*softness

Some softness for your day.

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*dog days in June

Almost another week has gone by,

we are having dog days, at least temperature wise. Everyday above 30 degrees and I'm very busy with providing water for the garden plants. Those pictures are from May. In the meanwhile the blowballs have gone with the wind and everywhere are red glows from the wild poppy that is growing wildly this year. I will go outside now to pick some woodruff for fresh tea and raspberries for the breakfast. I don't feel very communicative these days, but I hope you can make the best of your time and don't forget to enjoy the little things.

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*dreamy ceramics

  

It is still going slow here, as you probably already have thought so yourself when noticing my absence.

Besides of doing tasks in the house, I started to do more in the garden again and currently I am collecting lots of camomile, mint, elderflowers, rose petals, thyme and many more to dry and preserve for winter. The strawberries have grown so well this year, I'm enjoying them everyday for breakfast and as a little snack when working outside. The rich garden season has officially started!

I wanted to show the first batch of this years ceramic pieces a while now. I made them in winter and did not think that it would take me so long to finish them, but the circumstances delayed everything and now I was not sure if I should wait to show the candle holders, when darker days are here again, but I decided to show them anyway. But a candle can also be nice when lit in a mild summer evening at the balcony or terrace, don't you think?

My shop is closed at the moment, but I hope I will be able to open it maybe in July again.

Take care + until soon!

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*June

I'm recovering from a very bad relapse right now, but today I'm feeling like sharing some pictures again which surely is a good sign. The first two pictures show a surprise letter that I got from my dear friend Olivia, she painted herself with my little Sunny in her arms. I was very touched, also because there is a certain story behind it's making. I really love her art and feel very grateful!

 When being bound to bed, I miss my little companion very much. He gave me strength to go further in difficult times. I always said that he is my greatest "joy bringer" and he truly was.

I hope June is treating you better and that you enjoy the early summer days!

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*soft and silent

Everything I love is soft and silent,

My cat, the morning, the end of day,

Even the moon in its way.

Everything I love is soft and silent,

The water, the forest, the snow at play,

Even the mountain in its way.

Everything I love is soft and silent,

The sun on the sand, a rainy day,

Even the wind in its way.

Everything I love is soft and silent,

The grass, the brook, the leaves at play,

Even you in your way.

 {James Kavanaugh}

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*May and all its blessings

{Music: Cobalto – Matteo De Grandis}

It never has been more beautiful outside around this time than this year, because of all the welcome rain we recently had. There are plants growing in the meadows and forests that we normally do not see that often here and it feels a bit like living in a different country. The tulips were blooming extra long and also the animals seem to appreciate how it is at the moment. Everything is growing nicely in the garden and I spend a lot of time in the greenhouse and beds and just enjoy nature around me. I hope you are having a  merry May as well!

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*a little happy list in May

• a flock of ducks waddling across the street

• lots of welcome rain

• seeing bee-eaters for the very first time in my life and that directly in our garden

• crafting paper daffodils

• the scent of lily of the valley

• opening the ceramic stove

• starting a new book

• planting new sorts of flowers

• rhubarb compote

• making surprise packages

• blowballs everywhere

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*love comes in all forms

One day when I played with blue art graf in my sketchbook, painting dogs and flowers, I thought that this would be a great design for new writing paper. So I painted a flower bordure on a big sheet of paper and included the little happy, running dog on the bottom part and also designed a fitting card that comes with a pretty envelope. It took a while until the ordered notepads and cards arrived from the print shop which made the unboxing extra exciting. It is always a special moment and also a bit scary at the same time, because you never know how they turned out, but everything turned out really pretty! I'm very happy with the outcome, what do you think? I can't wait to use it myself and of course I added it to my little Etsy store, in case you would like to order one. There are two versions, one is the single notepad (A4 and 50 pages) and one has the card included in the offer. I will design smaller size writing paper soon, but for this design I liked the bigger version more!

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*thousands white blossoms

My film is back from development and those are the first pictures of the roll, I made them on the most pleasant walk we made in April, all the cherry trees have been in full bloom and the overall atmosphere was amazing! I finally started firing my ceramic pieces that were waiting patiently in my shelf since the beginning of the year. I glazed the first batch yesterday and hope to be able to prepare the remaining pieces for the last firing the coming week. The rainy weather is perfect for such things and I don't have the pressure then to work in the garden. I also got new writing paper & cards from the print shop, that I designed recently. It's always a special moment and I really like how it turned out, I made some product pictures already that I will share here soon, so stay tuned and have a nice weekend!

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*garden wildlife

First of all, welcome in May!

It has been a while and to be honest, I don't know where all those days have gone! Temperatures here are still not as warm as usual at this time of the year, we still having to heat the stove and because of the cold nights, the plants are growing rather slow, but everything looks so lush and green right now, it is a wonderful time of the year nevertheless! I thought I share with you some recent wild cam pictures:  those are the animals that are regularly visiting our garden: foxes, rabbits, pheasants, neighbor cats, martens, hedgehogs and deers. A nice variety of wildlife!

I finished reading "Once Upon a River" by Diane Setterfield and I truly loved it, I got completely absorbed by her story and admire her writing talent! What was the most recent favorite book? Or do you have a book on your reading list that you absolutely want to read this summer?

I hope to be back soon with some analogue pictures, I'm still waiting for the film to return from development! Until then I wish you a fabulous May with the scent of lilac in the air!

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