in bloom

i absolutely love to walk around the house, smell and see all those blossoms. o it is such a joy. i have been expecting the shrubs and trees to bloom, and still, i'm overwhelmed now, as it happens. the lilacs are just starting, the apples have been going for a  couple days and then there are some decorative trees i just can't figure out what they are. never the less, i enjoy them.

it was a bit stormy yesterday, a so called "foehnsturm", it was amazingly warm and we could literally see the pollen clouds being carried away from our three pine trees. quiet a spectacle and fun to watch as our family is not suffering from allergies. joel has been suffering in the past years, especially the first year when we were back here in switzerland after our extended stay in the northeastern usa. though he has been eating local honey all winter long and somehow i assume this really has helped his body to deal with local pollen. so far so good, and the warm breeze at the end of april is great, my laundry dries in a jiffy, the kids run around top less and bare foot, we have been eating out doors regularly what better can happen after two rather cool weeks.

{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. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

behind the house :: it's blooming

it is spring, still spring and the popplar behind the house is in full bloom, wonderful. within the next couple days the apple tree will be opening up it's blossoms too. not loong and the chickens as well as i will be surrounded by those lovely blossoms in soft pink.
arriving this morning we are enjoying a heat wave, it hit the eighties and i was in the woods, wandering in a brook with a group of little kids. exploring the newly sprung up greenery, the fresh leafs of all kinds of bushes and shrubs. the big tree leafs are not out yet, so it was pretty warm even in the lower areas where the creek was flowing. i'm thankful for those little people showing me the great beauty and new life this time of year.

"centre pompidou" - for breakfast

after paris....
of course we were bringing some little reminders, of our time spent in paris, home. and thea absolutely loves her new plate. it already got an exciting name "bombydoo". the wonderful building which houses lot's of the modern pieces, and right now a matissee exhibit, "pairs and sets" which i absolutely loved. and of course all those very well known pieces of kandinsky, picasso, klee, joseph beuys. wonderful and i loved the 2 hours of staring at modern art and some art deco and some objects and architecture and so much more.

... and so thea goes on and enjoys her baguette with nutella

the long weekend in paris

 

 

 

 

lets say it was wonderful, just plain fun to travel to paris with my family (my parents and siblings, and without all our kids...) a good long weekend. spent traveling with the TGV and spending 4 days with only adults, all belonging to my favorite circle of people. it was fun, super exciting and filled with lots of laughter and many meaningful and deep discussion.
i have never been in paris and non of my companions has been, that made it even more adventurious and yes lot's of surprises. with the weather not being super warm, but rather on and off rain we spent many an hour in brasseries and cafes. some of them plain and not very exquisite and some others fancy with long standing traditions like the les deux magots in st.germaine.
it could tell you lots of little things, it would be fun for some and for others just plain boring. i leave it at this and yes, a trip to paris is worth the time the money and all it takes. a wonderful city with amazing architecture, art, caracter, you name it!
it really does feel like i have been at the center of the world!

{this moment}

usually i absolutely don't comment on my moments, though this one is taken at "zurich hauptbahnof" and i just had to share it with you. a one pinte ben&jerry's costs 9.90 swiss francs, which is an equivalent of 10.82 $, i just quickly wished me back to new england....

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. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

paris will be lots of fun

this is what is on my mind right now...
i'm so much looking forward to a long weekend in paris!
there is really not anything else which is keeping me from thinking about this and still, i don't really know what to expect, we will see.

land grabbing...

i'm not really an active fighter when it gets to going out onto the streets, it has to take a lot. though today i would have wanted to go. we loose so much agricultural land for what ever reason... i can't just stand here and not do anything. my intention was, to go into the city and stand up for our farmers, against land grabbing. at the "baeuerinnen und bauern kampftag" today in winterthur and all over the world.
as i was not able to squeeze the rally in to my schedule today, with the kids coming home for lunch and a meeting early evening it would have been too stressful. i decided to grab those seedpods from the fall and now the seeds are ready to be put out. out into our front yard in to the little grassy area behind the house and lets celebrate the green around us, the green which i'm fighting for not to be conquered by concrete! sign the petition to safe gotzenwil's last farmer with his agricultural land...

an interesting saturday

photos by joel

 
i was gone on saturday, it's not often though it does happen that i'm on my own now and then...
the day was all planned out, as the kids had very different schedules, except thea, she stayed with joel all day long. naomi's big event was her "bremer stadtmusikanten" concert, which she performed with a string group. our music school had hope house and a group of string kids performed around noon time. i was sorry to miss and glad joel got some pics.
of course thea had a blast being with joel all day, she loves the action with him.
amos was still not quiet himself, he walked into a pole on friday afternoon and was recovering from his session at the doctor's office. the taping seems to be ok and we will know more by wednesday, when we have to stop by the doctor again.
our big boy, he is now often on his way in and out of the city on his own. a long afternoon of ballet lessons and rehearsals were on his plate, he loved the day.

when i came home at five thirty, i met all of them happily pondering around the house. except naomi, she was already gone, on her schedule was a weekend camp a little up in the "zuercher oberland". it's good to be gone for a day, and it's even better to come home and be with family again.

{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. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

yellow on my needles

not just on my needles also on my kitchen table!
naomi is often coming home with flowers in her hands, flowers for me. almost every day there is a new little bouquet for me to receive and i absolutely love this.
and then today, i got dandelions in her spring bouquet. i love the strong yellow, the yellow which is calling for warm and sunny weather. it has already warmed my heart and reminded me of what's on my needles.
i spottet the dark yellow yarn a couple weeks ago, it's a mix of silk, polyester and cotton, i needed to take it home. the colour is very pretty and the texture is smooth and slippery as silk. it knits nicely and is definitely made for warm weather knitting. looking for a lacy type of pattern led me to semele. after having knit two cardigans over the past few months, and they both were in lots and lots of garter stitch, i felt like i wanted a bit a slower project, so here we go. it is absolutely slow, very slow, and i have to read each line, each stitch on the pattern. and i have to say, i love it and it's a very different kind of knitting of slowing down of relaxing and letting go. i'm sure there will be more to come.

spring green

everything seems to come alive and grow and turn green.
the birches behind the house are stretching out their branches and the green is growing so very quickly. and so does the chestnut tree. that particular tree is so wonderful to observe, i'm stunned again and again to watch those big leafs unfold. all happens in silence, the earth is sprouting, we find new leaves every morning, the bare trees are an old story, which has been true for the past weeks. o and we are so much looking forward to even more coloure, even more blossoms, soon the cherries, the pear and apple trees will be greeting us.
though for now i'm so happy to see the white and red current bushes bloom.

easter weekend

 

with all the preparations of collecting grasses for egg colouring, spending a good couple hours out of doors on good friday was wonderful. and made the home coming (after 3 months spent in new zealand) of my sisters family even more special.
the cold easter sunday was somewhat a surprise, even bringing snow along, never the less we enjoyed the family moments at the breakfast table twice that sunday, hunting for chocolat bunnies on my brothers farm was of course the high light! thank you to the farmer and his family.