NaBloPoMo – Page 3 – Home here and there

Questions answered round 2

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

Today we drove halfway to Las Vegas (visiting our good friends). Nothing much happened. The drive on I-5 from the Bay Area is pretty boring but it is the fastest. It was raining most of the way anyway so not much to do outside. The upside: there were clouds! Do you like clouds as much as I do?
But now back to answering questions.

On day one of NaBloPoMo I did a little introduction round and asked if you had questions. You can still fill out the form if you like. This is the second round of answers on this. You can find round one here and one about why I live in the US in more detail here.

What’s your favorite book?
If you would have asked me in High-school I would have answered “Siddharta” by Herman Hesse. We read it in school and it really got my teenage brain thinking. Honestly I don’t remember much now. Later came Harry Potter. I think that is the one book I would like to be able to read again for the first time.I also like the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon and am contemplating re-reading it. I just don’t have that much time to read, sigh. A little magic is always good and I enjoyed the “Rivers of London” books from Ben Aaronovitch. My taste is a bit all over the place and there is not one specific book I can’t live without. I do prefer fantasy, historic fiction or YA but I am not too picky. I wish I had more time to read but I do listen to books whenever I can.
Do you have a book you think I should try? Any special one you can’t imagine life without?

What is a hobby you do?
This is probably already answered when you followed along. I do like to do things with my hands – no matter if it is pottery, knitting, crochet, sewing, drawing, painting, gardening, baking. How can you pick just one?

What role does blogging play in your life?
I am a little sad to say not a very big one unless it is November. My family wants to stay out of it so I am trying to stay vague about them as much as possible but it is hard as they are always on my mind. I love the community that came with it and I was hoping to keep up after last November. It proved really hard. I missed everyone and was still checking in occasionally but mostly followed quietly along. I am doing the #project365 on Instagram where I try to post a picture every day what I enjoyed. I don’t do it for the followers but for the connections and for myself. Being an introvert is not easy sometimes and working and family and other hobbies and friends – something got to give. It gets easier as the kids get older – at least mostly.

And last but not least: How do you find parenting? What’s it like to be a parent to tweens and teenagers?
I love my kids dearly but I sometimes find it challenging to balance them and myself. There is quite a few things I don’t do right now because it would take time away from parenting. I am sure I am not alone with that? Honestly my kids make it mostly easy. They turned into very responsible tweens/teenagers. I don’t think I can credit myself for all of it. My husband and I make a good team and they had an awesome aftercare in elementary school. The teachers there were kind and helped them keep their homework organized. I think it really carried over. The emotionally ups and downs are harder. I see more of myself in my daughter what is good and bad. It brought up quite a few insecurities I had when I was growing up. I would say so far so good. I keep checking in with them every day and make it a point to know who their friends are. Try to get them to bring them home. I volunteered quite a bit in the lower grades and am glad I know most of the parents and the other kids they hang out with. The very big drama passed us by so far and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays this way.
It feels like social media and the pandemic really elevated all the usual issues that were already around during my time like eating disorders and other instabilities brought it to a whole new level and it’s heart breaking to hear about.
The hardest thing for me really is that my mom passed away a couple of years ago and I can’t ask her for advice or how it was when I was growing up.

One last thing outstanding: Christmas in Germany
I will get back to that in December when we are there.

Around the house

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

Elisabeth wrote about her favorite thrifted art pieces and she got inspired by Daria’s house tour who in turn had the idea after J’s blog post about house decor. Sorry, if there are other’s I missed. I am a bit behind on blog reading but hope to catch up over the Thanksgiving week. I really liked the idea, too and since San asked about my crafts I thought I’d go for it since it will show some of that,too.

We kept three of the pictures from the previous owners of our house. They liked to travel and museums and I especially like the big Van Gogh. It’s a poster they had put on a wood backing. I think the colors work really well.

The other one that is still up is this Milton Avery Poster also on a thick wood backing.

I do like to go to estate sales and this is where these moth are from.

Next up a couple of paintings I did with the kids when they were younger. These are in the hallway.

Same with this one.

And these two one of them made in school.

This one I put together with scraps from their earliest paintings. I just could not throw them completely away. What do you think of the pink bathroom tiles? I was not sure at first but they really grew on me.

The portrait is one my sister made of my mom and the hearts left and right I made with the kids when they were little.

This V was also done by my sister. It was a wedding present from her since I took my husbands last name and it starts with a V.

This mobile I made a while back. It’s mostly made of paper from ads we got in the mail. I like how the feathers move when the heating is on.

Can you tell I had a faze with macrame? I learned it in school and it was not that difficult to pick up again.

The sun was made by my niece.

One more macrame in the hallway.

This one I made just after we moved into the house. I always wanted to get on but so far I just could not decide what I want. The stars to the right of the mantle were also made by ad paper.

Another one in the dining room.

The top left is a print I got at some pint and the right a linocut print by a local artist. The owl I made when I painted with the kids. Owls always remind me of my grandma who collected them.

What brings me to the final one. It’s also a lincut print from Boarding All Rows. It was a present for my husband and I love looking at it. It always reminds me of the desert.

That’s it for today. It’s not all but it was so hard to get pictures today. It was a gloomy day in the afternoon since it was raining and we had the lights on early. Lots of reflections and shadows…

Speechless

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

The morning left me pretty speechless. Today was my birthday and my big surprise was that I received a Cricut Maker 3. I was always eyeing one but always felt it was not quite necessary and a luxury. Well, now it is sitting on my dining table. This was a real big surprise. I usually have to voice very specific wishes but this year I only heard “it’s covered” and it was! I still can’t quite believe it. I see so many projects in my future including new snow flakes for my big front window. The bats I had up for Halloween would have been so much easier, too. Christmas T-Shirts for the family? I have the feeling I am not the only one in the family who is excited about this. We were gathering around earlier as it was making the first cuts. I made a snow flake and a bee decal for my coffee mug. It’s pretty amazing but now I am really tired. It’s 11:10pm and I am glad I finished today’s post before midnight.

Anything in your life you did not think you needed but wanted?
What should I make next?

Knitting Love

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

I planned to take a picture of my current knitting (that scarf for my dad who washed his previous one in the washing machine), but of course the day went different as planned. Instead I helped one of my kids for an hour at the sewing machine for a present project of theirs (no, not planned for today).

So instead here is a picture of my Ravelry page

For everyone who does not know what Ravelry is: you can search knitting and crochet patterns. See what others made, see what yarns they used for their projects, save your own projects and so much more. It was a revelation when I found out about it.

I do know how to crochet as well but most of the time I knit these days. It is relaxing. It keeps my hands busy when I watch TV and awake and focused when I listen to a talk at work. I like how a the half finished project feels on my lap when I work on it, the warmth and the weight. It teaches me patience and I love when a project now turns out as I expected.

I learned in school (I think 7th grade) and I still remember how sticky and hot the stitches were in my hands and how hard to get it look right. In 11th grade I would drive my teachers crazy because I knitted in class when I had to listen to something (I really can concentrate better when I do).

Did you know that there is even a difference how Americans vs. Germans knit? I had no idea until I saw it. The stitches are made a slightly different way. The American way is called English knitting and the German one Continental. I also had to learn how to read English instructions. In German you call them right and left stitches and in English it’s knit and purl. I am glad you can find instructions online for almost anything these days.

Do you knit or crochet? What do you prefer?

Shout out for fall

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

Fall leaves and clouds

When asked which season I like best I usually say spring, because everything starts growing again and the world turns green. But really I think every season has its appeal in some way.

Fall has a little of a bad reputation, don’t you think? I know it’s all relative. In California fall still does not feel like fall to me most of the time since it is so different from the fall I grew up with. No foggy mornings (we do have that in the summer here), no colder temperatures with frost in the morning, the days get shorter but it is still light out at 5pm and it is also missing that cold, wet, miserable feel that came along with it in Germany. But fall also means pretty colored leafs and not having as much to do in the garden . It’s a time of slowing down, at least it could be, but most of the time it is not – what is not fall’s fault but mine. It’s summer is over, school starts up, we try to figure out the new schedules and before I know it it is Halloween and this year especially it feels like it went straight into pre-holiday mode from there. Having christmas decorations up at the supermarket on October 31 does not help. It feels like I always short change fall a little.

The plan is to collect some pretty leafs tomorrow to press and do something with later. At least then I keep the memory of it a little. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving next week. I do like this fall-ish holiday very much, since it’s mostly about sharing a meal with people we care for and for giving thanks.

Thank you fall!

Baking Christmas

Being German I always feel a deeper responsibility to bake cookies leading up to the holiday season. My mom always made loads of Christmas cookies with us when we were little. One of my all time favorites are Lebkuchen (gingerbread – not necessarily man). Most German recipes ask for Lebkuchen spice which in Germany they will sell you in every supermarket. Because the week in Germany was so busy of course I forgot – sigh. Already last year I experimented with it and made my own. Online you can find them in various spice combinations but the main ingredient is always cinnamon. In my opinion you can’t really go wrong with that.

So here is my recipe for Lebkuchen spice:

35g ground cinnamon
8g ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground allspice
1 teaspoons ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons ground cardamom
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground star anise

I almost wanted to start the baking today but a) I am still not feeling that great and b) I also have four loads of laundry waiting to be folded. But here for good measure is my go to recipe for Lebkuchen:

500g honey
250g sugar
1 pinch salt
15g Lebkuchen spice
15g chocolate powder
200g butter
2 eggs
1kg flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda

Technically it is a honey cake dough. First you mix honey, sugar, salt, the Lebkuchen spice and chocolate powder in a cooking pot. The butter is cut up in smaller pieces and added. You warm the mixture up on the stove until the sugar is dissolved. This needs to cool down a bit before you add both eggs and mix them under with a cooking spoon.
The flour, baking powder and baking soda is mixed and then you add the honey mixture. You stir it under until that gets to hard. The dough is kneaded with both hands and when everything is incorporated well you form two flat rounds and wrap them up in foil to store in the fridge for two hours.
The dough is rolled out on a floured surface at ~1/4 inch and then you can cut out your shapes. You can use forms or make your own. One year we cut out house shapes and decorated those.
Baking at 400 degree Fahrenheit takes 10-15 minutes.

For decorating you can basically use whatever you prefer. My recipe uses 200g powdered sugar mixed with very stiff egg white from 1 egg white.

Do you like cinnamon or do you hate it? Do you have a favorite cookie recipe you do over and over again?

Resting day

I am doing NaBloPoMo this month. 30 blog posts in 30 days. Come join me. You can find the full list of participants over on San’s blog here #nablopomo2023

The washing machine is running for the third time today and I am sitting in bed with a nice warm cup of tea. I am tired. It’s not covid apparently but I still don’t like it. Scratchy throat, runny nose and general un-wellness, blah. So I made myself if big batch of hot tea and are waiting for it to get better. If now someone would make me a nice chicken soup I would be well taken care of. That was always mom’s recipe for when we had a cold – tea and soup. It still helps me feel better instantly.

Do you have a family recipe for the cold season? I heard a rumor that drinking a warm beer would help, too. It sounds not that pleasant to me honestly but some people say that medicine only helps if it tastes bad.

Talking about tea – San from the in between is mine is hosting the 8th annual Secret SANta Swap 2023. It used to be a mug swap (and it still can be if you like) and coincidentally this my mug from last year. Isn’t it pretty? So if you want to participate hop over there.

No work Friday

I was really glad for this Veteran’s Day Friday. I went back to work yesterday after getting back home Wednesday late afternoon. Everyone was surprised to see me since they were thinking I would only be back Monday. But since I did go back Thursday I did not have a whole lot of time to sort everything away, so I finished that up today.

Before getting started on the sorting I made breakfast for the kids since they had the day off, too. We had pancakes with apples. My husband did have to work today. I also fed my sourdough which was luckily still alive. It’s at that stage where it does not need to be refreshed every week what really helps. After all this I cleaned up the kitchen and took care of the dishes. We don’t have a dishwasher so hand washing it is for me. We have an old kitchen with shallow countertops so it would require some more extensive work to make room for one – I just don’t want to deal with it right now.

Unpacking round one took care of the suitcase contents. I already put away clothing on Wednesday night but the extra sweets and other goodies had find a home, too. Haribo Pico Balla is the family favorite and always has to be brought back. I found some paint brushes that were basically brand new, other small craft supplies, small pliers a pink leather satchel, a sponge, muffin pan liners, an ocarina someone in the household is playing nonstop (I regretted bringing it for a short moment but it’s also very sweet listening to the playing) – it’s really weird what stays behind after all these years. My sister gave us an advent calendar that I took of course. I can’t believe we are so close to december. I found another book that I thought my kids might like. My mother in law bought me a magazine that had some cookie recipes I might try out in the coming weeks and I also ordered a calendar that I may keep or may give away for Christmas.

Since I fed the sourdough I had some extra and decided to bake bread. It was ready just in time for lunch. There is nothing better than the smell (and taste) of bread fresh out of the oven in my opinion.

Unpacking round two involved the unpacking the three boxes I shipped. A former colleague who moved to France recommended ‘Send My Bag’ and since I did not want to deal with the boxes at the airport I gave it a try. DHL picked the boxes up and provided tracking throughout. It actually worked really well. The only downside was that they don’t recommend the service for anything fragile – I guess the pictures already tell you what I shipped. Most things made it but one of the boxes took a beating and some of its contents was broken. I see some mosaic making in my future but I was actually surprised that most of the china made it. The white one with the blue flowers I picked out with my mom and I am seriously sentimental about it (besides having a thing for nice china). Then I had to make room for it somehow and sorted and cleaned out the kitchen cabinets – one more box for a garage sale went into storage. Everything found a place and I vacuumed up the whole kitchen/dining/living room and hopefully got all the little china chips that I did not catch when pulling out the broken pieces. That pretty much filled the rest of the afternoon.

This was my Friday and now it’s almost time for bed. I don’t have specific weekend plans but I am sure we will fill it up with something. Do you usually plan out your weekend or just enjoy not having any plans?

Little small town in Lower Saxony

Last week was bittersweet for me. It was probably the last time I visited my childhood home since my dad will be moving before I can visit again in December. It was not as difficult to say goodbye as I feared. Maybe partly because I have been packing and re-packing my own boxes every time I came for a visit. I don’t have any close friends living there anymore and I am not planning to move back. Maybe the sadness will still come? I don’t know.

I loved growing up there and I am filled with memories. Memories of helping my grandma in the garden and my mom in her pottery studio, learning how to ride a bike and how to roller skate. I remember the tree in our backyard that we climbed with the neighborhood kids, endless games of hide and seek in the house and the garden, family gatherings, Christmas, baking cookies in the kitchen, birthday parties and the first heartache.

I also will remember the town itself. It’s small and when I was growing up everyone knew you, everyone greats each other on the street (and you better did this or your parents will hear about it if you didn’t). It only has about ~2100 people living there, but it has a supermarket, a church, a doctor, an elementary school, bus stops that take you to the next bigger city 13km away, a gas station, a volunteer run fire department, a sports field for soccer (honestly which small town does not in Germany?), tennis courts, a small skate park, a pool, a handcar you can try out and even a small heritage museum where you also can get married (also run by volunteers including my dad for a long time). It also used to have a bakery where you could get fresh rolls even before they officially opened when you went to the back where the oven was. There were summers filled with long pool days and camp from the church youth group, I played first recorder with a small group of other kids which was run by the wife of my music teacher and later trumpet with the brass orchestra from our church.

Wietzen is pretty much right between Hannover and Bremen but the next better known big city is Hamburg. So it is northern Germany. The dialect you may hear spoken there is low German. I can understand it when my dad speaks it with friends but I can’t speak it myself. My kids on the other hand will not know what their grandpa is talking about. There are certain words very different from the German you learn in school and they can even be different from town to town. My grandpa said that when the British soldiers came through at the end of World War II it was easier to communicate with them in low German because some words are similar.

So without further ado, here are a couple of pictures of my hometown before I fall asleep.

What we inherit

The picture is misleading. I don’t mean to say I inherited the contents of all the shelfs (I could have since the contents mostly will be cleared out by the time my dad moves out). What I want to talk about is a different thought of inheritance.

My husband always complains that I don’t express myself clearly enough and assume a lot of knowledge. So here is a conversation I had with my dad today:

“Dad, where is the painters tape.”
My dad replies: “It’s on the shelf in the basement.”

Above are mostly all the shelves in the basement. I found it, but I think I understand now what my husband is talking about.

Do you have habits you picked up from your parents?