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.
Perfumes this week were mostly decants and testers because of travel. Mandarine Basilic ( did not like it), 5th Avenue NYC, Rose Flash, Lovely Sheer and Orangers en Fleurs. When i came home i wore Meet me on the Corner, later Silances and Cabotine for sunday
Secession building, Yoshitomo Nara and Klimt plus Dobostorte
I went out eating ecery day in Vienna, so i ate a Donburi at Doburi restaurant, a big pizza napoletana, Hunan pork belly and later a but sushi for dinner. Just sandwiches for my two days of traveling, pasta and tomato sauce, asparagus salat with trout and tirtilla and later soy sauce chicken on sunday
Tube entrance, the famous Frankfurt kitchen, pork belly and artwork
I visited the Klimt exhibition at the Belvedere, which was really good. So much great art to see and also the picture frames were exquisite! I went to the Albertina Modern. They showed Yoshitomo Nara, an unknown artist to me, but i really liked his works a lot. My last day at Vienna i visited the Naschmarkt in pouring rain and cold, so mot much fun. Later i went to the Museum for Angewandte Kunst. They exhibited the famous Frankfurter Küche, which was the first modern kitchen, designed in the late 20s and built nearly 10000 times for workers quarters in Frankfurt city.
Went back to germany on thursday with a stopover in munich to visit my mother and drive her at an assisted living facility, that she wanted was maybe interested in. Every few weeks she changes her mind about what she wants, can’t decide, this is really stressful….
I was glad to get home late on friday, spent my saturday cleaning and sunday to work out and do some knitting. Do you have elderly parents that cant get around on their own but refuse to get help??? What did you do?
perfumes this week were Azurée, Womanity, Dryad ( perfekt for a coolish spring), Sens & Bois, Chanel No19, Memoir Woman and a Elisabeth Ardens 5th Avenue from a small tester.
vienna impressions, Prater, Schnitzel, Hundertwasser house, vintage body scale
On my plate i mostly had frozen leftovers, but also smothered fennel with fried salsicchia, wine and appetizers from the opening evening at the congress. As i am in Vienna i also ate a big Wiener Schnitzel with potato salad and sunday evening i went to a traditional Gasthaus and had a huge plate of Schweinsbraten ( roast porc) with a dumpling and sauerkraut. And a beer of course!
Sadly i overate a bit and woke up at night with heart palpitations and fast pulse. this happens sometimes to me, but it took over an hour to get better, before i could try sleeping again. So i am feeling a bit meh this morning and had to skip the first lectures. Hopefully they will be online later.
I found a nice AirBnB near Prater with an operatic singer, she is really a lovely person, and it feels a bit Bohème in her flat. Also her dresses are a bit dramatic. I like that! I also spent the last two evenings windowshopping and eating oit with a nice collegue from one of my last jobs, so i had nice company too. On my list for this week: Klimt exhibition, maybe perfume shopping, visit the Prater, because i only saw it from outside…..
Perfumes this week were Scherrer, Niki de Sainte Phalle, Fidji (a blind buy that i really love! A tropical chypre! And cheap as chips!) twice, Iris Rebelle, Doe in the snow and Choc de Cardin
some food, a handknit cardi and an old firefighters ladder, horsdrawn at our local firefighters may festival
On my plate i had salad from fennel and oranges, which i really came to love, asparagus and fish steaks, pasta with broccoli and anchovis, chicken with eggplant and potatoes, salted lemons and ras el hanout and a nice birthday dinner for the boyfriend at our local greek. I had the baby calamari above, they were perfect!
I managed to go to the gym twice, as is my plan, once for yoga, because i am feeling really stiff and once doing weights. Sunday was spent at home sewing. I made a Fehrtrade Duathlon legging and a Cashmerette Brattle top, because i wanted some new workout clothes. It feels a bit silly, but those things motivate me to workout. I hope i can post some pics later.
Spring is finally there, so my scents reflected that, at least a bit… I wore Synthetic Jungle (sadly a bit too screachy lily of the valley on me, otherwise it would be great. But well, money saved, the decant will be enough…). Covet, Patou Joy EDT (inspired by Portia and OldHerbaceous), topped up in the evening with a drop of Salome, a first wearing of my new bottle of Fidji EDT (would love to smell the vintage version), First EDT, Aromatics Elixir and Eau de Rochas for sunday.
Cherrys are blooming!!
My voice was so bad, that i was on sickleave after monday, because i was not able to talk to my patients at work. So i had time to cook some nice meals. As the BF is working from home, he always appreciates a nice lunch. I made japanese inspired roasted bellpeppers with rice, pasta with leeks and minced meat, a big pot of lentil soup, using up some parmesan rinds to cook into the soup. Friday i had time to go to the farmers market, so i made fried liver with onions and mashed potatoes and a dinner with asparagus and swabian herbed „pancakes“ called Kratzete.
I spent lots of time knitting, so my blue cardigan is nearly finished. I just have to knit the icord edging (which i hate to do), so instead i cast on another project, a thin TShirt for summer wearing in a cherry pink wool and cotton yarn from Holst. Plus i had time to binge another series on Disney, The Resident, which i really liked. My BF is always making fun of me, that i like those hospital drama series, but being a doctor, this is really fun to watch, because it has nothing to do with a real hospital.
I also joined the local gym again after a three years hiatus. I decided that although the cycling is good for my cardio exercise, i also should try to build up some muscles, now that i am nearing my 60th birthday. I had my first trainer session on saturday, so now some very unknown parts of my body still hurt. Tomorrow i will try the yoga practise….
This weeks perfumes were Perles de Lalique, Dryad, Silences (lovely, but the new version is very fleeting, thankfully it is cheap!), Mitsouko EdT, Chypre Mousse, What i did on my holidays and i finally wore a tester of Vintage Ivoire. I liked this scent very much and was sad that it is discontinued, like many of the chypres of older times….
On my plate i had lamb ragoutwith carrots, Moussaka, that a coworker brought, pasta with cauliflower, anchovies and breadcrumbs. Sunday i had rice, first with fish and broccoli, later with fried yuba knots. They are made from dried tofu skin and really taste a bit like dried meat.
I also finally finished two cardigans and sewed on the buttons. The blue one is made out of sock wool and i used a pattern from the 1940s. The red one is the Timepiece cardigan from an Ailbiona pattern. This was knit topdown from a sportweight swedish wool. I really like the shaping if the compound raglan sleeves. I knit the longer version, maybe i make another shorter one next year.
I had troubles with my vocal chords last week, so much that i could hardly speak and had to practice silence for the weekend. It is still not better, so i will see a doctor tomorrow.
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!
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.
Perfumes of the week: Iris Rebelle, Cleef and Arpels First EdT, Biagiotti Roma, Reve d´Ossian, Dryad and Niki de Saint Phalle for Sunday. I just wore the remains of Dryad on saturday, because i was too tired to choose a new scent, nevertheless it still scented my scarf and sweater nicely.
fresh baked Brezen, made by. the boyfriend!
On my plate i had indian chicken tikka at work, because i treated my coworkers to a nice lunch, to celebrate the new maskless freedom at work, thanks to the new laws!!! I also invited the boyfriend to a nice pizza dinner on friday, because his work week has not been very nice. We ate greek rice and lemon soup, pasta with a tomato-salsiccia sauce and fried salsiccia with gnocchi and red cabbage for sunday. And fresh baked pretzels for dinner. Those are much better than from the bakery, but making them is a bit more difficult, because they have to be cooled to stiffen up a bit, before getting into the lye bath, so we can only make them in winter, the fridge is not big enough.
I spent lots of hours knitting the boyfriends new cardigan, just managed to finish the first sleeve, so i got only one sleeve, the collar and the buttonband to finish. Plus sewing it together, which i hate, but sadly cannot avoid. On the other hand i am itching to cast on a cardigan for myself. I am still debating what to knit, but i think i will try to make the Timepiece cardigan by Ailbiona from the red Järbo wool, that i bought in december. I would really like a classic v-neck oversized cardigan to wear at home, and this seems to be a great pattern. Plus- its topdown, so i don ´t have to sew the pieces and i can try it on.
I had a breast exam this week because of a diffuse slight induration, but thankfully there was nothing on the sonogram. I think i will do an MRT to be totally sure (will have to pay it by myself sadly), but if i get the bad thoughts out of my mind by this, it will be money well spent. Hopefully i get an appointment soon.
This weeks perfumes were Aromatics Elixir, Chanel No19, L´Air de Rien, Sens & Bois, Gucci No3, Ambre de Merveilles, Covet and Cardin Paradoxe.
japanese dinner and tiny baby socks
We did not have much time to cook, so i mostly ate selfmade leftover freezermeals. The boyfriend made a pasta with cavolo nero and garlic. Saturday i made pasta again, this time with some pulled pork, tomatoes and capers. Sunday was a big pan of tteokbokki with gochujang sauce and broccoli. But i went for dinner with my ladies from work and had a really lovely japanese dinner. They even had takoyaki on the menu and i had a huge tempura sushi roll with shrimp and avocado. It also looked fantastic and they had very nice plates too.
I spent some time more knitting and nearly finished a second sock. I also sewed the first parts of the boyfriend jacket together, so i can tackle the sleeves next. I think i will try knit in short row sleeves, a technique i never tried before, but i will have to do some more research on this first. But i can always rip them out, if they dont look good and knit them as separate pieces…. I also sewed in the first sleeve in my vintage cardigan, but the second one will have to wait for the next time, when there is daylight. Doing this in the evening with only the dinner table light is too much for my aging eyes and my bifocals.
I am still debating, which cardigan to knit with the blue plötulopi unspun yarn, that i bought on a whim, just cannot decide if i knit the Lone Kjeldsen Growing or the TincanKnits Harvest cardigan. I also have an eye on the Timepiece cardigan by Ailbiona, its such a classic and relaxed style. Decisions, decisions! Otherwise nothing really happens here besides working, knitting and cooking. I hope the weather will get more like springtime, because i am itching get back on my bike regularly.
This weeks perfumes were Dzing!, Bottega Veneta, Botrytis, Femme de Rochas, Coriandre and Calligraphy Saffron for a snowy sunday.
food, wine and knitting, whats not to love!
I did not have too much time in the kitchen, living with some freezer precooked lunches and sandwiches for dinner. But i had a really big dinner with a friend at a vietnamese restaurant and a Hanoi platter to share, which was delicious. I also had a Doner Kebab, a brussel sprout and carrot soup with dumplings and a very big roast chicken with Ras-el-Hanout, carrots and sweet potatoes. And this fun wine above!
I helped a good friend packing for a move for two days, because i had some days free and did lots of moving things, taking stuff up and down the stairs etc. But as she treated me to this lovely vietnamese dinner, i won ´t complain. Anyway, it was a true workout, so that was a plus!
I made some progress on my boyfriends cardigan and finished at least one sock for my mother plus nearly a pair of baby socks for a friend. I knit some swatches, hoping to decide on my next cardigan project, but will have to think a bit about it. Maybe i can cast on another project next week.
I do love lists and statistics, so i always keep stats on my perfume wear each year. My taste changes a bit each year, new perfume loves appear, others fall out of favor. I did not buy many new bottles in 2022, i think there have been no more than five plus some decants, because i now want to enjoy my collection more and not hunt for the next „new“ (or old and discontinued gem).
The winner was Aromatics Elixir with 18 wears, followed by Sens &Bois with 16 wears. Roma and Scherrer EdT got 15x skin time and even Perles de Lalique got worn 10times. Also worn more than 5x were Eau de Rochas, Givenchy III, Agent Provocateur, Cleef and Arpels First EdT, Meet Me On The Corner and Mitsouko EdT. I feel a strong chypre theme still going on here 😉
I also got a lot of books and audiobooks finished, because i spent a lot of time driving or biking to work, which makes a lot of listening possible for audiobooks. Some of it was „easy listening“ like Harry Potter or a lot of crime stories from Tess Gerritsen or Linda Castillo. But i had a lot of fun with Matt Ruffs Lovecraft Country. I also read Maggie O ´Farrells This must be the place, that i liked a lot for all the interesting feelings linking the protagonists. I also liked Matt Haigs Midnight Library, although it was a bit foreseeable. I found a interesting and funny book from a japanese female author with the title „Butter“, a mixture between a crime story, emancipation story and japanese womens rights. I can really recommend it!
We spent five days on a bike tour along the five rivers between Nuremberg and Regensburg and had a lot of fun plus a good deal of physical activity. A good way to be allowed to eat as much as you like! The second holidays were spent in the South of France near Narbonne, where we mostly relaxed, cooked, drank wine and went on some nice walks. Maybe we will return there next year!
I spent some time at the sewing table and made a few dresses. I also rediscovered knitting, which i never really quit, but mostly only made socks. But that year i also made a 40s jumper, nearly finished another 40s cardigan and i am now knitting a cardigan for the boyfriend at the moment. Must hurry up to finish before it is spring!
Perfumes this week were Sens & Bois, Narciso for Her, Cafe Tuberosa, Eau Sacree, Agent Provocateur and Cleef and Arpels First EdT
On my plate i had a christmas feast with arancini, lentil soup, salmon, mozzarella sticks and cake of course (everybody brought something for the feast at work), i made a big pot of red cabbage with balsamico and rosemary, served with truffeled salsicchia and gnocchi and some soup with leeks, minced meat and cheese. Sunday was a big pot of gochujang bolognese sauce with melted raclette cheese and penne. And i made enough leftovers for the next week too.
Winter has finally come to southern germany and we had lots of snow and low temperatures, but this will melt the following week, as the temps will go up to a more spring-like 11Celsius. So i hope to get at least one bike commute done next week.
I finally made my christmas dress this weekend. I chose the Designerstitch Camelia dress, because i was attracted to the faux wrap front and the assymmetrical overlay. I used a black and silver lurex ponte fabric i got cheap on Driessenstoffe. After a bit of looking at the pattern pieces i lowered the bust dart about 1,5 cm ( as gravity and age are taking their toll) and graded from a size 5 D-cup to a waist 6 and back to size 5 hips. Plus a small forward shoulder adjustment, because…. age again. These small changes made a really nice fitting dress. I never made one of Designerstitches patterns before, but i have some other still unsewn but printed out. I think i will tackle the Shardee wrap dress next, because i have bought fabric for this last winter (and have not made it yet).
I also made some quick fingerless mitts for the boyfriends from Drops Nord Alpaca yarn. The moths got the last pair. This will hopefully teach him not to leave wollen mitts laying around in the open during the whole summer. At least he is happy with his new ones. The socks for my mother are nearly finished, so i can now concentrate on my 1940s cardigan, there are still 1,5 sleeves to knit!
Perfumes i wore were Adam Levine, Rochas Femme, Fourreau Noir (powdered lavender mothballs in a fur coat with a marzipan bar), vintage Opium, a maybe vintage Coco (or a good imitation), Felanilla and today L Ambre de Merveilles, because its so easy to wear in winter.
Advent wreath and commuting views
On my plate i had chicken fricassee with anchovies and capers, boiled potatoes with herring, Avgolemono soup with rice and chicken, spaetzle with cheese and onions. I tried a cocktail called snowbunny with eggnogg, amaretto and hot milk, which was really delicious and easy to make.
This week i think i did my last bikecommute for this year, now the temperature is below freezing, so i will commute by car or public transport. Otherwise i cut a dress for the holidays with a black and silver ponte fabric, hoping it comes out as i would want it to. We had snow on sunday, so we took a walk for an hour and even saw a bit of sun, the last week has been really grey and dark, so this was nice and really lifted my mood. I also got a good part of the socks, i want to make for christmas for my mother, i think they will be finished next week. She always loves new socks, so this is a nobrainer gift for her.
Last weeks CP was Ancient Resins, so i dug out my amber and incense perfumes. I wore Essence Ambre, Marquis de Sade, Larmes de désert, Reve d´Ossian, Fille en Aiguilles, Sens et Bois, Wazamba and finished the week with Lady Rose Lion, which i am really starting to like after a bad start.
evening scene with a meager christmas decoration and filled pumpkin
On my plate there was Soup of the bride Ezo (red lentils, bulgur, rice), red cabbage smothered with balsamico and salsiccia, pasta with miso, bottarga and mushroom pesto. Saturday i spent making lots of filled mini pumkins with a bulgur, minced meat and gorgonzola stuffing plus two turkey legs with curried butter, potatoes and carrots. i also cooked. a chicken soup to use the next days. I have so many leftovers that i have enough for this week.
I did manage two!! commutes to work on bike, although its pitchblack dark for the first 30min of my commute over the fields, but it was a few degrees above freezing, so i bit the bullet and just biked. I felt really good after finishing my commute, but i will not do this, if there is frost on the ground, because i dont have wheels with spikes.
The weather is so depressingly dark, grey and drizzly, that we spend most time indoors, reading, watching Netflix and doing some knitting. I am still working on my 40s blue cardigan out of sockwool, but i finally finished the back and fronts and now i am a third into the first sleeve.
I ordered a box of swedish yarns from Eddna, and after my parcel arrived after getting nearly lost in Lübeck at the other side of Germany i finally got it. I bought a nice swedish DK wool in heathered grey for a cardigan for the boyfriend and a red wool for me. I also bought unspun icelandic plötulopi, maybe also for a cardigan, but this will take a while. Plus some icelandic lace in grey and pink for a shawl (maybe i will knit another Different Lines, because my old shawl is starting to look a bit ratty).
The pattern for the boyfriend cardigan is still not decided, i was thinking about a Elisabeth Zimmermann Seamless Hybrid with some ribbing at the sides, because i saw a project from Jared Flood, that knit this for a friend. But i would have to steek it, which i have never done before. Maybe i will do a steeking swatch and see, if i can do this. I is always appealing to just knit in the round, its wonderfully soothing and i simply dont like to purl.
Perfumes this week were Eau de Lancaster (office decant stash), L´Air de Rien, Eau Duelle for the burial of my boyfriends mother, Doe in the Snow, Roma, Calligraphy Saffron, Occur and Amira Gold for sunday evening.
pigs trotters soup, cellars and candles, red maple leafs
On my plate this week was a Thai Curry (at the restaurant after the burial), pasta with chards and ricotta salata, pigs trotters soup with glass noodles and chickpeas – an adapted chinese recipe, a curry with sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts and pomegranate seeds, pasta gratin with kale and pumpkin in gorgonzola-bechamel sauce. And the boyfriend made three biig loaves of apple bread.
We went to the burial on wednesday. At least 60 to 70 guests were attending the service and aroud 30 went to the tradiational meal afterwards. Thankfully my boyfriends father coped very well with the situation, still its hard to loose the partner after 62 years of marriage…
On sunday we went to a wine testing at a renowned winery in the Stuttgart region. We tasted at least 10 to 16 different white and red wines and also some sparkling wine. It was interesting to compare wines from the same grapes with different terroirs and we could also test some of the „Grosses Gewächs“, the german version of a Grand Cru. We did not like all of the wines, even one of the most expensive ones was not our taste (neither our budgets taste too!)
The colder weather is finally here, so i can wear heavier scents. Vol de Nuit EDT for monday (this sounded soo good, but it is much too powdery vanilla and not enough galbanum, alas…), Femme de Rochas, Dzing!, Memoir Woman, Zagorsk and for sunday i wore Salome (still would like a bottle, but one tiny spritz is more than enough, so i try to empty my decant first).
On my plate i had persian celery ragout with meat, indian tomato chicken curry, a giant pot of hungarian bean and pork ribs soup and some rucola tomato salad.
After i had got a cold 4 weeks ago, finally my dry cough got better, so i was able to get on my bike again on friday. I am not very fit after coughing for weeks, but it was great to get outside again, even in the rain and cold. Thankfully i had bought rain trousers and a rain jacket, and they really kept me dry!
I also found my knitting mojo again after at least two years of failed projects (… okay, i made socks, i can knit them in my sleep) and after finishing my Victory jumper i am well into my 40s cardigan in a navy sock wool. I also made new fingerless mitts, because i lost my old grey pair last winter in a fall in the dirt. Such a nice project to use up the remains of sockwool.
Because of the energy crisis we turned the heating down and wear a lot more warm clothes at home. The boyfriend requested a cardigan, so i ordered some grey heathered swedish wool online at Eddna, plus some icelandic wool and unspun plötulopi in a hopefully nice darker blue. I also bought 2 cardigans worth for me in grey and a „sheer red“, which is hopefully a nice color for me.
While knitting i also had time to watch Locke and Key on Netflix. I really like mystery and sci-fi series. I tried to watch Brand New Cherry Flavor, but gave up on it, because it drifted too much into the horror genre. Maybe i give the whole StarTrek series another rerun afterwards. Any other series that you can recommend?
Perfumes this week had the theme „Easy to wear“, which can mean something different for each person. My easy scents were Fils de Dieu, Ambre de Merveilles, Mitsouko (but it must be the EDT, i dont get on with the EDP), Agent Provocateur, Scherrer, Sens et Bois and Fille en Aiguilles for a foggy sunday.
The Victory Jumper finally finished, a pizza lunch, a view of Ravensburg and waiting for the train…
On my plate i had some tomato salad with mozzarella, boiled potatoes with herbed quark, pasta with tomatoed miso butter, peas, truffle oil and parmesan ( a really simple dinner, but tasted really luxurious), greek avgolemono soup with rice and sunday lunch at a pizzeria in Ravensburg… i had a half of quattro formaggi and a half of capers and anchovies pizza
On friday my boyfriends mother finally died peacefully at home on the day of her 87th birthday, so we spent sunday traveling to visit his father. We went by train and spent 8h traveling for 4h of a visit…. The town of Ravensburg is not too far away, but it takes 3h by car for 190km and more by train. At least i managed to knit one fingerless mitten on the train ride for the coming winter, as i lost my last pair…
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.
Perfumes this week were Bal a Versaille, Agent Provocateur, Theo Fennel, Mitsouko, Tea Rose for the CP on NST, Chypre Siam and the good old No 19. I am starting to get out more of my heavy hitters, because its finally getting a bit more like autumn, although the weather was really warm this week.
a nice gift from a patient (with sock wool too!), pumpkin-kale ribollita and finally falling leaves
On my plate i had a ribollita with pumpkin, kale and borlotti beans, oven baked veggies with brats, a tortilla espanola, cabbage with curry and coconut milk and minced meat and today a big schnitzel with potato salad
i still nursed the cold i had last week and a laryngitis too, so i went to work , but did not do much, because i could not talk with my patients. Nevertheless my boss was happy that i showed up at all, otherwise we would have to close the practise…
I did a very slow bike ride on saturday, just 12 km, because it was really warm and sunny. So nice to be outside again. I hoped i could get back on the bike next week, but i am still not completely alright, so this will have to wait.
Our three weeks in Narbonne, France have passed, so i just wanted to show a few views of our holidays.
Perfumewise there was not a lot to choose, i took two bottles and two decants with me, but wore mostly Roma and Aromatics Elixir.
A visit to Carcassonne and a bike tour alone the Canal de Robine near Narbonne
We did a bit of sightseeing, visited the historic city of Carcassonne, which was still full of tourists and reminded me more of a film set than an actual living city. Still some impressive views to be seen. We also went to the Abbey of Fontfroide and visited a Saline and also bought some nice local salt. And because the Eurovelo bikeway Calais – Istanbul was nearby, we cycled 30km along and enjoyed the views on a nice bikepath near the sea.
View of the town of Lagrasse and the abbey of Fontfroide plus a look at one of the many Etangs and salinesA visit to the Saline de Gruissan and a walk in the morning at sunrise
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.
Old Ladys Musings 