"tannschoessli-latwerge" and cough-syrup

yesterday evening the boys left the dinner table early with a clear mission in mind. i was not supposed to know....
so when i called them in, they showed up with 1.5 lbs "tannenschoessli" (the new growth of conifers). i was as excited as they were and of course i quickly put some lemon and water in a big pot together with the whole harvest of the boys.
a quick rolling boil and let them soak all night long.
we have cooked latwerge two years ago, after a fun afternoon in the woods in our neighborhood, here. i was cooking the "syrup" all afternoon, it smelled as if we have a cabinet makers workshop in our kitchen... (i really liked that fact, as a trained cabinet maker i can't have enough wood smells around me, i absolutely love the smell of sap).
so there we go, at the end of this afternoon i have 11 jars of spread (some of them rather little) and one jar of cough-syrup. the one we made 2 years ago lasted and really helped a lot when we needed it.
it seems like i have not done a lot, tended the pots while boiling, though there is still an evening waiting for me.... i'm so much looking forward to bind the loulouthi quilt for thea.

we enjoyed the rain too...

it was good to get some rain over the weekend. it was even better to see the kids run outside with their rain pants and rain coats, boots and lots of buckets. the water had to be collected, i don't really know why but there was lots of work involved and they loved the work. with a big hose to trumpet and blow air into the water, make fountains and what ever idea struck them. i'm glad for the moments, when rain and a free afternoon fall together.
all the hard rain was hard on the blossoms, i hope the bees worked hard enough during the past week.
toward the later part of the afternoon, after the rain has been enjoyed the kids stormed in, shared an afternoon snack (rhubarb galette) and lots of reading and playing.

building towers

 

all photos courtesy of joe

 

of course building towers is fun for all, fun for the littlest and her big brother, for sure. because of a lot of hard rain, lots of sundays afternoon was spent indoors. joel got the fire started and then the playing and resting and enjoying was lived in full. this is how sunday afternoons can be spent. lounging and working and playing and loving the time together.

of course it was not all peaceful and wonderful harmony, with 6 people in the living room it was loud, it was rambunctious and tumultuous and we had to find our way with each other. but isn't it that, what builds strong families? i do believe so. it is so very important to have these moments of figuring out how we work with each other, how much space each of us needs and lets the others have. this definitely builds character, at least i do hope so!

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

rhubarb in our kitchen

springtime is very closely connected with rhubarb... i still do not have my own plant close to the house, but i do live together with a professional gardener and she has been bringing home rhubarb fresh from the field. o so yummy...
the strawberries are not local ones, sorry but living in a household with 6 other people beside my own family, i find sometimes veggies and fruit in our kitchen, which i would never consider buying at the moment. never the less this time it tasted great and not even the out of season (we will have local strawberries in just a few more weeks, the grocery store has been carrying spanish berries for at least two months now!)

we all loved the vanilla pudding with rhubarb/strawberry compote o yes it was very delicious. and i'm sure this will happen again and again in the coming weeks. i have a few more rhubarb recipes on the counter, one is a super delicious brown betty, i'm sure there will be more old fashioned desserts to come.

the blanket is out

the blanket got it's first outing today, the sun has been out and with some books tucked under our arms we went just out of our back door. the kids are enjoying the last few days of spring brake. especially naomi, she is trying out tennis in the mornings, and loves it! i did tell her today, that i have never held a tennis racket in my hand. let be alone, played one of those neon balls on green turf. she is mighty proud to play a sport which i never even would have considered. isn't it great to live in a city with lots of vacation week programs, many sports being offered to be tried out for a week by DWS, for very little cost. (that's how naomi got into swimming...)

so the afternoon is leisurely spent at home, we love it.

1. Mai :: Tag der Arbeit

 

lets have a look at the history of today's 1st of mai day
and in english i found something on here

in bloom

i absolutely love to walk around the house, smell and see all those blossoms. o it is such a joy. i have been expecting the shrubs and trees to bloom, and still, i'm overwhelmed now, as it happens. the lilacs are just starting, the apples have been going for a  couple days and then there are some decorative trees i just can't figure out what they are. never the less, i enjoy them.

it was a bit stormy yesterday, a so called "foehnsturm", it was amazingly warm and we could literally see the pollen clouds being carried away from our three pine trees. quiet a spectacle and fun to watch as our family is not suffering from allergies. joel has been suffering in the past years, especially the first year when we were back here in switzerland after our extended stay in the northeastern usa. though he has been eating local honey all winter long and somehow i assume this really has helped his body to deal with local pollen. so far so good, and the warm breeze at the end of april is great, my laundry dries in a jiffy, the kids run around top less and bare foot, we have been eating out doors regularly what better can happen after two rather cool weeks.

{this moment}

A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

behind the house :: it's blooming

it is spring, still spring and the popplar behind the house is in full bloom, wonderful. within the next couple days the apple tree will be opening up it's blossoms too. not loong and the chickens as well as i will be surrounded by those lovely blossoms in soft pink.
arriving this morning we are enjoying a heat wave, it hit the eighties and i was in the woods, wandering in a brook with a group of little kids. exploring the newly sprung up greenery, the fresh leafs of all kinds of bushes and shrubs. the big tree leafs are not out yet, so it was pretty warm even in the lower areas where the creek was flowing. i'm thankful for those little people showing me the great beauty and new life this time of year.

"centre pompidou" - for breakfast

after paris....
of course we were bringing some little reminders, of our time spent in paris, home. and thea absolutely loves her new plate. it already got an exciting name "bombydoo". the wonderful building which houses lot's of the modern pieces, and right now a matissee exhibit, "pairs and sets" which i absolutely loved. and of course all those very well known pieces of kandinsky, picasso, klee, joseph beuys. wonderful and i loved the 2 hours of staring at modern art and some art deco and some objects and architecture and so much more.

... and so thea goes on and enjoys her baguette with nutella

the long weekend in paris

 

 

 

 

lets say it was wonderful, just plain fun to travel to paris with my family (my parents and siblings, and without all our kids...) a good long weekend. spent traveling with the TGV and spending 4 days with only adults, all belonging to my favorite circle of people. it was fun, super exciting and filled with lots of laughter and many meaningful and deep discussion.
i have never been in paris and non of my companions has been, that made it even more adventurious and yes lot's of surprises. with the weather not being super warm, but rather on and off rain we spent many an hour in brasseries and cafes. some of them plain and not very exquisite and some others fancy with long standing traditions like the les deux magots in st.germaine.
it could tell you lots of little things, it would be fun for some and for others just plain boring. i leave it at this and yes, a trip to paris is worth the time the money and all it takes. a wonderful city with amazing architecture, art, caracter, you name it!
it really does feel like i have been at the center of the world!

{this moment}

usually i absolutely don't comment on my moments, though this one is taken at "zurich hauptbahnof" and i just had to share it with you. a one pinte ben&jerry's costs 9.90 swiss francs, which is an equivalent of 10.82 $, i just quickly wished me back to new england....

A Friday ritual.
A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

paris will be lots of fun

this is what is on my mind right now...
i'm so much looking forward to a long weekend in paris!
there is really not anything else which is keeping me from thinking about this and still, i don't really know what to expect, we will see.

land grabbing...

i'm not really an active fighter when it gets to going out onto the streets, it has to take a lot. though today i would have wanted to go. we loose so much agricultural land for what ever reason... i can't just stand here and not do anything. my intention was, to go into the city and stand up for our farmers, against land grabbing. at the "baeuerinnen und bauern kampftag" today in winterthur and all over the world.
as i was not able to squeeze the rally in to my schedule today, with the kids coming home for lunch and a meeting early evening it would have been too stressful. i decided to grab those seedpods from the fall and now the seeds are ready to be put out. out into our front yard in to the little grassy area behind the house and lets celebrate the green around us, the green which i'm fighting for not to be conquered by concrete! sign the petition to safe gotzenwil's last farmer with his agricultural land...