Beach Birds

Seagull flying solo

Sandpipers running in waves

Hampton, NH

It's so nice to breath that fresh, salty air!

 the marsh

 the rocky shore

 the birds

Sugar Scrub Cubes

In preparation for an upcoming bridal shower, I decided to penny pinch and try my hand at making the favors.  Since the theme of the shower was 'Victorian Teatime', I wanted to go with something tea and shower infused.  I made some 'teabags for the tub', which only required purchasing empty teabags, dried rose petals and lavender, and some thread.  After a quick internet search, I found some directions on how to make sugar scrubs into cubes.  Here are a few photos of the results:

I wanted to test the directions on two different soaps before using the nice handmade lavender soap I had.  I chose 'refreshing' lime and 'soothing' honey & oil.

The lime-scented soap did not smell nearly as refreshing as advertised, it smelt more of cleaner.  The honey & oil soap smelled delicious and warm.  It took about 1/2 an hour to shave a cup of flakes.  Note: using the blunt side of a knife worked surprisingly better than the blade.

I attempted melting the flakes with a double boiler, but found that even after HOURS of boiling, so soap would not melt on it's own.  So, with my lime batch I gave in and dumped all the oil in.  It melted much faster that way, however the consistency didn't seem quite right.  I used brown sugar, since it was all I had at the time.
With the honey batch, I attempted to double boil, but found it much more effective to place the pot directly on the burner and watch it carefully.  The consistency was quite different this time around, and as you'll see in the following photos it was just right.  I did attempt a 2nd batch of the honey, but ended up burning it... in the end, it smelled more like maple syrup, so not much of a loss there.  ;-)

As you can see, the lime batch did not stick together AT ALL!  I was terribly disappointed... but extremely excited when the honey batch turned out so great.

    

Not wanting to waste any of my concoctions, I put the lime batch into a bowl and currently use it on my feet.  It feels wonderful, just like a regular sugar scrub, but smells a lithe toxic.  The honey batch was carefully transferred into tupperware in order to travel to the bridal shower safely.

I placed the tea bags and sugar cubes into little cellophane bags, tied off with a teapot 'thank you' tag.  The shower was a delight.

Photos and Language Learning

After a recent teacher's meeting, my boss gave me the go-ahead to have an interactive photo wall.  Basically, students respond to a question about the given picture in the language they're learning.
We painted a magnetic area on the center wall at the school, and the first picture has already had some traffic!  Looking forward to more comments in varying languages, as well as deciding what picture to post next.

I heart Fasnet (part three) - Rosenmontag in Denzlingen

This year we decided to heed the advice of my students and check out the Rosenmontag parade in Denzlingen, as opposed to Freiburg.  It was worth it!  Still a decent-sized parade, but with groups I hadn't seen before (such as Mr. Scary Bo-jingles pictured below) and much better candy.  It was also less crowded.  Oh and did I mention the candy?  You know when you're a kid and go trick-or-treating... there's always that one house with the full-size bars of chocolate as opposed to the fun size.  That was Denzlingen.

Oh, and it snowed some more!

I heart Fasnet (part two) - Fackelumzug

Ah yes, the famous Fackelumzug ("torch parade") of Elzach.  This year marked my 3rd trip to see this traditional event.  And it was the best yet!  We had a great spot on the parade route (I'm guessing it wasn't as crowded this time around since they also had a night parade for their Narrentreff {see previous post}).  Since we had such a great spot, this allowed for me to get hugs and kisses (and sometimes hit with pig bladders) from the Narren, which really made me feel, well, local.

We stayed through to the very end, when they all tossed their torches into a large bonfire pit.  One person caught his 3-cornered hat on fire, but other than that the night was nothing but fun and smooth sailing.

Snow!

Hello winter, it's about time.

Snow-covered evergreens.

Snowy Fasnet.

Freiburg Alte Friedhof

I enjoy a walk through a cemetery (in the daylight).  I find them to be very peaceful and typically very beautiful.  Stone, marble, moss, and flowers; all things living, dying, alive, and dead, both physically and in thought.  Just serene.

Today we went to the oldest cemetery in Freiburg.  It was a somewhat overcast day, and it had been raining earlier.  That combined with the unseasonably warm day and black birds scattered about, both silent and cawing, gave the Alte Friedhof a distinct eeriness.

I heart Fasnet (part one) - Elzach Narrentreff

And now time for my most beloved Black Forest tradition - Fasnet!  This year there was a 'Narrentreff' in Elzach, a town just north of here.  It's only in Elzach every 16 years, so I was very lucky (and thrilled!) to have the opportunity to go.

Banner of the Narrenschuttig in Elzach.

Here is one of the Narren (or Harlequins) in action - he's about to hit the woman that was standing next to me with an inflated pig bladder.

Basically all of the men (and a few women) in Elzach dress up and parade.  These groups of Narren are broken up with small bands, dressed as masked clowns.  They all play the same tune, and if you ever get the chance to go to this parade, the song will most certainly stay in your head all day.

This little guy was from one of the other visiting groups that day.  Typically children don't where wooden masks because they are quite expensive to make and they will most likely grow out of them quite quick.  I imagine this mask has been in the family for awhile.  Or maybe it was the mayor's son.

Wilkommen in der 2013!

I like that the English spell check for "Wilkommen" is "walkman".

Anyways - hello 2013!  Not going to lie, the end of the year definitely snuck up on me.  I'm finding myself to be in a similar place as I was last year, which is not the most comforting/rewarding mindset.  We'll see what happens; my resolution is not to be -so- lazy.  Because a resolution to stop being lazy is highly unrealistic, I need to start setting realistic, achievable goals.  That's very mature now, isn't it?  I think so.  This means I will still allow myself the occasional lazy indulgence, however other times I will turn up the drill sergeant in my head and get shit done.  That being said, I got plenty of shit done over new years celebrations.

1. Caught up with old friends and strolled the town, taking time to really appreciate where I am right now.  Sometimes, when you get used to living in a place, you tend to forget how remarkable and utterly beautiful it is.

2. Baked a lot (refer to Christmas cookie post).  These are the most awesome homemade (vegan!) cinnamon buns I have ever enjoyed.  And I helped make them (well, I did the icing).  I also made vegan ginger-pear muffins, which were also quite tasty.  Note to readers: I'm not vegan, just vegetarian, but my friend wanted tot test out these vegan recipes.  And I must say, they were yummy.

3. Had a lovely home cooked NYE dinner, followed by sparkling wine and fireworks in town.  Our small group of chums mingled amongst the guests of a fancy-pants hotel who were also out enjoying the fireworks display.  A tree caught on fire, but was quickly put out so no harm there.  After fireworks we visited the 20s party going on at a nearby bar and then spent some time at an underground nightclub where my baker partner was working.  We rounded the night off with heading home to eat leftovers.  All in all a successful, fun start to the new year.  Here here!

Bring it on 2013.