We are having an other BOOK CLUB meeting on 7.11., 7.30 am, and you are very welcome to join us - just send a message to mail@wsake.com and I´ll set you up with the details.

 

(For W´s birthday I made the LASAGNA I had on my Christmas time list in the last blog post and some chocolate cream with Amarena cherries and chestnut puree - we all had to lay down afterwards. That panettone with glazed chestnuts in it was divine, the best we ever had - my mum found it a our local Italian grocers after asking the shop keeper which one from the wide range on offer was the best. It was, of course the most expensive one too, but so worth it.)

I am still amazed by the fact how over the holidays are as soon as they are over. The glitter so enticing that day becomes dull over night and festive spices taste only like left overs as soon as January comes around. But it has been surprisingly good, it felt the right kind of lazy, with bits of work throughout and we have been so well fed - basically the only stressful thing being organizing what to eat and when to eat it. Also - rather unexpectedly - winter isn´t bothering me as much as I thought it would, but then the temperatures haven´t dropped too much so far and there have only been two or three un-bikeable days due to snowy or icy streets AND I now own two more layers of down vests. And when I do ride my bike decked out in these I feel happy, no matter the weather. So far even the greyest skies haven´t bothered me, I do feel oddly cheery, a bit bored perhaps, but that might be a good thing.

I´m still at those Nancy Mitford novels and while I do enjoy a lot of those silly, cruel characters, there is something that is worrying me - the women (some of the men, too and no mistake) are mostly busy with nothing but clothes, lovers, "looking after goats" or hunting. One of them is stitching a petit point carpet " in a particularly crude Victorian design of roses and lilies of the valley and blue ribbons" she thinks "too pretty for words" - that´s basically all she does during WWII. Education or occupation is not considered ideal by everyone, it is much better to be lazy. Well, what I´m worried about now is, that this lifestyle might have been perfectly fitting for me - not being overly smart, endeared by all things pretty and tasty and yes, lazy by nature, if I wouldn´t be fighting it all the time. I rise late and then I idle about with endless cups of tea (about three) while checking my RSS reader and Facebook - then I move on to "work". Making jewelry or doing a bit of graphic design is probably just another way of stitching rugs and I will admit that I am planing to make some of these POM POM BUNNIES while the world goes awry - I  have all I need on hand now, even chenille stems in the right size. What I would give for a brilliant mind, but it feels a bit dull instead and I imagine talking to me a quite boring pastime, I am not even a very amusing or sharp gossip. Staying inspired and keeping alert is hard work for me, since I am the kind of person who considers aquiring a new SKIRT an apt way to change the course of ones life (I don´t of course and I didn´t buy it in the end anyway).

One thing I´m quite into recently is deliming my kitchen sink, which is very new to me and since even the smell of bio-degradeable descaling agent gives me head aches I do so after cleaning my water heater with citric acid - I just cover it all with paper towels, pour the diluted acid over it and let it soak for a bit. What is left I use to deep clean the little rose coloured cut-glass bowls the cat likes to eat her Sheba from.

Off to stitching und gushing about a particularly stunning flower arrangement on a jade table I just spotted on Instagram!

It is BOOK CLUB time again! And we´ve chosen BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE MUSEUM / FAMILIENALBUM by Kate Atkinson for our meeting on 13.12., 19:30, so you´re in for a treat!

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In case you want to join us, send me a message and I´ll let you know all the details!

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I found that cookie cutter of the young Queen at TK Maxx and had to have it since I like weird things and they often come in handy (you never know what you might need one day) and as it turns out it is basically the one piece of Coronation memorabilia our heroine´s sister Patricia doesn´t own and I imagine she would be quite jealous. The SWEDISH RYE COOKIE dough I only used because it looked like they actually might hold their shape while baking and not run into shapeless blobs instead and yes, they turned out perfect! Highly recommended for a twist on the basic bland butter recipes used  for cookie cutters (and there are no eggs in there, so it´s very children-snacking-on-dough-friendly) - it makes about one and a half dozen of huge Queens or a lot of tiny other shapes. And since in my imagination fruit cakes are a very English thing I also threw in some raisins - it´s probable those TEA CAKES´ fault (also straight outta Behind the Museum) or that very lovely honey cake I brought back from Marks&Spencer when I was on a trip to London over ten years ago. Now I might eat all of those Queens when the new season of The Crown starts on Netflix, but they very likely won´t last until it airs.

since all the BULBS are planted (by my mom) 

and i don´t like spending my evenings outside anymore (cold and dark) 

i started pottering around in the flat (i seem to be very productive lately)

and came across a small stack of pictures JULIE sent me after she took them at our garden party

in the wonderful summer of 2013, actually the whole year of 2013 was great

we started to earn real money with WSAKE, i met wonderful new friends, my sisters stayed over for long stretches of time and - most importantly - i didn´t know about the health stuff that was coming my way in the following years

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it really was an amazing evening, the hottest that year

and my sisters and me prepared sooo much food and invited sooo many friends over

and then we all overate completely

thank you so much for capturing it all, Julie!

(i only managed to take some PICTURES of the flower decoration and then forgot all about it

- a sure sign of time well spent)
at one point late at night E declared she´s too tired to talk and she has to clean up the dishes instead
 - two things that never happen
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oh, i almost forgot - this was also the night my sister Klara got famous for her version
of this CHERRY CHEESECAKE
and as far as i can tell by these pictures we also had
a version of Rose Bakery´s MATCHA RASPBERRY CAKE
BROWN SUGAR SANDWICH COOKIES
ROSEMARY OLIVE OIL CAKE
and a lot of classics from my mum and freestyle salads
+ a few focaccias a la Jamie Oliver

for the last weeks i just couldn´t stop to preserve stuff

- turning the last grapes not affected by mildew into raisins (consisting only of skin and seeds)

  we had to cut down two "vinyards" completely, now we´re hoping for better health next year

- drying hop and turning it into loose tea and little pillows in the future

  i was a bit confused about its ability to brighten your mood and make you sleep really good at the same time

  until i found out hop is actually a hallucinogenic plant, then it started to make sense

  mine was "imported" from the Hollertau, one of Bavaria´s biggest hop growing areas

  so i suppose it´s the good stuff

- canning the mirabelles growing right beside my compost heap

  i used a RECIPE not involving all that hot water stuff, but a sugar syrup instead

  we´ll see how they´ll keep - right now they´re looking like tiny suns caught in a jar

  which is exactly what i wish for - we´re currently blessed with glorious weather to no end

  and i´m more scared than ever of fall and winter to come

  so i´m trying to soak it all up, living by Manrepeller´s hashtag #LOVESUMMERHATEEVERYTHINGELSE

  (FRL TEXT is very into mirabelle confetti right now too and turns them into a very fine crumble)

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also there are some new beginnings in the workshop

we turned some of the suns i scribbled with my left hand (the right one was off duty...) on one of my very dire days

into ear rings in silver and brass

since W and me decided to make really advanced stuff as long as possible together

with me being the "dictator" and him being the executor

working with metal can only be done in very, very small doses by me

so we´re changing a lot of the things involved in production

like starting to work with wax for the first time ever

(W hates it big time and keeps on making prototypes in brass - i have no other possibility than to love it

and i think i actually do, it´s so much more easy on my arms)

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and since i realized that what i have is probably some kind of mystery disease

and the doctors do not know how or what to treat

i figured i have to do a lot of the healing myself which includes a lot of weird rituals

like applying magnesium oil after taking a shower, using a lot of WALA Aconit oil (thanks for the suggestion, S!),

and trying to sooth my heartburn with more natural things like medicinal clay or fennel-galangal pills

also i´m really interested in healing stones right now and started to make myself some necklaces

using mostly antique beads i found at flea markets over the years

those corals and naturally (baroque) shaped pearls are my favorite - both are supposed to put your mind and body to ease

by helping you deal with trauma and fear

also i do have the feeling drinking lots of cold green tea over those hot summer weeks

has helped a bit with my blood preasure

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there´s a very tiny blurry glimpse of one of our PUZZLE RINGS in the new Claire Ptak COLUMN in The Guardian

actually you can only recognize it if you know for sure it´s actually there

but it´s cute nevertheless

welcome to my personal whining blog

where i´m wailing over my life and complain a lot in general

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my arms smell like Voltaren Forte most days and that "scent" is beginning to stress me out

it really does not trigger some king of lovely olfactory memories

my limbs feel leaden and useless

the heavily rose scented warm night air fails to make me feel happy as usual

but makes me think about yet another season passing with me feeling disabled
and the fading smell of the linden trees makes me melancholic
just like the mold hiding between the strawberries from the farmers market

when asked what i do for a living i don´t want to reply with "create jewellery" any more now

it feels like a fraud when what i´m actually doing is tell other people how to make it for me

to me it does not feel like i´m the boss and that´s what i do

but like i´m ducking out instead
and it´s also really hard to see someone (my new workshop "slave")
struggle with tasks i was once able to perform to perfection
(ok, i´ll admit that after a few more hours he has become quite handy)
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so - of course - this signet ring was made my W, i only came up with the basic scetches and the engraving

(i always use Futura - i know there are a lot of amazing fonts out there, but this one is just it for me)

the wedding bands were created by him also

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i´m glad about every day i don´t feel depressed somehow

this strange mood underlining everything, this weird dimming of your internal lights

a mental state i´m trying to confront with a lot of fresh air, movement, work and friends

on the other hand i know it is okay for me to feel like that

since i´m mourning a life i had that was based on me being very skilful with my hands

and now i´m feeling slightly handicapped instead

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also i always feel slightly sick when riding my bike through my neighborhood each day

seeing the streets i walked/staggered along a couple of times each day to keep my busy during my worst time

this probably means i need new memories now, new sights and smell
here are a few things to start with:

4 O'CLOCK NO-BAKE ENERGY BITES

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB CRISP BARS because of MILAS DELI

BROWN BUTTER NECTARINE COBBLER (because of NINA)

STRAWBERRY PEANUT BUTTER SHAKE
on instagram: MOLLYORANGETTE, PERSONALPRACTICE

trying to get my hands on some LIBERTY FABRIC now with the Pound so cheap
(and then make my mum sew some summer skirts for me - she does an excellent job)
i hate BREXIT nevertheless
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my cat is a drug addict - she does not only "do" catnip but elder and yew too

this garden is a poisonous affair and i´m sorry to say i didn´t get high but a RASH instead

so my advice would be to keep away from any kind of spurge 
and burning bush in full bloom when the sun is shining
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fun fact: W found that antique pink flowery mug on the flea market himself
and declared it perfect for drinking his coffee from
with it being the same shape like his last cup from which he had by now almost completely rubbed off the gold rim 
when warming his hands
sometimes he does have a fancy taste