Missing in action!

My poor blog has been totally neglected these past few month. To say that this is a year of emotional ups and downs is definitely an understatement. Just when I started to find my feet again - after moving back to Switzerland after almost 30 years abroad -  mum passed away in August. As you might remember, she was suffering from dementia and we were aware that she had gone downhill quite a bit in the last couple of month. But it was still unexpected and a shock when the nursing staff rang to tell us that they think she's nearing the end, just when we were away for a few days in Denmark. I'm sad but also relieved that she's at peace now.

Mum was born on a farm and I think she stayed a farm girl at heart all her life. She was happiest with her hands in the soil tending her veggie garden (which she kept well into her eighties) or up a tree picking cherries. Mum had a quiet but steadfast faith which carried her through life's challenges and tribulation. She had a happy nature and she never took herself too seriously. It was sad to see her personality diminished by her dementia although once in a while her feisty nature would still come through. I'm so grateful that she still recognised us and  I'm even more grateful that we came back when we did so we could spend a bit more time with her.

At the end of August we spent a few days in Milan, Italy when we drove our daughter there to start her new job. After our return it was time for my husband to go "under the knife" as he needed a knee replacement! A combination of injuries in his younger days when he played basketball, a recently broken knee cap which didn't heal properly and probably dodgy genes made it necessary. He's now well on the way to recovery which means that I no longer have to do a all the fetching and carrying. He can even drive himself to his therapy sessions every other day.

And a milestone birthday has come and gone! According to my kids, I'm over the hill now, but let's just say that if I were a chicken, it wouldn't be Springtime anymore ;)! As I could not think of anything I wanted for my birthday I went a little crazy on the Internet and ordered myself a "bit of fabric" and a few book. I think it's safe to say that the fabric diet is well and truly over.

My son ordered me this lovely batiks bundle from a quilt shop in Switzerland (I had no idea)

and my daughter got me these wonderful Terra Australis by Emma  Jean Jansen (she asked what I wanted and I steered her in the right direction)

These lovely books I order with an Amazon gift card I got from my gorgeous friend Kate in Singapore

and this stunning Kaffe Fasset tin, filled with lovely toiletries as well as this little quilt kit arrived from another Singapore friend, who has in the meantime also relocated, back to Scotland.

Thanks Kate and Martina, I miss you both lots especially our quilting Fridays. I've been properly spoiled and I hope with all these goodies to play with my sewing mojo will at long last make a reappearance!

We've been enjoying an exceptional beautiful and warm Autumn this year. Fall is the season I always missed most in the tropics. This is the view from our balcony again.

And a few more Autumn impressions. 

With Christmas looming on the horizon, I've started with some preparations and baking. I've tried a new cookie recipe this year which I found on Pinterest and I can warmly recommend it. I have to make another batch as the first one has disappeared already. You'll find the recipe for these delicious Cranberry Pistachio Shortbreads here.

So there you have it, my last three month in a nut shell. 

Vreni xx

I'm back!

After almost a whole month in Switzerland we are now back home again. It's been a busy time looking after mum, sorting her house, meeting up with friends and family and doing all the things one does on home leave, like doctors appointment, shopping and too much eating!!! Mum is hanging on although we've noticed a definite decline since we last saw her. She has no concept of time anymore, asking every morning what day it is, then asks again and again. We were finally able to perused her to use a "rollator", as she didn't think she was old enough for one of those. Here she is at her first "driving lesson". 

When we first arrived the weather was pleasant and it felt like spring, but that changed pretty fast. Here we are having a cup of tea in the garden

and here the same scene a couple of days later. It snowed three times while we were there. I wasn't complaining as I've been hankering after snow for so long. But I think I might have been the only one as everybody else was sick of winter and was longing for Spring to arrive. 

Nothing is better than a cheese fondue on a cold evening.

But Spring was apparent nevertheless; I loved these flowers around this door, incidentally the entrance to a private bank!

The flower stalls at the main market were bursting with colour.

The Townhouse dating back to the 14th century.

When my Dutch friend came for a visit, we headed to the Picasso exhibition at the Kunstmuseum. Basel (my hometown) has  always had a special relationship with Picasso, you can read about it here. Unfortunately it wasn't allowed to take pictures at the exhibition, so I show you "The Burghers of Calais" by August Rodin instead. It adorns the entrance court of the museum. 

Then I came across some art of a different kind. These lovely hens were knitted by the ladies at the old people's home where my friend's father is living, as part of the Easter decorations. Aren't they cute?

 

When I got back home I found a parcel from Lynda waiting for me. It contained the bag I won at the recent give away on her blog along with lots of other lovely goodies. It was a bit like Christmas!  Thanks again Lynda!

As you might have seen in my last post, I've installed "Bloglovin". If you would like to keep following my blog, you can do so by clicking this button: 

                                                       

I didn't sew much and I didn't blog either while I was away but now it's time to get back to both again, once I'm over this wretched jet lag, that is! 

Until next time, stay happy.

Cheers

Vreni xx

Home again and in need of a holiday!

Our home leave has not quite turned out as planned. We noticed that my mum, who is 83 years old, has become quite forgetful during the last few month since we last saw her. The house wasn't quite as "organised" anymore and she hardly cooked, which was unheard of just a little while ago. Then she became sick and from there it went downhill pretty fast. A visit to her GP revealed that she had an infection, but also that she is suffering from dementia, something we had suspected for a while. Not an easy thing to hear about your mum, especially since we live on the other side of the world and I have no siblings who could take care of her.  I was cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing like nobody's business. We organised home help and home care as well as a meal service and we hope that she can stay in her own home as long as possible. Luckily she has wonderful neighbours as well as family who are keeping an eye on her. It has become clear that we have to go back more often from now on, no matter how much I hate those long haul flights with the ensuing jet lag.

Anyway, with with all that was going on, I hardly had time to sew and I only managed these few "pies" which are for a quilt I'm working on. I hope to show you more soon.

I've missed my sewing room and as soon as I got over my jet lag and after our latest visitors left (they arrived the day after we came back) I just had to do a bit of sewing. Here's the March block from Blogger's BOM.

I haven't been very active in Blogland lately and I apologise for not visiting you all regularly. Of course now that I'm back that will change and I'm looking forward to seeing what you have been up to in my absence.

Happy Weekend everyone.
Vreni x

Freestyle

Once in a while I like to make quilts that way. I just start somewhere and see where it takes me. I've made this quilt top for this cause. I've decided to have it machine quilted by a new local longarm quilter. I thought I would call it "Finding Order in Chaos" (as it does look a bit chaotic).

And this is what I made with the "leftovers"

If you remember, I took part in the Another Little Quilt Swap 5. This little quilt arrived this week and by chance it was made by my good (blog) friend Jess in Australia. I love the colour combination - blue and brown - gorgeous. From all the lovely quilts made for the exchange, this was my absolute favorite one. Aren't I lucky!

Jess also made this little needle envelope for me (I've admired it a while ago on her blog) and she put in an extra piece of fabric. Thanks so much Jess.

My offering has arrived at its destination as well, see here. By the way; I won first place with it at the Weekly Themed Quilt Contest.  Thanks for your votes!

Other than that; I went to see "The King's Speech" yesterday and loved it. Oh yes, we also had our 30th wedding anniversary this week (of course I was a child bride, I kid you not ;), and this February marks 25 years since we left Switzerland. Our daughter was just one year old when we moved to Australia and as you can imagine, the grandparents weren't best pleased. During our years in Australia our son was born (yes, he's the Aussie in our family) and from there we moved to Taiwan, then Indonesia, then back to Taiwan, to Singapore, to Shanghai in China and a year ago we moved back to Singapore. I often wonder how our lives would have turned out if we'd stayed at home. The kids wouldn't be speaking  Swiss German with an American accent but most probably English with a Swiss German accent ;). On the other hand they would also speak French and maybe Italian instead of  Chinese.  But non of us would want to change a thing and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in so many different cultures.

That's it for today.

Vreni