Almost time for Adventfenster...

I love this time of year. The anticipation - will it, won't it snow? What kind of advent calendar will we have this year (usually a lovely illustrated one - no chocs) Who will take part in the village Adventfenster event this year? Will I meet someone new on my rounds of Adventfenster?

Dorf Blitz have yet to announce the Adventfenster locations but I have word from my daughters that Brutten Bibliothek will be launching it all on December 1st with an apero from 6.30pm - or thereabouts. They usually have an activity and WunschPunsch for the kiddies and yummy gluwein for the grown ups. I think I may make the staff some mince pies. Now, where did I put that giant jar of mincemeat that the Brother-in-law sent over...

My painting is featured in a promotional campaign!

A painting that I made of Brutten Church has appeared all around the village and surrounding villages (including on street side posters!) as part of a promotional campaign for Dubendorf Gospel Choir which is holding a concert in the church on Sunday (20th)

The choir has suggested that I bring my painting along on the night of the event so they can tell everyone a little about the artist (me!) behind the picture they fell in love with. I'm also hoping to get a bunch of business cards printed this week to hopefully drum up a few little commissions :)

Here is the painting which featured on a flyer which went to hundreds of homes:

Hobby Market on this weekend

The FrauenVerein, a wonderful group for women in Brutten which organises all kinds of social events, is holding their annual hobby market this weekend. The setting will be the sports venue at the Primary School and lots of lovely ladies will be selling their wares between 10am and 5pm today and tomorrow. There will also be plenty of coffee and cake to keep your energy levels up while you browse a wealth of homemade fare.

Our wonderful Brütten Library

Each week I arrange to meet my daughters in Brütten library after school and proceed to work my way through a picture book in my quest to learn German. I must look very odd to the locals sitting in the tots corner with an over-sized book on my knee but the librarians are lovely and have even started getting dual German/English language books in for me!

And - brace yourselves - I've now worked my way up to the more sophisticated picture book which features three of four sentences on each page - wowee (although I still need to refer to my Google Translate app constantly) And as I work my way through each book I make a note of certain words and phrases in my German vocab list on my iPhone, to go over whenever I have a minute.

I thought I might begin to feature a Book of the Week on my blog which some may find useful. Watch this space.

This week featured a lovely little story about a mole who found an icicle which he thought was a magic diamond. His friends put him right but then the final glittery illustration shows he was right after all. Nature really is magical and beautiful!

Adventfenster is launched

Brütten Library is launching the village's Adventfenster event tonight between 5pm and 7pm. The public is welcome to go along and say hello and share a glass of Wunsch Punsch. I think there may be an activity available for the little ones too. There are also lots of new books and films on offer, many of them very up-to-date. I've just taken out Whiplash and The Imitation Game. Oh, and all films taken out in December are gratis! Enjoy.

Brütten Church in watercolour

I've taken on the task of teaching myself watercolours. Very tricky for me, being an artist far more comfortable with pastels and oil paints! So after a series of paintings, some better than others, I've produced my first painting which I am pretty proud of. Brütten Church is very pretty and a prominent feature of the village, peeking out across the vista from miles around. I am planning a collection of pictures focusing on views of the church from many different viewpoints - some rather unusual! So please enjoy Brütten Kirche No.1 :)

Brütten Library refurb

The fantastic village library is going to be improved even further with a big refurb for the October holiday. There will be a staircase added to the main room, leading to the first floor level which will be kitted out especially for the teens. The children's space on the ground floor will also be expanded and enhanced. I can't wait to see the improvements. And better still, we are all invited along to an apero to view the work on Monday, 19th October between 3pm and 7pm. See you there!