the may boy in our family

we had such a great may boy birthday yesterday!
elias turned eleven, and he was so happy about the sunday birthday celebration of his 11 years with us.
there is really nothing to add to his smiles, lot's of happiness all around...

{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 farm-garden

when we visited my brother at the farm i grew up on we spent a good time enjoying the garden. j has gotten really good in tending their farm-garden. i love the combination of playground and veggies, berries and flowers are all in one big area.


a big rhubarb plant is still very much at the same spot as when i grew up....
but with the desire to have the kids near by a big area is devoted to swinging with all kinds of seats and ropes. this is just the best for the kids, of course besides helping to pull weeds!
of course a big sand pit is a must and i love the way it's so naturally embedded, (sorry i forgot to take a photo of it) with an old tree trunk and different other wooden stumps it's the perfect pit.


the strawberries are now in full bloom...


a very nice border along the fence, lot's and lot's of forget me nots


and there were all kinds of colours of columbines, mixed together with lupines. in an other spot there is an area with many varieties of dahlia, i'm really looking forward to the bloom of those.
in the back of the garden is a berry patch, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, goosberry, and redcurrants!
i'm definitely going back in the summer for a lovely visit and to adore the beauty of this garden. thank you j & d for hosting us and letting us be part of your life on the farm.

tannschössli honig

last wednesday we picked the fresh new green's from pine trees, and since then we made a very tasty honey with them... as well as filling up a glass with the fresh green's and wildflower honey, we will let this one sit for about a month. the honey will liquefy and then we have our own cough syrup.


after a couple hours of cooking the soaked and drained solution, we filled a dozen jars with the "honey". it tastes very strong of pine sap, it's great, either you love it or you do not want to touch it....


naomi was designing cool labels, and we have already given some of our "treasures" away. my parents loved it, some of our friends in the house love it too, and then there are those who do not even like to put their nose too close to an open jar...

here the recipe:
500g fresh pine greens
1l water
some lemon juice
1kg sugar (we used brown sugar)

soak the greens with water for about 12hours, drain it and add the rest of the ingredients.
cook the liquid until it starts to gel. it took us a couple hours, so don't be discouraged and don't give up. you might want to add a bit more lemon juice this helps.

our 5 star resort...

when we are at my parents we feel like being at a 5 star wellness resort....
the wooden jacuzzi, a favorite with the kids!
first the fun of firing up the oven to warm the water and then jump on in and splash. for the grown ups it's time to relax when the kids have gone down...


and the view from the jacuzzi is even better! look at this, the santis and it's surrounding mountain chain

the ride home

we spent the past three days, over pentecost at my parents. as we do not have a car we travel by train and bus... this takes us just 1hour 5 minutes. (it would be 35 by car...)
though it's really easy and so far fun with the kids. elias is doing it on his own, which is so nice.
this time me and the younger three went already on friday. joel and elias wanted to ride their bikes (42km) they joined us on saturday.


traveling by "turbo" that's the particular kind of regional train is easy and fast. i absolutely appreciate that there is enough space for strollers! i don't have to feel like i'm using up any some one's seat/space.


i love the country side, see the grass grow, rolling hills.


the yellow is particularly pretty right now, it's rapeseed, such a wonderful clear yellow.


and then this weekend was a busy one for each and every farmer! after just about 20 days of rain and cold and almost no sun the grass needed to be cut and dried, made into hay! lot's of it, where ever we turned our eyes grass was mowed, turned and brought in to the den. a wonderful scent was heavy in the air i love it. lot's of memories go with it, as i myself grew up on a farm. we loved the work, it was sometimes magical, to run barefoot through the dried grass (almost hay), enjoying the wide open space and the perfumed air. and then so often we quickly had to bring the hay in before a big thunderstorm hit.

{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

on the swing

we spend lots of time behind the house now. after school, sandwiches on the go, music lessons, city library we were so happy to be home and in the garden. the sun peaked out, extra for us, at least that's what i believe.

amos and naomi had a blast swinging together, you would have been able to hear them screaming, shouting and laughing from across town!


elias reached two goals today, first he practiced violin at 7am to make sure his teacher was happy with his playing, he had to polish a few things on his concerto no. 5 1st movement by f. seitz. he did it!
and he finished the second harry potter, so we had to run to the big library to get the third, as it has to be in english.....


our darling thea, there is nothing to say here, she had the rock star hair!

the woods spring treasures

last week the boys were attending a survival workshop...
amos has become a fan of boiled larvae and elias prides himself of having roasted and eaten all kinds of other creatures... we usually don't eat what we stumble upon on our adventures into the woods!

and of course they also know now how to eat stinging nettle without being stung on the tongue or the benefits of making healthy "stuff" from young, green pine needles, steeping in boiling water.
and then it was a sunny afternoon (after 2 weeks of rain and drizzle and cold), we just had to go hunting for the woods treasures!
(no worries we didn't take all the young green needles of one tree and we did not harvest from healthy undergrowth)



of course it wasn't just about the "work" we did lot's of playing, running and finding things. it was fun and we will do it again, we miss the ocean but feel at home in the woods. this is a bit of a band aid after starting to miss new england's rocky and sandy spots as well.


here a little bit of a view from the woods edge toward the "city" we live, it is very pretty isn't it!
(you might notice, elias is once more on his unicycle....)

the camping boots...

the boys went tent camping with the scouts....
it rained or at least drizzled all 4 days they spent at camp. just imagine 200 kids and their leaders, stomping around in a once nice cut meadow next to the big woods...
yup not just their boots were plastered, amos was unfortunate to having had his sleeping spot right next to the entrance of the tent... his therm a rest as well as his sleeping bag underwent a big laundry session.
they were happy and already decided that they want to go again. maybe it doesn't need to be so wet, but camping with their buddies, no question's about that, a must.

{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

ascension

ascension day is traditionally celebrated on a thursday, the fortieth day from easter day. It's not that everyone is going to church that day, but i love to go and celebrate in our church family.
the observance of this feast is of antiquity. although no documentary evidence of it exists prior to the fifth century, st. augustine says that it is of apostolic origin, and he speaks of it in a way that shows it was observed of the church long before his time.
we remember of jesus ascension too, in the apostles creed: 'ascendit ad caelos, sedet ad dexteram Patris omnipotentis' - he ascended into heaven, he is seated at the right hand of the Father.

living our every day life by observing the church calendar is helpful for me to keep a rhythm. it's challenging as it calls us to stillness in our often so hectic lives. halting and being still before God, resting and at the same time living to glorify our creator. i guess that's not just for tomorrow's ascension day, but as i said before, for those special days in our liturgical year.
so for me it's take a brake, and be still...

unfurling in my backyard 2

there was more to the unfurling ferns...
i know that little bug is not a lady bug, but it surely has the same shape, it's just the irritating reverse color scheme. never the less precious to me.

and of course the girls had to stomp and jump in the puddle. this is the sandbox covered with a tarp. thea found it and sat in it, stomped and was not to be stopped. naomi did the same and she perticularely enjoyed filling her boots with water, followed by swinging. which resulted in little water falls out of her boots, when she stretched her legs out front to pump...

unfurling in my backyard 1

it was raining a lot over the past days and then today the sun came out late in the afternoon. nothing could stop me anymore from just going outside and breath the fresh warm air. it smelled of wet soil and growing grass. the scent of all the different shrubs in bloom lay heavy in the breeze. and i loved it and could not get enough.
a few pics of the fern unfurling...
it's every year an amazing sight, and this time since 12 years once more not at the arboretum in jp, but in switzerland. i miss the skunk cabbage...

{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

mandelbrot...

a shared fascination of joel and me. though i'm only visually into it, the mathematics of it will be a secret for me for ever...

i'm under the weather but quickly wanted to share joel's find from yesterday.

chestnut tree in bloom

it's overcast and raining for four days in a row. as i sad yesterday it's good for mother nature.
it's ok for me too, as i can stand at my bedroom windows and see the big chestnut tree in full bloom. this definitely brightens my day!

rainy weathr

finally we get some rain, it's so much needed, as april was very sunny.
indoor activities are for some of us preferred and so it's not surprising we enjoy the rain as it gives some of us an excuse to not leave the cozy home.
as for me, i enjoy a quick walk in any weather and so i have been out yesterday and already this morning, and it is good for my soul!


the has gotten in the habit of riding the family horse...
i remember just too well how i loved the little bell, which is in the horses tummy as it rolls back and forth.


amos learned a new game of cards, called jassen (sorry this link is only in german) and of course everyone has to play now....

chicken's moving in...

4 ladies moved into our neighborhood last friday...
their house was just finished a few days ago and the hemp straw was put in upon their arrival.
they are wyandotte chickens, from a breeder in town. it was great to go and pick them up. there were many more and if one of them turns out to be a rooster, elias will be able to exchange him for a hen.
for the moment they are still many weeks away from laying eggs. but they already feel at home in their new house. and soon the neighborhood will be explored by our friends, but it has been a bit too rainy for them to voluntarily go outside and explore yard.






we are all very happy with the beautiful house joel and elias built...


and yes our dreams have come true, for a long time we hoped for feathered friends and some times we just gave up on the idea. i'm glad it worked out, thank you joel for all your planing and working on this!