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.
This weeks scents were Chanel L´Eau, Niki de Saint Phalle. (such a beauty), Womanity, Chanel No19 EdT from my vintage pressurized bottle, Fille en Aiguilles and later Fils de Dieu, Givenchy III and Paloma Picasso. Sadly the modern Givenchy III has a really short longevity, so i really use 6 sprays to be able to smell it for longer than 2 hours, i had a sample of the vintage, that was holding up much better….
icecream on sunday and a view from my bike commute in the early morning
On my plate i had tomatoes! Again! and lots of them. Plus a nice Gyros in pita bread at the music festival, fried zucchini and feta, a homemade pulled pork burger, lentil soup with parmesan rinds and a turkey curry with coconut milk and spinach. And a big icecream at the icecream parlour.
I had a friend over for a visit at the weekend, because she wanted to sew with me, so we made a pietra shorts for her in a nice blue and white vichy checkered fabric. As she is a blonde, this reminded me a bit of Brigitte Bardot. I also cut a hopefully wearable toile of the Marilla Walker Anning Shirtdress, I hope it comes out nice, because i have plans for a winter version in fine needlecord. Otherwise there was just regular business with nothing special happening.
Outside and for free concert with a Depeche Mode cover band
I forgot posting last week, but wore perfume daily. So out came Doe in the snow, Scherrer EdT, Meet me on the Corner, Fan di Fendi, Untitled l´Eau, Batucada and Verveine Cedrat for last week. This week i thunked Orange Sanguine (will need no more of this, its too woody for me), Chypre Siam, Pour la Belle, Aromatics Elixir, Eau de Lancaster, Patou Joy and Fiore dell´Onda.
This weeks cooking was mostly tomatoes in all its forms, as a salad, on a burger, eaten with salt and cooked into a lentil bolognese with pasta to go with it. I made a big batch of pulled pork, so we had homemade burgers for dinner.
We had a music festival at our town in summer, and every Tuesday there is a band playing for free and lots of foodtrucks, beer and wine. This weeks band was playing Depeche Mode, but sadly they were just okay, so we went home early.
Saturday was spent doing taxes, which was no fun and sunday i only managed to sew a bucket hat for a gift. But i finally finished all seasons of Elementary and now i am looking for another series to watch. Maybe i will start over with Stranger Things, because they released another season or maybe the second season of Locke and Key, which i really liked. Any tips for Netflix or Amazon Prime?
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…
I lost my blogging mojo for some weeks, but now i am back! I still wore scents everyday and even kept tabs, but had no nerve for blogging. This week i wore Cristalle Eau Verte, Scherrer EdT, Untitled L´Eau, my mix of Coriandre and Tea Rose, Tommy The Girl (thunked the decant, a dab of vintage Givenchy III (which made me buy the current version blind, i hope i like it, when the bottle gets there!). Saturday was lots! of vintage Chanel N019 EdT and sunday i wore Beachy.
new Pietra shorts, a vegetarian burger with a black bean patty and a zucchini fritter inside plus a view of the alottment garden
On my plate this week were lots of zucchini, because we have 7!!! plants in the garden. My boyfriend has gotten crazy… So pasta with zucchini sauce, zucchini fritters, yellow beet salad, sausage salad with kimchi, a veggie burger. with homemade bun and Korean chicken wings for sunday evening. We try to eat lots of veg, and with the garden exploding with produce, this time of year it is easy to do.
I got on my bike three days this week, so i managed 135 km, not so bad. Saturday i finally cut and sewed the Pietra Shorts from Closetcore patterns, that i bought some weeks ago. This pattern had really good reviews, and honestly, they are true. I cut a size 12 according to my hips and a 14 for the waist. The pattern pieces came together fine, although there could have been some more notches for the folding of the pockets. But after some headscratching, i also managed this. I liked the. method of inserting the back elastic. The finish was really neat and the fit was good.
Next time i will cut a size 12 without adding to the waist and maybe lengthen the legs a bit. I made smaller low seat adjustment, but otherwise nothing else. I think i will try the view with the tapered legs next for fall.
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.
Perfumes this week were a bit uninspired, as i had to use some decants i have at work, because i don ´t want to take a whole flacon with me on the bike. So i wore Perles de Lalique, Meet Me On The Corner (which is lovely by the way), Tommy The Girl (sadly discontinued, such a good office scent), Chanel L´Eau, Fiore dell´Onda, Batucada and i finally thunked my decant of Bronze Goddess Azur, which started to grow on me a bit. Maybe i will buy a used bottle of Bronze Goddess this summer, hoping that it is not as sweet as Terracotta, that i sold last year….
Pasta with broad beans and trout, memade outfits and a great pinsa romana
On my plate i had a great homemade pinsa romana. The dough is a bit more rustic than a normal pizza dough and has a different bite, no wonder, because it also contains rice flour and chickpea flour. We had baked cauliflower with cannellini bean hoummus, pasta with leeks and chorizo and also with broad beans, miso, bottarga and trout. Asparagus is in season, so there was also asparagus in vinaigrette with omelet stripes. Sunday will be a giant pork chop with braised fennel and a caipirinha for aperitiv.
I did a big batch of sewing this weekend, starting with a white cotton Melody Dolman Blouse pictured above. I tried a first muslin of the Isca Dress by Marilla Walker, but this will have to get another try… Sunday. i made a Camp collar shirt for the boyfriend, a grey leo print steeplechase leggings and another Mayfair dress in a white and cobalt blue pattern. I really like it, if i use the same patterns for more outfits, i like some standard dresses for work, so i don ´t have to think about what to wear. A dress also needs nothing to combine with it, just find some intact pantyhose and shoes, and you are good to go!
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…
The weather definitely turned into spring, so some fresher scents came out of the storage. Camelia Chinois, that i hope to thunk this year, Aromatics Elixir twice, Synthetic Jungle ( a bit too much Muguet for me), Mitsouko EDT, of which i finally scored a used bottle for a good price, Covet, Paloma Picasso, Sense & Bois topped up with mb03, because it was raining all day
a summer cycling combo of Surf to Summit top and Rouleur leggings with a fun animal print
On my plate there was a big burger with a vegan pattie, a curry with chickpeas, sweet potato and broccoli, spare ribs with a nice salad and saturday i wanted to use up a big savoy and finally improvised canelloni with savoy, dried tomatoes, porcini and rosemary with a porcini bechamel and truffled pecorino. This was really good, much better than i thought. Definitely will make it again.
Canelloni with savoy filling
I spent lots of time with sewing, first i cut out and finished my muslin of the Rouleur leggings from Fehrtrade patterns. I used a mix of a grey and a leopard activewear jersey. The pattern came together faster than i thought, and i had no trouble at all with the instructions.
After finishing the leggings i made another Surf to Summit top, this time to match the Rouleur leggings. As i have made this pattern twice before, this was sewn in about an hours time, so a really fast make. I cut of the high collar and did a crewneck instead with contrasting turquoise bands at the neck and arms.
I also made an Axis top by Sophie Hines, but i had to alter the pattern a bit to fit my bust and get a. bit more coverage in the axle area. I also lengthened it a bit to reach my waistline. This might be a good top for going to the gym or for a yoga session, because it stays put and does not roll up.
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 worn this week were L´Air de Rien, Shaliar, Gucci No3, Cardin Paradoxe, Chypre Mousse, Drya, Agent Provocateur, a layering of Lovely Sheer and Tea Rose (nice combo) and Cleef and Arpels First EdT for sunday.
Views of spring
On my plate i had lots of leftover, potato soup, Chicken with gochujang, smothered savoy with brats, shakshuka and i made a braided easter bread.
Otherwise nothing much happened besides of work, taking some walks and spending the whole saturday on renewing my radiooncologic license in an 8hour course plus exam…. I am hoping to have some more time for doing nice things next weekend.
This weeks perfumes were a bit of a mixed bit, because the weather was very april-like. It started with warm weather, so out came Patou Joy and Cabotine, then it got really cold and it started to snow on saturday, so my cold-weather scents got an outing. It was Sens & Bois, Fourreau Noir, Dzing!, Vanille Absolument, Calligraphy Saffron and Theo Fennel.
Blossoms in spring with and without snow
As i had time at home, because of a bad case of laryngitis i could not really speak at all and therefore could not go to work, i had more time to cook. Thankfully i felt not bad or sick, just lost my voice and was not allowed to speak. This was something my boyfriend found really funny, i am sure he enjoyed the silence!
On my plate i had bulgur patties with broccoli, a greek Avgolemono-chicken soup, a soup with Maultaschen plus an old-fashioned potato soup with sausages. I made some Japchae, greek filled bellpeppers with rice and miso noodles with broccoli and salmon for sundays lunch.
I also spent some time at my sewing machine and made a long warm bike leggins from some very nice polar stretch with merino, which i hope will keep me warm on my bike. I also finally tackled the Metra Blazer from Lovenotions in some pinstriped ponte, that came out very nice and also made a matching skirt. No pictures yet, but i will post some later..
Perfume theme of this week was samples and decants, so i wore Rochas Femme, Azurée, a sample of vintage Givenchy III (very nice!) and vintage Amazone. I got a new decant of Synthetic Jungle, that i wanted to try since it came of. Its an interesting green-lily of the valley scent with an enormous staying power. I think i will gladly use up the decant, but will not need a bottle of this. I tried Splendiris, but this was much too powdery and sweet for my taste, plus it had too much of a violet note to agree to my nose. It also reminded me of the cheap L´Oreal lipstick i own, so this is a definitive dislike for me. Sunday i wore Iris Rebelle, which is a bit more of a clean smelling white powdery iris, not too special, but at least nice to wear. I also wore Covet, because i love this in spring weather.
Biking along the Neckar river with a beergarden visit plus icecream, because we have earned this.
We had lots of nice meals this week on our staycation holidays. We were on the way home from my boyfriends parents and stopped to have dinner at a vietnamese place for some bun noodles and duck plus spring rolls. Next day was Gyoza. We had gyros with fries and greek salad at a nice beergarden at. the Neckar river and some icecream 20km later. I made pasta ricotta e spinaci and a dinner of baby chicken and cauliflower from the oven plus cheese-filled gnocchi. I tried a recipe for Peposo, a tuscan beef stew with lots of wine and pepper, that. turned out great and was served with polenta. Sunday i made pasta with veggies, lentils and ricotta plus a big salad for dinner.
The weather this staycation week was really warm and sunny, so we finally started biking again to get out in the sun. Our first tour this year was 50km along the Neckar river. It was not crowded, because it was wednesday, so we were often the only ones on bikes. The next day we wanted to dine in France at a Michelin star restaurant for lunch, but i felt an infection coming plus i got a contact warning on my Covid app, so we sadly had to cancel our lunch. But luckily my test came back negative, so it was just a bit of laryngitis, but its much better now.
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 weeks CP on NST war female perfumers so i was wearing only those. I started with Coriandre- Jacqueline Coururier, Sens & Bois- Celine Ellena, Dryad – Liz Moores, L´Air de Rien – Lyn Harris, Vintage Zen – Josephine Catapano, Doe in the Snow and Meet Me On The Corner- both by Sarah McCartney. I finished the sunday in lots of C&A First EDT, not a female perfumer, but it was what i was craving…
On my plate this week there was a lot of pasta, on monday with sardines and ricotta, friday with leeks and sausages and sunday with a tomato-turkey sauce. I made Kitsune donburi with some leftover aburraage (fried tofu pockets), some salmon with sesame-cabbage salad and a cauliflower soup with sausage and curry. The boyfriend cooked venison fillets with a nice sauce and pasta (again). And i make my first Tteobokki with gochujang and spinach, really easy and the nice heat of the gochujang paste was great on a cold spring day too.
I finally gave the book „ Sew your own activewear“ a go and sewed a prototype of biking shorts, which fit really nice, after i tweaked the inseams at the crotch a bit. I think i will sew a new biking wardrobe for this season. I am imagining a biking skort, because i feel a bit exposed in those short biking shorts and think it looks nicer with a bit of a skirt over it.
As this week was sample week at NST, I dug out some samples from my box. So i tested Heeley Chypre 21 ( not a Chypre at all, just powdery green almondy on my skin), Superstition No13 ( nice incensy amber), Houbigant Orangers en Fleurs (not too bad for a white flower scent, orange blossom and tuberose, but not cloying) and TDC Sens & Bois, which was a sample favorite. A nice woody and peppery scent with a bit of ginger and citrus, perfectly good for everyday wear. I wore my beloved Aromatics Elixir on Tuesday , Scherrer EDT for saturday and a combo of Felanilla and Calligraphy Saffron on sunday ( there is not too much saffron for a perfume, is it?)
Sunday scent combo
I also managed to train on my crosstrainer 5times a week plus a long walk with the boyfriend. I also made some progress on knitting the first sock for the boyfriend, doing a variation of the Kai-Mei pattern of Cookie A, just because i find the construction a bit more interesting than plain vanilla socks. I am still reading a crime novel placed in WWII, The Unexpected Return of Josefine Fox, its not bad of a Prime reading book, but i had better crime novels, still want to finish it.
I made more time in the kitchen this week, so we had baked parsnips with a pumpkinseed-oil herbed dip, a big pot of turkey curry with tomato, a barley risotto with braised kale and miso plus brussel sprouts with soy sauce and omelett. I made a pot of lentil soup with tomato and anchovis. Some gnocchi with feta and salsify, a salad of yellow beets and ducks breast with teriyaki sauce, oven-baked pumpkin, gomasio and rice. Not a bad week for cooking on a diet, i must say….
remnants of a roman road, just before a fall in the mud
Perfumes this week were mostly rose-centered, so i wore Perles de Lalique, Lady Rose Lion+ Mitsouko, Patou Joy EDT, Coriandre+Agent Provocateur, Rose d´Arabie+Musks Khoublai Khan, Knowing+Paloma Picasso and Fils de Dieu plus L´Air de Rien after a shower, because i lost my footing in the mud…
On my plate i finally made my first Kare Raisu, a simple japanese curry with pork, carrots, potatoes and curry cubes. This was a really simple meal, but very nice. Reminded me of our stay in Japan, when we went into a curry shop. I tried a savoury curry porridge with some remains of the curry plus egg for breakfast and liked it a lot. We had orecchiette with ricotta and broccoli and another day with broad beans. Friday was a pot of shakshuka. Saturday i made Khoresht-e-Rivas, a persian beef shin ragout with saffron and rhubarb and lots of herbs and sunday was a ducks breast with asian cole slaw and gnocchi.
I managed to work out every day of the week, either taking a walk or on the crosstrainer with a 2hour walk in splendid sunshine on sunday. We went to the remains of an old roman road, but sadly i slipped in the mud and went down, but nothing was hurt, but my pride… I finished a pair of socks, but must weave in the ends.
This weeks perfumes were all spring-inspired, because i am so fed up with the dreary and grey skies. I tried to feel a bit more inspired and at least smell a bit like it will be better weather and blue skys soon. So i dug out Biagiotti Roma, Cleef and Arpels First EdT, Doe in the Snow, Aromatics Elixir, SJP Covet, Iris Rebelle and sunday i wore SJP Lovely Sheer.
A nice blind buy on saturday
I had not much time to cook, we mostly lived from last weekends cooking and some simple cold dinners. I made some fried potatoes with egg and shrimp and sunday i experimented with a korean silken tofu hotpot, which was spicy and warming, just what we needed in this kind of weater. We went to a birthday party with coffee and cake. One of the guests had fun doing a baristas job with some very fancy ethiopian coffee beans and all sorts of gadgets. Even i liked the coffee- usually i dont drink it, because i dont like the bitter taste of it, but this was really good.
Pizza takeout, tofu soup and a view of Ulm in at least a bit of sun
i also started another pair of socks for the boyfriend, while we were sitting in the train to the birthday party. Otherwise i did not get much things done, i was just working, doing some online zoom meetings or just relaxing. We thought about flying to the Canary islands in march, but i am not comfortable with spending so much time with other people in a big hotel during this pandemic, so maybe we will rent an apartment in Alsace or simply stay at home.
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.
I did a bit of statistics with my perfume usage last year again. Its always interesting, how much my likings change or stay the same.
It is no wonder, that the top scents are perfumes, that can be worn most time of the year, otherwise they would not have gotten so much skin time. I also do not like fresh and citrussy scents too much, i went from a floral type of scent to a chypre lover. Who would have thought this. Maybe because i remember at least some of the older chypre scents, although my mother was not much into perfume. I remember her wearing Cinnabar or something of Marbert.
On place 6 to ten with 8 wears each, i wore L´Ambre de Merveilles, Camelia Chinois (i tried to thunk it, but failed, maybe next summer, when its hotter), Fils de Dieu and Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose, which i often layered with Coriandre.
Honorable mentions…
Place 5 goes to SJP Covet, because its a great allrounder for nearly every season, maybe not too got in the summers heat. I also wore Biagiotti Roma nine times – i like this especially in summer, must be the opening grapefruit note.
Place 4 went to Agent Provocateur, i love the lightly musty and animalic rose scent. Some people think its a boudoir scent, but i like to wear it to the office. Nobody complains, because of all the mask wearing anyway.
Third place went to Scherrer EdT, a newfound love of mine. I treated myself to a big bottle. There might be a reformulation soon, so better stock up. i wore this 13 times
Second place was L´Air de Rien with 13 wearings. This could be one of my signature scents, but now its sadly discontinued. But i got a backup bottle of this, so i think i am good for the next decade to come.
Aaand the first place goes to an Oldie but Goodie! Aromatics Elixir for the win. I wore this a whopping 19 times last year! I have a backup bottle too, but contemplating another one, you know my fear of reformulation.
The winners
In perfume buying i was moderately behaved, thankfully my love of a good chypre is not very expensive, because its mostly classical scents, that i bought.
L´Air de Rien backup bottle, Cardin Choc and Cardin Paradoxe, Scherrer EdT and and Scherrer One Love (blind buy, sadly not much of love here for this scent), Perfumers Workshop Tea Rose (cheap as chips for 9Euro) and Verveine Cedrat. I found a used bottle of Lily Pulitzers Beachy for the summer holidays and bought Fiore dell´Onda from Erbolario in my holidays in Italy (reminds me of Sandflower or Acqua di Sale, but thankfully not so potent and with a smaller algae note). I also found a half full bottle of Dryad, which made me very happy. The last bottles of the year were Cleef and Arpels First EdT and Paloma Picasso Edt.
I sold some bottles and decants, so i maybe payed 400 Euros for perfume this year. This is much less than the years before, but i stopped longing for a decant of every new and interesting scent and try to enjoy my collection, that i own now. I will maybe buy some other old timer chypres this year and maybe treat myself to a bottle of Salome, because my decant is getting low.
I managed to read 32 audiobooks or books, so this was not as bad, as i imagined. Some books were just chick lit, so nothing to talk about, but others were more interesting.
I listened to some of Stephen King´s books on Audible, just because there is a german narrator, that has a really great voice. I could propably listen to David Nathan reading the telephone book and be content with it.
I also worked through Deborah Harkness All Souls trilogy, which was at least amusing and a nice light reading, but i also reread Anne Rice The Witching Hour, that is in my opinion the better take on the supernatural. I also reread Setterfields The Thirteenth Tale, and enjoyed it a lot.
Hardboiled Wonderland by Murakami was also interesting, but maybe it is better as a book, than as an audiobook, because its hard to concentrate on his strange and multidimensional storytelling. I will propably never be a hardcore fan, but it is really something different.
I also enjoyed City of Girls by Elisabeth Gilbert, although the plot is something that i cant believe in.
For a fun listening i can recommend Matt Ruff´s Me and the others. I tried to get into Petrosyans The Grey House, but i could not finish it, i found it a bit confusing and depressing.
In all, i read a lot of diverse literature and hope to continue my reading into the next year. At the moment i am starting The Ten Thousand Doors of January…
This last weeks perfumes were Zoologist Civet, First EdT, Chanel No5, which still does not suit my style (i dont think it will ever do…). L´ Air de Rien, 4160tuesdays Meet Me On The Corner, Chanel No19 for New Years Eve and i started the new year with Niki de Saint Phalle.
current knitting project, socks as usual…
We are trying to loose some weight, so i am not cooking so many different dishes as usual. But i made pork belly with miso and broccoli, the boyfriend did an indian inspired lentil soup. We had lots of baked pumpkin with feta and a bit of fettucine and the weekend i made a big chicken in milk with lemons and garlic. And a bottle of a nice Cremant from Alsace for the New Years Eve.
I had to work all days between Christmas and new year, so i did nothing special. We just try to get outside for a walk each day, if it is not raining. its a nice time to get connected and talk about the day. And since my boyfriend is working from home since nearly two years because of Covid, its the only time to get outside for both of us.
This week i wore Doe in the Snow, Ambre de Merveilles, Paloma Picasso EdT, Cafe Tuberosa, Fille en Aiguilles for christmas eve and the next day, mb03 and Adam Levine for Sunday
my coworkers made me a new door sign for my office! plus a view down Solitude alley in Ludwigsburg
I did not much of cooking, but i had marinated tempeh with broccoli and rice, some savoy soup, a nice christmas buffet from my coworkers and pasta with broad beans and feta. We made svabian lentils with beef tongue and spaetzle for christmas eve dinner and had leftovers the next day. Plus some cookies, that my mother made.
Christmas time was a bit stressful, because we have to travel three hours one way to meet my tiny family, just my brother and my mother and drive back two days later. It would not be so bad, if the family meeting was more harmonious, but my mother is constantly complaining about this and that. So we drove home the next day, and were glad to spent at least one day in peace to relax, before i have to work the next day. And because the weather cleared up a bit, we had a good long walk with even a bit of sun.
Perfumes this week were Aromatics Elixir, Chanel No19, First by Cleef and Arpels, Paradoxe, Scherrer, Dzing, L Air de Rien and Agent Provocateur
We still try to loose some weight, and had lowrr calorie meals with cabbage soup, rabbit with mushrooms, pulled turkey, pasta with ricotta and spinach, scrambled egg with kimchi and chicken legs with filled pumpkin.
We managed some evening walks but were too lazy for everything else, because of the grey and cold weather and spent too much time on the net.
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 this week were Agent Provocateur, Cleef and Arpels First (still undecided on this), “Arpege, Scherrer EdT, Felanilla, Attaquer Le Soleil, Cardin Paradoxe and Theo Fennel.
Advent wreath and view from our hometown
We were visiting with parents, so we mostly ate what was offered to us. We had leftover sushi on Monday with Miso soup, Pasta with tomato sauce at my mother’s, spaetzle and Rouladen twice at my boyfriends parents. When we returned we made broccoli soup, pasta with spinach and Ricotta and a big roast chicken with baked pumpkin slices for Sunday.
Our holiday week went over much too fast, most of it was spent driving, sitting and talking with our parents and a bit lounging in front of the TV. But I managed some walks and finishing the second Olympia dress, that I had cut out since some weeks ago.
Perfumes this week were Rochas Femme, Fourreau Noir, Felanilla, Bottega Veneta for a day I was in a hurry and it was in the front row. I wore Papillion Perfumery Salome for a friday at work (not work appropriate, but I don‘t care. Saturday was Larmes de Desert and later Musks Khoublai Khan and lots of L´Ambre de Merveilles for the first advent sunday.
We did not much cooking this week. We had some leftover pulled turkey with pasta, a nice lentil dhal with rice, a big pot of minestrone. Friday i had half a dayoff and make pasta with pulpo. Sunday we had shakshuka and lots of sushi for dinner, because a friend went to a cooking workshop. We did the dogsitting for her and got the leftover Sushi in turn.
I had my post Covid tests this week, including a CATscan, an echocardiogramm and a complicated lung function test. All came out in the normal range, so i am really happy, because this means i can finally train again without worrying. As i gained some kilograms this year, this is good news. The bad news is, that i am now officially on a diet. And as i had a reaction to the contrast fluid, i have to get steroids for every new CATscan.
Perfumes of this week were Vol de Nuit EdT (I am still not overwhelmed), Scherrer One Love, Vintage Shalimar, Reve d’ Ossian, Friday a layering of Occur and Musks Khoublai Khan. Saturday I wore Botrytis and Sunday was lots of Theo Fennel.
Lentil dhal with the trimmings and the first finished sock
On my plate I had lots of leftovers and cold meals for dinner. A coworker made a great lentil dhal with freshly baked Naan and raita for lunch. Friday I had oven baked Hokkaido pumpkin with Miso butter. We made a huge pork cutlet, that weight over 700g with Fennel and gnocchi on Saturday and had slow-cooked pulled turkey with Pasta for Sunday dinner with leftovers for the next day.
This week I managed to go for a long walk four times, once with a friend, the other times with my boyfriend. This gives us time to relax and to chat. At home we are much too often absorbed in the internet etc, so we try to take walks on most evenings.
I finished the first sock for the boyfriend and also finished my Hope dress from Style Arc patterns plus a new Raglan shirt with big pink dots.
Usually I am not much into pink, but as my hair is rapidly going white, I must admit, that this color looks nice on me and lends me some color. Sadly I look washed out in my beloved black, if I don’t put on makeup and a bright lipstick. Things always change, so maybe I will embrace this new colorstory.
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 were not very interesting, although I finally thunked my decant of Ninfeo Mio, bought a bottle of Fior Dell Onda and was happy to be reunited with my collection, so I wore Chypre Siam on Sunday.
Hot chicken with bellpeppers and a nice apero on the patio
We had more nice meals with salad of borlotti beans, hot chicken with peppers, fish from the oven and frizzante, fegatelli and zucchini, Salsiccia al ragu with pasta. Sunday was Parmigiana di melanzane.
Views of Maremma
We had a long walk at the pine beaches of Feniglia and spent some time lazing around, reading, cooking and drinking wine. We had another visit of a young fox, which was quite fearless and kept only 1meter distance. Later we found out, that he stole one of my boyfriends new sandals, that were drying on the porch. We never found it again, so we had to throw away a totally new shoe!
Saturday we spent nearly all day driving home, but at least we had a nice dinner in a garden restaurant near Bolzano with tirolean dumplings, mushrooms and icecream with coffee for dessert.
Sunday was all getting housework done, cleaning and preparing for the next workweek. But I am glad we had some weeks of summer in Italy before the bad weather hits us.
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.
This was the last week at work before we went to Italy and mostly summery scents. I wore Aromatics Elixir twice, Orange Sanguine, Pour La Belle, Scherrer One Love for a more coolish day and Bronze Goddess Azur for a sunny sunday on the porch and a late afternoon at the beach.
Homemade pasta with tomato confit, a funny alcohol free beer called Freibier and tirolean bacon and cheese dumplings
On my plate I had homemade pasta with oven roast tomatoes, pork belly Chinese style from the slowcooker, leftovers of turkey leg. We went for dinner in a nice rustic restaurant im Austria and had a plate of cheese and bacon dumplings tirolean style with lots of butter and Parmesan. Sunday we had zucchini fritters and salad for lunch, had a sundowner drink at a beach bar and later a big dinner at a fish restaurant. We had big Antipasti di mare, spaghetti alle vongole and a big frittura mista. Plus lemon sorbet and Café for dessert. We were all totally stuffed…
Went to the Giambella beach on Sunday and had fun playing in the waves. My homemade swimsuit held up really well, even when it got wet and fit nicely. Later we drove to a beach bar and had drinks watching the sunset and went to dine afterwards. The food was so good and we ate until we nearly burst. We are here with two friends of us, and I am so happy to see my girlfriend relatively well and in good shape (cancer sucks). I hope we will all make good memories from this holidays.
The weather was cold at the beginning of the week and got better every day so my perfume choices reflect this. I started with Coromandel for a cold Monday, followed by Ambre de Merveilles the next day. Wednesday was better, so I chose Janine D, a vintage cheapie that I discovered at my boyfriends mother. Choc de Cardin for a bike to work day. Friday was Niki de Saint Phalle, Saturday first Batucada, then Beachy and Sunday I wore Camelia Chinois. This bottle will never end… Maybe I will take it on holidays and empty it there.
Pulled turkey on polenta and a bream at the Greek beer garden
On my plate I had lamb ribs from the oven, tomato salad, pasta with zucchini again, pork steak with tomato salad again, fried Maultaschen with kimchi. Saturday I improvised some pulled turkey with tomato and anchovies on a bed of blue cheese polenta, which turned out exceptionally well with a very nice Riesling to go with it. Sunday we did a spontaneous visit at a Greek restaurant with a nice garden under a huge walnut tree and had sea bream with potato and Feta cream. This was a treat, because we had to go to the emergency practice to have my boyfriends swollen foot inspected. I was fearing a thrombosis, but the just gave him an antibiotic ointment. I am still not convinced. If it’s not better tomorrow I will make him see our own physician.
I finally finished my swimsuit and it fits really well. The fabric is a bit colorful, but I will not get lost in the sea while wearing this.
It’s the Rhonda Swimsuit from 5 out of 4 patterns. The pieces fit well together and although I had to scratch my head at one step reading the instructions, it came together without any sewing disaster. In all I can recommend the pattern. It also had normal bust and fuller bust pattern pieces, so there was no need to adapt anything. I have a D cup and it’s roomy enough at the breast.
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 Chanel No5 L’Eau, Chypre Siam, Pour La Belle, Womanity, Scherrer EdT, Camelia Chinois, What I did on my holidays and Dryad, of which I finally got a used bottle. I like Dryad quite a lot, it’s such a great scent with herb notes and a bit of animalic background on my skin.
Cycling on Saturday
On my plate were more zucchini, this time fried and a batch of pickled zucchini. Plus chicken with zucchini and potatoes. I made a lot of Hummus with pumpkin seed oil and Shakshuka on Sunday.
We went cycling on Saturday, this time along the Siebenmühlenweg, the valley of seven mills, then further along the river Aich and then along the Neckar until we reached Esslingen, 48km in all. We had lunch in a nice beer garden and later a big coffee with icecream. Thankfully we decided to go on Saturday, because today it’s raining nearly all the time.
I spent some time working on my handwriting and trying out my new fountain pens from TWSBI, the Go and the Swipe. I like the Swipe a bit better, but both are writing really nice.
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.
Perfumes i wore this week were Coriandre plus Tea Rose, Empreinte, Niki de Saint Phalle, Pour La Belle, Bronze Goddess Azur, Beachy, Scherrer EdT, Roma and Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche.
A walk, a rustic restaurant and a great icecream
On my plate i had pasta salad, ravioli con zucchini, meat loaves, a big schnitzel with fries at a nice svabian restaurant, pasta with tomatoes and tuna and salsicchia with cucumber salad. And i had a nice icecream with pumpkin seed oil and caramelized seeds, that was really great.
I managed to bike to work twice, although the weather was not nice and we visited my boyfriends parents in the Bodensee region for Hits fathers 86th birthday and had a nice dinner in a good restaurant. And inbetween we had a long walk through a beautiful forest and we did some gardening and harvested the first zucchini and beets.
Old Ladys Musings 