Laowai

It’s rainy and chilly outside and I can’t stop baking. It must be Fall.

I made a new recipe. Have you heard about a Japanese style of bread that uses a roux? It is supposed to make the bread really tender and it’s supposed to make it stay fresh longer. Well I tried a roll recipe and I think I love it. I used the Japanese Milk Bread recipe from the King Arthur Flour blog.

Mmmm – these were supposed to go with our dinner but I had to try one fresh out of the oven. Sweet and rich and fluffy. Delicous with butter and jam.

And here’s a picture of my 6th grader at her locker.

I unearthed this old mini quilt in a pile of sentimental baby blankets in Wilmette. Grandma Dice made it with me when I was little. I guess it’s my first quilt. 

And this is my latest quilt. Another mini. Maybe I’ll hang in on the wall.

I think it’s time to make a full size snowball quilt – maybe something like this.

I am so thankful for Bea’s best friend Mabel. She is a rock for Bea. And I’m so happy that her dad brought her here for a visit again!!!

I have too many photos of Mabel and Bea with huge smiles.

I’ve been dreaming of my sewing room all summer. And finally in the last several days I have been able to sneak away and spend a little time alone in there. Bliss.

When we were traveling I read the blog of Carolyn Friedlander. She’s a quilter and fabric designer. I got so much inspiration from her graphic patterns and her non traditional quilts. I also noticed that she (and all other serious quilters) use design boards. A design board is just a big board covered in flannel – you can stick your in-progress quilt blocks up to see them and rearrange them. 

So I’ve made a design board for myself and I’ve been working on a mini quilt. No plan, no pattern. I’ve just delighted in choosing colors and sewing them together haphazardly. 

Or maybe it’s better this way – there’s a landscape vibe going on:

These last few days with mom have passed pretty quickly. It’s time for her to head home tomorrow already. Here’s what we’ve been up to while the girls endured their first week of school.

We saw a nice big rainbow:

Mom sat at my table and did some coloring:

We went into Zurich to buy chocolate:

We took a boat ride:

And had a lovely lunch on the boat:

and we had to have dessert:

And today we took a drive up to the mountains:

And enjoyed a picnic:

Look at us taking selfies (gah):

And now it’s almost time to say good-bye. I’m so glad she came to see us.

Sigh.

We took a little trip to the mountains with Grandma over the weekend. We went to Stanserhorn and the weather was perfect.

It’s exciting to ride on the train with Claire:

First we took an open air funicular:

Then a big gondola the rest of the way up the mountain:

We had a yummy lunch:

And then we spent the rest of our time on a short hike and just taking in the views:

The Swiss do occasionally do kitsch – ha ha:

I almost forgot about these photos from when we were in Midland. We took a nice walk through Dow Gardens with Grandma C. 

Today my girls started back to school. It is a big change for Bea this year. She is going to 6th grade at the middle school and so she commutes all by herself. She walks from our house to the train station, takes the train and then a bus and then it’s another short walk to her school. It all takes about 40 minutes. She is happy to be independent but I think she had some butterflies this morning.

Why is it such a surprise when I look at her and see how grown up she is. I knew this was coming from the moment she was born but I find myself shocked. I find myself gazing at her and wondering how she got so big and lovely and grown-up. I know she will settle into her new school routine soon but today I just keep wondering how she is doing with everything so new.

And Claire too – she started 3rd grade today. She gets to stay at the same school as last year. It was raining when I dropped her off at school and she was smiling. 

Sigh.

Here is Bea heading for the train station:

Now we are back home and we brought grandma with us. The girls start school next week so we are trying to fill these last few days of summer vacation with fun stuff. Claire was lucky to have a friend from Wilmette visit and we are enjoying showing grandma our Swiss home.

Today we visited an old glass blowing factory and its museum. It turned out to be a great outing for a cloudy day.

He he he! Bea you’re making me laugh.