hope

standing in a circle as christians celebrating advent. with a world going wild around us. what is all that, where lies the meaning in this. there is truth in it, there was truth in the waiting and hoping and will be for ever. the hope and expectation of not being alone and helpless makes me strong and willing even wanting to go the extra mile. to share my hopes to share the reason for my hopes.

this is a ramble of sorts, a thinking out loud in the darkness of today. the hope of jesus coming again. i'm just a tiny little dot in the scheme of it all. and i am, yes, i am.
standing together and reminding each other of this truth helps me to go about the every day business of living a life, true to christ.
loving my neighbors and the ones who i don't even know, don't even see, as they are mostly not wanting to be seen by our society. trying to find and love them, to share what i have got, with them.

as a little community of christians. sharing our every day lifes, this is what we want to do each where she or he stands and as a group together, we stand.

1st of Advent

it is an early start into the season of advent, this year. and i have to say, i was prepared for it. as saturday was drawing to a close, a friend stopped by with a bouquet of helleborus niger, or as we call them in german, "christrosen". this was very special and i'm so very happy having them on our dinner table. and next to the flowers are the four candles of advent placed.

on a simple plate, no wreath or big bouquet, it's all simple this year. and not even very colorful, just plain and matter of fact. fine with me, trying to simplify my life might have something to do with the yearning for plain and yes, kind of still. and then again, it's a beautiful plate i have been given by a friend, years ago. and an other fact is, that our kitten is loving everything playful and is still jumping on the table, if no one is around... he loves to pull everything apart and make it to his toy.

so here we are, lighting the first candle of advent, the candle of hope.
and i do hope, i long for the coming of our lord jesus. for him to come back and make the crooked straight and bring justice to this world of injustice!

“And again, Isaiah says, ‘The Root of Jesse will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; the Gentiles will hope in him.’  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” ~ Romans 15:12-13

the 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. on our table, love for the cat

:: 2. on T's table, love for coloring

:: 3. early mornings in the kitchen

:: 4. and out the window

:: 5. the perspective of warm hands

Guetzli backen...

 :: sandele

 :: chräbeli

 :: haberflockenguetzli

 :: kokosmakrönli

 :: baslerbrunsli

 :: haselnussstängeli

 :: mailänderli

and all packed up and ready for sale, at the adventsbazar.

portrait of the RN's

a few weeks ago we did our yearly portrait session. it has been a bit of a convincing and pulling the kids to the project. it has been funny, as soon as we all commit and have set up the camera.
it was a sunday afternoon and early in november, so the sun was not strong anymore which has been a challenge in earlier years. 2013, 2012, 2011

no  more words, the pictures tell their own stories...

the fire in november

it has become tradition 2015, 2014, 2012 to go out into the woods, armed with matches and all kinds of food and drinks. two families, not anymore with a toddler and smaller kids, but with teenagers and almost a grown up boy.....

this time, we had to plan the day long ago and i have to say i was a bit weary, if late november would be nice, warm and pleasant enough to hang out and enjoy the good company and warm fire!
but alas it worked out well. a warm november's day it was, even sunny.

there were stuffed mushrooms, backed potatoes, all kinds of sausages, pumpking soup, bread and sweet bread, vegetables and dips, and of course marshmallows, rather say smores!
beer and punch, water and tea, well we really were celebrating a fiesta out there in the woods.
two fires and of course the exciting smoke fire could not be missed...

a sunday afternoon to look back and remember with all the joy and exitement. i will take the memories into the winters dark evenings and try to remember on those evenings, that we should light a fire and just sit around it and be family.

the 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. casting on for the "wurm"

:: 2. good times with femur our kitten

:: 3. colors of late fall

:: 4. the colors of candle dipping

:: 5. the simple gift from a friend, thank you k

gray

all is gray, with a little color like our chestnut trees remaining leafs. a bit of yellow. it's all i need, it brings me pleasure, to look and enjoy the bright little spot up there toward the gray sky. november joy, before it's all gone, after the next frost.
we have a few warmer days again, no freeze at night and mid forties during the day...

an other shade of gray, some wonderful fungi growth on one of our tree stumps in the garden. it was still trying to grow back, this berry tree or maybe shrub. though i cut the many shoots for the past three years, as they would just bring us a lot more shade as needed. and now, what can i say, the tree died and new growth is using the material to grow and "flourish". surprise and a happy one, i love to discover new things, even in the midst of all the gray november's mist.

and then in the front of the house, i planted some violets in a little box, and those are a happy color dot, among all the gray and tone in tone of brown and mist we call november!

candle crafting

it is this season of year, once more we went candle dipping next door. such a good and slow down, be still experience for the whole community. even slower and filled with quiet for the once who chose to dip a candle with bees wax. as the colorful wax is being dipped and cooled down in cold water, the bees wax dippers are just "air dried" and this slows one down even more.
but exactly this is it, what so many of us liked and absolutely enjoyed. the slow process of dipping and seeing the candle grow steady and slow.

this time, some of us got involved with different cutting and twisting techniques, fun and exciting. it takes a a brave and steady hand to pull out the wick and cut the "candle" in half to past it together and twist it again with a new wick. a wonderful technique to show the inside of ones candle to the viewer.

lets just say, we keep good traditions going. and as long as everyone enjoys it, and even more so after the second or third time, i will call this one a good and working tradition.

casting on :: finding balance

we noticed yesterday, that thea does not have a winter hat. well that's not good as she is prone to ear aches and really needs to cover her ears in this november weather. she does have two head bands, though one of them is really itchy!
on the other hand, it is fun, as i was itching to knit and now this is just urgent enough, for me to sit down and cast on. i have had the pattern on my desk for a while, as i was suspecting such a moment, or better said hoping for it...

so between all the different things i'm doing and having to do, there is a needle knit here and there and this is making me happy and i can even say, content and calm as i have not been for weeks. i knew in the back of my head, but there was this project and that thing to be finished. and it felt impossible to cast on anything. and now, i feel balanced again.

the 8th

breakfast at with the 8 year old!
it was a saturday birthday, lots of time, lots of family and friends coming over to celebrate with thea. it was not a lot of planning, just making sure we had a lot of time and desserts and games ready and of course thea herself was around too.
she whished so hard for a penny board and was more than happy, super excited about the read board with led lights!
no the mama thinks it is absolutely not necessary to have lights on wheels, but what the heck, her godmother thought different. and if i'm thinking it over, why not, she will be out in the dark, as the days get short right now. even coming home from school at bit past 4pm, in a week or two, the daylight will be on it's way out at that time. for safety.....

still not reason enough, but then again, that's why so many other people help to raise a child. i'm a bit far out there, and there would be no plastic present. and this plastic present is definitely a cool one...