A quiet day

The forecast for today was heavy rain so we planned to have a day of rest after our two strenuous hikes on the weekend. However this morning it was sunny and bright, so we did a short walk to the stream near the apartment to give Xena a walk, which is my blip today.Tommy was also back working for his internship today as he only has a few days off from it.

It was also day of chores - we went grocery shopping this morning, and for a small mountain supermarket there is an excellent selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, I don't think I have ever seen such large and perfect nectarines and peaches. We also had to buy a new iron as when we tried to sue it this morning we discovered it was broken - maybe as it had not been used for some time. 

After lunch we had the vet appointment to get Xena her Swiss passport. It was a 10 minute visit, they just copied her rabies details and chip number across from her now defunct UK passport into the Swiss one, and it surprisingly was much cheaper than the cost of the travel certificate we had to get in the UK. The TV screen in the surgery had "Herzlich Wilkommen Xena" on it, which means welcome Xena, which I thought was a very sweet idea. 

By the time we got back from the vet it started raining, and then we had a series of enormous thunderstorms with lightning and loud thunder, the type that you only get in the mountains. After one very loud clap of thunder the village lost all power, but thankfully it came back after about 15 minutes. It has turned cold with the rain, and I would not be surprised when the low cloud lifts tomorrow if there is snow on the peaks. From 26C yesterday to this, but we are used to such changeable weather in these mountains. 

An extra of a colourful house in the village.

We are reading the news about the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan in horror, what a disaster for the Afghans. I feel particularly worried for the women who in terms of Sharia law may revert back to leading very controlled lives once again after being allowed an education and more freedom.