The Olive Sparrow

What we did...

... finally some pictures of the first part of our March break outing as promised. We went north in the search of snow. We found some, although not the copious amounts what we had hopped for. Living within the seasons has been very challenging when the seasons don't play along.

I take our winter books up from their storage downstairs at the beginning of December, together with the Christmas and Solstice books. After the holidays, usually January 7 when we put the Christmas tree away, all, except the Winterbooks go back downstairs. At the same time we also turn our nature table into a winter scene. This year we had used both shelves on the little sidetable that we use for a nature table - upstairs was King Winter in his winter wonderland, on the bottom shelf Huxley put Mother Earth and her children by creating a wonderful cave for them. 

Here is where it becomes challenging. Waiting for winter, for snow, for activities as they happen in the books that talk about winter. I think it is high-time that some books are written that show our winters as they are and also suggest some activities to do without snow. I have a gander that we will have more irregular weather like this ahead of us (smile). 

To try to find some winter, we planned to visit my dear friend Mary and her family in the north (from us it's about 2.5hrs due north) in Bracebridge, Ontario. We stayed there for a few days and had lots of fun. Here some pictures to share.

Bleached leaves - wonderful colours and gorgeous shapes.

Cadmun, the family german sheppard, black lab mix. She celebrated her 1st birthday while we visited. 

Resting.

Marys' youngest - full steam ahead!

The path behind Mary's house - this is the snow we found and glorious it was.

Mary with two of her three Children, Pauline (who teaches at the same school as Mary) with her children.

Funghi growth on a dead tree trunk.

On the second day of our visit it was so warm outside that the children played on the deck with only their shirtsleeves on. 

Muskoka at its best!

Woodpecker geometry. 

 

Thank you again Mary for putting us up for a few days!

 

A little taste of home

This time of the year is when we eat traditional Fastnachtschuechli at home in Switzerland. They are sold in all the local grocery stores and are only available in February and March (if my memory serves me right).

Fastnachtschuechli are to celebrate carnival Swiss-style. I miss this time of the year very much, as Halloween just doesn't capture my heart the same way. I loved the lightheartedness of the Swiss celebration.

This year I decided to start a tradition of making the Fastnachtschuechli (can you tell I love saying it... Giggle), on family day , our mid February statutory holiday.

Yummy....

Happy Day of Love

We have started a new tradition around our meals: recounting our favourite thing of the day. 

Today I had a most definite favourite: 

Huxley got up at 5:30 to tape about 50 heart cut-outs onto the walls of the kitchen and the bunny-room door, he made us breakfast (toasted bagels and cream cheese) and taped some hearts underneath our plates. He also put his lovely hand-made cards under our plates. 

 

Spending a few minutes before our family dinner every night to focus on good things has brought much happiness to our days. At first, Huxley always wanted to mention bad things too - I encourage him to focus on the good things before dinner and then we could talk about the bad things afterwards. Being Thankful, a small gesture, a few minutes of time and a huge difference.

Huge Huggles to you all! and may your lives be filled with love of all kind!

 

"Guetzle"

Having left the country of my birth - Switzerland - at the young age of 19, most of the traditions that I crave are traditions of my childhood. Sadly though, many of these can't be replicated here in Canada. Mostly due to the fact that you need crowds of people celebrating together - the Swiss are not culturally inclined to congregate in groups outside of Switzerland though, so I am missing out on much.

Some of the festivals that I really loved where the National Day celebrations on August 1st - big bonfires, rockets, crackers, sausages over the open fire (veggie sausages i.e. Quorn sausages would do quite well for that too). I also love Advent celebrations. Ah.. the memory of the smell beeswax candle dipping that was open to the public during late November and early December still brings a smile to my face. Somehow though, Advent is just not activily celebrated here. I am also in my most busy Olive Sparrow time during the fall and Advent, so mostly I also lack the time to fully immerse myself into the quiet time of preparing for the bit day.

The one tradition that I insist on honing here is to "Guetzle" (this comes from the word "Guetzli" - which is swiss-german for cookie) - so "Guetzle" is specifically used in Advent when one is baking a myriad of different Christmas cookies. My hips don't need a lot of cookies to keep their svelete shape, our family is small, I work by myself - yet "Guetzli" baking I want to do. I usually make upwards of 15 + different types.

About 5 years ago, my husband and I started to give my home-made cookies to his clients as a small gesture of thank you. We also gift neighbours, friends, my galleries that are in town, a few of the people in the public housing complex in our neighbourhood and often a spontaneous selection of people dropping by our house over the holidays. 

This year I made 50 baggies of cookies, each weighin about 1/2 lb. So this years output was around 25 lbs. Plus about 2 lb for us to have at hand for guests staying here. 

Many of the recipes I use are very old, traditional swiss cookies, combined with a few new ones I just like trying out. I also make some chocolate truffels every year, this time around I gave white chocolate ones a go - they are okay, but I don't think I will attempt them again for a while because the chocolate didn't firm up properly and I had to improvise with additions of cashews - they taste okay, but are not what I had in mind.

Another favourite is the Basler Läckerli - a ginger-bread-type with lots of dried fruit and candied peels - this year I added some of the sour cherries from our tree and I love the bit of tartness amongst all the honey sweetness. Nidelzältli are my sons favourite - cream, sugar and a bit of vanilla - essentially a soft granular fudge. There are also Brunsli - chocolate and almonds with eggwhites, rolled in sugar when rolling out - yummy... Chräbeli are my best friends grandmothers recipe - a traditional Anis cookie and the same dough that is used for Springerle (which I make with a lovely angel mold). Nusspraline - walnuts, coffee and icing sugar, not baked, but left to dry, then glaced with more coffee and icing sugar. 

The essential Swiss Christmas cookie is the "Mailänderli" (Milano cookie) - a shortbread cookie with an egg-wash

Here is the recipe from my mothers home economics cookbook from 1948:

500 gram all-purpose flour (but you can also put part spelt or whole wheat in it)

250 gram sugar

250 gram butter

3 eggs (+ 1 egg yolk)

finely grated peel of 1 organic lemon

___

Put flour, butter, sugar, eggs and the lemon peel into a large bowl and knead well, but not too long (so that not too much gluten develops).

Put dough into fridge for a few hours or overnight

roll out on a little bit of white flour

use your favourite cookie cutters to cut out shapes

transfer shapes to baking sheet (I always use parchement paper, not buttered)

brush egg-yolk onto each cookie

bake at 350 fahrenheit for about 12 - 15 minutes until the egg yolk has gone a beautiful colour.

Let cool and enjoy!

I love cutting out tiny cookies, so that each one is one bite. Takes a bit more time, but looks so pretty. As children, this was our standard cookie that we could help with. (the dough also tastes amazing - my son says so as well.)

On that note, I am now going to work on a few more dolls that have to be finished in time for Saturday. 

 

The Olive Sparrow Child - Rohnan

Summer, ah, you elusive season. We spent time driving Huxley to and from day camps - fun camp, canoe camp, farm camp, sport camp; we spent a week in Tobermory in a rented cottage - with daddy sick for 3 of the 7 days there; we hung around the home and got errands done; we visited my most lovely friend in Bracebridge; we went to the Toronto Zoo, Toronto Island, the wave pool in Richmond Hill, African Lion Safari, the Art Gallery of Ontario; we slept one night in the tent in the back yard; we touched sting rays, elephants, baby goats, wild chipmunks; we saw an owl, lots of snakes (water snakes and land snakes), frogs, wild lions, water snails, wild rabbit, marmot; we sang songs about not skating in buffalo herds; we went to the local public swimming pool; we watched cartoons; we ate ice cream from a great new ice cream spot up on the Danforth; rode in a speed boat; swam in Georgian Bay's turquoise coloured water; hiked along the Bruce Trail; collected rocks at Dyers bay; touched the flowerpots on Flowerpot Island; ate Birthday cake (mine); made a dream catcher; watched sunsets and stayed up until dark; roasted marshmallows over an open fire; and spent lots of time swinging in our hammock at home. All this wonderful activity, combined with my computer deciding that it had no more room for any new photos is the result of my absence from my beloved blog - a break I needed too. 

Today we are at the end of the first week back to school and I have spent this week in the kitchen putting by tomatoes. Three bushels have been processed, another one is awaiting my hands labour. 

Rohnan, an Olive Sparrow Child flew the nest in mid August. His pictures got misplaced and I only found the card with them the other day, so here he is:

 

Rohnan is 30 cm (11") tall and was created for a little two year old boy that is a new member of my dearest friends extended family. The little boy has blond hair and blue eyes, so does Rohnan. 

His shirt is made from a re-claimed linen blouse. I wanted a real shirt, but because the little boy is only 2, did not want to put real buttons or snaps (I do not like velcro for dolls clothing), so I sewed a fully lined shirt and sewed it stitched with embroidered buttons. 

The hat is knitted out of quivit yarn, handdyed to match the blues of his vest, which in turn was made from a felted very soft woolen sweater. 

Deciding on the colours for Rohnans' pants was not easy. I was debating between a khaki green and the bluish linen I ended up using. Huxley helped my decide, he stated that for a two-year old boy it would be wrong to have a doll that has pants that could be military pants. Even after I pointed out to him that adventurers and safari men also wear khaki, he maintained his position that it wouldn't be suitable for the little boy. My dearest friends own son also preferred the lighter pants - Rohnan seems to be very happy with them. 

Like so many little boys, Rohnan is very daring and loves his wooden truck. I asked him to please come down and stay safe, which he did promptly - with a huge smile on his face. 
 

Rohnan jumped down and was off to his next adventure.... 

________________________________________________________

Each doll is made up of the following materials.

Skin: 100% cotton (Swiss-made to Öko-Tex-Standard 100)
Stuffing 100% “green-processed” wool batt from Canada
Hair: 100% Wool, or a Mohair/Wool Blend
Clothing: 100% natural fibres (linen, cotton, silk)
Shoes: Recycled felted wool sweaters, or pure leather
Face: 100% cotton Embroidery Thread

Workmanship:
Each doll is created individually by artist Monika Aebischer, the proprietor of The Olive Sparrow. She sources and uses only the highest quality materials in her creations – swiss-made skin fabric, Canadian green processed wool stuffing,  wool/mohair for the dolls hair (often hand-dyed by her). Hair for the Olive Sparrow Children is made by crocheting a cap that is sewn to the head, allowing for replacement should it ever become necessary (although most children will object to this, as it changes their doll dramatically). For the wispy hair, a special german mohair is used and a labour-intense technique, for the loose longer hair each strand of wool is individually knotted into the crocheted cap. This is the prime technique for doll-wig creation.

Doll clothing is made from up-cycled vintage and clothing fabrics, in either pure linen, cotton or silk. Up-cycled fabric is wonderful for doll clothes, as the cloth has been washed soft, gentle and free of textile manufacturing products. Monika also felts used woolen sweaters to use for doll shoes and clothing. She knits the doll’s hats out of prime quality knitting wool. Each seam on the doll’s body is sewn twice to allow your child to fiercely love their Olive Sparrow Child. Clothing is sewn with French seams and some are fully reversible.

 

Summer Solstice Celebration

To mark the longest day in the year Huxley got to stay up until dark. That was always a dream of mine and at seven, he can handle it. 

I returned home from an appointment at 9pm, at which time we took a blanket out into the backyard with a bowl of fresh local strawberries, some yogurt and honey drizzles. The mosquitos promptly chased us to the front porch, where they don't like to hang out. 

As the light changed to that wondrous summer-evening dusk quality we decided to go for a walk through what is referred to as the dog-park in our neighbourhood. We did not meet any dogs, but we discussed how in the olden days this day was often considered the day of the fairies. Huxley said that was silly, as there are no such things. On our walk, we passed through a collection of trees, crossing a little bridge (although there is no water underneath it) and we paused there. Looking into the very dark woods, I got Huxley thinking about the darkness and how without street lights it would be easy to imagine that fairies move among the trees.

Our walk took us through the playground too, where we stopped for a bit of time on the swings. The sky darkened, but it was still not really dark (living in the city procludes that). Returning home, we each litt up sparkling candles in lieu of having a bonefire. 

Now the days will get shorter again. Knowing this makes my soul feel a bit on the heavy side, yet working in the garden and having summer vacation ahead of us lightens that feeling.

Did you mark the Solstice?

Somebody's got new shoes...

El Naturalista clogs:

 

and during the same visit discovered our new Lego Store - all within 30min driving distance. 

That makes one very happy 7 year old boy and one very happy "multiple times 7 yr old" Mami (as I'm called around here - because as I've just been informed, Mom or Mother doesn't sound as much full of love -- smart kid, hope he keeps it up)..

More good news: the finger's cast can be off except for heavy lifting or dangerous work (Mothering and Wife-ing doesn't count I as dangerous and heavy work I was told).

Things that need to be improved this coming week: glasses broken for the 3rd time (new frame each time) need to be replaced - probably with a different frame, which is so sad, as I'm loving this one; ruptured ear-drum continues healing; final plantings need to go into the garden; time for doll making, felting and art promo must be created; piles of clean and sun-dried laundry must be folded and put away; farmers market must be visited to see if there are any strawberries yet (or other yummies); somebody must be hired to manage a steady summer weather temperature - the person currently doing the job should be let go.

Off to the laundry-line....

A big muddle

A lot of beauty has surrounded me in the past few weeks. The front-yard garden is at its most precious this time of the year. Not only does the sour cherry tree bloom, there are also a lot of tulips, followed closely by columbines, but there are also the forget-me-nots, the narcissus, and a few weeds that grow faster than anything else. 

The vegetable garden is mostly in place, i.e. the soil in the beds have been prepared, the seeds sown, the purchased plants are settled in. There is another garden project that I will need to attend too -- a proper herb garden built as a raised bed by the back door. In the past that area was crowded with a large number of pots, but nothing did really well in the pots. I hope that with having an actual raised bed, with adequate soil, I can create a perfect spot for all my herbs. Hubby will build the bed for me, as his woodworking skills are quite a bit above mine. 

Another big project will be to get our back room organized. Our house is the only one on the street that has a little 6' x 6' room built onto the back of the house. It is not heated, and for some magic reason always ends up full of stuff. About twice a year I take everything out, re-organize it and think that this time we will keep it that way. Well, it hasn't worked out in 6 years, so now is time for a much larger change. Maybe some new shelves, and labels on them (to help the males in this house to keep it organized (grrrrrr)....

My finger is healing too, and I am now allowed to take the cast off for part of the day. I have to be very careful though, as it is so easy to bump the poor digit against something and wow, that hurts A LOT. With these improvements though and with a few birthdays out of the way by the end of this week, I am setting time aside from painting to work on a series of dolls again.

There is also the matter of this blog... I am deeply sorry to have neglected it, and instead of giving you all kinds of excuses, as to why, I will instead just accept the fact that I tend to be a seasonal blogger. Spring is too busy to do it regularly, but by summer things pick up again, and I get back on the ball. (If I can only find it. It's probably somewhere in the back room...)

Enjoy your day!

 

 

We've got babies...

Two of them... 

But before we got the ones we have now, we tried one of these (see below), but it just didn't work out. He didn't want to eat the hay, or the pellets, he also kept spilling the water dish, so in the end we decided to let him roam free again...

Last Friday I drove many miles/kilometers to get the other type of babies we had been waiting for:

After a 3 hour drive they arrived home safe and sound, but of course quite nervous. 

On Saturday afternoon my niece came for a visit and the kids had a lot of sweet moments with the baby-bunnies. 

This is Eddie, he is a chocolate brown Polish dwarf rabbit. He is 6 weeks old now and the sweetest little soul. Very calm, yet adventurous, and soooo soft. 

 

My niece is holding Alice, a 6 week old Mini-Rex. Alice is a cautious bunny, but very curious and already is showing her smarts, by understanding that we mean her no harm, even though we make her still a bit nervous with all our new smells and noises. 

My DH and Eddie bonded right away. So lovely to see.

Eddie and Alice where raised in the same litter, so they are brother and sister by heart. When Eddie is old enough, we will have him neutered to make sure he lives the best possible life he can. We are very fortunate that one of the vets recommended by the local Rabbit Rescue organization is located just a few minutes drive from our home.

Preparing for the arrival of these two sweeties has taken much of my time over the last few weeks, and precluded me from doing other things, as well as my finger still healing as well.

The breeder the bunnies come from is Annette from At Home Pets, just north of London, Ontario. She did a wonderful job handling and socializing the bunnies. I am proud to say that our little guys spent some time at a homeschool meeting with her and her son. They also encountered the house cat, which means that they are not traumatized from smelling our two cats.

Having pet bunnies has been a long-term wish for Huxley. When he was about five and we went to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and saw the bunnies, he couldn't stop telling me how much he would love to have a pet bunny. I knew though, that he was still too young to handle them safely. As he has gotten older, his love for animals has not diminished, so we felt that now would be a good time to get bunnies. (Ehmm.. I thought so, there was a bit of convincing of my DH involved... but he is fully on board now, and his concerns where all justified too). 

Owning a bunny is not a new thing for us though. In 2003 I had an ectopic pregnancy and was very upset, as we had been trying for a baby. Because bunnies are also viewed as fertility symbols, and because I felt very bad, we decided to get a bunny. A lovely bunny named Luna joined us:

She is a Netherland Dwarf and has one blue and one brown eye. In September that year DH and I went on a 3 week vacation to Greece and our bunny-loving friend Gary agreed to take care of luna. Two things happened while we where climbing up to the Acropolis and philandering around Santorini -- I realized that I was with child, and Gary fell hopelessly in love with Luna. To simplify all our need and changes in life, we gifted Luna to Gary, and the following May I gave birth to Huxley. Luna is living an amazingly happy life with Gary, she is now 8, and still of very good health. We visit her when we can, but sadly, she is only attached to Gary, and I can't even pet her now. 

Gary is coming to visit our baby bunnies soon, but we will make sure that there is no more falling in loves, because, these babies.. they are ours!

 

It's bunny time.....

 
The bunny was created without a pattern, but had been inspired by Fabiola from Fig & Me . I used a wired figure (with the large head bead replaced with a tinnie-tiney waldorf doll head. The body was wrapped with wool and skin fabric before I sewed the knitted bunny-outfit right onto the doll. I left the feet and hands wooden. The bunny also has a large fluffy tail made from a pompon:

The itzy-bitzy little bunny is needlefelted. I had made him last summer while visiting one of my closest primary school friends in Switzerland. He's about 1 1/4" long.

 

This is our little nature shelf. We had a nature table in the living room for a few years, but it got to often neglected and forgotten. Now we've got a very small shelf in the kitchen above our table where we eat our meals. It's a wonderful way to decorate for events. I won't tell you how between specific times it often holds a myriad of unrleated bits and bobs... namely lego, tape dispensers, papers, etc.... wait.. I did just tell you.. (grin)...

And now.. drum roll please... our dyed eggs for 2011!....

I dyed them using german-made colour tablets and vinegar. The eggs needed to still be hot before inserting into the dye, so I was not able to put the rubberbands on.. I tried, but after dropping a way to hot egg.. I surrendered to dip-dying.

Have a wonderful and happy Easter, a time for renewal and reawakening...

 

Eggs from the past

Looking through images I found these from 2009. We put rubber bands around raw eggs, then hard-boiled them with onion skins in the water. 

There will be more done this way in 2011, also with other colours. 

 

Rainbows in the Garden

Mother Nature, or as Huxley has started to call it Mr. Planet (gotta work on that.. grin), has been starting in on her swan song...

 

A perfect sprig of cherry tomatoes getting ready for harvesting, caught at dusk.

Dusk it also seems to be for LoHa, our little hamster, as she is nearing the end of her time with us. She is about two and a half, which we have been told is very old for a hamster. I'm sad to see her now, and hope she finds peace very soon. Sadly there is no assistance to aide her with, except to keep her cage very clean and keep her comfortable. 

A little bit of diversion

This stairwell has been my life for the past weeks (well, kind of). We had our amazing friend and Huxley's godfather visiting for three weeks to work on our house. The plan was to finish all the casings in the master bedroom, hang the door (hey, there is a strange notion, a door to the master bedroom.. (grin/blush/grin) and some other odds and ends. On a whim, we decided to also take out that hideous carpet in the hall. The carpet in the "Then" picture was at it's best, ever, as the picture was taken before we even moved in and before all the upstairs and rest of house demolition and renovation was done. Its state was truly disgusting just before it came out... and out it came, with some the carpet being held down by about 200 staples on one (!!!) stair. I think Michel spend at least a whole day just removing the staples alone.

He then dismantled most of the stairs, sanded every single bit down to the original oak, and believe me, if it would be possible to capture that exact colour, we would have left it, but the moment you add something to the wood, it darkens. Which is where the magic of our treatment comes in. Pickling, a technique I had read and heard about a lot in the past. Our house is about 1200 square feet, spread over 3 floors, with an awning in the back and a covered porch in the front. We face east and west. On the west-side, we are also right across the street of a magnificent old school, three stories high. This all means that the downstairs is very dark. Although I do like dark and aged wood in principle, our entry hall was just oppressive and dingy.

About a year ago, we bought some furniture from that "Swedish for common sense"-place in their light wood colour called "Blonde". The kitchen was repainted in a high-gloss, solid white paint, and a blonde floor laid (just el-cheapo vinyl tiles, as we are still planning to do a more substantive re-vamp in a few years time. All the appliances got replaced in white (great thanks to DH's parents who scored both a fridge and stove for about $250 used at a local auction). 

It has also been over the past few years that I have totally, completely and with all my soul fallen in love with living spaces that are all in white and light colours. The interesting part being various textures. White is also easy to clean, you can really scrub it, or repaint it if needed. So this is what we are going to do with our house. If I remember correctly, the first book that sent me into a daydream was the book Pure Style by Jane Cumberbatch; some time later I walked into a home of a parent from Huxley's old school and it was done up in that exact style... I felt that I had finally found a part of me. I have also since picked up a few other books, Pure Style Living, Cool Colors for Modern Living and Thrifty Chic -- great inspirations.

It might be strange that as an artist, I don't have seem to have my own decorating style. However, DH is a graphic designer and has very strong opinions. This Pure Style was the first time that we actually agreed on something. I don't yet know how far we will carry it, but it's well under way with the stairwell. Currently DH is sanding and stripping down the door casings into the kitchen, as well as the kitchen door. We have also decided to pickle the top kitchen cupboards (instead of painting them in the gloss white we intended). Now we need to start looking into flooring options for the entry hall. If you have any ideas and links, I would love to know about them. 

Oh, and yes... I am working on dolls too, but they have had to be put away for a bit with the renovations happening. But please do not fret, you will be the first to meet them when they are ready to go to new homes...