current::sheetcake

there are not just strawberries in the house, but red currents too! o they are so sour, so yummy in the heat of summer.
naomi and i set out to bake with them and a delicious dessert was created...
the work to prepare the berries is nifty, to get all the little red "balls" from the vine takes patience. naomi did a great job.



the bottom of the sheet cake gets pre baked and then a dough with lots of eggs and sour creme and sugar is the topping, mixed with the berries, here one kind of recipe. even before the start, we knew it would be a treat to eat, with these ingredients!

erdbeeren::direkt vom feld

gestern waren wir auf dem erdbeerenfeld. ein warmer junimorgen ist genau der richtige moment um sich zeit zu nehmen fuer die suessen roten fruechten. thea war natuerlich begeistert mit dabei beim ablesen und viel mehr noch beim essen!
gemeinsam pflueckten wir 8kg erdbeeren, ein grosser teil ist nun bereits im gefrierer. ich freue mich jetzt bereits auf die feinen desserts im winter.
fuer die kommenden tage stehen nun auch jeder zeit frische fruechte bereits zum naschen.
the macht mich immer wieder drauf aufmerksam, dass sie im fall einen "apple" moechte. ich schmunzle und versuche ihr zu erklaeren dass aepfel wohl auch fruechte sind, dies jedoch erdbeeren, denn sie weiss was sie wirklich will!

chair-soccer

living with 8 other people in the same house hold is bringing a lot of action in our daily lives. every sunday night we eat dinner together.
yesterday j was cooking, such yummy fish, potatoes and greek salad. we came just home from visiting friends and had a 1hour bike ride in our legs, it was perfect to sit down and eat. i absolutely like those moments, of not having to prepare, not even setting the table or thinking anything food related!

of course after this delicious meal there must be some activity. it's something called "chair-soccer". lots of laughing, lots of happy shouting and enjoying the summer evening.

{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

morning prayer

some mornings, when the sunshine tickles my face, there is just one thought and one prayer to say...

Lieber Vater,
wenn erste Sonnenstrahlen
sich durch dunkle Wolken bahnen,
wenn Waerme ueberzieht das vormals kalte Land,
wenn Menschenstimmen, Weltgeraeusche
mit der Stille Walzer tanzen,
spuer ich den Schoepfer dieses Ganzen
und der Tag bricht an.

In Gottes Namen steh ich auf,
Herr Jeus, leite meinen Lauf,
begleite mich mit deinem Segen, behuete mich auf allen Wegen.

Volksgut

wachsmalmaeuse...

thea loves to draw and what ever gets into her hands will be used for it. we had to scrub green sharpie marks from our kitchen tile floor, pencil and all kinds of markers from wall and door frames, not to talk about all the different marks on hands, face and all over her body...
it was on my mind for a few days already and today we got them the wachsmalmaeuse by pelican. i have made some myself last summer here, with all kinds of stumps we had around the house. with us moving across the ocean in the past year, we left a lot behind or passed things on which are easily replaceable... so there we go, i had to get new creons for little hands.


of course first they had to be dumped into a bucket and on the floor and back into the backed and so on.


and then the big drawing could start. they fit well into her chubby hands and have a good amount of pigment.

lots of kids...

visiting joels brother was great, isn't it fun to be invited as a family of six to a family of eight! and joined with an other family of six! yes we were in wonderful company this past sunday 14 kids ranging from 11years down to 9months. the weather was not looking too good, though the kids didn't mind. the soccer ball wanted to be kicked around regardless, the scooters and bikes had to be ridden anyway and of course the fire had to be tended and enjoyed by some. the kids all seem to find their playmates without trouble and that was just so perfect! i have to say i was surprised myself, as i was a bit cautious about the many kids on a rainy day...


and then in the afternoon the back yard turned into a jumping pillow! perfect and of course the best for everyone, thank you m and p for the great time we spent with you!

thea's red pepper...

is all there is to say. i love her chubby hands, her dedication and love for the veggie show!

{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

living crafts

i'm soooo happy, the summer issue of living creafts has arrived at my house this morning!

i have been waiting for too long, i felt like the magazine should have been here a month ago. what can i do, i live in europe and the magazines is being shipped from a different continent.... yup from california.
but it is here now and this is the end of this post, as i have to start reading and enjoying and getting inspired!

soccer all day today

of course we will be watching, so here we go, very short for today...

HOPP SCHWIIZ!!!

the birthday pillow

our very creative girl has it sent in her mind, that she wanted to draw on fabric. so i got our fabric dye sticks out, which are very similar to oil pastels and we do like to work with them.
i suggested she draw first an outline with sharpie and then start colouring, which ended up working just fine. for the past few weeks, she learned about all kinds of animals in kindergarten, so no surprise that a couple of lions had to be drawn...


and then of course one piece of fabric wasn't going to do it, more drawing, working and creating has to go on. one is never enough for her, there has to be lots of what ever she starts to do.
together we ironed the two pieces, to make the design permanent. and then it was my turn to sew things into a pillow, that was naomi's decision after finishing the two panels. she picked some fabric and i sat down to sew.


the next act was wrapping the birthday pillow into and of course the use of sticky tape was loved by her. i have to say though, she is a very good gift wrapper...


and then we stuck it into a shipping envelope, chose a sticker from my sticker collection. i like the one she chose. and it was so sweet to hear her reasons why it was this particular one and not any other of the sticker book i recently ordered by yaelfran i have. "i love rain and my godfather will see that this is me"
it's now in the mail, and we hope it will arrive by tomorrow!
happy birthday "goetti p"

the ghana muffins

once more our big baker was at work. amos was very intent to decorate his muffins with the colours of the actually soccer playing teams. it was 4:14 and ghana was playing against serbia. at half time everyone enjoyed the ghana muffins and a glass of syrup, by the end of the game, we were all so proud to have "known" the winner all along... and of course had to send a little note to our ghanaian friend c.
amos is intending to keep baking during soccer world champion ship, this will mean, that we will be eating all kinds muffins in every possible colour!

{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

in the hallway

waiting for elias violin lesson to be done... for some odd reason i was really intrigued by the tiles in the hallway. the sunlight was doing it's one and i felt like the cleaning lady went by not long ago. and the kids in a good mood, happy and excited about me having the camera in hand...
i had only my "funky" lens (SD 11-16 F2.8) with me, but i have to say i do liked it.

a sunny afternoon in the city

after violin and drum lessons...
it's such a little pretty city we live in and we like exploring more of it. as it was 28C today we had to play with the water, at least a little bit. thea was in the sling and i wanted to move on, but as so many times the kids didn't... i did come once more to the conclusion: 'that it is ok to let go of my ideas and follow the creative and fun loving minds of my kids!



then there was the so called "holidi" sculpture at the "oberer graben" which is so inviting tho be climbed on. and after many times of walking back and forth on it we decided that it was just about 12yards long. amos did it in feet too and naomi in her own length of very long steps, she counted 7... her big and better always better knowing brother decided that it must be more in his steps the sculpture is 11 of his steps. yes lots of debating and arguing going on, but the 12 yards we agreed all!

medieval times explored...

joel and the three bike riding kids took a trip to the medieval castle kyburg, just a few kilometers from winterthur is the little town and the big castle of kyburg. it's way up towering over the rolling hills and the city of winterthur. life was teeming back in the 11th and 12th century, up there in the castle, the nobles of the habsburg clan was in charge.
on saturday it was the place where a local music school held it's student recital, with baroque music... (lots of recorders, harpsichord and strings), one more reason for the clan to go and explore.


it's built of solid rock. and it's a climb up there rewarded with great medieval architecture.


inside the castle walls, a wonderfully laid out court, with the solid tower as a focal point.





and then of course the armory is a big highlight, lots and lots of "hellebarden", or in english halberds.

portrait drawing

every sunday evening we enjoy dinner with everyone of our little community. yesterday was my turn to cook and it turned out well. after dinner we sit and chat or do something fun together. and so we did take out paper and pencils for a portrait drawing session.
of course not everyone was enthusiastic about drawing as for most of us it's just not something we are used to be doing and we feel embarrassed about than anything else about using a pencil (or any other kind of medium) to bring a few lines on a piece of paper which should resemble the person across the table.
it took a few moments to overcome the fear, and then with a few jokes in the air people got started.
for about 30minutes everyone was concentrating and joking about doing "that drawing thing"...


there was some really good concentration and studying of each others faces going on...


pencils, oil pastels, markers or anything else for that matter was used...


some grown ups did a quick sketch and had fun to see that they can still hold a marker in their hand...


i love how involved the kids were, they really got going. although amos had a hard time getting thea to sit still... he did his best and i love the way he got her hair, with the beret and the shirt got depicted with the exact kind of pattern. i have to keep the "family draw" sessions in my mind and keep doing it more frequently!