An Autumn Walk

As I was finishing my daily prompt today, I looked out the window and saw that the sun was shining, a very pleasant afternoon.

“Did you want to go for a walk” I asked Mr. Swiss.”

“No problem, in about five minutes.”

I needed the five minutes to finish writing something and to put my best walking gear on and then we were ready and Mr. Swiss needed the five minutes to deposit a full plastic garbage bag in our communal trash bin. Yes, even the trash is organised in Switzerland.. 

We crossed the road and the first thing I saw was the landscape with the clouds hanging over the Jura mountains and the cows in the field.

“I just have to stop and take a photo.” 

There was no answer, Mr. Swiss had marched on regardless. He was used to losing me when I made a photo stop. Actually I found him again talking to one of the horses outside the stable which  we passed on our walk.

The horse was not really up to a conversation, and was more listening to what Mr. Swiss had to say. When I arrived with the camera, the horse turned away from Mr. Swiss and gave me a smile for the camera.The chickens in the next field were doing what chickens do, so I also gave them a wave and took their photo. Harald, the rooster, was standing on the left keeping an eye on his women folk. He told me he lost 4 wives to the fox last week. Luckily Harald was spared this time, especially as his tail feathers now seem to be recovering from the last attack.

We decided to leave the cemetery on the left and progress to the top of the hill as I saw something interesting for the camera. It will soon be halloween and there will be enough going on at the cemetery at the week-end.

And then I saw them, arranged in a nice pile.

These are sugar beets, or whatever you call them in your country. There are piles of them dotted around the fields at the moment where they have been harvested and are waiting for transport to the Swiss Sugar Refinery in Aarberg, the largest sugar refinery in Switzerland supplying all our sugar needs. I saw them growing in the fields throughout the Summer and now they are ready for processing.

The long summer days are now gone and it was getting darker, so we took the path for home. I had a few ends to tie at the computer and had another camera full of photos to upload.

When you see mushrooms, you know it is Autumn

Today Mr. Swiss and I ventured out in the Autumn weather. The sun was shining, there were still some brave cows in the fields, although mainly in groups to shield off the cold wind blowing, but they survived. We noticed the horses had their winter covers on. They were not as brave as the cows.

On the long walk back I was scouring the ground for interesting things to photograph and saw a clump of mushrooms. They sort of belong to the local Autumn vegetation. I quite like a mushroom sauce, generally in white wine and cream, but the sort of mushroom I discovered were probably not the edible sort. We have people that make it an Autumn hobby to go searching for mushrooms. 

We have an official office that examines your discoveries. I remember when my stepson brought some mushrooms home many years ago from a field belonging to a nearby farm. We were not sure if they were edible or not, so I went into town to find out. The official mushroom man happened to be a local policeman, so I had to go to the police station. He examined the find and discovered they were button mushrooms of a very good edible sort. The next question was where we found them. He said I would have to ask the farmer permission to keep them, but knowing the farmer there was no problem.

The mushroom collectors have a sort of secret mushroom sense to know where to find them and often if you go into the woods you can smell them. On the way home I discovered another sort, but also not edible. Eventually we arrived home tired, but happy and no I did not cook mushrooms for tea, we already had some in a sauce for lunch.

Excitement on a Misty Autumn Morning

Crockery rattling in the kitchen
The smell of coffee in my nose
So get up and begin the day
Struggle to the kitchen in slippers and dressing gown
Look through the window to see if the day is worth it
My first thought "it's Autumn"
The pampas grass in the garden showing its plumes bravely
A background of bushes 
An then .....
It had arrived, the Autumn mist
Swirling its fingers over the landscape
Climbing up the banks of the River Aar and reaching the garden
forming the theater drapes and stage curtains

Forget the coffee, forget the dressing gown
Just one thought
This must be fixed in my memory
Grab the camera, open the window
Worried that the mist might disappear
Or perhaps the pampas would sink its heads 
Be quick, snap this moment
And afterwards
I poured my milk on the cereal, 
Dropped a tea bag in a cup of boiling water
I was relaxed
Knowing that my Autumn morning was safe

Saturday in Town

As some may know I managed to get my first (and probably my only) book published last week. Today I noticed that two copies had been sold. I know a colleague of mine had bought a copy, but have no idea who bought the other copy. I was told to take my book along to the local bookshop and see what they would do. I decided they could only say "no" so I went along. As I wanted to buy a book (I still have book tokens) I decided to combine both. The lady in the bookshop was very pleased and enthusiastic. She said one copy was already on order and if I could leave two copies they would put them in the english book section and I could go along in January to see what had happened in the meanwhile. If they get sold they would naturally refund the money. I thought fair enough so let us see what happens. I wonder if J.K. Rowling had such problems with her Harry Potter, probably not.

Original Size

I was naturally armed with my camera as usual and took once again a photo of our St. Urs cathedral - I think that is the most photographed object in our town. It was a warm sunny Autumn afternoon and I noticed about 4 or our town hostesses (yes, we have them as well) were showing groups of tourists, foreign and otherwise around our town. I had to do a little bit of shopping but not very much, so made my way home. It is a twenty minute walk into town and again back. The doctor told me it was important that I get more exercise (it seems sitting at the computer is not the solution) and the price of a one way ticket on the local street train being three swiss francs, I did not need a lot of persuasion. It was really a wonderful day.

Original Size

Walking past the entrance to the town cemetery I noticed there were some nicely coloured trees in Autumn colours. I had to cross to the other side of the road. The train lines are on that side of the road and one of the local stations. Behind the station there is a field used for horses. Today they were all out grazing in the sun so I took a couple of photos before arriving home.

Original Size

Original Size

It's Autumn

Original Size

As you can see from the photo looking towards the Jura mountains, taken around the corner to where I live, the trees are slowly changing colour and the leaves are falling. Now that sounds really romantic, I must be getting older. Anyhow the weather is really nice at the moment here in the part of Switzerland where I live, up to 18°C during the day. I noticed in the shops the choice of veg is also changing. You can now buy brussel sprouts again and chicory which you don't see during the Summer. I also noticed that the prices seem to be shooting upwards, cauliflower being now at least five Swiss francs each. I don't think it is the bank's fault, but probably the farmers. Who knows?

Life goes on as always. I am still working half days, probably until the end of the year according to my doctor. I have sold one copy of my book, one of my colleagues went to the local book shop and ordered a copy. I was so proud, as I did not think anyone would be interested. Things seem to be quiet in the office at the moment and the management are trying to find the solution to overcoming the slump that may be arriving in the world of industry. It will not be the first one I have gone through in the working world and probably will not be the last one.

And now for something completely different. I don't know if anyone here goes fishing. My mother-in-law had a small aquarium when she was alive, with a couple of gold fish and a catfish (also known as a sheatfish according to my German dictionary). Anyhow I remember that the catfish she had always seemed to be growing. Not a giant, but he overtook the gold fish. Eventually he survived the goldfish and grew to quite a size for an aquarium fish. One sad morning my mother-in-law found him on the floor, it seems he did a kamikaze flight during the night. Anyhow, there are catfish and catfish and the reason I am telling this is because something very interesting happened in our local River Aare, so much so that it came in our Swiss news programme and it appeared in the newspapers. Here is a translation of an article I found. There is also a link to the web site with a film, and I strongly recommend to watch the video.

The Giant

Link to the Film

"Divers in the Aare near Bettlach (just a ten minute drive from where I live) in Kanton solothurn have made a spectacular discovery: a three meter long catfish.

The diver said "I was filming some perch and suddenly saw a large shadow. He was already in front of me and looking at me. I took three deep breaths and than swam around with him for twnty minutes." Alain Bauermeister talks of his first meeting with the “Giant” from the “Bettlach”. The diver has made a fantastic discovery and also filmed it: A catfish three meters long – this was the size the diver reckoned it to be. He has been diving for the last four years with the camera and could compare the catfish with the length of his own body size and his experiences.

Bauermeister often went diving in the Red Sea where he earlier worked as a diving teacher. Back in Switzerland he did not want to give up this hobby and so he now goes diving in the River Aare with his diving colleague Marco Schneider. They keep records with the camera and often show photos and videos on the Internet. In the meanwhile they have already seen the “giant” three times and have gone for a swim with him each time. One often finds a catfish in the river Aare but very rarely in this size.

Impressed from the giant is also Rudolf Winzenried, president of the fishing club Grenchen-Bettlach. When he heard from the three meter fish he did not really want to believe it. He thought it was a fisherman’s story which are often exaggerated. Then he saw the video in Internet and was convinced of its size. A catfish in that size is very rare. Winzenried does not intend to remove the fish from the river. He finds such a fish should remain. The divers are naturally the same opinion and are keeping the place secret where the catfish is, they just mentioned that they went into the river near the village of Bettlach. "