the dessert party for J

birthdays are to celebrate! and so we did yesterday afternoon with a dessert buffet for joel's birthday. i would have forgotten his favorite dessert..... but there was a friend who asked if i already would have made a linzer tart. no, was my answer, so amos went to her house and they made a super delicious linzer tart, i could not have made it so perfect. it is wonderful to have friends!
all afternoon we enjoyed good company, yummy foods, interesting conversations and of course coffee without end, at least that it seemed to me.
at one point, elias gathered an other few people and they played a round of tichu, the girls retreated to their rooms with friends and had fun playing together. it turned out to be a relaxed and happy birthday afternoon, as we kind of planned for.

not that there is really anything that could seriously go wrong with an open house, a table loaded with desserts and lovely people invited...

and of course, our dear friend A, we would have loved yours would have been part of the party, as it was your birthday too!

the week :: through the lense

it has been on the back burner, i have not been taking a lot of photos for a while now, and that should change. so i put the "hand made" lens back on the camera body and got started this week. it touched me in a special way, as i wander and have the camera ready be it in the kitchen, or living room table... this enables me to see with new eyes and i like it. we will see if it sticks, it is a start to a new friday review of what caught my eye. there is to be said, that i was inspired by erin boyle and her blog "reading my tea leaves". she does a wonderful job and it is so inspirational to have a look at her photos...

 :: 1. the twigs from the apple tree, in our living room

 :: 2. o cat, what's catching your attention

 :: 3. work in progress, my portland pullover

:: 4. o wonderful white, we almost didn't expect it again this winter, but 2 days of snow this week, yup

:: 5 a wonderful cup of tea, enjoyed on one of my place mats. i still love the squiggles on it

my portland pullover

the protland sweater is a breeze to knit. it has traveled with me on the train and onto the ski slopes of adelboden, last week. while i was looking through the pictures for this post, i came across the apple tree branches. before we went on vacation i cut a few twigs and put them in the water in our living room, in hopes of some early spring signs at the beginning of march. low and behold some tiny leafs are springing forth and i'm happy. overjoyed for spring is coming soon.

and there is my portland. it's growing and i'm already able to join the body with the two sleeves. i don't remember being so fast with a project for myself... and yet, it is not done.
a few more hours to finish the garter pattern with short rows, kind of a new thing for me. i had to read the pattern a few times, look good at the pictures taken of the sweater. it does seem to make sense and i start to understand the "short row thingy".
the finished portland will be photographed and shown here, though be patient.

reading and living

some "evenings" are for reading...

just cozy up in a comfortable corner keeping the light on all night and just read. forget the call for dinner, don't notice that it get more quiet in the house, but read on. i have not done that for ages, but remember doing so while a teenager. forgetting the time, not minding the world around me but staying in that special place in that wondrous world of adventures and emotions with the character all taken in by the tension the writer has been able to create.
We have at least two people in the family who are able to dive into their books again and again. Be it on the way to or from work or at any given moment, at any given place...
for me it takes a bit more, there has to be a certain kind of "work is done", feeling to get me settled comfortably to take me into the book. but it does happen now and then.

as for now, i'm reading
:: kebab zum bankgeheimnis by yusuf yesilöz, a collection of short stories
:: taproot, issue 16
:: an imperfect offering by james orbinski
:: léon & louise by alex capus (audio, read by ulrich noethen)

a week in the snow

there goes our week in the mountains. it was wonderful, snow and a couple days of really great sunny weather. i got to sit on the side of a little slope and knit, while thea was loving to go up and down that hill. that's how we spent the first day. the consecutive days where spent in ski and snowboard school. the kids loved it and really enjoyed the learning and being out there, a lot.

for me it was more walks or running, a different kind of it, so absolutely in the snow. some hiking with the camera in hand. it was so pretty as the nights were fogy and cold, and some nights windy...

it was a lot of fun to watch the older kids getting the hang of their boards and skis. even i ended up renting a board for two days... a few bruises and lots of fun. joel helped me the first couple hours to get the hang of all that plus and minus business to stay on the board and make curves. well i really totally enjoyed it and will use the snow board again, for sure. not attempting to become as good a rider as the boys, but to enjoy the snow that way.

now back into the regular rhythm of the every day. back to school and back to early breakfasts at 6:30am. it was easy today, and i hope for a quick adjustment on my end. so far, i can draw from lots of sleep and rest of the past couple weeks, may it last for a while.

the week :: through the lense

it has been on the back burner, i have not been taking a lot of photos for a while now, and that should change. so i put the "hand made" lens back on the camera body and got started this week. it touched me in a special way, as i wander and have the camera ready be it in the kitchen, or living room table... this enables me to see with new eyes and i like it. we will see if it sticks, it is a start to a new friday review of what caught my eye. there is to be said, that i was inspired by erin boyle and her blog "reading my tea leaves". she does a wonderful job and it is so inspirational to have a look at her photos...

 :: 1. what a joy, a stuffed with love envelope from friends across the atlantic

:: 2. our big pancake breakfast, thanks to naomi

 :: 3. winding all the rowan into balls for a portland pullover to get started

:: 4. lots of fun circling around those colorful dots, and all for a wonderful baby to be born

 :: 5. rediscovering grape fruit for breakfast...

yummy breakfasts and more

we are in the middle of sports vacation, and we absolutely love it
big breakfast at 9am, naomi was baking pancake one moring, lots of hot cocoa and the mama even caves in and lets the kids drink orange juice!
well it's vacation and so we spend a lot of time sitting around the breakfast table. the kids have been visiting different friends and family, which is lovely and i get to spend time with them in different settings and orders. lot's of good interactions take place.

elias helped yesterday with all the donated veggies we got, lot's of brussels sprouts and leek are now packed in the freezer, eggplant has been roasted and put in the fridge, there will be some wonderful italian dish being cooked up tomorrow, as for tonight it's a minestrone soup with carrots, celeriac, beans and what ever else is sitting in the cool garden shed to be eaten.
amos arrived home too, after spending 5 days snow boarding with a friend. well that second boy of ours is growing up and fast too! i'm happy to have him home for a few days before we all go on our family ski/snowboard vacation on saturday.

cutting :: knitting

that's my day, the gardeners are cutting our chestnut tree, the apple tree, the black berry bushes and the big ivy on the south-east facing garage wall. there is so much work going on around me and so i have to keep my hands busy too. knitting with a wonderful strand of noro yarn from japan. i have had it in my stash a long time and just didn't want to get it knit away mindlessly.
so i found the right alpaca, a wonderful soft to the touch yarn. so i got to cast on a moebius shawl. i wanted a bit of a pattern but not much, as the noro strand is so pretty and has a nice cclor fold to it. so this is life for the moment. it's raining today, the gardeners are taking all the cuttings away and our chestnut tree is left bare and it looks kind of sad. though i'm happy it got a good pruning and the tree will shoot forth again in just a few weeks. though my thoughts are all wrapped around the coming week, when we will be out in the snow, up in the mountain. though for now, i'm organizing the luggage, as we send it ahead to be able to travel lightly on saturday.

bike cleaning

it's the beginning of february, and definitely not the season one would think of bike cleaning and fixing and getting ready for some good riding. though as winter seems not to come this year, or has already left after a couple days of cold and snow, it feels right. in addition, our kids ride their bikes all year round, to school and back, this makes a daily commute of st least 10km. so in that perspective, it has been an excellent winter season and of course one needs to have a ready running bike every morning. if the boys bikes are not ready on a monday morning, mamas old one is being pulled out and without asking being used. by now i know and they both got a "talking to". as i really do appreciate to know where my bike is, as i use mine also frequently. never mind. i'm the kind of mama which is glad and happy if the kids get to ride and move their bodies, so i don't mind too much. but asking would be nice.

though the cleaning, fixing pumping and taking care of is usually joel, he is really good at it and so he has reserved a couple hours of the past two saturdays to work with both boys on their vehicles.
thank you joel for doing such a splendid job and yes, we don't do all the work, there is a very nice and friendly bike mechanic near by...

this week :: through the lens

 it has been on the back burner, i have not been taking a lot of photos for a while now, and that should change. so i put the "hand made" lens back on the camera body and got started this week. it touched me in a special way, as i wander and have the camera ready be it in the kitchen, or living room table... this enables me to see with new eyes and i like it. we will see if it sticks, it is a start to a new friday review of what caught my eye. there is to be said, that i was inspired by erin boyle and her blog "reading my tea leaves". she does a wonderful job and it is so inspirational to have a look at her photos...

:: 1. the tower, we climbed it and i love the look down

:: 2. a fantastic cloudy morning

:: 3. finishing up a baby surprise jacket and being very happy

:: 4. a few fires were lit this week

:: 5. my favorite anis mold