Right near out front door to the apartment block is an overgrown, but lovely, garden bed. And right on the path are some tulips. One white one looked very special yesterday – added colours!
Switzerland
Novelty factor
This morning for breakfast, we had no milk. So I walked to the local supermarket and back.
This short expedition, after living “in the wilderness” for so long, has a high novelty factor – and probably will for a fair while longer.
I was very, very tempted to buy some of the beautiful potted flowers and herbs while there (the shop sells everything from horse blankets to outdoor furniture to baked-on-the-premises bread), but patience is required. The balcony needs to be cleaned before anything else can be added.
A few days ago, I was almost knocked off my feet when leaving the house. The fields nearby had been fertilised and the whole village smelt like a giant cow poo.
Said fields – thankfully less on the nose today! We used to live about a kilometre further behind those houses
Neat rows and blue skies
Wishing you a wonderful day.
The new apartment photo tour
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!
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- A blanket and neck pillow, along with a sudoku book and pen, live in the hammock, ready at all times!
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- The hammock lives in my office. I love it. Call me a swinger; see if I care!
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- Desk and drawers, from where all the ditties are delivered and divided
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- Candles and lights, trying to be zen
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- I may take the postcard board away … unsure … I like the distraction of colours and memories so it will probably stay
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- A few of my favourite things
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- The little bottle of nice smellies hidden at the back is definitely one of my favourite things
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- Had my first bath today, since my niece’s in Melbourne, November 2014. Delish!
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- 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!
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- The divider between the rooms. Cleaning two basins? No problem!
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- The hall outside the bathroom, with the linen cupboard and entrance to my office at the end
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- 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
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- Shoes and coats, with hats and gloves in the white boxes
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- 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
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- A nice space for Leo to create more paintings hopefully!
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- 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
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- Looking from the front door towards the kitchen, dining room, living room and balcony
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- Love the big windows in the lounge area
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- Can’t wait to cook pizzas in the wooden stove
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- Oh hello skylight and plants up there!
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- Standing near the balcony door looking towards the kitchen
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- We have the space to keep the table extended now. Our drinks cabinet is an ex CD unit.
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- Looking from inside the kitchen through the peep hole to the dining room
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- From one end of the kitchen
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- And the other end of the kitchen
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- Looking from the kitchen door down to the guest room with Leo’s office and the front door on the right
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- 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
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- 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
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- The gallery is a nice place to sit. I am planning a cactus and succulent garden for Leo
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- Looking from the gallery into the lounge. How very 80s!
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- Practical storage and a skylight which goes into the kitchen. Makes it much lighter in there
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- Downstairs has red stripes in the tiles, upstairs has yellow accents. I like how we matched the bath towels to the Listerine colour 😉
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- The open shower and towel-warming rail. I always wanted one of those
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- Our bedroom
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- Strange built-in wooden bench makes for a nice display space. I’m happy to keep it clear
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- Creatures bring colour
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- The window to the Alps
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- 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
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- 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!
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- I want to make the end wall into a vertical garden with herbs etc
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- 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.
Warm and cool glow
Being a relative newbie in Switzerland (I think the locals consider you to be a newbie even after 20 years, let alone four), I still get a kick out of snow. It’s finally started to hang around, and combined with the welcome sunshine these past few days, it produces some lovely light.
Yesterday morning I took photos about 8.45am, with a warm glow bathing the Stöckli, and today I ventured out at 11.15am when it was clear and bright. I like both lights; they have a certain (but very different) mood that is pleasing. Warm and cool.
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- Warm …
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- Could have done without the electrician’s van!
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- Not quite ready to pack away these happy faces
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- Golden glow
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- Cool …
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- Crisp and fresh
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- Blue skies add another dimension
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- Untouched, powdery surrounds
The countdown to the house move has well and truly begun … I’m still making the most of every minute.
Do you prefer warm and cosy or cool and crisp?
Wishing you a wonderful day.
April 26: Strolling in the neighbourhood
Like a couple of old wanderers, Leo and I walked around the neighbourhood this afternoon for more than an hour. I have to admit it was at a very relaxed pace.
(Writing ‘walking in the neighbourhood’ reminds me of this Sesame Street classic. And can you believe? People think kale is something new and funky but here it is mentioned in … what … the mid 1970s?! Love Bob too.)
Back to the walk … We went to the tulip field, up the hill to visit the cows at my favourite farmhouse, said hello to what felt like half the village during peak hour in the forest, then along the horse trail, past fields of Urdinkel, into the neighbouring village, patted the little horses and up through the fields to home.
All in all, a very nice way to spend the afternoon before the rains came. Tonight we chowed down on Leo’s lasagne and started a new TV series called Bloodline. This is much more to my liking than Braquo. I am a major Kyle Chandler fan, which helps.
- Physically Fit: A leisurely wander
- Mentally Fit: A leisurely wander; saying hello to all the animals
- Nutritionally Fit: Last of the chocolate cake and too much lasagne
- Minimalism: A leisurely wander. It really does tick all boxes other than food.
Here are some photos from the walk.
Wishing you a wonderful day.
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- The older tulips are more colourful …
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- than the newer tulips …
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- The rows are so neat!
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- I’ve never seen this before – twin tulips from the one stalk and four from one plant!
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- Last one I promise
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- Love hearing the cow bells as you walk around the fields
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- I think this will soon be wheat
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- I think that’s the Eiger (mountain) poking through the clouds
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- So many dandelions. The fields were green and gold
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- It looks quiet but all the bees sounded like motorbikes on a racetrack
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- Favourite working farm
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- New calves back there. So sweet
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- Into the woods we go …
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- Sunshine on white flowers in the dark forest
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- The little white flowers made a lush carpet
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- Love the moss that grows up the tree trunks
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- Sun on the water was making moving patterns on the exposed tree roots
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- This field is growing Urdinkel, which is used in bread and beer
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- Looking across to Meikirch
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- Yellow is everywhere on the walk … even on this birch
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- Stopped in Möriswil to pat this little chap
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- Can you believe there are tulips in someone’s garden! Look like roses
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- This time more yellow, in a traditional tulip
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- Not a great shot of a beautiful magnolia tree. The person’s garden was covered in petals
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- Wanted a photo of the angry ram. He was camera shy
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- On the path to our house
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- This guy was huge
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- Time to appreciate the colour in my garden
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- These tulips started white and are now an amazing pink. End of today’s tour!
April 15: New 20-minute HIIT routine with a happy trainer
I chose today’s workout because of the trainer’s magical striped socks! How cool are they?! It’s called Burn 200 Calories in 20 Minutes (I don’t care so much about the calorie element) and it turned out to be no easy-peasy, candy-coloured workout. Sweat was dripping and I couldn’t do all the exercises properly.
The push up inch worm ones were especially tough and my balance was really out of whack on the lunge to knee lifts. Overall, I really enjoyed this workout and look forward to doing it again, and going deeper into those lunges. It’s a great beginners-intermediate HIIT routine and at the end, the instructor was also feeling exhausted, which is pretty cool – it shows she’s human! And she had an infectious fun outlook during the whole routine.
Right now, I’m in the library in Langgasse using the free wifi on my iPad. I still haven’t worked out where the exclamation mark is, so from now on you’ll be spared the excitement.
Part of my Christmas present from Leo was a membership at the Kornhaus Bibliotek (library) in Bern. I hadn’t been an active member of a library for years and it was strange how comforting it was to walk back through the compacted rows of books. Today’s the first time I’ve come in here to work *in inverted commas but I don’t know where they are on this tiny detachable keyboard either. And now I can’t find that star again to close the train of thought. The first one was a fluke. Grrr …
Do you have a library you regularly use? I’ve found books I’d normally never look for, which has its pros and cons of course. Not all of them have been winners. See the Books section in the top menu for book reviews. I’ll be adding another one tomorrow.
Free libraries are popping up in unexpected places, but not everyone seems happy about them. A free library is a box on the corner with a “take me or swap me” sign on it. Would you like a free library in your area? Should they be allowed to be free? Here’s a story about them being banned and here’s a lovely story from Free Our Kids about one that is thriving.
I met Claudia for lunch today and stayed in the city to meet Sandra for a drink after she finishes work. The sun is outrageously glorious again – I’ll post photos when I get home tonight. Here are today’s photos:
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- Off I go, to the bus …
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- Looking back towards our house …
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- Past freshly ploughed fields …
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- Leaving the field and coming into Oberwohlen …
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- Where there are horses …
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- And nice old houses along the Wanderweg path …
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- And I was happy with my two purple blooms …
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- Looking up into Oberwohlen … this road goes to our house …
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- Looking down towards Wohlen …
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- Here’s the honesty box grocery store …
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- Slow speed limit through here …
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- No cows out today …
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- Walking into Wohlen …
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- The council office and bus stop …
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- The bustling metropolis of Wohlen bei Bern
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- Claudia relaxing in the sunshine …
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- Bern is a university town. Everyone outside enjoying the sun …
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- Not a bad place to have a beer! And that’s the end of today’s tour
- Physically Fit: Today’s workout; walking to the bus
- Mentally Fit: Meeting Claudia and Sandra; being in the library
- Nutritionally Fit: A healthy day until this evening’s beers
- Minimalism: Using the library for travel guidebooks and novels
Wishing you a wonderful day. Now … where’s that exclamation mark?
April 6: Walking the favourite new path again
A very late post – again – because we binge-watched more episodes of ‘The Killing’ TV series on Netflix – again. My eyes are popping out of my head as I type this, but we’ve finished season one! Yay. (Where’s the bed?!)
It turned out to be another sunny, cold and windy day today, so we decided to walk the new path behind the property again. The first time we walked, and ‘discovered’, this path, there was still plenty of snow, but now it’s all gone and the grass is a sweet green.
A well-decorated house made our jaws drop. Last time it had Christmas decorations everywhere, but we didn’t have a look at the actual exhibition. Today, we checked out the Easter offering, and I’m glad we did, because I won’t forget it in a hurry. Wow. How many years would it have taken to collect it all?
The round trip took just over an hour, I think. Our favourite restaurant wasn’t open, so we didn’t stop for a soft drink on the way home. Three men were playing boules in the gravel pit and kids were using the swings, so despite being closed, it still felt alive.
Here are a few photos.
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- They say blue and green should never be seen without a colour in between …
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- On the first walk this was a Christmas house, but now it has an Easter exhibition … which is quite OTT …
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- How’s that for some Easter decorating?!
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- There was a whole garden devoted to Easter too. Those big material wrapped things against the house are giant eggs
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- What a lovely garden party setting!
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- Glasshouse and eggs
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- The garden from the reverse angle
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- These coloured balls looked like eggs perched high
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- No, it’s not real chocolate!
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- Can you see your future in the crystal ball? Ok, I know it’s not crystal ..
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- This is another angle of the entrance. Amazing! Slightly insane also, but still eye-popping!
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- Looking back to the house (on the right) which had the exhibition
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- A beautiful day for boules, playing on the swings, and Swiss Alp spotting
We’re off on a driving holiday to the Alsace region (the capital is Strasbourg where we went for my birthday) on the border of France and Germany. We liked it so much we thought we’d spend a few more days there, exploring and walking. I hope to have time to write a post or two. Never fear, I’ll be doing my exercises too!
Wishing you a wonderful day … and maybe a wonderful few days.
March 28: Sightseeing and the 7-Minute Workout
Tonight at 8.30pm, wherever you are, is Earth Hour. Do you ‘celebrate’ Earth Hour by turning your lights off at home and having a romantic evening with candles, for one hour? We’ll be at Eve and Paul’s house, so won’t be celebrating at home, if at all! Next year hopefully.
Sunshine and a free day were enough to push us out the door to go exploring, with a drive to the area around the Lake of Biel, and a small village called Erlach. You can reach St Peters Island from Erlach (we walked out there with our friend, Liz, in 2013 when it was covered in snow) but the town itself is also worth a visit.
Nearly all the snow’s gone from low-lying areas now, but it did look like there was some fresh stuff on the westerly mountain range near Neuchatel. It’s still such a spin out when I see mountains like that, and even more wonderful knowing that another country is on the other side. We joked about going to France for the day. For Australians, that sounds so decadent, but in reality it’s like driving from Sydney to Wollongong, or Brisbane to the Sunshine Coast.
We walked around the village of Erlach for about an hour, but I still wanted to do a fitfor15in15 workout. Even though we leave for Eve and Paul’s soon, there’s a workout that’s easy and effective that gets the job done – The 7-Minute Workout. Do it twice, with a minute of jogging or skipping on the spot, and the workout is done! When time is tight, you can still do something to raise your heart rate. No excuses!
Wishing you a wonderful day (oh the bliss of having the Internet at home again! This is a ‘simple thing in life’ which is grander than I would ever thought I’d want it to be!)
And here are some photos from our sightseeing trip to Erlach (where I also had the best rhubarb pastry with vanilla custard that I’ve ever eaten, yummo!)
Update: I’m posting this at 12.22am. The photos didn’t upload in time before we went to Eve and Paul’s, so it’s being sent now. No time to write detailed descriptions, sorry. Had a great night (no lights were dimmed for Earth Hour) and we laughed a lot. I even managed a joke or wisecrack (or two) in German, which makes me happy.
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- Here’s a little journey through the village of Erlach near the Lake of Biel in Switzerland. Easter is in a week and the Swiss love a good decoration or two, no matter what the season!
March 14: Five-hour walk from Aarberg to Wohlen bei Bern
Apologies for this late post … we had an internet issue last night and nothing would send, nothing would upload, nothing would save … and after a few hours of frustration, nothing could stop me muttering “I’ll just have to do it tomorrow.”
So, a day late, here’s what we did yesterday …
After Tuesday’s walk into town with Pastora and Iva, Leo was also keen to get back into the walking swing. We did some walks in winter, but not many of length, so with the sun trying to shine (and a chilly two degrees to start the day) we caught the bus just after 9am to Aarberg, a beautiful little village further along the Aare river.
Unfortunately we didn’t go into the old town centre, so I have no photographic proof of how quaint Aarberg really is – we just walked straight off the bus onto the path to Wohlen. I’ll do a photo post about Aarberg in summer, when the trees in the main square have leaves. (*oops, didn’t manage to do that!)
There are many different wanderweg trails from Aarberg to our house, but we chose to go through Lobsigen, Baggwilgraben, Elemoos, Wahlendorf, Meikirch, Uetligen and then home. A surprise change of plans meant we ended up walking through Lobsigen, Baggwilgraben, Elemoos, Wahlendorf then Sariswil and home.
And what a lovely excuse it was – a Bernese mountain dog became our guide through the forest just after Elemoos. She became totally overexcited when we met her, and ran to the path to lead the way. It was like she knew what to do, so we thought she was walking home and encouraging us to follow her. She kept turning back and checking if we were still there and then running ahead, on the exact path we were planning to walk. Then she’d run back to us for a pat. When I was deleting old photos off my phone because the memory was full, she ran down to see what was holding me up, and barking as if to say “Come on, hurry up, what’s keeping you, let’s go!” The surprise and comfort of walking with a dog was so sweet, even though we kept encouraging her to go home.
Turns out her name is Luna and home was where we first met her, when the track dissected some farm buildings. We found this out from the closest vet surgery, in Sariswil, where we went to get her microchip checked. The vet said Bernese mountain dogs love company and love to explore. Her owners were on a day-trip to the ski fields, so she adopted us as her family for the afternoon to keep her entertained. Oh, the lovely Luna. The vet waited with her until someone, arranged by the family, came to take her home. She was unsettled as we left, and I was too. Really makes me want a dog even more!
All up, a great day. We saw so many animals – dogs, cats, horses, sheep, goats, ducks, cows, chickens …
So enough from me, I’ll let the photos tell the rest of the story. I think the internet crashed last night because I tried to upload so many!
Wishing you a wonderful day.
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- Straight from the bus/train stop and onto the Wanderweg
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- There’s a big sugar factory in Aarberg, and I’m sure these fields across the road grow sugar beets
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- The sign on the right says we’re coming up to the factory
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- Follow the yellow away from this mess and into the hills
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- Off the sugar mill access road at last
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- Sweet house on the way up
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- Gimme some sugar! On overview of the sugar mill
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- Leo surveying the mess below
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- This dog didn’t want us coming on his land!
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- And he made sure we walked on past his road
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- I love these yellow signs. Shame about my finger in the top corner!
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- Go this way!
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- Farmer in the field
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- You can see the Aare river on the right in the distance
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- We walked into the sun which made for some not so great photos. We walked over the mountain range
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- Liking this landscape
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- The old and the new, half and half
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- Home sweet home for someone small
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- Stairway to heaven? No, a ladder which goes into the water drain below it. There must be a very extensive underground irrigation system here!
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- Walking into the village of Lobsigen
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- He’d just finished having a big drink of water
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- A grand looking entrance to a farmhouse in Lobsigen
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- Need to find the name of these purple beauties so I can plant some for next spring
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- No adults are able to park their bikes here at the schoolhouse!
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- A timber yard right in the middle of the tiny village
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- The Lobsigen School
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- Old tractors were littered all over this place. All for spares?
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- The goats saw us and all ran away!
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- They settled down the bottom, in safety
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- Across the road from the goats were the sheep
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- Looking back to Lobsigen and Leo taking photos of the goats
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- Love the old water troughs
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- The goat and sheep property also sold honey
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- This house had the goat, sheep and honey business
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- This black sheep sounded hilarious, warning us to move on … or else!
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- Mum and two bub goats
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- The baby goats were so cute and sprightly
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- Hello babies!
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- Dad looking proud
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- After the goats we walked uphill to be greeted by this lovely house
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- Everything was so well maintained and neat
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- The path continued up past the house
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- An electric feeling
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- It’s always surprising to see where the snow and ice hangs around the longest
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- This fire pit has a dragon sculpture attached. Must look a treat when it’s lit!
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- I disturbed these two from their sunny patch as we walked past the house
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- They moved in such similar patterns, Leo said they were like synchronised swimmers
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- These snow bell flowers are called Schneeglöckchen and grow in random patches at the end of winter/start of spring
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- This is with my new macro lens (x10)
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- And this is with macro x15
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- For me they symbolise happiness and light. Bring on spring!
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- Around this corner, we were greeted by a big dog
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- This working farm could be the dog’s domain?
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- Meeting the dog for the first time. Little did we know what was about to happen …
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- Pat my belly, you know you want to!
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- Here, follow me, because I know the way and you’re going to love it!
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- Looking back down the path the dog had just run up
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- A rustic old bench to admire the view. Leo suggested sitting for lunch but I was worried we’d break it
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- The view from the rustic bench
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- But a few seconds later we found another bench and stopped. I had to admire Leo’s Swissness – neither of us had checked the watch and it was bang on midday. Most of the Swiss break for lunch at midday
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- Our new friend is sitting on my foot as I eat sandwiches. She didn’t beg, she was just happy to stay close
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- She was very happy to hang with us
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- We’ve walked up this big wooden tower, which on a clear day has amazing 360 degree views to the Alps and several lakes
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- After having a few snippets of salami, she happily moved away to let us finish
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- She was so excited when we stood up, she barked and jumped up and then raced off ahead
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- Follow that dog into the forest!
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- Love seeing sunshine stream through trees
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- She would lead the way then come back and check on us
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- One more sunny shot
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- Stop taking so many photos. Hurry up!
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- Keep coming people!
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- This house on top of the hill before you walk down to Wahlendorf is our favourite
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- Lovely front yard but alas only a view of the village, not of the Alps
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- I wonder if the house on the hill is admired by all the Wahlendorf residents?
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- This is how close the house is to the finish of that lovely forest section
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- She waited patiently while we admired the house and took photos …
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- … and then ran off like a crazy woman as soon as we started walking again, leaping around the fields and having a great time
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- Cows in Wahlendorf. We stopped here and asked at the village restaurant if anyone knew the dog, thinking she might live here. No one did, so we said we’d take her to the vet in the next village
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- These would have to be very happy chickens in all this space
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- Just checking to make sure everyone’s ok …
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- Looking down to Sariswil with Möriswil half way up the next hill. The gap in the treeline on the ridge far right is the road leading to our house
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- Love the twin looks in this pic! But it wouldn’t be long before we’d be in Sariswil to find her rightful owners. Sad!
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- We walked freely on the country roads
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- But on the main road of Sariswil we had to hold her tight
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- More blooms in a garden on the main road
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- An ornate garden waiting for spring
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- Leo and the dog crossing the road to school
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- While waiting for the vet to arrive, I made sure we had lots of cuddles
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- The vet told us her name was Luna, she was four years old and she lived … where we met her. She definitely wasn’t in the mood to stay at home today!
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- Leaving the vets, we walked straight up the street into Möriswil
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- One of the two rooftop barns in Möriswil with access ramps over the road
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- One of two cats we saw on the walk
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- These lambs were really playful
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- This special fertiliser gets piled up next to the fields, ready to use. It steams in the heat and smells pretty bad
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- A man working alone in the fields, trimming trees
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- Less than 300m ’til home
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- I went straight home and Leo walked back into Wohlen to collect the car. The plan had been to walk to the car from another direction but the vet’s was so close to home it made sense to go straight there
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- The woodpile near home from another angle and another path to our house
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- You can see the back of the big farmhouse
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- Back onto the property
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- Back to the little Stöckli
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- Back to the owners’ dog Boy … who only has eyes for the ball! Oh, don’t worry Boy, we still love you too
The first woodpecker for 2015
At the beginning of my morning routine (10 minutes of meditation and five minutes of stretching), I lost concentration on my breath for a few minutes because of a wonderful sound.
The woodpecker is back! He or she lives somewhere in the forest behind the house. Spotting him/her has always been impossible, so I have no idea which species it is. According to Wikipedia, there are quite a few different varieties of woodpeckers in Switzerland.
I’d like to think it’s this one, because it’s so pretty!
Photo credit: “RO B Carol Park green woodpecker crop” by Andrei Stroederivative work: Amada44. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:RO_B_Carol_Park_green_woodpecker_crop.jpg#/media/File:RO_B_Carol_Park_green_woodpecker_crop.jpg
The sporadic sound, like gunfire, is surprisingly quite soothing. That’s a nice way to start Friday the 13th, don’t you think? Maybe later I could sit somewhere in the forest with binoculars and … no, no …
fitfor15in15 ... and further 
