Weekly musings

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

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

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

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

Weekly musings

Perfumes of the week: Iris Rebelle, Cleef and Arpels First EdT, Biagiotti Roma, Reve d´Ossian, Dryad and Niki de Saint Phalle for Sunday. I just wore the remains of Dryad on saturday, because i was too tired to choose a new scent, nevertheless it still scented my scarf and sweater nicely.

fresh baked Brezen, made by. the boyfriend!

On my plate i had indian chicken tikka at work, because i treated my coworkers to a nice lunch, to celebrate the new maskless freedom at work, thanks to the new laws!!! I also invited the boyfriend to a nice pizza dinner on friday, because his work week has not been very nice. We ate greek rice and lemon soup, pasta with a tomato-salsiccia sauce and fried salsiccia with gnocchi and red cabbage for sunday. And fresh baked pretzels for dinner. Those are much better than from the bakery, but making them is a bit more difficult, because they have to be cooled to stiffen up a bit, before getting into the lye bath, so we can only make them in winter, the fridge is not big enough.

I spent lots of hours knitting the boyfriends new cardigan, just managed to finish the first sleeve, so i got only one sleeve, the collar and the buttonband to finish. Plus sewing it together, which i hate, but sadly cannot avoid. On the other hand i am itching to cast on a cardigan for myself. I am still debating what to knit, but i think i will try to make the Timepiece cardigan by Ailbiona from the red Järbo wool, that i bought in december. I would really like a classic v-neck oversized cardigan to wear at home, and this seems to be a great pattern. Plus- its topdown, so i don ´t have to sew the pieces and i can try it on.

I had a breast exam this week because of a diffuse slight induration, but thankfully there was nothing on the sonogram. I think i will do an MRT to be totally sure (will have to pay it by myself sadly), but if i get the bad thoughts out of my mind by this, it will be money well spent. Hopefully i get an appointment soon.

Weekly musings

Last weeks CP was Ancient Resins, so i dug out my amber and incense perfumes. I wore Essence Ambre, Marquis de Sade, Larmes de désert, Reve d´Ossian, Fille en Aiguilles, Sens et Bois, Wazamba and finished the week with Lady Rose Lion, which i am really starting to like after a bad start.

evening scene with a meager christmas decoration and filled pumpkin

On my plate there was Soup of the bride Ezo (red lentils, bulgur, rice), red cabbage smothered with balsamico and salsiccia, pasta with miso, bottarga and mushroom pesto. Saturday i spent making lots of filled mini pumkins with a bulgur, minced meat and gorgonzola stuffing plus two turkey legs with curried butter, potatoes and carrots. i also cooked. a chicken soup to use the next days. I have so many leftovers that i have enough for this week.

I did manage two!! commutes to work on bike, although its pitchblack dark for the first 30min of my commute over the fields, but it was a few degrees above freezing, so i bit the bullet and just biked. I felt really good after finishing my commute, but i will not do this, if there is frost on the ground, because i dont have wheels with spikes.

The weather is so depressingly dark, grey and drizzly, that we spend most time indoors, reading, watching Netflix and doing some knitting. I am still working on my 40s blue cardigan out of sockwool, but i finally finished the back and fronts and now i am a third into the first sleeve.

I ordered a box of swedish yarns from Eddna, and after my parcel arrived after getting nearly lost in Lübeck at the other side of Germany i finally got it. I bought a nice swedish DK wool in heathered grey for a cardigan for the boyfriend and a red wool for me. I also bought unspun icelandic plötulopi, maybe also for a cardigan, but this will take a while. Plus some icelandic lace in grey and pink for a shawl (maybe i will knit another Different Lines, because my old shawl is starting to look a bit ratty).

The pattern for the boyfriend cardigan is still not decided, i was thinking about a Elisabeth Zimmermann Seamless Hybrid with some ribbing at the sides, because i saw a project from Jared Flood, that knit this for a friend. But i would have to steek it, which i have never done before. Maybe i will do a steeking swatch and see, if i can do this. I is always appealing to just knit in the round, its wonderfully soothing and i simply dont like to purl.

Weekly musings

The colder weather is finally here, so i can wear heavier scents. Vol de Nuit EDT for monday (this sounded soo good, but it is much too powdery vanilla and not enough galbanum, alas…), Femme de Rochas, Dzing!, Memoir Woman, Zagorsk and for sunday i wore Salome (still would like a bottle, but one tiny spritz is more than enough, so i try to empty my decant first).

On my plate i had persian celery ragout with meat, indian tomato chicken curry, a giant pot of hungarian bean and pork ribs soup and some rucola tomato salad.

After i had got a cold 4 weeks ago, finally my dry cough got better, so i was able to get on my bike again on friday. I am not very fit after coughing for weeks, but it was great to get outside again, even in the rain and cold. Thankfully i had bought rain trousers and a rain jacket, and they really kept me dry!

I also found my knitting mojo again after at least two years of failed projects (… okay, i made socks, i can knit them in my sleep) and after finishing my Victory jumper i am well into my 40s cardigan in a navy sock wool. I also made new fingerless mitts, because i lost my old grey pair last winter in a fall in the dirt. Such a nice project to use up the remains of sockwool.

Because of the energy crisis we turned the heating down and wear a lot more warm clothes at home. The boyfriend requested a cardigan, so i ordered some grey heathered swedish wool online at Eddna, plus some icelandic wool and unspun plötulopi in a hopefully nice darker blue. I also bought 2 cardigans worth for me in grey and a „sheer red“, which is hopefully a nice color for me.

While knitting i also had time to watch Locke and Key on Netflix. I really like mystery and sci-fi series. I tried to watch Brand New Cherry Flavor, but gave up on it, because it drifted too much into the horror genre. Maybe i give the whole StarTrek series another rerun afterwards. Any other series that you can recommend?

Weekly musings

Perfumes this week were mostly from the office decant stash… I wore Covet, Givenchy III, Eau de Rochas, Fan di Fendi, Scherrer EdT, Perles de Lalique, Sens et Bois and Mitsouko EdT

New knitting project, homebaked rolls and seelen and a view of the bike race that happened just in our street

On my plate i still have tomatoes and more tomatoes from our alottment garden, and zucchini of course. So we had lots of salad, with mozzarella, raw, as tomatoe sauce with gnocchi and some zucchinifritters and fried ones. We also had a smaller harvest of bellpeppers, so there are bellpeppers simmered with tomatoes and merguez this evening. Saturday i got adventurous and finally tried the vegan ramen broth with soymilk from JustOneCookbook. Its really delicious and although the components take a bit of time, it was really easy to make and perfect for a cooler, rainy day. We also baked lots of rolls and svabian seelen, so i have something to take to work from the freezer. And some chocolate chip cookies, because the oven was still hot….

I managed to bike to work four times, so i put in 180 km this week, which i am really proud of. Plus i finally finished my taxes, because this is something that i always procrastinate, but doesnt everybody else too?

I got some new yarn, that i ordered, because i wanted to start another jumper. I cast on yesterday and hope to wear it in the early fall. The pattern is the „Your victory“ jumper from the 1940s, the pattern is available for free from the V&A Museum in london. The pattern is written for a 32inch bust, oh my, all those skinny ladies of the war times. So i did a bit of research on ravelry and found some hopefully helpful notes for a 40inch bust. My swatch came out okay, but i have to use 2,75mm needles with a thin sock yarn, so this is not a very fast project. But i really like the stripe effect in the stitch pattern and its not very complicated to knit, so i hope it will turn out right.

Weekly diary

I didnt post last week, but now i am on track again. Perfumes were Eau de Lancaster on a cold monday, because i had a craving for a green and fresh spring feeling, Tuesday was Calligraphy Saffron. Wednesday was Roma, then Bottega Veneta, Fils de Dieu, Dryad und lots of Agent Provocateur on Sunday

Wating for the booster shot, sesame chicken with spinach and a nice view of the public gardens

On my plate there was fish fillets with broccoli, a fish finger burger with a homemade brioche bun, sesame soy chicken from the. slow cooker (easy and delicious). The leftover rice was made into tuna sushi plus miso soup. I tried to bake sweet potatoes in the slow cooker, which worked nicely. Saturday i made a big pot of brussel sprout and potatoe soup with ham plus slow baked legs of turkey. with lots of paprika and caraway seeds plus smothered savoy cabbage. Lots of leftovers for sunday and also next week.

We had our booster shot on tuesday and were both a bit knocked out. The boyfriend had a very sore arm and was tired. I also had the chills and sore muscles, so i stayed at home for two days to recover. Thankfully i was okay again on friday. Most of my sick days were spent watching Emergency Room while lying on the sofa. But i also finally finished my first book of the year – The ten thousand doors of January. If you like supernatural fiction, this is not a bad read. It took some time to get into the plot, but then the story progressed nicely. I now started a novel about some australian settlers, but have not read much of it yet. Plus i finally finished my Ishbel shawl, that is blocking right now on my carpet. I hope i can wear it tomorrow to work.

Weekly diary

Perfumes in this week were Fille en Aiguilles, Lady Rose Lion etc…, Eau Sacrée, Bulgari Black (I am still trying to love it, but it’s not easy), Essence Ambre, L Air de Rien, followed by Cardin Paradoxe and a sample of Cleef and Arpels First. This perfume is a bit odd to my nose, but I must keep on sniffing. It’s such a big wave of floral soapiness at the beginning , but dries down really warm and beautiful.

Homemade ramen soup and my two twsbi pens

On my plate I had a biiig pot of Poulet en riz, which lasted 3 days. I made a new lentil soup recipe from TheKitchn blog, that was a big hit, Friday was homemade ramen broth with onsen eggs and chashu. I made a roasted cauliflower and Gorgonzola pasta, a cake with chocolate dough and a cheesecake filling and sunday we had wild boar with red cabbage and spaetzle.

I did not do anything special this week, just working, going to the dentist and some shopping. I also splurged on some items from Galen Leather, to organize my fountain pens and my bullet journal and ordered some Japanese stationery. I will do a review, when I get my order.

In knitting I started another pair of socks for the boyfriend, but I just turned the first heel, so nothing much to show off. I got my second TWSBI pen, this time with transparent green cap and ending, and immediately inked it with Diamine Kelly Green. The other one got inked with Oxblood, so they will go together nicely and it’s a bit of a holiday theme too. I have the TWSBI Swipe inked with Diamine Pumpkin, so that’s a really fun combination of colors for my bullet journal.

Weekly diary

Perfumes this week were mostly loosely based on the NST community project, with Pantones fall colors. So I wore Wazamba, Cafe Tuberosa, Perles de Lalique, Air de Rien, Aromatics Elixir, Champs Lunaires (it’s okay for a tuberose scent, but I am not very into white flowers) and Bois de Vanille for Sunday.

Filled pumpkin before and after

In my plate I had beet salad with Feta and salmon, which was a great combination, a veggie risotto, avgolemono soup, linguine Bolognese. Saturday I made spaetzle with savoy and baked them together with cheese. We had a friend over for the weekend, so spent lots of time eating and talking. My boyfriend made a raisin loaf and fresh rolls for Sundays breakfast.

I managed to bike to work on Wednesday, which was a great sunny fall day and really fun to bike. Maybe I can do it again, if it’s not too cold next week. I also got some knitting time on my Ishbel shawl and also on my socks.

Knitting in progress, it’s fall!

Weekly diary

Perfumes this first working week were Lapidus Creation, Scherrer EdT, Iris Rebelle, Bottega Veneta, Agent Provocateur, Fils de Dieu, Cardin Paradoxe and Choc and Empreinte on Sunday.

Ribollita and a sock in progress

We did not have much time to cook and ate lots of leftovers from the chicken in milk, because it was a really big bird, the boyfriend made foccaccia on Friday. Saturday I used lots of veggies from the garden and made linguine with chili, raisins, chards and tinned sardines with Feta plus a big pot of ribollita.

I biked to work on Tuesday and did lots of housework on the weekend. I also had some time to work on my current sock project and also cast on a simple lace shawl, Ishbel from Ysolda, because I bought some new sock yarn and found a nice merino lace yarn in magenta in the shop. I don’t really need a new shawl, but I like to knit them, but I can always gift some of mine to friends, if I don’t wear it.

I started a new Netflix series New Amsterdam, just because Ryan Eggold plays the starring role. But it’s not too bad, hospital series are always fun.

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

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.

Socken

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

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