Sunday decadence

It was an extraordinary Sunday, first of all in that I was actually at home and had no meetings, coffees, lunches nor social events planned.

I caught up on the wash; took pictures of the whole house (just another of those projects of which I seem to have a never-ending supply); went next door and caught up with the neighbors. I also actually had breakfast and lunch at home (rather unheard of in my current life) then did decide that we all deserved a treat so headed up to the local bakery and bought “goodies”.

My former housemate and her husband are currently here as their place was flooded in the major storm we had in July – good enough excuse for me!

I divvied everything up into threes, made my coffee and had it outside on my terrace, all the while reading one of my out-of-date magazines so that I can pass it on later this week.

The sweets were truly decadent! It was a very good Sunday indeed.

choclatemousse + St. Honoré

Apple pie

My share of the three goodies

Cleaning, weeding…

Washing and wearing shorts

A rare Sunday at home.

So after a pause of several days (weeks?) today I woke up in my own bed – delightfully breezy weather and sun plus very agreeable temperatures.

This was very motivating and I threw on a pair of sweat pant shorts as not intending to be seen in public at the moment and got busy. First task – start watering which led to pulling some weeds, raking some leaves (a wind a couple of weeks ago shredded the tips of the oak branches and they are now nicely dry and visible) and dead-heading flowers.

 

Then the hole under the kitchen sink needed sorting and cleaning.

 

Of course there was wash – when isn’t there?

And having accomplished all that – and since it is Sunday – I will go take a well-deserved break in my lounging chair with a couple of magazines (sadly behind in my reading) and a good book.

Do I regret having had a wonderful trip with my cousins? Do I wish that I hadn’t had the concert in Saanenmöser? Heck no, but in its’ own way this leisurely down-time Sunday is all the more precious because of those events.

Sunday morning leisure…

Or living in the slow lane today.

In our hectic lives we run around doing this, doing that, accomplishing much, accomplishing little: most of us have forgotten the merits of “taking it easy”.

We have bought into the “if I’m busy, I must be doing well”.

Just a reminder: slowing down, not accomplishing anything more than a decent breakfast in great surroundings with a plan of “who knows?” or “not much” in answer to the “what are you doing today?” has great benefits.

My headache is gone, my blues chased away by a gentle breeze, my eyes fresh from all the sunshine, who knows (who cares?) where today will lead – “whatever, it’s all beautiful” my little sister used to say.

so it's not a paper copy, a newspaper downloaded is still readable

View out the window

News from nowhere or…

A peaceful Sunday at home.

For reasons with which I probably shouldn’t bother “my gentle reader” as Rosemary would say, I changed the pattern of my day.

Suffice to say (see I will bore you anyway) that upon arising relatively late at 7:30 I proceeded to fiddle around. A trip to the cellar for more espresso capsules sidetracked me into checking the computer (had had to let the virus scan of the whole machine run throughout the night – over 5 million files – yikes), which in turn had me looking to play one computer game. Which led to my discovery that some of yesterday’s manipulations had led to my internet not appearing at all like it did before said procedures: all my own fault of course, but more time to set that straight.

Breakfast was thus delayed and when I realized that the weather was clearing (after ten days of sun, we had one day of covered, but unfortunately no rain to clear out anything) I made an executive decision (yep, that’s what we call them when we feel like we need to lend importance to the mundane) to go for a walk in the morning instead of the afternoon.

One of the things that reinforced that was that if one waits until Sunday afternoon, it’s like being in town on a busy shopping day, people everywhere!

So had a lovely stroll, ran into a bike race then returned home full of sunshine.

A Sunday in the mountains and Fast Food

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For anyone wondering (if I am even read at all) why there were several days without a posting: I had left my quiet life in the mountains to catch up with family and friends. 

This meant dashing down the mountain Thursday morning and getting home in record time to pick up the mail before the post office shut for lunch; having lunch with the current house-person (yes, yes, I’ll admit we “sinned”: code name for going to McDonald’s); having tea in the afternoon with my regular weekly-tea friend; then enjoying dinner at the Café du Centre with youngest son S and his girlfriend A. A true celebration as she had just passed her Masters of Art with honorable mention!
 
Friday it was physical therapy, receiving the bed and mattress I had loaned to my friends who live “in the upper part of the village”, then dashing into town for lunch with my oldest son. That evening I first picked up youngest son for yet another mad dash to his flat to recuperate all their plants (at least there is always someone at my house), then back into town for dinner (totally immaterial to the plan) and catching up (the whole point of the evening) with someone I met the first summer I returned to Geneva, i.e. 40 years ago. I have yet to find a good way to label her as saying “with my oldest friend” could perhaps be misinterpreted. And the sentence: “the person that I have known the longest here in Geneva” seems a bit unwieldy. We didn't solve all the problems of the world, never mind our own, but we both always walk away from our short time together feeling better about ourselves and everything - a true friend.

Saturday morning it was coffee with M, followed by her and I moving son number one (in age, let there be no value/judgmental labeling here) back to his flat after a year of subletting. We were moving from a 5^th floor apartment with a tiny elevator so made many trips. Things on the other side were much better as the couple who had sublet his flat were there to help and the final 10 steps large and deep as opposed to the small, rounded and rounding staircase at the bottom of the elevator in the first building.

Then it was dash (obviously my current favorite word) home and pick up my suitcase (which travels to and fro, up with the clean wash and new things to read or for work, then back with dirty and the finished) and return to the mountains. Only time for living it, none for recording – and that’s the way it should be, mostly.

Once here, I  had a lovely large flat-screen TV (thanks to the move), so of course last night there was no time for blogging, but rather had to set up the new and much improved TV.

All of which brings us, not only to Sunday, but to the last day of the month, which is also the last day of the first six months of 2013: a whole other blog could be written on …”where did the time go?”

Still, Sunday, June 30: usual let’s-wake-up-early then roll over and go-back-to-sleep. Yikes the local restaurant/coffee/bread deposit business had been open a half an hour already and I needed to get dressed and get my Sunday paper. Now, we are not talking about the Sunday Times or anything here, but there are 5 or 6 sections and it is easily 5 times as large as the daily paper – just perfect for reading with breakfast. By then it was mid-morning and my landlady came down for something, we chatted and by the time I finally booted up the computer it was almost time for lunch.

Thus, without stopping to catch one’s breath, we segue into the Fast Food part of the title. 

I learned many years ago, whilst dealing with work and family, that meals were not necessarily things that took hours to prepare and that, effectively, one could make healthy, tasty meals with sometimes little effort and time. Today’s was a good example: spring greens, some Chinese cabbage, a few cherry tomatoes, some grilled chicken, sautéed mushrooms and onions, a few very thinly sliced rounds of both green and yellow zucchini, feta cheese for flavor, a sprinkle of pumpkin and sunflower seeds, salad sauce and parmegian cheese – 10 minutes. If would have been even faster without the chicken: healthy, tasty, quick.

Now for a walk in the sun and coffee on a terrace.