single girl week I

starting a summer project is super exciting!
the single girl quilt by denyse schimdt has been on my desk, off my desk put away in a drawer and now back on my desk for a couple weeks. i picked it up again and for real yesterday. copyed the template and started to rummage through my stash. this is so super exciting and makes me want to go all day. even though i am absolutely aware of all other things and for today i did do other things, there will be that day in the near future. the day i just cut and sew and put together and enjoy and iron and what ever has to be done on this project.
there have been summer quilts and other summer projects like this in the past years. like the granny square quilt in 2013 or the crochet blanket in 2012. and last year it was the target quilt for amos.

so here we go and i'm very happy about today and how it all went, very productive!

berry tartelettte

happy indipendence day to all my american friends!

we took it by the spur of the moment and made a quick indipendence day dessert.....
still love the colors of our host country for over a century. stay strong and fight for your america, to keep the wonderful indipendent spirit and stand up for your neighbor, the one who thinks different and does different, but is your neighbor.

desserts all over

we celebrated the birthdays of my brother and his wife. a whole day on the farm, in the old cow barn, which is all cleaned up and ready for the guests. it was very touching, to start the celebration with a worship service, with a heart full of praise and thankfulness. and it was very emotional to be "at home", the place i grew up and had my roots planted.
now it's my brothers house and his family's home. the cows are in a new stable and the apple orchards are no more. other focus points have grown and changed the place. which is absolutely all right, as the family of my brother has to find a way to survive and keep the farm running. thank you d & j for caring so much for this place and letting us enjoy a little taste of the blessings you count.

 the high light was the great dessert buffet, which my sister in law put together!
wow, wow, wow, breath taking with it's colour, and mouthwatering, just looking across the long table. everyone was delighted and there was just something for every taste. chocolat, double chocolat, cherry, joughurt with berries, half frozen, fresh fruit and for the little guys some fun gummy sweets!

 a corner with presents, even this is wonderfully arranged and put together...

and then there was that slip&slide, our youngest girl loved it and enjoyed it all afternoon, even forgetting the dessert buffet...
wow, celebrating and enjoying is a gift.

and here the link to my sister in law's blog with all her sweetness...

the week through the lens

 it has been on the back burner, i have not been taking a lot of photos for a while now, and that should change. so i put the "hand made" lens back on the camera body and got started this week. it touched me in a special way, as i wander and have the camera ready be it in the kitchen, or living room table... this enables me to see with new eyes and i like it. we will see if it sticks, it is a start to a new friday review of what caught my eye. there is to be said, that i was inspired by erin boyle and her blog "reading my tea leaves". she does a wonderful job and it is so inspirational to have a look at her photos...

:: 1. on the way to music lesson, each and every monday afternoon

:: 2. the tall boy with his band, it was a very cool rock night

:: 3. the big linden tree, for the past weeks have i been soaking in the scent of all those linden trees in bloom

:: 4. parking and enjoying an evening in the field with my camera

:: 5. at the end of the day, taking it all in

the fields around eidberg

while running in the morning, i have been observing how the grain fields are ripening. and the first fields have been harvested at the beginning of this week. it's early, about 2 weeks prior to other years, the weather is dry, hot and sunny. we haven't had rain for the past 12 days and it will go on for an other few days. this week was windy too, the grain is ripening fast. as i noticed, that a few fields have been cut already on monday, i hopped on the bike on tuesday night. toward eidberg there were a few wonderful fields with wheat, einkorn wheat and oats. the barley has already been cut as it is the earliest grain to be harvested.
it was a lovely bike ride that evening, the sky full of moving clouds, the sun getting lower and painting dressing the landscape in a golden cloak. i rarely take the time to head out with the camera, taking an extra trip... but i did so, after putting thea to bed. thinking about the light getting warmer and less harsh as the evening progresses.

it was so different from the morning, when i was out running. i would have wanted to have the camera along too back then. the pictures would have turned out very different. well it is what it is and i like it. and even more, i'm happy that i took the spur of the moment to take those pictures. it is usually not easy for me to get out of the house, "just so" if i could stay in and finally call it a day...

 oats

 wheat

 Einkorn wheat (tritticum)

zurich :: immer diese zwinglis

walking through zurich by night, and what a night, the one when the swiss soccer just won against brasil, the qualification game in group F, at the soccer world champion ship in russia.
the wind was strong and the air warm. the sky cloudy and wonderfully painted. dusk was just setting in and the lights were a lit. a wonderfully dramatic city scape was building itself up right there before me. a few fotos had to be taken and together with thea, i absolutely enjoyed each and every moment, taking it all in and now looking at the photos again, it still makes me happy and joyful.

on an other note,
i was in zurich again yesterday, the afternoon spent at H50 getting an introduction into the short film, an animation about zwingli and the reformation in zurich. it was very interesting and i loved watching the film as well as hearing about the making of. not just the making of such a little film is a lot of work, but we also got a study guide with it, to work with youth as well as with families.
"immer diese Zwinglis".
Well you will be smiling when watching and especially listening to the english version. though it is intentionally a very swiss-english spoken word, as is the german version, to get the point across who we are as swiss german speaking people group. originally it was debated to make it in swiss german, but then it would have excluded all the foreigners living in switzerland. i feel like they got the tone quiet right and it feels very much down to earth, kind of mideavelish. the second part of the introduction to the theme, we got a "zwingli-tour" of zurich. this made the event very lively and  yup, it is true, i start loving the city more and more with all it's historical artefacts and hidden stories.

the week through the lens

it has been on the back burner, i have not been taking a lot of photos for a while now, and that should change. so i put the "hand made" lens back on the camera body and got started this week. it touched me in a special way, as i wander and have the camera ready be it in the kitchen, or living room table... this enables me to see with new eyes and i like it. we will see if it sticks, it is a start to a new friday review of what caught my eye. there is to be said, that i was inspired by erin boyle and her blog "reading my tea leaves". she does a wonderful job and it is so inspirational to have a look at her photos...

:: 1. sometimes i had to hurry through the moment this week

:: 2. picnic at friends all very spontanious

:: 3. what a fun piece of creativity, just so, anonymus

:: 4. cool to look at some shadows, while watching N's soccer game

:: 5. taking a dip after a short run in the heat yesterday afternoon

some sewing

there is a birthday coming up soon and on her wishlist is noted, that she would like a bath towel. of course that's a reasonable wish, something i support. it's a super soft, kind a big bath towel in her favorit color, yes she loves yellow, still yellow!
with a few bits of scrap fabric there is quickly, a sailing boat, puzzled together and stitched onto that wonderful glowing towel.
i was debating, if i should also make some clouds, a hot yellow sun, or just anything else... it's fine the way it turned out and the big letter J is at the top right. so my dear niece know's this is her very own towel, as the J stands for her first name.

as i sit in the garden, a fresh breeze is comforting me. it's hot it's in the low 80is and will get even warmer in the next two days. i do love this hot weather and it reminds me of the boston summers, which i absolutely loved amidst the few humid hot days. 

summer love

there is some wonderful color in my little garden, right behind the house. trying to grow some edable plants and some just pretty looking ones...
i'm fighting slugs every night, as soon as it gets dark around 10pm, i take the head lamp and go hunting. but for the nastertium to flourish, this little task is needed, otherwise the yellow blooming heads would all be eaten and gone by the morning.
there will soon be some calendula, i started them by seeds in april, right out here in the garden, they are slow but they are still alive. the same with the real camomile. the pumpkin plants are doing fine, a bit slow but still there and growing.

the week through the lens

it has been on the back burner, i have not been taking a lot of photos for a while now, and that should change. so i put the "hand made" lens back on the camera body and got started this week. it touched me in a special way, as i wander and have the camera ready be it in the kitchen, or living room table... this enables me to see with new eyes and i like it. we will see if it sticks, it is a start to a new friday review of what caught my eye. there is to be said, that i was inspired by erin boyle and her blog "reading my tea leaves". she does a wonderful job and it is so inspirational to have a look at her photos...

:: 1. blackberrie blossom and bees a wonderful sign of early summer

:: 2. he is the guy we call, if a bike tire has lost it's pressure

:: 3. cherrie marmelade

:: 4. an other day of strawberrie picking and enjoying a new type of dinner salad

:: 5. dessert with some expresso, thank you naomi!

the black little dots

much to my surprise, i discovered some cherries in our garden. the tree has been there a few years already, but i didn't get around to pick any in the past years...
this year, it was sheer luck, as joel and the boys put up the pool 10 days ago, i came home late afternoon that saturday and it just so happened. taking a look in the garden with it's different colors and seeing the cherrie tree with all it's black little dots....

oh! there are little cherries and just about ripe to pick. the fruit is not sweet but wonderful to make some marmelade. and that's what happened with them, 1kg of fruit cokked into marmelade for next winter!
and this way, i collect color and flavor and joy, for times when those things are scarce.