zaubernuss - witchhazel

taking a walk

i know i don't often write posts about outdoor things with my family - i hope you don't think that we never spend time together doing nice things, just because i mostly post about my yarny and non-yarny crafts. the truth is that i usually forget to take the camera when we go for walks together...

it's quite shocking how little i actually know our area! R is sadly not a great walker (maybe because she has to do it so much - we don't have a car so we walk and the kids have a choice to take their bikes or not) which means we often stay on our usual, well known paths, where i know she can walk all the way.

we've enjoyed the most glorious golden autumn weather for the past week or two - in the sun it was almost hot! - and last weekend we took a steep little lane into the woodland that we'd never walked up before.

it looks like this land leads into the middle of nowhere but there are actually houses and people living there at the end of it...

this foresty passage opens out onto a meadow, scattered with patches of trees and lined with hedgerows. it's a lovely spot...

rosehip are gleaming scarlet amongst the greenish yellow, orange and brown foliage.

there is this magnificent oak right beside the lane.

the colours around us are just stunning at the moment:

this is the view to the hills on the other side of the valley in which we live:

i assume that by now, just a few days later, it's looking much more yellow already. there are so many leaves on the ground as well and when it's dry the kids like to swirl them up, of course.

(never mind the ugly houses in the back there... lots of rich people building houses on these hill sides in the last decades. i've seen pictures of them with barely a house on them...)

lots of fabulous trees up here:

i particularly liked this dead tree standing in a patch of upturned earth, looking like it's been magically transferred to us from a mythical swamp...

even though the trees in this particular patch of woodland are all looking pretty young, there is a magical quality to them. they all look rather gnarly and a little twisted and growing out of control. it's all very pixie-ish... but the light may be enhancing that effect quite a bit. it was just lovely...

it was just such a wonderful time, spent in such beautiful scenery with my favourite three people... we chatted and laughed and discovered and spotted and explained things. it was fabulous!

 

lots of love! xxx

 

p.s.: i found this leaf in our driveway this morning. isn't it just gorgeous?

strawberries and jam

on the fist weekend of july my mum, my sister and i drove about one-and-a-half hours up into the higher parts of lower austria to pick strawberries. it's a little cooler up there which means the strawberries ripen more slowly and later than they do hereabouts in the flat lowlands around vienna.

my mum took some photos of the field i think but i didn't get a chance to load them onto my computer yet.

we picked two of those wooden baskets each and then my mum bought each of us a pre-picked one on top of that. i don't know how much i ended up with in kg but it was a lot! we ate so many strawberries!

in the above picture i'm in the process of sorting some of them for making jam. i started with the pre-picked basket: the most perfect ones went into the white-and-green "gmundner" bowl for eating just like that, the not so perfect ones went into the strainer for washing, and quite a few went into my mouth.

i plucked the stems, washed and chopped the berries, weighed them (1kg), put them into a large pot and gave them a good mash with a potato masher. i wanted the jam to be not entirely smooth but not super chunky either.

i followed the instructions on the packaging of the gelling agent. (because i had enough normal sugar i didn't want to buy the special sugar that has the gelling stuff added to it already which all the supermarkets sell throughout summer and autumn so people can make jams and jellies.)

i washed my small collection of pretty and special jars (i have a small collection of pretty and special jars) with very, very hot water and boiled their lids.

then i scooped the boiling hot jam into some of the jars - washing gloves still on because you know... hot!

and because there were some jars still empty when the pot was i did the same thing again with another kilo of strawberries. (although i had to get two more jars that were not so pretty and special.)

the whole of it didn't even take one-and-a-half hours. which makes me think that i could make jams and jellies (or compote) more often. we always used to when i was little - we hardly ever had store-bought jam...

of course we started with the jar that didn't get filled all the way...

we're on jar three already.

yum...

june already...

i have just looked back and wondered why i haven't posted in such a long time. my last post is from april 24^th and that explains it somewhat i think (at least to me): on april 24^th we had the first run of presidental elections here in austria, which would not normally have caused such a long absence from my blog - or have anything to do with it in general because i want to keep my blog a cosy place full of warm and snuggly things and politics just don't have anything to do here... i will make an exception for now.

there was no definite result on april 24^th and there was a run-off ballot scheduled for may 22^nd. when it comes to politics i often say things like: "i don't care." or "i'm not interested." but between april 24^th and may 22^nd i realised that my saying that is really just a mode of self defence against the frustration about and fear of the state of things in our... well... state. i did care and was interested - a lot and without being concious of it at first and without being able to do anything about it really once i was concious of it, i spent the four weeks between the polls in general nervousness. i felt like i was sitting on a hairbrush... and it was really hard to sit down and concentrate on anything. it's silly, i know, especially since there was nothing for me to do other than go and make my cross in the little circle next to the name i thought was the right one but i really just wanted it to be over for now. and when the results where officially announced i literally felt the hairbrush disintegrating under my bum... phew...

we have an inn close by that recently refurbished and is now a combination of an inn and an antique store/yard sale. i bought the above sofa there in the middle of march and payed for it with the money i had gotten from my mum for an ordered pair of socks only the day before. it was love at first sight: i was on my way to pick up T from kindergarten, saw it standing on the sidewalk and thought i should buy it instantly but then i would have been late. so i decided to buy it should it still be available on our way back. it was still available and when i paid it i told the owner i would come back in the afernoon to pick it up. then i called my mother to ask her help (and car - because we, both my husband and i, don't drive) for getting it home. it only then occured to me that i should call my husband and tell him that i had just bought a sofa - haha!

we all love it and refer to it as the "Kuschelsofa" (= cuddle sofa) which comes from "Schlapps und Schlumbo" which is a cd my kids - especially R - love to listen to. Schlapps (she) and Schlumbo (he) are felt slippers who live in a skyblue house with a bright red chimney and they sleep on their Kuschelsofa. the story starts with them having an argument about Schlumbo's foot being on Schlapps's side of the sofa which results in them thinking their sofa is too small and they have to go in search of Vielbesser Land (= much better land) to buy a bigger, wider, more beautiful and generally much better one. they set off and meet lots of other creatures in lots of other lands - a woodpecker in the wood land, a mouse in the field land, a carp in the water land, a cactus in the dessert land, and many more. they all have their perfect sofas but none of them suit the felt slipper couple. they walk all the way round the mountain and don't find Vielbesser Land until they end up at their own house again and realise they always had the best sofa of them all from the start. and they don't have arguments about who has how much room any more...

it's an adorable story and i think every family needs their own Kuschelsofa. (most of them do anyway i think - they just might not call it that...)

then i bought this lovely chest of drawers a little while back. there, too, was an instant click but i didn't buy it right away. i walked past it a couple of times with a little sigh, thinking i can't keep buying furniture just because it's there and i like it. but then i couldn't resist any longer and got it anyway. it lives in our bedroom for the present and i think might also end up there when we move to our new place.

there is good news on that front: it will be ready to move into not at the end of november as we were told at first but at the end of september already. we will have enough time now during the next couple of months to get rid of stuff and to start packing up and then we will have time to unpack and settle in and make everything comfortable in time for christmas.

and now back to the yard sale inn:

they sell lots and lots of dishes of all shapes and sizes and it's mostly single pieces. the above plate was the first one i bought. the second and third i got for my mum's birthday in the middle of may. (one of those is actually a platter of about half a meter in diameter that you would use to serve a selection of cakes or cold meats and cheese or something. i forgot to take pictures of them though. i'll think of it next time i'm at my mum's i hope.)

and then all went crazy:

i love the above three especially. they are all handpainted and of different size. the top one is great for dinner, the middle one for breakfast and the third one for supper (usually on the sofa when the kids are in bed already).

and these two are just so funky and colourful and busy. i love how they are so similar but different. they are great for cake.

oh... and then i bought a beautiful wooden bowl that we use when we watch a movie and have crisps and this old "Gmundner" bowl which has great size and shape for pasta, salad or soup. (Gmunden is a city in Upper Austria that is famous for its tableware.)

(do you like my little girl's artwork on the wall...?)

i know this may seem a little bonkers to some people but to me selecting a dish to eat from or a cup or glass to drink from adds to my comfort like choosing the clothes i want to wear... eating or drinking from a piece of tableware that i like particularly makes the whole experience a lot more enjoyable just as wearing nice and comfortable clothes makes it more enjoyable to leave the house (or wear clothes in general)...

i can't believe it's june already... it's basically summer and there are only four! more weeks of school (which is only great news when you think with the brain of a student - for a teacher it means rapidly increasing stress levels) and six more of kindergarten.

i was a little late in planting some nasturtiums this year - at least i did plant some because last year i didn't plant anything unless you want to call moving little strawberry plants into a bigger pot planting...

T and R helped shoveling soil into pots back in april. we re-potted little strawberries this year too and T placed the nasturtium seeds, covered and watered them. at first i thought they wouldn't grow at all because nothing happened for such a long time but they are growing well now:

(i have to dead-head the daisy in the back there.)

i also have some lovely (gardencenter bought) million bells. the big orange, yellow and white one was a gift from my wonderful mum. when they didn't have orange ones in the small pots she insisted on getting me the huge one that had orange flowers in abundance... i love my mum...
the pink one with the yellow centers has at least tripled in size already - it will probably grow as big as the orange one - and for the blue pot i didn't have a place to hang so the slugs got to it and munched away. million bells seem to be very tasty...

my pink clematis is flowering like crazy with many more to come. (it's actually not mine but the garden's but i like to say mine because i love it so much.) next spring i'm going to plant one of those in our new garden.

the kids rediscovered their old toddler slide which has not been really interesting to them at all for months now. T is almost as long as the slide but his new game is to jump down onto the old mattress from our bed that we have outside. it's worn out and dirty by now but still great for jumping on and it doesn't matter when the kids throw sand on it or run over it with their shoes on. and when we want to lounge in the sun i just spread a big picnic blanket over it and it's great.

(don't worry - for the jumping activity i moved the slide closer to the mattress...)

yesterday we saw two of these large garden snails. apparently they found each other during the night:

T spotted them when we went outside in the late morning today and i was glad he didn't ask anything about them smooching each other like that... not that i have a problem explaining that sort of thing to him - i was glad i didn't have to anyway... i hope they didn't think me rude for taking photos of them although they didn't seem to notice anything besides themselves and each other... hihihi!

i like snails. i don't care much for slugs but snails are awesome... even though they too eat things a gardener might not be that happy about - good thing i'm not really a gardener then, right?

i'll be back soon. i have lots of crochet and sock knitting to show you and the first photos of our new - though unfinished - appartment.

until then: have a great time!

various and flowery things

i stole the first bunch of lilacs this year. i'm not gonna lie: i do steal lilacs from hedges in spring. not from front yards of other people's houses, but from hedges along the fences of building sites, wild shrubberies or green grassy strips that belong to the sidewalk and are therefore common rather than private properties. no harm done, i'm sure, and i love the scent of them... these four or five twigs sit in a bottle on the corner shelf in the living room now and smell divine.

we've had a lot of bright, sunny and almost summery warm days throughout april. the occasional rain made everything grow and shoot up and become lush and fresh and green. i love the green of spring. there are so many shades of it, all bright and transluscent. during summer the greens tend to get dark and muted and dusty like old velvet - but spring green is all crunchy like salad with a nice and slightly spicy vinaigrette...

when winter has its slow fade-out i'm always waiting and longing desperately for spring only to find myself suddenly in the middle of it, sometimes even amost at the end of it. the temperatures are running mad though: one afternoon you get over 20°C, maybe even 22 and the next day you're lucky to get 15°C. it's that time when you really don't know what clothes to put on yourself and the kids. on cold mornings you leave the house in full winter gear, coats, hats and scarves on (sometimes even gloves if you're a five-and-a-half-year-old who likes to dash about on his scooter playing high-speed-train) and then at lunchtime when you go out again to pick your son up from kindergarten you have to change completely because it's just to hot for jeans and sweater and coat. and then it is windier than you thought and you catch a cold again which you were so glad to be finally rid of...

(i wrote a rather long spring-post last year - where i went a little nuts with the photos if you'd like to take a(nother) look... and it's actually from a yarn-and-four-days ago. spring seems to have been a little earlier and quicker this year because the fruit trees are in full leaf already and the tulips are almost over again. funny how it's never quite the same and yet it still is in a way...)

there they are, my two sweet ones, shoveling soil into a flower-box to plant strawberries. they were very persevering and kept at it for quite a while. (we have to barricade the stairs to the upper garden to keep R from wandering off all by herself and into the neighbour's garden where there is a steep wall into their courtyard without a fence.)

we were able to eat outside in the middle of april! (my mum makes the most delicious salads.)

we haven't mowed the lawn yet and T has picked me lots of little bouquets of dandelions and daisies and pretty much anything that blooms...

(i was a little late with taking pictures of this one - it's a little wilted already.)

our local supermarket has the most wonderful, organically grown williams pears at the moment. they are delicious and juicy and have a lovely fruity-flowery scent. (T loves them while i have not yet figured out how to get R to eat raw fruit and vegetables.)

i finished the kiwi yarn socks, but haven't taken proper photos yet. what's left of the yarn should be enough for a pair of little socklets for me - and if it's not i can always go for a contrasting colour heel and toe. T loves his fox-sox so much, sweetly declaring he never wants to take them off when he first put them on, that i felt like i needed to make another pair for him right away. i let him choose the yarn again and of course he picked one that had lots of red and sparkle.
"you know, mama, just because it's actually christmas yarn doesn't mean i can't wear them all the time." he has the true spirit of a hand-knit-socker...

my other (second) sock in progress had to wait a little, poor thing just barely cast on, because i got sidetracked by the second part of the fairyland-series which is beyond awesome. it could be about the reproductive cycle of garden snails as long as it's written in this wonderful language! using lots of rather oldfashioned words, all swirly and full of ruffly petticoats and yet at the same time still very clear and to the point of things. full of imaginative metaphors, magic, and everything being alive. everything. even a dress.

if you want to get a whiff of the green wind you can read a short prequel of the series for free on tor.com called The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland - For a Little While - it's really worth it.

i hope your world is wonderful - wherever you are in it - or wherever it is.

socks #10 and works in progress

pair #40 - i can't believe it's that many already! - is made from Atelier Zitron Trekking XXL 565. i love this yarn. i love the colours, the random stripes, the fact that it absolutely doesn't matter if there's a knot in the ball where the yarn has been tied (to a new cone or because it broke somewhere in the machine during the process of winding) and there is a stretch of colour missing and you would never notice if you didn't knit it yourself and knew exactly where it was. if i designed sock yarn - and i would love to design sock yarn - this is the kind of yarn i'd go for... sorry to all the OCD sock matchers out there. hihi!
(these are caterpillar socks again and you can find instructions here if you'd like to make some too.)

i'm currently working on a pair of Opal Sweet&Spicy3 Kiwi socklets for my husband. yes - he chose the yarn himself. it's awesome and i love my husband even more for liking funky socks just as much as i do.

i'll cast on the second one tonight.

i've also started to knit a sweater for my little girl... i went online shopping for clothes for her a while ago and was really frustrated because there seem to be so little nice kids' clothes available these days. everything looks either like doll stuff or like miniature adult fashion. i know there are great companies that make awesome clothes for kids - using organic and locally sourced materials and everything and i'm really all for that - but as long as i need new clothes for my kids basically every three months i just can't afford those... i'd love to but that will have to wait until they stop growing that quickly. until then i'll just have to make their sweaters myself if i can - and it turns out i can:

i have knitted two sweaters before. one that took me forever because the yarn i used required 3,5mm needles and another that didn't take quite so long but turned out horrible beause of everything: yarn that looked and felt great in the ball but not when knitted, shape, pattern, fuzzyness... everything. so i kind of gave up on the whole idea of knitting sweaters for a while. then i found this post and absolutely loved this sweater made from sock yarn leftovers. i know - even thinner 2,5mm needles, but i'm used to those by now.

so i started searching for ways to make sweater knitting easier which meant: find a way around all the sewing of individual pieces. i did find patterns for sweaters made from sock yarn but didn't really like any of them. then i found a series for blog posts that teaches you to knit a top-down sweater (or cardigan) using any kind of yarn and needle size you may have in your stash (no more "i like the pattern but not the yarn", etc.) and you can add any kind of decorative elements (lace, cables, etc.) if you feel up to it. i read the entire instruction, made sure i understood all of it (it's really easy to understand and follow) and then i just used my calculator to do some basic math and figure out how many stitches i needed to make a sweater that will fit an almost two-and-a-half-year-old.
(another great thing about working top-down is that the bind-off is at the bottom hem and the wrists. should it get too short before it gets to tight i can just make it longer!)

i guess i just made that sound much more complicated that it actually is.

i guess i'll be done with the body really soon and can start the sleeves. i think i'll add a hood as well. i'm using my sock yarn leftovers and i just love how it's turning out. i almost wish i had made it bigger so i could keep it myself - hehe! - but i look forward to seeing my little one in it. T has already requested a sweater for himself when he saw me knitting on this and asked what it was. he was very cute and asked if it was for him when i told him i was knitting a sweater. when i said "no, it's for R." he asked why not for him and i explained that i had never made something like this before and wanted to start with the smallest size first to see how it goes. he's a very understanding boy and was satisfied to know that he will get one as well once this one is done. and the great thing is: i'm not scared of it any more! i'm actually looking forward to a whole load of handknitted sweaters in all shapes and sizes using all different kinds of yarns, with hoods or not, pouch pockets or not, ribbing or rolled edges, v-necks, round necks, boat necks... i'm turning into Mrs. Weasley...

this is on my spinning wheel at the moment - or rather was. i finished the single today and started navajo-plying right away. it's the finest single i've spun so far. the fiber is blue faced leicester which is lovely and easy to spin and has appropriately been named "rolling hills" by the dyer. 

i still have issues with the yarn being slightly overtwisted when plied but i'm working on it.

i can see lots of shawls knitted with handspun yarn in my future...

happy yarning everyone!

a little rant about the weather

on monday the weather was really nice for a change. it was sunny and quite warm and the kids could play outside until the late afternoon - which they did with lots of excitement.

this is the view we woke to on tuesday:

even the streets were covered. the walk to kindergarten was a nightmare that day! the sidewalks were mostly unswept, the snow was very wet and heavy. the buggy slipped and slithered and i occasionally had to push it diagonally because the wheels had no grip at all.

the snow was blowing from all sides, R cried most of the way home because she got the wind and the cold drizzle right in her face. i think it was the most exhausting walk i had in a long time - especially as i was feeling ill already and spent the bigger part of the rest of the day on the sofa with a terrible headache, sore throat, stiff neck and cold shivers. i didn't even feel like knitting - that's saying a lot...

i have to say i'm really sick of the cold and rainy weather! i had only observed the week before how many bushes and smaller trees had big buds and small fresh leaves already. the wild garlic is sprouting and in lots of front yards i saw big buds of daffodils, some of them open already... and then: SNOW! WHY? the kids got really excited about it and if it were the second half of december, or february, i would have been too. but in the middle of march...? NO!

well i guess at least it's now so it hopefully won't be in april or even may - which has been known to happen.

and what do you know...? it's friday and we are having the second day of sunshine and comparative warmth... so maybe the cold is finally over now! (i wish my cold was finally over now too...)

today was the last day of school (for my husband) and kindergarten (for T) and now we have easter holidays. finally...

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painted eggs and flowery snail shells

rambling on...

it's very odd... usually i start looking forward to the holiday season in the middle of october and forcefully keep myself from getting too excited about christmas already because i love autumn and when i start anticipating christmas in autumn i tend to overlook autumn itself and then i get sad about the fact that i missed it when it's over.

not this year... i took these photos on october 24^th. we went out for a walk up one of the hills that surround us here. the sky was blue and the sunlight was glaring and still very warm. i'm so very glad we took this walk because after a couple of very windy days during the week after that most of the trees were bare and all that was left was dry (or soggy wet) brown on the ground. T and R and i had great fun one day walking home from kindergarten whirling up dry leaves... i enjoyed autumn immensely this year. we even had our own tree with fall foliage in the living room:

(the tree will stay but the leaves will make way for christmas/winter related crafting projects like papercut snowflakes and some colourful birdies.)

this is towards the middle of november already and the last of the leaves are bravely holding on. the sun is setting early and the skies have mostly been storm grey... it's just stunning when the north sky turns dark and the last sunrays turn golden on whatever they hit...

november has been very weird: while we usually freeze our butts off at the annual town's fairground on the weekend of november 15^th, stomping our feet and clutching big mugs of steaming hot punch too keep warm while the kids have fun on the merry-go-round, this year we had up to 17°C! afternoon temperature. it was crazy...

T loved it (as usual). R was still a little sceptical - the whole idea of sitting in a fake car (or train or firetruck or tractor or racecar) and going somewhere (even when it's just round in circles) without mum was not so appealing to her... for me, somehow all the tinkle and twinkle, the bustle and the smell of sugar coated almonds and cotton candy never loses its charm... (until you are there and have to take care not to lose your kids in the crowds and keep them from eating a pound of sugar in one go of course.) no... it really was very nice to go there with the little ones and see T enjoy the rides and watch R get excited over a helium-balloon (until she accidentally poked it with the fork form the mini donuts she had somehow gotten hold of) and since it's only once a year...

another stunning sky...

now this is the end of november. this was our view last wednesday... everything was muted and freezing cold and covered in ice crystals. it's been a while since we've had this sort of white frost.

soo beautiful...

and then it started snowing on wednesday evening and T was very excited thursday morning and could not wait to leave for kindergarten - in full snow gear so he could get busy with the inch of snow that had fallen over night. even though i had the camera with me i forgot to take pictures... i don't know why... maybe it was because it was so lovely to walk under all the snowy trees. the wind occasionally blew some chunks of fluffyness off the branches and they came floating down so soft and gently... (the snow was very light and soft, kind of like the foam in a bubble bath.) R loved watching it, pointing and exclaiming excitedly. T had to brush snow off of everything within reach and wanted to start a snowball fight (once it had snowed some more). sadly towards the middle of the day it got a little warmer and it all melted away and for next week we have up to 12°C forecast... so no more snow in the near future...

it's the first sunday of advent this weekend and to be honest: it took me by surprise. not that i didn't know of course, but it came so suddenly in a way. it was "in 3 weeks" and then it was "next week" and now it's almost "tomorrow" and i feel like i'm not at all prepared for the holiday season... i have no decorations up, i have only a couple of ideas for christmas presents - most of them handmade which means rather time consuming, i'm not in the mood for baking and crafting at all. but i have decided that i won't let that bother me this year. i'm going to do everything one at a time and one after the other and when the mood strikes. because when i get stressed about christmas things and try to make christmasy things happen because i think they have to happen i get depressed because i can't enjoy it.

just like i can't enjoy autumn when i already feel like christmas - i can't enjoy christmas when i don't feel like christmas... what a dilema... hahaha!

all the things that bloom...

it was wonderfully summery (with up to 26°C on thursday) last week. it only cooled off yesterday and we had heavy rain. the kids had great fun with that...

(i'm doing a little rain-dance here...)

on tuesday it was gloriously sunny and warm and i took my time walking to kindergarten to pick up T and took a lot of pictures of the thriving life that surrounds us here:

i think this is an almond tree.

huge forsythia.

i'm starting to love dandelion very much...

no idea what this is but the colour is gorgeous.

lovely blue evergreen.

this must be some sort of flowering cherry.

no idea what this is either but the yellow frilly flowers are beautiful.

magificent magnolia. pity they wither so quickly.

my mum has some of these so i should remember what they are called - but i don't.

magenta coloured tulips outside the primary school.

more magnolias. T had to collect some of the pretty petals that had fallen down already. if only they stayed that nice and pink after pressing and drying.

these are the blooms of the maple tree. i never realised that until this year. they are of the most stunning poisonous green which i absolutely love.

some muscari under the aforementioned maple tree.

i think these are the flowers of a red maple.

some lovely lilac coloured wild flowers in a meadow.

cherry blossoms. they smell divine.

plum blossoms. they too smell delicious.

more flowering maple. isn't the colour just amazing?

the liverleaf made way for the wood anemones. millions of them as it seems.

in the afternoon we were at my mum's. her garden is an oasis. she also has green fingers. everything grows and blooms under her care.
this is a funny sort of magnolia. i love the frilly flowers.

the peach blossoms have one of the prettiest shades of pink.

golden red wallflower. they have a wonderful flowery scent.

bleeding heart - one of my favourites! they were my maternal grandmother's favourites too...

sweet clover is actually considered a weed i think. i like it a lot though. i'm a big fan of the pea family in general. i love how those flowers turn into the tiniest pods.

my mum has the most awesome lilac tree. it's flowers are white and the scent of any kind of lilac is among my favourite smells in the world. the tree also looks and feels very zen in a way...

i thought these are forget-me-nots but they aren't. no idea what they are though... but they are really cute and very small.

this appears to be a different kind of peach tree. my mum thinks this one might have sprouted from a pit that she planted on the off chance it would grow. it's loaded with blossoms for the first time after having only a couple last year. maybe there will be some fruit this year too...

strawberries - very much looking forward to these.

lots and lots of tulips everywhere in my mum's garden. the ones in our garden only just start opening up...

two happy kids - this is where the hotbeds used to be last year. lots of opportunity to dig and shovel and fill pots and buckets and get dirty. they loved it.
there is the salad surrounding the hotbeds in the background.

R watches everything her big brother does and wants to do it too - of course. and if that includes handling tools and hardware then she just has to handle tools and hardware...

lots of sun and fresh air makes one hungry. this is my mum's herb butter. it includes all the wild herbs she finds in her garden (as well as some store bought ones i guess) and it's delicious...

what we have been up to...

not much actually. after easter it was back to kindergarten and back to everyday routines of walking there and back, being at home with R playing, being busy doing housework, napping, etc. then walking back to kindergarten to pick up T and going back home again to make lunch and be busy playing some more.

spring has truly arrived with close to 20 °C yesterday and lots of sunshine. there is also a very slight hue of green covering the woods surrounding us already with the trees slowly unfurling their leaves. i'm so happy about that! i love that time of year when i feel like i can breathe again after the long months of being bundled up in hats and scarves down and up to the nose... it's so much nicer for the kids too to be able to run outside in just a sweater and without the hassle of being stuffed into layers and layers of clothing.

we have been outside a lot recently (that's why there were so few posts too). we put fresh sand in the sand-pit and the kids both love it - we "ate" a lot of sand ice-cream and sand cakes and sand dinners already. we blew bubbles and there was a lot of chasing and trying to catch the bubbles going on. R makes the cutest noises when she sees a swarm of bubbles - she squeals and laughs and points at them very excitedly.

very busy as you can see...

sharing a snack...

one with the big broom and one with the small broom.

we swept the courtyard and pulled last year's dead annuals out of their pots. (not all done yet...) i have to get new ones and make everything look pretty and flowery again. i'm thinking of million bells, nasturtiums and sweet peas. then i have some pots with hanging strawberries which are still alive although they need bigger pots and the mint and lemon balm are sprouting new shoots in the flower bed. talking of flower bed: the daffodils are fully open now and the tulips are rising upwards in the finally warming sun.

and we have lots of dasies growing in the lawn already. i love them...

 

springlike things

wow... long time no post. i just could not get to it. i have been very busy. when i think about it i don't even know with what exactly but it felt busy anyhow. the kids have been taking up a lot of my time and focus of course: playing inside and out, reading books, providing food, helping with crafts and this and that. i have been very busy with avoiding housework too - and i'm very good at that! but as long as we can still get from one room to the other and have enough clean clothes to wear and dishes to cook in and eat from i don't mind the mess so much. especially R has a talent for spreading everything very evenly. she carries something from one room to the next, drops it and picks up something else just to drop that at yet another place. nothing stays where it's supposed to. especially spoons tend to pop up in the oddest places...

i have been busy working on a journal (which i will talk more about soon) and learning a new skill: making charms. i love it! in fact i love it so much that right after i finished my first one i had to rummage through the internet and order a lot of supplies because my jewellery- and charm-making stash was very modest (while my bead stash is pretty big - mostly tiny seedbeads though because i loved making beaded bracelets and tiny bead-and-wire-animals when i was a kid). this is what my desk looks like at the moment:

although i have packed away the red beads and got out the green and pink ones to go with the blues to make a spring themed chunky charm for my mum. she doesn't read this anyway so i can tell you.

this is the first one but i still have to take some proper pictures...

i have enjoyed walking to kindergarten and back a lot recently. i'm not at all a morning person and if i could i would sleep until 9 or longer but once i'm up it's okay and the kids ar usually very sweet in the morning... since winter is finally over and it got a little warmer i enjoy the daily walks so much more. i like winter the least of all seasons and even though it has its charms i still always feel like it should end with the start of the new year. that's when i typically start to long for spring.

now it's here!

overall the trees still look bare and all the green is the dark indeciduous kind of green. but the sun is shining warmer and it's obvious that nature is yawning and stretching its sleepy limbs ready to fully awaken.

the liverleaf are in full bloom and i found these gorgeous buds that were bright pink:

this little guy or lady was chirping its little heart out and it was rewarded with a many-voiced answer. i just love the chirping and tweeting of birds in spring.

it was even warm enough to walk home at noon without a jacket on at the beginning of the week. i also love how much more time we can take for our route now that it's getting warmer. no more freezing toes and fingers and ears (in my case) and whining why we didn't take the bus (in T's case).

we take our time, look at the local wildlife (if there is any that wants to be looked at)

and T races up and down the little road (from six pics above) while i push R in her pushchair - she's not yet safe enough in her shoes to walk all the way and while i watch her walking and keeping her from eating dirt i have a hard time pushing the pushchair. i tried that today...
sometimes she falls asleep though and then T and i sit down on a bench, chat and enjoy the sunshine.

i hope everyone is enjoying the nice weather so far...