burgers are special

we are not a family, eating burgers regularely. it's about once or twice a year, when the time is just right and all the ingredients are in the house as the idea gets stewed, of grilling burgers...
and so it was this past weekend. just right and everything needed in the house.
joel in the spirit of making a fire for grilling and fresh juicy tomatoes on the window sill, waiting to be enjoyed, some lettuce and lots of different sauces to choose from. even spicy sauteed peppers were on hand and then for the ones of us who really like a warm side dish, there was "kraut" i made it from blue cabagge with a bit of cider, so it was not soure at all.
it might have been one of the last opportunities this autumn to sit outside for dinner, not yet in the dark and still without having to wrap up in a warm woolen sweater. that kind of weather has approached today and yes i would not want to sit outside tonight, in a drizzle and the dark cool air...

i had my "joel assembled" lens on the camera body, and yes really love the result.
Canon Lens FL 55mm 1:12 (with selfmade paper rim)

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. tuesday evening

:: 2. dinner at our friends house, o so delicious and nurturing

:: 3. having a good time with Amos and Naomi in Zurich

:: 4. my sister in law gifted me with her own wool!

 

:: 5. and i got package returned to me, which i sent out to south-africa on may 8th.... well i will send it again and we will see and wait

fountains in zurich

i had to drop off some books a library in zurich today. the trip into the city could not just consist of, returning books, there had to be a bit more to it. amos and naomi decided yesterday, that the two of them would acompany me. what to do with two teenagers in a big city, which they don't know and i don't just wanted to run from one brand name store to an other. there was bit of looking around on my side, and quickly, the idea was born to walk by fountains. the city's water department has those really cool and useful maps of wells and fountains. i printed the one for "kreis 1", the area i had to go for returning the books.
of course, naomi thought it very boring and not needed, to have a plan. but i didn't just want to drop my so creative idea, of discovering a new place... and yes all those fountains and many more (1200 on city grounds) have drinking water! (and an other nice page to read about fountains in zurich)

we had a good time and really enjoyed the walk in the wonderful autumn sun of today -my birthday-

:: manessebrunnen from 1931, the sculpture is made out of rock from bodio, GR

:: stüssibrunnen 1575, the only fountain in zurich with multiple colors, with stüssi towering on top of it, he was the first mayor of the city.

:: schipfe

:: winzerbrunnen 1908, this is a replica of the fountain in bruck an der mur (1626 steiermark austria). it honors the place where there has been taken place the wine trade of the city

:: geiserbrunnen 1911, designed by jakob brüllmann a native of weinfelden (eastern switzerland) and known for his works of war memorials after the first world war in gemrany.

:: kleiner brunnen mit möve 1938, by otto münch

:: wasserspiel - sechseläutenplatz 2013, very cool and tempting to run through the wonderful squirting water...

a few more postcards

a few more pictures taken this morning, while climbing for an other geo cache. and to the pure joy of the todays morning.

more postcards

a friend took us along to find a geo cache "lost place", and it was so lost that we didn't find it. did not matter, we had a perfect time. great exploration and playing with that white "flour"...
thank you N for taking us along.

i'm glad that there those little expeditions we take, besides enjoying the beach. a bit of an explorer spirit catches me too, when i see ruins and old buildings, lost places like this alunite mine.
i'm still knitting, we are digging and swiming, playing beach volley ball and talking with friends deep into the night.

Postcards from Tuscany

and we absolutely enjoy the warmth and the sand sitting and swimming, climbing and running, knitting and playing games. fall vacation in the south

under construction V

and as i write this post, the builders are aldready taking the scaffolding down. at the end it all went very quick. and even with the best kind of weather that we could have wished for.
our roof is brand spanking new, including the six windows (uups, no one of them we could reuse and the carpenters did a fine job fitting that one in just perfect).
for certain the roof is leak proof as it has been raining a lot on it, without the roof tiles beeing up. the metal workers closed the last few corners yesterday and we had to cut some chicken wire crumple it up and stuff it into two little corners. i'm glad the workers remembered, as it prohibits the weasle and the marten to enter into the roof and make their homes under the tiles. not to say, that i really like those little furry animals, but please use the wood pile or any other nature given resource to build your home and habitat, not my roof...

a little celebration at the end was called for. and that is definitely the easiest for me to contribute to the success of this renovation. a big thank you to all those skilled workers, making our house safe again for a long time to come.

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...

- it's all red - 

:: 1.  the beauty of cooler nights and still warm days

:: 2. the clear sign of "becoming" a rooster

:: 3. autumn on the table

:: 4. new and shiny, all the copper the metal workers mounted on our roof 

:: 5. (more blue than red) the wool is ready to come along to vacation with me. a few more days in the sousthern areas of europe. it will be good to get as much sun as i possibly can get hold for, winter will be long...

colors for me

it still is tomato harvest and with some wonderful feta cubes and fresh basil, sea salt, a dash of white balsamico and a bit more olive oil, this is a favorite for everyone at our table.
for me it's not just the taste of summer, already in autumn, but the colors too. it is a feast for my eyes and so we will enjoy some more tomato dishes tomorrow...

for dinner i sauteed mini patisson, with onions, not very picturesque, just white in white. and then there is lots of different green lettuce being served. mostly twice a day. i like to serve all the fresh vegetables and am glad, that thea loves all kinds of salads. she definitely prefers raw vegetables over cooked ones. and an other thing with vegetables, they need to be served with sauce or dressing (in case of a salad). this is very important to be able to soak the bread and enjoy the whole meal fully...
i don't know where she got that idea, but she is fixed on sauce and bread and usually over joyed if easy avalable.
it has frequently been helpful, as she can be tempted into eating mostly everything, if there is sauce available. and this is definitely a plus when eating out or being guests at a strangers house. so, for her, it's not the color, but the amount and taste of the sauce.

evening all around

that's just about what it looked a couple hours ago...
what a day, so many different activities. i guess i could rather say tasks and teaching were happening. and me in the middle of it. biking here and there to be quick and serving coffee, sitting down with my niece for a late breakfast. cooking lunch and everyone loving it (for a change i took the griddle out and made nice piece of meat....) even naomi complimented me on it. i guess she has been missing it, without me noticing really, or rather deciding not to notice. maybe i will take out the griddle more frequently and earn points with my daughter.

as it was astonishing tonight, to look into the north-west and see the sky after sun down, it was not less impressive to watch the moon rise in the south-east. a full moon coming up behind those trees and being just how such a celestial body would want to show itself to me. since that hour, while taking the photos (of course standing on the scaffolding on the top...), i have been looking out the windows a few times and it is still awe striking. the big moon looking down to me. i'm glad it's quiet in the house, thea in bed and i can stand still and stare!

under construction IV

in the morning, it started out with a bit of rain, but the workers all knew that there is more to come...
as for me, i had a few things to do in the city and as catious as i was, took the bus instead as usual my bike. i do prefere the bike, it's so much faster and riding along the bike path is good for my soule.
but the rain was not waiting until the roof shingles were unloaded up on the roof. it poured down like it hat not over a few weeks. a long hour of, water coming down for those hard labourers on our roof. and it could not be moved by an hour or two, as the truck was here and the driver wanted to unload now and not first take a coffee hour...

when i came back at 10am it looked like this and the rain almost stopped!
i really felt for those guys, all dripping as if we would have picked them out of a rushing river.
at least the weather was getting better (honestly it just could get better), and by the afternoon it was sunny and the sunglasses had to be put on. well, it has been like that with the renovation of our roof, mostly extrems of weather, either rain as here or than hot and everyone an ice creme and lots of water.
it's the last few days and we already enjoy the new roof windows. tomorrw the painter is pealing off all the tape from the window panes. the frames look new and shiny. next week the scaffolding is taken away. we will be on vacation and the cleaning will have to wait... :)

dinner in the woods

like every first sunday night, we have dinner with our community folks. it's the people of our house, as well as our neighbors next door. one month joel and i are cooking and organizing and the other month the friends next door. so yesterday we could relax and just tag along... (which i really enjoyed a lot!)
they cooked a wonderful chilli and brought everything up to a near by fire place with a grand view over our town (or at least a corner of the city...).
for some of us it was a bit of a straineous hike up the hill, but most of us made it with joy and welcomed the change of scenery. a lovely late afternoon in autumn, still warm enough to not bundle up and the colors starting to paint the woods around us.

eating, talking and enjoying each other companie, singing around the camp fire and the best of all, walking home in the dark. the moon is still waxing, not yet a full round disk. i love the darkness of the forest, the paths almost not visibale (but it's one of my regular running paths, so for me it was easy to walk in the dark). and to look at the city with all it's lights, but still somewhat quiet, as it was sunday night... it's a sweet spot here, where we live. and i'm really thankful for the place, the people and all there is around me.