My First Cup!

As most of you know I am in Austria for the next few weeks staying in this "swap" house with my sister-in-law. There is the language barrier as neither of us speaks German. I speak and understand about 15 key words and she understands a few less than that so she defers to me for the translation. You can see how this is all going to go, but we are both seasoned travelers and have done more difficult things than work out a language. It helps that the locals in this sleepy little town are uber nice and speak rapid (most slow down when they see we are perplexed) German to us trying to explain where the supermarkets are.

We are having a great time and this is my second morning here. Yesterday was spent convincing ourselves that the sun should be up and so should we, taking walks around the village, and getting a Sunday morning treat from a bakery. The weather could not be finer, the village could not be cuter, and the people could not be nicer.

The sun is starting to peak through the retreating rain clouds from the nights magical rain storm. They remind me of Colorado rains as I am surrounded by mountains, but with a bit more order to them, and the smell of fresh baked pretzels is filling my bedroom.

It's Monday morning for me and after paying too much for really good coffee in a cafe/bakery yesterday we bought some espresso grounds. Well this morning was my first go with this espresso maker. To tell you the truth, looking at it I was concerned I would not get an in-house cup for my remaining time here (Where does the water go?). But this morning I produced a not-too-bad pull of espresso and steamed some milk to go along with it. I think everything is going to be smooth sailing from here.

My Mother

My childhood was blessed with family, companions, places to adventure freely, and the best mother anyone could ask for. It is not always what you are taught, sometimes its how you are taught that makes the lesson. I could thank my mother for a great many things, but I think I will only mention one.

My brothers and I were encouraged to roam freely, explore, and adventure through the long hot summer months. Swimming, fishing, climbing, biking, boating, and exploring. This was our childhood packed with Koolade and peanut butter sandwiches. We even had cousins that were adept at getting into mischief with us. We were more like The Dirty Half Dozen with fishing poles, pocket knives, and buckets at the ready. It is a testament to the resilience of children and our parents first aid skills that we all made it out of childhood with all our limbs in-tacked.

I wonder if my mother ever thought, “That's enough!” after so many stitches and broken bones, ours and hers. If it ever crossed her mind she never spoke of it and because of this freedom in childhood my mother raised three very adventurous strong children. As Mother's Day creeps up on us all the days get longer and warmer transporting me to those great days of adventure and coming home to a cold glass of ice tea and a hug.

I am about to take yet another adventure in the coming weeks. Though I live many states away and am an adult she will be concerned as I travel across the Atlantic. There is no doubt that my mother worries about her children, even now when we are all grown, she is our mother and for that I will be ever grateful.

I Have Some Gear

I have enough adventure gear to keep me busy for a lifetime. Well in an apartment that is this compact what do I do with it all? Hang it on the walls! Yes, that is my mountain/road bike in my eating nook inside the kitchen just out of reach of the fan. That's my wine rack right next to it. Surrounded by books, tea and adventure gear. What more could you want out of an apartment?

Excellent Finds!

On Saturday last weekend Tim and I went for breakfast just to have some excellent hashbrowns. After breakfast we had formulated a plan to get the planting done for the pot garden in the front of my place. I don't have much green space, but I do have this 20' by 15' slab of concrete right out of my door. A blank slate, excellent. I have been working on plans to make this a pot garden and patio sitting area. There is a lot of afternoon sun and perfect shade for a little table and chair set. I found these pots and shelf on craigslist for a steal.

I have been haunting the local second hand stores in the area looking for just that; things to use for my outdoor space. So, on Saturday, as is custom for me, we went looking at a Goodwill I don't normally get to for garden things. We did not find any garden things, but what we did find was most exciting. We found the matching couch to the love seat and chair set I got off of craigslist.

There it was just sitting among the other furniture looking just perfect. I was elated. The luck of finding the missing piece to the set was almost too overwhelming. Speaking of overwhelming, looking at the size of the piece was giving me some second thoughts about getting it. Would it even fit in the living room? An inner debate was raging between wanting extra seating for guests and the worry of it consuming the living room like Godzilla.

I began my deliberation by checking the price, $99. That was excellent. I gave it a looking over for any damage that might have caused it to be given away. The sofa was without any visible marks. The whole thing looked good, but then I sat on it and discovered it was missing a support slat. Easily fixed and now I knew why it was here.

Tim went and paid for it, $70 on sale, as I disassembled it with one of the staff who kindly supplied me with an allen wrench. We packed it in the car (I love furniture that comes apart) and were off, dropped it off at my place, took some quick measurements for the missing slat, and went to get the gardening supplies for the day.

We then spent the rest of the sunny afternoon potting. Here's the start of the garden! I will post more pictures of it when its bushy and green. Planting was so much fun. I really love plants; there is something wholly satisfying about growing your own food.

Well the missing slat was easily fixed. I cut, sanded, painted, and fastened it together in about 30 minutes on Sunday. Here it is in the living room. I love it, but I am not sure I am going to keep the set-up like this.

What Is That?

That is a sweet red bean shake. I have come down with a slight cold and Tim ran out to get me my favorite Asian pick-me-up. This drink is made with whole sweet red beans, crushed ice, coconut milk, a bit of sugar, and some clear bean noodles.

Though I know some or most of you to be revolted by the thought of having such a thing even in close proximity to you its one of my all time favorite Asian things. Ok, I am going back to my book and getting some tissue on the way.

Coming Along Nicely

I spent a day and made curtains out of this old silk duvet cover I've had for years. I loved this duvet when I bought it, but realized the first night sleeping under it that it was the worst possible thing to put on my bed. The blanket inside the duvet was always slipping to the bottom of the bed and I was perpetually cold and frustrated.

Though I kept it as I loved how attractive a color and fabric it was the fact remains it was very impractical and not of much use in a closet. When I was packing to move to California I discovered it once again, forgotten in a box, and pronounced it the worst possible thing to pack half way across the country. My mother protested telling me to keep it and make pillows or anything really as it was real silk and no one should ever just discard real silk. I being of a crafty nature at once knew she was right.

This is my first attempt at working with real silk and I must say it was a pleasure to work with. Being a natural fiber it didn't have the nasty stretch that marks the frustration of some sewing projects and it has this wonderful beauty only raw silk has. It really complements the pillow cases I bought in a market in China. With that and the beachy look of the love seat the whole room is turning out to be quite casual with a bit of vibrancy that truly is a hallmark of my particular style.

One For Me and One For You

I wanted to give the upstairs neighbor something as she has been so kind and I thought what's better than home made bread! I grabbed one of my tried and true cook books and found just the thing. A glazed raisin yeast bread. Simple 50's cooking at its best.

I decided that I wanted to make something a bit more intricate than just the loaves so I rolled it out after letting it rise once and cut it into strips. With some of the strips you can see I made balls and placed then into a large muffin pan. You can see it only holds six muffins at once so it was perfect for this bread. The other strips I took two at a time, twisted them together, then curled them into pinwheels and placed them in a 9" cake pan.

Baked everything for 25 minutes in a 375 degree oven, put them on the rack to cool, topped the final product with slivered almonds and a light drizzle of simple glaze, I think it made it bit more fancy. I also added some cinnamon to the dough for a bit of interest.