Guest Blogs
Knowitall.ch often invites local experts in their field to contribute to their own blogs on our site. This means not only you will benefit from the useful recommendations that we make on our News pages, but you can also profit from some of the great advice and tips that these experts have to make on their favorite subjects. Whilst each of these bloggers has been recommended to us at some point during the evolution of Know-it-all passport and knowitall.ch, obviously we are not able to test out all the suggestions they make on their blogs, nor do we necessarily agree with all their opinions. So if you do find one of their tips useful (or not!), do let us know!
To make these blogs more accessible to you, we have now decided to group them altogether in one section, entitled Guest Blogs, accessible from our main menu bar. We will also post the most recent blogs on the home page of our site in the right hand column.
We are still building up this area of the site, and are looking for bloggers in a number of sections, including Your Home, Travel, and Leisure, so if you feel you have a useful contribution to make in either of these areas, and have the time to submit blog entries approximately every month, then please get in touch!
By Nicola Ogilvie, Just Sew
April - The sun has come out and the flowers are blooming. Thoughts turn to outside living, hurray, our outdoor furniture comes into focus and the sofa we bought 2 years ago, that we were so proud of, is looking somewhat shabby. The cushions are sun bleached and all different shades. So my mind turns how to refresh it.
Firstly I wanted to make some bright cushions that would smarten up the furniture. Thus the first problem! Where can I get fabric suitable to use outdoors at a reasonable price in Switzerland? I went to the Internet and I found lots of options in the USA and some in the UK but as usual I wanted to do it today, not after waiting for delivery. Then I found the solution, use a shower curtain! Problem solved and I am off to Ikea, and sewing that evening. Many of the designs were of water or ducks but I found a nice turquoise print, though I was also tempted by a couple of striped choices, cost under 15chf. While I was at Ikea I also bought some pillow pads, less than 5chf. On this occasion I bought synthetic, I usually prefer feather or down but for outside synthetic is a must as they dry easily and quickly if rained on.
By Tara Lissner, Swiss Gardening School
At long last spring has arrived. Once the time changes it really is all systems go for those of us who love to garden. That extra hour of daylight from the end of March followed by those incremental minutes every day make all the difference. Warm sunshine, a drop of rain and all that light mean that there is a lot to do.
Timely tips
Lawn care is at the top of my list; starting with an initial cut, just taking the tops off means that growth is encouraged while also protecting the young shoots from the potential damage of frost. Then taking a good hard look at the situation, too many weeds, masses of moss, easily identifiable worn patches and then moving toward a plan of action, selective weed killer, lawn sand and perhaps a new path or a small set of steps.
Next on the list is pruning. Having provided spectacular red stems over the winter the dogwood shrubs cornus sanguinea really need some significant work. I've been renovating long neglected shrubs for the past few years taking out a third of all growth from the base each time so as not to shock the plant. This year however I've decided to coppice them completely (cut them back to the ground). This will allow the other smaller plants surrounding the dogwoods extra light this spring. I've also been clearing my perennial beds of the old stems left standing from the autumn - I leave them as long as I can as they add a bit of height and interest during the winter and look especially nice when covered in frost. New growth has started so the time to do that job is now.
By Hiba Giacoletto, Healthwise
Here are some easy, healthy options which all have a good mix of healthy fats, protein and carbohydrates to fill you up and keep you satisfied until your next meal! Combining sugary carbohydrates like fruit with a source of fat and/or protein like nuts or seeds ensures more stable energy as blood sugar levels rise more slowly and consistently.
If you are wondering what the role of snacks should be in your diet, I wrote about how often to eat based on my own experience here http://www.healthwise.ch/how-often-should-you-eat-%E2%80%A8%E2%80%A8/
Savoury Snacks
- Hummus with raw vegetable sticks (carrot, celery, cucumber). You can make a big batch of hummus to keep in the fridge for several days. Recipe here: http://www.healthwise.ch/humus-no-bread/
- Cottage cheese - you can add chopped herbs like chives or chopped fruit like apple or pineapple or even berries for a little more taste.
- Chickpea croutons are a super easy snack to make when you want something crispy - and you can add any spices you want to them https://www.pinterest.com/pin/261490322090355039/
- Hard-boiled egg - you can actually make these in advance and keep them in the fridge to use over several days. Learn how to boil eggs perfectly here: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-boil-eggs-perfectly-every-time-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-202415 or here: http://mykingcook.com/how-to-make-hard-boiled-eggs/
- Plain, air-popped popcorn.
- Tinned tuna or salmon. You can place it in a wrap made from nori or a lettuce leaf.
- Piece of cheese, perhaps with a few grapes or slices of pears.
- Dried meat - the Swiss meat viande des Grisons is a good option.
- A few forkfuls of fermented vegetables like sauerkraut or kimchi. Fermented food is great for balancing the bacteria in our gut and it can even help curb sugar cravings. You can make you own or buy fermented sauerkraut at Migros (make sure it is raw + unpasteurized).
- Whole grain crackers (like brown rice) with avocado, cottage cheese, hummus or nut butter spread on top.
- Grilled Haloumi cheese.
- Leftover piece of chicken, meat or fish
Susanne Karlsson is a certified practitioner in the Grinberg Method.
Her mission is to transform your life, improve your health, reduce your stress levels and gain freedom to be well through focused body awareness. When searching for ways of how to deal with the impacts on her life she discovered approaches using another way to get straight to the point. For more than 13 years it has been her profession to teach people how to heal themselves through deep body awareness. She loves to be part of the satisfaction that comes with increased awareness of the body, helping people to learn to control and eventually stop a life habit that is no longer useful and thus gain the freedom to be healthy and well.
I was fortunate enough to sit down with her and chat; I hope you enjoy the interview as much as I did.
Sunita
Guillaume Hersperger – Artistic Director of the festival
By Dean Marriott
The clocks have sprung forward, the daylight hours are rapidly increasing and the good weather will hopefully join us soon. As the trees reawaken and the blossom begins to appear, so too does the Swiss music festival circuit. Throughout Switzerland, numerous festivals are in the throes of preparation and shortly websites will go live for this season's ticket sales.
If you are looking for a gentle and inexpensive way to re-emerge from your winter cocoon, then I would suggest looking no further than the Pully Week-End Musical. This classical music event offers free entry and a programme to appeal to all ages.
This week, I spoke with one of the organisers, Benjamin Décosterd, President of Association Applause, to find out a little more about this locally-funded event.
