German Windows

It's currently about 35 degrees outside. I'm sitting in the living room, dressed with three layers on bottom, three layers on top, two pairs of socks, and my massive, fluffy hot-pink robe on over it all. Meanwhile, my German neighbors across the street have every window open like its a lovely summer day. I don't know who's crazier, them or me.

Now, I could give them the benefit of a doubt: since houses here don't have central a.c. or heat, it's a pretty standard rule that you should air out your house by opening windows for at least 10 minutes every day to prevent mold growth, even in the dead of winter. But their windows have been open all day. All. Day. It hasn't gotten above 40 degrees today. And it definitely hasn't been sunny. Having grown up in Louisiana and spent the last five years of my life in Texas, this is just beyond me. I am so cold!

But despite the fact that just the thought of airing out the house when it's 35 degrees outside makes me shiver, I love German windows.

I think that they're just about the most ingenious thing ever. They're called Rolladen, and there are a few different ways to use them.....

Here's one of our closed windows. The handle on the right is pointed down. But if you turn it 90 degrees to the left...

...it opens like this. If you shut the window again, and then turn the handle an additional 90 degrees so that its pointed up...

...it vents open at the top. This way, you can keep your windows open even when its raining and your house won't get all wet. This is also great for getting just the right amount of ventilation without swinging all your windows wide open and letting all the bugs and birds and things into your house (yes, birds. The other day I came out of the bedroom too fast and scared a pigeon that was perched on the sill. I'm pretty sure he was trying to get inside where it was warm. Thank goodness the window was only opened at the top.).
Now check out the pully-thing to the right of the window:

If you pull it, the shades on the outside of the window will go up or down.

I love that at nighttime we can pull the shutters completely closed. It's like a security blanket for the house.
The Germans like to decorate their window sills, too. They put dolls and silk flowers and Snow White dwarf figurines and gnomes. I'm not really a fan of dolls or gnomes, so this is what I did...

So those are our windows. I love them! This is the one in our bedroom:

Its like a skylight that actually opens. Its a pretty rural area where we are, so you can see some pretty amazing stars at night. When it's not cloudy or raining, of course.
Any way, that's pretty much that. On a completely different note, I've really been getting my crafty on lately. My sewing machine has been put to good use....

I made this cover for the top of our dresser, 

...a new cover for the piano bench (this one's not completely finished yet, but I just have to add some trim to hide the raw edges),

...and a curtain for our entertainment center. I also made this wreath for spring:

Up next on the agenda: crocheting a blanket. I taught myself how to crochet this week (SO excited about this!), so now I'm determined to make a blanket. I've got tons of leftover red, white, and blue yarn (from another wreath that I just made), so I thought a 4th of July blanket would be nice.

Matt and I are going to cook dinner now. He's making risotto with spinach, mushrooms, and italian sausage. Yum!!

Rach

P.S. Forgot to mention that the doors do it too!