Aunt Donna – the eggs in the top picture are hard boiled. They call them picnic eggs. They sell them all the time and are usually colorful. But they are especially pretty and shiny at Easter time. Around Swiss national day they sell red ones with Swiss crosses. Brian eats one most days for breakfast.
I’ve been teaching an after school sewing class at Claire’s school. I’ve really been enjoying it – the kids are fun and so enthusiastic. Maybe one of them will grow to love sewing as much as I do. This week I made a couple tutorials for projects that I have been using in the class. I had fun taking pictures and making the directions as simple as possible for my beginning sewers.
Next week a new session starts with a whole new batch of kids. I’d love to let them try making log cabin quilt blocks.
And since this post seems to be pro-sewing themed. Liesl Gibson (my favorite) linked to an article in the Guardian. Here’s a quote:
After the First World War, doctors experimented with getting shell-shocked soldiers to embroider as a way of healing mental scars and it proved a surprisingly effective way of steadying their hands and settling their minds.
Happy Sewing!
Here are some tutorials for beginner sewers (in PDF) form.
How to make a Chicken Beanbag
How to make a Reversible Tote
How to make a Simple Drawstring Bag
And here’s a link to my sewing class idea page on pinterest.
Yay – It’s rhubarb time.
Hope you are having a good day – we’re just having a regular Wednesday – nothing too exciting. As I type this I hear banging and drilling and men talking. Our apartment building is having it’s elevator replaced. It’s supposed to be four weeks of work. So that means four weeks of me lugging myself up four flights of stairs.
The weather has been putting on a show lately. One minute stormy and then next minute the mountains are lit up with saturated blue, pink, and purple. And we get lots of rainbows too. I find myself staring out the window all the time not wanting to miss the beauty.
I went to the brocki and found this bright happy dish. Had to have it – it matches our red raclette maker.
Here’s Claire and Brian on the train on our way to a thermal bath last weekend. It rained when we were in the heated outdoor pool – what a strange sensation.
Bea made a lizard – sorry it’s a tuatara.
And I went fabric shopping. There is a store down at the bottom of the lake and it’s dangerous! They have so much fabric from Cotton and Steel – oh my goodness, I love it! I made some new napkins.
We were due for a nice weekend at home. Brian has been taking advantage of warm weather whenever he can – getting out for some biking and running. Me? You can find me sitting in my green chair doing lots of quilting.
Bea copied me and made some sweet little embroidery pieces (forgot to take a photo).
And then we did some baking. We were planning for visitors and wanted the littlest ones to have fun decorating cookies.
On Sunday we went to the Zurich Museum of Gestalt. How have I lived here so many years and not been to this great design museum? I really enjoyed it!
Afterwards we enjoyed the playground opposite the museum and had the most Springy stroll back to the train station.
I hope some Springy weather is making its way to you too.
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 area. It was full of little camper vans that had tidy wooden porch structures attached. Here’s a kitschy display on one of those places. Hello Everyone.
We spent our time sledding – starting with a ride up the chair lift.
Unfortunately Claire and I only went down the (2 kilometer) sled hill once because it was sort of icy and steep in places. Brian and Bea did some more sledding in the afternoon and the snow was more slushy and less fast – they had fun.
The girls just loved hanging out in the pod – it felt like a little play house. The resort delivered a breakfast box every morning and the girls liked rolling out of bed and spreading different kinds of hazelnut spreads on their croissants. It all felt really cozy.
Woof.
Again, the weather treated us so well. Beautiful sunny days! Brian went for a walk and took some nice photos near the end of the day Saturday.
I would love to take the girls back during the summer.
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 I added some dogs – for my dog obsessed girl.
Now we’ll go away for a little weekend surprise. We’re going to stay in some cozy pods in the woods – I think she’ll like it. And I hope she doesn’t read the blog before we leave.
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. All the big feelings that come with being the mom to a twelve year old sweetheart. Sigh.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BEA!
Laowai 