Our wonderful Brütten Library

Each week I arrange to meet my daughters in Brütten library after school and proceed to work my way through a picture book in my quest to learn German. I must look very odd to the locals sitting in the tots corner with an over-sized book on my knee but the librarians are lovely and have even started getting dual German/English language books in for me!

And - brace yourselves - I've now worked my way up to the more sophisticated picture book which features three of four sentences on each page - wowee (although I still need to refer to my Google Translate app constantly) And as I work my way through each book I make a note of certain words and phrases in my German vocab list on my iPhone, to go over whenever I have a minute.

I thought I might begin to feature a Book of the Week on my blog which some may find useful. Watch this space.

This week featured a lovely little story about a mole who found an icicle which he thought was a magic diamond. His friends put him right but then the final glittery illustration shows he was right after all. Nature really is magical and beautiful!

Adventfenster is launched

Brütten Library is launching the village's Adventfenster event tonight between 5pm and 7pm. The public is welcome to go along and say hello and share a glass of Wunsch Punsch. I think there may be an activity available for the little ones too. There are also lots of new books and films on offer, many of them very up-to-date. I've just taken out Whiplash and The Imitation Game. Oh, and all films taken out in December are gratis! Enjoy.

Brütten Church in watercolour

I've taken on the task of teaching myself watercolours. Very tricky for me, being an artist far more comfortable with pastels and oil paints! So after a series of paintings, some better than others, I've produced my first painting which I am pretty proud of. Brütten Church is very pretty and a prominent feature of the village, peeking out across the vista from miles around. I am planning a collection of pictures focusing on views of the church from many different viewpoints - some rather unusual! So please enjoy Brütten Kirche No.1 :)

Brütten Library refurb

The fantastic village library is going to be improved even further with a big refurb for the October holiday. There will be a staircase added to the main room, leading to the first floor level which will be kitted out especially for the teens. The children's space on the ground floor will also be expanded and enhanced. I can't wait to see the improvements. And better still, we are all invited along to an apero to view the work on Monday, 19th October between 3pm and 7pm. See you there!

Free travel on 31st May!

Fancy taking a trip to somewhere new? Then do it next Sunday, 31^st May, as travel is FREE on any ZVV transport right across Zurich. This amazing event forms part of ZVV's 25 year celebrations.

On May 27, 1990 at 4.58am the very first train of the Zurich S-Bahn left Rapperswil in the direction of Zurich, heralding a new era of public transport in the Zurich area. The Canton of Zurich had invested almost one billion francs in the first commuter train system in Switzerland which included two new underground tunnels from Zurich HB across the city, new double lane routes and almost 80 stations. The new S-Bahn a timetable was tighter, with new trains, more seats and and more efficient with an optimal link to the rest of the transport supply. (And this is what sets the Swiss travel system far apart from many countries – that confidence that you can disembark from a train and step onto a bus going home just 3 minutes later)

So whether it’s the train, the tram, the bus, the boat or even a cable car, you can travel for free on them all within the ZVV Zurich network from midnight on the morning of 31^st May until 5am on 1^st June. For journeys which go beyond the ZVV perimeters you will need a valid ticket or connection ticket (Anschlussbillet) from the last stop within Zurich.

www.zvv.ch

Summer is coming

We greatly enjoyed last week's Ascension Holiday, making the most of the stunning barbecue facilities around the village, as well as the opening of our favourite outdoor pools. I love this photograph of my daughter enjoying the glorious Winterthur backdrop while she waits patiently for her al fresco dinner - the flavour of frankfurters cooked on the barbie never ceases to amaze me...

Story time at Brütten Library

Brütten Library will be holding story time sessions for children aged between 2 and 4 years. Springtime stories will take place at 10-11am on Tuesday 14th April and summer time stories will take place at 10-11am on Tuesday 30th June.

Regular opening times for the library are 3-7pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday and 10am-12pm on Saturday morning.

For further information call the library on: 052 345 1037.