new moon

stunning, and wonderful to wake up to this sliver of moon!
it was not this morning, at the end of last week and i felt so ready for what is to come, seeing such a morning sky. just a few moments of still, quiet and piece and solemnity. readying breakfast for the family and staring out into the new day.

even as it is a bit old, i wanted to share this one. and remind myself of how some days can start out and no i will not forget how much peace and strength lays in such moments.

spring is lurking

it's so pretty, long shadows, warm afternoon sun rays and this at the end of february. spring is lurking us out of doors. of course we could not pass by this afternoons warmth and light, my friend visited and we absolutely enjoyed the garden and all the spring feel which is in the air.
there are lots of little garden projects popping up and as soon as i get around to grab the garden scissors, i'm out working...

and hopefully in the spring sun, or maybe it is a morning with frost, if it grabs me by the sleeve i'm surely not to stop.

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 kitchen table, tulips in full bloom

:: 2. playing with her plate is still fun!

:: 3. full bloom in the new house

:: 4. the old part of the new house

:: 5. the supper pretty color of the shutters, on the new house

new friends and neighbors

for a while now, we have friends staying with us. a couple and their toddler, they moved back from nepal at the 1st of december, after spending 2 years in nepal. doing charity work and educating local teachers all over the country. a wonderful family, we didn't know them very well before they moved in with us. over the course of the past 11 weeks we got to love and enjoy them a lot. our community has been richly blessed by their presence and it we all especially enjoy the restless little boy. he is as happy and energetic as a 3 year old can be.
lots of games being played and books being read to and with him, especially by our four older kids. thea got the tracks for the trains out once more and those tracks have been put together countless times. yup and the tracks, locomotives and wagons go along when they are moving into their own little house, just around the corner.
it was lots of work for them and their workers to finish up all those lose ends. put in wooden floors, insulate and paint the entrance hall, mount lamps and finally move in tomorrow and saturday.

thank you for staying with us dear friends, i'm sad you move away. and at the same time i'm thrilled that you will live just around the corner from us!
in some ways, that's exactly what it means to build community. to enjoy friendships and be blessed by people being put into my "courtyard". becoming neighbors...

pincone harvest

the snow is gone, and all the pine cones appeared from underneath. it would have been a boys chore to collect the pine cones in early december, but it never happened. it turned out to be ok, as the snow was not laying long enough to have the cones rot. which i expected, as it never does around here. we had a cold january and some good snow, for certain, and i'm glad for it.
but all that is gone and the snow drops are already pushing hard with their green leafs, it should not be much longer until they appear in their white little frocks.

so today was the day, elias had the time and was happily collecting two big bags of pine cones. thea and her friend were gladly helping and of course had a lot of fun with the big brother!
and so we approach spring times, mud season is lying ahead...

looking back

this is a look back. last week was wonderful rejuvenating and we are all started well into this week already. switching back into every day life was possible with a do nothing sunday. just be the boys especially needed the quiet and stay put for a time (a day) to land and get resettled at home, after a week of snow camp. they both enjoyed it tremendously and as their camp was in adelboden, where we stayed, in an apartment, we got to quickly spot them on slope side sometimes.

it was especially the weather, the sun and snow, which i will draw strength and energy for the rest of winter...
spring is in the air, but who knows, it can easily take an other month...

7 loads of laundry, a short run, baking pancake for lunch, and a big casserole for dinner, that's my day in real life again!

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. the girl on her board

:: 2. and hungry after boarding

:: 3. while the girl worked hard, sat in the sun

:: 4. the board and my cozy gloves, all week long

:: 5. lots of sun an snow this week!

the town by night

our vacation destination by night

it is a wonderful town in the mountains, of course it's touristy and all nice and we enjoy every bit of snow and sunshine. even the nights are pretty, i'm fine looking out of the window, no need to go out at night. and then we still went out, as friends from home are also up here, for a week of skiing. and so it came about that we went for a night walk to visit them at the other side of town.

and to not longer keep you in the dark, we are up in adelboden, up in the bernese mountains of switzerland.

the game night

the first evening at ski vacation, well it was wonderfully quiet and playful. enjoyable with the grandparents and the girls, different as the boys are not with us. o we already miss them a lot. it all is so unrealistically quiet, almost solemn.
the fun thing is, that the boys are at a camp in the same town as we spend our ski vacation... 10 minutes away with all their friends from their regular friday night youth group.

as naomi and esther are used and love to play the game mini-rummi, and they let me play along. of course i lost, what else with the two of them being passionate and practiced players.

the first two days have been sunny and the slopes nicely prepared. there will be pictures of our snow adventures on ski's and snow boards...

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. lovely looks, this keeps me going and knitting

:: 2. the ending of a wonderful bouquet, i enjoyed a lot

:: 3. the piled up laundry from thursday

:: 4. after dinner discussion and sitting, laughing and enjoying

:: 5. the sun was scarce but i was out there at the right moment

knitt and look

as last week, knitting and reading, this week is knitting and looking!
it's on my desk and i love the book, it's a collection of duccio's frescoes, including a scientific introduction to the wonderful paintings.
i have been looking into this book for a while now and i cannot get enough of it.

the knitting is a free interpretation of those mitts. i decided, that i wanted them all the way up my fingers, closed at the top, real mitts. so here i am doing what i usually not do with my knitting project...
yup, i'm absolutely not used to just knit the way i think it should be done. so far so good, we will see in a few days. i'm not in a hurry, and so i just take it slowly.

afternoon rays

it has been rainy the past days, but still occasionally sunny. very soft light and though it is strong enough to cast some wonderful shadows. it seems like an early telling of spring, just a little window into into near or maybe later future...

the girls are at my parents, as i was in school all day today. it's winter vacation, two weeks off from school, yeah! there is now snow around the house, but next week we are going to spend the time in the mountains. oh, we are so much looking forward to spend a whole week away.
as for this week, it's a bit of a different story, still some wonderful different scheduled days, which i really like. lot's of little things can be done and enjoyed together. amos had the time to dig a trench and earn himself a bit of pocket money today, though it was getting cold and very wet the... but still, some physical work is good work.

vacation, i love it, just enjoy it. a run should be possible tomorrow morning....

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. blue sky after three days, just wonderful

:: 2. wonderful bark and moos in the afternoon sun

:: 3. in big expectations

:: 4. morning light at the grossmünster in zürich

it's just four today, enough and fine ones.
the day is almost over and it was all a lot and good

knitting and reading

knitting and reading are two things i love. there is a lovely yarn along group i frequently visit and so i felt like sharing the link to giny sheller's yarn along post's.
i will not keep up with the posting each wednesday, as i'm not that fast in reading as well as knitting...

but once in a while some sharing is great fun.
this time i just finished the hat and i'm working now on the mittens with the selkie pattern. it's a bit of figuring out, as i knit with a thinner wool, but so far the hat worked out great and the mittens got just started yesterday. i found the pattern in a recent issue of taproot magazine...

and the reading is old german.... we call it the 500th anniversary of the reformation, or more like the luther year here in europe. in that respect, i felt like reading up on some of martin luthers talks and conversations, his push for reforming the church 500 years ago.

winter wonder world

i was walking in zurich, just a bit of a stroll in the city, with it's droopy and wintry face, it was nice. for myself, just me, even my black hood was all up and keeping me dry from the drizzle. wandering with no particular goal (i had two new pairs of running shoes in my bag, mission accomplished). and i felt no hurry to go home, wandering and watching, and enjoying.

the circling boys with their guitars caught my attention and i stood for a moment, still and vexed in amazement. a circle of musicians, not that i understand the sculpture but i like it. i feel like, i don't have to understand and interpret everything i come across, but i like the circle of youth making music. blindly playing and enjoying...
sometimes, i don't need anything else, a moment of wonder...