these days

Sunday, Valentine's dinner. I got orange.

Yesterday. Gave the kids the typewriters from Goodwill.

Life is good.

I still love you

Even though this could or even should be about my husband since to this day we have been married for 12 years, this is not about him. (Happy anniversary, my love!)

Nor is it about my sweet son, who spread mud all over the house this morning. Hmpfff.

Or my equally sweet daughter, who was very .... hmm, I shall call it "uncooperative" last night.

No, inspired by Cathy's post about tea here I came to think about the change in my habits when it comes to hot beverages, that is latte vs. tea.

While in my twenties I used to drink a lot of hot tea, flavored black tea. Most likely everybody did in the 80s, right?! Habits changed towards coffee (I spare you the details) and right now I have my latte every morning, sometimes one in the afternoon, sometimes an espresso after dinner and have been the proud and happy owner of an ECM machine for 4 years now.

However, tea has never been forgotten, I had my cup of rooibus off and on. And I've always loved to shop for handmade tea mugs, I'm very specific about the shapes that I dig.

Pretty much for all my adult life I've been hunting for vintage tea tins, most of these being German flea market finds and now they have come back to being well used:

Just last year I got back into tea, that is brewing a pot in the afternoon, my favorite for quite a while being "Viennese Delight" from Collectibilitea here in Albuquerque, but - boohoo - they closed, which brought me back to Kroegers in Hamburg, Germany.

I admit it, I shamelessly use my connections over there (thank you Oma and Doris!) and have stashed up on flavored green and black teas. Think marzipan, caramel, strawberry cream, Hawaiian sunset...! Kroeger's is the best, bottled water, preheat your teapot, 3 minutes, a bit of honey, yum.

This good stuff is stored in above mentioned tins and there is a whole drawer dedicated to tea now.

But.

I do indeed still love you, my dear ECM!

just two things

One of the noteworthy happenings in our house is definitely when the kids are crafting. That's when my heart jumps with delight, when they choose paper, glue and string over gameboy, TV, anything that requires electrical power!

Just a few days ago the Valentine bug hit Fiona and she got busy.

Days like that leave me thoroughly content.

Then there is music.

I have been hunting for a song, which - unfortunately - is not available through iTunes, though it really should be. This one was real popular in Germany, not sure about the US.

And if you are ready for a good laugh (the video is from the 70s, think shoes, dance moves, etc.) and you feel like some movin' and groovin' click here and have a fabulous day!

P.S. Thank you, Su.

the happy season

What starts off with a lot of nice ideas for nice handmade gifts for nice people, family and friends, usually ends up as a chaotic scramble to pull things together at the last minute.

Imagine the mother, sitting in the dining room at 11.30pm before the last schoolday, fixing the little goodie bags for the enrichment teachers and the big goodie bags for the teachers after making the handmade gifts for the teachers. Or. The last seam on the totebag for the piano teacher was closed about an hour before she got here for the last pre-Christmas lesson. This list could go on and on. You get the picture.

However, all the rushing and running came to a halt for three special events.

One was the arrival of grandma from Germany - not all is lost! Where I am crazy, she is calm, where I am chaos, she is organized, where I go beyond things, she fills the basics (think laundry, dishes...), sounds good, huh?!

Then setting up the decorations. Over the last years the Christmas bins have been growing slowly and steadily. I find things in thriftstores, buy them in stores or handmade, or get them as gifts, some vintage, because friends know, that I like that. I am attached to all of them and love unwrapping every single piece and finding the perfect spot.

The third is the picking and the set-up of the Christmas tree. Traditionally the whole family goes to pick the perfect tree, then we decorate. This year it is even more special, because the kids did the decorating almost all by themselves with the help of grandma. The tree is perfect!

My wish for you... may your tree be perfect as well and may your Christmas be peaceful and happy!

P.S. If you wondered what became of the un-desired pants - a friend's daughter, sweet little Skyler, 3 years old, got them. Though she does have to grow a little before they will fit, mom thinks they will be perfect!

are you ready?

Okay, friends, especially all the moms or dads of little girls, here it comes.

My first give-away!

These were my daughter's much loved favorite pants and she wore them for a good while almost every day. At some point - of course - the knees were through. I let it go. But then she showed me that she could stick her whole leg through the hole. And she mentioned she got quite chilly with the big air holes...

So mother did some extensive work: undid seams on bottom, then sides, then picked funky corduroy fabric for a funky 70s look and some durability. Remember? Favorite pants. Well, not any more. It started with something like "mommy, I'm really not sure." or "I don't really know what would fit with this."

- Well, what can I say...the jeans have been officially unfavorited and banned.

By now I have been authorized to make this a blog give-away to find a new home for the former favorites (size 6R, stretchy jeans fabric, Lee)!

Pop me a comment if you want these for your girl and by next Wednesday I'll draw the lucky winner and mail these to you!

you, too

And then, yesterday, on the way to bed I found the other fuzzball snuggled up in purple handspun in my favorite basket.

Yes, Ike, I love you, too.

chain of events

Some greenish spots on my kitchen countertops.
Newly dyed skeins of yarn on a rod above the tub to dry.
Little girl puts moist skeins on bathroom floor, because she is going to take a bath.
Mother comes to check on her and finds this:





That's my sweet cat. Real furry and a real good taste in yarn!