Seleger Moor

Back in September when my parents were visiting we went to see the flowers and plants in Seleger Moor. It is not far from where I live, it is near to Hausen am Albis, and on the way you can see the lovely Türlersee.

When we arrived we were, in fact not sure if it was the right place as no one was there, so we walked in for free. I had read a post from another blog about a visit to this place and it had looked lovely, so I guess this was not the best time of year to visit.

Still we wondered around the garden/park area, we could still lots of water liles and ferns. There were some flowers in bloom but not many.

It is also possible to buy plants, we did see some gardeners at work, but we were the only visitors.

A good idea would be to include a visit to the Türlersee (lake) as it is very near and it would be nice to walk around. It certainly would be interesting to visit again but early on in the year, al the moment the moor is closed and opens from March onwards.

All Things Scottish! - Exhibition in Winterthur

January 25th 1759, was when Robert Burns was born in Alloway, he is our national poet and on this day, many people host a Burns night supper, to celebrate his life and work.

Some of his poems include: Address to a Haggis, A Winter Night, A Red, Red Rose,  Auld Lang Syne and Ae Fond Kiss.

 Ae Fond Kiss

Ae fond kiss, and then we sever; 
Ae fareweel, and then for ever!
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, 
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee. 
Who shall say that Fortune grieves him, 
While the star of hope she leaves him? 
Me, nae cheerful twinkle lights me; 
Dark despair around benights me. 

I'll ne'er blame my partial fancy, 
Naething could resist my Nancy: 
But to see her was to love her; 
Love but her, and love for ever. 
Had we never lov'd sae kindly, 
Had we never lov'd sae blindly, 
Never met-or never parted, 
We had ne'er been broken-hearted.

Fare-thee-weel, thou first and fairest! 
Fare-thee-weel, thou best and dearest! 
Thine be ilka joy and treasure, 
Peace, Enjoyment, Love and Pleasure! 
Ae fond kiss, and then we sever! 
Ae fareweel alas, for ever! 
Deep in heart-wrung tears I'll pledge thee, 
Warring sighs and groans I'll wage thee.

On Friday 25th January is the opening evening of the Scottish artist Andrew Thompson at the Knoerle & Baettig Gallery, in Winterthur.

The exhibition carries on until the 8th March, check their website for additional information.

Happy Burns Night!

St.Monans to Elie Walk

A trip back to October and the last day of the holiday we decided to go on a walk, we drove to St.Monans and parked at the church. St.Monans is one of the many lovely fishing villages in the East Neuk of Fife. There we met my sister Elena and her two boys Liam and Jamie and everyone got on their walking boots. It is just over 2 miles to walk to Elie from here, this is part of Fife Costal Path.

The tide was in so we had to walk through a muddy area at the beginning, but then got back into the right path. It was a cold but sunny day which made for dramatic photos of the sky and sea, it had been raining the day before so it was also a bit slippery.

Not far from St.Monans we came across the ruins of Newark Castle, a 16th century mansion, it did look a bit like scenes from a Bronte novel at times.

We were not the only ones to have this idea and we passed many people and their dogs out for a Sunday walk. The boys, my sister and father were always miles ahead of myself and my mother,  as my shoes were not the ideal kind walking in mud.

We arrived in Elie, which is also a lovely village and waited for the bus back, then we drove to Pittenween the next village up and went to The Cocoa Tree Cafe. There we all had some yummy food and I had my usual scone with clotted cream and jam. I had to get my fill as here in Zurich I do not eat scones at all.

It was a great walk, with fab views and always fun with my family, when Alessio and I return in Spring we will hopefully do some more walks.

Flowering Wellies!

It just goes to show, you can grow flowers even in old welly boots! Not if you are me though as nearly all the plants I have seem to die off!

Back in October when Alessio and I were in Scotland, we did a lovely walk, which I will post about very soon. When we returned to St.Monans we spotted these boots with all the lovely flowers, not sure if it was just one person with lots of boots or a bunch of folk. Anyway the result is the same it looked great and a good way to use up old boots!

Enjoy the weekend!

Photo of the Week - Flying!

For the photo of the week, I went back to April last year and my holiday in Holland. This was taken in Amsterdam, the fair was in Dam Square and we were walking by on another street and somehow I managed to take this photo of a few swings. I feel that they are actually moving and I like how the building is darkened, so you notice the swings.

New Year`s Eve Fireworks

Already one week into 2013, a week ago today was New Year`s Eve or Hogmany as it is called in Scotland. I had one of the best New Years I have had in a long time, let`s face it New Year can be a hit or a miss. Lots of planing go into having a great evening and it turns out to be a disappointment (or not).

Not this year, it all started off at my place and my lovely friend Katrina came round and we had some champagne, then we hot-footed it to Zurich. Around the lake there were lots and lots of stalls for food and drink, plus lots of music. We picked a really good DJ playing cool music and had lots of fun, everyone was really friendly and happy.

The fireworks started at 12.20am and lasted 20mins and they were really amazing, hopefully you see from the photos. Once it finished we left the centre along with most of the people and went off to dance in a club.

With a great start to the New Year lets hope it will continue this way! Wishing everyone a wonderful 2013!

T is for Trees

Not long now until the letter series is finished, so on to the letter T for trees. Starting with the 1st photo this was taken on a hike in Chamnoix area, then back in Switzerland at the Seleger gardens, the 3rd photo is in Scotland in Scone Palace gardens, the 4th at Jucker Farm and finally at the beginning of December in my back garden.

Happy Weekend!