He thought 'let's start the weekend with a visit to the pub'. He headed off to the local pub three streets down the road to have a drink with friends. To have many a drink with friends. He was having fun but started to feel a bit tired in the wee hours of the morning. So he decided to call the night a night and staggered off to his car to drive the three streets back home. By 5:50 AM he was two streets along the way when his weekend collided with ours.

We thought 'let's start the weekend by a good nights sleep as the gardener will be in tomorrow early to trim some overgrown hedges'. We remembered to park the car in front of the house so that he could get his material safely into place.

By 5:50 AM I was awakened by a sound of such proportions that I thought my neighbors house was collapsing. I ran over to the skylight only the see a car somewhat upside down in the street in front of our house. 

His night of fun just ended in being trapped inside a car...

So there we were, in the dark and freezing cold calling for an ambulance and the police, rescuing the guy out of the wreck - an act of heroism that's been featuring on the husband's secret I'd-like-to-that-some-day-list -. By the time it was 6 AM everything felt rather surreal. As far miracles go, the guy was virtually unharmed. Drunken and shaken and crying and worrying all over the place but physically well. His car was doing less fine. And then it dawned on us that ours wasn't in spectacular condition either. No, we did not park it so tightly between that tree and the stone garden wall of the neighbors. And no, that front wheel shouldn't be bent underneath the hood.

Turns out that the guy most likely fell asleep and was most likely speeding when he went of the road hitting our car -parked in the opposite direction - on the passenger side. The impact forced our car, and a car on a hand brake is a rather solid mass, an entire car length backwards so it ended up in front of the neighbors' house. The impact was so great that it sent the other car flying over to their drive way.

We were lucky that on general we are nowhere to be found around our car at 5:50 AM. He was lucky to have had the reflex of putting his seatbelt on.

We were just stuck with a whole morning sorting out police statements, tow trucks, replacements cars and the joys of administrations galore.

Hope you weekend so far has been much more boring!

have yourselves a happy Valentine's Day!

What to do with a leftover piece of wallpaper and some old Ikea cd racks? 

Well, you can go the Ikea Hack way and turn them into a fresh new display shelf for a child or two. 

The handy husband turned two open racks into a display shelf with a top and bottom. The birdie wallpaper from Pip Studio which was left over after having papered the hallway upstairs actually blends in really well with the rest of the room. A shallow picture rail functions as a second display unit and sports among other treasures two little paintings our oldest offspring produced when she was a year and a half old. Oh those good old days!

But before I turn all sentimental and soft, here's a look at the entire wall or to put it correctly, the entire chimney. No, there are no problems with a sliding floor, the lopsided picture is all down to the state of my poor biceps while taking the picture. I'll work on that. Promised!

Sharpen up those pencils. A Wednesday afternoon filled with children who draw and a mother who sharpens the pencils.

Every winter we open our very local bird restaurant in our backyard. We set it up under and around our Cercis Siliquastrum, or as it is called here our Judas tree. That way we can sit by the French windows and see flocks of birds fly in and out for a small snack.

This season we counted 16 different species of birds... all regular customers who come back from year to year.

And we're not the only ones to be thinking of our little flying friends. In kindergarten our 3 year old lady crafted a special bird feeder by paint spraying a pine cone silver and then filling it with pieces of apple and stale bread.

It proved really popular. Over the space of 24 hours there was not a crumb left in it.

And it's just so pretty to look at. Well done sweetie!

Right, I still owe you a post on my secret santa adventure.

Remember how I took part in a local secret santa initiative. Well,I sent off my Russian pillow to Buddykids. In return on a cold winter evening I came back home to find a big box on my doorstep. Tante Tweet was so kind to send it over and this is what I found inside...

A pile of books, a cherry pit pillow to keep my cold feet company (oops, just realized it isn't in the picture, but I'm sure you all what I'm on about) and a home made birdhouse. Thank you so much Tante Tweet!

I just absolutely love that birdhouse. Ever since it moved in, I'm wondering and pondering where to put it up in the garden. It's rather essential that you get that right if you want it to ever get inhabited. And that's exactly what I'm aiming for... for my little red robin to make it his home...

And then that would look something like this

I could just sit and look at it all day...

Children and husband kicked off the year in style and spent some time with our camera making a stop motion film.

From all of us to all of you "A happy happy New Year". Spend it well!

Well, first I went off into the snow...

Only just down the road and back but off in the snow nonetheless. The girls are having a blast with so much snow and frost this year. Back in the day when I got them their snow boots I figured they'd be useful for a day or two each year but it looks like they'll be worn out by the end of the winter. Hah!

Shall we start dreaming of a white Christmas?

And then, I indulged in some chocolate.

It just keeps beckoning me. How odd is that?

And before and after some persisting ear infections, soar throats and nasty coughs I did manage to put in some work of the crafty kind. Unfortunately most of it is also work of the secret kind so there's little to share ... for now that is. Once Christmas is done and dusted, I'll do a retrospective. 

But until then, these bits and bobs are not so much of a secret.

A Christmas bunny under construction

And a tiny snowy man

To give you an idea of how tiny, his head is made of a felt ball measuring about 1 cm in diameter. What possessed me to start embroidering on that you ask? Well, I still ask myself that question. So far I haven't really come up with an answer. Perhaps you have one...

This weekend was one of the crafting of a different kind. Just about the best invention in toys has been discovered by the oldest little lady of the house and so we spent a weekend constructing a small town. With it's own bus! How cool is that? 

Wow, I need to hurry to the bus stop or I'll miss my ride...

Well, my children do. And the first snow of this winter season in this not so snowy country is a fact. A delightful fact for the kids. 

However Clara, one of our local ordinary chickens with a fancy name is not quite sure.

I know how she feels. As long as it's a snowy white carpet I think it's marvelous. But it never stays that way for long.

Mailmen start trampling it. Cars plough through it. People chuck kilos of salt and sand on it so that it melts and becomes a muddy mess. And by then I no longer like it.

My offspring however don't mind how it looks. As long as they can pick it up and build snowmen or snow bears and snow sheep. For them it's the sign that winter has started. I keep telling them year after year not to get their hopes up because that snow is rather exceptional here and year after year I look like the local idiot as snow comes pouring down from the heavens as if this was Siberia itself. While my offspring are giving my the you-see-you-silly-woman-we-were-right-look I keep wondering where all that snow was when I was a kid.

Probably in Siberia...