my neighbor :: her succulents

my neighbor has started those wonderful little hens and chicks. last summer in a big tray, lots fo little chicks were planted in a bit of sandy soil and now look at what she has been planting over the weekend!

i'm in awe and even more so, as all the pots are self made concrete pots. very delicate and simple looking, and so pretty. just lovely and exciting, that we will be using them to decorate for our fest by mid june.

those potted succulents are not the end, she also planted a few of the "left over" ones in my garden.... thank you k. as it is wonderful to have the hardy succulents, they survive even our swiss winter.

ICAD week 1

it's all in progress and going on, having fun and working on some index cards. inspired by ICAD 2016, i got inspired to get creative, just a bit, every day for 60 days starting june 1st. so here we are the first week already passed and i have fun.
i do take some prompts but just as a kicker to get started, the last week was about lists and typewriter, at least that's what prompted me....
it has been good to get the water paints out, some fine markers and of course the mechanical typewriter, which amos uses regularly has been wonderful. and then there has been a book, it's "Einbruch der Wirklichkeit" by Kermani Navid, a book about the refugees trekking through europe, written just a few months ago and illustrated with photos by moises saman.

not that i tried to take it that far, but i was thinking a lot about the text and somehow came up with painting holes or maybe air bubbles..... breathing space.

the week :: trough 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. a casserole full of flowers, a wonderful early summer collection

:: 2. the shutter switch, just installed and yeah! it works

:: 3. our lovelies grow and after some teenager baldness, they get prettier agai


just three this week, i have not had the camera handy on two days....

automated shutter

the chickens have grown so much, they are doing well and love to go out of the coop on their own. for right now, this is perfect, lots of digging and scratching. so much to discover and mostly, one can see, how much they love their freedom of movement. running, almost taking off with their wings flapping and sunbathing must be a chickens leisure and enjoyment.

joel has been thinking of an automated coop shutter, for a long time, a very long time. finally things fall into place, the recovered motor (4 years ago) from an abandoned shooting range is exactly what is being upcycled and put to good use again.
all kinds of little things like a "raspberry pi" switches and wires, springs and lots of creativity. joel programmed the shutter control and is now able to close and open the coop from his celly.... not that i'm that eager, but of course this is handy. i'm all for, not giving the fox a heads up, on an open coop shutter. and last night i heard the marten run on our roof, so it is important to be able to close that shutter and keep the chickens safe in the coop.
as i'm not too keen on operating the shutter with a phone or computer, he was so kind, to install a switch right outside on the coop.
i'm sure there will be lots of fun and great excitement to open and close our chicken coop...

pearls for the birthday

my sister in law had her 40th birthday and we planned a little visit late at night, leaving our kids at home in bed.....
of course thea had to craft something for her aunt and it was clear what she wanted before i could even think of anything. "mama may i get the beads out?" and there we were sitting at the tray with beads. i had to thread the needle and off she was, sorting and threading, designing and adjusting. i absolutely love the result and felt like, i wanted to keep the jewelry made by my daughter.
but of course not! it is specifically for aunt t, as one turns only once 40. and so we carried the present along and made the aunt happy late at night once more, as she has had lots of visitors, lots of presents and lots of love being poured out all day long. yes, and that is, what birthdays are all about, isn't it!

the week :: trough 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. every year in late spring the gold is hanging low

:: 2. the many purple balls are new this year, the "harvest" of last autumns work

:: 3. my little hoop collection...

:: 4. iced coffee with a glass straw, "das höchste der gefühle" on a hot day

:: 5. the pretty guy

stitching with liberty

i started on this hoop long just about a year ago. yes some projects take long and even longer and they are still fun and exciting. this one with the wonderful liberty of london fabrics is one of them.
it has traveled with me to many places. and never was i working for multiple hours on it, more like a few stitches here, a few more there. finally a month ago i was ordering the big hoop,
that was an other thing i didn't plan. the piece grew and outgrew my available hoops, so i had to order a bigger size, then forgot to pick it up at the store. an other week later they called and this was it. i picked it up and didn't put it down until the work was done and happily hung up next to my other creative stitching projects. all somewhat small and done with scraps and ideas growing while working.

now, i'm starting to think of an other summer craft...
any ideas out there?

pop::over

 

ideas come and ideas float, ideas go and pop up again. it so happened with baking and things to make in our house. naomi is a maker and loves to cook. baking has been more of amos domain. never mind, we all love to eat and share food with each other.

and so it happen, that naomi got all the ingredients ready, the recipe on the counter on saturday night, that she would be ready for baking and serving warm pop overs on sunday morning.

and so it happened, without me even having to get up and running, the pop overs turned out wonderfully warm and popping. a tweak in the recipe didn't bring them to fall. an encouragement for the baker to make them again.

such experiences are great. preparing food for friends, for family or anyone else and seeing how the people love what one prepared is such a strong emotion. i love it and i'm sure anyone else would too. at least naomi was super happy and brought a basket full over to her friends house.

get started cooking and baking, it's a booster for self esteem!

flower boxes

it has gotten late this year, very lat, usually i planted the flower boxes by the end of April or the first week of May. But this year i got sick and all of a sudden i was not able to keep any of my plans in line. the to do list grew and my strength has not fully come back. but i went to the weekly market into town and bought wonderful plants. on satruday i was planting and loved it. it is definitely one of my favorite spring time activities.
a first for this years planters, i mixed the flowers with a herb in each box. so there is lots of geranium, some simple leavy hangers, dill, oregano and verbena and i'm looking forward to the way the plants are growing and either loving the mix or die. it sounds a bit sad but i guess that might be the case. i did not a lot of research but rather just bought what i liked and felt like would fit.

by the way, the tomato plants are doing fine and i will plant them in the big pots next weekend, if the temperatures will permit.

while i was planting, joel put up a brand new chicken fence and it looks good. much stronger then the first one and also a bit higher, iti's 120cm this time, with a kind of wiggly top part, this should keep the fox from climbing it. so far we have not had the chickens out just within the fenced area. they are still being carried out to the smaller wire mesh guinea pic cage. we are looking forward to them being big enough to roam on their own.

a leisur sunday afternoon

those are definitely some of the best times. hang around the garden, loving the quiet and being, just being. no program, no planned party, good weather and having someone else prepare food!
joel had the bright idea, of getting the mini grill out...
amos immediately caught fire and the two of them were all into grilling. sausages were quickly put on the "pins" and it did not take very long for him to call for them to be ready. a wonderful local beer, some corn chips and seasonal veggies were on the menu. just finger foods and that is perfect with all of us. no dish washing after lunch... that's one thing thea specifically likes, eating with her hands, getting to it, without having to tinker with utensils!

and for a second course or rather calling it dessert, were grilled bananas, o so very yummy!

there was lots of talking, and a bit later the grandparents showed up for coffee and mid second desserts... well we all have a sweet tooth and so, no one minded that third course.

the week :: through the lense

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. snails pace... i love to observe those animals

:: 2. there are baby birds in this nest, above our veranda door, it's a "hausrotschwanz"

:: 3. a colony of bees, while visiting the farm of my brother

:: 4. working and thinking

:: 5. the portland pullover, as well as a quick way to put up my hair...

the chickens are out!

our little chickens moved out of the living room. it was so sunny, so warm and we could not resist but bring them out to the lawn, maybe i should call it a meadow.....
they were first uncertain and needed to figure out how to walk on soft grass, but managed quickly. not just walking on grass but picking and eating was the next experiment, of course, they are chickens after all. lots of fun and excitement all afternoon. the girls herded the chicks and learned them some tricks.

and now their now home is the coop, still with the warming lamp installed. the nights are cold and they definitely need the warmth from it.
lots of happiness lots of room, left to grow and mature.

the season....

it's the season of tall meadows, lots of flowers are in bloom and it's wonderful to smell and feel early summer this way. dandelions are in all stages and lots of them call for a big blow or breeze to get the seeds traveling.
it is a constant reminder to me, how nature is taking care of life going on, if not right then and there, where the mother plant has grown, then maybe just a few inches over there or here. and some of those wonderful traveling/flying seeds, will be whirled up and go on a wonderful journey to settle in a new and unknown territory. and that is what life is about. each person has a calling and journey and so i grow and mature, when time is right, i will let go and leave what is known and trusted to venture and journey be it near of far from "home". and maybe a strong breeze blows me much farther as expected...

apple blossom

we had all kind of weather over the long weekend. and the photos are not from the past two day, as the apple blossom are gone by now. mostly gone i have to say, some late kinds of apples are still in bloom, but our tree is definitely "gone". it was a wonderful time and hearing the bees buzz was a big pleasure to me. here now, just the photos, all else is memory.

we had slow days and that was very good, i'm still resting a lot, as i'm not absolutely recovered from the cold i got 2 weeks ago. i'm still drinking thyme and sage tea, slippery elm and gurgle salt water, inhale eucalyptus vapor and eat a light diet. my family is very understanding and so i just keep a low profile in and around the house. amos is back from a four day camp over the weekend, very happy, very tired and i really miss elias. he is in the us, a student exchange for three weeks. and to add a perk, we were able to schedule a week in boston for him. we are all happy for him to be able to visit friends and places where he started to venture about before he turned ten.l

spring is still in full swing, lots of rain has been dumped on us last week and we look forward to sunnier weather again. maybe we will get some.

the week :: through the lense

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. lilac season, memories of the arboretum flare up

:: 2. fiddle head a work of art i admire each time i see it

:: 3. a cheer to my almost vegan chocolate cake....
       (it would have been a vegan recipe, but i had to tweak it a bit)

:: 4. this was the last 12 days, mostly in bed

:: 5. my view