A Time to Sow and a Time to Sew

It's been so nice to spend some time with my family this last week.  By far, the hardest part of living abroad is missing family and friends.  Email, hour-long phone calls, Skype - they are simply not a comparable replacement for sleepy kids crawling into bed with you, chatting over a cup of tea, Little Debbies with Dad and just time in the company of my family who always make me laugh and always make me feel home. Just home.

I'm loving all things Maine at the moment.  Spring.  Here for real unlike the teasing spring I left behind in Munich. The smell of the pine needles, daffodils waving in the late afternoon breeze coming up off the ocean, fresh cut grass and dirt.  Yup, dirt.  Dad and I spent yesterday at the community garden that operates as part of a 4-H summer camp for kids. It was so simple.  Sun. Sky. Seeds. I'm struck again and again by the strong sense of community in Maine. A bunch of people getting together to sow some seeds so that kids can learn that beans grow on vines and snap peas don't come wrapped in cellophane.

Onto sewing... I spent last week in NJ visiting the sibs and was able to spend most of Sunday sewing with my niece who is turning into quite the accomplished seamstress.  She's got a great eye for color and style and is a much better sewer than I was at her age.  This skirt is her latest creation from a tutorial you can find here. I'm proud of you, Paige.

Autobahn vs. Audubon

What's the difference between life in Germany and life in Maine?

Swans in the backyard = Germany.

Wild turkeys in the backyard = Maine.

MIA

Yeah, it's been awhile. A good long while. Too long. The last six plus months have certainly been filled with ups and downs.

I finally started to make some friends in Munich. We're a small, very international group who met in school. We get together for lunch, dinner, coffee or to go to movies (kids movies, of course, because that's all our language skills can accommodate). We represent America, Spain, Japan, Greece and China. Pretty cool. And what is really great is that German is our only common language so we are forced to speak it (or mutilate it). It's always funny to watch the faces of people around us when they clue in to our rudimentary language skills. I'm sure that it must be painful to listen to and that is saying a lot considering that German is not known for being particularly melodious. It helps tremendously to have someone to interact with and it helps all of us in becoming more confident speakers. I think we've found that the subjects of men, food and drink are truly international.

In August, Thomas and I got married in Maine surrounded by our immediate families. It was perfect in every way - and that includes all the imperfections. We rented out a bed and breakfast so we were all together. We hiked, went kayaking, went bowling, had a BBQ, went to our favorite lobster place in dirndls and lederhosen and just enjoyed a lifetime of memories with our families.

In November we lost my mother to breast/metastatic bone cancer. It was almost a year to the day of her diagnosis. She didn't suffer and we are so grateful that our whole family was able to be with her for her last days. Still, nothing can prepare you and some days it feels as though nothing can comfort you. You were a GD jewel, Joy.