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
On Friday of last week I went with a friend to the UNICréa craft show in La Sarraz. UNICréa is a judged craft show, which means that the exhibitors need to be approved in order to take a stand and the quality was evident everywhere you looked, with beautiful craftsmanship and a wide diversity of crafts from art work and garden sculpture to intricately crafted jewellery using precious stones.
La Sarraz itself is a pretty little village not far from Lausanne – a perfect location for a day trip out with friends or family, with a couple of nice coffee shops and bars ideal for grabbing a drink or snack before or after visiting the show (we did both!)
By Stephen Langton, Forth Capital
From the 17th August 2015, an EU national living in France will have the right to choose the law of their nationality to determine the disposal of their estate on death. In other words the estate need no longer be subject to French Succession Law and its inherent forced heirship.
These changes have prompted suggestions that one should immediately rush out and change ones will to ensure that the estate passes to beneficiaries in accordance with ones wishes rather than those of the state.
Rarely mentioned however, is that this new regulation (EU regulation 650/2012) concerns the rights of succession but not the right of taxation. The right of taxation will still remain with the state in which the individual is domiciled. The choice of applicable law is not a choice of applicable taxation.
Countries, like the UK which use Common Law principles define domicile as being where one is from whereas in France, domicile is determined broadly by where one lives. It is therefore quite simple to be considered to be domiciled under both countries' rules. Fortunately double tax treaties exist to allow a determination to be reached.
By Tara Lissner, Swiss Gardening School
Well you have to admit we have had the most wonderful Indian summer; mild sunny days with above average temperatures, but with the first dusting of snow on the Jura this week autumn has most definitely arrived! Flocks of migrating birds, heavy dew in the mornings and a rainbow of coloured leaves encourage us to spend every last productive moment in the garden before the freezing temperatures of winter arrive.
Raking fallen leaves, pruning back the roses, enjoying piping hot, spiced pumpkin soup and planting bulbs and perennials before the soil becomes too heavy to walk on – my ever expanding to do list of things to keep busy with over the next few weeks.
Timely Tips
This time last year I suggested making leafmould compost from all the fallen leaves in the garden. If you managed to do this check your black sacks now and see the results. If you’d like to give it a go this year rake up all the leaves from the lawn and bag them in large black sacks perforated with air holes. Tie up the bags and pop them somewhere out of sight for at least 12 months. If you are storing them in a rain shadow water them occasionally and forget about them until this time next year when you will discover heaps of beneficial leafmould compost - perfect for adding to your beds as mulch.
October is all about pumpkins if you’ve had a successful season now is the time to think about harvesting them. They should sound hollow when tapped. Leave a good amount of now hardened stalk attached and store them in a cool dry cave or garage until you are ready to enjoy them. If you haven’t grown any this year there are plenty of opportunities to see and buy them locally from the supermarkets, who have an ever increasing variety for sale, to some of these local farms: http://www.fermecourtois.ch/46/le-marche in Versoix, http://www.lafermedespralies.ch/joo15/index.php in Arnex sur Nyon, http://www.schilliger.com in Gland, and a little further afield above Lausanne: http://www.1001courges.ch/
Pumpkins are a particularly easy crop to grow, why not try some new varieties this autumn with a thought to planting them at the end of the spring next year.
Continue to clear out the old summer bedding and fallen leaves. If you can resist the temptation don’t completely cut back everything in your borders. It is preferable to leave the dried seed heads of perennial plants like Echinacea to not only provide food for the birds but to create a little interest in the borders, they will look amazing covered with frost and or snow.
Get your bulbs in the ground or into their pots for a spectacular show in the spring - now is the time.
What’s on in November
Vente de Tubercules de Dahlias – 1-2 November, 10:00-16:00 The huge annual dahlia tuber sale organized by the Morges tourism office will be held in the gardens of the Chateau de Morges. Tubers are Chf 5 each and a list of the available varieties is available on the website: http://www.morges-tourisme.ch/fr/floralies-nature/event-dahlias
Les ateliers verts, Conservatoire et Jardins Bontanique de Genève – if you have children from the ages 8-11 who understand French this is an ideal way for them to spend a Wednesday afternoon. There are 17 individual afternoon programmes running from end October to June encouraging discovery and exploration of the plant and animal world: http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/accueil_ateliers_verts.php
As we have been so distracted by the warm temperatures it seems the end of year and Christmas preparations have being going on all around in some of our favourite places. Here are a few dates for your dairies:
Schilliger Garden Centre, Gland, Plan-les-Ouates, La Praille - Saturday 1 November sees the official inauguration of their Christmas markets, although they have been open since mid October: http://www.schilliger.com
Vernissage de Noël, R. Jaggi, Trélex - Saturday 15 17:00-21:00 & Sunday 16 16:00-21:00 November, R. Jaggi, Trélex
Possibly one of the most spectacular holiday plant and floral displays of the region, enjoy a glass of hot wine or a drop of soup with the talented team in Trélex: http://www.remyjaggi.ch
Forthcoming course information
Beyond Daffodils
Morning course, Thursday 30 October, 09:00-13:00, R. Jaggi Nursery, Trélex
http://swissgardeningschool.com/events/beyond-daffodils/
We are tremendously excited to announce this new course on integrating perennials and unusual bulbs to the garden. If you need inspiration to redesign a tired border this morning will be packed with practical advice and inspiring guidance. This course is sponsored by one of the leading perennial growers in the region. We will spend the morning in Trélex (above Nyon) with the team at the R. Jaggi Nursery where students will be immersed in a sea of inspirational plants. Full details and inscriptions are now on the website.
Pruning Techniques, sponsored by FELCO
Evening course, Monday 3 November, 18:30-22:00, Founex
http://swissgardeningschool.com/events/evening-course-pruning-techniques-2/
Although considered to be an essential skill for the amateur gardener pruning can be a daunting undertaking for the uninitiated. Join us and discover how to prune, when to prune and what to use. Get some hands-on experience and sound advice for your own garden from our resident arborist with tools provided by our Swiss sponsor FELCO, the world-leading manufacturer of professional pruning shears and cable cutters since 1945. http://www.felco.com
Redesigning the garden – value for money
Evening course, Monday 17 November, 18:30-22:00, Founex
http://swissgardeningschool.com/events/evening-course-redesigning-the-garden-value-for-money/
Designing your own garden or rejuvenating a tired corner may seem like a very expensive exercise but it need not be. Creating a beautiful outdoor space without spending a fortune is not as impossible as you might think. With advice from the experts join us to learn some clever ways to keep the finances under control, where to cut corners and when to invest - put your imagination to work.
I hope you enjoy the remaining sunshine and manage to keep busy in your garden.
Author's bio
An enthusiastic, self-taught gardener, Tara Lissner is passionate about gardening and eager to share her zeal and knowledge with other gardening fans.
In 2012, she joined forces with Hester Macdonald, a British-trained landscape designer, to launch the Swiss Gardening School.
(Photo by Jean-Luc Pasquier)
Swiss Gardening School
www.swissgardeningschool.com
By Nicola Ogilvie, Just Sew
For my first blog I am going to answer the question I am asked most frequently: “Where do you buy your fabric?”
My first answer is usually “England”, as the prices are considerably higher here in Switzerland! Having said that, the immediate urge to make something today has led me to scour the area for fabric shops. I live near Nyon so have not explored the other side of the lake fully. For this post I have limited it to traditional fabric shops - there are a host of quilting shops with beautiful and interesting cottons that I will cover another time.
In my opinion the shop with the biggest selection and most reasonable prices is TISSUS MONDIAL, near Annemasse in France (see addresses for all shops listed at the end of this blog). This has a large range of fabrics and haberdashery. It also sells some curtain fabric, mostly Swiss style, but what is wonderful about their curtain fabric is that it is extra wide. This means, if you are making curtains, the need to join the fabric will be minimised, not only saving money, as you will not have to worry so much about pattern repeats, but also time.
By Dean Marriott
Living on the Swiss side of Lake Geneva, it’s difficult to avoid the lure of Mont Blanc, or La Dame Blanche, the awe-inspiring supermodel of the Graian Alps, standing tall at 4810m above sea level. After one year of exchanging glances from a distance, the time had come to get up close and personal, so my partner and I headed off to Chamonix in Haute Savoie.
When I first worked in Geneva 8 years ago as an actor, contractual obligations prevented me from partaking in winter sports, so I grew to envy the locals who would disappear to Chamonix to indulge at the weekend. They would go tired and exhausted, only to return fresh-faced and fully energised. After my short break in Chamonix I can see why.
