Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts

Saturday, April 4, 2015

LET US REJOICE! OSTARA IS UPON US AND SPRING IS UNFOLDING...

Easter 2015
Winter is already a lost shape, forgottenin the ground. Instead, here is Springwith all the grace of a woman smoothing out her apron.
- Cecilia Llompar
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Every time a season comes to an end, I enthusiastically greet the next one with open arms. After three months of the same regime, it always feels good to see nature promptly metamorphose itself again and offer us a completely different experience. A real breath of fresh air.

I'm pretty sure, we would go bonkers if we were stuck in the same boring rut day in and day out. Routine kills us at a slow pace. On the other hand, change is positive, inevitable, primordial and constant. It infuses our existence with vivid colours and gives us perspective as well as hope. Transition is life and and life is all about transition.

This is the reason why climatic standstill isn't my cup of tea and why I am particularly fond of roller coaster weather. As a matter of fact, I am very happy to live in a moderate climate country. To have the opportunity to enjoy four distinct periods of the year is a blessing and each of them fills my heart with pleasure.

So as you can imagine, it is a delight for me to make the leap from winter to spring. And even though February and March have been quite mild and vernal, I am really looking forward to Earth's magical rebirth and the powerful cosmic stirring inside of me.

Easter 2015

Easter 2015

Easter 2015
And the Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
April's air stirs in
Willow-leaves...a butterfly
Floats and balances.
- Matsuo Bashō 
Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm.
- John Muir
Like an enthusiastic child beginning to discover the world surrounding him, I am bubbling with exhilaration and trepidating with anticipation, and I get excited about anything and everything. The late afternoon song of blackbirds sends tears to my eyes, crows tearing off branches in order to build their nests bring a large smile to my face, primroses blooming crazily pour joy into my soul, the sweet caress of the warm west wind delights me intensely and longer daylight hours motivate me in my daily chores. Oh, what a glorious feeling!

However, while the flora and fauna are brashly awakening and general frenzy is palpable everywhere, we humans are still sluggishly emerging from slumber. The endless weeks of darkness and bone-chilling cold have taken a toll on us and all the slothing around has transformed us into rusty and pasty caricatures of ourselves. But with the sunshine hitting hard on our skin and the loud chirping of birds, our torpor is fastly chased away and new energy starts to flow in our body once more. Slowly yet surely, at our own pace, we join the celebration of renewal, embarking on this wonderful adventure that is called spring.

Get your t-shirts out, let your hair down and merrily dance in circles for euphoria is prevalent !



Easter 2015

Friday, November 21, 2014

REMEMBERING THE SUMMER - PART I

Summer - Geneva Countryside
Spring passes and one remembers one's innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one's exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one's reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one's perseverance.
- Yoko Ono
Although I love autumn's ravishing beauty and serene atmosphere, I must admit that this year, and for the very first time in my life, I am missing the warm season. Having had a grim spring and a depressingly glum July as well as August, I just wasn't ready for fall's arrival. Much to my regret, it came surprisingly early...

You see, I am the kind of person who needs to fully enjoy summer in order to get sick of it and look forward to cooler and moodier weather - in fact, it is exactly the same as with food; one needs to eat a few savory dishes before the urge for dessert makes its appearance. Hence, I feel nostalgic for summer's suffocating exuberance and insolent nonchalance.

Having said this, I am nonetheless really thrilled that autumn's here and that winter's on our doorstep as I am particularly fond of this time of the year. So, bring on the cold weather, frosty sunlight and snowstorms!

Summer - Geneva Countryside

Summer - Geneva 
Countryside

Summer - Geneva 
Countryside

Friday, November 14, 2014

HERMANCE'S HIDDEN TREASURES PART II



Hermance Summer 2014

In photography, the smallest thing can be a great subject. The little, human detail can become a Leitmotiv.
- Henri Cartier-Bresson

 
The truth of the story lies in the details.
- Paul Auster, The Brooklyn Follies

Friday, November 7, 2014

YUMMY SUPPER COOKBOOK GIVEAWAY WINNER & HERMANCE'S HIDDEN TREASURES PART I


Hermance Summer 2014

Hermance Summer 2014

Hermance Summer 2014

Many thanks to all of you for entering my YummySupper Giveaway. I was delighted to read your lovely comments and to see that so many people from all over the world took part in it. Your participation really means a lot to me...

I am very happy to announce that the lucky winner is
Regula Melo-Jocknevich of "Molly Mell". Congratulations, you just won a copy Erin Scott's cookbook,
"Yummy Supper - 100 Fresh, Luscious & Honest Recipes From A {Gluten-free} Omnivore"!!!

Friday, October 3, 2014

A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY - BOATS ON LAKE LÉMAN

Oh the brave Fisher's life, It is the best of any, 'Tis full of pleasure, void of strife, And 'tis belov'd of many: Other joys Are but toys; Only this Lawful is, For our skill Breeds no ill, But content and pleasure.
- Izaak Walton
Looking out over the lake, I felt enveloped in the most peaceful, loving utopia.
- Laurie Kahn

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

BLACK AND WHITE WEDNESDAY #144 - HERMANCE FISHERMAN, GENEVA

- Fishing In Style -

This picture was submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook". This week it is hosted by Simona at "Briciole" (click here in order to see who is hosting the next roundup).

Friday, September 19, 2014

A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY - MY FAVORITE CYCLING SPOTS

Country things are the necessary root of our life - and that remains true even of a rootless and tragically urban civilization. To live permanently away from the country is a form of slow death.
- Esther Meynell
When I go out into the countryside and see the sun and the green and everything flowering, I say to myself Yes indeed, all that belongs to me!
- Henri Rousseau
I suppose the pleasure of country life lies really in the eternally renewed evidences of the determination to live.
- Vita Sackville-West, Country Notes

Friday, September 5, 2014

HELLO SEPTEMBER, I HOPE YOU'LL BE KIND AND GENEROUS...

Shit… I’m waiting for the sun to shine.
- Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver

And the rain just keeps on falling, soon all I know is drowned
Oh, water I’ve got plenty, but it’s the sun who makes me live
We’ve been waiting so long for the sun to shine, but the rain keeps falling down.
- Siena Root
All summer long the sun has kept us waiting. And waiting we did. Endlessly. But sadly, to no avail. That mean bastard didn't want to share his warmth and brilliance with us! Instead, Mr. Grey Weather and Mr. Torrential Downpour paid us a dismal visit and inundated us with their pitiful tears of doom and moody melancholy.

Weeks - and eventually months - passed and the rain just kept on falling, threatening to drown everything. Sunshine was inexistent, as if it had totally been erased from the surface of the earth. Often, when I gazed out of my window, I had the impression that it was November and not July or August. Dreary post-apocalyptic skies made our mood sink and our joyfulness disappeared. From morning to evening, Monday to Sunday, gloom and despair were our companions.

It was quasi-impossible to go out for walks, sit at a café terrace or on the balcony, swim in the lake or plan any outdoor activity unless you were well-equipped and willing to brave the deluge (wind, showers, hail, storms, etc...). I think I have never experienced such rotten atmospheric conditions before.
By all these lovely tokens
September days are here,
With summer’s best of weather
And autumn’s best of cheer.
-  Helen Hunt Jackson, September
Anyway, now that September has arrived and autumn is knocking on our doorstep, things have changed for the better and light has entered our lives again. Oh how soul uplifting it is to see the world in technicolor once more, spend some quality time outside and enjoy the warmth of our beloved fiery star on the skin!

Hopefully fall will be jovial and hold its promises as there is nothing quite like All-hallown summer to soothe our bruised soul and ready us for the upcoming winter...

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

BLACK AND WHITE WEDNESDAY #139 - DINNING AMONG THE OLD HOUSES

- An Idyllic Restaurant Terrace (Chur, Switzerland) -

This picture was submitted to "Black & White Wednesday", an event created by Susan at "The Well-Seasoned Cook". This week it is hosted by Lynne at "Cafe Lynnylu" (click here in order to see who is hosting the next roundup).