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- One Week To Go! — 22 comments
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Diana Naindenel
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Apr 09 2022
Avoiding Plastic – It Continues
We extended our efforts to avoid plastic in our little two-person household.
A while ago I spotted these kitchen sponges and dishcloth.
As you may recognize, the scrubbing sponges are made of luffa, which is a genus of tropical and subtropical vines in the cucumber family. Surprisingly, they really are effective and remove burnt food residues without scratching the surfaces.
You can even wash them several times at 60°C and when they are used up, you just throw them on your compost.
The green dishcloth is made of cotton and cellulose, which means they too are 100% biodegradable and compost friendly. Of course, they can also be washed at 60°C.
In order to find an alternative to the dishwasher detergent in plastic bottles, I finally found these super practical and palm oil free soaps. And they do their job, let me assure you.
Not only are they fat dissolving and have a fresh lemon fragrant, but they actually produce a nice foam!
Patrik and I have tested all these products for a while now and we both can confirm that we are totally satisfied.
With regard to being on a boat, sustainable cleaning products are even more important, since there is no sewage treatment plant, between your cleaning and the sea!
And of course, on board – with limited space – you want to avoid waste, as much as possible ⛵
By the way, on www.etsy.com one can find a good selection of sustainable cleaning accessories!
While I wrote this post, I was also on the Etsy page and in my opinion the “GreenHugShop” might be worth to try 😉
Well, I guess Patrik and I found a good solution after a long search, even if it seems like a drop in the ocean – for the oceans 🐬🐠🐋🦑
Mar 19 2022
Minty Salon
A week ago, we received the eagerly awaited message from Maldimare Marine Upholstery, that their work in Luna Azzurra’s salon has been completed! *hurray*
This project started already a year ago. And continued last summer, with getting an offer and accepting it. Patrik and I even drove to their workshop in Andora once, while we were in Loano. We wanted to choose the exact colour and discuss all the details (thread colour, backside mesh, type of seam, etc). We knew we wanted to have an Alcantara-like fabric and, if possible, a turquoise/mint-green type of shade.
It was also decided that we could keep the existing pads, since they were still in good shape. Only the backrest cushions would be upholstered, in order to get a straight and modern shape. Beside the salon we also wanted to have the bench cushions in the cabins newly covered, plus an extra one for the chart-table bench (the skipper must sit comfy of course 😉).
Maldimare’s professionality only confirmed that we indeed have contacted the correct people! Not only do they clearly know their trade, but both – Kla and Gualtiero – are heartwarming people and we immediately connected.
However, the pictures we now received from Kla were beyond our expectations and I must say, my heart made a double flip.
The result looks awesome, and it fits beautifully with the reddish wood. What a fresh and inviting appearance the salon makes now! No comparison to the old, faded upholstery. We can’t wait to see it live!
I also ordered four throw pillows, plus two running meters as spare fabric.
As mentioned before, the bench that sits between the galley and the table will be replaced by a custom-made cupboard. It’s already on board and waiting to be installed.
So, one more task we can tick-off! Feels great 🥳
Mar 12 2022
DINNER 4 4
Last week my brother André and I decided spontaneously, to go out for dinner on Friday evening. So we did, together with his partner Nadia and I took Patrik with me.
André wanted to try the restaurant in our village, called “Frohsinn”, so I booked a the last table there.
At seven o’clock we met, and time just flew by! We had an exciting and funny time together 😊
Ah and the food was as excellent as always!
We were (almost) the last ones who left the restaurant, it was around 11.30 p.m. Time to say good night and good-bye to everyone!
Since Patrik and I went by foot, the walk home felt really good and was refreshing!
We hope you all have a wonderful weekend too!
Feb 24 2022
Looong Weekend Ahead !
Tomorrow, Patrik and I have the day off (me also on Monday, hehe). We decided it’s time to catch up with our friend Pascale from Luxembourg.
We’ll drive to Bussang, a village in the Vosges, a mountain range in France. There we know a lovely camping ground where Pascale has booked a chalet for us from Friday until Sunday. Since she knows the owner very well, we even received a little price reduction 😉
On our way we’ll pick her up at the trainstation in Mulhouse. She’s tavelling by train, because a good friend of her (Hans) is also coming on Friday evening. And since he’s from the Netherlands, he’ll give her a lift home on Sunday.
Pascale also takes some animal stuff with her, such as medicine, and old blankets. A friend of mine helps to support animal shelters and strays in Turkey and in the Balkans. Every now and then they drive there with vans, where they distribute the goods. Needless to say, how grateful they are 🐶😺 Most precious are donations in the form of goods and food. So, when Pascale heard about it, she wanted to help and startet to collect things, which we’ll take to Switzerland. THANK YOU 🙏
Anyway, back to our weekend plans. We’ll spend good quality time together, talk and laugh a lot, eat 🥘 and drink 🥂 and simply enjoy eachothers company. If the weather is nice, we plan to go for a hike, let’s hope for a lot of 🌞! Otherwise there is a spa and and indoor swimming pool on the camping ground and the village even has a casino 🎰🎲….
Well, it won’t be boring, that’s for sure and time will fly by, as always!
We’ll present some pics next weeked, so stay tuned 😎
Feb 20 2022
Furry Weekend
This weekend my “old” girlfriend Manu, we know each other since kindergarten, came and visited us.
But she didn’t come alone. She took her dog Alaska, a former stray from Italy which she adopted in October 2019, and her two young cats with her.
Well, I believe, the cat’s story is worth a few extra lines:
Last summer Manu found them on her garden plot. They were only a few weeks old and very shy. She suspected them to be the litter of a feral cat. Manu never saw the mum, but she must have visited regularly and fed the little ones, because they weren’t skinny or looked sick.
Unsure what to do, Manu contacted the local animal shelter and welfare and asked for advice.
Since they were overcrowded – it was summer after all, and people tried to get rid of their once beloved pets 😿- they couldn’t take these two kittens in. It was no emergency, so to speak.
However, they said that leaving these two little ones wasn’t a good solution for the animals. She should try to feed them and slowly get them used to people. If she succeeded, it would hardly be a problem to find a new home for them (in case she couldn’t keep them).
Of course, it would be ideal if the mother could be captured, sterilized and then set free again. Otherwise, there is a big chance, that Manu would find kittens again…..
Unfortunately, so far, the mum was never seen and no signs if she still lives there.
Anyway, Manu started to spend more time in her garden. Sitting there, watching the two and talking softly. Food seemed to do the trick and soon the two kitties started to crawl all over her and trust was built up.
She wasn’t sure yet, if she could keep them – how would it work out with Alaska? On the other hand, no one seemed interested to adopt these two furry sweethearts. Well, deep inside she already knew that she would give them a home (my personal suspicion…😇).
And – ta-daaaaa – in the end she did, and, against all odds, Alaska didn’t mind at all! So, a happy new family was born 🐾🐾
Finally, the kitties were baptised, the girl is called Chuì (jap. for caution) and her red brother Shinzõ (jap. for heart).
Well, I wanted to contribute a little and offered to be the godmum to Chuì. We also agreed that Patrik and I would take care of the two cats, in case Manu would be away for a few days.
Therefore, this weekend became a furry test weekend. We wanted to make sure, Shinõ and Chuì would be comfortable at our home and see how they behave.
So far it looks very good. We the cats had a pawsome night and apparently a lot of fun 😸
I suppose, Patrik and I will sleep very well tonight, catching up with the lost hours 😴
Feb 12 2022
Home Alone Again
On Wednesday, Patrik had to travel to Poole, south of England again.
Not long ago he was there on a business trip and – already suspecting that the job maybe wasn’t completely done – he’s off again.
Well, I’m used to it course. Since we met more than 20 years (OMG 😱!!!) ago, he had to travel around the world. So it would be wrong of me to suddenly start complaining.
But since we tragically lost Odin last summer it’s a very odd feeling being in the house or coming home. It suddenly became a bleak building.
We bought it in 2008 and in March 2009 we adopted Odin and his brother Thor. Which means that when Patrik was away, I still had the company of our four-legged darling boys.
Whatever we did on, and in the house, such as renovating, having visitors, getting married, experience bigger and smaller disasters, they always lived through it with us 😸
When Thor was killed in a car accident in 2015 it was more than awful, but at least we still had Odin 😿
And now? No paws are left, only bittersweet memories and an empty home.
Well, it’s said time heals wounds……. maybe. But how long does it take?
It still hurts, when I think about our first cat Gulliver. He was 14 years old when we adopted him, while we still lived in Sweden. He moved with us to Switzerland in 2006, but suddenly got very ill and one months later we had to let him go. He was 16 ½ years old 🌈
Three years later Odin and Thor enriched our lives and we enjoyed every minute with them 😺💖
So, I believe the saying, a home without a cat is just a house, must be true 🐾
Jan 22 2022
A New Effort to Help
It’s been a while since we reached out and asked for support.
Action for Dolphins is tirelessly fighting the bloody massacre on dolphins in Taiji/Japan.
It’s happening – right now!
If you haven’t signed their petition yet, please consider to add your name
Click on picture to sign petition
(Source: AFD)
With your support it’ll be possible to end this yearly slaughter, it’s inhuman and unnecessary 🐬
While we’re at it, this is also a very important petition, on behalf of the sharks and the ocean:
Click on picture to sign petition
If you’re a European citizen and want to protect the sharks, please click on the link above 🦈
A total of over one million signatures have been reached this week! Deadline is 31st January 2022.
Signing these petitions is for a good cause. Not only for the animals, but also to make our planet a tiny bit better.
No compassionate human being wants to see disturbing pictures!
💖THANK YOU 💖
We care……you may too with your next donation?
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