end of year

 
the year 2017 is ending, not with a big bang and lots of smoke, but rather uneventful and kind of slow. this is absolutely fine with me, yup more than alright. i didn't need more excitement after last weeks fire on our kitchen table.

a fire, which by the way i didn't even see burning, just discovered the result of it all, but was definitely consuming. it hit deep and beside trembling and fright what could have happened, i was deeply moved and thankfull to the Lord and his angels for the protection of the sleeping boy upstairs as well as the whole home of ours, which could have burnt down within less than half an hour.
maybe, not just maybe, but for certain there is a gem hidden in all this. i'm sure of that and i will find it, maybe not right now but in the time to come.

in this spirit: "good by" 2017, i enjoyed a lot of what you dropped on my path and thank you Lord, for all the gems i discovered and was able to collect in my basket.

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. all prepared and by no "gifted"

:: 2. much joy in jumping and playing

:: 3. roots are being served a lot lately (the long kind is schwarzwurzeln, the round one celleriac)

:: 4. christmas candles our outdoor celebration with family

:: 5. and just today the snow is back, and we love it

before :: after

all through advent we enjoyed the light from our four candles, hope-love-joy-peace and then there was that little red one, which thea put on the wreath at the end of the third week of advent. it brought us a lot of enjoyment and i often just took the opportunity of still. be and enjoy, get ready and keep hoping. longing for christ, for healing for peace for justice!
the time of advent is so much a time of getting ready, not just the decoration of the house for christmas, but my heart, my inner being. taking the opportunities of moments all by myself in the light of advent, the precense of God.

and then there was christmas day, we got up earlier than usual on a regular sunday and for some reason, the morning routine was all scrambled. more time on hand than used, so i lit the little candle and read a storie to thea. the church bells started calling and we all hurried out of the house (no need to hurry, but the bell's just get me going and moving, leaving the house and walking to church longing for my greater christian community). i didn't look back and forgot the little candle...
upon coming home shortly before noon, i already smelled the fire from far away (one of the big kids was already home and airing the house....). it was a shock, as i am absolutely aware, that the whole house could have burnt down within 15 minutes, if it would have cought fire.
o it rattle through me and now, a couple days later, i can barely think of it all. but by God's grace and protection i'm thankful for the roof over my head.

24th is christmas eve

and we celebrate with family, friends and housemates. once more we also had guests on short notice, strangers, people to me unknown. this time around, i delivered my cards and presents on the 23rd, as it was sunday, today on christmas eve. it first seemed strange, but turned out to work out just fine. i love this time of year. it is wonderful to pass on blessings and the joy of christmas to people walking passt me and giving them an extra smile.
the joy of celebrating the birth of jesus is a wonderful moment in the year. getting a tree and having the girls decorate it was easy and exciting this year. cooking was quick and everyone loved the food (some with mushrooms and some without, a thinking ahead of me helped greatly).
playing many rounds of "meiern" was the substitute for an outdoor hiding game the kids played in past years. and maybe this sticks again for the next 8 years...

in the next few days, we are visiting family, different locations, different people and maybe some old traditions well stay on (i do like traditions) and some are toppeled and new once are added. i can tell you more by the end of this coming week!

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. at the fire for the 3rd of advent, the sunday of gaudete
 

:: 2. a run with accompaniment by the biker girl

:: 3. the last kind of christmas cookies for this year, made this afternoon "mailänderli"

:: 4. the egg nog making...

:: 5. on sunday is christmas eve and i will be ready for it on sunday at 4pm!

upcycled christmas decoration...

it has been in my mind for a long time, even since i made this wreath two years ago...
but for everything there is a time and a moment. and so it has been on my list again this past two weeks, to make that wreath with all the old christmas deco balls. we have not used those balls for the past three years. right there are more colorful glas balls in the garage. when we arrived at this house a bit over 8 years ago, you can't imagine what else and in what quantities we found christmas tree decoration! since then i could not throw those colorful once out, but just kept everything in a moving box. it was fine and every year the kids took out a few of them. one year this and the other year that color. now we just have a whole lot of blue left, in all sizes. i decided, this must work out. and i'm sure it will work out. it depence which set of children decides to decorate the tree on the morning of the 24th...

all done. it has been a bit tricky at the end, to arrange them carfully. a few times some balls slipped out of their holding wires. but as you can see, it worked and i'm pleased with the result. some passers by commenting how bright and cheerful it looks. well in the darkest days, i feel like we can absolutely use some color and cheer.

under cover

it is slowely coming to a halt, winter is with us and it looks like we will be stuck with it. fine with me, i don't mind. the morning run was a bit of a run in the slush, but with a second pair of sneekers, i will be fine running tomorrow morning. maybe, i don't  even go! most wednesdays i don't run, as i have to be out of the house by 8:25am and with thea leaving a quarter to eight, it's too much of a squeez, as that i would take the challenge on.
one of the running aspects, at least for me is, it must be fun. not when i step out of the door, but 10 minutes into running, i must be able to find joy in the running itself. and so far so good, there was one week, when i was insured. an other ,when i was sick, while the explanation was easy, i didn't stick with my rules and just added to many task and appointments into the fourth week of november. there was school and 6 evenings of the week i was out of the house!
it will not happen again, i have to be on the watch and just learn to say no. but all that sad, the snow helps to stay put and yes "be under cover" at least for a moment.

ramblings at the beginning of the week

we got a wonderful snowy start today. nothing crazy or wild, just a lovely flurry white morning. not so fun for the boys having to ride their bikes to work/school, but still ok. better than rain and cold winds!
my run was fantastic, a bit slower as usual, as the paths are not plowed where i run, it definitely felt more of a trail run this morning. considering though, to be back within an hour and able to take a warm shower as well as slipping dry socks on my feet, it was perfect.

and then, there was the afternoon adventure. like every monday, thea and myself are in town for neuro feedback followed by her cello lesson. but today was different, we had two whole hours to kill between the two lessons. as we were planning it already at the beginning of december, when they put up the "ice" rink, thea wanted to skate. today was the day, she could skate as much as she liked and we even had the time for stop at her favorit restaurant in the city.
they serve some wonderful french fries and of course yummy ketchup and mayo, which she doesn't get at home...

for my part, i was kind of cold, standing at the side of the rink and absolutely enjoyed my peppermint-ginger tea. fresh herbs, fresh roots, well that was perfect.

there is still a lot of crafting and preparations to be done in the next few days, but my morning runs will help me to keep the thinking straight and the doing thorough and quick.

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. our advents window, i do love it and it does bring hope into the darkness. mathew 4:16

:: 2. a window full of lamps, a good thing in the mids of a dark winter

:: 3. so simple so delicat and true

:: 4. and of course decorations, not just advent and christmas garlands, but this too is kind of pretty

:: 5. just didn't make it into this post...

garlands and writing cards...

what is there to say about today....
a very cold morning and a blue sky, i guess that's going together and this in the middle of winter. i came across this wonderful garland in the city. i'm sure it look even more festive at night, when the little lights are lit.
and so it is the time of advent, lot's of making and doing with special care and in special places in order to keep it secret from the person being gifted... there is also the writing of christmas cards going on, as joel took the time to creat a family card, which i'm very excited about. it is not an annual thing for our family to send out cards, but this year we will and i'm already in the thick of it and enjoy the moements of connecting through writing.

wild weather

the weather around here is great, i love the twists and jumps it performs right now. one moment it's snowing, the other the sun peaks out (like this morning while i ran my weekly long run) and now it's back to a light fluff. well we had rain over night and it's a bit above freezing, after it really snowed hard on sunday morning. the hope is here for more snow at the end of this week, first we will see a bit more of the sun tomorrow.
this weather is good for keeping me in doors, making and baking is on my list for later today as well as tomorrow afternoon and thursday. so lets keep it as it is.

the family :: 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...

 

well this friday is not "the week", it has been a sunday afternoon in september!

but still enjoy, it is never easy to get the yearly portrait session off the ground, but we did it...

 

:: 4. our "flutterbudget"

:: 3. that smile is catching

 

:: 2. oh so "charmant"

:: 1. the big boy

 and so very cool, those two together are fun!

 and all four, well this one looks sweet, and those moments are memorable too

 and then there are the two of us, it really was so super funny to listen to thea telling us jokes!

 

st. nikolas

it was st. nikolas day last night, and we had a little bit of celebration to do. though the boys and joel were out of the house, naomi sick in bed, thea and i decided to visit the "advents window" at a friends house just around the corner.
there we enjoyed a wonderful cup of spiced wine and all kinds of yummy cookies and tangerines.

at home i put a bowl with all kinds of goodies together, of course peanuts and tangerines were a must, as this is the traditional st. niklaus bounty. i bought the tangerines at gebana, they are directly from greece, picked 10 days ago and have a wonderful flavor.
the chocolates are all fair trade and some are local (of course not the cocoa), the confiseur and baker lehmann has a great selection of treats, his chocolate products are just so delicious. it is a wonderful time of year, the season of advent brings wonderful foods along and the long evenings are transformed into cozy and comfortable times to just be and sip on a big mug of chai.

spitzbuben

as i told you earlier, the christmas cookie making has just begun...

and yes there have been two more times i have (we have) been working on cookie baking and assembly. this one was just super pretty, so i had to take a few pictures. the "spitzbuben" are the most difficult kind of christmas cookie, if you ask me. but my family decided that they really wanted to enjoy them, so naomi was the chef this time. i made the dough, she rolled and cut and counted the pieces and then the assembly was left to me.
and for an other year, i would do this again, naomi has done a perfect job and the assembly was easy and relatively quick. and i'm sure soon enough we all will enjoy the delicately put toghether "spitzbuben".

thank you naomi for all the work.

first snow

it is a bit delayed; the feeling is still with me though, we had our first snow for this winter and it was a nice dusting last friday. good enough for a porridge breakfast, which almost everyone loves. it is just joel, who doesn't like the "morning mush". the kids love it, especially as each one chooses their own toping to add and enjoy.
i'm an absolute porridge lover and in the cold of winter it is likely to be the best thing happening to my early morning, cooking poridge and warming up with that wonderful sweet taste of maple syrup. The favorite for most of us is a good helping of cinnamon sugar... (and there too, i mix it myself and use unrefined cane sugar as well as organic fair trade cinnamon).

And today, the snow was melting quick, it was dripping all around the house. i took the convenience of it all and put the pine branches (elias and thea were in the woods to cut branches from a fallen tree, on saturday) on the bare flower beds in front of the house. and later on, when my parents visited, went out into the garden to cut some branches small and mid size, from the evergreen bush, so my advents candles have got some green added. and that really made me happy today!

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. 60 sachets with christmas cookies for the bake sale, lots of fun.

:: 2. afternoon tea and dessert

:: 3. 1st snow

 :: 4. lovely how the young beech tree is decorated

:: 5. not much white, but enough for a first dusting