early in the morning

one of those rainy days, they will become more frequent, i'm sure. it's still not cold though, i was too warm in my long sleeve, running this morning, this is good, as i don't mind switching back to short sleeves and no gloves.
it is interesting to me, every year i'm keen to observe the change in nature, when the days get shorter and the mornings get cooler. it's already still dark when we get up and sit around the breakfast table, the candle is a bit of a consolation to me. i don't like glaring "loud" light, when i get up and even less when i sit down with my family for the first meal of the day.
so here we are, it's almost october and fall vacation is upon us in three days! yea, we are all looking forward to switch our schedule a bit back, and we will certainly raise again with the sun, coming next week.

a walk on the weekend

a wonderful weekend. lots going on and still taking the time to be, to go for a walk in the late afternoon. there is not much, which could top this. especially after a birthday party for a 15 year old girl! lots of desserts, lots of chatting and laughter and then go out and walk and soak up all the sun and the warm air and the smell of autumn!
knowing that i can pick up the pasteurized cider this afternoon makes it even better to look through those photos once more. it's autumn in it's full glory!

welcome afternoon sunshine, there is so much to be enjoyed and savored until the first snow will be falling and covering everything up in a white blanket. but that is still far off, so lets enjoy the moment, and the moments to come in the next couple 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.

the fotomuseum

 

it was long overdue to visit the fotomuseum. so many times i rode my bike passed the building and so many times i was dreaming of stepping inside. the one big obstacle for me, it opens at noon, and i mostly have the kids in the afternoons. i really wanted to go and just be on my own, enjoy and sit, stand and bathe in what i see and feel. so finally i went and enjoyed two hours of solo time. perfect and so much still, i will do it again.

the special exhibit was "blow up", an exhibit which has traveled around the world and is totally interesting to experience. it is definitely not just watching and observing, but it touched me all over, no conversation needed, just immersing into that world of picture and moving picture, sound and room.

of apples and violins

the day has come, this year the apples are falling early and all over the area it's a plentiful harvest, though we didn't get a lot of apples. which was a big surprise to us, we heard so many stories of farmers having a huge harvest and the apple prices dropping. it will yield about 50 liters, which is half of what we had last year and not even a third of what we got three years ago.
over all it was a special afternoon, with lots of sunshine and wonderful music accompanying us.
the girls were not very excited to come along to the trees, they much rather wanted to stay home and play. so my suggestion was, for them, to take their instruments along. they were excited to practice out of doors and it was like a little dream come true, to me. just grab the violins and head out, where ever you go, play and enjoy!

a big thank you to our violin teachers past and present, encouraging me and the girls to make music for life, for the enjoyment to be!

apple sauce into apple cake

it's apple time!
o yes all for it, apple sauce has been cooked up two weeks ago. not huge amounts, just the apples which fall from the tree behind the house. and now there is this yummy pear recipe for a cake, with a version of using apples.
super easy and using apple sauce in the cake, which is perfect for all the fallen apples i get. so no matter how bruised they are, it will work out well.

at the end, after baking i used a baking brush to "glaze" the cake with red current jelly. and we will enjoy it tonight with everyone sitting around the dinner table.

{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.

more prunes more drying

two weeks ago i got two crates of italian prunes, my friend called me up again on monday, to let me know, that there are still more fruit to be harvested. so i went on tuesday afternoon and picked two more crates!

how wonderful it is to pick fruit from the tree, to get my hands on the fresh harvest of this lat summer, it's miraculous. just such a blessing to get fruit right from the tree and into my tummy, or as you see here, i dried a lot of them. it's one of the favorite fruits being eaten dried. the kids love them, taking little bags along for snacks in school.

and while they dry in the oven, the house is full of a sweet fruit smell, which keeps my tummy grumbling and my mouth nibbling on those delicious fruits. as we did with the apples it works out fine, and takes just about 48h to dry a batch of three cookie sheets.

there will be at least two big jars of dried italian prunes and i'm sure more apples will follow.

the red in my kitchen

:: stripes and dahlia, how pretty and just blending well, in our late summer kitchen

:: elderberry jelly, such a delightful spread on my morning breakfast bread. it was a bit too much work, as i went out there into the woods with bike and trailer to pick the berries. there must have been other people with the same idea, just a couple days before me! well it was enough berries for three big jars of wonderful dark jelly.

:: dinner out of doors, we love it! a little hike and then spread the "table", make a fire, grill sausages and some meat. a pasta salad with feta and cherry tomatoes, there is really not much more to a sunday night. well, the scenery of course, a gorgeous sunset!

:: stuffed zucchini. yes they have grown super big and make a wonderful dish this way. i served whole rice with it and each person sitting at the dinner table loved it. even our zucchini "haters" ate without much ado! i'm sure there will be a second time i will be serving this, maybe a twist to it, in regards to cheese topping, maybe a vegetarian version, we will see.

apples for the winter

like the years before, there are early apples falling from the tree behind the house. this year there are many many apples, and lots of them are already falling. of course as it is with those early ones, the worms loved them already, though that really doesn't matter. i wash and cut them up into thin slices. they are nicely put onto cookie sheets and then dried in the oven.
all of us like the dried apple pieces and they are being treasured for morning school snacks, afternoon snacks, or just quickly grabbed running out of the kitchen on the way to work or school.

{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.

to dye

once more i was excited to get the supercraft in the mail. it's not the summer but it has been the spring kit, so far just sitting there and waiting for me to take a moment and get going.
it is so perfect to have my thursday afternoons and so it was dye time... i have not been doing any dyeing lately, as it is a somewhat polluted craft. though never the less, i was having fun and for a moment put the color and it's implications on nature a side. i did try to figure out, what the pollution factor is with the "marabu batik farben", though could not find anything on the web. i did decide to not use a fixator, which i assumed would be more of a problem.
i'm tempted to get going, it is such a fun process to change uni colored clothes and fabrics into something new and maybe even colorful.
for a next project i would like to use natural pigment, like onion skins or  berries or what ever else is possible...

from the archive

twenty years ago we got married!
it has been wonderful to travel along the road of life as well as off road. with my beloved joel, many adventures and conspiracies have been undertaken.

thank you my dear companion, in so many moments i have been blessed with your presence.
i love life with you

under construction

finally we are getting work done on our kitchen. i have been waiting for a couple years now and it is so needed. first of all, the wooden corner bench is undergoing restoration. we did debate to make a new one, though that would have been quiet a bit more expensive and it is nice to know, that this bench which has been taken from the cafe-room 20 years ago (now our living room), and we still can use it. there have been decades of people sitting on it and it will be another decade or more, that people will enjoy sitting around the dinner table! the wood will be sanded and oiled and put back together, as well as some parts are going to be added. in order that it will fit better into the kitchen corner where it is going to be partially wall mounted.
the table also will be sanded and oiled and slightly cut smaller on the long sides, as this will help to sit comfortable on the long side, when people are squeezing through behind you, to get into the cooking area.

the floor has been super cold in the winter. it has been classy in regards to the old fashioned tiles and i'm sad to not be able to see them anymore. though we are getting an insulation mat under the pvc tiles (click system). well i surely hope to have a warmer floor this winter. still i love my woolen socks and will wear them regardless...
the finished floor and "new" bench with table will be put up here, as soon as it's all done and we can enjoy it.

{this momtent}

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.

the concret project

there has been some concret crafting going on a few days back. with the lat summer supercraft kit came the idea and the materials to get me started on this little project. of course i have seen and admired those "leafy" bowls and platters, which some of my friends made and there are all kinds of objects made of concret around me, some i like and others i could not care less!

and it really didn't take much for me to get started with the "vase" idea, which is suggested in this kit. usually i'm not a strict follower of recipes though this time, it felt ok to do so. and i'm very happy with the result...
the flowers where picked by me, this morning. on many mornings i go for a run and love to go, get my juices flowing. though when i'm on my way home, i itches and pulls me toward the beauty on the side of the road, and so it happened this morning. as a result i brought home a hand full of yellow flowers...

"the" veggie pie

there is now a big harvest of veggies being brought into our kitchen. no the veggies have not been growing in my care (and the chick peas are imported, sorry). and we enjoy them in any kind of dish, especially the "pie" kind. or should i have said the "tart" kind? well it's about the same ingredients, a simple pate brise, veggies and an egg based sauce. this one is spiced up with some left over fondue cheese including the garlic cloves!
we all savored this one and i can't wait for the next surprise dish!

picking italian prunes

what a blessing to know my neighbors friend! my neighbor introduced me to her friend a bit earlier this summer, as the red current bushes were hanging full with berries. i visited her, together with thea and o my goodness, such a harvest. we picked three big buckets and a week later i went back to pick an other three buckets. there is now lots of frozen berries as well as jam and many of the red currents got put into "birchermuesli" and tarts.
and yesterday, the wonderful lady called me up, with the message: "the italian prunes are ripe, please come and get as much as you like"

so today we went, a gorgeous afternoon and a big tree hanging full with fruit. within a few moments we plucked two small crates full and then we got even more of their harvest, as you can see, the cucumber plants are carrying a lot too. thank you my dear misses O, this harvest is a blessing.