A Tentative Spring

I've been hesitant to blog about this, as I was concerned the day I did would be the day Mother Nature found her sense of humor and decided to dump feet of snow on Zurich (or maybe because it snowed well into April last winter). But it's been almost a week now of almost daily sun and blue skies, and green leaves are starting to assert themselves above the damp earth.

Flower! I get disproportionately excited about these things - it's been a dreary winter.

These buds are significant because they were personally planted by moi (and moi's parents) last fall, and now they're poking through. They're like my dozen little children that only need occasional watering.

Pictures of Switzerland in winter usually portray gorgeous snow-topped mountains against a striking blue background:

Gorgeous, right? And with just a few wispy clouds. Also unrealistic. However, if you go to the Wikipedia page of the Matterhorn (which this is a picture of - don't call it the Jungfrau like I once did. It's the equivalent of some visitor in the US referring to the Statue of Liberty as the Washington Monument. Very uncool and does not go over well with the locals) - what was I saying? Oh yes - practically every picture of the mountain has it against beautiful clear skies. I'm not saying they're lying, per se, I'm just saying that I've been told by people in the know that if you want to even see the Matterhorn (not to mention take stunning pictures), you probably should book three or four nights at Zermatt, the local village, to up your chances.

These photographs are beautiful, no doubt. However, they don't mention (perhaps because pictures don't talk) the fact that the majority of the Swiss population don't live on these majestic peaks above the cloud cover, mainly because we like an indoors to retreat to (no diss to abominable snowmen - in fact, major respect). The vast majority of us live in lower elevation valleys, surrounded by peaks of various heights. 

And as you may remember from middle school science, valleys surrounded by mountains often have fog due to something about evaporation of water (I said you may remember it - I don't). Lots of fog. Switzerland, as special and lovely as it is (and honestly, it is - no sarcasm intended), is no exception to this. Thus, in winter - especially in one as warm as this has been - there are often days or even weeks straight of heavy, gray skies that may or may not spit rain or something vaguely resembling it. Occasionally the fog or cloud cover may dissipate, but by that time it's usually close to 4 pm and the sun, having done its minimum, has already retreated behind the nearby mountains. I believe that I made comparisons to All Summer in a Day (short story here and short video here - I won't judge which one you click on) last year, and that comparison remains apt.

To prove my point, this is the picture I just pulled from the webcam on the Matterhorn's official website:

Yep, that looks about right.

Except this winter, it hasn't even had the courtesy to snow in the valleys. I like snow - the whiteness brightens things up and it's nostalgic and it crunches and it's purty.

This is the most snow I saw ALL WINTER - pathetic. My family in North Carolina got more than this (although they probably are just as thrilled about that as I am). Also note the grey and fog, as per my original point.

I'm not sure I trust a Swiss spring that begins in mid-February, but I remain cautiously optimistic. Meanwhile, I will join the random cat on our patio in soaking up the sun while it's around - however short that may be.

PS - I took too long to write this, and of course the sun has not come out today. I will hold off judging the mean sense of humor Nature has until tomorrow, but then I'm calling her on it.

Starting the garden

Just before Easter, I bought several herb and strawberry plants and a variety of supplies, thinking that I would get them planted during the long weekend. Unfortunately, the Zürich weather did not cooperate and continued to drop to freezing regularly at night (as well as being grey and cloudy and all-around depressing during the day), and I was hesitant to put the plants out on our balcony. So I delayed, and somehow ten days went by.

Very sad herbs. Of course the sun was out for the 10 minutes I took pictures.

The plants are obviously not meant to stay in their original containers for such a length of time, so yesterday morning I decided I needed to repot despite the uncooperative weather. Such activities should probably take place outside, but it was cold and I wanted to stay in my pajamas (coz I'm classy like that), so I just spread out the supplies on our floor.

Post herb-replanting. I did clean up after myself (so B never saw the apartment in this state - hi honey!), but we seriously need to get more than a dustpan and brush. 

I was surprised that the strawberry plants actually survived the best out of all the plants in their tiny little cases. I chose the 4 best looking (out of the half-dozen purchased) for replanting - I hadn't bought a large enough planter for all six.

You'd never guess they were in these tiny little containers for 10+ days! Well, unless you look closely at the front left one.

Of course, by the time I got them up on the windowsill, the sun had disappeared and it started raining about 20 minutes later.

Immediately post-replanting. Note the wet pavement outside. Zürich is like the Seattle of Europe. Also note how disappointed all the plants are about this as well. Me too, fellows.

I am happy that all plants - except perhaps the rosemary, which it may be too late for - look in much better spirits today.

This morning, in the 5 minutes of sunshine. Seriously, how does anyone grow plants around here when there is no sun, ever? Despite that, they have definitely perked up.

Happy strawberry plants. They are definitely planted too close together, but I had no more soil or containers. I will probably replant post-apartment move.

I still have several packets of seeds that I am not sure if I will get to before we move - we don't really have room here to set them up - but I also got some tips from a local this weekend about where to get plantlings instead of just seeds, which makes me feel better about getting such a late start on the garden. She suggested a nursery close to our new apartment, so I will definitely be checking that out immediately post-move. It's probably a good idea to remember how big our new patio will be before I go crazy. In my mind, we have limitless space, and I want fruits and veggies and flowers and tubers and fruit trees in those big pots! This is why B accompanies me on shopping trips. That, and to help carry the items he can't talk me out of - our relationship works on many levels.