Happy New Year!

I still remember when we were all worried the world might end with January 1, 2000 because of Y2K. Our neighbors back then stocked up on firewood just in case, which they gave to us after midnight came and went and nothing happened. We didn't have to buy firewood for years!

And now it's 2020. Hard to believe that 20 years have passed. Especially since none of us are getting any older, right?!

This last year has been really wonderful at my new job. I really, really love what I do and I finally feel settled enough with working full-time after so many years of not working in a "regular" job that I am finding time and the frame of mind for other things. 

 

The Christmas season was cozy and quiet for us. We both seemed to want to cocoon rather than entertain or be out and about. We did travel to Richmond, Virginia one weekend to see a fantastic Edward Hopper exhibit, which was so inspiring!

Speaking of cocooning ... our year ended with this minor miracle in our garden. We got to watch a monarch butterfly transform from a caterpillar to butterfly in five weeks. I think it took so long because it's not so warm at the moment.

 Isn't the cocoon gorgeous? A little work of art!

And then one day you can see the butterfly through the now translucent cocoon and you know it will hatch that night.

The next morning, I got to watch it unfold. Nature is nothing short of amazing! 

Even though I haven't been in my studio yet (there's still hope I will get back there... :)), I have been doing a lot of knitting. Right now I am finishing up another entrelac scarf with gorgeous Noro yarn. It's such a fun pattern and I finally don't have to look at the instructions anymore while knitting!

I found a link on another blog of a site in Scandinavia, where you can create your own calendar/planner and use your own photo/artwork on the front cover. It arrived just in time for 2020! Let the planning begin! 

On Monday, the quarter starts for our students and things will get much busier at work. It's been nice to have it a little quieter to get caught up on a few things, but I'm looking forward to seeing the students and professors again.

I hope your 2020 is starting out well and wish you health, joy and happy surprises for the next year!

❧ Silke

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas! 

Peace and joy to all of our hearts, no matter what we celebrate! 

❧ Silke

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I'll be back soon and am looking forward to connecting with you again!!

Can you guess...

... what we've been doing all morning?

I know it's a little early, but I'm so totally in the holiday spirit this year... Any of you as well?!

And you bet this is part of my gratitude list today...

❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧❧

Right now, I am grateful for:

1. getting out our Christmas decorations and slowly starting to decorate around the house
2. much cooler weather with plenty of sunshine
3. colorful yarn ready to be made into something beautiful
4. a surprise package that arrived yesterday
5. Nutella (yum!!) 

The Best Cookies

Daniel found the recipe for these cookies a few years ago and they have quickly become one of our favorite cookies to make and, of course, to eat!

You can find the basic recipe (and the story behind them) by clicking here. But then come back here so I can tell you about the changes we made to the recipe.

• Instead of walnuts, we use hazelnuts (filberts) and roast them for 10 minutes at 350 F before grinding them;
• we don't grind chocolate or hazelnuts to a super fine powder, but grind them fairly fine - gives it a little more texture that way;
• we mix the whole thing in our kitchen stand mixer and the cookies are wonderful even though we don't "carefully fold under" the stiff egg whites or the flour;
• I've used that amount of icing for two batches of cookies and they were plenty sweet, so feel free to cut down on the icing;
• also, with regard to the icing, we use Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur) as the liquid and it adds a little extra hazelnut flavor;
• and last but not least, we simply cut the cookies in diamond shapes and don't cut them out in half moon shapes - it's less labor intensive.

We made them once with walnuts, but like them much better with hazelnuts. My dad liked them so much, he and Ingrid already made one batch were thinking of making some more. He also gave us the idea of trying them once with almonds as the nuts and Amaretto in the icing. Sounds good, don't you think? I hope you'll try them as well - they are delicious!! 

To all who celebrate Christmas Eve (Daniel and me included), I wish you a magical, festive and cozy evening! We are planning a delicious meal and are looking forward to a beautiful day and evening! May your day be wonderful! 

What Child is This?

The other day, Daniel bought us Sarah McLachlan's Christmas album, Wintersong, and we both think that her rendition of Greensleeves (What Child is This?) is one of the prettiest we have heard. I hope you'll enjoy it as well.

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments on my latest painting. It feels so good to make art again. I hope I'll have something else to show you soon!

Warm and Merry Days to you!

As things get busier here for us, I wanted to take a moment and wish all of you wonderfully warm and festive days during this Holiday season! I know not everyone is happy and healthy during this time and to you I send extra special warm wishes!! May you be uplifted and touched by the angels around you!

Sending you all my gratitude and love!!

Wintery Snapshots from Germany

This morning, my dad took a walk through snowy Münster, my hometown, to take some pictures for Daniel and me, particularly of the yearly Christmas Market. I thought you might enjoy seeing these as well.

The Christmas Market is an old established December tradition where booths are set up throughout downtown and people offer their handmade crafts and gifts, food and drink. It's always fun and festive, but with a little bit of snow, it's even more magical!

There has to be food (good German sausages in this case)...
... and drink - hot mulled wine at this stand ...
... pretty nicknacks to admire and maybe purchase ...





... and of course a few fun rides for the little kids!
I hope you enjoyed this wintery stroll through Münster's Christmas Market! Wishing you all a lovely day!!

My Favorite German Decorations

I wanted to share some of my very favorite German Christmas decorations, all of them given to us by my aunt, Inge (Thank you, Inge!). Every year, as I unpack them, they give me such joy! They are so small and so pretty! My absolute favorite is the little angel bakery in the photo above. (Can you see Winslow chewing on a bone in the background?)
Tiny, tiny angels...
...and a pretty Christmas caroling scene.
These are two little figures in the traditional costumes of the Black Forest - I added the pine tree candle.
And another snowy caroling scene, this time on top of a music box, turning and turning to the sweet sounds of Silent Night.
I was trying to find a picture of the Christmas tree I grew up with and found the one below (one of the very few I have) with my dad and our cute little wire-haired dachshund we grew up with.

My parents would put up the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve when my sister and I were little. We had to wait in our room until the we heard a little bell ring three times. When we'd step into the living room, it was always like magic - everything was transformed!

We always used real beeswax candles on our tree, which looked so beautiful and festive, but never lasted long before they had to be blown out. Plus, they had to be supervised very closely. The little beaded wreath ornaments were all handmade by my mom and so pretty. I remember there was one in pearly pink and dark burgundy beads that was my very favorite!

These days, Daniel and I use the little artificial lights on our tree, which I love because I can have them on all the time (the tree is lit as I type this). Plus we can put up our tree well before Christmas and enjoy it for several weeks. I love the house decorated at this time of the year and was happy to adopt the American custom of putting up the tree early!

What are some of the customs you've adapted from when you were little? Or did you preserve all the traditions you grew up with? Or maybe you are creating traditions all your own?

So pretty...

Over the years, my sweet aunt, Inge, has given us many Christmas-related gifts, among them a number of table cloths and runners. This is one of my favorites! I love the winter scenes and decided to use it as a backdrop for a very special Christmas card.

A dear friend of ours in Albuquerque is a talented calligrapher and every year, she and her husband send out a card that his entirely handmade and always features her calligraphy and is folded in a clever way! I thought all you creative folks might enjoy seeing it.


Peace on earth and goodwill to men is a wonderful thing to wish for all of us! I'm so glad you all have become part of my world!

Decorating a Little

We are finally getting into the Christmas spirit and I want to share just a few of our decorations with you. I was thinking yesterday how everything we put on our tree or around the house has a special meaning for us. And especially when we decorate the tree, we are always smiling and exchanging memories and retelling the stories our ornaments remind us of.

Some of our ornaments are new, but a few are old and treasured ornaments from Daniel's family, like this beautiful Silent Night glass ball....
...and this beautifully striped ornament!

The beaded quezal bird we just bought on our recent stop in Guatemala. We like to bring back little things that remind us of the trips we have taken....

...like this angel from a vacation in Hawaii in 1996...
...and this chimney sweep (for good luck!) from our many trips to Germany.
Many of our ornaments remind us of our family and friends. For example, this beautifully batiked egg was made by one of my friends and former coworkers. Her work is exquisite!
And this little cocktail glass arrived in the mail a couple of years ago from my good friend Beth after she had visited me in Savannah and we enjoyed a few Cosmos together!
Many of our ornaments remind us of my sweet aunt in Germany, who has supplied us with some of the most wonderful Christmas decorations over the years. One year, she sent a small box filled with angels and straw stars - we use them every year! I'll be sharing more of my German decorations in another post - they are really pretty and I think you'd enjoy seeing them!

Winslow tried to stay out of the way while we were decorating and was eyeing us suspiciously from his safe spot on the couch!

I've been trying to get back to my studio, but so far no luck. There's just too much other stuff to do these days. But when all the packages are mailed, the cookies are baked and the decorations are finished, I will paint again. In the meantime, though, I am thoroughly enjoying this holiday season and I hope you are, too! It's such a magical time...

P.S. Thank you so much for your heartfelt comments on my posts - they make me feel so good every time!!!