Day at home

On Wednesday, the kids were off school and we have been...

Fun times ;-)

PS: Damn you blogger for being down all day and for losing posts! So this is Wednesday's post (again) with a bit of a delay.

Ipod case

It's always nice to see that people appreciate and actually use the crafty things you have made for them. I had completely forgotten about this little Ipod case I knitted for my sister early last year, only a couple of months after learning to knit. I rediscovered it as she was carefully putting her ipod away to take with her to Paris. Although I have (ever so slightly) progressed in my knitting skills since then, I still think it a cute little project!

Self-congratulations are ok once in a while ;-)

I can resist everything except temptation

Those were the wise words of Oscar Wilde. I am not sure whether he had tea towels and table cloths in mind when he first came up with them, but then again, maybe he did?

On Sunday morning, I did what every French person worth their sould does: going to the market. After 8 years living in Scotland (and 4 months in Switzerland), I had forgotten that a) buying fresh vegetables did not have to cost you an arm and a leg and b) that strawberries smell lovely. While walking on a cloud, excited to be able to afford a massive bunch of fresh asparagus without having to take a bank loan, I bumped into a small stall selling hand-woven table linen.



Now, some women rejoice in the prospect of buying a new pair of shoes or a new handbag. I harbour a tea towel guilty pleasure. I do not enjoy washing up and particularly dislike drying dishes but I looove tea towels. I like seeing them  hang from their little hooks in the kitchen. I may have added 2 to my collection...

My next table linen obsession revolves around table cloths. I don't think I own a single table cloth that is the right dimension for our dinning table. I like =  I buy. One day, I'll find the right table for my tablecloth. The one I bought is gigantic (it is folded in half on the photo!) but I liked the design and the lady (Etoffe de Soi- go check it out!) did not have it in a smaller size. The way I see it is that it can serve 2 purposes: tablecloth and picnic ground sheet. Sorted!

Does anyone else have a linen obsession?



Chilling on a Sunday

Bonjour!

I am posting from Montpellier where I arrived on Saturday and which I will be calling home for the next couple of weeks. Most of the weekend was spent following my sister around the house while she was showing me where everything was, what to put in the kids' schoolbags and hundreds of other things I have already forgotten. She left this morning for Paris and I managed a tear-free breakfast and school run with the kids. Go me!

We did manage to chill out with the kids yesterday while sis was frantically packing her bag. Some stories were read in the hamoc under the olive tree...

We discovered that tiny olives were starting to grow...

The kids asked to go to a garden centre nearby to have a look at the flowers and buy a couple of things to plant in the garden. I had forgotten that garden centres in France were still allowed to sell puppies and was surprised (and very excited) to come across these...

This little Carlin puppy was my favourite!!



The kids were not bothered about the puppies and I was the one to almost have a tantrum in the shop because I could not take one back! In the end, some lavender, strawberries and a tomato plant were bought, and after much digging under the scorching sun, they now happily live in my sister's garden (until I forget to water them...).

Hope you've all had a nice weekend :-)

Zürcher Spielzeugmuseum

I took my nephew and niece to go and visit the toy museum in Zürich on Tuesday. The museum is located a stone throw away from the Franz Carl Weber shop, the Swiss toy shop par excellence or children's idea of Heaven. I challenge anyone going to the museum with little ones to manage to walk past the FCW store without a) stepping inside or b) tears and tantrums.

The museum is rather small and unlikely to keep you occupied for more than an hour but it makes for a very pleasant visit for both adults and children. The two older ladies who run it were very friendly and good with children and obviously very passionate about the toys displayed in the museum and their stories. They took a few toys out to show the kids how they worked and my nephew had to be physicall dragged away from the 1960's wind up cars circuit.

Many of the dolls and doll houses were very old (1860s to early 1900s) and judging by the beauty and the amount of care that went into these toys, they must have belonged to very wealthy and fortunate little girls. The train sets and little soldiers still speak as much to little boys now than they did 100 years ago!

Oh, and did I mention the best thing of all? It was free!! Lots of toys + 2 wonderful museum ladies + a bag of sweets the said ladies gave = two little happy kids!

A trip to the zoo

Good morning!

I have finally had some time to sort through all the photos taken on Monday at the Zurich zoo including tens of shots of the floor or someone's foot from my 4 years old nephew! I think we were as excited about going to the zoo with Mr T as the kids were as many colleagues had spoken very highly of the place (and we were told there were reptiles freely roaming around in a giant troplical greenhouse which sold it for us really).

I had managed to get three free adult passes and the kids went for free as they were both under 6 (very fortunate). It would have been a very expensive day out otherwise (22 CHF per adult + 11 CHF per child over 6 years old) but I believe there are yearly family passes etc... for parents with children which are likely to often go there. And you would need to because a) the zoo is very big and there are so many animals to look at and b) as I realised the attention span of a 4 years old is around 2 hours, more than that and you start dragging a whinging heavy cannon ball attached to your leg. So Mr T and I decided that we would go back in the near future together to spend more time looking at their amazing reptile collection (we DO love reptiles in this household) and to spend more time in the Masoala rainforest (big tropical glasshouse).

We were very impressed with the amount of space the animals had and the quality of the enclosures. The animals are obviously well looked after, their space is clean with loads of vegetation or branches to climb, and many have been enriched (i.e. have games to keep the animals entertained). There are also lots of peacocks walking around the zoo getting chased by the kids, a petting zoo which the younger kids will like and plenty of playing areas scattered around the zoo allowing the kids to go and play when they need a break from the animal watching.

All in all, one of my best days out in Switzerland so far despite the (few) tantrums and tears. Partially because we got in for free (yes, a free activity is an endangered species in Switzerland) but mostly because of the range of animals on display, many of which I had never seen in a European zoo before. The surroundings are very green and pleasant, and I give a big thumbs up to the zoo for making such a good job of the exclosures.

A must visit for everyone, big and small, passing through Zürich!



Update on Posh & Beaks

The Beakhams are still rather ugly and very much still hungry!! Their eyes are starting to open (can you see the beginning of a slit?) and they are also starting to get a few more down feathers. Both Posh and Beaks are now on constant feeding duty, bringing lots of caterpillar to feed the noisy little beggers. I have now left for France and I am a little bit sad that I will not see them grow and fledge. The whole family will likely be gone by the time I come home in 3 weeks. So this may be the last you see of Posh & Beaks' babies :-(

On a rather different note, if some of you readers regularly come back to the blog to hear what is happening at casa Made in Suisse, you can "follow" my blog (you only need to click a "Become a follower" widget on the blog main page). This way a) you are kept updated everytime I post something new and b) I get comfort in thinking that I am not taking to myself! My followers counter has been stuck at 5 for a while, pleeeeeaaase make it move?

If this does not work, I may have to post a photo of Alf's "I'm an adopted dog please love me" eyes to make you all give in ;-)

Merci!