in the valle verzasca

we spent last week in the south of switzerland, camping in a camper, enjoying the wonderful landscape and some warm and sunny weather. yes it was raining a lot on sunday and monday, especially during the nights. and yes it was wonderful to be sure the camper didn't leak. we were able to enjoy the force of nature, the pounding of the big raindrops, the strong winds and thunderstorms. we did go on a long bus ride on monday and enjoyed a great view of many water falls. there were many more as usually seen in the maggia valley, as i sad spectacular.
most of the photos on this post were from the walk in the verzasca valley. on wednesday we took the bus to brione and walked for a good 4hours along the river verzasca. a wonderful path along this wild river and we had to cross some water falls, where usually it's dry, though this past week there was water flowing ankle deep!
lots of adventures, discovering the art along the path was super cool. and parts of the path were a bit more challenging in regards to the terrain, though as it has been late in the season, or i would say after season, we were almost on our own. perfect to see natures carving, as well as human made bridges!

the ponte dei salti da lavertezzo:

my day

after a week away and a long day at the stoparmut-umwelt conference, i was so happy to just sit in our garden and celebrate with everyone showing up. first my parents, and of course that was exciting, as they have been in brazil, working at a childrens home for the past two weeks. and my mom's birthday was mid week too. so lots to celebrate and talk and laugh and just be together.
a funny thing happen, it was my "turquoise birthday"! i was given a wonderful turquoise book "eine geschichte der welt in 100 objekten". naomi was sewing a quilty little place mat. all on her own, and a wonderful color combination! a wonderfully soft knit cotton hand towel and then a birthday card with a turquoise bicycle on it! thank you to my girlfriends, who care for me and my family just being there to celebrate. oh, how do i love company and some yummy meal, dessert or what ever else!

and you know what, that was not the end, late night, there came a couple friends over to share their time with me. thank you taking the moment and stopping by my kitchen.

the brown around us

there is brown in brown, lighter and darker shades of plain and fallow colors around me. it's sad and though still enjoyable to me. texture is giving the surrounding more and more it's character. be it the barren branches of the apple trees, an old and very stinging looking thistle at the way side or the plowed and readied field, which is by now already planted again with seeds. i love the change, especially around the fields be it grass or barren soil. the process of harvesting, plowing and sowing is wonderful.
the running helps in all this, i feel much more connected again, since i'm out there at least 3 times a week. not just looking out the window and knowing it's raining, sunny or windy. but being exposed and loving the wind in my face (not so much the rain..), but feeling close to where i belong.

we are headed south on a little family vacation, so much for this week.

{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.

packing the veggie baskets

the three younger kids and i went to talheim to the farm where we get our weekly vegetable basket from. though for right now, the farm is not producing much, the coop buys from local farmers and a hand full of volunteers a packing the basket each thursday morning. it's a great way to get the kids involved, if not in verggiegardening, then at least in packing and knowing where our meals come from.
we had a lovely morning, a nice instructor helping us along, as we packed over 120 baskets. butternut squash, red bell peppers, chilli, italian lettuce, potatoes, onions, kale and sweet corn. an extravagant basket it is this week, there is so much and i'm looking forward to soup and casseroles!


of course a quick brake with some home made mint-lemon tea was a great treat. thank you to the kitchen of the "holzlabor".

and yes those wonderful free ranging mangalitsa pigs (on the second photo, taken by naomi), they belong to the farm too and everyone loves them. it was super exciting to watch them enjoy the digging and running in their pasture. such a wholesome place to take the kids for work and enjoyment.

red october

a walk in the neighborhood and lots of red is looking at me. it will be seen and i love to see all the red leafs and berries. even the crab apple is by now very dark red, as it has been a light red with orange tones just a week ago.
maybe that's what i like so much in october, the changing of color. as the air gets cooler nature "warms up", a delightful change of scene is happening.
my morning runs are almost like a visit at an art studio, where a painter is working on a big canvas. as one works with oil paints, it is wonderful to keep working over a longer time span and change the painting again and again. so it is with nature, right now is a very intense change going on, and until a certain point (which will be soon) the color is improving and getting more intense.

though there will be the moment, when everything is going to turn and change once more, it will be quick. the first frost will be the initiator, not one cold spill has been here and there is non in the forecast. fine with me, i love long warm octobers.

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!