Sunday 30 March 2008

Spring has sprung


and what a great pleasure it was to change the clocks forward an hour this morning to signify the start of spring and the coming of summer! I am really looking forward to having more useable daylight hours in the evenings and I can hopefully take advantage of them. Today has been another beautiful day (although tomorrow will be wet and cool again) and we went for a walk for an hour or so and enjoyed the evening. It is almost warm enough to have dinner on the balcony- looking forward to that as well.
One more week of work and then our holiday. I have some mates arriving from the States and will be busy catching up with them, hopefully getting some exercise and certainly eating and drinking too much.
Our nephew and godson, Campbell, played his first rugby match on Friday evening. A big success by all accounts with a win for the team and a try for himself. I don't remember ever scoring a try.

Wednesday 26 March 2008

It's Fight Night Tonight


or least a football match between the Swiss and our northern neighbours, the Germans. I think that the old joke was something along the lines of....... The definition of football- a game for 11 men that Germany always win. They haven't hoisted too many trophies lately, but with the European Championships starting here in June, I'm sure that all of the teams involved are starting to feel the excitement.
I have signed up today to take part in a month-long photography challenge in April (appropriately called April Fools) and it will be good fun and hopefully a learning experience too. I have benefited a lot from previous challenges and it is a good way to learn from your mistakes.
Club Moose is still on fire and it seems as if Dot has moved on to make other parts of the world uncertain. I'm sure that Singapore will bear the scars for years to come.
I hope that you like the view from my end of the sofa.

Tuesday 25 March 2008

Happy Birthday Aunty Nancy.


We hope you have a wonderful day. We are thinking of you.

Lots of love, Catherine & David xxxxx

It snowed most of Easter Sunday and Easter Monday and it is still snowing. There is about 8 cm snow on the ground so we will have to leave earlier to get to the station this morning.

Sunday 23 March 2008

"Pass him up to me, Daddy!"


Memories of a great Easter break spent in Ireland with the Moose Gang in 2001....... Miss 3 (upon spotting a rabbit 30 metres away and diving through a hedge) came out with this classic request. We had some of the most amusing service that one could imagine in the hotel and restaurant (quite like Fawlty Towers) and really laughed for the whole week.
This weekend has also been relaxing- went to see a couple of movies and really enjoyed "No Country For Old Men". I tried to do a little shopping in town yesterday (with very limited success) and we have just been for an early morning walk. After a breakfast of warm bread with jam and a pot of tea it is now time to take it easy again and then get ready for our visitors this evening.
I hope to get out later to take some more photos and if we end up having a nice day I will probably lie on the sofa for a while and do a little reading too.
Happy Easter!

Wednesday 19 March 2008

I, for one, am looking forward to the Easter weekend


and taking the opportunity to sleep a little longer and generally take it easy. As expected, the bad weather has arrived just in time and we are going to enjoy 4° and rain for most of the days off.
I hope to get to see a couple of movies, organise the wine cellar after another delivery (mmm), read and try to take some photos. We are entertaining at least once on the weekend and it will be nice to catch up with Walter and Masi on Sunday.
Thirsty Thursday tomorrow and I have arranged to meet up with Chef Enzo for a drink and a bite to eat in the evening. Looking forward to that very much and it will be a luxury not having to set the alarm for Friday morning.
Sadly our gym is closed for most of the Easter break- if we can we will get out for a walk about the village, but otherwise it might be almost an exercise-free weekend........
Reading a very interesting book about the Magnum Photo Agency - Capa, Cartier-Bresson, Seymour & Co certainly enjoyed some wild times in the early days and it sounds as if, even today, Magnum is a pretty unusual organisation.

Saturday 15 March 2008

The book was good, the markets are terrible


and I think that most people are glad that it is the weekend. The highlights of my week thus far have been reading "No Country For Old Men", drinking a bottle of Terrabianca with dinner last night and then getting a good night's sleep.
It was amazing yesterday to watch $/CHF go under 1....... it didn't stay there too long and I don't believe that it will stay down here forever, but I am also convinced that there is plenty more bad news to come before the sun starts to really shine again.
Today was a beautiful day and we have been pretty busy- shopping, running around and have just been out for a nice walk for an hour. I finally managed to find myself some new jeans and a pair of casual shoes- I don't think that I am too fussy, but surely there are others out there who are between hip-hop and 60 years of age!

Wednesday 12 March 2008

Started to read an interesting book this week


and so far I am really enjoying "No Country For Old Men". Set in Texas, slow language but so far plenty of action and I guess that I will finish it off later this evening. The movie arrived in town here a couple of weeks ago and if things stay miserable, I will try to catch it on the weekend.
There seems to be a lot of activity in Singapore- might have to call the fire brigade as it appears that Club Moose is on fire down there! I hope that they are all having as much fun getting their blog up and running as I am having reading it. Great photos too.
Looking forward to holidays in a few weeks time- but first we have to struggle through all of these short weeks in the office...... I am enjoying the longer days and we will change our clocks to summer time at the end of March- then we will have the chance to really make something out of our evenings.

Sunday 9 March 2008

Happy Birthday Lou-Lou.



We hope you had a FUN day with Mummy & Daddy & Malachy.
Lots of hugs & kisses Aunty Catherine & Uncle David xxxxxxxxxx

Winter has returned


and yesterday morning I left the nest to find it snowy and cold outside. Today is foggy and miserable as well thus far. I'm not complaining (apparently there has been lots of snow in some parts of the USA) but I do need to put a jacket on before heading out the door.
Club Moose is officially up and running! I have linked to the Mighty Moose's blog and hope to hear more from Singapore in the days and months to come. I'm sure that it will be interesting and exciting (get the hint, guys?) and lots of fun for all concerned.
I was in the gym again yesterday and will be going back in there later today too. It does take a while to notice any real change, but at least I am motivated to get on and do some real work. It is only a few weeks until our next holiday and I would like to be able to get out and enjoy a hike or a bike ride without suffering too much :-)
Enjoy the rest of your Sunday

Wednesday 5 March 2008

I'm just waitin' for the man


and he tells me that we might be in business as soon as this weekend :-) Really looking forward to the ClubMoose blog kicking off and being able to see what is going on in Singapore!
Meanwhile the world is going to hell in a handcart........ I don't know if I have even been able to read any good news yet this week. It seems to be doom and gloom whichever way you turn and sadly I think that it will continue that way for at least a while yet. The saying was that during the bull markets it was time to sell as soon as a hairdresser started to give you market tips..... dunno what to do about bear time.
We had a little snow here last night and again this morning- a reminder that it is still only the start of March (although Easter is only a couple of weeks away and we change our clocks at the end of the month). It has been a mild and relatively dry winter and with a bit of luck things will continue that way into spring so that I can get out and enjoy the hills and the roads around this area too.

Saturday 1 March 2008

One of life's simple pleasures



is warm bread for breakfast from the bakery. In spite of the rain and wind this morning, I ran across the road to the local farmer who bakes great bread on Saturdays and grabbed enough for breakfast and for lunch tomorrow. It was terrific with a cup of coffee!
I need to head into town today to sort out a couple of things and collect some photos for Catherine and I am looking forward to the party up on the hill this evening. I expect that there will be about 70 people up there and it should be a lot of fun.
Disappointed about the weather- I really wanted to get out and take a lot of photos this weekend but digital cameras and wind and rain don't mix too well together, so I might have to wait and hope that things look better tomorrow.
Thursday night out with Chef Enzo was fun and we even had a quick visit from Chef Tomaso- I have suggested that we try to arrange a monthly get-together and visit different bars and restaurants (all in the name of research, of course).