Just plain busy.

“Women need food, water, and compliments and an occasional pair of shoes.”

Good Morning, Fri 31st, 5.40, +0.5dg... pinch and a punch for the end of the month. Where on earth did January go ? We have a forecast for rain in the village and turning to snow up on the mountain a little later.. I hope it is snow and not rain!! Yesterday was a gloomy day all day, dry but cold and flat light. My day finished as one of those pat on the back days.. was going to do laundry cupboards but started pfaffing around in the office and never came out of there until after 17.00 !! It wasn't so much that it was a tip, more a repository over the years for a lot of ohhh I'll just pop it in there, sort of, out of sight out of mind kinda place. I am also mindful of trying to keep drawers, cupboards and unnecessaries to a minimum so at the end of it all the children are not faced with an OMG task !! And no, this is not me being maudlin, just thinking ahead and trying to have a sort out. I have been boxing up Paulii's VCR tapes, hundreds it seems like, and all his DVDs. If I sat down and did a tally on the money that boy spent.. !!! What to do with them all, that is the question as he has such a large collection of historic motor racing and boxed sets of all sorts. Not to mention all his books... heavens I could open a book shop, but not here as they are all in English. All this said, the bonus being space. Today back in the saddle with conversation and then two tuition lessons. My house guest leaves for home tomorrow, so a busy day Saturday turning the Dachboden around for incoming next week. The laundry cupboards will get done this weekend!! My television consists of watching the boys in St Moritz 01.02.2014 11:45 Downhill | Men, 02.02.2014 10:30 Giant Slalom | Men
and the the women in Kranjska Gora (SLO) 01.02.20140 10:00 Giant Slalom | Ladies, 02.02.2014 09:15 Slalom | Ladies.
Perfect with the weather forecast as it is for here this weekend.
Even little girls need shoes.. perfect Poppity stompers. 

Day off..

“Our bodies have five senses: touch, smell, taste, sight, hearing. But not to be overlooked are the senses of our souls: intuition, peace, foresight, trust, empathy.

Good Morning... Thurs 30th, 5.59, +1.6dg. The weather reports for today are different on almost every site and it is too dark out for an out my window job.. it will be a wait and see but generally cloudy and a little showery down here in the village and they say snow on the mountains later and over night. Yesterday had a real Brrr factor to it all day. As I walked up to the lift at 8.30am I was watching the wind lift the snow off the ridges so made the decision to ski only the front faces. The snow guns were in full operation on all pistes as it was so cold, not really much fun skiing through blasting snow without windscreen wipers!! Combine that with a good selection of death cookies on certain parts and it tends to slow you down a tad!! The run down to the village was not open when I was ready to ski home... it has not been operational for a while now but the cover looks to be building again, so I lifted down, boots off, trolley packed and home for 11.30am. Perfect. Littles tuition sorted ... I had to clap my hands and raise my voice yesterday.. Ohhh, but it did get their attention... partially my fault as we were doing name the body parts on the blackboard and it got a little out of control. Conversation was just a giggle with information thrown in at various moments. Then it was time to socialise.. a visit was a nice little diversion, and one I have missed. My guest went out for the evening so once again the house was mine. Today is a me day.. what to do I ask ? Well there is a shed load of rubbish to cart up to the re-cycler and I have promised myself for months to sort all the S and D in the laundry cupboards. It was suggested an early morning ski but am thinking the light will be too flat and the Föhn wind may well be the master up on the slopes today. Yesterday the decision was made to take the trees offered to me that the Gemeinde were cutting from the roadside in front of a friends house. Next week I have to go to Bludenz, hire a truck to shift the 1 meter lengths of tree trunk to my back garden in preparation for cutting splitting and stacking. Jeez it only feels like yesterday I was doing the last jolly lot!! I have plenty to do to keep out of mischief today. Best laid plans and all.....

Red flag on Tracie Reynolds.. using the jamesharris240@gmail.com address

Many different contact names... same email address.. this sms came to me yesterday. Same old same old just a different name with the same scam.

Post this warning on your social media sites... this is the only way to impact these thieves. 

These people prey on us all, some of us fall for the scam. Help me stop them . 

Red Flag the jamesharris240@gmail.com.

I have written to gmail to ask them to close his email account because of what it is used for... will they ??? Not a chance.

Are they interested??? Obviously not.

Have I heard back from a representative from gmail??? Not a peep. 

Is it good enough??? No Google mail, it is not. Shame on you gmail for your inactivity and your couldn't care less attitude.

Sent from: Tracie Reynolds

Is your Wheelchair on willhaben.at still for sale? reply me back to my email jamesharris240@gmail.com

Sent from my iPhone

A quick trip up the mountain for a dose of sunshine

“Taking personal accountability is a beautiful thing because it gives us complete control of our destinies.”

Good Morning World... Wed 29th, 6.09, -6.0dg... now we are talking better morning temperatures. Forecasting today for a sunny start and then clouding over... Incoming föhn and rain tomorrow.. as a consequence my boot bag was plugged in this morning at 5am so I will have warm tooties when I go up to do a few runs this morning. Yesterday was a day on the run for the most part, but very successful. I am now finished this part of the search and find and re-organising.. at last. It was a snowy Innsbruck on arrival and continued on until late morning. Home by 16.00, and then up into the village to do some comestibles. Fire lit, gin poured and a tired bunny in the chair. When the day starts at 4am you tend to run out of steam early evening... so jolly out of steam I could not sit up and watch the two runs of slalom from the night racing in Schladming... sad face. My guest went out for dinner with his family, who live locally here in Schruns, so I had the house to myself... happy face. Today a quick trip up the mountain to do a few runs and then I have incoming littles for tuition and then a conversation group. Wednesday done. Tomorrow the weather is in collapse mode so it is a good opportunity to get up the hill today. I am sure that today's pics put us all in mind of a moment, and the second one of course is when you start muttering inappropriate things down the line as you wait, wait, wait....

Simply Tuesday

“To those who are given much, much is expected.”

Good Morning World... Tues 28th, 5.02, -1.5dg. Forecasting for a overcast day down here and the mountain forecast is for some possible light snow this morning.. all clearing with a little winking sun afternoon. Yesterday it was raining when I woke turning to snow as I walked to the Bahnhof early morning. Cleared before midday, and no need to shovel. My Swiss guest arrived earlier than expected but I was home.. just. Installed and left to his own devices as I prepared for littles at 15.30. Afternoon flew by and ending on a good note with a msg from the mother of one little who is so excited as her daughter is so excited about what we did yesterday she was already at the table starting her long list of English homework. Bonus. The evening was spent with my guest and a lovely Spanish red that he bought to share with me... had read in my bio page that I enjoy drinking wine... :0 Heavens maybe I may look at that !!! Not so clever not eating dinner though. Today am off on the 7.03 to Innsbruck to finalise the new chairs and hopefully home early afternoon. All in all a relaxingly simple day especially as the weather will be fine. Happy Tuesday.

New Zealand talent... Brilliant

“Thinking something does not make it true. Wanting something does not make it real.”

Good Morning World... Mon 27th, 5.38, +2.3dg and a soggy wet dawn so far. Forecasting for incoming snow for the best part of the day. The snow yesterday put 15cm of new powder up on the piste  and sufficient down here for me to shovel twice through the day. Really would have been faster and easier if I had used the snow plough in the morning, but there was a guest car parked right in front of the garage door so could not get it out... muscles instead. I was such a nice person yesterday, I even brushed off the two cars in preparation for their impending departure. The day was spent between the cleaning and clearing, sorting the Dachboden, watching the FIS racing and the laundry. Incoming guest this afternoon, so all done and ready. Yesterday I had three requests for accomodation in March and the day before one for Feb. It is really quite busy which is marvellous... make hay while the snow is here!! Sort of, if you get my meaning. Today is a quiet early moment then Littles tuition at 15.00. Tuesday is clear so am thinking another flying trip into Innsbruck to sort the list. And so New Zealand has another star... congratulations to Lorde - New Zealand's royal Grammy winner. Bravo and congratulations to her.

A girl always needs shoes...

“.. its not so much about the shoes, but the person wearing them”

Good Morning World... Sun 26th, 6.22, +1.9dg. A muddly weather day ahead, with a lot of snow falling last night. It is always a pleasure to be woken by the snow ploughs on the road... we must have had a good fall here in the village as he has done at least six passes up and down the street. Yesterday I was on the train to Innsbruck at 8am, a good day to do my search and find. There were little flakes floating down on me as I came out of the Bahnhof in Innsbruck but not for long. Decisions made after a lot of sitting, measuring and testing, then it was off to do girl chores!!  Result.. pale pink suede ankle boots.. yes !! Then of course a girl has to do just a little co-ordinating, thank you Mango it is perfect. I did have a rather inappropriate thought as I was sitting having a shopping break with a glass of something... there I was surrounded by masses of humanity all shapes and sizes, and not a single piece of eye candy anywhere!! In fact the whole day did not once produce a head turner. I must be getting old or perhaps too selective. Home on the 15.45 and back in the house at 18.00. Guests upstairs resting after a big day on snow. As the weather was good yesterday and the snow so fresh I can imagine sore legs this morning. They leave today, and an incoming male from Switzerland for the week. Decision made to take a quick ski break into Brunnen first weekend Feb to catch up with Mr Winsloe. He is such a sweetie as he will uplift me from Zurich Flughafen so will have to dig out my ski bag as I will take boots and skis with me. Sat and watched the FIS racing from Kitzbuehel and Cortina d Ampezzo last night as I had recorded it especially for the mens downhill. Today the programme is for Kitzbuehel (AUT) 10:15, Super Combined | Men 26.01.2014 Kitzbuehel (AUT) 10:15 Super G | Men and Cortina d Ampezzo (ITA) 12.00, Super G - Ladies - Rescheduled SG from Garmisch). Would love to say a busy day on my chair watching but have to turn the Dachboden around for the incoming tomorrow, such is life.

Busy Saturday

“If only God would give me some clear sign! Like making a large deposit in my name at a Swiss Bank.”

Good Morning World... Sat 25th, 5.22, -3.8dg. There are stars.. the forecast is for a stunner bluebird day. Those heading up onto the piste will have a fantastic time. Forecast for a seriously good snow fall Saturday night and through Sunday. Yesterday it was snowing here here in the village by daylight, and continued on and off through the day. I cleared the driveway at 9am so my life experienced girls would walk safely as I am on an incline. Halo !! Watched the first run slalom from Kitzbühel at lunch time and then second run after my senior student left at 17.15... all done in heaving snow and testing conditions... reverse order always throws its own dramas and the biggest was Hirscher last to race second run, and sadly going into the kitty litter... Thankfully my little house is relatively sound proof and my guests had not arrived at that stage as the air was quite blue momentarily. Today they are racing the big one...the Hahnenkamm from Kitzbühel. I do not want to miss it as it is a brilliant race that can be filled with drama. I will have to record it and watch tonight as I am off to Innsbruck to do some search and find today. Committed the cardinal sin last night, my returning guests arrived from Zurich at 20.00 but their friends, who were coming down from Basel, had been caught in traffic through Zurich and were badly delayed. After discussion with them I went to bed without waiting up to greet the others as they were not due in until after 23.00.. to late for this rabbit. Carlos was the meeter, greeter and supervisor for me last night. The house is quiet, all the lights were off at 5am when I went down, so I am assuming all is in order. The electrician made my day yesterday.. I now have motion sensors on two critical lights.. What am I like getting excited over such trivialities..  Happy Saturday from my corner to your corner..

HAHNENKAMM RACES KITZBÜHEL

Karl Koller
Thäus Schwabl
Toni Sailer
Karl Schranz
Phil Mahre
Thomas Stangassinger
Patrik Jaerbyn

1930/31

First International Hahnenkamm Race.

30's

A variety of slopes within the Hahnenkamm Ski Area are used as venues for the Hahnenkamm.

1932 - 1961

Ladies races run within the framework of the Hahnenkamm Races

1935

Construction of the Brückenschuss as part of the downhill run

1938 - 1945

World War II interrupts the string of Hahnenkamm races

1940's

The Streif and Ganslern establish themselves as the runs for the Hahnenkamm Races

1950's

Upgrade to racing standards of the "Startschuss","Mausefalle" and "Steilhang Einfahrt" downhill stretches

1960's

Upgrade of the "Alte Schneise" segment of the downhill

1966

On January 20, 1996, another chapter of skiing history is written on the Streif when the idea of the World Cup is born at the "Seidlalm".

1967

The first Hahnenkamm World Cup event takes place.

1970's

Upgrade of the "Hausberg" section

1980's

Intensive work to upgrade safety along the entire length of the Streif.

1990's

Further intensive safety improvements along the Streif and Ganslern runs, along with on-going improvements in spectator services. Running of Sprint-Downhill and Super-G as a third element within the framework of Hahnenkamm competition.

1990

Staging of the first sprint downhill in two runs at the 50th Anniversary Races "KITZ-KIRI-SKI"

1993

After being forced to cancel the Hahnenkamm in 1964, 1988 and 1993 due to poor snow conditions, the Kitzbühel Lift Co. installs artificial snow-making equipment to provide total coverage along the Streif and Ganslern runs. Construction of the Seidlalm jump.

New Zealand Winter Olympic Team Selection...

Congratulations to you all on your selection.. Fly the flag, go for gold and have fun... 
The New Zealand Olympic Team to Sochi 2014 is:

Janina Kuzma, 28, Wanaka, Freeski Halfpipe

Lyndon Sheehan, 25, Wanaka, Freeski Halfpipe

Jossi Wells, 23, Wanaka, Freeski Halfpipe and Slopestyle

Byron Wells, 21, Wanaka, Freeski Halfpipe

Beau-James Wells, 18, Wanaka, Freeski Halfpipe and Slopestyle

Anna Willcox, 21, Northshore, Akl Freeski Slopestyle

Shane Dobbin, 34, Gold Coast, Aus, Ice Speed Skating – Long Track

Katharine Eustace, 38, Wanaka, Skeleton

Ben Sandford, 34, Rotorua, Skeleton

Adam Barwood, 21, Queenstown, Slalom and Giant Slalom

Shelly Gotlieb, 33, Ohakune, Snowboard Slopestyle

Stefi Luxton, 22, Wanaka, Snowboard Slopestyle

Christy Prior, 25, Helensville, Akl, Snowboard Slopestyle

Rebecca Sinclair, 22, Wanaka, Snowboard Halfpipe

Rebecca Torr, 23, Te Puke, Snowboard Slopestyle

Bless the Irish

“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir...mighty scarce.”

Good Morning World... Fri 24th, 5.30, +1.7dg. Forecast is dependant on which page I look at ... Schruns is for a cloudy day with light snow this evening, and up in my office they are forecasting snow for today, clearing for Saturday coming back in Sat night right through Sunday. I wish they could all read from the same hymn sheet. Yesterday started in a good way weather wise and became very weather gloomy in the afternoon... But, I finally put my skis on and went up to play. This girl has a happy face. I had a beautiful couple of hours on all the pistes just checking the condition everywhere... fantastic!! The luxury of yesterday was the absence of people.. I love it when the piste is relatively clear... It is a real stand clear of moving parts sort of thing. The lift up in the morning was interesting... I was earwigging.. as you do, and realised that the man standing next to me, talking to two others, was non other than the "Klaus Mair" ... we have been virtual friends on FB for a little while through his connection with Treble Cone and also the fact that he comes from Schruns... We have never met until yesterday morning.. fab.. nice to meet you Klaus. I hope the English, German, Italian was not too difficult yesterday  So for today.. the electrician is arriving at 7.45 - 8am to do the things I need done here... just wish the bloody carpenter/handyman would present at the door also. I fear that is one of my " in your dreams " moments. Yesterday, fingers crossed, I arranged for a friend, who is having some roadside trees removed by the Gemeinde, to ask if they can drop the pile of trees off in my back garden... Incoming work already for the summer. I hope I do not regret the request. Today is a simple day.. conversation group at 10 and then senior tuition at 15.00. Guests -four - arriving early this evening from Zurich and Basel for a weekend of skiing. Decision made to do a flying trip into Innsbruck leaving sparrows fart tomorrow morning to maximise my time in Innsbruck. I leave you with the philosophy of the Irish... bless them. Have to be careful what I say as I live in Europe by virtue of an Irish Passport, not a New Zealand one. The New Zealand Passport was not good enough for the powers that make the decisions here !!!

Me, I just love inappropriate at times..

My Level of maturity depends on who I am with .....

Good Morning World... Thurs 23rd, 5.40, -2,7dg. Ohhh minus two days in a row.... Incoming forecast is for very snowy on and off through until next week. Boot bag plugged in at 5am, this girl is finally going up to play in the snow... am going with a friend so I hope we do more skiing than other things!! They have the Ladies week up on the Golm this week, and for the first time since I have been here I am not part of it.. several reasons but the main one being I no longer have the luxury of having my days to myself. Yesterday was a brilliant bluebird day and I kept looking out the office window as I was doing some lesson prep and just wishing I was up the hill.. Tuition and conversation duly dispatched, thank you and an invitation turned down for birthday celebration drinks... it is too blinking cold to go out at night especially when it is a long way to walk there and back... bit naughty really but there you are. Plans for today are to ski and then who knows what.... I call that an open book and a clear diary. Incoming guests from Zurich tomorrow and I was hoping the electrician would have been to do the light motion sensors... Murphy's law he will ring me this morning. Waiting on my delivery from Ikea, hopefully that is an incoming tomorrow, and yesterday put a lovely surprise on my doorstep from Zara.   Just humming away to myself... Happy days.

Well, it is a comfy place to be...

“To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable.”

Good Morning World... Wed 22nd, 6.07, -1.9dg.. hmmm,a little cooler this morning. I do not think we have had a minus for a while. Weather on the mountain today is for sun today and incoming snow showers for tomorrow... Thursday being the day I had made plans to go skiing with a friend... Murphy's law!!! Yesterday was a day to wear a hat outside with showers comingand going most of the day. My morning was spent wasting time trying to do my Singapore flights for New Zealand... it takes so long to do multi stop plans then you get to the pay button and the bloody site pops up a yellow post... We are terribly sorry we cannot process your request please call Singapore Airlines!!! Jeez, it's just a series of flights.. nothing too difficult. I was then told about round the world tickets.. sounded like a good idea, that was another hour spent with a system that was obviously created by a total feckwit. Star Alliance...It allows 15 stops... perfect, so in I go T & C's read, acknowledge and good to go. Start from Zurich, and bounce my way across to Christchurch, then exit Auckland.. four stops input, and then the system will not allow me to get out of Auckland. So you do the norm.. cancel and restart the process, that done four times, I do what most do and press the help button. I have to ring a number in Germany. Consequently I have not made a booking to fly to NZ at this time. Not really clock watching but still in bed...  Naughty. All in all yesterday was one of those days where you achieve very little and end the day feeling slightly miffed. Today is Wednesday, littles incoming at 14.00 and conversation at 16.00. A quick check of the prep in their respective folders and all set. The FIS racing is coming from Kitzbühel, and Cortina d Ampezzo
this week... Hahnenkamm, Kitzbühel, is my pick of the viewing... I hope the weather plays nicely.

Loving the doorbell idea...

If you're going to do something tonight that you'll be sorry for tomorrow morning, sleep late.

Good Morning World... Tues 21st, 6.52, +2.7dg. The road sounds as soggy as all get out so that means it is raining.. rain below, snow above equals happy bunnies. Yesterday the weather was lovely.. at times I think I should put the washing line back into the holder and dry the bed linen outside it is that jolly warm here. They are forecasting light snow showers up above all day. Perfect. My day yesterday was spent in the cellar sorting the linen cupboard... a couple of hours on the ironing machine with all the new bed linen, an hour on the sewing machine doing some button replacement and mend... Don't you hate it when you are cutting the dozen wonderful plastic instruction labels that manufacturers love to use in products these days... they come in all the languages of the world... like I need that... and you strike the fabric as well as the label... joy!! So mending done I then needed to do a massive re-shuffle of the them and me bed linens. Anything for an easy life, but I do put my hand up and acknowledge that I am a bit of a Prima Donna for perfection. It is a cross I have to bear. Job done but the whole exercise took me 5 hours!! Gin time.. As far as AFD's go, have had some success as am no longer in the aperitivo club, but do admit to a couple in the evenings.. result. Bridgy, thanks for the door bell idea... am thinking it would be brilliant,but where to place it is the drama. Don't want visitors getting the wrong idea on any count!! Yesterday was a super day... no tuition, no guests, just me, and today is the same. Electrician came early morning.. work in the book and hopefully completed this week.. I so want the sensors on the light switches before my weekend guests arrive. New chair ordered from Ikea, hopefully delivery mid week, then the last little tweaks up in the Dachboden which means waiting on the friendly handyman, and it is finished ... for a while at least. Today I am going to do some prep work for the people coming through my door, Wednesday and Friday ... Thursday is a me day, and all going well I have a date up the hill. May not pull that one off as the snow forecast for the week is incoming everyday apart from a little sunny break tomorrow morning. No grumbles... Happy Tuesday.

There will be more snow this week...

It is easy to sit up and take notice, What is difficult is getting up and taking action.

Good Morning World... Mon 20th, 6.13, +2.3dg. Forecasting for a snowy week on and off up top, but here in the village am thinking it will be rain, although they say snow to 800 meters so we shall see. Today will be an inside day at the very least. Yesterday was a full speed ahead day... cleaning the Dachboden after departing guests in readiness for incoming. New request in the mail this morning for March, at this rate of enquiry the month of March will soon be full and there are only two available broken weeks in Feb to fill.... It was suggested to me the other day that I remove my profile pic from my airbnb home page.. !!!! What ever, like people come because of that ..Silly Billies. Watched a little ski racing from Wengen in Switzerland, men's slalom. Have to admit to shouting at the TV when Hirscher was doing his second run... Gosh sad face. All the linen sorted and away... halo time.... and then an emergency pre-exam tuition in the late afternoon for some correction and soothing  She will be fine. My normal Monday littles tuition is not on today as one is away in Vienna doing her musical test entrance exam... Monday is free, happy dance...  This week I am expecting the electricians in the house to put sensor switches on some key lights so I do not have to leave lights on in the evenings when guests are out.. and also some new under kitchen cupboards LED strips... I nearly passed out at the price of them and that is before I have to pay for the fitting and work... gulp. They tell me they should be good for around 15 years, whereas the ones that are in are total crap as I need to replace the whole flouro unit when the bulb goes. So this week will tick through slowly ... hopefully with the chance of snow on the ground. The opportunity to build a snowman would be so so welcome.

Groovy piggies.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.

Good Morning World... Sun 19th, 6.34, +7.1dg eeekkk!! Have all but given up on the hope of sufficient snow for Lang-lauf here in the village, it is way to warm for snow to build. Weather today is going to be broken cloud with a little sun trying its best, and a small dusting of new snow tonight. At such warm temps you do have to wonder. Yesterday I went to Dornbirn and was shrouded in cold fog the entire day... one of the reasons we chose to settle in Schruns, as it is so rare that we get the fog in here... you forget how miz a good thick pea souper can be. Had a very successful day sorting out masses of rats and mice to get my office in good understandable order .. as you do.. with so many airbnb bookings I felt it was time to be able to track them simply... job done. My Swiss are due to leave today after another day up on the piste... they joined me for a glass and we had a lovely hour or so talking... Spanish I.T. kids living in Zurich. They have done a private booking to come back next weekend with two friends... result.. January now no space at all left and Feb with only one week free. Soon I will stop taking new tuitions and conversations as I am starting to run out of me time, and that is not the purpose of anything at all. Today I will be on my chair watching the re-scheduled women's downhill from
Cortina d Ampezzo (ITA), postponed yesterday due to the weather... The men are in Wengen (Sui) and are racing slalom.. so a busy morning pleasing myself. The men's road show then moves to Kitzbühel for the famous 74th Hahnenkamm .. another day on the chair. I may as well watch even though I do not seem to be using my skis this season. Day sorted, so all is well in my little corner of the world. From my progress files.... Poppity hates having piggies in her hair.. Bless.

If you have a passion for shoes then so be it....

I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty.

Good morning World... Sat 18th, 6.01, +3.3dg and it is a cracker dawn... the moonlight is reflecting off the snow on the mountains.. quite beautiful. Forecasting today for a clear bluebird day... I will have very happy guests. Yesterday was a busy day with people in and out the door... it is a careful juggling act to shift my conversation girls before the next tuition arrives as they love to sit and chat well over the hour.. Bless them, they decided that as of January, they are paying me an extra two euros an hour each... sweet  My afternoon tuition with my senior student is for exam prep... they grade them from 1 - 5, with 5 being the " Opppps you need serious work" number. She is a 5 in English. Work to do. My guests arrived from Switzerland last night around 7.30 pm.. Spaniards living in Switzerland....happily installed, and walked out to the village for supper. They are skiing the Golm today.. they are my first guests to go to the other side of the valley, most go to the Hoch Joch up behind the house. I am off on a long rail trip into Dornbirn today... Saturday and no cleaning job.. Whoopie .. will take the 9.03 and get home late this afternoon. Things to do !! No guesses as to who made the opening statement... made me smile yesterday when one of my ladies said to me as she was de-coating, heavens I do not need to go to a shoe shop for shoes I will just come here... it is winter and I have a line up of various winter boots ready for various winter conditions. I said to her, if you think that is OTT then don't go upstairs and look in my two shoe cupboards !!!! Silence. Happy Saturday.

Friday.. weeks end almost

A bee is never as busy as it seems; it's just that it can't buzz any slower.

Good Morning World...Fri 17th, 5.56, +3.4dg Forecasting rain at lower levels, and snow higher up for the day.. clearing tonight. Fine weekend ahead which is perfect as I have Swiss guests arriving this afternoon for a weekend of skiing. Yesterday I finally unplugged my boot bag at 8.30am .. light was terribly flat and could see by the broken cloud, the wind was playing on the tops. No skiing yesterday.. this is one of my problems living so close to the ski fields... you wait for the perfect bluebird days, and in former times that was a perfect working formula, but now my days are not really my own to do with as I please, so I may have to re-adjust my thinking on the conditions I am prepared to ski in!! Instead, I spent my day preparing for incoming guests, tweaking and sorting, into the village for bits and bobs and picked up another tuition pupil... then did the long circuit.. up to the re-cycler and out along around the Litz to the Lidl then home.. two and a half hours so ticked the box for a bit of a leg stretcher. Day done. Today it is busy with conversation then a senior tuition with a twist.. trying out a new system with this young lady. Had to take a rain check for a night out on the tiles tonight as I have incoming .... gosh, how is that for responsible ? The things one does in order to travel. 

I may go up into my mountain " office" for the morning...

“You're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting,
So... get on your way!”

Good Morning World... Thurs 16th, 5.31, +2.7dg and a forecast of high broken cloud and sunshine... Hold the front page, this could be it... I have switched my boot bag on to heat, my diary is clear, there is no snow to shovel and no inhouse guests... I will ski if the weather is good.  This will please someone not far from here who has been harassing me constantly to come up the hill. Yesterday was an unbelievably brilliant bluebird day after the wonderful 30cm of new snow... I know.. 30 cm, but that is massive snow when it is all a bit skinny on the ground. Sadly not enough yet, down here in the village for them to put the trials in for lang lauf, but I am ever hopeful as am really wanting to get out and do a bit of touring. Saying all of that, it is a true pleasure to be able to shovel snow again.. fab for the bingo wings...the only down side at the mo is being so unfit to it I have obviously made an inappropriate throwing action yesterday and end result is a whopper headache.. out clearing the garage driveway, I know exactly !! Conversation group yesterday was a total giggle for all.. next week we practise our V's, W's and Th's the tricky bits for german speakers. Two littles for tuition and we are almost back to square one as they have not been to me since mid October and the life of littles moves so quickly. Hopefully back to full speed after a couple of sessions. The parents may not be so happy with me as I have told the children to sing the alphabet song after they have cleaned their teeth, after breakfast and as they walk to school... could be interesting. So for today... fingers crossed and waiting for daylight to make a decision. Happy days.