December 2020
Tuesday 1st December 2020
As though following a pre-arranged calendar the new calendar month began today with a new look to the weather.
And what was good too, it was also the day when I had set aside some time to change from our summer tyres to our winter tyres.
Countdown
Lots of Advent calendars start today, counting the 24 days up to Christmas Eve. But today also marks the Brexit countdown: in one month the transition period will have expired and the UK will be on its own again. Then we will begin to find out whether the British will get to enjoy the new freedom promised by the politicians, or just administrative chaos.
Thursday 3rd December 2020
Hooking up
Normally at Christmas we have visitors – family members from England. This year with all kinds of travel restrictions in place we assumed they wouldn’t come.
But just recently we’ve just heard that the folks from England are indeed coming.
One of those visitors is someone who likes to make herself useful in the kitchen, and we don’t say no. One problem is that she is not quite tall enough to reach the hand-towels and tea-towels in the kitchen. They are hanging on hooks at the top of the kitchen door, and I can barely reach them myself, so I can fully understand the problem.
As a result, this year I decided to do something about it. I went to our nearest Do-It-Yourself supplier and bought a set of hooks already mounted on a white backing board. My plan was to mount it at a suitable height, so that we can all reach the kitchen towels.
The set of hooks is of the kind where you first put two screws in the wall, leaving the heads just a few millimetres above the surface of the wall.
But just recently we’ve just heard that the folks from England are indeed coming.
One of those visitors is someone who likes to make herself useful in the kitchen, and we don’t say no. One problem is that she is not quite tall enough to reach the hand-towels and tea-towels in the kitchen. They are hanging on hooks at the top of the kitchen door, and I can barely reach them myself, so I can fully understand the problem.
As a result, this year I decided to do something about it. I went to our nearest Do-It-Yourself supplier and bought a set of hooks already mounted on a white backing board. My plan was to mount it at a suitable height, so that we can all reach the kitchen towels.
The set of hooks is of the kind where you first put two screws in the wall, leaving the heads just a few millimetres above the surface of the wall.
The set of hooks has keyhole-shaped fittings on the back. You place the board so that the heads of the screws go into the wider part of the keyhole, and then slide the board down so that the shafts of the screws slide into the narrow part.
This is where the problem showed up. If you follow this mounting procedure, you find…
This is where the problem showed up. If you follow this mounting procedure, you find…
…that the hooks point downwards.
The manufacturer had placed the keyhole-shaped fittings upside-down, and there was no way of correcting it. So today I had to take a second trip to the DIY store, where I managed to get the set of hooks exchanged for one which had been correctly put together.
And this is what it looks like now:
The manufacturer had placed the keyhole-shaped fittings upside-down, and there was no way of correcting it. So today I had to take a second trip to the DIY store, where I managed to get the set of hooks exchanged for one which had been correctly put together.
And this is what it looks like now:
Saturday 5th December 2020
Christmas crafts
This year, as in previous years, we took part in a Christmas Crafts afternoon, hosted by my daughter. Fewer people were able to take part this year because… (well, you know why).
We sat at tables well spaced out in the open plan apartment, wearing masks whenever we went round to see what the others were doing.
We sat at tables well spaced out in the open plan apartment, wearing masks whenever we went round to see what the others were doing.
Some produced hand-crafted greetings cards:
While I worked on a Christmas window picture.
UK in isolation
The UK has been bracing itself for chaos at the beginning of January because of the country's ill-preparedness for the end of the Brexit transition period. The media has been speaking of potential tailbacks of thousands of lorries from the ports of Dover and Folkestone.
But now there has been an unexpected turn of events. Ten days earlier than expected, the South-East of England has been hit by, well perhaps not chaos, but certainly confusion. The cause is nothing directly to do with Brexit, but with a mutant of the coronavirus which has turned up in the South-East.
The new mutant may not be more dangerous, experts say, but it seems to spread more easily than the virus we have been worrying about since March.
In response to this unknown threat, a range of European countries have placed bans on visitors from England. France, for example, has banned all travel from England for the 48 hours from midnight on Sunday.
The UK was looking for independence. It’s got isolation.
Our guests from England are already here with us. How and when they are going to be able to get home is an open question. But we’ll worry about that when the time comes. First come the Christmas holidays.
But now there has been an unexpected turn of events. Ten days earlier than expected, the South-East of England has been hit by, well perhaps not chaos, but certainly confusion. The cause is nothing directly to do with Brexit, but with a mutant of the coronavirus which has turned up in the South-East.
The new mutant may not be more dangerous, experts say, but it seems to spread more easily than the virus we have been worrying about since March.
In response to this unknown threat, a range of European countries have placed bans on visitors from England. France, for example, has banned all travel from England for the 48 hours from midnight on Sunday.
The UK was looking for independence. It’s got isolation.
Our guests from England are already here with us. How and when they are going to be able to get home is an open question. But we’ll worry about that when the time comes. First come the Christmas holidays.
Front page story
Look back to 1665: the Plague Year
Contact
If you’re interested in English lessons or translation and checking services, please feel free to contact me in the language of your choice - English, French, German or even Lingala!
Here are my details:
Here are my details:
Mobile
078 609 56 51
+41 78 609 56 51
+41 78 609 56 51
Location
Tödistrasse 9, 8634 Hombrechtikon
(New address from 24th March 2018)
(New address from 24th March 2018)
If you are travelling from Rüti / Wolfhausen, drive past the Hombrechtikon place-name sign for about 300 metres and turn right into Tödistrasse, just before the Tobel bus stop.
Approaching from Hombrechtikon
If you are approaching from the centre of Hombrechtikon, follow the signs to Rüti. At the Tobel junction (the Methodist Church is on the left) turn left. Tödistrasse is the next turning on the left, just past the Tobel bus stop.
The entrance to our new flat is about 100 metres from the junction with Rütistrasse, on the left-hand side of the road.
The house number is number 9 and we are on the first floor.
There are a few visitor’s parking bays a short distance beyond the entrance, on the left.
There are a few visitor’s parking bays a short distance beyond the entrance, on the left.
Arriving by bus
If you arrive by bus from Bubikon, get off the bus at Tobel and follow Tödiweg until you get to Tödistrasse. Our house is on the right.