A Photo an Hour: 28 July 2018

It’s been over a week since I took part in photo an hour, but this is the first chance I’ve had to actually sit and write a blog post (on my lunch break no less, because when else could I possibly find time for my blog?). Some of you might have seen my live hourly posts on Twitter. For the rest of you, here’s what I got up to on photo an hour day.

9:30 a.m. Up fairly early for a Saturday having been driven out of bed by my boyfriend snoring! Making a cuppa before it gets too hot.

10:30 a.m. Time for some breakfast… toast with cheese.

11:30 a.m. Doing some cross for a card that will be sent to a post pal.

12:30 p.m. Another photo an hour day, another photo of my shower! About time I got clean.

1:30 p.m. Taking away some recycling. It’s quiet hours so I can’t do the glass (plastic goes inside the supermarket so I can’t get in trouble for making a noise)

2:30 p.m. Home and settling down for a late lunch.

3:30 p.m. At some point while I was out Jan got out of bed so I can finally give the place a much-needed hoover!

4:30 p.m. Jan is off to his Basel Tattoo performance (this was the last day of the Tattoo) and I’m changing the bedding.

5:30 p.m. Folding some clean laundry before it gets out of hand again. Not sure why the ironing board is out but it makes a useful surface.

6:30 p.m. I wanted some fresh air so I decided to visit the cows on a nearby farm.

7:30 p.m. Back home and the dishwasher has finished, so while tea is in the oven I’ll empty it.

8:30 p.m. Tea time! Bake potatoes and hummus. Not pictured but consumed: raw carrots.

9:30 p.m. Back to cross stitching. Nearly finished!

10:30 p.m. Off to bed with a book. Funnily enough, I still haven’t actually finished this book because I got distracted by the Internet 😉

And that was my fairly boring day. A busy week at work always means lots of housework waiting for me on Saturday.

As always, the link up was hosted by Jane and Louisa.

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Swiss customs: Banntag

Banntag is a tradition in the canton of Baselbiet (another term for Basel-Landschaft), some parts of Solothurn and some parts of lower Zurich. On Auffahrtstag (the Swiss German for Christi Himmelfahrt – Ascension Day) or a selected other day in May, the community divides into groups and walks around the boundary of the the parish. Originally, the point was to check that all the milestones/boundary stones were in the right place and the neighbouring parish hadn’t sneakily moved any to make their own area bigger. Back then, only men were allowed to take part and in Liestal that’s still the case. This year’s ascension day was bright and sunny, so we decided to take part in our town’s Banntag celebration. Here are some photos:

Waiting for the walk to start

People waiting to go

Mooo!

Into the woods

Pond in the woods… so pretty!!

This puppy was walking with us and I couldn’t resist getting a photo

Part of the way round, we stopped at a local vineyard where we were given wine and a sort of bread with bacon bits in it (water and soft drinks were also available, but who over the age of 16 drinks those at a vineyard?).

Wine and a snack

“When I grow up, I shall be wine!”

Later on the route, a large tent had been set up and there was food and drink for sale.

Swiss beer

This sausage is called a “Klopfer”

Bunting with the coats of arms of all the cantons had been strung up in the tent. The two to the very right in the photo below are Baselland (in red) and Basel-Stadt (black). The symbol is a Baselstab or Baselerstab – a crosier or pastoral staff. I was sitting on the wrong side of the bunting, so they’re actually facing the wrong way – the Baselland one is supposed to face to the right!

All in all, the walk was 10 kilometres. I must admit, I was glad to see the farm that was our goal! Once there, you could get more food and drink – someone was giving out tokens for a little parcel containing a piece of bread and a sausage, but somehow we missed out on that. We did buy a small cake each though – which I had demolished before I even thought about getting the camera out 😉

Wait.. isn’t this the start again?

Nearly there!

I just thought the yellow among the green looked pretty

Phew, made it!

Entertainment

It was a beautiful day and a nice walk… and also a good opportunity to discover what ground our town actually covers! We left before the real party got started – it’s not much fun when you don’t know anyone, and almost everyone was way older than us – but on the way home I couldn’t resist taking a few more photos of the cows at the farm and the scenery. I still can’t quite believe that this beauty is within 20 minutes walk of my house!

Moo!

Hello cow!

I actually live here!