*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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*and then the sea washed away my sorrows

{Music: Us – Matteo De Grandis + Naked as we came (Iron & Wine cover) – Sam Newton}

And at last a little movie that I made of our time at the sea and a poem I wrote some years ago:

The ocean

Ever changing,

soft and silent,

then soughing and singing

to the seagulls call.

A little poem

flies away with the wind.

The waves are listening

while I'm sitting so still.

The seawater on my feet

so cleansing and strong.

It runs down my skin

like a natural song.

I give up all dreams

and hopes of the past.

I remember so humbly,

The ocean is vast.

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*blue hour at the sea

My most favorite daytimes are the blue hours. When the sun is just about to rise everything feels magical to me and the same holds true for the evenings when the sun sits at the lowest point and all the colors are slowly fading. On our vacations I also try to be outside in this beautiful time window. Nature is never more beautiful to me than when the sun rises or sets from the open arms of the horizon.

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*finally at the sea again

At the end of June we made a trip to the sea. I was not sure if I would manage, but we made everything quite spontaneous and did not book anything, we just took the camper in the knowing we could return any time if I would feel too bad. But I also thought it would maybe help me to recover, because I truly love the seaside and we could not make such a vacation since four years. If someone had told my younger self that at some point I will not see the sea for four years, I would have not believed it, because it is so essential for me in a way. I just love water, it is my element and being at the ocean was always wholesome for me. Not only for my body, more even for my mental health. So it was a very special moment when we finally arrived and we used our time to just sit there at the coast and watch the waves and the endless blue in silence for hours.

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*A taste of summer & berries

{Music: Falena – Matteo De Grandis}

Summer means:

eating berries and fresh fruits all day,

golden fields & flowers that are blooming in competition,

reading outside in the early morning hours when the air is still a bit cooler,

having tea with fresh herbs directly from the garden,

observing snails & waiting for a welcome summer rain,

the mild scent of marshmallow blossoms & the happy chattering of the swallows.

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*snail speed

The heat of summer really forces us to slow down. Even more since I got fever again on the weekend and am feeling rather weak. What can we do other than just accept it and go with the flow of life. I'm daydreaming of the days when it is somewhat cooler to be able to make nature walks again. I even caught myself daydreaming of autumn, when the light becomes softer and the air easier to breathe. But those summer days are essential to be able to get better through winter, so lets make the best of them! Who determines how much productive time a human has to have on a daily basis? We are all different and we all have our phases. Needless to fight against ourselves. So, take your time and if you feel stressed, observe a snail!

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*summer happy list

• a hoopoe in our garden

• a book gift from a dear friend

• my first dahlias started blooming

• making red currant jam

• baking apricot cake

• floating in the water

• the very early mornings

• golden fields

• letting go

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