We went the pumpkin farm today and it was BUSY! Everyone wanted to be out enjoying the beautiful day.
This year their displays all showed olympic events.
The hammocks and the big piles of hay bales were popular as ever.
The thing that I love about this place is that the food is really good. They have pumpkin beer and pumpkin sausage, raclette with pumpkin and all sorts of seasoned pumpkin seeds. And my favorite is the pumpkin soup – it has bits of pumpkin seeds in it and it’s topped with balsamic vinegar.
I finished Claire’s Halloween costume today. We’ll add some white tights and maybe some wiskers to complete the feline look. Since she put it on she and Bea have been running around playing catch my tail. I’m wondering if that tail will stay attached very long?
Just kidding – but as my sister pointed out today – it’s almost worth considering if I could have this house. It’s just come on the market for the first time and includes it’s origional Knoll furniture (I see a womb chair in the forground of one of the photos)!
Just one of the many amazing gem-like houses in my home town.
We just got back from a great vacation to the Engadine area.
We stayed in a small town called Silvaplana – it’s especially beautiful because there are beautiful lakes and mountains everywhere you look. This is the area of Switzerland where a small group of people speak Romansch. The houses have very thick walls and they are decorate with pretty patterns.
We started out with a lovely Fall hike. Bea was in a great mood and she practically ran up the path.
The larch trees were beautiful.
Brian went on some nice long runs while we played at the town’s very nice playground. There was a zip line from one side of the playground to the other – Bea went back and forth on that thing about a thousand times.
We took a gondola way up into the mountains. Torture for poor Brian as usual.
It wasn’t the best day to go up in a gondola – we had a good view for a while and then it was complete whiteness when we went into the clouds. Strange feeling.
You feel like you are perched on the tip of a rock way up there – like you could fall right off the mountain if you make a wrong step. And then you look at the map and are reminded that people ski off this mountain. Yikes. This is not Apple Mountain. The other thing that is remarkable about this area is it is very fancy – I mean there is a porche dealership on the edge of town. There are ads for expensive watches and spas in the gondola and I spotted a $500 sweater in a store window. The town of St. Moritz is just down the road and it’s historically full of famous and expensive people. Not really my scene, but fun to see all the same.
This is more our speed – Claire apreciating traditional alpine furniture – she kept telling me – Mom, I love this heart.
So we got to have our snowball fight on top of the mountain and the girls loved it. The next day it was supposed to be rainy all day so we were prepared to hunker down. And then the snowflakes started falling during our breakfast and they didn’t stop ’till after bedtime. It turned out to be a really nice day despite our cold toes. I had been thinking that I really would love to see this place in the winter and then it happened.
Then it was time to head home – our train ride went along a famous section of track that is a UNESCO world heritage site. The rail line was finished in 1910 and is the highest altitude transalpine railway and one of the steepest railways in the world. It was a beautiful ride – I couldn’t take my eyes off the scene and it made me feel amazed and fortunate.
I wish I had better luck capturing their faces lit up by the fish tanks.
Hands out of my popcorn. Grrrrr!
We were more interested in climbing around than petting goats.
Here’s an exhibit that shows how pig poo can be converted into electricity. Bea often asks Brian how electricity is made – she likes to listen to him describe the various ways we get electricity. Add this to your repetoire Brian.
Now here’s something for Bea. It’s the 2+2 blouse from Oliver and S. I’ve made this pattern twice before – it’s nice to sew a pattern that you know. I was thinking I’d make a dress with this fabric, but she just doesn’t get much wear out of her dresses lately. She chose the stripes for the trim. I think she looks like she should be selling cotton candy and lollipops in a little booth with a pink striped awning. She’s happy with her new shirt.
We’re having weather that I suppose a snail just loves. All day it’s been cycling between rain and sun. It’s beautiful. Small pockets will open up in the clouds and you can see a bit of blue sky and then you can see the rays of sun coming down either into our windows for 20 minutes or they will shine onto the green hills across the lake and make the most vibrant green glow against the grey sky. Then it will be raining again the next time I look out the window and the sky will be a flat mass of heavy clouds. I listen for the rain (or absence of rain) every time I go under the sky lights. We’re stuck inside but at least the weather is putting on a show.
The Kid’s Clothes Week Challenge is just a bunch of bloggers telling each other that they will spend at least an hour sewing each day for a week and then showing off all the cute things they made. Since I like to show off my sewing projects and I find all the other ladies projects really inspiring – I’m in. Here’s what I’ve made so far.
I used the Music Box Jumper pattern from Oliver + S. I don’t know what to call the fabric – I’ve had it for a long time – it’s like an oxford shirt but it’s heavy and a little stretchy. And this is the first time I’ve used snaps. They sell snaps at our grocery store. I think I might use them on everything since they were so much easier than buttons.
I made the size three – I think it will look better once she has grown into it a bit more. But I’m happy – it was an easy pattern and I like jumpers.
Laowai 