Weekly diary and finally Italy

This was the last week at work before we went to Italy and mostly summery scents. I wore Aromatics Elixir twice, Orange Sanguine, Pour La Belle, Scherrer One Love for a more coolish day and Bronze Goddess Azur for a sunny sunday on the porch and a late afternoon at the beach.

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Homemade pasta with tomato confit, a funny alcohol free beer called Freibier and tirolean bacon and cheese dumplings

On my plate I had homemade pasta with oven roast tomatoes, pork belly Chinese style from the slowcooker, leftovers of turkey leg. We went for dinner in a nice rustic restaurant im Austria and had a plate of cheese and bacon dumplings tirolean style with lots of butter and Parmesan. Sunday we had zucchini fritters and salad for lunch, had a sundowner drink at a beach bar and later a big dinner at a fish restaurant. We had big Antipasti di mare, spaghetti alle vongole and a big frittura mista. Plus lemon sorbet and Café for dessert. We were all totally stuffed…

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Went to the Giambella beach on Sunday and had fun playing in the waves. My homemade swimsuit held up really well, even when it got wet and fit nicely. Later we drove to a beach bar and had drinks watching the sunset and went to dine afterwards. The food was so good and we ate until we nearly burst. We are here with two friends of us, and I am so happy to see my girlfriend relatively well and in good shape (cancer sucks). I hope we will all make good memories from this holidays.

Countdown to the holidays

Just five days, until we go to Italy!

The weather was cold at the beginning of the week and got better every day so my perfume choices reflect this. I started with Coromandel for a cold Monday, followed by Ambre de Merveilles the next day. Wednesday was better, so I chose Janine D, a vintage cheapie that I discovered at my boyfriends mother. Choc de Cardin for a bike to work day. Friday was Niki de Saint Phalle, Saturday first Batucada, then Beachy and Sunday I wore Camelia Chinois. This bottle will never end… Maybe I will take it on holidays and empty it there.

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Pulled turkey on polenta and a bream at the Greek beer garden

On my plate I had lamb ribs from the oven, tomato salad, pasta with zucchini again, pork steak with tomato salad again, fried Maultaschen with kimchi. Saturday I improvised some pulled turkey with tomato and anchovies on a bed of blue cheese polenta, which turned out exceptionally well with a very nice Riesling to go with it. Sunday we did a spontaneous visit at a Greek restaurant with a nice garden under a huge walnut tree and had sea bream with potato and Feta cream. This was a treat, because we had to go to the emergency practice to have my boyfriends swollen foot inspected. I was fearing a thrombosis, but the just gave him an antibiotic ointment. I am still not convinced. If it’s not better tomorrow I will make him see our own physician.

I finally finished my swimsuit and it fits really well. The fabric is a bit colorful, but I will not get lost in the sea while wearing this.

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It’s the Rhonda Swimsuit from 5 out of 4 patterns. The pieces fit well together and although I had to scratch my head at one step reading the instructions, it came together without any sewing disaster. In all I can recommend the pattern. It also had normal bust and fuller bust pattern pieces, so there was no need to adapt anything. I have a D cup and it’s roomy enough at the breast.

Weekly diary

Perfumes this week had the theme from NST – wear something you would not have worn pre parfumista days. So I wore Amazone, Cabotine, Memoir Woman, Agent Provocateur, Chanel No19, L Air de Rien and Dzing for Sunday. Before getting into perfumes I mostly wore something like Petit Chérie or Eau d’Issey, mostly something lighter and floral. Now I am more into Chypres or something animalic or incense. Because the weather was really cold for August (I even wore panty hose!), I could put on some of my cooler weather scents.

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Luna lounge wear

On my plate I had sausage salad, turkish lentil soup, Tortellini salad, bento with meatballs and surimi, indian chicken in pickling spices with rice, plum cake. Plus we met with friends at the Thai restaurant and had some duck curry.

I made another Love Notions Luna Lounge wear night shirt to take with me in the holidays. It’s a nice and relatively fast sew and can also double as a beach dress. I also started sewing a swimsuit, the Rhonda from 5out of 4 patterns. It’s not completely finished, but I will have something to wear for the beach in Toscana.

Weekly diary

Perfumes this week were Chanel No5 L’Eau, Chypre Siam, Pour La Belle, Womanity, Scherrer EdT, Camelia Chinois, What I did on my holidays and Dryad, of which I finally got a used bottle. I like Dryad quite a lot, it’s such a great scent with herb notes and a bit of animalic background on my skin.

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Cycling on Saturday

On my plate were more zucchini, this time fried and a batch of pickled zucchini. Plus chicken with zucchini and potatoes. I made a lot of Hummus with pumpkin seed oil and Shakshuka on Sunday.

We went cycling on Saturday, this time along the Siebenmühlenweg, the valley of seven mills, then further along the river Aich and then along the Neckar until we reached Esslingen, 48km in all. We had lunch in a nice beer garden and later a big coffee with icecream. Thankfully we decided to go on Saturday, because today it’s raining nearly all the time.

I spent some time working on my handwriting and trying out my new fountain pens from TWSBI, the Go and the Swipe. I like the Swipe a bit better, but both are writing really nice.

Weekly diary

Perfumes this week were Roma, Tea Rose, Aromatics Elixir, Eau de Lancaster, Niki de Saint Phalle, Cristalle Eau Verte, Iris Rebellen from a new decant, lots of Camelia Chinois and still there is something left in the bottle. Sunday was hot, so I wore Beachy, which is sadly discontinued, because the watermelon note is really fun.

Multinational food

On my plate I had lots of zucchini again, as a soup and fried with Merguez. Green beans were used for gnocchi with chorizo and salad. I made a bento with tamagoyaki and salmon to take to work and Spam musubi on Saturday, which tasted great. Sunday was a big focacchia, that my boyfriend made and chard frittata. And we had pasta with fried bread crumbs and tinned sardines, such a simple, but tasty meal.

The weather finally got a bit better, so I biked to work twice. And on the weekend I finished two dresses, so I am quite content with my output. I should have cleaned the apartment, but I decided to take time for sewing….

I also spent some time playing with my new TWSBI eco fountain pen and some nice diamine ink in Sherwood Green and practiced my handwriting, which is frankly a mess. I am a leftie and a doctor, so what do people expect??? Still it begins to be unreadable to me too, so I put in some time practicing cursive, and it starts to look better now.

Writing practice, rewriting a bit of the Narnia Chronicles

Weekly diary plus a trip to France

Perfumes worn this week were Memoire D Une Odeur, LADDM, Mitsouko, Meet Me On The Corner, Batucada, Paradoxe and Camelia Chinois topped up with some EA Green Tea

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View of Soufflenheim from the car and lots of food

On my plate there were loads of veggies, because of the garden harvest. So I made buttered beans with salsicchia, chicken leg on zucchini and potatoes, rice with smoked salmon, fried zucchini with a bulgur Feta filling and baked potato wedged and herbed quark and a big pizza in Soufflenheim at the restaurant

I finished reading The Left Hand of Darkness by LeGuins and am still listening to the ginormous audiobouk The Stand by Stephen King. Still 18h to go!

We finally went shopping at the supermarket in France again, now that we are both completely vaccinated and can cross the border without problems. We loaded up on cheese, oil, terrines, mustard and vinegar and other nice things and had a big pizza at the supermarket restaurant, which is actually quite good and cheap. We also bought flour for baking at the local mill, so I hope my boyfriend will make some nice baguettes in the future

I fell into the rabbit hole of fountain pens and inks and ordered a new pen plus some pretty ink bottles from Diamine and Waterman and a bullet journal. I hope this will work out okay, otherwise I always work with my trusty moleskine diary again.

I also hope to get more use of my old Montblanc Meisterstück, that I bought in the late 90ies. But I won’t take this to work, because it’s too expensive. At the moment I am using my trusted Lamy Safari pen, but hopefully some new inks will be more fun at work.

Weekly diary

Perfume this week was Dryad, Tea Rose, Elephant, Untitled L Eau, Camelia Chinois (still try to thunk this bottle) and Fils de Dieu. The NST community project was backup bottles, so I wore Covet a d Aromatics Elixir. I could have worn L Air de Rien or Theo Fennel, but it was too warm for them.

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On my plate I had a lot of different foods. A salad with borlotti beans, bulgur and bell peppers. Greek avgolemono soup with rice. Sausage salad with kimchi, green bean salad with Miso and roast sesame. I made pasta with zucchini sauce, zucchini fritters and chickpea cutlets (from post punk kitchen blog). We ate out in a Greek beer garden on the Neckar River and have gyros and salad. Sunday was korean pork belly with rice and kimchi plus a Asian cucumber salad.

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Pork belly with kimchi

We did another bike tour on the Neckar bike route, but this time we rode home another route, which was a bit hilly. I managed most of the inclines, but had to walk my bike on two steeper hills. Still not totally fit, my heartrate goes up too fast.

Sunday was sent on finally making the taxes, which I hate. Although I always get a good amount of money back, so I dont know why I procrastinate. Well, it’s done now and I have time until next summer.

I also bought some new sewing patterns, because I want to try making a swimsuit. This will be interesting.

Weekly diary and finally vaccinated

Perfumes this week were Cabotine, Chypre Siam, What I did on my holidays, Eau de Lancaster, Roma, Meet me on the Corner, Lovely Sheer and I finally got to test Dryad. I can get a used bottle, so I think I will splurge a bit…

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Cooking from the garden means lots of beans, beets and zucchini

Our garden produces lots of zucchini and beets, so we have to eat our veggies!

We had zucchini grilled and in muffins. The beets went into hoummous and salad. The beans became a salad with green and canellini beans with tuna and Feta. I also made a Tortellini salad with pesto vinaigrette and ham, kimchi fried eggs and turkish bulgur salad.

Saturday we made BBQ pork ribs and this evening will likely be zucchini again, this time with a minced meat filling.

I finally got my vaccination after having covid-19 in January. The first day was okay, but in the evening I couldn’t elevate my arm, so I was not able to drive the next day and stayed home, feeling very tired and a bit queasy. Luckily it was better the next day.

I spent some time rereading Ursula LeGuins The left hand of Darkness and enjoyed it a lot. It’s an interesting take on the genderism discussions. I also watched the 6th season of Blacklist, while I spent time in the kitchen.

Weekly diary and along the river Enz

Perfumes this week were Beachy, Agent Provocateur, L Air de Rien, Chypre Mousse, which my colleague liked a lot. Cardin Choc, Doe In the snow, Ninfeo Mio, which survived a whole day of cycling and Camelia Chinois after shower.

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On my plate I had Borscht from the freezer, gyros with cream sauce and fries, boiled potatoes and herbed quark, sausage and kimchi salad, pasta with zucchini sauce and fried bread crumbs plus tinned sardines. We had a big icecream while cycling and later baked eggplant slices with mozzarella on top.

This weekend we went cycling along the Enz River, went to Mühlacker by train and cycled along the river to Besigheim, where the Enz disappears in the Neckar River. Nice sunny weather and some beautiful scenery. I am quite content with my brompton bike, it’s easy to transport and rides like a bigger bike. It’s not great at hills, but I think this problem would be the same with a regular bike. It’s my legs, that are not in great shape, because I never was much of a biker. But there is always room for improvement, I think. And I still tire more early after my covid infection, so I try not to strain myself too much.

Weekly diary Neckar River cycling

Perfumes I wore were One Love, Covet, Aromatics Elixir, Miss Dior, which sadly wears me and not the other way round, again my mix of Tea Rose and Coriandre, What I did on my holidays and Batucada.

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First day along the Neckar

On my plate I had fried zucchini and goat cheese, a red beet quiche, red beet hoummous, burrata with cucumber, lamb brats with potato salad, Krautwickel with potatoes, a big falafel and pasta with zucchini. Yes, it’s zucchini season. We have five!!! plants in the garden.

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Second cycling day

We did our first two day cycling tour along the Neckar River from Besigheim to Heidelberg. First day with sunny weather. Had a lunch break in Bad Wimpfen, which has a beautiful medieval center and slept in a small hotel in Hassmersheim after a big dinner at a rustic restaurant. 50 km the first day.

Second day started grey, but thankfully not wet. We had a break for a cone of icecream in Ebersbach and then went along to Neckargemünd, where we had a big falafel wrap. It got sunnier around midday and we reached Heidelberg in sunny weather. The way home we went by train. 66km that day, and I managed all on my Brompton bike. This was really fun, and we are just planning the next weekend tour.

Weekly diary

Perfumes i wore this week were Coriandre plus Tea Rose, Empreinte, Niki de Saint Phalle, Pour La Belle, Bronze Goddess Azur, Beachy, Scherrer EdT, Roma and Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche.

A walk, a rustic restaurant and a great icecream

On my plate i had pasta salad, ravioli con zucchini, meat loaves, a big schnitzel with fries at a nice svabian restaurant, pasta with tomatoes and tuna and salsicchia with cucumber salad. And i had a nice icecream with pumpkin seed oil and caramelized seeds, that was really great.

I managed to bike to work twice, although the weather was not nice and we visited my boyfriends parents in the Bodensee region for Hits fathers 86th birthday and had a nice dinner in a good restaurant. And inbetween we had a long walk through a beautiful forest and we did some gardening and harvested the first zucchini and beets.

Weekly diary

Perfumes I wore were Covet, Choc de Cardin, Untitled L Eau, Fico di Amalfi, Scherrer, Amazone, What I did on my holidays a d Terracotta.

Rhubarb crumble, our own Berries and chicken with aubergine and Ras El Hanout

On my plate was Greek lemon chicken with lemon potatoes, brats with savoy and gnocchi, Okroschka, Tortellini salad with basil, salmon and Hummus, rhubarb crumble and chicken with aubergine and Ras El Hanout and salted lemons

I had an online congress from Thursday to Saturday and spent lots of time on the screen. I also tried an Appleton dress with scuba, but I hat the fabric, so this will go to the bin, propably. We harvested our first Berries in our allotment, the first zucchini and also lots of garlic. This year will be a good year in the garden, I think

Weekly diary plus staycation

We had a week of holidays plus a big heatwave, so my perfumes were summery ones.

I wore a mix of Camelia Chinois and Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche twice, What I did on my holidays, Doe In the snow, Fico D Amalfi, a mix of Tea Rose and Coriandre, which I quite like. I wore Granville, but although I find it interesting it reminds me a lot of a clay ointment for sore throat my mother put ony neck as a kid. Hmmm, strange

Neckar River bike tour

Thankfully we did our bike tour along the Neckar River on Monday, because the next days it would have been too hot. We cycled from Kornwestheim to Zuffenhausen and then down the river to Besigheim. We had a drink outside and then took the train back home. It was the first longer ride on my Brompton and I coped well. At the end of the day we had cycled nearly 50km.

Tuesday we visited a friend in Ulm, ate Pizza outside and had some icecream later.

The next day we drove to Messkirch to visit Campus Galli. There they are building a medieval abbey from the 9th century with historical technology. It was a nice site to explore and maybe we will come again some years later to watch the progress.

Campus Galli

The next days it was really hot, so we had to stay inside and I had time to finish some sewing projects. I made another teahouse dress from embroidered chambray and a Tessuti apron for the boyfriend, because he wanted his own kitchen apron.

Very manly camouflage embroidered denim

I also made a Peppermint pocket shirt from the fabric above, but it was too stiff and a complete fail….

We had more time to cook so we had Risotto with chicken liver, mushroom tortilla and cucumber salad, sausage salad with kimchi, bulgur salad with Feta and peppers, bun noodle salad with minced meat and peanut sauce and homemade Focacchia.

In all, it was a nice week and we got some things done, so I am quite content with our staycation.

Weekly diary

I missed last week, but this week I am back to the blog

Perfumes of this week were Eau de Lancaster, Aromatics Elixir twice, Chanel No5 L Eau, Memoire D Une Odeur, Scherrer, Terracotta and Batucada for a hot summer evening.

I made lots of asparagus, because it’s near the end of the season, so I made quiche, baked asparagus with meatballs and asparagus en vinaigrette with fried salmon. I made a bavarian sausage salad and added kohlrabi kimchi to it, which was an instant hit with my boyfriend. Plus lots of Hummus and cold sandwiches. And not to forget a nice bottle of wine on our balcony.

I finally finished my second bra, after tweaking the pattern a bit for a better fit and now I am quite content. I think there will be more bra sewing in the future. The next one will be with a bit of lace.

I also made a summer linnen and rayon sack dress, the Adeline from Style Arc. I cut a size 16 and it came together nicely. Plus I did some cutting for another dress and a Denim jacket from scraps and some old jeans of my boyfriend.

The next week we are on staycation holidays, but we will visit a friend and hopefully do some cycling along the Neckar River.

Weekly diary

Perfumes of this week were a lot of holiday scents because of the CP on NST. So holidays were Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche, Bronze Goddess Azur, Batucada, What I did on my holidays, Untitled L’Eau. Not so holiday themed were Cardin Paradoxe, Scherrer, Scherrer One Love and Odeur 53. I really like the Odeur 53, because it smells like a frdry cleaner plus hair salon, totally chemical and really fresh. Such a fun scent.

Bun noodle salad, Korean sssmgyupsal and a lot of junk from our garden

On my plate was homemade hoummous, risotto with broad beans and Mozzarella, lentil salad with Feta and Ras El Hanout and Thai chicken curry with asparagus and zucchini for Sunday.

I finally biked to work again on Friday and made the complete tour and back, thanks to my ebike. I used more of the assisted modes than usual, because I still cannot exercise properly after my infection and should keep my heartrate under 130. So I did some meditative cycling, which was really nice.

We had one of our old garden huts removed in our allotment and I dug out and astounding heap of junk and at least 6 mummified rat skeletons plus a coin. I felt a bit like Carter in the valley of kings, sadly there was no gold to be found. And I started my second bra, but it’s not finished yet. Just have to say that bra sewing is really fun. Now I want to make all the things plus matching underwear. This time it’s violet semitransparent fabric with elastics in a pretty orchid shade.

Weekly diary and a shopping spree

Perfumes of this week were Cabotine, Adam Levine, Untitled, which I finally thunked, Vert de Fleur, Scherrer, Tea Rose, Zagorsk for meditation day, Cardin Choc and L Air de Rien on Sunday

I went on a bit of a perfume shopping spree and bought lots of cheapies, but goodies.

A big bottle of Scherrer and Scherrer One Love, Cardin Choc and Paradoxe, Verveine Cedrat and not pictured perfumers workshop Tea Rose. The Cardins were blind buys, but I really like them. The One Love is not too much my style, but a nice scent nonetheless.

I did not too much of cooking, but we had savoy with brats, swabian lentils with spaetzle and sausage and a tray bake with chicken legs, potatoes and asparagus. And because I hopefully gets warmer now, I made a big batch of Hummus.

I started working on a new dress, but it’s not finished yet plus I tried to make some woven joggers style pant, that came out ridiculously big and made me feel like a clown. This will take some weeks, before I try again, because I am frustrated.

At the moment I am watching Gotham on Netflix. I am not a marvel fan, but this is really entertaining and the villains are the best!

Weekly diary

It finally got warmer here, so I wore more spring scents. Monday started with Meet Me On The Corner, I wore Scherrer EdT and finally ordered a big bottle, because it’s really cheap. Pour La Belle and Empreinte. On my day off it was Cristalle Eau Verte and Friday Aromatics Elixir. Saturday I wore Lovely Sheer for garden work and sunday was 6 sprays of Roma.

Homemade pizza

We ate some leftovers this week, but had Kimchi pancakes and homemade pizza. My boyfriend made a bavarian sausage salad and I cooked a big batch of chicken in pickling spices. Sunday was linguine with lemon, garlic and asparagus and semolina pudding for dessert.

I finally finished the Pinup Girls Classic Bra on Saturday. It was easier to make, than I thought and although the fit is not perfect, it is absolutely wearable. Maybe I will use other wires next time to improve the fit.

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The finished bra

I used the video workshop on Craftsy, which made the sewing a lot easier, because I could see, what I had to do. Totally can recommend it. In all, it was a fun sewing experience.

Weekly diary and finally spring

I was on holidays this week, but sadly the weather was cold and wet until Saturday. But it was nice to relax at home, so not too bad.

Perfumes were Camelia Chinois twice, because I want to thunk my bottle. Fils de Dieu, Café Tuberosa, Perles de Lalique, Reve d’Ossian a d Bronze Goddess Azur.

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I had lots of time for cooking, so I made Gimbap rolls, a sea bream with ginger and garlic Asian style. I made a slow cooked korean pork belly with gochujang, gnocchi with mushrooms, turkish lentil soup, fried green asparagus and asparagus frittata and Afghan yogurt chicken on Sunday. And I tried a Italian lemon cake called Ciambella, that turned out really nice.

Because of the bad weather I had time for sewing, so I finished the Stacker jacket, just needs buttonholes. I sewed two dresses and finally started sewing my first flbra. It’s not finished yet, but looks okay.

In, all I am happy with completing so many projects plus getting lots of appointments done in a week.

Weekly diary

Perfumes this week were mostly more of the chypre kind, because they are great for spring. So I wore Orange Sanguine, Amazone, Scherrer, Azurée. Friday was spring flowers day on NST, so I wore Cabotine. Saturday was grey and cold, so I put on Absolue pour le Soir and sunday was Untitled and later I wore Cabochard

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I did a lot of cooking this week, so we had beef cheeks I need wine sauce, Vietnamese summer rolls with omelet. I made salmon with fresh spinach and gnocchi, a cream of broccoli soup and a Udon noodle soup with shrimp, cabbage and miso. Later oven baked chicken legs with aubergine and sunday a kimchi spaetzle bake with cheese and fried onions.

This week I took my new Brompton out for my first commute, that finally worked out okay after encountering a dead end because of works and a much belated train because of problems with electricity. Still it was nice to finally get to cycle again. I am still not fit, after my Covid infection, but it got a bit better in the last two weeks.

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My folded bike waiting for the train to come

And because it’s MeMadeMay, I started another project with the Stacker jacket, a design from Papercut Patterns. It’s coming along nicely, hope to finish it tomorrow.

Weekly diary

Perfumes I wore were Rose d’Arabie, Aromatics Elixir, Gucci No3, lots of Eau de Camelia Chinois, because I want to thunk my bottle. Friday was my favorite spring perfume, so I wore Covet. Saturday was Fan di Fendi Eau Fraiche and sunday L’Air de Rien. Glad I managed to get a backup bottle of this gem, because it’s discontinued.

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On my plate I had a freestyle stir fry with meat and pakchoy. I made Dhal with rice and our boss let us order pizza on Wednesday. Saturday I made persian food with celery and chicken and some meatball and bellpeppers bake Hungarian style. We had a big Sunday breakfast with lots of homemade rolls and Seelen plus leftovers to freeze.

I cut a dress and the Stacker jacket as my next sewing projects, but had no time to start sewing.

I also did a little bike tour on my new Brompton bike, just 10km, because I still cannot exercise a lot after my covid infection, but it was really fun in the sunny weather.

Weekly diary

Perfumes of this week were Roma, Pour La Belle, Empreinte, Covet and Salome for the cleaning community project on NST, as I chose the glamorous take on cleaning via a maid, but this sadly did not happen… I wore a mix of Avon Nearness plus Arpege on Saturday morning and Theo Fennel in the late afternoon. Sunday was lots of vintage Chanel No19.

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On my plate I had Maultaschen in soup and later fried with eggs. I used some of last week’s spiced butter to fry some eggs. Saturday I used the last of the spiced butter for a pasta with asparagus and salmon and turmeric yogurt. This was a bit improvised, but really good… The boyfriend made Sauerbraten frankonian style with special Lebkuchen for sauces and potato dumplings. Sunday I did a bit of baking and made banana bread plus something called Quarkschnecken, pictured above.

I finally got my new car, a Skoda Fabia Combi in red. Now we can take our bikes to vacation, if we are allowed sometimes in the hopefully near future.

Amd I finally made all the buttonholes on my denim jacket and on the Gilbert top. So I now contemplate what to do next. Maybe the Stacker jacket….

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