Perfumes i wore were Eau de Lancaster, Meet Me On The Corner, Tea Rose, Batucada, Fiore dell´Onda, Scherrer, What I did on my holidays and Aromatics Elixir
We did not too much cooking that week, but had a salad with smoked trout, a vietnamese rice noodle salat with veggie mince and sunday i made a huge pot of persian beef stew with rhubarb and saffron (Khoresht-e-rivas). I had many leftovers to freeze for lunch at work, so that is always a plus.
I did 120km bike commuting this week plus two times to the gym, so i am really proud of myself. I also finally sewed a cardigan in frenchy terry fabric, that was on my list for more than two years. Its the Harper Cardigan from Sinclair pattern, a free pattern too, so that is a plus. And it fits really nice. A great item to trow over, when it gets a bit chilly. I think i will make another in a plain color to combine with my other clothes. And i played some minigolf with a friend, great fun, but the course was terrible to play…
Perfumes this week were Scherrer, Givenchy. III, Aromatics Elixir followed by Chypre Siam, Fiji, topped up with Cabotine, Coriandre plus Tea Rose and Batucada for a sunny sunday
bavarian breakfeast for lunch, asparagus and Kratzete for dinner
On my plate i had greek gemista, risotto with broad beans, green beans with tomato and bratwurst, Hunanese pork belly, a bavarian breakfast with weisswurst, sweet mustard, brezeln and weissbier and asparagus for dinner.
I did lots of biking this week, thrice to work plus two times to the gym for lifting (sadly i am a bit unfit, but i hope i will improve). I got some time knitting on my Hør No15 teeshirt, but the fine wool takes time knitting. Sunday i cut out a new dress in a nice navy. and white viskose fabric, hope to get it finished on monday.
This weeks scents were Womanity, Batucada, Gucci No3, Eau de Lancaster, Aromatics Elixir (which seems to get my signature scent), Dryad, which was perfect for a rainy early autumn day and Meet Me On The Corner.
Cutting on leopard print shorts and a wearable muslin of the Anning Dress
On my plate this week was lentil soup, Tiramisu (that i ate too much of, but it was good! a coworker made it…), sausage salad, pasta alla Norma, tomato and mozzarella salad, minestrone from all the veggies in the frigde and a Poulet au Riz, from a french cookbook,
I biked to work thrice this week, so i put in another 135km. Friday we had a summer party at work outside on the roof terrace with a barbecue catering, and i was totally stuffed afterwards. Saturday i spent watching the last parts of Stranger Things and have now begun The Sandman.
I finally finished my first try at the Marilla Walker Anning Dress, but this one came out a bit big. I did a Full Bust adjustment for my measurements, but this is really roomy. Next time i either do a size smaller or simply use the B-Cup drafted front. I would like to make one for winter in a fine blue needlecord.
Perfumes this week were mostly from the office decant stash… I wore Covet, Givenchy III, Eau de Rochas, Fan di Fendi, Scherrer EdT, Perles de Lalique, Sens et Bois and Mitsouko EdT
New knitting project, homebaked rolls and seelen and a view of the bike race that happened just in our street
On my plate i still have tomatoes and more tomatoes from our alottment garden, and zucchini of course. So we had lots of salad, with mozzarella, raw, as tomatoe sauce with gnocchi and some zucchinifritters and fried ones. We also had a smaller harvest of bellpeppers, so there are bellpeppers simmered with tomatoes and merguez this evening. Saturday i got adventurous and finally tried the vegan ramen broth with soymilk from JustOneCookbook. Its really delicious and although the components take a bit of time, it was really easy to make and perfect for a cooler, rainy day. We also baked lots of rolls and svabian seelen, so i have something to take to work from the freezer. And some chocolate chip cookies, because the oven was still hot….
I managed to bike to work four times, so i put in 180 km this week, which i am really proud of. Plus i finally finished my taxes, because this is something that i always procrastinate, but doesnt everybody else too?
I got some new yarn, that i ordered, because i wanted to start another jumper. I cast on yesterday and hope to wear it in the early fall. The pattern is the „Your victory“ jumper from the 1940s, the pattern is available for free from the V&A Museum in london. The pattern is written for a 32inch bust, oh my, all those skinny ladies of the war times. So i did a bit of research on ravelry and found some hopefully helpful notes for a 40inch bust. My swatch came out okay, but i have to use 2,75mm needles with a thin sock yarn, so this is not a very fast project. But i really like the stripe effect in the stitch pattern and its not very complicated to knit, so i hope it will turn out right.
Perfumes for this week were mostly the same, i just took a decant of Eau de Rochas on tour. But when i got home, i wore Fiore dell Onda, Givenchy III and Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche
nice historic renaissance houses, the Ludwig-Donau-Main-Channelthe old railway track was made a bike lane, view of the „Steinerne Brücke“ in Regensburg, cooling our feet and river viewsdrinkable water fountains on the way, the cells in the Fronfeste, typical views. from Frankonia
This week we went on our first longer bike tour, beginning on sunday. We drove to Wendelstein near Nürnberg , parked the car and started our adventure. The first day was a shorter ride to Schwaig, but we visited a bit of Nurnberg city and had some cake and coffee.
Monday was the longest and hilliest part of the tour, 75km in the scorching heat with 36C. Gladly there was a lake, where i took a short swim to cool off. The river we followed was the Pegnitz, which was a lovely meandering river and luckily there was also a bit of shadow. In the afternoon we reached our destination Amberg, where we booked a room in the Fronfeste, a former historic jail. We got the jail directors suite, which was nice and roomy and thankfully also cool! After a beer. and some Schweinebraten with dumplings we were soon fast asleep….
Next day we biked along the Vils river, some part of the tour was an old railway track and it was mostly flat, so the 80km were not to exhausting. After a stop in Kallmünz with some Leberkäs in a bun we finally reached Regensburg, where we had a room in the historic part of the town near the Danube river. We did a bit of sightseeing and had a nice vietnamese dinner.
The next day was a shorter ride, about 55km to Riedenburg along the Danube, the Altmühl and the Donau-Main-channel. Lots of views and old castles to see. Nice meal with Schnitzel and potato salad in a historic town center.
Thursday we went to Neumarkt along the historic old Ludwig-Donau-Main-Channel, built in the late 1800 by the first King Ludwig of Bavaria. In just 10 years they finished over 170km of this channel, its unbelievable! The path mostly went along the channel, so it. was an easy ride. We had a room in the St. Josef cloister, which was simple, but clean. Dinner was indian food.
Friday we rode back to our car, had another Schnitzel in the town where we had parked, bought some lokal sausage (Nürnberger Stadtwurst) and drove home again.
This was really a great tour, that i can recommend. Its not too difficult, mostly flat, no great inclines, great bikelanes and wonderful nature and rivers to see! There are enough beergardens and restaurants on the way, so you cannot starve, although we mostly. bought some buns from the bakery or the butchers for lunch…
This weeks perfumes were more summery, because the weather finally was very warm. So i wore Untitled L´Eau, Chanel L´Eau, Aromatics Elixir, Perles de Lalique, What I Did On My Holidays, Cristalle Verte and Eau de Lancaster.
Different homemade outfits for MeMadeMay
We started to try to eat more veggies, so we had cauliflower with a lentil vinagrette with raisins, gnocchi with spinach, asparagus with pork filet, tuscan peposa with a lot of braised fennel and pasta with zucchini and trout fillet. We really like meat a lot, but with enough greens our meals get a bit lighter and it also feels good to get more nutrients in our food. This will get better, when our alottment starts to produce our summer veggies, although you will hear me complain soon of zucchini overload. We also planted lots of tomatoes, but of those i rarely get tired eating them.
I spent the whole weekend sewing a shirt (the checkered one right and below) and nearly finished a shirtdress from the same pattern . Just some hemming and buttonhole, then i will be finished too. After sewing again for two years i am starting to understand why some clothing does not fit, and where to make some alterations to make them better. That is something i did not know, when a was a young student, so i can make better fitting clothes now. It is funny, because lots of my female patients comment on my nice dresses and think they are something special. Maybe it is just because not many women wear dresses often and spend their time wearing jeans and tshirts.
I did not have time to blog last week, but this week i made time again. Soo…
Perfumes worn were Scherrer EdT, Pour La Belle, Cafe Tuberosa, Mitsouko EdT (finally a Mitsouko i can love), Empreinte, Tea Rose, Lovely Sheer and Roma for a sunny sunday.
Views from my week, Gemista, Snoopy boxers, bikewear in progress and some selfmade bikewear i wore this week
On my plate this weeks cooking was a bit erratic. Some asparagus frittata, cole slaw with pulled pork, gnocchi with chard, pancakes with herbed quark and a big greek gemista with bellpeppers and rice.
I biked to work three times this week, so 135km in total. I was quite exhausted after this weeks biking, i even rode on friday in the rain and felt quite proud of me… But it helps with getting fitter and loosing some more weight (and gasoline is very expensive too at this time, so its a win in all categories).
I also took some time for sewing. I promised my boyfriend some new boxer shorts and he chose a Snoopy print! So i gladly (and with some silent giggles) i ordered Snoopy fabric and finished the first two boxer shorts plus one in checkered jersey. I have three more to finish, but this is at least a fun project. I am always happy, if i can sew something for him, but mostly he is content with his wardrobe.
I also made another set of biking clothes, this time a spring set of long leggings and a longsleeved shirt in turquoise and grey leopard fabric. If i knew that activewear is so easy to sew i would have started this much earlier! I can really recommend Activstoffe.de in Berlin, they have a great selection of quality fabric, mostly fashion industry remnants for a great price. In all i sewed three sets of bikewear (shirt and leggings) for a whopping 80Euro in fabric, and there is some left to do more…
Thankfully this week was a shorter one because of the holidays. The weather got nicer every day, so i wore more fresh and springlike scents. Starting with Sens & Bois, Pour La Belle, Womanity, my special mix of Tea Rose and Coriandre ( you should try this, soo good), Chypre Siam, Scherrer and Doe in the Snow
Views from a very long walk around Ludwigsburg
On my plate I had pasta with turkey-tomato-sauce, lots of leftovers from the freezer, a Falafelburger on our long walk plus icecream and a burger with fish fingers and salad. Saturday was pasta again, this time with shrimps, miso butter and bottarga. Sunday we ate lots of braided easter bread with ham and hardboiled eggs plus persian celery-beef ragout with lots of parsley and mint.
This time we stayed at home over the easter holidays, so we just relaxed, watched videos, took some walks. The long walk on Good Friday was nearly 18km, so i was really exhausted and went to bed very early. I also took some time sewing some sleep shorts from a green seersucker fabric and finally started with my bike-clothes in earnest. I also managed to bike twice that week to work, which is not a bad thing, because this means nearly 90km biked!
Perfumes this week were mostly themed by St. Patrick´s Day, so i was wearing the green (scents) mostly this week. I started with Eau de Lancaster (green and herby with a bit of vanilla), Vert de Fleur (florist shop, sadly its prohibitively costly), Chanel No5 L´Eau (not green….), a sample of Macaque (i disliked the cedar note), Niki de Saint Phalle, lots of Arden Green Tea plus sampling Climat, which i am still undecided on. I have a problem with violet, and this note is too strong for my taste. Sunday was Zagorsk, very nice for a great sunny spring day
Memorial of the grey buses
On my plate i had lots of frozen leftovers, but i made a barley-tomato-cavolo nero soup with parmesan, which tasted quite good, some spaghetti with cavolo nero and japanese Kare raisu (Rice with curry sauce, meat and carrots). Sunday breakfast was a big bowl of Congee with egg, lunch was Sauerbraten with Spätzle at the in-laws to be.
Spaghetti with cavolo nero plus truffle oil, because everything is better with truffle
We visited my boyfriends parents in Weissenau. They live just at the entrance of the psychiatric clinic, where the Nazis deported the patients to the gas chambers. Luckily its now a better place with a nice park around it.
We are planning a biling trip next week, the weather forecast is great so we maybe try another part of the Neckar bikeway….
Perfumes this week were a combo of Fils de Dieu and Roma (works great), Scherrer EdT, Sens & Bois, Chanel No 19, Aromatics Elixir, Choc de Cardin, vintage Janine D and Untitled L´Eau for a warm and sunny sunday.
My Brompton Mortimer got his first spring outing today
We did not spend too much time in the kitchen, because we had some leftovers, but we had red cabbage with balsamico and ducks breast, scrambled eggs with kimchi, fresh truffle tortelli with salsa ai funghi plus a big salad of fennel and oranges, some other pasta for sunday and tete de veau with sauce ravigote and potatoes.
I tried to get my ebike to work again, sadly the display did not work anymore, the battery is too old now. So we ordered a new battery and hope we can repair it ourselves. Otherwise i have to buy a new display control panel for 100 euros, which is not so nice. We ´ll see how it goes. I was hoping to commute by bike next week with the milder temperatures, but this will have to wail.
My fitbit Versa also tried to die on me, because the display was falling off the housing, but my boyfriend managed to glue it back in place, so it still works, but i am looking for a new tracker, maybe this time a Garmin, i am still undecided.
This week i wore mostly incense scents. So i put on Larmes de Desert, Eau Sacrée, Eau Duelle, Memoir Woman (not much incense, but a great perfume), Fille en Aiguilles and finally tested Mystic Incense by Merchant of Venice. I wore Salome to remember Colettes birthday on friday for the NST community project, i think Colette would have liked this bold and feminine scent a lot.
I did cook a bit more this week, starting with shakshuka and eggs, some split pea soup with veggies and a pasta with tofu bolognese. Saturday we had a giant pork chop, weighing 500g to share with savoy cabbage and today i tested a persian recipe with chicken breast, saffron, lots of dill and broad beans, because we had so much of beans in the freezer from a rich harvest last year. This was delicious.
I finished another book, a medieval history romance, which was okay to read, but nothing special. Now i started Geoff Ryman ´s The Child Garden, because one of my first reading preferences was SF. My uncle read lots of it and always left me his books, when he visited us. So i started reading SF at the age of 10 or so and never stopped liking it.
Perfumes this week were nearly all chypres, so i wore First Edt, Paloma Picasso, Chypre Siam, Azurée, Scherrer and Paradoxe. I wore a sample. of Dior Grand Bal for the NST community project, but did not like it at all. The sample got thrown in the bin…
Finished Ishbel shawl, design by Ysolda Teague
We are still trying to loose some weight, but thats no excuse for nice meals. So i made Pasta with mushrooms and feta, potato with turkey, oven-baked veggies with herbed quark, Maultaschen with sauerkraut and sausage and a big pot of vietnamese beef ragout and rice on sunday. On thursday a coworker brought chili and tortilla wraps plus toppings for lunch, this was really nice of her.
I finally finished and blocked my Ishbel shawl and its getting much wear in the cold. We managed some nice long walks, today we went out for nearly two hours and i helped a friend packing up things for her move. I finished reading a romance novel, but it was so bad, that i wont even mention the title. I am now listening to the 5th Harry Potter book, read by Stephen Fry, which is a delight to listen to. Plus i started another book, this time a novel set in medieval times. Hope this is better than the last book. Anyway i get more reading done.
I didnt post last week, but now i am on track again. Perfumes were Eau de Lancaster on a cold monday, because i had a craving for a green and fresh spring feeling, Tuesday was Calligraphy Saffron. Wednesday was Roma, then Bottega Veneta, Fils de Dieu, Dryad und lots of Agent Provocateur on Sunday
Wating for the booster shot, sesame chicken with spinach and a nice view of the public gardens
On my plate there was fish fillets with broccoli, a fish finger burger with a homemade brioche bun, sesame soy chicken from the. slow cooker (easy and delicious). The leftover rice was made into tuna sushi plus miso soup. I tried to bake sweet potatoes in the slow cooker, which worked nicely. Saturday i made a big pot of brussel sprout and potatoe soup with ham plus slow baked legs of turkey. with lots of paprika and caraway seeds plus smothered savoy cabbage. Lots of leftovers for sunday and also next week.
We had our booster shot on tuesday and were both a bit knocked out. The boyfriend had a very sore arm and was tired. I also had the chills and sore muscles, so i stayed at home for two days to recover. Thankfully i was okay again on friday. Most of my sick days were spent watching Emergency Room while lying on the sofa. But i also finally finished my first book of the year – The ten thousand doors of January. If you like supernatural fiction, this is not a bad read. It took some time to get into the plot, but then the story progressed nicely. I now started a novel about some australian settlers, but have not read much of it yet. Plus i finally finished my Ishbel shawl, that is blocking right now on my carpet. I hope i can wear it tomorrow to work.
Perfumes this week were Knowing, Chypre Mousse, Perles de Lalique, Lady Rose Lion, a mix of Musk Tonkin and L Air de Rien, Dryad on Friday, Calligraphy Saffron and vintage Shalimar for Sunday. I am still debating buying van Cleef and Arpels First, although it’s a soap bomb on me, but I love a Chypre in nearly all its forms
Christmas lights, a nice salad and a walk across the fields
Sadly I finally am on a diet, as I faced my scale and found that I gained nearly 7kg since my covid-19 infection, because I did not dare to work out. Now that I am cleared with a lot of tests, I have nothing to worry about, so I can finally do some cardio. I started to track my food intake,but this does not mean I want to eat food I don’t like. Thankfully my boyfriend will eat the same as I, so I think I will get on track without problems.
We had pasta with Ricotta and spinach, savoy with fried fish filet. I even went to the company’s Christmas dinner and had a nice meal with salad and smoked duck breast, ramen soup with shrimp and a nice piece of beef with spaetzle and potato salad. We had filled pumpkin with bulgur and a tomato and borlotti sauce and miso aubergine with rice and braised rabbit. Luckily it did not feel much like a diet at all.
We managed two longer walks this week, Sunday for two hours and I watched two sentimental Christmas movies.
Perfumes in this week were Fille en Aiguilles, Lady Rose Lion etc…, Eau Sacrée, Bulgari Black (I am still trying to love it, but it’s not easy), Essence Ambre, L Air de Rien, followed by Cardin Paradoxe and a sample of Cleef and Arpels First. This perfume is a bit odd to my nose, but I must keep on sniffing. It’s such a big wave of floral soapiness at the beginning , but dries down really warm and beautiful.
Homemade ramen soup and my two twsbi pens
On my plate I had a biiig pot of Poulet en riz, which lasted 3 days. I made a new lentil soup recipe from TheKitchn blog, that was a big hit, Friday was homemade ramen broth with onsen eggs and chashu. I made a roasted cauliflower and Gorgonzola pasta, a cake with chocolate dough and a cheesecake filling and sunday we had wild boar with red cabbage and spaetzle.
I did not do anything special this week, just working, going to the dentist and some shopping. I also splurged on some items from Galen Leather, to organize my fountain pens and my bullet journal and ordered some Japanese stationery. I will do a review, when I get my order.
In knitting I started another pair of socks for the boyfriend, but I just turned the first heel, so nothing much to show off. I got my second TWSBI pen, this time with transparent green cap and ending, and immediately inked it with Diamine Kelly Green. The other one got inked with Oxblood, so they will go together nicely and it’s a bit of a holiday theme too. I have the TWSBI Swipe inked with Diamine Pumpkin, so that’s a really fun combination of colors for my bullet journal.
Perfumes I wore this week were vintage Zen, Aromatics Elixir, Bottega Veneta, Ambre Russe, Fils de Dieu, Scherrer EdT, and Rochas Femme. Sunday I wore Fourreau Noir, which was fitting for a cold and grey day.
Donkeys at the farmers shop, pumpkin and my new made clothes
On my plate I had Greek Gemista, some burgers at work, Brussel sprouts with Miso and sausages, stuffed pumpkin with rice and a big batch of beet salad with salmon
I finally finished my socks and cast on some new ones for the boyfriend. I also worked a bit on my shawl, while watching Chicago Med. I really don’t know why I love medical series so much, because it’s the same I do for my living. Just all this medical personnel has so much time for their private life, which I don’t have. Maybe I am too old and just lack the energy?
I spent the Monday sewing and made some nice Ponte pants and an a-line shirt plus a grey raglan shirt from a grey knit fabric. They all turned out great and fit really well. I think there will be more of these in the future.
Perfumes this week were mostly loosely based on the NST community project, with Pantones fall colors. So I wore Wazamba, Cafe Tuberosa, Perles de Lalique, Air de Rien, Aromatics Elixir, Champs Lunaires (it’s okay for a tuberose scent, but I am not very into white flowers) and Bois de Vanille for Sunday.
Filled pumpkin before and after
In my plate I had beet salad with Feta and salmon, which was a great combination, a veggie risotto, avgolemono soup, linguine Bolognese. Saturday I made spaetzle with savoy and baked them together with cheese. We had a friend over for the weekend, so spent lots of time eating and talking. My boyfriend made a raisin loaf and fresh rolls for Sundays breakfast.
I managed to bike to work on Wednesday, which was a great sunny fall day and really fun to bike. Maybe I can do it again, if it’s not too cold next week. I also got some knitting time on my Ishbel shawl and also on my socks.
Finally my perfume choices are getting more interesting, because I can get out the heavy hitters. I started with Roma, Tuesday was Adam Levine, which would be better if I didn’t get this pickles note every time. Ellie Saab Essence Ambre, Ambre de Merveilles, then Theo Fennel for Friday. This was a bit not work conform, but nobody cares while wearing a mask. Saturday was incense day with mb03 and Fille en Aiguilles. Sunday I wore Calligraphy Saffron followed by Felanilla, both saffron scents.
Goats at the farm shop, roast duck and my tiny fall decorations
On my plate I had a huge pot of lentil stew with veggies and sausage, this lasted four days. I made some one pot pasta with anchovies, capers and tuna and linguine with broad beans, bacon and Feta, which came out delicious.
Saturday we went for a farmers shop for the first time and bought duck for dinner, which I accompanied by gnocchi and red cabbage with balsamico. The court of the farmers shop was full of blooming flowers and pumpkins and there were l goats running around plus geese and sweet little donkeys in a porch. A really fun sort of shopping! I also made a Torta di Riso, because my friend showed me how to make it in our holidays. Sunday we’re leftovers and some scrambled eggs with homemade gravlax.
I watched the whole series of New Amsterdam, mainly because I think Ryan Eggold is so cute. I can always relax watching hospital dramas, because it’s so far off of any reality.
I also finished reading Setterfields The Thirteenth Tale, which I liked a lot. It was cleverly constructed and I could not guess the conclusion until the last pages of the book.
Perfumes this first working week were Lapidus Creation, Scherrer EdT, Iris Rebelle, Bottega Veneta, Agent Provocateur, Fils de Dieu, Cardin Paradoxe and Choc and Empreinte on Sunday.
Ribollita and a sock in progress
We did not have much time to cook and ate lots of leftovers from the chicken in milk, because it was a really big bird, the boyfriend made foccaccia on Friday. Saturday I used lots of veggies from the garden and made linguine with chili, raisins, chards and tinned sardines with Feta plus a big pot of ribollita.
I biked to work on Tuesday and did lots of housework on the weekend. I also had some time to work on my current sock project and also cast on a simple lace shawl, Ishbel from Ysolda, because I bought some new sock yarn and found a nice merino lace yarn in magenta in the shop. I don’t really need a new shawl, but I like to knit them, but I can always gift some of mine to friends, if I don’t wear it.
I started a new Netflix series New Amsterdam, just because Ryan Eggold plays the starring role. But it’s not too bad, hospital series are always fun.
Perfumes this week were Untitled L’Eau, Ninfeo Mio, Bronze Goddess Azur and Aromatics Elixir. I had not much choice, so some were worn twice. I still would like to find a nice and more cheapish fig perfume, because I love the scent of this tree. Sadly they turn very woody on me, which I dislike.
A huge tortello and a nice fish dinner for four
As my best friend and I love to cook and eat we made some nice dishes like pork ribs with lots of herbs and Cole slaw, cauliflower soup, panzanella, the fish with tortilla and artichokes and penne with Cavolo Nero, chickpeas and sausage. We went to dinner three times and had tortellomi with fish filling, risotto mare at a restaurant in a camping ground. We went to the local trattoria for tortello Maremmano, zuppa di Ricotta and later some wild boar Ragout and dessert.
But the nicest and cheapest dinner was in a trattoria in the next town. The served a fixed menu, all the tables were outside in the small street and we ate and ate. So we had bruschetta first, then prosciutto and salame. Then two different pasta dishes, one with ragu and one with truffles plus gnocchi with mushrooms and tomato. Then some lemon sorbet. Then two main courses with suckling pig and potatoes and some wild boar with tomato sauce. And after all this there was vin Santo with cantucchini. We were totally stuffed! And not only the menu was fixed, it was also a fixed price which included all drinks.
The restaurant with tables on the street and an Etruscan necropolis
We visited the ruins of Roselle near Grosseto and went to the Etruscan necropolis of Sovana today, with a stopover in Pitigliano on our way back. Friday was the last evening with our friends and after dinner we danced on the terrace under the stars and had a great time. I hope we can meet next year again, because my friend is ill and time may be short. So it was good to see her in good shape and enjoying life. They went back to Germany on Saturday, so it’s just my boyfriend and I for the last week.
Perfumes are worn, but I just took some decants, so I wore Scherrer and Ninfeo Mio twice, plus Untitled L’Eau, Tea Rose and Aromatics Elixir
We did lots of eating and cooking. We had chicken in milk with polenta, spaghetti with tomato sauce and again with ragu di salsicchia. Minestrone with lots of veggies from the market, Ratatouille with porchetta, homemade Focacchia, eggs Benedict for breakfast, torta di Riso and biscotto and we went of for some nice gnocchi and roast chicken.
We lazed around on our porch with a beautiful view over the sea and hills, read and played board games and went to Saturnia Terme to bathe in the sulfuric springs. Sadly I overdid the bathing and had a tachycardia and cold sweat, so we had to drive one hour to the next hospital. Luckily nothing serious, but I have to get checked when I return home. I gave my friends a good scare, that’s for sure.
Giardino di Spoerri
We went to the Spoerri gardens, where the Swiss artist bought a big terrain and filled it with lots of sculptures from his and his friends works. There are over 100 works in the big gardens and we visited for at least 4 hours.
Perfumes this week had the theme from NST – wear something you would not have worn pre parfumista days. So I wore Amazone, Cabotine, Memoir Woman, Agent Provocateur, Chanel No19, L Air de Rien and Dzing for Sunday. Before getting into perfumes I mostly wore something like Petit Chérie or Eau d’Issey, mostly something lighter and floral. Now I am more into Chypres or something animalic or incense. Because the weather was really cold for August (I even wore panty hose!), I could put on some of my cooler weather scents.
Luna lounge wear
On my plate I had sausage salad, turkish lentil soup, Tortellini salad, bento with meatballs and surimi, indian chicken in pickling spices with rice, plum cake. Plus we met with friends at the Thai restaurant and had some duck curry.
I made another Love Notions Luna Lounge wear night shirt to take with me in the holidays. It’s a nice and relatively fast sew and can also double as a beach dress. I also started sewing a swimsuit, the Rhonda from 5out of 4 patterns. It’s not completely finished, but I will have something to wear for the beach in Toscana.
Perfumes this week were Roma, Tea Rose, Aromatics Elixir, Eau de Lancaster, Niki de Saint Phalle, Cristalle Eau Verte, Iris Rebellen from a new decant, lots of Camelia Chinois and still there is something left in the bottle. Sunday was hot, so I wore Beachy, which is sadly discontinued, because the watermelon note is really fun.
Multinational food
On my plate I had lots of zucchini again, as a soup and fried with Merguez. Green beans were used for gnocchi with chorizo and salad. I made a bento with tamagoyaki and salmon to take to work and Spam musubi on Saturday, which tasted great. Sunday was a big focacchia, that my boyfriend made and chard frittata. And we had pasta with fried bread crumbs and tinned sardines, such a simple, but tasty meal.
The weather finally got a bit better, so I biked to work twice. And on the weekend I finished two dresses, so I am quite content with my output. I should have cleaned the apartment, but I decided to take time for sewing….
I also spent some time playing with my new TWSBI eco fountain pen and some nice diamine ink in Sherwood Green and practiced my handwriting, which is frankly a mess. I am a leftie and a doctor, so what do people expect??? Still it begins to be unreadable to me too, so I put in some time practicing cursive, and it starts to look better now.
Writing practice, rewriting a bit of the Narnia Chronicles
Perfumes worn this week were Memoire D Une Odeur, LADDM, Mitsouko, Meet Me On The Corner, Batucada, Paradoxe and Camelia Chinois topped up with some EA Green Tea
View of Soufflenheim from the car and lots of food
On my plate there were loads of veggies, because of the garden harvest. So I made buttered beans with salsicchia, chicken leg on zucchini and potatoes, rice with smoked salmon, fried zucchini with a bulgur Feta filling and baked potato wedged and herbed quark and a big pizza in Soufflenheim at the restaurant
I finished reading The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuins and am still listening to the ginormous audiobouk The Stand by Stephen King. Still 18h to go!
We finally went shopping at the supermarket in France again, now that we are both completely vaccinated and can cross the border without problems. We loaded up on cheese, oil, terrines, mustard and vinegar and other nice things and had a big pizza at the supermarket restaurant, which is actually quite good and cheap. We also bought flour for baking at the local mill, so I hope my boyfriend will make some nice baguettes in the future
I fell into the rabbit hole of fountain pens and inks and ordered a new pen plus some pretty ink bottles from Diamine and Waterman and a bullet journal. I hope this will work out okay, otherwise I always work with my trusty moleskine diary again.
I also hope to get more use of my old Montblanc Meisterstück, that I bought in the late 90ies. But I won’t take this to work, because it’s too expensive. At the moment I am using my trusted Lamy Safari pen, but hopefully some new inks will be more fun at work.
Perfume this week was Dryad, Tea Rose, Elephant, Untitled L Eau, Camelia Chinois (still try to thunk this bottle) and Fils de Dieu. The NST community project was backup bottles, so I wore Covet a d Aromatics Elixir. I could have worn L Air de Rien or Theo Fennel, but it was too warm for them.
On my plate I had a lot of different foods. A salad with borlotti beans, bulgur and bell peppers. Greek avgolemono soup with rice. Sausage salad with kimchi, green bean salad with Miso and roast sesame. I made pasta with zucchini sauce, zucchini fritters and chickpea cutlets (from post punk kitchen blog). We ate out in a Greek beer garden on the Neckar River and have gyros and salad. Sunday was korean pork belly with rice and kimchi plus a Asian cucumber salad.
Pork belly with kimchi
We did another bike tour on the Neckar bike route, but this time we rode home another route, which was a bit hilly. I managed most of the inclines, but had to walk my bike on two steeper hills. Still not totally fit, my heartrate goes up too fast.
Sunday was sent on finally making the taxes, which I hate. Although I always get a good amount of money back, so I dont know why I procrastinate. Well, it’s done now and I have time until next summer.
I also bought some new sewing patterns, because I want to try making a swimsuit. This will be interesting.
Perfumes this week were Cabotine, Chypre Siam, What I did on my holidays, Eau de Lancaster, Roma, Meet me on the Corner, Lovely Sheer and I finally got to test Dryad. I can get a used bottle, so I think I will splurge a bit…
Cooking from the garden means lots of beans, beets and zucchini
Our garden produces lots of zucchini and beets, so we have to eat our veggies!
We had zucchini grilled and in muffins. The beets went into hoummous and salad. The beans became a salad with green and canellini beans with tuna and Feta. I also made a Tortellini salad with pesto vinaigrette and ham, kimchi fried eggs and turkish bulgur salad.
Saturday we made BBQ pork ribs and this evening will likely be zucchini again, this time with a minced meat filling.
I finally got my vaccination after having covid-19 in January. The first day was okay, but in the evening I couldn’t elevate my arm, so I was not able to drive the next day and stayed home, feeling very tired and a bit queasy. Luckily it was better the next day.
I spent some time rereading Ursula LeGuins The left hand of Darkness and enjoyed it a lot. It’s an interesting take on the genderism discussions. I also watched the 6th season of Blacklist, while I spent time in the kitchen.
Perfumes this week were Beachy, Agent Provocateur, L Air de Rien, Chypre Mousse, which my colleague liked a lot. Cardin Choc, Doe In the snow, Ninfeo Mio, which survived a whole day of cycling and Camelia Chinois after shower.
On my plate I had Borscht from the freezer, gyros with cream sauce and fries, boiled potatoes and herbed quark, sausage and kimchi salad, pasta with zucchini sauce and fried bread crumbs plus tinned sardines. We had a big icecream while cycling and later baked eggplant slices with mozzarella on top.
This weekend we went cycling along the Enz River, went to Mühlacker by train and cycled along the river to Besigheim, where the Enz disappears in the Neckar River. Nice sunny weather and some beautiful scenery. I am quite content with my brompton bike, it’s easy to transport and rides like a bigger bike. It’s not great at hills, but I think this problem would be the same with a regular bike. It’s my legs, that are not in great shape, because I never was much of a biker. But there is always room for improvement, I think. And I still tire more early after my covid infection, so I try not to strain myself too much.
Perfumes I wore were One Love, Covet, Aromatics Elixir, Miss Dior, which sadly wears me and not the other way round, again my mix of Tea Rose and Coriandre, What I did on my holidays and Batucada.
First day along the Neckar
On my plate I had fried zucchini and goat cheese, a red beet quiche, red beet hoummous, burrata with cucumber, lamb brats with potato salad, Krautwickel with potatoes, a big falafel and pasta with zucchini. Yes, it’s zucchini season. We have five!!! plants in the garden.
Second cycling day
We did our first two day cycling tour along the Neckar River from Besigheim to Heidelberg. First day with sunny weather. Had a lunch break in Bad Wimpfen, which has a beautiful medieval center and slept in a small hotel in Hassmersheim after a big dinner at a rustic restaurant. 50 km the first day.
Second day started grey, but thankfully not wet. We had a break for a cone of icecream in Ebersbach and then went along to Neckargemünd, where we had a big falafel wrap. It got sunnier around midday and we reached Heidelberg in sunny weather. The way home we went by train. 66km that day, and I managed all on my Brompton bike. This was really fun, and we are just planning the next weekend tour.
It finally got warmer here, so I wore more spring scents. Monday started with Meet Me On The Corner, I wore Scherrer EdT and finally ordered a big bottle, because it’s really cheap. Pour La Belle and Empreinte. On my day off it was Cristalle Eau Verte and Friday Aromatics Elixir. Saturday I wore Lovely Sheer for garden work and sunday was 6 sprays of Roma.
Homemade pizza
We ate some leftovers this week, but had Kimchi pancakes and homemade pizza. My boyfriend made a bavarian sausage salad and I cooked a big batch of chicken in pickling spices. Sunday was linguine with lemon, garlic and asparagus and semolina pudding for dessert.
I finally finished the Pinup Girls Classic Bra on Saturday. It was easier to make, than I thought and although the fit is not perfect, it is absolutely wearable. Maybe I will use other wires next time to improve the fit.
The finished bra
I used the video workshop on Craftsy, which made the sewing a lot easier, because I could see, what I had to do. Totally can recommend it. In all, it was a fun sewing experience.
Perfumes of this week were Scherrer vs Vintage Miss Dior, Ambre de Merveilles, Wazamba, Dzing!, vintage Chanel No19, Private Collection from the oldest bottle I have, which is a mini from a gift set, I got from a patient in the late 90ies. Saturday was Cristalle Eau Verte followed by Niki de Saint Phalle and sunday I wore Eau de Lancaster.
On my plate I had lentil soup on Easter Monday plus lentil salad with tuna and fermented lemons. The first ramps went into a cream sauce for linguine. I made asparagus risotto on Saturday and a huge Indian Masala chicken with roast potatoes and spices. Sunday was a big tray of homemade lasagna. I also made the pasta sheets. So we luckily have leftovers for next week to eat.
I finally got my brompton bike, that I ordered last August and biked a short round, sadly I am still not very fit, so 5km were enough for the first try.
Perfumes of this week were Scherrer (worn twice), Vintage Opium, Black Gemstone (good, but not something I like to wear), Fils de Dieu for Friday, Occur, Calligraphy Saffron and Vintage Miss Dior and later Narciso white cube, because they share the gardenia note.
Nina Lee dress, one pot pasta and the persian Nowrooz meal.
On my plate I had some Indian chicken legs with rutabaga puree, that was really nice together… I made Khoresht e Karafs, a persian stew with celery and meat plus lots of parsley and mint on Nowrooz. On Sunday there was one pot pasta for lunch, because we were hungry and I just wanted some simple pasta. The boyfriend made beef cheeks simmered to perfection in its own juices. We nearly ate this with a spoon. And we had a great red wine from Montalcino to accompany the meal. Plus I baked egg nogg cake, for the weekend.
I finished the dress from Nina Lee patterns and like it a lot. Sadly it is too thin to wear now. I also made boxer briefs for my boyfriend and started the Gilbert top from Helen’s Closet.
This week the NST project was Absinth, so I wore some absinthe related scents like Niki de Saint Phalle, Chypre Mousse, Jil Sander No4 and Memoir Woman. I also wore Evoke, Perles de Lalique, Cabochard, Dzing, Ambre de Merveilles and tested Lebretons Grimoire today. I like cumin, but this was a bit much.
Kuku with broad beans and a Denim jacket
We did cook a bit and made pasta con le sarde with saffron and raisins, some homemade pizza. Saturday was Kuku, a sort of persian frittata with broad beans and parsley and today I am still in the process of making pork shanks with a nice crust plus savoy and potatoes.
I finally nearly finished a denim jacket that I started last summer. The pattern is from Itch to Stich and it’s the Atenas jacket. Now it only needs some buttons and I need warmer temperatures to wear it….
And I got new summer ballerinas. I think this color is a neutral, goes with everything! And very comfy too.
I started to wear perfume daily, so I wore some roses for valentine week like Coriandre, Perles de Lalique, Lady Rose Lion and Une Rose de Kandahar. Aromatics Elixir for the year of the Metal Ox and on the weekend Scherrer plus No19 and Narciso for her EdT layered with Bottega Veneta. I tested Tralala but did not like it.
First outings in the sun after quarantine, homemade burger buns plus cheesecake
I felt a bit better, so I managed to cook a bit. We had a big pot of lentil soup with sausage, roast chicken legs on Fennel and Brussel sprouts with Gorgonzola and pasta. Friday the boyfriend made pizza and he baked burger buns, that we had with some nice organic beef patties. I managed to bake a cheesecake for valentines day and dinner will be salmon with sushi rice and leeks Japanese style.
I still have a bad cough from my covid infection, but it’s getting better slowly. Saturday was the first time in three weeks I was outside. We did a short walk around the cemetery and the pond and I was half as fast as usual. Some very old ladys with sticks were much faster than me and I was really tired afterwards. Still it was nice to be outside in the fresh air and feel the sun.
I finally finished all seasons of Criminal Intent on prime during my illness, because it was all I could manage. Reading was much too tiring for me. Now I started The Expanse, that I like okay, it’s a bit too political for me, but well made.
Old Ladys Musings 