{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.

what i wanted to do this year

the list i compiled a year ago

1. keep on speaking english in our family
:: we keep english as the main language in our family!
2. start and finish one project each month (pants for thea, quilt for a, socks for amos, socks for naomi, pj's for naomi, ornament for elias, hood for naomi)
:: i stopped keeping track of this one, but feel ok with the number of items i was able to sew, knit, crochet and craft
3. get a sewing machine and keep on quilting
:: the sewing machine is in the house and one quilt top has been born
4. go for some real sledding adventure in the mountains (february)
:: we went up to the fideriser heuberge for a weekend, sledding in a snow storm!
5. go for hikes in the woods regularly
:: we are not out in the woods regularly, but we do our best
6. take the kids to see some shows at the marionette puppet place
:: amos went a few times and loved the shows a lot, he even enjoyed a workshop at the puppet theater place
7. becoming a better listener and more patient mom to my kids
:: on some days i'm doing better, but still there is lot's to learn
8. sitting down and drink a cup of tea, before i get going in the afternoons
:: instead of drinking a cup of tea, i'm practicing violin with naomi every day after lunch and before the kids run out of the house for school
9. try one dozen new dinner recipes (more with less $)
:: tried lots of new things, but not too much a focus of more with less
10. keep on taking photos and get used to the flash
:: i'm pretty good in taking photos, but the flash is not a lot on my camera, instead a the new lens... and yes it's our version of owning a car
11. harvest the fruit of our trees and preserve what we don't eat (presumably 1000kg)
:: we harvested the apples, it was not a big harvest, 150 kg. there is now lots of cider in our basement
12. make lots of jam this summer
:: i found a yummy recipe for peach-carrot marmalade
13. teach amos to knit and crochet
:: crocheting was taught at school, and nope he can't knit yet, i didn't take the time to teach him
14. go to maier's for a session with joel
:: nope didn't do this
15. keep on doing the monthly cmp atc's -- this is no longer continued, i was sad about it, but also not strong willed enough to keep going on my own

this post was not planned but i felt like i owe it to me as well as to all of you. accountability....
as we are getting ready for a new years conference "aufbruch in ein neues jahrzehnt" in montmirail, the whole family is busy with packing and full of excitement. more next week...

the celebrating and quiet

as so many years before, we opted for a traditional christmas. we invited friends we knew would be lonely and sad not having family or a place to celebrate. with tree a decorated tree, real candles on it as it is still tradition in switzerland. and the tree was put up in the living room on the afternoon of the 24th (it will stay there until epiphany january 6th). our family was visiting that afternoon and when we arrived, it was such a nice site to enter the decorated room.


the following day we went to my parents and the kids got all one present. our family decided earlier to opt for a communal surprise, a pasta maker. except thea, she got her own silver ware!


as it was all white and cold outside, i enjoyed some knitting. it will become a pair of pants...
once more we really enjoyed every moment with family and friends and didn't miss the big presents under the tree. christmas is not and really has never been a "market place" in our family, and i'm glad for it.

we will be gone for the rest of the week, planning to be back on monday, enjoy a good end of this year and of course a wonderful start into the new year which we soon will get used to.

{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.

das weihnachtssäuli

in den vergangenen wochen wurde gebastelt und gewerkelt... so musste natuerlich auch ton her und amos hat sich da ins zeug gelegt um seine weihnachtssäuli nach seinen vorstellungen wachsen zu lassen.
jetzt sind sie bereits schoen eingepackt um verschenkt zu werden...

baked snow flakes

it just so happened that a big christmas package from a friend (thank you c, what a surprise!!!) arrived yesterday. and we all got some special goodies, you will definitely see some photos at some point of the new ears amos got...
naomi got a pack of shrinky dink's and i stumbled across this post at "thelongthread".


we got to work, printed the snow flake template and mounted it on the sheet and naomi did a great job cutting it out. we followed the instructions and got some wonderful baked and frosted snow flakes.


we picked some card stock, folded it and pinched holes for the silver thread.
mounted the flakes and added a few glass beads which we dug out from under all the wire, yarn and ribbon materials.


and i have to say the cards look good, we are both very happy with the result of our afternoon crafting.

the boy's view

once in a while one of the children asks for the camera, as they usually don't play around with "my valuables". i find it very interesting what they got in that "black box". this time it was elias, he was getting started on a project. some kind of collage or post cards or what ever it will turn into was the starting point.
it is insightful what he captured and so here are a few of the dozens of photos...

christmas market in the city

there is a very nice little christmas market set up in the city of winterthur for the time of advent. i did visit it last year with the kids at an aftertnoon. this year decided together, to go at an evening, to really enjoy the lights. and nature did her share, very beautifully was everything covered in snow.
it was as magic as we envisioned it, we got to eat something hot and drink gloegg (the kids got their water bottles..., which i was surprised they were thinking of themselves, cold water in cold weather, they didn't seem to mind at all).
elias was talking all afternoon, of buying a big salami, and so he did. after comparing 3 kinds at two booths he decided which he liked and what size would fit his wallet...




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{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.

ein nachmittag fuer's "guetzle"

die kinder hatten frei und wir alle wollten zusammen backen...
thea am mittagsschlaf und die zutaten alle bereit, ich hatte gestern bereits die teige fuer zitronen herzen und sandele zusammengeknetet. drum ist konnten wir alle unsere energie ins ausstechen geben.
es war toll, zusammen in der kueche zu stehen, etwas musik und gelaechter nebenbei auch mal diskussionen wie nun die foermli am besten auf dem teig platziert werden sollten...

in unserem haus haben nicht nur wir fuenf gebacken, in den vergangenen tagen haben auch unsere freunde gearbeitet (im vergangenen jahr waren alle zusammen einen abend lang dran), somit ist bereits eine schoene anzahl guetzli in den schachteln versorgt...
natuerlich nicht wirklich versorgt, denn die deckel lassen sich leicht abheben und wir alle schnabulieren fuer's leben gerne. (einzig fuer den weihnachtsabend muessen noch fuer 25 leute dessert in den buechsen sein und wenns gut kommt werden auch noch alle sorten vertreten sein)

::zimtsterne
::kokosmakroenli
::pfeffernuesse
::basler brunsli
::orangenschnittli
::mailaenderli
::sandele
::zitronenherzen
::aprikosen mit mandeln
::datelcrispies


noch zu backende, zumindest gewuenscht...
::spitzbuben
::chraebeli (anis)
::pralinen z hat da noch ambitionenen uns zu verwoehnen, waere natuerlich toll

clarice the chicken

a few weeks ago i stumbled upon clara the chicken at "thelongthread" (a very creative place).
i liked that little stitching craft immediately and finally i got to work on it...


gathering fabric and embroidery thread, the hoop, needle and scissors
i did take the liberty to draw my own chicken, my dad had some old transfer paper on hand and the stitching could start. it was fun and quick and is already adorning our house...

a sunset to remember all week

sometimes i really dread living in the city. surrounded by houses, they are not particularly dense or high, but they are there...
that's why saturday evening has to last for a few more evenings. thank you joel for catching it with the camera.



photos by joel

the bounce...

we met our cousins over the weekend and hat lots of fun with them. one of the great games, just invented on the go...

elias hat his bounce ball and my parents house has an open stairway, what else is better as standing on the top and letting the ball bounce. being in charge of the ball and having a bunch of cousins and siblings reaching for the ball, lots of joy and laughter and shouting and howling and what ever else you do with a bunch of loved friends!

{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.

the chestnut tree

our chestnut tree in the back or the house has not been taken care properly for the past 6 years...
it is a been growing a lot and was very much in need of a proper "styling", and cutting of diseased parts.


at the beginning of the week was the day, the tree specialists showed up and started pruning... they were working with lots of passion on the tree, i could tell they love their work and knew what they were doing.


the branches were all piled up in front of the house, in order to have them shredded.


after all the work behind the house was done, the shredding was just taking 15 minutes. 6 years of growing was being so very quickly made into mulch...



it was to dark at 5pm to take a photo of the new look. so this morning after a nice light snowfall over night i got to take a good look and i like it!
the tree will be so happy and grow anew coming next spring.

saint nicholas' gift

saint nicholas stopped by at our house. very unexpected yesterday right before supper. i had no idea and was surprised as much as the kids! it was lovely, to get a burlap bag of nuts, citrus fruit, chocolates and gingerbread was such a treat.


though there was something special for me...


i love it and am happily enjoying the romantic look.


and with all the many peanuts and walnuts, thea and i will not tire to play games on the sofa...

our winter garland

in the past years i loved to hang the winter garland up too. though it didn't make it across the atlantic last year... and i didn't have the time last winter to dry orange slices, find star anis (cooking with star anis) and nice cinnamon sticks. but yesterday things came together


last week i bought some fair trade oranges and sliced them up to dry in the oven
cinnamon sticks and star anis were bought a few weeks ago at the local produce market, there is usually a stand with oriental spices around this time of year. metal wire was still in my shoe box full "ribbons and things" so i just had to take the time to put everything together.
yesterday was the second of advent, it snowed outside, was cold and we lit the fire in our living room. sitting at the table with a mug hot cocoa and the "ingredients" for our garland. it turned out well, i love it and it smells delicious. advent has truly arrived.