health insurance and unemployment

Switzerland has about 7'800'000 persons and every one has to have a health insurance and this insurance gets more costly every year and if somebody has not enough income, then he gets state assistance.
Today are about 87 health insurance companies.
In January lost 10'000 (0.3%) people their job, that means the rate of unemployment is now by 3.3%, and lots of companies are on short hours.

Wood is heating twice, when you carry it and when you burn it

It is a very cold winter and Hans is bringing everyday firewood to Bern.
We are glad to have Robert from Slowakei to helps him to prepare the wood.
Russia apparently completely stopped its gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine .
Causes of the conflict was the failure of negotiations for the new supply agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

After holidays everybody goes back to work

Tomorrow starts the work everywhere and today will the streets be full with traffic.
So we will stay home and just go out for a walk.
I went yesterday to the shopping center www.westside.ch and it was really crowded.
This evening will also come Robert back from Slowakei to Switzerland.
He started to work here at the 1. of October and he stayed at home with his family since December 18. He has a wife and two daughters.
He will come by train and we will pick him up in Bern.

Happy New Year

With Sylvester came also a lot of snow. My parents wanted to come and visit me, but the roads were to bad, so they stayed home and today I will go and see them.

We wish you all a happy New Year !

Sledging is so fun to do

We are always glad for a white Christmas and just near our house is a way, in the wintertime closed for the traffic,only open to go sledging.
This is really fun, not only for the kids!

Not every tree can hold on to the heavy snow

We go every Friday morning walking for one hour through the forest. We are sometimes 6 persons and one dog and sometimes just two persons, like today.
That much snow is so beautiful, but it is quite warm and the snow starts to melt.
We also have to be very careful, because the forest is large and it doesn't look like usual.

Snow and Christmastrees

First view in the morning, over the street to the barn, where Hans goes to milk our cows.