"zetteli baum"

there was this frame in our house, sitting in the living room for the past couple of months. we wanted to put it up on the wall, and some folks living in the house started to work on it, but got stuck and finally did take the time to hang this big huge frame. it was a window frame in it's original life... (salvaged from the house next door which is being renovated).

and then it's winter time and we wanted to put something in the frame...
i started to sew lots of little paper snippets together into a long chane.


a few yards all together, ready to be hung


it took a few tries to get it right. of course there would be many ways to do this little project. i'm happy the way it turned out and i'm sure we will be having all kinds of different works of art in this frame. i'm looking forward to new things and for now enjoy my "zetteli baum"

the first snow

we were all waiting for the first snow, and here we go, it snowed a few times last week and really accumulated the first time on thursday. of course the birdhouse was out and snow laden too. naomi was quickly to think of the bird friends of hers (and mine) to be feed.



i love the white blanked covering the bleak earth, the leafless chestnut tree in the back of our house. and of course thea too, want's to go outside and run around and enjoy the wonderful cold white with her bare hands and like we did when we were children, eating mouth's full of it.

{this moment}

by joel

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.

licht im dunkel der winternacht

der tag dunkelt bereits um fuenf, die zeit um kerzen anzuzuenden. die waerme des kerzenlichtes ist ein wichtiger begleiter durch die winternaechte.
die zeit der kerzen, der waermenden cheminee feuer und das zusammensitzen um einen topf suppe und frisches brot zum abendessen. die lebendige stille einer flackernden kerze. das zwiegespraech mit dem licht das die dunkelheit erhellt.



:: bei dir ist die quelle des lebens und in deinem licht sehen wir das licht psalm 36:10

around the house

its cold and all the leafs have fallen, winter is just one step away. the weather is fogy and the sun is often just around after noon. and of course gone by 5pm, it's dark early. all our bikes have lights, so elias is fine riding to violin and ballet in the "early" evening hours at dusk.


thea loves her boots, she manages to put them on herself and of course the coat too, i have to run and zipp when she hollers... i'm glad she loves to be outside. there is not a day passing without her stomping outside and enjoying all she can. at the moment, puddles are at every possible place to be discovered.


with all the leafs gone, we feel much closer to our neighbors. that's ok, we like them and have managed to lend a hand now and then with their new addition.

still::savoring the weekend

i can't help but post about our weekend away. not away away, just away in the country, staying at my parents.


i just started a pair of socks for naomi, "toe-up" a fun way i'm trying it for the second time and like it even better as the first time. still needing to have a look at the pattern once in a while, but already understanding the process much better. also knitting both socks at once on two loop needles. the next time i want to try it with one loop needle, "magic loop" knitting



naomi loved to try them on, every few moments she stopped by to see how the socks grew...


lots of reading and drawing was done at the big dining room table. space for all around one table is great and inspiring to get creative, what ever one does.


o and of course there was the "train conductor" on the i-pod, we all crackt up when my mom started to play it, lots of train whistles and alarm rings went off and she started liking it!

going places::on the train

we spent the weekend in the country...
like almost all the other trips we take, we hop on the train. this time it's the turbo...
we enjoy the one hour ride on train and bus to our destination. this gives us time to transition from the busy friday-work into a slow weekend at my parents house. amos is the one taking along his entertainment, and of course naomi is very happy about it too. she didn't bring anything so it comes in handy to play a game with big bro.


this is not every time the case, but i took the camera along and took it out of the bag to play around. 25 minutes was a fun time to entertain thea and myself with it. there were a few picture books in my bag too and an old birthday garland which thea loved to pull apart and play games with.


every time i'm on a train, i'm intrigued by the many buttons and signs...
:: SOS
:: open door
:: open door for disabled people (wheel chair/stroller etc)
:: the big red lever to pull the emergency brake
:: second class wagon
:: no smoking
:: space for strollers
:: space for bicycles
:: security camera
:: ticket check is honorsystem (that's the eye)





and then!
getting off the train and enjoying a really clear, night in the country is sooooo rewarding!
look at the moon, isn't it's face pretty, the craters at the left, wow joel was totally into the camera and the moon that night!

{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.

a new spiral scarf

a few years back i crochet a spiral scarf for naomi, she still adores it. i have to say i like the look and feel of it too...
so here we go again, originally naomi started the project, but really wasn't able to get into it very much. it was a bit too challenging doing double crochet and having to do two double crochet stitches into one regular. anyway i love the wool and just took over. she is fine and very happy for thea to get one of those twirly scarfs as she does!
thea wanted it to try this morning and i let her, it's fun to see her playing with it and i'm sure she will enjoy the end product, but this will take a few more hours.
the wool is out of my stash and i added some hand spun. we will see how far it lasts, maybe i will have to find one more ball of wool some where in the stash. that fine, i like to keep going and adding to this scarf just the way it happens.

the tiny family bathroom

in our community house we occupy three bedrooms and a tiny family bathroom...
i love it, its about 3 squarmeters of floor to clean and not much more tiles around the toilette and sink. a shower, that's it. o i forgot the sealing window, but that is not washed regularly.
a few impressions


the memory wire, a few things we love to be reminded of.
you know JP friends


i love the wall mounted glass holder. so easy to clean around and the glasses don't tip over or fall down.
the funky water spout is a water safer from aquaclic


o yes there is room for a little potty. even thea's veggies enjoy to be put away in a corner and taken out regularly...

in the city::on the bus

we live in the city and don't own a car... public transport and bikes is what we use to go about. sometimes i'm intrigued enough to take the camera along and even get it out of my bag when on the bus! mostly tough i'm too shy to take my camera out in front of all those folks around me. it seems like invading their privacy, though that's not the real deep feeling why i'm shy about taking pictures in public. i guess it's more that i'm not in my well known "private" setting, going beyond the family and well loved ones. feeling exposed to not knowing what... anyway, there we go, two pics from a bus ride i wanted to share with you.

thea turned two

we celebrated our little girls second birthday last week! it was a great day, windy, rainy, cold and guests all over. a day to stay indoors and enjoy the warmth of lit candles!
i know i can't really tell how much fun the day was. especially how much thea enjoyed her "bithda" singing and laughing a lot, eating and smiling!



a wonderful pink birthday cake by grandma and opa, they showed up already at 10 in the morning to celebrate!


and there was a little project of mine... i know how much thea loves blankets and the feel of soft fabrics anywhere. so i got to work just the day before and put together a little lap quilt. on one side i used an old fliece and the front side are pieces from my stash, it turned out great, i'm very happy with it.




her letter T got appliqued on the back. i had fun doing this and am sure i will do it again of course there are more old blankets around the house who would want to be upcycled!

{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 new instrument::a double bass

we love music, we even more so love to make music, to listen to music and to live music...
joel was talking about a new instrument for a while now and finally he got himself one!

we will see where this is going, for the moment it's a rental, and it still is a spectacle the kids are super excited to hear him play. everyone want's to be part of it and pluck a few strings.
there are moments i'm tempted to take the beautiful instrument into my hands, but then again i'm intimidated by it's beauty...

"raebeliechtli-umzug"

carve a beet (large turnip), put a candle in and carry it around town with all the other kids and parents of the neighborhood.
we call this "raebelichtli umzug", an old tradition in to give thanks after the last harvest of those beets.this festival of light at the time of the martini festival has its origin in the rural thanksgiving for the harvest of the last fruits of the field before the coming winter.

now we still carve those beets, not quiet like jack o lanterns... still hollowing them out is the same process, except we leave less thick walls. the design is not carved all the way through, but only cutting out the skin (the colour of the beet) and so the light shines through brightly.



the one in the back is of course the one Amos carved, he wanted to carry it on wires. this worked well and the lid is also stabilized with one of the wires poked through.
the futuristic one with the "cold" light was elias' pride. he wanted to carve something different, and had the brilliant idea of using a knog light (usually we use them on our bikes at night). of course it hat to flash, not just be steady...


after the 30minute walk around town all the kids got a hot dog and punch, this was exciting enough to have a very happy walk home and happily give thanks for the nightly hike with friends and lanterns!

almost all the leafs are now fallen, this is happiness for all. just outside our backyard fence stand a few maples and now the leafs are on the ground to be gathered heaped up and jumped into...



we had a wet summer and misty october, mushrooms in a lot of places, we love and enjoy them by looking at them. some day i have to get into mushroom picking, getting to know the kinds we could harvest and eat...
someday.