Weekly diary

Perfumes of this week were Scherrer vs Vintage Miss Dior, Ambre de Merveilles, Wazamba, Dzing!, vintage Chanel No19, Private Collection from the oldest bottle I have, which is a mini from a gift set, I got from a patient in the late 90ies. Saturday was Cristalle Eau Verte followed by Niki de Saint Phalle and sunday I wore Eau de Lancaster.

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On my plate I had lentil soup on Easter Monday plus lentil salad with tuna and fermented lemons. The first ramps went into a cream sauce for linguine. I made asparagus risotto on Saturday and a huge Indian Masala chicken with roast potatoes and spices. Sunday was a big tray of homemade lasagna. I also made the pasta sheets. So we luckily have leftovers for next week to eat.

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I finally got my brompton bike, that I ordered last August and biked a short round, sadly I am still not very fit, so 5km were enough for the first try.

Weekly diary

My perfumes this week were Covet, Perles de Lalique, Chypre Siam, Doe in the snow and Aromatics Elixir. I tried Shem El Nessim, but it reminded me of Hubba Bubba chewing gum with extra neroli.

Easter lamb cake, walk along the Isar River and driving home on Easter sunday on the highway

We did not much cooking, but we had homemade chicken soup with rice, egg and vinegar. I made linguine with broad beans and smoked salmon in cream sauce. The rest of the noodles were eaten with Miso butter. The last head of savoy was made with minced meat and mograbieh. Friday we had takeout in Munich from our favorite Vietnamese restaurant and Saturday my brother made fish with potatoes and fresh spinach. Sunday we had our traditional Easter breakfast with a big sweet raisin loaf, butter, smoked ham and hardboiled eggs.

After my covid infection I had an increased resting heartrate, luckily my ECG was normal, but my physician diagnosed me with long covid. So I am not allowed to do harder exercises, just taking walks and slow cycling. This is really sad, because I wanted to cycle to work again regularly.

Weekly diary

Scents I wore this week… Agent Provocateur, Pour La Belle, Memoir Woman, L’Air de Rien, Untitled L’Eau, Doe in the snow, Cristalle Eau Verte and Aromatics Elixir.

I finally bought a Backup bottle of L’Air de Rien, because it now seems to be discontinued on the Miller Harris site and the prices are going up.

Harrison shirt and views from the train Bridge on historic wagons

We did not do too much cooking and ate some freezer meals. But I made tortellini with mushroom sauce and filled bellpeppers on potatoes, made a bundt cake and chicken soup from scratch. The boyfriend made Fennel and tomato veggies with Feta and we had homemade burgers with fish fingers.

I did some sewing this week and started the Gilbert top from Helen’s Closet. I wore my memade Harrison shirt to work, but I think I need to tweak the pattern a bit. It fits okay, but there is room for improvement. And I started another sock for the boyfriend, this time with greyish pastel selfstriping yarn.

We did a long walk in the sun on Sunday, watched the train tracks from a bridge and looked at the historic train wagons. And we had some ice cream on our way home.

Weekly diary

Perfumes of this week were Scherrer (worn twice), Vintage Opium, Black Gemstone (good, but not something I like to wear), Fils de Dieu for Friday, Occur, Calligraphy Saffron and Vintage Miss Dior and later Narciso white cube, because they share the gardenia note.

Nina Lee dress, one pot pasta and the persian Nowrooz meal.

On my plate I had some Indian chicken legs with rutabaga puree, that was really nice together… I made Khoresht e Karafs, a persian stew with celery and meat plus lots of parsley and mint on Nowrooz. On Sunday there was one pot pasta for lunch, because we were hungry and I just wanted some simple pasta. The boyfriend made beef cheeks simmered to perfection in its own juices. We nearly ate this with a spoon. And we had a great red wine from Montalcino to accompany the meal. Plus I baked egg nogg cake, for the weekend.

I finished the dress from Nina Lee patterns and like it a lot. Sadly it is too thin to wear now. I also made boxer briefs for my boyfriend and started the Gilbert top from Helen’s Closet.

Weekly diary

Perfumewise I started the week with Zagorsk and Covet. I am on the last drops of Tommy The Girl, but it’s still not thunked. Wednesday I wore L Air de Rien, Friday a combination of Rose Flash plus Coriandre to make the rose less jam like. Saturday was lots of Roma, because it’s such a no brainer for me. Sunday started with Eau de Lancaster and later What I did on my holidays.

Easter cookies, the old shoe factory, the grain mill I shop at and a new Rivermont dress I made

On my plate I had pasta with spinach and Gorgonzola, homemade burgers, marinated pan-Asian chicken legs with cauliflower, sausages with savoy and spaetzle and on Sunday I made Seelen, a svabian bread roll, Persian rhubarb Ragout and a cake for tea.

Svabian Seelen, which means Souls

I did a lot of sewing and cutting out fabric and finished a dress from Nina Lee patterns, the Mayfair dress, that I plan to wear to work tomorrow

Mayfair dress

Weekly diary

This week the NST project was Absinth, so I wore some absinthe related scents like Niki de Saint Phalle, Chypre Mousse, Jil Sander No4 and Memoir Woman. I also wore Evoke, Perles de Lalique, Cabochard, Dzing, Ambre de Merveilles and tested Lebretons Grimoire today. I like cumin, but this was a bit much.

Kuku with broad beans and a Denim jacket

We did cook a bit and made pasta con le sarde with saffron and raisins, some homemade pizza. Saturday was Kuku, a sort of persian frittata with broad beans and parsley and today I am still in the process of making pork shanks with a nice crust plus savoy and potatoes.

I finally nearly finished a denim jacket that I started last summer. The pattern is from Itch to Stich and it’s the Atenas jacket. Now it only needs some buttons and I need warmer temperatures to wear it….

And I got new summer ballerinas. I think this color is a neutral, goes with everything! And very comfy too.

Weekly diary

I tried starting work again, but was sent home after 2 hours. So I spent more time recovering and of course wearing perfumes. As the weather was mostly sunny and springlike, I was craving fresher scents. So I wore Covet, Roma, Eau de Lancaster, Margiela Untitled and nearly thunked Tommy The Girl. Friday I wore Meet Me On The Corner plus Niki de Saint Phalle in the evening. Saturday was lots of Empreinte and today I wore SJP Lovely Sheer and Cabotine in the afternoon.

Covet, a part of my Saturday walk and my Sunday dinner

On my plate I had chicken with Ras El Hanout on savoy cabbage with Kurkuma and barberries. I made bavarian cabbage with oven potato chips and spicy brats and a sheet cake with sour cream and apples, which turned out nice. Sunday I made Koresht e Rivas, a persian beef Ragout with saffron and rhubarb. This sounds a bit strange, but is delicious. And I like the smell and taste of saffron. Plus I baked a grain and rye bread. Usually my boyfriend does the bread baking, but he mostly make French style country bread and I had a craving for a dark rye.

I was still very exhausted at the start of the week, but got better on Friday. I even managed a 6km walk with the boyfriend without needing to rest on the sofa. And today I felt like my old self again, maybe a bit more tired, but I got things done like vacuuming and sweeping the floors. I even got a whole dress cut and finished today, it was not a very complicated one, but nevertheless.

After five weeks of being sick, it will be nice to get to work again tomorrow. I hope this time I will cope.

Weekly diary

As I am slowly recovering I had more time to wear perfume, so I often topped it up in the afternoon. A lot of them got skin time. Calligraphy Saffron, Absolue de Osmanthus. Ambre de Merveilles, Chypre Mousse. I tested Mitsouko EdT vs EdP and liked the EdT more. L Air de Rien after the Mitsouko wore off. I tried a decant of Vol de Nuit EdT, but disliked the vanilla guerlinade in the end. Saturday was sunny, so Chypre Siam it was. Sunday morning started with a headache, so I started with Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche and topped it with Camelia Chinoise.

On my plate i had lots of different dishes, because I was still home recovering and had time to cook. I made Inarizushi with tamagoyaki, roast brats with Brussel sprouts. The rest of the tofu pockets became Kisune Udon soup. I roasted turkey legs with herbed butter and carrots and made red lentil Bolognese with linguine. As we had some homemade burger buns left, we had them with fish fingers, mustard and mayo. Saturday we had Shakshuka with eggs and sunday fried Maultaschen with Sauerkraut.

I did some walking with the boyfriend in the sun and felt a bit better, although I am tired still. I finally had the energy to sew another York Pinafore dress, this time in a bright red corduroy. Plus I cut another Rivermont dress.

But most of the time I bingewatched The Expanse a d after I finished this I started on Saving Hope, a medical series. I was a bit amused that one episode was about a coronavirus outbreak in the hospital, although the series is from 2013. I will start working tomorrow, hope I can cope with the workload

Weekly diary and recovering

I started to wear perfume daily, so I wore some roses for valentine week like Coriandre, Perles de Lalique, Lady Rose Lion and Une Rose de Kandahar. Aromatics Elixir for the year of the Metal Ox and on the weekend Scherrer plus No19 and Narciso for her EdT layered with Bottega Veneta. I tested Tralala but did not like it.

First outings in the sun after quarantine, homemade burger buns plus cheesecake

I felt a bit better, so I managed to cook a bit. We had a big pot of lentil soup with sausage, roast chicken legs on Fennel and Brussel sprouts with Gorgonzola and pasta. Friday the boyfriend made pizza and he baked burger buns, that we had with some nice organic beef patties. I managed to bake a cheesecake for valentines day and dinner will be salmon with sushi rice and leeks Japanese style.

I still have a bad cough from my covid infection, but it’s getting better slowly. Saturday was the first time in three weeks I was outside. We did a short walk around the cemetery and the pond and I was half as fast as usual. Some very old ladys with sticks were much faster than me and I was really tired afterwards. Still it was nice to be outside in the fresh air and feel the sun.

I finally finished all seasons of Criminal Intent on prime during my illness, because it was all I could manage. Reading was much too tiring for me. Now I started The Expanse, that I like okay, it’s a bit too political for me, but well made.

Coping with Covid-19

Two weeks ago I felt a bit like the flu and two coworkers went home with fevers. Turned out we all got covid-19, one of the with the British mutation, so we others surely got it too. I went home the next day after a positive rapid test and got a PCR test the same day.

My partner and I had to stay at home in quarantine for 10 days, but I filled up the fridge after the doctor visit, so we got by without asking our neighbors to do our shopping.

The next day I felt well enough to sew a pinafore dress for work, but after that I started getting fevers around 103, runny nose and a bad cough. I also felt really weak and could just lie on the sofa watching endless episodes of Criminal Intent. I just hobbled around between sofa, toilet and bed. I had a bad stomach and nearly no appetite and everything I ate made me feel queasy. This lasted more than a week.

Finally the fever went down, but I still have a bit of elevated temperatures every day and am still coughing like mad. I can eat again and regained a bit of my appetite, but still feel unwell after two weeks with this disease. Thankfully my boyfriend is asymptomatic or he did not get it. And I never lost my sense of taste and smell, which also makes me happy.

The last days I started wearing perfume again. Something simple like Roma, Ninfeo Mio and Cristalle Eau Verte.

Now that we don’t have to stay isolated any more, I will try a short walk outside today. But no work, until my temperatures are normal again and I don’t cough my lungs out.

If this was a milder form of Covid, I would not wish anyone a more severe version of it.

Weekly diary

As the community project this week at the NST blog was yellow or gray, I wore some grey scents like Full Incense, Fourreau Noir, Attaquer Le Soleil and mb03 by Biel plus some yellowish scents like Eau Duelle and Felanilla. Sunday I had a craving for something more citrussy, because we finally had some snow and put on Lovely Sheer and later Cristalle Verte.

I did not have too much time to cook, so it was a big batch of chicken paprikash, baked pumpkin with Feta Creme and Hummus and salmon with Miso butter pasta and steamed broccoli. And I made congee, to see if this could be something to eat for breakfast.

I spent a lot of the weekend on my sewing machine and made a pinafore for a friend who loves to cook. I also cut and finished a wearable muslin of the cashmerette Harrison shirt with short sleeves. It was not as complicated as I thought I would be. Maybe it still needs some minor corrections after a test wear.

Weekly diary

Scents worn this week were Doe In The Snow, Aromatics Elixir, Botrytis, Meet Me On The Corner, Ambre de Merveilles, Chanel No19 and Memoire d’une Odeur. Funnily my sense of smell felt slightly enhanced this week, although I had a thankfully not Covid viral laryngitis.

On my plate I had red cabbage plus brats, pasta with tomato sauce and another one with truffeld pesto plus linguine with mussels. The boyfriend made roast Goose legs with spaetzle and red cabbage and sunday we had chicken noodle soup made from leftover carcasses, that we usually collect in the freezer until we have enough for soup.

I finished reading City of Girls, that I enjoyed a lot, although I had some problems to believe that a young woman in the 40ies could get from virginity to a threesome in just one year. What I liked was the description of the wartime NYC and the showbiz. It was a highly amusing read and I I can recommend it. Now I started Pachinko, but cannot say too much about it.

Most worn scents of 2020 plus diary

I tracked my daily scents in 2o2o with the Memento app, which worked very well.

With 12 wearings each Fils de Dieu and L’ Air de Rien took first place. Second place was What I did on my holidays by 4160Tuesdays with 10 wearings. Third place with 9 wearings were L’ Ambre de Merveilles, Aromatics Elixir, Chypre Mousse and Roma. Calligraphy Saffron and Empreinte got on my skin 8 times and Niki de Saint Phalle and Covet got worn 7 times.

This week I wore Doe in the snow, Cabochard, I thunked Rose de Petra, wore Chypre Siam for New Years eve and started the new year with L Air de Rien. The next days I decided on Agent Provocateur and Larmes de Desert.

My boyfriend was on holidays, so he had time to cook. We had lots of delicious food. Pumpkin soup Thai style with meatballs and fish sauce, dorade with cauliflower gratin. On new years eve we had octopus salad with burrata and homemade tagliolini with mushroom and truffle pesto. The first of January we ate svabian lentils with Spätzle and sausage and this evening there will be homemade pizza.

The only firework allowed during lockdown

I hope all of us will have a better and less stressful year in 2021. Stay sane, safe and healthy!

Weekly diary

For the week of Christmas I wore mostly cuddly scents, so Rose de Petra, Ambre de Merveilles, Absolue pour le Soir, Fille en Aiguilles for Christmas eve, Kenzo Amour, L Air de Rien and Calligraphy Saffron on Sunday.

Because both of us were on holidays, we had more time to cook. So we had loup de mer with spinach, stifado with a puree of potato and rutabaga, pizza with radicchio, lardo a d Gorgonzola, homemade pasta with mushroom sauce, pumpkin soup with meatballs and a great ossobuco with risotto milanese for Christmas dinner.

We spent Christmas at home and did not visit our parents, because of Covid and a lockdown, but it was not bad, because usually we have to drive at least 8 hours to do our rounds, which is a bit stressful if you have to do this in 4 days… Instead we had a quiet celebration for two with good food and wine and watched ‘Love Actually’ afterwards. It even snowed at midnight.

I also finally finished my corduroy Ellis skirt and another Rivermont dress from a fun lipstick print.

Weekly diary

Perfumes of the week were L’ Air de Rien, Felanilla, Memoir Woman, Bottega Veneta, Meet Me On The Corner and Vanille Absolument. I did a layering experiment with Lady Rose Lion and Mitsouko, because Lady Rose Lion was described as an inverted Mitsouko by Tania Sanchez. This was not bad at all, because Lady Rose Lion is a bit too sweet fruity for me, and the dryness of Mitsouko toned it down

We did some cooking this week, so we had Lentil Porridge with cauliflower, from a new recipe of Nigel Slater, some pizza delivery at work, Maultaschen with egg and onions, Borscht with Sauerkraut and potatoes and the boyfriend made gravlax and pasta with mushrooms. Pus some glasses of a nice wine…

I finally finished watching Luther on Netflix, which was really good, if you like psychopath killers. Now I started a ballet series called Tiny Pretty Things, that is promising.

I finally have a week free before Christmas, so we will just hang out, take walks and I think I will finish the socks for my boyfriend in the next days.

Weekly diary and another lockdown

Perfumes of the week were Ajmal Evoke, Salome (just one spray lasted the whole day), Eau Sacrée, Dzing, Jil Sander No4 for the CP with violet, Coriandre on Saturday, because I craved something fresh and now feeling cosy in Ambre de Merveilles.

On my plate I had black beans with rice and fried eggs, baked cauliflower and broccoli from the oven, rutabaga soup with sausage and carrots, I had a pea curry with eggs and potatoes and sunday I spent lots of time in the kitchen making lamb shanks Persian style with saffron and limes plus a lentil polo.

I started watching Luther, which I think is really good and a bit scary too. Germany is going into its second lockdown and we just canceled our Christmas visits to my mum and my boyfriends parents. So we will spend the week before Christmas at home, hopefully we will manage a few walks outside

Weekly diary

Perfumes this week were suitable for cold weather, so I finished a sample of Vert d’Encens. I also wore Fille en Aiguilles, Bottega Veneta, Coromandel, Kenzo Amour, Calligraphy Saffron and Lady Rose Lion.

On my plate were filled bellpeppers with rice and meat stuffing. Rigatoni with tomato a d salsicchia sauce, pumpkin soup with Gorgonzola, baked apples and banana everything cookies. I also prepared a pot of black beans for next week.

I finally finished my Rivermont dress and hope to wear it for Christmas. I also nearly finished a navy corduroy skirt, that I hope to wear next week.

On Friday evening we did an online tasting of three different Riesling wines from the winery of Dr. Crusius in the Nahe region. We had a dry and mineralic wine first, then tasted a sweeter Kupfergrube Kabinett and finished with a sweet Auslese. It was quite interesting to taste the differences and was a lot of fun to participate on the insta livestream.

Weekly diary

As the weather gets cold now, out come the winter scents. L’ Air de Rien twice, Fourreau Noir, Perles de Lalique, fitting for an ice queen. Agent Provocateur, Ambre de Merveilles. I tested Lilliput and disliked it, plus it triggered the boyfriends asthma. Saturday I went for the peppermint candy freshness of What I did on my holidays and sunday I wore Eau Duelle.

Sunset, the old center of Bietigheim and our last course of our dinner from the Maerz restaurant

On my plate I had split pea soup, pizza takeaway, lentil soup, pumpkin soup with ginger and Gorgonzola and a spaetzle and savoy bake with cheese.

On Saturday we got a 4 course menu from a Michelin star restaurant to finish at home ourselves. There was bread and spiced butter for starters. Graved trout with Yuzu, marinated pumpkin and lentil salad, potato pockets with truffles and beurre blanc, a Buffalo steak sous vide with gratin and truffle sauce and a chocolate Sablé with Chai latte sauce, crumbles and truffle praline. This was really fun to eat and easy to prepare.

The boxed dinner

I nearly finished my Rivermont dress, still needs some hemming, but most is done.

Weekly diary

I funnily managed to only wear scents from my bottles this week, no decants. So I started with Covet, then vintage Miss Dior. I was so tired on Wednesday that I tried to wake up with Untitled L’Eau, but it didn’t work out sadly. Fils de Dieu, Vintage opium, Cabotine and Bottega Veneta.

Full bottle week…

On my plate I had chicken paprikash with spaetzle, homemade ramen soup with chashu and onsen egg, pigs cheek with polenta and Brussel sprouts and rainbow trout with Miso, rice and broccoli on Sunday. The boyfriend made muesli rolls, that tasted really good. Those were popular in the 90ies, now you don’t see them anymore.

Homemade ramen soup

I started watching The Queens Gambit. I tried Hill House, but didn’t like it. On audible I started on The Help. I cut out another Ellis skirt and a Rivermont dress today, hope to finish them the next weeks.

Weekly diary

I wore lots of very different scents this week. A sample of Hyde, which was a bit too much for me, Zoologist Civet, Cafe Tuberosa, Perles de Lalique, that made my boyfriend cough and sneeze. I wore a bit of Chanel No5 for the community project, but topped it later with Theo Fennel. And lots of Roma for a sunny sunday, that I spent cleaning and cooking.

A small hedgehog we saw at an evening walk, my bike commute crossing a bridge, green tomatoes cut for chutney

On my plate were svabian tripes, linguine, on time with tomato and today with pesto, Beet bourgignon after a recipe of Anna Jones and today I made spaetzle, Sauerkraut and goose legs.

I spent Friday and Saturday at a scientific congress online, but I put a good dent in my knitting projects. I finished a cardigan, cast on a second sock and knit a bit on a cowl I started 2 years ago…

I finally reached the end of Chesapeake Shores, which was nice, but more of a feel good series. Now started Hill House.

Weekly diary

This week I wore Mitsouko, Shalimar, Reve d’Ossian, Perles de Lalique (made my boyfriend sneeze and cough, maybe it’s the ISO E?), Agent Provocateur, Felanilla, Ambre de Merveilles, Cabochard and Absolue pour le soir

Sweet potato soup and chicken in pickling spices

I did more cooking this week, so we had Minestrone with pasta, a collegue made waffles for us for lunch, we had Agriade de St. Gilles, sweet potato soup with Miso (inspired by a recipe from Bon Appetit) and a big pot of Indian chicken in pickling spices with rice. The boyfriend made a pot of svabian tripes in wine sauce and baked rye rolls called Schusterbuam. Plus apple cake for the weekend.

With all the covid cases going up, there was not much to do, besides going for walks and 1.5h of biking on Sunday, because it was sunny and relatively warm.

Weekly diary

Perfumes i wore this week were SJP Covet, Biehl mb03 (very nice dry incense), Lutens Fourreau Noir, Chypre Mousse, Vintage Shiseido Zen EdC, ELDO Fils de Dieu and Bulgari Black on Sunday. I tested Oriya Legrand Cuir de l´Aigle Russe, but this was a scrubber on me.

This week on my plate the food was more interesting. I made cauliflower with remoulade, a recipe from my mother, dating from the fifties. We had fried Maultaschen with kimchi, Moros y Christians (rice with bell peppers and black beans), spaghetti alle cozze (mussels), did a halloween pizza dinner with two friends and today there will be something with salmon. And we had fun tasting a new whiskey, that was really delicious. Our empty wine bottles got a photo shoot at the recycling container. There is a fun hashtag on Instagram from a sommelier and wine shop owner, #makeyouraltglascontainergreatagain, where he stands at the recycling container and talks about the wines he tasted. He even got a media prize for this. .

Testing whiskey and the remnants of our last week’s of wine tasting..at the altglascontainer.

The next lockdown light will start tomorrow in Germany, all restaurants, museums, theaters and sport studios will be closed for a month. We will see, how this goes…

Weekly diary

Perfumes I wore were L’ Air de Rien, Persian Gold, Ambre de Merveilles, Adam Levine, Aromatics Elixir, Theo Fennel and Perles de Lalique and Calligraphy Saffron.

On my plate I had lentil salad with pomegranate seeds, oxtail Ragout, pizza with a collegue at work at a zoom meeting. Kottbullar with fried potatoes, noodles with cabbage and bacon, buttermilk pancakes for Sunday breakfast and svabian lentils and spaetzle for dinner.

I was dogsitting a friend’s small Malteser mix dog and took her and the boyfriend for a long walk. We also biked 25km on Sunday in glorious autumn weather and did some gardening in the afternoon

We have started a new series called Babylon Berlin, which is really good and I love the costumes of the 20ies. Still reading the Amuylet series, book 6, still three more to read.

Weekly diary

Perfumes is wore were vintage Cinnabar, which my mother wore (this is so not me…), Margiela Untitled, AC Cafe Tuberosa,, for which I got a compliment from a male coworker, Felanilla for one of the first perfume loves after the rabbit hole, Monteil Secret Royal and Bottega Veneta

Early morning commute in the dark, Felanilla and homemade pizza

I did not a lot of cooking, ate lots of frozen leftovers, but we made pizza on Friday, had fried Maultaschen with kimchi and egg, a lentil salad with tuna, olives and pomegranate seeds and a big bowl of borscht on sunday

I biked to work two days and bought winter biking gloves, because my arthritis in my index fingers hit a lot plus a nice ride on my recumbent on Sunday with the boyfriend.

Watched Chesapeake Shores, which is the equivalent of chick lit. Still reading the Amuylet series. If you like all age fantasy, it’s a nice read. And I started socks for the boyfriend, which come along nicely.

Weekly diary plus quarantine

Perfumes I wore this week were L Ambre de Merveilles, L air de Rien, Fat Electrician, Bulgari Black, Dzing!, Fille en Aiguilles and Agent Provocateur

The doctors outdoor covid testing station, sunrise at my bike to work and New biking shoes

On my plate I had rabbit in vermouth sauce and polenta, chili con Carne, veggie burger, Korean pork belly with cabbage and rice and lentil soup

We spent the first two days quarantined and just got outside for our covid test. Funnily our physicians practice has a small terrace, so all patients wait on the sidewalk outside to be tested there…. I biked to work two days and a third time Sunday with the boyfriend, so I could train a bit on my recumbent bike. There will be some unknown sore muscles tomorrow… And as my old walking shoes I used for biking fell apart we got to a local bike shop and I bought my first real biking shoes with cleats plus a waterproof jacket and a padded boxershort. Now I am set for more biking in the colder months, because I don’t want to use public transport at the moment. I hope I will manage at least two bike commutes per week.

Weekly diary

This week I mostly had decants because I was away. So I wore Tommy The Girl, Chypre Mousse, Rose d Arabie, Azurée and Fils de Dieu. I thunked a sample of Anglomania and today I sprayed lots of Bottega Veneta, because we returned home Sunday.

On my plate was lamb with savoy cabbage, mussels with Cremant, Merguez a d fried zucchini, rabbit with cream and mustard sauce. I made Marcella Hazans tomato sauce with some of my last heritage tomatoes and then turned it into a one pot pasta.

The weather was mostly grey and sometimes very wet, but we managed some more walks along the channel. I read a lot of books and also knit a bigger part of a red raglan cardigan that I started last fall, frogged and started again.

Because nearly all of France is now a region of risk we now have to quarantine ourselves until we have at least one negative covid test and cannot leave of flat. So more knitting time watching Fargo on Netflix, which is really hilarious.

Weekly diary

I only packed some decants, so I wore Ajmal Evoke, Chypre Mousse, Notes de Yuzu and Tommy The Girl. I tested Figment Woman but had to scrub it.

Noodles the cat wants to be petted

As we rented a very nice renovated barn in Burgundy we did cook a lot. So we had chicken with baguette, Omelette, lentil salad and mussels a la Creme with a nice Cremant. Some pasta with eggplant and minced meat and a big lamb shoulder with potatoes and creamed savoy on Sunday.

Along the Canal de Bourgogne again

We visited Flavigny, first did a walking tour around in the fields and vineyards and afterwards visited the city and the bonbon factory of the famous Anises de Flavigny. We had a coffee in the Cafe outside and looked at the exhibition of the bonbon production.

Café in the yard of the Abbaye de Flavigny

Sadly the weather got worse so we just managed to walk a bit at the Canal de Bourgogne and had to stay indoors because of heavy rain the whole weekend. But we fired the wood stove and had time to read and relax and even knit a bit.

Weekly diary

I wore mostly summery scents this week. Sandflowers, Batucada, Cabotine, Cristalle Eau Verte, What I did on my holidays, Lovely Sheer and Tommy The Girl. I am now on holidays and just have packed some decants and samples, so I will see how it goes

On my plate was frittata, a variation of Salade Nicoise with shrimp, Piccata with spaghetti at the Italian restaurant, sausage salad, grilled chicken with butter and artichokes with vinaigrette plus some terrine and French cheeses.

Our futuristic apartment hotel complex in Nancy

Our holidays started on Wednesday and we did some gardening and house work. Friday we went to Nancy, had a walk through the old city, but we had to wear masks the whole time, so we ate at our apartment instead of a restaurant. Did some supermarket shopping in Nancy and off we went to the tiny village of Frolois in Burgundy.

English homes at the cosiest for sure

Our hosts are part English, part French and they renovated an old barn quite tastefully. We have a small garden looking over the valley and it’s nice and quiet here.

Nice terrace

We went for a walk around the source of the Seine, which funnily is a part of the City of Paris and crossed the first bridge of the river Seine.

First bridge over the very tiny Seine river

Weekly diary

Perfumes I wore this week were Café Tuberosa, Olympea, Coromandel, Vetiver Fatal, Memoir Woman, Rose de Petra, What I did on my holidays, Ninfeo Mio amd Tommy The Girl.

Liver with onions at the greek

I did not cook a lot. We had pumpkin soup, a chicken curry with tamarind and coconut, damson crumble and cauliflower salad. Ah, and fried Maultaschen with egg and kimchi. We went to eat at the Greek restaurant and the waiter did not even bother to wear a mask at all… Saturday we met with friends at a Thai to eat outside and I had Pad Thai.

Effects of riding a recumbent bike for the first time

I tried to ride my recumbent and sadly fell, as I tried to do a u-turn. It did not even hurt, but at night my knee swole and next day the surgeon said it was the Meniskus again. So I had some rest and now it feels okay again. I tried again yesterday and managed nearly 10km without any accident. At least I had time to watch some Netflix

Weekly diary

Fall has finally started here, so I wore a mix of summer and fall scents. Fils de Dieu, Aromatics Elixir, thunked my decant of Jasmin Angélique, Rose de Petra, LADDM, Ajmal Evoke, which is a mix of Perles de Lalique and Bottega Veneta for my nose and Bronze Goddess Azur for sunday

Wine shopping

On my plate was fried cauliflower with paprika sausage, zucchini soup with Maultaschen, a big schnitzel with mushrooms and gratinated with cheese, some deer leg with red cabbage and dumplings and pasta aglio e olio.

Walking through the hills in the Nahe valley

We drove to the valley of the Nahe River, a region known for its white wines like Riesling. We visited 4 different wineries and bought a lot of wine for testing at home. Our hotel in Waldböckelheim was simple, but nice and quiet. They even drove us to dinner, so that we could have a glass… Or more and arranged a gratuitous transport back to the hotel. We also had time for a walk through the woods and hills near the Rotenfels, a very nice region.

On Sunday we went to Bonn and I bought a used recumbent bike. I thin I will need some practice to ride it. At the moment I am not able too.

Weekly diary

I was still mostly warm, so I wore Bracken Woman, Fils de Dieu, Acqua di Sale, Vintage Miss Dior and Chanel No19, Chypre Mousse, Gucci No3 and finally Dzing! for a wet and cold sunday

More biking and some fried apple rings with ice cream

We still have lots of tomatoes, so we ate Caprese salad, fried salmon steaks with cucumber salad, zucchini with tomato, pasta with homemade Bolognese sauce and Agriade de St. Gilley with beans and pasta.

I did a lot of biking this week. On Saturday the boyfriend and I biked 20km to a Besen Wirtschaft (the wine producers are allowed to serve food and wine to the public for just some weeks a year, so very rustic food). We ate traditional svabian tripe and roast potato and apple fritters for dessert.

On Sunday we spent much time on the couch, watching Once upon a time in America.

Weekly diary

Perfumes I wore this week were Chypre Mousse (twice), Aromatics Elixir, Mitsouko, Camelia Chinois, Sel Marin, Jasmin Angélique and What I did on my holidays

Homemade pizza

On my plate was a lot of capon and kisir salad leftovers from last Sunday, we made a risotto with peas, some pasta with tomato sauce, a lot of pizza and filled zucchini

I biked to work three days, so I had a lot of cardio workout. We harvested lots of tomatoes and have so much, that we cannot keep up eating them. Sadly nothing else happened here, so what do you do in this corona crisis?

Weekly diary

It was still hot this week, so I wore Jamine Angélique, Niki de Saint Phalle, Orange Sanguine layered with a drop of Bois de Vanille, Aromatics Elixir (which reminded a coworker of her therapists signature scent..), Empreinte, 4160Tuesdays What I did on my holidays, Coriandre and Covet.

A huge capon, cold Okroschka and a beer with a jazz singer

On my plate was Kisir, a Turkish bulgur salad, grilled zucchini, Russian cold Okroschka soup, which is just a salad in soups disguise. We made a big capon on Sunday with grapes and shallots and the last cooked potatoes were used for a Japanese potato salad… The capon weighed 3kg, so we will eat lots of cold meat next week, I think.

I biked to work two times, which is not bad in the heat but was too tired to do much else.

Weekly diary

Scents I wore this week were Memoire d’ une Odeur, Amouage Memoir Woman, SJP Lovely Sheer, Acqua di Sale, Ninfeo Mio, 4160Tuesdays What I did on my holidays, Vintage Chanel No19 and Jasmine Angélique

We did mostly light meals because of the heat like Insalata Caprese, zucchini frittata, lentil fritters, some Tortellini with pesto. I made some simple sushi rolls with tuna and mayo filling and gherkin salad adn some Turkish kisir bulgur salad on Sunday. And some Flammkuchen at a book reading in a winery.

I managed to bike to work on three days. On Sunday we went to a book reading of a famous cook about eating and living in Vienna. The cook was really charming and fun, although we did not buy his book

View from the bridge over the Neckar River, it was over 33 degrees Celsius….

Weekly diary

I tried to wear my most summery scents for the hot weather we had. Orange Sanguine, Jasmine Angélique, lots of EA Green Tea, Camelia Chinois, What I did on my Holidays was worn twice and Roma was funnily my most worn scent for warm weather this year.

We had lots of different salads this week… Watermelon and Feta, broccoli, sausage salad, Cole slaw. Some baked chicken legs with zucchini, bun noodles with herbs and minced meat and different vegetables twice, because we had leftovers. A pizza at the Italian restaurant and this evening we are planning some salmon steak.

I did two days of bike commute and had a test drive on a Brompton folding bike, which was a lot of fun, so I ordered a 6speed in racing green. I wonder when I will get it, because at the moment there are long lists for this bike.

The tomatoes have finally begun to ripen, so we will have lots of caprese and other tomato centric foods in the next weeks.

Weekly diary

I wore a lot of warm weather scents this week. Chypre Mousse, Pour la Belle, Nuit Etoilée, Zoologist Elephant, Batucada, which feels like a short holiday in brasil… Coriandre, LDDM. I gave EL Jasmine White Moss a good wearing, but although the notes seemed to be right, there was something that made me want to scrub it.

I managed to do almost 120km bike commuting this week. I cross some nice bridges, one with historic railway wagons, which are bering restored by a group of railway enthusiasts, some small bridges in the Glems valley. The tomatoes are starting to ripen too, soon we will have a good crop.

On my plate were chicken legs with zucchini, filled zucchini, zucchini bread. Yes, it’s the season!!! I drove to the black forest to drive the boyfriend home and we had lunch there with a big schnitzel and rostbraten. And we had a big Pimms Cup cocktail on the balcony on Saturday

I did not have time for sewing, so nothing was finished. But I finished watching the Broadchurch series, which was really good. It’s always nice, if you cannot guess who did it. Can recommend this.

Weekly diary

Perfumes I wore were Jasmin Angélique, Azurée, I thunked my sample of Florabotanica, but don’t need more… Untitled L’Eau, Chypre Siam, finished a decant of Figue Blanche and now Lovely Sheer for a sunny sunday.

I did not do much cooking, as the boyfriend is still in rehab. I made some gyros and Thai style turkey kabobs. But I managed to make some oatmeal rolls on Saturday, which tasted good.

I did lots of biking and biked to work two days, 22km each way and back and did some gardening in our alottment. The tomatoes are growing nicely. I also bought a rain poncho for biking, although I don’t plan to bike, if it’s raining in the morning.

I bought The People’s Poncho, which has great reviews, but I haven’t tested it yet.

Weekly diary

Perfumes i wore this week were Coriandre layered with Ma Griffe, 4160Tuesdays What i did on my holidays, Cabotine, Memoire d´une Odeur (nice, but very fleeting), Private Collection, Aromatics Elixir, Mitsouko, Terracotta, SJP Lovely Sheer, AC Jasmin Angelique.

On my plate: Chicken legs with Baharat and eggplant, smothered zucchini, green bean salad, meatballs, some Gyros and calamari at the greek restaurant. I did not do as much cooking as usual, because the boyfriend went to rehab on thursday.

I had a mammogram because of the screening program, thankfully i did not have to wait, it was quite empty. I finally managed to cycle to work again  on friday, because the weather finally got better.  The course goes around a mill in an idyllic valley, there are also some high stone benches, called “Gruhe”, where in older times the salesmen could rest their big backpacks on those benches. My commute is 22km one way, so this takes some time, even on an e-bike.

I managed to sew a bit on Sunday and started a hopefully wearable muslin on a denim jacket, hope it will fit okay.

Weekly diary

I wore a lot of beachy perfumes like Sandflowers, Sel Marin, Acqua di Sale and Batucada. Other scents were Florabotanica, which I try to love, but don’t. For the weekend heat I wore Cristalle Eau Verte, Ninfeo Mio and CK One summer 2017.

I did not cook as much as usual with the boyfriend still being ill. I made Thai style chicken with zucchini, salmon and broccoli, a green bean salad with Feta and tomato and another pumpkin soup, this time with curry and peas. Thankfully we were able to dine out Saturday at our Greek restaurant, so I had leg of lamb with gigantes.

I took a day off this week to look after the boyfriend, so I had some time for sewing. I made a kitchen pinafore from the York pinafore pattern, but made the pattern piece for the crossed back myself, because it was not complicated.

I sewed two new cashmerette Ellis skirts, one in yellow, one white for work and tested the letter stitching from my machine. Now on the back pocket of the white work shirt you can read: Don’t cry, work!

I finally finished the last season of Miss Fishers murder mysteries, so sad there is no more, I loved the stories and the flapper fashion immensely. I am into the third book of the Harley Merlin books and can recommend it to all Harry Potter fans.

I have taken another 3 days off to be at home with the boyfriend until he starts his rehab, so I hope I will have some more time for sewing. I still have a lot of projects I want to finish.

Weekly diary

What I wore was: Chypre Mousse, which I am still undecided if I love it or not. Zoologist Elephant, Cabotine, because it’s such a fun green flower bomb, that takes no prisoners. I am wearing Roma a lot more than I thought. Corsica Furiosa is nice, but reminds me of Untitled L’Eau. Empreinte for Saturday, Fico d ‘ Amalfi for the hospital visit and now lots of Terracotta.

I did not have much time or nerve to cook, with the boyfriend being terrible ill, so just scrambled egg with kimchi, shrimps and guacamole, some fried salmon with leftovers.

The boyfriend was dismissed from the hospital after having a bypass surgery on Wednesday, feeling still very weak and short of breath. The next day he was worse, had a pleural effusion again and went back to hospital. He was found to have a hamorragic pericardial tamponade and had an emergency surgery again. Thankfully he is much better now, but visiting is stressful thanks to Covid. I have to fill out a form each time, wear a mask and can only stay for an hour.

But something funny happened too. My mother found a photo on ebay from a great grand uncle, looking exactly like my father. He was a comedian and family legend says he earned money with proposing to rich woman and getting away with the money. His sister had to work to pay back his debt and was a house servant for Karl Valentin, a famous German comedian…

The black sheep of the family

I did some sewing the weekend and am working on another Ellis skirt, this time from yellow denim.

Weekly diary

Perfumes is wore were Ninfeo Mio, Vintage Gucci No3, Fille en Aiguilles layered with Full Incense for my boyfriends surgery day, Coromandel, Camelia Chinois, Cristalle Eau Verte and Covet.

I did not do as much cooking as usual, but I made raw broccoli salad, some salmon steaks with oven potatoes and a roasted cauliflower salad with Ras El Hanout and herbs. And I baked rye rolls.

I spent some time in the clinic to visit my boyfriend, who still is not in a good shape, but is improving slowly. You have to wear a colored bracelet there, to show that you have been checked for a fever, before you can enter and you only can stay for an hour. Hard times for patients and visitors.

But also nice things… A bouquet from a patient, harvesting broad beans in the garden. And watching the Miss Fisher mystery series, such great clothes and hats.

Weekly diary

Perfumes worn this week were Batucada, Fico d’ India, Bracken Woman, Coriandre, Journey Woman, Dzing!, Vintage Cabochard, Fils de Dieu and Roma.

Asparagus quiche and Kuku sabzi

On my plate was chicken with pomegranate molasses and bulgur salad, the boyfriend made a nice quiche with tuna and asparagus, we had some caprese salad with burrata. I tried a persian Kuku sabzi, a herb Omelette with walnuts and fried barberries, which was really good. We had sausage salad for lunch, oxtail stew with semmelknödel, svabian lentils with homemade spaetzle and now I am making chicken with rhurbarb, saffron and dried apricots

I did not have time to sew this week, but we worked a bit on our alottment garden and I harvested the first broad beans.

I finished all series of Bones, the miniseries Freud and started on Aquarius. I also saw Circus of Books, a dokumentary about a Jewish couple having a big gay porno bookstore, it was quite interesting how they felt about their work.

Next week my boyfriend will have a big bypass surgery, so I am a bit nervous about the outcome, hope he will be alright.

Weekly diary

Perfumes this week were:Cabotine from a new bottle, Untitled L’Eau, Tauer Orange Star, which I did not like a lot, Pour La Belle from the Schlossparfumerie Stuttgart, LADDM, Azurée and Mitsouko.

On my plate was some pizza at the restaurant, the first time eating out in weeks. Homemade caprese salad, Oktopus salad. The boyfriend make Ottolenghis eggplant risotto. Pumpkin fritters with yogurt sauce, a roasted carrot soup with fried Hungarian salami and some lentil salad with zucchini and salted lemons.

Pumpkin fritters

I wore memade clothing every day for #memademay and was quite content with the most of my clothes, especially with the new denim skirt I sewed.

Weekly diary

Perfumes worn:Reminiscence Musk with its funny cumarin note, Aromatics Elixir, Messe de Minuit, which smells like an incense toilet cleaner on me, Camellia Chinois, Vintage Miss Dior, Chypre Mousse for World Goth day, Florabotanica, Ajmal Evoke, Montale White Musk, topped up with Musks Koublai Khan.

On my plate:Tortilla Espanola, Baked Aubergine rolls with cheese, asparagus with sauce gribiche, a French beef stew with capers, gherkins and anchovies from the Camargue region, chicken with apricots and lavender from a Diana Henry recipe and a rhubarb crumble for dessert.

I made another Mirri dress and finished another Ellis skirt from a Cashmerette pattern on Saturday and cut the fabric for another Lenox shirtdress.

Weekly diary

Perfumes worn :Covet, Fourreau Noir, Calligraphy Saffron, MKK, L’Air de Rien, Ambre de Merveilles, Orange Sanguine, Roma

On my plate: broccoli salad with cheddar, lentil soup with sausage, pumpkin soup, because we have lots of frozen pumpkin from our garden in the freezer, fried zucchini antipasto, smothered fennel with Gorgonzola, asparagus with salmon Creme, aubergine bake with noodles and minced meat, noodle salad with tuna and roasted broccoli

It’s still Memademay and I am wearing self made clothes every day. As you can see, I love stripes!

I finally finished my new Teahouse dress in a wild matrioschka print and made a wearable muslin of the cashmerette Ellis skirt, but I misread the fly construction, so I have to wear the shirt over it.

Teahouse dress in a wild printed cotton

We spent Sunday afternoon in our garden planting lots of zucchini, pumpkins and gherkins, still have to plant the tomatoes.

Weekly diary

Perfumes i wore this week: Untitled, Cabotine, Kenzo Amour, La Pausa (dislike), Iris Poudre (too elegant), Zoologist Elephant plus testing some fig perfumes like Premier Figuier, Ninfeo Mio, Figue Blanche and Fico d´India. I am still undecided, maybe i just stick with a few decants and don’t buy a FB. Sunday scent was Pour la Belle by Schlossparfümerie Stuttgart, a very classic and mossy chypre.

On my plate: Lamb and potatoes, oxtail stew with Semmelknödel, smothered fennel with gorgonzola and salsicchia, sausage salad, quark dumplings with rhubarb compote and tete de beau (veals head) with sauce gribiche and potatoes, raw broccoli salad with cheddar, peanuts and barberries. I made some “Seelen”, a typical Swabian bread roll for breakfast, soo good!

Creative: i did a lot for sewing preparation on saturday and cut two dresses, one nightshirt and a muslin for a denim skirt. I finished the nightshirt and also finished my mashup Concord/Plantain T-shirt from a special fabric with little sushi rolls.

I think the pattern now fits really good, so i finally have a good fitting t-shirt pattern. Next time i will shorten the sleeves a bit.

I wore a lot of remade clothes this week, because i try to participate in “memademay”, where sewists all over the world are wearing their own creations this month. Its also inspiring to look at all the photos at instagram.

Weekly diary

What I wore: Kenzo Jungle(still a bit much for me), MM Untitled, Vintage Opium, L’ Air de Rien, LADDM, Vanille Insensée, Hilfiger The Girl

On my plate : pasta con ragu Bolognese, mushroom and asparagus Omelett, chicken paprikash, Hummus, homemade pizza, asparagus with vinaigrette, potatoes soup with sausage and Majoran, lamb shoulder with roast potatoes and minted peas

Made: I finally finished two boxer shorts for the boyfriend and sewed two t-shirts for myself.

And I gave myself another haircut, because my hair was way to long and I hate when it gets partly wavy.

Weekly diary

This week I wore only scents from my bottles, no decants. Vintage Miss Dior, Fils de Dieu, CK One 2017, Niki de Saint Phalle with my zodiac sign, Lovely Sheer, Assam of India and Chypre Siam

All my bottles this week

On my plate : chicken legs with beet salad, pumpkin soup with lentils, sausage salad, asparagus quiche, asparagus with herbed quark, savoy and chickpea curry in coconut milk, chickpea omelet with ham

Asparagus quiche

Made: I finally finished another shirt from blue and white chequered seersucker for the boyfriend and made buttonholes the first time on my new machine. They turned out great.

Weekly diary

Worn: Sandflowers layered with Acqua di Sale, Roma, Terracotta, Fils de Dieu, Granville (still reminds me of a rheumatism ointment, but classier), Lovely Sheer, Bracken Woman, Florabotanica

On my plate: coleslaw, broccoli soup, bun with veggie burger, pumpkin soup with curry, lentils and coconut milk, salmon with noodles, asparagus and tuna sauce, fresh baked seeded rolls (the boyfriend badly burned his thumb and has a big blister)

Made: I am sewing some underpants for the boyfriend and have cut out another shirt for him.

Watched:I started watching the series Bones. I have read Reichs books, but this is just loosely related to them. Anyway it’s fun to watch

Done: our whole practice had to be tested for Covid after having contact, so we had to line up at the test center outside on the sidewalk, all wearing masks, looked funny….

The Mirri Dress

Although I started sewing early at 16 and made much of my own clothes until I finished university I am now not a very accomplished seamstress. I managed to make some successful garments, that look reasonably good, but I have a lot to learn.

I like dresses, because I don’t have to think about matching tops with skirts or pants, just have to find some matching panty hose without holes and I am good to go.

As I looked at the patterns from Wardrobe by Me, I was attracted by the Mirri Dress, because I like draped tops, and this one seemed not too revealing, which is a often a problem if you have a larger bust.

I bought two jersey coupons at the Stoffmarkt in Heilbronn to test the pattern before buying a more expensive fabric. And I am really pleased with the results

The drapey faux wrap really sits nice and is cut high enough. I cut out European size 44 and graded to 46 to accommodate my bigger waist, because I am more a busty apple than a pearshape

The pattern consists of 5 main pieces plus 2 strips for the sleeves. After you made the pleats of the front piece, the rest comes together quickly. Only the shawl collar is a tiny bit fiddly. I did not alter anything on the pattern and can recommend this for a bit adventurous beginning sewists. I am sure I will make another one soon.