Mean, moi?

Once in a while I get to hear that I'm mean. This is probably true. Got an sms from that police guy today, asking if I remember him and how I was. Simply answered that I know who he is, he's the police guy with a wife and two children. I then wished him a nice evening. My mistake was that I gave him my mobile number, shouldn't have done that but how difficult can it be to understand "I don't sleep with married men". PS. Ok, so maybe not totally true but I definitely won't sleep with him!

I love Zürichsee!

L'Oreal had a point when they said because I'm worth it. Today I was worth a boat ride with fabulous weather, blue sky, radio Zürichsee, nice company, sandwiches, water and wine. What else can a poor girl ask for? That's what I always say, you get what you deserve ;)... PS. Friend had big sunglasses on and I didn't point it out until in the end. Will enjoy watching her look like a raccoon!

The first boat trip of this year

And tomorrow is real busy. Gotta take the boat out for a spin. Read and weep suckers! 22°C and sunshine all day.

Dinner and dinner

This week I thought I had no plans. Then my brother with very short notice thought it was a good idea to check on his summer tyres in my basement (unfortunately not removing them!).

So I invited him and his girlfriend for dinner last night. They got the leftovers of the very delicious slow-cooked meat and enjoyed it.

Today bro's girlfriend called and invited me for dinner. How could I say no? So I took them to my fav place piccola Italia and we splashed out for chocolate cake for dessert. Yummie!

Unexpected guest

And why talk to me when we can chat over the computer?

Service that we pay for

Our gardener hard at work.

Epiphany

All of a sudden it came to me. What I gonna do with the empty white wall in the kitchen. I was watching Brians home in Queer as folk, and of course I shall have a shelf there! Approx 2 meter long, 15 cm wide. It'll be set up above my height so that I won't risk smashing my head. It should have the stainless steel look, and possibly some mirrors in it. This'll add even more fabulousness to my flat! Now the question is, where do I find such a shelf?

A common view

Funny remarks during the evening: "I didn't realize you had such good taste" - when my friend found out I had the Casco de la Cruz wine, making such a fuss about it I had to give him a bottle. Which of course I expect a fabulous dinner in return for... "But you got the boobs to show" - when the two female guests realized they wore the same "apron"-like tops and I had a tight one, me saying "I seem to be the only one not in fashion" and one of the guys popped the comment looking at his wife... "I thought I could change him" - when I asked one of the women why she married her husband. We all (at least us three women) had a good laugh at that. "Your grandchildren are going to ask why their grandmother have such a funky flat" - apropos me mentioning that I'm going for futuristic and nothing remotely old will ever set foot in my flat. Also a slightly odd remark considering that I do not have any children... Another fabulous evening! I am so lucky having all these good friends!

I pulled it off!

Yessss! I did it! I managed to impress gourmet people about my cooking skills. I feel so relieved, and a tad proud too I must admit.

I slow-cooked this Irish beef. First I spiced it with salt, lemon pepper and a bit of the Thai chili my cleaning woman got me. Then I fried it in butter for 5 mins exactly (have a timer on my stove). Then I slow-cooked it in the oven in 80° for nearly 4 hours. The meat was perfect! Slightly pink in the middle and melted in your mouth.

The Valpolicella Classico Ripasso 2008 (second press of Amarone) was very much approved of too, as well as the Spanish Casco de la Cruz (Pedro Ximenez) that I served as dessert wine with the cake that my neighbour so kindly provided. I was planning on taking credit for baking that too, only the first two guests arrived early before the cake so that opportunity went out the window.

This evening proved what I've known most of my life. I am a very resourceful woman! And I did it all with wonderful friends!

And then there is...

...the aftermath to deal with. Cannot be arsed tonight, but have to clean up before tomorrow when I have to cook a gourmet meal...never a dull moment!

Dirndl & Co

Yup, we had a good time. Again.

Wo sind die Schweizern?

This is a phrase that the band shouts sometimes, asking "where are ze Swiss?". Normally ze Swiss would respond loudly and clearly. Except for this guy. When the band was looking for response, I stared at him and then he raised his hand about 5 cm's up from the table. If I was Swiss I would be proud, but perhaps he felt he was in minority tonight? He didn't want to admit to being Swiss and he certainly didn't want to appear in the blog!

Out

We're still smoking in Zürich!!

Preparty

Just having a chäschuchli (or whatever these cheesy things are called) and some delicious strawberry wine before going out.

Glenn Close's sister and her Mum

When you get to know people better they start sharing with you. Sometimes I think it is better to keep just acquaintances...

Like tonight when I was told how girl to the left on the pic left her poor rabbit to freeze to death. Which made a guy around the table think that she should take the highway to hell.

I really didn't want to be part of this discussion, but I very much enjoyed the impersonation of the frozen rabbit! Stong!

Disapproving sneer

Today I posed for a painter, who did my portrait. It was this artist who just wants to practise and does it for free. It took about an hour and turned out actually looking like me, apart from a disapproving snear on my face. My ever-loving neighbour told me that's what I look like. Gee, thanks!

Mooh-girl

Was meeting up with mooh-girl tonight, and although she claims she doesn't want to use her unique talent she was persuaded to give a performance.

Personally I dunno why anybody would not utilize a given talent like singing. I would be over the moon if I could sing like that. But there you go. There are us mediocre people who can only dream, and then there are the talented ones discarding what is given to them.

But I was happy to be there when she caved in!

The fabulous fireplace

A feature in my fabulous flat!

Egg-loo

I have a friend who has gotten two new pets, Betty & Marge. Reason for naming the poor bastards is unknown. But I was told that the home of the new family members was egg-loo (which sounds like cluckers shitting before producing an egg) and I saw on the net that it costs around 400 GBP. That is a lot of cost for one egg!

Do the math and imagine how many eggs you can buy in the shop for the cost of a "home-made" one!

View from the balcony

Plants in place on balcony

Parsley?

Does this look like parsley to you?

No grill

Was shopping around for a grill for the balcony today, but in the end decided against it. The few times in the summer I would use it wouldn't justify the purchase. After all, I could just invite myself to any of the 3-4 neighbours who do have a grill, so why bother?

Now I do not have to take the decision of charcoal vs gas, of camping grill vs a more fashionable "kugelgrill". And I'm sure one or two spontaneous parties will emerge from my "no-decision". Great!

Friendship

Sms from me: "So are you coming out to play this week, you miserable cow?". Sms from friend: "Mooh. How's tomorrow at 19.00?". Love my friends.

The end of an era

Was out in my favourite place tonight, and couldn't help thinking that this week is the end of an era. On 1st of May the fucking bureaucrats will have won (yes I know there is still more than one week but still), making one of the last outposts smoke-forbidden. No longer free to smoke in bars or restaurants in Zürich.

So I will do what I can. Go out every evening of this week, smoke my fucking lungs out, blow smoke in everybodys face. Childish, me?

Der Böög 2010

It's gonna be a fabulous summer. The snowman blew up in less than 13 minutes. Cannot wait. Today was 20°C +, and my plants are sprouting flowers. Even the parsley plants are showing...well something that looks green. This is the beginning...

First coat of paint

Soon there will be another. It's fabulous!

Sächsilüüte - Das Zürcher Frühlingsfest

Tomorrow it's time for the next party in Zürich. Gosh, I love this city. It is certainly never dull. Sächsilüüte, the party to celebrate spring. And I'll be there.

Police

Got hit on by a police guy tonight. At first I thought I had died and gone to heaven, then I realized he was just another guy. He presented himself as working with crime, turned out he was just an admin guy interrogating people who had been violent in the streets. He had no uniform. And he was short. Bummer!

Home!

And then the most welcome sign of them all, the train home.

Greenpeace

So after the commotion that the apes caused we all filed into a room that fit 2,640 visitors, give or take. We received an electronic device for the voting exercise, and were welcomed by the panel of board of directors. All men.

The boss opened the meeting, which were held in French but with simultaneous translation. Pretty cool to be honest.

Then after a minute or so this noise reappeared but more like a drilling noise. The speaker noted it, but stated he would keep on going (rattling off numbers or whatever). After about two minutes two holes appeared in the ceiling and two SWAT-team-like black-clad men came gliding down just like in Oceans 11, holding posters with "save the orangutangs". According to their flyer it's something about Nestle using palm oil, which apparently harms the rain forests and especially the orangutangs.

What surprised me the most was that no intervention was made by Nestle. They were allowed to just hang there for about an hour displaying their message. Interesting. Made me think if the Nestle management was in agreement...?

Then any shareholder was allowed to raise questions, which 13 of them did. Two of them were loonies, one talking about how every Nestle product was tasting better in the 80's and another one attacking the company for unknown reasons. She wasn't very lucid. The others had valid questions which were answered reasonably I thought.

However, when it came to approving the salaries I was in disagreement. I just don't think that 10 mill CHF per year for one person is reasonable, even if the company generates good profit. Unfortunately 96% of the shareholders did not agree with me. You can't win them all.

And just for the sake of it I voted against reelecting the men to the board, but voted yes for the only woman who was. Gotta make a point, even if it doesn't lead anywhere.

After 4 (!) hours sitting down without drinks, food or more importantly nicotine the meeting was finished. And we had the most welcome apero, of course served with Nestle products. And a bag of freebies.

Uniforms

After I got over the surprise of the apes, I spotted the men in uniforms. Yummie!

Apes

When in Lausanne I took the opportunity of participating in the annual general meeting of Nestle, ze Swiss company that produces consumer products. Just for the fun of it.

And it turned out to be more than that. It was hilarious. When we arrived there was this noise, and we were thinking that all the suits were unusually loud. Turned out to be orangutangs. I really didn't expect that.

French food

Yes, they know how to make food in Lausanne too.

Lausanne

It's been quite a day. Been gone since 8 in the morning until now. For the first time I have crossed the "Rösti-graben" into the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Oui.

Stong!

Friend of mine got a business email today with at least 3 spelling mistakes in it. How professional is that? Not. One of the words words was stong, probably meant to say strong but it made our evening. Now everything is stong! I find that remark really stong! Your appearance looks stong today! Look at that guy, isn't he stong! I feel a bit stong! Yes, I think stong is gonna be all around for a while...

Remedy

So in order to overcome the frustration of getting your phone demolished, what better way is there than to blow into a horn?