We had a lovely weekend staying in our charming little pod house.  There were five little pod houses and a grill house (below). We ordered a grill meal from the resort restaurant and had a fun evening gathered around the fire roasting our sausages and marshmallows. The pods were at the end of a camping…

We celebrated Bea’s birthday last night. One of her friends slept over because her parents had to go to London. A weeknight sleepover – birthday bonus. Doesn’t our Bea have the best smile.  She requested a black forest cake. I used Grandma Dice’s chocolate cake recipe and some cherry jam between the cake layers. Then…

The buttercream frosting won! She frosted the cupcakes to take to school this morning. That makes for a nice morning – maybe we should start the day piping frosting more often.  There were two extra cupcakes and as soon as everyone got off to school and work I quickly ate them. I ate my feelings.…

Well we submitted to the winter sport peer pressure here in Switzerland and went for a long weekend in the mountains. We went to Klosters. It’s not far from Davos, in the Graubuenden area. We had perfect sunny, warm weather all weekend. Everyone was smiling (except Brian while we were on the gondola). Bea started…

Heart candle holders and terrariums. The girls are having their winter break right now. No school for a week and a half. So we did some crafting to keep us busy. I made little salt dough candle holders for Valentine’s Day. And then yesterday we bought some big pickle jars and the girls made terrariums.…

More often than not my husband is away traveling on Valentine’s Day. This year is no different. But I’m not sad. I have a thoughtful, funny, loving husband so it’s a small matter if we must celebrate special days on other days. Here are a couple photos of my love at the Zurich Opera house.…

Citrus fruits brighten up our days this time of year. I tried this citrus cookie recipe from Christina Tosi (love her). Then we tested a cupcake recipe for Bea’s birthday. A vanilla cupcake filled with lemon curd. Doing filled cupcakes was a first for us. And then we went all out and did a taste…

It’s been pretty quiet around here. Brian has been traveling a lot and I’m afraid the girls and I spend too much time watching TV when it’s dark.  I’ve been enjoying big bowls of oatmeal with raisins, bits of dates and pecans. Mmmmm. We took the girls skiing at a mini hill nearby. We’re such…

I’m working away on my quilt. I spend my time examining the little gems that form when I complete each quilt block. I put the pieces together without paying attention to the patterns – I mean I don’t try to match them or make pleasing combinations. As I sew I grab the next piece of…