*Preserving, observing & starting a new crochet project

At the end of summer I continued preserving veggies and fruits for winter, observed all the beautiful tiny creatures out there, just enjoyed time in the garden when the sun was getting more comfortable on my skin again and started a new crochet project.

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*shades of pink

We had our first really misty mornings the last two days and I could not resist to be outside before the sun was rising and enjoy the wonderful view that was presented in front of me. The most magical time of the year has started. At daytime it is still very warm and I worked a lot in the garden. My dahlias are exploding right now with new flower buds! They can be so different in shade, even though they are the same sort. Some turn out completely white instead of pink and some even have some lilac tones. Every bloom is really unique!

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*A mini vacation to the wood quarter

{Music: All that is lovely – Gåel}

And here a little movie of our time in the wood quarter that we had in the middle of August. The wood quarter is like a little Sweden located in the northwest of Lower Austria with lots of forests and lakes and you can find a welcome solitude there as the density of population is not so big. I shared a lot of pictures in the past made in this area. My grandparents lived there and so I spent a lot of time in my childhood there already and I still love this region so much!

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*clouds in the lake

The outcome of the pictures made with my "new" zenit-E camera makes me really happy,

it is certainly similar to my first one that I had for many years and was one of my favorite cameras!

I also had it with me on our vacation in Korčula and I can't wait to get my films developed! Those pictures here are from our time in the wood quarter.

Our very summery September is coming to an end. Yesterday we dug out some potatoes to roast them in a campfire in the garden to end the day. It was very relaxing to just sit there and look into the flames and listen to the chirping of the crickets. It gets dark so early already!

I hope you enjoy those last September days and have a good start into the new week!

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*Kitchen & Garden moments in August

{Music: Velvet Ring (Big Thief cover) – Emily Zhang + Day – Lorenzo Travaglini}

Next to all the fresh fruits and vegetables I did a lot of baking throughout the month of August.

The basic recipe for the two cakes is the same, only that the blueberry cake had blueberries in them, and for the apple-cinnamon cake, you add cinnamon to  the dough and prepare the apples like this: Cut in small pieces and roast them in coconut oil until they get a bit softer and then add a little lemon juice, sugar (if you like) and cinnamon and some flour to make the consistence more creamy, but you should still see the separated apple pieces. It should not turn into a mush. Then add to the cake dough when the dough is already in the baking form.

The basic recipe of the cakes is:

• Blueberries or apples (like described above) or any other berries or fruits

that are preferred

• 5 eggs

• 1 pinch salt

• 250g flour (spelt or wheat)

• 200 g sugar (I usually use half or even less than half of the amount)

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/8 l water

• 1/8 l maize-germ oil

Separate the eggwhites from the yolks

and beat the egg whites until stiff. 

In another bowl beat the egg yolks

with sugar until creamy,

then add gradually water and oil,

baking powder, salt and flour.

Fold the egg white foam in the dough

and pour the whole mixture into a cake pan

lined with baking paper and add the

blueberries or apple mixture.

(Spread it evenly on the surface of the dough)

Bake for about 25 minutes in the baking oven 

at 180 degrees celsius. Every oven is a little 

different, mine is ready after 20 minutes, 

just do the toothpick test, to see if it is fully baked.

If you like, sprinkle the finished cake with powder sugar.

 Enjoy!

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*freedom on my skin

Being naked has nothing to do with sexuality to me. It is a deep sense of freedom and when you were born with very sensitive skin like me, you feel the need of being free from the burden of clothes and fabrics every now and then to be able to let your skin breathe. When someone asks me in which situations in my life I feel the best and the most free, I would always say: when swimming naked in the ocean. But I'm not a FKK type of person, still I dislike swimming wear. It feels so uncomfortable on my skin, especially when stepping out of the water again, so I'm always seeking for places on my journeys where I can be alone with nature and dip into the ocean naked. 

My dear mother had her struggles with me when I was a child, because from early on I would get off my clothes all the time, also in the supermarket. I'm sure it had to do already with the fact that many sorts of fabrics feel like torture on my skin. Luckily my mother is a good sewer and she started making clothes for me that I was able to bear. In which situations do you experience the most sense of freedom in your life?

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*Back again

I don't think that I ever saw Carniolan burnets (Zygaena carniolica) before, but here were a bunch of them sitting on a wild cornstalk (you can also see them in my last video). Such a vibrant red pattern on their wings, but I read that they are very poisonous.

We have been on vacation the last two weeks on the Croatian island Korčula that we wanted to visit since many years. It was really beautiful, much hotter than expected, but here have been very summery temperatures as well. I surely need some time still to fully settle again here, but I can say that I feel really ready for autumn to come with it's misty mornings and long evenings. I feel always quite energetic and creative when the heat leaves, let's see what the coming time will bring! 

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*Under the moody August sky

{Music: Forget Me Nots – James Spiteri}

A little movie of the start of August, when it was quite gloomy and felt more like autumn than summer, but the heat came back quite quickly again afterwards. This is the first of three smaller videos with moments that where dear to me that I made recently and will share soon with you.

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*September

September started with a little bit of rain, 

I ate my very first homegrown watermelons, they were little, but so sweet and had luckily a lot of seeds that I will keep for next year. Grapes are also ripe already and I picked plums to dry for winter. My pumpkins needed a lot of time to develop, but since the extreme heat is over they have developed so nicely and I can't wait to harvest them. Perfect comfort food! We are always passing by this beautiful tree (last picture) when driving to the farm shop and finally I took my chance to make a picture of it. 

Have a good start into the new month!

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*the taste of late summer

It's been a while...

At the moment we are sinking in vegetables and fruits, so I started another preserving round! I also did an unusual amount of baking this month. It is all so fresh and tasteful, it is truly an exceptional time when it comes to yummy food! The intense heat wave is over and it begins to feel a lot like autumn. I worked with clay again, started a new crochet project, took apart my sewing machine to oil and make it work again, changed a vintage dress to make it fit me and I prepared three little movies with many nice moments of the recent weeks. My summer asters have started to bloom and the flower bed was never more beautiful! How do you feel at the end of August? Are you looking forward to autumn or are you trying to hold on to the last bit of summer feeling? I used this summer well and did a lot of swimming which I really need to be ready for the colder season, I feel fulfilled and prepared. Much love + until soon again!

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*Moonshadows & soap bubbles

{Music: Moonshadow (Cat Stevens Cover) – MIIL}

A tiny video

simply for the joy of being alive.

Be grateful for the wind,

the flowers, even if they wither

and all the tiny creatures out there.

We are here to bloom as well,

as wildly and freely as possible!

Life is full of beauty and endless opportunities.

Just choose one today

and step out of your own shadow.

The moon will shine for you anyway.

Nurture your soul

and stay young in your heart forever.

Never stop playing and asking questions.

Never stop expecting miracles.

Because they are always there

for those who want to see.

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*let it bloom & camera stories

Do you know the let it bloom magazine already?

It is one of my favorite magazines and it's all about the beauty of flowers & nature and people who are dedicated to them. It's a real treasure with it's clear design and big photos and I love the paper it is printed on.

Except for the fossil urchin, I brought the stones with me from our vacation at the sea in June. Do you also like to walk along the beach collecting pretty stones and sea glass? It's hard to resist for me!

Some time ago I took the risk to get myself another second-hand Zenit E camera after several mispurchases. Most people just don't know if the camera is still working that they are selling and in the most cases it just doesn't properly. I had my old Zenit E for several years, it was my most used camera and sadly at some point it stopped working for good. I think it was in 2019. I thought just getting another working Zenit E will do it, but it didn't, all the models that I tried afterwards had a totally different outcome of pictures. The colors were far too virulent and saturated for my taste and so I was not truly happy and lost the joy in my "newer" Zenit E camera. But recently I gave it another try and got myself another Zenit E model from Ebay. Trying the first film role in a new old camera is always scary, I already have noticed that not all shutter speeds are working properly, so my fear was even bigger that the film will be ruined, but to my surprise it worked with the remaining shutter speeds and the pictures turned out similar to my beloved past Zenit E camera! Maybe it was only a coincidence and the light was just right, but after trying it out more, I will be able to tell more for sure. I really hope I will be able to have this camera for a long time now!

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*Une vie

Recently I read the book "Une Vie" by Guy de Maupassant. It was published in 1883 and I really loved it, especially the way he described all the feelings that nature evokes in the main character. It's a fabulous book and I can imagine to reread it in some years. 

We have been on a mini vacation in the wood quarter over the long weekend. It was super hot again, so we decided to stay close to the lakes to be able to jump in and cool down a bit every now and then.

On one of our forest walks we met a really likeable couple that is living in an isolated house in the middle of the woods with their children and dogs. It's always nice to get to know like minded people. 

At the moment our home is full of flowers and soft summer light. I love my dahlias, they are a pink dream and even beautiful when they have withered. I took far too many pictures of them already! :)

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*Calm your senses

{Music: Cloud - Emma Jackson}

It is so easy to get overwhelmed nowadays by all the noise and busyness in this world, the many screaming adds everywhere and the hectic that is often feelable, so I enjoy some calmness in the youtube world as well. I hope this video helps you calming your senses a bit!

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*between wild yarrow and carrot flowers

The temperatures had dropped so drastically over the weekend that I first time since we are living here made a little fire in the stove in August to warm me up a bit. By the way it is now exactly 10 years ago since we moved here and back then it was also an exceptional hot summer, but this year we do have both, high temperatures with extreme dry weather and low temperatures and quite some rain. Parts of Austria are already flooded and people had to be evacuated from their homes.

It was a sad morning today, the injured pigeon that I found yesterday (I'm pretty sure she had crashed into a car or agricultural vehicle, because she could not fly anymore and her right eye was very sore) died in the night. After I gave her shelter she seemed to do a little better, but today it was clear that she must have had really bad internal injuries, I saw that blood came out of her mouth when I inspected her corpse. What a sad way to start the day, shoveling a little grave and crying over this innocent creature.

The meadows are turning colors and are full of wild yarrow, carrot flowers and viper's buglosses. It is a very pleasant sight, especially when the sky is a bit moody like on my pictures, it creates a certain atmosphere that I really like.

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*August

August has started with moody weather. It is raining every now and then and the sky is mostly covered. On my early morning walk I saw three more hoopoes! And on our big apricot tree was a squirrel, sitting and patiently eating a nut that I have placed outside. I'm always excited when I see a squirrel in our garden, because we do not have many in our area. Today I noticed that the blackberries became suddenly ripe, I decided to make some jam. Contrary to Ronald, I don't eat a lot of jam, but blackberry jam is my favorite type! My dahlias are blooming so abundantly, I would have never imagined that they would grow so well here with our intense climate. I also got back a developed roll of film, here are the first pictures, I think you can easily feel the warmth of July through them. Enjoy your weekend!

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*the moon and the sea

I very rarely take pictures in high size, but in this case it was not possible to catch the sea together with the moon in another way. Today it is finally raining – so good! And lots of time to do inside things like updating my Etsy store and making homemade pizza and cake. Have a nice Sunday!

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