More weather

Well, what else?

Today, the sun is shining, the temperatures have soared and there was far too much flabby flesh on show in Cheltenham today.  Indeed, it could be that the English Summer has arrived.

A shame it didn’t arrive a couple of days ago, though.  There were so many plans for last Saturday; everywhere we went, it seemed there was yet another sign for a fete, a school fair or village revels.  We’d arranged to meet friends at Daylesford, for their Summer Festival but eyeing the weather forecast, we went well equipped with coats, umbrellas, hats, sensible shoes…the lot.

Arranging an event in California must be so easy.  Decide on a date and time and Bob’s your uncle, the sun will shine.  (Though maybe not necessarily in January….)  Pity all event organisers last weekend, then, who had spent months putting all their ideas into action, only to find the day dawning overcast and threatening rain.  Oh well, we are English.  We make the most of it, don’t we?  So, with map in hand, we sallied forth to find the fun.

It didn’t take us long to find it, for the whole place was full of things to try and yes, things to buy, too.  In the courtyard was a gazebo with Seedlip flavours to try.  Delicious!  (Yes, of course we did…try *and* buy!)

I must say, everything was looking beautiful, even without the sunshine.  Every time we go to Daylesford, there is something new, some new addition or extension and this time was no exception.

The extension to the farm shop had been built last Christmas, for I’d taken a photograph of the amazing advent calendar in there.  But further development has brought an indoor link along the front of the building, and on such a chilly morning, we were glad to minimise our time outside!  With all doors open and the whole place at our disposal, we took the opportunity to take a look in the corners we don’t usually explore

such as the Cookery School.

The barns were also open, cleared of livestock and filled with interesting things.

Plenty of goings on to discover and to talk about.

Since we arrived early, we had the time and the space to chat too.  I didn’t take a photograph of the vinegar makers and we really enjoyed chatting to the knife makers (whose name, sadly, we also neglected to note)  But I did enjoy finding out a little more about the basket maker from Barbados!

Thinking that it’d be a good idea to capitalise on the outdoor activities before the heavens opened, we took a look around the car park.

The Daylesford car park is usually a pretty interesting place with a smarter-than-average class of car parked there (!) but today, there was a rather older style to the area

The usual, glorious selection of vegetables were on offer – but at those prices, we’ll take the Waitrose route home.

But who can resist the bread?  Not me!

And there’s more!  Such a shame it’s not picnic weather – we’d have had a feast!

Instead, there were yummy pizzas baking in the wood fired oven, pink frizzante sparkling in the glasses and a rather fine fire pit to sit by.  No, of course it’s not going to rain, we said…(with our hoods up)

Well, we did stay dry (ish), had time to make a paper flower in the workshop, too.

A little smaller than those adorning the light fittings, but sweetly scented with organic flower oils and all made from recycled paper too.

Eventually, we made it outside again, just to see what we’d missed.  But looking at those clouds rolling in, we thought it time to do a last circuit of the farmers market and head off home.

It was a great event, plenty to enjoy and apart from any purchases made (!) more or less free of charge too.  The organisation was fantastic and clearly a great deal of time had been spent in getting everything shipshape, ready for the big day.  Of course, knowing Daylesford as we do, it was bound to be pretty grand.

After all, when the site plan comes in the form of a Turkish map fold, how could it be anything less than splendid?!

(in seeking a link for that last sentence, I’ve discovered a variation and fresh challenge.  Hungarian map fold, anyone?)

Whilst we are away

The fun continues at home.

The bears who get left behind have the time of their lives too.

Fun with friends, eh?

Wood.

No accident that my Hero found this in his Christmas stocking this year, because actually, we take pleasure from our small woodstack.  Or, possibly more accurately, I take the pleasure and enjoy the warmth of his labour in stacking it all.

Only last week, we took delivery of a load of fresh logs, ready to be stacked and seasoned over the year.  There’s a similar quantity of seasoned logs stacked and drying in the garage ready for use, every one lifted and placed carefully, for there is a satisfaction in such things, don’t you agree?

But we are not in the same league as some, as witnessed over the weekend.

Of course, if one has to heat the whole house for the winter, then a larger stack is needed.  But my hero’s critical eye was cast over this one, lacking somewhat in the rotation, we thought.

This being a farm, then perhaps heating would be needed in the barns and cowsheds too? 

Plenty of room for new supplies here, though.  What a fine woodstore,with a clean, tiled back to it.  Having said that, the open design of ours allows the wind and rain to blow through from front to back, seasoning the wood nicely.

At least when the wood is stacked around the house, there’s the benefit of insulation too.  As you can tell, driving around we take note of such things and from time to time, one of us will “ooooo!” and spot a particularly fine example and admire the skill and sheer hard work involved in creating it.

On Sunday, though, we spotted the best woodstack ever.  Really.

It stretched three sides around the boundary of the Karthause Ittingen and contained more wood than we’ve ever seen, all neatly stacked in evenly sized and well built stores.  We’d met our Swiss friends for Sunday lunch in Frauenfeld at the marvellous Goldenes Kreuz (Goethe war da!) and on a lovely, Spring afternoon, their suggestion of a walk in the country was spot on.

The woodstacks were remarkable in the way they were sorted: some stacks contained smaller, kindling sized pieces and these variations in texture and pattern were very attractive.  I was also rather taken with the small drifts of what I assumed to be a variety of willow.

My favourite, perhaps, was the stack of dry vines, each one covered in lichen and in spite of being oddly twisted and contorted, was just as neatly stacked as all the others.

A grand sight to lift the spirits.

Formerly a Carthusian monastery, Karthause Ittingen is now a venue for concerts, weddings and suchlike.  There’s an hotel here, a good restaurant, a gallery and a spa.  We enjoyed looking around the reconstructed residence of the monks and soon realised why so much wood was needed.

A kachelofen in every room would have required regular feeding throughout the winter months.

And oh my, what beautiful kachelöfen they are too!

This one dated back to 1677, though it had been restored in the 1990s.

A silent order, the Carthusians must have savoured such a wealth of visual treasures.

I mean, the refectory is rather pretty too, isn’t it?

As for the chapel.  Well.

Altogether breathtaking.

After a spot of tea and a short stop in the lovely monastery shop we made our way back to our cars.

What a lovely day we’d had.  What great company our friends are!

And for sure, those Carthusians chose a great site for their monastery, even if they did need a fair quantity of fuel to get them through the chilly times.  Whether the concept is attributed to Thoreau or Ford, wood does indeed warm at least twice; once when cutting and once whilst burning.  When stacking is included, then my Hero definitely gets an extra boost.

In die Schweiz

We are just home from a few days in Switzerland.  We flew to Zurich on Friday lunchtime, arriving in the late afternoon and feeling very happy to be there again.

It’s always been a favourite, ever since our first visit as a couple in the summer following our wedding in 1980.  Driving past a road sign to Effretikon just a few miles from the airport brought back happy memories of that first trip, when the generosity of lovely Swiss friends of my family enabled us to discover the character of a country which enchants us both.

Even though the weather forecast didn’t sound too promising, the late afternoon sunshine highlighted the Alpstein nicely to greet us and the clouds revealed Säntis there on the horizon.

We left the laptop at home this time, so there are still a few stories to tell and a lot of details to share.

We stayed in St Gallen, where the peach and grey building holds a treasure trove of riches to interest me.  What better place to spend a rainy Saturday morning?

For sadly, the sun doesn’t shine continually and those green fields need a drop or two of rain to keep them looking lovely.  Saturday was especially wet and driving to a concert in Winterthur in the afternoon we made sure we had umbrellas and raincoats with us.

My Hero will surely be reporting on this grand occasion, when the highlights of the programme were works by Joachim Raff, bringing Swiss, German and British Rafficionados together to share enthusiasm, research and friendship throughout the weekend.

We might have enjoyed a few “white angels” lovingly created in the brewery next door to our hotel, the oldest brewery in Switzerland, no less.

At this time of the year, there are not so many visitors around, so we enjoyed peaceful times by the lake.

We were the only visitors – the only people – in the museum where the cloakroom is imaginative and utterly charming.  That was a fantastic place to visit!

When the weather brightened, we drove out and up into the mountains to new places and old favourites.

Sadly, the aroma of a Swiss cheese shop simply cannot be effectively communicated.  You simply have to be there.

The Gold Bunny on top of the car park was a reminder of something else on the shopping list.

Finally, with a couple of hours to spare before returning to the airport, we never have a problem simply sitting in a favourite place and watching the world go by.

So, the next few posts will surely be about our glorious weekend.  I’ll try not to forget to share the story of the Zuger Kirschtorte too. Textiles, transport, music, landscape, Weissbier, chocolate, cheese, rösti, friends, mountains, lakes and fun.  We love it all.

Oh, and there’s this, too.

Wood.  (I’ll explain later)

A little sunshine

The hospital-related activities of last week together with a funeral left me feeling in need of some light relief by the time Thursday came around.  Thankfully, it was a WI week, so a fun evening promised to lift the spirits and a lunch date with an old friend on Friday followed through nicely.

Such things are a reminder of the important things in life, for as I listened to the eulogy at the funeral I wished I could chat to Margaret once again, about some of the things I didn’t know about her life and to get to know her a little better.  It’s not the first time I’ve left a funeral and felt sad that it was too late to learn more: a useful reminder to spend more time with friends whose company I cherish.

More fun on Saturday too, with a fish and chip date before going to the opera at the cinema in Cheltenham to see La Traviata live from the Met in New York.

Wow.

We loved it – and were not alone.  A fantastic set design and marvellous performances from the whole cast.  Even if we thought Alfredo was a bit wet, at least he had a great voice!  Of course, it’s not a story with the happiest of endings (!) but at least in this production Violetta held her own until the very last gasp and left the audience similarly breathless.  Only on the way home did we realise that Ellis and Mary were at the cinema in Thousand Oaks watching the same live production and feeling equally positive, even without the benefit of haddock and chips to sustain them

Oh and another little ray of sunshine dropped through my letterbox yesterday.  I have plans to install the update this afternoon and am trusting for no unexpected changes in the weather.

Fingers crossed.