The Old and the Restless

Saturday February 21 was Alicia's birthday. First we went across the river to the German part of Switzerland for Brandon's weekly riding lesson. There is a stable near their house in Wavre but they don't give riding lessons there. Bryn, Alicia (and piglet) visited the horses. A friend of Bryn's keeps her horse at this stable. At lunch time we celebrated Alicia's birthday. She was two years old Margot gave Alicia a "piano" for her birthday. Brandon learning to play Happy Birthday on the "piano". Every Saturday this month there is a family snowshoe and fondue event held in a different area of the Canton. In every season, I find this country breathtakingly beautiful and the drive up into the Jura to the town of La Brevine was no exception. Bryn registering. Snowshoes. They have cleats on the bottom. I saw them for sale today for $200. The snowshoes were supplied and the fondue was included for $30.00. The Swiss snowshoe with their ski poles. ...

Doing the Blog on a PC when I'm used to a Mac requires some adjustments. Added to this is the adjustment of using a French keyboard. Some of the letters are not in the right place. After downsizing the photos for the web in Bryn's new Photoshop Elements, I wasn't able to find them again. I found them in another folder but the first photo is too big for the web. Frustration! To fly on points to Zurich, we had to go through Heathrow and then change planes. However, business class on this plane was wonderful. Each seat was fully reclining and had its own separate compartment. We landed on Tuesday. On Thursday we looked after Alicia while Brandon was at school. Here she is getting ready for a walk. It was a bright sunny day but there was a cold wind blowing. There has been an unusual amount of snow this year. Paul and Alicia are by the local schoolyard with a backdrop of the Jura mountains.

Nephew Daren, his wife, Kyla and and their triplets have moved from Nova Scotia to Toronto. They are living two streets away from Megan and Michael. While Daren was on business in Miami, Kyla's friend, Kelly came to stay with them. They walked through the rain and the fog for the exercise and a visit with us. While they were at our flat, I forgot to take photos, so after they left, I ran after them to get some... and just followed them home. The three boys in their double stroller with an add-on. William does not looked pleased with the interruption. The three boys and Kyla. William (on the left) looks just like Daren and his grandfather, Bill. They each have different personalities. Jack was adventurous, ready to give a smile, and wanted to wander around our flat. Will was upset by the new person talking to him (me) and needed to be comforted by Kelly.  Callum stayed with Kyla. Lunch time. Callum likes to have a toy for each hand at the table. Jack is in the middle and  William is...

Opening a late Christmas present. All done. Hair colour of the month... RED! Ella likes one stuffed toy for each hand Young pianist

Every Saturday morning, the New Smyrna Beach farmers' market opens at "the crack of dawn". Sandra rode her bicycle to purchase fresh produce and newly baked bread in the near freezing temperature. She took this picture as she left the condo for the 10 km ride to the market. [When she arrived home, she got back into bed to warm up her hands!] On  the way back from the farmers' market, Sandra passed our local fresh fish store where the birds were already lining the roof to get scraps after the freshly landed fish are cleaned. An egret waiting for the fish cleaning to begin at our local fish store. The second ride on Saturday was our usual loop up the beach and back through Smyrna Dunes Park. Would you think that this mob was getting ready to photograph the latest shuttle take off? Nope. Saturday was the start of the annual Florida birders'  week and there were several rare birds at the inlet jetty. [The rarest was a purple sandpiper (which we had never heard of befo...

In Florida, when it is cold, it is always a good idea to visit the manatee. Windy and freezing when we left the beach, it was in the 40's F. when we arrived at Blue Springs. Fortunately, because it was inland, there was no wind... but I wished I had my gloves. Cormorants lined up at the divide between the river and the spring in the early morning. Who will be the first to take the plunge? Beautiful scenery along the spring. Megan and I once dove in the boil in the cave in this spring. It was a long walk from the parking lot in our heavy dive gear. I was younger then.  Maureen taking pictures. To avoid hypothermia during the cold weather the manatee leave the river and come into Blue Springs to sleep, seeking the warmer, constant, 72 degree water. Later in the day they leave to go to back the river since there is little for them to eat in the spring. This manatee has an armored suckermouth catfish, an introduced species on its back.  A few years ago, they were like flies around the ...