up at "clouds"

for a while now, amos had a standing invitation to naomi. taking her out to bistro clouds in zurich for a chocolate melange.
finally, today was the day to go and he took us along too. thank you amos this was very kind and we all enjoyed it.

what a place, the prime tower in the big city. right there at the train station, and the bistro is up on the 35th floor of the tower. it was a good day to go up there, the view was very nice and clear for an autumn day. not sunny but we did see, far across lake zurich, the glarus alps. and then of course the train station of zurich right underneath, fantastic to watch the trains run in and out it all seemed like a model. not just the view but also the drinks were enjoyed by all and we had fun.
it's october vacation after all and we are enjoying the leisure mornings and different programs in the afternoon. a good start into this week was yesterdays house chores, lots of laundry and some cleaning there will be an other task morning on thursday, as the three younger kids and me are going to pack the veggie-baskets on the farm where we have get our share. and guests for lunch on friday as well as joel is going to play music a chollerhalle on friday and an other pub on saturday night.
yup, lots of exciting things happening this week, including some bulb planting and brush cutting, as the garden has to be cleaned up at some point this fall. but for today, it was all very little tasks, and a lot of yummyness for all.

weekending

we ventured out, up above the city, a bit further as i usually know my ways. not far though, and a lush spot which our friends visit frequently. wonderful evening sun, great view for an october day which started out with autumn fog. it was after 3pm when it cleared out, though then it turned out to be a gorgeous evening! mother nature put on her best evening robe...
as the kids had lots of fun rolling down the hillside, we parents had a blast watching them. for certain there is not much which can top this. sitting in the sunshine, getting a fire going, playing with what ever is right in front of one and doing so with good friends.
of course not just rolling down the hill, but making smoke signals and other experiments with a camp fire. eating pumpkin soup and grilling sausages. savoring a good aged french cheese which our friend was bringing home from his hiking trip in the french alps. we call this weekending!

thank you b's we enjoyed the place and you all very much!

{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.

my rosehip wreath

last year i had to trim my bushy rose in the garden. this year, it wasn't needed that much, so there was not enough  material to bind a wreath. i was pondering this for a while, as it turned out so nice last year, and i just figured i would not want to be without the pretty red rose hips this year either.
what to do...
there is me, running in the woods three times a week and of course i keep my eyes open, while doing so. of course i have seen the big entangled wild roses. while they blooming, and for the past weeks the color has come out very strong and i love this red. it's all over the place at this time of year. maybe it's for the red that i love autumn...
so this afternoon, i ventured out there to the hedge, a bit out of town, though not far. scissors and gardening cloves in my little pouch, as i wanted to be "armed" for the pulling and cutting. it was not too hard, a few scrapes and some bleeding, but that almost has to happen, when working with roses, doesn't it.

and a moment later, the entrance to the house has a new face, the autumn face, i'm happy with the look.

life and expieriencing water paints

since i remember, she has been painting, loving the process of applying color, mostly acrylic, to a big a surface as possible. she loved layering and the strong pigments, like here...
still she loves painting, lately she has been shifting a bit more toward drawing. and she is discovering how she can let steam off by taking to the paints, how she can find calm within herself by picking up a brush. so to no surprise, naomi asked for water paints and the needed brushes. i was able to dig up some materials and even found a few sheets of water painting paper and then i remembered the book i once got at a yard sale, on water painting techniques. nothing really specific, just some basic guidelines. for myself, i never learned the basics of water painting from scratch, just bits and pieces. and i do not master it at all. never mind, let the girl explore the new path, was my take on this all.

she started to take the watering part of the technique very seriously and experimented freely with it. wonderful and just so liberating to watch her do this. leaving through the book and figuring out how to do this and that with water before paints and with white out, using a pencil outline or not, endless options.

at the end she cleaned up, after about 2h of concentrated work in the garden. she commented to me: "mama this was fun, and i feel so much better".
grand just wonderful to see her and experience her growing and finding her ways of coping with life!

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.