the season on the mantle

i'm more and more in the house, if we go out for a walk in the neighborhood or run out to visit friends we have to bundle up. it's ok, that kind of weather is late autumn and slowly i'm getting used to it. though thinking of my friend who is right now hiking in the mountains of south africa under the warm spring sun of the country in the southern hemisphere, makes me cringe a bit....
there is warm fresh bread on y counter in late afternoon, which helps to enjoy the cool day, and then there will be soup once more. yesterday was some kind of tomato - vegetable soup (re-purposed a small pan of hot tomato sauce, added some celery and potatoes). tonight i'm planning to make a batch of corn chowder, something the swiss don't know.
my family likes it and let's see what the other folks around our dinner table think of it.

on the fire place mantel is a new bunch of greenery, i love the red and white berries of those fall shrubbery in our garden. and have it in my house is perfect for the moment.

after the snow

a wonderful sunny day greeted us this morning. it was a bit eery, as our friends in boston are battling the big storm sandy, we go for a little walk. we love it and enjoy every little bit, as i'm sure winter will come back, hopefully not for an other couple weeks.
we got a few snapped trees in the area, though minor. the snow was just so heavy and it piled up on saturday night. now we are in the regular, expectant way of autumn once more. and i'm absolutely enjoying it, there will be leaf raking tomorrow or maybe the day after when every thing is a bit drier again.

october snow

we got a load of snow on saturday as well as yesterday, not what i want in late autumn, to cut short the last few days of sunnshine and walking in piles of leafs...
o well, it is what it is and the kids enjoyed a wonderful snow day. i didn't really go for a walk, it was to cozy in our house. guests coming for afternoon tea and together we enjoyed our friendship with some wonderful apple pie, yes i'm not giving up on autumn yet. it will be back i'm sure, the last bit of october will not be covered and forgotten under the early snow this year.

{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.

lichen and more

on one of our big hikes in the bergell, we spotted all sorts of lichen and i'm still intrigued with these forms of life. there is not a very long summer, not a lot of time and there is lots of give and take. lichen are perfectly in adapting and using what ever they get. in our city environment there have been less and less of those beautiful plants, as of the acidic rain.

Because lichens do not possess roots, their primary source is the air, and therefore elemental levels in lichens often reflect the accumulated composition of ambient air. sometimes that's a bit how things work in our house too...
there is life taking place and we all enjoy the moments and the "good air" in our living room, feeding of each other, of the excitment of the moment, there is "something in the air" and everyone gets all up beat (or down cast), yes as the plants react to what their environment provides so do we people.
living in a big household has it's challenges and also lot's of those wonderful feeding moments. listening to each others adventures and taking part in the persons happiness. as well as the sad and sorrowful moments of life. it's a very nourishing environment, i'm thriving and i'm thankful for this opportunity, for the place i call home and as i'm living i'm growing some times even flowers and bright shiny colours...

the RN's

 

i really don't want to comment each of our portraits. it was wonderful fun and the portraits i chose to put up here are the once which intrigued me in a fun and exciting way. there are many more and some wonderful photos which were taken on our sitting. joel did most of the picture taking, thank you my dear photographer you have such a relaxed and exact way to put us in the frame you want.
i am a less exact person and often am not able to communicate with my "models" in such an exceptional way as joel is able to. never the less it is fun to work and watch the family in those moments of very intense focus and at the same time there is a lot of joking and word gaming going on...
our yearly shot is done! yeah!

the past year here

what wonderful autumn

the boys came running to my bed side on my birthday morning: "mama, mama! look at the wonderful sunrise!" of course i had to get up and have a look out the window. stunning was the morning glory and absolutely worth climbing out of bed early.
-thank you boys!
photos by elias

we have had so far. a few days at my parents and a visit at my brothers farm was all we did and really needed to do last week.
the days were full of warmth and sunshine, lots of gathering took place.
like frederick the mouse, that sums it just about up. we did help clean up the corn field at the farm and that was fun. though mostly, at least for me, it was collecting colour and warmth, sunbeams and and the last of autumns bounty.
 

yes i'm glad we got to work on the field that one afternoon. lot's of memories coming up, being reminded of all the autumns in my childhood, having to be out there each and every day during october vacation. lot's of apples to be picked up, many hours we spent cleaning beets for the animals, pulling them out of the soil, scrubbing and cutting the leafs off. the many mounds we put up during the day we had to collect in the evenings, sometimes after dusk. o yes those moments stick with me and i smell that moist soil, the sweet of the beets and hear the voices of so many people helping to get the days work done.
grandparents, parents, all the helping kids, cousins and friends the apprentice it was often a big hubub...
and so my kids, could have a little bit of that laboring together and enjoying the fun of riding home from the field in a trailer pulled by the tractor. of course being tired and happy

weekending

we did enjoy a couple days at my parents house which was wonderful, some pics will be shared tomorrow. as for right now, we enjoyed a sunny sunday afternoon doing mostly nothing...

{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.

vacationing in the valley of bergell, the second

the town of soglio was magically built high above the valley, of course we had to go and look at the picturesque old town. walking all the different allies and very narrow cobble stone paths through town was exciting. though the fun came after, we walked past a big heard of goats, wonderful and of course lots of "maeh" and "baeh" and laughter...

starting out at soglio was great, as it was easy to get the kids excited about walking a path leading slowly down to the river maira. there was a steep part, which we did enjoy too, it was an old stair, leading us downward in a sharp zigzag. passing by wonderful vista points.
 

enjoying as we go, going as the children lead...
that was the main thing on that one day easy hike. climbing in "boulder-forests" and damming rivers, there is nothing better to do and to watch and observe. of course there were many shared and hearty dinners around a big table. communing together with friends is such a blessing.

on most days last week we went hiking, and some trips brought us up to peaks and passes, others to a heard of young scottish highland cows...
the breathtaking view was the reward for a steep climb, just about 2/3rds up the mountain. starting out in vicosoprano climbing a total of 1400 meters to cross the pass da cam, enjoying a quick climb up the piz da cam. it got better and more beautiful as we slowly walked down the val maroz toward casaccia.
and one night we had to roast a big batch of local chestnuts. paired with a glass of wine and some slivers of parmesan this was the perfect appetizer, before we enjoyed a lovely cheese fondue.