This week I’ve been looking for places to put the various seedlings that are starting to grow. This is because the weather outside has been atrocious and they aren’t likely to be able to go out anytime soon. We’re on the top floor of the building and normally enjoy the uninterrupted views out over Lake Geneva and the French Alps. Recently, however, we’ve had to put up with an unseasonably strong Bise, a wind that blows in from the north and seems intent on upending everything on the roof terrace.

That said, I’ve taken the opportunity to get a little creative. Although parts of the roof terrace enjoy the sun all day, we only have one south-facing window in the flat. I’ve been wanting to make the most of this for a while, but the problem comes in its placement – it’s at the end of the bath. But, this week, I found a solution to both the wind and the window issue.

We toddled down to IKEA earlier in the week, and whilst there I picked up three Stugvik baskets . These are bathroom baskets which, with the help of two rather robust suction cups, stick to flat glass and tiles surfaces without the need to drill holes (perfect for a rental flat). Now, each basket has been filled with pot liners and potting compost, and is home to a selection of seedlings.

The Stugvik baskets are perfect because they already have drainage holes. The suction cups also support a weight of up to 4kg, and even fat with wet compost they weighed in at 2kg so we should be fine going forward.

I’m intrigued to see how the chillies and basil fare in the bathroom, and, if this works well, I’m likely to fill the flat with more of the suction cup wonders. That won’t solve the weather problems but it will mean the seedlings can keep growing happily out of the 40km gusts.