Weekly musings

Perfumes i wore this week were Calligraphy Saffron, vintage Shalimar EDT, Narciso, the white cube, Givenchy III (sadly not the vintage, but the current one is not bad, but a bit shortlived IMO), Aromatic Elixir, vintage Chanel No19 EDT and Theo Fennel for a grey and cold sunday. I had some sniffing time in the perfume shops this week, but nothing current caught my attention. There is a new version of my beloved Roma, but it is a nondescript flowery amber with pears. I also tested a Bon Parfumeur, i think 202 with apple and quince, which was a really fun scent and brought back memories of the green apple shampoo everyone was crazy about in the last 70ies…. Is it really so long ago, that i went to school???

Stuttgart museum view, a finished boyfriend hat, a current cardigan in progress and a nice bento dinner

I did not cook very much this week and relied on frozen leftovers from my freezer, but i made a fennel and orange salad, baked pumpkin with herbed quark, savoy cabbage with a paprika bratwurst and pasta with lentil bolognese. I also had a nice business lunch at a japanese restaurant in Stuttgart, with a salmon bento and miso soup. I was good, not crazy levels of good, but a nice treat anyway.

I did a lot of knitting lately, so i finally finished a hat for the boyfriend. I used a wonderful yarn, that a coworker gifted me, the BC Loch Lomond tweed, which is a soft merino tweed. I would have liked a hat for myself, but the yarn color really washes me out. It looks much better on my redheaded boyfriends. I cast on the Timepiece Cardigan by Ailbiona, and i am really pleased with my progress. The pattern is well written and i hope the fit will be fine. I am using the Järbo swedish wool i bought at the Eddna sale. It has a rustic feel, but knits up nicely. The boyfriend cardigan has got knitted buttonbands, but is still lacking a collar and the sleeves need to be sewn in. Hopefully i will manage to do this the next week. I hate the finishing!

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Weekly musings

Perfumes this week were inspired mostly by the NST community project, so out came my rose scents…. Lady Rose Lion, Tauers Rose Flash (a bit too jammy for my taste), Perles de Lalique, Joy ( there must be a rose in all those flowers???), Agent Provocateur, because i don ´t mind to smell like an (expensive) slut in office, Paloma Picasso EDT. Plus a bit of Scherrer and Givenchy III for the weekend.

korean food, sunrise in Stuttgart and progress on the boyfriend cardigan

On my plate there was mostly leftovers from the freezer, but i managed to make a nice napa cabbage salad with nuts and dry ramen noodles, called YumYum Salad. This was really good. And because of leftover salad i tested Maangchis recipe for Daktoridang, braised chicken with with potatoes and onions. I made it less hot than the original recipe, because 1/4 cup of Gochugaru flakes is more than i can take. We really enjoyed this meal a lot and look forward to the leftovers for tomorrow.

I did not do much more than work, commute and knit a bit this week, mostly i was really tired and went to bed before 9pm. Plus i had problems with the pressure in my right rear tyre, which turned out to be a screw, causing a hole. So i have to get a new one. This month turns out to be really expensive, because the biannual car service will be 800€ on top of that! Luckily i am not under financial pressure, but driving a car is turning more and more into a luxury.

Weekly musings

This weeks perfumes were more intese, due to the colder weather. So out came Paloma Picasso, Dryad, Ambre Russe, Bottega Veneta (should wear this more often), Bois de Vanille for the candy CP on NST, vintage Shalimar and today Monteil Royal Secret, a discontinued and forgottenn gem.

Donkeys at our local farmers shop, focaccia and a walk in the graveyard

On my plate i had beef ossobuco with rugabaga puree, pasta con ragu di salsiccia, a homemade focaccia made by the boyfriend and spaetzle with cheese and savoy cabbage. And oat plum cake for saturdays tea…

vintage knitting from the 40ies in progress

I am still nursing the remainder of my cold, so i spent lots of my evenings knitting. I started this cardigan i think three weeks ago and finished the back, now i am on the first front half. Its not speedy knitting, because its sock wool with 8stitches to an inch on 2,5mm needles. On the other hand i hate thick knitwear and hopefully this cardigan will get a lot of wear, when it is finally finished. I really like the style of the 40s, but patterns in my size with a 40inch bust are hard to find, people were so thin during the WW2…. I also finished the Victory Jumper from the V&A pattern archives, but need to darn in all the yarn ends, hopefully i can post a pic of the finished sweater soon. I am still bingewatching Agents of the Fringe on Prime FreeVee, and i will be sad, when its finished.

Weekly musings

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.

Weekly diary

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.

Weekly diary

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.

Weekly diary

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.

Knitting in progress, it’s fall!

Maremma holidays week one

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.

Weekly statistics

Getragen/Worn: Moonlight Patchouli, Memoir Woman, Coriander, Aromatics Elixir, Salome, Ninfeo Mio, Terracotta, EA Green Tea

Auf dem Teller: Schmorgurken ungarisch, Linseneintopf mit Kalbskopf, grüne Bohnensalat, Döner, Hühnerpaprikasch.

On the plate: braised gherkins Hungarian  style, lentil pot with veals head, green bean salad, a Döner Kebab takeaway, Chicken paprikash

Am Samstag waren wir in Vaihingen-Rosswag um unseren Kirschenschnaps vom Schnapsbrenner abzuholen – 11 Liter Schnaps! Und nach einem Blick auf die schönem Steilhang-Weinlagen haben wir noch ein paar Flaschen bei der Winzergenossenschaft zum Testen mitgenommen. Abends dann zum Jahresfest des CVJM auf ein Glas Wein und einen Flammkuchen.

We went to Vaihingen to the private distillery to fetch the cherry spirits made from our own cherries. Now we have 11 liters! On our way we saw the beautiful vineyards on the roadside, so we stopped at the Winemakers shops to buy some local wine too. In the evening we went to the yearly festival of the YMCA for some flammkuchen and a glass of wine.

Kreativ: Nachdem der erste Strickjackenversuch nicht so toll ausgefallen ist, habe ich mich für Lauriel von Ysolda Teague umentschieden und bin nun zum Glück schon über die Musterpasse mit den verschränkten Maschen hinausgekommen. Jetzt kann ich wenigstens wieder fast hirnlos glatt rechts vor mich Hinstricken….

Creative: My first try for a new cardigan went not so well, so i started over and cast on Ysolda Teagues Lauriel Cardigan. I like the patterned yoke but am happy that i finished all those twisted stitches. Now its just mostly plain and mindless knitting.

Socken

Wenn ich keine andere tolle Strickidee habe, dann gehen Socken wirklich immer. Schön mindless, kein Muster, einfach nur die Finger bewegen und etwas sinnvolles tun. Ausserdem freuen mich sowohl der Freund als auch meine Mutter immer über neue Wollsocken.  Diese hier sind für meinen Freund.

If i do not know what to knit, there’s always socks. Mindless, no pattern needed, just moving the fingers and making something useful. My boyfriend as well as my mom are always happy to receive wooly socks. These are for the boyfriend

Black Logde- Twin Peaks Cowl

Nachdem die neue Winter-Knitty herausgekommen war, blieb ich gleich an einem Projekt hängen, dem Black Lodge Cowl. Erstmal natürlich das Farbverlaufs-Zackenmuster in Schwarz-Weiss mit Rot, und ausserdem : Twin Peaks! Was habe ich damals nicht das markante Kinn von Kyle McLaughlan angeschmachtet… Ach, die guten alten Zeiten!

Das Muster ist insgesamt nicht schwer, leider muss man aber beim Stricken hinschauen, das geht nicht blind. Mit ein bisschen Glück ist der Cowl vor Ende des Winters noch fertig. Verwendet wird Zauberball Schwarz-Weiss und Heisses Eisen.

When the new winter Knitty.com magazine came out, i was instantly drawn to the Black Lodge Cowl, because – Twin Peaks! I had a crush on Kyle McLaughlan, remember the prominent chin? This was an amazing TV-series! It is not complicated to knit, but i have to look at my knitting and cannot knit blind, so it goes a little slow. Hopefully it will be finished before the winter ends. Knitted from Zauberball Black and White and Heisses Eisen.