free friday

it just so happen that i got half a day off! unexpected and of course i enjoyed it from the beginning to the end.
joel was home this week, but more sick then anything else. trying to cure a head cold and still wanting to enjoy the "vacation" week with all of us. yesterday he went sledding with naomi and elias, which has been a delightful adventure for the three of them. amos and i went for a stroll to the library.

(as i write these lines, i'm listening to a loud drumming circle in our neighbors back yard. over a dozen people with djembe drums drumming and singing around a huge camp fire. i'm celebrating along with them "leap day", this is unique as we are living in the city... but i guess JP has it's own rules in regards to back yard fires and music at night times!)

back to my day's adventures. i was walking elias and his coop kids to MIT for a lego car race workshop. it was bitter cold but sunny. then again an other 30 minutes walking in the cold through the city in the sunshine to the MFA.
it was very strange for me to walk into the building on my own. but i quickly started to enjoy my freedom. there are two exhibits which i have not seen in the past and i really enjoyed a lot. the first was the one on ed rossbach "fiber art" from the daphne farago collection. just wonderful pieces and i could relate to so many of them. the moment i walked in, i decided to take the coop kids to this exhibit. we have been working on knitting, crocheting, weaving and what ever else they wanted all winter. the exhibit will be a great inspiration for them.
the second exhibit was "walk this way" highlighting the museums rich, but usually hidden collection of shoes.
lots of walking and enjoying other peoples works!
thank you joel for giving me these hours!

violin at bekkas house

thursday is violin morning....
elias has his privat lesson at 9:30 and right after is naomi's group lesson. we are usually just able to make it out of the house to hastily walk over to bekkas house. and i'm glad it is such a close walk, especially on such cold and snowy mornings as today.
we love it at bekka's house, her studio is small and very charming.
for the past few months elias has really taken an other leap and enjoys the privat lessons a lot. but who would not, getting all the attention of two people. especially bekka's attention, just being around her is rejuvenating. she is so much able to get the best out of elias and in a wonderfull inspiring way. -thank you, bekka!
naomi loves her violin group, 45 minutes of games and fun with a few other kids and all of them with their instruments, in a sunny living room. i guess the pictures speak for them selfs.

the lake and more

it was breath taking to see the frozen and snow covered lake.
and even more fun to walk on it and have fun together.
joel and the boys made their way out to one of the little ice fishing shacks.(they are very little on the photo, just were you see the line from the snow changing into the "shore") there was no one there but never the less it was very exciting to peak inside and now know what those little huts look like close up, even from the inside!

yes there were some pretty amazing icicles! they grew on the gutters of the dining hall and i just had to stop every time when i was walking towards that building.

in the snow

it took us 4 hours to our weekend destination! very slowly we made our way in the snow storm up to camp brookwoods, usually it takes you a bit over 2h....
we made it and arrived in the snowy magical woods of new hampshire. saturday morning was spent discovering the magic of a frozen lake

lots of slipping and intentional 'skating' was done and ended in a whit out....

especiall amos and naomi loved to just crawl on the ice and enjoy the wonderful powder all around.


more to come this was not all, there will some some magical icicles to see...
and we came home to boston all up for more snow and sun, which we got today. the walk around town today was great, not too long as amos was guiding us through the neighborhood. we discovered some really sun warmed brick walls and snow throwing without mittens! yes it was sunny and in the 50is.

notes

these two little notes appeared on the boys bedroom door....
they are addressing naomi, to not enter their territory. of course naomi disregards the order, this is even more inviting then without the note.
i love the little people with their assigned names and gestures. it looks like real life and feels like it too. isn't it ironic how the kids depict them selfs so much how they really are!

we will be in the snow, 2h north of boston for the weekend. we are so excited and it is even more thrilling as the snow is just starting to come down. i will post some of our adventures beginning of next week.

jedes ding hat seinen ort.....

this is the state of my ironing board... being used to pile all the little and useful things on. including joel's led-lamp project (the goos neck you see there), his soldering tools (it's the thing with the magnifying glass), my stitching hoops (the wooden round things on the right) and ton's more. the goal is to get this stuff and much more, cleaned up within the next week. joel already started, as you can see on the bottom of this picture, on the left is a really neat little storage cabinet.....

here the storage cabinet close up, yes it will hold a lot of things and it will be neatly organized! i will keep you posted with this project.

creativity....

i guess a clean sink calls out loud to be used for some kind being used for any project. be it for washing paint trays or gardening hands, or any other water play. as for elias he could not resist the shiny newly scrubbed sink... that's the result!

the cold cought me

yes it did!
my head is all stuffed and my muscles feel tender. the eucalyptus bath yesterday night did help and i was able to sleep well and long.
we went for a short walk along the pond to the library. picked up a few books, i could not resist the lovely little poem book central heating, poems about fire and warmth. the plan is to cuddle up under my quilt and enjoy a few moments of fine poetry before i fall asleep.

the day was very mild outside, sunny and almost spring like. tough i'm sure winter will be back soon, it is still middle of february and we do have to expect snow for an other two months....
this for today, i hope to have some pictures again tomorrow.

lesson

The lesson which life constantly repeats is to 'look under your feet.' You are always nearer to the divine
and the true sources of your power than you think.
The lure of the distant and the difficult is deceptive.
The great opportunity is where you are.
Do not despise your own place and hour.
Every place is under the stars.
Every place is the center of the world.

John Burroughsspan
American Author and Naturalist

die wochentage

wir sind am wochentage lernen, reihenfolge und herkunft der namen, ist spannend. griechische mythologie, so ist der sonnen gott, der mond gott, vom mutigen gott tor, die geschichte des odin, und der donnergott thor, die goettin frigga, nicht zu vergessen saturn. ist ein guter uebergang von unserem griechisch mythologie montag januar...


fuer amos ist das singen wohl sehr wichtig an sonntagen...

st. john's ladder

Freedom from anger is a triumph over one’s nature. It comes by hard work and the sweat of one’s brow.

The first step toward freedom from anger is to keep the lips silent when the heart is stirred; the next, to keep thoughts silent when the soul is upset; the last to be totally calm when unclean winds are blowing.

Just as darkness retreats before light, so all anger and bitterness disappears before the fragrance of humility.

found this on bluecanopy

there is really nothing more to say, just look at the ladder and be with it for a moment.

root vegetables...

it's in the middle of winter, now new greens, roots to eat is about what counts......
with the yellow beet's in the fridge i just could not wait for a vegetable roasting. cutting those wonderful roots has been fun, i'm amazed of their structure and intense yellow colour, in contrast to the very white onions and green peppers (i'm aware that peppers are not roots, but i needed some green on my plate).

of course my kids were not quite as excited as i about this lunch! but the cheese made it happen for them too.

things we do

with lot's of rain in the past few days, we stayed inside, we enjoyed listening to books on cd and some good music as well as watching pippi longstocking.... and of course we just breathed an lived the winter life!
elias has discovered weaving, he is producing little carpets one after an other....
naomi got very creative with our silver ware... it all happened in the process of putting the silver ware into the drawer, a fun game was being invented!
and of course not to forget the most creative mind in our family! he got a little net from our friend's oranges... and it had to be put on his head, what else...

waffles

once in a while i give in and we bake waffles for breakfast. the kids love them.
and a while ago, i got a second hand waffle iron from boomerangs. my friend next door is using our waffle iron too, i'm glad it's being used more frequently now, as she discovered, how her little boy loves cornmeal waffles. i have nod been very adventures and usually use some kind of waffle mix this time it was from green mountain's in vermont. what our family loves with it is maple syrup as well as plain yogurt. so much for our breakfast treats.

it's pouring

Weather is a great metaphor for life,
sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad,
and there's nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.
-Pepper Giardino

swinging

swinging in the park! yeah!
yes it's just a wonderful thing to fly into the air, at least elias is totally taken by this. naomi loves it too, but now and then i refuse to push her as high as the sky.
this is when she ends up doing more spying on people then swinging....
for me, it's good to be outside and take a breath of fresh cold air!

farbe

wie tut es doch gut im winter diese farben zu sehen. konnte meine augen kaum davon lassen, so stark und so klar.

sonntag nachmittag

wieder einmal besuch, wir genossen einen ruhigen sonntag. joel und die kinder zeichneten und genossen es zusammen, ich war ganz gluecklich mir einen mittagsschlaf zu goennen.
sogar zu einem nachmittagsspaziergang mit freunden liessen wir uns hinreissen. die sonne und der blaue himmel haetten nicht besser sein koennen. windig wars und wir zogen die muetzen tief ins gesicht. schnell realisierten wir, dass es nicht der typische schoenwetter spazier werden wird....
dem wind mischte sich bald mal schnee und noch mehr windboen bei. wir trauten unseren augen und ohren kaum, als dann noch ein blitz und donnergrollen folgte! ja mitte februar ein schneegewitter, wie wunderbar. wir genossen es und waren fast etwas traurig als nach kurzer zeit dieses mysterioese einem blauen himmel wich.
danke claudia und stephan fuer euren besuch. danke fuer die freundschaft, ist gut zu wissen das ihr da seid.

playground

prints leading through the abandoned wintery water fountain. yes there is no water in february but there is some powdery white called snow. and the kids love it as much here as they do in the summer heat of july.
the same for the climbing structure. the snow just adds an interesting little twist to climbing and sliding.... we love it.

sidewalk

we made it out onto the sidewalk....
it was fun and i thought, very interesting. just a regular sidewalk in the city. any sidewalk in town today. of course it would not have been me, within a split second i was already analyzing how many push chairs went by. what kind of shoe sizes there where to find and if the kids were skidding.
we all enjoyed it and nothing could take the smile from my face, at least not for the few moments we were strolling down the sidewalk.

no such thing

there is no such thing in anyone's life as an unimportant day.

-alexander woollcott

shoes

those red shoes are on their way out....
i bought them for elias 6 years ago and all three kids loved to wear them. although they are a bit of a pain to put on, as their shaft is very narrow. but that's exactly what makes them a good fit, very snugly around the ankle. and then the laces are way too long. i know i should have cut them long ago, but somehow i just never got around to do it. so, here they are old and loved, soon at their end.

gees

those gees, jp would not be jp without the canada gees.
i love their sound, traveling up there in the sky, from scarborrough pond to jamaica pond. competing with all the "big-birds" from logan international airport!
no not really competing, i love them, but not the other kind.
the honking is the first sign, a far away honking which is getting louder and more clear, and all of a sudden they are right above me. loud and clear, in formation or not. it touches me, i'm impressed and uplifted. gees in the city, nature in my life.
thank you, God.

fondue

the kids really wanted cheese fondue. as it brings all the memories of visiting grandparents in switzerland back.....
of course i couldn't say no!
i love fondue too and we still had some prepared cheese in the fridge.
i got the garlic ready, the caclone out and the rally pointy forks! that's the best of it, the loooooong forks...
as you can imagine, it didn't take long until the yummy cheese was all gubled up. three happy children drinking some more earl gray.
and before i know all eager to listen to stories, all cuddled up under their warm quilts.

travel

people travel to wonder at the hight of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselfes without wondering.

-saint augustin

plenty

even the king is served from the field

ecclesiastes 5:9

i'm enjoying Plenty so much, it is inspiring and challenging at the same time. it is a great adventure to be taken to the 100 miles around vancouver. to be taken along for exploratory tours into the frasier valley, along the cheakamus and the salish coast.
having to think of where our food comes from, how disconnected we are from the plenty right here in new england. the plenty which is not anymore the plenty it was many decades ago, when there was an abundance of what ever we can imagine, to take from. we still are taken a breath by nature and what it gives us, it still is magical when you start to explore it. but we lost sight of what it was, what we are missing, what we lost over 1000 of years.
i'm "eating" up every bit of sun beam i can gather and it is more and more, spring is already in the air. i know it will be cold and gray for many more days before spring starts. but that doesn't hinder me to enjoy the bright warmth even more!

chnoepf

when i was at the yarn store last week i could not resist to buy one of those old button boxes. "windsor button" had to close down a few stores and is now selling their old wooden boxes for not to much.
it was a nice and relaxing little time to take my collected buttons and sort them. of course i spent much more time then i had anticipated..... it is fun to play around with colours, shapes and sizes, that's how i ended the project for the moment. naomi as well as the amos have taken the box out and transferred back and forth as they felt necessary. it will be a project in progress!