*Häkelpullover aus Nappy 119/4 | Part 1

In the middle of August I started to crochet a chunky pullover with the pattern "Crochet sweater made from Nappy 119/4". My dear sister has gifted me a wool voucher for Birthday back in March that I hadn't touched yet and when I found this pattern, I finally gave myself a yank to order wool for it. Originally I wanted lilac color instead of strawberry, but I think it is a quite nice color combination anyway! The project is already finished and I also have made some pictures, but need to sort them out still, so I will show them in another blogpost! It was a really nice project, although the wool was a bit unruly to use and I had issues with following the pattern of the sleeves.

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*Preserving summer & taking up needle work again

{Music: Dog days are over – Florence and the Machine – (Harp cover)  Naomi SV + Fáinleog (Wanderer) – The Gloaming + Mr Brightside – The Killers – (Harp cover) Naomi SV}

The plums started to ripen early this year and we were able to harvest for the first time plenty fruits from our fig tree that had grown so well over the last year. In the middle of August I started to preserve goods from the garden and made vinegar from windfalls and I started to make kombucha again. I also did some baking. And like every year around this time my fingers were itching to take up needlework and so I began to crochet a chunky colorful pullover.

Small plum cake

• 60 g butter

• 60 g date sugar

• 2 small eggs

• plums

• 1 sachet vanilla sugar

• 125 ml milk

• 120 g flour

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• cinnamon

• blossom or cinnamon-sugar mixture

Cream butter with date sugar until fluffy. Add two small eggs and a sachet of vanilla sugar, then stir in the milk and flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon cinnamon to form a smooth batter. Transfer to a small baking dish and top with washed, pitted, and sliced ​​plums. Bake at 180°C (convection oven) for about 25 minutes. (Use a toothpick to test!) Once the cake comes out of the oven, sprinkle with blossom sugar or a cinnamon-sugar mixture.

Small chocolate coconut cake

• 60 g butter

• 40 g raw cane sugar

• 2 small eggs

• 125 ml milk

• 120 g flour

• 1 tsp. baking powder

• desiccated coconut

• chocolate shavings

• chocolate for the glaze

Cream butter with raw cane sugar until fluffy. Add two small eggs, then stir in the milk,  flour, 1 teaspoon baking powder, and 2 tbs desiccated coconut and some chocolate shavings to form a smooth batter. Transfer to a small baking dish and bake at 180°C (convection oven) for about 25 minutes. (Use a toothpick to test!) Once the cake comes out of the oven, coat with melted chocolate and sprinkle with desiccated coconut.

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*the ground under my feet & the little gifts of life

Finally got my summer pictures developed!

That moment after many weeks unable to leave home, when I made my first steps into nature. The sky was moody, the swallows flying low, the ground under my feet felt never better, I had to feel earth with my whole body, a short moment of forgetting all the recent tortures.

Last weekend, we visited one of our favorite forest areas – a place we hadn't been to in six years! The gifts of life are unpredictable and so it happened that just as we started our walk, a dog suddenly began to follow us. We could not spot his owner, so we went along. The dog jumped ahead, but always turned back to wait for us – for example when we slowed down to take a picture of the landscape. He happily ran back to us, tail wagging, and in this way he accompanied us for the entire walk. It was wonderful! At the end of the trail, as we passed a snack stall, the dog trotted inside and that's when we finally knew where he came from.

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*Ever-changing skies

Why do the flowers return each summer

When they know September winds

Will wilt away their carefree days

They must know the secrets

Of what makes this life worthwhile

To bloom in spite of ever-changing skies

{emma.the.poet}

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*Rising with the August sun

{Music: Berriedale on Hoy – Erland Cooper + Warming – Erland Cooper + Childhood – Yann Tiersen + Chopin Berceuse Op 57 D Flat Major} August so far: • first mushroom hunting –

we found parasols and some chanterelles • daily fresh cucumber salads from the garden • first blooming "Evenline" dahlia &

more "Jowey Winnie" dahlias • observing Roman snails taking a bath

(my personal highlight!) • first morning mist!

(it felt so much like autumn already) • collecting & storing seeds • simply enjoying all the wild flowers dancing in the wind ☙

*Light & white

The lights & whites of summer.

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*summer reds

Summer reds captured on film.

After 56 days that felt like being confined inside a nightmare, it feels like August is finally bringing some ease into my body. I'm still hesitant when writing this down, because I don't want to jinx it, but just feeling more hope seems like a big thing! Let's see how it all goes on.

I made oxymel with herbs from the garden (I chose lemon balm and spearmint) and ginger for the extra boost. It needs to rest for a few weeks until it's ready to use. I was not able to preserve anything from the garden, not even making jam, but I collected lavender at the last moment and tried to restore the garden a bit after the terrible hail storm we had. It made a lot of damage, especially because there were so many bigger hailstones. All the apples, peaches and other fruits got marks and cuts and have started to rot from the trees. It's a shame! Many tomato plants lost all their fruits and overall it almost came to another flooding. We are somehow scarred from last year, the experiences are sitting in our bones.

We are having the coolest summer since many years. I enjoy the more moderate temperatures and it is strange to not have to water the garden all the time. I'm curious how August is unfolding. Especially the mornings already feel so autumnal.

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*July

{Music: Lichen – Apex Twin}

July has been modest. Since ongoing seizures after the poisoning and my overall health situation, my moving radius is very limited once again. Only yesterday I managed to walk up the little hill behind our home for the first time to have some time in the oak forest. I wished everything was easier. Another summer that seems to run through my fingers like sand. But I was able to pick my first dahlia flowers and watch a chain of endlessly passing clouds from behind our bedroom window.

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*the wind dries the tears

What, if you are the light at the end of the tunnel?

Rain takes care of the garden

and the wind dries the tears.

I don't know where this pain started, nor if it ever ends.

There is no explanation I owe you.

Still, I find myself tangled up in words.

Pause in this uncertainty of life.

Hold a flower tight to your heart

and let it loose again –

like everything else.

{C.V.}

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*heart-shaped petal

Suffering is the privilege

of those who feel.

 {Clarice Lispector}

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