Beautiful Italy, Beautiful Elba - a Family Affair

(This was written a couple of weeks ago. We're now back in Zurich.)

I'm currently sitting on our balcony with the most beautiful view towards a well-maintained garden, three pools and a little bit further out, the sea. After some discussion over a bottle of wine last night, I finally worked out which sea. Or did I? Maybe I just managed to boil it down to not being the Baltic Sea. Paul knows but he won't tell me and I don't trust the information on Wikipidia about Elba since it said that the population of the biggest town here is 500,000,000. Anyway, I can see a lot of water and a lot of sky. It sounds as if Paul has managed to get Stefan to sleep, so all I can hear are the birds doing their thing and a man carrying a ladder (yes, it's THAT quiet!).

We arrived on Saturday and will be leaving on Sunday. Driving. I love the fact that we can just get in our car and six-seven hours later (depending on traffic and strength / weakness of the passengers' bladders) we've exchanged a cloudy sky, sweaters and scarfs for sun, sandals and swimwear.

As a mother in possession of a mobile phone and no shame, I have minutely recorded Stefan's first proper meeting with the sea (last year, he had only learned to walk, so we were a bit worried about letting him too loose near the water), Stefan discovering sand, Stefan discovering sand in his shoes, socks, between his toes (his parents later discovering it in his hair, body, nappy...), Stefan eating ice cream, Stefan sitting on his dad's shoulders part 1, 2, 3, etc. Stefan playing in the sand with his dad part 1, 2, 3, etc. Basically a never ending series of pictures and videoes of Stefan and Stefan and his dad. I'd sent some of the pictures to some family and friends and one of my friends said, it would be nice to see some pictures of me as well. And I agree. Because I'm actually also here. But behind the camera. Which I think is quite often the case with mums.

Luckily, my sunny disposition and always positive attitude meant I found a solution to immortalise myself in pictures along with my son and husband:

Stefan and his stalker mum

A crazy big footprint in the middle of this picture

There's no stopping her

We might use this for our Christmas cards 2015

And the good old selfie 

Toddlers - the New Breed of Forensic Detectives?

After having spent yet another 45 minutes on a walk with Stefan which resulted in us exploring, minutely, an area the size of an A4 sheet of paper, I suddenly had a thought: Why don't the police train toddlers to become forensic detectives? They are naturals. Yes, there might be slight communication and behavioural problems and yes, it might not be entirely legal, but apart from that I really can't see why this isn't an amazing idea.

Here are some reasons why (based on my, yes, I will admit, perhaps rather limited experience, but still, I don't think Stefan is any different from other toddlers his age when it comes to the explorative nature of our walks).

• No stone, not even the smallest (including grains of sand), is left unturned, unstudied or in the cases of the younger toddlers, untasted. 
• Nothing escapes their gaze: Cigarette buds, rotten fruit, plastic lids, insects - so my argument would be that this were also to be the case with: Fingernails, minute body parts, hair, earrings, teeth, smaller bones.
• The same small area will be looked at from all angles more than once.
• Gloves are not necessary when it comes to examining any wet areas.
• When they're in the field, they're totally in the zone: They hear nothing and don't let anything stop them from for example digging into brown mud, not made out of soil, with a stick (if one is lucky!).
• Everything excites them.
• Confidentiality isn't a problem for them as they're unlikely to be able to talk. 

However, as in all employer-employee relationships, there are likely to be a few negatives and drawbacks when it comes to employing toddlers (in addition to the ones mentioned above):

• They might not understand the seriousness of the matter and laugh at inappropriate moments.
• They'll need longer and more breaks than older workers.
• They'll need help to go to the toilet and eat.
• They might ruin the evidence found and not want to hand it over.
• There is a chance that they'll suddenly get bored with the task at hand and nothing, no kind of bribe, that being monetary, extra annual leave, gym membership, monthly flowers, is going to make them change their minds.
• There might be more tears and hissyfits than with older colleagues.
• They will need a chaperone.

Over the next couple of months, I will do some more research. I have already started writing a questionnaire about Exploration Habits Among Toddlers When Going for Walks and in General (title to be shortened), which I 'm planning on handing out to the parents in Stefan's nursery to start with. Once a result has come back, I will make a pretty powerpoint presentation including loads of impressive slides and try to get a meeting in place with Herr Top-Police-Detective-Guy here in Zurich and see what he says. I think this could lead to something big. 

Actually, I have so much faith in this idea, I'm going to start designing appropriate forensic detective outfits for toddlers.

Chocolate Cookies with Chilli

Since I saw the recipe for these cookies a while back, I've wanted to try them out. But due to a disaster with some store-bought, ready-made cookie dough a couple of years back, I've been shying away from throwing myself into the art of making cookies, as I was convinced this was something I would never master.

Stage one: Getting the ingredients ready (which includes my mixer wearing a collar).

Stage two: The dough is being mixed using the correct tools and expert folding technique.

Stage three: Yumminess on a plate (with the mandatory glass of milk).

I decided to subject one of my therapy groups to my first batch of homemade cookies, and their comments were very encouraging. I didn't necessarily understand everything they said, but I returned home more or less empty-handed which in this case is a positive. And one of them asked for the recipe! Personally, I must admit I was a bit disappointed. I'd been looking forward to the chocolate / chilli combination but didn't think it worked that well. However, I am so excited that I managed to make cookies which didn't need to go directly from the oven into the bin...

Sports Update and Garlic Bread

Stefan is sitting in the sofa doing hand movements to 'Wheels on the Bus'. He's actually pretty good and I'm almost jealous of the fact that he knows the order of them already (he's also able to copy all the gestures Pharrell Williams does in the beginning of his video to 'Happy'! We might look into entering him to some highbrow show for intelligent people thought up by Simon Cowell in a year or two). I'm still struggling with the moves and routines in my Zumba class. Admittedly, I haven't actually been going to my class regularly, but that's all about to change! 

BECAUSE:

My yearly subscription to the fitness center two minutes' walk from here (three, if the wind is in my face (headwind?)) ran out last month and having no income, I felt rather reluctant to fork out quite a lot of non-existing money on something which might end up just being another card in my collection. So I was toying with the idea of saying: Been there, didn't really do much of that, did buy some sports t-shirts.

UNTIL: 

(Does this capitalising work? I'm trying to create a somewhat dramatic atmosphere.)

Da-da-da-daaaah: Paul made a suggestion: He'd pay for a new subscription under the condition that I go at least 52 times. If not, I'd have to pay him back. Theoretically, I thought this was an amazing offer and theoretically, I could definitely see this as the incentive I need in order to start going more regularly. Not having the best track record when it comes to turning theory into practise, I still decided that with a 'can-do' and 'I'm going to show myself (and a little bit the world)' attitude, this project should be feasible. Hence, I accepted the offer. It's now been a month or so and I've been to Zumba once (Easter got in the way last week) and I'm planning on going tomorrow morning, so I'm on track - also because the subscription runs for 13 months...

The search for a yoga teacher / class is still ongoing. I did a couple of sessions from YouTube which were actually quite good, but I would like to be in a studio surrounded by mirrors, as I need to make sure I do the movements correctly. (Not to admire myself as most of the poses are rather unflattering unless you're very lean and fit and don't wear socks with rubber underneath them.) And it would be good to have a teacher there as well who can guide and instruct in person. 

Reaching 10,000 steps a day is actually a bit more tricky than I first thought. However, with the warmer weather coming our way and the increase of number of hours of daylight, I should be able to improve this. So I keep monitoring my steps and my weight. Which goes up and down, but if nothing else, it shows that the pedometer works and it creates a more interesting graph than one that just goes down, stays still, or moves up...

What I have done / added to my fitness routine is cycling into Zurich city centre and back from here when the weather's good and I have morning therapy. It's about 7 km and takes 20-25 minutes. 

I feel that I've made some progress but know that I could do better. 

On a final note, I would like to show a couple of pictures of the making of what I personally think is the best garlic bread I have EVER tasted. 

The dough has been stretched and shaped into a rectangle.

Cutting and slicing job done and on with the garlic and herb butter.

Bird's view of the buttered slices having been placed in the tin.

Post-bake in tin.

Final result.

Giving the Bitch the Final Stitch (so much anger in someone so young-ish...)

It's now time to update you all on the progress with my cross-stiching. (Yes, I am a 73-year-old fragile looking lady trapped in the body of an almost 42-year-old slightly craft and cake obsessed person.)

The Cross-Stitch Bitch has now been given the last stitch, so I might look into getting her framed. However, I doubt very much that the husband will be happy for me to hang it up in our living room glowing eternally under a projector light. We'll see.

This is what she ended up looking like (I'll get a better picture once she's moved into her frame):

I think that once we have a bigger abode and I get my own room (one can dream), I can turn it into my own personal tasteful haven with loads of flowers and plants, a Lindt chocolatier (instead of a butler: I don't wear top-hats or white gloves or receive handwritten letters which need to be brought to me on a silver plate), a comfortable chair, where I can do my knitting, and an adjustable table (and ditto chair) which is big enough to hold both cross-stitching AS WELL AS jigsaw puzzle projects. I think I might also like a bed in there as I'll probably get tired from all the crafting. And baking which I'll be doing in the French farmhouse style kitchen which belongs to this dream-house. There will still be time and room for Stefan and Paul. ALWAYS!

Okay, this is what I'll be working on post-bitch:

I have actually already started on the 'My Day Off' design (more about that on my Instagram-account, @stefansmor) and am thoroughly enjoying every stitch. It's comparable to my mental progress: Small steps to begin with, then the bigger picture will emerge.

Au-Pair Talk and Adieu to Antibiotics

Rosinger Senior and Junior are now both back on their big and small feet again. And we have said good-buy and good riddance to the traumatic experience it has been to squirt antibiotics into Stefan's mouth twice a day. (Senior was given pills.) We tried to bribe him with Smarties but I'm not sure he understood our explanation as to why we would do something horrible to him and then excitedly let him pick out some colourful round things that he could eat. Once he started feeding me the bribe after the event; all covered in white sticky stuff with a sickly sweet smell. I did the 'pretending to eat with great enjoyment' face and think I fooled him...

Anyway, we should hopefully now be over the first bad flu episodes of the year.

My dear childhood friend, Helle, came over for a visit last weekend and we had some lovely and relaxing days together. (She was also not feeling 100% but obviously after having spent a couple of days in a warm flat (probably warmer than usual due to rising temperatures), drinking numerous mugs of tea, eating Lindt chocolate and going for a couple of walks, she was feeling marginally better when she left.) Stefan and she got on like a house on fire and I suggested that she give up her life in Denmark to become our au-pair instead. For some reason this amazing offer was declined. There were excuses like: 'I have three children and a husband at home. And a full-time job. Etc.' Basically a lot of hot air. (Well, it's factually true but still. Is she a true friend or not?) I love how she's introduced Stefan to 'Totte' (the Danish version of 'Postman Pat' apart from the fact that Totte is a four-five year old boy) and Smarties. And he let her brush his teeth. He doesn't let his mum go near him with a toothbrush. Or a tissue. Or a morning kiss. Or let his mum hug his dad when he can see it. 

Food:

This week I've decided to share some pictures of the soda bread I made a couple of weeks back. You can see more under the 'Food' tab.

Craft Projects:

As I've now finished a few knitted items, I thought it was time to post some pictures of them under the 'Craft Projects' tab. 

I like my tabs and will probably add more in time...

Chocolate Cookies and Coughing

This week the Rosinger household has joined the many Swiss families which have been subjected to the flu over the past couple of weeks. I was under the weather last weekend and the first part of this week, Stefan has been at home with a pretty bad cough and high fever since Tuesday, and today Paul came home from work earlier than usual and went more or less straight to bed. We managed to get through January without anyone being sick but seem to be making up for that now...

Before the invasion of germs, I managed to make chocolate cookies for the first time ever. See how that went under the 'Food' tab.

Next week I hope to show you pictures of my Soda Bread experiment as well as of my latest craft projects.

Keep warm and healthy!

:-)