorrow.

Finally, the concrete around the main farmhouse AND our Stöckli is now clean. Another four and a half hours with that powerful jet spray machine has knackered my wrists again. But the end result, and knowing I won’t have to do it again for another two years, is nice.

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Clean as a whistle!

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The cement in front of the house didn’t scrub up as well as the terrace

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My little garden, just because …

It feels like I’m having a ceremonial ‘swapping of the tools’ – the yellow Kärcher beast is all packed away, and now I’ve taken out the travel case for my computer. It’ll be coming on the bus with me tomorrow for my ‘first day’ on the job. I wonder how many hours a week it will involve? All will be sorted out soon enough, I imagine.

Fell off the no sugar bandwagon this afternoon and ate … *gasp* a cherry tomato!! They just looked tooooooo good to not try one.

We’ve started watching House of Cards on Netflix which I’m really enjoying. Kevin Spacey is brilliant. Just brilliant! It’s definitely adding to my mental fitness.

My plant for the day is another herb. Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is my favourite because it goes with lamb. Mmmm lamb. (I love how the thyme was vulgaris and this is officinalis. How official!)

Time for bed. I actually have a very good reason to get up early tomorrow! Yahoo!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

June 8: Kärcher Queen

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“I am the Kärcher Queen … Wrinkled and sweet … more than 43 … Oooh yeah!”

I should make a workout video with the Kärcher high pressure water hose. It’s great for your arms! Today, in 3.5 hours, this section behind the main farmhouse (I love a good before and after photo) …

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Green and slimy …

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Reverse angle

Became this …

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Pristine clean …

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Patches still drying

I quite enjoyed doing that. Much more than the lawn!

Today is also the first day of a personal challenge to do the I Quit Sugar 8-Week Program. This is a fitfor15in15 new addition, to break what could be a bit of a sugar addiction and possibly feel a bit fresher.

A nutritional challenge, with only naturally occurring sugars, following set recipes, for eight weeks. I wonder if I’ll feel like a Berliner doughnut by the end of the program? (Must stop talking about doughnuts … it’s only day one!)

Breakfast was yum, lunch was fine and dinner was yum. Happy with that!

We watched the first two episodes of Liev Schreiber’s television drama series Ray Donovan. I’m intrigued. Jon Voigt also stars. Thanks again to Netflix for providing something different.

On to the 30-Day Challenge – more plant names!

In between the two geraniums in the pot near the front door, I planted a selection of coloured snapdragons (Antirrhirum majus). Not sure if they’re going to last as long as the geraniums though – they look a bit sad already.

I have a large, low growing patch of sea campion (Silene maritima) in my garden. The flowers seem to have had their best run, but hopefully it will continue to flower until August? Can only hope!

And last but not least for today … I mentioned a reddish brown succulent in a previous post and have now discovered its name – common houseleek or St Patrick’s cabbage (Sempervivum tectorum). We have random, small clumps of it growing between the fir/pine trees (must find out what their names are too!)

I’ve run out of time to do the As You Wish book review – hopefully tomorrow!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

June 2: She works hard for the …

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I think I’ve worked out why I’ve been going like a bull at a gate on the weeds for the past two days (no, I’m not smoking anything green, just removing them from the lawn).

Not only are they Rene’s enemy, so therefore mine, I think I’m taking out my frustrations on not getting either of the jobs I’d recently applied for. I found out on Friday about the job in Zurich and yesterday about the job in Lausanne. In the wonderful words of Kevin Kline’s character, Otto, in A Fish Called Wanda, “DisapPOINted!”

So, I reckon I am currently in training to be a gardener and, to be honest, I wouldn’t mind that at all!

While working out with Brad today, I listened to the end of the Serial podcast. Manual labour and a mental workout all at the same time. Highly recommended! I won’t say anything about the series in case you haven’t heard it (but I really want to write lots of stuff and have a big discussion!!).

I was overly optimistic thinking I’d get the rest of the lawn done in four hours. It ended up taking just over six, and that was just pulling the weeds out. I’ll fill the holes with soil tomorrow. I enjoyed the work today more than yesterday for some reason – Brad behaved well, all my aches and pains were gone, and I have the Birkenstock tanlines on my feet to remind me of my labours.

Today was also a very big day in the kitchen. Last week, Rene and Liliane decided it was time for us to have a dishwasher, and today it was installed (replacing the small bar fridge). Leo’s eyes went wide when he found out about it, as he has lived here for 12 years without one. We don’t really need it, but it’s a lovely gesture and will be great when we entertain. Now we just need to buy more than the four plates and bowls we currently own! Ahahahahaha. No, that won’t be happening. (Honestly, we’ll probably only use it once a month!)

We finished the television series Derek tonight. Another series bites the dust! We’re on a Netflix roll! I love binge-watching a series and not having to wait a week for the next installment. I really enjoyed Derek, but have never cried quite so much in a supposed comedy series. (It’s set in an old people’s home … join the dots.) Ricky Gervais is a very clever man (although the character of Kev I could have lived without) and I wish I was cleverer and could write something more inspiring about him than him what is clever (said in my best attempted Derek voice).

It got completely dark around 10.15pm tonight. I took this poor quality photo of the full moon just before 10pm. Not long til the longest day, which always makes me sad, because it feels like every year it comes too soon.

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Still light enough outside for my old phone to take a photo!

Speaking of phones (caption above), my iPhone 5 was too far gone to be fixed, so Leo very kindly bought me a second-hand one off the internet which should be here by the end of the week! Yahoo! I can use Instagram again #fitfor15in15 @fitfor15in15

Disappointed Roger Federer lost today at the French Open. I’ll have to cheer for Stan now. Or Rafa. Are you watching any tennis? Are you Wimbledon fans too?

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 19: Feeling flat … and new nutrition guidelines

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It’s amazing how the weather affects my moods. It’s raining, grey and the sky feels like it’s only a few feet off the ground. Do you feel weird when the weather’s less than appealing? Especially when it comes hot on the heels of a lovely day?

Of course, it could also have something to do with the book I’m currently reading, The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt. I’m halfway through the story of Theo and it’s quite depressing – a life going, or possibly already gone, off the rails. Maybe I should listen to more of Cary Elwes’ audio book As You Wish, which is his behind the scenes account of the movie, The Princess Bride. I love that film – maybe I should watch it to lift my spirits!

I feel like I’m here, but not here. Know what I mean? I’ll snap out of it when the sun shines again, I’m sure.

My friend Sandra sent me this very funny article yesterday about living in a foreign country and trying to speak the language. Sandra has German, Swiss German, English and Spanish under her belt, so she’s on fire. I’m making limited progress with German and have really no idea what’s being talked about 40% of the time when I hear Swiss German, so I can totally relate to the problems in this story. I had a good laugh … and then gave a hefty sigh, because unfortunately it’s so damn true!

We finished season one of Luther last night, the BBC series starring Idris Elba. I’ve been told seasons two and three are better, thank goodness! That whole storyline with Alice was laughable.

Do you remember growing up seeing posters of the food pyramid (that put fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy and grains etc into a graphic) about how much we should eat? If not, have a search on the internet because there are a hundred versions. Actually, no don’t bother with the old one because the new one is more important. Here is Nutrition Australia’s new healthy eating food pyramid. What do you think about the new weightings for foods? Less grains (used to be the bottom layer) and more veggies seems smart, and there’s no section for treats anymore – is that achievable? Maybe only for the dedicated! It’s printed out and stuck on the fridge, as a friendly reminder.

The more research I do, the more I keep seeing/reading that diet is more important than exercise and maybe, just maybe, it’s slowly sinking in. There was definite success on the 5:2 Diet, about 2kgs in four weeks, but I hate counting calories. What a drag! I have to stop eating chips or chocolate biscuits as an after-dinner snack … and don’t get me started on the Berliners! I had just one on the Swiss Camino, on the horrid third day, walking on busy roads. (I suppose one benefit/problem of walking on a busy road is the shops!)

So tonight we’re having couscous with vegetables for dinner and I’ll make a vanilla chia seed pudding for breakfast. The fitfor15in15 exercise today will be 15 minutes of bedtime yoga – my butt injury isn’t fixed, so I’m taking it easy after yesterday’s 4km run.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 1: Working on International Workers’ Day

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Today is, or was, International Workers’ Day or Labour Day and oh, the ironing, I mean irony.

Instead of sitting back with my feet up enjoying this day of rest, I was hard at work at Liliane and Rene’s, cleaning like a crazy woman. While half of Switzerland kicked back watching the torrential rain, I was gagging on vinegar fumes scrubbing the shower walls. (Must remember to dilute that stuff a bit more next time.)

The last time I put on my Sadie the Cleaning Lady hat, I vacuumed the ceilings to get rid of some small cobwebs, but thankfully for my back, I didn’t have to do that and feel a whole lot better for it. I still managed to clock up four hours of cleaning, so I’ll do the bedtime yoga again, just to give my back a bit of a stretch before sleeping.

Two things I’d like to talk about today. Leo found this hilarious phone app called MyIdol. Well, not only Leo has found it, it’s going gangbusters around the world. It’s in Chinese, but it makes for some great laughs. Click the link above to see some funny photos and videos (love Putin pole dancing) and if you fancy downloading the app and making some pictures yourself, then here’s an article with the instructions in English. Believe me, you need them, otherwise you end up looking like this …

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A bad everything day!

Second, but definitely way more important than that narcissistic silliness, is the Netflix series Bloodline.

We finished the first season yesterday and it was great; I really recommend it if you like a bit of drama and suspense. The premise of the show is: “A picture-perfect family is hiding many secrets. When the rebel oldest brother returns to the fold, wanting to be part of the family business, things change in many different ways.” I’m not going to give anything more away, other than the initial reason I chose to watch this is because Kyle Chandler is the main actor.

I loved Mr Chandler so much in Friday Night Lights, choosing this was a no-brainer. I realised some of the traits of his FNL character, such as certain mouth movements and stares, were also part of his character in Bloodline, so maybe they’re not acting traits, they’re Kyle Chandler traits?!

Wow, that was a long diatribe, because what I really wanted to say was we watched this show because I have a teenie weenie crush on KC, but the real star is Ben Mendelsohn, the returning brother. Wow, he is good. Really good. Scene-stealingly good. And I’m very proud to say he’s an Aussie. Watching the show has definitely been a good contribution to my mental fitness – even though all the characters are mental!

If you don’t have Netflix, I’m sure it’s quite hard to see this series, but hopefully it becomes widely available sooner rather than later. I’m looking forward to the next season which will be released next year.

I hope you’re all well, wherever you’re reading this. Welcome to May. Thank you for being on this fitfor15in15 adventure, too.

Wishing you a wonderful day.