Sunday has come, and I have writers block trying to think of something interesting about where we live.  I grab a glass of Swiss wine, which one can only buy in Switzerland, and ponder while looking out my window.  Below I see children running around and shouting in French as they play.  As I shift my gaze upward I see rows of high rise apartments stretching off toward Lausanne.  Far on the horizon are the snow capped peaks of the Alps, and I know without seeing it that between them and me lies lake Geneva, as well as the very vineyards that grew the grapes which now reside in my glass.  And then… the idea comes to me! This week I will write about… House Plants!

Ah the noble house plant, asking only for water and sunlight, it filters our air and enlivens our homes with its foliage.  There is a greenhouse about a quarter of a mile from our apartment attached to a chain hardware store called Obi.  In March, when my parents were here, they helped me pick out two flower type plants and a viney one.  Yesterday Melissa and I went back to the store for a couple more plants.

The Swiss haven’t found any secrets to greenhouse design, the one at Obi looks the same as all the ones I’ve seen in Minnesota.  Even most of the plants are the same across the continents, and if you’re good at Latin, the names are the same too.  The first plant we picked out was a hibiscus.  The care is familiar to us and it should grow a little bigger and have nice flowers all summer.

The second plant we found was in a section I’d never seen back in Minnesota – the citrus plant section. Even though we are at a higher latitude than Minneapolis, the store has an entire aisle devoted to citrus plants and trees. This seemed so weird to us that we just had to get one. We picked out a small bushy type called a calamondin.  It came with about ten little fruits already on it, so the first thing we had to do once we got home was taste one (after double checking on the internet that they are edible).   And man are they sour, probably not the best to eat them off the bush, but they should work for cooking.

This week wasn’t all about farming.  In social news, Melissa has already outlasted one of her work colleagues.  Friday we had dinner with Melissa’s group as a farewell to Emilie Ripaud who is moving on to bigger and better things.  It was nice, but also a reminder that someday Melissa’s time here will be over too.

Trying to take advantage of all the time we do have left here, we also enjoyed the beautiful spring weather here at the edge of the alps. Earlier this week I met Melissa after work and we walked along the shores of the lake and enjoyed the evening sun. Today, we explored the stretch of the lake between Ouchy and Lutry. Part of the path we took included the Lavaux wine region pedestrian walk way, and it was beautiful to see the vineyards start to green. Our stroll took us past grandiose old cedars, palm trees, and even flowering lilac bushes…

Sorry for all of the plant talk, maybe its from my roots of Minnesota farming.  Of course if anyone ever wants to help me come up with easy visitor posts, we’re always looking to fill up our guest bedroom!