Laowai

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  • A SNOWY SPRING BREAK

    For spring break we all met up in Germany and traveled a couple hours into the mountains. Not your typical spring break location but Bea was still confined to Germany waiting for her student residence permit (more on that at the bottom).

    We stayed in a town called Oberstdorf which is in the Allgäu region of Germany – very close to Austria.

    As you can see we arrived to lots of snow, the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen, and zero views of the surrounding mountains.

    So we spent lots of time in cozy cafes and we began indulging in all the Bavarian goodies.

    This is about all the mountain we could see until our last day when the sun came out a bit.

    They had a cute little museum all about Bavarian life from the 17th century through all the changes into the beginning of the 19th century.

    I love a dusty old museum like this. It was full of interesting objects from clothing and linens to vintage hiking boots, artwork and even some taxidermy.

    The museum had the world’s largest leather boot. There was an important shoe maker that lived in the town and he made this.

    Bea had to be dragged into the museum but it was a highlight for me and with the heavy snow we could not do any hiking. I think it ended up being entertaining for all of us.

    Here’s Brian at a vending machine – it offers all sorts of dairy products including cheeses and a variety of drinks too.

    One day the weather apps said there might be some sun so we got on a cable-car and crossed our fingers.

    We didn’t have any luck with the sunshine and mountain views. But we did enjoy watching the all the skiers and eating french fries.

    Back down in the valley we found a nice path for a walk.

    Matching backpacks.

    This is our final day. We woke up to sunshine and actually saw some mountains.

    We headed to a lovely town trail and walked all around until it was time to catch our train back to Munich.

    Oberstdorf has a couple ski jumps just above town.

    Bea did not join us for this walk because she was already on her way back to Munich. She got an email early that morning – it said a letter was coming to her apartment that day – and she would need to be there to receive it. It was from the residence permit office! The letter that she has been waiting so very long for!

    She hurried back to her apartment and the letter arrived 20 minutes after she got there! So now she has the official card that allows her to leave and get back into the country. So she can visit Brian in Zurich and she has plans to see her friend in Italy. She’s had a very frustrating time dealing with the bureaucracy for the last six months.

    So I said good-bye to the mountain man at our hotel and Claire and Brian and I headed back to Munich.

    We got groceries and Brian made us dinner (while taking a work call) at Bea’s apartment. He literally cooked the bacon while bringing home the bacon.

    And then it was time for Claire and I to fly home the next day.

    Bea and Brian headed to Innsbruck for a couple days before parting ways to Zurich and Bolzano, Italy.

    It was a good trip – topped off with some much needed good news for Bea with her residence permit.

    And now we’re all scattered to the wind again.

  • HELLEBORE SEASON!

    In an effort to overcome my oversized fear of red-wing blackbirds I now traipse around the botanic garden with hat and umbrella. Even on clear and sunny days. Yes.

  • SEWING THESE DAYS

    I made a dress recently. The cats are very curious when they hear the crinkly paper of my patterns.

    And then in my sewing room they are interested in threads and they try to knock bobbins or any little notion off my shelves.

    After a while their napping instinct kicks in and as long as I make a cozy space close to the sewing machine for each of them they will settle and sleep.

    I was trying hard to take my time and do a good job on this pattern. I made the inside seams a bit neater than usual. And I did lots of ironing and steaming along the way.

    It was all going well until I was almost done and I tried it on for the first time. Then I noticed one pocket was sewn on really low. I mistakenly placed it’s upper corner at the marking that was meant for the bottom corner.

    Since this pattern (The Amarena Dress) has nice little cut-out pocket openings there was nothing I could do about it.

    Oh well – it’s barely noticeable and I am happy with the dress otherwise.

  • FORCING

    I was forced to move these branches from the kitchen windowsill to the living room (where kitties don’t go).

  • PROJECT TIMELINES

    I have projects rattling around in my head. Projects like painting my stairs.

    I’ve been pondering painting my stairs for years. The goal is to make my house un-boring. To add something handmade that gives a little moment of satisfaction as you move around the house.

    So over the years I collected photos of painted stairs. I thought about it in the back of my head as I went up and down, up and down.

    Pinterest is great for collecting ideas.

    And then the catalyst came. I watched a video about Charleston – a home that is painted all over in the most free and creative way. I especially liked the painting done in this dining room. I was inspired to begin!

    So I developed a toned down design for my stairs. I used black and gray because I didn’t want to add another color to my house but I wanted the weight of black.

    And then I started painting.

    You can see there is a little change in the width of the stairs about half-way down. On the left side of the photo below. Dealing with that small change was a challenge. I ended up drawing a diagonal line from the top to the bottom to resolve the issue. So the space on the outside of the the painted rug is not actually even but because it’s gradual I don’t think it’s noticeable.

    The painting was time consuming but also meditative. I had to wait until sunny days came, otherwise I just couldn’t see properly.

    Here’s how it turned out.

    This project timeline was long but finally I’m satisfied. Now I’m wondering if I need to/should paint my fireplace mantle black.

    More pondering…

    And to complete this post – here’s a photo of my handsome boys.

  • BESTE BAYERISCHE BÄNKE

    Translation: Best Bavarian Benches.

    Bea has been sharing her collection of bench photos with me.

    Lovely photos and lots of opportunity for quiet contemplation but I wonder if my wanderer daughter actually stops to sit. I suspect she marches on on her quest to travel all the mountain paths in Bavaria.

  • LITTLE BROWN BAG

    I just finished a sewing project and I’m in love with it. It’s a little brown bag – called the Quarry Tote from Noodlehead.

    I certainly don’t need another purse but what a fun little project. I especially had fun picking out the hardware for this pattern. A brass-look zipper that I matched with a big “O” shaped zipper pull and a brass magnetic closure. I wanted a neutral color scheme so I chose brown canvas (mid-weight Kokka) with stripy webbing for the handles. For the lining a chose a more colorful print (Ruby Star Geometry). The bag is only about 9 inches tall and it has a cute shape with a round bottom. I lengthened the handles so I can put it over my shoulder.

    I had some help with this project in the form of kitties sitting right in the middle of my fabric as I tried to cut and also kitties trying to sit in my lap while I used my sewing machine. Ooof.

  • MARCH CATCH UP

    We’re well into March and I have nothing much to report. It’s mostly just Claire and I plugging along and looking forward to some warm weather.

    I often drop Claire at school and then go for a walk at the Chicago Botanic Garden. But sometimes instead of the gardens I go for a nice loop down the beach and then back up Sheridan Road. One day last week it was very foggy.

    I’ve also been plugging away on my painted stair runner project. Things like this take longer that I expect. Three coats!

    It’s nearly done – need add a black stripe along the edge.

    I did go for a walk at the botanic garden.

    And saw snowdrops.

    Claire had some sort of English presentation that involved Jane Austen and cut out cookies. She chose such a sweet combination of shapes!

    I am so close to finishing my cable knit sweater – ready to be done! I had to wind a ball of yarn and what better place to do that than in the carpool lane. No kitty interference.

    I did some shopping at Vogue fabrics. This photo really shows what this store is like. Uhg. I have a love/ hate relationship.

    Claire and I did a little shopping in Evanston and saw these Easter cakes at the bakery.

    Swan photo from Switzerland to add to my collection (thanks Brian).

    And the rest of this report is just cat hijinks.

    I sometimes leave my sewing room door open. The cats like to sneak in and find little items. So I’ll come down in the morning and find a sewing machine foot on the floor in the TV room. Or a spool of thread or a scrap of fabric. They are curious about everything.

    Not sure what we were celebrating but Claire decided to make a special treat of treats for the cats. That’s paté style cat treat and cheese (which they loooove) and some crunchy cat treats. Yum.

    Yes, we’ve become crazy cat ladies.

  • LAST WEEK

    And now the olympics are almost done. I enjoyed them so much this year. So fun to get into the excitement and see the genuine emotions of the athletes. I got into luge and biathalon and ski jumping and the team speed skating. I of course loved the figure skating along with Tara and Johnny’s fashions. And today we ended on a very high note with a gold medal for the men’s hockey team. Brian watched it at the same time and we texted throughout. We learned that his “live tv” is about two minutes more live than the US broadcast. Some of my favorite parts are the medal ceremonies and I laugh when they hand each athlete a couple stuffed animals. Seems rare to feel good after watching TV these days.

    It’s also nice these days that you can stream whatever sport you want and really get into it. I always think of my dad – he so wanted to watch the cross-country skiing but it just wasn’t broadcast as fully as he would have liked.

    I also loved seeing the beautiful pictures of Italy – they seemed to do a great job hosting.

    Now just the closing ceremony remains.

    In other news I am working on a couple projects. First my cable knit sweater – it seems to be taking forever but I made more progress this week. The sleeves on this pattern had shaping at the top that I’ve never done before. It was a challenge but I’ve tried it on and I think it’s going to be good.

    I put my sweater in a bowl when I’m working on the sleeve. It’s easier to swivel the whole bowl around as you rotate the sleeve instead of picking up the whole project and turning it all the time. And, bonus, I like how my Catherine Holm bowl looks with the sweater.

    I’m also working on project with my stairway. It’s an effort to make our house un-boring. I’ve been experimenting with different painted patterns to create the look of a runner. I want to use black because I think most every room benefits from a punch of black. So I think I have landed on this wavy pattern. The paper is just a test and hopefully this week I’ll begin painting the stairs

    Beyond the olympics and my projects we continue to enjoy our little charges – Steve and Avery. They are so goofy when they play and then they give the sweetest looks of bliss when you pet them.

  • BEA TURNED 19!

    Friday was Bea’s 19th birthday and I didn’t know what to do with myself. First time ever that I haven’t seen her on her birthday.

    So I made a birthday cake while I thought of her. Just a little one.

    Brian was able to meet Bea in Konstanz – Bea is still struggling along trying to get her Visa – so she needs to stay in Germany. They had a quick little vacation to celebrate her birthday.

    I think everyone is anxious for spring to arrive.

    Then Brian sent this photo as he arrived back home in Wädenswil.