2 hours :: "barfussweg"

walking the "barfussweg" around the nollen was our saturday afternoon doing.
we walked away from the house in a thick fogs with the hope that the sun will come out and burn away all of the mist in the air. it did as you might be able to tell from the photos taken. lots of fun was the word on the "weg". starting out with the glockenhaus was wonderful, where else do you get to ring so many bells and i love that ringing the sound as it travels all across the fields and through the apple orchards. hearing it and not seeing it, as the fog was still thick.

of course some of us could not withstand warming up their feet in fresh cow paties... it really didn't need a strong teas for naomi to step right into it and of course the teaser had to follow! ha!

walking through the wet grass, and some especially constructed paths with all kinds of materials, like cork, glass, small and large pebbles, wooden planks and much more. wrestling on a soft wood chips pit was fun too and then the high light, walking through a mud pit.... lots of fun and no one slipped. yea!

the foot washing station was fun too, cleaning once own feet and helping the others in one way or the other...
such little adventures are wonderful, this one will carry me through this week, as fall vacation approaches quickly. the kids too are so ready again to have two weeks off. there are plans in the making for a bit of traveling. i'm looking forward to it and the fact that we hope to go south for a week is particularly promising.

{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 rosehip in september

we have a rose bush next to our house. that bush has been growing a lot and far into the street, especially when it was stormy the long branches were dangling into the street and as every year in the fall, we have to cut back all the shrubs, and so i did in the past days. i wasn't keen on cutting back the bush, as i love the red colored rosehips on the bush, i don't really need to get them arranged but out in nature they seem just perfectly fine.
but the bush had to be cut, so i decided to get the long branches into a wreath and all the little twigs be bound together in a bushel.
here i am with a wonderful deco at our front door. i love the wild look of the wreath, big and all about!
what does your fall harvest yield?

september sunshine

the last few days were absolutely filling all my storage capabilities of september sunshine. such wonderful afternoons with that warm light floating the garden. i even had to water the planters all around the house, a good thing to do in september!
laundry was drying in a breeze and i love folding all those warm and sun filled clothes. there is really not quite a chore in the household which i like more, as folding laundry in the garden, in a wonderful sunny afternoon.
and there were even moments of just sitting and looking into the birch tree, the leafs start turning yellow already. the light is giving all of nature such a golden coat, this is the best and i linger a moment longer out of doors. we even got to enjoy dinner still in the garden, a cardigan does the trick, and we all keep it that way, as long as we can.

tomatoe pie

i just could not get too many pictures of those wonderful tomatoes. lucky me, this morning at the market one farmer was selling II class tomatoes for 2.50 fr. per kilo (usually they are 5 for regular tomatoes or than 8 for the "bernerrose"). i had to embrace myself and keep still, as i really wanted to dance instead!
upon arriving at home there was no minute passing and i was in the middle of cutting and preparing for this tomato pie.

it's a whole wheat pate brisee and two table spoons semolina, then lots and lots of fine cut tomato sprinkled with shallot and garlic, a pinch of sea salt and baked by 150 C for 50 minutes, in the middle of the oven.
done and on the table we all loved it, a slice of cheese was appreciated and a glass of cider, o i love late summer, or maybe i call it early autumn....

annual portrait session

lets get started with the men... it was a good and fun time yesterday afternoon. such a great time we had, taking our annual photo shoot. of course there was some wrestling involved, fine with me and all of us!

here are the past two years, 2012 2011 it's nice to see how we all grow older, time seems to fly by and i'm glad we have the shots from those past years.

 

the girls and me, and yes the kids posing together was a bit of a leap, such a excited bunch of live is not easy to keep together and somewhat focused. thank you joel for taking the time and muse with us yesterday afternoon, i'm very happy about the pictures (and as one might expect, there are a lot more and some very very funny ones too which we enjoy and laugh about together).

{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.

in my kitchen

:: i absolutely love the italian plums, and everyone in our family loves to eat plum tarts! right now it's at least once a week if not more frequently that we eat this for dinner. i also put some plums away in the freezer, i do want to be able to keep the fruit tarts on the table while winters cold is going to take over i a couple months.

:: so colorful is the season, red and yellow belle peppers, i'm fortunate to be able to purchase the local kind, which is grown in real soil in a tunnel. they do taste so much better and easier to digest compared with the horsol kind from the netherlands or spain. a don't get acid reflux from the once purchased now at the local market and i do appreciate this. there is also kale and zucchini, tomatoes and corn in being sauteed in this frying pan. all being served like this on whole grain pasta. o so yummy!

:: how do i "sell" all that zucchini to my kids?
they do love omelets and that's what i did, sauteing zucchini and onions with a bit of basil. then add the golden browned veggies to the omelet when it's baked. everyone liked it and didn't mind at all. a dish i'm going to do again soon.

:: two big jars of dried apple pieces are on the counter

:: about 2 dozen jars of apple-fig as well as some apple-cinnamon marmalade is stored in the basement

:: not to mention that green bean's are served in all variations, the kids mostly like the salad variation of them

:: there will be more tomatoes arriving tonight, as i will be picking up the veggie share, there is not a lot to do with them, just eat, my dear kids eat as many of them as you like. thea loves to take them to kindergarten for snack, there is nothing more i could wish for isn't there

the tree's out there

 

i had to go and collect the fallen apples from our trees. it's not much fun, to collect all those little ones and put the rotting ones in a separate pile next to the trunk. two wooden crates i took home and memories of an early autumn pasture. some bright flowers, mostly lilac and white are dominant and i could not help, but stand still for a few minutes and just take it in.
i do have those lone moments now, as thea is at kindergarten every morning of the week. those lone moments of still and quiet, they quickly become a treasure to me. i'm getting used to not having a little shadow following and chiming in when ever the fancy strikes, when ever her curious mind is loudly wondering and inquiring. still i also miss her, miss the little girl with her sunny spirit. though i'm content, she loves her kindergarten and runs up the street toward the playground and school room every morning, with lot's of excitement. and that is good so.

the last of summer

on my morning runs i spotted a sugar beet field with lots of sunflowers, the plants didn't look to well, most of them were on the ground and trying to get an other go at growing.... so one afternoon i took the bike and thea with it to fetch some of "the last of summer". a quick and wonderful undertaking, an eye opener and a few moments of keeping still, soaking it all in.
the sheep and their little bells across the field in their pasture, very serene and a reminder of nature taking it's course, doing what it needs to do, preparing for harvest and slowing down to be ready for the cooler nights.
it has cooled down a lot, in the thirties is now a common start into the day. nice for running, so i don't mind it at all. but i also can't really let go, yet...

we went caving

a short hike through the wet forest and we were there. the long expected little tour into the "bruderloch" near wenslingen (etwas mehr info hier). a friend of ours was planning this trip a while a go and we postponed it already once. but yesterday afternoon with a group of good friends we got all dressed up for caving...

 

it was great, a bit of a leap for me, i have do admit. the cave was not huge though a short stretch right at the beginning was very low. we had to crawl for about 30 feet and then as it was really real, slip under the last rock and appear into the hall. wonderful and yes adventurous as it can be we went on for an other this time shorter stretch of crawling and having to go slow but the next hall was even bigger.
of course we all wanted a moment of total darkness, so everyone turned off their head lamps. and yes i can assure you, it's dark, very dark inside the earth!

coming out, and enjoying a cup of tea, some zucchini cake (as we swim in the harvest of this plant) we all congratulated to our brave feat of taking the risk, embracing our adventurous spirit and overcoming the fear!
thank you t for taking us unto this little tour, and yes i do think you are courageous to do all those caving trips, sometimes spending hours if not a day under the earth!