sunshine

Walking a new path with surprises

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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!

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!

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November 9: Sweet and short

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A few minutes later, I had a nice surprise

When running for the bus this morning, a woman in a very fancy car stopped and asked if I wanted a ride to the bus stop in Wohlen. I was cutting it fine to make it on time, so it was such a nice surprise to be offered a lift. It’s only happened once before, and that wasn’t that long ago (from a different woman).

Maybe if I time it right, I can blag a lift to the bus every morning? 🙂

It was a day of laziness, because Leo was at his office in the city this afternoon, so I managed a lift home as well!

If this Indian summer continues as planned this week, perhaps I should dust off the Töffli? Hard to believe it’s November and temperatures are still in the high teens (Celsius).

Are you having an Indian summer too (if you live in the northern hemisphere)? Or has spring well and truly sprung for southerners?

Wishing you a wonderful day.

August 28-31: Last of the summer sun

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Have been very lazy with the blog recently! Got to get back into a rhythm soon!

The last of the summer sun blessed us all weekend, which was fabulous! A last lie on the sun lounge, the last swim. I say last, but maybe we’ll have some ok weather again, just not at the moment!

Friday, I worked, then had a quick beer at Cafe Pyrennes with Pastora – we hadn’t been there for more than a month! Then Leo and I had dinner in Uetligen with Liliane, Rene, Lotti and Fritz.

Saturday morning Leo and I went for a five-hour walk, which I’ve calculated would cover my 15 minutes a day for a few weeks! Doesn’t work like that? Oh, ok then …

We walked to a village called Schupfen and home again, on a slightly different path. Then we had a barbecue with Liliane, Rene, Lotti and Fritz for dinner and enjoyed the full moon. Poor Liliane was bitten on the lip by a wasp (we’ve had plague proportions this year), and ended up going to emergency on Sunday morning because the left side of her face swelled overnight. Poor thing.

Sunday we were very lazy, watching episodes of an Australian series called “House Husbands” and then Liliane and Rene came over for an early dinner.

Monday I spent at home, enjoying the last warm sunny day, with a swim and reading by the pool. Liliane cooked too much dinner, so we joined them again!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

August 25-27: Nervous …

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I have a few things on my plate at the moment and am feeling nervous. I talked about working methodically but slowly, but if all goes to plan, I’ll have to start doing things much faster! Hopefully I’ll have more information about this by the end of next week. Sorry more can’t be divulged now!

The past few days have been spent at work, catching up with my friend Sonja who’s about to go back to Ethiopia to continue being a doctor, meeting my friend Leonie who’s about to move to Norway, contacting chefs and working on the four stories for my friend’s magazine, and cleaning Liliane and Rene’s house.

Relying on other people to contact me for those stories, when I’m working to a deadline, is making me feel like I’m not in control of what’s going on! I need to take 10 deep breaths, keep plodding along and find some patience. The latter is the tough one.

Here are some photos from yesterday. It was a beautiful day! I met Sonja at the Marzili, the public swimming area right in the centre of Bern, and then came home about 5pm to a lovely mountain panorama.

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Quite a few people were swimming. It was 18.5 degrees in the water

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This lady found a lovely sunny spot. Must remember that!

We thought about going in ... Sonja thought it was ok! But the belly button is always the test!

We thought about going in … Sonja thought it was ok! But the belly button is always the test! No go!

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I managed up to my knees

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So we opted to laze in the sun. Good luck in Ethiopia again, Sonja!

Clear as a bell!

The view from home. Clear as a bell!

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Zoomed in a little bit. The mountain with the mostly black face is the Eiger, then the Mönch to the right, then the Jungfrau

We face south so we get plenty of sunshine. All the mountains that we see face north; the north side of the mountain is considered the coldest (in the northern hemisphere). Brrr …

I weighed myself at Liliane and Rene’s this morning. 65.6kg. I think that might be the lightest I’ve been for a while. Can’t say it’s because of all the exercise I’ve been doing (although walking around London must have helped. The beers not so much …) so I attribute it to the ‘summer diet’. Lots of salads and not much stodge.

One thing I’ve noticed when I come home after cleaning the neighbour’s house is I want to declutter even more at our place! They have many ornaments on display and small objects I have to clean around, and I feel thankful that our place isn’t overloaded with adornments. Just a few well-loved items. Happiness.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

July 16: Vincent-esque

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On my ride home from the city after lunch with Leonie, I finally stopped to take a photo of the new flower field and all the colours. It’s nice, but just doesn’t have the pizazz of the old field – perhaps not seeing the Alps behind makes it somewhat lacklustre?

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The new flower field is blooming well. Lilies and dahlias and glads and sunflowers and …

The wheat is being harvested right now. And I mean right now. It’s just after 10pm and I can hear the machines working overtime. They’ve chopped the tops off and collected the wheat, and the stems remain behind to be made into hay bales. They’re making hay while the moon shines.

I think this scenery would make Vincent van Gogh reach for his brushes, don’t you?

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Blue and yellow – great combination

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Picture perfect. Imagine some swirls in the sky!

I cleaned Liliane and Rene’s house for four hours today. That’s enough fitfor15in15! Whenever I’m at their house, I jump on the bathroom scales – seems I’ve lost another kilo. Unfortunately, the dress I bought in Spain in 2011 still doesn’t fit comfortably. Maybe I should just accept it as a post-Camino memory and move on?!

Tomorrow, Liliane’s 91-year-old mother Hertha arrives. I can’t wait to see her again, she’s a crack up! She called me last Friday to say how much she’s looking forward to visiting. She only lives 35 minutes away, but comes three times a year for a two-to-four-week holiday. Plenty of giggles will be had next week – our last week before we go to Sicily!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

July 9: Girly afternoon

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Sonja, who I met in Paris in 2011, came to visit today. She’s a German orthopedic surgeon who’s been living in Switzerland for 10 years. We haven’t seen each other for about 18 months, if not more, and her company was wonderful medicine!

We drank Aperol Spritzeseses and gas bagged and swam. I didn’t go to work today as we had made these plans a while ago. It really was a great afternoon just hanging out at home.

The doctor was just what the doctor ordered. Brilliant for my mental fitness.

Speaking of doctors, René came home from hospital last night which is good news. I have a feeling he’s not a great patient – very grumpy when he’s told what he can and cannot do!

Can you relate to that too? I know I can!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

June 30: Didn’t that go fast?

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Clear blue skies today and …

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… the moon tonight. It will be a full moon in two days

Leo took this shot of the moon. I hope the skies are as clear on Thursday when it’s full. Loves me a good fullmaaaaoooooooon, I does! 🙂

Will keep this post short today. It was wonderfully warm and sunny, unfortunately a bit too hot for the work Pastora and I did – counting all the karate clothes and moving boxes and things while making the inventory. I rode straight home and jumped in the pool.

Still feel like a kid at Christmas on the bike, even if I was overtaken by an electric bicycle on the flat. (I keep telling myself the man had longer legs than me.) My niece suggested the bike should be named Brad, but I already have a Brad in my life and I’m well and truly over him. So far Bruce is still the leader (not hard seeing as Brad was the only suggestion!).

One of the two new plants, which I promised to mention today, has me stumped. The Celosia venezuela was easy to find because of its magenta prongs, but the second has me baffled. It’s quite tall and could possibly be another Campanula variety? The flowers are a beautiful blue and have very obvious petals. Any takers?

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New plant number one – Celosia venezuela – the magenta spiky one in front of the lavender

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And do you think this is another Campanula variety?

Can’t believe half the year has gone! How would you rate the first half of this year? I’m pretty happy with how it’s gone so far and hope you are too (and hopefully I’ll be struck by ‘exercise lightning’ tomorrow and be back on the bandwagon for the next six months!).

What will I do on December 31? I can’t very well keep a blog titled fitfor15in15 when it’s no longer 2015, can I?! Should have thought about that a bit harder.

I haven’t mentioned the I Quit Sugar program for a few days because I find it boring talking about food, but it’s going well (not perfect) and I’m really watching what goes in. As hot as it was today, I resisted the temptation for ice cream! That’s a win.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

June 27 and 28: Weekend wrap

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Saturday and Sunday served up plenty of sunshine so we made the most of it by being outdoors.

Saturday we worked in the garden and I did some small things around our house and Liliane and Rene’s too. Even though we’d spent the previous evening at dinner together, we all joined forces again in the afternoon for cards and dinner around the pool (for the first time ever, I didn’t lose a game!). I still find it so amazing to only turn the lantern on at 10.30pm.

Today there was an airshow in a neighbouring suburb, so we all stood in the garden and gawped at the heavens, watching the nine small planes do all their spectacular stunts. A forest blocked some of the view, over the Wohlensee, but all the loop-the-loops and high-up action kept us entertained for 20 minutes, and then they just all flew away again. It was almost sad – the way they couldn’t even wave goodbye!

We walked to Lotti’s house for her birthday gathering this afternoon, a good 40-minute wander in the sunshine on the path that I only ‘discovered’ earlier this year, that’s directly behind the house. Once home, a quick dip in the pool and a play on my new toy (see the last photo), ready for tomorrow’s commute to work, and two episodes of House of Cards wrapped it up.

Overall, it was a very social weekend, with maybe not the right sorts of foods consumed (Lotti’s birthday cake and a few other small sweeties) and not enough exercise completed to counteract the beer calories consumed, but wonderful fun.

In case you missed my post from yesterday, please click here to read the latest guest contribution to fitfor15in15, from personal trainer Richard Wheeler. He has some excellent tips, which I will be taking on board, for (re)starting your fitness!

Signing off with a mixture of photos from the week. Some wouldn’t load a few days ago, but most are from this weekend.

Wishing you a wonderful day.

May 31: The World’s Longest Staircase

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In Berner Oberland, a region of the Canton of Bern in Switzerland, lies the Guinness Book of Records’ World’s Longest Staircase.

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Looking back at the terminus, heading straight up. The stairs are to the left of the track

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A glimpse of what’s to come

With 11,674 steps going steeply to the top of the Niesen mountain, you’d be a fool to consider a running race on them, wouldn’t you?! But on June 6, crazies of all ages will huff and puff their way up in the 14th Niesen Stairway Race. I wonder if they ever stop and have a look at the amazing view behind them?

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Somewhere around the middle I think

At all other times, people aren’t allowed to walk on the steps, because the funicular train goes up and down at 15-30 minute intervals – apparently it gets a bit tight in some sections. For any of my hardcore running fans, do you fancy entering in 2016? I’ll cheer you on at the start and have a cold drink waiting at the finish! 🙂

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A clear view on the way down

The funicular was built 1906-1910 and takes you to 2362m. The first section of 2111m takes 14 minutes to complete, with a steepest gradient of 66%. You switch to another train for the second section, which is 1388m long, takes 12 minutes, and has a gradient of 68%.

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Leaving the top station

The Niesen, also called the Swiss Pyramid because of its shape, is about a 45 minute drive south from Bern. We caught the funicular (no surprises there!) to have brunch on top today. It was Leo’s birthday present from our neighbours last year and we were shocked at how full it was! Sunday seems to be a popular day to sit and watch the clouds whiz by. It’s also popular with the paragliders who constantly fly past the viewing platforms and over the restaurant.

Below is a gallery of our photos and here’s a link to the Niesen official photos (some lovely shots in there in clearer weather).

Wishing you a wonderful day.

February 20: A 4km run through the forest

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Sandra ready for her run. Alas we weren’t running together, only in spirit!

After seeing this photo my friend Sandra sent me this morning, I was inspired to go for a run/jog/shuffle too. The weather is amazing – all the windows are open in the house to let the fresh air in, and our jackets are hanging on the clothesline getting an airing. Sandra stepped it up a notch and ran 8km, whereas I settled on my usual 4km track. Maybe when I’m fitter, we’ll go running together?

Seems like quite a few people had the same idea to enjoy the outdoors; I came across three couples and one man out for a stroll. So sweet, seeing the oldies holding hands as they walk in the sunshine. If they’d been eating ice creams on a bench together, I probably would have burst into tears (not sure why, but that gets me every time).

Unfortunately, the icy sections in the forest still haven’t melted. I felt a bit foolish tiptoeing through the dangerous parts (it must look hilarious from a distance) so ended up walking quite a lot, for fear of doing another learner-on-roller-skates impression. Pushing off with the back foot was always the slipperiest part.

And, of course, taking photos slowed me down! I found it hard to get into any kind of rhythm but still managed the 4km in 29 minutes 32 seconds. That’ll do me I say! My third fitfor15in15 run of the year. One bad thing though – as I set off, I realised not one drop of water had passed my lips this morning. I’m making up for it now, guzzling a few litres … in a ladylike manner.

Listening to all the birds and the snow melting has filled me with the joys of spring. It’s supposed to snow again tomorrow and early next week, but today, you wouldn’t believe those weather predictions could come true. Are the seasons changing where you are? I’m feeling for all my Australian friends on the north and east coasts at the moment, suffering in the cyclones. Hope the damages aren’t too bad.

And for something totally different, the sleepy capital city of Switzerland, Bern, came alive yesterday afternoon, thanks to the visiting fans from the Everton Football Club. Their team played Young Boys last night (yes, the football team from Bern is called Young Boys; so odd) in the Europa League and in order to prepare themselves for the match, thousands of fans took over the city. Drinking beer.

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Not sure how they got up there to hang those banners, as I think it’s an office! But they did!

I was meeting my friend Pastora in our favourite bar and we ended up having a hilarious afternoon talking to some of the more refined fans from England’s north – all totally out of the ordinary and very good for the soul. (It was a sad result for Bern and a good one for Everton: 1-4.)

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Pastora with the afternoon’s entertainment – the Everton lads!

Wishing you a wonderful day.