*more mushrooms

More mushroom analogues...

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*back then

Fitting to the last post I have found some old photos that my father has made when we went mushrooming. On the last pictures is my mother with me and my brother and some nice parasol mushrooms.

Yesterday I started finally to use my watercolor journal that I got myself years ago. I want to make studies of leaves, mushrooms and other autumnal findings to improve my watercolor skills. If I stay on task and not dissipate my energy on other things again, I will for sure show my progress here sometime!

And to all the kind, patient people who are still waiting for a letter or E-mail from me, I do my best to work through my list!

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*You will find me in the woods

The joy of being in the woods is endlessly to me. The most wonderful playground that there is, all seasons have their own charm and gifts to collect. Last time I found giant puffballs that I haven't seen since many years now anywhere. I cooked them for dinner – a real delicacy! I have noticed that less and less people have knowledge about the edible goods in the forest. I am grateful that it was always normal in my family to look for mushrooms when the season was there and that they planted the seed for longing for a natural life in me.

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*in the apple orchard

I always love when a flight of swallows decides to rest on the wires in front of my workroom window. I could listen to their bustling chatter all day long. They are so vivid and full of joy, especially when there are little ones present. This year there are so many rose hips, they now start to turn red and glow from the bushes! Here in the countryside autumn needs more time than in the cities. The cities are full of trees that are already loosing their foliage, but here it takes a slower pace.

I am busy taking seeds from the garden to be able to send out to friends and I harvested the last carrots yesterday. The weather is perfect right now, not too hot and not too cold, it gives good energy!

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*Ilford FP4

I had one more long expired black&white film, this time an 34 years expired Ilford FP4 film. Fortunately the pictures also turned out nicely! I wish I had more such film rolls, but for now it was a good experience and maybe I just try a normal black&white film sometime soon. This time I visited one of my other favorite places near our home, a little piece of land with crooked growing apple trees. I wore one of my linen dresses with my pinafore, the most comfortable outfit that there is and so practically to take some fresh picked fruits with me on the way in the big pockets. I picked some wild small yellow plums on that day and just enjoyed the enveloping energy of nature.

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*women

Some of my latest illustrations. The last one I made for a honey label. It was really nice to drift away with drawing. Right now I am working on a floral winter pattern for the upcoming spoonflower challenge. Wishing you a lovely Friday!

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*you and me and sunflowers

In the meanwhile the sunflowers are withered,

but your soul remained strong.

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*summer finale

Sorry, if someone of you is waiting for an E-mail reply, a letter or call, I have a hard time keeping up communication right now! Please bear with me and be patient! Thank you so much! I hope you are enjoying the change of the seasons.

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*August

We had so many blackberries this year, they were super tasty and also lots of tomatoes, which I am eating every day fresh. Cosmea flowers are in full bloom, but the last rain pushed most of them to the ground and broke the stems, so I had to remove many already, but some are still there. There is a lot of garden work to do at the moment, also it's plum time and I already preserved many of them. In case you would like to try out the easy berry cake recipe, I wrote it down for you! You can add all kind of different berries if you like, it will always be tasty! Much love!

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*moments

Oh, those pictures feel so far away already! The gentle summer wind recently changed into fresh fall air and we even had some much-needed rain! I capsuled myself into my own world the last days and worked a lot in the house and garden and illustrated all evenings until late night. It feels like I was not even there the last days, because of the lack of "making thoughts", and still there was more presence than usual, a floating of uninterrupted being. Hard to describe!

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*nature

Nature

She is always here for you,

listening,

enfolding,

answering through the singing of the wind,

rustling trees,

birdcalls

and humming bees.

Sheltering your soul,

indulging your senses

every anew.

{Claudia Voglhuber}

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