maundy thursday

 
Duccio di Buoninsegna

it's maundy thursday, the kids are in school today but soon come home and be full of joy as we will be on easter brake until monday night. this is a wonderful time of year, and i have to say, i'm glad the kids do get out of school for two additional days this weekend.

going to church tonight will be the continuation of the evening meditations at church. i'm very much looking forward to celebrate with the whole family and remembering the last supper, the lord jesus had with his disciples, going through the emotions of good friday and then wait until the easter fire will be lit on sunday morning before sunrise.

i will be back at the first half of next week.

take a moment, and be still.

getting ready for spring

all winter long we had those grand plans all winter (really the plans are over one year old....) to put a bird's nest swing up in our garden. our good friend the strong carpenter got us some wonderful beams, they look beautiful up mounted and resting in our birch tree. joel of course did lot's of planning and measuring and all the math, our friend brought the tools and the practical know how, together they are a wonderful team. i love to watch them, serve them a hot cup of coffee (the temperatures are just slightly above freezing, you can't feel that, by looking at the photos).
and now, with the beams resting in the tree and screwed together, we are just waiting for the temperatures to rise. it really needs to be a steady 5 days (and nights) with "warm weather", something above 38F, in order for the concrete to dry.
let there be spring!

lent with it's moment of still

we are already in holy week, lent is going by in big strides. what can i say, the past couple weeks have been very full with friends and good moments, filled with appointments to keep and some i forgot...
though there have been times of reflecting and still, lingering and keeping the morning bible reading in my mind, reading it over and over again. no, i didn't do any structured and tightly scheduled repeating meditation, which i sometimes long for.
though this week will be a bit more of meditation and churchgoing be on the schedule and this is such a welcoming change. a very good help to slow down and enjoy the still.

camp fire in the cold

what to do with a sunday afternoon, a friend visiting and not realizing that it is freezing outside...
we geared up to have lunch at the camp fire, roasting sausages, bread, bananas and apples. i did take two bottles of hot tea along and we were very happy to have the hot beverage. i absolutely underestimated the weather. we had a sharp breeze blowing and it was cold.
the good thing though, we were invited for tea at a friends house mid afternoon. how wonderful is it to hike, make a fire and roast what ever you brought along. and before getting really super cold, slipping into a friends cozy living room and spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying the shelter of a house and good company.

thank you m&d

{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.

at home and rambles

i'm so at home right now. this is good, it really has had to happen that i do feel at home. it's something like 3.5 years since our move from boston to "back home". which we knew would take it's time to arrive and feel what it sounds. though right now a friend from america is visiting, and we have a wonderful time. he brought along some wonderful yummy chocolate which i totally love and yes it makes me a feel tiny bit homesick... (thank you j)
spring is upon us, and there is so much going on in school for amos and naomi with a parent-visit-morning today, violin lesson for thea (which i totally blanked on) and our friend visiting wanting to show him around a bit....
and having the nadia shrug to cast on for saturday's train ride. together with my mother, i'm going to a gregorian chant workshop, which i'm really excited about.

so there we go, so much on my tray, there is a community dinner happening later today and you know what i don't have to do anything for it, not even setting the table! tomorrow night is the meeting of the foundation, by whom we are employed and "charged" to live our life in community at the "haus birkengarten", it's spring and i do feel energized and that is good.
and one more thing, i put my first power point presentation together..... i hope it will work out fine on monday night!
what an experience this is, i was shying away for so long to get started with all that computer show and tell, but i tackled it and i'm glad i did. maybe this is a launch into more, it's spring!

what a pile

we had guests over for a fun afternoon. lot's of excitement and fun going on in and around the house!
of course it is always fun to play with the cousins and if joel is playing along even more.
thank you for visiting you all!

"apfelkuchen" plus...

i'm not sure what to call this "apfelkuchen" in english.
never mind, it tasted grate and we all loved it. the little extra we had with it was absolutely americana, guess...

-vanilla ice creme-

screwing appart

i was gone most of saturday and the girls where home with joel....
look what happened, they were very busy and got lot's done. it seemed to be exciting work, taking apart old speakers, collecting what will be reusable in joel's garage workshop and collecting all those little screws... the rest will go to the town's recycling firm. a place we call "maag", they collect everything, take  apart, sort and bring all the "real garbage" to the incinerater.
how cool to screw appart and "play" with big people stuff!

{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.

a white dusting

it's not much, though it was cold and very white this morning. we could not resist to quickly go out, feed the chickens run around the garden and then went for a brisk walk to our neighbors and back.
after a few nice spring days, this is a surprise. of course it isn't really as we all read the weather forecast and there was a cold front in the coming.
the kids where not excited at all, and yes we are ready for spring. though it was super pretty and i  was just sitting in the cold, all bundled up  soaking up the each and every sun beam. looking forward for the real warmth!

while i write, amos is practicing on my side and this song is blasting.... oh so fitting!

the new toolbox

a couple days ago joel took the time to get a "bike fixing toolbox" together....
it was an interesting start, as it started out with a trouble. he could not find the needed wrench, and that was so tiresome that he took the spur of the moment to run to the store and get the "lost" wrench (you have to know we have about a dozen or more people using our tools and workbench).

i love the new tool box and even has a good assortment of parts in it too. the next time having to change an inner-tube there is a good chance that i find one and don't have to search through the whole garage or having to run to the mechanic.
amos bike also got fixed that afternoon and elias took care of his scooter. the chain of my bike got a cleaning and oiling, o it's running so smooth again and this in early spring. in earlier years it was at least mid april until i got to take care of my bike, after winter has taken a toll on it.

thank you joel for the great box.

ps: we put a lock on this great box and who ever want's to fix their bike is welcome to get the key, use the box and bring back the key...

naomi's carlisle hat

a couple weeks ago naomi came along to the yarn store, by the way, i totally love this store and it's not easy to not walk out of it with a loaded bag and an empty purse...
and of course i could not refuse my daughter the wish to pick some wool for gloves or a hat. the hat was more realistic to go with the yarn, as it was not a fingering weight, so we had to go and search a pattern she liked and i would be able to knit. this carlisle pattern was quickly intriguing me and of course i was soon enough casting on. it was an exciting knit, nothing too hard and the pattern easy to follow and coming to me very naturally. i love the merino superfine, knitting with a #3.5 (european).
and now as she is wearing it, i'm so happy to look at this different kind of hat.

this is the second thing on my needles, a little pebble, coming off soon.

fully living

out and about yesterday afternoon. o it is good to be out in the woods and even better doing so in good company. with no plans for sunday afternoon, we had coffee after church with our friends and decided on the spot, that we would want to have an afternoon of fun in the near by woods.
there is not a lot of planning, just taking along some sausages and what ever else lends itself for a supper at the fire side. of course a hatchet, a couple ropes and the good mood we have started into sunday.
the kids were all excited and of course me too, as the sun was shining and a warm spring breeze was in the air. it really is the same spot we go with our friends, every time we are drawn to the same places to discover and play, make fires and just enjoy nature and each other. it never gets boring, not even the boys think so. this time they took buckets and little shovels along, with the intention to dig up clay from the little creek. a muddy soaking shoe was one high light, the felling of an old dried up tree a second and of course the camp fire for dinner was the best. with some rain though that didn't really hinder us in our enjoyement, the afternoon was going on into the evening and it was already dark when we all got home.

quickly showering and crawling into bed, made for good nights rest. all the kids where really exhausted, which i feel like a great achievement....
and even i went to bed early and loved the moment of reliving through this day of friendship and exuberantly living life!

{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.

on a roll

i am so taken by all the spring in the air and on the ground of course too...
it's warm and the coat does not need to be buttoned up, the shawl stayed home today. a bit in unbelieve i had the light scarf in my hands but quickly put it back when i stepped outside. thea is begging me to get her "new" bicycle ready, the goeppeli is definitely shrinking by the week and we should get the red bike with its white tires ready for little missy.

i'm knitting quickly at naomi's new hat, hopefully for the cold spill over the weekend she will be able to wear it. and then, i should be sewing and get some spring dresses into my planning...

rising out of the dirt

i'm all for it, this sign of life, of rising out of the dirt. all the bulbs we put into the dirt last year, have had a good long and cold winter to sleep and gather. to get ready for this very weeks nearing right now. the sun is already warming the top soil and of course the gathered strength is now pushing and braking through. soon it's not just the green leafs but the pretty colours of the real inner core of those bulbs. let's wait with what i'm going to be surprised! i do so love those weeks of waiting and expecting, not for much longer, just a bit.

out in the "wildpark" and the mud

we could not resist the light and warmth of today's afternoon. there was no way we would stay indoors, unexpectedly my parents stopped by and we went out to the "bruderhaus wildpark", a little game park near by, tucked away in the woods of eschenberg. it was not just us walking in the sunshine and taking all there is in, who knows when the next day of warmth and bright spring sun we will be able to enjoy. we had a very bleak winter here in the lower parts of switzerland. in zurich it was measured that we had just 126 hours of sunshine in the past three months! (the average in past years was more like 178 hours)
i'm so ready for spring to really come, it is good though, we are now often "stuck in the muck" and i love this sign of winter ending and the thermometer is rising into double digits (celsius).
we missed seeing the wolfs, though their residency is just so vast and of course they know how to hid from us onlookers... there will be an other visit, we all loved it and i'm sure we will go back.

a few snow balls flew through the air and thea of course was all into it, that fun will soon end for this season... it's ok, it will be back soon enough and yes we will be having a hard time to wait for it coming november!

"nothing to do"

what a wonderful weekend, lots of sunshine and just hanging out together, playing games, colouring and knitting, reading and enjoying our family. i treasure those "nothing to do days". after a saturday of snowboarding, being at a long meeting and an even longer time riding the train to drop off kids and two different places and me going to a third place... o well, i'm so glad the swiss train system is extremely well connected and runs on time like clockwork.
spring is just around the corner, the sun is getting stronger and in our part of the country, the snow is almost all gone. i'm ready for spring and can't wait to not having to bundle up as much anymore. of course it's not just me, the kids start running around without gloves or mittens and for the today, going to school after lunch was "hat optional" which of course was well received!

{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.