Flitterwochen in der Schweiz

I find it funny how I can recall with startling clarity, details of a trip five or more years ago, and yet I sometimes forget what I ate for breakfast...

Well, five years ago, I remember beginning our Flitterwochen with a nauseating holding pattern over Zurich, waiting for the landing strip to clear. I remember making our final descent, just as the sun was rising, giving us tantalizing glimpses of a landscape I had only ever dreamt about. Then the confusion of trying to orient ourselves and make our way to the train station where we headed east to the colourful town of Appenzell. Being gobsmacked the entire way as our train sailed through the most ridiculously picturesque landscape I'd ever seen. Gently rolling hills, velvety green, dotted with cows ladden with giant cowbells; quaint Swiss chalets that looked like cuckoo clocks, window boxes dripping with colour; it didn't seem real! It was so neat and trim and perfect. An hour on the ground, and I was already in heaven.

In Appenzell we stashed our luggage in the station lockers, and took a smaller train as far south as it went, to the tiny hamlet of Wasserauen, then up a cable car to Ebenalp, to begin what we thought would be a five hour hike around the Seealpsee in the Alpstein massif.

I remember the walk from the top of Ebenalp through the interesting and unique Wildkirchli caves, and rounding the corner and getting my first glimpse of the valley with Meglisalp on one side and on the other, the awesome Gasthaus Aescher, which is built into the cliff face that overhangs it, making it invisible in aerial photos. I was giddy coming upon this exact view, because it had been my desktop background in the months leading up to the honeymoon. And here it was. Unbelievable. I was gobsmacked. Again.

5 + 10 = 15

Now: conquering mountains together. (We didn't stage this for our fifth anniversary,
conveniently, it's from our recent hike in the ADKs where we climbed our fifth High Peak.)

Five years ago: the best day! (Here's the pic I posted last year.)

Fifteen years ago: yup, since we were just pups. (Photo taken the day after Formal;
my hair was not normally so... voluminous... Mark's was though.)

What to do with mammoth zucchini.

That's actually a question. Seriously, what am I supposed to do with these beasts; these tasty, beautiful, beasty spoils we found hiding in the "squash" plant?

I've made zucchini pancakes, zucchini pasta, grilled zucchini, moussaka (sooo good, but sooo time consuming...), quiche, piles and piles of muffins, and I'm even trying to ferment a jar's worth. We'll see how that goes. And there's still plenty of zucchinis to give to the neighbours. Anyway, if you've got some great uses for zucchini, I would love to hear about them.

Pillow purse

Thrifted peony-printed pillowcase + thrifted mauve sheet for the lining and pockets = new purse.

Embellished with the original care-tag, because there's something sweetly nostalgic about it, and a Guide badge, because there's something sweetly nostalgic about that, too.

Ok, I know I've wavered back and forth on this, but the mystery plant is most definitely pumpkin!

It's now abundantly clear that the mystery plant that came up on it's own, is not squash, but pumpkin. After the last post about how it's taking over the yard, Mark bravely ventured into the thick of the monster's depths, and found a bounty hiding. Three mammoth zucchinis (from the zucchini plant somehow not being smothered, but coexisting nicely with the pumpkin), and three fat, green pumpkins — there's no way acorn squash could be that big or round!

And since then, each arm of the pumpkin plant has shot further and further across the lawn, and each has a pumpkin or two growing on it, for a total of twelve! With more popping up each day! Rather than harvest any more before they're ripe (green pumpkins can be prepared and eaten in the same way as summer squash), we're going to wait until they turn orange, and then invite the neighbours over to pick their own, because a girl can only make so much pumpkin pie, and roasted pumpkin, and pumpkin seeds, etc.

I'm giddy that I have a pumpkin patch, and at the thought of looking out the window someday soon after a frosty night, and seeing orange pumpkins in my yard!