Laowai

Well as the pandemic situation is still serious so we are spending all our time at home. I'm a little worried we might loose our minds in the next months. Brian spends so much time working in his office and the girls seems to have some sort of fight every night at the dinner table. Oh dear. I guess I should be thankful we have each other but all this togetherness is making us a little crazy.

One bright spot, for me, has been decorating the house for Christmas. It makes me feel Shiny and Brite! My mom-in-law gave us some of her old ornaments last year. Can't remember if these belonged to her mom (maybe ?) but we are enjoying them. Even the box is pretty!

The next photo might be a a metaphor for this whole year. Oops. Don't worry, it wasn't one of the vintage ornaments.

Claire is my main helper when it comes to decorating. I call us the party planning committee. Meanwhile Brian sat on the couch with his glass of wine and he and Bea jeered and heckled. Grinches.

Here's an early morning photo with the sun shining on my mantle. I think we get more sunny days here than we did in Switzerland. At least we don't seem to have those ten-day stretches of gloomy gray. I'm really appreciating you sunshine.

I get out my collection of Christmas market mugs each year. They remind us of some fun times.

The advent calendars have begun.

In other news – last weekend Bea made an outdoor scavenger hunt for us and for some friends. It was great! She had us riding all around the neighborhood looking for clues and even climbing trees. And then we had to solve codes and puzzles. And the best part- the mom team won!!! Here we are heading back home after the scavenger hunt. 

I'll be happy to see some pretty snow but I guess it is also nice that it's been warm enough to ride around on our bikes.

In This Old House news – I have been getting quotes for our next round of window restoration. Can't wait to have our windows looking pretty again. This is the sorry state of one of the worst windows.

And that brings me to another window related project that's in the works. Right now we only have wispy sheer curtains that came with the house. I'm making some thick curtains to help keep some of the drafty air out in the winter. It suddenly felt real serious when the lining came in the mail – it's a whole big role of fabric!

And here's the curtain fabric. This will just be for the three windows in my bedroom. Eek – I'm excited and nervous to start cutting.

I think the local news man said so far December has been seven degrees warmer than average. Strange. And I noticed my lilac seems to be sprouting green leaves and fat flower buds.

And this false nettle is actually blooming. I just hope I get some lilac blossoms next Spring. It's one of the things I'm most looking forward to.

Until next time…

Brian and I went for a walk in the woods last weekend. We went to one of the forest preserves near us – the Allison Woods area. We walked and talked. Talking mostly about the Coronavirus vaccine. Brian knows a lot about each company that is producing the vaccines and how each vaccine is different. He has insights about how they might roll out and about implications for our government and the companies involved. He keeps me informed. 

It's been a little over three years since my dad passed away and I finally got around to framing some of his flies. He really was talented. He could make anything – big or small. I can remember him showing me how to make flies in his workshop. He had so many interesting fly tying tools and he had little wooden drawers full of all the colorful fly making supplies (he made those drawers too). And I can remember how he would come upstairs and hold out his hand for us. He would have a few flies that he had just made on his palm and he always wanted to show us and tell us the names of the flies. He showed me that skills and creativity and making things with your hands are a pleasure in life and they are important.

I went a little crafty crazy last week. I was inspired by the collage artwork by Clare Youngs and the cut paper artwork by Loise Lockhart.

I bough this felt Santa at Goodwill a long time ago. I love him but he's really beat up so I wanted to recreate him in a sturdier version. I cut out a masonite base and then decoupaged my collage papers on top.

I also made a couple decoupage wreaths.

I get so inspired by artist that I see online. And I'm so lucky to have my sewing room for making a big creative mess. It's the most wonderful crafti-full time of the year!

This year Thanksgiving was different. Because of the Covid pandemic we didn't get together with anyone. We still spent a fun day in the kitchen but I realized the best part of Thanksgiving is the way we get together to share a big job. I love that time of chatting and laughing and working with (mostly) the ladies of my family. I hope things will be better soon and then we might have to have a Thanksgiving in July.

I'm thankful for the pie that my girls made. For window sils and being able to watch squirrels in my backyard. For big American sized ovens. For the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and the Rockettes. And for technology that lets us get connected to faraway family.

Here are a few snapshots of our day. 

I harvested the last of my beet greens this week. How nice to have something to pick in November. I had never cooked beet greens before. I boiled them in a pot of water a couple minutes and then squeezed out the extra water and then chopped them. Then I sautéed them them with olive oil and garlic. They turned out great.

So in conclusion – my late season garden experiment was a success and a failure. If I want actual beets, planting on August 2nd is too late, but for beet greens it's fine.

I still have a row of carrots in the ground. I think they are just little bitty things but I'll pick them all one of these days and maybe they will be tasty.

It's time for me to pretend I'm a home design blogger and reveal our basement renovation. 

I started renovating our basement in September after we had an unfortunate mystery puddle on the floor. That seems like a really long time ago. Lately we've been using the basement so much that it almost feels like it has always been there. The timing is perfect. Right now, during the pandemic, we can't get out as much as we'd like. It's important that we get along as a family but it's not always easy. Gathering in front of a big screen after dinner and watching 30 Rock is something we can all get behind. So it's a success. And someday when we get back to normal the girls can invite friends and enjoy our basement hangout.

First, a couple before pictures. Here's one of the real-estate photos from back in 2013. This photo tells me I really need a wide angle lens. And also, look at all the National Geographics on the shelves! Those would be nice to look through.

Here's a photo from a few months ago right before I started painting.

So welcome to our new old basement – we'll start in the stairwell.

I might have done some late night Etsy shopping (dangerous) and found these cute little birds who welcome you.

The blue is coming across brighter on screen than it really looks in real life. Not sure why?

Those bookshelves took forever to paint but I'm so happy with how they turned out. On the lower part that is covered with fabric there are shelves that hold all our board games and puzzles.

We have a nice high ceiling in this room – it's one of the things that sold us on our house. We added lights above the bar and above the bookshelf so it's dark but not as dark as it used to be.

Here's a photo of the curtains I made. I just love the pattern of strawberries by Loes Van Oosten.

Next to the fireplace Brian has his bar area and the girls have their popcorn maker. I found that round mirror in one of our scary basement rooms. I was digging through the old woodwork and other random house stuff and I found the mirror covered in about an inch of dust. Yay for zero cost decor!

Here's our fireplace. It's nice and big and chunky. I think it needs something a little more colorful on the mantle but I haven't quite figured that out yet. 

My biggest splurge for the room was the framing for these two posters. They are old travel posters for SwissAir advertising flights to the US and Canada. I love them but why is framing so expensive? The only other biggish thing I purchased was the vintage Dillingham Bluebird chest that we put our projector on. Oh and the rug is new too.

There's the screen below – I argued with Brian – I was convinced it was too big. But he was right, it's great. We had nothing else to fill that wall and it's really fun to watch a movie on the big screen. 

You can see the blanket chest underneath the screen. Brian got a fancy projector that shoots straight up onto the wall. The table behind the couch is a table we inherited and used in our first apartment years ago. It's going to be a perfect puzzle table.

I love swans and I associate them with our time in Switzerland. So my Swan flag is a favorite. It's a City of Horgen flag. Horgen was the town next to ours and I was super lucky to find it at the second-hand store. I made a cushion for the bench/wood holder below the flag. 

The door below leads to the other side of our basement where there is our washer and dryer and all the other typical messy basement things. Let's keep that door closed.

And that concludes my tour. I wish I could invite you all to watch movies and eat popcorn and do a puzzle and enjoy a toasty fire…  Someday.

Is there anything better than having someone bake a cake for you?

Someone washing all the dirty dishes for you is a close second.

Quarantinewhile – that's what Stephen Colbert has named a segment on his show.

Things are getting super bad again pandemic-wise so there is more hunkering down and less normal social life happening. I say this, not to you dear readers since you are aware, but more to my future self as a reminder of what life was like during this crazy covid-19 time.

So quarantinewhile at our house, there was a rare moment of the girls sitting next to each other while also smiling!

Quarantinewhile, I used my green machine on a sunny day. It's just a leaf shredder that makes me unreasonably happy. So pleasing to throw the leaves in there and then spread the soft shredded goodness out on my flower beds. Organic matter!!!

Quarantinewhile, The little curtain rings I was waiting for finally arrived so I declare the basement renovation done. We have been using it so much! I'll take some photos this week to show off all the changes. 

Quarantinewhile, I appreciated the sunrise out my bedroom window.

Quarantinewhile, Bea self isolated at the hardware store.

Quarantinewhile, I took a walk near my house and admired this building.

Quarantinewhile, I got out the Foley Food Mill and made applesauce. 

Quarantinewhile, I made apple crisp.

Quarantinewhile, our 70° F weather finally came to an end so I put up our storm windows. And as always windows are on my mind. I need to arrange the have a bunch more windows restored. I'm both excited and dreading this task.

Quarantinewhile, I got out my little village. NO! it's not too early.

Quarantinewhile, Bea's pandemic pets – her fish – are keeping her entertained. We might have gotten a second tank because you know I love love love to pick up free stuff off the side of the road. Oh yes. Here she is setting up tank number two. I need to do a separate post all about her and her fish because she is suddenly so knowledgable and she is making me interested in all the fishy personalities too. I pop into her room a couple time a day and just gaze at her fish and it is so relaxing!

And isn't her room cozy with the gentle fish tank lighting.

Quarantinewhile, in the free craft category – I updated an ugly and cheap lampshade with some multicolor yarn that I had in my stash. Claire's piano lives at the top of the stairs next to this little corner. It's pleasant to sit here while she practices.

Quarantinewhile, Bea had a placement test at her future high school. I snapped a photo while I was waiting for her (and Mabel) to come out. I had two thoughts: holy cow her school is big! And holy cow she is almost in high school!

The end

I persuaded the fam. to go for a walk on this cold blustery morning. It's my birthday so they have to do what I ask. Ha. We went up to Fort Sheridan along the lake. It was beautiful and refreshing and everyone seemed to be in a good mood (amazing). 

I wish there were more natural areas of Lakeshore like this near us. The ravines and the meadow areas next to the color of the water are so pretty.

The tall grass areas on the bluff had been burned which made for more pretty colors combinations.

So now I'm curled up in my bed. I'm listening to the wind howling outside and Brian and Bea and Claire are downstairs making a cake for me. Lucky me!