Snow and a whole lot of sewing......

The snow has been falling since I woke up this morning, but I think it may be easing off now. There was a Chlausmarkt in the Kursaal, and I donned the many layers, and off I went in the blizzard. 

Half the village was there, and they were selling bratwurst and melted cheese on bread (divine) outside as well. Sammi Klaus was due to make an appearance this afternoon, but I was home before he appeared. I walked around the many stalls about 3 times, and there were some really interesting items. I have to say, my recession heaters would make me a fortune, because the local equivalent, on a couple of stalls, starts at CHF15 and rises to CHF35. And they were nowhere near as classy as mine (she says, without any guilt at all). And my mother could make even more of a fortune selling her mountain of crochet blankets. Scarves cost an arm and a leg, and in fact, everything was really expensive, and people were buying. 

This is excellent, you see, because, quite clearly, the buyers recognise the value of hand-made items. This is not something that happens where I live. I remember one lady objecting to paying more than 50p for something which took me hours to make a long time ago. I saw some gorgeous hand spun yarn, and would have bought some, but I couldn't afford CHF27 for 100g. Sigh. So I didn't buy anything, although the fresh cinnamon rolls were calling my name.

I resisted.

So I came home to make more doll's clothes for Billy. Marge and I were on a roll last night, and he acquired some pyjamas, a couple of tops made from socks and another jacket with a hood - and some socks. Today, he has acquired 2 sweaters made from socks, a sweatshirt and a pair of long shorts and a dressing gown. To go with his pjs.

It is amazing what one sock can morph into, isn't it!

I think he is now adequately prepared for the cold weather.

Now Marge and I have to do the inventories and sit and chat for the rest of the evening. I have just been out, wading through the snow to take some photos of me in my rocking chair (the metal version). It was more difficult than I thought it would be with mountains of snow through which the metal me plummeted. Sigh.

 The real me sank as well. 

The snow stopped so I got all kitted out again and went to take just a few more (98 actually) photos in the snow. I love all the icicles! And the snow-blown patterns on the fencing as well.

Switzerland is so beautiful.

The sun shone..........

Oh, what a glorious day it is today - sun, snow and blue skies. It is also, of course, freezing, and I have been thawing on and off all day, because the sun moves and I see new perspectives, and out my camera, stick, snow boots, coat, gloves, neck thingy and I go. It is icy in places, so the going is slow, but there was so much I wanted to capture, and so it was totally worth the thawing process. That part is not pleasant.

I know I have said before that what I love about here is the number of people out, young and old, all doing things. The car parks are all full and there were also 25 coaches in the mountain car park as I walked past. That was 25 at that particular moment. Through the day there will have been hundreds. Families outdoors. Walking, toboganing, skiing, you name it. No sitting in front of the TV or computer here.

There is really no need for words, is there? Just enjoy the photos today. I am off to hang up the washing and then see if brother-in-law is finished cleaning the kitchen (he is a master chef, remember) and then I will make myself some coffee and sew something. I can't right now because he defrosted the fridge and the contents are around the sewing machine. Oh well. Maybe I can find some chocolate.......

The snow stopped.....

Hello from the Alps once again......

The snow has stopped and it is a little warmer (scratch that, I just went outside), so I wonder how long it will last now. I wanted to get photos of the sun shining on the snow,  so I was out quite early, but the cloud hasn't cleared the mountain top just yet. Maybe tomorrow. I will try again then.

Right behind that tall tree in the middle of the picture, is my sister's home. You can't see it here. I am this very minute, looking out of the window at that tall tree. Beautiful does not begin to describe this place. The inside of the house is still in evolutionary phase. Winter and Christmas decorations are being placed everywhere, but we all had an epic fail this morning, when none of us saw the (collective noun) of penguins in the hall. Marge was less than happy with our miserable powers of observation. OH GOOD GRIEF - I just looked up the collective noun for penguins and there are FIVE. What is this world coming to?? Colony, creche, huddle, parcel, rookery. I would say colony. What would you say? 

There is the Benedictine monastery and school. 

The ski jump.That thing is appallingly steep. I think it is the only one built on a real hill - mountain side in Europe. I think. 

Some snow has started slipping already. This was early this morning, so it had nothing to do with temps then, believe me. It must have been weight. 

Waiting for the mountain top to appear. It didn't. Missy's swing is rather packed with snow, and look, Missy, your little house is all snowy too! That is how snowy it got while under cover. 

So there you are.....today's helping of Alpine charm. The pathways are lethal at the moment, because all the snow has been scraped off by the enthusiastic snow removal people, who are Rulers Of The Roads here. So I have been tottering about very gingerly. Give me a foot of snow to plod through and I am fine. Ice? Forget it. My stick does have its rubber sock removed now, so the spike helps a little.

I spent a fascinating afternoon drying out a huge ice cream freezer in the garage which had been turned off, and then repacking it with an entire garage full of tupperware and other assorted plastic things. That meant finding lids and matching them all up and then stacking them all back in the chest freezer in a space efficient manner.  Lids are like socks. They seem to multiply and can anyone tell me why, if there is a huge bag of lids hanging up there, we can't find one to fit a large container? 

Ah well. Now it is time to flop into a chair and zone out in front of TV. I can manage that. 

And the snow still falls.........................

Well, I did say that it was snowing, didn't I? 

It has not stopped. The world is white this morning, and the snow blowers and snowplows have been out and are still out clearing the roads and paths and life simply goes on as normal, if a little slower.

There is no sun, of course, because the white stuff is still blowing about, but a monochrome world can be beautiful too.We went down the mountain at a snail's pace because you had to, and the snowplows (ploughs - both work in the dictionary although I lean toward the plough myself!) were ahead of us. Everyone here has winter tyres on their cars, and Marge and Peter's car is a 4 wheel drive too, but we were almost down the mountain when Marge, who was driving, announced that she NEVER goes down when the roads are like this. She coped perfectly. The next time I go down the mountain, I will be on my way home. Sigh. 

So, we spent a few hours in another shopping centre, and had breakfast there. It is lovely to see all the different Christmas stuff, and we always look at the toys and assorted Missy-kind of things. She is growing up so quickly, and we are skipping about trying to keep up with her new ideas of play time. We love it. 

So, after a trip to Lidl for essential greenery of the food variety, we set off up the mountain, and it was even slower coming up, because there were coaches ahead. This one we crawled past, had not put on its chains, so had to stop and all the passengers had to get out and stand in the snow while the driver sorted that ridiculous oversight. You do not bring coachloads of people up steep and windy mountain roads with hairpin bends without chains when it is snowing hard. 

And it is snowing down the mountain too, so there was no excuse. Sometimes, the road up is closed to all except 4 wheel drive cars and those with chains. 

And we are back up in the valley safely. I used the mega snow shovel to clear the drive a little after we got back. The snow is easy to move, but not after you compact it with a full car. Then, in a saintly fashion, I announced that I was going to go out and take snow pictures. "You have to, don't you", said my sister, as she carried on unpacking winter...........

Some of the soft snowmen and reindeer looking out at the snow on the balcony off the lounge. They will all be in place before the day is out. Neither Marge nor I got to bed before 1.30am. The crash will occur tomorrow morning, when we can laze in our beds for as long as we like. Thank heavens - I can't stand the pace! 

The garden is now blanketed with snow and you cannot see any mountains at all. So just imagine them in the background.

Remember the photo I took yesterday? This is what it looks like today.

The ski jump is starting to look really good now, as well.

And here is another shot of the Kurpark, like yesterday's one, only very different with the piles of snow!

To Marge and Peter, this is normal. I wonder if it would ever become normal to me? I really doubt it. I just want to be out there walking about in it, even though that probably sounds crazy to those of you so used to it. There are only a few days left of our stay now, and I want to imprint it all on the memory, and capture it on camera, so that I can take it all out and turn it over in my mind, and remember. 

But there is so much to look forward to as well, of course! 

I thought last night of something I meant to tell you all, and now I cannot for the life of me remember what it was. This happens far too often. Oh yes, now I remember. I am still reading John Ortberg's Who is This Man? and I know I mentioned it to you ages ago. It is a really fascinating book, but not light reading. Anyway, I am nearly at the end, and he quoted someone - I forget who right now- who said that the 2 greatest revolutions in the history of man have been farming and Jesus. I knew that the world had pivoted with the life of Jesus, but farming was not something I had ever thought of at all. 

Don't you love it when someone says something and a light bulb goes off in the brain and you have the a-ha! Eureka! moment yourself? 

Of course farming changed man from hunter gathers to plonk yourself down and build a community kind of people. The world changed as building began. Communities were born. Discoveries made, machines invented, social interaction became more complex and the world changed forever. Societies were formed.

 A discovery was made that if you drop or lose one seed, instead of loss, you will gain so much more when it grows into a new plant, a tree, food. Seeds in and of themselves are useless. 

Once you start thinking about it you realise any number of spin-offs which had their birth in those days. Fascinating, isn't it? 

The seed leads me to the next profound point John Ortberg made. The seed has to die for something to be born from it. The seed has to die for fruit to be born. The Son of Man had to die for the world to be saved. The seed, the son. 

He says it all so much better than I do, of course. But it is worth pondering. 

It has taken me ages to read it. It takes ages to read anything, and I keep falling asleep and forgetting what I have just read, but some things stick. So writing them down here may help me to remember. 

And now I need to go and put on the winter cushion covers and position Marge's herd of reindeer who flew out of the loft last night. 

PS: it is still snowing................

I said it would snow.................

SEE????

I said snow was due, didn't I? I was right. It started falling gently before lunch and hasn't really stopped since then. At times heavy and at times not, so we will see what morning brings. It certainly looks very white out there, and I am SO glad it started snowing before I left. Mind you, I see Engelberg is due snow tomorrow, Friday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday...........

It is possible to have a little too much snow. But I will be enjoying it for now.

These photos were taken early afternoon today, after my brother-in-law and I had made two trips down the mountain to the cash and carry to return bottles and vegetable boxes from the restaurant. 

Life is fascinating around here. 

Do you know how frustrating it is to have to zap through the C&C at speed when I really wanted to check out prices and look at everything??? I managed to pop some chocolate into the trolley, which could have carried an entire family lying flat, it was so huge. (And impossible to steer.) A cultural lesson, I feel. 

Now.

Remember those muddy photos of the preparations for the World Ski Jumping in December? It is starting to look like ski jumping weather.

And if you check back at yesterday's photos, you will see how much they have already managed to install. Some of the seating, tents, flooring, other things. I will show you what it looks like just before I go. I am sure there will be more to see by then! 

Do you know that it is possible to tar a road in the middle of a snowfall? I wonder if the British road workers are aware of this. I should have taken a photo of the workmen in the road this afternoon. Mind you, if they stopped work every time it snowed, they would be resting the feet in front of a fire for 6 months of the year here. They may not be able to afford fires in that case. The Swiss are a hardy lot.

This is the Kurpark with the first dusting of snow. I was on the way to the Co-op to buy the bread and milk.Trudging through the snow with my stick and shopping bag with the ancient black coat with the hood over the head...... I know you have the exact idea in your mind of the picture I made.......

I do think that the locals were a bit amused by the fact that I thought their snow shovels were worthy of photographing. These are not piddly little things we see in the UK either. Serious snow moving stuff. I know. I have used them here before. Remember the ice bashing with David last year? Well, he did the bashing and I watched. With the camera. 

And then I wandered over to meet Marge along the river. Hasn't the scene changed? It just looks so lovely in all seasons. To me, anyway. 

So we have snow.

 And now on to the delight I had reading all your comments this morning! Thank you all for taking the time to say hi from all over the place. I know how hard it is to try and find the time to comment and I really appreciate seeing all your names pop up. Such fun! Susan, I really miss knowing the other Susan is not in Switzerland any more. It was always so lovely to know she was here, and I loved meeting her. In fact, meeting up with blogging friends has been wonderful, in my experience. 

All of you - Tigger, Lindie, Isabelle, Sam, Linda, Susan, Vee, Bookworm, Retha, Debbie, Sandra, Helen - some "old" friends, and some new, you are so very welcome here. And that applies to the others out there too, of course. 

My sister has just announced that Autumn will be packed away and Christmas will be put up in the next couple of days. A Decree.  I will endeavour to fight my way out from under the strings of lights and trees (there are a few trees here) and towers of boxes and emerge at the computer to report all. I will be the one wearing baubles over the ears and looking a trifle dishevelled. 

Oh wait - that is my normal attire........

Sprechen-ing Deutsch and ski-jumps.........

Hello, and a special welcome to the lovely ladies who comment here - it is such a delight to read your thoughts, and to think of you reading mine too. I wonder, sometimes, about the hundred or so who come and visit most days but leave without chatting. Who, where, why??? Well, I know the where, but not the who. But you are all very welcome, of course!

Today has been a white day. No, not snow, but that is coming tomorrow, I gather from Those Who Know These Things. No. Fog. Pea soup kind of fog. So thick you cannot see anything a few feet ahead of you. (It is still out there.) And I drove my brother-in-law down the mountain for an appointment through this fog. As we set off, I told him that if we went at 2 miles an hour, that would be JUST FINE. However, there was a sensible, well lit landrover ahead, so that made things slightly easier. Hah. We got there and back without mishap, and I even managed to find my way to the shopping centre in search of a replacement for a thing from the innards of the steam cleaner, which gave up the ghost earlier today. (Past children in white cloaks ringing cowbells. I assume in preparation for Sammi Klaus next week.) 

My stick and I marched up to the man at enquiries and asked, in German, if he spoke English. Nein. Ok, Ich sprechen Deutsch, I announced, and then - THEN, I proceeded to tell him the problem, find out that a replacement would take 10 days, discuss guarantees and check out the price of a new one all in German, if you please. I was on a roll. We had a real conversation, and he understood me. I understood him, and I left clutching the name of an emergency repairman if I needed it sooner.

Go, me!

Such an accomplishment, I tell you. AND to top it all, I found my way back to pick up brother-in-law, and we toddled back up the mountain into the white world. Hairpin bends and all.

So I am feeling rather pleased with myself.

AND - there is more - my sister arrived back from her seminar where she had to do a presentation and she hates public speaking with a passion, and she absolutely aced it. The management expert who was training the staff, said that she had set the bar really high. She went first. Well, that was an even greater relief, because I have been her trainer in the evenings, and her presentation was interspersed with the word "BREATHE" in red now and then. I know how hard it was for her, and I am SO proud of her!

She remembered to breathe.

See? More pink poles along the river. The river looks so calm and innocent, doesn't it - it is winter, so up the mountain, it is all snow and not rain. But I remember the devastating floods a few years ago which tore through my sister's house. So I keep an eagle eye on it. On the left is the fence around the Sportshalle, just over the road from my sister's place. And just on the right, is the ski jump.

It doesn't look like much right now, but in just 2 weeks, on the 16th I think, the World Cup Ski  Jumping Championships come to town, and the world will be watching those crazy tiny men whizz down that massive hill, and launch themselves into the air once again. They come every year. Check your TV stations and see if you can watch a little while, imagining my sister's house at the bottom of it all!

The mud, we will ignore. The snow is coming tomorrow, remember. The construction of the stands and tents and all the rest has begun. I have never paid to watch this, understand, I have stood on Marge's balcony and watched for free!

Now, tell me, is this not totally SWISS? Just wait until the snow falls, hopefully before I fly away, because I will show you some more. Let me know if you have had enough!

And the inventories go on. We have 2 more days to finish it all, and then I can breathe. BREATHE. 

I will be back. 

Little red trains, reflections and inventories..............

The village is ready for the winter season and that means snow. All over the place, on paths in the forest, along the river, round the lake, everywhere, you will see these poles. They indicate the edge of paths for when the snow comes. Believe me, it really arrives in piles. This particular pink topped pole is about my height and I am 5 ft 6 inches in old terms. I may, of course, have started shrinking height wise. The rest of me is resisting all attempts to shrink. 

Sigh.

I have a vision in my head of someone being hired to dip the ends of thousands of poles into pink paint. 

I was trying to be artistic with this photo. Actually, the place is riddled with enormous yellow or red cranes working on building projects, which are ruining my photos. There is one just to the left of this photo which I concealed behind the tree. Now if they painted them green it would be easier for them to blend into the scenery. Or white for when the snow arrives. This is Switzerland. I wonder why they haven't thought of that yet??

I managed to take a photo of this duck before they all took to the water to get away from me. I just love the way it is standing on a tiny rock so it looks almost as if it is standing on the water. 

The little red train has grown up. It now has a very large engine, and is 4 times as long. It also doesn't go on cogs slowly up the mountain. Instead, it snakes its way speedily through a very long tunnel, so you miss all the glorious scenery and the excitement of the cogs, and all in all, I prefer pretty over tunnels. Business interests. Bah. I even suggested that they have maybe 4, even 2 a day winding up the mountain slowly for tourists, and that is out of the question, because they have got rid of some of the track. 

Bigger sigh. 

Progress is sometimes actually going backwards. 

Now, on to reflections. 

I have been noticing the reflections of the mountains in the water as I amble about, and it has become something I look for constantly. There are pools of still water every now and then along the river, and I catch glimpses of the reflections and they are so beautiful I had to share them. 

I just love the bare branches of the trees and their reflections in this one. This was the first one I noticed.

So pretty. Water and shimmery images. 

Today, I have been nowhere and done nothing except help to compile an inventory of epic proportions. In English. It now has to be translated into German. Do you have any idea how many pots, pans, knives, forks, spoons, bowls, trays, mixers, cooking implements, machines, glasses, younameit one can find in a restaurant??????? Zillions, I tell you. Zillions. Tables, chairs, mirrors, cushions, curtains, pictures, cloths, mops, groan. 

Etc etc etc.

Etc etc.

Etc.

So many things. 

And now I am off to search for some coffee. I use the word "search" loosely, because I know where it is, of course. It just feels like an expedition when one is weary. Search is more "interesting" than "make".

 I am losing the plot. 

It must be caffeine deprivation......

Balloons..........

A few days ago, I just happened to look out of the window and saw this. Not your normal morning vista around here, I can assure you!

So, screeching "Balloons, Balloons!!" at the top of my voice and zapping around the place looking first for my camera, then my coat followed by my stick, like a headless chicken, I was out the door and across the road.......

Not 2, not 4 but 5 beautiful balloons taking off from the mountain car park just across the little bridge.

I didn't know balloons took off from here. Neither did my sister, who had already dreamt up a staff outing in balloons. Now her bosses know this is possible after all. I think it would be such a wonderful additional excursion for the mountain to offer. Once upon a time, I thought I might try paragliding, aka running off the side of a mountain into space. But then I changed my mind. It is no longer on the bucket list. My sense of self-preservation kicked in, and there was also the running bit. A) I can't run and B) I am pretty sure the heels would have dug in at the edge of the cliff and we would have fallen like stones. But happily, we will never know the answer to that one. 

Oh the relief. 

There they go. All 5 of them. The giraffe one did go up and come straight down again. I am assuming it was because of someone changing their mind about the adventure, because it took off again immediately. Had there been any malfunction, I may have trampled the others to eject myself, and it all seemed very normal and orderly. 

The sky was, in fact blue. But the camera was a little confused with all the colours.

And, as I look out of the window this morning I can see blue skies again with puffs of clouds, and paragliders drifting around the peaks. Lots of them. As the balloons soared into the sky, some paragliders flew around them, but my photos are rubbish. I also discovered, as I was looking skywards, that the lens of the camera was really grubby. I think maybe from the cold and the breeze. Whatever. I cleaned it. Six. I can see 6 paragliders coming in to land now. More still flying. If I moved to any other window I would see more. All around us. 

Last night there was a really loud popping sound, like fire crackers just outside. I wondered if there were fireworks, but when I opened the door, the village whip crackers were doing their practicing in the middle of the road. Every time I opened the door they stopped. And it was SO frustrating. Mind you, I didn't want those whips anywhere near me either. They accompany St Nicholas (Sammi Klaus) when he visits all the children on 6th December every year. I suspect being good might be a great idea. I found a blog written by an Australian exchange student when I was looking for an explanation of the whole Sammi Klaus event, and she gives a great description of it all. You can go here to read for yourselves. It is a huge thing here in this village too. And those whip crackers were superb. Maybe they will practice again today. Hmmm. No. It is a Sunday. Probably not! I will see if I can get better photos if they do happen to start flinging those whips around. I saw one clip on Youtube where they were yodelling at the same time. Go here if you want to hear the bells and the yodelling and the whip crackers too! (here you are, Vee!)