She definitely knows how to suck up to me my little Miss Sunshine aka Lil Miss Feisty

She often says with the strongest conviction

Mummy est plus le monde de dep which translates to 'Mummy is the most beautiful/prettiest in the world'

or

Mummy est la reine du monde entier which means 'Mummy is the Queen of the entire world'

Happy 10th birthday to my darling first born.

Today 02/04/13 marks exactly ten years since I became a mother for the first time.

That fateful day has forever changed my world with your arrival and subsequently your younger siblings.


I will be grateful and forever thankful that you were brought into my life : a sweet, charming and most sensitive boy.

I love you Petit Suisse

your loving mum

My 34th birthday : 16/02/2013


I celebrated my 34th quietly with a passage at the beautician for a relaxing massage. I also bought myself some beauty products and creams to maintain my youthful appearance. I then had a professional makeup artist give me the star treatment for the day.

Shrek gave me a waffle maker (that I went and bought as he was busy working) and we made good use of it immediately with delicious Vietnamese coconut and pandan flavoured waffles (which in my opinion are the best kind of waffles). On a regalés !

We then went to a restaurant with the party of : Shrek, myself, Petit Suisse and Lil Miss N. I picked a restaurant that was unpretentious : Le Grand Cafe. Shrek chose the most unpalateble dish for his main : filet de dorade which did not taste at all fresh as if it has been cooked and recooked several times...all in all it was not too bad except for the big faux pas re Shrek's main course.

We had terrine de canard, foie gras, rillettes de saumon and cocktail de crevettes comme entrées.
The four plats were noix de Sainte Jaques grillés, tartare de boeuf, suprême de poulet and the sorry filet de dorade.

Glaces, crème brulée and yin et yang (fondant au chocolat et glaçe de vanille) completed our meal.

It was the first time we went out to dinner just the four of us as the two little munchkins were with my inlaws.

I enjoyed my birthday celebration. Merci mes coeurs d'amour

<3 p="">

St Valentines

We barely celebrate St Valentines but today was an exception. I simply gifted Shrek with a lovely meal and Lil Miss N drew meaningful and loving cards.

I have 5 amours in my life...that is fulfilling enough but it does not hurt to express and voice it in simple gestures to symbolise the love we have for one another...

Ski libre

Petit Suisse tried skiing for the first time thanks to the Snow for free program (a sponsored event) which gives kids  who have never skied or snowboarded before the opportunity to try skiing/snowboarding for the first time or to hone their skills on the slopes. It is true to its website name completely Gratuit. The program even lends material to kids. Petit Suisse being a debutant was able to learn and enjoy himself. He took on Piste Bleu which is the second level.. I am so very proud of my little baby for I was a bit dubious beforehand as to how he will fare and if he would be able to ski at all seeing as it was his first time trying out skiing shoes and putting on skis.


It exceeded my expecations and went better than I had hoped. When he came back from the day long séjour he exclamed I had a blast and would love to go skiing again.


Thanks again to the Snow for free  organisers, sponsors and everyone involved who made it happen !!!

Fondue raté

Who would have thought that I could screw up Fondue that quintessential Swiss specialty of bread being dipped in melted cheese.


I learnt that 1 tablespoon of bicarbonade de sodium is enough to render the Fondue elastic resembling the texture of chewing gum and thereby ruining Fondue altogether. Luckily Shrek was there to save the day. Merci mon coeur <3 p="p">
 

Happy New 2013


We celebrated NYE in spectacular style and ate like Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses.

Our menu

Huîtres au naturel
Foie gras sur toast
Bouchées des saumon fumée sur lit des legumes
Bouchées des terrine de truffe sur lit des legumes


We finished off with un Gâteau des Rois accompanied by Clairette de Die mousseux and Veuve Cliquot Champagne.

Scatterbrain

usurped by forgetfulness

wretched brain forced by the hands of time

etched by souvenirs and

enthralled by rose-coloured memories

Age is merciless

ravaged by years passing

compromised by degradation

left with longing for the good old days

that cease to exist

The good old days were in fact

not so great

but blurred by a skewered vision

appears visibly superb

clearly a trick ones own memory plays

denial of current state

Surrender, surrender to the new age

I love Merveilles des Maroilles and Boursault cheeses. They are utterly delectable: tasty morsels of dripping, runny dairy with bite and strong character/gôut.

I also love love love the ultra creamy 'Masgonzola' which is a 50%-50% mix of Mascarpone and Gorgonzola. I find Most Italian cheeses fad, bland and tasteless but I particularly like Masgonzola. mmmmmm


Engadiner is a blergh cheese. I have to include my likes and dislikes contrasted agaisnt one another for comparison.

Miniature train models

Depiction of Tracks




Jorat-express with life-like observation tower



train in motion



La Sarraz station


Mines du Leman



Rocher



Château d'Oex with miniature lake and mimic bathers



Railway bridge



Frontal view of railway bridge from another angle



Castle Lucernois

Some photos of the miniature trains and circuits/model sceneries depicting real life stations, objects that they were modelled after. They are great works of art as it takes a skilled and patient craftsperson to construct such life-like minuscule details.
They are really life like and magnificent.