Laowai

We went to Niederurnen for a hike. All the cable cars are still closed so we walked up the distance that we would normally have covered on the gondola.

There were little strawberries growing all over – including on the side of a big rock wall.

It’s rare to see a dilapidated barn or house in Switzerland. Look at that poor baby doll!

I feel like it’s also rare to see a cow lying down like this – with her legs outstretched. She’s really relaxing.

Here’s a view through the gondola cables.

Brian went for a run in the same area the next day and took this photo.

And then Brian and I had a little hike with a view of the highway.

We finished our weekend with a picnic by the lake.

I finished my Stay Home Quilt last week. I started the quilt back in the middle of March when we first went into lockdown. It was completely unplanned I just sat down and started playing with my scraps. For this quilt I think the process was even more satisfying than the final quilt. Putting the houses together was so fun and then the long straight lines of quilting were super calming for me. I used thin cotton batting and an H&M duvet cover for the backing fabric. I like how the quilting unifies all the houses. I’ve been doing lots of quilting lately but I think that will end when we move. I’ll be back to doing projects on our house and puttering in my garden. 

My tall husband came in handy again.

It feels like summer here. Now that restriction are lifting a little Claire has been to see a couple of her friends and they have been swimming in the lake twice. I don’t see so many sunrises because the sun is getting up before I do. But we have had some great sunsets – like the one below. Brian and I dragged Bea out for a little after dinner walk.

Brian has been working with people in the US a lot so that means working late and eating dinner late. But I feel a little less grumpy about 8:00 pm dinner when we still have some light.

So lots of outdoor meals. and that means I can take over the dinning room table with my sewing machine. I finished my quilt on Tuesday! I’m anxious to get some nice photos of it today. 

Bea dressed up in my clothes. Not sure why, but everyone thought is was funny…

I made a strawberry cake.

A bee in my bedroom.

The usual amount of cheese in our fridge – oh dear.

We drove up into the mountains and met Brian and his bike again. To Klontalersee – a popular spot and another lovely day.

I want this to be my holiday chalet.

I made a dress. It’s the reliable Washi Dress pattern that I have made several times. I bought this fabric a while back. I love the fabric so much – I don’t care if it makes a dress that’s a bit crazy. It makes me happy! And it has pockets! The fabric is from Monika Forsberg.

Lastly, I’m thinking of Midland. It’s currently underwater. I’m thankful that my family is all safe and their homes seem to have escaped damage. But so many people did not escape the worst of the flooding – and all this on top of the pandemic. When it rains it pours!

I’m catching up on posting photos from our hikes last weekend. It feels like I just keep posting more and more photos of mountains. But when I’m out there on the trail I feel so thankful that we have gotten to go on so many hikes this spring. This pandemic time has actually been really precious as far as seeing beautiful Switzerland is concerned. There haven’t been any birthday parties or trips to the pool or shopping or sleepovers to fill the weekends. So we have gotten to explore the area around us more than ever. Being out there under the blue sky taking a deep breath and seeing the vast mountains splayed out in front of me – it’s the most soothing thing I can do right now. I’m thankful. And so here are a bunch (!) more mountain photos.

We took two hikes over the weekend. First with the girls on one side of Wallensee (a lake) and then just Brian and me on the other side of the lake. Brian road his bike and met us at the start of our first hike in Arvenbuel. I was tired just driving the car up to that alpine village. He road 66 miles round trip and had an elevation gain of 4,000 feet. And he took us on a hike. I don’t know how he does it. 

Wayfinding signs and mushroom picking regulations are well marked.

I asked for a family photo for Mother’s Day so we tried to all smile at once. Hmmm.

Here are the photos from the next hike. 

The meadows are amazing this time of year. It’s a wonder that Brian puts up with me – not only am I a pokey hiker but I’m constantly stopping to remark on and take photos of the flowers.

In the photo below you can see the area where we hiked the day before. And if you look closely you can see the zig zagging road that Brian road up – on the left side of the photo. 

Our lunch.

We hiked up to a lake called called Talalpsee. It was even prettier and not over-exposed in real life.

Here are some flowers for all the mothers I know. For my mom and my mom-in-law I really wish I could be close to you and give you a hug. And also for the other moms that read my blog – especially Aunt Donna and Aunt Sandy and Aunt Garlene – I wish I could give you all real flowers today. 

I hope the warm sun shines for you today. Happy Mother’s Day! 

This quarantine has been a baking fest around here. I guess comfort food in all its forms feels good right now.

I have some go to places for recipe inspiration. First Smitten Kitchen – she always has approachable and reliable recipes with great instructions and photos. She even includes gram measurements which is great when I’m cooking over here in Europe. The other place I go is Dinner A Love Story. Again, such reliable recipes and she really has great advice for cooking for a family. Her big thing is honoring the dinner ritual – I love that. 

So in the last few days I’ve made several things.

• We liked Smitten Kitchen’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart so much I made it a second time

• I had some mashed squash in the freezer and decided to try substituting it for Sweet potato. It worked – Sweet potato muffins from the (now defunct) Wondertime Magazine 

• For Claire’s birthday I made a tried and true flourless chocolate cake – it takes so many eggs! It’s called Lighter Than Air Chocolate Cake.

• I made some Chocolate Pecan Scones from Ina Garten – I thought they were just OK – they needed a glaze because they were too salty and not sugary enough in my opinion

• I tried a new recipe for Yeasted Waffles. Mom gave Bea a mini waffle maker for Christmas and they turned out really nice. Since it’s a mini waffle maker I just have to stand around for a long time making them. What else am I going to do during a pandemic?

• I tried a Flatbread recipe from Smitten Kitchen. I served them with a chicken curry. Brian and Claire really like them I think I’ll try them again.

• Last week I made Fannie Farmer’s Oatmeal Crumb Topping over rhubarb. This is the recipe my mom always made growing up – often with canned peaches – yum!. It’s such a great dessert because I think it’s as good as a pie but it’s miles and miles easier to make. You can use most any fruit and you must serve it warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream. Since I can never find this recipe online to link to it here it is:

———————————

OATMEAL CRUMB TOPPING

1/4 pund butter

1 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup oatmeal (not instant)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

First prepare your fruit – 4 to 6 cups into a pan. Sweeten only if your fruit is tart. In a large mixing bowl combine all the crumb topping ingredients. Cut the butter in until it resembles course bread crumbs. Spread the crumbs evenly over the prepared fruit. This topping should be baked in a moderate oven – around 350 degrees F to 375 degrees F. Cook until the fruit bubbles around the edges – 30 to 40 minutes. You can make a lot and store it in the freezer.

———————————

Yesterday she was so little and now she is a ten year old young lady. She is so lovable and even thought this wasn’t the birthday celebration that she usually looks forward to she didn’t make one complaint. Happy Birthday sweetheart!

We took two hikes over the weekend. One in the rain and one in the sun. Our first hike was along the Sihl river. We passed a barn with a fighter cat – watch out! Yikes – luckily we saw no cat, only the warning. Ha.

I saw a couple fly fishermen on the river and it brought back such vivid memories of my dad. 

On our second hike (just Brian and I) we went to an area called Brunni-Aplthal. I don’t know why we never went to this area before it’s so pretty and so close to home!

I swear this gal was posing for me. She looked up and made such a sweet face! Look at those fuzzy ears. Oh gosh. I love that Swiss hiking always includes cows. I had to include two photos of her.

The lockdown measures continue here in Switzerland but things are starting to be eased and reopened. Bea and Claire are supposed to go back to school on May 11th. Now it’s dawning on me how complicated the reopening of everything will be. We don’t yet know how school will work because the kids are required to be in groups of 15 or less and to strictly have contact with only those 15 kids during the school day. For middle school kids who go from class to class all day – seeing a different 15 kids each period – it all seems impossible. School and everything else are NOT going to look the same. 

Brian has had such stressful and long days of work. I’m glad he has at least gotten to take time for some good bike rides.

He was also excited to watch The Metropolitan Opera’s streaming benefit featuring artists performing in their homes all around the world.

Bea made some bright cookies.

We went for a nice long walk on one of the last sunny days we are expected to have for a while. Yes, it’s finally raining.

Grandma C. – you know we use that picnic blanket you made for us all the time. It’s great! Although we’re getting too big to fit on it so we may need to request another one.

There are lots of defense structures from the second world war in the area where were hiking. These are known as Toblerones. Big concrete masses shaped like the chocolate bar that were designed to stop tanks. Here’s an article about them with more interesting photos.

And here are some chive flowers. 

Claire E.’s birthday is coming up. It’s not going to be the best but it will be memorable. Sigh.

I made a new to me pattern. It’s called the Wilder Gown/Top and it’s from the Friday Pattern Co.

It has raglan sleeves and it can be worn with its ties open like above. Or you can make a bow and create a high ruffle collar like below. 

I really like this pattern. It is so very simple to make but I think the collar makes it fun and special and feminine. The dress version has tiers of gathered fabric and it’s really flowy. For my fabric I used the same duvet cover that I ordered from H&M to use as the backing for my quilt. So, yes, I can match my quilt and two pillowcases too (ha). I’ve seen lots of versions of the top online done in a lighter weight fabric and it’s really pretty. I can’t wait to have easier access to fabric shops so I can try another shirt and maybe a dress too.