{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. 



this week has been all topsy turny, i totally lost track of the days and so it happened, i posted friday's {this moment} already on thrusday morning....
it is as it is, we will be enjoying a little string concert tonight, the faculty at our music school will be playing for students and parents, very exciting.

the not so sunny side of today

it's raining, it's blurry and wet no idea and no inspiration, having to buy a new laundry machine within the next days....
o well i'm not that up beat, as you might be able to tell.
never the less, there were guests for lunch and some wonderful playing by thea with her coloured tiles.

more an other time, this has to suffice today

a study of tangerine

a quick moment of sitting in the living room in the stark beam of afternoon sunshine. a moment of resting and enjoying a juicy tangerine. naomi at the living room table doing her home work, and getting the needed help from me, a relaxed mama soaking in all the sun she can in this mid of winter day. and so the moment went into a longer sitting down and examining the orange of the tangerine and it's skin. the wonderful light shining through and so on, there is so much to be seen. and most of the times i absolutely don't regard the peal or anything else at all, the fruity slices usually slip into my mouth and that's it...
some days there is that magic in a colour, in a texture or both of it. lovely and to be treasured by me, keeping it in the back of my head, and in the forefront in this season of bleakness and missing colour in most of my surrounding nature.

the weekend in the snow

a wonderful time in the snow, digging under and being rescued by the big brother and cousin was wonderful for thea! the older kids were on a little slope within walking distance to my parents! so called nollen lift... 

just the best snow weekend for the kids and a wonderful relaxing time spent with our extended family. it was sunny and still very cold, the kids didn't mind and we adults went for a walk in the brisk air. it was super nice, the view's up there in hosenruck are just super, in regards of the close by mountain range of the "churfirsten" and much farther away the bernese alps.

a hearty soup, cheese and bread for dinner and some fun time playing board games. for all them the brandy dog is probably the most played game in my parents house. there is rarely anybody tired to play and for this reason there is an extension for six players. thank you b for playing with all of the kids and even thea was part of the game for moments of excitement and then again very happily slipping off elias lap to run her own show.

:: a weekend well spent::

{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.

felted house shoes for guests

our guests have had to slip into really old falling apart house shoes. it has been embarrassing for a couple of years already and finally i got to knit and felt two pairs and have a third one on my needles. this is a very quick knit one pair a night...
there are some nice you tube tutorials to be found, like this one. (it's in german, though i'm sure you would finde some fun english ones too.
what you can't see, i also put little rubber dots on the bottom of the slippers, this helps greatly on smooth floors.
knitting house shoes is not the only thing going on in our house....

an other little shoe insight in our family, our teenager has been wearing out his nice shoes and we have started a discussion on how and where he should look/buy a new pair. so yesterday upon barreling into the house, he very clearly stated, that he saw those black lacoste sneakers he really liked. what!!!! i could not believe my ears, what had hit him? of course, i have to take into account, that he is now going to school in the big city of zurich, and that's definitely a place where fashion conscious folks run around. though i somehow blindly believed he would not fall prey to any of those expensive sweatshop fabricated brands...
we listened to him and yes i absolutely agree that he should have his own style and we will go out and find a pair for him, together in a shoe store or two or three... we will see

this much about the state of house shoes and shoes of our eldest.

geometric blocks in our house

the blocks are in again. i am excited to see the kids take them out again, after not having used them for over a year. i was very quick to get the pattern sheets out too and of course thea was soon working hard on getting those blocks into the printed patterns. the older ones are not as eager to work with the sheets, but do big designs on their own, which is fantastic. it's the colours thea is naming them by and the older ones are using the geometric names and then, of course things get all mixed up the girl... she is super interested to say and do things as her olde siblings and is coping a lot or if she is uncertain, just trying a variation anyway.
this much to our favorite "game" of mid winter indoor play.

under the snow

as it has been snowing nicely for the past few days, the herb garden is wonderfully  covered under the precious white. it has not been too cold for too long and so i hope the winter is progressing in this fashion. i lost a big lavender to the long ongoing deep freeze last winter, as well as the fig tree, though the later one was able to sprout new shoots and has had a good time last summer.
as all is white and under cover, i'm so happy to have naomi's birthday flowers in bloom on our kitchen table...

baby surprise jacket #2

this one is a bit bigger as #1 and i used a cotton-wool bland with number 4 needles. such a quick knit, knitting the bsj for the second time i wanted to do it the classic striped way, though i guess there is really not a classic or modern way, everything is just alright, i'm sure. i absolutely love the dvd to quickly look up certain steps, like dividing the button holes...
i have the wool ready for #3. but first i have to do the math as it should be quiet a few sizes bigger.
this one will be finding it's way to an other baby, still "in the oven" of a dear friend of mine. i'm so excited to give away hand made knits, especially to people i know they do absolutely adore hand made baby cloths.
this for now, we have been out there in the snow a lot as well as fighting a case of urticaria, which i'm glad we have it in check now.

(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.

some good live music

going out with joel!
i'm so looking forward to see and of course listen to cara tonight. thank you to my brother in law coming over and having fun with the kids..... the kids are all giddy to have him over for a fun evening. they definitely love uncle b! thank you for helping out.

we are not doing this often, though enjoy it the more when we do it. i'm glad for my hobby musician husband, and i so love to go out with him, especially to a concert like this. not even the blanket of snow is keeping us at home tonight. let's hear and enjoy cara tonight at kammgarn in schaffhausen.

the girls teeth

a quick trip to the orthodontist...
once more we go and get the rubber-bands between those back teeth settled, in order to go back next week and have the metal rings put in and the brace fitted. we have been going to the orthodontist for the past five years. elias is in his last stage and he has come a long way. there is now enough room for all of his teeth and the overbite is corrected to, mostly by training, wearing lip bumpers and night braces. with naomi we are in the second stage, and i am proud of both kids, that they are so willing to wear the braces and do this every night, almost never i have to tell them. lets keep the good work up guys and hope for some quick and good growth of those so precious teeth.

dessert in mid winter

celebrating birthdays and the recovery from heart surgery, yes we did and it was wonderful to be together.
i was contributing a fruit tart, and absolutely enjoyed making it. pate brise vanilla pudding and winter fruits. wonderful, refreshing and o well somewhat healthy i guess.
cake and chocolate, cafe and tea, of course the toast to my father in law could not be missed. just a good afternoon among family, there is really not too much which will beat such a sunday.

{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.

it's naomi's 9th birthday, and we started celebrating as usual, with breakfast...

bloom in the mid of winter

what a nice quick afternoon walk, over to the library it's really just 5 minutes and absolutely worth going more than once a week. thea usually rides the bike as part of the street over there has almost no traffic. she has gotten good at riding.
i love the colour full buds and flowers in this lone time of winter.
we don't have any snow and it's cold, most days we just have little sunshine mid afternoon, other than that it's gray and life less around here in the lower lands of switzerland.
so i have to take every possible moment of a bright beam coming through and savor it.
on my list is noted, that i should urgently plant some bulbs, to get myself an early spring indoors... as i do suspect that winter, deep winter will be back with a load of snow and many more days to cuddle up indoors, stewing dinners and knitting woolen garments, maybe even sitting in front of our fire place. let's see what happens

baby surprise jacket #1

this project has been on my radar for a while. i was intrigued by the easy and straight forward pattern, the idea that all is knit in one piece... it's elizabeth zimmerman's baby surprise jacket
i don't know yet for whom i'm knitting, though i'm sure there will be a new born in my circle of friends. and yes new born size it it, very cute, as i used sock yarn which is rather fine for this project. i love it though and am very happy with the turnout.
and finding those little buttons, especially the top one with the little turtle on it. it was an easy decision, a second and i knew the red ones would go back into the jar.
and now i have cast on for the bonnet, with the same yarn. it's pure excitement to knit with elizabeth zimmermans instructions.

and one more yes, i will be knitting some more of those jackets in bigger sizes, maybe i'm brave to do the math for an adult one...
we will see what the year is bringing on to my needles...

my list for 2013

i have been loving list's and why not gather ideas for my 2013 list. it's not a "to do" list, or at any level a must do list. much more i'ts ideas and wanting's, wishes and dreams of mine. so i'm all excited of the list and i'm sure it will grow. in no way is this a set and given, much more a list in progress...

1. keep thea's joy on learning to play the violin alive and foster it (official lessons start in february)
2. sew a couple more jersey skirts and some other sewing projects or knitting i guess would count too, one project a month....
3. get a good pair of house shoes for myself (any suggestions?)
4. learn more about gregorian chanting here
5. keep regular evening prayers
6. practice to not mother our oldest son too much
7. finish the started bed quilt for my friend
8. grow a straw bale garden
9. plant more berry bushes around the house
10. finish the golden shawl
11. try out how to make a pavlova dessert
12. read through the psalter's again and again
13. work with the different lenses on my rlx
14. take some vacation time in the mountains with friends, to hike and enjoy
15. clean all the windows of the house (inside and out)
16. paint the living room and put a new floor down
17. read half a dozen books
18. do an other summer project like the granny square sampler one
19. work on some paper collages and mixed media
20. go out for a nice dinner, only with joel
21. go and see the special exhibit on giacometti at the kunsthaus zurich
22. try one dozen new dinner recipes (more with less $)
23. being intentional about "being thankful" in my day to day routine as well as the extraordinaire moments

{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.

last years list

today i was reviewing the list of things i wanted to do in 2012, i spent a moment some time in the middle of the past year, here and now today the full up date. some time next week, i will be posting the new list, it's in the works


1. see the exhibit on miro, monet, mathisse and one other special exhibit at the kunsthaus - nope didn't make it and it's over now

2. help amos how to ski and naomi how to snowboard during our february vacation - yes amos is skiing and naomi is loving her board

3. knit a cardigan for myself with the wool form portugal - yes all done and wearing it often

4. don't forget my friends birthdays and write them a birthday card - i did ok, though was a tad late for one good friend, for her an email had to do....

5. visit one of elias orchestra rehearsals until march - yes thea and i made it to an open rehearsal and it was lots of fun, we also went to the opera "das verbotene land" the three older kids participated in, on mothers day and it was just plain amazing here

6. get used to my new camera - i carry it along in my purse or coat pocket, when i'm just to tired (or embarrassed to take the rlx along...)

7. be more calm and relaxed when things not work the way i planned it - i'm getting better at it, especially with the kids, but still much room to improve

8. go through my cloth rack and just keep what i was wearing within the past year - i did this and brought one bag to the second hand fair in late march as well as one more in september

9. sew a quilt for thea with the fabric already stacked up - just finished her loulouthi and a lap quilt for my godchild, just in time for christmas

10. read 12 books, including some fiction and magazines - i read a few books, and magazines, though didn't keep an account of them...

11. finding the time and quiet to meditate on the word and pray in my daily routine - not routine yet, but i attended a 6 week class to get started in learning the spiritual exercises of ignatius of loyola as a daily time of still. it's not a routine yet and i'm sure i will practice again and learn to be still before the Lord

12. sew a dress or two for the girls - one is being worn, a skirt for n and then two matching jersey skirts for both together

13. say yes to my kids more - work in progress

14. have a more positive attitude - work in progress

15. go hiking in the summer months, at least one high mountain with the kids - we did one two day hike, just joel and me and a couple nice hikes with the boys and friends and some all of us (ups no thea didn't come along)

16. use the stew pot more for one pot meals - there was twice lamb stew in the cast iron pot

17. be able to not control everything and every moment in life and still be happy with what's going on around me - work in progress

18. participate in a crochet along - did so with the granny square project here

19. helping elias transition into a new school and intense dance training after the summer brake - elias is so very happy and has transitioned fine, he found a very good friend and loves his teachers. he has become even more passionate for dance which is wonderful as he is practicing 18 hours a week

20. go out for a nice dinner with joel - it was not dinner, though we went out for an evening at the opera on dec. 27th, yes barely made it

21. visit the paul klee center in bern - no

welcome to the New Year

like the past years since we are back in switzerland, we enjoy the last days of the year and the first couple days of the New Year at a retreat at montmirail with DonCamillo. A wonderful group of people devout to God and each other. serving at a little place in western switzerland. a historic place indeed and we have once more been blessed with inspirational and talks, sat down to delicious food with wonderful old and new friends. and relaxed in the great park area they have around their buildings
so in this spirit, a wonderful and blessed 2013.